Noticed the growing phenomenon of “CURBSIDE” parking spaces in restaurants these days? Drive by a Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Outback, etc and look for the “Curbside Pick Up” signs right next to the handicapped parking in the front of the restaurant. Easy in, easy slide of your card, easy out, easy dinner, easy clean up. It is all done for you and so “easy.”

According to USA Today, in an article by Bruce Horovitz, “A generation of Americans is eating out in an entirely different way than did the generation before it. In 1955, about 25% of the money Americans spent on all food purchases — including groceries — was at restaurants. Today, it’s 48%, the restaurant trade group says. ” http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-06-12-to-go-usat_N.htm

Wow - Almost 1/2 our food purchases are in RESTAURANTS. Wow, it is all so “easy” these days. Easy to blow half your food budget eating out. Easy to consume huge amounts of food. Easy to train your kids into a pricey lifestyle. Easy to chip away at your future and throw aside an investment, one “easy dinner” at a time. I grieve the days of my “easy” lifestyle, and how much we blew eating out. I am ashamed to admit, in ONE year, we had $10,000 in “out to the eat” receipts. And we did not have the money to invest? Why? Because it was so “easy” to blow it, so convenient. I am so thankful for the reform the Lord is bringing into our lives now.

How much could you save by learning how to make your own Mexican food, Thai food, main course salads and more? Have a goal? Want to save money? In debt up to your eyeballs? Your “eating out” budget may be killing your goals, not to mention your body! Stay tuned for The Prudent Wife launch…coming soon to save you money!

And you wondered what they cook in Beijing? Here you are! Note the canned and boxed foods VS the fresh produce.

http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/What-the-World-Eats-21099.aspx

You have seen the truth about what I am eating, from the psyllium fiber to the bentonite clay! What would a prudent wife serve her family?

Whole Foods: The whole truth

How to get the biggest bang for your “green” buck when shopping at the pricey chain.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0706/gallery.whole_foods.moneymag/index.html

Great article on saving money at Whole Foods, the large chain that just ate up Wild Oats. They have some great points. It takes wisdom. Junk food is still junk food, even if it is organic. They stress locally grown, rather than organic and shipped internationally. Interesting ideas that all add up to food choices we all have to make!

Juicing results so far…

• Skin is beginning to glow, wrinkles diminishing, eyes very bright and teeth look bright (that cleaning?)
• Feel pretty good so far, I get the sensation that my natural buoyancy is coming back
• Excercising twice a day
• Sleeping like a LOG - which is very abnormal for me, what a praise
• Hubby says my legs are getting thinner (who wouldn’t want that)
• Studying some instances of fasting in the Bible….
• More details and recipes for a prudent wife juice fast coming up!

Quick update on the proposed juice fast. We made it for 24 hours! It was exceedingly rough those last few hours. We had bought a variety of produce from memory of my Juice Lady book….and DD left spinach in the car overnight! I did not have the book with me, so had neglected to buy several other important ingredients, without running around town again. I was left with mainly fruit/carrots/beets that I can juice and was not doing well on just that. I have great blood sugar levels - but diabetes runs in my family strongly so I don’t DRINK sugar (whether in fructose etc) as it is simply not wise for me. In an effort to simplify life, I try and only go out one day a week, and more errands/appts were slated for Weds, so that would have been another 36 hours without the additional veggies I needed. I was getting a little too much fruit and could tell my body desperately needed LESS SUGAR, and MORE veggies, so decided to eat dinner Tuesday night (big salad, chicken breast, fruit salad.) Overall, I felt okay Tues AM, felt great after exercising, but went into a downward spiral without the spinach concoction, juicing more stuff with what I know was too HIGH of a sugar content for me. Emily and I both were dragging, exhausted and ready to go to bed for a week by Tuesday evening. When I started feeling dizzy, lightheaded, etc, I decided to eat and that I would have to rethink this. Emily was too ready to quit and more than happy to eat some chicken! Understanding that detoxing was probably part of the issue - and knowing that if I could tough it out another 24-48 hours - I would allegedly feel better, but also suspecting an acute need for less sugar and that I do better on a decent amount of protein, and that I was on it to feel better, not kick myself back into the land of no energy - I decided to eat dinner and change tactics a bit. When I switched tactics at the HFS, I had invested a bit of $$ in some rather odd veggies and fruits, all organic, that don’t go into our normal things, and paid the organic prices, so I decided to modify and carry on! I am going to get my money’s worth!

