I appreciate all our dear friends and customers in Ardmore who understand my need to take a break once in a while, I know it’s a pain for many of them who eat at the restaurant regularly, but I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to make some memories with my loved ones!   I promise we will have the restaurant open again very soon!

The other day the co-host from Biggest Loser came flouncing in with her entourage.  I could tell she wasn’t from around these parts, (Ardmore OK that is for those of you who don’t know) as she had that sort of Hollywood look about her.  My husband kept telling me that she was from the Biggest Loser but she looked so well put together that I really didn’t understand what he was trying to say.  I just treated her like I do everyone else that comes through our door, as friendly, kindly, and informatively as possible!  She was very nice and could hardly believe that everything she was eating was vegan!  (Apparently she’s vegan and thought she might have to starve while visiting Ardmore OK)  It was kind of fun, but busy as we were at the time, I didn’t think to ask for a picture with her for my blog!  Oh well, I can’t say I have ever been too impressed by all that Hollywood glitz thing anyway.  The day Woody Harrelson walked into my first vegan restaurant (cafe!) I didn’t even blink an eye.  One of my friends kept saying Woody Harrelson is in your restaurant over and over like it was some kind of big deal, (He came twice that day, guess he really like it!)  But as for me, I just really love everyone that comes in and enjoys the food!  Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, handsome, homely, just plain old average people, they all really make my day and I am thankful for them all!

“I attended your classes in Santa Cruz and sat in the back, next to my friend Mindy Barr (she and I both brought our kids a couple times). I am so grateful to you for coming and educating us, you are such an inspiration to me. Because of you my 4 1/2 year old son is a vegetarian. It is really a cute story: my husband is not vegetarian and many times prodded my two sons to eat meat against my wishes. Knowing my son’s personality I knew that this really had to be an area in his life, even at 4 1/2 years old, that he would have to change and come to terms with. A couple times prior to your class I talked to him about being a vegetarian, and he said (he really is a bright boy – I have to brag here) “mama, I’m not vegetarian, I’m Greek.” Well, I’m grateful to say that after your class, in conjunction with having watched Food, Inc. a day or so before your class, he told me, “mama, I’m a Greek vegetarian!” And he is sticking with it. The other day I went out to eat with a friend of mine (who also came to you’re class – he’s non-Adventist, but because of your testimony was further convicted to worship on the Sabbath and to be healthier, he is in fact trying to be vegan). My friends daughter insisted on eating meat, and her father wanting her to eat something caved in and got her some chicken, when my youngest son (who is 2 1/2 years old) saw her chicken he started to cry and complain for some. My health reformed eldest son, turned to his brother and said, “Aris don’t cry for that chicken, we are vegetarians!” I was so pleased with him and his determination to do what is best for his body, weeks after your class! Thank you again for what you did for myself, my son, my friend, and for the community at large.”

“My family and I have benefitted significantly from being on a Vegetarian/Vegan diet.  I began to feel a need for a change in my life (especially concerning my health)  in 2005, and so I began eating a vegetarian diet.  I tried various ways of making vegetables, but they were not great.  I heard about Mary’s classes that were being offered in Ardmore and discussed the possibility of attending with my family.  By this time they were willing to try anything that would make vegetables taste better, ha!  In January of 2006, my children and I attended one of her seminars.

One of the main things that Mary did was to challenge us to try one month without dairy products.  This was not a pleasant task to me as I love cheese.  However, my son and one of my daughters were set on trying Mary’s challenge.  I decided to go along with the idea to support them.  On January 9, 2006, we began the Vegan Challenge.  That is when our lives began to change significantly!

We knew we were onto something when my son Bryan lost 12 pounds.  He was also able to beat his maximum weight lift by 30 pounds.  He says he feels better and his grades have improved.  My husband Max lost 23 pounds and feels better as well.  The only thing that bothered him was the need to change the budget to buy new clothes that fit!  My daughter Kristina lost 24 pounds and has been able to go off of her asthma medication.  She feels a lot better and has been continuously surprised at how small the clothes are that she can now wear.  She bought a bikini and tried it on a few weeks ago and it looked so good on her that it inspired her sister Tiffany to try this route as well.  She had been our last hold out; the only one who didn’t want to make the change.   Sometimes you just need the right motivation!  She has lost 6 pounds so far.  I have lost 34 pounds to date and have gone from a size 18 to a size 12.  The stairs are not as much of a challenge anymore!

