Leek & Potato Sautee

This recipe is my own little variation, I got the idea from a leek & potato soup recipe we tried, and liked by the way.  But I was looking for a non-soup version so this recipe was born!  I never knew how much I liked leeks!  Mmmm… yum!  A leek is like a giant green onion/ scallion.  I’ve gotten some leeks that are really huge and they are absolutely beautiful.  Seriously, just so pretty!

Ingredients:

2-3 potatoes, diced in small bite sized pieces

1/2 medium onion or 1 small onion, chopped

1 full leek, chopped all the way down to 1″ above the bottom

1 Tbsp Parsley

Coconut Oil

Salt

Sautee the diced potato pieces in coconut oil until potatoes are nearly “done.”  To prevent sticking, add coconut oil as needed and use low heat.  Add the chopped onion and leek and sautee all together until onions are translucent.  Add dried parsley.  Turn off heat.  Add 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil and plenty of sea salt to taste.  Enjoy!

Tip:  Keep a little crunch to the leeks, so don’t overcook them too much, makes a nice slight crunch to your soft potatoes!

Optional:  1-3 Chopped Garlic Cloves can be added when you add the onions and leek.

Lentil and Barley Soup

This is so flavorful, and really healthy!

Ingredients:

1 cup Lentils (rinsed well before cooking)

1 Onion, chopped

3 large Carrots, sliced

2/3 cup Pearled Barley (sold where grains are sold)

3 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 tsp Turmeric (a spice)

4 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

Pepper to taste

At End:  Spinach Leaf

Optional- Green Onion, diced

Pressure Cooker Method: Add 4 cups of water.  Throw it all in the pot, except spinach leaf and green onion, and cook for 10 minutes under pressure.  Turn off stove, release pressure, then add a handful or two of spinach leaves and let them soften.  Serve, topping with chopped green onion if desired.

Regular Cooking: Follow package directions for cooking lentils.  You can cook the barley in the same pan as the lentils.  Sautee onion, garlic, and carrot and then add to the cooked lentil/ barley mixture.  Add spices.  When soup is completely cooked, turn off burner, add a handful or two of spinach leaves and let them soften.  Serve, topping with chopped green onion if desired.

Note: Turmeric is a wonderful spice with great health benefits!  But it does stain, so don’t store in plasticware and watch your clothes while you eat (or shall I say the little one’s clothes!).

FYI- My toddler thought this was the best soup ever.  He seriously ate about 3 bowls of it for lunch and then about 2 1/2 more for dinner the other night!  Although, his didn’t have spinach leaf in it, unfortunately.

Banana Popsicles!

Okay, these are just too yummy!

Step One:  Let a banana really ripen to where it’s got a lot of  brown spots (this means it’ll be real sweet).  Then open it and cut in half (the small round middle cut, not the long lengthwise type of cut).  Take a popsicle stick or some other form of sticking device (haha) and gently poke it into the banana.  You’ll want to poke it in on the flat side right where your knife cut.  That way you’ll have a nice angled popsicle-like top.  We also tried a wooden chopstick and that was fun, to have a long-sticked popsicle!

Step Two:  Put your banana stick in a container with a lid and freeze.  Or just wrap with wax paper and put in a larger sealed baggie.  (If you’re just going to freeze for a couple hours and then immediately serve you don’t need to worry about sealing, that’s just to prevent it from frost bite).

Step Three:  Eat this sweet little popsicle!

This is quite a refreshing treat, even if bananas aren’t your thing.  For me, it doesn’t taste like I’m just eating fruit, it really does taste like a sweet frozen treat!

Step Four:  Repeat Steps One through Three!

Black Bean Soup

This recipe is EASY!!  And for flavor, I give it an 8.5 out of 10.

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans*                                                                                               1/2 cup Mexican salsa  (with no added sugar)                                                                        1 cup veggie broth (we use powdered vegetable broth dissolved in hot water)       1 small onion, chopped

*Soak dried black beans overnight or longer, rinse well, then cook and drain.

