The Healing Fork

Saturday Night Special

2011-06-08T15:13:00.000-04:00

We head over to the farmers market every Saturday morning. I drool over all the green - every kind of lettuce, kale, broccoli, green onions, herbs. I come home with a ton of beautiful green things that need to be used fairly quickly. So, this has become our Saturday night (and lasts us through Sunday) meal.

Eat Your Greens! Frittata

3 potatoes, diced

1 large onion, chopped

several tablespoons butter (or fat of choice)

lots of salt and pepper (I also used Herbamere, a season all salt)

10-12 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional, I used goat cheddar)

loads of local produce from the market, cleaned and chopped. I used broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, and kale.

Melt butter in a large, oven-proof skillet over med-low heat. Add the potatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Cook until about halfway done. Add broccoli. Cook everything until just almost soft. Add zucchini and squash, cook another 2 minutes. Add kale and cook until wilted. Whisk your eggs, optional cheese, and more salt/pepper. Smooth out all your veggies to cover the skillet evenly. Pour eggs evenly over vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 minutes. Heat oven to 350. Finish cooking the frittata in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

Enjoy!

Farm Beauty

2011-06-05T19:05:00.009-04:00

No internet lines all the way out in the county + 2 kids + making this house a home + starting a farm = not much time for blogging.

That's right, no internet lines. We are paying for WiFi right now....by the minute. Yikes. We've put a request in for an internet line, but I'm not holding my breath. As much as I love sharing my love of healthy food with the world, it's going to be much more infrequent. Every once in a while I will post some pictures of what we've been growing/doing/eating.

Onto the good stuff...

Our field is thriving, our kids are thriving. We all feel so alive out here. The food tastes better, the house stays cleaner (still trying to figure this one out), the air feels fresher, the kids are sleeping like rocks at night. We still can't believe we are here.

So far we've planted: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries, beans, peas, cantaloupe, pumpkins, corn, peanuts, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, and peppers. Once everything is in the ground, we will start building a chicken coop. I can't wait for our chickens!

We knew we would love it here, but didn't realize how much. Here is what has been going on around here...

We are alive

2011-05-04T08:20:00.003-04:00

We are alive, we still have boxes to unpack, we have dirt under our nails, we have a fridge full of local produce and happy eggs, we are spending most of our time enjoying the fresh air, we are eating good, we are happy. Oh, so happy.

Seth is thriving. He has tried so many new foods (his first in years) since we moved in. On his own - without any prodding. He is finally able to use his muscles, splash in puddles, throw dirt, and yell at the top of his lungs without bothering anyone. He is so happy.

Farm life seems to fit Ella also. She is so happy to follow Seth around, splashing in the same puddles and throwing the same dirt.

Rhett is my own Charles Ingalls. That man knows how to work. I am so appreciative of all the things he can take care of on his own - painting, making shelves, planting flowers, digging up dirt, planing gardens, teaching the kids, etc. He loves getting his hands dirty. He is such a man, and I love him.

I am cooking, hanging clothes on the line, and playing with the babies. I am realizing how healing nature can be. How clean, alive and free the fresh air can make you feel. How dirt in your toes can energize your entire body. I feel so much more domestic here than I ever have. I love love love it.

I have tons of great pictures to upload. Our internet here isn't quite what is was up in the big city. Stay tuned...

dream : reality

2011-03-01T19:12:00.004-05:00

Well, folks, in a few short weeks we will be leaving the city behind us. We have finally worked it out, and we are moving to the farmhouse! It's been crazy around here, that is why I have been absent. I can't promise too many posts for the next little while either.

But, once we get there, I will be photographing the transformation. Grass turning into food, city kids turning into country kids, a 9-5 husband turning into part-time farmer, and me cooking my way through all of it.

Big things are happening...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T18:02:00.002-05:00

For those of us with food allergies....

it doesn't have to be chocolate to be fun (for the kids who don't know better, anyways)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Food lately

2011-02-07T13:24:00.002-05:00

Pancakes

2011-02-04T17:07:00.004-05:00

Seth is the muffin man, but he is also the pancake man. When I say that Seth eats these pancakes every single morning, I'm not exaggerating. This kid doesn't mess around with his breakfast. He knows what he likes, and he sticks with it.

Seth's Buckwheat Pancakes
makes 6 pancakes, easily doubled

1/2 cup fresh ground buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk (cow, goat, almond)
2 tsp melted coconut oil
frozen blueberries, optional

Mix all ingredients together. Cook each pancake for about 2 minutes per side, on a well oiled griddle. Top with maple syrup. Enjoy!

Salmon and Veggies

2011-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Salmon is full of healthy omega-3 fats, vitamins and minerals. But, due to supply and demand, the quality of salmon has gone down. Make sure you look for wild alaskan salmon. You don't want to buy farmed fish - they are unhealthy and usually pumped with food colorings.

If you aren't use to eating much fish, start with salmon. It has a mild taste and cooks up wonderfully. This is a simple dinner that we enjoy weekly. It can be served as a family friendly meal or an elegant dinner for two. If you're having trouble getting your kids to eat salmon, just tell them it's what the Berenstain Bears eat...works every time.

Salmon with Roasted Winter Vegetables

2 large salmon filets
ghee or butter
lemon
salt/pepper

7 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced
4 red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced
15 brussels sprouts, root cut off, outer layer peeled and washed
olive oil
salt/pepper
thyme

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the potatoes together with a few glugs of olive oil, salt/pepper, and several shakes of dried thyme. Put in a 9x13 pan. Cook for 20 minutes. Mix. Cook for another 15 minutes. While they are cooking for the 15 minutes, prepare your salmon.

Lay the filets in a buttered/oiled baking dish. Roll you lemon on the counter with your hand, to get the juices flowing. Slice open, and squeeze juice over filets. Cover each with salt and pepper. Dab with ghee or butter.

When the 15 minutes are up, take our your potatoes and add the brussels sprouts. Mix well. Put the vegetables and the salmon into the oven. Cook another 15 minutes.

Breakfast (or lunch, or dinner) tomorrow:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat up the leftover vegetables (and salmon, if you have any leftover) in a pan covered with ghee/butter/coconut oil. Whisk 8 large eggs together with some salt and pepper. Pour eggs into the pan with vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 5-8 minutes. Finish cooking in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked through.

Sorry the picture has such bad lighting....we eat breakfast early, really early. Like, before the sun comes up, early.

More Soup

2011-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

My family loves soup, and I'm glad they do. It's healthy, easy and cheap. I usually make a big pot of it every Sunday and we eat it well into the upcoming week. I don't follow any type of recipe. I just use what I have, and it always turns out great.

Winter Garden Soup

1 large onion
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
5 celery stalks, washed and diced
1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut
2 heads broccoli, cleaned and cut
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 small zucchini (I found some itty bitty local, organic ones at my health food store. They are out of season, so only use these if they are organic and you know the source.)
5 leaves kale, washed and shredded
leftover chicken meat
5 small red potatoes, cleaned and diced
8-10 cups homemade chicken or beef stock
several dashes of basil and oregano
salt/pepper to taste

Saute the onion in butter or ghee for a few minutes. Add carrots and celery, saute a few minutes more. Add everything else to pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover and let it simmer for 45 minutes.

**The cute husband enjoying his soup is optional, but really adds something to the meal. I highly recommend one.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Tuna

2011-01-20T15:05:00.005-05:00

Seth loves muffins, I love potatoes. I use them in anything I can - soups, frittatas, side dishes, etc. The humble potato can be dressed up as a meal in and of itself. We are dairy free right now, but these would be a-mazing with some melted cheese on top.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Tuna
This is one of those "its 5:00 and I haven't been to the grocery store in a week" dinners.

4 large russet potatoes
1 can tuna
3/4 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup broccoli (can be frozen)
3/4 cup frozen spinach
ghee (or fat of choice) for sautéing
salt/pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Scrub potatoes clean, dry them with a towel, and pierce holes all around with a knife. Wrap them in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour. About 10 minutes before the potatoes are ready, heat up a medium skillet with your ghee. Saute the broccoli, spinach and corn long enough for it to heat through. Add in tuna and salt/pepper. Put everything into a large bowl. Throw in some extra ghee or butter in the bowl, for good measure.

