Let's Chew the Fat (and drink it), Part 1

I absolutely love Nourishing Traditions. Not only has following the common-sense, scientifically-backed information helped make Precious Jewel and I more healthy, it's saved us a bit of money as well.
One of the ways that I have started saving us money is by buying local raw milk. It took some time, and some diligent work to find a reliable, "cheaper" source, but it is well worth it. I spread the word out to anyone I could that I was looking for raw milk for $5 or under per gallon, and it took about another year, but a friend finally found a source. Thankfully, the local farmer is selling it for $4/gallon, and a good pint and a half or so of cream comes off the top of every gallon. So, I purchase 2 1/2 gallons a week, and we no longer need to buy milk, cream, butter, sour cream, ice cream or cottage cheese from the store anymore. I already made my yogurt from home, but now it's super delicious and much more healthy. I might go up to 3 gallons to make cheese.

Ethically, I can't stand to buy milk from the store anymore, and am finding it harder in myself to buy any kind of dairy from the store (I am only buying cheese now). It's ethical for me, because cows that are raised in large farms meant solely for mass-milking cannot roam around and be cows. Because of space/time constraints, cows on large milking farms are trapped in pens that force them to wallow in their own manure all day long. Even with many companies "abandoning" the artificial growth hormone (rBST), many still feed their cows soy, alfalfa and other foods that increase milk supply. While cows and humans are indeed different, soy and alfalfa both have shown to have very negative effects on the human body. I can only imagine what it does to a cow. Studies are being done to show the effects, and I will be interested to see the results from a variety of sources.

As a writer at raw-milk-facts.com said, "Supercows don't live nearly as long as naturally bred animals- perhaps they're lucky in that respect..."

So, why is unpasteurized (raw) milk better for you than pasteurized? Simply put, milk does "need" to be cooked to kill bacteria from big companies that have hundreds or thousands of cows to milk every day. The reason being, the workers don't have enough "time" to clean the milking equipment properly after every milking, so bad bacteria can indeed grow there. Therefore, the milk must be cooked in order to kill out the bad bacteria that bred in the less than ideal sanitary conditions. Honestly, I would never, ever recommend buying raw milk if it ever became available to buy through your local supermarket - it would probably come from a giant production factory, and therefore, the milking equipment would probably not have been cleaned properly due to time constraints. I totally recommend finding a local farmer with a few cows, the time to clean the equipment, and a heart for fresh, healthy milk.

Homogonization is simply done because people are too lazy to shake their cream up with the rest of the milk (or scoop it off the top), but unfortunately, homogonization harms the milk as well.
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation website, "Milk straight from the cow contains cream, which rises to the top. Homogenization is a process that breaks up the fat globules and evenly distributes them throughout the milk so that they do not rise. This process unnaturally increases the surface area of fat exposing it to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage. Homogenization has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis."
I find it ironic that the mass-milking farms first pasteurize the milk to counteract their unsanitary milking conditions, and then homogonize the milk, which causes the milk to spoil faster.

The benefits of raw milk are quite amazing.
When it comes to the fat content, it is far superior to not just the full-fat variety of milk at the store, but especially the lower fat milks.
Farmers feed their pigs low-fat milk... to fatten them up! Low-fat milk has been touted to keep weight down, when in fact, it induces weight-gain.(Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 2006.) To top that off, it's been linked to infertility (Clinical Nutrition, Jan. 2007). Wonder why we have staggering rates of primary and secondary infertility? I am sure it has been influenced by the pesticides we spray on our produce, the synthetic junk we push in our animals veins (and then eat), the chemicals we spray in our homes to clean them, etc. But low-fat milk has been linked to infertility.
Since I am no scientist, and I will fail to explain it all properly enough, I would love to send you over to Raw Milk Facts for a list of the health benefits from raw milk, including carbohydrates, viatmins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, cholesterol (it can be good, read that site!), beneficial bacteria, and of course, fat!


What started out this morning as one post has now spawned in my mind as a series of posts on healthy fat. Join me for part two, here in a few days. I want to go over some of the things I've learned about meat, mayonnaise, cooking oils, etc.

Don't be shy Google Readers- stop in at the blog and comment! I'd love to know who is passing through and who reads regularly.

Who couldn't be joyful?

Since lately I've sounded rather depressed, I decided that I would change the pace around here.

How on earth can I not have a joyful spirit when I look at that happy, fun face? That's my Precious Jewel and God gives me much to be thankful for through her!

Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple,

'tis the gift to be free,

'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

It will be in the valley of love and delight.

Refrain:

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.

To turn, turn will be our delight,

'Til by turning, turning we come round right

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,

And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,

Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

Refrain:

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,

'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",

And when we hear what others really think and really feel,

Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.

Refrain.

