Roasted Garlic Spread with Probiotics

I personally believe there is nothing more beautiful than waking up to a fluffy, toasted bagel with cream cheese. If I had to get stuck eating one thing for the rest of my breakfast years, it would be this combination. But depressingly, when I stopped eating gluten and dairy, it also meant I had to give up my love for bagels and cream cheese. I’ve had a few gluten free “imitation” bagels but it was always like bighting into a dense sponge. My teeth literally squeaked against the surface as I bit in. After 6 long years of bagel-less mornings, I decided something had to change. One day, as I walked happily through my local Kroger grocer (I have a love for grocery shopping), I stopped dead in the freezer section. With wide eyes and a loud gasp, I whispered to myself, Could this be what I’ve waited for all these years? I knew I had to be reading the label wrong, “Gluten Free Bagels That Don’t Taste Like Rubber.” Well, it didn’t say the last part but I knew that brand made bread that tasted delicious so the bagels just had to be good too.  I yanked open the freezer door and pinched them to see if they were real. They were frozen so my fingers didn’t sink in like I expected. I decided I’d have to buy them to see if they were as good as they looked. A whopping 6 bucks later, they were mine.

To make a long story short, they were better than I imagined gluten free bagels could be. They became fast friends with my kitchen and taste buds. But something was missing. A bagel isn’t complete without cream cheese. The next time I went to the store, I explored my options. I came home with tofu "cream cheese", which just didn’t hit the mark for me. I don’t really like to play around with soy products (learn about the dangers of soy here here), so I decided to stick with butter. Contrary to popular belief, butter is wonderful.

Just to name a few benefits of buttter:

            --It’s rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A, necessary for thyroid                    and adrenal health.

            --Great source of Omega 3’s

            --Contains essential minerals

            --Filled with Glycospingolipids which protect the stomach from gastrointestinal                     infections (Yes, please!)

            - Contains Lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections

            - Contains Lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism.

            --Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to brain and nervous system                                   development. (Find out why cholesterol is essential to our health:                      here )

So, I love butter. If after some research of your own, you find that you don’t share the same love, whatever you do, don’t go for margarine. It’s usually made up of hydrogenated oils that are terrible for our bodies.

Now, getting to the point of my post… awhile back my mom posted a recipe for pickled roasted garlic (It’s the 3^rd recipe down the page). Pickling is fermenting food in salt and/or whey to make it rich in bacteria that is beneficial for your gut and proper digestion. I decided to make my own and let me tell you, I don’t need no cream cheese after I discovered this stuff.

After roasting, peeling, then letting the garlic sit in it’s little saltwater bath for 3 days (yes, like Jesus), up rises the most delectable spread of your life. Plus, I don’t have to feel bad about not having yogurt that morning to get my probiotics because I’m getting them from the pickled garlic! This stuff seriously tastes like dreamy garlic bread. It’s better than Olive Garden bread sticks. Yes, I stand by that statement.

Here we go:

2 heads of garlic (Or up to 6)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons whey (if you have none, use 1 additional tsp. salt)
1/4 cup water (Or enough to cover the cloves)
Directions: Break off the cloves from heads but don’t take off the peel. Bake garlic cloves at 300 degrees until most of the cloves open. (Mine took about an hour. They should be a little brown so that they'll be easy to spread). Peel the cloves and place into jar. Pour other ingredients over but make sure to have 1 inch at top of jar with no liquid. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for 3 days then transfer to refrigerator.
The mixture should be cloudy but if it has anything growing on top that smells weird, looks weird, or just doesn’t seem right, don’t eat it and discard. The garlic cloves should look the same as they did when you put them in the jar 3 days earlier.

Besides tasting like heaven, garlic has a long list of benefits to our bodies, including: lowering blood pressure, thinning blood, promoting cardiovascular health, fighting cancer, anti viral, fungal, and bacterial properties, and reducing number bug bites!

1) Break apart garlic heads but don’t peel cloves.

