Could your dessert recipes use a healthy makeover?  Finding naturally sweet, yet healthy treats for your family to enjoy isn't mission impossible. 

This warm, yet easy skillet cobbler cooks in minutes. It features fresh, organic peaches and blueberries. We love holding onto the goodness of summer's bounty and presenting it in a luscious warm cobbler. Hope you'll love it too!

Fresh Peach and Blueberry Skillet Cobbler Recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients:

5 T. butter
5 fresh, ripe peaches
1/8 t. vanilla extract
5 T. unbleached flour (We use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pancake mix)
pinch of cinnamon powder
1/3 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
raw, wildflower honey (or maple syrup)

Directions:

Peel and pit 5 fresh peaches and cut into bite-size chunks. Melt butter in skillet and cook prepared peaches about five minutes until peaches begin to soften. Stir in vanilla extract, cinnamon powder and pancake mix or flour. Toss in blueberries, continue to stir and cook on low heat for one minute. Sweeten to taste with raw honey and serve warm.

Warm fruit cobblers are the perfect fall dessert.  Let us know how you like this one!

Note: This recipe was adapted from Wellness Mama. Thanks Katie for the great recipe idea! http://wellnessmama.com/5294/10-minute-peach-cobbler/

For more great recipes, articles and projects, register to read our  beautiful, interactive, online magazine at http://journeytonatliv.com

Soft breezes whisked autumn upon us over the weekend. At Journey to Natural Living magazine, we love nature inspired crafts, decorating, art and jewelry. Couple nature with seasonal appeal, and we get really enthused. We had a delightful Saturday at an art on the farm event, meeting people at McGee’s Farm north of Florence, Alabama. We'd like to introduce you to a nature inspired artist we met.

Meet artist, Anna Ryan, of www.facebook.com/RainyDaysDesigns. Her deep, antique trunk was brimming full of decorative treasures, beneath a huge oak tree. Between chatting with people, she was collecting acorns for future creative projects. We couldn’t leave the farm without Anna’s autumn influenced designs featuring acorns and pumpkins. 
 
Anna's gorgeous glass bead necklaces (pictured above) are topped with a genuine acorn cap. 

Anna's plump, satin pumpkin pillows bring a soft touch of autumn indoors.

We hope her creativity inspires your creative, autumn projects.


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 Are you getting 20% return on your investments? The dividends of investing in your health now can make a substantial difference, as you age. What type of investment am I referring to? Exercising regularly now, yields progressive, health benefits, as you age. 
 

Avoid Chronic Illness as You Age 

A new study found that people who are fit in their 30s through 50s, extend their lifespan, bolster their health, and have lower risks of developing heart problems, stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and lung and colon cancer, as they age. 

Participants in the study who increased their fitness levels by 20 percent in their midlife years decreased their likelihood of developing chronic illness by 20 percent, significantly increasing their quality of life and health during their later years of life.


Chiropractic Promotes Fitness and Wellness

Motivated to move toward fitness? Great! Before starting a new exercise regime, it’s wise to get examined
by a chiropractor to check and care for existing musculoskeletal issues. Chiropractic helps your body function and perform at peak levels, enhancing your mobility, range of motion, flexibility, balance and coordination. Chiropractic care reduces stress on your nerve system, maximizes your vitality, healing and total wellbeing, helping you to stay active and fit for life! 
 
Express life to the fullest with regular exercise, good nutrition, and chiropractic.

Source:http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57501737-10391704/people-who-are-more-fit-during-middle-age-have-less-chronic-illness-in-later-years-study-shows/

Deborah Tukua is the editor of Journey to Natural Living Magazine. Want more articles, tips, recipes and videos on the wellness, natural lifestyle? You’ll enjoy Journey to Natural Living's interactive, informative, online magazine format. We have a dynamic line of health and fitness professionals to inspire and empower you in our 52 page, bi-monthly magazine. Visit http://journeytonatliv.com,  to subscribe, and read for yourself!

Sunshine – Who Needs It?

 Vitamin D is produced in the body almost exclusively by exposure to the sun and is necessary for good health. "Humans make thousands of units of vitamin D within minutes of whole body exposure to sunlight. From what we know of nature, it is unlikely such a system evolved by chance," John Cannell MD, Executive Director, vitamin D council.

But I don’t need/want a tan!

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t need to go out in the sun, I’m dark enough?” Whether you’ve achieved a gorgeous tan, are naturally bronze, or fair-skinned, spending time outside, soaking up sunrays is essential to your health, regardless of skin type or color. 
 
This may surprise you, but dark-skinned individuals actually require more sun exposure for adequate vitamin D synthesis to occur in the body than those with fair skin. Dark-skinned individuals have more protective, ultra-violet blocking, melanin
than lighter skinned individuals. To produce adequate vitamin D levels in the body, dark-skinned individuals require longer sun exposure (up to six times as much sun), than those with light-skin. 
 
But I’ll get skin cancer!

Another misconception about the sun that we’ve all heard is that it causes skin cancer, especially melanoma. Yet, vitamin D reduces your chances of developing all forms of skin cancer, including malignant melanoma. Vitamin D is reported in women to inhibit or stop cell growth in non-melanoma, skin cancers from developing into melanoma.


I get sun on my face, hands and forearms. Isn’t that enough?

According to the vitamin D council, a minimum of 40% of the body should be exposed for optimal vitamin D production. The hands and face produce little or no vitamin D, the legs and arms some, but the torso produces the most vitamin D when exposure to natural sunlight. To learn more about proper sun exposure for vitamin D production, visit www.vitamindcouncil.org.


7 Interesting Facts about vitamin D.

You probably know that vitamin D plays a vital role in the development of teeth and bones. It helps the body absorb calcium and strengthens bones and muscles. Yet, there are so many other health benefits from natural sunlight that you might not be aware of.  

1.  It protects against Type-2 diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and tuberculosis.

2.  It boosts immunities and helps thwart winter colds and flu. 

3.  Vitamin D is important in supporting a healthy, cardiovascular system, as it helps regulate the heartbeat, and reduces the chances of heart problems or stroke.

4.  It is a neurohormone, enhancing brain function. Adequate levels of vitamin D lower your chance of infection and chronic brain inflammation.  
 
5.  People suffering with low levels of vitamin D are more prone to experience depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks, suicidal or criminal behavior, which are all linked to chronic brain inflammation. 
 
6.  Sufficient vitamin D boosts testosterone levels and possibly sex drives in men. As vitamin D levels increase in the summer, in response to the body’s exposure to sunlight, so did testosterone levels in men according to study results.
    
7.  Baby’s bone health is boosted by mom’s sun exposure. According to UK researchers, women receiving sun
during the last trimester of pregnancy have children with larger, stronger bones.


Enjoy the last days of summer, spend some time outside and soak up a little sunshine every day, if possible!  
 

Deborah Tukua, editor of Journey to Natural Living enjoys sunbathing and spending time outdoors. There are more articles about vitamin D in the works. Subscribe now at http://journeytonatliv.com so you don’t miss the latest research findings on the health benefits of vitamin D.