Canker Sores, Cold Sores, Chicken pox, Shingles, Herpes Virus

The other day I came across a copy of something I had found while browsing through Monica's Feel Good Cookbook and it caught my attention since I was so vulnerable to cold sores and canker sores. I have tried essential oils, which are also helpful, but I thought if this could treat them internally, it would be all the better:
"When you feel any of these forms of herpes virus coming on (Canker sores, cold sores, chicken pox, shingles), immediately take 4-6,000 mg L-Lysine tablets, 1-2 cayenne capsules (capsaisin found in cayenne helps shut down herpes zoster virus. A new drug called 'Zostrix' has been developed containging this component of cayenne). Then try this little experiment. For the next 24-48 hours avoid all foods containging the amino acid "Arginine" which promotes the growth of herpes viruses. They are: carob, chocolate, coconut, dairy products, chicken, gelatin, oats, wheat and white flour, soybeans, almonds, cashews, refined sugar, and citrus. Instead, eat foods high in another Amino Acid, "Lysine" which inhibits herpes viruses: Eggs, fish, lima beans, vegetables, potatoes, and red meat. If you feel the cold sore ignite and hour or more after a meal review what you ate to see if you've just fueled the virus with Arginine. Kind of a fun way to minimize the public performance of this ornery virus.
"Just recently our family has discovered for ourselves the effectiveness of a permanent homeopathic remedy for chronic cold sores made by Deseret Biologicals. It costs about $50, but is worth it to be done with sores for good. Look for it online where homeopathics are sold."
Within about an hour of glancing at this in my cookbook, I felt a cold sore coming on. I had cayenne on hand, but not L-Lysine. So I took the cayenne and followed the diet for almost a whole day, but since it was a holiday and a birthday, I didn't stick with the diet much longer, but I did make it to the store and bought some L-Lysine. This combination of half-efforts was enough to keep my cold sore small and noticeable only to me.

Are you a mom and losing your hair?

Cod liver oil.  Monica's been telling me about this one for about 4 years now, and it has been in the back of my mind....or more like the back of my throat gagging me....FINALLY about a month ago Sara let me try some of hers.  I just took it straight from a spoon and had a little juice to wash it down, and I could handle it fine, though the taste of all the oils lingered for a while ( I think it was lemon flavored).  Then Monica showed me her trick...put a little milk in your mouth, then squirt the 1/4 teaspoon of the fermented cod liver oil in your mouth and swallow.  the fat in the milk helps take all that oil down.  Because mine is cinnamon flavored, I am left with the slight taste of a christmas cookie when I'm done.  THE MIRACLE:  after only 4 days I saw a significant difference in the amount of hair I was collecting in my hands while showering.  After only one week, I cut my hair loss by at least two-thirds.  Pretty amazing.  Sondra talked about this in her blog post a little while ago too. I also read that it's good for my nursing baby girl, and the boys take it every day too.  Marshal won't let me forget. Thanks, Monica, for yet again teaching me ways to better mine and my families health!

I use the "Cinnamon tingle" kind, not the 'antioxidant free' that's shown here, but this was the best picture I could get.  

Quinoa and Black Beans

So, When I had Brit at the hospital, they had this "southwestern side dish with blackbeans" that I ordered with  my meal once.  Turns out it was Quinoa and Blackbeans and it just hit the spot, so I ordered it as often as I could and have been craving it for a while now.  I finally got to the store and bought some Quinoa ( the smith's by us didn't sell it, which is wierd, because Quinoa is a pretty common item) anyway, we made this the other night, even SHELDON was licking the pot...the recipe says it makes enough for 10, but it was exactly enough for our family.  Luke and Marshal loved it too.  ALSO, just in case you didn't know, Quinoa is a perfect protien, SO it's really good for you.  ENJOY!

The Recipe:

1 tsp Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed or peeled and chopped

3/4 cup uncooked Quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp. ground Cumin

1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper

sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste :)

1 cup frozen corn kernals

2(15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained ( we think one can is just right, if you really love the beans put in two)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro ( awesome, but still REALLY good without it)

Directions: 

heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.  Mix quinoa into the saucepan then cover with chicken stock.  Season with Cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. 

Stir corn into the saucepan and continue to simmer about 5 minutes.  Mix in the black beans and cilantro.  Use as a side or your meal

* I'll be adding Quinoa to my food storage :)



Photography lesson# 8- On Camera and External Flash

OK everyone, this is my last lesson. I hope you have learned a lot. At least I know Susie has and Sondra has learned about lighting which is actually the thing that will most make your pictures better. I still want to see more pictures when you get the chance.

