Vanilla Cashew Hemp Milk

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup hemp seeds

4 cups of filtered water

1/4 teaspoon stevia

1 tablespoon vanilla

pinch of sea salt

Mix all together in a high speed blender.

Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Fudge

½ cup 100% pure maple syrup

¼ cup coconut oil

2/3 cup cacao powder

Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender until well combined. Pour into glass dish or mini cupcake wrapper and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. If you want to use it as a dip, simply pour into a bowl and enjoy! If making chocolate covered fruit, dip the fruit and place in the freezer for 30 minutes until chocolate hardens.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1/2 large head of Cauliflower

1 egg

1 cup organic mozzarella cheese

1/4 tablespoon garlic powder

1/4 tablespoon dried basil

1/4 tablespoon dried oregeno

1/4 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Remove the stem and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Place the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until it is fully grated.

In a bowl, combine cauliflower, egg, cheese, and seasonings. Mix together until fully combined.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil and spread cauliflower mixture in a circle.

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown without burning.

To make pizza:

Let crust cool for 10 minutes. Add toppings and bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is fully melted. For our pizza, we used organic pizza sauce, 2 handfuls baby spinach, then topped it with 2 cups mozzarella and sprinkled it with goat cheese!

You are probably thinking it’s so much easier to just kick out the symptom with an over-the-counter medication, like Zyrtec, or even a prescription, but let me try to help you understand allergies a little better. When you understand allergies from the inside out, treating them naturally can make a lot more sense. Let’s look at pollen. It looks like a spiny, miniature pinecone (See picture).
Think about those prickly attackers entering your nasal passages and latching onto soft mucous membranes. Mucous membranes line our bronchial and nasal passages and contain immune cells, which contain histamines. Receptors sit on top of immune cells, and when an allergen trigger, such as pollen, lands on top of the receptor, it signals the immune cells, which then respond by releasing histamine and other chemicals. When the histamine is released it starts a chain of reactions intended to help the body flush out the intruder and this is when sneezing, watery and itchy eyes and body itching occur. The reaction can also include swelling in the bronchial tubes, making it difficult to breathe especially for those with asthma.

Now, doesn’t it make more sense to build your immune system before your body goes to battle with all of these symptoms? Here are my suggestions for natural remedies:

Raw, Local Honey – This type of honey contains the pollen from the area you live in and will create immunity within your body to that type of pollen. You can find local honey at localharvest.org.

Remove Foods that Cause Inflammation – Sugar, dairy, wheat, bad fats, preservatives, artificial colors…all of these provide inflammation. Add foods that help fight inflammation…we’ll get to that in a minute!

Quercetin – Helps stabilize immune cells and prevents them from releasing histamine. You can find  it in fruits, onions, apples, parsley, tea, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and wine, but allergy sufferers will most likely need to use supplements to build up enough of this compound to prevent attacks. It’s recommended to start with a dosage of about 1,000 milligrams a day, taken between meals, six weeks before allergy season. If you’re pregnant, nursing, or have liver disease consult with your doctor before using quercetin.

Allergy-Fighting Foods – Omega -3 fatty acids help fight inflammation. You can find omega-3s in cold-water fish like wild salmon, walnuts and flaxseed oil, grass-fed meat and free-range eggs. Spicy foods can also help keep airways clear by acting as a natural decongestant, so consider adding chili peppers, cayenne  pepper, or horseradish to your food.

AlfAlfa + Immunity – This combination of supplements has been used by several of my close friends who have been long term allergy sufferers. They swear by it! Alfalfa is a natural detoxifier, therefore it helps rid the body of the pollen.  You can find these supplements at bthealthsource.myshaklee.com.

Chiropractic Adjustments – Damage to your spine will prevent your body from healing properly. When a  nerve is pinched it doesn’t allow the organs to heal as they should and in the case of allergies, can prevent your immune system from functioning like it should.

Sources:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/six-natural-allergy-remedies.aspx#ixzz2RxBYYP1r

Hot or Cold Breakfast Seed Cereal

Ingredients:

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp Buckwheat groats

1 tbsp Hemp seeds (I use Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts)

6 tbsp Almond or Coconut Milk

Optional: Honey, stevia, or fruit to sweeten

To enjoy cold: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

To enjoy hot: Heat milk on stovetop. Transfer milk to bowl while hot and add seeds. Mix well.