Take potatoes out of the oven and throw away foil. Let them cool to the touch and then scoop out the middle with a spoon. Put the insides into the bowl with the veggies/tuna. Mix together. Fill each potato with mixture. This is where you could add cheese, if tolerated. Put everything back in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve.

Lunch tomorrow:
My husband was out of town the night I made this dinner, so I had extras. I diced up the potato, hard boiled some eggs, and mixed it all together with some mayo. Yum!

Soup for the soul

2011-01-16T08:31:00.003-05:00

As we transition into a more GAPS friendly way of eating, I am trying to introduce a lot more soup into our routine. I've started making a big 2:00pm lunch on Sundays and then follow it up with a soup for dinner. We aren't very hungry, so we save lots of it and have it through the week. It's truly amazing what a little homemade chicken broth can do for you. It certainly makes me smile when I watch Ella gulp down bowls of vegetable soup, look up, and proudly ask for more.

Nourishing Vegetable Soup
Isn't it fantastic how you can mix the most random vegetables together with some salt/herbs/broth and it becomes something good enough to serve company?

1/2 stick butter (yeah, I said a half stick)
2 leeks, chopped and cleaned well
4 large carrots, sliced
4 potatoes, diced (I used the tiny fingerling potatoes and just sliced them)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
3/4 cup frozen spinach
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup wild rice (substitute chopped up cauliflower for GAPS)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt/pepper to taste
10 cups homemade chicken broth

Saute the leeks in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and saute a few minutes more. Add everything else. Bring to a boil, simmer for 45 minutes or more.

Enjoy!

**Be on the lookout for an awesome giveaway coming soon**

I love mexican food

2011-01-13T08:49:00.002-05:00

Mexican food has always been my cuisine of choice. It use to be soft white tortillas loaded with cheese....now it's soaked beans, avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, and meat. But, it's just as good. I spent spring break during my sophomore year of college on a humanitarian trip in Mexico. We stayed with local families from our church - and ate all three meals with them. It was heaven. Beans and eggs for breakfast? Pure genius.

Huevos Rancheros
I served this for dinner, but it would be a fabulous brunch on a lazy Saturday morning.

Serves 4, easily doubled

4 corn tortillas
4 eggs
1 cup salsa
1 cup black beans
shredded lettuce
avocado, diced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lay tortillas flat on a cookie sheet. Spray with coconut oil (or spread on some ghee) and sprinkle with sea salt. Put them in the oven and let them warm up while you cook the eggs. Dump salsa and beans into a large skillet, stir and let it warm up for a minute or two. Make 4 holes in the salsa and crack the eggs into them. Turn the heat down to medium/low. Cover and cook until the eggs are done - about 5 minutes. Take out the tortillas from the oven and put them on each plate. Scoop the eggs/salsa/beans on top of each tortilla. Top with lettuce and avocado.

Enjoy!

Do you know the muffin man?

2011-01-10T21:03:00.009-05:00

No? Well, let me introduce you...

This is Seth, also known (around the house only, of course) as "love muffin". I think as he gets older, and is sick of his mom calling him 'love muffin' all the time, I will switch it to 'muffin man'. It's a little more gruff, don't you think?

This kid loves muffins. He would eat them all day if I let him. This is the recipe I always go to. I keep a batch of these in my freezer at all times, in case of a muffin emergency.

*As a note, I found this recipe a couple years ago online. I jotted it down and don't have any idea where I got it from. I've tweaked it a little bit to make it my own. If anyone knows where this came from, please let me know so I can give credit.

Manly Love Muffins
Serve these for breakfast with some fresh fruit, or keep them in the freezer for snacks like we do.

2 cups blanched almond flour
3/4 cup almond meal (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
4 Tbsp arrowroot powder
heaping 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup raw, local honey
2 ripe bananas, peeled.
1/2 cup almond butter
4 pastured eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts

With your mixer, mash the bananas. Add the almond butter, honey, and eggs. Mix thoroughly. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Fill muffin cups (lined or sprayed) and bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Watch them closely, as the bottoms will brown quickly.

For me, these make 12 large muffins, and an additional 12 mini muffins. I freeze the large muffins right away and keep the mini's out for snacks.

It's hard to even get a picture of these with the muffin man around.

Food lately

2011-01-10T20:08:00.002-05:00

2011 : One step at a time

2010-12-31T08:00:00.002-05:00

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" -Lao-tzu

photo credit

Our heater broke the other night and I had to make an emergency trip to Wal-mart to pick up some space heaters. As I walked in, I saw carts full of leftover Christmas candy on sale. Just past the junk food, I saw aisles full of Slim-Fast, diet pills, and workout gear all on sale for new years. Sigh. It just makes me sad. People stuff themselves with "forbidden" food over the holidays and think that they have to start some drastic, unsustainable diet on January 1st.

Dear women of the world, do not subject yourself to such self-torture.

You are beautiful, just the way you are. (Yes, you)

You are allowed to eat anything you want, anytime.

You have all the power you need to change your world.

Stop chasing after the "perfect life/diet/etc" and enjoy where you are right now on the journey.

Stop worrying about your face, your behind, your tummy, your double chin. Spend your time loving your children, loving your husband, enjoying the fresh air, loving the beautiful earth, and loving your double chin.

We are all at different places, on different paths.....and that is ok.

Is my diet perfect? No.
Are my kids well behaved angels? No.
Is my house clean and organized just the way I want it? No.

Am I going to eat chocolate in 2011? Yes.
Am I going to raise my voice and not be a perfect mom in 2011? Yes.
Is my house still going to not be straight from a Pottery Barn catalog in 2011? Yes.

I try not to get too wrapped up in making resolutions. Over the years, I've found that the more rules I make for myself, the more disappointed I am with my life. I'm ok with where I am right now, today. Our food choices aren't always what I wish they were, but we are leap years ahead of where we were 4 years ago. Sometimes I get down on myself for not being the perfect Weston A. Price/natural parenting/hippie chick wife and mom. But, then I look back and realize how far I've come. Our health has improved, our son has healed, our family is happier, and we've made huge life changes towards our end goals.

Real change happens when you decide it is what is best for you, not because someone told you so. I don't eat at McDonald's because it makes me feel like a bucket of poo, not because everyone says I shouldn't. Each change should come naturally and gradually to have true staying power. Please don't join a gym, buy up your Wal-Mart's supply of Slim Fast, starve yourself, and then binge into old habits all within the first few days of 2011. How about you just make a green smoothie next week? Eat an apple? Drink an extra glass of water? Buy some real butter? Sit down and enjoy your meal, instead of eating in front of the TV? Start Small.

I sat down this week and made a list of health/parenting/money/household goals for the next 6 months. I wrote out small steps that I can take each month to achieve those goals. That way, by June (not January 2nd) our family may have made more huge strides.

So, women of the world, pat yourself on the back instead of beating yourself up. You are where you are, and it's a great place to be. Please do not subject yourself to short-lived, unsustainable resolutions. Enjoy the journey, and take it one step at a time.

photo credit

Christmas Magic

2010-12-30T16:36:00.004-05:00

I hope your holiday was as magical as ours.

Christmas Breakfast

2010-12-24T09:32:00.006-05:00

I remember as a little kid, my dad making a huge breakfast on Christmas morning. Christmas and Mother's Day were the only two days I think my dad cooked all year long. It was always worth the anticipation. The smell of bacon cooking while my brother and I admired all our new treasures is a fond memory of mine. Bacon and eggs. What more can a girl want on Christmas morning (other than a juicer and some new books? Hint...hint...) It is imperative that you have something cooking and smelling wonderful while opening presents!

I'm kicking it up a notch this year and turning the bacon and eggs tradition into a casserole.

Christmas Morning Casserole
A hearty casserole with festive red and green peppers. This could easily be doubled for extra company or leftovers.

1 bag frozen organic hash browns, thawed overnight (or you could use shredded cauliflower for a more GAPS friendly recipe)
2 tbsp butter, coconut oil or ghee (melted)
salt/pepper

Mix first 3 ingredients together and press into the bottom of a 9x13. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2-1 cup frozen corn (omit for grain free)
1/2-1 cup ham, cut into small cubes (you could sub with bacon, sausage, etc)

Saute in a large pan while the crust is cooking.