Place all ingredients in pan and cook covered over medium heat for 15 minutes.  If desired, mash some of the beans with a potato masher.

This is a small size, serves 2-4, depending on whether it’s a side soup or main dish.

Enjoy!

Original Recipe:  http://mothering.com/recipes/gluten-free-black-bean-soup-chorizo

Red Lentil & Zucchini Soup

Ever used red lentils before?  Try ’em this way!

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup red lentils, dried
5 cups water
1 tablespoons ACV (raw apple cider vinegar)
15 sun-dried tomato halves, minced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2 cups corn, fresh or frozen
1 cup pasta shells or elbows, uncooked
1 tablespoon white miso
1/4c. veggie broth
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon liquid aminos

Pressure Cooker Instructions:  Put in all ingredients except the corn, pasta, and miso; then cook.  Then add in cooked pasta, corn, and miso.  Done!

Regular Instructions:  Heat oil in a large soup kettle over medium heat. Saute onions and cumin until onions are soft and translucent. Add lentils, water, vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils begin to break apart, about 15 minutes. Add zucchini and corn. Continue to cook until zucchini is tender.
While soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse, drain and add to soup. In a small bowl, mix miso and 1/4 cup soup broth until miso is dissolved. Stir miso mixture into soup along with cayenne and liquid aminos.

Original Recipe Taken From:  http://mothering.com/recipes/corn-and-red-lentil-soup

Potato & Green Bean Casserole

SO easy to make!

Instructions:  Put all ingredients in the pressure cooker and cook for 6 minutes.  Six minutes!!

This is a pressure cooker recipe, but I’m sure you could adapt it to cooking the ingredients in a regular pan (probably boil the potatoes then sautee the other things, then combine).

3 potatoes cut in cubes

3/4 pound fresh green beans with tips snipped

1 medium onion diced

1-3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 T parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup veggie broth

Optional:  1 green pepper diced

Serves 4 (so double up if you have a hungry crew!)

Creamy Cukes (Cucumbers!)

I really enjoy this snack as do my children!

1-2 medium cucumbers, sliced

1/2 cup of “ranch” dip

1-2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg’s Raw ACV)

2 tsp Agave Nectar or other Sweetener

1 tsp Fresh Dill, Chopped (Make sure to use fresh!)

-Instead of just plain ‘ole slicing the cucumbers, you may opt to cut the cucumber in half longwise.  Then scrape out the seeds, then slice.  Now you have prettier slices.

In a small bowl, stir “ranch,” ACV, sweetener, and dill until smooth.

Arrange cucumbers around a serving dish, place your dip in the middle, and enjoy!

Original Recipe from Peggy’s Kitchen.

Sherry’s Pecan Candy

A recipe from my sweet friend Sherry.  And Mmmm, these are yummy!  And healthy!  A nice snacky dessert treat!

My tip:  Don’t overbake the pecans at all, no more than 10 minutes!

2 cups pecans
1/4 cup palm sugar
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 salt
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla

-Roast the pecans 300 degree fan oven for 10 minutes, stirring them once during baking. (If no fan, watch closely and flip as needed)
-Mix in a small pan the Palm sugar, coconut milk, cinnamon, salt, and agave nectar.
-Cook to soft ball stage (to test, drop a few drops in a cup of cool water until it forms a soft ball that can be picked up.)
-After reaching soft ball stage, remove from heat add the vanilla and stir briefly.
-Add the roasted pecans, mix well until they are all coated.
-Spread on wax paper. When cool break apart.

These can be kind of individually wrapped for “candy” treats.

Peanut Pad Thai

We made this the other night and really enjoyed it!  I want it again already!

Noodles:
Soak 8oz of pad thai rice noodles in hot water for 30 minutes.

