Coffee Pot

 

Coffee pot

I still remember as students how sophisticated and grown up we felt when we sat down and chatted over bottomless coffee for the first time! A Mugg and Bean had just opened in the town where I was studying, and several cups later left you feeling bubbling and on top of the world…

Until you fell off “that world” and crashed! You were left with moodiness, restlessness, irritation, agitation, stomach pain and a migraine. This doesn’t sound like a very good deal to me! It sounds more like a hangover than anything else.

Try doing coffee for years on end, and then giving it up. I have heard numerous testimonies of people, and it sure points to addiction to me. You see, caffeine is a highly addictive substance. Once people are hooked, it is one of the hardest habits to kick. Not to mention the combination of sugar AND caffeine.

Yes, coffee does have its perks (hence the “Perculator”…!) It contains anti-oxidants and it helps with mental alertness. I would personally choose to get my anti-oxidants somewhere else, because the cons far outweigh the pros.

If you cannot function optimally without having coffee every single day, then you need to sit down and think about what is happening inside your body.

When coffee hits your bloodstream, it starts to stimulate your adrenal glands. Your body gets pumped with adrenalin, hence the mental alertness. You feel good, and you are ready to face the world again. Stressor hormones like Cortisol get released. For most men, this is the hormone which contributes to an extended waistline. Men are left with irritation, anxiousness and no patience. In women, it increases symptoms of PMS, and can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety. Most people will grab a coffee again to feel better. This is all a vicious cycle and can eventually lead to adrenal fatigue.

People go to sleep at night. Caffeine withdrawal sets in, which is when your body is in detox mode and repairing starts. You struggle to wake up, because you are in a state of withdrawal and dehydration. What do most people do? Start the coffee pot!

Did you know that when a person drinks a lot of coffee they are sometimes called a “Coffee Pot?!”

Caffeine can inhibit calcium absorption in the body, so you have to be careful. Please don’t tell me that you will add more milk to your coffee to counter the malabsorption. Too much caffeine consumption can lead to water retention and cellulite.

Many women would rather have coffee during the course of their day than having a nutritious snack to get “energy” to keep going. Caffeine does give you a feeling of being full and satisfied, and many diets recommend coffee as part of their menu plan to help boost metabolism. You need to listen to your body and rest when you need to, have a smoothie or a glass of water.

What about people suffering from high blood pressure? Have you checked your caffeine consumption lately? It may be related. Caffeine also increases your heart rate, so take that into consideration.

Society has left most people stuck in a highly stressed, fast paced life, with high demands being placed on them. People have to grab coffee as a stimulant, in order to face the demands and pressure being placed on them. Performance far outweighs anything else these days. If you don’t perform, you might end up losing your job. So coffee has become a fashionable and social thing, especially being able to walk around with a take away coffee! That’s how they do it in the movies and it is enticing!

An average cup of brewed coffee has around 95mg of caffeine. Instant coffee has around 62mg of caffeine per cup where as decaf still contains a small amount of 2-7mg. Black tea, certain fizzy drinks, cocoa and green tea are some items that also contain a high amount of caffeine.

What are your options?

Weaning:

·    Switch to decaf for a month.

·    Then decaf every 2^nd or 3^rd day.

·    Then decaf over a weekend.

Cold turkey:

·    Stop coffee immediately and focus on repairing and normalizing body systems and functions.

·    Switch to rooibos and herbal teas, avoiding black tea as it contains caffeine.

·    Make sure that you are drinking enough water to stay hydrated and to help your body flush out toxins.

·    Have nutritious snacks and smoothies.

·    Switch to chicory “coffee”, barley  extract or carob as a warm drink. (See my previous blog titled “Carob”) Chicory almost tastes like Frisco instant coffee. You should be able to find these items at selected retail stores and health shops.

Carob powder-Dischem and health shops.

