Make Healthier Choices

Helping people Make Healthier Choices about real-food choices for optimal heath.

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Can This Reverse Diabetes?

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According to Dr. Mark Hyman, rye bread and rye pasta can, “Turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes.” Dr. Hyman, didn’t reference whole-grain rye; he referenced rye bread and rye pasta. The article was published in 2011, and I’m just reading it now. Somehow, I had missed this important information.

So here’s what I read by Dr. Mark Hyman, who is one of our most credible sources when it comes to food and nutrition:

“Breaking news! Some newly discovered compounds have just been found to turn off all of the genes that cause diabetes. Are these compounds found in a pill bottle? No! Instead, you’ll find them on your dinner plate — in rye bread and pasta.”

Rye Bread Recipe Renegade

Lose weight and improve metabolism???

In another article dated 2013, I found:

“As I mentioned in my book, UltraMetabolism, rye has some very special properties because it is slowly absorbed by the body and has phytonutrients that help you lose weight and improve metabolism.” ~~Dr. Mark Hyman (2013)

I’m betting you hadn’t heard about this, either. Why hasn’t this information been all over the news? You might not know anyone who is diabetic, but I’m guessing you at least know one person who is overweight and headed in that direction.

Available at my Wellevate store.
Available at my Wellevate store.

Do You Own a Bread Machine?

You wouldn’t have found wheat products in my home for about the last fifteen years (read why here). The exception was holidays or when having guests for dinner–UNTIL–I found Jovial’s All-Purpose Einkorn Flour. My husband is quite happy I found it and especially happy I found Dr. Hyman’s article about rye.

 

I’m still using my Westbend bread machine that I’ve had for over 20 years. I love it! It lets me delay the start so we can wake to homemade bread. I had upgraded to the bread maker below, since I loved my old Westbend so much, but ended up giving it away. The machine seemed to cook too hot and/or for too long:

 

Westbend Walmart
Available at Walmart.com

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Rye Bread - Can This Reverse Diabetes?
 
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Rye Bread
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Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients, in the order they appear, into bread machine pan.
  2. Lock pan into bread machine.
  3. Set bread machine to: WHOLE WHEAT, 1½ POUND, MEDIUM CRUST COLOR.
  4. Press Start (or add to time for a delay start and press START.

 

When I successfully make this recipe without a bread machine, I’ll update this page with the directions.

UPDATE: Please note that this recipe was updated on September 28, 2016. Using more rye and less wheat provided an even better loaf of bread. The amounts used before 9/28/2016 were: Rye: 2 1/3 cups, and Jovial’s Einkorn Flour: 1 cup

If you use the type of yeast I linked to in the recipe, there is no need to dissolve it–just add it to the pan. If you’re wondering why I think it’s okay to occasionally eat gluten, please read Are you Still Eating Wheat?

Try this white bread that’s made with Jovial’s Einkorn Flour and Milk Kefir—Milk Kefir Bread.

 

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Is it True This Can Reverse Diabetes?
 
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Coming soon - How to make the Rye Bread recipe without a bread machine.
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Jo-Anne’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This recipe uses half the sugar and butter that most chocolate chip cookie recipes use and are just as delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Jo-Anne's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
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Ingredients
  • 2¼ Cups Jovial's Einkorn Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic Salt
  • ½ Cup (1 stick) Softened Butter
  • ½ Cup Demerera Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 to 2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • OPTIONAL: 1 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
  1. Remove butter from refrigerator to soften. (You may want to take this out about an hour or so before you intend to make these.)
  2. Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
  3. In small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  4. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
  5. Mix in vanilla.
  6. Mix in 1 egg at a time.
  7. Mix in flour mixture.
  8. Mix in chocolate chips.
  9. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet using #1 ice cream scoop (1 ounce) or spoon.
  10. Bake at 375° F for 10 to 11 minutes or until cooked.
  11. Leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.
  12. Transfer to cooling rack.

The reason this recipe uses 1/2 the butter as most chocolate chip cookie recipes is because less oil is necessary when using Jovial’s Einkorn Flour.

If you make your first purchase at Tropical Traditions using my affiliate link, you’ll receive a coconut book for free and I’ll receive a small discount coupon. Click the flour picture below to go to Tropical Traditions:

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Milk Kefir Bread – A Healthier Bread

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If you’re anything like me, you like to occasionally enjoy a nice slice of homemade bread, a cookie, or perhaps a cupcake–especially around the holidays. When I eat something that might not be the healthiest, I try to prepare it with real, wholesome ingredients thereby making it as healthy as possible.

