Now that the chilly winds & temps of winter are giving way to the beauty, hustle and bustle of spring & summer, let's stop a minute and plan for the health and nutrition we need for the flurry of non-stop gardening, hunting, fishing and vacationing. With Easter approaching, our hearts and thoughts need to turn to THE ONE who made us. 1Tim 6:17 says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;" (KJV) Since we live in the richest nation on earth, let us ponder the blessings and not take for granted the privileges of our earthly citizenship. Read the Wholy Thoughts section to be certain of your Heavenly citizenship which is for eternity!!! The Bible says in Jamess 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (KJV)

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
Heather Ramseth - akramseth@aol.com  25050 Glacier Highway, Juneau (99801) 907-789-4917

1~ ORDERING INFORMATION ~ For SPRING 2007, please submit your order form by MONDAY, APRIL 9th. This is a week earlier than usual, but we want to get the order here earlier in May, if possible. Like previous orders, be sure to take the 10% savings on consumables by meeting the APRIL 9th deadline. For snail mail customers, please return your order form to the team member in charge of your nearest grain depot. We’ll all do our best to work together to make this as smooth and efficient as possible. We are grateful for the stressful but successful fall order. I hope everyone received everything that was ordered. Our regional dealers did a great job. If you order on line, please request your preferred destination on the check out page.

2 ~ BREAD CLASSES ~ Let’s do one MONDAY, April 2th at 6:30 pm here in our home on Lazy Mountain and THURSDAY, April 5th at 1:30 pm in Anchorage. Katie Matson graciously offered her home - 12530 Snowbird, 349-1995. From the New Seward turn east onto Huffman, then right onto Northern Raven and then right onto Snowbird. Go to the 3rd house on the right. This is a great opportunity to get re-inspired to use your Mill & Bosch. Bring a friend & share all the wonderful advantages of whole grain bread baking. We will make pizza, hot cereal & cinnamon rolls along with the bread. Bring a pizza topping & a pie plate to take home your own batch of rolls.

EASTER BREAKFAST CLASS ~ Last year’s class was such fun, let’s do it again FRIDAY, APRIL 6th at 10:00 am here at our house. A tentative menu will include Kaiserschmarrn and Apricot Cream Cheese Muffins from Healthy Recipes, Breakfast Bread and Bagels from Hearth & Home, and blender smoothies. The cost is $5.00 per family. Please call to confirm a spot for any classes.

DELTA JUNCTION ~ BREAD CLASS Thursday, March 22nd at 6:00 pm and BREAKFAST CLASS Friday, March 23rd at 9:00 am. Contact Kathy Lambert for further details call 895-5117.

JUNEAU BREAD CLASS following the IDEA FAIR on WEDNESDAY, April 18th at 9:00 am at Chapel by the Lake, 11024 Auke Lake Way. Contact Heather Ramseth at 789-4917 for further details. Cost is $5.00 per family.

3 ~ VOTE YES FOR MARRIAGE ~ On April 3rd, we have the opportunity to make our wishes known to the Alaska Legislature how we feel about traditional marriage, same sex marriage, and health benefits given to same sex couples by the State of Alaska and the Municipality of Anchorage. A YES vote on April 3rd will tell your legislator you want a constitutional marriage amendment to reverse Court encroachment. The question on the Advisory Vote will say, “Shall the legislature adopt a proposed amendment to the state constitution to be considered by the voters at the 2008 general election that would prohibit the state, or a municipality or other subdivision of the state, from providing employment benefits to same-sex partners of public employee retirees?” Several times, we the people have spoken through our votes, defining marriage. Three times the Court thumbed their nose at us and overruled our mandate, giving homosexual couples health benefits. For further information about this IMPORTANT VOTE, contact Debbie Joslin at 895-4565 or go to www.voteyesformarriagealaska.org. Talk to your church friends and neighbors. The other side is surely garnering their votes!

