A Blessed Creation

This past weekend my family attended Family Camp at a Christian camp facility— American Missionary Fellowship. It was truly a blessed time. Being surrounded by other Believers, being immersed in the childhood fun of summer camp, being surrounded by God’s beauty, and being free from the every day to-do lists and worries made for a great summer diversion.

In talking with other Christian women I learned that they are tired, wiped out, drained and exhausted. And I learned that either themselves or someone in their circle of family and friends are suffering from various health ailments. I know that there are many reasons for such feelings, emotions, and ailments, but I also know that there is one major causative factor – and it is one we can modify in order to live a more productive and energetic life. Food!

God really impressed upon my heart that fellow believers are in need of a dietary overhaul. In order to serve God with our whole heart and whole body and whole mind, don’t we need to be at our best? Yes!

I do believe that in order to function at our best and to be able to give the most, we need to treat this body as the vessel God intended it to be…

• We need to take the time to learn, adapt, modify, and change our eating habits.
  
• We deserve to feel better. Oh yes we do! We deserve it. God wants us to be whole and holy.
  
• We owe it to ourselves to be healthy and strong.
  
• We owe it to our ministries to have energy, strength, and vitality.
  
• We owe it to God to be the vibrant and shining light of Truth He created.

When discussing the role of diet for surviving or thriving, I heard these sorts of protests to healthy eating:

“But I can’t give up ______”

“I don’t want to give up eating my ______”

“Can’t” and “Don’t” are strong words. They are also selfish words. Yes, friends, they are selfish. These words dictate how your own self feels.

We turn to God, and sometimes even throw ourselves at His feet. We see Salvation, guidance, strength, comfort, and direction in almost all areas of our lives. My question is this, why do you think you are going to be able to change your diet and lifestyle on your own? Why do you think you even need to try to do it on your own? And why do you think it is about you and your needs only? 

Friends, isn’t it all about God and living the life He wants us to live? Yes, indeed! As you start or continue on this path to health and vitality, hold tightly to His hand. I will do my very best at giving you guidance, encouragement, ideas, and support, but God will give you all the rest that you need to become the person He intends for you to be!

It is up to you to weigh your personal areas of “can’t” and “don’t” against God’s infinite strength and power.

My passion and knowledge are not going to be enough for you though. You need to want to change for you. YOU need to want to be the best YOU that God created. It is up to YOU to take the first step. 

So, for those of you are new to this blog, welcome! And to you old-timers, let’s all get on board together. It is time to be the best that you can be, don’t you agree? My heart chases after God, my passion for teaching health & vitality chases after you, my friends! 

Simply put, YOU deserve it because God made you…YOU are a blessed creation!

 

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, 

for in due season 

we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

~ Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

 

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, 

but of power and of love 

and of a sound mind.”

~ 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

 

“being confident of this very thing, 

that He who has begun a good work in you 

will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”

~ Philippians 1:6

How Do You Eat Raw Food?

"How do you eat this way?" 

Above is another question I answer and one of the reasons for this blog...the "what" and "how" I eat...SIMPLE foods.

Sure there are food prep books (can't really call them "cook books" now can we?!) out there with fancy food and pretty pictures and guideline for creativity, but SIMPLICITY is how I do it. Oh yes, there are times when I want the "wow" factor and whip up some raw food dessert that tastes better than the richest chocolate cake you could even imagine, but that doesn't fit into my lifestyle or my character for day-to-day culinary fare.

I start the day with a green smoothie. Cram some greens into the K-tec Champ, add some water and blend away. Then I add some frozen fruit and possibly some fresh fruit too. I add flax seeds that I pre-ground if I remember. That is breakfast.

For snacks, I eat a couple dates or small handful of raisins. I used to chomp some almonds or pine nuts too, but since I am doing the NO FAT (based on Dr. Esselstyn's "Prevent and Reverse Hearth Disease" eating plan) option for a couple of months, I pass by the nuts. Of course with fresh produce abounding, snacking is no problem. Fresh fruits and veggies. Sometimes a small serving of frozen "fruit ice cream" hollers out to be eaten too!

