Puerto Vallarta Tacos

When I worked for an airline company my parents were able to travel on my flight benefits. For their Anniversary they went to Puerto Vallarta for a few days. While staying at a local resort they had a very simple dinner that has been a long time favorite and simple recipe to make.

Things you will need:

• Chicken- boneless, skinless (I will pound it out so it will remain tender while cooking)
• Chili Powder
• Olive Oil
• Corn Tortillas
• Fresh or canned Pineapple- sliced
• Cilantro- chopped
• Tomatoes- sliced
• Avocado - sliced (optional)
• Limes - sliced
• Sour Cream (optional)
• Hot sauce - I like Cholula (optional)

Prep the chicken and pound it out with a meat tenderizer, if you desire. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle as much Chili powder on each side to give good coverage, then pour olive oil over your chicken so it will cook better in the oven. Broil each side for 4 minutes. Once it's finished cooking cut into slices

While your chicken is broiling, chop cilantro, slice pineapple, tomatoes, avocados, and limes. Sometimes I place it in separate glass containers (as shown below). This will make it easier to store in the refrigerator once you have finished your meal. Heat up as many corn tortillas you will need for your meal. Once you are finished you can add each ingredient to your corn tortillas.

This meal is a great time saver if you don't know what to make for dinner or lunch one evening. If you have other ingredients you love and wish to add, then create away! Enjoy

Smooth 'n' Silky Banana Hair Mask

I stumbled upon this blog that had this recipe they got from Dr. Oz's show a while ago. I thought I would try it out and see for myself how well it worked.
Dr. Oz assembled a team of enthusiastic researchers to determine what food, in fact, was the most repairing, the most conditioning, for hair. They found it was bananas.

Bananas as a hair mask is effective, because bananas contain things like potassium, vitamin B6, folate, and other properties that are great for your hair (and also helps with hair loss).

Milk is full of protein to make your hair stronger, as well as lactic acid to help whisk away old, dead skin cells that might have accumulated on your hair and caused it to become lifeless, limp, and mildly suicidal.

Smooth 'n' Silky Banana Milkshake Hair Mask

• 1-2 bananas (maybe 3, if your hair is really long and thick)
• Whole Milk or coconut milk, enough to thin out the bananas
• Honey (optional)
• Cocoa powder, strawberries, or a peach (optional)

We're just going to talk about the basic hair mask, which is a very lovely and perfect as it is, and then in a moment we'll talk about the other ingredients to add some spice.
~YOU CAN ALSO DRINK THE LEFTOVERS TOO~


First, you want to take your banana(s) and blend them in some way, either in the blender, food processor, with a stick blender, or just by mashing and stirring really well. You want to do this until you have a slimy paste. No chucks. Just slime.

 

Partway through the blending process - you can still see some chunkies in there.

 

Then, you just drizzle in milk, monitoring the thickness of the banana. You want to aim for a consistency that is nearly identical to regular hair conditioners.

 

 

 

Once you have this blended and smooth, it should be relatively runny, but still thick enough to stay on your hair. Again, go for the consistency of regular conditioner.

 

After this, you can add in your optional ingredients and blend them in there very well.

 

Here are a few ideas:

• Honey, for even more moisturizing
• Cocao powder, which is also moisturizing, and it's great for brunettes or redheads who want to boost their deep brown tones.
• Strawberries are clarifying, but they'd also be great for anyone interested in adding a bit of a slight red highlight (note: none of these "highlights" are strong, and they won't last past your second wash)
• Peaches are great for delicate, broken hair, as well as blondes who want to soften the brassiness of their hair.
• Strong green tea, wonderfully clarifying, would be great for any hair type, and it would make for an interesting flavor combination when you drink up what you don't use on your hair.