Is Your Flour Made from a Mutant Wheat?

If you’ve read my article, Are You Still Eating Wheat?, you probably already know why this bread is healthier than other breads. Not only does it contain einkorn flour (the only wheat left that hasn’t been modified by man), but it has milk kefir (or yogurt), a fermented milk, which acts as a preservative, and best of all — Jovial’s einkorn is tested for glyphosate! This bread will stay fresh longer than loaves made with just water or milk.

milk-kefir-bread-mhc-recipe-renegade

I Only Use Einkorn Wheat

Einkorn is our oldest wheat and the only one left that I know of that hasn’t been hybridized. Today, most wheat is sprayed with glyphosate before harvest. The wheat flour I’ve listed in my recipe from Amazon is tested for and does not contain glyphosate. It has a lower gliadin to glutenin ratio than modern wheat, and can be tolerated by some who have gluten intolerance.

CAUTION: DO NOT eat this wheat or wheat bread, if a doctor has instructed you to avoid wheat or gluten!

Somehow, my recipe disappeared and I rewrote it today, May 6, 2025. Apologies if it isn’t exactly as it was before.

Milk Kefir Bread - A Healthier Bread
 
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Recipe type: Milk Kefir Bread
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Add wet ingredients - milk kefir (or yogurt/water) and olive oil to bread machine pan.
  2. Add dry ingredients - Einkorn flour, evaporated cane juice, sea salt, yeast.
  3. Lock pan into machine.
  4. Set machine to 1⅕ lb, Basic, and Light or Medium (whichever is your preference)
  5. Press: START
  6. Enjoy a slice of warm, delicious bread!
Notes
*If using milk instead of milk kefir, or yogurt and water increase the yeast to 2 heaping teaspoons.

Be sure to follow the instructions for your particular bread machine.

 

Did I mention that I LOVE my Westbend bread machine from the 1990’s?

It has a horizontal rectangular pan. Through the years, I’ve found that most people who have a bread machine with the square vertical pan, don’t tend to keep them. The thrift stores usually have a good supply.  If I didn’t have my vintage bread maker, I’d save up for this one:

Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker, 2 lb. loaf of bread, Stainless Steel/Black

 

If you love rye, check out my article, Is it True This Can Reverse Diabetes? and recipe for Rye Bread.

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Nourishing Traditions

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Nourishing Traditions

                                                    by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.

This book is one of my all-time favorites. Not only is it politically incorrect, it is full of information about how our ancestors ate. Most of us know we have become more and more sick with each generation and with each new “healthy” way we’re told to eat. This book cuts through the crap and tells it like it is. It’s not just a cookbook; you’ll find lots of great information about and recipes for healthy eating, including fermenting. Whether you’re a seasoned cook or a beginner, you’ll likely learn new cooking tips. Click on “PREVIEW” under the book for a sneak peek!

 


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My 17 Best Tick Defenses

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It’s Tick Time! Ewww!

If you’re anything like me, you can’t stand a fleeting thought about those disgusting arachnids. Honestly, I don’t want to come in contact with any arachnid that needs to be killed with a hammer or rock. Living in New Hampshire, though, gives me no choice since the state has become a hot spot for ticks and the diseases they carry. In the last few years, my own county has come in first in the United States for Lyme disease. Uggghhh! Ticks not only carry Lyme Disease (the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria), they carry Bartonella, Babesia, Rickettsia (Rocky Mountain spotted fever), Ehrlichia, Anaplasma and more.

This CDC page shows maps of seven different ticks and where they can be found: Tick Maps

Due to El Niño, tick season has unfortunately been around continuously for me this year. The 2015/2016 exceptionally mild winter didn’t bring them deep underground. December and January brought ticks to my dog and in January, I had symptoms of being re-infected. Keep in mind that spiders, fleas, and mosquitos can also carry Lyme Disease.

FREE TICK TESTING:  As of today, 5/5/2016, Bay Area Lyme Foundation is currently accepting ticks for free testing. Please go to their website for more information.

Natural (and Toxic) Tick Repellents

Aside from spreading food-grade diatomaceus earth (DE) on my lawn in the areas we tend to walk most, I have an arsenal of tick repellents.  Three are sprays:

PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to use the insect sprays listed or any other insect spray, PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS, AND HEED ALL WARNINGS!

