I have a delicious protein bar recipe that I make almost weekly for our kids (and me, of course!) but I decided to experiment this weekend to see if I could make it totally gluten free (the other bars have oats) since I know so many people have gluten issues.  These bars are totally gluten free and are so yummy!  They taste like Peanut Butter Fudge (unless of course you use almond butter!).

Chewy Flax Bars

by Jenni Oates

Dry Ingredients:

• 1-1 1/2 cups flax meal (Regular or Golden)*
• 1 cup walnuts or almonds ground (about 1 1/3 cups whole nuts)**
• 1 cup Shaklee Protein

Wet Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Agave
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
• 1 Cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Add Ins:

Chopped Dates, Raisins, Cocoa Nibs or Chocolate Chips, coconut

*Add enough flax meal to make it no too moist

**I grind mine in a Vita-Mix to fine powder. You can also use a nut chopper. They may not get as fine, but that is ok. The bars will still stick together.

Directions:

Mix all Dry Ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Bring agave to a boil in a pan on the stove. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and nut butter.  Stir till mixed completely. Immediately add mixture to dry ingredients. Combine and press down into 9 x 13 in pan. Refrigerate. Cut into bars and enjoy!

This investigation is somewhat alarming, especially since I personally have been one of the thousands who have grabbed a bag of organic veggies without ever reading the label! But don’t despair. There is still a plan B.

We are a part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where we can be assured of what we are eating!  Click here to get more info about our local CSA (in Williamson County) or go here to find one near you!

And I think the bottom line of all of this is, be a good label reader! Know what you are buying. Not all organic falls into this category, but we have to be responsible to read labels. This one definitely slipped by me!

Great for kids and adults!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 T Natural peanut butter**
• 1 T Low-fat Stoneyfield Farms vanilla flavored yogurt
• 1/3 ea Banana, sliced
• dash Cinnamon
• 1 ea. Flour (or Gluten free) tortilla, 6 inch in diameter**

DIRECTIONS:

Combine peanut butter and yogurt in a small bowl and stir until blended. Spread peanut butter mixture over tortilla. Arrange sliced banana in a single layer over the peanut butter spread. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll up tortilla and slice into 3 to 6 bite pieces.

Makes 1 serving

Calories per serving: 168

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER SERVING:

5 g protein
21 g carbohydrates
7 g fat
3g fiber

**No sugar or high fructose corn syrup! Peanut Butter should be just peanuts and salt!  Or substitute with the best choice, almond butter.

**Check tortilla ingredients to make sure there is no bleached flour or other harmful preservatives. Healthier tortillas can be found in most supermarkets.

Ingredients:

1 stick Cinch Energy Tea Mix

6 oz. hot water

2 tbsp. unsweetened apple juice

1 tsp. orange juice

Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

Heat water and mix with one stick of Energy Tea Mix unsweetened. Add apple juice, orange juice, and cinnamon. Stir and sip.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 22   Protein: 0g   Carbohydrate: 4g   Fat: 0g   Fiber: 0g

Alfalfa is a rich bouquet of many beneficial trace minerals (in vegetable form) which are unavailable in any other food.  Rich in protein, beta carotene, vitamins C, E, K,D, and B-Complex. Arabs considered it so nutritious that they named it “Al-Fal-Fa,” which means “father of all foods.”

It contains eight digestive enzymes that help enable the body to digest and assimilate nutrients from your food properly. It has been shown effective for aiding stomach ailments and gas pains, lowering blood cholesterol levels, eliminating retained water, and relieving the pain and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis.  It is also a good detoxifier.

The 21CD Program is the perfect way to ease yourself into a healthier lifestyle or propel you forward in your existing journey.  Listen to FREE health teachings and earn FREE product! It’s that SIMPLE!

Receive $100.00 (retail value) worth of Shaklee Products FREE!

It’s easy!  Just listen to our 21 CD Program while you are driving, cleaning the house, doing yard work, or even walking. Whether in motion or idle you can use your time to enrich your mind. If you have been saying you would like to learn more, this program is for you.

And the best part?  It’s FREE!!!

You can choose 3 audio formats that best suit your listening convenience: MP3 download, CD, or Cassette Tape.  If you choose MP3 download, you are just minutes away from listening to your first download.  If you choose CD or Cassette Tape, you will be mailed 3 CDs or Cassette Tapes by mail postpaid.  A pre-addressed return mailer will be enclosed.  Just return the CD or Cassette Tape packet as you complete it.  Another CD or Cassette Tape packet will then be sent.

When you have completed listening to the entire 21 CD Program (MP3 Downloads, CDs or Cassettes), you will receive $100 (retail value) worth of Shaklee Products of your choice FREE!

Here are a few of the titles and subjects in the program:

• “Natural Solutions for the Challenge of Cancer“ – Explanation of the causes of cancer.  Also, hear testimonials from people who have used nutrition to help with treatment and recovery from cancer.
• Robert Biggers, MD, “Medicine and Nutrition“ – Recent research that establishes the importance of nutrition to medicine and health.
• Barbara Lagoni, PhD “Women’s Health & Nutrition” - Includes discussion of PMS and menopause
• Martha Willmore, Nutritionist – “How to Vitalize Your Life and Create a Toxin-Free Home for Your Family”
• “Build Your Child’s Immune System“ – Explanation of how to strengthen the immune system naturally, with testimonies of mothers who have reversed patterns of sickness in their children.

