Image credit

I am immensely grateful to the family and friends who have taught me generosity. Thanks to them I am aware of at least some of the opportunities to practice it and it is so much fun when I do!

I didn’t intend for this entry to be cliché in that it is being posted during the holiday season, but when the opportunity presents, you just have to go with it, and maybe the good community energy can ripple out a little further. With that spirit, here is a snapshot into this past week. (more…)

Image credit

Can food be super yummy and actually good for you? Heck yeh!

If you read my post last month, What to Do About Halloween (and all those other holidays that follow), you have a good idea of what a full on food geek I am, and tasty desserts that are good for me are important!

I write a lot about the importance of community when it comes to food. This month I am sharing a recipe developed by my friend, Erin. Erin was a lab researcher turned homeschooling mom and midwifery student. She can’t get away from her research roots, though, and she develops really delicious recipes.

Just how good is this recipe? Taste-wise it is off the charts and will replace the pumpkin pie that I used to enjoy prior to Erin’s creation.

You may have noticed that I wrote about the Whole 30 in my last Uncommon Childhood post, and as an added bonus, Erin’s recipe is pretty darn close to Whole 30 compliance. I would even use it as a meal substitute if I was crunched for time because it is basically a meal.

Now for Erin’s recipe, for which I provide two versions. The first is Erin’s, unaltered. The second version discusses the tweaks I made to the recipe to bring is closer to compliance with the Whole 30. Enjoy! (more…)

Image credit

A really wise friend and healer framed Halloween and the upcoming holidays this way:

We are entering the sugar season and our culture is “profoundly youthful and immature” in relation to how we eat during the holiday season. Could he be more on target? Sugar – public enemy number two after wheat (see Wheat – Cut that Shit Out!) – spreader of disease and death.

The past four months have brought tremendous healing to my family (amazing how much healing there is to do given the strides we have made in the last three years!) and we can see more clearly than ever what sugar does to us. Best of all, we are much more capable of resisting it because we have overwhelmingly broken its grip. In fact, we are sweetener free. No sugar, honey, maple syrup or any other sweetener.

Just so you don’t think we are only hard core food freaks with super sugar avoiding powers (which we are), we didn’t get here over night – it took five years. And we stumbled A LOT!

You can read about the stumbles and many lessons here: So Much Sugar in Two Years! Mistakes happen, and we have to be kind to ourselves. Breaking from the American sugar/food/emotional reward system is tough!

Now on to Halloween – the Sugar Bowl Kickoff.

What to do about it? Most kids are going to pound their candy and their parents will be enjoying some too. I lived that frenzy all of my trick-or-treat years and beyond, and I have the mouth full of crowns and mercury to prove it.

Because the candy that people normally eat for Halloween is just plain nasty – full of wax, colors, preservatives and who knows what else – I have never let my now eight year old eat it. We trade his trick-or-treat haul for a toy and an organic dark chocolate candy bar. The funny thing is that this year, when our eating is as good as it can get, he doesn’t even want the candy bar. He is just in it for the romp through the neighborhood and the toy.

If an eight year old rejects really yummy chocolate, you know that breaking the sugar addiction is possible.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years will quickly follow (talk about a one, two punch – all of that wheat AND sugar), and what are you going to do when those treats start popping up everywhere you go? I will be blogging some more between now and then, so check out Moving Strongly Forward for motivation and ideas for conquering the holiday treats.

Until then, just do your best to help your kids (and yourself) break away from the usual Halloween nonsense.

Make it fun.

Get a substitute for the candy – it doesn’t have to be a big thing. It doesn’t have to be a thing at all – it can be an event. Maybe bowling or putt-putt golf. Just something besides sugar.

If you want to do some advanced reading and get a head start on kicking the holiday junk food in the pants, check out the Whole 30. If you dare to take this healing food adventure, your life will be powerfully, profoundly and positively changed.

Image credit

The transition from summer to fall is unreal. In my state we have peaches, watermelon, apples and pumpkins all at the same time. We are savoring the last of the summer fruit and eager to fully enjoy the fall pickings!

Today I am going to share two great tasting, super healthy, non-inflammatory fall recipes: Pumpkin Custard and Raw Apple Pie. (more…)

Image credit

The last days of summer are here in North Carolina, with peaches, grapes, figs and other fruits preparing to rest, and apples are charging forward. But…there are still amazing blueberries to be picked. We picked 26 pounds of the best I have ever tasted last week, and picking will be good into the beginning of September. I have a lot of plans for those berries, and I want to share a great recipe with you in case you can still get your hands on some too. This recipe is fantastic because it is easy, fast, raw and super healthy. (more…)