The Two Sisters Cookbook

For several years, I was a vegan and ate no meat or dairy products. It is a great way to lose weight and cleanse the toxins out of your system!

I enjoyed the first two years of mostly raw fruits and veggies and whole grains very much, then I got pregnant again. . .

Everything was great until the end of the pregnancy and my midwife begged me to eat a hamburger to get a boost of protein. I surrendered. I'll never forget that trip to Sonic. We knew they had $1 hamburger nights, so I packed the chips and our drinks and we set off. I still remember where we parked at the drive-in.

Since that day I have slowly incorporated organic meats back into our diet, but will never lose my first love for a colorful green salad spilling over the plate or a handful of raw, sweet almonds or organic fruits and veggies! They are still the BEST.

One of my favorite meatless cookbooks is FROM THE KITCHEN OF TWO SISTERS by the Voeller sisters--it is absolutely excellent in flavor and in content!

I particularly love this cookbook because the ingredients are wholesome and healthy, but not gourmet or outlandish. They are things I can easily find in my local grocery store or health food store and I really appreciate that.

I also like the fact that the recipes share many of the same ingredients, but each recipe has its own unique character and flavor. So it satifies my frugal palette as well.

Some of the Fagala Family faves are:

Spectacular Sauteed Green Beans

Sunny Yellow Squash

Best Barbeque Sauce (every good Texan or wanna-be Texan needs to make this in BIG batches!)
Sunny Corn Bread

Sweet Biscuits

Egg-Citing Flaxseed Mixture (good egg substitute)

Parsley-Parmesan Pesto

I highly recommend this cookbook for those who'd like to have some delicious dishes that don't include meat or dairy. And trust me. . . I've served these dishes to my cheese-loving friends numerous times with great raves.

There's just nothing that beats great flavor! Bon appetit.

A Sweet Tribute to a Sweet Friend

Aren't you so glad for good friends?

I sure am. And there is one I want to pay special tribute to this weekend right here on this blog, so if you'll graciously allow me. . . ahem. . . I would like to honor my dear friend, Denise.

There are several reasons that I am so thankful Denise is in my life:

* Her gentle spirit soothes my often-anxious one
* Her way of always looking positively at things inspires me
* Her eternal patience with everyone

* The goofy giggles we share over the silliest of things

* We write very well together (Homeschool Group Leader blog)

* She is always open to others' ideas without having to push her own

* We both dream really big

* Her simple, delicious lunches

* She listens to all my health talk with interest and support

* We've prayed very deep things together

* She's a grammar nerd like me, and appreciates a well-formed and properly-punctuated sentence!

* She never gives up on me

* She is fast to forgive

* She is fast to seek forgiveness

* She loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind and strength. . . what more is there?

There is much, much more, actually, but you get the picture.

I encourage you to stop right now and think of a good friend in your life who is to you like Denise is to me and thank the Lord for that friend. Pray this weekend for that friend and find one way to bless them in a quiet, special way.

Denise has blessed me already this weekend by figuring out how to put the FeedBurner box on my blog!! I have been trying forever to figure that out to no avail. What a load lifted off my mind. Now, thanks to her generous gesture of time and effort you, too, can sign up to have the latest Health at Home post delivered directly to your inbox. So, when I write on the blog, it'll come right to you without you having to remember to come here. How easy is that?!

If you want to sign up, just enter your email address in the box beneath "Catch the Latest Post" and it will direct you with what to do after that. You will need to check your email for a verification message, so FeedBurner knows you really want to get my posts.

Thank you so much to all of you who faithfully read Health at Home and encourage me more than you could ever know!

HEART you!
Kristen

A Tribute to Samson

It rained the day Samson died.

Born from a litter of nine pups, Samson stole our hearts immediately. To be such a big, strong animal, he startled and ran at the slightest intimidation. But he had a big bark, and I loved that bark on the long, dark nights when Paul was gone with work.

Samson was a lover for sure--hogging all the petting and love we had to give, often pushing his mom, Lil' Ann, out of the way to get it. :-)

I really miss seeing him playing around the yard with his mom or the click of his nails on the tile when we'd bring him inside to play.

Losing Samson so suddenly has awakened me to several realities about life and health.

One, we never truly know how much time we have with our loved ones. It is so important to make the most of the moments we have. Those moments are a gift. I have replayed Samson's last hours many times in my mind and wish I would have lived them more tenderly, more meaningfully. I don't want to regret anything with my family members.

And two, I've realized that if we did live with that awareness that any one of us could be gone in a breath, we would live life a lot differently. We would live more peacefully with one another and a lot less selfishly. We would live more powerfully and make a difference on this earth for good. And we would live more joyfully with one another, delighting in the good only.

I have also realized that no matter how careful we try to be with caring for our health, the results are ultimately in the Lord's hands alone. And I'm good with that now. For years I struggled with pride in the area of health. The choices I made to eat this or not eat that or take this supplement or that herb distanced me from the people I loved so much because I allowed myself to care for my family's health for my own glory rather than God's.

