Breathing Peace and Healing…

I just watched a video ​here, called The Moses Code.

To clarify:  NO, we’re not gods. No, we’re not God.
YES, we DO have a Breath of Life from the Almighty.
YES, the Breath is powerful.
YES, focusing on our breathing is healing– I “breathed through” labor contractions, and a LOT worse when I was sick.

YES, we do have the capacity to “be the healing” for others. My husband carried me, and “saw” me healed until I became well. His Breath of Life has led me out of slavery.
YES, YHWH is in everything– even Pharaoh. In the original language, YHWH doesn’t say, “Go to Pharaoh.” He says, “Come to Pharaoh.”
YHWH is already there.
YES, we are designed to be a vehicle for YHWH’s healing. Yes, the Breath of Life is for healing. How powerful is it? May YHWH be merciful to show us.

YES, the idea of separation between “good and evil” (“function and dysfunction” is a better translation of the original language) was what originally moved us away from perfect harmony with YHWH and “the garden,” or Nature. Finding the unity of function in whatever our personal “Pharaoh” may be is crucial to restoration.
The Name isn’t really best-translated as, “I am that, I am.” A better translation would be, “He exists”, with the potential use of “exists” in the sense of having a direct object: “He exists it” or “He exists all that is.”
We need to be careful not to put ourselves in a position of idolizing ourselves, but YES, we do have a responsibility to learn to use the healing power YHWH has designed into our Breath of Life, and to recognize His hand in everything– even in Pharaoh.
My personal “Pharaohs” right now are Monsanto and the Petrochem gods / corporations, and the financial and educational oppression these have on our health care and shelter, food & water systems.

“Be the change you want to see.”

OK… breathing Freedom, Sufficiency, and Healing. In a word, ​Shalom.

(click here for details on that ancient word for peace)

We All Want Peace*

Everybody’s running around with two fingers up– if they aren’t busy lifting just one finger at the driver that just cut ’em off. Even so, that driver really just wants peace. We want to know that we’re going to get to work on time, that rent will be paid, that our electricity won’t be shut off, and that we’ll be able to put gas in that car so we can do it again tomorrow. (I use “we” loosely, here– different folks have different struggles) At the core of our beings, we want to feel “secure,” knowing that we’re protected from hunger, cold, and loneliness.  We want peace.
What’s funny is that our language doesn’t tell us what peace is just by looking at the word. It’s kind of a nebulous “good thing” out there somewhere that nobody seems to have (unless they happen to smell like weed, and even then, it’s only for as long as the high lasts).

Shabbat Shalom!

A few thousand years ago, and still today in some places, the word for peace was a real, concrete picture of that nebulous thing we all want. Originally, the Scriptural, Hebrew word was “Shalom,” spelled “Shin-Lamed-Vav-Mem.” (second word in the pic)

The Shin is the picture of the two front Teeth. Lamed is a picture of the Shepherd’s Staff. Vav is the Tent Peg, and Mem is Water. The Teeth is an image of protection and defense. The Shepherd’s Staff provides guidance and direction, pointing the way out for the sheep to find everything they need. The Tent Peg is the picture of securing or “nailing down.” Water is our source of life. Shalom is defined in Jeff Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible , word #2845, “Complete: Made whole or complete by adding or subtracting. ‘To be in a state of wholeness. Also to restore or make right through payment or restitution. ‘A state of being whole, complete, or full. Also an offering of restitution or payment. ‘A greeting as a desire for completeness to another.”
Shalom is “The protection of the Shepherd, nailing down the water.” We are at peace when we are protected and provided for by our Creator, and when we are made “complete.” In order to be “complete,” we need air, water, food, and shelter. Without land to grow food on, we are incomplete, and the land is incomplete without the humble people who care for it, watching over it with sensitivity to see that seeds sprout in it. Finding those humble people gives the rest of that picture of completeness– we’re no longer lonely 🙂

*Originally posted January 28, 2010 on my old blogsite

Home-Grown Vitamins

I ran out of vitamins, and really didn’t want to spend the money on raw-food-based, quality, organic vitamins at the store. Danged  expensive to get the good stuff! …so I’ve been tossing around the idea of making my own. Becoming independent of the money gods and declaring my freedom. If “my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge…” (Isaiah 5:13), then maybe the converse is also true? Maybe there is freedom to be had… maybe, in part, to be earned through knowledge and through work in implementing it? Not talking in absolutes, necessarily, here– just the general thought that we can build freedom into our lives through a working understanding of Natural Laws.