Peanut Sauce:
2/3 cup Coconut Milk (sold in cans in Asian sections of grocery stores)
1/3 cup Peanut Butter
2 1/2 tsp Liquid Aminos (a soy sauce substitute sold in health stores)
1/4 tsp Fresh Ginger, chopped as fine as you can get it

-Put these items in blender and blend until creamy.  Taste and adjust if needed.

In an Oiled Pan:
Sautee 2 Chopped Garlic Cloves
Add…
1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Sweetener (I used agave nectar)
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1 Tbsp Liquid Aminos
1 tsp Lime Juice (fresh!)
1 tsp ACV (Bragg’s raw Apple Cider Vinegar)
1 tsp Salt (or more, varies depending on taste preference)

Add noodles to your pan and mix.  Push noodles to side if doing next step.

At this point you can add one beaten egg to your pan and cook or just omit this step.

Stir in:
2 cups of Fresh Bean Sprouts
1/2 cup or more of chopped Green Onion
1/4 cup or more of Peanuts (mmm, yum!)

Serve. On a plate, dish up noodles, then top with peanut sauce, then top with extra peanuts, green onions, and lime if desired.  (I did all three of these toppings and it was delicious!!)

Enjoy!

Original Recipe can be found here.

Caesar Flatbread and Salad

Oh my, I really enjoy this appetizer salad!  It’s not the easiest recipe, so plan it for a night when you’ll have a little time on your hands.  Basically, it’s a caesar salad on top of a really flavorful flatbread.  DE-licious!!  I got the recipe from a newspaper/magazine (recipe written by Pam Anderson, author of 5 cookbooks), and altered it a little.

First Make Your Flatbread Dressing and Prep the Lettuce:
Mix 1 cup “ranch” with 8 large garlic cloves (minced) and 1 1/2 tsps. Vegan Worcestershire sauce.  Remove a generous 1/4 cup of mixture to save for salad.  Place leaves of 1-2 bunches of Romaine lettuce in cold sink water and some apple cider vinegar to wash lettuce.  You’ll want to end up with about 12 cups of chopped Romaine.

Then Make Your Flatbread:
Mix 2 cups flour and 1 tsp sea salt in food processor or blender (or by hand if need be).  In separate bowl, mix 2/3 cup warm water and 2 tsp olive oil.  Process the water/oil into your flour to form a soft dough ball.  Process until well kneaded, about 15 seconds in blender.  With floured hands, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll dough out thin with a rolling pin (you can do all the dough at once or do it in sections), coating with flour and turning as necessary to prevent sticking.
Preaheat oven to 500 degrees, yes, that hot!
Prepare your pans- Sprinkle 2 rimless cookie sheets or stoneware with cornmeal (or flour if you don’t have cornmeal).
Back to the dough- With a serrated knife, cut dough into 12 x 6 inch rectangles (or any size really, I like doing triangles as well, do whatever will fit on your pan best).  Place rectangles/ triangles onto your pan and spread all but your generous 1/4 cup of mixture over top (brushing to the edges).

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and crisp.  Do NOT overbake!  Start watching it like a hawk at the 7-minute mark.  The edges can blacken quickly.

Now for the Salad Dressing and Salad:
Whisk 3 Tbsp lemon juice into remaining “ranch” mixture.  Remove Romaine from water and rinse well.  Pat each leaf dry with a clean kitchen towel (or hello handy salad spinner!)  To make a nice chopped salad, cut one pile at a time of the leaves lengthwise and then width-wise, making lettuce squares.  Drizzle dressing and 3 Tbsp olive oil over chopped Romaine in large bowl along with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Add chopped Roma tomato if desired!  Toss to coat.

And Serve!
Top warm flatbreads with tossed salad.

Here’s a small portion, although I can pretty much eat an entire bunch of Romaine by myself for this meal!

Banana Icecream

Bananas when blended make the perfectly textured soft-serve icecream, it taste similar to vanilla icecream, only without the truckload of sugar, dairy, and other yucky ingredients!  It is the easiest thing ever to make.  And it’s so delicious and healthy!  So next time you see clearance over-ripe bananas, grab them!