How to apply the Smooth 'n' Silky Banana Milkshake Hair Mask

• Start with dry hair and work over the sink or in the bathtub
• You will need a shower cap or a towel to wrap your hair up in to prevent dripping.
• Apply as much of this mask to your hair as you can, making sure it's saturating your hair and caressing your scalp
• Leave this on for 15-20 minutes
• Wash as normal (you may or may not need to condition your hair, just see how it feels after you wash it), but make sure you get ALL of the mask out of your hair, of you'll walk around smelling like old banana and sour milk. Yikes!
• Enjoy your silky smooth hair

Need to strengthen your Immune System? Here are 5 easy foods that will help~

Do you get sick every year? Maybe more than once?? Here are 5 great sources to include in your daily diet that naturally helps boost your immune system. This past winter each of my co-workers minus myself and my boss all were sick more than once for over a week. I just got a small cold, but took the proper steps, which included my father's homemade remedy juice, to fight off the cold and keep a strong immune system going.

If you eat the right kinds of foods that provide natural immune boosting nutrients you wont have to get the flu vaccines, which are full of extra toxic chemicals that will harm your body and break down your immune system. Your immune system is fully equipped to thwart off colds, influenza, and other viral diseases naturally on it's own, if you feed it the nutrients it needs in order to maintain homeostasis. Here are five simple ways to strengthen your immune system naturally using simple food choices:

1. Garlic- This is a powerful member of the onion family. It is called a "cure-all" in the world of homeopathic communities. Garlic's high allicin content is largely responsible for its disease-fighting effects, as this powerful antioxidant compound neutralizes free radicals and quells disease-causing inflammation. Allicin is said to have antibacterial action equivalent to 1% of Penicillin.
For thousands of years people have been using garlic as a natural remedy to prevent and treat respiratory, bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections as well. Using garlic every day will keep your nose and lungs clear of mucus and your arteries in good condition, reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol.

2. Homemade Chicken Soup- Who knew that great soup mom's made is so good for you when you're not feeling well. This is one of the most effective, and delicious, natural remedies for preventing and treating viral infections, homemade chicken soup made from whole, pasture-raised chickens is loaded with disease-fighting nutrients such as cysteine, an amino acid released during the cooking of chicken that, according to Prevention.com resembles the bronchitis drug acetylcysteine. Real chicken broth made from whole chickens, bones and all, also contains a host of beneficial fats, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that support vibrant immunity.
Gelatin, for instance, which is naturally formed in chicken broth, is a food substance composed of broth essential and non-essential amino acids that is critical for regulating immunity, promoting healthy digestion, improving liver functions, and strengthening bones.

3. Sweet Potatoes- These are a rich source of both vitamin A and C. Sweet potatoes are very beneficial for your skin, which just so happens to be your body's LARGEST organ, and the first line of defense against harmful bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. This starchy root vegetable contains nutrients that help improve cardiovascular and nervous system health as well.

4. Mushrooms- These are my least favorite of all ( I have never acquired a taste for this fungus). They have been around the Chinese medicine and are known for their incredible ability to stimulate the immune system, mushrooms of numerous sorts may hold the key to keeping you and your family healthy during the winter season. A Study in 2009 out of Arizona State University, revealed that white button, reishi, maitake, shitake and oyster mushrooms (just to name a few) all possess unique immune-boosting properties that make them a worthy addition to a healthy diet.

5. Brazil nuts- These are nature's richest sources of selenium, Brazil nuts are distinctively beneficial in promoting a healthy immune system. Their ability to stimulate the production of antibodies, selenium is involved in most functions of cellular biochemistry, and are absolutely essential for proper immune function. Selenium also plays an important role in the production and function of glutathione which boosts adaptive immunity and promotes the production of white blood cells.

Whipped Shea Butter Recipe for Hair and Skin

This is AMAZING homemade lotion!! Christy found this recipe on a blog and decided she wanted to make it. Each of us girls has a cute jar that we re-scoop more whipped lotion into once we’re finished. It looks like frosting and I want to dip my finger through it and eat it. One great thing I have noticed is that when I apply it either at night or in the morning I scoop some and lather in my hand. It will start to melt just from the ingredients from the Shea Butter and other oils that have solidified due to the colder temperatures.  