10 pastured eggs
salt/pepper

Whisk.

When the potato crust is done, spread the vegetable/meat mixture on top. Pour the eggs evenly over the vegetables. Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. I started checking it at 20 minutes and it was done around 25 minutes. I made it thin so that it wouldn't take too long to cook. Who wants to wait an hour for breakfast?

I will be serving this with seasonal fruit and almond flour muffins.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T13:54:00.006-05:00

May your holidays be filled with yummy food,

excited kids,

the love of a family,

and the true meaning of Christmas.

Happy Holidays from The Healing Fork!

I double dog dare you

2010-12-19T18:38:00.003-05:00

...to not be baby hungry after you see this video. Oh my goodness. This is what it's all about.

The Homebirth of Lucia Mae from Sara Janssen on Vimeo.

Dear wheat and dairy, we had a good run...

2010-12-16T19:22:00.009-05:00

I took Ella to our naturopath, suspecting a food allergy. She has the typical symptoms of a dairy allergy - runny nose, fussy, and constantly want to eat more and more dairy products.

Well, she is allergic to dairy and wheat. I never would have suspected wheat. She rarely eats any and usually turns it down when it's offered.

After a day and a half wheat/dairy-free she has gotten over her just-wont-quit cough, is much less whiney, and has lost her normal babyish bowel movements. Just like that. No more raw cheese, yogurt or butter. So, it's a total diet overhaul (again). It's ok, it's not like I'm busy or anything. Bring it on.

Seth has been gluten/dairy free for a few years now. He is typically uninterested in the food I make, so I never really changed our meals that much. Now it is time for all of us to officially go gluten/dairy free. I've been scouring cookbooks and blogs looking for some new recipes to try. It seems that everything gluten free is full of white rice flour, potato starch and sugar. Most dairy free items are full of sweetened rice milk and "vegan buttery sticks". Yuck all around. I'm not about to switch my family over to nutrient poor, super sweetened food...just in the name of gluten/dairy free living.

I will be playing around with different ingredients, and I'm sure it will all keep changing. For now, I will start with these substitutions:

Butter: coconut oil or ghee

Milk: coconut milk or homemade sprouted almond milk (in my spare time, right?)

Wheat: almond flour, coconut flour

Snack Time

Ella usually asks for chunks of raw cheese or yogurt for snack time. Yesterday I gave her a plate of celery sticks, yellow pepper strips and a Polyface hotdog. She ate the entire thing and then asked for orange. No problem, little lady. Instead of turning to dairy products or muffins for snack time, I will be making an effort to turn to fruit and vegetables. I started a short list of snacks yesterday. I plan on (in my spare time, right?) taking a photo of each snack and labeling it. Each day I will put out a few pictures of what we have in the house, and the kids can pick what they would like.

Here is my list, so far...

Gluten/dairy free snacks

- mini muffin quiche (eggs, spinach, red pepper, and onion mixed together and cooked in a mini muffin tin)
- mini muffin crab cakes (crab meat, eggs, mayo, veggies and spices mixed together and cooked in a mini muffin tin)
- almond flour muffins from the freezer
- fruit and veggies cut into fun shapes
- hard boiled eggs cooked in these funky little numbers
- applesauce
- larabars
- coconut milk yogurt cups
- chocolate avocado pudding (this is seriously amazing)
- banana ice cream (this too)
- mini quesadillas (brown rice tortilla, refried beans, guacamole, cooked in a skillet with ghee)

Any other ideas?

Embracing Hibernation

2010-12-10T18:28:00.011-05:00

Right before our eyes the beautiful fall reds and oranges quickly got swept away in the wind...and in entered the quiet chill of winter. It seems that we were just enjoying long nights filled with music, fresh fruit, and summer breeze. Now, we have retreated indoors. We are enjoying the cozy Christmas tree, our precious books, and thick socks. Rather than go crazy, I'm making myself busy inside. My mornings are full of nesting. Laundry, dishes, fluffing pillows, putting 8,794 children's books back on the shelves - all the little things that make this house our home. My afternoons are filled with homeschool lessons and baking. Seth loves to get in the kitchen with me. I've noticed, since the weather changed, he wants to bake something every afternoon. I'm ok with that. We warm up the kitchen and enjoy the fruits of our labor by the Christmas tree.

Food is such a big part of our lives. Here are a few recipes that we have warmed ourselves with this season.

Super Immunity Warm Smoothie
a warming drink to be enjoyed anytime during the day

Saute 2 bananas in a large spoonful of coconut oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Continue cooking until the bananas are brown and gooey. Meanwhile, gently heat up 2-4 cups (depends on how much smoothie you want) of milk (we've used raw cow and almond). Put cooked bananas, milk, and 1-2 tbsp coco powder in the blender. Blend and enjoy in a mug.

Supper Immunity Warm Oats
reap the benefits of coconut oil in your morning oats

1 cup oats, soaked overnight
2 cups milk (or water)
1 banana, chopped
1 spoonful coconut oil
spinkle cinnamon
1 tbsp coco powder

Combine and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until oats and banana is soft.

Broccoli and Leek Quinoa
a simple, satisfying lunch

1 head broccoli, chopped small
2 leeks, green tops removed, sliced, and cleaned thoroughly
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
butter, salt, pepper

Rinse and soak quinoa overnight. When you're ready to cook, drain and rinse quinoa again. Cook in chicken broth. While quinoa is cooking, saute broccoli and leeks in butter with salt and pepper. You can add any spices you like here, but I keep mine basic. Cook veggies until soft. Combine quinoa and veggies. Serve.

Potato and Spinach Frittata
a crowd-pleasing dinner or brunch

5 or 6 smallish potatoes, whatever variety you prefer (red is always a favorite for us)
1 medium onion, diced
5 -6 eggs (I always start with 5 and usually end up scrambling up one more to cover the potatoes)
handful frozen spinach
butter
salt, pepper, herbamere (or your favorite season all salt)

Slice potatoes thin, about 1/8th of an inch. Thin potatoes are the key. If they are too thick it will take too long for them to cook, and everything will get too mushy. Saute the potatoes and onion in butter. You need to be generous with the butter, because you want it to coat the pan later too. Add the salt, pepper and herbamere. If you want, some dried parsley would be a nice touch. Keep a close eye on the potatoes so that they don't burn or stick to the pan. Keep the heat low, and keep stirring. Once the potatoes are soft (10-15 minutes), add the spinach. Put a cover over you skillet and let the spinach soften. In the meantime, whip your eggs with some salt/pepper. Arrange potatoes evenly in your skillet. Add your eggs to the skillet and move it around, so that they eggs fill all the gaps. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Transfer your skillet to the oven to finish cooking. Cook another 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through in the middle. Cut into slices and serve alongside a leafy salad.

Enjoy the warmth of your food, your homes and your families. At this busy time of year, may we stop and truly contemplate what it means to give. I hope we can all share and feel of that perfect Christ-like love this month.

The everybody's-been-sick-and-I-haven't-been-to-the-store meal

2010-12-09T19:58:00.006-05:00

It feels like we've been out of commission for a while now. Which means I haven't been to the grocery store in almost a week and a half. There is almost no fresh produce left. We all started to get our appetites back last night, and I wanted to cook something that was warm, filling, and healthy.

Normally I would make this with fresh chopped tomatoes, avocados, etc. But, sometimes you gotta eat what you got, right?

Get Better Burrito Bowls

1 can refried beans
brown rice (I cook mine in chicken broth, for added nutrition)
2 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
lettuce
tortilla chips
cheese, optional
salad dressing, optional (french is good)

Throw the chicken and salsa in the crockpot on high for about 3 hours. After it's done cooking, shred. About an hour before you're chicken is done, start cooking your brown rice. Heat up your refried beans. Start layering. Make sure you drip the extra salsa into the bowls for extra flavor.

Everybody loved this, and it was so simple. This will be going on my list (alongside salmon cakes) for a easy, cheap, everything on hand kinda meal.

Enjoy!

Still Alive

2010-12-06T14:22:00.002-05:00

Just checking in to let you all know that I'm still here! We've had a crazy couple of days. Seth had a seizure on Friday morning. It was the absolute scariest 30 seconds of my entire life, hands down. The paramedics arrived and said his temperature was 105.1. That number still shocks me every time I think about it. They said that the seizure was from his fever spiking so high, so quickly. Never in my life have I been more thankful for conventional medicine. I am in no way reverting back to mainstream medicine, but you better believe that I will *always* have children's tylenol in the house from now on. The herbs just didn't cut it this time.

