MARGARITA --- GOOD LUCK

Margaritaville

Good Luck Margarita!
We had a blast at the Margaritaville party. We wish you health and send our love. You will be in our prayers and we cannot wait to celebrate our next Margaritaville party.

Salt, salt, salt!

I would like thank all of you for coming to my home and making wonderful memories. Your generosity, companionship and overall enthusiasm to party was greatly appreciated. I know that Margarita was heartfelt just as each and every one of us was to share such wonderful evening. I am honored to have such great friends!

Con mucho amore y carino!

Celebrate Life,
Almita

4 Year Anniversary - much Gratefulness

My first conscious thoughts of the day were of gratefulness. Thank you Lord for the last 4 years. Now I am going for 50 more. How happy am I to be alive! I went into tears of happiness today talking about my survival. Well this day is really bringing out a lot of emotion. More than I anticipated. I want to say that I have to get a grip but I have learned that I should be with the emotions I am feeling instead of keeping them bottled up inside. So I will cry.

I am also grateful for google for giving people like me the opportunity to express our feelings out into the world. I would never share these thoughts with anyone but this has become my avenue of expression. It has given me a release and a voice. It is here for myself as well as for milliions to read. I genually love the person I have become.

Quote of the day:

Create the best

Calm your thoughts and be peaceful.

Know that all is well, all the time.

This moment is already the best it can be, and is everything it can be.

Accept it and move forward.

Do not fear the worst, for your thoughts of fear give great power to whatever it is you fear. Instead, sincerely expect the best and you create the best.

Know that the positive possibilities are always present, and your eyes will be opened to them. Everything that is, can be put to good use in moving toward your highest vision for life.

As life unfolds in each moment, new opportunities are being born.

No matter what has already happened, choose to create the very best you can imagine.

This is the day that you have to work with.

Live with peaceful purpose, and use it to create a magnificent world. -- Ralph Marston

Celebrate Life,

Alma

Millet

You'll benefit from plenty of protein when you include millet in your diet. Depending on the variety, millet's protein content is very close to that of wheat, with a half-cup serving, cooked, providing 4.2 grams. One-half cup raw millet contains 11 grams of protein.
Millet is rich in B vitamins, especially niacin, B6, and folacin and offers calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Since millet contains no gluten, it cannot rise to form a light bread. For a raised bread, it's best to combine it with wheat. Used alone, it's ideal for making flatbread.
The only grain that retains its alkaline nature when cooked, millet is ideal for those who are allergic to wheat and gluten
Millet can be used in many dishes in place of buckwheat, rice, or quinoa. It makes a tasty, light breakfast cereal, works well in vegetable loaves, gives extra body to soups or stews, and used raw, adds delightful, crunchy texture to muffins and quickbreads.

STORING: Store millet at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to a month. For longer storage, it should be refrigerated.

PREPARATION: All grains should be washed before cooking. Because millet absorbs water rapidly, wash the grains briefly. Measure the quantity you are planning to cook before washing.
1 cup raw millet yields 3 cups cooked. When measuring, use 3 1/2 parts liquid to 1 part millet. For 1 cup raw millet, add 1 t. salt.

COOKING: Because all pearl millet is not the same, cooking times may vary. Millet cooks up to make a fluffy, delicate-tasting grain that is best enjoyed warm. When cold it tends to become hard, dry, and lumpy.

TIMING:
To Bake, set oven at 350, put millet, salt, and liquid in a covered casserole, and bake for 45 minutes.

To Boil: Bring millet, salt, and liquid to a rolling boil and boil 10 minutes. Some varieties may take longer.

To Steam: Combine millet, salt, and liquid in a saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately turn heat down to low, and steam for 15 minutes without lifting lid. Turn off heat and set aside without peeking for 10 to 15 minutes. Some varieties require longer cooking, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

Enjoy millet often with this easy-to-prepare recipe. Serve with a crisp tossed salad, steamed vegetables, and whole grain bread.

Millet Crunch Granola

This healthy granola makes a great topping for fruit or yogurt. You can even eat it alone for a crunchy snack.

2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup uncooked millet
1/3 cup brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or maple syrup
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Place rolled oats and millet on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour.

I will put my dehydrator on 105ºF and roast for 3 to 4 hours and melt my tahini and water at the same time.

In small pan, melt sweetener, tahini, and water together over low heat. In large bowl, toss oats, millet, and seeds with tahini mixture until completely coated. Spread on unoiled baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes or until crisp. Dehydrate for another hour or two. Stir once or twice during baking. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Makes 8 servings

Variation: Add 1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit to cooked granola and store as directed.