With that as a frame-of-reference, I decided to experiment a bit 🙂 First I made some throat lozenges– stirred up some herbs & honey & a little Real Salt, and that went over really well– kiddos liked them, Hubby & I liked them, and they’re just really healthy, food-based medicine.

Here’s what I wound up doing with that:

1/2 cup Rosehips Powder

1/8 cup Comfrey Leaf Powder

1/8 cup Ginger Root Powder

1/3 cup Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Real Salt

3 heaping Tbsp Honey

1/4 tsp Real Salt

1/4 tsp Lemon Extract

1/4 tsp Orange Extract

1/4 cup Xylitol

Just enough hot water to make a dough. Drop by small spoonfuls onto an oiled cookie sheet & air-dry, or dehydrate in a dehydrator.

If I had it on-hand, I might include some licorice powder and / or some slippery elm powder, but this is what I had at the time. Worked nicely 🙂

They disappeared pretty fast, and enter point of confidence to try a bit more:-)  Here’s what I came up with for a first-shot at vitamins. Now, I do give everyone kelp, alfalfa, and Cod Liver Oil daily along with the regular multi, so I’m counting on those things to provide some of the nutrients that aren’t in the following recipe, but I’m thinkin’ I really like the idea of being more hands-on about our supplements and nutrition 🙂

Herbal Vitamins:

1/8 cup Chickweed Powder

1/8 cup Horsetail Powder

1 Tbsp Purple Dead Nettle Powder

1/4 cup Mullein Leaf Powder

2 Tbsp Comfrey Leaf Powder

1/3 cup Ginger Powder

1/3 cup Rosehips Powder

1/4 tsp Real Salt

2/3 cup Honey

1/4 tsp Lemon Extract

1/4 tsp Orange Extract

maybe 1/2 cup cocoa powder for rolling the dough in afterward?

Stir all dry ingredients together first, then make a well in the center, and pour in wet ingredients, and stir it all up ’till it makes a dough. Pinch off little balls and roll in cocoa powder, then set on a cookie sheet to dry, or in a dehydrator. Dehydrate at 115 or lower to preserve live enzymes.

Not the fanciest things in the world, and a bit spicy, so if you’re not into spicy, maybe trade out some ginger for something you like better. Definitely go with less ginger if you’re pregnant: a little is good for digestion and anti-nausea, but too much can stimulate uterine contractions. Works for us, though 🙂 Hubby & Twiddle-be-buttons say it’s a winner– they’re disappearing nicely 😀

I’ll probably play with the recipe some & see what exact amounts of which nutrients are “probably” in each ball– they’re not uniformly sized, but then, they’re all food-based, so no danger of toxicity, either 🙂

A word on comfrey– some folks are uncomfortable using it. I’m good with it. The older books have only good things to say about its use for all kinds of wonderful things. It’s only the modern books that suggest it has any potential for toxicity. “Just happens” that certain big businesses started experimenting with what certain extracts of it could do if injected into lab rats. I’m thinkin’ I’ll not inject it into my bloodstream, and maybe be fine LOL! I’m also very ok with other folks choosing a different nutrient-dense herb in place of it, because it does get a lot of bad press.  Which takes us to our Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

Judge Me!

I’ve often wondered why David says, “Judge me, O YHWH my God, according to Your righteousness, And do not let them rejoice over me.”  In Psalm 35:24

Those words “Judge me, O… God” just sounds terrifying! What imperfect human being could possibly imagine they’d survive such a request? Imagination conjures up pictures of Hell & damnation in the offing… OY, that’s frightening!

…or who could possibly think to name their child Daniel or Danielle– meaning, “God is my Judge”! What a frightening thought for that child… well, maybe… I’ve noticed that a lot of people named Daniel or Danielle tend to “just know” that nobody but God has the right to judge them LOL!

…but on closer inspection of the word, “judge,” in the Ancient Hebrew Pictographs: the language in which it was originally written, we find a very interesting original philosophy behind the “Judge.”

