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Chapter One

Eat It Raw, Let’s Get Started!

 

Maintaining and sustaining good health is our most valuable achievement--the foundation to enjoying and accomplishing all other life pursuits.

Copyright Edition 2006 Vicki Talmage

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission

in writing from the publisher, VitaeLife!, a divisions of, Vitae Health, LLC.

Chapter 1

Eat It Raw, Let’s Get Started!

 

Maintaining and sustaining good health is our most valuable achievement--the foundation to enjoying and accomplishing all other life pursuits.

 

So how can you create good health in the midst of life’s craziness? There’s a good chance that you have what you need in your basement or garage. In fact, some of you probably have enough and to spare. Grains, seeds, nuts—you know, that stuff that you may have stored away years ago and have never touched. 

What have you been saving all that food for?  

When were you planning to use it?  

Is it still good?   

How are you going to use it?

 

Some of you may not have anything in your house, let alone something healthy!  Maybe you are getting tired of eating out and putting up with the heartburn. You may need to lose some added weight. If you choose to practice some prevention and change even part of your diet to healthy, cellular-building foods, it can only be a benefit to you. Whatever your situation may be, it has been my experience that learning how to prepare healthy, delicious meals can create sustained energy, clarity, strength and permanent health.  

 

It won’t happen to me, will it?  

It could be time to implement a few simple steps and get organized while we are living in a time of health, peace and prosperity…before a crisis hits. Today is the time to learn to use nutrients from grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and honey, as well as water, salt and oils.  As you begin to use what you have on hand, you may wish to replace it with some better quality oils, salt, and water to achieve optimum nutrition that you will need now and in the future.  

Management of your personal food supply should be part of any emergency reserve; it is as important as saving some money for a rainy day. Food management is so much more than saving for a catastrophic event; you can cut back on your food budget by shopping for bulk items in season and look for those things that are on sale. 

Poisonous chemicals and additives in foodstuffs coupled with convincing advertising campaigns, secure profits for food manufacturers.  Artificially preserved foods increase their shelf life, and diminish expensive refrigerated units to keep food fresh. These poisonous substances, although usually approved for public consumption, can cause severe health problems and allergies.  

Health issues, either your own or those of a loved one, can dramatically affect your capacity to create an income. However, food management can also help to soften times of incapacitation. You can draw from your food reserve until your health improves and you are back to work, without skipping a beat. Expect the unexpected.

Dishonesty and greed in business caused by bad employees and business partners, unwise business decisions you have made, or simple downsizing at your place of work, can jeopardize your income or cost you your job. How are you going to eat, and feed your family? 

Selfishness in relationships, especially in marriage, where partners and children are depending on each other for financial well being, can negatively affect your marital status and your economic support system. 

Any of these and other conditions can send you into a financial tailspin. In this day and age, the likelihood of each of us experiencing at least three major financial crises in our lifetime is a reality. The chance of one of these events happening to you is more likely than experiencing a natural disaster. For any unexpected catastrophe, you will need optimum nutrition for mental, physical and emotional stability.  You can expect stress, so any previous preparation that has helped you to establish good habits will pay off by keeping the home front as simple and normal as possible. 

Ask yourself, how much more difficult and stressful would a crisis be if you had to suddenly learn to use what food you have on hand in order to survive?  My own experience has taught me that it can be tough, especially when your mind is forced to be in survival mode, to even think about eating or feeding your family.  It is nice to have on hand foods that you have already integrated into the family diet.  What a comfort to create healthy meals, without even thinking about each step, because it’s already a habit.  

In healing the body, it is much easier to prepare and prevent than to try and catch up during a tragedy. In times of peace and plenty we could choose today to plan ahead and integrate healthy and wise practices so we can work out the kinks and modify our plan before a crisis hits.

 

What is Living Food?

Living food is alive. They are rich in enzymes, which are important to digest foods and break up aggregated substances that the body stores. Living enzymes are vital to assist the body in protecting itself from disease. History is replete with diseases decimating communities for the lack of fresh live foods. Clearly, living foods are the vital key to optimum health. Living foods are our highest source of ready-to-use vitamins and minerals.  In fact, the body readily absorbs minerals through the photosynthesis process—from plants. Plants and greens are our greatest source of fresh, absorbable minerals and vitamins; they are the most economical foods, the most valuable to your body, and the easiest foods to grow.

 

How do I create plants from grains, nuts and seeds?  

Here’s the answer: by soaking then sprouting them. As the germination process begins and the seed starts to grow, the seed goes through different nutritional stages. The soaking stage where the seed begins germination, the growing stage where you begin to see a little tail grow, the green stage where chlorophyll is introduced and a small stem forms, the stem stage where the stem is prominently thick, the leafing stage where the stem becomes a blade of grass or begins to grow leaves, and the jointing stage where we want the “green or grass” to be harvested and used.

As we recognize these stages we can understand the different ways and times to use the sprouts, greens, or grasses. 

Another benefit to soaking and sprouting is unlocking the sprout’s valuable living  protein amino acids and the essential electrolytes. These nutrients power up the body in times of crisis, and they diminish wear and tear on our organ systems when we eat them everyday.  Sprouts are already predigested and therefore use much less energy for the body to absorb and assimilate, giving quick and steady sustainable energy. Less wear and tear on the body slows down the aging process and gives valuable energy to your organs and cells to repair and regenerate them.  Living food storage means that you have available the grains, seeds and nuts, which you can soak and sprout in order to create quick, concentrated nutrition, along with better clarity for your mind and usable energy for your body.  Having the right equipment handy, means you can easily integrate this healthy food into your daily food preparation habits.

 

What if I have no space?  How can I manage even small food supplies?

