Home Made Peanut Butter

   I like to grow my own bird's food for her. Birds like peppers and all kinds of veggies that can be dried. If for no one else, I will grow food for my precious bird. But, I do like some vegetable products and one of them is peanut butter.
   Peanut butter that is marketed and sold in the stores has some undesirable ingredients added to it, plus preservatives and other additives possibly. But the real problem with peanuts that are raw, is that they tend to carry aspergillum spores, which are very dangerous, especially for birds. If I weren't so picky about what my bird eats, I probably wouldn't even know what aspergillum is.
  When I give her a bowl of food (I call 'manna') I pick out the peanuts that come with the rest of the seeds and pellets and toss them to the squirrels. (Maybe that's why my squirrel population went down!).  But when you make homemade peanut butter, you roast the peanuts first, and that will hopefully kill the bad spores.
  I want to grow my own peanuts and make my own peanut butter. I found a web site with some wonderful peanut butter recipes and pretty pictures of the finished products. Take a look at the pics of the peanut butter here and see what you think. http://www.inspiredtaste.net/21318/how-to-make-peanut-butter-three-ways/
 Now, to be successful in growing peanuts. I grew them before, but this time I need to grow a lot. I have a Champion juicer which I can use to make the peanut butter with, although the recipe on the web site above uses a food processor to make peanut butter with.
  Next step is to plant a granary mill along the river in the back yard. I wish. I saw one last week and wish I had one. But I have an electric one that is an attachment to my Kitchen Aid mixer. If I had enough room, I could grow wheat. Then I could mill the wheat and make bread. Then we would have homemade (homegrown as well) peanut butter sandwiches. I'll grow strawberries and we will have strawberry jam to go in the sandwiches. Maybe one day, all this will come to pass.

Fresh Ground Grain the Old Fashioned Way

  Today we visited a little store that carried grains that were ground right in their back yard. The power to operate the mill came from the water flowing from the river. Someday, maybe I can grow my grains and grind them too! It would help if I lived on a river and could use the power of the river to make my grain mill work, like they do at Nora Mill Granary in Helen, Georgia.

Here is the mill at work. A very natural and peacefulway to get your grits and cornmeal. While I was there I picked up some white speckled grits and some yellow cornmeal. Also, there was whole wheat bread flour that I want to try. Then we went to the coffee shop next door where they roast their coffee beans locally. I want to do that too. I want to grow my own grains and coffee. Probably would need to have a really big backyard for all of that. Will experiment with the bags of grains I bought, when I get home!

I Think I Finally Found A Solution To Sleeping With Noise

   I have had many, many years of dealing with insomnia, and have probably tried almost every trick in the book to get rid of it. I read through a book called, 'No More Sleepless Nights' and have diagnosed my insomnia to one of the rarer types; primary insomnia. Of course, the only recommendation they give for whatever insomnia you have, is to go to a doctor for help.
  I have insomnia for a variety of reasons. Maybe if we tackle them one by one, I can get rid of it, forever! Well, one of the latest experiments is working with sound. Some friends and I were talking about insomnia, and he recommended getting a headset that cancels noise. I went to amazon.com and realized the cheapest one was around $300, but I took it. I got it to work, but I can still hear noise through it. That doesn't mean that it doesn't work though. The way the noise cancellation works is by providing something called, 'White Noise'. When you are awake during the day, you respond to noise in a certain way. Your body knows how to respond to the sounds that you pick up. But when you are sleeping (or in my case, trying to sleep) your ears are tuned a different way. The noise that doesn't bother you during the day, becomes magnified and it makes it harder to sleep with certain sounds. White noise helps you to receive the noise, just as if you were awake, but without keeping you awake.
   I decided to put on some 'white noise' I downloaded on my I-Pad a couple of months back. I noticed it at first, although the noise really didn't bother me. I fell asleep easily, and the times I did wake up during the night, I didn't even notice the noise being there.
  We might be onto something here. This could be the ultimate cure for my insomnia! Once I conquer the Restless legs syndrome, and the sleep apnea problems, I might be able to get a full, good night's sleep once again.
  Now, onto doing more research....

