Wounded Healer

You are ready to impart to others.

I have been wrestling with this idea since I encountered it in a devotional last December. As an Enneagram 1, I demand perfection out of myself and often out of those around me. (The Enneagram has been an incredibly useful tool to help me discern when I am listening to my ego voice as the voice of God. I am learning how to release the need for perfection in others, yet I still have a long way to go in the amount of grace I give myself. I encourage you to check out the Enneagram for yourself if you are not already familiar with it.)

Being a health coach with enduring health issues of my own has always made me feel like a bit of a fraud. I will talk more about this in future blog posts coming soon. Am I really ready to impart to others when I have struggles of my own? Don't I have to have it all figured out first? I used to tell myself that I had to have life and health perfectly together and under control or my counsel to others would be meaningless. When something was out of place or a struggle, I felt like a failure in everything. Over the last six months of the most significant trials of my life, I am beginning to see just how damaging expecting perfection out of myself is to my mental, physical and spiritual health as well as to the people in my life. 

I have gone underground the last 6 months as my flawed way of living in this world has been laid bare. My attempts to protect myself and my world have been proven inadequate and destructive to myself and those around me. I have been exposed, felt naked, ashamed, scared, broken, and torn apart. These six months have required me to lean not on my own understanding but to draw from patient study of God's word and my crying out to God for answers, direction and protection.

As I have learned and come to know God personally, I see Him as all powerful, yes, but in a new way that perhaps is the most transformative of all — as all vulnerable. Only when I stood exposed, naked, and broken could I comprehend Jesus' work on the cross for the first time in my life. Not a mere means to salvation alone, a one and done transaction, but a redemption of all of the facets of being human, even and especially the ugly and broken parts of life! We have a God who suffers not just for us, but with us! If Jesus, the incarnate Christ, was willing to suffer and die on the cross in accordance with God's will, how much more (if I can borrow the apostle John's phrasing) should I be willing to confront the suffering my self isolation and preservation have caused in order to die to that way of life? Only then will I be transformed into a daughter of God with a calling of love.

I have seen that I am the one standing in the way of receiving love and thus blocking the flow of love of out me. As I begin to see my thick crust (read ego) crack and feel the flow of love that God intends for every human to participate in, life is becoming so much larger, so much clearer and so much more peaceful. When I lean into the places where my crust is thin and cracking, I feel my ego fade away and God's Indwelling Spirit healing me from within. Health becomes no longer a question of symptom removal but of ego removal, of being able to embrace my life and my struggles so I can embrace the lives and struggles of those in the world with me. We are all in relationship with one another and when I attempt to stand apart - from my own body, from other people and from God, the consequences are devastating. But when I choose love without fear, I am transformed from “a hurt person hurting others to a wounded healer healing others.” (Richard Rohr) I'm not sure what could be more beautiful that sitting with another human and joining them in all the messiness of life while being able to say with full confidence -- your life is so much more than your struggles!

What I have learned is that there will never be a point where life stops being messy and I can stand in front of people and say, "I no longer experience suffering." But Jesus transformed all suffering, including mine and yours, on the cross. I serve a God of resurrection power who takes apparent set backs and endings and turns them into the most beautiful stories, more beautiful than I can even imagine in the midst of the struggles.

Because of Christ's example, I am ready to impart to others. I heard this message six months ago, and I believe this message today. My life is still messy, and I have days, more than I'd like to admit, where I hide behind the thicker parts of my crust to mine and everyone's detriment, but God shows us what we can do when we are vulnerable. We can literally transform and change the world by being His agents of love.

So, dear reader, let me encourage you by saying that your struggles do not disqualify you from being an agent of healing and change in this world. You too are ready to impart to others.

Green Smoothie vs. Green Stir Fry (+ recipe!)

As I was making my favorite breakfast this morning, a green stir fry with 2 eggs on top, I was reflecting that many people start their days with green smoothies thinking they are loading in the nutrients and cleansing their bodies. Unfortunately, so much misinformation is out there about fruit, raw vegetables and sugar's detrimental effect on the body (even from fruit or other "natural" foods!).  I can't address all of those areas in a single blog post, but let me present an alternative to the green smoothie here -- the green stir fry -- and why it is health promoting. This short post is meant to dispel the myth that a green drink or smoothie is a health food and provide a simple-to-make alternative.

A popular combination for a green smoothie is 60% fruit and 40% greens plus liquid to make it all blend together. So, this might look like 2 cups raw spinach, 3 cups fruit and 2 cups of water/fruit juice/coconut milk. Of course there are any number of ways to combine ingredients all yielding different nutritional content, but here is a screen shot of a popular green smoothie recipe's nutrition content:

Green Smoothie Nutrition

So, for 289 calories of green smoothie, you are consuming 6.6 g fat, 58.6 g carbohydrates (including a whopping 27.7 g sugar) and 5.9 g plant based protein.

Now, let's take a look at my green stir fry recipe. One serving includes 2 eggs and a tablespoon of butter:

There really is no comparison except for the calorie content. For 261 calories, you are consuming 12.9 g fat, 20.7 g carbohydrate (including 5.7 g sugar) and 18.4 g protein - much of that from the eggs.

So, after looking this over, would you rather drink your greens and shut down your immune system due to sugar overload or whip up a quick and easy stir fry with eggs to fuel your body for the day and jump start your detox? 

For those who want to know a *little* more of the science beyond macro-nutrients, keep reading.

COPPER

Most people today are copper toxic -- anyone who has been on birth control, who's mother was on birth control, who is stressed, who has been at any point in their lives a vegetarian or vegan, who does not consume red meat 2-3 times a week, or who has been pregnant is overloaded with copper.

Sugar depletes zinc in the body, further driving up copper and contributing to all manner of health concerns including thinning hair, hormonal imbalances, skin disorders, and emotional issues just to name a few.

Without adequate animal protein, a person is highly unlikely to consume enough sulfur which is necessary to bind with copper in the body to detox it out.

Verdict - The lower sugar and higher animal protein in the green stir fry help with copper overload while the green smoothie adds to it.

LIQUID

The liquid in a green smoothie depletes your digestive juices and makes digestion and thus nutrient absorption less effective.

RAW VS. COOKED

Because the green smoothie uses all raw ingredients, the fibers are not broken down enough to be digestible by humans. We are meant to eat mostly cooked food. You can read more about the cooked vegetable diet from Dr. Wilson here; but suffice it to say, although cooking destroys some percentage of the nutrients, it makes the remaining nutrients bio-available. Your body can actually use and assimilate the nutrients and minerals from cooked vegetables, unlike those that are still bound up in fibrous material in raw vegetables.