Short Version Instructions:  Freeze some ripe bananas, put them in the blender and blend until smooth!  That’s not so hard, is it?!

More Specific Instructions:
1.  Get some ripe bananas and peel them.  Cut them in half, lay them on a cookie sheet, and freeze for about an hour or more.  Take them off the cookie sheet and put them in a baggie or container.  Freeze until ready to use for icecream (up to 3 months).
2.  Put your frozen banana pieces in a blender and blend until smooth.  Waa-laa, you have icecream!  (You can also add a little honey or agave nectar if you want a little sweeter). (You can also add some milk (almond, rice, coconut, etc) and make this into a milkshake!)

MoneySavingMom directed me to this site where you can find even more detailed instructions and that’s where I also got the idea to…

3.  Add a little bit of cocoa powder and some nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, etc) to the blender with your bananas.  Blend until smooth.  You now have Peanut Butter Chocolate Icecream!

We just gobbled up some Almond Butter Chocolate Icecream, whoa, that was a DE-licious snack!

Enchilada Sauce

We have a few different enchilada recipes at our house that are big hits… let’s see, there’s regular Enchiladas, Enchilada Casserole (always a family fave), Potato and Kale enchiladas (creamy and yummy!), and Michelle’s Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas (another yummy!)  So we always need a good enchilada sauce!  Buying one at the store can not only cost more, but often the ingredient list isn’t the healthiest.  So make your own!

Enchilada Sauce:
-1/2 cup oil (I use coconut oil)
-1/4 cup flour (whole grain is all I use)
-1/2 cup chili powder (yes, that much!)
-Can of tomato sauce
-3 cups Water
-1/2 tsp Cumin
-1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
-1/2 tsp Sea Salt
-1/4 tsp Onion Powder

Heat oil, stir in flour and chili powder.
Reduce heat to medium, stir constantly.
Stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, sea salt, and onion powder.
Stir until smooth and slightly thickened.  Salt to taste.

This makes a large batch of sauce.  It freezes well if you have extra!

Chili and Cornbread Pie

My hubby gave this an 8/10 and I gave it a 9/10, very good!  We used kidney beans.

Filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups cooked pinto, kidney, or black beans, drained
1 cup diced tomatoes with juice (canned is fine)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Crust:
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3 1/4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil a round pie pan.
Heat oil in medium-size pan. Stir in onion and saut about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Saut 5 minutes more. Add beans, tomatoes, and corn. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Let mixture simmer uncovered while you prepare crust.  (Before putting this filling in the crust, taste and make sure it is flavorful enough.  You may need to add more oregano, cumin, and salt).

Whisk together cornmeal and water in medium-size pan. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to low. Stir in sea salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 10 minutes).

(You can add honey also to make your cornbread taste a little sweeter.  Also, feel free to flavor up your cornbread more by substituting the water with almond milk or other kind of milk, more salt, and/or coconut oil to make it taste more “buttery”).

Spread 2/3 of the mixture over bottom and up sides of the prepared baking pan. Pour bean mixture into crust. Top with remaining cornmeal mixture. (Don’t worry if beans are not covered completely).  Bake 30 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6 servings

Original Recipe Taken From:  http://mothering.com/recipes/tamale-pie

How I Get It All Done

A few ladies have asked me if I could post how I fit all my goals into daily life.

How Do I Get It ALL Done?… I don’t!

But… setting goals means I’ll get more done than if I hadn’t set any goals in the first place!  Setting goals keeps me on track with what matters most in my life.

But to give you a quick run down of how I fit most things in…

A “perfect” day (where I get most everything done) would look like this for me (I aim for this 4 days per week):

1).  Do Morning Routine (Read Bible first thing, Get dressed and ready, Breakfast while reading Bible to children at table, Lay out vitamins for the day, Get children ready for their day).  I do wake up maybe 15-30 minutes before my children, so I get a slight head start on my day.