As long as you don't add a product that has a water base this whipped lotion will last out of the fridge for one month.

Don't feel you have to follow this to the letter.  I read that you shouldn't use more than 40% of the total recipe in liquid oil (olive oil, jojoba oil, etc)--Shea butter and coconut oil are solids at room temp so they don't count toward that.

The feeling of this lotion is like...frosting! Which is perfect for the super dry weather here in Arizona. In the winters my skin get so dry from the drastic weather changes from high 70’s in the day and low 40’s at night. I have had a hard time finding lotions that aren’t going to clog my pores and over powered by the perfumes. It's an interesting blend of whipped/light and fluffy and heavy. I LOVE it!! I also love that I know exactly what's in it and what's going on our skin. I've been trying to be more conscious to the idea that if you can't eat it you shouldn't put it on your body. Your skin is your largest organ.

Whipped Shea Butter for Hair and Skin
Makes about 4 cups

6-8 oz organic unrefined Shea butter (We get it from Butters-N-Bars)
1/2 cup organic coconut oil (you can get this at natural grocery stores or online here)
2 tablespoons organic olive oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch (this gives it a less greasy feel on your skin)
1/2 teaspoon of Thieves essential oil (Immune Strength) (rule of thumb: if you can't ingest it, don't use it on your skin)

Scoop the shea butter into a glass Pyrex measuring cup or glass bowl.
Melt in microwave (gentle heat, don't boil!) I use 1 min 30 sec, power 5 on my micro. The reason for gentle heat and only 5 min in the fridge is because the Shea will get a bit gritty if you over heat/cool it. Not that big of a deal really--the 'grit' will melt in your hands like the rest of it.

Add in the coconut oil, olive oil, and cornstarch and whisk until incorporated and fully melted. The heat of the Shea butter will melt the coconut oil.

Pour mixture into bowl of your stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment. Turn mixer on level 6 and whip for 15-20 minutes until it begins to 'trace' (Some people describe the "trace" as a little mound of soap that takes a second or two to disappear back into the mix. You can see the whisk leaving lines/tiny ropes across the top of the mixture). Don't stress about this idea--if it's whipped 20 minutes you're fine!

Take the bowl off the mixer and stick it in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Take it back out and back onto the mixer. Mix on level 10 for another 15-20 minutes. Add essential oil and mix another minute or two. You're done! Scoop your mixture into glass containers. (Use Pyrex or Anchor 2 cup glass bowls with rubber lids)

Shea Butter from Butters-N-Bars--this is the before pic

Afterwards-- Looks like frosting or whipped cream doesn't it? Beautiful!

Eat as the Greeks do...

                         Chicken Souvlaki

Active Time: 30 min

Total Time: 1 hr 40 min

Serves 4

1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 3Tbs lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

1Tbs chopped fresh oregano

2Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Coarse salt & fresh pepper

1lb boneless, skinless chicken beast halves, cut into 2 inch cubes

1/4 English cucumber, chopped

1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt

3 plum tomatoes, quartered

1/2 small red onion, cut 3/4 inch thick, and separated into slices

4 whole wheat pitas (you can use Naan Bread too)

1. Whisk together lemon zest, 1Tbs plus 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice, half the garlic, the oregano, 1Tbs plus 1tsp oil, and 1/2 tsp salt. Add chicken and Ross to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, stir together remaining lemon juice, garlic, the cucumber, and yogurt, and 1/4 tsp salt. Refrigerate, covered until ready to serve.

3. Heat grill to medium heat. Thread chicken, tomatoes, and onion onto skewers. Brush with remaining 2 tap oil, and season with pepper.

4. Grill skewers, turning, until browned on all sides & cooked through about 8 minutes per side. Grill pitas until charred, about 2 minutes per side.

