I have made made these zucchini fries a few times over the months and I like them more and more every time I make them. They are crispy, light and flaky. I have them as a quick brunch when I want to start my day off right. It only requires a few ingredients and will be a fabulous side to any meal. 

Ingredients

1 large zucchini, peeled and sliced or use a fry cutter for perfect fries. 

1/4 cup rice flour 

1/4 cup potato starch or tapioca starch

4 tbs cup coconut oil, plus 1/2 cup olive oil for frying

1/4 tsp. Each Salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder

Directions

1. Mix flour, starch, salt, pepper, garlic powder in a large bowl.

2.  Cut and rinse zucchini in cold water.

3. Put oil into a deep pot on medium to high heat.

4. Coat the zucchini fries in the flour mixture.

5. Dust off the excess flour.

6. Fry on medium-high heat until golden.

7. Sprinkle with a little salt

Enjoy!

Salisha

Here’s How Coffee Beans Benefits Your Health

The beneficial compound that’s commonly associated with coffee beans is caffeine, which is known for its powerful antioxidant properties. However, coffee beans also contain other beneficial compounds, such as chlorogenic acid, diterpenes and melanoidins, to name a few.

The amount of beneficial compounds in a cup of coffee may vary according to the coffee bean variety, roasting degree and brewing method. Together, they contribute to the following health benefits:

Other Uses of Coffee Beans

In addition to brewing coffee beans, you can also use these humble seeds for many other purposes, such as:

• Exfoliating your skin: Mix a spoonful of used coffee ground with a small amount of olive oil and/or other essential oils to make an organic and inexpensive exfoliant.

• Freshening up the air: Place bowls of coffee grounds around your house, such as in your kitchen, to help deodorize unpleasant smells.

You can also use ground coffee beans to help get rid of fleas from your pets, repel insects, repair scratches on dark wood furniture, and clean hard-to-remove stains from pots, pans and kitchen tools.

How to Roast Coffee Beans on Your Own

Learning how to roast and grind coffee beans at home is a handy culinary skill, and also gives you better control of the roast level, so you can make a cup of coffee that perfectly suits your taste. Here’s how to roast coffee beans, according to

The Kitchen

1. Place the green coffee beans in a pan and put the pan over medium heat. Stir the beans constantly throughout the entire roasting process to make sure that they’re evenly heated.
2. Wait for the coffee beans to crack and smoke, around five minutes. Continue stirring, and check the beans’ color frequently.
3. Once the beans turn the color that you desire, remove the pan from the heat and pour the beans immediately into a chilled bowl. Stir constantly for three minutes.
4. Rotate the bowl to cool down the beans quickly, then transfer them to a colander and sift out the hulls.

You can grind the coffee beans as soon as they have cooled, but it’s best to wait until the next day before you do so. You can use a grinder, food processor, regular blender or immersion blender for grinding the coffee beans. Simply process the beans using the device of your choice until it reaches the grind consistency that your desire.

You can also grind the seeds manually using a mortar and pestle, rolling pin, hammer, or hand mincer. Be sure to store the roasted and ground coffee beans in an opaque, airtight container at room temperature to preserve its freshness and flavor.

Try Making This Keto-Friendly Recipe Using Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans

If you have a batch of freshly roasted and ground coffee beans in your home, you can use it to brew a delicious cup of coffee or if you want to take it a notch higher, try making this easy, keto-approved coffee recipe

Procedure:

1. Put the butter, coconut oil and brewed coffee in a blender, and then blend for 20 to 30 seconds.
2. Pour in a mug and serve immediately.

Coffee Skincare 

Using coffee grounds on the skin is a growing as one of the best skincare regimen for cellulite! Finally something that truly diminishes the look cellulite. Can you believe its so simple? Just brew ypur coffee and mix several parts coffee grounds with coconut or olive oil and massage into skin 10 minutes besire showering. Wash clean and enjoy! 

Don't want to make your one? You're in luck. Get your Arabica Coffee Scrub Here. 

What to Keep in Mind When Brewing Coffee Beans

Since coffee beans are among the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops, you should only buy them from trusted organic sources to ensure that they’re free from harmful chemicals. Choose coffee beans that smell and taste fresh, and avoid using chlorine-bleached filters when brewing them at home, as they contain harmful disinfection byproducts that may contaminate your cup of coffee.

Do not add sugar, cream and other sweeteners and flavorings to your drink. Adding these ingredients into your coffee not only negates its potential health benefits, but it may also put you at risk of insulin resistance.

Additionally, be careful not to overindulge in coffee, since consuming 10 or more cups of it in a day may lead to unpleasant side effects. It’s also important to note that coffee is not recommended for pregnant and/or breastfeeding women because of its caffeine content. 