Have I convinced you yet? If not, give this breakfast a try, and I think you will soon find that rather than missing out, the textures and flavors are satisfying and nourishing. Between the nutritional benefits and the taste, my hope is you will never look twice at your green drink again!

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Green Stir Fry

INGEDIENTS:

Anything green, but here's what I used for 2 medium servings or 1.5 nutritional balancing servings:

• 1/2 tbsp grass-fed butter (Kerrygold brand)
• 1 leek quartered lengthwise and diced
• 1 stalk broccolini sliced
• 5 broccoli florets, chopped
• 8-10 stalks asparagus, sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 2 large green onions, sliced into thin pieces
• 6-10 green beans, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 bag (2.5 oz) spinach
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme (1/2 tsp dried)
• Hawaiian Jade Sea Salt to taste
• 2 eggs + 1/2 tbsp butter per person

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. While butter is melting slice your leeks lengthwise into quarters, and rinse dirt out in cold running water. Dice cleaned leek and add it to the pan.
2. Chop and add the rest of the vegetables in order while cooking. If your vegetables start to brown, turn down the heat and add 1-2 tbsp water.
3. Once everything is added, cover with a lid for 3 minutes to finish cooking any stubborn vegetables.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Cook your eggs as desired (poached, soft boiled, over easy, lightly scrambled), making sure to leave the yolks runny.
6. Plate it with the green stir fry on the bottom and eggs on top and enjoy!

How To Stock a Natural Medicine Cabinet

Maybe you've read about antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria or the damaging effects of antibiotics on our gut biomes. Maybe you are tired of relying on empty promises of the pharmacological industry to make you and your family healthy. Whatever your motivation, many of you are looking for natural AND EFFECTIVE ways to treat infections. If you are interested in reading a quick summary of the down-sides of antibiotic use, please visit Dr. Wilson's site.All too often I hear from fellow moms that they "don't like antibiotics;" yet without viable alternatives, most end up giving them to their children as often as the doctor prescribes them because they are not aware of or confident in alternative ways of handling infections.

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is meant to discourage you from seeking the advice of a knowledgable health professional. I do not diagnose, treat, prescribe or cure any disease or health condition. As a certified nutritional balancing practitioner, I work to reduce stress in the body which often leads to vastly improved health and fewer health issues. Everything contained in this post is for educational purposes only. 

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Infections are serious and should never be ignored. If you are taking an action to address an infection or illness and it is not improving, you should add other remedies and actively seek knowledgable medical advice to help you resolve the issue. Just because we rely on natural approaches including food for healing in our family does not mean we are passive about treating disease or would never visit a doctor should the need arise. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Because I'm not interested in heading to the doctor every time we face an infection, I have to be extra vigilant about prevention and treatment at home. (As a somewhat related side, just because we unschool our children also does not mean we are passive about their education, but that's an entirely different post for probably a different audience.) Taking the road less travelled is hard work -- which is certainly one reason why it is less travelled. Often it comes with huge benefits, making the work entirely worth doing. I have found that to be the case with natural health.

Being able to successfully treat infections with simple, natural remedies starts with prevention. By eating a diet dense in minerals from cooked vegetables and a moderate amount of humanely treated animal protein, supplementing for one's current state of health and doing a few targeted detox procedures regularly, one can generally avoid most infections. However, even in the best of circumstances, one may occasionally come up against an infection that requires a short term remedy to aid your immune system in fighting it. In order to prepare yourself and your family to handle infections, everyone should have a few basic supplies at the ready. Infection treatment must begin immediately.

1. Stethoscope

I bought this one from Amazon and had a nurse practitioner verify that it worked well. I have used it to listen to my daughters's lungs when they have a respiratory infection. I monitor their lung sounds throughout the infection, in order to distinguish when an ordinary cold is turning into something more serious.

2. Hydrogen Peroxide

We have 4 bottles of 3% hydrogen peroxide in our medicine cabinet and not just because my husband uses it as a mouthwash. I'll do a separate post in the future about the use of hydrogen peroxide for infections, wounds, mouth cleaning, and even mole removal in the near future. You may wish to purchase some 35% hydrogen peroxide if you have frequent bladder or vaginal infections or need to treat sexually transmitted diseases. It can be diluted in a bath for these types of concerns. You can purchase 35% hydrogen peroxide online. If you are interested in learning more about the use of hydrogen peroxide, click here.

3. Vitamin A

Preferably obtain Vitamin A in 5,000 IU pills and preformed from fish. I have had a hard time sourcing 5,000 IU pills, so my current bottle contains 10,000 IU per pill. Vitamin A is used occasionally in nutritional balancing to give the immune system a boost during retracing or should a client contract an infection.

4. Colloidal Silver

Sovereign Silver brand is easy to source and effective. Colloidal silver is a natural anti-bacterial and anti-viral that is effective against everything from stomach bugs and food poisoning to respiratory and sinus infections. For the use of colloidal silver on a nutritional balancing program, click here.

5. Activated Charcoal Tablets

Activated charcoal is excellent for accidental poisoning, food poisoning and binding up offensive toxins in your digestive tract. 

6. Black Salve

Not everyone needs to have this treatment at the ready, but if you are interested in natural mole/wart removal, black salve is an excellent product. I just removed a rather unsightly mole from my back with it. You will also need hydrogen peroxide to activate the black slave. 

7. thermometer

In our family, we are comfortable with letting fevers up to 103 degrees Fahrenheit (oral temperature) run their course. At 103 degrees, we begin cool sponge baths, cool foot soaks and/or rubbing alcohol sponge baths to bring the temperature down. We have never had a fever rise beyond this while actively working to lower it. 

8. Limcomin

Limcomin is a vitamin/mineral supplement that boosts the immune system. It is sold by Endo-met laboratories. Should you wish to purchase Limcomin, you can contact me through this site.

And, that's it! Our family of four, soon to be five, has exclusively relied on these remedies for 2 years while on complete nutritional balancing programs. By doing so, we have avoided the use of antibiotics and prescription medications. We have helped our bodies through retracing various infections, respiratory infections, yeast infections, stomach ailments, fevers, and a mole removal -- all from the comfort and security of our home. 

