Yogurt dill sauce.

    Today's food Friday post is a sauce that pairs well with salmon or is great tossed in a salad or as a dip for veggies. It's refreshing and great for summer. Very quick and easy to make as well. Here is what you need: 

         •1 cup plain yogurt

         •2 tsp fresh dill-minced

         •1/4 cup scallions-chopped

         •1 tsp capers

         •2 tsp parsley-minced

         •1 tsp chives-minced 

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, chill and serve! 

 

I hope you enjoy this yogurt dill sauce. It's so great on a hot day. Try it drizzled over roasted potatoes too, you won't be disappointed. 

~Janet ✌

Bach Rescue Remedy, for stress & anxiety

    We are all so busy and stressed these days, it's hard to stay calm at times. I have a few things I do in order to relax. I do yoga, meditate, walk, workout or I grab my bottle of Bach Rescue Remedy. Rescue Remedy is my go to for stressful moments, especially if we are out. 

    Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower material. There are 38 different flowers that can be used in different combinations to help ease things such as, stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia or just for an overall emotional balance. 

    The remedies were developed by Edward Bach in the 1930's. I started out with Bach by having a personal batch made for me. I took a small questionnaire on their website and they put together 4 different flowers that would work for me. I did find that the personal remedy helped me. However, the most benefit I have gotten from Bach is from the Rescue Remedy blend. If I am feeling overwhelmed, stressed or worried (I have three young children so those feelings happen from time to time) I get a nice calming feeling after a few drops of Rescue Remedy. 

    I believe it is worth a try if you run in to stress (who doesn't?). You can get it in a little spray bottle, a little bottle with a dropper or ever tasty little pastilles (we love the black current flavor!). It might help you as much as it has helped me. 

~ Janet ✌

Have you tried oil pulling?

    There are a few things I do regularly, oil pulling is one of them. I heard of oil pulling when I started learning about Ayurvedic medicine. Oil pulling is very simple, its constant swishing and pulling of oil (I switch between sesame, sunflower and coconut) in the mouth. The swishing activates enzymes and the enzymes pull toxins from your blood. 

    Here is the best way to add oil pulling to your routine. In the morning, on an empty stomach, after brushing your teeth and tongue scraping, take 1 tablespoon of oil. Swish and pull the oil for 15-20 minutes, do not swallow the oil, remember its full of toxins you want to get rid of so ingesting it is not something you want to do. After 15-20 minutes spit out the oil (it should be white and thin) and rinse your mouth. That's it! 

    Oil pulling has been shown to have many benefits and the ability to heal many ailments. Some that I have read about are: headaches, tooth aches, bronchitis, ulcers, gun disease. It can whiten your teeth and brighten your gums, within just a few days of starting. 

    Is oil pulling part of your daily routine? If so, what oil do you prefer to use? Have you seen any results from it? If you don't already do it, give it a try. I would also recommend getting a tongue scraper to start using in the morning. I get my tongue scrapers (pictured) on amazon, for just a few dollars and they are well worth it :). My auromère Ayurvedic herbal toothpaste (pictured) is also available on amazon (cardamom fennel is my favorite). I think you will be pleased with your results if you give these things a try. 

~Janet ✌

Eat these for calcium

    When I was pregnant with my first baby, I remember talking to the doctor about nutrition. She said "make sure you drink plenty of milk, you need extra calcium". I am not a huge fan of milk. I think if I had my own cow, that I took good care of, maybe I'd drink it when it was available. The milk that most grocery stores sell is a far cry from the milk that originally came out of the cow (try some raw milk and you will see that it tastes and looks nothing like commercial milk, also you can tell somethings weird about it by how long it takes to expire). Anything good is killed off during all the pasteurization. I was not going to force myself to drink milk so I was happy to find how many other ways you can get your calcium. 

