I first learned about Nutritional Balancing almost two years ago when Pam Killeen came to one of my WAPF chapter meetings to give a talk.  It peaked my curiosity immediately.  I had been dealing with minor health issues my whole life (which only seemed to be getting worse) and when I discovered Dr. Price’s work through the Weston A. Price Foundation, I thought I had finally figured out the missing piece.  Going back to traditional foods would be all I would need to solve these problems and  experience radiant health.  Or was it?

It turns out that we may need more than properly prepared, nutrient dense traditional foods to solve the myriad of health problems we have accumulated in the 21st century.  It has taken us generations to lose this precious knowledge that food is medicine, but thanks to the WAPF, and other health educators, we can recover.  But, at this point in time, I don’t believe we can do it with food alone.  Our problems and deficiencies are far too great.

Enter Nutritional Balancing, or Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis.  This program is so different than many others because your own hair is tested for nutritional deficiencies, imbalances, and heavy metals.  There is no guesswork, no internet surfing for hours trying to figure out your symptoms on your own and self diagnosing.  And even if you were able to figure it all out on your own, how do you know what your body needs to bring it all back into balance?

I began Nutritional Balancing in September of 2010.  I suspected I had adrenal fatigue, and some type of thyroid dysfunction.  I was also beginning to experience lots of aches and pains in my joints.  I felt like an old lady!  I have had ovulation pain for as long as I can remember, so I knew I had some hormones out of whack.  I’ve given birth to three children, and breastfed them for almost 6 years in total.  I was overweight, temperamental and moody.  I wear glasses and had to wear braces as a child.  I was exposed to A LOT of second hand smoke as a child from both parents, and have three amalgam fillings (mercury).  We did not grow up on a traditional foods diet. There was a lot of processed food in the house.  I had a very stressful and fearful childhood (there was alcoholism and violence involved) and as a young married couple with our first child, my husband and I ended up living with his parents for almost 2 years.  Talk about stress!  As you can see, I was dealing with a lot of deficiencies.

Here is what my first test revealed:
- My sodium to potassium (NA/K) level was at an ideal ratio, but the sodium and potassium levels were very low. This is the most important mineral ratio in the whole body.  This indicated ADRENAL BURNOUT.  The test emphasizes both the levels and ratios of minerals. In fact, this program is very unique in that it is fixing both the ratios and levels of the minerals. According to the report, weak adrenal gland activity may contribute greatly to the accumulation of heavy metals as normal detoxification mechanisms become impaired.  The body may compensate for adrenal weakness by retaining excessive amounts of copper, iron, manganese, aluminum, lead, cadmium, arsenic and other toxic metals.
- My iron was really low, BUT this did not mean I needed to supplement with iron!  It meant I really had a copper deficiency!  Not only that, but I had hidden copper that was bio-unavailable. This is what was likely causing my aches and pains.  Copper imbalance is so common. According to the report – “Many of the most prevalent metabolic dysfunctions of our time are related in some way to copper imbalance.  A copper imbalance is often associated with fatigue, emotional sensitivity, depression, mood swings, anxiety, insomnia, skin conditions, yeast infections and many other disorders.”
- I had a SLUGGISH THYROID.  This was evident in my calcium to potassium level (CA/K).  It was 838% of the ideal! Common causes include the presence of mercury, copper and chlorine toxicity, impaired adrenal activity, nutrient deficiencies and stress.  In fact, all of the halogens, bromine, chlorine and fluorine can all interfere with thyroid function (because they interfere with iodine).
- My calcium to magnesium ratio (CA/MG) needed to improve, it was low, only 77% of the ideal.  However, I had an elevated calcium level.  This doesn’t indicate the presence of too much calcium in my diet, but abnormal calcium deposition in the hair and other soft tissues of the body.
- My sodium to magnesium ratio (NA/MG) was extremely low at only 9% of the ideal!  To put this figure into perspective, it indicated that I had an energy level of a 9/100. YIKES!
- My zinc to copper ratio (ZN/CU) and my calcium to phosphorus ratio (CA/P) were also really high – Based on the numbers, the test revealed I was a SLOW OXIDIZER. This means that I metabolize food at a slower rate than is required for optimal energy levels to adequately perform basic body functions.  The activity of both the adrenal and the thyroid glands is less than optimal. According to the lab report, slow oxidizers often experience some degree of fatigue, lack of energy, sugar cravings, low blood sugar levels, weight gain and depression.  No wonder I was tired all the time!  18 months later, I am still a slow oxidizer and still experiencing all of these things, to varying degrees!  What else can I say, but healing takes a LOOOOONG time!
- I was also in a RESISTANCE STAGE of stress.  The first stage is Alarm stage, second is Resistance stage, and third is Exhaustion stage.  The Resistance stage is best described as an endless battle, with the body attempting to contain the stress as it is unable to eliminate it.
- The test revealed impaired dietary protein synthesis and impaired overall digestion.  It was at this time I chose to do the GAPS diet to improve upon this.
- My body was in a predominantly PARASYMPATHETIC STATE, which is often due to the exhaustion of the sympathetic nervous system.  In a constant state of stress, doing too much and not resting enough, I exhausted my sympathetic system from over use.  This was difficult for me to understand, so Pam explained it for me.  ”Essentially, sympathetic dominance means that one moves into a parasympathetic state. It sounds counter intuitive. So, what comes first — the chicken or the egg? With a low potassium level, one has pushed themselves so hard, their nervous system is exhausted. If we were healthy, and had a normal potassium level, we’d be in a parasympathetic state (resting and digesting — which is healthy). But when one isn’t healthy, and has a low potassium level, the body wants to shut down. In fact, it needs to shut down. But people don’t listen….so, we crash.” For optimal health, the body should maintain a proper balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic states.
- The test also suggested that I had an impaired immune system, and a mild trend for liver and kidney stress.
- There was ALUMINUM detected in my hair, along with arsenic, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, and lithium.  Surprisingly, no lead or mercury was present, even though I have had amalgam fillings in my mouth since childhood.  That doesn’t mean my body was free of them.  It meant my adrenals were just too weak to kick them out.  The presence of heavy metals in your hair means that your body is effectively detoxifying them out of your body, and mine wasn’t!

Where Do I Go From Here?

So, I had gotten my lab results back, and my list of recommended supplements.  The instructions were to take these supplements, 3x per day for next few months, and then do a retest.  Easy enough, right?  Well, I really dislike taking supplements.  It was about 8-10 pills, 3x per day.  That is a little too much for my liking, so Pam advised me that it would be ok to take them only once or twice per day.  But, there was a caveat!  My progress and detox would slow down.  However, that could be a good thing, because this program is so detoxifying, minimizing detox symptoms is usually very desirable!

