I was talking to one of our young mothers at school this past week, and she told me that she simply doesn’t cook. She simply does not know how. It is all foreign to her, and everything, even the simplest thing, seems like a monstrous chore. She said her child would eat nothing she made, so I am guessing she spends a lot on fast food or pre-made foods at the grocery store. That’s a shame because when parents rely on junk food as a steady diet, they are not helping their child get the best start.

I had a neighbor, a doctor, who told me that there were six year old children in Evansville with 80% blockage of the arteries because of a steady diet of fast food.

Food is a natural investment in our own bodies and the bodies of our children. It is important to increase a child’s health and welfare and not damage it because of our own bad habits. In today’s world obesity is a chronic problem, and obesity leads to life shortening diseases like diabetes. Type II diabetes is a gift from fast food and too much white flour, sugar, and junk. When bland is the thing we are striving for in food, an adjustment needs to be made for the sake of our health.

In the past months, I’ve been doing a cooking gig here on Sundays for women learning to cook. I didn’t realize that cooking was so hard for some young women. So beginning today, I’m going to present the simplest recipes and cooking tips I can to help moms who are struggling to learn to make food their children will eat, enjoy the health they bring.

If you are a veteran cook, please leave your comments that are helpful and make these little lessons better for the reader.

First things first:

Square away the kitchen:

Every kitchen that is functional needs certain equipment that is easy to use, to clean and left out so that it will be used. If I had a limited budget, I would buy the following equipment:

One large heavy frying pan. This can double for many many jobs. Heavy is best because your food will not burn.

A glass 9X9 inch baker. Glass because it will last. Never put cold water in a hot glass baker.

One sturdy flat, thin, square bottomed wooden palate for cooking and stirring.

A big big whisk. That’s the thing with the metal loops.

A one gallon sauce pot. This too can double for many jobs.

One good knife of medium length.

One thin, thin, thin, spatula. This can be gotten at the Dollar Store for 50 cents.

A cutting board.

A non handled rolling pin. Costs about $4.00 at Schnucks.

One glass measuring cup that measures one cup.

I don’t think this will break the bank.

If you have the cash, the best piece of plug in equipment is a Cuisinart or a food processor, but you can do most things by hand if you know how.

Arrange your kitchen so that you can get to your equipment easily. This makes the desire to cook a lot broader.

Second Step: groceries.

In order to be able to cook without having to run to the store means having certain things on hand as a matter of routine. These are:

Butter – much better than margarine for your health. Buy a pound in sticks.

Oil – buy canola oil because it is good for you.

Salt – buy any kind.

Sugar – white and light brown are always good to have on hand.n These should be kept in an air tight container and placed within easy reach. Keeping sugar in the original bag is not a sanitary thing to do. Powdered sugar is nice to have if you like to bake.

Flour – buy a bag of whole wheat pastry flour and a good white flour. These flours should also be kept in an air tight container and also within easy reach.

Baking soda – Arm and Hammer.

Baking powder – any kind.

Eggs. I like brown, but any kind will do.

Milk.

Extras are always nice to have like chocolate chips, spices, nuts, flavorings, but to cook, it is not necessary if it breaks the bank.

Once your kitchen is clean, and your equipment is in place, and you have purchased your basics, it’s time to cook.

Next week: easy spaghetti, salad with homemade dressing, and lightening cake.

This is a note from a friend of mine at Whole Woman Village web site. Christine Kent is a natural wonder and her web site is well worth looking at. It’s for women looking for a peaceful and genuine way of life.

Dear Friend,

The days are getting longer and warmer here in New Mexico. I’ve planted a little garden in our plaza. It’s not much relative to organic gardens I’ve had in the past, but every garden patch we nurture, no matter how small is its own reward.

I hope you have put in a garden where you live, even if it’s just a collection of herb pots on a window sill.

For our many friends in the Southern Hemisphere who are hunkering down for your cold time, I hope you have preserved your summer’s bounty to enjoy during the austral winter.

Women’s health has so many dimensions: physical, mental, emotional, familial, relational, social, professional and spiritual. At Whole Woman, we have historically focused on the physical aspects of prolapse and posture. However, I feel strongly that “modern” society has profoundly disenfranchised women from many of these dimensions of our lives and we are the poorer for it.

This is why at our website, the Whole Woman Village, I am providing resources for women to help them reconnect with what I call the “living arts”. Food gathering, preparation and preservation, the fiber arts (spinning, weaving and sewing) have traditionally anchored women to the seasons, the health of the earth and the well-being of the family.

I am not suggesting that “a woman’s place is in the home” and that she should not pursue the fulfillment of her professional potential.

Quite the contrary.

What I am suggesting is that the advertising industry has convinced us that popping some factory made concoction that comes in a plastic container into the microwave leads to happy smiling families and women who can do it all.

The advertising industry is wrong.

Good, healthy food can be made quickly and with a minimum of effort when you know how.

Children will help in the kitchen if the expectation is set that food is a family activity.
We have been taught that something as simple as baking bread is difficult and complicated and if you do it at all, it requires a bread machine.

Nonsense.

It takes about 30 minutes of hands-on time to make enough fresh, whole grain bread to feed a family for a week.

As we speak, we at Whole Woman are working on a series of short videos on food that will be in Christine’s Cottage in the Village on July 1st. We are also working on a very special feature video that will air in the Village members’ theater on the same date. Stay tuned.

And remember, “Change the Posture, Change the Prolapse!”

As always…best wishes,

Christine Kent
Whole Woman Inc.