5. Serve skewers with charred pita bread and cucumber yogurt sauce. Garnish with oregano leaves.

This meal is easy when it comes to preparing, it's refreshing during the hot summer months here in Arizona. When I make this meal I can picture myself in Greece looking out over the Mediterranean with a glass of wine enjoying the sunset. If you enjoy trying new dished you will fall in Love with this one.

Quinoa

Just some helpful tips on why Quinoa should be incorporated into you diet. Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooking. Quinoa is very rich in manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, fiber, folate, and copper, all great ingredients that your body needs. 

 Health Benefits

• High in protein and contains all 9 essential amino acids
• Helps for Migraine Headaches- rich in magnesium which helps relax the blood vessels, preventing the constriction and rebound dilation characteristics of migraines.
• Helps Improve Cardiovascular Health

Rainbow Quinoa Stir-Fry

1 cup Rainbow Quinoa ( You can use the regular kind as well)
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
White Onion, chopped
Broccoli
2-3 Carrots
Green Beans or Sugar Snap Peas (or both)
Corn
Bell Peppers
Avocado (add when serving)
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Follow directions on the back of the package for cooking the Quinoa in a separate pot, since there is just myself and my sister 1 Cup of Quinoa makes enough for dinner and lunch the next day. Once cooked set aside.

In a large pan saute olive oil, onions, and minced garlic. Once cooked through add carrots, broccoli. Cook until soft, then add remaining vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking add the Quinoa to the mixture, you may find you need to add more olive oil, salt and pepper. Once everything is mixed you may serve. Top the final dish with avocado. This dish is really great because you can add any vegetables that you like to or remove any that I have listed above to your liking. This is a simple, but very healthy dish and it's great for lunch the next day. If you are vegetarian this is a great meal to make as well. You may also add meat to this as well.

Enjoy!

Boost Your Immune System --- Great Immune recipe for Kids too

Sore Throats:

Gargling with red sage tea can help relieve the pain along with Fenugreek, garlic; lemon and propolis are very useful as well. I like to finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic, placing on a large spoon and covering with honey. Then I swallow with water. Do this 3-4 times a day and you will see your health improve. Another thing I find to be helpful is boiling hot water, adding fresh squeezed lemons and some honey for flavor and just relax and sip on your tea.

Nausea/ Vomiting:

 Drinking teas of basil, lemon balm, or ginger help to calm the stomach. My favorite is ginger tea. I cut small chunks of ginger root, add to my glass water bottle and pour boiling water over it and drink all day. You can use your tea up to 2-3 times before it begins to loose its strength.

If you are pregnant, drink up to 3 cups per day of spearmint or peppermint tea prepared using 1 teaspoon of herbs to 1 cup of water. Also ginger has been used for morning sickness for many years. There are some contraindicates for using ginger during pregnancy. If you wish to try ginger, only use fresh ginger root prepared as a tea and no more than 1 cup per day. DO NOT USE GINGER ESSENTIAL OIL.

Fevers:

Drink teas of borage, chamomile, elderflower, feverfew, hyssop, horehound, lemon, lemon balm, lemongrass, peppermint, rosemary, sage, thyme, or yarrow. My personal favorite is peppermint, because if it’s soothing and cooling effect. Another great trick is to sponge with cold water.

Earaches:

It is very important that you treat both ears, even if only one is troublesome. Rinse out ears with a warm carefully strained infusion of horehound. Also, you can add a few drops of warm mullein oil in each ear or a few drops of warmed infused garlic oil in each ear. (Please see directions for making your own infused oil) Some beneficial herbs for teas are lemon balm, hyssop, and yarrow.

*Soothing Ear Blend*

½ oz Chamomile Flowers (Dried)

1 Cup water

½ Cup almond oil

½ Cup vegetable glycerin

Place the chamomile and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until half the liquid remains. Remove from the heat, strain, and cool until warm. Add the almond oil and vegetable glycerin. Soak a cotton pad in the blend and insert carefully into the ear. You can halve this recipe if you would like.