4 ~ APHEA CONVENTION ~ Alaska Private and Home Educators Association announces its annual convention. If you have not ever attended, make plans for this wonderfully inspiring Christian Convention on FRIDAY & SATURDAY, APRIL 20th &21st. You will be so glad you did. After all the trials of homeschooling, Diana Waring, the featured guest speaker, will revitalize your resolve to be the best parent/teacher for your children. The Warings sum up their ministry focus in their mission statement: “To serve by encouraging, equipping, and educating families in an entertaining way.” She developed curriculums on the Bible and Ancient & Modern Civilizations, Church History, etc. Check out her website www.dianawaring.com and you will get excited about attending. For further information about the convention go to www.aphea.org. The evening program on Friday, April 20th is FREE and open to the public. This program will begin at 6:30 with a brief concert by the Chugiak Family Band followed by Diana’s message entitled “Box Free Living — Follow Me as I Follow Christ.”

5 ~ IDEA CURRICULUM FAIRS ~ Look for the Wholy Living table at the Juneau Fair on April 17th, the Anchorage Fair on the 23rd & 24th, and the Soldotna Fair on the 25th. We will have flyers in the handout sacks at each location.

GLUTEN FREE PRODUCTS ~ Wholy Living now offers a wide variety of gluten free mixes and ingredients, many packaged in an exclusive GF environment. If you know anyone with these needs, please send them our way. For a complete listing of our GF product line, please call me at 745-5639 to request a hard copy or go to the online store. Find the GF dropdown box & shop. We did a trial run shipment in February with excellent response. We will run this in conjunction with the regular order cycles now. I’ll keep all the GF items in a separate area to prevent cross contamination with our gluten grains.

AMARANTH is another small grain like millet. Its flavor is mild, sweet, nutty, and malt-like with a variance in flavor according to the variety being used. Since it has no gluten, celiacs can use it without worry. It can be cooked as a cereal, ground into flour, popped like popcorn, sprouted, or toasted. The seeds can be cooked with other whole grains, added to stir-fry or to soups and stews as a nutrient-dense thickening agent. One part amaranth flour to 3-4 parts wheat or other grain flours may be used. In the preparation of flat breads, pancakes and pastas, 100% amaranth flour can be used. Sprouting the seeds will increase the level of some of the nutrients and the sprouts can be used on sandwiches and in salads, or just to munch on.

To cook amaranth, boil 1 cup seeds in 2½ cups liquid, such as water or half water and half stock, or apple juice, until seeds are tender, about 18-20 minutes. For a breakfast cereal increase the cooking liquid to 3 cups and add raisins, dried fruit, allspice and some nuts.

QUINOA (pronounced Keenwa), like millet and amaranth, is another versatile gluten-free grain that can be cooked like rice, ground into flour for baked goods, eaten as hot cereal, or prepared like a pilaf with sautéed onions and peppers. Quinoa contains 16-20% protein, iron, calcium and phosphorus. Rinse it first to remove a bitter tasting protective coating, then use 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Works well in combination with millet and/or amaranth for a change from rice.

COOKIE SHEETS & 1.5# LOAF PANS ~ Our Chicago Metallic pans are so popular, we added a couple more to the line. Both the cookie sheets and the longer loaf pans have the same Sure Glaze Finish integrated into the pan for long life bakeware. Try them and you’ll find you’ll like them!! We will also have longer bread bags for the longer pans.

1 ~ NUTRIMILL ~ The knob on the back of your Nutrimill holds the base and the motor together. Remove the knob and lift the motor off the base. You may clean the base periodically, even submerging it in hot sudsy water. Just wipe off the outside of the motor housing, of course! What are the dials for?? The top dial on the Nutrimill controls the motor speed and the bottom one the texture of the flour. The general rule of thumb is to set the top speed control to the left (9 o’clock) for fine to medium flour and to the right (3 o’clock) 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 coarse flour or when grinding beans and corn. To expedite milling corn and beans, drop one handful at a time into the hopper.

