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Recent Entries

10 Ways to Green Your Home for Your New Baby
The Truth About Milk
If You Eat Meat, Make Sure It Is Organic
Traditional Food Thursday - Crockpot Beef Barley Soup
The ADHD Scam and the Mass Drugging of Schoolchildren (Transcript)

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Cooking Traditional Foods Menu Mailer

Are you new to whole and traditional foods or to "Nourishing Traditions"? Have you just gone gluten/dairy-free and don’t know what to eat?

The menu mailer covers 6 dinners (including side dishes) and one dessert every week.  It contains a full menu, shopping list, a preparation plan, and serving suggestions for each meal.  Tips and information are included in every mailer as well.

What makes the Cooking Traditional Foods menu mailer unique?  A preparation schedule is included with every menu mailer.  It reminds you when to thaw the meat, prep the crock-pot, make the stock or soak the grains.  Because lack of planning is a major hurdle in getting healthy meals on the table, this schedule helps you make sure everything is done.  It also contains blanks so you can write in your own reminders for breakfast, snacks and lunches.

Click Here to Visit

Vision Forum

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

Biblical Womanhood

Biblical Womanhood began in 2005 as a ministry to encourage and equip women and young women. Through our bookstore, articles, newsletter, and blog, we desire to promote femininity and build up women as they embrace their Biblical callings. In this humanistic, feministic culture, we want to be a breath of fresh air to women seeking after something greater than what the world has to offer - to glorify the Lord in all they do, say, and think!

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I'm Organic

I'm Organic... Are You? - 120x160

Reusable Bags, Organic Clothes, Recycled Wristbands, Biodegradable Mugs and more!

Click Here to Visit

Mountain Rose Herbs

Organic herbs, spices, teas and oils.

Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has consistently delivered exceptional quality certified organic products with a strict emphasis on sustainable agriculture. From our bulk organic herbs and spices, to our essential oils and herbal teas, the quality and integrity of what we offer is unparalleled with smiles guaranteed.

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Beeyoutiful

SuperMom 180

Supermom - High potency multi-vitamin with Spirulina and green superfoods. 

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Supermarket Savings 101

Would you like to know how to significantly cut your grocery bill without spending hours each week doing so?

If your answer is "yes," then Supermarket Savings 101 is for you!

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Unless otherwise noted, website and contents Copyright © 2008 & Beyond Susan Godfrey. All Rights Reserved.

Like this template? Would you like one like it? If so, contact Susan Godfrey for your template design!


Since May 6, 2008


Since May 6, 2008


Sustainable Agriculture: Growing Produce Locally Has Many Advantages

06:21, Friday, May 30, 2008 .. Posted in Gardening .. 1 comments .. Link
(NaturalNews) America loves its processed fast food. However, the reality is that fast food is not so fast. Produce is routinely shipped such great distances that by the time it arrives at its destination, a good portion of its nutritional value is lost, and through processing, even more. Multinational corporations such as Monsanto are also flooding the market with unsafe Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), with no labeling restrictions. It is time for consumers to demand to know what it is they are eating, and to fight the degradation of their food supply through localization of food sources.

The only way to ensure the quality of the food one buys is to know where it comes from and where it has been. Laurie Bostic and Kim Martin of the Barking Cat Farm in Texas left everything they knew to become local farmers. They say:

"The state of our industrialized food system is alarming. The fast-food industry has significantly changed not only our culture but also how we as a nation treat the environment and the creatures we get our food from –- and not for the better.

"Consumers are getting wise to this and changing the way they shop for food. Yet even if you buy non-processed conventional and organic foods in grocery stores, you may not realize that most of it travels an average of 1,500 miles before it gets to the shelf. That represents a tremendous amount of wasted energy and results in a food product that is neither as healthy nor as nutritious as what we can pick from the ground and feed to somebody within hours of harvest." (2008)

Transitioning from dependency on multinational agribusiness to localized food sources is not as hard as it sounds. Individuals with land can plant their own gardens, and help others in the community to get involved by sharing some of their land, or mentoring a budding farmer. People who do not have land can lease a section of land from someone who has more than he/she needs. Local farming can become a successful business using the same method that Laurie Bostic and Kim Martin did, the community-supported agriculture, or CSA model. This is a "system in which subscribers pay upfront for the growing season. Each week everybody gets a box with the same contents, representing a sampling of whatever crops are coming in at the time" (Bostic, L., Martin, K., 2008).