In addition to the supplements, you must also follow a healing diet like a traditional real foods, WAPF diet, exercise less (like WAAAY less – no aerobic activity), rest more, get more sleep and go to bed earlier, do less, find time for relaxation and meditation, do detox baths, use a sauna and do coffee enemas all to help heal your body and help the metals and toxins come out.  For myself, I was instructed to put my adrenals on bed rest.  Not that I wouldn’t want to rest and relax more, but this is not always easy when you are a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling three children!  Never mind any outside responsibilities you may have.

What I really love about this program is that it focuses on high quality supplements for the short term only, and diet and lifestyle changes for the long term.  Because of the state health you may be in, supplements may be an absolute necessity for a short while to correct and heal. But, they aren’t designed for life.  That’s where diet and lifestyle management techniques come in.

Stay tuned as I reveal the importance of the other healing elements of this program including infrared saunas and enemas, as well as the results of my retests!

This post is being shared at Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday!

Top Photo Credit: nom nom vitamins nom nom from aSIMULAtor’s photostream on Flickr

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Butter Belle kitchen!  Love is in the air around here as we are making Valentine’s Day cards and some sweet treats for our loved ones.

Nothing says love more than something you made out of your own kitchen with nourishing ingredients.  For Valentine’s Day breakfast, I spied these yummy looking chocolate crepes from Cooking TF.  I think they would be divine with some whipped cream and strawberry sauce.  I also thought we’d make these heart shaped chocolate graham crackers from The Nourishing Home.  Or how about some simple dark chocolate dipped strawberries that I’m sure everyone will love?  No recipe needed, just dip some organic strawberries into some good quality fair-trade dark, melted chocolate.

Another treat that is perfect for Valentine’s Day is ice cream (actually, come to think of it, ice cream is perfect for anytime!). Something pink and chocolatey of course!  I picked up some extra raw cream from the farm last week and thought now would be a great time to make another batch.  Did you know that ice cream can be good for you?  If you use nutrient dense ingredients like raw cream from grass-fed cows, pastured egg yolks chock full of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and mineral rich maple syrup — you could even serve this for breakfast!  Why does grass-fed make a difference in nutrition?  According to A Campaign For Real Milk, “Vital nutrients like vitamins A and D, and Price’s “Activator X” (a fat-soluble catalyst that promotes optimum mineral assimilation, now believed to be vitamin K₂) are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass in the spring and fall. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and Activator X disappears, when milk cows are fed commercial feed.” It is the dead of winter around these parts, so why not plug your body with extra nutrients by eating ice cream!

Store your ice cream canister in the freezer and it will be ready for you to whip up some ice cream any time your heart desires!  This recipe has been adapted from Nourishing Traditions, by: Sally Fallon-Morell.

Raspberry-Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• 3 organic or pastured egg yolks (save the whites for meringues or an omelette)
• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup or raw honey
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups raw grass-fed cream, or coconut milk
• 1 cup organic dark cherries, raspberries, or a combination
• 3/4 cup organic dark mini chocolate chips
• Optional: 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• Optional: 1 tsp gelatin powder (I try to sneak this stuff into everything, especially after reading this)

1. Using a blender or food processor, blend the cherries and raspberries together until smooth. Pass through a wire sieve to remove seeds if desired.  Stir in the gelatin powder to begin dissolving, if using.  Set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix together egg yolks, maple syrup, vanilla, cream and optional arrowroot powder with a whisk.

3. Assemble ice cream machine and place frozen canister inside.  Pour ice cream mixture into canister and allow the machine to run until ice cream is desired consistency. You can add the purred fruit in at the beginning, or just towards the end of churning, depending on if you want your ice cream a pink colour throughout, or swirled.

4. Toss in the chocolate chips during the last few minutes of churning.

5. Once the ice cream is done churning, work quickly to place the ice cream into shallow containers and place in the freezer to harden for several hours to harden.

Ice cream for breakfast? Okay!

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!   Please let me know in the comments below what you’ve got planned to treat your sweeties with!

This post is being shared at Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, and Fight Back Friday.

Top Photo Credit: Love by: Aunt Owwee’s photostream on Flickr

It has been a year since I started my journey with the GAPS diet (Gut & Psychology Syndrome).  But, I have a confession.  I only stuck with it for 3 months.  I was doing it to see if it would help with hormonal issues, mainly adrenal fatigue and sluggish thyroid, but to also support my daughter, who was doing it with me.  The main issue with her was related to speech, more specifically, disfluency and articulation.  In the three months we did the diet, I did not see one single change in her speech or my adrenal health.  However, my digestion was running very smooth.  See my 8 week GAPS update for more details.  I know what you are all going to tell me, we didn’t do the diet long enough, three months is too short!  I agree.  And, I would have stayed on the diet longer had I noticed *some* change with her speech, even small changes, but I didn’t.  Which, was really disappointing, because here we are, a year later and we are still having speech issues and now seeing a speech and language pathologist.  But, it did tell me that our gut dysbiosis was minor.  It also told me that her speech problems had nothing to do with her gut bacteria, and same with my adrenal/thyroid issues.

The Missing Link
So, what could it be then?  I wasn’t about to give up on trying to obtain better health for us. Prior to starting GAPS we were already eating a nourishing traditional diet.  But, for some (read=most) the food we put into our mouths is just not enough anymore.  With nutritional deficiencies and toxins passed down for several generations now, it is no wonder that food is just not enough to “fix” us. That is why if you are on the GAPS diet, it can take 2+ years to heal, and some may never fully heal.  I have mentioned before that both my daughter and I have been on another program called Nutritional Balancing or Biochemical Restoration.  I have been on this program since September 2010, and my daughter since February 2011.  It is a lengthy and very involved protocol, but ultimately one I have come to highly believe in because I can see the changes through my hair tests as time goes on.  I have now been on the program for about 18 months and I am anticipating being on it for another 18 months or so. Why does it take so long?  Well, most people don’t realize that in the grand scheme of life, 1 or 2 years is really not that long to correct several generations of nutritional deficiencies and other toxicities.  We are all conditioned to just take that magic pill and be healed.  Sorry folks, it just doesn’t work that way!  By the way, this program is hard work and full of frustration, amoungst many other emotions — but soooo worth it!

The beautiful thing about this program, unlike any other program out there, is that it is tailored specifically for you.  The lab analyzes your hair and prescribes you a specific supplement protocol based on your results.  There is no guessing what supplements you should be taking to bring you back into balance.  You don’t need to be a detective and self-medicate!  You are given specific nutrients designed to pull out heavy metals and work synergistically with each other.  Most people assume that if they are anaemic that they should just supplement with iron, or supplement with magnesium if they have insomnia.  But, do you really know what the consequences of doing that are?  What are you putting out of balance by guessing?  Are you creating other problems by trying to fix the original one?  Did you know that just because the test shows that you are low in magnesium, it doesn’t mean that you need to supplement with magnesium!  Make no mistake, I am a real foodie, as I’m sure many of your are, and I don’t like taking supplements.  Well, on this program, it is their goal to have you off the supplements once your imbalances are corrected.  Yes, supplements are necessary for a short while, but they should not be for life.  In a perfect world, we would have never needed them to begin with.