Lunch might be a nori-roll--raw seaweed wrap filled with veggies, some sort of sunflower seed patte (a.k.a. paste), and finely chopped lettuce. Or lunch might be a "lettuce boat"--same sort of fillers but put atop a nice large piece of lettuce. Or lunch might be a salad with lots of veggies piled high.

Snacks...see above and repeat throughout the day. When eating raw food, rarely do you have to worry about caloric consumption, especially if consuming green smoothies too. I eat all day long. I actually graze all day long...little snip-its of food and water throughout the day.

Dinner is the most challenging in the summer because we  live in the country and evening chores and projects abound this time of year. We are usually in the house after 8pm. I open the fridge and see what strikes me. Of course like many of you, sometimes I wish a pre-made meal would just jump onto my plate, but alas that has never happened at my house! The closest to that is another green smoothie and some pieces of fresh fruit on the side.

So, lately I chop up assorted veggies and pile them on a plate in their wonderful own little mounds of freshness. I whip up some hummus or some other protein-rich filler. I heat up some whole grain pita pockets or whole wheat tortilla shells (for the hubby and son). I make some honey mustard dressing. I rinse some lettuce, beet greens, and other greens and make a salad. Cut some corn right off the cob into the bowl of lettuce. Viola! Dinner. 

My boys either stuff the pita with everything and top it off with some dressing drizzled on top (my hubby) or they make lovely little piles and mow through each food individually (my son). I do the same, but once again I use a lettuce leaf and skip the dressing. 

Or dinner could be a giant salad with all those veggies (zukes, cukes, carrots, onions, beets, kohlrabi, radishes, peas...) and a dressing. I serve it with brown rice and black beans.

Dessert is delish when it is a raw food strawberry pie or chocolate cake, but usually dessert is divine right off the vine...some fresh fruit or some frozen fruit made into a shake or ice cream. Sprinkle some chopped almonds or granola on top for crunch and fun. FYI: this sort of "ice cream" is often served for breakfast around here! Sometimes even in a cone!

SIMPLE. SIMPLE. SIMPLE. That is "how" I eat and how I feed my family! I think ole Forrest Gump sums it up best...

Simple is as simple does. ;-)

Honey Mustard Dressing

- honey (brown rice syrup works too!)

- lemon juice

- olive oil (cold-pressed)

- mustard (pre-made health food store variety or mustard powder)

I never measure and everyone likes a different amount of sweetness so try some combos out here... 

- 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice, a big ole glob of honey, a squirt of mustard. 

- Now whisk in a small bowl and taste. 

- Add whatever you need to please your palette!

Secondary Edible Parts of Vegetables

I will take a brief diversion from my Q&A regime here to pass along an interesting and timely link. 

Since adding green smoothies many months ago to my dietary intake, I drool over greens. And with garden season in full-swing, my drooling habit has increased, sometimes more noticeable than others.

Someone at church knows of my raw food eating and they brought me a kohlrabi that they plucked fresh from their garden. While I was excited to cut into that lower bulbous stem portion of the plant, I reached out, plucked me some of the strong, yet tender greens and popped the wad into my mouth. Others in the kitchen gave me odd looks. I chewed, swallowed and then asked if that part of the plant is edible? 

No one knew. We all knew the rhubarb leaves are UN-edible, but no one had an answer for the kohlrabi. And then yesterday when I was picking up my farm share at the CSA, other above-ground-greenery from plants caught my eye. They looked yummy, but are they good for the tummy (& the rest of the body)?

Today I found this link with a nifty chart on the Secondary Edible Parts of Vegetables. Yahoo! Look at the increased nutrition you can put into your body instead of the compost pile! [please take note that some leaves and what-not need slight cooking to make them consumable...do your own additional research to find out more info; please pass along any other links too!]