2) Place in baking dish and roast on 300 degrees until clove skin cracks open and cloves are easily removed. It will smell heavenly.Mine took about an hour. You want them to be a little brown.

3) Remove from oven and peel.

 

4) Place in jar. Mix whey, salt, and water together and pour over garlic cloves in jar. Stir gently to mix and then close tightly for three days, then transfer to cold storage. 

On day 3, your garlic should be ready to eat! Take out the cloves and spread them on buttery toast.  To finish off my breakfast, I fry up some eggs and tomatoes.

Serve your eggs, tomatoes, and garlic bagel with green onions and raw milk aged cheddar cheese (which has a low lactose count I’m able to tolerate).

My garlic spread isn’t pictured because it’s still pickling.

Thank God for garlic and a new day and enjoy!

My Flesh and My Heart May Fail, Part 2

“I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
 -Elvina M. Hall

 If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here. 

 It was 9:30 PM. I had just come home after a long day at school followed by an evening at church for youth group. I had a paper to write and my body hurt. My muscles were in all kinds of knots and my stomach was refusing to digest whatever I ate for dinner. I was frustrated with my body, but mostly with God. I knew he had kept my heart from damage, but that didn’t mean there were no other lasting effects from sickness.

 I had dozens of conversations with my parents about how I was feeling. Throughout my childhood, I leaned on my parents for advice, answers, and faith to believe God when things got tough. But as I fell deeper into this darkness, no person could give me the answers I needed this time. Through my tears, questions I hadn’t cried since that sickly summer day spilled from my mouth, “Why me? Don’t you see me? Can’t you hear my crying?” I couldn’t stop sobbing, partly from the pain and partly from my deepening hopelessness. “If this is what it feels like to live, I’m don’t want to anymore. 

 But… 

Lord, if this is your plan for me…if you can tell me there’s more to this struggle than what I can see, I’ll endure it.” 

 I decided to read a Psalm because at that moment I felt like David, writer of some of the most eloquent groaning in the Bible. I opened up to Psalm 105. I wasn’t really in the mood for what the title foretold, “Tell of All His Wonderful Works” but oddly, I decided to keep reading. It started off strong, “…let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!”

"Lord, I’m seeking…can I rejoice now? Please, just show me what all this is for." But, at this point I was starting to sniffle again.

 Reading on, I soon realized that this was the moment God would begin to answer my aching questions.

 “He [God] called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply.
Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of [God’s people]—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 
They bruised his feet with shackles
 and placed his neck in an iron collar.
 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
 the LORD tested Joseph’s character. 
Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
 the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.” Psalm 105:16-22


I knew the story of Joseph, how his jealous brothers threw him in a well, then sold him as a slave and told his dad a wild animal had killed him. But in the past when I read Joseph’s story, I never saw the overarching purpose. I admit, I assumed Joseph’s ultimate success as Governor of Egypt gave him a reason to laugh in his brothers’ faces. But I had missed something huge. What Joseph’s brothers had intended for his destruction, God intended for Joseph’s refinement, and ultimately, God’s glory. Throughout, God was building Joseph into a man that trusted and desired to know Him.

 “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21

 Raised up as Governor of Egypt, Joseph did have an opportunity to laugh in his brothers’ faces. During a great famine, his brothers came to Egypt to buy food. They didn’t recognize him but he knew who they were. The Bible says Joseph had to excuse himself, as to not let them see him “weeping loudly”. When he had regained composure, what he did next just blows my mind.

 “So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Genesis 45:4

Seriously, Joseph? Not even a single smack over the head? Not one guilt trip or intentional display of all your prison scars? No, in the midst of his suffering, he had long realized his grand purpose. Through him, God had preserved his chosen people in famine. And when he finally met with the men who deserved nothing but to starve, instead he forgave.

 That night, my outlook on suffering totally changed. God was inviting me to be apart of his grand plan, but first had to get my attention and change my attitude of entitlement. When everything else seemed painfully uncertain in my life, I finally realized the things that are certain: God’s unchanging love for me even in the midst of my sinful anger and Jesus’ willingness to take my sin on himself and his ultimate promise of eternal life where there will be no more tears and pain.