2).  Do Our Homeschool List-  I use my own pre-written lesson plans that I plan out every 6 weeks or so.  This list includes our Bible story time, Memory verses, praying for the world, and then all our basic subjects as well- reading, writing, math, character, Creation science, etc.  Whew, don’t think I have it all together, homeschooling time can be some serious HARD work around here!  And I rarely finish the WHOLE list… I’m much more ambitious in my brain than what I can actually accomplish with three little ones!  It’s true that we do a lot in this area though, it gets the bulk of my day, probably 3-4 hours.  But my little learners have little play-breaks all throughout, we try to make homeschooling FUN!  And by the way, this isn’t our only homeschooling time.  We’re lifelong learners so we’re constantly homeschooling throughout our days, evenings, weekends, wherever we go!

3).  Put baby down for nap, Eat lunch while reading Bible to children at table, Ask myself “What’s for Dinner?” to make sure I don’t need to start something that takes longer, Clean up lunch.

4).  Finish any homeschooling, Have some play time, Put 2nd child down for nap.  Exercise either goes here or it waits until evening and we do family exercise time.  I’ll be open and honest though… if something can’t get done in my day, it’s usually exercise that’s the first thing to go.  😦   I’m going to work on that though!

5).  If I can sneak in some extra computer work or read a book late afternoon, I will.  But usually baby is up and I can’t get away with that.

6).  Now it’s time to start dinner.  Meals do take longer at my house because we pretty much make everything from scratch.  I grind my own grain to have flour to make bread dough for quite a few of our meals (no, I’m not super-woman, grinding grain only takes a few minutes and a high powered blender!)  We make our own dips, condiments, and salad dressings.  We use mostly all fresh produce so there’s always a lot of chopping to do (anyone know of any time saving techniques for chopping?!)  So needless to say, meal prep takes quite a bit of time usually.  Back in the day I used to have dinner ready when hubby got home, but since baby #2 he usually comes home ready to help pitch in and get it on the table.  And a little plug here for pressure cookers, I use ours most every day, saves so much cooking time!  I stick to super easy meals for breakfast and lunch (oatmeal, fruit, toast from my frozen bread stash; leftovers for lunch- always).  I’ve gotten good at freezer cooking so even though it takes a little longer, I cook in large batches and stash some away in the freezer for a “rainy day” since we don’t really do restaurants either.  Frozen lunch-size portions also make packing lunch for hubby a snap!

–When do I clean my house?  I don’t have any set time in my day for this.  I just clean as I go, constantly doing little tasks here and there to keep things in order.   Every day in late-afternoon the children and I do a quick general clean-up/ pick-up of the house  so everything looks nice when hubby gets home.  Then for deeper cleaning and stuff that takes longer… nights and weekends, and hubby usually helps me tag-team it.  Thank the Lord for my awesome husband!  And no, my house isn’t always a wreck, I keep it pretty tidy (or at least try).  My ‘minimalist’ goal from last year has helped keep down on clutter!  My motto I’m constantly reminding myself:  “Get.  Rid.  Of.  Stuff.”  It all came from “Stuff Mart” and “stuff” can steal your money, your time, and your energy.

-Throughout my day I remember to drink my daily water quota.  Drinking water is super important!  Also just throughout my day, my thankfulness journal is usually laying around and I quickly jot down a few things I’m thankful for.

–When do I get on the computer?  I sit down to nurse my baby several times a day and that’s when I get computer time.  If I’m not nursing and someone in my family sees me on the computer, they pretty much bark at me until I get off.  🙂  What do I do on the computer?  Well… I love reading and learning, so I’m constantly researching something.  I stay on top of my emails, blog a little here and there of course 🙂 , do our budget/ bank/ investing tasks (we track every dollar), and a thousand other little tasks.

