Common Sense Vegucation

March 25, 2019 Paula Youmell, RN, Wise Woman Nurse®

Grow, Buy, & Eat organic veggies

Non-GMO a must. Look into heritage varieties.
Gently cook so veggies still have vibrant color and crisp texture. Yes, gone are the days of mushy, washed out colored veggies.
Grow your own? Keep your soil organically, bio-dynamically healthy. Skip the Miracle Gro® and other non-whole gardening additives. Whole foods & whole food vitamins feed your body’s “soil” best. Only feed the Earth’s soil with whole fertilizers, compost, etc.
Pull a carrot. Wipe the obvious dirt off. Eat without washing if your soil is chemical free / toxin free. Soil microbes (think probiotics) are in the soil.
Vibrant Soil = Vibrant Food = Vibrant Body Cells = Vibrant Whole Health
Prep veggies just before you are going to eat them or cook them. This preserves nutrients.
Steaming or light simmering veggies (remember, NO mush)? Use as little water as possible to retain nutrients in the food. Drain the cooking / steaming water into a mug, let cool, & drink. No more pouring nutrients down the drain. Don’t want to drink it? Save it for your house plant watering. Their soil needs nutrition too.

My Best Gluten Free - Grain Free Bread Yet!

March 10, 2019 Paula Youmell, RN

UPDATED 9/28/22

Why was this particular loaf so much better? I have made several varieties of the gluten free, 100% whole food flour, bread from various websites. One was too eggy. It had 6 eggs per one loaf of bread. It was more like eating some sort of weird loaf of quiche. Others were too moist and dense. This one I remedied by cutting the eggs to 4, adding lots of extra butter, and using milk.

The top is nice and brown crispy. And it is not doughy in texture. I had a slice warm from the oven and literally slathered in slices of butter. Delicious!

Ingredients

2/3 cup organic buckwheat flour
2/3 cup organic quinoa flour
2/3 cup organic millet flour
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1 rounded teaspoon baking soda
1 rounded tsp baking powder
1/3 cup + a little extra organic Pasture Butter, I am very generous with the butter, and I gently melt it before adding to the batter
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP local maple syrup
4 local & organic eggs
3/4 cup local, organic Goat’s milk
½ teaspoon unrefined pink Himalayan salt

Melt the butter
Beat the eggs
Mix in melted butter, milk, & maple syrup
Mix dry ingredients together
Add dry to wet & mix well
You will have more of a thick bread batter than a traditional yeasted bread dough
Pour into a well buttered bread pan ( I use 8 1/2 L X 4 3/4 W X 2 3/4 D )
Bake at 350F for 55 minutes or so until top is crispy brown & loaf pulls away from the bread pan sides

Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove to a plate. Allow to finish cooling.

Slice & use for your favorite sandwiches, toast for a buttery delight, add jam, melt cheese on, spread with hummus / peanut butter / Nuttzo butter… whatever pleases you! Bologna from well raised pigs?? I no longer have a source for such childhood comfort foods. Bummer.

I have one frozen package of Piggery Bologna left… the business has been closed for over a year. I will miss this pasture raised pork bologna when I finally decide to break it out of the freezer and indulge.

Cell - A - Brating Spring Foraging →

April 23, 2018 Paula Youmell, RN

Clockwise from top:                  … — **Clockwise from top: Dandelion greens, Wild Violet, White Pine, Wild Leek shoots.**

It is April 23rd (Happy Earth Day yesterday!) and I am patiently awaiting Dandelion greens, Wild Violet leaves & flowers, and Wild Leeks (heading out, soon, to see if they are popped up enough to dig). It has been a long winter and a hard won Spring for us Waaaay Northern New Yorkers. Today is day 3 of sunshine and no snow floating down. The ground is finally bare save for a few pockets of the "white stuff" here and there on the northern sides of trees, hills, etc.

Stinging Nettle Cake

May 28, 2017 Paula Youmell, RN

I can't proclaim the brilliant idea for this cake came from me. I confess, I eat nettles in every way possible, even blending up raw in a morning green drink (yes, all green plants come from my lawn). When Debbie Miller of Earth Rythm Wellness in Ogdensburg, NY shared the recipe with me... I think the whole North Country knows I am a Nettle Queen, I thought "Why Not?" We make carrot cakes, beet cakes, zucchini cakes and breads; nettle cake sounds like a splendid idea to me.

Bone Broth: What Is the Hype?

September 20, 2016 Paula Youmell, RN

Jar one: bones soaking in apple cider vinegarJar two: finished bone broth — Jar one: bones soaking in apple cider vinegar
Jar two: finished bone broth

Perhaps you remember your mom or grandma feeding you chicken soup when you were ill. Most chicken soup, stock, was made with the bones, cartilage, and the hunks of attacked chicken meat. (If you are vegetarian or vegan… don’t bail on me just yet. I have plant based gut healing suggestions as well. Bare with me on this bones thing.)

Animal bone broths have been used for hundreds of years, thousands really, for their nourishment and healing benefits. People inherently knew the healing benefits of the daily food and life choices they made. Modern living somehow now requires scientific proofthat what we are doing is worthwhile. Research into the benefits of bone broth is available and plenty to satisfy the scientifically inclined.

Carrot Cake: Grain Free & Cow's "Liquid Lactation" Free :)

July 29, 2016 Paula Youmell, RN

**Read on my friends... recipe is below!**

I work with people who have health challenges... sometimes big health challenges:

auto-immune,
cancer,
diabetes, etc.

The ravages of modern living and modern eating raise holy hell with people's bodies creating ongoing inflammation, immune activation, cellular metabolism issues, blood sugar issues, glandular ill health... BUT, people still want an occasional celebratory food to relax into and enjoy.

With above said health challenges; the removal of gluten, grains, and cow's milk dairy (it is a caesin & A1 protein / caesin issue) are imperative (from a functional medicine / natural health perspective) to reduce gut and immune health inflammation and get the healing process rolling.

Natural Health Education Blog