Praise the Lord, we’ve reaped a good harvest, enjoyed a wet, wonderful summer, and nearly completed the newlywed’s house in Wasilla. God is faithful and we praise Him for all His blessings.

We thank the Lord for each family who handles Wholy Living in our place. Welcome on board two new team members, Kathy Lambert in Delta Junction & JoAnn Alvarez in Kodiak. Kathy is excited to hold bread classes & serve the good folks in Delta. I just returned from a delightful week on Kodiak Island, introducing families in Port Lions & Kodiak city to Nutrimills & Bosches. JoAnn all ready knows the ropes to bulk coop orders. She's excited to take on the grain depot position for Wholy Living. Again, mail your orders to the destination of your choice or I will forward your online store orders to your desired destination.

Jonathan & Sarah Loew
        May 13, 2006

Lalena Leigh - leighfamily@gci.net   118 Mountain View, Fairbanks (99712) 907-457-5763
Laurel Coombes - aklaurel@hotmail.com  Box 3141, Soldotna (99669) 907-394-3175
Katie Helkenn - mandmh@cvinternet.net  HC60 Box306, Copper Center (99573) 907-822-3469
Kathy Lambert - glambert@ideafamilies.org  HC 62 Box 5855, Delta Junction (99737) 907-895-5117
Margaret Loew - margaret@wholyliving.com  15091 Lazy Lady Lane, Palmer (99645) 907-745-5639
JoAnn Alvarez -  malvarez@ptialaska.net Box 3384, Kodiak (99615) 907-486-6246

1 ~ ORDERING INFORMATION ~ For FALL 2006, please submit the order form by MONDAY, OCTOBER 16th. Lord willing, the grain will arrive the week before Thanksgiving. Like previous orders, be sure to take the 10% savings on consumables by meeting the October 16th deadline. When ordering online, I will forward your order to your designated destination. For snail mail customers, please return your order form to the team member in charge of your nearest grain depot. Each one will consolidate her regional order and send the totals on to me. We’ll all do our best to work together to make this as smooth and efficient as possible.

2 ~ Upcoming CLASSES ~ Bread Classes: Monday, September 11th at 6:15pm in my home and Tuesday, October 10th at 10AM also in my home - for newcomers and seasoned bread makers alike. We serve Belgium waffles right at 10:00 then dive into the bread. Bring your pizza topping and a pie plate for the take & bake cinnamon rolls.  Also, we will have a bread class on Tuesday, October 10th at 6:00pm and Friday, October 13th at 6:00pm.

We’ll have a Bosch Cooking Class on Monday, October 9th at 6:00 PM. This is a more in depth marathon on using the Bosch Universal. The menu includes: Apple Fritter Bread Buns, Pizza Sticks, Oriental Chicken Wraps, Pecan-Cream Cheese Pie and/or a pumpkin pie, if time allows. The cost is $5.00 per family. Please call to confirm a spot for either class. Thanks!!!

3 ~ APHEA Convention, Friday & Saturday, October 6-7, at the Birchwood Community Church. This promises to be an inspiring event as APHEA marks its 20th anniversary. If you’ve never attended an APHEA Convention, you’re in for a real treat!! Coming from a Christian perspective, I always enjoy their workshops and inspiring guest speaker, as well as the Christian vendors. We’ll have a workshop as well as a table in the vendor hall. For registration info, go to www.aphea.org. See you there!

4 ~ Kodiak Class Schedule at Lighthouse Baptist Church, September 18 - 20th
Monday and Tuesday at 6:15 pm we'll serve delicious 7-grain Belgium waffles then at 6:30 we'll begin the bread class.  We'll make two batches of bread. We'll eat the first one at the class as bread & pizza. The second becomes take and bake cinnamon rolls. I'll also introduce the different whole grains and explain how to use them and their importance to our health. We'll also demo instant hot cereal. It is a very practical evening. Each family can bring a pie plate for the take home cinnamon rolls.