Chicory powder-Checkers and Dischem 

Barley extract- Dischem

 

Seriously reconsider before you reach for coffee the next time you have that craving. Take your unused coffee beans, put them in a pretty bowl on your table. Take a whiff every now and then to get a bit of that feel good factor. Are you dependent on caffeine?

 

Lizelle

 

Recipe:

“Coffee” milkshake

Frozen, chopped bananas (1 and a half/person)

Plant based milk for consistency

Vanilla

Chicory powder (1tsp/person)

Ice (optional)

-Blend until creamy and frothy.

-Replace chicory with carob powder for a chocolate milkshake.

 

*To freeze bananas, peel and chop the bananas into chunks. Place into a sealed Tupperware and into the freezer. It should be frozen in about 5 hrs.

Carob

 

         Carob

I was recently blessed with a bag full of carob pods! I believe that not many people will be excited about such a gift!  I was overjoyed because I have never eaten a carob pod straight from the tree before. One of my favourite treats is a delicious malted carob steamer. A creamy, rich, earthy beverage, with a hint of cinnamon and sweetener. We usually get this from Seattle Coffee shop. The mixture that they use is ordered from MaryAnn Shearer’s, The Natural Way. It consists of carob powder, a little fructose, barley malt powder and vanilla powder. We usually order ours with unsweetened almond or soya milk.

We have been using carob powder for years now. I love hot chocolate! But with all the caffeine, sugar and dairy involved, I made the choice to switch to carob powder. It might be a strange taste at first, but the key is not to see it as a chocolate alternative, but a delicious, healthy ingredient that is good enough to stand on its own.

Our kids grew up with carob as their “chocolate” drink, without the nasties that caffeine can bring. A little bit of carob powder, hot water, plant-based milk and honey. Cocoa powder can lead to sore tummies, caffeine highs and then irritation, emotion outbursts and irregular sleeping patterns.

 

What is Carob exactly?

Carob powder is made from the bean pods of the carob tree. The long, brown pods are dried and then ground into a fine powder. It has an almost chocolate taste and can be used as a substitute for cocoa powder.

What makes me really excited about carob is that it is an excellent source of minerals. It is loaded with fibre and pectin, with helps to eliminate toxins. This is a superfood which helps to improve digestion, lowers cholesterol, and can be used to treat diarrhea. It also helps to lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar. Carob has an astringent, binding effect on the mucous membranes of your digestive tract.

Carob powder can be used as a hot drink, to make “chocolate” malted ice cream, in smoothies, in cooked oats, pancake batter etc.

If you really want to use your imagination, how about using the pods as vegetarian biltong!? If you do manage to get hold of the pods, just remember to remove the pips as you chew on it! A good friend shared a fond childhood memory of them walking and chewing carob pods on their farm.

You can also buy carob chunks which usually look like chocolate blocks, but that are roughly broken into pieces. It is usually a mixture of carob powder, plant fat and a sweetener. The chunks can be eaten as a chocolate or used where you would use chocolate.

Look out for Health Connection or Nature’s Choice Carob Powder which should both be stocked at Dischem and most Health Shops.

Believe it or not, our dogs love to chew on carob pods! We call it their daily sweet treat or dessert. Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs, but carob pods are a nutritious, fibre rich, non-toxic treat for them. Now who says that a dog can’t have “chocolate”!?

Lizelle

Recipes:

Carob ice cream

Frozen, chopped bananas

Little plant milk or coconut cream for blending

A few tsp carob powder, depending on how strong you want it.

-Place everything in a food processor.

-Pulse a few seconds at a time, and disperse bananas in between processing.

-Process for longer periods the finer it gets.

-Process until smooth and creamy.

-Serve straight away.

Caramel sauce

1 Can coconut cream

Three quarter block of pressed dates

Pinch of cinnamon

-Chop the dates, add the cream, dates and cinnamon to a small pot.

-Gently simmer until the dates are soft.

-Gently mash with a potato masher.