I have been fortunate enough to work with a practitioner specifically trained in how to read the analysis and coach us on this journey in terms of supplements, detoxification, and lifestyle modification.  Her name is Pam Killeen, from London, Ontario.  Some of you may have heard of her because she is an author, who co-wrote The Great Bird Flu Hoax, with Dr. Joseph Mercola, and her most recent book called Addiction: The Hidden Epidemic.  She is also an educator and nutrition consultant.  She teaches classes on the work of the WAPF, and is a regular guest on 1290 AM CJBK, London ON.  Pam will also be speaking at the WAPF Wise Traditions Conference in Santa Clara, California this coming November, 2012.  Her seminar is titled “How To Fix a Broken Brain”.  Please visit Pam’s website for consultation information.  She can work with you via telephone, email, or Skype.  I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Nutritional Balancing Explained, By: Pam Killeen

Have you been struggling with a long-standing health problem? Have you spent thousands of dollars on a variety of remedies and not made any progress? If these questions apply to you, don’t despair. One of the most overlooked aspects of health and healing involves repairing one’s biochemistry using a very new and cutting-edge science called, Nutritional Balancing. Nutritional balancing addresses the underlying biochemical reasons why we get sick – both physically and mentally.

Nutritional balancing draws from many branches of science, including biochemistry, physiology, nutrition, stress theory, pathology and psychology. It is based upon the work of a Dr. Paul Eck, a physician and biochemist who spent many years studying the work of several health pioneers including, Hans Selye, MD, Roger Williams, PhD, Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, Linus Pauling, PhD, and George Watson, PhD. Nutritional balancing involves a precise means of assessing and monitoring the condition of your body’s chemistry. It also includes an innovative new way to interpret hair mineral test results. Finally, it encourages the application of following a traditional foods diet (based upon the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, author of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration), targeted supplements, detoxification protocols, mental and emotional suggestions and more to raise one’s energy level and restore a more balanced chemistry.

Nutritional Balancing honors the fact that we are all individuals with our own unique metabolic blueprint. It involves a paradigm that is much different than traditional, functional, orthomolecular or naturopathic medicine. Standard medical and natural treatments are based on an allopathic model — the naming of a disease or a condition for which a remedy or treatment is then prescribed or recommended. With Nutritional Balancing, the label of one’s condition is not the focus; rather, the starting point for healing is the understanding of your biochemical imbalances and then repairing your unique chemistry.

Program Benefits

* Renewed and Improved Health

* Improved Digestion

* Increased Vitality

* Attain a Better Quality of Life

* Improved Relaxation

* Healthy Weight Loss

* Correct Weakened Detoxification Patterns

* Heavy Metal Removal

* Learn improved lifestyle

* Restore Balance to your life

* Re-mineralize your body

* Reverse Aging Process

* Stronger Immune System

* Enriched Relationships

* Enhanced Athletic Performance

* Improved Concentration and Academic Achievement

What is Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis?

Universally, a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) is known as a screening test that measures the mineral content of your hair. It is a tissue mineral biopsy that is non-invasive, relatively inexpensive and extremely accurate. An HTMA is a screening test for the level of 20 minerals and toxic metals in a sample of hair. A small sample of hair tells me the level of 20 minerals and toxic metals. It also provides me with a blueprint of one’s biochemistry (metabolic rate, energy levels, sugar and carbohydrate tolerance, stage of stress, immune system and glandular activity).

Hair Analysis Can Identify

* Trace element deficiencies

* Trends for psychological and emotional conditions

* Heavy metal toxicity

* Cellular energy levels

* Glucose tolerance

* Kidney and liver stress

* Adrenal and thyroid activity

* Trends for over 30 health conditions

* Which nutritional supplements are right for you

Nutritional balancing involves a tremendous amount of work on behalf of the client. Patience is required as it can take several months for your biochemistry to restore itself. Depending upon their compliance, clients usually report significant improvements in their health within three months of starting the program. As you progress on the program, your biochemistry will gradually balance out even more; eventually, you’ll feel remarkable improvements in your overall physical and mental health.

Pam Killeen is a nutritional consultant, educator and public speaker. She is also the author of Addiction: The Hidden Epidemic and co-author of The Great Bird Flu Hoax. Her website is www.pamkilleen.com and email is pam@pamkilleen.com. You can find her on Facebook where she regularly posts health and nutrition updates.

In the next blog post, I am going to detail for you what my journey has been like thus far on this program, including examples of my hair analysis, supplements I am taking and the changes that are happening in my body!  To read more about nutritional balancing, please visit Dr. Lawrence Wilson’s website.  He is one of the leading experts in this field, having studied with Dr. Paul Eck.

Thoughts or questions about this?  I want to hear about them in the comments below!

This post is being shared over at Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Friday.

Photo Credit: Girl With Flying Hair by: dimodi’s photostream on Flickr

Who doesn’t love bacon?  Everything is better with butter, but the same is true with bacon, right?  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and even dessert (mmmm, chocolate covered bacon!). Bacon can be eaten at any meal, any time!  And of course there’s turkey bacon, chicken bacon, beef bacon and pork bacon — but will the real bacon please stand up?  Well, to me the real bacon comes from pigs of course.  When I first started learning more about nutrition, over ten years ago, I stopped eating pork products.  Pigs eat anything and everything, are supposedly full of parasites, biblically unclean, and oh, gasp! lets not even talk about the saturated fat content!  While this may be true of factory farmed pork, I have since discovered that pork that has been organically and humanely raised, on pasture by small local farms is quite different.