Tuesday at 10:30 am we'll have a Children & Mom's class.  We'll start by making Kid's Zucchini Lasagna (from Kid Smart), a batch of bread & then set up stations around the room so each child can make their own pear salad, pretzel initials (from bread dough), an Un-Candy Bar, and a celery wagon. We will need the moms there to help and supervise the stations.

Wednesday at 9:30 am we'll have a Mom's & Teens Bosch Cooking class.  This is a more in-depth class on using the Bosch Universal. The menu includes: Apple Fritter Bread Buns, Pizza Sticks, Oriental Chicken Wraps, Pecan-Cream Cheese Pie.

For the Kodiak classes, please RSVP as soon as possible by
e-mail to mheusser@gci.net or call Melanie Heusser at 486-0042.

5 ~ We have held the line for years on grain prices. However transportation costs hit us hard. We revised the price list. A couple items decreased, but most of the grain did go up a couple of $$$. To keep things in perspective — in 1996, a Prairie Gold bag was $20.00 and a Bosch Universal was $455.

6 ~Fall Special ~ Purchase a Bosch Universal and a Nutrimill and get a $75.00 credit towards an attachment.  Good while supplies last or until November 30th.  Slicer/Shredder - $55.00
                                                       Meat Grinder - $40.00
                                                       Food Processor - $30.00

In the spring, we introduced baking accessories. This fall, we are so excited to offer healthy baking alternatives — ORGANIC EVAPORATED CANE JUICE SUGAR, ORGANIC COCONUT OIL, and ORGANIC PALM FRUIT SHORTENING. (I almost feel like I’m sinning by recommending shortening.) See Lalena’s articles in the Comment Corner about our O.E.C.J. Sugar & Coconut Oil. Even though this shortening looks and feels like Crisco, it does not contain trans fatty acids which are known to increase bad cholesterol. Additionally, P.F.S. has been proven to improve the LDL/HDL ratio and it helps to lower cholesterol. My soft cookies, moist quick breads, and especially the delectable pie crusts bring smiles to all who indulge. The 30 pounds size seems like an overkill, but it has an 18 month shelf life and leaves no ‘coated throat’ feeling like Crisco. I generally use 20% less shortening than a recipe specifies, thus fewer calories.

We have two more kitchen tools that I use nearly every time I touch vegetables. Treat yourself to our no tears ALLIGATOR ONION CUTTER. With European quality tough construction and stainless steel blades, I dice up not only onions and peppers, but prepare julienne slices of zucchini, carrot, and apples for an instant salad, pizza topping or stuffing. The MINI-ALLIGATOR minces garlic or radishes. Both models feature a self-cleaning mesh. You will love them both!!

Another new item is the Belgium Flip Waffle Maker. Make a delicious whole grain breakfast fit for a king with this new compact waffle iron. With 1200 watts, it perfectly cooks every time with Belgium style nonstick plates. The adjustable temperature control allows you to choose your favorite ‘crispness.’ The indicator light signals when it’s set for batter and when it’s ready for the consumer.

A new dried fruit that my dealers requested is Dried Cranberries that are sweetened with apple juice.  The ladies said they are absolutely delicious, & can taste the difference between these & others available in AK!!  You can use them in any of the recipes from this newsletter.  I like to pulse mine a few times in the blender.

We are going to try to make bread bags available for $6.00/100 bags.  These are the same bags we use to make up 5 pounds of dough enhancer and dates.  Hopefully, our supplier can handle the volume.  I know many of you have requested bread bags.  They work well for me.

I appreciate Lalena sharing the following results of research she did on alternative sugar and coconut oil for our benefit!