    I looked into foods that contained calcium and was pleased with the list. A lot of these foods are superfoods! Here are some super healthy foods that you can get calcium from:

          •broccoli

          •book choy

          •asparagus 

          •avocado

          •celery

          •artichokes

          •butternut squash 

          •Brussel sprouts 

          •okra

          •collard greens

          •Turnip greens

          •onions 

          •spinach

          •kale

          •Swiss chard

          •fennel 

          •dandelion greens

          •green beans 

          •cabbage

          •leeks

          •almonds

          •pumpkin and sesame seeds

    Calcium is really important, and these are all really delicious, extremely healthy ways of getting your daily dose! Your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium, so be sure to get your daily 45-60 minutes of sun 😄

~ Janet ✌

 

Cornmeal crusted tilapia with grape and caper brown butter

     I realized earlier this week that one huge benefits to the food Friday posts is, I get to make/eat the meal so I can take some pics :). So earlier this week, this was our dinner:

My supplies for the fish:

    The protein is tilapia coated in gluten free panko. You can coat in cornmeal and its is just as good. I crush up the panko so it sticks to the fish better. I pour just enough panko to cover the bottom of my plate, crush it up, add a 1/2 tsp garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Then I put a drop of olive oil on the fish and rub it around, drop the fish in the panko and push it down on both sides to coat. 

     Next I get my pan hot and add a tsp of coconut oil and a tsp of olive oil. Drop the fish in when the oil is hot enough to sizzle if you drip a panko in. You wanna brown the outside nicely. 

     After its browned on both sides I stick it in the oven at 300 while I get the sauce together. Here's what in my sauce:

   •juice of 1 lemon

   •heavy handful of red grapes sliced in half (I've used oranges slices before and it was great)

   •a small jar of capers, drained

   •2 cloves garlic, minced

   •1 tbs butter

   •1 tbs coconut oil

     This is a "pan sauce" so I'm throwing it right in my pan that I just cooked the fish in (this gives a lot of flavor). I first throw in the coconut oil and butter. Melt then add garlic sauté a minute to release the flavor, squeeze lemon, add capers and grapes and simmer for a few minutes to warm everything and thicken it a bit. 

     Now for the greens. Sautéed arugula with grape tomatoes and garlic. 

    I go heavy on garlic so I'm using an entire head. 4 cloves would be enough. Mince up the garlic, slice 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes and a few handfuls of arugula. 

     Heat a tiny bit of oil (I used avocado) toss in your garlic, sauté just a minute, add tomatoes, just warm them up a bit. Top with your arugula. Turn the flame up above medium and add about 2 tbs water or stock and toss till the arugula wilts. 

     Finally the starch. Smashed red bliss potatoes. 

     First I boil them till they are soft. Then smash them with the back of a spoon, add garlic powder, salt and pepper and throw them in the oven at 350. I leave them in for about 10 min, remove and sprinkle with fresh dill (chives are great too). 

     Here is what my finished plate looks like:

     This is so delicious, looks pretty and has all the fuel you need from a meal. Ghee is certainly a great replacement for the butter. Sweet potato pairs well with this fish and adds some color and vitamins. Remember, butter is one of those things you want to try to get grass fed. It makes a huge difference. Kerrygold pure Irish butter is good if you can't get grass fed. 

     I really hope you enjoy this recipe, my family and I do. Let me know what you think! 

~ Janet ✌😋

A tour of things around our garden

    Nothing better than getting your hands in the dirt, planting edibles and watching them grow. I get so happy when I go outback and tend to our garden. One of the most rewarding parts of gardening is the food you get out of it! Here's a little tour of our garden and what's growing so far:

Tomatoes: (check out the little buds!)

This is a beautiful deep red heirloom tomato. Seeds started indoor from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. 

Curly leaf kale (left) dinosaur kale (right)

Chet's Italian hard neck garlic:

We have done hard and soft neck and we enjoy hard neck much more. Easier to grow and better for storing. 

Spinach

June bearing strawberries

Purple carrots

Give carrots nice sandy loose soil that is well worked and they should do pretty well. Make sure to remove and rocks from your bed or you will have some split carrots. 

Rainbow chard

Red onions

You can see these onions are getting pretty nice and thick. Some have more than 12 rings (you can tell how many rings by how many leaves it has). Onions are so easy to grow, I'd recommend starting with sets to make it a bit easier. 