Not only does this type of venture ensure that consumers are getting the freshest produce possible, but they can go to the farm, see it in the gardens, and find out how it is being grown. They can also give input on the produce they would like to purchase before it is planted.

Localization of food sources and the CSA model of farming is sustainable, environmentally friendly, healthy for the people involved in both the producing and consuming ends, and just possibly, the wave of the future in sustainable agriculture.

Copyright 2008, Barbara H. Peterson

References:

Bostic, L., Martin, K. (2008). Laurie Bostic and Kim Martin: We left it all to be farmers. Dallas News. Retrieved from: ((http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent...) .

About the author

Barbara is dedicated to the premise that self-sufficiency and localization of food sources can lead to a brighter and healthier future where people reach out to each other and form small communities in which organic food is grown locally, and trade is established between neighbors. To this end, she has created a website dedicated to sharing information at:
http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com
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Meet the Deadly Silver Leaf Nightshade

11:57, Friday, May 30, 2008 .. Posted in Gardening .. 1 comments .. Link

Silver Leaf Nightshade is a poisonous plant that grows in our area and we seem to have an over abundance of it! It is a cousin to the Tomato. Its foliage is a silvery green color and it sports the prettiest purple flowers.

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When the flowers die, these little fruit appear. They are greenish at first and mature into a yellow color about the size of a grape or cherry tomato.

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Now here is the BIG problem for us...I'm not worried about Riley eating the leaves or the flowers...it's the little fruit that looks just like his favorite cherry & grape tomatoes! Those, I'm worried about! So, we've tried to be really diligent in distroying this plant wherever we find it in our yard. Mowing it down works great, so we've been able to mostly destroy it before the fruit starts forming. If we find any with fruit on it, we'll burn it out. This isn't something we really have to worry about as long as we keep the areas around the house mowed. Just thought I'd pass along this information in case any of y'all find this poisonous plant growing where your kids can get at it...even 1 of the fruit can kill a young child!!


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Reasons for Starting Your Own Garden

10:13, Tuesday, May 27, 2008 .. Posted in Gardening .. 0 comments .. Link

(NaturalNews) The Season of Spring is lavish with its abundance. Before we even ask, nature blesses us with every shade of color and profusion of green. Far and wide, beauties of nature are bursting forth with new growth and blossoms. Our copious supply abounds everywhere. Everyone is relieved spring has finally sprung for nature is teeming with plenty for everyone. Yet, our country is presently experiencing numerous economic, environmental, and health crises.

Concerns from reducing pollution, greenhouse gases, energy consumption, and the burden on our landfills, to protecting our increasingly scarce water supply, plants and animals from extinction, and against serious threats to human health, have risen on the list of public interests causing many more people to "go green". There are simple but meaningful actions people can take to save our planet for future generations including choices to recycle, composting, using energy efficient light bulbs, or using barrels to collect rainwater.

Consequently, over the last year one reason gardening is witnessing tremendous growth nationwide is because people who love fresh food are reducing environmental costs of mass-producing and shipping food all over the globe by drastically reducing "food miles" and simply choosing to grow their own. With this culinary trend towards fresh, local cuisine one knows exactly what they are serving and eating. Among the numerous reasons more than 70 million US gardeners grow their own fruit, veggies, and herbs includes reasons for health, to save money, to teach children, and to share.

Another enormous dilemma in America is our growing hunger plight. According to a 2007 USDA report, over 35 million Americans experienced food insecurity in 2006. In other words, there are tens of millions of Americans including over 12 million children who are not sure when or where their next meal will come from. Our nation's largest charitable hunger relief organization, Second Harvest reported in "Hunger in America 2006" over 25 million Americans depend on emergency food services annually with the hardship currently exploding.

Many food banks struggle to meet the need for food assistance to the point where now they only serve people living within their zip code area. By 1995 to contend with this ever-growing predicament, the Garden Writers Association (GWA) launched their Plant a Row (PAR) program (http://www.gardenwriters.org/Par/index.html) encouraging gardeners to donate their extra produce to food banks and local soup kitchens serving the homeless and hungry. Wherever a local Committee exists, the GWA PAR program provides direction, training support, and materials for businesses, church groups, home gardeners, schools, and youth and community organizations making a difference in their community for their neighbors. Through their simple people-helping-people approach they have made a significant impact on reducing hunger. In 2005 mainly through the media, GWA PAR efforts provided, without government subsidies or bureaucratic red tape, more than 1.5 million pounds of fresh produce to over 5.5 million hungry recipients. Throughout the U.S. and Canada their total donations have reached nearly 10 million pounds.

