Plantbased Sweet Hot and Sour Soup

 

Sweet Hot and Sour Soup

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Prep: cook any type of noodle you like .

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Soup:

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6 cups Water

1 c chopped Orange/Red Peppers

1 c Shredded Coleslaw Salad Mix

1/2 c Coconut Aminos

1/4 c Vegetarian Mushroom Sauce

3 tbsp Cholula Hot Sauce 

1 tsp Tapatio Hot Sauce 

2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper

1 tbsp White Pepper

1 tbsp Hot Mustard Powder

1 tbsp Onion Salt .

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1. Put water in a pot and start heating 

2. Add Peppers

3. Add all ingredients except Coleslaw Mix 

4. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes 

5. Add Coleslaw Mix and lower to a simmer 

6. Simmer for 1 minute then pour over pre prepped noodles and garnish with peppers (hot or regular) or Scallions .

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Sweet Hot and Sour indeed, this soup will make you sweat!  It’s a delicious vegan take on a few staple Asian soups all rolled into one!  You get a hint of sweet from the Coconut Aminos and Mushroom Sauce with layers of heat and flavor from the different types of peppers in this dish.  You can whip this soup up in about 15 minutes and people will think it took you all day because it’s unbelievably flavorful and delicious! 

5 Essential Daily Habits

 

Here are 5 Essentials Daily Habits to include in your lifestyle to get your health going in the right direction:

1. Exercise: A body in motion stays in motion. Get yourself moving with 30 minutes of exercise at least 3 times a week to start. The more you get moving the more exercise your body will crave and the more energy you will have! 

2. Water: Since our bodies are made up of mostly water and we use water to do many functions like detox and fuel our cells, it's important to replenish and hydrate daily to keep ourselves from getting dehydrated and storing toxins! 

3. Anti-inflammatory: Most pain issues and diseases stem from inflammation. Instead of reaching for the Advil start including a Turmeric based natural Anti-inflammatory into your daily routine. If done daily you will see a continual drop in pain symptoms from inflammatory diseases like arthritis and you will prevent the body from future inflammatory issues! 

4. Daily Elixir: Add an extra line of defense to your nutrition by having a tonic, probiotic or elixir every day.  They add water, vitamins, minerals, good bacteria and boost immunity while feeding your body what it needs to function in good health.

5. Juice: Cold Pressed Fruit and Vegetable juices help make sure that you get the proper amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals daily.  They can help regulate all of your bodies systems and help support optimum health!

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Changing your habits takes time. By slowing incorporating one of these into your lifestyle you will see improved health and a boost in your energy levels. Take it one at time until you develop the good habits you can maintain and then keep adding more until you've developed a lifestyle you can live with! .

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(This is an excerpt from: Eat Well Live Well: Transitioning to an Unprocessed Lifestyle by Amy Michelle) .

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Available in Paperback

Amazon.com/shop/rawearthmedicine 

Fine. I’ll say it... I’m a Jewish mother

I never questioned or understood the reason why my mother told me about every relative and their story repeatedly. She loved telling me the stories of her childhood with ridiculously hilarious truths about relatives and the stories that her grand parents told her. I know them well. Stories about Rifka Rukal, her grandmothers laugh and Tantasura ,who infamously Burped a lot at Sunday bbq’s.  Names not like any names I ever heard at school or on tv.  Stories about all her aunts and uncles and cousins getting together for every occasion and their family traditions, grudges and business doings. The stories of success, the rumors, how each person was and all the seedy details.   The struggles of having Grand parents who spoke Yiddish and the funny sayings.  I loved it when my mom and I would go through her family albums and it felt like I knew these people and wanted to carry on their traditions.  

Somewhere along the way the constant jokes about how horrible Jewish mothers were because of their nagging, nosiness, focus on money and success, I started to become embarrassed to tell people I was Jewish and then the bullying over my weight from the kids at the Jewish school pushed me away from ever wanting to be associated with being Jewish. What I never realized is that the stigma and jokes about Jewish mothers is actually Anti-Semitism and that Anti-Semitic rhetoric turned me against my destiny and no matter how much I resisted in the end the world we live in opened my eyes to the importance of the Jewish mother in the fight against Anti-Semitism. 

It wasn’t until out of curiosity at the beginning of the 2020 race war that I looked up the statistics of hate crimes and crime data that I understood why Jewish mothers are the way they are and how important it was for my daughter for me to be a Jewish mother.

 I have been preaching and living a lifestyle of individualism. I believe that each person should believe in themselves above all else.  That develops a narrative of love. It takes work to love yourself. If you would have asked me in March 2020 how I felt about religion I would have told you that I do not believe in organized religion. My perspective was true to form about being an individual and praying to yourself to be the best person you can be. 

I never wanted to send my daughter to a religious school but when it came time to tour pre schools I did want to see what a Judaic pre school would be like. Out of all the schools we toured she didn’t want to leave the Judaic  School. What’s the harm I thought,  she’ll learn the basics of her heritage and the schools curriculum and dietary guidelines are all inline with the environment I want her in but that doesn’t mean we have to practice devout religion at home.  It’s about education and I know she’s getting the best possible education. 