Seth was in the ER for about 6 hours. They ran a bunch of tests and did some blood work. Everything came back negative. Just a fever. My poor Seth was so traumatized by all the tests. His sensory issues are extremely high around his mouth. Just giving him the tylenol when we first got there took a full half hour and two doctors holding him down. The throat swab, nose swab and IV were almost as bad. It is so hard to be his mother, stand there and watch, and know I can't do anything to help him. It was heartbreaking.

My mom came right up and stayed with us through the weekend. I was pretty paranoid all night Friday night, and it was such a blessing to have her here. He is still feeling pretty worn down, but getting better. Rhett and I both got hit with the flu on Saturday night. Thankfully, our oscillococcinum knocked it right out. We've been having self-proclaimed snow days. I'm doing tons and tons and tons of laundry and the kids are watching movies. We will be staying in the cave for another day or so until we all get our strength back.

I appreciate all of the prayers we have had from our family and friends. Heavenly Father was truly watching over us on Friday.

autism: the final step towards recovery

2010-11-21T20:48:00.010-05:00

As a 3.5 year old, Seth did not speak. He did not point. He had never called me "mama". He did not communicate in any form, other than screaming. Tantrums. Screaming. All day, every day. He didn't know how to play with toys. All he did was spin the wheels on cars/bikes/strollers all day long. We would go for walks in the stroller, and he wouldn't enjoy the outdoors, he would look down at the wheels the entire time. We couldn't go out in public and we couldn't have play dates. We were at the end of our rope.

Then, we found our naturopath. By nothing short of heavenly intervention, we found an amazing woman who is recovering autistic children every day. She started Seth on supplements, homeopathic remedies, and told me to cut out all wheat and dairy from his diet. She explained to us that these children are toxic. This world full of pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, toxins, unhealthy food, artificial colors, etc., and is producing children that exhibit the same symptoms of truly autistic children. What do I mean by truly autistic? Someone who has a true neurological disorder. 1 in 94 children in the United States does not have a true neurological disorder. 1 in 94 children has heavy metal poisoning. Growing up, by the time I reached school aged, I had 10 vaccines. Kids now are getting 36 by the time they enter school. You do the math. If you look at the symptoms of mercury toxicity and the symptoms of autism they are almost word for word. For Seth, his 15 month (MMR) vaccines are the straw that broke his back. My diet pre conception and during pregnancy, environmental toxins, emotional trauma, pitocin during labor and formula feeding are all the things, I believe, led to his collapse after the MMR vaccine.

We followed our naturopaths orders and little by little, Seth came back. He started to wake up to the world around him. He started playing. He started talking.

We radically changed our lives. We went from eating whatever looked good at our local mainstream grocery store to eating vegetables from a farmer's market and meat from local, grass fed animals. I threw out all of our Tide laundry detergent, our window cleaners, our children's tylenol, all of it. If it was conventional, it was in the garbage can. Conventional is what made Seth sick. If you had told me 6 years ago that I would have a baby in my bedroom, have chicken feet in my freezer for broth, and be contemplating homeschooling, I would have laughed in your face. But, when your child is sick, you will do anything to make them better.

Seth is so much better. He makes eye contact, he laughs, he plays, he communicates. He attends a preschool in the mornings where none of the teachers have any idea he use to be "autistic". But, I don't think I can say he's 100% recovered. He still screams. He still tantrums. He still has a lot of sensory issues. I've been doing what I do best (researching) and I think it is time for us to take another step forward in Seth's healing journey. Making this publicly known, will help me to stay focused and committed to what we are doing.

We tested a few different diets with our naturopath (Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, Body Ecology Diet, and Gluten/Casein Free diet) and The Body Ecology Diet won with flying colors for Seth. Seth doesn't eat "bad" food right now - but I think he's become addicted to starches/sugars. Over the past couple years, he has slowly weaned his approved food list down just beans, rice, buckwheat pancakes, homemade muffins, and bananas. Right now, he gags whenever he put any other type of food in his mouth. We don't know where to start with that. I know what to feed him, I just don't know how to get it in his stomach. I am crossing my fingers that as we introduce young coconut kefir (body ecology diet protocols) that his cravings for the starches will diminish and he might want to eat other foods. (Any tips are humbly appreciated when it comes to feeding sensory-stricken autistic kids)

I believe that this diet could be the last piece of the puzzle for Seth. Energy healing, homeopathy, supplements, and taking out allergenic foods are the things that have helped the most. Another radical diet change, I know, can be the final step to Seth's recovery.

I am making my menu plans, and figuring this all out. The craziness of the holidays are upon us, and I might not be in the right state of mind to fully start until January. But, in the mean time, I will be preparing.

It's game time.

Looking for some more answers?

Nourish-ed

Autism Treatment and The Body Ecology Diet

"AUTISM YESTERDAY" Autism is Reversible from JB Handley on Vimeo.

Food lately

2010-11-21T14:20:00.002-05:00

A simple thought

2010-11-19T21:08:00.001-05:00

"Love, joy, and peace are all Divine gifts, Divine properties. They can work miracles even on their own. Love unites and makes everything whole; peace radiates from a person and exudes silence; and joy takes away the pain of the soul. When a joyous person meets a sorrowful one and speaks a few kind and peaceful words, all of a sudden it is as though the sun has risen for the sad person. Separately, love, peace, and joy work miracles, but united they can rule over all things. When they are united and deeply rooted in a person's heart, wherever that person emits a thought, there is peace, for such a person radiates peace."

"You must strive to have peace in your homes. Peace starts with each one of us. When we have peace in us, we spread it around to others. You can see for yourself that there are very few humble and meek souls on the earth - but also that they are truly blessed. They will not be offended if you insult them in any way. Whatever way you treat them, they are quiet and peaceful and they are truly sorrowed because you are in such spiritual torment."

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Found here

My Favorite Smoothie

2010-11-17T20:20:00.006-05:00

I try to make it to the gym at least a few times a week. Being mom to two young kids, I don't have time to waste. So, when I'm there, I work. I work hard. Running, weights, the whole shebang. After my workout I always crave water and protein. This smoothie is the best of both worlds. I don't buy into protein powders. I haven't come across a protein powder tree anywhere in nature yet, have you? I trust plants more than powder. Raw egg yolks from pastured hens are a wonderful source of protein, vitamins and minerals. I always feel strong and energized after this smoothie.

Post Workout Smoothie

2 leaves romaine lettuce
handful of spinach
frozen blueberries
frozen strawberries
1-2 tbsp whole flax
1 raw egg yolk (never ever from a grocery store hen, only a pastured organic hen!)
enough coconut water to get everything moving

Blend and feel your energy lift!

Perfect for chilly fall nights

2010-11-10T19:21:00.005-05:00

Colorful Chili

Your kids (and your husband) will have no idea that spinach is hidden in here!

1 lb grass fed beef, turkey, buffalo - whatever floats your boat
1 onion

Cook the meat and onion together. While it's cooking throw everything else in the crockpot.

1 28 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can organic baked beans
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1/2-1 cup frozen spinach
salt, pepper
several shakes of chili powder and oregano - We like our chili really mild, you can always throw in more spices or a can of green chilies if you need to.

Add the meat/onion mixture. Stir it up. Cook on low 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

I served this over brown rice. It would be great with some crushed tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, etc.

I think next time I might throw a few carrots in the food processor and cook them with the meat. I'll make it a game. I'll call it "how many vegetables can I sneak in the chili before someone notices". Is it sad that I get excited about something like that? Welcome to motherhood.

Before:

After:

Movie Trailers

2010-11-09T19:06:00.003-05:00

I love love love documentaries, and I love love love food. What more can a girl want?

Farmageddon Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.

NourishMd.com

2010-11-05T13:00:00.004-04:00

I am featured as Mom of the Month over at NourishMd.com!

You can check out my article here. It's full of tips on staying healthy this winter, meal plans, and how to take care of yourself.

Have a fabulous weekend full of golden leaves, warm foods, and happy families!