The value of this 21 CD Program far exceeds $100 (retail value) worth of Shaklee Products.  It will empower you with knowledge on how to build optimum health and how to take action steps so you can enjoy living better.

As you listen, you may think of other people that would benefit from this source of learning.  Anyone, anywhere can qualify - even your friends!* Refer them to our 21 CD Program.  This is a great way to introduce Shaklee to friends or family members and have them earn their products FREE!

When you have 5 people that you personally referred complete our 21 CD Program, you will receive a second $100 (retail value) worth of Shaklee Products of your choice FREE!

TO REGISTER CLICK HERE!

**Don’t forget to mention who referred you.

While, as you follow the plan outlined below, you should begin seeing somefairly immediate improvements, you should commit to following this plan closely for at least 6 months in order give your system an opportunity to significantly begin to heal.

First, here are a few DON’Ts:

** Immediately eliminate all fried foods, period. Absolutely none during this healing time.

** For the time being, avoid dairy products, including milk, ice cream, and soft cheese. You MAY eat real high quality butter and hard cheeses.

** Immediately eliminate all high gluten foods – wheat, barley, rye, and oats. No bagels! No cookies. No boxed cereals. No breads. No oatmeal. You
MAY eat rice and millet. At the end of 6 months, it may be possible for
you to occasionally eat gluten foods. But only try them out gradually and
occasionally until your digestive system is completely healed.

** Eliminate all processed simple carbohydrates and sugars. No cookies, cakes, pies, or the like for the time being. No soft drinks or
processed/packaged fruit juices. You MAY eat limited amounts of raw
honey and fructose.

[You can buy granulated fructose in many grocery stores these days and most health food stores.] No “high fructose corn syrup” which is mostly sucrose.

DOs:

** Do eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, cooked or raw. [Hold off on very much raw initially until you digestive system gets calmed down enough to
handle the fiber. Increase raw fruits and vegetables gradually.]

** Do eat good soups, especially good home made vegetable soups. Home made soups with real chicken or beef broth made from boiling down the
meat and bones, plus fresh vegetables cooked down in the broth, are rich
in good fats, essential fatty acids, and fat soluble vitamins that are
restorative to the digestive track.

** Do eat good Biblically-clean fish – salmon, perch, cod, etc. These are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that are essential to the healing of the intestines
and colon. No scavengers (like catfish) or shellfish.

** Do rest and get adequate (or extra) sleep during this healing period.

** Do laugh as much as possible. This release endorphins into the blood
stream that are natural relaxers and pain relievers. [Endorphins are
complex hormones that are 10 times more powerful than morphine.]
Endorphins are also involved in the regulation of contractions of the
intestinal wall.

** Do get unstressed exercise several times per week, like walking, swimming, bike riding.

** Do listen to lots of uplifting worship music and meditate on faith-building scriptures. This has a natural relaxing effect on the digestive track.

** Do drink plenty of pure water.

We’re going to start off very gently and build up over the course of
several days.

This is your basic regimen:

• 1 Herb-Lax
• 1 Optiflora capsule
• 1 EZ-Gest
• 1 OmegaGuard
• 1 Stomach Soothing Complex
• 1 teaspoon of Liqui-Lea
• 5 Alfalfa

On the first two days, take this basic regimen one time each day – such as at supper time.

On the third and fourth days, take the basic regimen two times – such as in the morning and at supper.

Beginning on the fifth day, start taking the basic regimen three times per day – morning, noon, and night – and continue at this level for at least 60 days.

If you are not seeing significant improvement by the end of the first 2 weeks, you may need to add a fourth round of the basic regimen each
day for a while – morning, noon, supper, and bedtime.

At the end of 60 days, if you have made significant improvement, try cutting back by one round per day – that is, try cutting back from 3 rounds to 2, or 4 rounds to 3, depending on what you are doing.

Also, at the end of 60 days, now that your digestive system is healing and getting stronger, I’d like to see you start using the basic health
building program – Energizing Soy Protein and Shaklee Vitalizer along
with your digestive regimen – if you are not already doing so.

What the supplements do:

Herb-Lax

– Gently stimulates the natural muscular activity of the intestine and
colon which moves food and waste along its course. It simply
increases the natural action of the system and is not a laxative in
the normal sense.

– Draws toxins out of the liver, the lymphatic system, and blood stream and helps eliminate them.

Optiflora Probiotic

– Delivers live culture of the “good” bacteria directly to the colon.
The unique triple coating insures live delivery to the colon.

– Helps eliminate the “bad” bacteria and viruses from the body, like candida, e-coli, etc.

– Boosts overall immunity.

EZ-Gest

– Provides natural plant-derived enzymes necessary for proper
digestion.

– Helps eliminate digestive stresses like lactose intolerance and legume sensitivity.

