Green beans, salsa, pasta sauce, pickles.

 Honey and garlic.

Beets, peaches, more salsa.

My winter stash!

Even a modest backyard garden can result in an overabundance of homegrown fruits and vegetables, leading to wasted food. You don't have to stuff yourself full of excess produce, give it all away or let it rot - just can it. Home canning is a great way to preserve your garden harvest. Fresher and tastier than store-bought canned goods, home-canned food saves money and reduces packaging waste, too.

Food can be preserved in glass mason jars using either hot water bath or pressure canner methods. Heating the jars kills microorganisms that cause spoilage, and as the jars cool, air pressure seals the lids tightly. When stored in a dark, cool, dry location, sealed home-canned goods have a shelf life of about one year. Canning your produce is an ideal way to maintain a more local diet year-round, rather than relying on store-bought goods outside the growing season.

 

You can preserve virtually anything you grow in your garden with home canning. Get creative and add herbs, spices and other items to your fruits and vegetables, or make salsa, sauces and soups.

For sale! One of a kind. Accepting bids.

We all know that sugar is very bad for our health, but it can still be extremely difficult to break free of the habit. Sugar can cause diabetes and inflammation, it can feed cancer cells, and it's responsible for much of the global obesity epidemic. Nevertheless, it is still being consumed in shocking amounts, with worldwide consumption in the last two years estimated at 173.4 metric tons. With one study finding that sugar is as addictive as cocaine, it's easy to see why so many people can't help but give in to sugar cravings.

Drink lots of water

This dietary advice crops up time and time again, and for good reason. Staying hydrated is good for your overall health and for your skin, but it can also help you fight off sugar cravings. When you're dehydrated, the flow of sugar into your body's cells is reduced, which drives sugar cravings. It is recommended that women drink nine cups of water a day, while men should aim for 13 cups.

Eat a big breakfast every day

If you want to keep sugar cravings at bay, you need to start the day out right with a well-rounded breakfast. Look for foods that rank low on the glycemic index to avoid a spike in your blood sugar levels; this will help you stay full for longer. Eating a breakfast that is full of protein within the first 45 minutes of waking up is the best solution.

Load up on protein

Protein isn't just important at breakfast; you'll want to include it with every meal to help slow the absorption of sugar from the foods you eat. The same goes for fiber. This is because the slower your body absorbs the sugar, the less impact it will have on your blood sugar. Moreover, this ensures your body does not feel the need to produce adrenaline and insulin.

 

How to Avoid the New Genetically Modified Potato

So what do you need to do to avoid these creations? In addition to never eating food from McDonald’s and avoiding potato-based foods in restaurants, there are 3 primary ways you can bypass Innate GMO potatoes:

Look For Products Labeled 100% Organic:

• United States and Canadian governments do not allow companies to label products 100% organic if they contain genetically modified foods.

Look For “Non-GM” or “GMO-Free”:

• When searching for potatoes in a health food store that supplies organic produce, just look for signs indicating that the potatoes are organic and non-GMO. Many packaged products represent the NON-GMO Project verified seal, but in this case you’ll need to look for as many indicators as possible.

Read the Labels:

• Conventional Fruit Labels: Begin with the number 4, and never begin with the number 9.

• Genetically Modified Fruit Labels: Begin with the number 8. Note that it begins with 8, not just contains the number 8. This is often a 5 digit number.

• Organic Fruit Labels: These fruit labels always contain 5 digits, and begin with the number 9. Always check and make sure, as some “organic” products have been known to be deceptively labeled.

Will the new Innate potatoes make the top 10 worst GMO foods for your GMO foods list? Hopefully we won’t find out.

 This Container I Store In My Pantry!

My Harvest Was So Plentiful This Year, That I Have To Buy Another Container. 

Harvesting Garlic

It is time to harvest garlic when the leaves turn brown. Pick a day when the soil is dry. Carefully loosen the soil and pull out the bulbs. Usually mine are ready in the middle of July. I hang mine in the barn for two to three weeks, then when several layers of papery skin has developed, I clean and store. Snip off the stalk about an inch above the bulb, snip the roots off and store the garlic in open containers where the air is free to flow.

Coney Island Parking Lot. Micah, Alex, Brad and myself.

 

Water is essential to all life on Earth. When it comes to humans, our bodies require water for virtually every biological process needed to stay alive.

Playing a crucial part in the body's overall digestive system, water helps to flush out your kidneys and liver, and to rid your body of any previously ingested toxins.

If water is such an essential tool in the removal of harmful substances, why would we ever want to contaminate it?
While some toxins are more harmful than others, arsenic, fluoride and chlorine present the greatest risk of harm for humans. And they are all in the water supply.

Last week Alex and I went to Cincinnati. We had a great time. It was super hot so we spent a lot of time indoors. When we weren't hanging out in the house, we were visiting the park which is located right down the road from the house. How convenient is that! One day we went to Coney. As a kid we spent a lot of time at Coney Island. Swimming in their Sunlight pool was great. Today the pool has water slides everywhere, and cabanas set up with fast food restaurants at your fingertips. The cafeteria is still there. That is an icon.