I noticed the most significant changes when I went off the dairy.  Dairy helps baby cows to put on hundreds of pounds in their first year of life, (I now realize that dairy products were  the main contributor to keeping our family so hefty!)  I know one thing for sure, we all feel a lot better!  I feel as though this has been a lifestyle change for us rather than a diet due to all the benefits we have received.  Thank you Mary, my family has been truly blessed!”

I was personally thrilled to see the results that Mayla and her family have achieved by their willingness to make this lifestyle change.  This story however, is not unusual as many people coming to our seminars experience the same result when they switch to a total vegetarian diet.  Why not try the Vegan Challenge yourself?  What have you got to lose!!

Researchers were amazed to find the men’s overall PSA doubling time was nearly 4 times slower after they began drinking pomegranate juice.  16 of the 46 patients actually had a decrease in PSA levels, with 4 dropping by half.

Researcher Alan Pantuck is excited about the results of this study.  In fact he believes that it may allow 65-70 year old men treated for prostate cancer to outlive their risk of dying from their cancer!  In fact, according to Dr. Pantuck, some of the men in the study have been drinking pomegranate juice—and keeping the PSA levels stable—for more than 3 years.

“The juice seems to be working,” he notes.  Do your prostate a huge favor (if you have one that is) and try some pomegranate juice today!

It was the last week of June, and we were having a great month in the restaurant and health food store.  I had my concerns though: July was typically one of our slower months due to the hot summer temperatures outside.   During that last week of June I started praying that somehow, someway the Lord would get us on the front page of the Rapid City Journal (our local newspaper).   I’m not exactly sure what good I thought that would do. I guess I hoped that it would draw some attention to our cozy little “out of the way” Veggie Restaurant and Health Food Store by bringing us into the proverbial limelight. Whatever the reason, I continued praying that prayer for more than a week; surely a little free advertising couldn’t hurt!

I’m not sure what I thought the Lord was going to do with that prayer, but the answer came so unexpectedly that never in a million years would I have guessed what He was up to.  It happened one afternoon after the lunch rush around the 10^th of July.  A dear customer and friend named Shirley came into the store with her 15 year old son, Jeremiah.  (Shirley had been to one of my Health and Nutrition Seminars and always got good results by implementing the information she learned).  I couldn’t help but notice the rather large bandage on Jeremiah’s face.

“What in the world happened to your eye?”  I asked with concern.

Jeremiah explained that he had built what he hoped would be the mother of all firecrackers. He started by entwining several black cat firecrackers together with a handful of cherry bombs and the ultimate, a roman candle.   He then rolled them all into one wick, which he lit with careful precision before jumping for cover.  All of the firecrackers exploded with a great bang just as predicted, except one:  the roman candle.  Like most 15 year old boys Jeremiah was fearless, daring, and not a little curious.  He just had to know why that roman candle had failed.   And so, without hesitation; he jumped up from his cover, grabbed the roman candle by the base and peered down into its depths.    That was a moment that I am sure Jeremiah  will never forget for the rest of his life–the moment that the roman candle exploded, right into his eye!

“They took 1 ½ tablespoons of debris out of my eye,” he told me somewhat sheepishly.  “I have second and third degree burns and my eyelid has shriveled into the back of my eye.  The doctor told me it will never come back.”

Feeling a deep sense of pity for this likeable young man, I carefully drew the bandage back to take a look at the damage.

“Oh Jeremiah,”  I outwardly winced, “that must hurt terribly!”  I quickly put the bandage back in place, hoping that I hadn’t caused any further pain.

“You have no idea,” he stated mournfully, “and I can’t cry because that makes it worse!”

“Do you have any herbs that might help?”  Shirley was desperate to alleviate Jeremiah’s suffering in any way possible.

