Kale Days!!!

Greetings Family!!

Hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying the start of this fall season.  As the weather changes so does my dinner menu.  I use the oven and slow cooker more for those cold weather meals.  One thing that I decided to keep with me through the fall and winter is Kale!!  Now we all know that Kale is one of the best super foods.  Dawn talks about it almost as much as her nurtribullet if that is possible lol!  So…I wanted to share a quick and easy recipe.  And here we go:

Heat some olive oil (can also use coconut oil if you prefer) in a pan.  I usually just break apart my washed and dried Kale leaves and add them to the oil.  Just like you would sautee spinach.  Add your seasoning of choice (for me salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder).  I add a few tablespoons of water and put top on to steam the Kale.  Only for a minute or two because I want the Kale to still be a little crunchy.  Don’t sautee all the vitamins out lol!  Then for me the most important ingredient…some red wine vinegar!  I usually put a lot because it gives it a great tart twang (say that fast!) but start out with a little to see how you like it.  And family…that is it!  It is such a great side dish for meat or fish and it takes 10 minutes to prepare.  When I cooked it last I made it with poached salmon which I put on top of some spicy grits with the Kale on the side!  Family, I am not a chef but pretend to be one at home.  Enjoy!!

My MS Testimony!

Some of you may or may not know that I have MS.  I’ve shared it in my book, Moving Through Opened Doors, but other than that I tell people If it “comes up”.  I’m not sensitive or private about it, its just not something that I let define me.  Today I just felt the need to share because I believe there is something in my testimony that may help you.  

I always talk about the Pooka story and how the business started because I got sick. Drs. couldn’t find anything wrong with me so, I decided to change my diet so that maybe I would feel better.  I started reading labels of everything I ate, then I started reading my body product labels.  I realized that I didn’t want those chemicals in my system, so I started making my own products and that’s how Pooka  began.  But after years of feeling sick on and off, I was diagnosed 7 years ago with Multiple Sclerosis.  A lot of people don’t know exactly what that is, so heres the quick definition. Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision.  

When I was first diagnosed the Drs. told me my best chance was to go on the medication right away!  But after research I learned that the medicine wouldn’t cure the disease, just possibly slow it down.  I couldn’t imagine filling my body with medication for the rest of my life so I decided instead to go the holistic route.  I have a great Dr, who treats me with supplements, vitamins, tonics, minerals along with nutrition, acupuncture and mind and body work.  I also do some yoga, meditation and positive affirmations. The main thing for me is my prayer and my faith. Now, I’ve had some struggles over the years, including some chronic paralysis. There are periods when I’m very sick, but I’m still here!  I try to stay upbeat and not let it get me down and any of you who know me know that I LOVE to laugh!  I believe laughter is medicine, so I get a lot of that :-)  

I visit my neurologist every 6 months and take my results to my holistic Dr. for treatment.  6 months ago, my MRI results were not good and the disease was progressing.  My neurologist told me without hesitation, that I NEEDED to go on the medication.  I admit, I was a upset but I took the results to my holistic Dr and we agreed that we’d change some things in my diet and become more aggressive with treatments and give it another 6 months.  We agreed that, in 6 months, if there is more progression that maybe, just maybe we’d consider the medication.  This last 6 months, I listened to what he told me to do and stayed in prayer.  

You know that nutrition is important to me, I’m always talking about what we should be eating, what things we shouldn’t be eating, why we should go organic, blah, blah, blah, LOL!  But it’s such an important part of my life and I believe that Good nutrition is powerful and consuming healthy, organic food can keep illness away.  You all know how much I LOVE my nutribullet @thenutribullet. So during this 6 months I’ve really been juicing lots of fruits and veggies, trying to stick to a healthy diet, reading my bible and praying without ceasing.

Last week I went for the results of my MRI, my neurologist always tells me that the reason that I need to be on the medication is once you get an MS scar, that’s it.  It can’t be reversed, so whatever damage is done by it is permanent.  He pulls out my MRI brain results and announces that in the last 6 months there is no progression.  I was very happy, but he said, “Although thats good, once you have scarring we can’t fix that, you should still go on the medication.”  So now he pulls out my neck and cervical spine results, for me this is where I’ve had most of my damage.  He stops and just looks at me and says, “Not only has it not progressed, but you’ve had improvement....that doesn’t happen...”  Then he got up and my neurologist said, “Wow...Give me a hug!”  