The solution - go on a partial juice fast with AM’s juicing! I am loosely following the Juice Lady’s cleansing guide. So I have a morning Vita-Mix juice with beets/carrots/green apple/lemon/ginger and I threw in parsley, and a midmorning juice of celery/green apple/spinach/lemon/romaine. With the Vita-Mix you throw the chunk of lemon in with the SKIN (if it is organic), the celery, etc and it is quite a pulpy, texturey thing but the nutrition is PHENOMENAL and the fiber boost is amazing. It isn’t as concentrated and full of sugar as “normal juicing” which gives a smoother liquid, and you discard the pulp fiber. The Vita-Mix makes all of the nutrition and the fiber in the fruit/veggies bio-available and it is wonderful for your body - you can FEEL your body react with glee as you drink it. It is amazing. It also makes a HUGE AMOUNT if you use her recipes! Adapting the Juice Lady’s recipes is a bit of a trial and error with some weird concoctions that don’t always taste amazing! A straw helps! All in all, it is a great experiment and I am learning what makes me feel good, out of the produce I have on hand, and adapting the Juice Lady’s recipes/my recipes/Vita-Mix recipes and what I have on hand.

For additional detox and cleansing benefits, I am having “shakes” of psyllium fiber with bentonite clay (uh-huh, nothing chocolate or malty about MY shakes! LOL!) Why those two? Because I just so happen to OWN the stuff and it does not require additional purchases! Venturing through the prudent lifestyle - I also decided to take the multi-purpose bentonite clay and make a silky smooth, pore refining clay mask out if it, which I applied while doing my AM exercise routine, just after drinking it in the “shake.” My husband howled when he got home and I related my adventures - only his wife could drink clay AND put it on her face! He howled even more when I told him that this stuff makes me feel normal…..and I didn’t get to point out the SAD (Standard American Diet) makes me feel abnormal. Life is never dull in the Baughn household - I tell you! More info on the bentonite clay at http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/bentonite.php

We are returning to a more veggie rich lunch (salads instead of those sandwiches that are so easy to make and eat!) with dinners being our normal meat, salad, veggie but without a starch. We have a neighborhood walk each night, we live in a circle and half the neighborhood walks and the other half are on their front porches cheering us on. You have to be diligent to walk and not stop to talk! We come home and using the bounty of summer fruits, make a delicious berry/peach/whatever is fresh and we have on hand, fruit salad for dessert, with a spritz of lemon, or citrus. This all makes such a difference and we are all feeling much better and sleeping like LOGS at night! In a mere three week period, we had lazily cut back on the amount of fruits/veggies we were eating, and were down to three or four servings a day — when normally we try for 7-10. So we are back up in the 7-10 category that we all do best at. The ratio there would be about 6 veggies and maybe 4 fruits. With it being summer, we eat a little more fruit with the bounty available!

So that is my story and I’m sticking to it for now! I have been doing the partial juice fast for a 4 days, and hope to go at least week, maybe two and then maybe give the total juice fast another go the following week - shall see. I was not quite prepared for the transition (it tells you to up the fruit/veggie content and cut down on the other stuff in the days ahead and I thought I would charge through and do my own thing) I will do the gallbladder cleanse a little later on. We are in the middle of a few huge projects and I frankly cannot afford the time of detoxing and brain drain, until they are launched.

Hope this helps someone else out there! There are a LOT of ways to go about this and it is so easy to become confused in the mass of information and wonder it to death rather than try it. It is also difficult to finally decide on a protocol, research it, pray through it, then run to the HFS and find that they don’t have what you want, so you either change tactics or go back and order online (which means you wait) If you are emotionally READY and RARING to go, it is a huge downer to wait or change. Once you make that decision, you just want to do it. I am a full board, black and white, 100% kind of girl, so doing a “partial” is not my norm. This modified course is working beautifully within my limited budget, ability and time level right now! And it is a good prep for my desire for a more thorough cleanse and the gallbladder upcoming (really I just want that bowl of berries and whipped cream!). For now, I know that the beets are detoxing the liver and gallbladder and getting me in line for the stone issues, and that I am back to a really fabulous diet rich in the Lord’s bounty of fruits and veggies! I know that I am feeding my family incredibly well and that everyone is benefiting!

One of the great things about summer is that it inspires you to get around to some of the health challenges that you need to deal with, but for whatever reason, choose not to. One of the things on my summer list was to try a gallbladder cleanse, the one where you drink apple juice for a week, to soften potential gall stones, eat a healthy whole food, mainly veggie based diet all week, then on THE DAY have breakfast/lunch, a dinner of berries with whipped cream, which is then chased down with an Epsom Salt concoction, and later olive oil mixed with lemon juice. This is supposed to be a simple, easy way to cleanse the gallbladder and the next day should be spent excreting stones. Sounds pretty weird! So why do I feel compelled to do it? I am not completely sure, it goes under that category of “that still small voice!” I have felt I needed to do this cleanse for over two years, and with a cross country move, a one state over move and starting a new life in TN, just never took the time. Plus, I will admit it, I was a little scared! But all the berries and whipped cream I can eat one night seems worth it at any price!

