Nature's Sunshine Reverse Osmosis Water Filter

I asked my natural doctor what water I should be drinking since the tap water has chlorine. Chlorine causes a bloom in Candida, so I didn't think I should be drinking any water with Chlorine in it. The filtered water from my fridge doesn't remove the chlorine. She told me Reverse Osmosis water is the only water I should be drinking. She also said not to drink out of plastic bottles. She suggested using glass or polycarbonate to drink out of. Since I have used Nature's Sunshine Products for many years and sell them, I ordered my reverse osmosis filter from Nature's Sunshine. We just installed it and the water tastes great! It doesn't stay hooked up all the time. You just hook it up when you want to filter some water. I fill up two 32 ounce polycarbonate bottles with lids and 1 glass jar with a sealed lid a day to keep in the refrigerator. The reverse osmosis filter is expensive but I think my health is worth it! I really want to get rid of this Candida and don't like the idea of making it worse every time I have a glass of water, so it was a very important step to me.

Candida Friendly Food For Road Trip

We are heading out on a vacation trip to Florida to see one of my nieces graduate from High School. A difficult journey since just over a month ago I started my Candida Diet. I knew it would be difficult to find enough to eat away from home. So I got some to go recipes from The Candida Diaries, a post titled Camp and Traveling Food.  I really didn't take the time I should have to prepare all the foods. But I did make these Almond Coconut Bars. They were so delicious! I'm sure over a month ago I wouldn't have liked them, but being off sugar my taste buds really have changed! If you need some ideas for food for the road be sure and check out Camp and Traveling Food.

Almond Coconut Bars

This is my favorite recipe I've found so far for the Candida diet! I found it on The Candida Diaries! I made them to take on our vacation to Florida and I kept them in the ice chest. They lasted me the week! I changed just a little from this recipe and I have noted my changes below the recipe.

Amy is the author of Candida Diaries and this is her recipe:

"These no bake, high-protein, high-fiber bars are based upon Melissa Diane Smith’s recipe for Amaretto Protein Bars in her book ‘Going Against the Grain’ and are easy to make.  Roasted cocao nibs add extra chocolately flavor without the sugar. These make a great snack, a healthy dessert or a breakfast on the go!
Ingredients:
2 cups raw almonds
1/2 cup flax meal (flax seeds ground in coffee/spice grinder)
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup unsalted almond butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
stevia to taste
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup cocao nibs

 Procedure:
Place almonds, flax meal, shredded coconut, almond butter and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.  No need to pulverize everything, some big almond pieces add texture and crunch!
In a small sauce pan, melt the coconut oil over very low heat.
Remove the liquid coconut oil from stove and stir stevia, and vanilla into the oil.
Add the coconut oil mixture to the food processor and pulse until the ingredients form a coarse paste.
Press the mixture into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish
Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour, until mixture hardens.
Remove from refrigerator, cut into bars and serve or store.  These keep well in the freezer or refrigerator."

What I have changed:

I can't have Stevia yet, so I just didn't include that in the recipe. I used sea salt and make sure your vanilla is alcohol free. I found some made with glycerin on amazon.com. I also didn't have any cocao nibs at the time, which I have now ordered from amazon as well. But instead of cocao nibs I used 100% cocoa bakers chocolate. I just chopped it up to measure it before adding it to the food processor  with the almonds, etc. Amy mentioned that she added the cocao nibs in at the very end so they didn't get chopped up to much.  I also shaved some of the baker's cacao on top of the bars and added some shredded coconut on the top as well before putting it in the fridge. I love these bars! Make sure to drink plenty of water with these because the flax in it soaks up all your water. At first I didn't drink enough and I got a stomach ache, so soon as I drank some more water, it went away! Thanks to Amy for a fabulous recipe!

Simple and Tasty Scrambled Eggs

Very simple to make, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Eggs have become a very important part of my diet. This was very simple to throw together in a frying pan. I just used one egg, a small part of a tomato and a very small part of a white onion chopped up. Got to love eggs!