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." -Psalm 95:2

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers (all four of you!).

Groaning

There is never an "appropriate" time to talk about our situation. It will always shock, offend, make awkward, and bring sorrow to the hearts whom hear it.

You might not believe this about me if you've read through any of my heated topics on here, if you don't know me personally, but I don't talk with an openness about difficult things. I will listen to other's stories, I will cry for others with them. I do not speak face to face very often with brokenness over things I feel are difficult for me. Even when I do talk about difficult things for me, I smile. No pride. I want others to not worry, want them to be able to maintain their own sense of calm.

I trust God, and that is the only reason I can smile or laugh about anything these days.

So it comes as a surprise to me that with those that I trust and love, I am pouring this situation forth freely. I simply cannot do this on my own. I cannot do this without support.

Each day I wake up and I hear my own voice screaming inside my head. Not like a person with mental disorders hearing other people's voices in their head... just my inner self recognizing my need to scream and release, but my inability to do so as soon as I wake up next to Precious Jewel, as I wash the dishes, when I cook dinner, or when I am talking with others.

On the night all of this started, I allowed myself to put a movie on for Precious Jewel, and then I went into the car, where I could see our door (and make sure she didn't come out) and cried. I screamed. I begged God to tell me why. I called my parents in tears, told them what was happening, and for the first time in my life, I started blacking out. I didn't quite go there, but it was close. I remember my Dad telling me to breathe.

When I don't want to cry, I feel as though I very easily could, and I hold it back almost always. I don't want to freak Precious Jewel out, make her worry, etc. When I want to cry, it doesn't usually come and I feel like a robot in that moment. I did allow myself to cry in front of Precious Jewel once so far, because though I don't want to cry excessively in front of her, I also know that some crying in front of her is good. It lets her know that it's okay for her to cry too.

I've trusted God in the easy times. I haven't just given Him lip service, but have tried desperately to serve Him, even when other's said it didn't matter as much as I saw that it did (does). I trust Him now. I cling to Him. I don't talk to Him any more or less than I did before, but my prayers are so different than I've ever known them to be. Even when I went through other difficult things, I have never seen my prayers be like this.

When I was on the phone with my Dad that first night, there were many times during my telling him that I stopped speaking. I started talking directly to God and almost zoned out from talking to my Dad. I would say a few words to God, and then, for the first time I can recall in my life, I groaned to God. A deep, gutteral groaning that came from the very pit of me. I am thinking back to that night with tears in my eyes, not just because it was a difficult night, but because I truly believe that is what "praying in tongues" is - as Romans 8:26-27 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

This is so raw, so deep, so unbelievable... that all I could do in the fresh knowledge of it was allow Him to speak for me through my groaning.

My prayer life is deepening. I am glad for it, but I wish I didn't have to experience the growth as the result of such a price to others.

Romans 8 goes on to say in verse 28 that "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
I don't know what good God has in store for Precious Jewel and I, but I trust Him, and I know that even if our good is only on the other side of eternity, it is worth it to trust in Him.

Review: American Heritage

Some time ago, I believe about a year ago, I sent off for the American Heritage Foundations offer for a free CD with a teacher's guide, student activities, and more.


It came in the mail, and eventually, three more copies followed, though I had only ordered one copy.

Honestly, when I received the CD back then, I looked over it quickly, it looked dry and boring, and I put it aside until a later date.

I am thankful that I had a push into reviewing it one more time for The Old Schoolhouse Crew. Had it not been that I needed to review this product, I would not have found what a little gem it was.

Contained in this CD are activities and information that guide the student to understand that our nation was founded upon more than just bigotry and hatred as is so often taught these days. The program goes through the many people that helped to build our nation that had genuinely good hearts and sought for a better life, many of whom loved the Lord deeply. While this is not a complete year's worth of history curriculum, it makes a great supplementation and there are different “books” for different age ranges as well.

We enjoyed our use of this history curriculum, though, it does take some getting used to, and a bit of imagination on how to use the curriculum to full advantage for an easy-learning environment (i.e. Charlotte Mason approach).

The best part of this history curriculum is that it is FREE. If you are interested, sign up to receive a free CD through the mail, here.
 
Want to read other reviews on this product? Check out TOS Crew's blog.

More thoughts than I thought I had

I have posted before about things that had been going on in my life recently. New things in the last week or so have come upon us that make all that old stuff not matter any more in any way, shape, or form.
Precious Jewel and I have taken a huge hit in life, and my head is reeling with a million things just trying to survive each day.
I wake up each morning and I have a smile on my face, but I am screaming inside. I have not been big on tears in the last 6 years of my marriage, but I have cried more in one day at church within the last few weeks than I can remember ever crying in the last 6 years combined.

