Merry Christmas with Love

Yes, I am a 'lil late... got caught up in the flurry of Holiday activities! Hope it was HAPPY!

Merry Christmas to all.  

You are the gift.  Give this gift freely and make the world a better place to be.

You ARE the Gift

As we pull ourselves together for Holiday celebrating 2013, remember that you ARE the gift.

We so often get caught up in the corporate world's version and vision of what a holiday should look like:

1. Credit cards bending to the $$ weight of gift purchases, because, well, that is what we are supposed to do, right?

2. Over stuffed gift giving all to the benefit of the corporate world's bottom line.

3.  Over stuffed eating and merry making leaving us feeling washed out after the celebrations are over.

Giving You As The Gift

Take time to do things for others that count; make someone else's life easier, happier, and healthier by giving You as the gift.  It is a gift of LOVE.

Happy Holidays

and may your 2014 be Happy, Healthy, and Whole 

in Mind, Body & Soul.

Eggnog Latte*

1 cup of milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. dark maple syrup

1-2 tsp. decaffeinated instant coffee (Or use the caffeine and enjoy!)

pinch or two of nutmeg

pinch or two of cinnamon

optional: whipped cream

Place all ingredients, except whipped cream, in a blender and gently blend together.

Pour into a pan and heat slowly and gently. I heat on low for 2 minutes and test the temperature.  If not warmed enough, I keep heating and check every 1 minute.  Yes, I set the timer.  Over heated eggnog gets clumpy!

Pour into your favorite mug, add whipped cream (or not), enjoy!

*I opt for all organic, naturally-raised ingredients to better nourish me, to nourish those I am making my "eggnog love", and to inadvertently nourish the earth through better food and farming choices.

Mount Hagen Organic Instant Coffee available through special order at  Nature's Storehouse, Canton, NY.

Diet "Dr. Doom"

Diet Dr. Doom Photo courtesy of Eli Schechter

www.handsonhealthhh.com

True life is lived when tiny changes occur.                              -Leo Tolstoy People see me coming and they say, "Oh no, it is her, the one who wants to take away all of our goodies!"  I am here to tell you, deprivation is not my focus.  I am all about helping you see what you are inviting into your life: (And I would be happy to teach you how to make whole food treats; cakes, pies, cookies, donuts...I will say that they are a treat, not an everyday food, but make them well and enjoy your indulgence, once in a while!  Whole Food Treat cooking class is coming up November 14th with the Local Living Venture, see link below.) 1.  Yummy, whole foods... real nutrition that feeds the body cells right down to your tippy toes! 2.  Movement that makes your body sing, 3.  Outdoor activity for fresh air, sunshine, and promoting good sleep, 4.  Awesome, vibrant health to a ripe, old age! Focus on the positive: what you are going to create and the good things you are inviting into your lifestyle! Want to learn more? Call me, we can chat & set you on your healing path. Come to one of my workshops: Nature's Storehouse, Canton.  November 6th in the evening, 6 PM   http://www.natures-storehouse.com/ Attend a cooking class I teach for the Local Living Venture:   http://www.sustainablelivingproject.net So, I meant to send this on October 30th... a 'lil Halloween BOO to you.   However, life was busy, I forgot, so it goes!   Hope your Halloween was spooky and full of whole foods (not sugar)!

Medicinal Herbs ARE Food

Dandelion: the flower, leaves, & roots are all used for liver healing nourishment. The part used depends on the season and strength of medicine desired.

Burdock Root: a powerful liver nourishing & healing herb.

"One of the biggest tragedies of human civilization is the precedence of chemical therapy over whole food nutrition.  

It is substitution of artificial therapy over natural, of poison over food, in which we are feeding people poisons trying to correct the reactions of nutritional starvation." -Dr. Royal Lee

Herbs are Food

Herbs can be used in tea, tinctures, oils, poultices, and some eaten whole as food.  

A common message heard from main stream media and western medicine is Do NOT use herbs as they are potentially dangerous.  

As an Herbalist, I am here to remind you what we have known as humans interacting with the Nature: Herbs are plants with body cell nourishing capabilities.

When we know, or work with someone who knows, the nourishing and medicinal benefits of herbs we can use them to support our health and healing. Many factors are considered to help guide the decision as to which herb, or combination of herbs, would best support an individual’s health and healing.

Historically, people learned from each other which plants support which body organs and systems. We learned from our elders which plants supported the nourishing and healing of an individual’s needs.

Herbs are a plant: leaf, root, stems, bark, berries, seeds. Herbs are plants, similar to plants we eat as vegetables.

The individual herb has nutritional and healing properties with affinities for certain tissues. Some examples:

• Hawthorne berry for the heart

• Saw palmetto for the prostate

• Red Raspberry leaf for the uterus

• Rhubarb root for the colon

• Milk thistle for the liver

• Nettle as a general nutritive herb

• Dandelion and burdock root for liver cleansing

The list of herbs and their benefits is as long as the list of plants we share this Earth with.  

The above herbs are a few example of herbs and the tissue / organ they have affinities for healing. Healing happens because the herb adds whole food nutrition to your body cells.  Plants we eat as food serve the same physiological process of nourishing our body cells.

Recommendations for working with herbal plants:

1. Read up on the herb you want to take.  Learn about the herb and its healing affinities before you make the decision to take it.

2. Contact an herbalist for help in choosing the right herb, or blend of herbs, to add to your plan for health and healing. The herb or blend of herbs for one person may not be the best blend for another person with the seemingly same “symptoms presentation.” Healing is not a one size fits all experience.

3. Eat a whole food diet. Your body cells require whole food nutrition to function properly in each moment, replicate as normal & healthy cells, and keep your being whole for vital longevity.

4. Herbs are amazing nutrition for the body but they cannot make up for a refined, processed, junk food product diet.

Herbs are whole foods.  Use them wisely for whole body healing.

Stinging Nettle, below, are one of my favorite herbs. Nettles are a powerhouse of nutrition and healing energy for the whole body.

Nature Knows Best

www.HandsOnHealthHH.com "Just lift the corner of the clouds and the sun is ALWAYS shining!"   Eli Schechter

Photo courtesy of Paula Willard, Lake Ozonia FB post. "Now I see the secret of making the best persons. It is to grow up in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth."  Walt Whitman There is amazing wisdom in this quote by Walt Whitman.  When we eat, sleep, move, and live with the rhythms of nature our bodies thrive with vibrant health.  Eating food from the season we currently are experiencing, from farmers who live right around the corner (Local food is the label for this!), and experiencing our lives in tune with the forces of nature (Remember, we ARE nature.) is very potent "medicine."  My goal in life is to reach as many people as I can, turning on their passion for health and healing in themselves.  Every healthy person influences others around them (Paying it forward!) creating more healthy people.  Healthy people create healthy families and communities... healthy communities link together to create a global community that thrives with vibrant health.  It is a ripple effect and I am a pebble, throwing myself into the pond.  Join me on this quest for changing the collective mind, body, and soul health... one person at a time! Health and Healing Hint Recently I presented a health and healing workshop in Homer, NY.  After the workshop, a lady approached me as she had stories to tell of her upbringing with a mom who fed her organic, whole foods.  I love people's stories and I think she connected with my funny stories about Jake and Eli thinking I am a crazed, food and health "sheriff."  She said her mom used to give her a tablespoon of wheat germ whenever her and her siblings were going to get their occasional piece of candy treat.  She said this prevented the blood sugar rush and crash.  Which, by the way, is a good thing to avoid!  Just a helpful hint to keep your blood sugar on an even keel. I always recommend making sure baked goods have healthy amounts of fat and protein in them (as well as drastically reducing the sugar amounts in the recipe) as these cooking habits counter the high content of easily digested and quickly absorbed carbohydrates from the sweetener and whole grain flours in any treat recipes (even if one uses all whole foods ingredients). Wheat Germ:   Very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Fat, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium and Copper, and a very good source of Thiamin, Phosphorus, Zinc, Manganese and Selenium.  The high level of nutrients also counters the depletion of nutrients from your body that happens when you eat a refined food.  Remember my cell biology lessons in my whole food articles? http://www.livestrong.com/article/34470-wheat-germ-nutritional/