A Simple Dinner

2010-11-04T09:59:00.005-04:00

These salmon cakes are our go-to dinner if it's 5:00 and nothing is cooking yet. This dinner is perfect for a beautiful fall evening, when all you want to do is play outside in the leaves, not cook dinner.

Salmon Cakes

1 can salmon
1 egg
1 tbsp mayo
pinch salt or herbamere
pinch dill

Mix together until well blended. Cook on a hot griddle covered with butter or coconut oil, just like pancakes. Let each side cook for 2-3 minutes.

Serve With:

If you're really running short on time, serve this with a salad with veggies.

If you've got more time, roast a few vegetables and cook a pot of brown rice.

What are some of your quick dinner ideas?

Happy Halloween

2010-11-02T19:51:00.003-04:00

Better late than never, right?

My Things had a fabulous time. I hope you did too!

Lots of links

2010-10-27T12:19:00.004-04:00

The inspiration from around the web never ceases to amaze me. Here are a few things I've had in my browser lately.

Worthless women and the men who make them.....this left me speechless. The world needs more men like this.

John Durant on The Colbert Report.....this combines my two of my favorite things: nutrition and laughing. What more could you want?

Parent like a caveman....If you're eating like a caveman, might as well parent like one.

Everyday chemicals may be harming children....wake up America!

Piece Together Peace....a wonderful remind of the simplicity and joy of childhood

New Traditions....some wonderful ideas for Christmas traditions

Fudge....this needs no explanation

The marvelous health of unvaccinated children....my Ella is one example

farm livin' is the life for me

2010-10-25T13:50:00.007-04:00

Exhale

2010-10-15T10:13:00.002-04:00

The kids and I are heading to the farmhouse for at least a week. We are going to play, eat, sleep, and recharge our batteries. Be back online soon.

Enjoy your week!

Real Food Kids: Party Edition

2010-10-10T16:05:00.007-04:00

Seth has his 5th birthday party yesterday. It was our first kid-only party. He requested the theme to be "construction". The backyard was full of sand, trucks, yellow and brown balloons and caution tape. I wanted to make sure the kids had fun, but healthy, food.

I served fruit skewers, veggie sticks and hummus in a cup, popcorn made with olive oil and sea salt, and Elana's vanilla cupcakes and chocolate frosting.

The party was everything it should be. Friends, food, laughs, a couple new toys, and lots of proud smiles from mom and dad. And guess what else? No sugar buzz at the end!

I love my little 5 year old guy. He has put me on quite a journey these past few years. This tiny person is so full of life, energy, and emotion. He is the one who put me on this path of real, traditional foods. For that, I will always be grateful.

After the party was over, Rhett and I celebrated 5 years of parenthood with a simple salmon and roasted veggie dinner. The salmon was cooked with butter, salt and pepper. I roasted the sweet potatoes and beets in some olive oil, herbamere and pepper. So simple, so satisfying, so beautiful.

Almond Butter Cookies

2010-10-07T21:33:00.005-04:00

These cookies deserve a post of their own. In one word, they are amazing. These are the best thing that ever happened to grain-free baking. If I didn't know any better, I would guess they were filled with white flour, white sugar, etc. You must try these. Like tonight.

Almond Butter Cookies

1 16oz jar almond butter, extra oil drained off the top
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sweetener - since these are a once in a while treat for us, I use pure dehydrated cane juice
1/2 cup (or more) dark chocolate chips
1 tbsp vanilla.

Mix together and drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I usually pull them out at 8 minutes. They look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook/harden as they sit. Let these cool completely, or they will be crumbly. But, hey, if soft gooey cookie crumbles are your thing I say go for it.

Enjoy!

*It has been brought to my attention that this recipe is almost identical to one on Elana's blog. I did not know about this recipe at the time, but wanted to cover my bases. :)

Food and the farm

2010-10-07T12:31:00.005-04:00

Raising Children

2010-09-30T12:41:00.002-04:00

Raising Children, by Anna Quindlen

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief.

I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast.Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like.

Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once poured over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon, and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages, dust would rise like memories. What those books taught me, and finally what the women on the playground, and the well-meaning relations — well what they taught me was that they couldn’t really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything.

One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2.

When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.

I remember 15 years ago pouring over one of Dr. Brazelton’s wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made.They have all been enshrined in the “Remember-When-Mom-Did ” Hall of Fame.The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs.The times the baby fell off the bed.The times I arrived late for preschool pickup.The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp.The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, “What did you get wrong?” (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald’s drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.

I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I’m not sure what worked and what didn’t, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I’d done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top.

And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.

That’s what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me awhile to figure out who the experts were.

A year older

2010-09-25T13:20:00.005-04:00

I celebrated my 27th birthday last week and I'm just finding the time to post some pictures. My day started with a husband-made breakfast, a hour long massage at a spa in Old Town, lunch from Panera, a simple cake made by me and the babies, and dinner with the husband at Mt. Vernon.

Links I'm Loving

The Homebirth Advantage

Why cavemen were better parents than we are today

Make real food relevant to kids

What's wrong with our food system...according to an 11 year old

The song I can't get enough of right now

Teaching peace to small children

Happy Fall!

2010-09-22T12:42:00.013-04:00

It's official, my favorite season is here! Here is how we are celebrating the change of weather.

We decorated the house...

The boy and I made granola yesterday to enjoy for breakfast this morning...

Raw Pumpkin Spice Granola
this makes a fairly small batch, will be doubling next time

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup buckwheat
1/4 rounded cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 rounded cup whole raw almonds
1/4 scant cup flax seeds

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 small chopped apple, optional

Put all of the dry ingredients into a food processor (you could use a hand chopper if you don't have a processor). Pulse a few times, until you reach desired chunkiness. Wisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and chopped apple, mix well. Lay granola out onto dehydrator trays lined with wax paper. Dehydrate for a couple hours, stir, dehydrate a couple more hours. Store in an airtight container.

I hate to brag, but this granola turned out amazing. It has won the title for the best granola I've ever had!

We made a perfect fall breakfast...

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Fall Oats

3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill 8 grain cereal
2 cups water
1 banana, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
couple glugs of maple syrup
2 tbsp peanut butter, soft
pumpkin spice granola, recipe above

Combine oats, cereal, water and banana. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5-7 minutes. Add pumpkin and let it heat through. Add maple syrup, stir. Put into bowls and garnish with peanut butter and granola.

We spent the afternoon outside cleaning up the garden...

We had a fun day cozying up the house, reading seasonal books, and playing outside in the gorgeous weather. The day ended with a simple, warming dinner....

Roasted red potatoes, carrots and brussels sprouts. Served alongside some quinoa cooked in fresh chicken broth.

Enjoy the colors, enjoy the weather, enjoy the smells, enjoy this fall season!

Happy International Day of Peace!

2010-09-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

World peace begins at home

Rustic Raw Apple Pie

2010-09-21T09:43:00.006-04:00

Rustic Raw Apple Pie
recipe adapted from Raw Food

Crust:
1 1/4 cup almonds (I used a mixture of almonds and walnuts)
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
5 dates, pitted
pinch of nutmeg
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Filling:
1 large or 2 small apples, cored and skin on
1 banana
2 dates, pitted
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Garnish:
2 or 3 apples, slices thin
nutmeg

1. Finely chop the nuts in a food processor.
2. Add the oil, dates, and spices. Mix
3. Add the honey, and mix to form a dough.
4. Spread the dough out in your pie dish.
5. Puree your filling ingredients in a blender. Pour into pie crust.
6. Top with apples and a pinch of nutmeg.
7. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for a couple hours, until it's warm and the apples soften. This is optional, but it makes the pie warm and cozy, just like it should be.

september 20

2010-09-20T12:38:00.005-04:00

Using up the last of the summer veggies

2010-09-15T18:06:00.008-04:00

Cook Once, Eat Three Times Ratatouille

1 large eggplant
1 large zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash
1/2 yellow onion
1 tsp Italian seasoning, optional
3 garlic cloves, minched
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper

Chop all veggies into bite-size chunks. Throw everything in the crockpot and mix it together. Cook on low for 5-7 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

Night 1: Serve ratatouille over brown rice pasta with a big side salad.

Night 2: Cook a chicken in the crockpot during the day. Serve next to the leftover ratatouille and pasta.

