Breakfast on Chilly Mornings...

It's 59* at my house this morning. We are wrapped in our sweaters and went to the sock drawer for warm footwear! My children were asking for something warm for breakfast this morning so I made one of their favorites which they had after their cocoa protein smoothies:

Baked Rice

 

Into a casserole dish place:

 

2 c brown rice

4 c hot water

1 T butter or olive oil

1 tsp salt

 

 

Bake at 400* for an hour or until done.

 

My children enjoy it plain or with a bit of cheese sprinkled over it,

but usually plain.

 

We also use this recipe for anything we are making

 that includes rice.

Inspired by Others...Dr Fuhrman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community...



my front porch; photo credit: Angela Zimmerman

I have often lamented the fact that community seems to be falling by the wayside in many areas of our lives. I have heard people asking where the front-porch-in-evening-waving-friendly-hellos-to-passing-neighbors mentality has gone.

And with it, seems to have gone the communal passing of an extra basket of green beans over the back fence to the neighbor lady who doesn't garden...or exchanging dill for a few tomatoes...or some other such neighborly act.

When I started changing my lifestyle and eating plant strong, I did my own juicing. For a time. But it would come and go and I would think "I wish I had more inspiration to get my juicer out and then wash it up at the end of that job." But inevitably, either the phone would call me away or I would discover I didn't have an ingredient for the juice recipe I was going to use. Sigh.

Juicing is a way to get nutrition into the body fast and at a cellular level. It is a good addition to a plant-strong diet because

1. many of our soils are not as high in good stuff as they should be and maybe we aren't getting as much nutrition from the food we eat as we think we are and

2. we don't eat as perfectly as we want to eat every single day. (at least most people that I talk to)

So here's where community comes into action. About a year ago, I first learned of Juice Plus, a company devoted to bringing to us nutrition through fruit and vegetable juices that are dehydrated into powder and sold in capsules. I was intrigued but cautious as I purposed to learn more before I dismissed it or accepted it.

As I've heard friends share, and seen the results they have been blessed to know, it dawned on me that this is community.

Many people do not garden. So there are farmer's markets and neighbors to pass along produce.
Many people do not wish to invest in a juicer and the time it takes to juice on their own.
So there is Juice Plus.
I think it is a neat idea and also enjoy the fact that

1. there is more variety in Juice Plus than anyone can put into their homemade juicing (altho there is certainly a benefit from home done juice) and
2. it is more economical than the consistent use of home done juice.

So I decided I would go ahead and use Juice Plus as the juiced nutrition part of my family's diet.
I am happy to know that every day I am getting a hefty dose of fruits and veggies at a cellular level besides the fiber-rich plant eating I do.

With Juice Plus, there are no overdosing possibilities as warned of when taking vitamin supplements.
It's just whole-food based nutrition.

I'm happy to have found this product and I bless the company for filling a communal need.

If you have any questions or interest about Juice Plus, feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you and share the blessing as my way of entering into the spirit of community.

Oh for Honesty in this World!

Quinoa...

Today's lunch: Quinoa and Veggie Stir-Fry.

We have already put veggies with whole wheat couscous (and when I was thinking about what starch to add to the veggies today, my daughter suggested couscous) but today I decided to use quinoa for several reasons:

1. couscous is a flour product and I try not to over use flour products
2. quinoa is a complete protein
3. quinoa is a whole food
4. I have 25 lb of red quinoa waiting to be used in my pantry.
5. quinoa is delish!

Here is what I used today:

 

red onion

red pepper

zucchini

(had a half quart left after my daughters processed a

5 gal bucket full from my garden this morning and put in the freezer)

green beans

(had a pint in the fridge leftover from the weekend; also garden fresh!)

mushrooms

garlic

red quinoa

soy sauce

Adobo

(can be found in the

 Goya/international/ethnic foods aisle at the grocery story)

 

I stir fried the veggies while the quinoa was cooking.

(double the water from the amount of dry quinoa you use)

Then I stirred together in a serving bowl and served

with various Asian sauces:

sweet chili

General Tso's

sweet and sour

(I was tickled to find a line of Asian sauces at our local grocery store

without MSG or its cousins!)

 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our lunch.

Finished with some watermelon.

 



Putting it Into Perspective...

I am a huge fan of simple. This pretty much covers it for me in the health realm.

 

Ah, Summer, How I Love Thee!

Here is what I am up to these days!

 

 

many squash flowers = prolific yields = winter stir fry options

that free up the budget for something else!