If you don’t have much space to store extra foods, you can always rearrange a cabinet, closet, or even use plastic storage boxes or buckets to store and rotate grains, nuts and seeds. Remember, you will be sprouting and using these every week to add to your daily meals. 

Note: If you are storing grains, nuts and seeds in cans, use CO2 packing instead of Nitrogen packing so the grains have life to be sprouted. Be sure to date the cans and use the oldest ones first as you rotate and replenish your storage. 

  • For everyday use, organize your grains, nuts and seeds in quart glass jars that you keep handy in a dedicated cabinet in your kitchen. 

  • Use other containers for storing sprouted crackers, manna breads, and dried fruits and vegetables that you will use in addition to salads for your meals. 

  • Keep your sprouting trays and seeds close to the kitchen sink for easy soaking, rinsing and harvesting cleanup. 

  • For convenience, keep your wheatgrass juicer, Champion Juicer and blender close to your sink and sprouting cabinet.    

 

I have no extra money. When should I start gathering a food supply?

If finances are a problem, try purchasing just a few pounds of grain, nuts, or seeds when you grocery shop every week, or buy only 1 box of cookies instead of three, and put the extra money towards a sprouter!  I found in my own experience that when I stopped buying bulk snacks and eating out at fast food places, the money spent there easily was substituted for buying the grains, nuts, and seeds.  These healthy foods will gradually become part of your rotating food reserve that you use everyday, so they shouldn’t put a dent in your food budget. 

Take advantage of the fall harvest when prices are low and grains, nuts and seeds are fresh and plentiful. Buy organic foods, whenever possible. They have nutrients and minerals that are not found in commercially grown and processed foods.  In a crisis situation, these high quality foods can offset stress by keeping your body alkalized, and add natural antioxidants to scavenge the free radicals that can quickly cause your health to degenerate. 

Remember, any living food that you can add to meals, including snacks, will enhance the quality of your body’s cells, resulting in healthy-looking skin, stronger body and bones, better mental clarity, increased energy and vitality, and a feeling of well being. Why not begin feeling this way today?

 

How do I get started?

    Step #1. Ask yourself, “What food stuffs do I have on hand?  What meals can I make with what I already have?”  Use up what you already have in the house, write down as many different meals as you can think to create, whether they are healthy or not.

    Step #2. Take an inventory. “What grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes do I have on hand that I can soak and sprout now to create enzyme-alive foods?”  These will give the body living enzymes, nutrients, and roughage to balance out each meal.  Add these living foods to your meals that you are already eating.  

Integrate the healthy foods as you use up the processed foods that you may be used to.  Few people can ‘cold turkey’ into a healthier lifestyle.  To make healthy meals more of a permanent habit, do what it takes to get the ‘good stuff’ down.  You will naturally make healthier choices as you go along, especially if you don’t feel like you are forced to. In my own experience, this transition can be much smoother in times of peace and choice rather than waiting until a crisis forces you to make the change.

    Step #3. Begin practicing soaking and sprouting these foods. Snack on them as they are growing. Add them to your salads (which are to be eaten first in the meal), dressings, nut butters and blender drinks. You can even eat them plain!  Don’t worry if you waste batches in the beginning. Give yourself the permission to learn. Keep trying. Soon you will perfect your own method of personal kitchen gardening, and you will reap financial and healthy benefits. (See Chapter 5)

 Here’s a goal: Try to build up to 50% living raw food with each meal. Remember to eat the raw food first. This will stimulate the brain that there are adequate enzymes built into the meal that you need for digestion, and it won’t be necessary to steal enzymes from other organ systems.

    Step #4. Choose a patch of ground to grow your seeds. Some suggestions are: big flower pots, a square-foot-garden, or growing trays with soil that you can place in your kitchen. Buy some seeds such as Swiss chard, spinach, kale or collards. These greens are easy to grow, and they are cold resistant. The “greens” provide a very nutritious base for your raw vegetables in your salads to be eaten at lunch and dinner.  They contain ample protein and calcium for clear thinking and energy.  Integrate these power foods into your daily diet, and, to accentuate the taste, use a variety of delicious dressings, included in this book.  As an additional step, plant some root vegetables like beets and carrots, which you can keep stored in the ground or in a fridge. (See Chapter 13)

    Step #5. As you learn to grow, sprout and use your seeds, experiment with combinations of the greens (salads) and dressings to create your favorite tastes.  Eat meals in courses: first; salads, greens, and raw vegetables then steamed or cooked vegetables, and finally any starch or protein foods.  Eating the raw food first, stimulates the brain that the body is provided with the optimum live cellular foods that are rich with enzymes, to assist with digestion and assimilation.  With living enzymes already in the meal, the stomach has the enzymes needed to digest more difficult foods. (See Chapter 3)

Feel your energy increase as you make the daily choice to feed your cells correctly.  Natural cleansing reactions may occur in your body to rid itself of residual artificial foods. This is part of the natural process for the body to cleanse itself before it can rebuild. (See Chapter 4)

    Step#6. Limit your shopping for groceries to just once a week. This will force you to use up what you have and keep a fresh supply on hand.  Use your oils, water, honey, nuts and seeds daily.  Date the containers, and use the oldest ones first. Try to purchase grains and legumes in bulk, especially at the end of the harvest season.  

 

Note: To test the viability of your grain; fill a quart glass jar half with grain and half with water.  Let the jar sit overnight. The next morning, pour the contents into trays, cover and let the contents sprout up. Rinse again in the evening. If you can see a little growth at the end of the grain, it is alive and viable. Cover the tray and let it sit overnight again.  When you rinse the contents the following morning, the growth will be longer, like a little tail. Now you know that this grain is good and you can use it. On the other hand, if you see no growth, grind up the grain and use it as flour to use in breads or concentrated starches--or just throw it out and replace it.

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