Night 3: Ratatouille pizza. Make your pizza crust (I use this one), top with pasta sauce, ratatouille and some cheese if you want. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 375. Serve with salad.

Homebirth

2010-09-10T19:05:00.003-04:00

I know this is a food blog, but I saw this and couldn't help but share. I'm just as passionate about homebirth as I am good food. This is one of the most wonderful birthing videos I've seen. It shows how beautiful and calm birth can be.

Click the link
Click on "our work"
Click on the video at in the top right corner
Enjoy!

http://www.forwardfilmsla.com/

The Emotion of Eating

2010-09-09T18:38:00.007-04:00

What else are you swallowing with your meal?

What do you think of when you see this picture? How does it make you feel? Who does it connect you to? Where did this food come from? Who has handled it? Was it made with love and thanksgiving?

With the rise of industrial food, we have become more and more disconnected from our meals. Other than loads of chemicals, fillers, toxins, altered fats, refined carbohydrates, and high fructose corn syrup, what else are we ingesting?

***

What about this picture? What kind of emotion does this provoke in you? For me it is warmth, connection, and healing.

Warmth - Homemade food is full of warmth and love. Food just tastes better when it's been made with loving hands.

Connection - By eating local and seasonal, you can connect with the earth in a very intimate way. You get a variety in taste and in nutrition. Just think of a crisp cucumber from the garden in August, and of a comforting pumpkin in November. How beautifully the earth produces foods that are perfect for our bodies in the different seasons. By eating at home and with local ingredients you can also connect with those that grow your food. You can know the land and the hands that your food has been in. I just can't say the same thing for McDonalds. Can you?

Healing - Everytime we sit down for a meal we are making a choice. One step closer to health, or one step away. Healthy, homemade food brings us healing in so many more ways than one. Food like that can bring families together after a long day to recconnect. It can comfort and uplift. Food is healing to the body and the soul.

Food is not just food. Food is celebration, beauty, joy, and health.

Sit down. Breath. Light a candle. Enjoy laughter and a warm meal with your family. Feed your body and your soul.

september 9

2010-09-09T18:05:00.004-04:00

best weekend ever

2010-09-07T11:08:00.003-04:00

thanks mama.

Eat, Pray, Love was the perfect movie to break my 8 year movie theater hiatus. I've never had a 100% raw meal before and it was amazing. Some of the best food I've ever had.

Fall (mama-inspired) Inspiration

2010-09-02T20:29:00.004-04:00

I love the change of seasons, and I love autumn the best. The rich colors, warm soups, comfy sweaters, and watching my children soak up the last drops of warm afternoon sunlight while they can. I always feel inspired in the fall. I want to warm up my home with rich seasonal meals, ripe orange pumpkins on the porch, good books, and cozy socks for the long winter ahead.

Rhythm of the Home is truly a gem. Each season, a new issue of this online magazine comes out. It's full of mama-inspired inspiration. Here are a few things that caught my eye...

Apple Adoration

Making a Playscape - good ideas for indoor play

Making a doll swing

Fallen Leaves Garland

Making Your House A Home

Finding Balance and Keeping Rhythm

Seasonal Mexican Casserole

2010-09-02T12:47:00.006-04:00

Seasonal Mexican Casserole

Filling:
1 lb ground turkey
small onion
1-2 cups black beans, soaked and cooked
1 cup corn
seasonal veggies of your choice - I used zucchini and squash
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp cumin
salt/pepper

Saute turkey and onion for about 5 minutes. When the meat is almost done, add the zucchini. Add everything else and cook until everything has come together and looks fabulous.

Layer a buttered 9x13 with tortillas (whatever you can handle....sprouted wheat, corn, brown rice). Cover the tortillas with the entire meat/veggie mixture. Add another layer of tortillas. Top with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 until everything is warmed through. Garnish with avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

august 27

2010-08-27T12:34:00.002-04:00

The best dessert I've ever had...

2010-08-24T18:33:00.005-04:00

seriously. I'm not going to ruin this with words. Words just don't do this dessert justice. All I can say is that it's been 3 days since I made this, and I am still dreaming about it.

Chocolate Mousse with Vanilla Ice Cream and Raspberries

Chocolate Mousse
recipe from French Women Don't Get Fat

4 oz dark chocolate
1 tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks*
5 egg whites*

*You need to use free-range, pastured eggs for this recipe.

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set on top of a pan of simmering water on medium heat.

2. Remove the chocolate from the heat and add the sugar. Stir well and let the chocolate sit for 5 minutes to cool. Add the egg yolks, one at a time.

3. Beat the egg whites until stiff, glossy peaks are formed. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mixture until well blended.

4. Pour the mousse into a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (I'll be honest, I could only wait an hour and it turned out just fine)

For those taking this to the next level...

Let your vanilla ice cream (The best I've found is Trader Joe's brand) sit on the counter for 10 minutes, until it's just starting to soften. Fill each bowl with a scoop of ice cream. Drop a heaping (or two) spoonfuls of mousse on top. Add raspberries.

The Lunch Box

2010-08-21T20:23:00.004-04:00

There are tons of great lunch ideas going around right now, since it's back to school time. Here are some of the best I've found.

Back to School, Back to Lunch! by Wendolonia. She's included a printable PDF file too!

20 Easy Bento Lunch Boxes Some of these are so elaborate, and I would never find the time to do it. But, cute ideas!

The Lunch Box Post An oldie but goodie. I've had this one saved for a while. Tons and tons of great ideas!

School Lunch Pictures This is a link to Weelicious' facebook page. She posts a picture of her son's school lunch every day. Beautiful, balanced meals!

Laptop Lunches Flickr Page I will be frequenting this page a lot!

Weelicious School Lunch Video

Raw Strawberry Pie

2010-08-17T19:26:00.003-04:00

Raw Strawberry Pie
recipe from A World of Wisdom

Crust:
1 cup almonds (I used almond meal from Trader Joes)
1 cup soft, pitted dates
1/2 tsp vanilla

Grind in a blender or food processor. Press into the pie plate.

Filling:
7-8 large strawberries
5 pitted, soft dates
2 bananas
1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in the blender and pour into pie shell. Decorate with additional strawberries and chill.

august 16

2010-08-16T08:35:00.004-04:00

Simplify, Simplify

2010-08-14T19:04:00.004-04:00

I love to research, dig around, read books, etc. If I've got a spare minute, I'll open up a nutrition book and get sucked right in. I've learned so much about food and health over the past few years. It's great having my mind full of good information, but it can also get very overwhelming. Body Ecology Diet, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Primal, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, raw, and on and on and on and on and on. We are always evolving our diet around here to see what best fits our family. But, it really can make you crazy after a while.

It was nice having my brother here this summer. He was a neutral third party that could see things for how they were. He helped me simplify all of the thoughts in my head. Here is what he came up with.

Blake's Life Principles

Diet: Try to eat more 'real' foods than 'processed' foods
Have plenty of color diversity in your meals
Eat organic grass-fed meats

Exercise: Walking and running will give you a healthier heart
Weight training will strengthen and tone the muscles
Doing anything is better than nothing

Leisure: Scriptures are first priority
Conference talks and books authored by General Authorities come next
Email is the main use for the Internet
Watch movie/TV programs sparingly, that are uplifting and bring a calm spirit into the home

Home: Enjoy wholesome music (secular and spiritual)
Cleanliness invites the Spirit of the Lord
Enjoy the outdoors at much as possible

Church: Attend church each week
Make a plan for monthly Temple visits and follow through
Have weekly Family Home Evenings

Could it really be that simple? Yes, indeed, I think it is.

Thanks, Blake.

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

2010-08-12T08:48:00.004-04:00

Blueberry Banana Pancakes
adapted from a recipe in The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook (one of my favorites, worth every penny!)

1 3/4 cup gluten free rolled oats
3 tbsp flax seed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups milk, we used almond milk (you may need a little more if your batter is dry)
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 banana, lightly mashed
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1. Grind oats into flour in a blender. Place oats, baking powder, and baking soda into a medium sized mixing bowl and stir together.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, oil, syrup, and banana and stir together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together. Add a little bit more milk if it is too dry. Don't over-mix.