Vitamin D and Pork
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, pork fat (lard) is the second richest source of vitamin D, with cod liver oil being the best source.  In fact, there are 500 IU of vitamin D per teaspoon of lard.  But, there is a catch.  Since we know that vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, the pigs have to be outside, or on pasture, being exposed to sunshine in order for them to manufacture vitamin D.  And because pigs are generally light skinned with little hair on their bodies, they have the ability to manufacture a lot more vitamin D from the sun than say, chickens, or cows.  Pigs in confinement will not be a good source of Vitamin D.  What is the big deal about vitamin D anyway?  Well, we know from the studies Weston Price conducted on traditional peoples, that on average, those healthy cultures got ten times more vitamin D (and other fat-soluble vitamins) than most people do now.  Vitamin D is important for fighting infections (one of the main reasons we catch more colds and flus in the winter), depression, bone health, cancer prevention, and so much more. It is estimated that 77% of Americans are deficient. (source)

Parasites and Pork
Pork meat is one we have been conditioned to make sure we cook thoroughly to kill parasites, specifically trichinosis.  This is one of the main reasons I avoided serving pork to my family for so long.  Even if you do thoroughly cook your pork and kill any potential parasites, the thought of eating dead parasites wasn’t exactly appetizing.  Well, I found it curious that Dr. Weston Price, during his travels in the 1930′s, found several traditional cultures that ate pork and were in superb health.  These cultures of course had no fear of the fat content of pork and ate of it freely.  But, their pigs were pastured, which I believe makes all the difference.  When an animal is living in a healthy environment and eating appropriate food for their species, they are unlikely to be infested with parasites. However, this may have still posed a problem from time to time, so traditional people also knew how to properly prepare pork to destroy any potential parasites.  In the Fall 2011 issue of the Wise Traditions journal, this method was investigated. By using salt and or vinegar to cure or marinate pork, it was found to be effective in killing parasites in pork meat and make pork easier to digest.  You can read the article here.

Saturated Fat and Pork
Pork has a bad rap for being high in cholesterol and saturated fat.  For years now we have been brain washed into believing that saturated fat is bad for us and to avoid it like the plague for fear of clogged arteries, heart attacks and stroke!  Thanks to the Weston A. Price Foundation, we now know that we have been lied to and that saturated fat is actually good for us.  In her book “Fat”, Jennifer McLagan states that lard and bacon fat only contain 39% saturated fats, 45% monounsaturated fats, and 11% polyunsaturated fats.  So, pork fat actually does not have a high saturated fat content, which I think is too bad!  I personally try to eat the majority of my fats as saturated as possible, while trying to minimize the mono and polyunsaturated fats. Why do I do this? Saturated fats are the most stable and highly resistant to oxidation. The less saturated a fat is, the less stable it is and is therefore more likely to go rancid and create free radicals.  And those nasty free radicals are what causes damage in our bodies.  Free radicals = cellular death.  Cancer anyone?  No thanks!

Today I am sharing with you an easy recipe for making your own bacon.  But why would you bother?  First, cost.  It is always cheaper to make things from scratch rather than pay someone to pre-make it for you.  Second, chemicals.  Since bacon is a preserved food, it almost always contains preservatives of some kind.  Here are the ingredients in a typical package of bacon found in a grocery store:  pork, water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphate, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, smoke.

Of particular concern, and what I personally try to avoid in all cured meats are:

Sodium Nitrites/Nitrates – Used as a preservative, antibacterial, antimicrobial and coloring agent in many processed meats, are converted to cancer-causing nitrosamines in the body. According to nutritionist Mike Adams, when consumers eat sodium nitrite in popular meat products, nitrosamines are formed in the body where they promote the growth of various cancers, including colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer. “Sodium nitrite is a dangerous, cancer-causing ingredient that has no place in the human food supply,” he explains. (source)

Sodium Erythorbate – A chemical version of vitamin C, used as a food preservative with no nutritional value.  It has been found to cause general side effects such as headaches, body flushing, generalized fatigue and malaise, dizziness, lightheadedness and hemolysis. Has also been found to have gastrointestinal and renal side effects. (source)

By making your own bacon, you have the ability to procure the best quality pork available to you.  If it is pastured, it will have a high vitamin D content (which many of us are lacking) and you will be able to control the ingredients while still making delicious, easy bacon!  I am using both sea salt and apple cider vinegar in my recipe to cure, flavor and kill any potential parasites.

Easy, Homemade, Chemical-Free Bacon

• 1 lb pastured pork belly, fresh and uncured
• 1 TBS unrefined sea salt
• 1 TBS organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS maple syrup, honey, sucanat or palm sugar
• 1 tsp organic molasses
• Optional: Spices of your choice, such as black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, etc.

Slab of pork belly in marinade.

1. Your pork belly may come as one whole piece, or for convenience, you can ask your butcher to slice it for you.  Slip the whole piece of belly into a large zip-lock bag, or a shallow glass container.
2. In a small bowl, combine all the the ingredients together.  It will have a paste-like consistency.
3. Smear the paste all over the pork belly or slices with your hands, or if using the bag, dump the paste into the bag, and use the bag to help smear the paste all over the meat.
4. Place the pork belly into the fridge and let sit overnight.  By morning, your bacon will be ready to enjoy for breakfast.  If your pork belly was not pre-sliced for you, use a sharp knife to slice pieces off as thick as you like.
5. Fry bacon slices slowly in a cast iron pan over low-medium heat.  Be careful not to use high heat because the sugar in the bacon may burn.

Frying up thick slices of homemade bacon.

Enjoy!  And be sure to save that delicious bacon fat for another yummy dish!

This post is being shared over at Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Friday.  Go over and check out the other real food posts!

Happy New Year real food lovers!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration, and that some where in there you had a chance to enjoy time with family and friends and perhaps some quiet time to relax.  If you are a mother like myself with young children, you probably spent a lot of your time cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, entertaining and generally working harder than you were able to enjoy!

Despite having a fairly quiet Christmas, I for one over did it and drained my poor adrenals once again.  I think that as mothers we sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves to do it all, and do it well!  And as a real foodie, I pride myself in making sure that the foods I make are from scratch and properly prepared.  For me, this means, sprouting the whole wheat berries, dehydrating, grinding and sifting for the baked goods.  Soaking and dehydrating the nuts and seeds, soaking the Christmas Dinner buttermilk biscuits overnight, rendering pastured lard for the pecan pie, marinating and dehydrating the beef jerky (for gifts) ahead of time, etc.  It all takes a lot of time, and requires planning, which I tend to fall short on.  So, I have been spending the last couple of weeks trying to quietly recover.  I suppose part of it is the season of life we as a family are in right now.  As the kids get older, things will get a little easier, right? Besides, as a real foodie, I don’t think I could bring myself to do it any differently, other than, maybe to become more organized! Hmmm, maybe another one for the list of goals this year?

So, here we are, in the middle of January, and I’m sure many of you have laid out some new years resolutions for yourselves. Maybe you’ve vowed to lose that weight you’ve struggled with for a while, start an exercise program, give up white sugar, maybe even learn to play a new instrument!  Honestly, I am not one to set unrealistic resolutions that I am not likely to keep. So, if you are thinking about some resolutions or goals to set for yourself, I would encourage you to really think about how attainable they are and just what is really important to you. Rather than losing that unwanted weight, why not focus on doing what it takes to just get healthy first?  There are a handful of goals in my life that I am hoping to see come to fruition this year, and I’d like to share them with you.