There are two words for judge that we’ll look at here:

One is the word from Psalm 35:24

Ancient Hebrew Pictograph Judge 1

Shin-Pey-Tet-Nun-Yud

Shin: Two front teeth: Defending, Cutting, Two

Pey: Open Mouth: Open, Break

Tet: Clay Basket: Surround

Nun: Sprouting Seed: Child, Generation, Continue

Yud: Arm: Administration, Authority

Cutting and Breaking Open those who Surround the Sprouting Seed, with Administrative Authority.

I see a picture of a gang surrounding a kid, and the Authority to Judge breaking through to defend that child.

alternatively,

Defending the Mouth and Surrounding the Sprouting Seed with Administrative Authority

This one gives me a picture of that Judge / Authority defending that child, and defending his source of nourishment.

Here, we do see consequences for the perpetrator of a crime, but we also see the defense of the “sprouting seed,” child, or next generation.

The second word for judge is the one used in naming Daniel or Danielle:

The “El” part of “Daniel” means “Powerful Shepherd,” or God. The first half of the word, “Dan” is the “Judge” part:

Ancient Hebrew Pictograph Judge 2

Dalet-Ayin-Nun

Dalet: Tent Door: Moving in & out; Back & forth

Ayin: Eye: Sensitivity, Vision, and Insight

Nun: Sprouting Seed: Child, Generation, Continue

The Door to Sensitivity, Vision, and Insight for the Child and continuing generations.

A “just judge” is one who opens the door to really “see” the long-term consequences of their judgments, not only for the immediate, but also for generations to come.

Long before there was ever a Hebrew people, and long before there was ever a Mt. Sainai, with all of its Teachings, there was a Noachide Covenant, in which we are all called to be just in our judgments, and to support a system of justice that defends more than just our own needs, but also the needs of the generations to come.

May we all find the Breath of Life in us that is capable of rendering good judgment, and open the door, with sensitivity, vision, and insight, for the generations to come.

For more info on the Ancient Hebrew Pictographs, please see

http://ancient-hebrew.org/

or

http://www.youtube.com/user/ancienthebreworg

Wavin’ da Flag… One Day

Honoring the Breath of Life in every bearer may be the first step toward peace… Were we all to be released (free) from the unnatural impositions of twisted government… twisted marketing… or worse yet, the marriage of the two… what could that look like?

If I were trying to control and make slaves of a free nation, I guess maybe I’d give the illusion that the people were free, feeding them propaganda that tells them they should give up their outdated right to keep and bear arms– “the government takes care of that now.” I’d also tightly control a facade of  “Freedom of the Press” and “Freedom of Speech.”  That way they’d have no means by which to regain those real rights, once they figured out they were being fed a line of bull.

	Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
	Right to keep and bear arms A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
	Conditions for quarters of soldiers No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
	Right of search and seizure regulated The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
	Provisons concerning prosecution No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
	Right to a speedy trial, witnesses, etc. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
	Right to a trial by jury In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
	Excessive bail, cruel punishment Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
	Rule of construction of Constitution The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
	Rights of the States under Constitution The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Remember that bit: “the powers… reserved… to the people”

There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
–Booker T. Washington

May we find freedom in lifting one another up.

 

Empowered

Real power isn’t in political prowess, dominance, oppression, feminism or even emancipation.  Real power is in understanding the Natural Laws that affect everyone, and working in harmony with them to support the Design that is bigger than any “world power.”
The word used in Genesis / Bereshiyt to describe the Designer means Powers / powers. The translators rendered it both God and gods to describe the Almighty, or to describe lesser “powers” that people often chose to fear. There are no capital or lower case letters in Ancient Hebrew, so when we read our English versions, we have to keep in mind that the translators chose the word to which they, personally believed that the original text was referring. They were all pictures of concrete concepts, written in stone or on clay pot shards or animal hides. At any rate, Here’s “power” or “god”:

Aleph-Lamed-Vav-Hey:
Aleph: Bull’s Head: Strength / Authority / First
Lamed: Shepherd’s Staff: Teaching / Instructing / Pointing the way
Vav: Tent Peg: Nailing down / Securing
Hey: Man Standing in Awe: “Wow, LOOK!”

Power is the Strong Leadership that Teaches and Points the Way that Secures Awesome results.
That Strong Leadership is the Designer’s Breath of Life that is breathed into each of us. When we use that Breath we’ve been given to walk in the Way Pointed out by the Natural Laws in the Teaching and Instruction of Scripture, we work in harmony, Securing the Awesome results our Designer has planned.