– Improves overall digestion.

OmegaGuard

– Provides essential fatty acids that are calming and healing to the
digestive track.

– Reduces inflammation through the digestive track.

Stomach Soothing Complex

– Naturally relaxes the bowels.

– Calms nausea, heartburn, indigestion, morning sickness, and motion sickness.

– Soothes and calms irritation in the stomach, intestine, and colon.

– Helps eliminate gas and move it out of the system.

Liqui-Lea

– Provides nutrients important to the healing and restoration of the
digestive system, especially vitamins A and D and the entire
complex of B vitamins, in a very easily assimilated form.

Alfalfa

– Contains live digestive enzymes.

– A rich source of trace minerals important to health.

– Helps neutralize excess acidity in the body.

– Soothes and helps heal the digestive system.

– Reduces inflammation.

– Detoxifies.

– Helps deodorize the body and bowels.

– Contains vitamin U and other nutrients that are healing to the
stomach and intestinal lining.

What to expect:

Expect your body to begin a general house cleaning. As the body is
pulling toxins out of the liver and fatty tissue of the body, those toxins
can cause temporary effects like headaches, low energy, minor aches,
etc. Keep in mind that the body is trying to eliminate the garbage.
When the “bad” bacteria begin to die off, they release methane gas.
Also, the ginger in the Stomach Soothing Complex helps the bowel to
release built up pockets of gas. So if you experience increased gas and
flatulence, this is a sign that good things are happening. Expect gas and
bloating. It will eventually decrease and disappear.

Expect foul-smelling bowel movements.

If you are not already using the following, at the end of the first 60 days,
you should add (if you are already using them, continue):

** Shaklee Energizing Soy Protein

** Shaklee Basics strips

** Shaklee Liver DTX

The protein and Basics strips will help you build up your overall health and immunity.

The Liver DTX will help restore normal liver functioning and bile flow.

It will further detoxify the liver and remove excess bile, which will help
the gallbladder.

Osteoporosis is a serious health problem. About 28 million people in the United States have the condition. It is responsible for about 1.5 million fractures (broken bones) each year. The most common locations where breaks occur are the hip, spine, and wrist. Fractures due to osteoporosis of the spine usually affect women after the age of 50, while fractures of the hip start later, usually in the 70’s.

Osteoporosis itself is painless. However, the resulting fractures of osteoporosis are painful. Not only can these fractures be associated with pain, but also with limitation in movement. The decrease in mobility that can occur leads to further deconditioning, which in turn further weakens muscles and bones. In addition, the constant pain and reduced mobility caused by these fractures can lead to clinical depression.

———————————————————————————–

Natural Osteoporosis Plan

When you hear “osteoprosis” the first thing you may think of to combat this disease is calcium. However, on the contrary one of the essential nutrients to reverse or prevent this disease is protein.

Healthy bone tissue is composed primarily of protein, not calcium.  Without the protein, all the calcium in the world will not build healthy bones. Therefore, we all need to intake a complete protein (containing all 23 amino acids) each day.

Bone density has more to do with hormone balance than calcium intake.

Bones are living organs, just like your liver or brain, made up of living, breathing, eating, eliminating, bone cells.  They are not just sticks of calcium that hold your body together.  These living cells simply build an encrustation of calcium around themselves which give the bone its solid-like structure.

But these cells live only for a while and die.  The body normally carries the dead bone cell away and eliminates it.  In the mean time, new bone cells have been produced — mainly at night while you sleep — to take the place of the dead, dying, or damaged ones that have been removed.

Human growth hormone stimulates this process of generating new bone cells.  But in women especially, the steroidal hormones estrogen and progesterone play a vital role in generating the human growth hormone and the new bone cell tissue.

The intake of an adequate amount of good bioavailable calcium — as in the Shaklee OsteoMatrix – is essential to the development of healthy bone tissue, but just taking calcium won’t do it if the hormones are not at sufficient levels or out of balance.  And megadosing calcium won’t help.

First, you need adequate complete protein — which is what healthy bone cells are primarily made of.  Also, the hormones necessary to make the process happen are made of protein.   So drinking your protein DAILY is vitally important.

But then, bringing your hormones into balance is absolutely vital.  You can help this by following my hormone balancing program — described below.

NOTE: If you are taking Cummadin or similar blood-thinning drugs, these drugs block the action of vitamin K and thus will CAUSE dramatic bone density loss.  You can and should wean yourself off of these kinds of drugs.  You don’t need them if you are taking adequate amounts of vitamin E and vitamin C.  And they are far more deadly than they are beneficial.  I have had people tell me that their “doctor” told them Cummadin didn’t promote bone density loss — which just shows you how little some doctors know about the drugs that they are prescribing.

So this is what I would suggest you take daily:

1. Shaklee protein — either Energizing Soy Protein or Cinch Shake

3. OsteoMatrix – 4 daily

4. Your foundational vitamins and minerals — some form of Vita-Lea (multi), or better yet Shaklee Vitalizer strips

by Stan Pulliam, nutritionist and Shaklee consultant for 32 years