“Well, actually, I don’t think herbs will help,” I responded, “but, if you have a dollar you could buy a pound of tofu and put that on the burn.”

I saw the look that passed between Jeremiah and Shirley at that announcement.  It was a look that clearly said, “Mary’s had too many herbs herself, let’s get outta here quick!”

“Tofu is actually really great for burns,” I explained. “My family has used it for years and we’ve always gotten good results.  Tofu will take the pain out of the burn almost immediately and prevent scarring.”

Mary and Jeremiah weren’t convinced.  I could feel their lack of enthusiasm.  (Jeremiah’s doctors had said that he would require plastic surgery, that his eyelid would never heal, and that he would be scarred for the rest of his life.)   Who could blame them?   I’m sure a dollars worth of tofu seemed like a silly treatment given what Jeremiah was facing.

Reluctantly Shirley pulled a dollar out of her wallet.  I could tell it was only a gesture. Neither she nor Jeremiah was convinced that tofu could do anything at that point–except perhaps appease the crazy lady behind the counter!

After listening to a careful explanation about the art of healing burns with tofu, Jeremiah and Shirley quickly left my store.  I wondered if they would throw the tofu out, or just set it on the shelf of their fridge until it grew moldy and stinky; one thing I knew for sure, they probably weren’t in the mood to try eating it!

It was 2 days later that I received a very unusual phone call.  It was from a friend of mine name Dave, who had been instrumental in my being the owner of Veggies.  Although I knew Dave, I was unaware that Shirley’s husband Ron worked for him.

“Mary,” Dave said in a serious tone, “I have a lady in my office right now named Shirley. She’s been telling me a story about her son Jeremiah.”

“How is he doing?”  I was eager to know. “I haven’t heard a word from either Jeremiah or his mom,”

Dave began to fill me in on the details that had taken place after Jeremiah and Shirley left Veggies that day.  Neither was planning on putting the tofu on Jeremiahs’ eye. They had only made the purchase to placate me.  They really thought I had lost my mind for making such an odd suggestion.  Upon arriving home, Shirley stuck the tofu in their fridge.  It wasn’t until later that night that she thought it over some more.

“You know, this stuff is cold, and it would probably feel good on your eye,” she said to Jeremiah. “It wouldn’t hurt to try it.  Really, everything else Mary has told me about health has worked, why don’t we give it a chance?”

Jeremiah reluctantly agreed, so they cut a piece of tofu and placed it directly on his eye, wrapping clean gauze around it to keep it in place.

Much to Jeremiah and Shirley’s surprise, when he awoke the next morning his eyelid was perfectly healed and in place. His burn had also been considerably reduced.  By the following morning, after another night with the tofu directly on his eye, the burn was completely gone, replaced now by what looked like brand new baby soft skin.

“Shirley has been standing here weeping with joy as she shared all of this with me,”  Dave stated , “I am so glad that you are there!  What a blessing your little restaurant and store are to Rapid City!”

It wasn’t until after I saw the whole story written up on the front page of the Rapid City Journal that I called Shirley with my confession.

“I feel kind of guilty about Jeremiah’s accident,” I told her. “I’d been praying that God would get us on the front page of the newspaper, but it never occurred to me that He would answer this way!”

“No worries,”  Shirley assured me, “Jeremiah was praying that he wouldn’t have to face a life-time of scars on his face; the Lord heard you both and our family is very grateful.  I will never look at tofu in the same way again!”

I’ve seen many a terrible burn healed by the use of this innocuous form of vegetarian food.  The doctor who treated Jeremiah later told me that he would never treat burns with anything but tofu again!

To treat a burn with tofu, cut 1 inch pieces and carefully lay them directly on the burn.  The pieces can be changed as they become warm.  Wrap the tofu firmly with gauze or keep it in place with a large bandage.  Saran wrap works well for this purpose.  The tofu will take the pain out of the burn permanently within a matter of minutes.  We always use the cold, firm tofu.  An aseptic package of tofu will not work for burns.

“Mary,” she said, “it doesn’t matter how many times Patrick blows his nose in a day, it still has green stuff coming out! In fact, he can use a whole box of Kleenex in 2 hours flat!”