Breakfast At United Dairy Farmers Consisted Of Donuts And Ice Cream This Morning. Sorry Mommy!

Chocolate has been a long-time favorite of children and adults alike to satisfy a sweet tooth or cure a broken heart.

In the early day's chocolate was seen as a mood-enhancing aphrodisiac and symbol of luxury and power only available to the wealthiest of people. Once touted as the "food of Gods" for its myriad of health benefits, this popular comfort food received some bad press due to its high fat content.

Despite the wealth of positive coverage, chocolate has long been suspected of worsening acne and increasing the risk for a host of lifestyle illnesses such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

However, not all chocolate is created equally. The sugar and milk infused chocolate most Americans consume today will not be of much help when it comes to improving your health and happiness.

Dark chocolate, with at least 70 percent cocoa, on the other hand, has been scientifically proven to keep your brain sharp, your heart in perfect condition, and your skin shielded from UV-induced damage.

Steam Engine

Your face can reveal a lot about your personality, the state of your health and attractiveness. It is a window into your health and emotions. When you stare into a mirror and dark circles, puffy eyes, acne or other undesirable facial flaws are staring back at you, your face is telling a tale about possible nutritional deficiencies, poor digestion, lack of sleep or other physical or mental health issues.

 While makeup can do a lot to improve your appearance, nothing beats a good night's sleep and regular exercise to look your best.

Landen At Speed Camp

“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” The seed being referred to here is the Word of God. Isn’t it interesting that people who are choked by life’s circumstances and never mature are referred to as having thorns in the soil of their soul?

Yes, life sometimes hands us thorns but we have the choice to park our mind on the thorn or on the beauty it can eventually produce in us, if only we’ll cling tightly to God’s Word. How a person thinks is how they will eventually become.

If we dwell on the negative in life, we’ll become negative and God’s Word will have a hard time taking root in our souls. If, however, we acknowledge the negative but choose instead to look for the good that can come from it, God’s Word will take root in our souls and produce a lush crop of beauty.

Such A Cutie!

July is here and bee colonies are in full production.  The queen is laying as many as 2,000 eggs daily. Foragers are bringing in pollen which is one of the richest and purest of foods consisting of up to 35% protein.  It is the best food for developing larvae and young adults.  Nectar is stored and the enzyme inverses is added by the bees to begin the ripening process which will ultimately change nectar to honey as the bees fan off the moisture content with their wings.  Young workers receive the nectar and pollen for storage and feed the larva and resulting brood.  Newly hatched drones begin orientation flights which lead to mating flights.

 August is the recommended month to extract honey so plan ahead but be sure to leave enough for the bees! (common new beekeeper mistake is to take too much honey!)   A hive needs approximately 60 pounds of honey to carry itself through the Pacific Northwest winters.  To estimate the honey stores, figure a full medium honey frame weighs approximately 6 pounds and a deep frame weighs about 8 pounds.  Research the methods of harvesting honey.  

My Cosmos!

It's one of the great ironies of life: Your reward for surviving the tumultuous teen years, establishing a career and nurturing a family culminates in dry skin, a thickening waste and too many moments peppered with, now where did I leave those car keys. My husbands favorite saying. With age comes wisdom and experience, but it can also include new and unexpected signs of growing older that can impact your body and life. Fortunately, in many regards, age is but a state of mind.

New Baby Chick

I know, I know. Who  needs a guide to carrots? They seem like a basic veggie and most people eat them with dip or sliced on a salad. Its always more budget friendly to buy bunches of carrots with the green tops. Carrots can be frozen too. Carrots are best steamed when eaten on their own. Boiling removes much of their good nutrition. Many spices go well with carrots like butter, cinnamon, dill, ginger, honey, lemon juice, maple syrup, orange juice, tarragon and thyme. Enjoy those carrots fresh right out of your garden!

ZINNAS

Most healthy people, who live holistically, would be wise to keep it to themselves, and to only share their happy, healthy ways of living privately, while reading alternative health news for more ongoing investigations and reporting of natural remedies that actually work, methods to filter the toxic tap water, and ways to grow organic food and medicine–at home!

Remember, it's not conspiracy theory when the government makes it a law. Here are the 8 most insane and absurd US laws regarding food, water, and medicine:

#1. Cannabis, which cures almost all cancers, is illegal in nearly every US state, as well as smoking marijuana.

#2. The FDA makes it illegal for natural supplements that prevent, treat, and even cure diseases to be advertised as such, or to say so on the labels.

#3. The FDA makes it totally LEGAL for prescription drug manufacturers to advertise dangerous, experimental, chemical-based medications on TV that have side effects worse than the conditions supposedly being treated.

#4. Growing HEMP is illegal in the USA, even though it does not contain enough THC to get "high" – and hemp can be used for building homes, for making clothing, as fuel for vehicles, for healthy food, and much more.