 Herbs

Top picture is cilantro, tarragon, cilantro. Bottom picture is dill, thyme, oregano. 

Spearmint

 

Some flowers for their beautiful color

Marigolds are great to keep some bad bugs from eating your garden. Make a little "wall" of them and they will add beauty and be very helpful. 

     Our peppers, cucumbers and squash are not in the ground yet. They tend to do better in warmer temps so I will be putting them out in another week to keep from stunting them. 

     I hope you enjoyed this little tour. We have very limited space here in the city but we get the most out of every square inch we've got! What are you growing this year? Any gardening tips to share?

I plant my tomatoes with crushed egg shell, my peppers with match sticks and I will soon be watering with Epsom salts. Let me know some of the things you do in your garden. 

~ Janet ✌ happy digging. 😄

Cloth diaper giveaway!!!!

     Cloth diapering is probably one of the "greenest" things you can do. Disposable diapers can last hundreds of years, considering how many you go through for one child, that is a crazy waste. Its pretty expensive to get started with cloth but you will see a saving not too long after you make the initial investment.

     We used Fuzzi Bunz and I couldn't rave more about them. Charlie Bananas are just as wonderful as Fuzzi Bunz, they are stylish and very user friendly. One of my favorite things about cloth is how stinkin' cute they look on. 

     So here's the giveaway: one neon green (perfect for boy or girl) one size Charlie Banana diaper. $22 value. This is how you can win it.... "like" The Green Kitchen 24_7 on facebook. I will randomly select the winner and announce who it is on Thursday June 6th (that's my 32nd bday and what better way to celebrate than giving someone something awesome?!?). Tell any other mamas or soon to be mamas. (If you already like the fb page , you are already in the running for this :))

Keeping pests from feasting on your garden, Without pesticides.

     Today I sprayed my garden to keep the pests away. I am obviously not at all interested in spraying any chemical pesticides on my garden so I do it with all natural items that will keep bad bugs away. Here is what I do:

     First, I always line my garden with marigolds, beautiful, natural and they keep bad bugs away. 

     As you can see, its a small bush of beautiful flowers, lining your garden. They're great!!

     Another thing I do is spread a little diatomaceous earth. Natural bug killer. You can even mix some of this in your soil. Here is what I used: 

     Today I sprayed my garden with neem oil. This is perfectly natural, safe and effective. You might even find it in your toothpaste, its wonderful for gum health! You will find directions on the bottle of neem oil you buy, but for mine today,(which I got here ) I mixed 32 ounces of water with 1 tsp of natural, unscented dishsoap. Shook it up then added 1 tsp neem oil. Shook it well then sprayed my plants. Top and bottom of leaves and the soil. I will do this, once a week, for 5 weeks. Here is what I used:

     Another way to keep bad bugs out of your garden is by adding good bugs. One of our favorite bugs around here, happens to be ladybugs. Ladybugs are one of the best bugs for your garden. We have been seeing them all over our plants and trees. This beauty, we spotted today on our apple tree:

     Squirrels are a bit harder to keep away, so far our pinwheels have done the trick! Give them a try  

     I hope some of these tips help in your garden! Do you have any natural ways of keeping pests away from the garden? If so, please share!!!

~ Janet ✌

Keepin' the bugs away...naturally

    I enjoy all four seasons, they each have some pros, each have some cons. I think we can all agree that a huge con that comes with summer are those nasty little blood sucking Mosquitos! They seem to swarm in some areas, covering you in red, itchy swelling bumps. So how do you make yourself Less appealing to them?!? And without covering yourself in a bottle of chemicals you can't even pronounce? 

     There's simple things you can do, like turn on a fan. This makes it too hard for them to fly and will help keep them down. Make a garlic oil spray and spray it all around the area you will be in. I would say a head of garlic in a cup of oil, heat the oil, remove from heat, crush garlic and add to your oil. Steep a few hours (over night would be ideal). Put this in a spray bottle and use it all over your garden. I mix up a bug oil to apply to our skin, for this i use 1 ounce jojoba oil and then add 6 drops citronella oil, 4 drops lavender oil and 4 drops pennyroyal oil. You can put a few drops on your hand and rub it in to your exposed skin. Safe for the entire family! 