May we use wisely the powers reserved to us, to lift others, and subsequently ourselves up, and to set others, and subsequently ourselves free.

Family Strength and Fortitude

I’m so thankful for the different strengths my husband and I enjoy… nothing alike, but somehow it just functions well… extraordinarily well. Here are the Ancient Hebrew Pictographs of the words for Mother and Father… fascinating to me how it all fits.

I am Strong Water, and so are you, Mamma! Maybe that means we deserve a drink now and again, I dunno, lol–  but I do think it means we’re something vital and foundational to life.
As mothers, we nurture, or “Water” our families, and “Glue” our homes together. We are the pictograph of Strong Water:

Read Right-to-Left: <——- “Mother” and “Glue”
Aleph-Mem:
Aleph is the Bull’s Head, meaning Strength, Authority, and First
Mem is the Moving Water: the Source of Life
Mothers are a Strong Authority and Source of Life to their families.
This is also the word for “glue.” The Bull’s hooves were boiled down in Water until they were a thick glue that helped to hold the tent together– just like we are “bull-headed” enough to “hold it together” every day for our families. We are strong, ladies!

 

The last one was for the ladies. This one’s to celebrate the Dads. If we’re Strong Water, and the Glue that holds it all together, then the fathers are the Strength and Support Structure of the House. Here’s the pictograph:

Aleph-Bet:
Aleph: “Bull’s Head”: Strength / First / Authority
Bet: Tent Floorplan:  Home/ Protection / Structure
Fathers are a Strong Authority that supports the house. It is the same as the word for Tent Pole. The father is the one who holds the house upright, and gives structure and support to everything that the mother holds together. Fathers give the vital Strength and Protective Structure for the mothers to make a house a home.
Again, I’m not the expert: for more info on the pictographs, see
ancient-hebrew.org/
or
www.youtube.com/user/ancienthebreworg

The Almighty Breast

“The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” — William Ross Wallace

As a young woman, reared in modern Christendom, I was encouraged to pursue college and a career… in fact, that was the name of the 18-30 yr olds’ Sunday School class in the church where I grew up. Nothing wrong with college or a career… but I was definitely discouraged from thinking about marriage or children… and yet, that’s where the majority of my spiritual growth has been– in the experience of parenting alongside my husband.  Neither of us is perfect, but we each have a unique capacity to represent masculine and feminine attributes of the One, Indescribable, Incomprehensible, Almighty. Neither of us can represent that Power fully, and yet, even the shadow of it  that we are is incomplete without the “other half.”

I remember nursing my first baby, and listening to the screaming as I desperately tried to get the nipple into the open mouth… a nightmare that lasted for months… but one of the best lessons in how much El Shaddai (“Powerful Breast”, usually mistranslated “God Almighty”) loves us, and wants to give us the best and most perfect food… while we, at times, scream for it, and refuse to “latch on.”

We’ve found healing for the decline in happy marriages and parenting in these beautiful pictures in the Original Language. From Ancient Intimacy, through the words for Mother and Father and on to Wrapping our children securely…there are extraordinary societal healing implications…

To begin, the picture of Ancient Intimacy:

Remember that word ‘know’ where the Bible’s euphemism talks about sex? It’s more than a euphemism. It’s an ancient picture of what intimacy is, whether between a husband and wife, or between friends & family, or between humanity and the Designer.
Yep– There’s an Ancient Hebrew pictograph for that!

Yud-Dalet-Ayin
Yud: The Hand / Arm (Work, Make, Throw)
Dalet: Tent Door (Movement Back & Forth, Dangle)
Ayin: The Eye (Sensitivity, Sight, Insight, Vision)
To “Know” is to Work toward Movement Back & Forth with Sensitivity, Insight, and Vision.
There’s a ‘sweet spot’… a ‘knowing’ that only comes with an extraordinarily intimate relationship. Casual sex made ‘safe’ by modern interruptions cannot replace the intense depth of intimacy in a love where both parties play by Natural Laws that keep themselves and their offspring safe and healthy.
In the same way, a cursory study of the Scriptures can never replace the intimacy of ‘knowing’ the Original Gift of Teaching and Instruction.
This is real intimacy,  in intercourse, friendships, and in our relationship with the Designer: both parties working toward that “sweet spot” where the door opens and there is Sensitivity, Vision and Insight.