 

 1.  I use toxic, tick-killing spray that contains permethrin on my shoes (especially white sneakers – they love white) and spray on my pants from the knees down.  NEVER, NEVER PUT THIS ON YOUR SKIN!!! It is said that when ticks crawl over dried permethin on clothing, it will kill them. Most experts who tout using natural products, admit that the toxic products we are exposed to can NEVER compare to having Chronic Lyme Disease. Permethrin on clothing is said to withstand at least 6 washings, although I spray it more frequently. Those of us who have Chronic Lyme Disease know we need to protect ourselves and our families at any cost from this debilitating, financially crippling disease. I, unfortunately, get lax and usually bring out the sprays after the first bite of the year.

 

2.  As the weather warms and I switch from pants to shorts, I spray myself from the waist down with Buzz Away Extreme.  Its active ingredients are: castor oil, soybean oil, cedarwood oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil and lemongrass oil. Inert ingredients are: purified water, coconut oil, glycerin, lecithin, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, sodium benzoate, and wintergreen oil. This product‘s smell is too strong for me (strong not offensive) so I use yet another product from the waist up.

3.  I use Ticks Away Natural Spray from the waist up, since it has a milder smell than Buzz Away Extreme. It’s a New Hampshire product, sold by Cardigan Mountain Soap Works in Alexandria and I find it works well.  This company also has a “bugs away” soap that I use during tick season.  Ticks Away ingredients are: distilled water, pure essential oils, emulsifier, sorbitol.

4. Spreading Diatomaceus Earth (DE) on the lawn, especially in areas people tend to walk, can help. DE doesn’t feel sharp, but to small insects that have an exoskeleton, it can be deadly. Cutting their exoskeleton causes them to bleed out.

Trying Something New

I’ve seen a meme circulating Facebook touting that Lemongrass and Eucalyptus essential oils, mixed with water, will repel both ticks and fleas and is safe for both humans and dogs. I have Améo Lemongrass on hand, but today ordered Améo Eucalyptus Raidiata that will be in next week. I will try this mix as soon as it arrives and update my findings. Eucalyptus Radiata, by the way, is milder than Eucalyptus Globulas –figures–I had Globulas on hand. Spending quite a bit of time researching, I found Eucalyptus Radiata listed in a couple Essential Oil pet books as safe for pets. If you decide to try Améo’s clinical-grade essential oils, please contact me first so I can show you how to purchase them at the reduced, wholesale price.

My other thirteen defenses are:11 chickens
Yup. Chickens. Thirteen free-ranging, adult chickens. (Not all are pictured.) They do a great job of eating bugs, including ticks.

 

I’ve also been told by a friend, who also has Chronic Lyme Disease, that her doctor suggested she use Sawyer Products Premium Insect Repellent with 20% Picaridin. I have not yet tried this and know nothing about it. If you’ve ever used it with success, or not, please let us know if it worked by leaving a comment below. And please–let us know your best tick defenses!

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Homemade Sausage

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Do You Eat Pork?

I don’t eat a lot of pork—an occasional bacon for breakfast, maybe a ham for Easter and sometimes home made pork sausage. I only buy local pork and try to keep it to a minimum. Like Dr. Axe says: You eat pork; you have parasites. I don’t worry much about parasites; I fuel my body with no less than a couple handfuls of moringa oleifera every day. Moringa oleifera is said to be anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral.

Sausage and French Toast on Rye Round MHC RR
Sausage with Rye French Toast and Fresh Orange Slices

It doesn’t have to be Pork Sausage; Beef Sausage works, too!

I realized if I wanted to avoid pork, I’d have to find another way to make sausage. I was pleasantly surprised when I deviated from pork in this recipe. The first time I made it, I only used half a pound of beef for fear of ruining the entire pound—it was delicious! I’ve not yet tried this recipe with ground chicken or ground turkey, but I’m guessing the ground fennel might need to be replaced with ground rosemary. But that’s only a guess. When I’ve had a chance to make these with poultry, I’ll update this page.

Sausage
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 Pound Grass-Fed Ground Beef (or Ground Pork)
  • ½ Teaspoon Himalayan Salt
  • ½ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • ½ Teaspoon Thyme
  • 1 Teaspoon Sage
  • 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
  • 1Teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 2 Teaspoons Ground Fennel
  • 2 Teaspoons Demerara or Evaporated Cane Juice/Sugar or ¼ Teaspoon Stevia
    • Instructions
    1. Mix all ingredients in stand mixer until well blended.
  • Divide into 6 or 8 sections and make patties. (I use an old-fashioned ice-cream scoop to measure and flatten with a spatula or with clean hands.)
  • Cook in cast iron pan on medium heat for approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until completely cooked through to middle. The thicker the patty, the longer it will take to cook.

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