The most important foundation for our health has been following a complete nutritional balancing program. When needed, these remedies have come through for us, effectively and quickly. If you are interested in making the switch to healing your body through food and natural remedies, contact me for a free 15 minute consultation. When you become a client, ongoing support for six-months or until a retest to include advice during infections is included in the initial price. I'd love to meet you and share more about what balancing the minerals in your body can do for your mental, physical and emotional well-being!

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This post contains affiliate links. I only link to products I actually use for my own health and that of my family. Purchasing through a link provides me a small commission at no charge to you.

Tips and Tricks for Healthy Kids Including Recipes

One of the biggest challenges in transitioning kids to healthy eating is sweet treats or desserts. Having fed my *almost* 6 year old daughter a grain-free, processed-sugar free diet since birth, I have a few tricks up my sleeve for those looking to help their children eat healthier. Here are five tips and tricks for healthy kids:

1. Never use food as a reward.

If you want to give your kids a treat, never tie it to behavior. This means you should never reward kids with food, motivate kids with food, or try to make them feel better emotionally with food. Food should be treated as a way to nourish your body and your kids' bodies, simply put. As soon as you start to tie food to rewards, motivation, and emotional satisfaction, food becomes linked with those situations in their minds. It is extremely hard to disassociate food later on, so why not start them out on the right foot. After all, when they are feeling sad or upset, does the food actually make them any better in the long run?

2. Be the model for your kids.

If you want your kids to eat healthy, you must eat healthy first. It's a rare kid that will sit down excitedly to a plate of vegetables if they never see their parents and caregivers eating vegetables. The old adage, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," holds so true within your family. Do you want them to value and enjoy vegetables, meats and healthy fats? You must do so first. 

3. Talk about food and it's role in the body with your kids.

You will be surprised at both how interested your kids are and how willing they are to do what's best for their bodies when they understand. If you just tell your kids "sugar is bad." They will not be informed enough to own the choice to stay away from added sugars. If you explain what sugar does to the human body, they will be in a much better position to make healthful choices as they grow up.

4. The occasional sweat treat "just because" is worth having.

I'm certainly not advocating going out and getting a donut on a Saturday morning, but there are healthier ways to incorporate treats into your kids' lives. The goal with feeding your children healthy food should be to promote their best health without using scare tactics. A child who is made to be afraid of sweets at a young age is probably more likely to rebel later when, for example, they realize that one piece of cake doesn't immediately and noticeably make them sick. They may feel lied to or manipulated into healthy eating and thus less likely to own it and continue it. We stick fast to a few rules around sweet treats in our family. Food based treats should be:

• gluten-free
• processed sugar-free
• whole foods-based
• occasional
• just because
• eaten only when healthy foods and supplements have already been consumed 

5. Arm yourself with acceptable alternatives and recipes.

95% of the sweets we have are the following in order of most frequently made to least frequently made.

• Homemade whipped cream - eaten often, recipe below. The only downside to this is that it is a bit sweet, keeping that preference alive. Otherwise, it is 100% healthy fat, great for fast oxidizers, which most children are.
• Stevia sweetened, vanilla whole milk yogurt - eaten 1-2x/week, recipe below. We keep the serving size to a few ounces at most.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of berries and other low GI fruits or less depending on age of children - eaten in season about 1-2x/month and generally picked ourselves
• Chocolate Chip Cookies (grain-free, egg-free) - eaten once every few months

Keeping these tips in mind will help you navigate the tricky world of treats with your children. There will of course be trying situations, like birthday parties and other gatherings. I always bring an alternative treat for my children, believing that the hostess should not have to accommodate our dietary preferences. This is usually a kids size Rx bar (available and cheapest at Target) or occasionally a plate of cookies to share. Sometimes, they will serve fruit, and because that is a treat for my kids, it is enough for them to feel included.

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RECIPES:

1. Homemade Whipped Cream

• 1 cup grass-fed heavy cream
• 10 drops stevia 
• splash vanilla extract

Whip all ingredients together with a hand mixer until desired texture. 

2. Yogurt

• 32 oz grass-fed whole milk yogurt (check for additives)
• 1-1.5 dropper fulls stevia
• generous splash vanilla extract

Mix everything together in the yogurt container and enjoy.

Why the Paleo Diet Isn't Enough

If you know my story, you will know that I came to natural health through the paleo community. I am forever indebted to such author/researchers as Loren Cordain, Mark Sisson, and Robb Wolf for introducing me to the way foods contribute to or take away from our health. These pioneers in the mainstream diet/lifestyle industry have made natural, ancestral eating popular among a growing swath of the population with very positive results. 

When people follow a paleo diet, they usually very quickly begin to normalize their digestive system and weight, find increased energy and stamina, and even experience such far reaching effects as lifting of mental illnesses. I know that all of those changes were a reality for me on the paleo diet. Innovative recipe creators like Michelle Tam, Danielle Walker, Mel Joulwan, Russ Crandall and many others have made paleo cooking a possibility and enjoyable for thousands, if not millions, of households. Their cookbooks are in a prominent place in my minimal kitchen, and I frequently refer to them for inspiration even today.

With all of these glowing statements, you may be wondering why I am not still promoting the paleo diet.

While I believe the paleo diet to be effective at creating real change in body chemistry, I find that it does not adequately address the toxic environment in which we live to do the deep healing work the bodies of today need.

Even though I experienced so many positive health changes while strictly following a paleo diet, there were symptoms, some quite distressing, that just did not change. My options at that point seemed to be: find a conventional doctor to chemically treat my symptoms with drug therapy, find a naturopath who would also use a symptom based approach, but more natural healing methods, or live with my symptoms. I did not feel like any of those three approaches were going to result in the kind of health I was hoping to have, so I continued to look for a fourth way. 

When God led me to nutritional balancing and showed me another way out of my health quagmires, I immediately recognized the truth underscoring the program and could not wait to start this journey. Two years down the road, I can confidently say that the paleo diet or any diet alone cannot hold a candle to the kind of deep and permanent healing one can experience with nutritional balancing.

As someone intimately knowledgeable in both the paleo diet and nutritional balancing, the most significant difference between the two is in their understanding of the environment in which we live.