3. Heat and grease your skillet. Pour batter and put blueberries on top. Cook for about 2 minutes on one side. Flip, being careful to not let the blueberries drop. Cook another 2 minutes, or until cooked through.

My batter made about 12 hearty pancakes. Enjoy!

Intuitive Eating

2010-08-11T22:21:00.002-04:00

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing. When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created. The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living. In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.

august 9

2010-08-09T13:17:00.002-04:00

august 8

2010-08-08T19:25:00.004-04:00

Just more links today. Pictures are coming tomorrow.

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

3 Forgotten Hunter-Gatherer Secrets of Raising SuperKids

How to Give Your Kids Extra Omega-3s

NPR: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter.....thoughts?

links for the day

2010-08-05T19:39:00.002-04:00

5 Best Chocolate Bars

$8 for a dozen eggs?...Michael Pollan tells you why that's a good deal

Video footage from Dr. Weston A. Price's trips

august 4

2010-08-04T20:02:00.004-04:00

.links

Primal Snacks

Egg on Their Faces....food for thought if you are use to eating by the junk-food pyramid guide

The importance of seasonal eating

farmhouse pictures

2010-08-03T12:32:00.005-04:00

Recipe Links:

Nourishing Protein Bars

Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Pizza

Links in my browser:

Black bean salad

Spicy black bean and corn tortilla pie

Family ditches it all and sails around the world

Cancer cells feed on sugar

Forgiveness: My burden was made light

july 29

2010-07-29T21:00:00.002-04:00

We are headed to the farmhouse this weekend. I'm busy packing, so no pictures tonight. There will be a whole slew of them when I get back though! Have a great weekend!

Steps for natural weight loss

Interview with Amy from Progressive Pioneer

Unschoolers Bill of Rights

Gluten free gingerbread men

july 28

2010-07-28T21:32:00.007-04:00

july 26 links

2010-07-26T20:41:00.002-04:00

Grain free honey graham crackers

Dangers of mercury based fillings and how to remove them

The containerization of infants......pick up your babies and love on them!

chocolate ice cream and cookies

2010-07-24T16:51:00.004-04:00

ice cream + cookies = love

Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Pizza

2010-07-24T16:39:00.004-04:00

We had leftover grilled chicken from the burritos and decided to make this fantastic pizza. Honestly, it's one of the best I've ever had - gluten free or not!

Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Pizza

1 grilled chicken breast, chopped
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
3/4 cup pizza sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand)
Handful of cheese

Crust:
2 cups almond flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
dash of garlic powder
dash of oregano

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients for the crust together. Roll it out on a pizza pan. Bake for 6 minutes, or until it just barely starts to brown.

While the crust is cooking, saute your onion and broccoli in a dab of butter with salt. I cooked this on low heat for a good 10 -15 minutes. It was perfectly soft and caramelized. For the last minute or two, I added the chicken to warm it up.

Take crust out the oven and cover with pizza sauce. Top with chicken and veggies. Top with cheese. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Grilled Chicken and Corn Burrito Bake

2010-07-24T16:24:00.010-04:00

We are gluten-free and are trying to get more protein/less grains in our diet. I tried making egg tortillas and it worked perfectly!

Grilled Chicken and Corn Burrito Bake

6-7 Roma tomatoes
1 onion
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2-3 chicken breasts
8 eggs
3 ears of corn
handful of shredded cheese

Send your husband outside to grill the chicken, corn and tomatoes.

While he's outside feeling manly, you stay inside and cook up your onion. Chop it up and cook it with the spices and a dab of butter until it's soft and starting to brown.

Puree the onion and the grilled tomatoes together to make your sauce.

While the chicken is finishing, start your tortillas. Crack two eggs and whisk until well blended. Heat a skillet over medium low, cover it in butter, and drop your eggs in the middle. It will naturally flatten out into a circle shape. Let it cook on the bottom. Once the top edges start to cook through you can flip it over and cook the other side for just a minute.

Cut up your grilled chicken and cut the corn off the cob. Mix your sauce, chicken and corn together. Fill each tortilla with some mixture and roll it up.

Top with cheese if you want. Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees, or until cheese is melted.

july 24

2010-07-24T16:12:00.005-04:00

just links

2010-07-23T21:37:00.002-04:00

Pictures are coming tomorrow.

Eating Power Struggles With Kids

Entryway Wainscoting......I think the cuteness factor is right up there with those bajillion dollar Pottery Barn entryway furniture.

Your Body Within 1 Hour of Drinking a Soda

How diet soda makes you fat and ruins your health.....I am so so so grateful that soda has never been a temptation for me. I could go the whole rest of my life without one and wouldn't think twice about it. Soda is, in my opinion, one of the worst things you can put in your body. Diet soda is even worse than regular. Yuck.

Do you have a leaky gut?

Beautiful Montessori shelves.....its funny what makes your heart pitter patter once you're a mom, huh?

july 21

2010-07-21T20:00:00.005-04:00

Mariel's Turkey and Veggie Sausages

Olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced celery
1/4 cup minced carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric
salt/pepper
1 1/4 pounds organic free-range turkey
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Heat 2 tsp olive oil and saute onion, celery, carrots, and garlic until tender. Remove from heat and cool completely before continuing.

Combined the vegetables, herbs and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add turkey and beaten eggs and stir well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Shape turkey mixture into patties. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and brown the patties over medium heat on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

I love all of Mariel's stuff....simple, grain free, seasonal food!

**Links**

The Story of Cosmetics

Circadian Rhythms

SCD-legal twinkies

july 20

2010-07-20T20:21:00.002-04:00

I had good intentions of posting food pictures, but playing in the sun all day with my babies has made me tired. Lots of pictures tomorrow, promise!

My inspiration for the day...

Birth is beautiful

Sun is your friend

MovNat.com

In Search of the Perfect Human Diet....I love documentaries and I can't wait for this one to come out!

Sugar is worse for your cholesterol than eggs

july 17

2010-07-17T19:40:00.006-04:00

Cauliflower and Bacon Hash

5 strips bacon
1 head cauliflower
4 eggs

Cut up your bacon and start frying it. When it's almost done, throw in your cauliflower. Do not drain the bacon grease. We all know that's the best part. Cook this for a while until the bacon is done and the cauliflower is soft and caramelized.

Put this in a bowl and cover it to keep it warm. Then fry up your eggs. Serve eggs on top of hash.

Serve with a salad. I used lettuce, peas, celery, and raw sunflower seeds.

Watch all the boys in your house hyperventilate over the dinner table.

july 16 links

2010-07-16T22:04:00.002-04:00

American Diet: Highly Processed Products Parading as Food

Why are we so fat if we don't eat fat?

New Study Shows Vaccines Cause Brain Changes Found in Autism

Turn down the lights, turn up your metabolism

Nourishing Protein Bars

Right Fellowship
"Right company, in any form, helps to inspire people toward maintaining their spiritual discipline and developing right understanding. Right fellowship is a form of God's Grace. This is important because, although our inner teacher is always working, we do not always want to follow it. The inner teacher of another, at just the right time, may give the right positive reinforcement for our own inner spiritual direction. Right fellowship supports, reinforces, and stimulates the inner teacher. It helps to create a situation in which there can be an exchange of teachings and presence among equals. Surrounding ourselves with good company is an extremely critical part of building a spiritual sanctuary. In this age of increasing mass Enlightenment, it becomes an even more important principle."

-Gabriel Cousens, M.D.

july 15

2010-07-15T19:01:00.009-04:00

Raw milk, polyface meat, local raw honey, polyface eggs, produce

Grain-Free Mexican Casserole

Crust
2 large zucchini
4 medium eggs (or 3 large)
salt/pepper

Shred zucchini. Whisk eggs. Mix eggs, zucchini, salt/pepper together.

Spread in a 9x13 pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

While the crust is baking, cook up 1.5 pounds of grass fed ground beef with an onion. Add taco seasoning (I use Frontier). Spread a layer of salsa on top of crust. Then top with meat and raw cheese. Put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through.

Top with guacamole, lettuce, and tomato.

**Links**

Gardasil may cause increase in cervical cancer

Lead Gardasil vaccine developer says it doesn't work, is dangerous, and wasn't tested

Does your daughter need the HPV vaccine?