MY GOALS FOR 2012:

1. Heal my body. If I am not functioning at my best, I am no good to anyone.  People often question how I could be overweight or have any health problems because I eat such a healthy diet. Besides, I have been preaching to people all about traditional diets for the last several years now.  If this diet was so healthy, why do I still have problems?  Well, I am over 30 years old, and sadly I wasn’t born into this world as healthy as I could have been. And, either were my parents, or their parents.  Processed and fake foods have been in use for over one hundred years now, and this has affected several generations.  My parents smoked cigarettes, had their children close together, and served us plenty of processed food.  I had crooked teeth and grew up wearing glasses.  I’ve since had three children myself now and even though I have been eating a nourishing diet for over 4 years, the bad has managed to outweigh the good.  But, this doesn’t mean I give up.  It means I do my best to rebuild and repair.  I may not ever function 100 percent perfectly, but I want to function the best I can. My biggest complaint is adrenal fatigue, which causes a sluggish thyroid, heavy metal toxicity, being overweight, and hormonal imbalance.  I am undergoing a nutritional balancing program that is addressing all of these issues, and I will blog about this in a future blog post.

2. De-stress! Learn to say no, take time for myself, and relax.  This includes taking long, hot epsom baths after the kids go to bed, sweating it out in my new infrared sauna (yes, this is relaxing to me), reading more, going for the occasional massage or to the tanning bed when I get a chance.

3. Remove my amalgam fillings. I was convinced at the WAPF conference this past November that I really need to remove this mercury from my mouth as to reduce the toxic load on my body.  I have three silver fillings in my mouth and that can’t be doing me any favours.  I have heard that this mercury is always releasing it’s vapor, especially when rubbed (tooth brushing), or when exposed to hot food or liquid.  Dentist Dr. Pentti Nupponen told us in his talk that one mercury filling is the equivalent to one broken mercury thermometer constantly leaking in your mouth.  Yikes!  He also said that mercury accumulates in your thyroid gland.  Gee, I wonder if there is any connection here between my heavy metal toxicity and my sluggish thyroid???

4. Get more sleep. Not just that, because I usually average about 8.5-9 hours per night (remember, adrenal fatigue), but I need to train my body to go to bed earlier, like before midnight earlier.  It is hard.  I am with all of my kids all day long, and when they go to bed, I feel like it is my time to get some things done and simply de-stress.  So, it is my goal to hit the sheets between 10-11pm. I believe the more sleep we get before midnight, the better.  And by doing this, I will also be able to wake up earlier thus starting our day earlier.  I tend to really drag in the morning, and I refuse to make my adrenal fatigue worse by drinking coffee.

5. Blog more! It is my goal to blog oncer per week.  I have so much information that I’d like to share and recipes to post, but where does a homeschooling mom of 3 find the time?  My hubby works a lot, I don’t have a housekeeper or nanny, and so, it’s all me around here!  I’m not complaining though, at least I try not to .  But, since real food is my passion, I need to fit it in!  If there is anything you’d like to see me write about or a topic you’d like me to cover, please let me know!

6. Move into a bigger home! We have been here in our first starter house for almost 8 years and in this time our family has expanded from 3 people to 5 plus several animals!  We have outgrown it and are stepping all over each other and our things!  The Lord is good and has provided for us during this time and I pray that he will do the same come spring when it is time to sell and find the home we are looking for.  I would love to be able to move out of the city onto a bigger property where my children can run and throw a ball without it getting over the neighbors fence!  I would also love to be able to keep some backyard chickens and have a large veggie garden.  A big kitchen with lots of cupboard space would also make me very happy.

I could go on and continue to hope and dream for many other things to happen this year such as finally losing the weight, exercising more, having a clean house and preparing meals on time everyday.  But, I won’t.  It is not realistic for me and only contributes to my stress.  Ultimately I know that God is in control and it is only through Him that the necessary changes will occur.

Do you have any resolutions or goals that you would like to share?
Don’t be hard on yourself, just do your best!  If you set goals or resolutions that are not realistic, you will only feel stressed and worse about yourself in the long run.  Let this be your year – focus on you and your health!  It is not selfish.  As mothers, we can’t serve our families or friends until we have taken care of ourselves first.  This has been a struggle for me, and continues to be.  My adrenals have been paying the price.  We cannot sacrifice our health and well being at the expense of others.

Happy New Year my friends and good health to you!

This post is being shared over at Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Simple Lives Thursday.

Photo Credit: 2012 Calendar by danielmoyle’s photostream on Flikr

With a little more than a week left before Christmas, I don’t know about you, but I know I am still scrambling to finish up my gift buying and baking.  Ok, I’ll admit, I just started this week! As I figure out my last minute preparations I have come across some really great gift ideas and recipes that I’d like to try this holiday season and share with you all.

Christmas Treats & Baking:

How does this fudge from Cheeseslave look?  Made with all real food ingredients, I know my family is going to love it and so will yours!

Everybody loves eggnog, but how do you avoid the sickeningly sweet store bought stuff?  Make it yourself with nutrient dense ingredients!  Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS makes it with raw grass-fed milk and cream, pastured raw eggs and a natural sweetener – yum!

How about whipping up a nourishing liver pate spread to serve to your family and guests over homemade crackers?  These recipes over at the Nourished Kitchen look divine!  Or, if you are grain-free, you might want to try these crackers to serve the pate over at Our Nourishing Roots.

If you are wondering what to serve for breakfast on Christmas morning, doesn’t this GAPS friendly breakfast casserole look delicious?  The Well Fed Homestead has this and many other GAPS friendly recipes you should check out!

Sick of canned cranberry sauce?  Heather from The Mommypotamus has a homemade version of that looks fresh and wonderful, and it’s GAPS approved!

Here’s another yummy treat that the whole family will love — peppermint patties!  Peppermint and chocolate scream Christmas to me, and Kerry Ann over at Cooking Traditional Foods has a wholesome recipe that includes coconut oil.

Homemade Do It Yourself Gifts:

Cara over at Health, Home, & Happiness has a recipe for a homemade, natural body salve that would be perfect for gift giving!

I love the idea of the ‘cookie mix in a jar’ idea, so I came across several real food versions!  The Nourishing Home has recipes for granola, jumble berry jam, and GF fruitcake bars in a jar.  Go check them out!

You could also give the gift of home rendered lard or ghee!  I know I would be more than happy to get a jar of either one as a gift, but make sure that pork fat and butter is from pastured animals! Shannon at Nourishing Days has a simple method teaching you how to render lard and tallow. If you go over and visit The Healthy Home Economist, Sarah will teach you how to make ghee!

I’ve got a couple of brothers who would love the gift of grass-fed, chemical-free beef jerky.  It’s a portable and convenient snack.  I think I’ll try this recipe from Paleo Digest.

How about a homemade sugar scrub with all natural ingredients?  Yes please!  Scented with peppermint, lavender or mandarin, Maybe Matilda will show you how easy they are to make and package in a pretty jar.