With a paleo diet, you are returning to eating the whole foods that our ancestors ate. In the chemical and toxin-free environment of 10,000 years ago, those are the foods that best promoted health, and they were adequate. They are mostly still the best foods for our bodies; however, today, we live in an undeniably different environment. Chemical exposure alone is enormous from the beauty products we use to fragrances and other chemicals in detergents, cleaners, the furniture we buy, and the cars we drive, etc. The exposure is astronomical. Our bodies are actually able to remove chemicals fairly well. More detrimental to our health, is our constant exposure to toxic metals. Cadmium is in brake dust and marijuana. Aluminum is in deodorant and baking powder. Nickel is in tea, jewelry, and dental braces. Our tap water passes through metal pipes. Rice contains arsenic. Most of us volunteer to put mercury and other metals in our mouths to lessen the impact of the effects of our poor diets on our teeth. These are just a few examples of the ways we are exposed to metals.

The problem with metals is that when vital nutrients are simultaneously missing, the metals can actually perform some of the same functions as the nutrients, albeit at a highly suboptimal rate.

Metals can keep you alive, but they also make you very sick. For example, lead can take the place of calcium in your bones, making them brittle. Cadmium can take the place of zinc in your arteries turning them from flexible and strong to hardened and narrowed. For more details on toxic metals and how hair testing can both help us assess and correct their presence, visit http://www.arltma.com/Newsletters/ToxicMetalsNews.htm.

It does not take long to begin to understand the innumerable ways our physical environment differs from that of our ancestors. I am not even going to talk about the mental, emotional and spiritual stressors that also negatively impact our health. This different environment necessarily needs a different solution. Nutritional balancing provides our bodies with their most compatible foods, like the paleo diet, but it also supplies the specific nutrients your body needs to heal through targeted supplements while detoxing chemicals and metals out of your body through specific detox procedures and lifestyle recommendations. 

Now, I not only follow a complete nutritional balancing program, but I coach others on their healing journeys with nutritional balancing. If you are familiar with the paleo diet and have experienced the benefits of diet change on your health, I encourage you to take a closer look at nutritional balancing. It is THE program to tip you over the edge and is the fourth option out there for forging a new life of health without side effects and without paying corporations for chemical drugs that will suppress and not correct symptoms.

Trust your body to heal itself deeply. Begin the work today and experience the benefits now and for the rest of your life instead of waiting for that irreversible diagnosis that will eventually come.

Within the boundaries and changes of nutritional balancing you will find health freedom that allows you to live your life fully and meaningfully without hindrances from your body.

Standing on the other side of many alarming health problems and in the midst of continued healing, I am telling you, nutritional balancing provides the most effective path to wellness available today.

No Prep, No Measure Asian Vegetable Stir Fry

I think I finally landed on the best version of my No Prep, No Measure Asian Vegetable Stir Fry! I am so excited to share it with you today. I have shared it with friends and family to rave reviews. It has gone into many a family's weekly rotation -- it is both that easy and delicious. 

Different combinations of vegetables will definitely work, and if you don't have all the spices or liquid ingredients on hand, just throw in what you have. It'll still turn out great. I happen to be partial to this particular combination of vegetables because they taste great together, and I always have them on hand. Each of the vegetables included in this recipe is a yang vegetable and a prefered vegetable on Dr. L. Wilson's nutritional balancing program. If you don't usually buy or eat some of these, go ahead and give them a try and see what you think. You may be surprised at what you like!

The combination of coconut aminos and cayenne pepper in this dish is a wonderful sweet and spicy culinary experience you will find sophisticated enough to serve to guests, but simple enough for weeknight meals with your family. I hope you love this one as much as I do!

First you will get your protein cooking. Gather:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs/adult
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh/child
• 1/2 cup water
• Sprinkle of salt

Put the above ingredients into the pressure cooker for 13 minutes. You can quick release if your vegetables are done at the same time. If you are still working on the vegetables when the chicken is done, just turn it off and allow the pressure to come down on its own. 

Grab all the vegetables out of your refrigerator. For one adult with leftovers, I used:

• 1/2 large sweet onion
• 1 giant carrot (or 2-3 smaller ones)
• Handful or two of green beans
• 5-6 cauliflower florets
• 2 stalks broccolini
• 1 - 1 inch wide wedge purple cabbage
• 1 giant stalk of green onion (or 2-3 smaller ones)

You are going to chop as you cook, so go ahead and put about a tablespoon of butter (preferred), ghee, or coconut oil in the pan and get it warming over medium/medium-high heat.

While the pan heats, chop your onion and then add it to the pan. Peel and chop your carrot(s). I like mine really thinly sliced at an angle. I'm sure there's a fancy cooking term for this, but I don't remember it. Add the sliced carrots to the pan. Give the onions and carrots a stir, and add a sprinkle of salt.

Next up, grab your green beans and cut them roughly into 1-2 inch pieces. Throw them in the pan. Get your cauliflower florets. Dice those up, and, you guessed it, add them to the pan. Give everything a good stir and adjust the heat lower if things are starting to brown too quickly.

Get your broccolini (or broccoli) and chop the stalks at an angle like the carrots into 1 inch long pieces. It's just prettier that way. Keep the tops fairly intact. Add them to the pan, and give it all a good stir. 

Cut off a bit of your cabbage and dice it. Sprinkle it into the pan, breaking it up as you do.

Finally, cut the whole green onion(s), white and green parts, into thin slices and add them to the pan.

OK, you're done with the hard part. Your vegetables should be browning a little and smelling great. They should also still be pretty crunchy at this point. That's ok, we're going to add some spice and liquid to help them cook through.

Gather your spices:

• Garlic Powder
• Ginger Powder
• White Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• Chinese Five Spice Powder

As you add the spices, try to spread them out over the whole pan. First, throw in a thin sprinkling of garlic powder and about half that of ginger powder. Feel free to use fresh for both if you want, just add them with the carrots and onions so they cook through. Next get a good sprinkling of Chinese Five Spice in the pan. You should use the most Chinese Five Spice compared to the others, but don't go heavy -- a little goes a long way. Add a pinch of white pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne pepper if you like some heat. That's it for the spices.

Now, for the liquids you will need:

• Lime juice
• Sesame seed oil
• Chinese cooking wine, optional
• Coconut aminos

Add just the smallest amount of lime juice (we're talking about a teaspoon) and about the same or a bit more of sesame seed oil. I also added a bit of Chinese cooking wine because I had it on hand. You can sub in rice vinegar or leave it out if you don't have either. 

Finally, add a healthy amount of coconut aminos (or tamari if you want it a little less sweet). Sprinkle it all over so it wets the spices. You should add enough to have a thin layer covering the bottom of the pan.