     You can also make a soap. For this you need: 

           ~ 1 oz liquid Castile soap (I flavor dr bronners) 

           ~  About 30 drops of essential oil (pick from citronella, pennyroyal, lavender, peppermint or rose geranium) I like to try out different blends. 

      You can wash with this before hikes, while camping or anytime you'll be outdoor for a while. 

      And you can also make a spray. For this you'll need:

        ~ 4 oz boiled water

        ~ 4 oz witch hazel

        ~ 30-50 drops (you pick citronella, lemongrass, eucalyptus, mint, lavender, clove or rosemary)

         ~ mix your ingredients and fill up a spray bottle. This smells great, you can mix a few different oils and it works fantastic. 

        You can also add some things around the garden to keep Mosquitos away. Basil, mint, lavender, lemongrass and even marigolds are said to keep them away. 

        All of these are methods of keeping the bugs away are complete kid friendly so you can feel comfortable spraying them around. Bug bites are not only it by and annoying but some people have an allergic reaction to them. Our oldest daughter gets baseball size lumps at the site of her bites, when she has a few bites, its scary looking. So for us, prevention from her getting any bites is very important. 

       If we do come across some bites, I just apply a cool compress of water and lavender Castile soap (again, I favor dr bronners). Also I apply a paste of baking soda and water, this draws out some fluid and you'll really see a difference in the size of the bump. 

       I hope some of these recipes are helpful to you and your family this buggy season! Enjoy your bbqs without all the bites :)

~ Janet ✌

    

Get out and touch the earth!

    A few years ago I started "earthing" or "grounding". If you haven't heard much about earthing, its just physical contact with the earth in order to basically "recharge" your body. It helps us to maintain an electrically stable environment, which of course, keeps us in better health. 

    The idea is to get outside for about 30-60 minutes daily and get your feet in contact with grass, sand, dirt even concrete or gravel. All of these surfaces will conduct beneficial electrons from the earth to you. If you can't go barefoot, maybe think of investing in a pair of leather bottom shoes. Leather allows for some transfer of energy. Rubber or plastic bottom shoes will not conduct any energy. I stopped putting crocs on the girls because I felt they were missing out on a lot of good grounding energy.  

    The benefits of earthing are still piling up, some of them include:

          ~improve blood flow

          ~improved heart rate & rhythm

          ~more restful sleep

          ~Immune system boost

          ~relief of stress, tension & pain

          ~promotes better mood

An added bonus to earthing is you can get in your daily dose of vitamin D! 30-60 minutes of sun will be a great boost to your D levels. So get out, take your shoes off and get your body balanced! It has made a big difference in my life. These are the grounding sandals I wear:

~Janet ✌

    

Mushroom and thyme relish and lemon tarragon butter

    I am so in love with food! I love everything about it, growing it, prepping it, cooking it and of course, eating it. I get really excited to cook for other people and thank god for that because I cook for 4 other people on a daily basis :). So I've decided to make my Friday posts about food (because food Friday just goes better than food Monday). 

    Everybody has a different idea of a healthy diet is. My idea of a healthy diet is a traditional diet which does include meat, eggs and even butter. So most things I post can probably be altered to fit your personal diet. Today I'm gonna just do a couple easy things that you can use as a topping for your main course. These both are very versitle and can be used on fish, chicken, tofu or beef. 

This first one is so good, you could scoop it up on chips and eat it! Stuff it in an omelette throw it on top of a beautiful piece of grass fed beef or with a nice chicken breast. Any kind of mushrooms will do, so just pick your favorite. Here it is:

1 pint of mushrooms- slice them up
A handful of fresh thyme- chopped (dried thyme works too)
Fresh garlic (I use a whole head but you might be happy with just 4 or 5 cloves)- minced
Small wedge of lemon 
1 small slice of butter (optional but does make it a little richer)
About 3-4 tbs water or chicken broth (I would recommend only using homemade broth, store bought is usually fully of stuff you don't want)

Heat a small pot and add a little olive oil, toss in half your garlic and simmer for a minute to open the flavor. Toss in half of the thyme and then the mushrooms. Simmer till the mushrooms start to wilt down a bit. Now add a squeeze of lemon, your butter, water or broth and let it simmer a few minutes. Add the rest of your garlic and thyme, salt and pepper to taste and let it simmer another few minutes. It shouldn't be too watery, should be kind of thick and hearty looking. 