Wheat-Grass Full of Valuable Nutrients

Ever since I have heard of the value of wheat-grass, I have wanted to grow my own. If you go to a typical smoothie store, you can have a shot of the juice from wheat-grass at an additional cost. After all these years, I finally gave it a stab.
  I took a used ice-cream container, and put holes in the bottom. Then I put garden soil (organic) in the container and added the wheat berries that I picked up at a health food store. Sadly, the wheat berries stayed in the bag for many months before they were used.
  I watered my new little indoor garden and viola, I had authentic wheat-grass growing in my garden. It sprang up quickly and now I guess it is ready to use. I will cut some tomorrow and put it in my smoothie for breakfast.

Wheat-grass growing in plastic container indoors

I was looking at a web site on wheat-grass and it's nutritional value. According to Dr. Oz,  it is a catalyst for making red blood cells. Wheatgrass also contains the minerals you need to have, especially iron. Iron is important because it helps to prevent anemia. Wheat-grass is also vitamin rich. Here is the url containing information on the health benefits of wheat-grass: http://www.livestrong.com/article/318965-the-advantages-of-using-wheat-grass/

Mangosteen, Soursop, and Graviola

Another Helpful Ingredient in Fighting Cancer

I was aware of the properties of soursop in fighting cancer, and that is the topic for tonight. Soursop is also known as mangosteen or graviola, depending on which country you live in. Graviola is a product that comes from the rain forests. It is packaged up and sold on amazon.com if you are interested in ordering some. Here is a review on a mangosteen juice product sold on amazon.com:
    "Mangosteen Contains powerful phytonutrients has the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacity, supports visual aid and cardiovascular function, excellent source of potasium, support microbiological balance, maintains immunce system, promotes joint flexibility. Guyabano Natural Cancer Cell Killer The Guyabano is the fruit from the Graviola tree that is miraculous cell killer. It is 10,000 times stronger than CHEMO. Research shows that with extracts from this miraculous tree it now may be possible to attack cancer safely and effectively with all-natural therapy that does not cause extreme nausea, weight loss and hair loss. Protect your immune system and avoid deadly infections. Feel stronger and healthier throughout the course of the treatment. Boost your energy and improve your outlook on life. Extracts from the tree were shown to effectively target and kill malignant cells in 12 types of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreatic cancer. The tree compounds to be up to 10,000 times stronger in slowing the growth of cancer cells than Adriamycin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug. The leaves are regarded as a remedy for gall bladder trouble as well as Coughs, Cataracts, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Fever, and Indigestion."  
   Maybe we should try to grow a mangosteen plant in our back yards!

Alkaline Water and Stopping Cancer

     I have been hearing recently how alkaline water is good in stopping cancer from growing. Could we be onto a cure for cancer finally? I don't know for sure, but this looks hopeful. But like anything that is promising, there will always be an opposing side to it, whether it be a health issue, spiritual issues or some other issue that presses deep into our hearts (and our pocketbooks).
   I have learned that cancer cannot grow in an alkaline environment. If that is true, then how can we create an alkaline environment for us to enjoy? There is one thing we can do, for sure. We can drink alkaline water. You can have a filter installed under your sink or faucet that can turn your water alkaline. I have a friend who uses the leftover water on her gardens, and her yard is beautiful. You can also buy this bottled water at various places. They may sell it at some health food stores. Call the store first and see if they carry it. If enough people request something, they may look into ordering some if they don't carry it already.
   The article on this particular web site explains how alkaline water helps stop cancer from growing. I have also heard that eating greens like spinach and kale can help make your system alkaline. You can put green items such as spinach, kale, and other green vegetables in your smoothies.
   http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/IonizedWater.html
  One other thing that is recommended on this web site it to get off sugar. Sugar actually feeds cancer cells and doing away with sugar can help you to become healthy. But be careful about sugar substitutes. Artificial sweeteners are just as bad for you as sugar is, so avoid them. Acceptable sugar replacements are xylitol and Stevia. Make sure that other ingredients aren't added to these products. Honey, maple syrup, and rapadura are ok in moderation, but a good word of advice is to get off soda pop, whether it is sugar free or not. Soda has a lot of calories anyway, plus a list of other undesirable ingredients that aren't helpful to our health.
   One other thing I have heard, but don't have enough information yet, is that fresh orange juice actually becomes alkaline when we drink it. This might be something good to research.

The Amazing Feat Of Making Cheddar Cheese

As I look through my cookbooks on making cheese, I learned to accept the fact that making hard cheese, like cheddar, is not something I can do in 10 minutes. But I got brave and collected all the ingredients and necessary utensils, and got busy last week. It can also be expensive to make cheese, so I broke the rules and cut the recipe in thirds. That way, I won't have wasted so much money if it doesn't turn out.