I tried to explain to her that, good mother that I am, I had taken him to a couple of doctors already.  Unfortunately, neither of the 2 doctors that saw Patrick were able to help us resolve the problem.

“Have you tried taking him to an allergist?” Margo asked kindly.

“No, I haven’t done that,” I replied.

“Would you be willing to take him to one that I recommend?”  she asked.

I was more than willing of course and so scheduled an appointment for Patrick with the allergist at the first available opportunity, which was in 3 weeks.

It was only a couple of days later that my 2 youngest children ages 6 months and 2 years came down with ear infections.   This, combined with the issues Patrick was having, was extremely irritating to me!  Although we had not totally eliminated dairy products from our diet, we had been vegetarian for several months. I thought we were supposed to be getting healthier, but just the opposite seemed to be occurring!

One evening as my older brother was leaving after a visit to our house, I expressed my frustration to him over the fact that our vegetarian diet  was not keeping my kids as healthy as I had expected.

“I know what the problem is,” he confidently stated.

“Oh really,” I was skeptical since Fred was the kind of older brother who always knew everything about everything!

“O.K. Mr. Know-it-All, what’s the problem?”  I asked with a sprinkle of sarcasm.

“”It’s all that dairy,” he stated matter-of –factly.

Oooh, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear at the time.  Vegetarian was one thing, but vegan; uh-uh, not this little Dairy Queen. I loved my mozzarella and Colby jack cheese, not to mention eggs!

I ushered Fred out quickly.   This conversation was going no further as far as I was concerned!   I had already given up burgers, fries, BBQ chicken, shrimp, fish, hot dogs, and ribs.  I could hardly bear the thought of losing my cheese!  What would we eat?   But somehow I couldn’t get his words out of my head:

“It’s all that dairy.”  Fred’s words rang in my ears like some kind of children’s rhyme.   Pictures of cute little cows grazing in the field came into my mind.   I had even owned a pet cow as a child.   His name was Moose.   He lived on the 500 acre ranch my physician father had purchased to satisfy his secret aspiration to be a cowboy.

“What could possibly be so harmful about a product that came from an animal as sweet and innocent as Moose?”  I wondered to myself.

I began to reminisce about those days on the ranch.  Those were some of the happiest days of my childhood.  I remembered riding my favorite horse Cisco and herding in the cows with my dad.  I thought about the time dad put a calf across his saddle (imitating something he had seen John Wayne do in a movie) and got bucked off his horse for his trouble.  Then a scene from the distant past flashed through my head.  I was with Fred and a friend; we were supposed to help separate the older calves from their mothers.  Instead, we  roped the calves and tried with all our might to ride them.   I thought about how much fun we had with those calves that day, how cute and cuddly they were, and how slippery they were when we tried to ride them.   And then it dawned on me; another rather unusual factor that all those calves we roped that day had  in common:  diarrhea  coming out one end, and constant mucous out the other, just like my son Patrick!

“Hmmm,” I wondered out loud.  “Maybe Fred is actually right, maybe the problem really is—all  that dairy!”

Another day I remember well.  Another epiphany that would radically change our lives!  I ran to the refrigerator calling my children to follow me.  Patrick was 7, Max was 2, and Holly Anne Marie was just a 6 month old baby in my arms.   I opened the fridge and grabbed all the dairy products to be found: 2 half gallon containers of milk, and a pound and a half of the best Colby jack cheese that could be bought at the local super market.  My children watched amazed as I poured the milk down the drain.  Then, with a purpose I did not yet totally feel, I cut up the Colby jack cheese and told my 2 sons to eat and enjoy, for this might  be  the last they would see cheese at our house for quite a while; maybe even forever!

The following morning I took my 2 youngest in to the Pediatrician to check their ears.  Just as I had suspected, they both had ear infections.  The doctor gave me the prescription that most mothers know well—the bubble gum smelling, icky sweet tasting, ear infection killing antibiotic!  I immediately administered them to Max and Holly.