 “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him. God’s design to pursue his own glory turns out to be love. And our duty to pursue God’s glory turns out to be a quest for joy.” -John Piper

Since that night, I’ve been learning to bring God glory no matter what my circumstances look like. And you know what happens when I do so? A deep, resounding joy fills my life, right down to my soul. I look forward to a day when God will make all things new, including my body.

 “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small…compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”
 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, The Message

My Flesh and My Heart May Fail, Part 1

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”    Psalm 73:25

From my bedroom window, I watched with tears in my eyes. Their cheeks were rosy with youth and eyes sparkling with anticipation. As the day went on I could hear their laughter run up and down the stairs, back and forth past my doorway. I could see out, but did they see in?

It was the first day of summer as my sisters ran through the sprinkler. The smell of hamburgers sizzling on the grill drifted in through my window, but seemed to stop in my room like a rain cloud.  Close by, across the yard, my mom looked up from her basket of bright red tomatoes and smiled at my giggling sisters.  She seemed to sense my wet eyes about to fog up the window, and quickly met them with a look of love that longed for a different summer day. A day when I would be running beside my sisters with just as much life. But that was no where in sight.

I shuffled myself around in bed so as not to have a view of the festivities below. I wanted to blame someone but I knew it wasn’t my mom’s fault. I grabbed my journal and began to feverishly scribble the thoughts thundering in my mind, “Why me?? Don’t you see me? Can’t you hear my crying? Why did it have to be me?” As I beat against His chest with the only strength I had, you know what I heard? Nothing. Except the pounding of my weak, little, 12 year-old heart.

Very slowly, days crept into months. Blazing sores lined my throat, fever raged war against my aching my body and depression hollowed out my insides.

“Oh honey! When you get to heaven you’ll be able to ask God why this happened to you,” I remember hearing a family friend say to me one cold, autumn morning. And I entertained the thought, hoping with all my heart He wouldn’t wait till after I died for my answer.

After too many tight rubber bands wrapped around my arm, nurses who couldn’t find my vein, shirtless echocardiograms, and popsicle sticks stuck down my throat, the diagnosis became definite: Rheumatic Fever.

Rheumatic Fever is a disease that often comes from an untreated or mistreated case of Strep throat, as my condition had stemmed from.  It is an inflammatory disease that can swell the heart, joints, skin, and brain. It’s pretty rare in America.

A few months earlier, I was very sick with Strep throat. When we went to the doctor, she prescribed Amoxicillin, an antibiotic. We later devastatingly realized that Amoxicillin has little effect in my body at fighting the infection. As a result, the Strep morphed into the evil monster, Rheumatic Fever. Once in full swing, this fever can cause severe heart damage or even failure. My Great Aunt had Rheumatic Fever as a child and by age 30 had died due to heart failure. My parents never claimed this fate for me and believed that the Lord had something completely different in store for my little life. It was hard to believe it on days I could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom. 

After a long 9 months, I began to regain strength. I can’t pinpoint a day that I finally got out of bed. But I do remember one morning, as I grabbed a spoon from the kitchen drawer, I fought to hold back the tears as I squawked at my mom, “Why didn’t you tell me we got a new silverware organizer??” She looked at me with loving patience and then hugged me as I tearfully mumbled that nothing was the same anymore.

I did get better as each year progressed and I began to do a lot of normal things again. The start of high school was wonderfully ordinary. Not wanting to be a Debbie-downer, I didn’t tell most people about my struggling physical condition. My sophomore year, I made a friend who helped me feel hopeful of a healthy future. One day, as we were running laps side by side in P.E. and I was struggling to keep up with the class, I explained what my body had been through in the last few years. I remember how he looked over at me with genuine empathy as I shared my story. I told him I hoped that one day I could be healthy enough to have babies. He told me he hoped so too, probably blushing as he searched for something to say next. He was really sincere for a 15-year-old boy. We soon became good friends. Five years later, he asked me to marry him.

