• So you want to live forever….

    ….or at least longer? Our good friend Bill Roberts, of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef, is justifiably proud of his son, Will, who has already made a name for himself in the field of physical fitness.  Will has survived more than one Iron Man competition, trained professional athletes, and owns a health spa. In a recent newsletter, Will interviews his “old man” about how to live longer.  In a sense, the rules are less complicated than you might think.  Spoiler alert:  grass fed beef plays a big role but Will maintains he  has switched the strength and endurance of professional athletes with that one change in their diet. Here’s the interview:…

  • Sugar is still the problem….

    ….just when I thought I had cut out sugar in all its variations, along comes Dr. Joseph Mercola with nutritionist J.J. Virgin to tell me I’ve barely begun! http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/11/02/high-sugar-impact-diet.aspx?e_cid=20141102Z1_SNL_art_1&utm_source=snl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20141102Z1&et_cid=DM59372&et_rid=713193555

  • Driving a steak (sic) through the heart….

    ….of the fat and cholesterol nonsense. This week’s Dr. Joseph Mercola column sums up all the recent research on saturated fats and cholesterol and concludes we’ve been “had”.  Natural saturated fats are great for you….and so are high cholesterol numbers!  What? The real villain, of course, is sugar! So who sold us the bill of goods?  To quote Mercola: With regard to heart health, nutrition policy has been derailed over the past half-century by corporate greed, political agendas, and bad science A new meta-analysis involving a half million people found that those eating more saturated fats do NOT have more heart disease than those eating less Cholesterol is critical for building…

  • A list of what’s ailing us….

    ….a list of the major factors impacting our health.  When you read the list, you can’t help wonder if “Experts” should be at the top. http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-wrong-with-the-modern-diet-charts-2014-2 And then of course there’s eggs.  They must be killers! http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-eggs-should-you-eat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AuthorityNutrition+%28Authority+Nutrition%29  

  • Coping with the cold….

    ….hasn’t quite been the proverbial “piece of cake”.  Wooz has done pretty well and of course I’m inside the tractor.  Here she checks our first-calf heifers to see how they withstood below zero temperatures the night before. When it gets this cold we do relent and give the young ladies some grain….not only to stay warm but help with their first re-breeding.  If this looks like pretty meager fare, it is; less than two pounds per cow.  (Wooz gets a little more) They’re also getting high quality alfalfa-mix hay and we believe that helps them through the cold, too.

  • Preparing the pork and beef….

    At my request (from others too), Sylvie sends along her preparation tips from our dinner (see “Every kitchen needs one…” below). Pork: score the fat, generously salt & pepper, sprinkle thyme leaves all over. Mash fresh garlic, salt, pepper & thyme into a paste. Insert here and there in the roast. 400F for 15 minutes, then 325 to 300 F until it’s done – well done and tender. Baste occasionally with accumulated fat and some lemon juice and/or white wine. Not too much lemon juice as it can burn. Lower oven more if needed. Better long and slow than hot and fast.  Brisket: sear both sides in a hot skillet.…

  • GMO….what’s it worth to you….

    ….$15-million dollars or more if you’re Monsanto, DuPont, or your neighborhood supermarket and their buddies.  That’s how much they’re pouring into a fight in Washington State to prevent consumers from knowing whether they’re eating genetically-modified food. Most places in the world require a GMO warning label on food but not in the United States.  (Somehow Democrats and Republicans always manage to get together on that!) However, the state of Washington is going around the fix in the capital of Washington (where Monsanto focuses its dollars) and is voting on a referendum making GMO labels mandatory. http://www.cornucopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/I-522.poster.1023.jpg

  • Another victory in the long slog….

    ….it hasn’t been easy to get the medical world to give up its ancient beliefs. (Do they still let blood?)  In many ways they’re more unyielding than the most superstitious aborigine:  food pyramids, margarine, red meat will get you if you don’t watch out.  And fat.  Boy, do they really cling to Fat! But here’s a recent study that may shake their foundations a little: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-saturated-fat-20131022,0,2193813.story#axzz2iVqDuTTZ There are two books out now that set the record straight and we recommend reading both, or least one for sure.  “Grain Brain” by Dr. David Perlmutter and “Wheat Belly” by Dr. William Davis.  

  • The power of meat….

    ….it’s the wonder drug for fertility! From Australia comes the story of a woman, a life-long vegetarian, who was told she would never have children.  Went on a meat diet…had triplets!  Thank God it wasn’t Thistle Hill meat! http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/vegetarian-eats-meat-falls-pregnant-with-triplets/story-fnet08ck-1226709927137

  • Put your heart in your mouth….

    ….was the name of a book written some time back by Russian-born neurologist and nutritionist, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.  She now lives in England, practices at Cambridge, and is a fairly well-known authority on food as medicine.  That is, known to Wooz but not to me. She developed the interest in nutrition when she had a son who was autistic.  She was able to cure him just with the proper diet. This wasn’t what I intended as the first post coming back from a break, but Bill Roberts of 12 Stones Grasslands Beef had it waiting in my email box.  Like Bill I find this the best summary of why natural…