That's it! Now, turn up the heat and boil off most of the coconut aminos, stirring occasionally. If your vegetables are still really crunchy, you may wish to cover the dish while it cooks for about 3 minutes. While the liquid is boiling off is a great time to wash your cutting board, knife and peeler so your kitchen is clean when you are ready to eat.

When your chicken is ready, dice up the right amount of protein and add it to each plate. Pile the vegetables on top and enjoy!

Flu Season

I know it's mid-February, and we've been in flu season for a while. This post may seem a little late to the party, but unfortunately, just this past Friday, the acting director or the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that that current flu season is "still on the rise." Based on the number of people getting sick and visiting doctors for flu-like symptoms, this year is turning out to be one of the worst on record. We all need to continue to be vigilant about our health for our own sake and to prevent spreading infections to others.

Today I'd like to share my family's approach to flu season -- especially one this bad. But first, I'm going to tell you what we intentionally are NOT doing:

• We are not running out to get a toxic metal laden vaccine for the flu.
• We are not avoiding all public places or getting worried when we are around friends with symptoms for the fear of infection.
• We are not taking high doses of Vitamin C in an attempt to give our immune systems a boost.

All of these things are changes for our family since embracing a completely natural and preventive approach to health and wellness. As a veteran, I used to stand in line with all the other service members for my yearly vaccination. I knew I wasn't doing my body any favors at the time, but I felt powerless to exert my preferences. I understand vaccination is a very personal decision, but I encourage everyone to explore the reasons why many choose not to vaccinate. When I look at hair tests, I can see the build-up of toxic metals and resulting imbalances. Some of those metals likely were directly injected along with a vaccine, making them completely optional and avoidable.

I remember just a few years ago being afraid of every cough and sneeze that we were exposed to, thinking and knowing that my daughter would likely catch whatever was going around. It pains me to share that it definitely made me think twice about hanging out with friends sometimes or going to public places like the aquarium or library. My, how life is different these days! I can prioritize relationships above all else, knowing that our bodies are strong enough to withstand potential infections.

When we would get sick, we used to load up on herbal teas and natural remedies, not knowing that even though they were natural, they were still remedies and would not likely lead to a complete restoration of our health. Most people are walking around with a dozen or more subclinical or latent infections in their bodies from incompletely healed past illnesses. We know this because as people heal on a nutritional balancing program, they briefly revisit these illnesses as they drive out the very last remnants from their bodies. If you balance out your body, your risk of infection is much lower and your body is capable of completely healing itself in most instances.

Now that I've given you a look into what we used to do during flu season, here's what my family does to thrive during flu season now. It might be surprising, but we do the exact same things we do all year long to support our health.

1. We are praying for those affected and thanking God for our good health. Cultivating an attitude of gratefulness definitely affects many areas of our health positively. Remembering that there are people who are getting sick and even dying of this illness, reminds us to be grateful for our health knowledge and state and to reach out to those in need.

2. We are all using the near infrared sauna daily for at least 10-20 minutes. Shining a red heat lamp or better yet, spending time in near infrared sauna helps boost your immune system and kill off bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections. This is excellent in appropriate doses for people of all ages when supervised by someone trained in sauna therapy.

• You can purchase a near infrared sauna or light panel from my company Healing Hut Saunas.
• You can also do single light therapy for less than $40 by buying a shop light cage and a 250W Philips or GE brand red heat lamp bulb and shining it on your chest daily for 10-20 minutes. (These are Amazon affiliate links which add no additional cost to you, but do provide me a very small commission should you purchase the product. You can also often get these items at your local hardware store. I provide the links so you know what to look for as some other brands of the bulbs are not recommended.)

3. We are taking our normal supplements to continue to balance our body chemistry. When your body is balanced, diseases cannot thrive. Your immune system is fully supported to do its job and biological toxins simply cannot thrive in a balanced body.

4. We are eating a diet of 70% cooked vegetables, humanely raised proteins, limited dairy and added fat according to our oxidation rates. Eating in this way helps balance the body and provides so many vitamins and minerals to build up your alkaline reserves. We strictly avoid sugars, even those in fruit, knowing that sugars negatively impact our immune systems and feed biological toxins.

5. I am taking a coffee enema daily to make sure my liver is functioning optimally and able to process out toxins. The coffee enema helps clean my blood and ensures that my major detox systems are able to do their jobs.

6. We are going to bed between 8 and 9pm, knowing that a rested body is much more disease resistant. 

What if you didn't have to fear infection? What if you could just keep on doing what you do everyday, knowing that you are doing your very best for your health and well-being? What if you were the one on whom others could rely during times of national or local illness? As you heal yourself on this program, you become a beacon for your family and community, stronger in so many different areas of you life and body, able to reach out and extend healing to those around you.

I wish you the very best of health this flu season and hope these tips help keep you in health! If you'd like to go further and start a complete nutritional balancing program, you can contact me to chat for free about my services.

Prenatal Vitamins

Most everyone accepts that supplementation during pregnancy is necessary. We have read the studies about not having enough folic acid, and we all know that fish oil is good for our and baby's brains. But are there drawbacks to an off the shelf prenatal vitamin? Could it be providing too many minerals, throwing your body out of balance? Maybe it has the wrong minerals? Or not enough of some?

There is a way to know exactly which vitamins and minerals are right to support your health and your baby's health. This is by looking at the mineral content of your hair. A properly performed and interpreted hair analysis is accurate at correlating the mineral content in your hair with the mineral content in your tissues. With this simple, non-invasive test, you can know your deficiencies, excesses and toxic metal load, helping you supplement appropriately for your pregnancy.

I have long wanted to do a side by side analysis of prenatal vitamins compared to the supplements recommended on a nutritional balancing program. Usually supplementing without a hair test means you are getting too much of some vitamins and minerals and not enough of others. After reviewing even a small set of hair analyses, it is apparent that people have vastly different mineral levels and ratios. Naturally this would mean that they require different types of supplements to help balance their body chemistry and ultimately alleviate symptoms.

I recently took the time to review a popular prenatal vitamin and compare it to a nutritional balancing program for one of my newly pregnant clients. It was encouraging to see that the off the shelf vitamin shared many of the same recommended vitamins and minerals as the program supplements.

However, knowing what I know about how minerals work synergistically in the body, interact with hormones and build-up in the body, I can confidently say that nutritional balancing will nourish my client completely without adding to her imbalances, unlike the off-the-shelf prenatal vitamin. 