Coughs:

There are a few different herbs and recipes for coughs. Thyme, sage, elderflower and peppermint teas are really helpful. Drinking hot blackcurrant drinks along with an infusion of mullein, thyme, yarrow and horehound as a blend. Lastly, the horehound cough syrups, there are a few different kinds depending on what ingredients you have.

Sage, Garlic, and Honey

6Cups of water

2 Tbs Salvia officionalis leaves

2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

½ Lemon, juiced

Honey to taste.

Boil water and pour over sage, garlic, and lemon juice. Steep the mixture for 5 minutes. Add honey if necessary. Drink at least 3 cups an hour. Fast while using and rest in bed with plenty of blankets to sweat it out.

Horehound Cough Syrup I

1oz Horehound

1oz Licorice

1oz Elecampane

½ oz Hyssop

½ oz Marshmallow Root

Honey to sweeten

Peppermint essential oil: 1 drop to 1 pint of fluid

Prepare a standard decoction using all the herbs except the horehound. Strain and pour over the horehound. Leave the mixture to steep for 10-15 minutes, and then strain and measure. For each cup of fluid, add 1 cup of honey, and then return to the heat and simmer gently in a covered saucepan until the mixture has thickened. Cool and add the peppermint essential oil. Bottle and store in a cool place. Use 2-4 teaspoons as required every 1-2 hours.

Horehound Cough Syrup II

1 Cup Raw Sugar

2 Tbs honey

1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

½ pt Horehound Infusion

2-3 drops Peppermint essential oil to taste

Combine sugar, honey, lemon juice, and oil over a low heat and simmer until it forms syrup and thickens. When the syrup has thickened, stir in the horehound infusion. Add peppermint oil and remove from the heat. Bottle and store in the refrigerator.

Colds:

Drink plenty of fluids such as water, lemon and honey drinks. Keep warm and get plenty of rest. This preparation of crushed garlic, dash of cayenne pepper, ginger, and honey and lemon juice in the early stages will help throw off your cold. Also, herbal teas of sage, elderflower, ginger, yarrow or thyme teas are very helpful. Vitamins that are good to give your body an extra boost is zinc, vitamin C and Echinacea tincture also helps. My elderberry tincture is very helpful and my sisters and I have used this several times this year with cold/flu that have tried to attack our bodies don’t last. Make the recipe on the side of this blog and use it! Only take 1 tablespoon 4 times a day when feeling under the weather.

Here are a few recipes for building your kids’ immune system.

Immune-Enhancing Herbal Snacks

¼ Cup astragulus Powder (Astragalus membranaceus)

¼ Cup Maca Powder (Lepidium meyenii)

¼ Cup Elderberry Powder (Sambucus nigra)

¼ Cup Powdered Vitamin C

1 Cup Almond Butter

½ Cup Maple Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend together with a fork. Add a little more maple syrup if too stiff and dry, or a little more elderberry powder if too sticky. Roll heaping tablespoon into balls and then roll in sesame seeds or shredded coconut as preferred by the child. Eat 3-4 each day during cold and flu season, or for a child needing immune support due to frequent infections.

Infusions

1oz dried herbs

1 pint of purified water

Place your herbs into a ceramic or glass teapot. Bring the water to a boil. Do not use aluminum pot. An electric kettle or kettle on the stove is fine.  Turn off the heat and pour the water over the herb. Cover the pot and let steep for 10-20 minutes. Strain the tea in a non-aluminum strainer and then drink. Store for NO more than 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Decoctions

1oz herbs or root

1 pint water

Place the water into a pot made from non-reactive material (such as stainless or enamel). Do not use aluminum. Cut or crush the herb or root and add it to water in the pot. Do not cut or crush in advance, as vital constituents can be lost. Turn on the heat to medium. Simmer your decoction with the lid off until the volume of water is reduced by 1 quarter, so three quarters of a pint remains. Cool and strain. Take in divided doses according to the use. Sore for NO more than 72 hours in the refrigerator.