It’s cold and flu season now, but that doesn’t mean you or your kids have to get sick.  Here’s a great article from Dr. Mercola that really goes into detail on how virus spread and how to prevent it.  I hope you can take a few minutes to read it.  If you can’t, here’s some bullet points:

* Even though the CDC says the Flu Vaccine is 56% effective for most, and 9% effective for people 65 and older, the Cochrane Datebase Review emphatically contests that.  They say studies show the vaccine only prevents flu for 1 out of every 100 people vaccinated.    Read all those numbers again, then check up on me if you don’t believe it.

* A virus can replicate itself by the millions very quickly.  Luckily, if we’re healthy, we have HUNDREDS OF TRILLIONS OF IMMUNE CELLS that can fight them.

* To Boost your Immune System:  optimize Vitamin D, because studies show it’s much more effective than the vaccine in preventing flu;  stay away from Grains, Sugars, and Chemicals, which destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut and immediately suppress immune responses;  eat foods that have anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties, like coconut oil, grass fed butter, beef, and eggs, garlic, onions, and oregano, to name just a few.

* Repeat: Your immune system is MORE important for your health than a vaccine.

I made Mofongo!!!  For a crowd too – and it worked!  If you saw my pictures from Christmas week, you know we went an island off Puerto Rico called Culebra.  Our oldest daughter, Meg, is working at a B&B there.  I’d heard from her and Andrew Zimmern/Bizarre Foods, that Mofongo is the native dish of Puerto Rico, and that it was delicious.  And it is!  I had it 4 days in a row for lunch, watched a you tube on how to make it, and finally was able to last night, for 7 of us.

Super simple: sauteed plantains, garlic, salt/pepper, and crispy pork rinds ( I used good bacon instead), and then you mash it all together and serve it with fish or octopus ( I had octopus everyday there bc I never get fresh octopus here.) Last night, I served it with Halibut and steamed kale.

Usually Mofongo is made one serving at a time in a pestle, I wasn’t about to do that, so I used a blender to mix all the ingredients.  Peeling and sauteing the plantains took a little time, because I had to do 6, and I sauteed in two batches, but after that it was fast.  I blended the ingredients, popped them into a muffin pan, and cooked on 400 for 10 minutes.  They were already warm from cooking the plantains and bacon.  Oh my gosh it’s good!