Can you believe it’s September 1st? Where does summer go?! It seemed like just yesterday the strawberries were coming in and summer would last forever.

Well, I’m not ready to give up on summer yet. That’s why I’m starting my first post of September with a look back at August.

This is also the first edition of what I’m calling my “Top Five Fearless Links”, a monthly recap of my favorite blogs of the previous month.

In no particular order, here are my top five favorites of August: Keep Reading »

I love when the teacher becomes the student.

This happens every so often with clients that so embrace traditional foods that they start teaching me new tips and tricks around the kitchen.

And this happened recently with Amy, my client that I featured in my last blog series on autoimmune diseases.

Amy has really embraced fermentation. She makes her own yogurt, whey, cream cheese and fermented vegetables.

And when she told me she was going to make her own ginger ale, I was inspired to try it myself. Keep Reading »

Cooking real food, caring about it and accessing it sure can feel like a lonely place sometimes. Some days it just seems the whole world is eating crap and no one cares.

I look around sometimes and shake my head in disbelief at what people eat. It makes me sad and angry what the industrial food system is doing to our planet.

But the good news is that there’s a growing movement back to real, traditional food - food that respects the environment, animals and people.

Just knowing there are so many people who do care, who are creating change, who are sharing their stories, their success and failures can mean so much. I know it does for me.

And that’s why connecting with this movement is so important. Keep Reading »

Early Bird Discount Starts Today!

Yes, it’s that time again already! Another Get At The Roots 12 week weight loss class is starting on September 27^th and even though there’s still a month to go, NOW is the time to sign up. Keep Reading »

Welcome back to part III in a continuing series on autoimmune diseases.

In part I gave a brief overview of autoimmune diseases with a focus on how I helped my client, Amy, change her diet. In part II we heard from Amy herself as she discussed the dramatic improvements it made in her in her life-long battle with a rare autoimmune condition.

Today, I thought I’d wrap things up by sharing an inspirational video by a doctor who’s reversed her multiple sclerosis through similar dietary changes. If you know someone with MS, please forward this to them. It could change their life!

Keep Reading »

This is part two in a continuing series on autoimmune issues and diet.

In part one I discussed the success I had with my client, Amy, in helping her with her rare autoimmune disease known as Behcet’s disease, by instilling the principles of traditional diets.

Today, we’ll hear from Amy herself on the work we did together. Keep Reading »

When Amy walked in my office for my free initial consult, I wasn’t sure I could help her. She came to me seeking help for a rare autoimmune disease called Behcet’s disease (pronounced Beh SHETS) which is characterized by inflammation in blood vessels throughout the body.

Autoimmune diseases are conditions where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. Multiple sclerosis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and parkinson’s are some of the more well-known autoimmune diseases.

Behcet’s disease is one of about 100 autoimmune diseases that afflict some 24 million Americans. That’s 1 out of every 12 Americans. And they afflict women more than men, 1 out of 9, to be exact. They are the number two cause of chronic illness in America and one of the leading causes of death for women under the age of 65.

Here’s the scary part. The incidence of autoimmune diseases has tripled in the past few decades.

Why? What’s going on? Keep Reading »

If you had told me back in college that I’d one day be doing traditional food cooking demos, I’d probably have said you were crazy. I didn’t even know what traditional foods were back then!

On the other hand, I did know a lot about late night 7-11 nachos, late night Denny’s breakfast specials and late night Taco Bell runs.

That, of course, is one of the many reasons I’ve learned about traditional foods.

When my health started crumbling in my late 20s, I went searching for answers.

Thankfully, I found some in traditional foods. Keep Reading »

In my last post I discussed my secret method of cooking when I’m in a rush. I call it the “whatever, good enough” method.

I use this method in many other aspects of my life. For example, interior decorating (one of the many reasons I’m not married).

Another area it suits me well is shooting videos for my blogs and You Tube page.

A few weeks ago I did a demonstration for my Get At The Roots class for how to make whey and beet kvass. I asked my friend to take a video with my iPhone. The sound is bad, the lighting is not good and the camera angle even worse.

But it’s good enough for you to learn a valuable tool for improving your health, in particular, your digestive health.

Beets help thin our bile so they are particularly hepful for liver and gallbladder issues. Keep Reading »

The defrosted stew meat had been sitting in my fridge for five days. I’d planned on making the stew this past weekend but got sidetracked. It was now Tuesday and it was now or never.

And by “now” I meant in the next 15 minutes before I had to meet with clients. After that, this very pricey, grass-fed stew meat would surely rot in my fridge as my schedule was chock full for the rest of the week.

I knew I didn’t have time to pull out a recipe book or be specific with measurements or ingredients.

So I whipped out the old “whatever, good enough” method of cooking. Keep Reading »