 

 

"General Tso's" Stir Fried Veggies with Rice Noodles...

a wonderful lunch on any day!

 

 

3 (65 foot) rows of green beans and 12 squash plants = aching back and leg muscles

Thank You, God for bountiful harvest! Thank You for plants to provide fuel for my body.



 

 

And thank-You, God for a 13 year old daughter

who made  cherry pie Laraballs for me after she did the breakfast dishes,

a wonderful "after-bean-picking" snack!

 

 

does this spell 'summer', or what?!



The view from my kitchen sink window these days...

This is my favorite garden, filled with herbs and all my favorite perennials...



 

many tailgate lunches and suppers for my Farmer.

Thank-You, God that I have a healthy husband who works hard

and provides well for his household.

 

 

These are the some of the joys of summer in my life.

What are the joys of summer in yours?



Kickstart Your Health 5

I am getting a little long in between posting menu ideas, but it is summer so please forgive me as I am busy weeding veggie and flower gardens, mulching and stringing tomatoes, harvesting zucchini and yellow summer squash, organizing freezers, cutting cilantro, dill and mint from my herb garden, enjoying red beets from my 'bit of earth', and picking bushels of green beans for winter's use.

Here is a plant-strong menu idea:

Breakfast:

Shredded Potato/Mushroom/Pepper/Onion and Garlic Scramble
Green Smoothie with ground chia and flax seeds

Lunch:

Strawberry and Spinach Salad
(layer spinach, sliced strawberries, pine nuts, red onion on a plate; drizzle with strawberry balsamic vinegar and walnut oil)

Baked Sweet Potato 'fries'
(peel sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. Layer onto a pan lightly sprayed with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and chipotle pepper. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes or til done)

Supper:

Rainbow Salad
(layer chopped red and green cabbage, romaine, shredded carrots, diced red onion, chopped cilantro, broccoli, and diced tomatoes in this order in a glass baking dish or pretty glass bowl; serve with a low oil Italian dressing)

Rice and Beans
(in a baking dish place 2 c brown rice, 1 t salt, 1 t dried onion flakes, 1/2 t pepper, 1 rounded T taco seasoning mix without MSG-I use McCormick's brand. Add 4 c hot water, 1 T olive oil or butter to prevent grains from sticking together, and 1 quart black, red or pink beans. Bake at 350* for 1 hour or til done. I often do this in the crockpot on high for 4 hours)

Pineapple/Strawberry Medley

(fresh pineapple chunks and sliced, fresh strawberries; toss in a pretty bowl and serve)

Food Is Fuel...

About 6 years ago, I was ill on many levels. High blood pressure. Overweight. Very little energy. Foggy brain. Sugar intolerance. Hormone issues.

I was sick and tired of being sick, but scared after I found a lump on my neck. Scared enough to get pushed to doing something radical.

Like change my diet from the Standard American Diet to a plant strong diet.
Like buy a juicer and juice veggies and fruits for myself.
Like make green smoothies in a VitaMix.
Like dramatically lowering dairy consumption in my home.
Like eating a salad at every meal.
Like eating a potato under my salad on meatless days.

I was a strange 'duck' to many and still am.
But that's ok. The results I got were so immediately blessed that I have been sold ever since!

Very shortly after being radical, I totally got rid of or drastically reduced every health issue I had.
6 years later, the ones that left are still gone, and the rest are following in steady pursuit.

I am so blessed to have been given the gift of Life and good Health.
The Garden truly does present life-giving substance!

But here's what I really wanted to say in this post:

As I was getting better, and learning that it makes total sense why this radical change worked (i.e. we have so many trillion cells in our bodies and every day thousands of them die, needing to be replaced by new ones. New, undiseased cells are a result of whole plant-food eating), it clicked:

Food is Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I had never made that connection before, I do not know! I am excited to know that when I put a forkful of plants into my mouth, I am blessing those new cells with clean fuel, and thus, participating in the science behind the facts: plants prevent disease, when eaten on a normal, consistent basis.

 

I was amazed to discover (having grown up a feed miller's daughter, and now a farmer's wife) that many people understand how to successfully formulate cow food but they do not understand the concept when it comes to people food! We understand that putting clean fuel into a vehicle will result in it running well and longer. But we don't seem to get it that people need clean fuel, too! How can these things be?

 

Maybe it's because we don't get it that food is fuel?

 

I am once again amazed and blessed to think of how 'fearfully and wonderfully' we are made, as David reiterated in Psalm 139. God our Creator has a perfect design. We mess it up so often in so many areas, including what we put into our mouths as food.