7).  Our ideal evening would go something like this:  Sing a hymn before we eat, Eat dinner, Have a short work/ quiet time, Exercise (we love to go on walks), Relax and play, Hubby leads Bible-time with family, and then once we’re all in our pj’s, it’s Family Stretch time- ah, stretching is a relaxing end to a long day!

Now… on my less structured days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), it would basically be our Morning Routine, any Errands I need (hello grocery store), Some fun homeschooling things, Plan/do our field trip, Work on longer term goals, Have my planning sessions (meals, upcoming hospitality, Homeschool lesson plans, To-do list updates, People’s birthdays, etc).

When do I read books?  Anytime!  I can usually sneak in 15-20 minutes each day during the day (I’ve taught my children how to sit and “read” books in the living room with me reading my book beside them.  When the timer goes off, my time is up!)  I also read for 15 or so minutes in bed at night.  And when I have a book I can’t put down, I pull a late-nighter and read to my heart’s desire!  If I were honest, I’d say that yes, most of my reading time is when little ones are sleeping, whether it be early morning, late night, or nap times (I can usually have at least a little reading time during someone’s nap).  I also have quite a few newsletters/ Christian magazines that come in the mail that I love reading (Answers in Genesis, Above Rubies, No Greater Joy, American Family Association, etc).  For all these, I keep them in the van and whenever hubby is driving I can read.  And… If all 3 little ones happened to have fallen asleep during a car ride, I don’t wake them up!  I just park once I’ve arrived at my destination and sit in the driver’s seat and read!

So no, I’m not super-woman and I rarely get it ALL done.  I don’t have an endless supply of energy and I need my sleep just like the next gal.  I just focus on working hard and keeping a written to-do list handy so I stay focused (honestly, I’m lost without a written game plan).  I think one of the things I have going for me is I watch pretty much ZERO TV.  We don’t have regular broadcast television at all in our home (don’t want the negative influence), so we only watch DVD’s we’ve chosen to purchase.  I don’t have to fit in time to watch the news, catch my favorite show, or any of that.  Pretty freeing actually!  My “down” time usually means I’m playing with the children, snagging some computer time, or  reading a book.  I’m definitely super busy at this stage of life.  I used to think I was busy when I had one child, and I’m sure I’ll look back and say, ‘ha, you thought three children kept you busy!”  But three little ones basically means my life is poured into them and there’s not too much time for other stuff, gotta stick to the basics and love on my little ones while they’re still little!  Time is fleeting.

If you’re looking for inspiration on time management, discipline, goal setting, budgeting, being frugal, being a giver, homeschooling, getting up early before your children, and more- you should subscribe to MoneySavingMom!  I’ve learned a ton by following her blog for the past couple years, I really enjoy reading the motivational articles that she posts!

Pineapple Mango Salsa

We went to a grocery store one time that was handing out samples of this salsa.  I stood at the lady’s table for 5 minutes asking and writing down all the ingredients so I could make it myself.

Completely delicious to the last drop!

Delightfully refreshing!  And pretty too!

Great for taking to parties!

Pineapple Mango Salsa (I’ll do my best to give amounts, I’ve made this many times, such a hit every time!)…

1 Can Crushed Pineapple
1 Mango (diced in tiny pieces, can use frozen)
1 Red Pepper (diced in tiny pieces)
1/2 of a Red Onion (diced in tiny pieces)
Cilantro (one bunch, pick off leaves, wash, dice)
Jalapeno (diced, but optional. We like our salsas mild so I don’t add this)
Lemon Juice (1-2 Tbsp)
Salt (to taste)

If desired, pulse-blend it in a little food processor to get it partially blended. It will look beautiful!

Serve with pita crackers or tortilla chips. Even better after it’s sat in the fridge for a few hours!

Cold Asian Noodles with Sesame Seeds

Mmmm, this taste just like an authentic Asian dish.  It really is supposed to be a side dish, but we made it as the main.  I give it a 9/10!