Enjoy your cup of Joe and dont forget the grounds!

Salisha

I don’t wear sunscreen

I’ve actually never needed to wear sunscreen since I was blessed with skin that doesn’t burn as bad as some, however some of us and our babies need some protection for our skin, occasionally. This is where my go too homemade non toxic sun screen comes in!

Why Go Chemical Free?

I read an article over a year ago featuring ways to use up all those 'almost empty' essential oil bottles we all have laying around. I thought now would be a wonderful time to refresh that list by writing about the ones that we actually still use! 

Here are our favorite ways to use up the last few drops of oil in your essential oil bottles.

1. Mattress Refresher

Using this refresher and vacuuming help to reduce dust mites, dead skin cells, and germs.  Plus it is a great deodorizer!

• fill empty (or almost empty) essential oil bottle about 3/4s full with baking soda
• if the bottle had been washed out and is completely empty of essential oil, then add about 4 drops of essential oil.  (if the bottle was empty, but hadn’t been washed out yet and still has the smell of essential oils, then just add about 2 drops of essential oil).  Here are some great antimicrobial/antibacterial/antiviral essential oils to use for cleaning a mattress:  lavender, lemon, orange, tea tree, cinnamon, eucalyptus, grapefruit, lime, peppermint, spearmint, orange, tangerine, and rosemary.  Choose just one or a favorite combination of 2-3 oils.  Here are a few combinations I love using to clean my mattress:
  • tea tree, lavender, and lemon (very fresh and clean smelling)
  • eucalyptus and spearmint (very relaxing, and relieves stress)
  • tangerine, lime, and spearmint (smells like a citrus mojito)
• shake to mix
• put cap back on
• let it let sit overnight so the baking soda can absorb the essential oil

 To Use:

• remove pillows, sheets, and blankets from bed
• pour baking soda/EO mix into a shaker or into a small strainer (if you have a king-sized bed, I would use at least two 15ml bottles of the baking soda/eo mixture)
• sprinkle on mattress
• leave on for a couple hours (perfect timing to wash and dry the bedding)
• then vacuum off

2. Car Diffuser

Use an almost empty essential oil bottle to make a diffuser for your car:

• stuff a cotton ball into essential oil bottle
• put cap back on
• let it sit for a day or two so that cotton ball can absorb any leftover essential oil
• pull cotton ball out of essential oil bottle (use tweezers if needed)
• use paperclip to attach cotton ball to car’s AC/heat vent
• scent should last for 2-3 days, then you can add another drop or two of essential oil to refresh the car diffuser

3.  Freshen as You Vacuum

Using essential oils when you vacuum is a simple way to make your whole house smell fantastic!

Here’s how to use up the last bit of essential oil from an almost empty bottle to make this vacuum refresher:

• stuff a cotton ball into almost empty essential oil bottle
• put cap back on
• let it sit for a day or two so that cotton ball will absorb any leftover essential oil.
• pull cotton ball out of essential oil bottle (use tweezers if needed)
• place scented cotton ball on the floor
• then vacuum it up

4. Homemade All-Natural 'Febreeze'

There’s a great one to use up those last few drops of essential oil in the bottom of a bottle.  Add a spray top to the essential oil bottle and turn it into a homemade all-natural “Febreeze” fabric refresher.  Here’s how to do it:

1. start with an empty (or almost empty) 15ml essential oil bottle
2. choose the linen spray that you want to make.
3. add 2-3 drops of essential oil to the bottle
4. fill the rest of the 15ml bottle with vodka (make sure you leave a little room at the top for the sprayer)
5. put on the new spray top
6. gently shake or roll the bottle to mix the vodka and essential oils
7. shake again each time before use, spray lightly on fabric and allow fabric to dry completely

You can substitute witch hazel or water for the vodka, but it’s best to use alcohol if you can in this recipe.  Alcohol has a faster evaporation rate than witch hazel and water, and as a result, is less likely to cause mold or mildew in fabric.  If you do need to substitute witch hazel or water, give the fabric extra time to dry, and if possible, use a fan to circulate air over the fabric until it is dry.

5.  Instant Deodorizer

Here’s how you turn your empty essential oil bottle into an instant deodorizer:

• take cap and dropper off
• place bottle in a spot that needs a little deodorizing (laundry room, bathroom, closet, refrigerator, etc)
• that’s it; you’re done.  Let the bottle stay in there for a few days to do its work.  When the scent is gone, clean and sanitize the bottle and upcycle it for another DIY project on this page.

