The eclectic learner

Hello! One of my children's favourite treats is a fruit roll, or fruit leather. This is made by preparing any smoothie and then dehydrating it until it's a soft and pliable fruit roll. If by mistake you dehydrate it too much and it becomes too hard, don't worry! You have just made your first batch of fruit crisps - delicious! To make the fruit roll in the photographs, I made two smoothies: one with peaches and one with strawberries (fresh or canned is your choice, of course keeping in mind that fresh doesn't contain added sugar and it's probably yummier). When your smoothies are ready, pick up the teflon sheet of your dehydrator and spread a very, very thin layer of olive oil or coconut oil, using perhaps a silicon brush. Slowly pour one smoothie occupying only one area of the dehydrator tray (the centre or one half). Then pour the other smoothie, avoiding mixing the two. Now to have some fun use a fork or any tool that won't scratch the teflon sheets, and gentl...

Good afternoon! Many people would like to learn how to dehydrate their food so they can preserve it. Others would love to learn some dehydrated raw food recipes. I am posting here some bits from my book, "Back to Basics", where an entire chapter is devoted to dehydrating. Happy reading! How do you use dehydrators? It’s quite simple; there are detailed instruction books, but anyway just slice fruit or veggies to achieve slices of 2 mm, spread them evenly on the tray and keep going until all the food is sliced and ready to be dehydrated. Then plug in/turn on and set the temperature to medium (for most foods), low for herbs and high for meat. That’s it. It’s easier to set the dehydrator before going to bed and when you wake up everything is ready.  Create your very own “ready meals” cheaply Regarding soups, you can prepare a soup roll up, make it really dry and brittle, then put it in a good blender to powder it and then store it. If you are good at cooking you can create your v...

Good evening! As we are soon starting a second round of war  against Candida, I thought we would first of all ditch wheat, the great cause of inflammation in so many people. This is because modern wheat has been crossed pollinated zillions of times, to achieve a highly productive, dwarf plant which is completely different from the ancient wheat that people used to eat, say, sixty years ago. The new wheat we eat now, according to Dr. Davies (author of the best seller "The wheat belly") contains something like 37% of gluten instead of the old,3%, plus it contains a substance called I think glialine, which is an opiaceous. Ooops. This means 'addictive': the more wheat you eat, the more wheat you crave. Now that you know what sparked our decision to ditch wheat for a while, don't feel guilty if you do eat it: apparently not everybody reacts badly to it. So, here we have our recipe for wheat free, crispy and crunchy crackers. Spelt crackers Ingredients: 500 gr. spelt f...

In the last couple of months we have really grown to like this green smoothie, so it's time to share the recipe. Green Smoothie Ingredients: - a couple of leaves of kale (without the hard bit in the middle) - Apple juice or other fruit juice you prefer,  filling 1/4 of the Vitamix jug - 3 ripe bananas - a handful of almonds - optional, 1 bananas and 3 pears instead of 3 bananas - optional, fresh and tender lettuce instead of kale - optional, a bit of crushed ice Preparation: Put kale and apple juice in the blender and mix until the liquid is perfectly smooth Add the other ingredients, then mix If you wish, add a bit of ice but don't crush it too small Pour and enjoy!

It looks like everything I do is for the others and I keep the rubbish stuff for myself. Mmm. Years ago...again.....a friend of mine got married and was about to move to the USA with her young husband, who comes from Hawaii or Tonga, sorry can't remember, just a robust guy with very exotic looks. I got thinking about the beautiful environment where he came from and I chose a fish pattern in a cotton fabric, to make a cute apron for her. I know that she's a good homemaker....and I hope she still wears my apron! I also made a Japanese one but I forgot to take a photo (typical of me!) Franz

When a friend of mine had a baby girl, who then became a pretty toddler and a young girl, I loved making her little presents. This is one of them. It's knitted in acrylic yarn on my Passap Knitting machine (which has  a double bed). I added the fringes and some sequins as this girl loves sparkly things (I do, too). It was fun to make and definitely something that most people can make in one day or two. Franz