Salad:

1- 8oz package of Soba Noodles

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (put your sesame seeds in the oven for just a few minutes to lightly toast them, don’t overcook!)

Some Chives (I just used some dried chives)

Chopped Red Cabbage (This really boosted the salad!)

Chopped Green Onion/ Scallions

Dressing:

2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil (mmm, lots of flavor here)

1-3 Tbsp Liquid Aminos (a soy sauce substitute sold in health stores) (I only added 1 Tbsp, I generally take it easy on LA, but if you really like soy sauce, go for 3 Tbsp)

3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup (the REAL stuff)

Other Options:  You can add hot pepper oil to the sauce if desired.  For the salad, you can add sliced radishes if desired.

Cook Soba Noodles according to package directions.  Drain and rinse in colander with cold water.  Combine sesame oil, liquid aminos, vinegar, and maple syrup in bowl and whisk together.  If desired at this point, LIGHTLY sautee your cabbage, green onion, chives, and cilantro.  Place drained noodles in large bowl, add dressing, vegetables/ spices, and toasted sesame seeds.  Toss until fully coated.  Makes about 4 servings, or 6 if this is only a side dish.

Original Recipe found here.

Black Eyed Peas & Kale Soup

Need a way to get in some more greens?  We tried this soup and the whole family seemed to enjoy it.  Mmm, black-eyed peas.

Black-Eyed Peas & Kale Soup
Soak 2 cups of Black-Eyed Peas overnight, then rinse well.
1 Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 stalks Celery, chopped
8 cups Veggie Broth (I use 8c water, 4 tsp Rapunzel Vegetable Broth Powder)
1 bunch of Kale, washed and chopped (original recipe calls for Collard Greens)
4 Carrots, chopped
Salt & Pepper
Dash of Cayenne Pepper

I throw all the ingredients in my pressure cooker for about 12 minutes.  You could also just cook until tender in a regular pot.  Wait to add the salt until your beans are cooked as salt during cooking can sometimes ‘harden’ the beans a little.

Original recipe from here.

Weight Loss

A friend emailed me asking me about a diet she saw on Pinterest.  Basically, the diet was to eat a small amount of food/ calories for 3 days and then you’d supposedly have lost 10 pounds just in that 3 day time.  I emailed her back the following response.  I thought I’d just copy and paste it here also.  The diet included some unhealthy things like a hot dog, saltine crackers, cottage cheese, coffee (if desired), and vanilla icecream.  But to be fair, it did also include a little bit of vegetables each day also).  Here’s what I told her…

Eh, no bueno in my opinion.  Here’s why:

-I can almost guarantee that any weight loss will definitely come right back on (within days) because you will be starving to eat (of course, this is your body’s natural hunger kicking in).  All the calories you did not consume in those 3 days will be consumed over the next 3 days, plus some for most people.

-There’s a difference between eating healthy (supplying the body with necessary nutrients for good energy levels, disease prevention, bone and muscle building, etc) and eating certain things to lose weight only (hot dogs are one of the most unhealthy foods ever, they are not good for your body at all!)  The icecream (even if you buy only an organic “natural” one has tons of sugar in it.  Dr. Mercola has an article where he lists out 70 dangers of sugar, it’s a major immune system depressor).  The goal of a diet should be to make you healthier, not weight loss only.  Which, a healthy diet does help you lose weight.  But a diet that’s not very healthy for you but makes your body lose weight is just that… not healthy!

-Willpower.  This is a valid issue that a lot of people dismiss.  I tell you, I have more self-discipline than ever, and even I would be eating heavy for 3 days after a diet like that.  I may have the willpower to complete the 3 days, but the next few days after that would not be pretty!