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 ~ Save out a loaf size amount of bread dough, shape into bagels and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, drop bagels 2 at a time in 3-4 quarts of boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and place on wire rack. Brush with a mixture of egg white and water, dip in a topping of your choice and bake at 400º for 13 minutes on a sprayed cooking sheet. Serve immediately.

5 ~ I made a batch of spelt/soft white pastry bread, equal parts of each. I was amazed at the result! I figured the pastry berries wouldn’t have enough gluten for a fluffy bread, but I was wrong. If you only have pastry berries and spelt, use them. I have not tried it, but pastry berries with kamut would probably produce the same delicious loaves.

6 ~ Our Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar transforms into truely white powdered sugar for the more delicate treats.  Just pour ¼ cup in a coffee mill and let it whirl. Try an angel food cake with pastry flour and ‘powdered’ ECJ Sugar. It will vanish ASAP!

7 ~ Brenda Tuttle perfected plain Prairie Gold bread by adding 1 cup of instant potato flakes and 1 egg.

8 ~ To lower your fat intake, sauté vegetables and meats in a little water and/or soy sauce or pineapple or apple juice. You will be amazed how deliciously tender chicken and beefsteaks taste prepared like this. You won’t even miss the extra fat!

9 ~ Increase your fiber consumption to 30-40 grams/day for maximum health benefits. Fiber removes the toxins and wastes the liver filters from our system. These wastes go into the blood stream to be removed through the intestines. When we lack the needed fiber, it returns the blood to be recycled by the liver again. You don’t want your poor liver to continually be filtering the same wastes, do you? Here is a general guideline ~ whole grain bread 2 gm/slice, fruit 3 gm/piece, veggies 4 gm per ½ cup serving, and beans 7 gm per ½ cup serving. Every 14 grams of fiber effectively cuts 10% of your caloric intake for the day. Just ½ cup of cooked whole grains contain 2-4 grams of fiber depending on the grain. Use your grains like rice as a pilaf. One cup grain to 3 cups water is a good rule of thumb for cooking. Also, just 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds provides an additional 2.5 grams of fiber. What an easy way to increase fiber! For a double ‘blessing’ of fiber, dip the end of a banana in flax meal and even a little peanut butter for a great breakfast or snack.

10 ~ For easier digestibility and more nutrition, prepare your hot cereals the night before by grinding and soaking in water and then cook them in the morning. I’ll be studying how to soak flour for bread-making as well. More to come on this in the fall edition of the newsletter.

LIFE IN BALANCE
For those of you who have attended one of my classes, someone often asks if I am a 'total health nut.' My general response is that I try to keep my eating habits in balance, 85-90% healthy and 10-15% treats (desserts & a few crackers, etc) and I will die happy. I enjoy the sweet pleasures of life!!! Gloria & I are attending an 8-week class on cancer prevention with an emphasis on a plant-based diet. We are learning how to substitute veggies & beans for traditional meat dishes. We all would do well to incorporate these delicious changes into our diets. I know weight & bad cholesterol will decrease while energy & vitality will increase. However, I also believe, as I stated above, in a balanced life. While attending this class, I also reviewed Nourishing Traditions & came to some different conclusions from the total plant-based diet proponents. Our bodies do need the nutrients found in eggs, cheese, good milk & some meats. The traditional societies researched for this book prove the validity of balancing the food groups. Here is one of many excerpts that proves and substantiates this position. "Weston Price's studies convinced him that the best diet was one that combined nutrient-dense whole grains, with animal products, particularly fish.  The healthiest African tribe he studied was the Dinkas, a Sudanese tribe on the western bank of the Nile. They were not as tall as the cattle-herding Neurs groups, but they were physically better proportioned and had greater strength. Their diet consisted mainly of fish and cereal grains. This is one of the most important lessons of Price's research - that a mixed diet of whole foods, one that avoids the extremes of the carnivorous Masia and the largely vegetarian Bantu, ensures optimum physical development." (Pg 493) God told Peter in Acts 10:13 to rise, kill, and eat, when he let down the blanket with clean & unclean animals on it. He also brought the Israelites into a land filled with milk & honey. God created the earth with the animals & plants for our use. We are not to worship the creation, but wisely use it for our good.