Before we get to the comparison, I need to mention that this particular client has a fairly balanced oxidation rate and is not in a depleted, four lows pattern. The supplements were recommended to her based off of her hair analysis. This is not a "pregnancy program" that can be applied with equal success for all women. Such a program does not exist and is one of the biggest concerns with off-the-shelf prenatal vitamins. If you are interested in obtaining a hair analysis and doing a nutritional balancing program during your pregnancy, or preferably before you are pregnant, please contact me through the site. We'll do a free consultation, so we can chat about your particular situation with no commitment.

Do you want to see the side by side comparison and my notes on the differences? Check them out below!

Below are my thoughts on the major differences between the two options. After this complete analysis, I support the nutritional balancing program especially during pregnancy. I see nothing in the differences that concerns me about the nutritional balancing program and a few things that definitely concern me about the off-the-shelf pills. These are mainly unnecessary iron and copper and not enough zinc.

Vitamin A: Most prenatals use beta-carotene, which is not easily converted to Vitamin A in the body. The best sources of Vitamin A are fish oil and meats, which you will get plenty of on the nutritional balancing diet.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C is particularly helpful for dealing with copper overload, which most women have and also which tends to increase during pregnancy due to the close relationship between copper and estrogen in the body. Vitamin C is also a great anti-oxidant.

Vitamin D3: Everyone needs at least 5000 IU supplemental Vitamin D in Dr. Wilson's experience. Pregnancy only increases this requirement.

Vitamin K: The off-the-shelf prenatal contains Vitamin K, where the nutritional balancing program does not contain supplemental Vitamin K. You get plenty of this with the cooked vegetables in the diet. There is no need to supplement when you are on a nutritional balancing program. 

Biotin: The off-the-shelf prenatal contains quite a lot of this. It is a B complex vitamin and is needed in the body. If you are eating egg yolks (up to six a week for women), you will get what you need from food.

Calcium: As one of the main structural elements in the body, everyone needs more calcium today. Even if you are drinking milk, you are likely not obtaining the calcium you need from food, because pasteurization of dairy products makes the calcium less bioavailable. Calcium alone is constipating, so we give it with magnesium. See below for more on magnesium.

Iron: Most iron supplements contain an irritating form of iron that is not well utilized by the body. Dr. Wilson's experience is that most people are actually iron toxic (even if they are classified anemic based on blood tests). Anemia is more likely due to a copper imbalance than a lack of iron. Supplementing iron if not absolutely necessary can be quite damaging. If you eat red meat, preferably lamb, 2-3 times a week, you will receive adequate bioavailable iron for your pregnancy. Taking some dessicated liver towards the end of pregnancy may also be a good idea since baby needs to get about 3 years of iron stores at birth.

Magnesium: Magnesium is very popular today in natural health circles and for good reason. Essential in over 400 enzymatic reactions in the body, magnesium is one of the building blocks of life. It is necessary for growth, development, and general health and well-being, and cannot be replaced by less preferred minerals in the body. It's great for relaxing your body and helping with morning sickness during pregnancy. Supplementing with the wrong kind will not be tolerated in the body, likely leading to loose stools. Additionally, applying magnesium oil topically can be quite toxic and dangerous even if it "feels" like it is helping at first. We always give magnesium with calcium (to keep the ratio between calcium and magnesium stable) and boron. There is not enough magnesium in the off-the-shelf prenatal. See below for more on boron.

Zinc is so important for a developing baby. It is called the gentle strength mineral and can help correct other imbalances in the body. Like magnesium, it is critical for proper enzymatic functioning and seems to play a key role in growth and development. Everyone is deficient in zinc because the soil is deficient. Zinc is also important to keep in balance with copper. As your copper levels are climbing during pregnancy, ensuring you have enough zinc to counter-balance the rising copper levels is important. Nearly all of the best sources of zinc come from animals, which is the main reason why most vegetarians are severely deficient. The level given in the off-the-shelf prenatal is not enough to support the extra zinc demands of pregnancy.

Copper is generally not needed during pregnancy. Most women have an overload of it, and it is increasing during pregnancy because of rising estrogen in their bodies. It is important that one's prenatal supplement does not contain copper for this reason, unless you are certain it is helpful for your body by looking at a tissue analysis. Excess copper leads to a myriad of health concerns varying from physical symptoms to mental and emotional health concerns. 

Boron is included in the nutritional balancing program because it helps the body retain magnesium. It is not harmful in excess. It is likely the reason why higher amounts of magnesium in nutritional balancing are tolerated well. Without the boron, magnesium may just go right through you if you take too much and give you loose stool.

Fish Oil is not included in the off-the-shelf prenatal. Many women I know buy an additional fish oil supplement when they are pregnant. Before I started nutritional balancing, I supplemented with fish oil as well. Ensuring your supplement is not rancid is important due to the delicate nature of the fatty acids in fish oil. The lack of fish oil in the off-the-shelf vitamin is one of the main reasons for the price difference between the off-the-shelf prenatal and the nutritional balancing program. Adding in a fish oil supplement will make the costs very similar. To quote Dr. Wilson,

“Fatty acids are used in our bodies for many purposes. Among the most important are as lubricants for the joints, to keep the cell membranes flexible, and as general anti-inflammatory substances that are essential for health. Fatty acids are extremely important for the nervous system, as well, especially the developing nervous system of babies before and after they are born.

If the omega-3 fatty acids are low, which is very common, the nervous system of a human being does not develop correctly. This contributes to cases of attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, delayed development, and many other common mental and emotional problems of children and adults. Most of these would not occur, or would occur far less often, if everyone took a supplement of fish oil, for example, or flaxseed oil every day.”

— Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All the B vitamins are higher on a nutritional balancing program than in the off-the-shelf prenatal. This is mainly to balance the oxidation rate. B complex vitamins are also protective against emotional upset and depression, as well as a counterbalance to excess copper. Speeding up your oxidation rate, gives you better access to the energy from your food. We could all use a little extra energy during pregnancy, right?!

Whew. That was a mega-analysis that just hits the surface of the detailed understanding of vitamins and minerals that nutritional balancing brings to your body. One of the greatest things about nutritional balancing is that we don't have to base our recommendations on how our clients feel -- knowing that so very many factors are at play at any given time in the body. We track the actual effect of supplementation on the body through repeated hair tests. You can be sure you aren't flushing your money down the toilet with our program as you watch your mineral levels and ratios improve and feel the increased energy, calm mind, and confidence that comes from having balanced minerals.