When we go back to these original pictures, we find foundations for building healing…

“If the foundations are destroyed,
         What can the righteous do?” –Psalm 11:3

BTW– I’m not the expert on the pictographs. For more information, see
ancient-hebrew.org/
or
www.youtube.com/user/ancienthebreworg
Comments/Ratings Always Welcome 🙂

 

Envisioning Hope for Healing

We all walk learning… but not all of us walk healing.  Why is that? Do we maybe get trapped in despair, not hoping it could be possible? Even the modern medical community knows that if someone on the edge of death has hope, and chooses to live, they’ve got a good shot at it, and that if they don’t, they’re probably going to go soon. Maybe that dramatic, “I call heaven and earth to witness with you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving YHWH your God, by hearing and guarding His voice…”**  is applicable in more scenarios than we’ve given it credit for…

Seems like there’s a shortage of hope lately, but “having hope” may be a lot more  of a “just do it” thing than a “got it / don’t got it” thing…
Here’s the pictograph for one of the words translated *Hope* in Scripture:

Tav-Quph-Vav-Hey
Tav is the crossed sticks. It is the symbol for the far-off mark toward which a farmer tills so as to plow a straight line.
Quoph is the sun on the horizon, either rising or setting, signifying the passage of time, or continuing cycles.
Vav is the tent peg, nailing down or securing.
Hey is the man with his arms upraised in awe, saying “Wow, LOOK!”
The AHLB defines it as both “A cord used for binding” and “Held back, waiting for something.”
In the Vav you can see the securing, and the time waiting in the Quph, and the Hey showing the results. The Tav is the goal against which the restraint is directed.
All kinds of beautiful levels of meaning here– like the hope of a future with a spouse one day giving strength for the restraint to wait for the time when that hope becomes reality. (Old-fashioned notion, I know, but beautiful, nonetheless)
I also see a “visualize your hopes” picture. We envision the “mark” (Tav) toward which we “plow,” until the “time” (Quph) when it is “secured” (Vav) and we can “stand in awe” (Hey) of the realized hope.

Hope is a choice to keep our feet on the path toward the goal.
May Hope be secured as we plow toward it in the here-and-now.

*Strong’s # 8615 and AHLB# 1420-A-i. Taken from Job 17:15:

“Where then is my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?”

**Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

Thank you

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.” ~Meister Eckhart*

I wasn’t sure I agreed with this quote when I first read it… had to think a bit. I’m thinkin’ maybe so… as long as the thanks were followed up by appropriate action. A prayer of thanks for a learning experience, for example, would be followed up by acting on that learning… Finding thankfulness for even the most difficult pieces of our history and experiences is vital to a healthy, functional, improving mental and physical healing path.

We’re decorating for Thanksgiving here– paper thankfulness chain festooning the window, and handprints all over the hanukkiah “tree” on the wall, each link, and each hand with something we’re thankful for written on it… and we have a LOT to be thankful for… not the least of which are a clean, healthy house, healing, and friends who are healing alongside, reaping the rewards sown in our own challenges… it’s beautiful to see them grow stronger and overcome their ailments. Reminds me that there’s a plan for everything, and the Designer is Good, above all.

To all of you who have shared your lives with me, and allowed me to watch your healing paths, Todah (Thanks).

Here’s the pictograph:

Tav: Crossed Sticks: the mark in the distance toward which a farmer would plow to make his rows come out straight

Vav: Tent Peg: Nailing Down, Securing

Dalet: Tent Door: Movement In & Out, Back & Forth

Hey: Man Standing in Awe: “WOW, LOOK!”

Giving thanks is more than lipservice. A thankful heart marks out the place where the door of our house has been secured, and where we’ve Stood in Awe of the gifting there. That “Mark in the Distance” is our goal: to Secure the Tent Door of another in such an Awe-inspiring way.

A lot of people have given our Tent Door some Awesome support and Security. We give Thanks by Securing the Doors of others when we are blessed with the opportunity. We’re honored to be receiving that blessing in abundance lately. Todah!

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

*Special thanks to Icemanlover1 who inspired this post with this quote.