6. Smelling Salts (Breathe Better Blend)

Feeling a like congested?  Here’s a great way to upcycle your empty essential oil bottles to help support clear breathing.

How to make essential oil smelling salts:

• start with a cleaned and sanitized essential oil bottle
• fill bottle with Epsom salt
• add 4 drops of essential oil (a blend of 1 drop each eucalyptus, peppermint, lemon, and lavender works great, but you can use all peppermint or all eucalyptus if that’s all your have)
• shake to mix well
• put cap back on bottle in-between uses

To use:

• uncap bottle
• hold bottle up close to nose (but not touching nose)
• inhale deeply
• repeat as needed

If you are like me and many others who live in an extremely cold area, like Canada, you know how bad winter itch can be! Especially the stubborn, burning itch from athletes foot or just dry winter itching. It can sting and burn if not treated promptly. The same can be said for our humid summers!

This recipe is a must for itchy feet and legs. It's super simple to make and works like a charm to relieve the itch. Kids get dry itchy skin too, so be sure to use this on your little ones as well.

This spray is also excellent for removing stinky smells. Spray it directly in your shoes or in your shoe box to keep the stink out. 

Always be sure you are using organic ingredients. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Here is a super simple clay mask, must have recipe. Its so pure and natural you can use it for both wonderfully clean and refreshed skin and hair! Easy enough to whip up in just a few minutes and it provides wonderful results for both hair and skin. Let your face , and hair soak in the benefits of bentonite clay, coconut oil and essential oils.

It clarifies, moisturizes and completely removes buildup of products and excess oils. Plus it helps control dandruff and helps scalp problems. Find out more about bentonite clay here.

Clarifying  Hair Mask Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup Bentonite Clay
¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 TBS Coconut Oil, Organic
1 TBS Olive Oil
4 Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
5 Drops Lavender Essential Oil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Apply to hair from root to tip. Allow to penetrate the hair for 15-20 minutes. Rinse clean. Enjoy weightless, super clean hair! 
Essential oils are optional but definitely recommended for the best results. 

I have been dairy free for over 4 years and since leaving that milky stuff behind my digestive health has never been better. In high school it was the worst! I seemed to be allergic to all foods and would get rashes constantly. I was so glad to learn about alternative medicine then, which took me down the path to finding the root cause of my symptoms. I found my two main triggers were dairy and gluten! More on gluten in my next post…

So I decided to go completely dairy free and gluten free. Let me tell you, my skin is not dry and flaky anymore, my tummy is not on fire and digestion has never been better. I wont try to convince you just take a minute to read the points below and make your decision accordingly. I hope you find the answer to your health concerns as I did!