Many years ago a friend donated me a strange fabric in a weird violet hue, and it was a really tough fabric. I really didn't know what to do with it. In the end I made a large, embroidered shopping bag, and also a little bread bag (embroidered) where to slid in those French baguettes we used to eat. Sadly, when we were diagnosed with a wheat allergy we found out that we can't eat the majority of artisan breads as they all contain milk in some form. So eventually I gave away the baguette bag and also made 5 more, which I donated to friends. So, fabric can always be used for fun things! Franz

When a friend had a baby girl, I was dying t do something girly for her as I had no daughters then. I had a look in my fabric pile and I found just what I was looking for. Without thinking about measurements I just put together this really silly dress and I sent it to my friend. She actually liked it! I was amazed. Here it is: have a laugh! Franz

Five years ago I designed and made an Indian dress using a white fleece blanket that was on offer in our local supermarket. It was just a fun project but I ended up adding a fringe, beads and the lot, plus some embroidery, and I even lined the entire dress with satin. When it was finished and I tried it on, it was like being enveloped by a warm white cloud. I loved it and I tend to wear it once a year, when it snows. :) Wicked sense of humour, I know. That dress is special to me also because in the month when I worked on it I became pregnant with my now five ear old daughter, Kim. Making the dress was fun and it costed me only £5,00 for fabric and probably £5,00 for beads. There is so much we can do when we have time, passion and a good idea. I'm not saying that you should go around dressed like American Indians though! Franz

Good evening! I just wanted to share a really good recipe which is helping us to eat more greens effortlessly. Not many people would eat a kale salad, but guess what: a kale smoothie can be rather tasty. Just mix the following the blender, in this order: 1/2 lt fruit juice (apple juice works well) 3 leaves kale then add: 3 bananas Blend for 1 minute if you have a Vitamix, and for 3 for less powerful blenders. It's a rich, creamy drink that my children love. And it's packed with vitamins and proteins, with no added sugar. Yum!

I have signed up for the Herbal Nutritionist course at the School of Natural Healing in Utah. One of the books I have to study as part of my curriculum is "Eat to live" by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. I'm only on page 140 but I can see all the myths about meat and dairies debunked. The discovery that even a humble Romain Lettuce leaf contains more proteins than steak has been the highlight of my day. Plus Joel Fuhrman quotes massive scale studies proving once and for all that if a person gets more than 10% of his calories from animal products, that person risks cancer, heart attacks and metabolic disease far more than other people. He suggests that we don't look at the media to learn about health. Guess who pays for those articles pushing us to buy animal products? My breakfast smoothie today had almonds, bananas, an entire lettuce, cinnamon, a pear and a few dates. It was full of vegetable proteins and it sustained me from 7 a.m. to 12:00. (With no low sugar headache...

Nowadays most children can't do anything "naughty" or they instantly get labelled with autism, asperger's etc which is connected, by the way, to a leaky gut syndrome. Sometimes just cutting off dairies the behaviour will return to normal and guess what, you don't need cow's milk for your bones, greens will give you calcium. Opps I shouldn't say that because of course there is a lot of money in the dairy industry. Have a look at what happened to a little boy when he had his dairies taken away. Guess what? His diagnosis of  Asperger’s Syndrome, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and possibly Tourette’s Syndrome is no longer valid. He is now normal. Just how many children do we have who are suffering emotionally and could get better by cutting dairies? And what about wheat, gluten, corn and soy, the big four causes of problems? Read along.... http://dogtorj.com/testimonials/the-glaring-example/ T...

Fork over knives: why we've been brainwashed about our diet Today we were stunned by this video produced by two medical doctors. Watch and prepare to be surprised! It is worth every minute of your time - we promise. There is a scientifically proven connection between an animal-based diet and cancer/metabolic disease. The host talked about Japan. Japan prostate cancer cases: 18 a year. USA  prostate cancer cases: 14.000 a year. What's the difference? Lack of meat and dairies in the Japanese diet. (They do eat fish) The same concept of the benefits of being careful with meat was clear when Hitler confiscated all the cows from the Norwegians (largely meat and dairy eaters) As soon as he confiscated them, their rates of cancer, diabetes, stroke etc dropped. When Hitler died….and they ate cows again, the disease went UP. And just WHO is sitting today on the board of the US government telling us what to eat and encoring wide use of animal products? Kraft,...