Shortly after that first dose, I noticed Holly had the beginnings of a yeast infection from her antibiotic.That was the day I coined the term:  guinea kids.  I decided that my 2 little ones were going to become part of a non-scientific, motherly intuitive type of experiment that I knew could get me in hot water with my pediatrician should he ever find out!  I took Holly off of her antibiotic and left Max on his.  If dairy was the culprit, I had a feeling that this experiment might prove interesting.

One week later the pediatrician informed me that Holly’s ears were cleared up but that Max’s ears were still inflamed.  He prescribed a stronger antibiotic for Max but said Holly was good to go.

I threw away the prescription for the stronger antibiotics and took my guinea kids home.  We continued on our now dairy free vegetarian diet for another week.  Once again we found ourselves at the Pediatrician’s office.  He re-checked Max’s ears and told me with much delight that the stronger antibiotic had done its job well.  Max’s ears were clear of infection and yes; Holly’s ears were still clear too. (I didn’t bother to tell him that I hadn’t filled the prescription for the stronger antibiotic.)  As I was walking out of his office he handed me what looked like another prescription.

“What’s this for?” I questioned.

“Your son needs a prophylactic antibiotic,” he replied with great authority.

“What exactly does that mean?”  .

“It means that for the next 6 months we are going to give him a half teaspoon of antibiotic everyday.”

“Really?”  I was trying not to sound exasperated! “Why in the world would we do that?”

“Because,” he replied even more firmly, “he has a history of chronic ear infections and this will prevent him from getting anymore.”

“Hmmm,“ a thought came to my head that I didn’t dare share with this man: “I think we have already taken care of that problem, thank you very much!”

I threw that prescription away as well.  As far as I was concerned, the results of my little experiment had been conclusive enough for me:  my children’s ear infections were not due to an antibiotic deficiency; no, the true culprit was appearing to be the dairy in their diet.  Fred had been vindicated!

Several weeks passed; I took Patrick to his appointment with the allergist.  Despite a multitude of tests, he could give us no explanation for the green yuck that constantly dripped from Patrick’s nose.  I asked him if it could possibly be dairy related; the scowl on his face as he shook his head no left no room for argument.  We exited quickly; another doctor we were never to see again.

Unbeknownst to me, the best was yet to come.  We had eliminated all the dairy products from our diet around April of 1986.  In June that year the kids and I packed up our swimsuits, beach towels and dairy- free vegetarian picnic lunch and headed out to the lake.

That was a typical June day at the lake in Minnesota.  The sun was shining with full strength; the day was on the verge of being almost hot yet, not one of the 70 or so people sharing this glorious day with us on the beach bothered to get in the lake.  If you are from Minnesota, or another northern state, you know exactly why.  The ice on the lake had probably only fully thawed a couple of weeks prior and the water still had the feel of newly thawed ice cubes.   Consequently, everyone there was just having a grand ole time hanging out on the beach, playing volleyball, or building castles in the sun-warmed sand.

Suddenly I felt a small insistent tugging on my shirt.

“What’s wrong honey?”  I asked Patrick with concern in my voice.   (I feared that he might be overly disappointed with a swimless day at the beach.)

“Mom, mom, I need some Kleenex,” he earnestly cried.

Oops, I had somehow forgotten to bring his ever present box of Kleenex on this little outing.

“Patrick,” I said gently, “I am so sorry, I forgot your Kleenex at the house, but it’s o.k., the water is too cold for us to swim so you can use your beach towel to blow your nose on.  I will wash it when we get home and no one will ever know!”

“I don’t want to blow my nose on my beach towel” he complained with a slight shrill in his voice, “it’s brand new mom and that’s gross!”

I knew from the sound of his voice that I would be unable to persuade him to try this new, inventive way of nose blowing so, looking around I came up with one of those “only a mom would think of that “ kind of idea.

“Patrick,” I hesitated at the audacity of my thought, “you could go blow your nose out in the lake; no one is swimming so I don’t think anyone will notice.”