Kohlrabi Green Smoothie Recipe

- 1 1/2 cups water

- large wad of kohlrabi greens

- small wad of beat greens

- 1 apple

- 1 cup frozen strawberries

This recipe is likely too "green" for newbies, so add in 1/2 frozen banana too and/or a couple of dates for sweetness. Green old-timers, go for it! Chug-a-lug!

--> Riding the NO-FAT train has been fine & dandy so far! Since I am past the need for dressing, even my home-made healthy varieties, so giving up my cold-pressed olive oil was easy. My only quandary this week came in making hummus, but I still made a yummy non-fat version. Instead of olive oil and tahinni, the traditional ingredients, I used soaked sunflower seeds and some water. 

On a trip to town yesterday (one week into the no-fat ride), one lady at the health food store kept telling me that I looked great. She asked me if I feel as good as I look!  ;-)  Ain't she a sweetheart? Yes, indeed. Anyway, I can only chalk it up to another tweaking of my culinary consumption. 

And to answer her question, "Yes, I feel great!"

My Influence

"Why do you eat vegan raw food?"

This question requires multi-faceted response, but I will start with one aspect of it today. Look over at the right side panel, see that Biblical scripture quote from Genesis 1:29? That is why! I think that men and women were made by God to eat in this manner. Adam and Eve were instructed by God with the very words that mandate a fruit, veggie, nut & seed dietary intake. Simple.

Doing this raw food and healthy living blog was prompted by the questions and inquiries I get--most of which come from fellow Believers. When I first went raw, I did plenty of research online. I was taken aback by the amount of information out there...lots of it. But I was even more taken aback and in a state of angst at the source for the majority of this data. There are a lot of folks out there who subscribe to energies, forces, enlightenment, and other non-Christian ways of thinking, living, believing. 

This is not me and when I find a raw food site or book that I like, I try to determine if the person behind the health statements and insights follows something or someone other than my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If so, I won't read any further, nor will I put them out there for you in my reference section.

Indeed there are people out there who know more than me in the field of health, nutrition and raw food eating, but alas if they follow someone who influences their thinking about the universe or the new earth created in their own mind, they are not part of my blog. Simple.

Who made the earth? God! 

Who created me? God! 

Who influences my mind, heart, and soul? God! 

How do we obtain Salvation? By believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

Who holds my trust and hope and future? My Father God, Master of Heaven and Earth!

Amen.

~> For more information, please go to the Hallelujah Acres website and click on the free download by Rev. George Malkmus for Biblical eating!

What's for Lunch

When I first heard of rawfood eating, I had a lot of the same questions as you, even though I was already a vegan and knew a great deal about nutrition. Immediately after I tell people of our raw food vegan way of eating, I get a lot of questions. 

One of those is "What do you eat?" 

I think to think this particular query is so funny because at first people assume raw food vegans subsist on virtually no food. Wrongo! I eat so much! My family eats so much!

• So much healthy food. 
  
• So much variety. 
  
• So much energy-giving food. 
  
• So much freshness.
  
• So much nutrient-rich fruits.
  
• So much  nutrient-rich veggies.
  
• So much!
  

For example, lunch for my son and I today was as follows:

- corn on the cob (raw, don't cook it! and please don't put butter on it either)

- cauliflower, pea & dill salad

- some soaked raw sunflower seeds mixed with some black beans & chopped onions

- a couple of large lettuce leaves

We started out chomping our way through the corn on the cob. Then I made "boats" out of my lettuce and the sunflower/bean/onion concoction, whereas my son ate the plain ole beans. He likes his lettuce on the side if you please! And we finished with the cauliflower/pea/dill salad. My son also had some steamed yams and potatoes from yesterday with a dash of sea salt...and some mustard and ketchup!

Variety. Nourishment. Living foods. Freshness. That is what was for lunch today!

--> For my next few posts I will address some of the common questions you probably have for this way of eating. If you have something you would like to ask, please leave it for me in the comments section following the posting.

--> Also, I am trying a no-fat approach to eating for a couple of months. In support of my mom-in-law who is recovering from a heart attack and other severe health challenges, my husband and I have sent her a book entitled "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn. Go to www.heartattackproof.com for more information. 

