Pottery Painting, Ginger Coconut Roasted Veggies, Coconut Oil, Natural Remedies

We’ve almost made it through the week, and that’s great because who doesn’t love the weekend!  Especially Superbowl Weekend!  Not that I even know who’s playing or care, but there’s something about gathering ’round with friends and eating really bad appetizers and unhealthy food that’s just so fun!  Kidding!!!!  On Sunday I will be relishing the silence:  Scott will be watching the game at a sports bar and Skylar will be napping and I will have just come home from yoga.  Beautiful.  But seriously, if anyone has a great appetizer recipe that’s vegan and gluten free, something festive that’s a tried-and-true hit with folks, drop me a link to it in the comments because those kind of recipes score me brownie points with Scott

Thanks for your feedback yesterday about what you like to bring to parties to keep things a little healthier; everything from hummus to raw veggies to homemade desserts.  Thanks for the ideas!

Oh and I’m really glad you enjoyed the pictures from Skylar’s 3rd Birthday Party!

 And the Easy Countertop Vegan Coconut Milk Kefir

And the Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

And thanks for letting me know what burning questions you’d like me to answer in an About Me type Tab.  I am thinking Q & A session type post.   Elise and Julie have both done them recently, I need to get in on the action!

And I loved all your awesome comments on my Oats Post!
Everything from Bowls of Oatmeal

Creamy, coconutty, mango-ey, chia-ey action.  Tyrah already made it!

 to Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls which contain Oats

to Raw Vegan Apple Crumble which contains Oats.

I know Bloggers love to Get Our Oats on with Oat-Based Eats.  Glad you enjoyed all the recipes!

And the discussion and info I provided about Oats being gluten-free but usually cross-contaminated in milling & production, if you missed the GF discussion, check it out but glad that so many of you found that helpful!

Moving on…
On Skylar’s actual birthday, which was Tuesday, February 2, I took my freshly minted 3-year old to paint some pottery!

When I asked her what Colors She Wanted to Use…

…She was a bit stymied by all the choices!  We ended up with pink and purple, imagine that.

What item did this coffee guzzlin’ fiend I choose for the little Birthday Girl to paint?

A Coffee Mug, of course.

Her handy-work

And then I doctored it up just a little.  Basically, whatever paint I could slap on in 5 minutes. 

Back in the day, I used to love to paint pottery.  I also used to watch tv, shower when I wanted to, and worked earning money.  Now I just work my butt off, for free.

But seeing this grin makes it all worth it, of course!  We get to pick up the mug on Saturday, I’ll post a picture so you can see how it turned out.  Can you handle the suspense?  haha!

We came home and found my iHerb.com order waiting for me.

My Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Brown Rice Protein Powder in Chocolate.  The Vanilla is Awesome, too!

And my Probiotics

As I have mentioned before in my Natural Supplements Post, Probiotics are So Important!   
80% of our immune system is in our gut, so if you’re gut isn’t healthy, you’re not going to be healthy.  The normal, natural flora of your gut can become out of whack from environmental pollutants, caffeine, alcohol, stress, antibiotics, other medications, you name it, so replenish it with 5 billion organisms per pill.

Or with fermented foods like my Homemade Countertop Easy Vegan Coconut Milk Kefir

Or Replenish With Probiotics. Look for Enteric Coated. That just means your stomach acid won’t destroy it and the good bacteria, all 5 billion of them, will survive til they hit your GI tract where they do their best work.

And the iHerb.com people sent a sample of these Wellness Formula Daily Defense.  I keep a stash of these of the Wellness Formula on hand because at the first sign of a cold or flu bug, they work very well.  

I was also lucky enough to win Cooking For a Vegan Lover’s Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Give Away!

Do Not Fear the Fat. 
I know Evan, Gena and Heather don’t.  Nor does Miss Vegan Thursday!

If you missed my post on Coconut Oil Facts and Info, Check This One Out.

Thanks again, Lindsay of Cooking for a Vegan Lover and Tropical Traditions!

Scoring points with my husband who adores potatoes Dinnertime involved dicing up some potatoes and mini carrots

Drizzling with EVOO and a Coconut Oil combo, pepper (and salt if you wish), and a heavy sprinkling of ginger root (which is a great antimicrobial herb)

Roasting at 400F for 50 minutes, the first 30 minutes covered with foil, the last 20 minutes, flipped the veggies over and roasted them, uncovered.

And Voila

Plated the roasted veggies with Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Carrots, & Cukes

And dressed it with homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

I tore into another bowl of Greenery:  Brock, Sugar Snap Peas, Cukes, Tomatoes, Mixed Greens and homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

Dessert was a Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowball for Scott

And a few Vegan White Chocolate Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cups for me!

And Skylar wanted a few of the Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies we made yesterday!

No icky ingredients, and no waiting around for them to bake…they’re ready in 5 minutes.  As soon as you can get them out of the food processor or Vita!

Get ’em started young on the good kind of cookies!

Yoga Today is The Splits!  A wonderful hip opener and way to stretch our your hamstrings, quads, and hip flexors.  Some of you run and your hamstrings are tight from overuse, and some of you sit at your desk or at your job you’re sitting alot and so your hamstrings and back is tight from that.  Try the splits to loosen it all up!  Baby steps, don’t force it.  Keep practicing & holding your version of the splits for a few minutes every day and I bet in 30-60 days you’ll be on the ground, but you need to be consistent.  Like everything in life, consistency is the name of the game!

Hanumanasana (Monkey Pose, or the full splits).

And Utthita Hasta Padangustasana, (The Standing Splits)

Tip of the Day: Because we’re still in cold and flu season, I wanted to mention what I do at the First Sign of a Cold, Cough, Flu-Bug, or Sickness.  
I recommend the following:
Starting or Upping Your Probiotic Dosage (2x/your usual)
Herbs such as Echinachea, Goldenseal, Slippery Elm Bark, Licorice Root.  For these herbs, check out your local health food store if you need them right away, or WF’s (but they are really expensive there) so try to order online if you can.
Vitamin C
Cooking with Cinnamon, Ginger, Cumin, Garlic, Onion.  They are all antimicrobial!  In order for these to be maximally effective, use generously and liberally.
Colloidal Silver
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbs that a TCM doctor or herbalist prescribes for your specific condition)
Accupuncture
Massage
Extra vigilance with handwashing
Rest
Increase Your Fluids

There are so many online sites to choose from with holistic and natural remedies information, but here was one I just came across.   Kris recently posted about her raw smoothie monsters to blast her germs away!


Questions:

What do You Do when you’re feeling a cold or sickness coming on?  Do you believe in the power of natural remedies?  Why or why not?  For me, I treat everything naturally first and 95% of the time, that’s enough.  With a good, clean diet, our immune systems are already strong and powerful, and in conjunction with common sense like rest and fluids and natural remedies, most things resolve themselves in a few days or a week.  However, I am not opposed to bringing in the big guns and western medicine if the situation warrants it, of course common sense must prevail.  How do you treat your health challenges?  Herbs and natural remedies, traditional western medicine all the way, or just do nothing and cross your fingers and hope you get better!

Have you tried Coconut Oil?  What’s your verdict on it?  I confess I didn’t always love it because I was buying inferior brands and the flavor was always meh, but in the past few years, I have upped my game on what brands I choose, and now I am hooked on it!


Still taking Reader Questions for an About Me Post.  Random Questions like Which Housewife is my Favorite are totally fine!

Stay Tuned For Shopping Finds and Cool New Products…