Author: Renee Pokoj

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Chicken & Dumplings the Healthy Way

This Chicken & Dumpling recipe was specifically created with the Weston A. Price guidelines in mind.  Did you know that by fermenting the dumpling dough overnight makes it easier to digest?    This dish turned out amazing; I’m so happy to share it with you.

Ingredients:

  • 2 to 3 Quarts filtered/spring water or chicken bone broth
  • 4 to 6 Organic chicken thighs or other cut up pieces
  • 1 to 2 Bay leaves
  • 1 tbs. Celtic Sea salt
  • 1 Chopped organic onion
  • 2 Chopped organic celery stalks
  • 3 Chopped organic carrots (rainbow carrots add a nice touch)
  • 1 to 2 Minced organic garlic cloves
  • 2 1/2 Cups stone ground organic spelt flour
  • 1 tbs. Celtic sea salt
  • 2 tbs. Whey
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup of filtered/spring water (or use yogurt in place of whey and water)
  • 1/2 Cup organic butter
  • Ground pepper to taste along with any other herb and spices you would like to add

Step by Step

  1. A day in advance,  Continue reading Chicken & Dumplings the Healthy Way
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An Organic Back Balm to Sooth the Muscles that Need it Most

Back-pain can be completely debilitating in even the slightest amounts, we can all agree there.

It’s crucial to find the right cream or balm to apply in order to allow your body to naturally heal itself. Many store-bought creams often act as numbing bandaids where a homemade, organic back balm will provide the right vitamins, minerals, and overall nutrients your body needs without toxic chemicals.

Can you feel the muscles in your back/body?

Continue reading An Organic Back Balm to Sooth the Muscles that Need it Most

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Flavored-Infused Oils for Chefs of All Ages

It’s easy for anybody to make a bottle of flavored infused olive oil as an edible gift or simply to get your chef on.

From cooking to dipping sauces for bread, sandwiches, and snacks of all kinds; it’s safe to say we only touched the surface for the various uses of edible flavored olive oils. There are many uses, such as.

  • Dipping oil for bread
  • Drizzle over cream soup
  • Drizzle over roasted vegetables
  • Add some zip to your popcorn
  • Use on your salad
  • Top off your baked potato
  • Use for making kale chips
  • Top off some flatbread
  • Add extra flavor to your main dish after cooking

Continue reading Flavored-Infused Oils for Chefs of All Ages

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How to Make a Nasal Inhaler w/ Essential Oils

 

essential oil inhalers
A colorful assortment of nasal inhalers

Inhaling essential oils may seem a bit extreme at first. However essential oils are entirely natural and organic (from Young Living). Breathing essential oils scent has no adverse side effects whatsoever, quite the opposite actually and the benefits vary from oil to oil- yay!

 

When on-the-go, using essential oils from a nasal aromatherapy inhaler (like Vicks vapor rub, without all the toxins) is more convenient than using the bottles to apply them. However, when relaxing at home, a diffuser is always my go-to.

Outside of the house, my kids prefer the inhaler because they don’t want to “smell different around their friends” but still can carry it with them! Continue reading How to Make a Nasal Inhaler w/ Essential Oils

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Fooducate: An App to Quickly Scan Ingredients in Food

Are you using the app Fooducate on your phone or computer? You should be!

Tracking what food is good for you and which ones are not can seem very time-consuming at the grocery store, luckily that’s exactly what makes Fooducate amazing!

Everyone can use some help identifying the bad ingredients in food between GMO and other processed foods/chemicals, but Fooducate helps with more than food ingredient lookup such as…

  • Health Tracker
  • Food Finder
  • Community Support
  • Healthy Recipes
  • Diet Tidbits

Continue reading Fooducate: An App to Quickly Scan Ingredients in Food

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Learn How to Get Rid of Cellulite in a Healthy Way

Cellulite seems to creep up on our thighs, legs, butt, and stomach and then one day we wonder how it appeared.

Next, we try to figure out if there is anything we can do about it.

If there is a natural way, I’m all in.

With this in mind, it’s time to dig in and do some homework on how to get rid of the cellulite for good!

I Propose the Grapefruit Cellulite Challenge! Who’s Ready?

We all want to discover vibrant-looking skin again, whats to lose? We’re not asking for any money here!! (just keep reading)

For the first time, my New Year Resolution will be about cellulite reduction

Continue reading Learn How to Get Rid of Cellulite in a Healthy Way

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Not Your Everyday Elderberry Syrup

The cold and flu season has begun.  What do you do to support your immune system?

Why wait until you are feeling under the weather?  Add Elderberry Syrup to your daily routine.

Functional greatness-
Support immune system by taking Elderberry Syrup
You could buy it, but it is so easy to make yourself.

Continue reading Not Your Everyday Elderberry Syrup

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Remedies for Acid Reflux when Pregnant (& Vomiting) ..Help!

Okay, this home remedy is very personal to me.

I’m excited to share that my oldest daughter is pregnant and I will be a grandma next year (though I’m sure I’m too young for that LOL); what an exciting event.

The downside is, she currently in her second trimester with out of control acid reflux and vomiting.

After the countless internet searches for the “best remedies for acid reflux while pregnant” and “how to stop vomiting while pregnant” led her to examine the foods she was ingesting more closely. She has restricted the foods that upset her system but was still struggling to keep food down.

Since being pregnant she has lost 10 pounds.  That being said the doctor gave her a script for nausea and acid reflux.  Well, that helped both of those symptoms but then lead to serious constipation.

This is emotional for both of us. Her living 12 hours away makes it even tougher.  I can’t drive across town to help with her needs as a mom would want to.  So this is where my long distance learning quest has begun. Continue reading Remedies for Acid Reflux when Pregnant (& Vomiting) ..Help!

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‘Staying Healthy’ Covers my Entire Counter

You can tell a lot about a person when you see what they have on their kitchen counter.  On a daily basis on mine, you will find essential oils, ferments, herbs/spices, and teas.  Okay, other stuff too,  things just keep appearing; I’m sure you know what I mean!

Here is a recent photo of my counter.

I am often asked, ‘Renee, what is all this stuff?’ My reply is easy; these are the things I use on a daily basis.

I have embarked on a complete lifestyle journey because I have realized what limited information is readily available on the food we put in our bodies.  A personal mission to learn and live by what it means to be healthy for myself and family.

We live in a world of misinformation and half-truths when it comes to transparency about health. I use the following foods, oils, and spices to aid in protecting the health of my family and self on a daily basis, or as often as I can.

The truth is, if I had more space for storage I would prefer to put all the stuff away. 🙂 Continue reading ‘Staying Healthy’ Covers my Entire Counter