And who doesn’t love softening their lips with a natural lip balm?  This recipe from Food Renegade looks easy enough to do.

If all else fails and you are still completely out of ideas, here’s a really great one:  Why not purchase a one year gift membership to the Weston A. Price Foundation for your loved one? Without the work of this foundation, I don’t know where I’d be, and I certainly wouldn’t be here writing this blog! Included in your membership are 4 outstanding, information packed journals delivered to your door, and the peace of mind knowing that your donation is helping to educate and continue the work of Dr. Weston A. Price.

As you wrap up your last minute shopping and finish up your baking, please consider these recipes and gift ideas if you are stuck or in need of something nourishing and special! Christmas is full of special baking and lots of treats that we don’t normally indulge in. But, I think that is perfectly fine once in a while.  If possible though, why not throw in a little nutrition by using real food recipes? Getting sick because of overindulgence, especially during the holidays is really a bummer!

What recipes are you going to try this year to celebrate the season?  Do you have any ideas that you’d like to share?

This post is being shared at Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.

Photo Credit: Andrew Michaels Photostream on Flickr

What's on the menu?

She has just recently re-launched her menu mailer subscription and here is what she is offering:

Here’s what you can expect each week:

Just in time for Christmas, Cheeseslave menus by mail are on sale now!  If you sign up before December 31 – you will get 20% off the regular price of $10/month, or $85/year.  That brings it down to $8/month or $68/year!  There are many menu mailers available out there that feature traditional foods.  I have used several of them.  They are all very similar, depending on what you are after.  I can say for certainty that the Cheeseslave menus are my favorite, and I will be subscribing to them once again!  No matter how good of a cook you think you are, we are all strapped for time, and who couldn’t use a little help with meal planning?  Click here to subscribe now!

I’ve got a list of favorites from the first menu mailer that I make again and again.  To tempt you, some of these terrific recipes include Perfect Roast Chicken (salt brined), Potatoes Dauphinoise (cooked in cream, butter and cheese), Braised Grass-fed Short Ribs, Welsh Rabbit, Nachos with Sour Cream & Guacamole, Easy Mac & Cheese, Valentine’s Day Chocolate Pots De Creme, Quiche Lorraine, Lasagna Bolognese, Fettuccine Alfredo, Surf & Turf Fondue with Bearnaise dipping sauce, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Pork Carnitas Tacos, Penne with Broccoli & Sausage, and so many more.  Are you hungry yet?

Today I’m going to share with you a mouth-watering recipe from the original menu plans.  Are you ready for a traditional foods version of Coconut Cream Pie?  Complete with grass-fed butter, cream, egg yolks, coconut and unrefined sweetener, this pie is not only scrumptious but as healthy as a dessert can get!

Who wants a bite?

Coconut Cream Pie

Crust: See Ann Marie’s recipe for perfect pie crust!

Filling:

• 1 can (14-15 oz) full-fat coconut milk
• 1 cup grass-fed whole raw milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup + 1 TBS granulated palm sugar, maple sugar, or rapadura
• 1 tsp unrefined sea salt
• 5 large egg yolks (free range or pastured)
• 1/4 cup organic cornstarch
• 2 TBS grass-fed organic butter
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1 TBS unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups grass-fed heavy raw cream
• 2 TBS granulated palm sugar, maple sugar, or rapadura
• 1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 1 pinch unrefined sea salt

1. Make the crust, place in pie plate and poke holes in the crust with fork.  Blind bake crust in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until a light golden brown. To blind bake, line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights, dried beans or rice.  Set aside and let crust cool for at least 15 minutes before filling.
2.  Prepare the filling by adding the coconut milk, whole raw milk, shredded coconut, 1/2 cup palm sugar, and sea salt to a large saucepan.  Set on medium-high heat.  Stir to dissolve sugar.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Using a whisk or hand blender, mix together egg yolks, cornstarch and 1 TBS of palm sugar.  As you continue to blend, add one cup of the warm milk mixture to the bowl.  Continue blending and add a cup of the milk mixture at a time until its completely incorporated.
4. Transfer the mixture back to the large saucepan, set heat on medium-high, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  Boil for about a minute (if it doesn’t boil, it won’t fully thicken).  Remove from heat.
5. Whisk in butter and vanilla and mix well.
6. Pour hot filling into cooled pie shell.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (a minimum of 3 hours).
8. When ready to serve, toast the shredded coconut for the topping in a dry pan for just a minute or two, until light brown.  (This step can be done ahead).
9. Beat heavy cream, palm sugar, vanilla, and pinch of sea salt together with a hand blender or stand mixer until soft peaks form.
10. Top the pie with the whipped cream and sprinkle with the toasted  shredded coconut.

I hope you enjoy this coconut cream pie recipe as much as my family does and don’t forget to sign up for the Cheeseslave Menus By Mail meal plans before the sale price expires on December 31st!

This post is being shared at The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania, Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday and Kelly The Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesday.

Photo credit: soyculto’s photostream and little blue hens’ photosream on Flickr

Light and flakey goodness!

The Christmas season is upon us once again.  Most everyone has a twinkle in their eye and the excitement of the season is hard to contain — unless you are Scrooge!  Getting together with family and friends, having parties, making crafts, decorating and celebrating the birth of Christ are all ways we love to celebrate.  But I believe that one of the most significant ways in which we celebrate this special occasion is with food!  This has been demonstrated world wide, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannuka, Kwanza or anything in between!  It is one of the few times each year where we invest a lot of time and effort into making elaborate and rich dishes to indulge in with friends and family.

This year, I will pack up the troops after we have opened our gifts under the tree and eaten a special breakfast (haven’t figured that one out yet) and head over to my moms (grandma) to open more gifts and eat more food!  With only 3 weeks until Christmas, it’s time to figure out what’s on the menu for Christmas dinner.  That won’t be hard, as the usual suspects make the same appearance year after year, not that anyone’s complaining!  Mom and dad always roast a big turkey, accompanied by cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, gravy, some steamed veggies, salad, and buttered buns.  Last year I made this green bean casserole as a side dish and it was amazing.

And don’t forget to make room for dessert, oh my!  We have our favorites that mom is obliged to make every year, such as shortbread, skor bars, chocolate coconut balls, almond crescents, chocolate-peanut butter chow mein noodle cookies, and sometimes a holiday cheesecake. Thank goodness for our waistlines, Christmas only comes once per year!  Nonetheless, these foods are all made and eaten with love and happiness.  Although not all are perfectly healthy, I thought this year, I’ll ask mom to leave those little white buns at the grocery store.  Instead, I’ll offer to make some buttermilk biscuits, with freshly ground flour and soaked in buttermilk overnight to reduce those pesky phytates and other anti-nutrients.  Adorned with butter, no one is even going to miss those white dough balls.  Another delicious use for these biscuits would be to enjoy them at breakfast, smothered in sausage gravy — we just tried this recently at the Wise Traditions conference in Dallas. It was so good!