My junior year wasn’t as normal. I got very sick with the flu and other infections that my body wasn’t able to fight like it should have. From chest pains, racing heart, severe digestive issues and muscle pain, I felt like giving up.  I had little energy to leave the house for fun stuff like a date or shopping, so you can imagine how much I struggled getting to school. 

My parents feared there was a possibility my heart had been damaged so we returned to the cardiologist for some tests. Knowing that the majority of people who have Rheumatic Fever walk away with heart valve damage, I was so scared. And then the day came for us to find out. Looking up at the live black and white feed of my heart, lots of questions bounced around my mind. Would I die from heart damage like my Great Aunt? Would my heart ever be strong enough to deliver children? Why isn’t life easier?

The doctor left the room to evaluate what he had seen that day. My mom and I just stared at each other, holding one another’s clammy hand.

When he came back it was hard to decipher his prognosis through broken English and a lack of social skills. All I could make out was, “No damage.”  My mom and I blinked, waiting for more. But upon realizing the weight of what he had just spoken, we began to laugh, unable to contain our joy. To behold the Lord’s handiwork is more beautiful than I have words to describe. Overcome with joy, my heart began to swell (figuratively), resulting in a strong desire to hug this big, awkward man. Needless to say, my mom saw that I needed a hug and embraced me, laughing some more.

I was relieved that God had held my heart throughout those long months, preventing all damage. But I still had so many questions and wondered if I would ever understand why all of this had happened.

  

To be continued!

Healing Blueberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

Being that I’m gluten and lactose intolerant, people often ask me what I eat (in general). After I list off some basic staples to my diet, they still seem stumped by breakfast. People who have recently started eating gluten-free wonder if there’s any hope left for the most important meal of the day. Most of America starts the day off with wheat galore...muffins, bagels, pancakes, toast, gluten-ridden breakfast bars, pop tarts...you get the picture. Most people who eat gluten-free have had some kind of digestive issue so it's important the first meal start the day off packed with nutrients that will provide healing for the body. Smoothies are a wonderful way to get lots of nutrients in the morning, even if you’re in a hurry and don't have time to sit down to eat. I’ll be honest, I didn’t love my smoothies at first. Once I realized I was lactose intolerant, I switched to goat dairy products, which I am able to tolerate with no problems. Minus the taste! Goat dairy is pretty gamey in taste. Even before the gamey goat products graced my smoothies, I’d never been a big yogurt person. Whenever I ate something with yogurt, I tried not to breathe out of my nose. After becoming desperate for healing, especially in my gut, I decided I needed to give yogurt another chance. After much trial and error, the recipe below has little to no hint of yogurt taste even though there's a whole cup in there!

Why the push for yogurt? You've probably noticed the grocery store has exploded in the past few years with every flavor imaginable. Yogurt promotes digestive health because it has live cultures that populate your gut with good bacteria, which are also known as probiotics. Probiotics are essential for digestive and overall health. They can prevent infection, improve immune function, aid in cell growth, digestion of food, and absorption of nutrients. When your gut is populated with the right bacteria, most digestive problems disappear. And let me tell you, I was having major problems with my digestion prior to my understanding of probiotics.

For someone who has been on a prolonged regimen of antibiotics, like I had been for almost a year, your body is in desperate need of good bacteria to repopulate the gut. When you are given an antibiotic, it’s usually to kill off a bacterial infection somewhere in your body. I say “usually” because it is not completely uncommon for a doctor to prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection just to “play it safe.” (Antibiotics don’t kill viruses…) When the antibiotic is in the process of killing off the infection like we want it to, it doesn’t know which bacteria are good and which are bad, so it kills both. As a result, all the functions probiotics have in the gut are severely impaired. If you notice you have low immunity and/or you’re having digestive problems, you should start a probiotic regimen asap!