This next one is full of flavor and can be made and kept for about a week. My favorite dish to put it on is horseradish crusted salmon. It pairs well with yams, shrimp and broccoli too. For this you need:

A stick of butter at room temperature  (half stick will make a nice amount, you be the judge, if you just want it for one meal just do half stick)
The juice and zest of half a lemon- mince the zest
A handful of fresh tarragon (I don't think you should try to sub dried for this, won't turn out right)

Get your room temp butter in a bowl, squeeze your half lemon and throw in the zest. Whip it up until its well blended and the lemon juice has been incorporated. (There will probably be a little juice that stays at the bottom of the bowl). Now get out some parchments paper, plop the butter in the middle, flod the paper so you can roll the butter into a round stick. Refrigerate so you can easily slice it and put it on top of whatever it is you are making. Not that you need to roll it or even chill it, could be used whipped and warm just as well. 

Remember to try to choose grass fed butter and meat, and wild fish, stay away from the fish that are highest in mercury, they are a little more expensive (ok maybe a lot more depending on the cut of meat) but they are a good investment, commercial meat is one of the biggest sources of unwanted antibiotics. As for butter, if you're into it, you can buy some good cream line grass fed milk and make it yourself. At the least you have a fun project for you and the kids. 

I hope these add some excitement to some of your dishes and that you enjoy them as much and me and my family do! 

Chiropractic care and children...sounds scary, but its NOT.

The first time I sought out a chiropractor was around the age of 27. I was pregnant with my second baby and was planning a home birth. With just weeks left in my pregnancy I found out that my baby had done some flipping and flipping and turned herself completely around. Our midwives would not do a breech birth (and I was not too keen on the idea myself) so I had to get this baby to flip back around ASAP! I started to look in to ways to flip a breech baby and there were lots of great ideas I and across. Being totally determined to flip this child, I basically tried them all. Chiropractor was on the list of things to do. I had never been to one and honestly felt very uncomfortable about having myself adjusted. My first visit I was terrified! That only lasted for a few minutes, with the first little adjustment I left feeling energized, happy and really excited. My back and neck hasn't felt so good in years. From then on, I started to look in to the benefits of chiropractic care and I was a very happy lady. Here is a diagram of your spine and the problems that can occur from a misalignment:

Chiropractic care is so simple to understand and makes so much sense (once you get past the nervousness of having your neck/back "cracked"). Your nervous system is the base of everything, in order for it to work at its full potential, you have to make sure that your spine isn't out of place and causing any pinching of your nerves. A straight spine and happy nervous system put your body in balance and allow it to work at its full potential to ward off illness/disease. It strengthens your immune system and can take care of many issues from headaches, chronic ear infections, even bowel problems and the list goes on and on.

Once I realized the huge benefits of regular visits to the chiropractor I knew my children had to go. I still get the weirdest reactions from people when they hear that my children all get regular chiropractic care. I have been asked things like "why what's wrong with their backs" "is that safe for kids". I can only assume that most people harbor a fear of the chiropractor and so you mix that with kids and  well, you seem crazy. Here are my main reasons why I feel chiropractic care for children (that includes little newborn babies) is a very good idea and is very beneficial:

Their bones are softer than that of an adult so the more they are aligned to be in the proper place, the more likely they are to grow strong while in the proper place. Giving them the perfect start to wonderful posture and a thriving immune response.
The first misalignment, believe it or not, usually occurs during birth. You know when that doctor is guiding your baby out? Well a lot of times he turns the neck of the baby enough to throw it out of place so there is your first misalignment (subluxation to be accurate).
Children fall and trip and trip and fall, seriously, all the time. When they are learning to walk or just being kids they can have many big falls, the faster any misalignment from any of these falls is corrected, the better!