Friday was our Awards Day Celebration. It was a glorious day. The children were delightful and sat more or less quietly while we announced each and every child. We began with the Preschool and Miss Dayna called each child up front with her to give them all the awards they have won this year. Robby got the Math award, and Phoenix got a nice art award. Some of the children go awards for letters and phonemes, personality awards, behavior awards and there were some silly awards.

Next came the Kindergarten for Fours. There were tons of awards including art awards, math awards and even theatre awards. We were proud of all of them.

In the Kindergarten, Garrett won the highest award, The Gentilesse Award for good character. Emily and Isaac won the highest Academic Award and Jasmin and Kylie got the Wisdom Awards. All good stuff.

The children got to take home their “final” school work in a packet which included all their subjects.

We had a nice picnic on the playground which included hot dogs, potato salad, eggs, brownies, watermelon, pickles, chips, and a million bags of cotton candy that was made by Keith Likens. A special thanks to him. Thanks to everyone who brought something to share. We so appreciate it.

School closed at about 4:30 for the break. This was the last day for some of our children. We appreciate having had these children at the Garden School and hope to hear great things from them in the future.

See the rest of you on Thursday!

Two little boys, ages 8 and 10, were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew all about it.

If any mischief occurred in their town, the two boys were probably involved.

The boys’ mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys.

The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. So the mother sent the 8 year old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the preacher in the afternoon.

The preacher, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, ‘Do you know where God is, son?’

The boy’s mouth dropped open , but he made no response, sitting there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open.

So the preacher repeated the question in an even sterner tone, ‘Where is God?’

Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. The preacher raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, ‘Where is God?’

The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him.

When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, ‘What happened?’

The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied,’We are in BIG trouble this time,’ (I just LOVE reading this next line again and again:)

‘GOD is missing, and they think we did it!’

Good Morning! It’s the last week of school. I can’t believe that we have come so far and done so much this year. It’s finally coming to a close, and I have to admit that this is one of the best years we have had. Everyone worked so hard, and we are very grateful to the children, to teachers, and to parents who have given it their all.

This week we will be winding up Geography, Science, Fine Arts, and Foreign Language.

On Friday, we will have our Awards Day program followed by a picnic. The festivities will begin promptly at 3:00 p.m. and the picnic will get underway about 3:30. Please bring your child’s favorite covered dish. Details will be sent home on Monday.

Please remember to dress your child in short clothes. It will be in the mid to high eighties all week, and children suffer in long clothes on the playground. Children arriving in long clothes will be changed or sent home. Please do not send your child in pull ups. We do not allow sandals at school unless it is a swim day. Socks and athletic shoes are the most appropriate foot gear.

Children who throw their medals over the fence will lose them permanently. If they want to throw them away, that is their choice. No new medals will be issued this week.

Please sun screen your own child before he comes to school. We will sun screen in the afternoon if the day warrants it.

Have an enormously great week!

One of the new meals children are enjoying at school is quesadillas. We are making them on chicken days, and the children are eating every single one. It’s always a delight when the serving trays are empty.

When we started serving these, we tried every kind of chicken arrangement we could think of, and what we found was the best one is ground chicken. We’ve been buying fresh chicken breasts and roasting them in the oven with taco seasoning. Then when they are cooked through, we’ve been grinding them in the Cuisinart.

We bought a quesadilla maker which squeezes the whole affair nicely.

When making quesadillas, we stack a flour tortilla, about three ounces of chicken, a couple of ounces of cheese – American melts beautifully, and cheddar tastes wonderful, and Monterrey Jack is delicious and check cheese chart for your favorite – and then another flour tortilla. This can be cooked in a quesadilla maker or on a pancake griddle. When the flour tortilla is crisp, it’s time to serve. We cut our quesadillas into several pie shaped pieces and serve with sour cream and salsa.

For teachers, anything goes. On quesadilla days, we slice tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and sometimes salad.

Children love these little dream pies. They are a big finger food that are swallowed down better than any sandwich.

Here is the new gas efficient Police Car. Love it. It is the new California force behind crime.

Some funny pics for the day.

I got this from Loretta. It’s interesting and worth reading.

EATING FRUIT…

It’s long but very informative

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It’s not as easy as you think. It’s important to know how and when to eat.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUIT AFTER YOUR MEALS! * FRUIT SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.

If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let’s say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid.. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil….

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining – every time I eat watermelon I burp when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet etc – actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!

Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will NOT happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach…

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice – drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans Don’t even drink juice that has been heated up. Don’t eat cooked fruits because you don’t get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste them. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher.. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene – the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.

This week is math week. We will spend the whole week playing math games and going over our skills. Lots of prizes this week!

It’s going to be one of those iffy weeks with weather. Lots of seventies, but still shorts weather. Please dress your child for the afternoon weather not the morning weather.

This week we will try to collect our summer field trip fees. If you are not sure of your fee or what’s left to pay ask Miss Judy. This fee up front allows us to plan for field trips. This year’s roster will be a lot of fun. Miss Sandy is trying to arrange a trip to Scales Lake every other Wednesday! This is a place the children just love.

Please encourage your children to remember the rules. Last week we had a lot of children who decided that the rules did not apply to them, and there were a lot of medals lost. This week, we will be taking medals without warning. This is an attempt to get ready for summer. All the children know the rules because they are simple: don’t make another child cry on purpose, don’t disrupt the group activity with selfish behavior, and listen to what is asked and act promptly.

Please notice the new horses in the paddocks next door. We have five young horses that were born this year. There are four fillies and one colt. They are all so cute.

If you would like a couple of guinea pigs, please let Miss Judy know. They are ready to go home with some lucky boy or girl!

Have a great week!