Mrs.Dana’s Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 bananas (mashed)

1/3 maple almond butter or (1/3 c. almond butter plus 1 Tbls. maple syrup)

1 cup almond meal/flour

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

optional: blueberries, mini choc chips, diced apple

1. Stir together the first 7 ingredients. Add optional items to the mix if you want pancakes all one flavor, or sprinkle toppings on after you pour mix on the skillet. This allows you to make several different kinds.

2. Melt grass-fed butter or coconut oil onto a skillet.

3. Pour batter 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook thoroughly and flip.The insides of these pancakes take a little bit longer to cook than regular pancakes so keep an eye on them as you get familiar with the batter.

4. Top with Raw 100% Pure Maple Syrup, honey, or fruit if desired!

Makes 10-12 pancakes

Did you know that per calorie, kale has more calcium than milk? Calcium aids in preventing bone loss, preventing osteoporosis and maintaining a healthy metabolism. Try adding more kale into your diet to give your metabolism a healthy boost!

Carolyn’s  Sweet Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of organic Kale, remove stalks and thinly slice

1 lemon, juiced

¼ cup EVOO, plus an extra drizzle

2 tsp raw organic honey, local honey is best

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 mango diced or 1 grapefruit segmented (any fruit will do here)

2-3 tablespoons pumpkin or sunflower seeds

Directions:

In a large bowl add the sliced kale, pour half of the lemon juice over it, a drizzle of EVOO and a pinch of the kosher salt.  Massage the mixture until the kale leaves start to soften and wilt.  This will take 2-3 minutes.  DO NOT stop short on the time as the longer you massage it the more tender and soft the leaves will get.  Set aside while you assemble the dressing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining lemon juice, honey, and pepper. Stream in the ¼ cup EVOO while whisking until a dressing forms.

Pour the dressing over the kale, add the fruit and pumpkin seeds and toss.  Enjoy!

Earth Day reminds us of our responsibility to take care of the environment that has been given to us. Going green is not only good for the planet, it’s good for your health too. Most people have a misconception that “eco-friendly” means expensive. However, the examples below will actually SAVE you money in the long run! We all want that, right?

Here are a few small changes that you can start making:

1)      Lower the thermostat in your home by 2 degrees.

2)      Buy a reusable BPA water bottle and refill it with filtered water instead of buying bottled water. (I recommend Shaklee Get Clean Water pitcher. It’s the only purifying pitcher that gets lead out of water. It filters more than 5,000 8 oz. glasses and saves more than 2,400 plastic bottles from the landfill).

3)      Switch the light bulbs in your home to compact fluorescent bulbs.

4)      Carpool! Save gas money by splitting it with friends and reduce the amount of pollution going into the air. Even better….ride your bike or walk to work or to the grocery store if it’s close enough to your home.

5)      Wash 2 fewer loads of clothes and one fewer load of dishes a week and save up to 4,500 gallons of water per year.

6)      A leaky toilet can waste up to 73,000 gallons of water a year. Repair your toilet and save on your water bill and 1,000 of gallons of water.

7)      Use Shaklee Basic H for all-purpose, non-toxic and safe cleaning of windows, mirrors, degreasing, floors, tubs, showers, bathrooms, you name it! It comes in a 16 oz  bottle of concentrate and creates 48 gallons of safe, powerful cleaner. Just one bottle is $12.15 and is the equivalent of 5,824 bottles of 26oz Windex.

8)      Use reusable plastic containers for packing lunches and snacks instead of disposable plastic bags.

9)      Unplug appliances and electronics if you are not using them.

10) Recycle your junk mail and old magazines.

Ms. Dana is committed to teaching her students about eating healthy. I will be featuring more recipes from her in the near future. Stay tuned!

Mrs. Dana’s Paleo Bread

2 cups of almond meal/flour

2 free range eggs

3 tablespoons grass-fed butter

1 tablespoon organic raw honey or maple syrup

1/4 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven on 350

2. Prepare pan by greasing it with butter.  We use an 8×8 glass baking dish, but you can use any size    that suits your needs.

3. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly.

4. Pour into a prepared and bake for 20 minutes. If using a different size pan be sure to adjust baking time accordingly.

5. Let cool, slice and enjoy.