Pain, Pain, Go Away!

It's almost Christmas. Are you sick of sweets yet? Then you might like a hot, rich, savory pie on a cold winter's day. Savory pies are more common in England than America, but the pumpkin (a North American vegetable) and the buffalo ranch dip (a combination of American sauces--hot sauce that originated in Buffalo, New York and creamy ranch salad dressing) make this an American dish, made by an American who's had it up to here with pumpkin spice everything.  Ingredients Savory low-carb pie crust, cooked and cooled (I made the almond crust variation on the hazelnut crust recipe from 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender , page 436) 1 small pie pumpkin 3 eggs 1/2 cup Primal Kitchen Buffalo Ranch dip (it's medium heat) Directions Stab the pumpkin a few times at the top, through to the center. Bake it at 350F for one hour or until it gives when you touch it. Let cool. Cut off the top, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits and discard. Scoop out the flesh and mash or chop

My best fermentation recipe yet! Perfect for fall. Ingredients 4 small apples, peeled and shredded 1 cup chopped raw cranberries (a food processor with an S blade works well) 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced 4 T brown sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup* Filtered water Your choice of sugar-loving probiotics (I used Biotiquest Ideal Immunity) Special equipment Canning funnel Quart jar and lid  Fermentation weight (optional) Fermentation device (I use a heating pad in an insulated grocery bag) Combine the apples, cranberries, celery, maple syrup and brown sugar in a bowl and mix. Put the canning funnel on the jar and spoon in the mixture. Add enough water to cover the ingredients. Put in the probiotics, opening the capsules if applicable. With a clean spoon or knife, push the probiotics into the jar and move the ingredients around to bring air bubbles to the surface. Put the fermentation weight in the jar if using. Put the lid on loosely (or use a fermentation lid).  Ferment until the mixture is no l

 It should be 1 pound of pickling cucumbers, not two, per quart jar. The corrected recipe is here:  https://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2023/08/fermented-bread-and-butter-pickles-ft-l.html

These sweet-and-sour pickles are the tastiest I've ever made. There's just a little added sugar (some of which the bacteria will consume) and turmeric that gives the pickles their bright color.  Special equipment Quart jar (or two pint jars) with lid(s) (or a fermentation jar) Weight for holding down the pickles (I ordered these ; glass fermenting weights or a small, clean stone that's been boiled and cooled are other options) Ingredients 1 pound pickling cucumbers (not salad cucumbers) 1 t turmeric 2 T brown sugar 1/2 c apple cider vinegar 1.5 T pickling salt (or other salt with no iodine) 1 T pickling spice Filtered water 1/4 t pickle crisp (optional) Directions In a medium bowl, combine turmeric, brown sugar, vinegar and salt. Stir well to dissolve the salt.  Wash the cucumbers. Remove and discard the ends. Cut crosswise into 1/4" slices.  Put the pickling spice in the jar. Add the cucumber slices and pack them down. Pour the vinegar mixture in the jar and top off w

Super-bacteria L. plantarum might be as close as your garden. Zucchini is a good source of the bacteria, and by fermenting it, you can up the benefits like slightly lower blood sugar, improved insulin, improved exercise capacity, improved sleep and mood, and many others. Don't give away that zucchini--ferment it! This recipe has a milder flavor than most fermented foods--it's only slightly tart. And of course it's an alternative to yogurt.  Equipment needed 1 quart jar (or 2 pint jars) with lid(s) Canning funnel (optional) Fermentation device (I use an insulated grocery bag, plastic grocery bag and a heating pad)  Ingredients 2 apples, peeled and cored 1 medium zucchini, unpeeled 4 dates, chopped 1 T cinnamon 1/2 T ground ginger 1 t salt 1/4 t ground cloves 1/4 t nutmeg Filtered water 2 capsules or equivalent of your favorite probiotic that ferments at ~95F (I used Biotiquest Antibiotic Antidote) Shred the apples and zucchini and put them in a large bowl. Add the spices, s

On the theory that popcorn is just a vehicle for fat and salt that's lightly crunchy, I have a great substitute: chard chips. You can even eat them hot! They're full of vitamins and nutrients, too, and don't contain glyphosate (unlike corn). I like this recipe better than others I've tried because pre-drying the leaves makes them crispier and greatly reduces cooking time. Note that Swiss chard is high in oxalates if that's something you have to watch.  Photo from Pexels .  Recipe 1 batch Swiss chard, washed Nutritional yeast (available in the spice aisle) Avocado oil Salt Separate the Swiss chard leaves and hang them out to dry for a few hours until they're wilted.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut out the center vein and any other large veins in the leaves. Cut the leaves into sections about 3" to 4" square. Place them on a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Brush them on one side with avocado oil. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and a little bit of s

I just had the fastest recovery from a muscle injury EVER. Two days ago, I twisted the wrong way while playing with my dog and hurt my back. It felt like an oblique muscle was pulled. It hurt every time I moved, even in bed. The next day after I took a shower, it was gone. Not better, but gone.  Yogurt: stronger than it looks! Photo from Pixabay . A few months ago, working for a few hours on my garage left me feeling like I'd been run over .  The only thing I'm doing differently is eating yogurt made with Bacillus Coagulans Unique IS-2. I ate my normal amount of it, maybe even less, over the past few days. I started making and eating it around mid-November. I've had a number of muscle injuries over the years (including turf toe, which was nearly as painful as an infected tooth, and a couple of bad sprains that took a year to completely heal). I'm blown away at how fast I mended this time. Dr. Davis says his daughter, who plays competitive tennis, uses B. coagulans GBI