Below is my go-to smoothie recipe. It has served me well for the past 3 years of my life and is always there when I'm in need of a soothing, digestive remedy. You can use any berry, but blueberries are an excellent healing food. There was a clinical study done at Lund university in Sweden that found blueberries can protect against intestinal inflammation and when consumed with probiotics, the beneficial effects increase (For more info: click here).

I will posting my other favorite recipes another time, including but not limited to, “Peanut Butter Cookie”, “Double Chocolate Chip”, “Coconut Cream Pie”, and “Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin.” I like to name them after desserts because it makes them taste even better. 

Instructions:

(Recipe at end of post)

1) Add yogurt

Health benefits of yogurt:

-probiotics in yogurt aid in digestion, immunity, and fight against yeast infections. 

- calcium

-Protein

2) Add whey or probiotic formula

  Health benefits of whey made from raw milk:

-Protein

-Concentrated probiotics 

-Reduce rise in blood sugar levels

 3) Add flax seed meal

 Health Benefits:

-More Omega 3 fatty acids than any other food. Omega 3's can prevent cancer cell growth

-A lot of fiber (Careful here! I never eat more than 2 Tbs. at a time)

-Anti-inflammatory properties

-antioxidants

-promotes cardiovascular health

 4) Add natural peanut butter

 Peanut butter is what takes away the yogurt flavor for me so I put in 2 Tbs. but 1 Tbs. is plenty.

It's really important that you purchase "all natural" peanut butter because it won't have hydrogenated oil in it. That stuff is seriously dangerous for your health, not to mention just gross as the oil is usually rancid and then bleached.

 Health Benefits:

-7 grams of protein in 2 Tablespoons

 -Good source of folate to promote healthy pregnancy

-2 grams of fiber per once

-Regulate mood (Tryptophan)

-Regulate blood sugar levels

-Promote cardiovascular health

-Cancer-fighting (beta-sitoserol (SIT)) 

 5) Add Coconut Oil

Health Benefits:

-anti-viral, fungal, and bacterial 

-Boosts metabolism and regulates weight

-This "good" fat can be easily converted into energy in the liver

-boosts immunity

-Supports thyroid function

 6) Add Banana

 Health Benefits:

-Regulate blood sugar

-High in potassium which is depleted in stress

-Fight depression (Serotonin)

-Regulate blood pressure

-Fight constipation due to high fiber

-Help reduce morning sickness

-Reduce PMS through B6

-Increase alertness

7) Add egg yolk

 

Health Benefits:

-protein

-fat soluble vitamins A and D

- Promote nervous system (EPA and DHA)

-Good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, but ONLY if the chicken ate a proper diet. The eggs must be labeled as rich in Omega 3's OR (the better option) pasture raised so they can eat bugs and worms instead of grain. 

-Raw egg consumption is dangerous if you are not buying organic/pasture-raised eggs because the conditions that most chickens live are harmful and can cause problems. Otherwise, I recommend washing the outside of the egg and drying it before using it. I've been eating raw eggs the past 3 years and have never run into a problem other than at times being a little squirmish!

8) Add berries

Health Benefits:

-strong antimicrobial and antioxidative properties (top of the list in among all fruits and veggies)

 -neutralizes free radical cell damage

- strongly reduces the risk of diseases related to inflammation

9) Blend until desired smoothness is reached!

 

10) Pour into a pretty glass, drink in the nutrient-richness, and enjoy the healing as it floods into every nook and cranny!

 

Healing Blueberry Banana Smoothie Recipe:

1 cup yogurt

2 Tbs. whey or serving size of other probiotic formula (such as Bio-Kult probiotic powder tablets)

2 Tbs. Flax Seed Meal 

1 to 2 Tbs. Natural Peanut Butter (optional)

1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 Organic, Pasture-Raised Egg yolk (Shell washed with soup and dried thoroughly)

Half a banana

1/2 cup of frozen berries (Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc)

Instructions:

Blend until smooth