#5. The State of California passed a law last year (SB277) forcing all school children, public and private, to be force vaccinated, even though several vaccines and most flu shots STILL contain massive amounts of mercury (as thimerosal), which is one of the deadliest heavy metal toxins on earth, and has been definitively linked to causing autism.

#6. Most land owners in the United States are not allowed to grow vegetables in their own front yard, or government officials will visit them, destroy the garden, and possibly fine them thousands of dollars – and for proof – there are plenty of examples of this.

#7. Many home owners in the United States are not allowed to collect rain water on their own property or government officials will visit you, fine you, and possibly arrest you – and there are plenty of examples of this.

#8. Though not documented as such, it is ILLEGAL to cure cancer in the United States, and hundreds of doctors and scientists have been shut down, had their labs and homes raided by the FDA, and have been murdered ("suicided") for CURING cancer!
Not to be negative, but the quickest way to an early grave is to follow the "herd  "

 

Jennifer And I Enjoying Our Morning Coffee! 

No other part of a house stirs the romantic -- or nostalgic -- in us so much as a porch. Its prime was the late nineteenth century, when the advances brought about the Industrial Revolution allowed Americans more leisure time to enjoy the outdoors. It's been estimated that more than 90 percent of houses built in the United States before the 1930s had porches. But by the 1950s, with the advent of air conditioning, demand for porches diminished, though they did not disappear entirely.

Over the years, porches became more commodious, adapting to different functions and blossoming from all parts of the house: screened-in sun parlors off the living room; back service porches off kitchens; porte cocheres, roofed structures extending from the entrance of a building, under which carriages (and cars) could unload; sleeping porches off bedrooms. But the front porch has always been the grandest of them all. It's an outdoor living room, a place to socialize, drink a glass of iced tea, and enjoy a swing on a hot summer day.



Ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed." Joel 2:26

Amen to that! I love this verse, don't you? I think that a good meal is one of the simplest ways we can find satisfaction each day and let me tell you from personal experience that your food, when homegrown, or at least super fresh and local, is exponentially more satisfying! Fresh just tastes better. I'm not making this up

 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

When it comes to your overall health, taking simple steps to keep yourself in good shape is key. Regardless of age or physical ability, practicing healthy habits can help improve both your physical and mental states, and lead to a happier, healthier lifestyle. Practice good sleeping habits. Seven to nine hours of sleep each night is required. Lower your stress level. Keep your mind sharp. Reading, yoga and breathing exercises. Eat a well balanced diet. Eating a diet of vitamin and mineral rich foods can be beneficial to your health.   

 Uncapping the honey

My Stash

Honey is sweet – that’s a given. But did you know that honey also adds a special touch to almost any recipe? It’s the whisper at a party. It’s the sigh after the perfect bite. It’s the nostalgic feeling of childhood. It’s your secret ingredient with endless possibilities.

Many people think of honey as a drizzle in desserts or a topping for toast. But now more than ever, honey’s being recognized as a versatile ingredient and pantry staple in the kitchen. All-natural honey gives your recipes unbeatable flavor and unmatched functional benefits. From balancing flavors to providing moisture to baked goods, one-ingredient honey performs a slew of tasks, all from one little bottle.

Discover the versatility of honey…

Sweetener: Honey is slightly sweeter than sugar, so less can be used to achieve the same sweetness intensity.

Flavor: Honey not only imparts a unique flavor to any dish, but it also balances and enhances the flavor profiles of other ingredients used in a recipe.

Emulsifier: Honey acts as a binder and thickener for sauces, dressings, marinades and dips.

Humectant: Honey provides and retains moisture to a variety of dishes and can even extend the shelf life of baked goods.

Coffee, believe it or not, may have more positive health benefits than you might think.

This may surprise you given that many reports have been published about how harmful coffee can be, but of course, ‘everything in moderation’ as the old adage goes.

Benefits

Caffeine kick

There is of course the benefit of increasing energy levels and making you feel less tired due to the caffeine,1,2, the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world3, but that’s pretty common knowledge. Drinking coffee gets caffeine into your bloodstream which then enters the brain,4 and once there it blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine. After that, the amount of other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine actually increase, leading to enhanced firing of neurons. 5, 6

There have been many controlled trials in humans that show how coffee improves various aspects of brain function, including memory, mood, vigilance, energy levels, reaction times and general cognitive function.7, 8, 9

Fat burning

But, did you know that caffeine is found in almost every fat burning supplement? The reason for this is that coffee has been proven to help increase the metabolic rate by between 3 and 11%, which in turn speeds up the burning of fat and calories.10,11

Physical performance enhancer

Another interesting point is that caffeine can drastically improve physical performance by stimulating your nervous system, causing it to send signals to the fat cells to break down body fat 12, 13 and it also increases Epinephrine (Adrenaline) levels in the blood 14, 15 which is the “fight or flight” hormone, designed to make our bodies ready for intense physical exertion.