I must say that this course has changed my life. My family and I have not been to the doctor since I completed it last year.  Today I found a great movie where two medical doctors prove Dr. Christopher right: animal products are the main cause of modern disease. Can I dispute with statistics… .? Fork over knives - vegan is best, really

In Back to Basics I explore the techniques used to make consumer think that they are getting value for  money. What we are getting is container that are just the same size as usual, although their inner content has been shrinking for years. Not sure I can prove it? Pick up you breakfast cereal box. Which box of cereals is cheaper? The big one or the small one? They are both priced £ 1.65 per box, and they are both 26 pence per 100 grams. You would think that the big one must be cheaper. More product, same price. Right? Wrong. Have a think....and now look below. Here is typical box of corn flakes. Now, let's see what's inside it. Oops, it's not quite full. Now we take the contents off, and there is a bag, 2/3 full of corn flakes. Next, we empty that bag into the carton box and we draw a line to mark just how much of the box is filled by the flakes.  Then we cut off the extra carton and we remodel the box to fit the amount of food inside it, ...

Raw  date syrup serves 2 cups / approx. 280 calories per 1 cup serv. approx. macronutrient breakdown: fat 0g / carbs 76g / protein 2g Ingredients  10 Medjool dates, pitted (or 20 normal dates, pitted) 1- 3/4 cup water 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice Method Place all ingredients in a blender and process for a few minutes until smooth and completely blended. Start off slowing to allow the dates to break up initially, and then build up the speed. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Franz's verdict: Guys, this recipe rocks. Of course it didn't last 3 weeks in the fridge. We ate it all in one day! I found this recipe it here:  http://zomtbakes.blogspot.com/2010/06/raw-natural-sweetener-date-syrup.html Apparently, it's well-known in Israel.

How do you self publish a book? I am asked this question quite often now, soI have decided to put my little experience in writing to help you out. Here is the link you want: https://www.createspace.com/ I worked out lots of information after signing as much of the info only comes out after having a title etc and going through the whole process. For example the speed of the proof and the price are only found out in the very end of the order... So, let's go in order. To self publish a book you need to create an account with "Create space", which is the publishing arm of Amazon. Then you choose a title, you are given a free ISBN number, and you upload your own cover and your contents in pdf file. You can do this for free or you can you their (paid) services to create a cover and proof-read the book. You can also use their free templates (useful for margins, headers and page breaks). Usually people create the book in .doc and then upload it in .pd...

For years friends and acquaintances have asked me questions about self reliance. After much research and pretty much repeating the same things I thought, 'That's it, I'm going to put the information together in a bundle and they can have it as a book.' This is how back to Basic was born. It's designed to help you if you are a beginner and have no clue about self reliance. Looking at the general state of the economy, it's a good idea to organise our lives to live more frugally. Plus, this book will be great for my children, when they grow up and try to remember how to do things. Right? Here are some of the topics: why we are in debt smart shopping budgeting dehydrating gardening sprouting home-made toiletries smart shopping for Christmas clever and cheaper ways to have fun You can buy it in paperback or as a Kindle.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Back-basics-make-through-times/dp/146641152X Back to Basics Get started with your self rel...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Back-basics-make-through-times/dp/146641152X When I wrote my book, Back to basics, I quickly realised that I couldn't write everything people need but just the top things, the very basics, unless I had the YellowPages in mind. So many topics can be studied more thoroughly by looking at the links I suggested in the book. For those of you who asked (you know who you are) here are the links! Happy reading, Franz Website where people give away all sort of things in their area, from fridges to toys  http://ilovefreegle.org/about/ Find out the alternative to expensive numbers in this site: http://www.saynoto0870.com How to make a skirt using a t-shirt http://www.cutecircuit.com/30secondskirt/ Gustavo Dudamel at the Proms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vwZAkfLKK8 Unicef report: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf Survival of Salmonella Copenhagen in food bowls following contaminat...