Soaked Buttermilk Biscuits

• 2 1/2 cups organic whole wheat, spelt, or kamut flour (preferably freshly ground and sifted)
• 1/2 cup organic cold butter, tallow, lard, or coconut oil (or a mixture)
• 3/4 cup organic buttermilk, yogurt, kefir or sour cream
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
• Optional: Grated cheddar cheese, chopped chives, crumbled bacon, or crushed garlic
• Optional: Additional flour for rolling

1. Place the flour in a large glass or ceramic bowl.  Cut in the cold fat and combine until the mixture is crumbly.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and lightly mix until all the flour is coated. If mixture is still dry, add a little more buttermilk.

3. Cover the bowl loosely with a cloth or a plate and let the dough sit overnight (at least 8+ hours) in a warm spot. (You may omit the soaking step if using sprouted flour.)

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper, set aside.

5. Once the dough has had a good soak, gently knead in the baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.  Fold in any optional ingredients, if using.

6. At this point you can drop the biscuit dough onto your baking sheet with a spoon, 2 inches apart, or you can roll them out.  If rolling out, sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface and roll biscuit dough about 1 inch thick.  Cut with a round biscuit cutter (or drinking glass) or cut into squares with a long knife.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until light golden brown.  Enjoy while warm, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.  Makes 18-24 biscuits, depending on the size you make them.

Enjoy and let me know if you try them out!

This post is being shared over at The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania and Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday.

Saturday evening awards banquet entree ~ Grass-fed pot roast with reduction sauce, roasted parsnips, carrots and mashed squash. Yum!

Well, let me do a recap for y’all who didn’t have a chance to go to this amazing conference yourself! Hubby and I arrived in Dallas Thursday evening about an hour before the FTCLDF’s Fundraiser social mixer and dinner. The hotel where the conference was taking place was huge, and I was told it was the largest hotel in all of Texas! With not a minute to relax, we freshened up from traveling all day and headed to dinner. We immediately ran into Kelly the Kitchen Kop, fellow RFM blogger and friend. One by one, we bumped into so many friends we’d met in previous years and others I chat with all year long through social media. It was so much fun to finally visit again face to face and be with 1400 others who are just like you! We got to drink organic wine, sample organ meat appetizers, and down fresh aloe vera juice and cod liver oil shooters (not so yum :-/). The dinner was delicious and the Quebe Sisters Band played some of the best fiddle you’ve ever heard!  We really felt like we were in Texas!

The conference started bright and early Friday morning with the traditional FTCLDF fundraiser breakfast of soaked oats, pastured boiled eggs, organic yogurt, and hot bone broth. What a nourishing way to start your day! Have a mug of warm bone broth in the morning instead of coffee, it’s actually delicious and so much better for you! There were three seminars you could choose from on Friday – Sally Fallon’s talk on Dr. Price’s work and traditional people, Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride’s GAPS talk, and Dr. Stephanie Seneff’s talk on nutrition and metabolism. I choose to listen to Dr. Seneff since I have already heard the other seminars. She talked about sulfur, autism and vaccines, and the dangers of statin drugs.  That evening the Real Food Media Bloggers had a brief meeting together and here is our group photo. Unfortunately not everyone could be at the conference, so the picture is not complete.  Do you recognize who’s who?  Our group is growing like crazy!

Real Food Media Bloggers

Friday evening we had the chance to attend some other planned activities, but hubby and I decided to get away by ourselves for a bit and take the rental car for a spin around Dallas. Sadly, we didn’t get far. The roads are very confusing and we really had no idea where to go. One thing I can say about Dallas, it is flashy and B-I-G!

Saturday led me to the Wellness Track where I got to hear Dr. Paul Jaminet speak on The Perfect Health Diet in the morning, and then I listened to holisitc dentist Dr. Pentti Nupponen speak on detoxification.  That evening was the big awards banquet with keynote speaker Dr. Joseph Mercola.  His website is the 3rd most visited health site in the world!

Dr. Joe Mercola from Mercola.com

Sunday morning I had the privilege of joining in worship with a small group over breakfast at the conference.  It was very uplifting to be able to praise our Glorious Father for the chance to be at Wise Traditions and enjoy all the amazing food and people. Thanks to Brenda Scott of The Wellfed Homestead for organizing that!  Following breakfast, I went to the hormone track, oh, when will I ever balance my hormones ?  The first talk was given by chiropractor Dr. Brian Hickey on thyroid health.  Next, I listened to Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health.  I have been following Matt’s blog off and on for a while now because he is so darned intriguing!   His ideas about metabolism and diet are in complete opposition to what I’ve been learning about for the past couple years.  Admittedly, this is very frustrating, but also very exciting!  I feel that we should never be so strongly convicted about what we think we believe. Our minds should always be open for new information.

By lunchtime that day, fatigue was setting in as many people were beginning to feel the effects of information overload and three days of conference excitement.  Some of us made a grand decision that afternoon that is was more important to talk and connect, so we skipped a seminar session. I was so glad we did, in fact, our time together was not long enough!  Ladies, I enjoyed out coffee talk immensely Here we are:

Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Amy from Real Food Whole Health, Me, Jami from Eat Nourishing, Wardeh from GNOWFGLINS, and Brenda from The Well Fed Homestead.

The conference officially ended late Sunday afternoon with Mark McAfee, of Organic Pastures in California speaking during the closing ceremony.  He announced the formation of the new Raw Milk Institute.  The goal is to have Canada and the United States joined together as one united force on the raw milk food freedom movement!  It is free for anyone to join, and donations are welcome.

For dinner that evening I got to spend it with some of my fellow RFM bloggers again, only we each got to speak to the group about our how our past year has gone and what goals we have for the upcoming year. I found it to be very uplifting and encouraging, and I am very thankful to be part of that group.

Each day we broke for lunch, dinner, and a chance to stretch our legs and visit sponsors. Maureen Diaz, friend and long time WAPF chapter leader in PA was also running for the second year a silent auction for the FTCLDF and the WAPF. It was fun to participate in that and win some items! We actually did quite well, winning organic pies (which we shared!), grass-fed ghee, dried starter cultures for yogurt and veggies, coconut sugar, a book, Himalyan bath salts, and a few other things. From the vendors we scored some great items like fermented cod liver oil, sea salt, more books, raw milk t-shirts, coconut ghee, Wilderness Family Naturals mayonnaise, coconut flakes, essential oils, grape kombucha and lard cooked potato chips!

The Green Pasture table - Would anyone like to sample some fermented cod liver oil?