I am tenacious like a bull dog. When I see Scripture and I realize what God has to say, I don't let go. I claim that Truth with everything in me. Some people see that and admire it and others are very put-off by me and my all-or-nothing approach to living.
I tend to admire that in others, even if I don't agree with what they are saying... because it's so much easier to do what the majority of people say is "acceptable," and I find it refreshing to find people determined to live the way they believe God says to, even if I don't agree with it (and pray for them to see Truth as I pray that for myself). It's the determination that I admire.
I've been told I put God "in a box" because I have said that Titus 2 was not just a cultural application, but is applicable for every culture, every situation, every woman that is married and/or has children. I've been called a legalist because I believe that when God says "obey" there's not escape clause... well, there is, but it's called sinning. I've been called a number of things about my stance on women keeping the home and homeschooling.

It's ironic. The first post I ever made here was about divorce and how God longs for us to not to dissolve a union of husband and wife, that as Christians we show God's love to our spouse, and if we divorce, we are showing that we believe God can walk away from us at some point (which He never does, we walk away by our choices).
And yet here I am, seeing inside of me that there is one situation and only one that can cause me to turn from my husband. It's an issue that makes me realize I will never, ever again trust him. Love him? Oh, I still love him with a thousand fires, a million depths of ocean... still care passionately about his well-being. Still get angry when I hear someone use his name in a negative way, defend the man I love with confusion.
I can and did "deal" with many sinful issues inside of my husband, and recognized the great sin within my own heart, mind and actions as well. I still recognize my own sin. And I absolutely believe that God sees all sin as equal. That my sins of gluttony or bitterness are equal to that of someone else's sin of stealing or murder. My mind does not work like God's, but I can understand that concept.
My forgive and forget can only go so far because of my humanity. I can forgive for a time, but I do not forget as God forgets our forgiven sins, and I know that the knowledge I have of my husband's sin will not leave me for a lifetime, and the remembrance will seep into generations beyond me simply because it cannot be helped. The remembrance of what I have learned will haunt us and I will have to forgive him over and over for a lifetime, never trusting him... something vital for a marriage to last a lifetime. I know that there's absolutely no way I could, or anyone would, trust him again after what he did. There's no way I could live with him. Which seems rather counter-productive to a marriage... not living together or seeing one another for 30+ years.
I won't ever share on here what has happened because it's not something I want the world to know. If I were to share it, it would be jeopordizing the trust of many people.

I guess why I am sharing this is because I needed to allow myself to say it as publically as I can without violating trust. It gives me some sense of control over the situation, even though I do recognize that we realistically have no control over things that happen in life.
That's where I stand right now. Cannot fathom being married to a man that did what my husband has done. I am seeking God and His Word on this issue, because even though I cannot fathom staying married to my husband, if my God tells me to through His Word or through His people (both), I want to love and obey Him.

Oddly, I don't want to talk to anyone "in real life" about it. I don't want to hear them tell me one way or another yet. I know that the situation is so fresh and raw that no matter what way someone told me I should go, I would be upset with the response. I don't want to hear "divorce" or "stay married" right now. I just know that this is swirling in my head, lightly but heavily, with all the other thoughts of the devastation his acts have caused us.

Review: Bright Ideas Press

A few months ago, Bright Ideas Press sent me a free curriculum book to review. I received Christian Kids Explore: Earth & Space. This was the only thing received.

Precious Jewel enjoyed this thoroughly. While there was much information in this, and it was not in “living book” form, it still flowed easily and naturally. Precious Jewel enjoyed coloring a picture that related to the information she was learning about. She especially loved the hands-on aspect that is included in each lesson.

To the right, she is proudly displaying her paperweight (rock) designed with the layers of the earth made with tissue paper. This wasn't the exact activity for that particular lesson, but I wanted her to do an activity she could use later and not only remember the information, but have a useful item.

When we learned about tectonic plates, she was tickled to do the egg activity to help cement the ideas expressed in the chapter.

I love that they unashamedly announce that God's Word is true, and science aligns with His Word. I love that they say God created the world in seven literal days - the evening and the morning, the sun rose and then it fell. I greatly enjoy companies that stand up for believing what God says.

This is a great product, especially considering it's only $29.95. This is a product that is captivating and informative.

The one drawback for me was trying to photocopy the coloring pages from the book itself. I would have enjoyed the coloring pages to be out separately to photocopy. The picture would have certainly come out cleaner! I had to type up forms on the computer that mimicked the forms in the book so that they would come out clear and crisp, but I could not do that with the coloring pages.

Aside from that, I have no negative things to say about this product. I was a little bit surprised, because it is a little “text-bookish,” when one first looks at it. However, once you really dig into it and start utilizing the material, you'll find that this is one of the few interesting “text books” out there. I am certainly looking forward to seeing more of their stuff, purchasing it and using it in our learning adventure!