I know that this is a lifelong battle but I had to share this testimony because GOD IS GOOD! If I never got sick, I would have never started this business or had the Many, Many, Many blessings and opportunities that I’ve received!  Hey, I’ve gotten to be on TV, the Radio and on the cover of a magazine!  How can I ever be mad about my illness, when GOD has blessed me through it! And here is what I want you to take away. 

1. There is a testimony in every test!  
2. Prayer works!
3. I believe there is always a silver lining you just have to look for it!
4. NUTRITION is key!  Care about what you put in your body.
5. Have Faith!
6. Stay positive, I believe your thoughts will create your reality.
7. Repeat positive affirmations every day! ( I always start my day stating that I am healthy and healed!)
8. Laugh a lot!  
9. Encourage someone every day, you never know what someone may be going through.
10. Buy a Nutribullet, LOL!
11. Laugh some more!!!

Drivin Miss Dawnie!!

Hey Pooka family!  I got a notice in the mail and realized it was time to renew my license.  Of course I thought, “Okay, I’ll mail this next week!”  Well next week turned into the next couple of weeks and when I went to drop it in the mail, I noticed there was no envelope.  After further inspection I realized I couldn’t renew by mail!  Ugh! So now it’s getting close to renewal time and I have to go to DMV.  After dropping off some Pooka I decide to drive over to DMV and get it done.  My renewal date was the 31st  and it was the 30th!  When I got to DMV,obviously I had a memory lapse and forgot that now you need 6 points of ID!  I had nothing, so I just got right off the line and decided to go in the morning.  Now, its the 31st last day to renew, so I packed my bag and set out to DMV.

The previous day I had seen people getting thrown off the line for have the wrong papers, or wrong this or wrong that!  I knew that wouldnt be me because I was prepared.  Besides my birth certificate, passport, pseg bill, credit card statements I ALSO HAD a picutre of my hand print that I made in kindergarten, the first tooth I ever lost, my high school year book, AND my 3rd grade report card!  That’s right DMV, I am DAWN FITCH and I have all the stuff to prove it.  Finally it was my turn and I went up to the counter with all of my items.  I was so nervous because the one thing I didn’t have was my social security card, I’d lost it years ago.  So I handed the woman all of my items and held my breath.  The wait was nerve wracking!  Would I be denied a license? would I have to take the test all over again? would I be resigned to taking the bus?! Finally she handed all of my paperwork back and told me to move on to section 2!! Yay!! I did it!  Now the funny part was when she handed back the pile of papers I gave her, she also gave me back my social security card!! I just looked at her!  Was this some kind of trick?  Where did she get that from?  I didn’t realize that my social security card had been inside my folded birth certificate for years!  Who goes to DMV and actually finds identification, LOL! 

I was so excited and moved on to...Uh Oh....THE PICTURE!! OMG, how could I forget the picture! In my haste to get all of my papers and to get there right when they opened I forgot that I would be taking a picture!  A picture that would be on my license for 4 more years!  Man!  I was wearing an old shirt, my hair wasnt done and no make up! 

I patted down my hair, smoothed down my eyebrows and stepped up to the camera. Click!  I was horrified!  First off it was a close head shot, I asked her If she could back up a little and take it again.  She just looked at me, “Ma’m this is how we take them now, close head shots”.  She looked at it and agreed it was bad enough to take another.  I tried to push myself so far back into the wall the I made an imprint and waited for the click.  “Click!”  She shook her head, handed me the print and I took my little mugshot and headed home vowing that in 4 more years I was gonna be ready!

So what did we learn from this?  Check your renewals in the mail and dont miss the dates!  Going to DMV is not all bad you might actually find some of your missing items! 3. Comb your hair...period!  The one plus about my renewal experience was that this year I finally decided to become an organ donor.