-You can put up the heat a bit and let it boil for about a minute, watching it carefully. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

*You can serve it as a warm caramel sauce over flapjacks or pancakes.

* Use cold as a spread over tortilla triangles or in porridge.

*Replace the cinnamon with some carob powder for a chocolate caramel sauce.

Diverse Tea Tree oil

 

Diverse Tea Tree oil

 

I’ve recently had a few body aches and pains and swollen glands. After a few days of making sure I’m eating “clean”, drinking enough water and resting, there was still no change. We stay as far away as possible from using any medication. I’ll usually grab some Frankincense essential oil, but these symptoms did not seem to lift. After becoming quiet and seeking God for wisdom, I felt lead to using tea tree oil on my armpits!

 

It sounded quite strange at first, because I’ve been chemical deodorant free for a few years now, and we only use natural deodorant. I’ve done armpit detoxing and changed my diet. Excessive sweating and bad body odor are things of the past. I decided to follow through with what I heard, and trusted God in the process.

I replaced my natural deodorant with a drop of tea tree oil under each armpit in the morning and repeated it in the afternoon. Within two days my aches and pains started diminishing. I did two more days of underarm treatment. I then felt that I needed to place one drop behind each knee instead of my armpits, and a drop on the sides of my neck for a day. Within one week, all the aches, pains and fatigue were gone.

You see, essential oils are volatile oils, which means that it travels through the air, pores of the skin and mucus membranes, and can reach glands, nodes, muscles and blood.

There are more than twenty lymph nodes in the armpit which help fight infection. Nodes are small lumps of tissue that are part of the body’s lymphatic system. Lymph is responsible for draining fluid from tissues, transporting it to lymph nodes, which then destroy bacteria and other harmful substances. Clean lymph then flows through the main vein.

Tea tree oil is an all-round, versatile, affordable essential oil. This oil comes from an Australian plant and is drying, healing, cleansing, anti-bacterial, anti-septic, anti-viral and anti-microbial. It can be used as anti-bacterial medication without some of the nasty side effects of conventional medication.

 

Other tea tree oil uses and benefits:

·      Acne treatments and spots

·      Insect bites

·      Nail fungal treatment

·      Fights sinus infection – can inhale straight from the bottle!

·      Strep throat – apply to the sides of the throat or gargle and spit with a tea tree oil solution

·      Pneumonia – steam inhalation

·      Hand sanitizer

·      Scalp treatment

·      Add to home made cleaning products- helps to kill mould

·      Mosquito repellent

·      Skin infections

·      Add to a diffuser

·      Add a few drops to the lower abdomen when you have a urinary infection and add 3 drops to your bath water

·      Add a few drops to your washing machine when washing towels, dogs bedding, even underwear and socks

·      Mix tea tree oil with coconut oil for extreme vaginal infections

 

Tea tree oil can be applied directly to the skin. If you have more sensitive skin, mix with a little coconut oil or olive oil before application.

Not to be taken orally, except if it is in toothpaste or when gargling where you will be spitting it out. (I have personally not tried this)

Make your own all-purpose cleaner:

·      15 – 20 drops tea tree oil

·      ¾ cup water

·      ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (use less if it smells too strong of vinegar)

-       Shake well, spray onto surfaces, wipe with a dry cloth.

After reading all of this and listening to my testimony, doesn’t it make you wonder if it would not help in the prevention and treatment of viruses that are going around through gland application and inhalation?

Lizelle

Recipe:

Roasted chickpea, green pepper and cherry tomatoes

2 cans chickpeas

2 green peppers diced

2 punnets cherry tomatoes

Thai 7 spice mix (or any other spicy mix)

Olive oil

Sugar free sweet chilli sauce (Simple Truth brand)

Gluten free pizza bases or tortillas

 

-       Place everything into an oven pan, except the bases or tortillas.

-       Grill until tomatoes are shriveled and peppers are grilled.

-       Serve with pizza base or tortilla squares (lightly fry tortillas in a pan until golden, slice into triangles).