Charlotte Austin's story of freedom after 20 years in prison--a sweet success

After being released from prison in Wisconsin after 20 years, Charlotte was accepted in a Chicago transitional program, North Lawndale Employment Network, NLEN, which helps the formerly incarcerated adjust and join society, then a position with Sweet Beginnings  https://www.nlen.org/sweetbeginnings  and BeeLove, https://beelovebuzz.com/ which sells products made from honey.  You can read her story here:  

 https://wordpress-670334-206764.cloudwaysapps.com/insidesb-episode3/     

and here, http://zachmortice.com/2022/02/25/the-north-lawndale-employment-network-sees-through-employment-barriers-for-the-formerly-incarcerated/

Charlotte: And then, working with people that walk the same steps I walked. Amazing. I don’t judge them. If they laugh, I laugh with them. If they cry, I cry with them. They got something going on, talk to me because I know how it is. I’m not finna judge you because you went to prison or you had this. I went to prison too!

Alice: Right. Right. And you’re very open about the fact that you have a criminal background. Why is that?

Charlotte: It make me feel free. If I hold it in, and somebody else – somebody need to hear my story. Somebody out there need to hear my story. So by me telling my story – yeah, I did twenty years straight, I was on drugs, I was a prostitute, I used to do this, I used to do that, I’m still on ten years paper, and it’s sad to say prison saved me. ‘Cause I could’ve been dead. I think I could’ve been dead."

A TED talk film about BeeLove and NLEN.  https://youtu.be/hXjcRnYv1iU

Chocolate pudding

I stopped using sugar from the bowl or canister about 2 years ago and changed to local honey. We haven't given up sugar, because we still eat restaurant and store purchased desserts. But today I made chocolate pudding from scratch using honey. It was quite good. Just milk, cornstarch, dark chocolate (cocoa, 100% cacao natural unsweetened), a little sprinkle of salt, honey, vanilla, and I added some butter which wasn't in the recipe. It was very good, more chocolate tasting than the box or store bought.

Boxed dry chocolate pudding mix (both Jello and Godiva) contains: sugar, modified cornstarch, cocoa processed with alkali, sodium phosphate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (for thickening) contains less than 2% of natural and artificial flavor, salt, artificial color mono- and diglycerides (prevents foaming), red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1.

Sodium phosphate is a salt, but it is also what is used when preparing for a colonoscopy. Tetrasodium pyrophosphate is used as a buffering agent, an emulsifier, it’s more salt, and is used in toothpaste and cat food but can promote algae growth in water. Yuk. I won't even analyze the dyes, but I can assure you, that by using 100% cacao ( which has to have a lot of processing to make it useable) the dark color was richer than the box mix.

Turmeric Elixir

Recipe by: Jennafer Ashley

Apple vinegar in raw form contains strains of “The Mother”. This strand-like substance contains acetic acid, terrific for fighting “bad” bacteria while adding in “good” bacteria. Turmeric is one of the richest herbs when it comes to fighting inflammation in the body or environmental stressors. Turmeric is commonly used to treat IBS and when combined with cayenne pepper, creates a powerful team of antiseptic and anti-inflammatory benefits to treat gut issues. Raw honey sweetens this shot, and adds minerals and enzymes to calm the digestive system.

Begin by heating filtered water in a saucepan until just steaming. Stir in the raw honey to dissolve and add turmeric, cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into a pitcher and chill. Drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Use the batch within 5 days to reap the benefits

Antioxidant-rich turmeric combines with the probiotic benefits of raw apple cider vinegar for a quick shot that washes away parasites and fights digestive ailments.

Ingredients

• 4 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Heat the water in a saucepan, over medium heat, until just steaming. Remove from heat and stir in the honey until dissolved.
• Stir in the apple cider vinegar, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate for 2 hours to chill. Pour 2 ounces into a glass and drink

Today’s smoothie is really yummy

Eggnog made with honey

organic baby spinach

Banana

blueberries

There's nothing wrong with the bees. Relax.

"The overall honeybee numbers in the United States have stayed steady at about 2.5 million colonies for the last two decades, dipping slightly when the mysterious “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) hit in 2006, then rebounded at a healthy clip and actually reached a 20-year high in 2014. Europe and Canada have experienced significant increases in their honeybee populations as well, and worldwide, there are 30 million more hives today than in 1961, an increase of about 60%. That means there about 1.5 trillion more bees buzzing around today than there were 50 years ago. There simply is no bee-pocalypse and never was."

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2016/08/24/the-buzz-seven-reasons-not-to-worry-about-the-bees/#7978928d70a8