 

Food is fuel. Eat your plants and give glory to the One who created them and you!

Inspired by Others...Joe Cross

The Taste of Summer...

I had a wonderfully plant-strong lunch today!

I loved it...

especially the fact that all but the potatoes on this plate

came from my 'bit of earth'

filled with veggies and weeds!

Banana Split, the Healthy Way

 

 

I was totally thrilled

to find this

recipe today.

 

 

First of all,

it is so pretty,

and it

has none of the

junk that 'real'

banana splits have.

 

I think this looks like

one of those

fun summer things

to bless

the children

with.

 

Maybe at the family

gathering

we are hosting

in August.

 

I found the recipe 

here.

Kickstart Your Health 4



Breakfast

Green Smoothie

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Muffin with Peanut or Almond Butter and Honey

 

Lunch

"Panera" Black Bean Soup

with Brown Rice

Veggies and Dip

of your choice

(ranch, hummus, etc; just keep it free of excess oil and dairy free)

Apple with almond butter

Dinner

Roasted Broccoli with Asian Sauce of Choice

Asian Cole Slaw

Strawberry "Shortcake"

 

 

This is what I use for shortcake. It has no added sugar except from the chocolate:

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

In a Vitamix or powerful blender place:

 

1 c pitted dates, roughly chopped

1 c plant-milk

1 c water

3 T Chia seed meal

(I grind ahead of time in my Vmix or Magic Bullet and freeze)

1 c mashed banana

1/2 c chocolate chips

 

Mix the following together in a mixing bowl:

 

2 c whole grain flour

(for GF use 1 c buckwheat flour, 1/2 c millet flour, 1/2 c tapioca starch)

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 ground cinnamon

 

 

Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and mix.

 

Bake in muffin tins for 25-30 min at 350*.

I  usually make a double recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan

for 40 minutes or until done.



Tip:
Make enough soup to freeze for convenience food.
You can also serve the soup with a dollop of Almond Cream and garnish with cilantro.

Kickstart Your Health 3

Breakfast

Protein Shake

 

(1 c milk, 1 scoop Garden of Life Raw Protein, 1 T cocoa powder, 1 T peanut or almond butter, 1 t vanilla. Blend. Add 2 or 3 frozen bananas)

 

 

Lunch

 

Baked French Fries

Veggies and Hummus

Watermelon

Supper

 

Mixed Green Salad

(chopped cabbage, chopped romaine, chopped tomatoes, shredded carrots, red onion, chopped peppers, diced cucumbers)

 

with dressing of your choice

 

Stir Fried Vegetables

(stir fry whatever vegetables you like with whatever seasoning you choose. we like cabbage, green beans, carrots, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, onion, garlic with soy sauce and sweet chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce...MSG free of course!)

 

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Tips:

Keep frozen vegetables on hand to make quick stir fries.
Eat leftover watermelon tomorrow for breakfast or lunch.
Bake sweet potatoes ahead of time and freeze in meal-sized portions for convenience food.

Kickstart Your Health 2

Here is another sample menu for a plant based meal:

Breakfast
Granola and/or green smoothie

Lunch
Black Bean Burger
Veggie Platter and Hummus or Home made Ranch
Small piece of fruit, if desired

Dinner
Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad (there are several ideas for this,, such as here, as well as just making the traditional mayo/sugar/mustard/vinegar/salt dressing and tossing with chopped cauliflower, broccoli, red onion and adding cranberries or raisins and sunflower seeds if you like)
Roasted Veggies
Chocolate 'Ice Cream'

 

Roasted Veggies

 

Into a baking dish place

4 medium sized potatoes

(peeled, if not organic)

4 cups green beans

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces

1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

 

Toss with 1 or 2 c veggie broth or water

1 T dried onion flakes

1 T Mrs. Dash seasoning

1/2 t lemon pepper

1/2 t poultry seasoning

(I use Penzey's; no MSG)

 

Cover and bake at 350* for 1 1/2 hr or in a slow cooker for 4 hours on high.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Ice Cream

 

Into a Vitamix or powerful blender place:

1 c milk

1 scoop Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder (optional)

1 scoop cocoa powder

1 t vanilla

1 rounded T peanut or almond butter

1 T chocolate chips (optional; we like the extra crunch)

Blend together.

Add 5 or  6 frozen banana pieces

(or more if you need them to make a soft serve consistency)

Blend til soft serve consistency.

 

Delicious over fresh sliced strawberries or bananas (or both)!