Chicken stew– as requested :-)

So I have a friend who is moving toward more gluten & corn-free options, and asked what I do about breakfast. It’s more non-traditional as American food, but according to our acupuncturist, the Chinese might see it as quasai-normal 🙂 I kinda like that thought, because I see the Eastern cultures as closer to the Ancient Hebrew mindset– Near East is closer to Far East than Western, I think. Higher-protein breakfasts are great for setting our blood sugar level at a good, solid, steady outset for the day. Here’s a breakfast for a cold winter morning, usually left-over from dinner the night before, so I’ll include the gist of that as well:

Dinner:

I start w/ the rice first– for our family, I make a huge batch– about 4 cups– soak it in warm water w/ a couple of drops of Apple Cider Vinegar and a heaping Tbsp of Real Salt for most of the day, or overnight, depending on when I remember to start it. Soaking it first helps to make it more digestible, and to improve the protein and mineral content of grains. Most ancient cultures did it as a regular practice. We’ve just gotten away from it in our instant gratification “now” society. ‘Gotta remember to cover it– especially in the summer: the fruit flies love ACV. Bake in a covered dish at 350 ’till the water’s all soaked up.  You might have a preferred method for your rice– this is just easy for me: a giant bowl w/ a cookie sheet over the top to hold the steam in.

1-2 Chickens, depending on the size of the family & appetites, in an oven-friendly pot / dish that just fits– not too much bigger.

Wash chicken thoroughly, place in the pot, and salt liberally– with Real Salt (not the bleached stuff: the docs are right: the bleached stuff might kill you LOL! I eat all the Real Salt I want, though– tastes good, and my body loves it!)

Add a fist-full of thyme, a fist-full of onion powder, and about a heaping Tbsp of garlic powder per chicken. I use ‘way more seasonings than I’ve ever seen recipes call for– at the encouragement of my Chinese MD’s wife– a nutritionist: she says there’s as much nutrition in the seasonings as in the food–, and in honor of the Scripture in TaNaK where Isaac wants his “savory meat” when he’s gettin’ old. I figure if good seasonings can help an elderly guy digest meat, then maybe it’s good for all of our digestion? Works for me & my guts, anyhow!

Genesis 27: 3“Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Drizzle with olive oil, and add a sprinkling of water to moisten the herbs, and about an inch or so of water in the bottom of the dish. Cover w/ a lid… I use a cookie sheet over the top sometimes ’cause I don’t always have a matching lid.

Bake at 350… I bake most everything at 350– don’t have to think so much– you can try other temperatures if you like, and see if your chicken gets done faster than mine. Sometimes, if I’m in a hurry, I’ll bake it a bit hotter, and it seems to do just fine, as long as I have a lid on it. Might take an hour or so… I never time anything– just when the juices run clear, and there’s no pink left anywhere inside.  When the seasonings start to smell strong, it’s not quite done yet, but soon 🙂

While that’s baking, I chop carrots, kale, comfrey, broccoli, onions, kohlrabi, pak choi, spinach, chard, beet greens … whatever veggies I happen to have on-hand, and start ’em steaming– longer for softer veggies; shorter for crunchier ones. I like to have at least one brassica (the broccoli family) for anti-cancer and blood sugar-balancing properties all in one 🙂 Save the water that they were steamed in: good for adding vitamins & minerals to the stew for tomorrow morning.

When everyone’s done eating, I de-bone what’s left of the chicken, and put all the bits of meat into a pot. If the veggies went over well, I leave them as they are, and toss them in, too. If they didn’t go over so well, I run ’em through the blender w/ just a bit of steaming water, and maybe some of that broth from the bottom of the chicken pan: just enough liquid to get ’em to puree nicely. The kiddos generally love their veggies best in stew.

All of those left-overs (except for the rice) go into the pot in the fridge for breakfast the next day, except for the bones– those get boiled overnight– outdoors. The moisture in the air and the formaldehyde in our floors don’t mix well w/ my joints, so making bone broth is an outdoor event. Strain the broth, stir into the stew, & re-heat in the am, and pour over the rice as though it were mashed ‘taters– you know, with the well in the middle… or just mix it all up.  If you like, you can re-heat the rice, but I usually leave it cold to take a bit of the heat out of the stew for the kids– otherwise they just ask for icecubes anyway 🙂

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you