His basic premise for prevention and a virtual drug-free treatment is a vegan eating plan topped off with a nice hunk of NO FAT ALLOWED. His book is impressive and the results from this method are astonishing. So, if I am asking someone to do something with their dietary choices, I am going to do it too. As of last week I cut out all of my almonds, avocados, and cold-pressed olive oil. I don't look at what I cannot have, I look at what I can and do have...

• Education
• Health
• Vitality
• Fresh Fruits & Veggies & Seeds
• Energy

So, stay tuned for more questions and answers regarding raw food eating and my progress on the no-fat train. 

CSA & Lettuce Boats

Ahhh, it must be summer...CSAs and boats. What?!

What is a CSA you ask? 

It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have known about this sort of thing for several years, but have never participated. That has changed now, folks! Since my dietary conversion to a SIMPLE RAW FOOD diet, as one might imagine, our family's grocery bill is mainly produce. And since my garden is sputtering around and taking off like a water-tainted moped gas tank, I freely admit that I need some produce help!

Oh, Community Supported Agriculture is a marvelous way to obtain your produce! Here are some highlights and insights of a CSA:

- you buy a share of a local CSA farmer's garden--usually at the beginning of the season

- each week (or a time frame set-up by your CSA) you pick up your share of that week's crop

- your money pays for produce grown locally and the miscellaneous & assorted costs of running a large-scale garden (labor of those working the farm--most times family members and locals from your community, seeds, water, equipment and so on)

- your money does NOT pay for fuel and the transportation across countries and/or states for supermarket produce, nor does it pay for a supermarket to advertise their trucked-in goods, and so on

- when you buy a CSA farm share, you also buy into the risk of that local farmer, so if a storm comes through and wipes out a crop, he loses that revenue and you lose that potential produce

- if you choose a Certified Organic CSA farm, you are protecting the environment from nasty chemicals, not to mention yourself and your family!

- when you buy local, you support your local economy in so many ways other than monetary

- your cost can vary but for the local CSAs that I researched, my cost would average $20/week -- and that is for ORGANIC produce! By the way, that is a savings!

Community Supported Agriculture (And Other Farm Subscriptions)

Many farms offer produce subscriptions, where buyers receive a weekly or monthly basket of produce, flowers, fruits, eggs, milk, coffee, or any sort of different farm products. A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season. A CSA season typically runs from late spring through early fall. The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 1000 ~ italic information above taken directly from the website www.localharvest.org

You could do a google search and find tons of information too. 

Please keep in mind that my mantra of SIMPLE does not always mean easy. SIMPLE harkens back to a time of my grandparent's generation when families toiled in the soil for their food, when folks bought goods from locals, when families worked together, when sweating took place in the garden or on the tractor and not in the gym (no offense to my city-dwelling friends), and when you took pleasure in eating the food you had a hand in growing.

So for those of us with sputtering gardens and/or no room for gardens, participate in a local CSA! Put your dollar where it should be--locally. Build a relationship with your farmers. Stand up for farmland protection policies. Realize that they are trying their utmost to do something simple, yet in this day & age, something awe-inspiring -- grow quality produce to nourish you and your family! SIMPLE RAW HEALTH at its best people!

If your hands cannot grow your very own produce, put your money (and therefore the resources and ability) into the hands of someone you trust to do it! 

Here are some photos of the produce loot I scored last week from my local Certified Organic CSA. This is what my $20 bought! Amazing quality, goodness, freshness, and quantity! I am a satisfied customer indeed. And here is a link to their spot at Local Harvest-- Willow Grove Gardens.

What about the boats?!

And here is a SIMPLE lunch I made from my wonderful produce. Lettuce Boats! 

- a few large pieces of lettuce

- assorted chopped produce (beets, zucchini)

- soaked raw sunflower seeds

Just grab the sides and start chomping away at the end closest to your mouth! YUM! If you need some spice, add some. Or you may drizzle some

 cold-pressed organic olive oil on top. Do what works with what you have!

