Traveling... Naturally!

I was packing up our suitcases (very exhausting job, I might add…) and got to the “first aid” section of my packing list and realized I needed to tweak it a bit.  This packing list was devised by a travel agent and is SUPER helpful, but this time around I wanted to be sure to bring my natural pharmacopeia with us rather than a bunch of drugs.  Which hopefully we won’t need anyway, right?

For those of you wanting to avoid drugs as much as possible and would like to travel that way too, here are some of my recommendations:

*Probiotic: If you’re traveling out of the country, start taking a good probiotic, especially with acidophilus, a couple weeks before you leave to build up your gut flora as best as you can.  With foreign countries come foreign bacteria, and making sure your own friendly bacteria is built up well enough to handle it is essential for staying healthy.

Olive Leaf Extract: Such a powerful immune-booster.  I’ve talked about this before so maybe go back and read that post if you’d like, but seriously, the health benefits are endless.  You could take some as a preventive, or if you do find yourself feeling like you might be coming down with something then start taking a TON of it to ward off whatever it is you could be dealing with.

Arnica 30X: Homeopathic remedy for muscle aches and pains.  If you hurt yourself, feeling sore from that long walk on the beach, anything like that, this is for you.

Ipecacuanha 30X: Homeopathic remedy for nausea and vomiting.  Don’t wanna be doing that on vacation!  Settles the stomach and keeps ya going!

Essential Oils:

Peppermint: Another one for settling the stomach.  Indigestion, queasy, general stomach aches, just rub a drop on your abdomen and feel better instantly. Can also help relieve headaches too.

Lavender: It’s a bug repellant, soothes burns, and heals wounds.  This is DEFINITELY a necessity on vacation.

Wintergreen: Works like Icy Hot – soothes achy muscles.

Lemon: Cleans and disinfects.  Drip it in your water for the same effect there too!

Valor: This is my favorite oil mostly because of its smell… But it’s also great for balance and alignment and relieves general pains anywhere.

Purification: A powerful cleaner or disinfectant, and awesome for healing wounds and making sure infections don’t set it.

Thieves: Don’t leave home without this anyway.  Fantastic immune-booster and helps fight off any illness that might be coming your way.

Inner Defense: Basically Thieves in a capsule.  Take it to ward off illness and give your immune system an extra boost.

*Ginger Root: This is for motion sickness.  If you find riding in cars to be a bit unsettling, and the same goes for boats, planes, or roller coasters, this could be your best friend.  I speak from experience.

*Dandelion, Milk Thistle, or Nettle: Good for cleansing the liver.  If it’s that kind of a vacation…

*=Not pictured

I’m hoping this is all I’ll need.  And hopefully this helps you if you decide to pack a more natural first-aid kit for your travels and adventures!  We’re heading to Riviera Maya tomorrow morning, and I am SUPER excited.  I’ll tell ya all about it when we return!

Guilt-Free Friday: Paleo Hummus

Wow, I miss my little corner of blogdom... it's been too long!  Weddings, dates with my newly acquired husband (he just got laid off from crazy long hours so we have catching up to do!), trip planning, business, exercising more, and preparing for my class (which is TONIGHT!!) have all been keeping me away from just sitting down to write.  And I've missed it.  I haven't had too many remarkable things to share lately, though, so I guess it's okay.

But now I do.

It's a recipe for a kind-of hummus that will be offered as a sample at tonight's class.  Next Friday I'll share the caramel recipe we also will be sampling, so stay tuned!  Also, at some point I intend to review some of what I'll be sharing at class tonight, so everyone can reap the benefits of a good knowledge base on how to eat healthy.  It's important to know what you're fueling your body with!

So.  This hummus.  It's incredible.  And easy to make.  And WAY better for you than conventional hummus, which isn't THAT bad for you but it's kinda high-carb beings that the main ingredient is chickpeas.  This is a more low-carb version.  That's a good thing :).  I found it on Primal Kitchen Chaos and I sure am glad I did.  I don't think I'll ever go back to regular hummus - this is WAY yummier!

Here's what you need:

1 zucchini (about 1.5" diameter and a little under a foot long), peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup cashews
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
Dash of cayenne pepper
Dash of paprika

Here's what you do:

Put it all in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth!  So simple!  and you can play with flavors too like roasted red pepper or garlic herb or whatever, but plain is pretty darn yummy by itself.  And I've never really been a plain hummus kind of person so this is definitely a good thing!

Dunking a yummy Kale Chip in it... mmmmmm