Most of us are aware that sugar is the culprit for a host of problems such as obesity, degenerative diseases, alcoholism, depression, behavioral problems, kidney disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, learning disabilities, heart disease and endocrine dysfunction, to name a few. As our consumption of refined carbohydrates has increased so have our diseases. The food processing industry (America's largest industry) has been able to keep a lid on a great amount of scientific research that points directly to our sweet, addictive friend. Although we know we should decrease our time together, it's an amazingly difficult separation. In my quest to find more beneficial companions I have struggled to understand the truth about sweet substances. Sugar is sugar is sugar- that's what I always heard. What is the difference between honey, molasses, brown sugar, sucanat, fructose, raw sugar, etc.?  This is much more than I can fit into a paragraph and would be well worth you doing the research yourself. Want an interesting read? Try 'Sugar Blues' by William Duffy. "Nourishing Traditions" also has an enormous amount of information regarding the subject. Saying "sugar is sugar is sugar" is like calling all flour the same. We know that whole wheat flour (better yet, fresh ground whole wheat flour) is a completely different product than refined white flour, even though they both can honestly be labeled as "wheat flour". Yes, they both came from a wheat berry- but the process is everything. Same for sugar. Sugar cane and beets are both plants with vitamins, fiber, minerals and all the living stuff that all plants are made of. The process they undergo to refine them strips them of all that is alive and real. In fact, sugar is not just "empty" calories; it is actually "negative". In order for the body to digest refined sugar it becomes depleted of its own store of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. These refined sugars are called by many confusing names such as "raw", "natural", Turbinado, fructose, sucanat, concentrated fruit juice, and Florida crystals. All of these are refined and sometimes a bit of molasses added back for color.  I recently read an article mocking health food stores for carrying "healthy sugars". While it is true that all sweeteners will have a similar effect on the endocrine system in large amounts, some do retain their natural composition and are a source of vitamins and minerals, thereby not draining our reserves in order to digest them. Raw honey, maple syrup, stevia powder, date sugar, molasses, sorghum syrup and evaporated cane sugar would be in this category. I have recently experimented with a 25# bag of evaporated cane sugar juice. It is a bit darker and coarser than the fully refined white sugar and a tad bit less sweet, but it does a great job in all the places I normally use sugar. I have learned to substitute honey in many recipes, but sometimes it is not the man for the job. Evaporated cane juice gives the same texture and flavor to baked goods and worked great in making ice cream, jellies and jams. It still needs to be used in moderation, but I think you will find it to be a great substitute for the health robbing sugar crystal.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  Psalm 119:103

COCONUT OIL
The immensity of modern myths concerning dietary fat has left my noggin spinning! For years I have muddled through popular research articles and books and arranged our diets for the greatest benefit. So I thought. The last few years we have turned our pantry contents 180 degrees due to vast amounts of convincing facts, a few I would like to share here. I exchanged our colossal bottles of vegetable oils for butter, olive oil and coconut oil. The harsh extraction processing of oils includes high heat (230 degrees), enormous pressures and chemical solvents. These processes render oils harmful and load them with trans fatty acids and free radicals. The saturated fat I so diligently avoided is actually proven to have many health benefits (ask the much healthier generations before us). Coconut oil is full of lauric acid (the only other large supplier is mother's milk) and has antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Tropical oils (palm and coconut) are very stable and have a long shelf life- a good property for Alaskans. Coconut oil is two-thirds medium-chain fatty acids which are absorbed directly from the blood stream (not packed on the hips) for quick energy. It does not cause heart disease, put the blame on white sugar where it belongs! As I read and became more convinced by the obvious signs around me I started to search for good sources. It was a discouraging process as there are few choices to be found and the prices are exorbitant. Wholy Living is very pleased to be a good quality source of coconut oil at a fraction of supermarket prices. If you are interested in more info regarding fat/health/nutrition and the benefits of coconut oil I would once again recommend the book "Nourishing Traditions" or do a web search - most likely you will suddenly appreciate our amazing coconut oil prices.

1 ~ NUTRIMILL ~ The top dial on the Nutrimill controls the motor speed & the bottom one the texture of the flour. The general rule of thumb is to set the top speed control to the left (9:00) for fine to medium flour and to the right (3:00) for coarse. As usual the bottom dial should be set at noon for fine to medium flour and all the way to the right for the coarse flour or when grinding beans and corn.