Don’t ask me why he liked that idea so well.  Perhaps it appealed to his ornery little boy personality or maybe, he was just plain desperate.  Whichever it was, the next thing I knew he was out in that bone chilling water up to his chest blowing away. . . .and blowing. . . .and blowing. . . .and blowing!  I watched for what felt like an eternity, worried that someone might have figured out what that scrawny little kid was doing out there in the middle of Lake Minnetonka; worried that perhaps I was a bad mom for forgetting the Kleenex, but most of all worried that my precious son might soon fall prey to hypothermia in that ice cold water!

“Patrick!”  I called out with concern, “are you o.k.?”

No answer, only the sound of the water gently lapping against the warm sand and the joyful voices of little children playing on the beach.  I continued to watch with growing dismay because now, after about 10 minutes of blowing, I could actually see what I thought was a stream of mucous drifting out on the lake!  I turned quickly to see if any of my seemingly oblivious beach neighbors were witnessing this never –to-be-forgotten chapter in the Bernt family annals.  I wasn’t sure what to say if they were, but, fortunately no one seemed to have picked up on this historic moment.

Soon the event was over and I watched my with no small degree of awe as Patrick made his way back to me and his siblings on the beach.  His face bore the brightest, happiest smile I had ever seen as he made his way to my side.

“Patrick,” I exclaimed, “what happened?”

“I don’t know mom,” he replied with a grin, “but that was the biggest blow I ever had and boy did it feel good!”

I thoughtfully pondered this new development. Somehow I instinctively knew that it had been brought about by our lifestyle decision to be not only vegetarian, but totally, completely, radically vegan vegetarian!

“There goes all that dairy,” I said to myself, “fish food for the trout in Lake Minnetonka; hmmm.”

The following month Patrick entered Summer School in the Deep Haven school district of Minnesota.  As an LD kid (learning disabled) he was required to spend 6 weeks of his summer in a school program designed to give him an extra edge before the school year officially began.  One week into the summer session I received a phone call from an irate summer school teacher.

“Mrs. Bernt,” he began grouchily, “What is your son Patrick doing in this program?”

“He’s in the LD program at Deep Haven ,”  I replied somewhat taken aback by his crabby tone, “therefore he is automatically part of the summer program.”

“We have tested him this week,” he continued, “your son is at grade level and higher in every single subject.  This summer school program costs us $5000 per child and we only take children with learning disabilities.  It’s obvious to me that your son doesn’t have one!”

“Oh, I think you have the wrong number,” I replied somewhat relieved now that I understood the problem, “you see, my son can barely read and definitely isn’t at grade level in any subject.”

“Is your son Patrick Gratton,”

“Well, yes, but I think there must be some mistake sir!”

“No,” he replied still sounding like he had been in a state of constant constipation for awhile, “there is no mistake, your son is very bright and does not need to be in this program!”

“I think you should call Margo,” I proudly stated knowing that that would effectively end our conversation!  “As his LD teacher, she is responsible for Patrick being there and can tell you his history.”

I hung up the phone not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.  This conversation seemed somewhat incredible, and not a little surreal to me but I made the decision to leave Patrick in the summer session regardless of this uptight teacher who obviously needed to get on our dairy free vegetarian diet!

Soon the regular school year was upon us and Patrick was back in the swing.  Margo was once again his LD teacher and his year seemed to be staring out great.  We had not seen hide nor hair of any green stuff in his nose since that momentous day at the beach, and even an enlarged lymph node that he had been carrying around for several years had disappeared.  My other 2 kids were the picture of health and my family was very much accustomed to (not to mention enjoying thoroughly) our totally vegan diet by this time.

About the second week of school I received a phone call from Margo herself.

“Mary,” she sounded excited, “can you come to the school right away, the “team” is here and we really want to talk with you.”

I knew it was important if the “team” was gathered together.  The “team” comprised the group of people who had diagnosed my son as LD.  They included the principle, school psychologist, Margo, the school nurse and someone else whose position I cannot now recall.

I called a friend to watch my younger children and drove to the school in a flurry. True to her word, Margo and the “team” were all gathered together looking somewhat serious but happy.

“Is everything alright?” the worried mom in me couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, better than alright,” Margo responded quickly.  “We are just trying to figure out what has happened to Patrick this year.  We have spent this first part of school testing him and he is at or above grade level in every subject.  Definitely not the little boy I worked with last year.”