1. Milk Lowers Bone Density! Like all animal protein, milk acidifies the body pH which in turn triggers a biological correction. You see, calcium is an excellent acid neutralizer and the biggest storage of calcium in the body is – you guessed it… in the bones. So the very same calcium that our bones need to stay strong is utilized to neutralize the acidifying effect of milk. Once calcium is pulled out of the bones, it leaves the body via the urine, so that the surprising net result after this is an actual calcium deficit. Knowing this, you’ll understand why statistics show that countries with the lowest consumption of dairy products also have the lowest fracture incidence in their population. Ill speak more on this later…
2. Adult Mammals Do Not Drink Milk! Especially from another species! Unlike humans, once animals are weaned, they never drink milk again. This applies to every mammalian species on in the world. Also, each mammalian species has its own “designer” milk, and cow’s milk is no exception. For example, cow’s milk contains on average three times the amount of protein than human milk, this creates metabolic disturbances in humans that have detrimental bone health consequences. It’s important to bear in mind that mother’s milk is excellent nourishment for human babies, but its composition is very different from cow’s milk so it does not make a suitable replacement.
3. Milk Depletes Bone Calcium! “Consumption of dairy products, particularly at age 20, was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture in old age. (“Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Hip Fractures in the Elderly”. American Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 139, No. 5, 1994). A 12 year long Harvard Nurses’ Health Study found that those who consumed the most calcium from dairy foods broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. This is a broad study based on 77,761 women aged 34 through 59 years of age. “These data do not support the hypothesis that higher consumption of milk or other food sources of calcium by adult women protects against hip or forearm fractures.” (Source: Feskanich D, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA. Milk, dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective study. American Journal of Public Health. 1997). “The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are the ones where people drink the most milk and have the most calcium in their diets. The connection between calcium consumption and bone health is actually very weak, and the connection between dairy consumption and bone health is almost nonexistent.” Amy Lanou Ph.D., nutrition director for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C.,
4. Milk Acidifies The Body! milk has a positive potential renal acid load (PRAL) which triggers a protective biological reaction to neutralize all the damaging acidic protein before it reaches the kidneys. The body is designed for survival, so it sacrifices bone density to protect the kidneys and urinary tract because those are essential to survival. And the most readily available source of acid neutralizer is in the bones. So even though milk contains calcium, it ends up sapping your bones of that crucial mineral!
5. Drinking of Pasteurized Milk is Fairly New! Until the end of the 19th century in Europe, and the beginning of the 20th century in the US, milk was consumed unpasteurized which is raw milk. Later on homogenization became the industry standard. These processes further alter milk’s chemistry and actually increase its acidifying effects. Raw milk advocates are on to something. They claim if milk is left “as is” it is a healthy and wholesome drink. It is true that raw milk is less acidifying than processed milk and that pasteurization and homogenization may cause a long list of digestive and other health problems however milk is very questionable for many other reasons.
6. Increase risk of cancer! Unless you are drinking certified organic milk, cows are given antibiotics and a genetically engineered form of bovine growth hormone (rBGH). rBGHA is man-made, synthetic hormone used to artificially increasemilk production, rBGH also increases blood levels of the insulin-growth factor 1 in those who drink it. And higher levels of IGF-1 are linked to several cancers. Samuel Epstein, MD, Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition wrote in an article titled “Monsanto’s Hormonal Milk Poses Serious Risks of Breast Cancer, Besides Other Cancers” (http://www.preventcancer.com/press/releases/july8_98.htm, June 21, 1998) Dr. Epstein concludes that:“Drinking rBGH milk would thus be expected to significantly increase IGF-1 blood levels and consequently to increase risks of developing breast cancer and promoting its invasiveness.” An elevated risk of prostate cancer incidence and mortality has been associated with dairy consumption and the same may be true for ovarian cancer.
7. Milk is Totally Unnecessary! Just as the dairy industry has spent a fortune on ads convincing Americans that milk moustaches are stylish and that milk is nutritious , dairy lobbyists have convinced government officials to keep dairy products in schools and dietary guidelines. The reality is that there is no reason for humans to consume cow’s milk—and there are many reasons to avoid it. Dairy products are packed with fat and cholesterol and may increase the risk of health problems ranging from asthma to some types of cancer. Calcium is a necessary nutrient that we can easily get enough of from many other foods. Such as green leafy vegetables and legumes, nuts, seeds, and broccoli. Broccoli actually contains a staggering amount of calcium that is actually more readily absorbed by the body, unlike cows milk.”

8. Over 70% of the World is Lactose Intolerant! The enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose is lactase, an enzyme found on the wall of the intestines. Lactase breaks down lactose (the sugar found in milk) into galactose and glucose. In humans lactase greatly reduces after breastfeeding, because at that point our bodies no longer needs as much lactase because we should be weaned off milk. But humans have adopted the trend of consuming another species milk through adulthood! Also keep in mind that human mothers milk is much different from the milk of a cow. The reduction of lactase activity after infancy is a genetically programmed event. Approximately 75 % of earths population is lactose intolerant for the reason that it’s perfectly natural!

9. There are No real Nutrients in milk! Pasteurizing milk kills all of the nutrients, including calcium.
10. Milk Causes Acne! Milk is has been linked with acne by at least three large-scale studies reported in the American Journal of Dermatology. Research shows that there is up to 44% more chance of developing acne in those who drink milk. “Dairy does appear to be associated with acne, with the strongest association being skim milk.”
11. Its Totally Unhealthy For Adult Humans! People with many different healthy complaints notice a significant improvement when they avoid dairy. Health complaints associated with dairy intolerance include irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, sinus problems, and ear infections.

HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT ANIMAL MILK AND DAIRY

1. Get loads of sunshine to ensure plenty of vitamin D.
2. Start eating masses of green leafy vegetables so you can ensure you are getting your calcium.
3. Try substituting milk with nut milks. Many contain as much calcium as animal milk
4. Many studies show that raw milk (unpasteurized) is far better because the nutrients have not been destroyed. Raw goat’s milk and raw sheep’s milk are both increasingly popular.
5. Avocado is a wonderful butter substitute. It offers a creaminess that is people who have given up milk miss.
6. Coconut butter is another buttery, creamy substitute for those that want to give up milk. Coconut butter and coconut oil are two of the healthiest oils especially for cooking. It can also replace butter as a spread and cream in cakes and desserts.
7. Try nut butters such as tahini, almond butter and cashew butter.
8. Try coconut yogurt with fruit and honey. the possibilities are endless!So, Instead of harming our health like cow’s milk, these plant foods boost our immune systems and help us avoid chronic illnesses.

Nutrition counseling? Contact me here.