A Revolutionary TV Show

So I saw some buzz on a few of the blogs I frequent about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show. I decided to check it out (you can watch it online here), and it was truly a breath of fresh air. What with all of the junk they serve up on TV these days, it is tough to find truly quality (and family friendly) programming. But this show? It is a must watch. You can even sign a petition to support it (I did!). I think this is so important that I added the badge on my website. Just click on the image that looks like the one below (on the right hand side of the page) to show your support.

My food philosophy has changed drastically over the past couple of years. I used to buy into the low-fat, low-calorie hype. I thought that you should eat as much soy as possible for good health. I thought that artificial sweeteners were THE way to lose weight, because then you didn't have all of those extra calories to worry about. I thought buying frozen meals like Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice were perfect, easy, and above all healthy options. But I have since been convinced that real food - and by that I mean unprocessed, raw, and in its natural state - is a much better way to provide good nutrition.

Sure, it takes more planning to cook from scratch. And yes, it does take some more time to prepare wholesome, healthy meals on the stove and in the oven rather than popping them in the microwave for 2 minutes. But the benefits are SO worth the extra time and effort. And with practice and a little strategy, you won't have to slave over meals every night to feed your family well.

Imagine my delight to see that this is what Jamie Oliver is trying to teach America. He is hoping to get into the schools and the fast food restaurants and change things up so that people will have better choices. So that a child's school lunch will consist of substantial nutrition, not just processed junk food and super sugary drinks.

What can I say? I have only seen the preliminary show, and I am a BIG fan. This is a guy with passion. Heart. And a mind to change the world. I believe he can do it. I think that God will take this one man's vision and bring about real change, even if for only one person, family, or town. But I believe it will be bigger than that.

If you are someone who reads this blog, then I implore you - watch this show. It is disturbing, fascinating, and heartwarming. And real.

Sample of Spring

I have been struck with Spring Fever. A taste of sunshine and warmer weather has me dreaming of gardening, long walks outside, taking the kids to the zoo...and so much more. I am tired of dreary gray skies. And cold air. And rain.

The boys and I are in Indiana visiting with my parents and with my brother Tim's family. The boys are having a blast with their cousins. And it is a nice day here too, so the boys have been playing outside for a while in the sunshine. So nice!

My newest dream is to have some honeybees. I think next year we may get a couple of hives for our property so we can have our own raw honey. And maybe, someday, we might have some chickens in the backyard. Who knows. But all of it makes me think of and want Spring to be here NOW. I'm ready!

Self-Induced Stomach Flu

You would think that the last thing I'd want to deal with after having my kids go through a bout of E. coli is the stomach flu. But me? I brought it on myself. How is this possible?, you might ask. Well let me explain.

For the past few months, I have been trying to consistently take (and give to my family) a supplement called Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), at the recommendation of my awesome sister-in-law. Basically you mix an acid solution (citric acid, in our case), and use 5 drops of that per every 1 drop of MMS. You start out by taking just one drop (activated by the acid solution for 3 minutes), in water or juice (JUICE. Definitely juice! But it has to be a juice that does not have Vitamin C. We use organic apple juice for ours.). Then you work up to either a standard dose (based on your weight - usually about 6 drops for adults and up to 3 for small children like mine).

This solution is supposed to be able to prevent viruses, flus, and illnesses of all kinds, as well as help you get over them faster when you do get them. I honestly believe that it was taking probiotics and MMS that got my kids well as fast as they did after contracting E. coli 157. The Public Health Official was amazed that they were not hospitalized (she said that there has been a child die in our area from having this!).

I have not been as consistent with this as I would like to be. Usually George reminds me sometime during the evening by yelling out "Apple Juice!" Which is my cue to make it. Sometimes I do, and sometimes it is not an appropriate time (like if I'm making dinner). But I digress. So two nights ago, I gave the kids (except Blake, because he was already in bed and I had forgotten) their dose, and made mine and Chris'. When I tasted it, it was VERY strong, and I thought I just added too much citric acid. I think I was trying to give us a 4 or 6 drop dose, but I can't really remember. I warned Chris about the taste, but he drank his as well. This was around 7:30pm or so. I gave the boys their bath and got them ready for bed, and by 8:45pm, I was feeling extremely queasy. I had to short-change the boys' bedtime routine (No books! No prayers! No hugs or kisses! Mommy's sick - I'm sorry!) so I could sit down a while and not move. Chris was at Lowe's at the time.

Now, the reason they have you work up in drops is so that you can let your body tell you if you have taken too much. This is a powerful detoxifying agent, so if you take too many drops, you will feel queasy or experience some intestinal discomfort. It's not a bad thing necessarily - it just means that you may have something going on in your body that needs to be taken care of and the solution is doing it's job, albeit a bit too fast. So you back off on the number of drops the next time. The goal is to take as many drops as you can handle without feeling sick. And up to this point I have only felt mildly queasy a couple of times. No big deal.

To make a long and very painful (not to mention dis-gus-ting) story short, I ended up puking my guts out off and on until about 1:00am, which is when the horrible diarrhea took over until about 3:00am. I suffered yesterday morning with it as well (the vomiting was over by then), until I finally got fed up and took my first Immodium. I was very weak in the stomach all day yesterday and ended up having to take another Immodium last night around 11:00pm. But today my stomach has been much better.

So what happened?! I have a couple of guesses. The most logical one in my mind is that I switched the bottles of citric acid and MMS and gave Chris and myself 30 drops of MMS instead of the appropriate 6 (or 4). A mistake that, if that was indeed the one, I will NEVER EVER make again. So you may be wondering, how did Chris fare in all of this? He was a bit queasy, and had some gurgling in his stomach. But that was pretty much it.

Needless to say, I did not take my MMS today. I figure I will resume it again in a few more days. Because I do believe that it is a wonderful (and cheap!) way to stay healthy. But you MUST follow the protocols correctly, or like me, you will be very, very sorry.

What Makes Me Smile

This morning I woke up with a headache. And a neckache. And a bad attitude. And as I was feeling especially grumbly because I HAD to get up anyway, I was reminded of an article I read in Family Fun just last night about positive thinking.

The mom who wrote the article explained how she got her 9-year-old son who was prone to complaining and being negative to start thinking and talking more positively. In a nutshell, it started with having him give her one positive statement for every negative one he spoke. What a great idea, thinks I!

So I'm going to give it a try. Here are some negative things I was thinking about this morning. Let's see if I can come up with some positives (shown in purple):

I have a headache. I am, for the most part, in very good health, and do not live in chronic pain.

The weather is cruddy. Spring is just around the corner!

My house is an absolute disaster (and beyond - believe me, I cannot underestimate this statement). I have a big, warm house to live in, which accommodates my family very nicely.

My husband has been gone a lot for work lately. My husband has a great job, which provides for our family very well, and we are blessed for him to have work to go to. Also, he is around a LOT more than most people who work full-time.

That was not difficult at all! I am hoping to remind myself of all of the positive things in my life whenever I start to think negatively or start to complain. There is no such thing as too much gratitude.

In addition to the positive statements I listed, here is something else that made me smile today:

While I was lying in bed trying to will away my headache (since the medicine wasn't helping), I heard the boys chatting over the monitor. I listened closer, and realized that George was "reading" Green Eggs & Ham to Josh. How cute is that?!

And now my baby is beckoning me to play. Another thing to make me smile.