Welcome to our March Alchemy,

John and I created the Integrated Nourishment series for 2022 with the hope that we can all be healthier using many different approaches through nourishment.

Our goal in this integrative approach is for you to better understand your health as a whole. We begin with nourishment.

How do you nourish yourself?

Whether it is about food, exercise, or maybe you just want to be a bit happier and being happy is a big part of our overall health.

We will set aside 15 minutes for participants to get together with other participants and share your intentions for this class.What is one food challenge that you would like to resolve? What is one health challenge that you would like to understand and settle?

Be realistic.

Let’s do this together.

Cooking your own meals is key to better health. It can ease stress and the activity of making meals from scratch gives us more control over what we eat.

Eating take out food and pre packaged processed foods has all sorts of ingredients that are detrimental to our well being.

By now, you know these ingredients, but I feel it is good to say them again: Almost ALL - even the best of the best restaurants, use bad oils like canola, or worse, blended vegetable oils. The cooking oil used for sauteing and frying at restaurants is usually whatever is the cheapest oil available, like liquid hydrogenated soybean oil and a lot of other stuff and most restaurants use the same oil for months! And the oil used for salad dressings and sauces is no better. It is most likely a blended oil and they almost always include a dressing with xanthan gum, giving it an emulsified, mucus-like texture.

And hopefully, you now get that low fat dairy is not good for you. And that full fat, from 100% grass fed (hopefully A2 A2 cows or goats or sheep) is best! Because why? Both bad oils and a low fat dairy leads to low grade inflammation and science has proven that chronic, low-grade inflammation can turn into a silent killer that contributes to cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and other conditions.

We eat healthier and best of all, cooking at home can bring peace and pleasure.

I will be teaching us how to make simple one dish meals (and some basic pantry items too) that are nutrient dense and yummy.

And John will be teaching about how to keep the inflammation out of our diet and why it's so important.

I made the commitment to meditate, exercise, and write every day for 90 days and I love that it is the commitment that is keeping me doing it. The benefits are already showing as I go to bed so exhausted, I sleep through the whole night and this is new for me. And I am happier when I am well rested…. And if I only exercise 30 minute or meditate for 10, that is ok too. I am kind to myself! I love the parameters of doing these three simple things that nourish me.

And come along and cook with me! I have been making bone broth and creating recipes to share with you! Please, Please Please, make your own bone broth.

Making your stock or broth is key to your health. And yes use 100% feed bones- you may need to find a farmer. Get together with a friend and make a big batch!

Here is a bit more about bone broth:

Bone broth brings has great benefits:

great source of protein and nutrients
packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as glucosamine, calcium, chondroitin sulfates, silicon, phosphorus, and magnesium

Adding some apple cider vinegar to the broth is not really about the flavor – it is actually about ensuring that the bones release all the essential nutrients, like the collagen in the connective tissue that adheres to bones. I add the apple cider vinegar half way through the process as the apple cider vinegar will evaporate and during the first half of the cooking , the bones are cooking and beginning to release nutrients. Apple cider vinegar offers a nice balanced acid to your broth! And it must taste good to nourish us!

Try not to let your bone broth boil- a SLOW gentle simmer is best.

AND yes: You can also add the apple cider vinegar to soups and fresh veggies when you cook them. Make sure that you use unfiltered apple cider vinegar that still has the mother in it, since the mother aids in good digestion.

Your broth is done when it tastes good! And PLEASE Add plenty of salt!

Look for a rich golden-brown and the bones are falling apart at the joints. Strain the bone broth. When the broth is finished, strain and cool the bone broth as quickly as possible.