It's Not Just A Fad, It's Becoming A Way Of Life!
It's our new Kentucky Tower Garden!!!
Woo Hoo!!!
This is only the beginning for us! We're already growing, lettuces, kale, and other greens! We can't wait to get our next one!
YAY! It's Saturday! Let's do something fun!
What do you say we share some recipes!
Everyone loves this one and it is a great choice for a Valentine dinner:
STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD
Dressing:
1 lemon
2 Tbsps white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 C sugar (or 2 Tbsp raw agave, add more if desired)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or grape seed oil)
1 tsp poppy seeds
Salad:
8 oz (1 1/2 C ) strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2 medium cucumber, sliced and cut in half
1/4 C small red onion, thinly sliced
1 pkg (6 oz) baby spinach
Preparation:
To prepare dressing, grate lemon for about 1/3 tsp of zest and squeeze 2 Tbsps of lemon juice. Combine juice, zest, and the other dressing ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Combine all other salad ingredients in large bowl and toss gently. Whisk dressing and pour over salad just before serving.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
What do you say we share some recipes!
Everyone loves this one and it is a great choice for a Valentine dinner:
STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD
Dressing:
1 lemon
2 Tbsps white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 C sugar (or 2 Tbsp raw agave, add more if desired)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or grape seed oil)
1 tsp poppy seeds
Salad:
8 oz (1 1/2 C ) strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2 medium cucumber, sliced and cut in half
1/4 C small red onion, thinly sliced
1 pkg (6 oz) baby spinach
Preparation:
To prepare dressing, grate lemon for about 1/3 tsp of zest and squeeze 2 Tbsps of lemon juice. Combine juice, zest, and the other dressing ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Combine all other salad ingredients in large bowl and toss gently. Whisk dressing and pour over salad just before serving.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Orange Spice
This Holiday Season, toast to a warm, soothing, Ceylon tea blend. This perfect blend includes orange peel, cinnamon chips, clove and other natural ingredients. A very delicious way to excit an evening is to brew a cup of this wonderful tea, sit back and relax with your friends and family. A very robust and fragrant tea blend that is sure to stimulate the senses! Our Orange Spice tea is Fair Trade certified. Does contain Caffeine.
See store website for brewing & decaffeinating instructions.
Refuah Naturals Orange Spice Tea
7/17/12 The Daniel Fast
I'm going to do a Daniel Fast. There. I said it. For those of you who are not familiar with the Daniel Fast, Kristin Feola gives a concise description in her book The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast. In it, she gives a brief description of the situation:
"Daniel requests permission to eat only vegetables and to drink only water. The king's chief official is sympathetic but is afraid of the king's wrath if Daniel's limited diet causes him to look worse than the other men. Daniel then approaches the guard appointed to care for Dnaiel and three of his friends and proposes a test: Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see" (Dan. 1:12-13)
Here are the foods I can have:
The goal I have set for myself is to eat like this for 30 days. While the book calls for 21 days, I have a personal compulsion to go for 30. And so I will. What I hope to share with you from this experience is (hopefully) new vegan recipes, clever uses for spices, amazing spiritual epiphanies, and just plain random humanness.
I need this. Between the roller coaster of emotions in the past month and various other struggles that have been coming to light, I want some clarity. I feel like doing a partial fast such as this will help me to stop searching and start breathing again. ~Summer
"Daniel requests permission to eat only vegetables and to drink only water. The king's chief official is sympathetic but is afraid of the king's wrath if Daniel's limited diet causes him to look worse than the other men. Daniel then approaches the guard appointed to care for Dnaiel and three of his friends and proposes a test: Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see" (Dan. 1:12-13)
Here are the foods I can have:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Whole grains
- Nuts and seeds
- Unleavened bread
- Legumes
- Quality oils
- Water
- Other specifically vegetarian items such as herbs, spices, salt and soy products
- Meat
- Dairy
- Sweeteners
- Leavened bread/yeast
- Refined and processed food products
- Deep-fried foods
- Solid fats
- Beverages with caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks, even caffeinated teas or coffee
The goal I have set for myself is to eat like this for 30 days. While the book calls for 21 days, I have a personal compulsion to go for 30. And so I will. What I hope to share with you from this experience is (hopefully) new vegan recipes, clever uses for spices, amazing spiritual epiphanies, and just plain random humanness.
