My Six Week Natural Parasite Cleanse and Detox

Today I started a six week detox and parasite cleanse in the hopes of thoroughly cleansing my body and achieving optimum health. I chose to use a natural approach and not purchase any parasite cleanse products or even herbs. It's not that I think those are bad, I don't; I just don't want to use them this time. I want to try to do it with what I have on hand, if I feel that it didn't work well enough, then I may choose to purchase an actual cleanse later. I researched quite a bit and found several articles about how to do a cleanse by using diatomaceous earth, apple cider vinegar and making changes to my diet; I will reference those articles at the end of this post.

Some goals for the new year

I don't really like "new year's resolutions" because I feel I make them on a whim and I never really stick to it and accomplish them, however, I do have some goals for this new year. These are just some things I would like to accomplish this year; in fact, I wanted to accomplish some of them last year! I decided to make two categories of goals, one for health and one for homestead. I did place them somewhat in order, but that is open for change as time goes on. My original plan was to work on one goal a month throughout the year, but  as I was making my lists I realized I really would like to accomplish some things sooner than that. Therefore, my plan now is to tackle one goal at a time and progress as I feel I am able. I don't want to take on too much at once but I also know I can work on some of these at the same time. So are you at all interested in what my goals are? Well, if not, you can quit reading now but I have a feeling if your weren't interested, you wouldn't have read this far! So here they are -

Health Goals

1.  Eliminate all processed sugar from my diet, this includes any food that contains processed sugars. I will allow myself honey, sucanat and raw sugars.
2. Drink my coffee black or use only stevia. 
3. Consistently drink 64oz of water daily.
4. Exercise two times a week. I know most people say three, but I am focusing on a doable goal right now.
5. Eat fruit at least two times a day. I have not been doing good at getting enough fruit in my diet.
6. Eat RAW vegetables at least twice a day.
7. Keep kombucha made.
8. Learn to make 2-3 fermented foods that we enjoy, using Nourishing Traditions.
9. Learn to make kefir.
10. Learn about 5 herbs and their uses.
11. Find a properly combined bread recipe. This is one of those I will work on throughout the months as I have time, I just hope to have come up with one by the end of the year.

Homestead Goals

1.  Follow my home management binder consistently. 
2. Work on Christmas presents throughout the year.
3. Keep track of all of our spending.
4. Increase my pantry/preparedness stock.
5. Declutter each room thoroughly.
6. Keep meals and bread in freezer at all times.
7. Keep up with my sewing.
8. Have a better garden this year and preserve more of the harvest.
9. Make a family favorites cookbook.
10. Make soap.

Well, there you have it. Those are the things I would really like to accomplish by the end of the year, hopefully sooner!

Have you set goals for the new year? I would love for you to share them with us.

Blessings,

Rashel

Help needed making fish stock

I am trying to incorporate some of "Nourishing Traditions" into our menu and today I am making fish stock, but I need your help, please. I don't have the ingredients listed in the recipe in the book, or the kind of fish listed, however, I had fish given to me and don't want to waste it. I have a few questions, can I use catfish and can I just use the whole fish cut up a little?
Today a friend unexpectedly showed up and wanted to know if we wanted some catfish for our pond and we said yes. (The friend was filling in their pond and there were lots of catfish that were just going to be killed) So, my children and I go get them, load them up and bring them home. A couple of the larger ones didn't make it, so we brought them in and I let the boys try to filet them and decided I would make stock out of the rest. Well, the boys need a lot more practice and I ended up with whole fish in pieces for my stock. I personally figured it was better to make stock the wrong way than to waste the fish altogether. However, I would love to know if it is going to be okay to use since I just threw the whole thing in and since it is catfish. I did try to search the internet to find the answers, but came up empty.
Thank you in advance to anyone that can help.

Blessings,
Rashel

Help needed soaking grains

So, I've read about all the benefits of soaking your grains for several hours before cooking them and I tend to believe it is more beneficial to do so. However, it is HARD for me to do it and get whatever I am making to taste good. I follow the directions just as given and it just doesn't work for me. My latest attempt was cheater's biscuits in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. They came out hard as rocks on the outside. I think if I would have cut down on the cooking time they wouldn't have been so bad, but they still were dense and not very flavorful. I don't know if this is just something you have to get accustomed to or if I'm just no good at it. So, I thought I would seek help from anyone else that has tried this. Does it work for you? Does your family enjoy the flavor?  Normally I mix unbleached flour with whole wheat flour when baking, so we are used to the whole wheat texture so I don't think that is the problem. I don't know. I do know that I am not in a hurry to keep putting out the effort and wasting food if it isn't going to get better. Maybe it is a trial and error process. Any thoughts?

Thank you,
Rashel