At the beginning of the George Floyd riots, I started to study hate crime statistics and crime data. What I was learning was unbelievable to me. Jaw dropping to be honest because what I thought going into my research was completely the opposite of what I discovered and suddenly I learned the truth and meaning behind why the role of story teller explains why the Jewish people always succeed in the end. When you know your history you learn how not to repeat it. You grow and evolve, and it taught me how there is an unspoken bond amongst the Jewish community that’s focus is education and history which as a child growing up, I never truly understood.  

I did love that I was raised to question everything because by questioning narratives and doing my own research as an individual I’m rooted in education, factual data and history instead of emotional and triggered. 

Knowing the true statistics about race relations and the history of change is how we as individuals grow. 

Teaching our children Proper eating habits and manners is important but as a Jew our own lineage and the history of hate against Jews is the most important role of a Jewish mother. To assure your child is educated and succeeds in a role that not only provides for your family and your community but serves it as well. While the jokes may be about every Jewish mother wanting a doctor or lawyer for their daughter or for their sons to be one, the truth is who contributed the most to helping people and these are the roles Jewish mothers want their children to have.   The part that it was about money always made me feel Bad about being a Jew, like there was something wrong with that when there was something wrong with the narrative anti Semitic people gave to it. I never wanted to be referred to as a Jew until I became a mother and I learned that 67% of hate crimes in US are against Jews and this whole time I thought it was against minorities. 

The truth is that above all the hate in this world is the universal hate for Jews which means whether I like it or not, I have an obligation to my mother, my family history, my daughter and the Jews who have died before me to continue the unspoken bond of Jews to educate my daughter and protect her from the world of hate against her simply because of her blood line by educating her about Judaism. 

As I watch the world circle in hate a shinning light has come down on the Jews in the form of a President with an unwavering devotion to creating peace for the Jews, Israel and the Middle East and for this alone, I have to assume the honor and role of being a Jewish mother.  I tell my daughter the stories of her family like this one written by my great grandfather about what my family went through in Poland so I never let anyone tell me now is not the time to mention the Anti Semitism rooted in today’s movements because now and always is the right time to say something....  

And this story is why I will never stay silent! 

Vegan Pizza Dough

Vegan Pizza Dough

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1 cup warm water

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated coconut sugar

3 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons coconut oil

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Step 1: In a measuring cup, place warm water. The water should be warm to the touch making sure it's not too hot because hot water will kill the yeast; and water that is too cold will not activate it. Pour the yeast into the water, add sugar, and stir until both ingredients dissolve and a beige mixture results. Let stand for 5 minutes, until a thin layer of creamy foam covers surface, which indicates that the yeast is effective. Tip: If bubbles/foam have not formed within 5 minutes, start over with a new package of yeast

 

Step 2: Combine 3 cups flour with sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in your yeast mixture and coconut oil. Using a spoon, stir flour into well, blending well to get rid of any lumps. Next, place dough onto a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead gently. Turn and repeat until the dough is silky and elastic (less than 5 minutes) Add a little Coconut oil to your hands if the dough is too dry. Tip:  if you knead too much it overdevelops the gluten in the flour and results in a tough crust..

Step 3: Form dough into a ball and lightly coat with coconut oil. (Less than a teaspoon) Place dough back in mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and drape a kitchen cloth over top..

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Let the dough rise in a place warm place (68 to 72 degrees) until it has doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours). When the dough is ready, punch it down using your fist, to eliminate the air bubbles..

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This recipe will make:

One (1) 15 to 16 inch pizza 

Divide dough in half;  two (2) 12 inch pizzas  two (2)  9 inch deep-dish pizzas..

Divide dough into 4 to 6 equal portions.  Four (4) to six (6) 9 inch individuals..

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Dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 36 hours or sealed and froze for up to a month. 

Tip: Let chilled dough come to room temperature before shaping..

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Baking: Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes prior to baking. Pizzas should take between 10-15 minutes to bake

 

Got Therapy?

 

Got Therapy? 

Why not? Most people turn their nose up to therapy because the connotation that comes with the word therapy is that there is something terribly wrong with that person when the reality is there is something magical that happens to a person who seeks and utilizes the life tools therapy offers a person.  I became overweight as a child because I didn’t have the tools to deal with emotional abuse. I’m so thankful for therapy because it gave me the tools I needed to deal with my own issues but also deal with others who don’t have the tools to deal with theirs. 

What most people don’t realize is that their insurance will cover therapy and there are millions of places that provide free mental health services as well and there is no reason for people not to take advantage of this especially because of how important mental health is to our complete wellness. 

The majority of people who are overweight are that way because of emotional issues that they have not addressed. Being overweight is the gateway to diseases just the same as alcohol is to drug use. Imagine how many addicts, overweight people and emotionally unstable people could be helped if they sought out the tools to help them live in reality instead of needing crutches to coup. The unhealthy things people do are the staples that keep the issues from coming to the surface so they can sort them out and live in a healthy mental state. 