We have seen many improvements in health after being on a schedule with our adjustments. Our youngest had lots of bowel problems, her first visit to our chiro, he mentioned them as he felt her spine and I was shocked. Since that first adjustment, NO bowel issues at all. I can't rave enough about visiting a chiropractor, do your research and find one that fits your family and I promise you will be very happy you did.

If you are in the area of philadelphia I would recommend ohm chiropractic or rhino chiropractic. They are both amazing places. The doctors are so great and will put any of your fears at ease. Truly amazing people at both places.

A pain in the ear- natural ways to help an ear infection

Ear infections, if you have children and haven't experienced one, you're very lucky! They seem to come on quickly and can be very painful. They are one of the top reasons for visits to the doctors office for children and usually end in unnecessary antibiotics being prescribed. In health you should always trust your instinct, if something feels totally wrong, it probably is. Usually the cause of chronic ear infection is due to antibiotic use or allergies so obviously taking more antibiotics may just continue the problem. Majority of ear infections will clear up on their own with no intervention. The question then would be, how do you keep your child or yourself comfortable while letting your body do its work? We have had great success with this method:

I take an old sock, fill the bottom with about a cup of rice and tie it shut. This should be heated till its nice and warm and applied to the infected ear. The heat will soothe your ear and allow some fluid to work its way out.

Make a garlic oil. Garlic is full of amazing benefits, one is that it is antiviral and will help to wipe out the infection in your ear. To make the oil I mince up one or two cloves of garlic (depending on size). Heat 2 tbs olive oil on the stove, after its nice and hot (no boiling) remove from heat and throw in the minced garlic. Cover and steep at least 30 min. After that, strain the oil and store in a container. Put two drops of oil in the infected ear (make sure its not hot but you want it warm so it soothes the ear). Continue to administer the oil as needed. Store the oil in the refrigerator, it will keep for 4-5 days. The warm rice sock works perfectly with the oil, after the oil has sat in your ear, heat up your sock and place it on your ear to draw out the fluid.

If an ear infection were to last more than 48 hours, I'd think about calling the doctor for my children but certainly not before that (unless I had reason to suspect they had lodged something in their ear, there's no messing with foreign objects in your body!)

Chronic ear infections can usually be helped by seeing a chiropractor. A few adjustments and you will probably notice the infections are showing up as they were before. You will also reap the other countless benefits to chiropractic care!

In health you should always trust your instinct, if something feels totally wrong, it probably is. 
However, you also have to be able to decipher between your instinct and your emotions. Children drive us nutty with emotion but keep in mind, if you let their bodies fight for its health now, it will be a much happier, healthier body for them as they grow.

~Janet

My passion for natural living

As I sat trying to decide what I should post first about natural wellness, I realized that the best place to start would be with a little about myself and my love for living a natural life. So here's a little glimpse of what my life has been like for over 10 years now. I grew up with a single mother of 4 children, always working and always looking for fast easy things to feed all of us. We ate a lot of crap because it was cheap, fast and easy. As soon as I could control and understand the food I was eating, I made huge changes! The more I learned about food, the more interested I became in fueling my body with the best I could. With good food came the desire to learn to heal my body with natural methods as opposed to modern medicine being my only source of curing ailments. That opened me up to a world of things, Ayurveda, acupuncture, massage, Chinese medicine, chiropractic care and many other great things.

After becoming pregnant with my first baby, I got very excited to learn about birthing naturally and of course, raising my children naturally. Its been a long road since then and I still have the same love and passion for taking care of myself and my family through an unprocessed, traditional diet and lots of natural remedies for the problems we have come across.

These days I am homeschooling 3 girls and staying focused on learning all I can about keeping our bodies happily in balance. Not only will I post plenty about the methods we have used in healing common problems we have come across, I will also post plenty of good hands on fun for the kids.

In our house the kitchen is always a mess, either from cooking a nutritious meal or a crazy craft/experiment we decided to try. However in everything we do, we try to keep our messy kitchen as "green" as possible so The Green Kitchen just seemed fitting :).

~Keep the earth clean and green so our children can enjoy it~ Janet