Monday morning I took part in the annual Chapter Leader’s meeting.  It was nice to connect with other leaders around the world, and share ideas.  I took the afternoon off so hubby and I could finally spend some time together away from the conference, since it was finally over. We had to catch a plane back home early the next morning so this was our only chance.  We got to eat at an amazing Tex-Mex restaurant that was recommended to us called Mia’s. Everything was made from scratch there and it was delicious!  We did a little shopping and finished off our last evening relaxing with drink at the hotel bar.

All in all, our trip was not long enough, and it went by too fast!   We would have loved to be able to spend more time in Texas and explore this big ol’ state, but we had soooo much fun and we were glad we got to go, even for a short time.  I learned many new and interesting things which I will highlight in future blog posts, and I met so many amazing people who are all doing their part in helping this real food movement reach its tipping point!

If you are interested in any of the seminars that were presented at this years Wise Traditions, or from the previous years, you can order video or voice recordings of individual seminars or for the whole conference here, at Fleetwood Recordings.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video that Cheeseslave put together recapping the whole whirlwind conference.  But be careful, when you watch it, its going to make you want to go!  Next year it’s going to be held in Santa Clara, California.  Are you in?

This post is being shared at Real Food Whole Health’s Fresh Bites Friday and The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania.

Photo credit:#1, 2 & 3 courtesy of Cheeseslave on Flickr

Wise Traditions 2010 - Sunday brunch piled high!

The countdown is definitely on. Three more weeks and the hubby and I will be leaving ALL of our children behind and getting on a plane destined for Dallas, Texas. This is the event us WAPer’s look forward to all year! And this year is going to be extra special for us for a couple reasons. Number one, my husband and I have not been on a holiday alone since our honeymoon over 11 years ago. We are going to be child free for 5 glorious days! We desperately need this time to be alone together and reconnect. Number two, my husband actually bought and paid for a whole conference registration, which means he is actually going to be sitting in on seminars, rather than waiting for me to come out. This is huge. He is slowly but surely taking some interest in his health and this can only lead to good things for him. Every time I go to a conference (this will be my third), I meet new people, make new connections, learn new information, eat the most fabulous food available ANYWHERE, and just plain have the time of my life. To say we are excited would be an understatement!

We will arrive in Dallas Thursday afternoon. For the first time ever, the Farm-to-Consumer-Legal-Defense-Fund is holding a fundraiser at the hotel that evening called “Old Time Festive Texas Country Supper“. This is going to be a really fun kick-off for the start of the conference.

How is this for the menu that evening:

RECEPTION:

Grass-fed Organ Meat Appetizers
Texas Daily Harvest Organic Grass-fed Raw Milk Cheese

DINNER:

Avocado, Seeded Cucumber Salad with Celery, Tomato and Spring Onion served with Garlic Lemon Celtic Sea Salt Infused Chaffin Family Orchards Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chargrilled U.S. Wellness Grass-fed Steak, Fresh Herbs, Infused Natural Jus, Roasted Plum Tomato Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Lima Bean Celery Root Succotash with Butternut Squash

Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits featuring Pure Indian Foods Organic Grass-fed Ghee

Texas Cornbread featuring Bob’s Red Mill Organic Cornmeal and Texas Daily Harvest Organic Grass-fed Buttermilk

Trickling Springs Creamery Organic Grass-fed Sweet Cream Butter and Miller’s Organic Farm Maple Syrup

Grass-fed Butter, Honey and Miller’s Organic Farm Maple Syrup on the side

Immunitrition Cultured Vegetables

Starwest Botanicals Organic Hibiscus Heaven Iced Tea

Chicory “Coffee” and Texas Daily Harvest Organic Grass-fed Half & Half

Herbal Hot Teas and Honey

And to Top it All Off
Save room for the guaranteed-to-be-free-of-organ-meats dessert – Warm Apple Pecan Cobbler with Vanilla Ice cream – an authentic Texas tradition.For those on the GAPS diets the entire meal, with the exception of the ice cream topping on the dessert is GAPS approved!

In addition to all of that, there is going to be a kombucha bar, organic wines and artisan beers available.  And it doesn’t just end at dinner.  There is going to be music and dancing, an authentic texas pie auction (crusts made out of butter or lard of course!), and a crazy custom scarecrow contest.  How does that sound for fun!  And the conference hasn’t even officially begun yet! Click here to register for the fundraiser dinner.

MYTHBUSTERS!

The 12th WAPF conference begins on Friday and runs until Sunday afternoon.  On Friday I will likely sit on on the Nutrition & Metabolism track, given by Stephanie Seneff, PhD.  Saturday I plan on attending the Wellness track, given by Paul Jaminet, MD and Pentti Nupponen, DMD. Saturday ends in the famous banquet dinner and awards seminar.  The special keynote speaker at this dinner is Dr. Joseph Mercola.  His site, Mercola.com is the third most visited health site in the world!  Finally, on Sunday I hope to sit in on some of the Nutrition and Hormonal Tracks, given by Matt Stone (author of the 180 Degree Health blog), Dr. Richard Maurer, Drs. Peter and Lolin Hilgartner, and Sally Pacholok, RN.  On Monday I will be attending the chapter leaders meeting, and then Tuesday we will venture home.  We also hope to check out some of Dallas while we are there.  It is going to be a jam-packed getaway for sure.

Keynote speaker Joel Salatin at the Saturday night banquet - Wise Traditions 2010

Aside from the seminars that will probably have my mind swimming with new information, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my belly is not even going to get a chance to be hungry the whole time I’m there!  Where else can you find food this delicious and nutrient dense while on a mini-holiday?  To give you an idea of what will be there, each morning of the conference, the FTCLF will be offering a fundraiser breakfast that includes soaked oatmeal with all the fixin’s, bone broth, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, sprouted cinnamon buns, and more.  We will then indulge in a scrumptious lunch, and dinner both Friday and Saturday, and a brunch on Sunday.

Finally, there are the vendors.  Really, there is just not enough time to do it all.  The vendors are so friendly and amazing.  They will be selling everything from kombucha, beet kvass, sauerkraut, sprouted flour, crispy nuts, potato chips fried in lard, coconut oil, and fermented cod liver oil to books and t-shirts with clever captions on them like “Raw Milk Heals”.  Not to mention, they are all at excellent conference special prices!  I think I will be packing my suitcase very tight!

Pure Indian Foods - Amazing grass-fed ghee!

If you have never been to this conference, and would like to go, there is still time to register. Click here to register:

You will not regret it!  It is now something that I look forward to attending each year, and would be very sad if I had to miss it!  If you are not able to make it, don’t worry, all the tracks at the conference are recorded, so that you can still get the valuable information – just not the amazing food!  If you are going, I’d love to see ya’ll there – Texas here we come!

This post is linked to Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop!