Water Kefir & Healthy Cooking Workshop

It is time to stop drinking soda (which is bad for you) and opt for something that tastes a million times better, is healthy ... and is much more affordable!!!

Instructor: Barbara Lovas, Th.D.
February 28, 2015,  2pm -- 4pm

5324 Canal Blvd, NOLA, 70124

(Enter the side door, downstairs, facing Hawthorne Place)

Cost: $10 (Pay at the door)

(R.S.V.P. -- due to limited space -- 504-722-2967 or bblovas1@yahoo.com)

 Another last minute water kefir workshop because my kefir is growing so fast that I need to give some away!!!

Those who attend will be given some grains and instruction on how to make water kefir. I will include a recipe and resources. Please bring to the workshop a regular canning jar (pint or quart).   I will provide you with all the instructions, ingredients and the recipe needed to make your first batch. So, you will go home prepared to make your first batch. As always, I don't sell my grains or scobies, but will give them away.  

We will go over general guidelines to eating healthy. Topics will include homegrown probiotics, fermented foods, and our body's need for fatty acids. We will also discuss how to make healthy tasty alternatives to replace foods that we need to eliminate from our diets. Of course, you can expect me to fuss a bit about white table salt (poison) and artificial sweeteners (poison) ... but I will give you healthy alternatives! In fact, I will give you an opportunity to taste them.

NOTE: We will not make any other recipes during this workshop ... last time we barely made it through 2 of the three we had scheduled. Instead, I will tell you about recipes and provide any recipes you are interested in via email after our workshop. If you want milk kefir, water kefir or a kombucha scoby, remember those are available according to my supply. That being said; If you ask in advance, I should have some milk kefir grains and maybe some kombucha ready to give away on the day of the workshop.  As I always give away kefir and kombucha for free. If you need an interpreter, please request an interpreter immediately: specify the language needed.

Don't worry, if you accidentally kill the kefir I have given you, I will always be glad to give you more.

If you are interested in attending this workshop, please reply to this e-mail and let me know you plan to go so I can hold your seat.  Feel free to invite your friends, just make sure you inform me, so they are added into my headcount.:)  I am looking forward to seeing you there. Seize the day!!!  Barbara

seizethedayz.blogspot.com

http://bblovas1.wix.com/healthy-homemade-#

To see a video of what kefir looks like while u are making it, go to my Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3UXqd9R4R8&feature=player_embedded.

This workshop is sponsored by CBBDC  at http://www.neworleansdeafchurch.org and co-sponsored by New Orleans Sign Language Services at http://www.neworleanssignlanguageservices.com/

How to Get Rid of a Headache

I used to have horrible migraines regularly. My husband could always tell me when I was starting to get a migraine, he would notice my right eye turning in -- sort of like a lazy eye kind of a thing. I haven't needed to take a migraine medicine (over the counter or prescription) in probably 6 years or more years, because I don't get migraine headaches anymore. Here is what I use now:

• Oil of Wild Oregano (Oreganol is a good brand -- and is sold in most health food stores)
  
• Sublingual Vitamin B Complex (look online for TriVita -- that is the best. It costs a little more, but it is worth it!)

2 other very important things that you may consider is getting rid of all forms of MSG and sugar (especially fake sugar).

If you MUST eat sugar, eat natural forms of it: honey, molasses, blue agave or sweet herbs like stevia (stevia is not only a very sweet herb, but is good for you). Try to avoid any white foods (bleached foods). Better forms of sugar are raw organic cane or brown types ... last option white. On the other hand, let me STRESS this point, you are better-off eating white sugar than eating any sugar substitutes. AVOID alllllllllll sugar substitutes like as if your life depends on it. They are soooooo dangerous. On that same note: avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague!

There is one more IMPORTANT and easy change that you can make right away, stop using white table salt "table poison." Use only natural sea salt; Himalayan and Mediterranean sea salts are the best. They are packed with minerals you need and will not cause all the problems that white processed salt will cause. You can pretty much eat as much sea salt as you want. Our body needs salt. That goes back to that whole electrolyte thing that you probably have heard about, especially when dealing with children with high fever or diarrhea. We all need a balance of salt, potassium and iodine to sustain life.

NOTE: Maintaining a good sugar and salt balance is important. It is how we get the salt and sugars that often will determine our health. For example: an imbalance of our body's sugar will directly affect our hormone secretion, visa versa; hormones secretion regulates our sugars. Get sugars and salts from natural resources.

Also, if after trying the above suggestions you find none of the above things help you, I would advise you to stop eating all forms of gluten (that includes wheat) and corn. If there is still no change, cut out milk (unless in fermented forms, such as kefir and/or yogurt) and peanuts... your headaches might be the result of common allergies.

What about coffee? I would not immediately cut out caffeine as some suggest, unless you are drinking large amounts of caffeine (that in itself will give you withdrawal headaches). One cup of black organic coffee per day is fine in most cases. If after you have tried all the above and you still have headaches, cut out coffee and caffeine.

The best way to figure out your triggers is to isolate the irritants/possible triggers, and see which when eaten or not eaten cause notable differences. In other words, cut-out or add things to your diet one at a time, until you figure out what works best for you. Keeping a journal or log of all you are eating and how you are feeling during that time might be a helpful tool in helping you notice patterns that you might otherwise overlook.

If you think about it, it is really a miracle that we are still alive; considering all the junk we shovel in our mouths. Imagine if we were cars and we substituted gas for junk: what would happen? If God would have made us as well as one of the best engineered cars as you could find, we would be broken-down on the side of the road somewhere for sure! We are for sure, wonderfully and fearfully made by the hand of God. Only God could engineer such a resilient amazing machine.

You can go to my blog and read more info about things in general: I have been trying to gather all my old e-mails and re-format them and any previous written articles and post them on my blog site for easy access.