25 things I now know as a parent

Teach the Child

The definitive guide to primal blueprint

Voices Raised Against the Food Pyramid

july 13

2010-07-13T19:06:00.005-04:00

**Links**

Face of Birth

Cute, easy way to give your shirt some shape

Face plates....Another desperate attempt to get Seth to eat food

Spaghetti Leonardo

Stir-fried chicken in lettuce cups

Teriyaki BBQ Chicken

2010 Weston A. Price Conference.....I think I might be going!

.july 12.

2010-07-12T13:13:00.006-04:00

Pictures from the last couple days

**Link**

Nutritious meals and snacks for kids

2010-07-09T19:24:00.005-04:00

**Links**

What's really in a McNugget?

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership

Why babies benefit from feeding "on demand"

Top Ten Mindful Eating Steps to Teach Kids

A second opinion on learning disorders

Unschooling your body

Lots of Links

2010-07-07T19:47:00.003-04:00

Nutritional Therapy : The Key to Healthy Motherhood

The cutest handmade dress I've ever seen

What Mark Eats

Top 50 Raw Blogs

Sensory Integration activities to help kids calm down

Photos and Food

2010-07-06T18:58:00.007-04:00

The kids and I are loving these warm summer days. Lazy mornings, easy meals, and playing outside all afternoon. Here's what we've been eating/doing the last couple days.

**Links**

Benefits of Extended Breastfeeding

I don't wear sunscreen...here's one reason why

Green Goddess Grilled Chicken Pasta

Maximize Nourishment & Minimize Toxicity for a Healthy Pregnancy

Ladybug Snack

Raw Chocolate Ice-Cream Perfected....wanting to try this

Raw Pizza (warm weather = craving raw food)

4th at the Farmhouse

2010-07-04T20:05:00.009-04:00

**Links**

Before and after GAPS

Deviled Eggs

Photo Catch Up

2010-07-01T18:59:00.005-04:00

Summer has gotten the best of me again...in a good way, of course. Here are some pictures from the last couple days.

**Links in my browser**

High sugar content in baby/toddler food....so make your own!

Flouride is damaging your bones, brain, kidneys, and thyroid

What's On My Food?

Got sunshine in your diet?

Subway bread has more HFCS than whole grains.....horrible.

We are heading to the farmhouse tomorrow for the holiday. Lots of pictures will be taken, and a big post is coming Monday night. Have a fantastic 4th!

Tuesday

2010-06-29T20:10:00.006-04:00

Breakfast - Leftover burrito filling scrambled up with eggs

Lunch - Turkey with spinach on sprouted bread, red pepper strips

Dinner - Hakuna Matata Potato Frittata....what a wonderful phrase. Uncle Blake came up with that title. The highlight of dinner (other than the food, of course) was hearing the kids try to say that. This tasted just as good as it looks.

Recipe

Treat - I'm in the midst of making some peanut butter fudge for "no kid time".

Cute Ella

**Links in my browser**

The Gluten Free Diet

FDA Says Antibiotics In Meat A "Serious Public Health Threat".....ya think?

Catch up

2010-06-29T12:59:00.007-04:00

We have been busy going for walks, playing in the pool, chasing each other with the water hose, and all things summery. I think the sun wears me out just as much as it does the kids. I just haven't had time to blog. Here are some pictures to catch up.

**Links In My Browser**

Understanding Nature....beautiful

Dancing With Nature

Stuff

Manifesto

Picture Books that Teach Life Lessons

Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Mignons and Corn Salad with Bacon, Tomato, and Avocado

Saturday Pictures & Recipe

2010-06-26T19:21:00.004-04:00

I'm tired tonight, so just pictures. You'll get the drift.

Thick and Hearty Oatmeal Pancakes

1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 eggs
2 tbsp flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk (or alternative)

Throw it all in a blender and whiz away. I never use sweetner in pancake recipes, because I always have syrup with them. If you don't do syrup, add a little sweetener of your choice. I served them with Grade B Maple Syrup (grade b is less processed).

Friday Eats

2010-06-25T18:37:00.007-04:00

Breakfast - Smoothies with spinach, a mix of frozen berries, egg yolks and coconut water. Oatmeal with flax seeds, raw almond slices and agave.

Lunch - Chipotle after the gym. I didn't have my camera with me.

Snacks - Green smoothie popsicles by the kiddie pool. Today's was spinach, strawberries, 2 egg yolks, probiotics and coconut water. Seth was a little "iffy" about this one. (It was a little more "green" than yesterdays) But, he did eat some of it! So proud of my boy!

Dinner - Rhett and Blake are at the farmhouse painting the exterior until Sunday. So, it was an unplanned dinner. Turkey sandwiches with mustard, raw cheese and spinach. Leftover quinoa for Ella and I. Refried beans for the boy. There will be some pretty easy mom-and-kid meals coming this weekend!

Dessert for mom - I am sitting down on the couch with a girly movie tonight and a chocolate/peanut butter shake. Green Superfood Powder (chocolate flavor) + bananas + ice + milk + peanut butter = love

**Links in my browser**

Super cute 4th of July garland

The real deal on "natural flavors"

Raw "Everything" Salad

Sugar free, flourless cookies

How to Motivate Kids to Eat

Thursday Eats

2010-06-24T19:11:00.008-04:00

Breakfast - Eggs cooked in butter, sprouted toast with raw butter, strawberries.

Lunch - leftover quinoa from last night

Snack - The kids and I spent this hot day outside playing in the pool. Popsicles were in order. I pureed spinach, strawberries and coconut water this morning and they were ready for us by this afternoon. Seth actually ate his! This is the first smoothie with anything green he's ever had! I have a feeling popsicles might be a daily snack around here for a while now.

Dinner - Salmon with lemon, salt/pepper. The veggies were roasted cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and zucchini with some olive oil/salt/pepper.

Tonight I am going to try and make some vita-mix ice cream with the Green Superfood Powder mixed in. We'll see how that turns out. Rhett went to the health food store today to pick up a tub of it for me. $50 for 17 oz. Ouch. Unfortunately, this will not be an everyday thing.

**Links in my browser**

Summer Pants

Spelt Tortillas

Weston A. Price on a budget

Doll Swings....my kids would love these!

Beautiful Sun Montessori

SAD VS. Real Food

Toddler Overalls.....I think this is the cutest thing I've ever seen

Covered wagon toy....I think this is the second cutest thing I've ever seen. I love love love this!

Wednesday Eats

2010-06-23T20:44:00.008-04:00

Breakfast - We were short on time this morning so I just made a smoothie. I had a sample of this Green Superfood Powder. I mixed that with bananas, probiotics, husks, peanut butter, and ice. What more can a girl want for breakfast than a chocolate peanut butter smoothie?

Lunch - I had leftover salad - lettuce, beans, corn, chicken, red pepper, hard boiled egg, blue chips. Ella had a peanut butter and raw honey sandwich on sprouted bread with red pepper strips. Seth had his usual.

Snack - Popcorn with the kids! Loaded with raw butter and sea salt.

Dinner - Quinoa with a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, scrambled eggs and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Topped with raw cashews.

I got to visit my naturopath today. It was so great to see her. She is so intuitive and always surprises me with with what she can "read" from my body. I came home with 5-HTP, probiotics, homeopathic drops to equal out my polarity (my north is south and vice versa right now!), and candida patches. She tested the Green Superfood Powder that we had for breakfast and said it was very strong for me. I will be buying some of that. She also said that the blood type diet was testing strong. I will be checking into that some more.

**Links in my browser**

We Are What We Choose...a graduation speech

Black Bean, Corn, and Zucchini Enchiladas

Making Room

Real Free-Range Eggs

Banana Pancakes

Real Food Nutrition & Health For Kids

Tuesday Eats

2010-06-22T18:43:00.002-04:00

Rhett took the camera with him to work today, and forgot to bring it home (grrrrr). So, no pictures today. Sorry!

Breakfast - Scrambled eggs cooked in coconut oil. Kiwi and banana.

Lunch - Chipotle

Dinner - A beautiful salad that I'm so sad I couldn't take pictures of. Chicken, black soy beans, corn, tomatoes, and cheese on a bed of lettuce. Blue corn chips surrounding the bowl.

*Links in my browser*

Reasons to drink raw milk

Happy Solstice....a day late

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

Healthy polka dot chocolate cake