If these reasons don't persuade your interest in gardening, take into account the quandary we are in two different wars and our soldiers are returning home daily. During World War I and World War II private residence gardens provided up to 40% of the vegetable produce consumed thereby reducing the strain on the food supply. Such devotion doesn't exist now. Are you aware the Veterans Health Administration confirms an average 126 veterans per week for a total of 6,552 veterans per year are committing suicide? Sorrowfully there are about 18 veterans suicides per day, which hasn't happened in previous wars. Imagine after war coming home with health and psychological problems to unemployment, high prices, and a non-responsive government. Consider welcoming home your local returning weary vet by donating a row of garden produce to assist them as they re-assimilate.

Some seed companies have even stepped up to meet some of these types of community needs by donating seeds to qualifying organizations. Two examples of companies with seed donation programs are Seeds of Change ((http://www.seedsofchange.com/donations/...) and Park Seed ((http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/cli...) .

Interestingly, there is even a Victory Gardens organization in Oregon specifically devoted to supplying untreated, organically grown or certified organic open-pollinated and heirloom seeds (http://www.victoryseeds.com/TheVictoryGarden/) .

With all the supplies and options available, gardening is much easier today. Between the Internet, the local County Extension Agencies, and gardening supply businesses, a plethora of information is available to make your 2008 gardening endeavors great. Gardeners contribute to saving the planet for our children, future generations, and us. So whether you are motivated by concerns about the environment, feel a civic duty, just want to share with your neighbors, need a new hobby, teaching children, or whatever your impulse might be, pick up some seeds and supplies and Happy Gardening!

About the author

Debby is a Registered Nurse, and a free-lance journalist. Please visit http://spirit-expressing-law-of-attraction.com.
Debby educates the public about a preventative-based healthy lifestyle and operates an on-line business offering the best in whole food health and wellness products at http://debbybolen.wholefoodfarmacy.com/.... The best method of achieving wellness and optimal weight is by eating healthy and exercising.


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How Does Your Garden Grow? Everyone Can Have a Garden!

12:39, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 .. Posted in Gardening .. 0 comments .. Link
This is a post from a year or more back. I'm reposting it because with the shortages of foods in some areas and the fact that people are stocking up on staple items because of it, I thought it was a good reminder that nearly everyone can grow at least some of their own food. If there's a will, there's a way! Hopefully these ideas will help you find a way to have a vegetable garden that will work for you! ~ Susan

Earlier this week, we found lettuce, cabbage, kale, lettuce, broccoli and brussels sprout plants at Wal-Mart. Hopefully this weekend, we'll go pick up some of each to plant this weekend. I really love this time of the year and getting our gardens ready for spring. Every year, we add more and more garden space and someday hope to raise all of our vegetables that we need for the year. We really enjoy eating the veggies fresh, in season. What we can't eat, we either can or freeze for the months when we can't really grow much. This way we are assured that the food we're eating is of the highest quality. We don't have to worry about pesticides and GMOs.

 

Nearly everyone can grow a garden, even apartment dwellers can do container gardens. I have a friend who grow tomatoes and green beans on the balcony of her apartment. There are many ways that you can garden if you don't have the room yourself. Do you have a friend with a large backyard? Grow a garden there and split the work and the harvest! Does your apartment building have a small plot of land big enough for a garden? Ask your building supervisor if you can use it to grow a garden or ask them if they can provide a plot of land on the property that you and your neighbors can grow a community garden.

 

Even if you have a small yard, you can do gardens in your flower beds. Plant lettuce around a shady tree, put tomato plants or pole beans in large terra cotta pots, fill window boxes with fresh herbs, there are so many ways you can work in vegetables into your landscaping. Place a lattice against a wall and plant climbing veggies underneath it. This doesn't take up a lot of room and there are lots of veggies you can plant like that. Where there's a will there's a way! With a little creativity, you can grow your own veggies where ever you live.

 

For us, growing what we can, saves us money and allows us to spend that money we save on veggies to purchase better foods for our family. We save between $20 - $30 per week by growing our own veggies, and this allows us to buy the more expensive organic and grass fed products that are better for us. A little planning can help you save money, improve your family's health and provide better food for your family.


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Ebooks by Susan

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Nourishing Ways: Recipes and Healthy Eating in the Spirit of "Nourishing Traditions"
88 Pages | Format: Ebook
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Making Hand Milled Soap For Fun and Profit.
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My Homekeeping Handbook: Forms and Handy Hints for Making a Homekeeping Handbook
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