You know how it is when you keep coming back to something - the question is always - is this the Lord or I am merely obsessed? If it doesn’t contradict with scripture, then it goes down to the “will it fit in my life right now”and “is there a cost” or “do I already OWN the stuff to do it.” If I already own the stuff - I am usually willing to try it.

Over the years I have tried many herbal cleanses, most purchased from the Health Food Store (HFS) and usually run about $30. I always began my cleanses bright eyed and bushy tailed and sure it would give me stunning results. I never noticed a big change, but felt like perhaps I had so much gunk in me that I needed to do it several times to get great results. I have played with juice cleanses, with my Vita-Mix, following The Juice Lady’s recipes (which are made for a juicer that extracts the pulp and leaves the juice only). I have never totally given up food while doing them and had a water fast. I have done two since we moved to TN, but the reality that we lived on the road for almost 6 months when we moved, with the stark realization that we ate a lot of stuff I would normally NEVER eat, gained a lot of weight (stress and just plain piggle!) and that I haven’t felt great since the move leads me to suspect there is a lot of bad stuff in me that needs to come out!

So what to do? What would a prudent wife do?

While perusing a homeschool Yahoo group I am on, another HS mom was talking about her trip down the Epsom salt/gallbladder cleanse lane. She had phenomenal results - and was convinced that it set her back on her trip to health. I asked for her protocol and she wrote it up. It was very similar to the one I have been avoiding, so I decided to give it a try. That was the day of the teeth cleaning - so what better day to try something then when you get your 6 month exam (your teeth are all clean, why gunk them up with sugar and bread!)

So after the dentist, we dropped by the Health Food Store to get the stuff to start the gallbladder cleanse. They did not have half the stuff to do it, with my friend’s protocol, what they did have was terribly expensive. I had read about the Oxy stuff and had been interested in it for awhile, so decided to postpone that protocol and consider ordering online later. You know how you feel there is a constant whisper towards some things, including certain products and that email was the final straw! However, I simply did not have the cash to INVEST in the cleanse….especially since it would just be me doing it and that felt terribly selfish.

Incidentally, it seems the last time I bought organic apple juice by the gallon, it was $4.49 in CA….here it is $11.99. Now that was probably a bulk price at a great HFS chain back home, but still! Does this seem unreasonably high to the rest of you???

As I was talking to one of the women at the HFS and trying to figure out what was in my product wish list and if they had similar items, the HFS woman was talking about juice fasting. When she heard we have a Vita-Mix, she gave us some terrific ideas. My daughter Emily (who is almost 13) was SO EXCITED and begged me to do a juice fast with her. With the other being so pricey, it wasn’t hard to discourage me. I still need to do it, but was planning on buying fruits and veggies anyway (it was our food shopping day) We decided to do a JUICE FAST. Hubby will drink the juices AM and PM, but eat his homemade gourmet meals at work. For once in my life, I actually checked with a Dr. before starting something (now that we have one and all) Our new family physician is THRILLED and gave us the okay for 3-5 days - so off we go! Her brother is an NP and he laughingly said - “Tell them not to do it for 40 days and 40 nights.” They did say to eat a few almonds if we feel our blood sugar is vacillating too wildly - so that is good.

So juice fasting it is - and I will do the gallbladder cleanse later. I am really craving that bowl of whipped cream and berries….but I digress! LOL!

Why does it take so long to launch a site?

Well, for one thing, when you currently open up the “HEALTH” section of theprudentwife.com, you get my delicious recipe for Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce. Yes! Chocolate is full of anti-oxidants, we all know this now, but it is not quite what I was looking for on that page! You can also currently find my fabulous to die for Mexican specialties on the “HEALTH” section - like Chipotle’s Cilantro Rice, Homemade Refried Beans (super delish and very prudent!), Delectable Shredded Beef (a simple So Cal specialty using the P-31 favorite kitchen servant — the hardworking crock-pot!), Chillequilles, and more. It will teach you how to throw a Mexican Fiesta Cinco de Mayo bash for 50 to 100, easily served for a wedding reception, anniversary or big party, but NOT how to be healthy….yet!

So much to do, so much to think through and make EASY and accessible for you! We will prevail and launch a phenomenal site for you!

Technological details! Living in the Lisa Baughn blog world at www.theprudentwife.com/blog

Yet…we persevere

House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. Proverbs 19:14

Well the news is echoing what we already know - a trip to the grocery store is an outrageous, budget busting experience these days.