	Whole Wheat Bread		Granola
	Many of you have asked if the bread recipe is on the website. HERE IT IS!!! THE Bread Class Bread Recipe		My Sister, Mary Kay, introduced me to home made granola. Here is the recipe you taste at the bread class. I don't measure, just dump. All these are approximate proportions. Thank You, Sis!!! You've delighted many folks with this tasty recipe.
	Spoon Bread
	Lalena's mentor, Betty (who died 2 years ago), shared many of her family recipes. I had not ever heard of Spoon Bread before. She made it for her husband using his mother's recipe. It is sort of like an unsweetened cornbread custard and you really do eat it with a spoon. Most people eat it savory - I like it sweet with honey or maple syrup on top. It's a great gluten-free recipe.

WE’RE SINGING ~ Does your family know the joy of singing together? We have such fun when we take the time to sing as a family or when friends come to visit. This wonderful book mixes some of the favorite old-time hymns with Scripture songs and new compositions. Purchase several copies and give your family an opportunity to worship and praise the Lord together. Maybe you’ll be inspired to share your ‘joyful noises’ with shut-ins or others who need the joy of the Lord. The cost is only $7.00 for 198 songs with notations of guitar chords.

HEALTH & NUTRITION — GOD’S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY INEPT by Kathleen O’Bannon Baldinger and Larry Richards is a fast & fun way to read about health from the biblical perspective. I like it because the authors continually quote many experts in the nutrition field; especially three we already recommend ~ Maureen Salaman, Rex Russell & Cheryl Townsley. The very first chapter covers the Foundation of the Bible Diet ~ whole grains! Other topics include each of the food groups, fat, sweets, cravings, weight loss, exercise, and fasting. Recipes and Tables in the back provide info on foods rich in several individual nutrients. My main objection to the book is quotes from the NIV instead of the King James Bible.

Nothing satisfies the body like a warm slice of freshly baked homemade bread. Nothing satisfies the soul like Jesus. In the gospel of John 6:32 b–35; 47–51 Jesus says...’my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.’ Then said they unto Him, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread.’ And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst...Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, He shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ Jesus willingly gave His flesh on the cross of Calvary, shedding His precious blood to pay our sin debt.

Note that Jesus said, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever:’ These powerful words came from Jesus’ own mouth, revealing His purpose for coming to this sin cursed earth, to be the Savior for all who come to Him. We have all heard the most famous verse in John…For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.16 Won’t you trust Christ to give you this eternal life?

Nothing else in this world satisfies. Nothing else in this world will give everlasting life. Many in this world think everlasting life comes from good works, good deeds, faithful service, church membership, or baptism. Romans 10:9 states That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That is it!! Believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of God’s precious Son. Jesus is all we need. Jesus alone is the door to Heaven.

The devil hates you and wants you in Hell with him. He always tries to confuse, destroy, and offer an empty substitute for salvation. Even our grocery store bread, for example, is a perfect illustration of what man has done to God’s wonderful provision for our bodies. Stripping the wheat of its power to strengthen & nourish our bodies, all the bran, germ, and nutrients are extracted, leaving the consumer with dead, bleached white powder with a few fake, chemical vitamins added for 'enrichment.' Don't be duped by the devil & his tricks. Anything he offers is lifeless, leading to a crash course ending in eternal destruction. Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. That is the plain and simple truth. Pray asking Jesus to forgive you of your sin, trusting Him & Him alone to give you eternal life. Now that you are saved, walk in truth.

John wrote in III John 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. We would have no greater joy than to assist you in a new walk with Jesus.