The Healthy Journal

We enjoy honoring those who've paid the ultimate price on Memorial Day. This year we found an event close by—at Green Valley Cemetery—mile and a half away. We decided to incorporate our daily exercise by running to the location and running back (at least as far as Starbucks located between our house and the cemetery). After finishing my Starbucks' hot green tea, I harvested a cup of blueberries from our backyard blueberry bush. "I'm gonna make a dessert with these," I said to my husband Bob. And this is what I came up with. Simple. Fast. Utterly delicious ! I hope you enjoy it. Double or triple the recipe to make more servings. Blueberry Crisp from Chris Pedersen yield 2 servings category Dessert cuisine Vegan ingredients 1C fresh blueberries 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil 1/4 C quinoa flour 3 dates, diced 3 walnuts, diced directions 1. Preheat toaster oven on convection to 350°. 2. Melt the coconut oil and mix with quinoa flour, dates and walnuts. 3. Add half of mixtur

I wanted to point you to a guest post I did this week over at Grace for Moms . Most parents are challenged to get their kids to eat healthy foods. The key is start early. First foods are very important and interaction (yes, getting messy) with those foods is part of gaining a love for healthy stuff. Pop on over to the post at Grace for Moms to add some tips to your arsenal. NOTE: You'll see there was a giveaway for promo codes of The Prisoner of Carrot Castle iPad storybook. No worries. I'll give out 5 codes to 5 commenters on this blog. Spread the word to moms and dads to read the article then scoot over here to post comments for a chance to get a code for your own personal copy of The Prisoner of Carrot Castle * —a fun way to encourage eating veggies for your kids. *iPad required to download the book app. However, if you have an iPhone, there is a FREE game app kids LOVE that goes with the story. Download the iPhone app here .

When I attended the Integrated Health Conference—Cure to Cancer Summit this past March, I had the opportunity to meet many folks who dealt with their cancer using diet and alternative treatments. It's very encouraging to see many sought alternative treatments instead of  the conventional procedures. They saw, usually first-hand, that conventional therapies often left the cancer patient weak and sick with a seriously compromised immune system—later face a recurrence of cancer and then die. I met Kevin at lunch. We were both seeking the organic vegan lunch choice offered to conference attendees. Vegan tomato soup. Delicious! Kevin came to the conference to learn what more he could do to continue enjoying his cancer-free life. Here is Kevin's story. How did you learn you had cancer? I began to experience urinary issues a few years ago and just considered it somewhat normal as I was over 50 and understood that the prostate enlarges in most men my age. Though my PSA numbers were in

Happy Food Education Day! Worldwide, there are more than 42 million children under the age of five who are either overweight or obese, and it's the first time that the next generation will live shorter lives than their parents if things don't change. We eat, but we eat foods high in calories and low in nutrients. We are overfed yet undernourished. So much so that the world's biggest killers are now diet-related diseases, including heart failure and stroke. So what can we do? It all starts with education . It’s essential that we arm future generations with the life skills they urgently need in order to lead healthier, happier, more productive lives. Educating the next generation about real, nourishing foods and supporting them to live healthier lifestyles is the key to a real food revolution. Jamie Oliver has made it his lifelong work to teach kids to eat a healthy diet. Join Jamie and other health-minded people like him and sign the petition to educate our kids. As a chil

Let's celebrate the hardest job on the planet. Motherhood. Celebrate the Mom YOU are! It's not one size fits all. Many flavors color this oftentimes underrated and over looked calling. Grace for Moms (skillfully run by Jessica Wolstenholm) has gathered moms (including me) at different stations to Celebrate the Mom YOU are. Check out all the blog posts about mothering and share them with your mom friends. Oh, and don't forget to enter the Giveaway . Subscribe to Grace for Moms to get posts delivered to your inbox. Don't miss my post on Teaching Your Child to Love Healthy Food . Join Joanne Kraft and Jessica on Facebook for the grand finale party on May 12th at 8PM CST (6PM PST). I'll be there along with many of the moms who've passed along their grace and wisdom for this Mother's Day celebration. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Recently we stopped for lunch at Chipotle. I knew Chipotle has healthy choices AND they were the first food chain to announce they had GMOs in some menu items, but were busily trying to source all non-GMO ingredients. Well, I'm happy to say, they have achieved what they said they would do. I give them huge props for sticking out their necks and listening to consumers who know what GMO foods are and their danger to health. What Did I Eat at Chipotle? I had a bowl (a burrito without the wrap) with the following ingredients: Sofritas—cooked organic, crumpled and seasoned tofu Cilantro-Lime Brown Rice (half of normal serving) Black Beans Fajita Veggies (lots of them) Topped with— Mild Fresh Tomato Salsa Medium Hot Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa Medium Hot Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa Lettuce It was YUM. What do you think?

If you have cancer or want to prevent cancer you should be following the same pattern for your home as for your body. That is, don't put anything artificial or poisonous in your home. There are plenty of things we can't change (or at least it's difficult) about the environment, but there are many things we can do in our homes to clean up. Most household chemicals are  endocrine disrupters , which means they play havoc on our hormones—one huge reason why we have so much breast cancer and prostate cancer today. It's an epidemic. To take charge and do something about what you  can  change, check out these easy solutions to make your home safer for you and your family. #1 Reduce/Eliminate Cleaning Chemicals Bombarded with advertising for a cleaning product to use for each chore in your home? Don't fall for it. You really only need a few. There's nothing like white vinegar and water to get glass and surfaces clean. And if you need something a bit stronger, there are