Ancient Greece... again! ~ Magnesium

What's Schoolin'?


I just uploaded a file with a few Ancient Greece lapbook pages.  One page has 3 matchbooks for each of the main philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.  The other is sort of a quiz, but don't tell dds! :)  It's a lift-the-flap with the question on top and they'll have their answers underneath.


One dd is doing a traditional lapbook for the ancients and another is, I guess, notebooking it.  She's using cardstock in a binder with dividers for each civilization.


http://tinyurl.com/7sf69a9


What's Cookin'?


~ We'll be doing a horticulture presentation for our 4-H club in a few weeks.  We're blatantly stealing an idea that we saw at another 4-H workshop and will present different herbs along with dips using them.  The one that surprised me with its flavor and fresh taste was simple fresh parsley chopped and mixed into sour cream.  I'm hoping I can find freshly packed herbs in this new area.  If you have a Kroger (I miss Kroger!!) you can get little packs of fresh herbs in the produce section.  They usually go on clearance before they go bad so that's what I would get.  Try some fresh herbs mixed into some sour cream; or better yet, mixed into some strained yogurt (to thicken it a bit) and get some probiotics; or even better yet, mixed into some homemade yogurt; or even better yet, mixed into some homemade yogurt made from fresh farm milk. :)


The timing is off since it's in the middle of winter and I don't have my herb garden set up yet.  Another idea is to demonstrate different plants that represent different parts of plants that we eat.


~ Flaxseed/cottage cheese combo:  This combination is suppose to help your body absorb healthy fats.  I take tons (therapeutic doses) of Fermented Cod Liver Oil w/ Butter Oil (see link below) (and extra fish oil on extra bad brain days).  Lately my neck and hands look like a 90+ year old woman's - all papery, dry, and thin.  I look dehydrated (which I may be) and just dried out like a withered raisin.  I don't think I'm absorbing all that I'm taking.  Hopefully this combo will help.  I eat cottage cheese almost daily anyway for lunch or snack because I feel good after eating it and because it has a precursor to a healthy brain chemical (I think it's dopamine).  I like to add organic cherries, blueberries, or apples to my cottage cheese.  I'm looking forward to trying this combo.  It was discovered by Dr. Budwig and they use it for cancer patients.  Basically it's 1:2 flaxseed oil to cottage cheese.  Whip it thoroughly with an immersion blender (or maybe a food processor?).  Then you add in freshly ground flaxseeds.  I don't have any so I'll start with just the oil blended in.  They recommend the Barlean's brand of flaxseed oil which happens to be the one I got at a health food store recently (yeah!).



Magnesium:


I'm not endorsing this product (I just saw the video and hadn't heard of them before) but I found this info quite interesting and it gives another angle to the importance of magnesium.  With my leftover Lyme-induced brain issues I'm always on the alert (somewhere within the fog) for things that will benefit my brain health.


http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2012/jan2012_Reversing-Brain-Decay_01.htm


I've been taking magnesium for quite a while now but have been revisiting it lately.  When I was about 3/4 through my initial conventional Lyme treatment (almost 5 years of nearly daily antibiotics plus a ton of other meds plus a ton of supplements) and was just racked with pain I was taking the daily max + of Advil and/or Aleve.  I finally asked the naturapath that owns a local store what fibro patients take for the pain and she recommended Fibralgia   I couldn't believe how effective it was.  It got me off of the pain meds.  Since then I rarely take Advil and that's mainly just for occasional migraines or female issues (although the magnesium is always my first line of defense for cramps also and it usually works).  The other good thing about this particular product is that it doesn't mess with bowels.  A few weeks ago I tried a different kind - one recommended to me in a health food store.  I was only able to take it 2 days because of bowel intolerance.  I wish now that I had saved my money and waited until the store carrying Fibralgia was open or had ordered through Amazon.  Wasted money.  Lesson learned.


I've been ruminating over trying topical magnesium since it's highly bioavailable and there are no bowel issues.  While I was in the middle of this rumination 2 highly trusted foodie blogs posted about magnesium (Annemarie and Kelly).  I've narrowed it down to 2 trusted products:  
Ancient Minerals Ultra Pure Magnesium Oil 8 oz. and Dr. Barbara Hendel's Magnesium Oil (Swanson).


After reading about them I'm going to try the Swanson brand spray.  It comes from the same place (if I understand correctly), is reputable, and is much less expensive.


I am getting the spray so I can just spray it on my feet at bedtime.  I don't have any trouble at all falling asleep but many who do find that magnesium at bedtime helps them sleep.  No, I wish I could stay awake longer in my little nest of books.  Just when I get settled in for some fun quiet time with books I fall asleep!  Okay, so starting out at 10:30 may be the reason... [Notice I said bookS not book - I think my current stack is 5 that I'm actively reading right now.  Several are previews for dc; a chicken book; a crossword book to start relaxing and forget about pressing worries; and adult fiction] [I'm previewing a Tan book about St. Athanasius  since we're moving into Ancient Rome and it's a really cool point of view regarding the Council of Nicaea, the Nicene Creed, and the Arian heresy.  It's also an easy read.  While looking for the link I noticed that there is also a book with his original writings so I'll keep my eye open for that one as well. On The Incarnation (this 99 cent Kindle has an intro by CS Lewis) ]