If you are thinking of getting pregnant, are pregnant or are breastfeeding, I encourage you to contact me to see how a nutritional balancing program can help you and baby thrive!

Near Infrared Sauna Testimonial and Benefits

Most people would be healthier if they traded their gym membership and workout time for near infrared sauna sessions in their home.

It's a near even trade for cost between the membership and the sauna, and the sauna may take less time overall since there is no travel or active warm-up involved in sauna use. I know it is anathema to our workout culture to say that health comes through rest, but I am both saying it and living it. 

It is not my goal to discredit exercise in this post, but merely to point out a simple switch of time and finances that most people could make to the benefit of their health.

My RECENT Experience with a Near Infrared Sauna

I'm going to be real here. Healing is a journey. I am on that journey every day with my clients. While I have been healing my body naturally for some time now, I spent many years before wearing myself out and running down my body and health. It took time for me to become depleted, and I know and accept that it will take time for me to heal.

Even though healing takes time, I have had noticeable and nothing short of amazing health gains while on a complete nutritional balancing program. These tangible improvements keep me motivated to continue to pursue natural healing for my remaining health concerns.

I continue to struggle with a skin disorder called seborrheic dermatitis. Most people are familiar with it in infants as cradle cap. For me, it presents as an incredibly itchy scalp with flakes. It is also present in my ear canals. During times of acute stress, it flares and creeps down my forehead and into my eyebrows. I try to hide it, but with my dark hair, that is difficult if it is flaring. Sometimes the itchiness is so constant I'm on edge until I get a shower for a few hours of relief. I trust that as my body continues to balance, this skin disorder will completely heal, but until then, the near infrared sauna is my ticket to controlling my symptoms.

My acute stress recently was an unexpected and lengthy period of solo parenting. I am no stranger to solo parenting. In the last 10 years of courtship and marriage, my husband and I have spent approximately 7 of them living in different countries or states. We were a dual military couple for 9 years until I got out of the Navy last year. He is still serving, so now as a military spouse, I still spend approximately 70% of each year solo parenting. But this time, I was not mentally or emotionally prepared for the separation.

My skin condition flared and spread rapidly. When he left, I decided to "treat" myself by letting go of my nightly sauna time. Going to bed with my girls between 7 and 8, and reading in bed until 9 seemed like a great way to relax and take one thing out of my schedule. Well, it turned out by experiencing acute stress and stopping my sauna routine temporarily, I set the conditions for a rapid and acute return of my skin condition. Within a week, it was throughout my scalp, on my forehead and spreading rapidly. It was as bad as ever.

I remembered that I have this amazing little canvas hut in my bedroom that "magically" improves skin conditions. On a Monday, I took two 30 minute sauna sessions, one in the morning and one right before bed. The next day, I went to the grocery store with my girls and was stopped by someone gushing about how radiant my skin was -- ONE DAY after my skin was so red and inflamed I could barely go 5 minutes without wanting to scratch my scalp and forehead right off.

I used the sauna for 50 minutes that Tuesday and felt like my condition was back to manageable. In two days, the sauna turned my red, itchy, flaky face and scalp into a clear and radiant luster that even strangers at the grocery store noticed. 

Now I know that "treating" myself isn't stopping caring for my health. I have long known that a treat is not food. But it's also not letting go of the healthy choices that make me feel best. A treat is taking time to take care of myself. If I fill myself up with my faith, my healing lifestyle and rest, then I can continue to pour into my children, friends, and clients the very best that I have to offer -- all with radiant skin ;)

benefits of regular near infrared sauna use (1) (2)

Up front, I need to say that some of these benefits can come from any type of sauna, but many are unique to the near infrared light sauna. Because of this, I only recommend near infrared light saunas to my clients.

• Healthier skin due to greater blood flow and less congestion
• Heavy metal elimination through sweating rather than forcing the metals out through the kidneys and liver
• Enhanced circulation due to increased blood flow, vascular dilation, and raised heart rate
• Tissue oxidation as the blood flows to the surface more
• Lowered blood pressure
• More elastic arteries
• Relief from physical symptoms including arthritis, allergies, skin conditions and chemical sensitivity
• Decongestion of internal organs by forcing blood to the skin to dissipate heat
• Reduction of chronic infections through fever therapy which kills bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses that cannot survive in a warmer environment
• Reduction of tumors and other abnormal cells through fever therapy
• Inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system which enables the body to relax, heal and regenerate much faster
• Near infrared light is helpful for wound healing and cellular regeneration and is an antioxidant nutrient itself which activates cells, supports metabolic processes and decouples toxins from water molecules.
• Stress reduction through combined relaxation and healing of stressors
• Cellulite reduction by releasing toxins, improving metabolism (your oxidation rate), and reducing body fat. Cellulite is fat coupled with toxins in a person with compromised connective tissue. Nutritional balancing helps with all three of these issues in various ways beyond what a sauna can do alone.
• Better sleep

Here is what ancestral health expert, avid researcher and author of Mark's Daily Apple, Mark Sisson has to say about saunas. Each of his claims is supported by scientific research. You can find the links in his original article if you would like to read more.

“Exposure to extreme heat increases something called heat shock proteins, or HSPs. HSPs have a range of beneficial hormetic effects on our detoxification capacity. They trigger compensatory adaptations and activate antioxidant defenses in the blood of healthy volunteers. They even increase regeneration of the body’s main detoxifying organ—the liver—after it’s been damaged.

As for that sweating claim, sweat contains contains bioaccumulated toxins. BPA shows up in sweat, for example, even when it doesn’t show up in the blood or urine. Sweat also contains certain phthalate compounds and their metabolites, none of which we want. Sweat also contains arsenic and lead in people exposed to high levels of the metals. Sweating may even improve the function of another important detoxification organ—the kidney—by restoring nitrogen excretion in people with kidney disease. In one study, police officers with chronic illnesses caused by exposure to high levels of meth lab chemicals experienced major improvements after sauna therapy.”

— Mark Sisson (3)

Most people interested in natural health avoid plastics or at least seek out BPA-free options for their kids and themselves. Reducing toxic exposure is the first step in detoxification, but what about the toxins that are already in your body?

Near infrared energy is uniquely capable of helping your body eliminate toxins that are simply not handled by usual elimination routes like the liver and kidneys. Sweat is the only way to remove certain carcinogenic PCBs, dioxins, phthalates, and volatile organic hydrocarbons. (4) Sweating in the sauna is perhaps more beneficial than sweating through exercise. In the sauna, the body is relaxed and able to use available energy for detoxification rather than for muscle contraction.