Do not bake fruit.

Motivation of the Day: Over and Over

The actions, thoughts and words that become a permanent part of you are the ones you choose to repeat over and over again. Doing something once will certainly bring some kind of result, and doing it repeatedly will multiply its power many times over. You cannot lift a thousand pounds all at once. Yet you can lift one pound a thousand times. In the repetition of your thoughts and actions, there is great power. Choose to make complete and purposeful use of that power. Add immense leverage to what you do by doing it again and again. Give great strength to your actions by persistently repeating them. Nothing of value is ever accomplished in an instant. No skill is ever fully developed in a single day. Take the time to make the effort over and over again. That time and those efforts will bring great rewards. -- Ralph Marston

Celebrate Life,

Alma

Raw Grains - Yummy

It's not uncommon to eat soaked or sprouted grains within the raw food community. So I have decided to give them a try since it is difficult for me to stay raw during the winter months. All I have to do with the grains is soak them, like I do with nuts and seeds to deactivate the enzyme inhibitors which interfere with digestion.

Try soaking steel cut oats (they are raw). They are so nice as a cereal in the morning (drain excess water and mix in a small bit of celtic sea or himalayan salt) with a bit of honey.

Healthy Multi-Grain Breakfast Cereal Recipe

Buy approximately 1/3 lb of each of the following grains: Brown rice Steel cut oats Wheat berry

Barley
Buckwheat
Lentils
Millet
Spelt
Sunflower seeds
Flax seed
Quinoa

Put all the grains together in a large container and mix so that the grains are uniformly distributed throughout the cereal.

To serve, begin by grinding approximately 1/8 to 1/3 cup of grain per serving.

Prepare the cereal the night before by placing the serving in a bowl, adding approximately an equal amount of water, covering it and allowing it to sit over night. Soaking the mixture is necessary to deactivate the enzyme inhibitors which interfere with digestion.

In the morning, add whatever fruit you have available or some chopped soaked almonds, raisins, and/or a dash of cinnamon. You can add honey and cinnamon or just eat it plain.

Motivation:
Something wonderful will come from this. Something of great value is already taking shape. In every disappointment, there are fertile seeds of accomplishment. In times of pain, there are opportunities arising for magnificent joy. When you are making your way through the dark and lonely valley, keep going. Keep going and you'll soon reach the place where you begin to climb out and up toward the mountaintop. Allow your difficulties the opportunity to give you strength. Let the tough times make the good times much more rewarding than they otherwise would have been. Be truly thankful for each opportunity to more fully appreciate life's goodness. And be confident that the goodness is always there. Know that something wonderful will come from this. And it will. -- Ralph Marston

Celebrate Life,
Alma

Alkalizing foods - Reply to Sue

Sue wrote a comment on this blog on my post Happy Holidays from Saturday, December 27th. Here is my reply:

I still believe that alkalizing the body improves overall health and prevents disease. I have been reading about foods and their affects on our bodies faithfully for over 3 years now and my undergraduate degree is in foods and nutrition. This is my opinion but I feel that I am living proof as well. I judge how foods affects my body by my volleyball play and I can say there was a difference when I went vegetarian and a difference when I added green smoothies and an even bigger difference when I went raw.

Please send me the source where you read about just drinking the green drink and adding alkaline drops to water alone will make a big difference as it balances the acidic foods eaten making the body more alkaline. I would love to review the information.

My other blog entry on this topic can be found here.

Quote of the day:

"A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. " Wade Boggs

Celebrate Life,
Alma

Happy New Year

I went shopping for my greens this morning and I just finished making my green smoothies for the week. I freeze them and have them ready in the morning. I use the frozen smoothie as ice for my lunch bag. When I am ready to drink my smoothie it is nice and cold. Today I made my green smoothies with red leaf lettuce, dandelion, apples and bananas.


I will also have some live shakes in the morning with spirulina. I bought some spirulina powder and I cannot believe the color. It is so incredibly dark green. I am used to green foods but this is incredible. The problem is that it is so darn expensive. I am going to shop on the internet and see what I can find. You know that I will post my findings.


Now is your moment:
It is now, and now is different. Even though you may have experienced an overwhelming amount of disappointment in the past, the past is over. Perhaps you've failed again and again. Now is different. That was then and this is now. Now you have the opportunity to move forward. Now you can do what you've never been able to do before. Now you can follow through on the things you've been unable or unwilling to do in the past. Now is your moment to live. Now is the time to act. Now is when you can truly make a difference. Stand up, step forward and live. -- Ralph Marston

Celebrate Life,
Alma