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)!