-In our house, we focus on wholesome, nutritious foods.  We make most everything homemade.  We don’t do sugar, we only use natural sweeteners like honey, real maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.  We throw in extra veggies everywhere we can.  We don’t eat processed foods that contain hydrogenated oils (majorly bad for weight loss goals!), high fructose corn syrup, or other artificial additives/ preservatives.  We focus on eating the foods God gave us, not the ones a factory made by concocting all kinds of chemicals.  We use coconut oil on everything.  We drink tons of water.  We don’t do dairy (unless we spurge every now and then).  This kind of diet keeps us trim (although I still have some baby weight to lose!) and keeps us strong and healthy.  We really hardly ever get sick, our immune systems are strong.  Because we don’t put junk into our bodies.

If I were wanting to lose some weight, I would do the following…
-Do a fast one day a week, every week  (fasting is REALLY healthy and gives your body a chance to detox as well as eliminating a days worth of calories each week)
-Drink tons of water
-Exercise 30 minutes a day, most days
-Avoid hydrogenated (and partially hydrogenated) oils like the plague
-Avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague
-Do enemas
-And then also (I’m currently doing this one for the third time this year), do NO sugar for a month.  Just cut it out!  Only natural sweeteners in homemade goodies!  Surely that month you’ll drop some weight!

Your body is made to need food!  Eating hardly anything is pretty much just torture.  Food is a blessing, we can enjoy it!  But we have to eat like God intended!  Fasting is a Biblical principle that is healthy, eating low-calorie hotdogs isn’t!

Great question!  Thanks for asking me!

Texas Caviar (Black-Eyed Pea Salsa)

This is a surprisingly tasty treat, a nice refreshing snack with tortilla chips!  Light and fresh!

Texas Caviar
2 cups cooked Black-Eyed Peas
some Olive Oil (up to 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar  (I use Bragg’s Raw ACV)
1/4 cup (or more!) minced Red Onion
1 Stalk Celery, diced in tiny pieces
Lots of Fresh Tomatoes, diced (I like using diced cherry tomatoes)
Parsley (fresh or dried)
Salt and Pepper  (use plenty of Sea Salt!)

Mix all ingredients and enjoy!  You can fridge overnight to let the flavors intermingle more if desired.

Recipe adapted from here.

Whipped “Cream”

This is super easy to whip up and tastes great!  A great dairy-free option for whipped cream!

Whipped “Cream”
1 can Coconut Milk- put in refrigerator overnight
1/4- 1/2 cup Sweetener (I used Raw Agave Nectar this time but will also try Maple Syrup)
1/2-1 tsp Vanilla Extract (not the imitation stuff)

Remove can of coconut milk from fridge and scoop out all the solid stuff (not the water left at the bottom of the can).  Whip that solid coconut milk with other ingredients until it resembles whipped cream!

This recipe from Money Saving Mom.  Which by the way if you don’t already subscribe to Money Saving Mom’s emails… I HIGHLY recommend it!  A lot of the deals and freebies she posts about are not things I use because a lot of products and foods just aren’t very healthy.  But, she has wonderful posts about saving money, giving generously, fun ideas for the family, tips on freezer cooking, and more!  Sign up today!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge!

This is a yummy, healthy fudge recipe, my boys and I gobble up a batch of this in less than 24 hours!

Ingredients:
1 cup of Nut Butter (peanut or almond or whatever desired)
1/2 cup Honey
1/4 cup real Maple Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Carob (I also use cacao, haven’t tried cocoa)
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil, melted
3 cups (or less) Chopped Nuts (Almonds are probably best but can also do Sunflower Seeds, Walnuts, and/or Whole Flax Seeds)

Mix first 6 ingredients really well.  (If you nut butter is unsalted, you’ll need to add some salt).  If you can get your blender to blend this, that’s great.  But it may be too thick for the blender, in which case you’ll have to mix by hand.  Fold in the nuts.  Pack fudge into pan and refrigerate!

Variation:  For a really CREAMY fudge, you could eliminate the chopped nuts/ seeds so that it’s smooth.  You could probably even frost a cake with it!

This last time I made this recipe, I used peanut butter, crushed almonds, and whole flax seeds- it was DE-licious!