If you would like to learn more about Bright Ideas Press Products from other members of The Old Schoolhouse Crew, go here.

What the Week Holds

Monday - ran errands to prepare for a business meeting with the local natural foods co-op in town. (They emailed me randomly on Friday and asked if I would be interested in selling them products to sell to others.) CRAZY day. Tired, depleted. Had a family friend drop off Precious Jewel's "Calee" cat stuffed animal that we left at Bible study the day before. He guarded me like a Papa bear (he's almost 60) when he saw Bubby at the house. I told Bubby on Friday to stop coming around and the protective friend and his protective wife already knew that.

Tuesday - Felt like puking before the business meeting, bathed the meeting in prayer. No worries - they have already been advertising on their website that they will be selling my stuff before we even had the meeting - it's official, I am selling there! Not only my cleaning supplies, but cosmetics, art, etc. WOW!!! Praise God for meeting my needs in unexpected ways!

Wednesday - Slept two hours from 7-9 am. Bubby came in while I was sleeping and my driver's license, bank card and a few other, less important cards, went missing. Internet hunting for business information and suppliers for packaging. House-searching desperately for my cards, looked through everything literally FIVE times. Not to be found. Had church fellowship - cried more in front of people than I have in the last 5 years combined. Got home. Finally got cards back right before I was to call the police. Still not sure what happened, but I know God is good.

Thursday  - More business look-ups. More pushing to get stuff done quickly for local co-op. They wanted to be selling my product awhile ago! Set up a PayPal account for internet orders. And finally, school. Baking. Cleaning. Home-time at last!

Tomorrow holds - more school! Gymnastics time with homeschool families. Relaxing at home. Breathing.

What's your week looking like? Share with me all the ups and downs!

Review: ABCTeach

ABCTeach gave me a free one month membership so that I could utilize all of the benefits and give an honest review with my opinions. No monies or any other products were given to me.

It has so very much to offer for families that love worksheets. While their free section has a good offering, their member's section is great. If you are big into worksheets, you'll want the membership for $40 a year because it is well worth it.

There are many worksheets (thousands are free but over 35,000 to members) including a variety of areas: crafts, science, math (though I would have enjoyed more), holiday, geography, language arts, art appreciation, and so much more.

Precious Jewel enjoyed some of the things we used through ABCTeach. It was mostly the hands-on project ideas or items I tweaked to make more hands on (such as a good article on spelunking).

With a membership, one has the ability to create their own worksheets in a variety of ways. I was really excited to perhaps make some handwriting copywork sheets for Precious Jewel, but found that ABCTeach does not offer italic cursive, which is what we (and many other homeschool families) are teaching/learning. They do, however, offer many other styles of handwriting.

There are some excellent mini-offices, that we have been using frequently. These are not worksheets, really. Mini-offices are helpful information stored in one place: for example, a mini-office on measurements contains all of the useful information about ounces, pounds, kilograms, inches, centimeters, etc. in one little section in an eye-pleasing manner. ABCTeach has a large number of mini-offices that are extremely useful for any homeschooling family!

In our learning/teaching we try to be Charlotte Mason-y in approach, and this entire websites benefits' didn't exactly fit into our homeschooling as well as it will other families. Though we did not enjoy this as much, it is an excellent resource for those that enjoy worksheets.

If you enjoy worksheets, head on over to ABCTeach, because it is *the* place to get all the worksheets you could ever imagine needing or wanting!


If you would like to learn more about this product from other members of The Old Schoolhouse Crew, check out TOS Homeschool Crew's blog!

Wonderful link

I seriously have to link to this article, "The Day I Left My Marriage." It's truly great.
Here's just a clip of it... and if you know anything about me, I am not at all promoting divorce.

Bill never picked his clothes off the floor. He never told me when he was going outside. He slept in church. He had embarrassing, nasty habits such as blowing his nose or belching at the dinner table. He never bought me nice presents. He refused to match his clothes. He was tight with money. He wouldn't help with the housework. He didn't talk with me.
The list went on and on, until I'd filled the page. I certainly had more than enough evidence to prove that no woman would be able to live with this man.

Another Frugal Idea

This one isn't new or my own, it's just a good one, with some food for thought.

Check out The Common Room about taking a company's word for it when they offer unlimited lifetime warranty's on items.

This is not a new concept, but it is a good one. I also believe it is ethical - if it weren't, the company wouldn't be advertising such a deal. The only area I might see "grey" in is if you were able to find some LL Bean product at a yard sale or something and tried to trade it in. I am not sure about that myself. However, if you buy something directly from a company that offers such a warranty - you yourself have paid to be able to do what the company said they would do.

Anyways, I thought I would share a really great post with you all.