SIMPLE RAW FOOD MAMMA says, "Not only should you eat your veggies, but you should know who grows 'em!"

Frozen Fruit Delight

Summertime.

Kids.

Ice cream. 

Ice cream cones, ice cream sandwiches, bowls of ice cream, ice cream running down arms, and ice cream smeared all over faces. 

Eating healthy and being healthy doesn't mean you forgo those scrumptious summertime traditions or that you have to gag down some gnarly knock-off. 

SIMPLE RAW FOOD MAMMA to the rescue! Just peel and slice a banana (or a whole bunch of 'em) and arrange them single-layer on a cookie sheet or in a freezer bag. Place in freezer. Wait. Wait. (until the fruit is frozen) Now take them out and zip 'em in your food processor or high-speed blender. You will likely need to add some hemp milk (or almond, soy, rice -milk). 

Viola! A frozen fruit delight! For variety and flavor add in some frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... Yummy in the tummy.

Last night I mixed banana and strawberry together. We had some health food store-variety cones leftover from last week, 

so I plopped the frozen fruit inside. 

A SIMPLE & HEALTHY & INEXPENSIVE 

alternative to dairy ice cream.

By the way, if you have a Green Star juicer you can put on the "blank" juicing attachment and shove your frozen fruit through the juicer. You get a thicker consistency with this method. (photo courtesy of Elena @ Eat Healthy Be Happy)

So far this summer I have made all the ice cream classics with this frozen fruit delight... in a cone, in a sandwich (between two raw food "cookies"), in a bowl, and smeared all over the face (see above).

Go ahead, give it a try!

Kids love it.

Husbands love it too!

More Strawberries

Good morning! 

Here are some photos of

 the delectable 

summer strawberries 

I wrote about yesterday...

...in a sink of water

...rinsed, stemmed and in a bowl

...oh yummy in my tummy!

Enjoy the simple raw health-y 

culinary pleasures of summer!

Green Smoothie Recipe:

- 2 handfuls of spinach

- 1 cup of water

- 1 handful of frozen strawberries

- 1/2 to 1 frozen banana broke into pieces

Blend the first two. Add the frozen fruits and blend until smooth! Summer in a glass.

Strawberries

Strawberries. 

Oh the wondrous summertime fruits 

right out of the field make 

my mouth water, 

my heart content, 

and my chickens happy. 

Uhh, what kind of statement is that?

My mouth waters at the anticipation. 

And when my husband walks through the door over and over again toting in all those flats of local-grown strawberries, my mouth indeed waters. Oh, lovely plump morsels of red summer sweetness, come right over here and meet my mouth. 

Yum.

My heart is content. 

To process the berries means I fill a sink with cold water, dump in a 1/2-flat (6 pints), swish berries, 

pluck off the greenery, fill one bowl with berries and one bowl with tops, then fill two large freezer bags single-layer style with sweet red fruits, and then stack neatly in the freezer. Contentment that tomorrow night the same process will be repeated. My freezer will be set for the dreariness of winter so that 

when summer tugs at the soul all I have to do is take a red frosted bag of summer. 

My chickens are happy. 

Remember all those stems I plucked off? My feathered roosting friends will be in chicken delirium this morning when I take the large container of strawberry tops out and scatter them about their pecking penthouse. The ladies will no doubt be in some state of a fouled frenzy while they gobble the berry greens. I know their brains are only the size of a marble, but they have to take notice of their bodaciously bountiful berry brunch

--how can they not?

"the small, red fleshy fruit of a vinelike plant of the rose family" -- Oh, Mister Webster, you tried to define this wondrous summertime fruit. Words cannot impart the sweetness, the redness, the juiciness, nor the unadulterated taste of a sunshine warmed scrumptious strawberry.

Thank you Lord for this gift of summer!

Simple Raw Food

 

[I will have to post photos tomorrow as I was in a state of sticky-fingered, berry-bliss 

therefore I neglected taking photos of the fruits]