2 ~ BOSCH UNIVERSAL ~ Hints for a ’healthy’ Bosch — After washing your Bosch bowl, don’t set the bowl right back on the base. Water will drip down from the center post into the motor. I place the round center lid over the motor mount and place the bowl on the lid. Then the water drains onto the lid instead of into the motor. DOUGH GUARD — Always remove the dough guard when using the whisks or cookie paddles. Only use the dough guard with the dough hook!! BLENDER — If you combine liquids and frozen fruit or ice cubes in the blender, ’jog on the M’ several times first, then go to speed 3. This will keep the drive piece in good shape.

3 ~ CALL FIRST!!! PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO FIX YOUR OWN MILL OR BOSCH, if it malfunctions. Call 800-mybosch and ask for Dave. He really likes Alaskans. The mill has a lifetime warranty, so Dave will fix it. Also, only mill grain and beans, not oily food like seeds or rolled grains.

4 ~ OATS ~ Only put oat groats through your mill, not rolled oats, quick oats, Quaker oats, or 7-grain rolled. It will stop up your mill!!!

5 ~ For variety, throw a handful of spelt into your traditional turkey soup and let it simmer away.

6 ~ Blend a shriveled orange in the blender and add to bread or cookies. If the peel is moist you don’t need to remove it. Blend craisins with the orange makes delicious bread, bagels or cookies as well. See the 9-grain bread recipe.

7 ~ EASY SAUERKRAUT ~ In a quart jar, place one teaspoon salt and sugar and fill with boiling water. Pack shredded cabbage in tight. Fill with water. Put on lids and let sit for six weeks undisturbed in an outbuilding. Don’t use soft water.

8 ~ HIDDEN SUGAR ~ What we perceive as healthy, may contain exorbitant amounts of sugar or sodium. Be a label reader. (4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon.) Many yogurts have ¼ cup of sugar in an 8 oz. container; fruit punch has 32 grams or 8 tsp. for each 8 oz. glass; a power bar has 20 grams or 5 tsp. per bar.

9 ~ Do your loaves sometimes look done on the outside but remain a little doughy on the inside? Release the loaf from the pan and poke it with a thermometer. When it reaches 180 degrees, it’s done. If the temp is less than that continue baking a few more minutes. We carry a thermometer just for this job.

	Sunshine Cookies		Hobbit Seed Cakes
	Originally copied from a Milkman carton, I like this variation of . . .		Lalena received this recipe from our hospitable friend, Sandy, in Valdez. She tweaked them a bit in order to add our ever-present favorite flaxseed. A great trail mix in a cookie sort of treat. Wonderful way to use all those seeds you get from the co-op.
	9-Grain & Seed Heart Healthy Bread
	I revised a couple of recipes to create this yummy bread.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Do you want to know God? You will find Him revealed in His Word, the Bible. Hebrews 11:6 states, “. . . He that cometh to God must believe . . . that he is a rewarder of them that DILIGENTLY seek him.” Reading more of God’s Word and spending more time with Him in Prayer is the key. We cannot know God without spending time with Him. The Bible not only reveals the mind of God and gives us direction and answers for life and happiness both for this life and life hereafter, we must not forget that the privilege to hold it in our hands came at the sacrifice of many peoples’ lives in writing it, translating it, and printing it. The more I read, the more I cherish God’s Word. Since God created and designed us, we need to follow His instruction manual. No other volume compares to it in any way. The Bible is a supernatural book. It has power to transform lives, attitudes, and hearts because its Author lives in each born-again, blood-washed saint to guide, fill, and EMPOWER to walk “in newness of life.”

What can be said about the Bible is endless, but this little quote says a whole lot in as concise a manner as I have seen. It deserves our thoughtful meditation and praise to the Almighty.

THE BIBLE

The Bible reveals the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true and its decisions are unchangeable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in judgment, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents. Read II Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Wholy Yours,
Margaret Loew