Beginnings Of Our Tomatoes

My husband and I have only started gardening a year ago, well mostly me. My favorite thing to grow so far is tomatoes. Last summer was horrible here in Oklahoma for most everything because of the over 100 degree heat. I'm very excited to see how our tomatoes do this summer! I can't wait for my husband to make the first batch of salsa or rather pico! He usually adds sugar to cut down on the acidity but he will have to figure something else out since sugar is a no no on my Candida diet. I will be eating it with Flax Seed Crackers. I'll let you know how it turns out when the time comes.

Living Beyond Organic

The Natural Doctor said it was okay that I had Amasai. Amasai is a greenfed cultured dairy beverage from Beyond Organic Products. I was excited when she said it was okay to have on the candida diet, since I'm not supposed to have any dairy and yet Amasai is a dairy beverage. It is really expensive but also really good for you and full of probiotics (healthy bacteria), which is really important to have on the candida diet. There are many flavors, but I went with plain since all the others have honey. It is really tart and a little Stevia would help with that if your able to have that. I am not able to yet. So it helps a little to add some berries and make a smoothie out of it. Be sure to check out some of Beyond Organics other great products!

Here is a great recipe using Amasai: Amasai Treat With Ultimate GreenZone.

Neem Oil On Fruit Trees

Stanley Prune-Plum Dwarf Supreme

Stark Lodi Apple Dwarf

     We were so blessed when we moved into our house about a year ago. The people who lived here before had done so much work on the yard. They put in all these fruit trees. Some of them are not labeled because I'm not sure what they are yet. Last spring I had a 4 month old, so I really didn't get to spend much time outside. I'm trying to do a little more this spring. I have a magazine somewhere that labels the other trees, so when I find it I will label the others. 
       
      I am definitely having problems with worms getting the fruit that has come in. The apple tree is full of apples now. I will have to take more pictures soon and share them. Their are lots of nectarines but all seem to be worm infested. That really grosses me out. Before I found out that I had Candida, I didn't eat a lot of fruit. So I wasn't really planning on trying to care for the fruit trees too much. Now that I'm off of sugar, fruit is so delicious to me and I really want to get fruit from these trees.  I do not want to use chemicals or pesticides, and came across a natural alternative: Neem Oil. 

"Neem oil has many benefits and is used in various ways. The neem oil is actually a vegetable oil that is extracted from the fruits and the seeds of neem. Neem tree oil is made from the extract of the plant."  This quote is from Buzzle.


The research I have read indicates that it is safe for birds and beneficial insects. Here is some more information about Neem oil on Buzzle. It seems that the Neem oil needs to be reapplied several time throughout the growing season and doesn't kill the insects, it just keeps them from reproducing. I have only done one application and I'm sure it will take more to start controlling the insects. I would love comments from anyone who has more information about Neem Oil or has used it before. I know precaution should be used around cats or aquatic areas. Please do your own research before using the product to make sure its the right option for you.   I will provide updates as I continue to use the product. 

"Neem oil is also used as an effective insecticide. This has been used for hundreds of years in controlling plant pests and diseases. It is known that the spray solution of neem oil helps to prevent the problems caused by common pests like bugs, spider mites, locusts, thrips, white flies, aphids etc. This oil also acts as a very effective fungicide. Neem oil is very bitter to taste and this is why the bugs would keep away once the leaves are sprayed with the neem oil."  This quote is directly from Buzzle.  Click on the link to read more about the benefits of Neem oil.                             

Enterprise Apple Dwarf Supreme

Hardired Giant Nectarine Dwarf Supreme

Pear

                  

                                                                                      

  Fruit tree -unknown

                                                           

Fruit tree - unknown

                                                       

    Nectarine or peach tree

 

Fruit tree - unknown

                                                         


                                                               

Plum or prune tree