Cookbook - From My Kitchen to Yours

INTRODUCTION
By Pat Blasingame

Sometimes the direction of your life can change because of a particular set of circumstances, and you are never the same, neither is your life! And sometimes it affects everyone around you. Such is the case with the creation of Healthy Rewards, our health ministry.

In 1996 our youngest daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma cancer! Cancer was found in her bone marrow also which made her a level four! In desperation I cried out to God for His direction and His truth. Immediately He began to answer that prayer by leading us to raw food, more specifically, the Hallelujah Diet, food combining, Barleygreen , Herbal Fiberblend and other AIM products. We changed our diet and took Barleygreen along with our daughter to support her.

In six months time our daughter was in remission and in the best health of her life! And so were we! My chronic fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic allergies, and arthritis all disappeared! My husband Gene's, high blood pressure, arthritis, and allergies disappeared! And we both lost weight. People began to call and ask for advice to help themselves and their loved ones get well. I spent many hours on the phone trying to explain what we did and people would say why don't you right that down and send it to me. The ladies began to ask how to fix healthy meals and some even suggested that I give cooking classes but I didn't see how I could pull that together.

I did, however, develop a six week Healthy Living Course which I began to teach at my church. It covers the Ten Rules of Health in detail (correct diet, air, water, sunshine, exercise, sleep, rest & relaxation, emotional poise, love, creative, useful work) and is designed to help the everyday family make better choices at the grocery store and understand what the needs of the body are so they can all have better health. I also share some of the recipes I've developed.

In January of 2000, 1 was scheduled to teach this course at my local community college. The class didn't have enough people registered so it was canceled. However, the people that did register still wanted to take the course so I just called them and told them to come to my house. Then an idea started to form in my mind! I had a kitchen with good cookware, lots of kitchen tools, why not put together a menu from some of the recipes I had created and teach it along with the Healthy Living Course! The ladies were delighted to take part in a cooking course. And take part they did! Everyone chopped and diced and sauteed and baked. And then we ate it! That was the best part! That's how the cooking classes got started.

Then everyone who couldn't come to the cooking classes as well as those who could, began to ask when I was going to publish a recipe book. Well, here it is! I hope everyone who receives this book enjoys the recipes as much as I, my family and friends have. I must tell you though, I am not a professional Chef and this book does not have a lot of technical information in it. It is just a book full of my favorite creations along with some creations of a few close friends. These recipes are part of the transition from using bacon fat and meat drippings to olive oil and herbs to flavor food. I believe food should taste great as well as nourish the body. However, just remember that too much cooked food is still harmful and our diet should contain about 85% raw food per day!

I must say something about the dessert section. Don't overdo with desserts! Make these on special occasions, not every day! Our body was designed to handle the sugars from raw fruits that contain fiber and water as well as enzymes, vitamins and minerals. When a concentration of sugars found in desserts, (even if they're natural) enters the bloodstream, it is still hard on the body. However, I hope having a healthier choice will be of benefit to you.

ENJOY!!