I need this. Between the roller coaster of emotions in the past month and various other struggles that have been coming to light, I want some clarity. I feel like doing a partial fast such as this will help me to stop searching and start breathing again. ~Summer
7/13/12 Healing the Heart
June was a quiet month on Natural Words. I apologize for that. You see, on June 7, my dad passed away, and it's been sort of a roller coaster of emotions ever since. Brent and I originally moved to Kentucky to help my mother take care of Daddy - Refuah Naturals was a blessing that happened partially by chance, partially by Brent's intense passion for natural healing. Speaking for myself, I have felt lost for the past month. My mom is quiet. My sister and her kids miss him, as they didn't get to see him as often as they desperately wanted. For several years, our lives have revolved around recurring medical doctor appointments, hospital stays, and health management for my Dad.
You see, for over thirty years, Daddy dealt with Diabetes. He looooooved his sweets. As he got older, and his health became more complicated, he took better care of himself, but in the early stages...not so much. In 2004, he had a triple bypass. In 2007, he started dialysis. In 2009, he started having chronic issues with infections, and we have stood by him and battled ever since. My mother did not want him in a nursing home [nor did I], and we helped him to stay at home. My sister had even gone through CNA training - and her knowledge was critical in many of the discussions we had about Daddy's health. Brent and I were even married in a small ceremony in Kentucky - we built an alter decorated with moss and ferns from the forest on the farm so that he could be there to give me away. He is now buried in Texas with our family.
My Dad was an amazing man. The legacy he left is priceless. He was a carpenter until a construction accident crushed his right knee (he pushed a man out of the way of a falling beam). At forty-two, he got his GED, and at the age of 54, he graduated with his doctorate and became a chiropractor, hence my lifelong attachment to natural healing. And oh, he could sing! He loved it, and I loved to sing with him. He had the innate ability to make you feel that what you were sharing with him was important. Hearing - and I mean really, truly hearing - people was very important to him.
This month has been hard. It's hard to get back on the wagon when one of the greatest heroes you have ever known is suddenly gone. We appreciate the love and support we have received from our dear friends (literally hundreds of friends on Facebook, not to mention the personal emails from customers, not to mention all those who were in attendance). I know he's in a better place and not suffering anymore. However, I feel like a piece of me is missing. Others that knew him feel the same way. Friends and family, I firmly believe that piece we all feel missing is the piece of us he took with him - because he loved us so very much. On those days when you feel that way, at least you know where that missing piece went.
We'll get back on the wagon soon, and the posts on here will go back to normal, but I felt it was important for you to know why we haven't been around, even to say "hi" very much. I hope to remedy that. ~Summer
 |
| Daddy and I on Father's Day, 2010 |
My Dad was an amazing man. The legacy he left is priceless. He was a carpenter until a construction accident crushed his right knee (he pushed a man out of the way of a falling beam). At forty-two, he got his GED, and at the age of 54, he graduated with his doctorate and became a chiropractor, hence my lifelong attachment to natural healing. And oh, he could sing! He loved it, and I loved to sing with him. He had the innate ability to make you feel that what you were sharing with him was important. Hearing - and I mean really, truly hearing - people was very important to him.
This month has been hard. It's hard to get back on the wagon when one of the greatest heroes you have ever known is suddenly gone. We appreciate the love and support we have received from our dear friends (literally hundreds of friends on Facebook, not to mention the personal emails from customers, not to mention all those who were in attendance). I know he's in a better place and not suffering anymore. However, I feel like a piece of me is missing. Others that knew him feel the same way. Friends and family, I firmly believe that piece we all feel missing is the piece of us he took with him - because he loved us so very much. On those days when you feel that way, at least you know where that missing piece went.
We'll get back on the wagon soon, and the posts on here will go back to normal, but I felt it was important for you to know why we haven't been around, even to say "hi" very much. I hope to remedy that. ~Summer
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