When my mother was dying and my holistic approach was rejected with ridicule, I realized there were still some issues from my childhood  that needed to be addressed. I didn’t want there to be anything but love surrounding my mothers memory so I insisted we go to therapy and our relationship on earth ended with nothing but love between us with all of our issues sorted and resolved. Peace of mind opens us up to use our time for positive things that accelerate the joy in our lives.

Being a parent is mentally challenging as it is but when you add in the outside judgements from family, friends and other parents, it can produce some very unhealthy behaviors. There are so many different ways to parent and so many issues materialize through the issues that parents have that they haven’t addressed and the lifestyles they live. If the goal of parenting is to create a little human that develops into a healthy well balanced happy person who contributes a positive to this world then therapy should be a part of it because if we truly want to evolve then we stop the generational mental health issues and get professional guidance not because there is something terribly wrong but because we don’t want there to be.  There are so many people whose lives are destroyed by childhood trauma and I truly believe that if people start utilizing mental health services for “courses” in treatment throughout all the stages of life we as a society will mentally evolve which is truly how we will change the world. When we truly balance mind, body and soul, we become positive energy. Imagine how everyone being in balance like that would change the energy of the world in a positive direction. 

Recipe: Fighting Fatigue Juice

 Fighting Fatigue .

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3 Carrots

2 Beets 

2 Green Apples 

1/2 Lemon

1 c Spinach

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Best cold pressed but can be blended Fighting Fatigue Juice will give you Wings without giving you a heart attack and a halo! This juice will truly lift you up on a cellular level! The high levels of beta carotene, iron and antioxidants in this juice with repair, rejuvenate and energize your cells helping your body fight fatigue and giving you a mental and physical pep to your step.

You’ll feel your cells devour this juice as you drink it but after a week of incorporating this into your nutrition you’ll feel like a completely different person with your energy levels rapidly increasing!  So get this juice into your routine if you’re fighting fatigue and give your body the healthiest way to fight back, feed your body the nutrition it needs and create positive energy in your body.

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How parenting can obliterate racism!

My opinion: How parenting can obliterate racism: 

Definition:

Rac·ism

/ˈrāˌsizəm/

noun

1. the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

2. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior or inferior

Similar: racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice/bigotry, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, bias, intolerance, anti-Semitism, apartheid

When you hear me out I always want you to think of the definition of racism in its purest simplest terms. 

First picture:

1. By true definition of racism this picture is racist. It’s teaching a person based on their race that they are Superior or inferior to another. 

2. This sets up a racist dialog and thought process in a child’s mind 

3. This creates more racism and continues the cycle of racism. 

Pictures 2-4

This is how you create the foundation for a thought process and inner dialog within a child that is free of racism. 

Human Race: 

1. We start by teaching the child that there is one race. The Human Race which is made up of People. Individual people who you refer to as a person. 

2. What makes up a person? Every person has an Identity, Culture and Character. 

3. Ask your child: Do you know anything about a person before you talk to them and get to know them? No because you don’t know how they identify, what their culture is or their character. This lays the foundation within the child  that he can not assume anything about a person just by looking at them. This eliminates the prejudice that labeling people as anything but an individual does in the inner dialog. 

4. What makes up a persons identity? Gender, sexuality, career, lifestyle, name 

5. What makes up a persons culture? Heritage, Family History, Ethnicity 

6. What makes up a persons character? Actions and Beliefs 

Reinforce the correct vocabulary so that the inner dialog doesn’t speak of racism or prejudice.  Have your child glue pictures of all different types of people in all different types of clothing, situations, groups. Continuously use the same vocabulary to refer to each picture as they glue them: Human, Individual, Individuals, Person, People 

1. Humans -  we are one human race made up of all different types of people. 

2. People are all different and they are all individuals who have identities, cultures and character

3. You do not know anything about an individual persons identity, culture or character until you speak to them. 

Creating the inner dialog:

1. When you see other people know that we are all human

2. All humans; People have identities, cultures and character

3. Can you tell a persons identity from looking at them? No

4. Can you tell a persons Culture by looking at them? No 

5. Can you tell a persons Character by looking at them? No 

6. Do you know anything about anyone before you talk to them? No

7. What’s the best way to find out someone’s identity, culture and character? Getting to know them

This is how you fight racism by removing it from the thought process completely. If you’re telling your children about white privilege and black lives matters and not telling them that both of those terms are racist then you are breeding the next round of racial thinking.  You’re creating a racist thought process and inner dialog in your child based on your beliefs instead of laying the foundation for a completely racist free thought process and inner dialog. 

How do we create change for cultures and injustice?  We teach our children the heritage, history and the story of every culture and show them the injustices and what changes have been made and what we need to do to further the progress.  Through education we combat the past to make change for the future. Through the inner dialog and thought process we cultivate understanding and mindfulness of others as a person, an individual who you should be curious to learn about. This is how I believe we as a human race combat racism, prejudice, anti Semitism and discrimination.  We wipe the slate clean of racial dialogs and thought processes and approach it all through the vocabulary and education allowing us to lay a new foundation for equality for all in the future.