On Camera flashes are built in flashes that automatically go off when the camera meter senses that it is too dark. Some are built right into the camera and some are pop up flashes. Most photographers try to avoid using these because they create “deer in the headlight” type photos with dark backgrounds. I know that I have never been real happy with mine, but I would rather have those pictures than not. All those years that I was using mine, I wish I would have known of a few tips that can make them more helpful.

On Camera flashes:

1-      One of the best ways to use on camera flashes is for fill flash. Most cameras have fill flash, just make sure you read your manual and know how to manually turn it on. Fill flash is when you are shooting on a bright sunny days and you can see that there will be dark shadows on your subject. You will manually turn on your fill flash and be able to brighten up those dark shadows. Flash strengths   are all a little different though and you will have to pay attention to how close or far away you are, to get the correct amount of fill.

2-      Other great uses for on camera flashes are to stop or freeze motion of nearby moving subjects that are in low light or to emphasize a foreground subject on a gray or overcast day. That would include brightening a subject in front of a sunset.

3-      To stop the motion of falling rain drops or snowflakes.

                                              Emerald took this picture with her point and shoot

External Flashes:

An external flash is one that you can manually connect to the top of your camera, but then the flash on top will swivel. This makes is possible to diffuse the light in the room. You can bounce the light off of different walls or even the ceiling. You will want to make sure it is the right model for your camera.

So how do you meter manually with an external flash?  You would set your ISO and aperture like you normally would and then set your shutter speed last. Your flash will light up your foreground but your shutter speed is going to decide what the other ambient light in the room looks like. If you want to have a more natural lit up back part of the room, then you will want a slow enough shutter speed to lighten it up. If you have a faster shutter speed then your foreground subject will be lit up and the room darker. The camera’s have a maximum sync mode of around 250 so you won’t be able to set your shutter speed any higher than that. I like to try around 1/25 at first and then check my picture and compensate. Remember that your flash will be helping your shutter speed freeze motion and so you won’t have the blur you might have otherwise had at the slow of a shutter speed.

If you have an external flash you will want to set it to take into consideration the ambient light in the room and so if you have a Nikon it would be TTL BL or Canon ETTL. You can also set the light compensation on the flash. Start at 0 and then see if you need to go higher or lower. Mine goes up and down in 1/3 increments. So I just experiment until I like it.

These photos were taken at night with the flash bounced off the back wall behind me. ISO 640, f/4, 1/60

I haven’t had my flash very long and so I still have a lot of experimenting to do with it, but so far I have loved the results! I know you can buy diffusers that attach to your flash also to give you that soft look.

Reflectors: Reflectors reflect light onto the face to give you that little extra boost you might need. You can buy reflectors. Different colors will give you different looks; you can use fences, doors, walls or other things to reflect light. For example, we could have used that white door on the White’s shed when the light was shining on it. You can also use just plain, old foam or poster board. Just remember that distance and angle is what matters most when using reflectors. If it’s too close it will wash out the face. If it’s too far away it won’t help you. You would also want to make sure that the angle is such that the light reflects evenly on the face.

The flash was bounced off the ceiling at night with Abby’s photo – ISO 640, f/4, 1/60 and a silver reflector was used with Megan’s in the morning with the room lit fairly well, but she was not facing the window- ISO 640, f/4, 1/25 (can you tell I sometimes forget to change my ISO?)

Assignment:

Experiment with whatever flash you have. If it is on camera, try some fill or rain shots. If you have an external flash, experiment with bouncing it off the different walls and the ceiling. Try using a reflector even if it is only some poster board. 

Some Extra tips-

1-      When shooting people with glasses, have them angle their heads to one side or the other and you won’t get glasses flare. Or you can take two pictures of them one with glasses and one without and fix it in photo shop. Scott Kelby’s book tells you how.

2-      Try setting up your sprinklers on some flowers or some subject and get some rain shots. Try stopping the rain with flash and then try a longer shutter speed without the flash and maybe a tripod to get long raindrops. Post your best shots on the blog.

Jason Wynn

Welcome #65

Jason Wynn Stout was born May 6th, 2011 2:46 pm. An early birthday present for Adam.

He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. At first he looked like Tyson, and has Tyson's shape but a few minutes later he was all Lincoln.

Delivery went well and LaRae said it was her easiest. He also is latching on well which is a miracle to LaRae. He is so strong, and the nurses said he has amazingly developed muscles. He also had a huge head which is a common theme for LaRae's children. 

Anyways everyone is healthy and coming home today.

Photo shoot

I took Amanda out and did a stylized shoot. I found this hat at a thrift store and thought...this would look to cool as a derby hat. Then I needed a model and a horse. I grabbed Amanda and asked a neighbor to borrow a horse. It was raining but I liked the light. It was fun. Also I just started a photo blog. Go HERE to see more.