“That’s what the summer school teacher said,” I replied.  I was beginning to get excited myself.

“What’s going on, what has changed in his life since last school year?”  Margo questioned me with a look of unadulterated interest in her eyes.

Suddenly it dawned on me, “could it be?”  I wondered, “could the diet change have even effected his very ability to learn?”

“Margo,” I addressed her specifically as the one who knew my son best, “remember the green nose problems we were having last year?”

“Of course I do,” she responded, “what happened with that?”

“I took him off of all dairy products shortly after you called me last April, I wonder if that is why he is now comprehending his school work and doing so well.”

Apparently the “team” didn’t think this mom had totally lost it. In fact, they agreed with my assessment wholeheartedly!  So much so that it is in my son’s school records that he began to learn when I took him off all dairy products!  After a little talk with the school nutritionist to make sure that Patrick wasn’t  being made to die a slow lingering death of starvation from dairy free vegetarianism,(After all, if you don’t eat meat, cheese, or eggs, what in the world do you eat?) I was sent home with the assurance that they were in total harmony with my dietary choices for Patrick; and, that he was now learning on an above average scale as a result of those choices.

The day the dairy died in our home was a day that brought about the greatest change for good in the health of my entire family.  For over 22 years, none of my little guinea kids had to go back to a doctor for disease.  It was the last of the ear infections, strep throat, severe upper respiratory infections, and (halleluiah) the last of the tonsillitis those little guinea kids ever contracted.  We never had a broken bone in the bunch despite our love of rock climbing, hiking in the mountains, cliff jumping and horseback-riding.   Not one them  had a cavity  throughtout the course of their entire childhood!   I have never regretted that decision!

It wasn’t more than 25 minutes into the meal we ordered that day that I heard a plaintive voice from the back seat query:

“Why do we do this mom?”

Funny how the mom in me knew exactly what he was talking about,  yet still I responded attentively:

“Why do we do what honey?”

“Why do we eat this junky food?  It always makes us feel so awful!”   “My stomach aches and it makes my head hurt!”

I remember that day well.  It was to be the last time we ever ventured to eat at most fast food establishments.  It was the day that I made a very radical decision for an average American mom to make.  My kids were from that point on only going to eat the healthiest, freshest and tastiest food available.   I already cooked with only whole grains, and was an avid label reader.  I had been dabbling with vegetarian foods for several years at this point, but had never fully crossed the line.  But somehow, that little piece of wisdom from my 7 year old son Patrick became the last push I needed to jump that line with all the vigor I could command.

Confident with the knowledge that my oldest child Patrick could probably be persuaded by his own experience that fateful day to come across with me, I began with a passion to learn how to cook the best tasting vegetarian food possible.  My husband and two other children, ages 2 and 6 months, were easy to convince:  the children because of their ages, my husband because of the rampant diabetes that ran in his immediate family.

Family meal time soon became a great adventure as together we learned to love eating a totally plant based diet.  It wasn’t long before we noticed that our children were becoming healthier, and that literally all of the childhood illnesses that had hitherto plagued them were now a thing of the past.  No more earaches, no more tonsillitis, no more severe upper respiratory infections;  and just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any better, lo and behold, my son began to get better grades in school!  In fact, we all felt better, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.

This was the beginning of a lifetime of change for my family.  Twenty-two years later, we are still at it.  We have now owned two vegetarian restaurants and two health food stores, taught countless seminars on the vegetarian lifestyle, and seen many people return to good health simply, easily and tastefully as a result.

I often have people tell me that eating vegetarian is just too much work.  I acknowledge that it is definitely more work than eating the typical American diet and way harder than pulling into a fast food restaurant for a quick meal.  But the rewards for my family have been endless, and my children frequently thank me for the extra effort I put forth in their behalf.

Upon graduating at the top of his class from an accelerated course in Mandarin Chinese my son Max was asked by his instructor in Chinese.

“Gucci Fen( his Chinese classroom name), why are you so smart?”

His response in Chinese:

“Because my mother fed me well!”

I have never regretted that decision.