USA Today claims food is up a paltry 3.9% in this study published Monday. Only 3.9%???? http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-06-18-food-price-usat_N.htm

Up 12.2 % overall in the past five years according to this Chicago study, but with eggs shooting up 81%, cheese 31%, and Pepsi up 12% in the past YEAR! http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/415495,CST-NWS-food06.article

While grocery prices may be up a mere, somewhat misleading 3.9%, what really matters is what is the REAL increase for the items YOU BUY for YOUR FAMILY. We eat a lot of eggs, and if we lived in Chicago - that would be an 81% increase in a staple product we consume dozens of, vs the 3.9% soft pedal “overall increase.” Think through statistics! Your budget boils down to how you live and how you spend.

This Market Watch report outlines reality a little better with numbers that reflect specific reality VS general stats

• Butter prices are up 31%
• Cheddar cheese prices, up 65%
• Nonfat dry milk prices, up 117%
• Broiler chickens, up 17.5%
• Beef, select, up 12.8%

It also tells you why: the ethanol boom has driven corn prices up over 70% (think dwindling corn supply for food as we reallocate it to green needs. If you check out the amount of corn syrup in items in your average grocery store - you can see why prices are skyrocketing! Solution - avoid processed corn), distribution prices (gas, no explanation needed) and the expanding world demand aka “the China Effect.” Check it out at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/why-rising-food-prices-eating/story.aspx?guid=%7BE2C47792-2693-48BF-8967-26B070F10EBF%7D

While food prices continue to edge sky high and take a bigger bite out of the budget, help is on the way. The Prudent Wife.com is full of recipes, ideas, and strategies to lower your food bill and still offer maximum nutrition and delicious meals for your family. The Prudent Wife helps you fight back against the tide of rising costs, with an eye toward future health. Reading these articles on food prices that crimp budgets ignites my passion to get this site launched….can we pull it together by July 4th? We could celebrate an “independence” from the expensive American lifestyle? Hmmm….these projects always seem so simple when you conceive the thought, but in reality are time gobbling labors of love! Can’t wait to share the Prudent Journey with you!

Lisa Baughn’s blog is www.theprudentwife.com/blog

Yesterday was a dental cleaning and I remain one of the 70% of the adult patients who do not floss regularly. Why is it so hard to floss? I leave the dentist challenged to give it my all and adapt a routine of flossing. Laziness gets in the way all to often. Slothfulness, forgetfulness, don’t-want-to-do-it-ness, it hurts my poor fingers as I squeeze them too tight in the floss. Why is it so hard? Such a simple thing.

I have often wondered how the Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon kept her teeth clean.

Since I am stuck in 2007, I will share our natural dental routine. Currently using floss from the dentist, toothbrush from the dentist (picking one at the store makes me nutty - the dentist’s are always the best and how prudent is a FREE toothbrush?) and I love Jason Sea Fresh Toothpaste with “pure, natural and organic” ingredients. This all natural (isn’t that a word to be skeptical of these days) sea-sourced toothpaste is fabulous….once you get used to it! Natural toothpastes are a whole new world and take some getting used to. This has organic blue green algae (which is not between my flossed teeth), three natural whitening polishers (including bamboo - that is quite green) and bacteria busting perilla seed extract. No flouride, SLS, or funky toxic sweeteners. Just fresh clean toothpaste that tastes great and does a great job of cleaning the teeth and keeping them in good condition. We have tried a lot of toothpastes over the years and I have downloaded a lot of them to the kids - I have a super strong gag reflex and literally throw many of them up. I have done much better with cleanings/hygiene appointments/gagging on the Sea Fresh the past few years, than I ever did on any toothpaste I got “free” with coupons at the grocery store.

Prudent daughter Emily had her FIRST cavity filled yesterday…a month shy of being 13. She insists it is because she has been forced to use the “store bought, cheap toothpaste” rather than the natural Sea Fresh we have been using. She says when she borrows my toothpaste, it doesn’t have that slimy store bought feel. She is not being snippy, or disrespectful, just very factual Emily-style. She actually thinks through these things, as she is always figuring out how to be a Mama (she wants 12) and how best to go about things. She wanted to go back to store bought, so we let her. While all natural toothpastes give me a bit of sticker shock, it is substantially cheaper than my co-pay on her fillings - which was $52. That would buy about 2 years of natural toothpaste for her…. hmmm…. I love it when she makes up her own mind and then it is a resolution she has experienced and is more likely to stick to. I love it even more when she actually brushes her teeth and USES the toothpaste!

I have experimented with making my own toothpastes and have not created a recipe I like better than Sea Fresh, or that I can consistently use without gagging.

How is that for TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

Once again, we are learning about one journey toward being the Prudent Wife…. “House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.” Proverbs 19:14  Blog of Lisa Baughn

I named my daughter after Emily and have always loved this poem….

I never saw a moor, I never saw the sea; Yet know I how the heather looks, And what a wave must be. I never spoke with God, Nor visited in heaven; Yet certain am I of the spot As if the chart were given.”