Sauna protocol in Nutritional Balancing

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is meant to diagnose, treat, prescribe or cure any disease or health condition. You should always consult a doctor or other practitioner knowledgeable in sauna use before beginning a sauna therapy program. Never spend more than 20 minutes in a near infrared sauna unless you are on a complete nutritional balancing program based on a properly preformed and interpreted hair mineral analysis. The sauna is a powerful healing tool that should be used alongside additional supportive measures like a proper diet and supplementation.

Because of the sum of all of the above benefits, sauna therapy is recommended for every single client on a nutritional balancing program, including children. Adults in a four lows pattern need it for as little as 20 minutes a day. All others will derive the greatest benefits from 50-60 minutes of daily use. This can be done in two 20-30 minute sessions or one longer session.

Children under age 5 benefit from a single red heat lamb shined on their chest/tummy daily. Both my girls sit in the open sauna with one bulb illuminated before bed. They enjoy the calming benefits while I rub their feet or read them a story.

How To obtain or build a near infrared SAUNA

Here are several options for obtaining a near infrared sauna for home use from least expensive to most expensive.

1. You can build your own sauna through free plans on Dr. Wilson's website (5). 

Cost: Materials and labor

2. You can purchase a sauna from us by contacting us through our company Healing Hut Saunas (www.healinghutsaunas.com).

We have improved the aesthetic of the light panel since building this first sauna and slightly changed the exterior look. Please visit www.healinghutsaunas.com for the most up to date pictures and pricing.

Cost: $1,500 + free shipping.

You won't find a comparable product at this price point out there!

3. You can purchase a sauna from SaunaSpace.

Cost: Approximately $3,000.

---

References

(1) Dr. Lawrence Wilson. "Sauna Therapy," drlwilson.com/articles/sauna_therapy.htm.

(2) Dr. Lawrence Wilson. "The Benefits of Near Infrared Energy" drlwilson.com/articles/SAUNALITE%20NIR%20BENEFITS.htm.

(3) Mark Sisson. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-augment-and-support-your-natural-detox-capacities/

(4) Rogers Sherry A., MD. "Reversing the Neurodegeneration from Ubiquitous Environmental Endocrine Disruptors." https://treefarmtapes.com/products/reversing-the-neurodegeneration-from-ubiquitous-environmental-endocrine-disruptors-a-key-to-healing-the-patient-2-tape-set

(5) Dr. Lawrence Wilson. "Infrared Lamp Sauna Plans." http://www.drlwilson.com/SAUNAS/SAUNA%20PLANS.htm

Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese

As you all know, before I found deep healing through Nutritional Balancing, I was on the paleo diet for 5 years. The switch into Nutritional Balancing eating was not too different for me. I had to cut out a few major foods (I'm talking to you, fruit, pork, and natural sweeteners). I also had to be more careful about which vegetables I ate. Nightshades are not included in Nutritional Balancing because they are "yin" compared to other vegetables (more on this later...), they contain toxic alkaloids, and some contain trace amounts of nicotine. They are also just not that well tolerated by many people. I already knew that nightshades did not agree with my body. I avoided eggplant and bell peppers for that reason. When I started Nutritional Balancing, I stopped eating the other nightshades as well. These included tomatoes, white potatoes and paprika.

If you flip through any paleo cookbook, nearly every single recipe has fruit, pork, tomatoes or a natural sweetener in it. My beautiful shelf of cookbooks that I used to look through and cook from nearly everyday suddenly did not serve my needs as well as it had for the previous five years. Initially, I went super simple with my eating by roasting and steaming most of my vegetables and topping them with butter and sea salt. I roasted, grilled or pan seared most of my meat. I also used the pressure cooker a fair amount. But a few months in, I realized I needed to get some flavor into my food if this was going to be sustainable. Now I use my trusted paleo cookbooks 1-2x/week for more elaborate and flavorful dinners while sticking to simple foods the rest of the week. I've cut my grocery bill significantly, as well as my food prep time.

I've slowly been building my own set of nutritional balancing compliant recipes over the last year. They are not brand new -- most are so simple they aren't even worth writing down. Many are mash-ups of other recipes out there already. After about a year on nutritional balancing, I began to add back in very limited grains. I was a slow oxidizer, so they were recommended for me. I also felt like significant healing had occurred in my gut, so I would be able to tolerate them in limited amounts.

This recipe is a complete meal in one dish. It was my first experiment with quinoa. I served it to dinner guests who frequently eat quinoa, and they raved about it, so I wanted to share it with you. The components can be made ahead of time and combined just before the meal for some quick, satisfying and delicious comfort food.

It presents well on the table for a dinner party just as well as it makes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Without further ado, my first recipe! 

Quinoa with Roasted Veggies and Goat Cheese

Serves 6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Hands Off Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Chicken Broth (homemade preferred)
• 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed in cold running water
• 1/2 Butternut Squash, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 8 oz Brussels Sprouts, sliced and chopped
• 1 Leek, cut in quarters lengthwise and chopped
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp Real Salt (or sea salt)
• 4 oz goat cheese (with herbs if you can find it)

Directions:
To make the quinoa:

1. Bring broth to a boil.
2. Add rinsed quinoa.
3. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Let rest 5 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork.

To make the vegetables: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Put the butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, and leeks on a roasting tray. Massage in your fat of choice, thyme and salt. (Yes, massage. Get the fat all over everything to seal in the flavors.)
3. Bake until caramelized and beginning to brown, 20-25 minutes, turning once.

To serve:

1. Stir quinoa, roasted veggies and goat cheese together until combined. There should still be chunks of goat cheese.
2. Taste, and add salt if needed.

Note: If you made the quinoa and vegetables ahead of time, re-warm everything together in a skillet with the goat cheese before serving.

Other ways to make this recipe:

• Switch up the vegetables:
  • Try sweet potato, beets, carrots, or rutabaga in place of the squash.
  • Try broccolini, broccoli, or asparagus in place of the Brussels sprouts.
  • Throw in some cooked spinach or peas.
  • Use red onions or shallots instead of leeks.
  • Add a few minced garlic cloves to your roasting tray. 
• Omit the goat cheese or use a different kind of cheese
• Change out the thyme for your favorite spice blends

Click the image below for a printable PDF of the recipe.

Chime in below, and let me know your favorite vegetable and spice combination!