But I know now that God takes good care of His stuff and if He loves my children more than even I do, then He's going to do the best for them, no matter what. I completely trust that now.

Samson was such a blessing to our family and added to our joy each day. We are grateful for the time we had with him. He will hold a forever place in our hearts.

The rain of the past few days has passed and a cool front has moved through, bringing with it hope for a new day. Go hug your "baby" today--more than once.

I love this tribute Paul put together for Samson and want to share it with you here. . .

My Health Pantry: Emergen-C

One of the staples of our wintertime health pantry is good ol' Vitamin C.

We've tried different Vitamin-C brands over the years, and we finally found one that all of my kids really like: Emergen-C.

Emergen-c is Vitamin-C plus a whole lot more good for you. First, they start with a whopping 1,000 milligrams of non-acidic Vitamin-C, which your body will appreciate. Then they add 32 minerals and electrolytes. Then they throw in B1, B2, B3, B6 and B12 for energy.

The result is a tasty little powder that you pour into filtered water for a non-carbonated health and energy boost. My kids love the raspberry and ruby lemon honey flavors the best. And I am able to easily find Emergen-C at my local Walmart and Kroger stores, which I love.

Each box of Emergen-C packets costs under $10 in my area, which makes it one of the more affordable ways to get good stuff down my kids, and I really love that!

Hey--check out The Emergen-C web site to see the latest product for kids, by kids: Emergen-C Kidz complete multi-vitamin!! I just discovered this new product while writing this blog. I really like the fact that each packet has 24 essential nutrients, plus choline for healthy brain function. My kids loved the cool names like: Strawnanaberry Blast, Orange Pineapple Explosion, and Cherry Yumberry. Sounds like a winner to me!

I believe you will be as pleased as we have been with the health and energy boost that you experience with only one little packet of Emergen-C a day. Cheers to the FIZZ!

My Wintertime Health Pantry

My friends are always asking me what I keep on hand in my "health pantry" to fight the terrible winter sicknesses that take so many people down.

I've got to be honest, with a family of seven (soon to be eight in the spring!!), we don't always escape the sicknesses through an entire "sick season," so please don't think we're perfect in this area. A lot of factors go into your family's wellness.

But with a little planning and determination, I believe that we can avoid most of the yuck and get better quicker if something does catch us.

Over the next few weeks, I will take you through my winter health pantry and highlight some of my favorite products. Some of these products I sell (why not sell what you love and get a discount for it, right?) and some of them I just love. Someday, I hope to have a virtual health store where I have physical backstock that people can buy from, but for now that's still in the dream stage, so we'll work with what we have.

I pray this trip through my health pantry blesses your family and helps you kick up your heels this winter!

Spicy Lemonade

This is my favorite drink for clearing the mucus out of your head and chest. It's quick and inexpensive to make, and I love that!

Spicy Lemonade

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbs maple syrup or molasses

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

8 oz. filtered water

Lemon is a master cleanser and is good for the liver. The maple syrup gives you energy and the cayenne pepper cleans the blood and clears mucus and toxins from the body. You can drink it liberally throughout the day, though I usually drink it once or twice at most.

The less water you use (I have made this with only 4 oz water before), the spicier it is. If your throat is raw and irritated from drainage or allergies, the cayenne will burn at first. It's ok; it will stop, and your throat will feel so much better. I prefer mine chilled, so I try to use cold water.

Leave me a comment and let me know if this works for you!

Hormones!!

After I had my first baby, my hormones were never the same.

I went from cheerful and fun-loving to irritable and serious almost overnight. My poor husband wasn't so sure I hadn't been kidnapped and replaced with an uncanny look-alike-- Mean Wife. I was driving us both crazy. I was quick to yell and slow to forgive, among other issues.

Over a decade passed before I realized I needed to surrender EVERYTHING, including my hormones, to the Lord. He had created them, He always wants the best for me, and He takes good care of His stuff, so I needed to hand my troubles over to Him.

I gradually began to go to the Lord daily and lay it all at His feet. . . the good, bad and the ugly. As I surrendered my weaknesses and studied the Word and poured out my heart, He began to soften me and mold me more into the image of Christ. He is such a patient and thorough teacher. I learned during that time how to be meek and gentle, how to serve my husband instead of chew his head off, and how to make my expectations more realistic and reachable. But I honestly was still struggling. I would be fine for a couple of weeks, then awful the next couple of weeks, then fine again, then awful again. It was a frustrating and exhausting cycle.

Then a couple of years ago, my mom gave me a bottle of PLUS. It is a hormone balancing product that she was using. PLUS is a product of a Texas-born company called Mannatech. I was very impressed with the standards of the company, that had been founded by a believer and was run on Christian principles. I tried the product, and for the first time in years, felt calm inside.

Anytime I am off of the PLUS for a couple of days, I begin to notice a big difference. So, we make sure it's in the budget each month!

I do believe that God can miraculously heal anything in my life (I've witnessed Him do it), and I am also so grateful when He leads me to little blessings like PLUS that make the health journey a little smoother and more joyful. If you want to try some, click here.

Here's to happy hormones!