Yams-n-Peaches

Autumn is such a wonderful time of year for God's bounty!

Even though we are in the middle of moving (praise God), I see from the comments I still may have one or two readers, so I thought I would do another food post while I can still find the computer.

Lunch a while back...

- Mashed 'taters made from steamed yams, olive oil, a touch of sea salt, and a splash of hemp milk. For sweet: a dash of pure maple syrup and cinnamon or for savory: more olive oil, pepper & rosemary.

- Brown rice with a touch of olive oil & Braggs's Liquid Aminos.

- Raw Veggie Salad: outta the garden--corn scraped off the cob, halved cherry tomatoes, snapped tender green beans, chopped cucumbers; outta the store--raw pine nuts, sundried tomatoes. Toss it. Smell it. Eat it!

Go to my other blog to see what this peachy concoction is all about...

* And as always, use organic, fresh, wholesome ingredients. Nourish you and your family with health.

May God bless you

and the work of your hands this day!

Zucchini Chips

What do you do with 40 pounds of zucchini? Besides slipping them through open windows in someone's car or making outrageous amounts of zucchini bread?

Here is what we are doing...

Forty pounds of zucchini

reduced to flavor-filled

dill chips

and taco chips

Cut ends off zucchini.

Zip through food processor with slicer attachment.

Generously toss with favorite flavors

(our 1st batch was dill & salt; our 2nd batch of 20 pounds is taco--currently dehydrating and making our house smell like tacos!)

Spread out, single layer on dehydrator sheets.

Peel off in 10 hours. (I set mine to 155 degrees for first hour and then to 115 degrees for remainder)

Keep in sealed container.

Oh yes, eat 'em at your leisure.

My first batch of 20 pounds reduced to the amount shown in that recycled 64-oz coconut oil container.

While my "chips" don't crunch, they do impart a delicious flavor. And they don't impart an inch to the waistline or clog up your arteries either! ;-)

Wholesome Bread Recipe

After contacting the ladies who taught me how to make homemade whole wheat bread without a bread machine, I am ready to post their recipe... I didn't want to infringe upon their rights and I wanted their permission.

You see, I am a recovered bread machine user. Never again will I go back to that mode of making & creating wholesome bread for my family. Over a year ago I started watching films from Franklin Springs Family Media. In a couple of their documentary-type movies, I met a family called the West Ladies. Soon they had their own dvds on the market. I snatched-up that 3-piece set immediately. These down-home, off-grid living, Christian woman are such an inspiration to me. I yearn to live a really simple life akin to theirs. I do try. And I do succeed in my own way...

Back to the bread. I am in love with making and baking and sharing bread. The textures of the flour and honey and water. The love mixed into it with kneading. The wonder of it rising. The smell of it baking. The delight on faces of those who eat it. All of it, I am in love with it! Ahhh.

Although I am a raw food vegan and I promote a vegan eating style, I must link these ladies and their blog and their website here. Get some ideas. Learn something. They offer more than recipes,they offer a glimpse into a lifestyle. They stand for something bigger, something more important than culinary choices. They are godly women who stand for Christ.

In perusing their bog and/or their site, do take the time to learn what a blessing it is to be the caretaker of the homestead, whether or not your homestead is in the country or a high-rise apartment building or somewhere in between. Take the time to do things the old-fashioned way. Take time...and be thankful for every good gift God gives you this day.

Here is the whole wheat bread recipe. Please do consider buying their Homestead Blessings dvds. A new batch will be out soon--you can pre-order your set now! 

STANDARD BREAD DOUGH 

 • 2 1/2 cups of Warm Water 

 • 2 cups of whole Wheat Flour 

 • 2 teaspoons of Salt 

 • 1/2 cup of Oil 

 • 1/2 cup of Honey 

 • 1 tablespoon of Yeast 

Add the Water, Flour, Salt, Oil and Honey and mix together. 

Then mix in the yeast. 

Add flour until you have a nice dough (4 or 5 cups). 

Knead and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes in a warm place. 

Punch down and form into loaves. 

Place in greased loaf pans and use a fork to poke several holes into dough. 

Let rise again for about an hour. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

* I let mine rise for 90 minutes instead of 30 to 40--as per the directions on their "The Art of Bread Making" dvd.

I am off to making a batch of my own. One with onions and herbs. And another with extra honey, cinnamon, and raisins...Thank you, Hannah, for your kind response to my request! 

May God bless all that you do this day!

Strawberries!

It is that time of year when strawberries are hanging ripe and juicy, 

just waiting to be picked by an eager hand 

and popped into an anticipating mouth.

These are three strawberries on my 6'4" husband's hand. 

Those are some BIG berries!

Each of those giant strawberries was the size of 3 berries.

Yum.

After an evening of processing strawberries for the annual freezer fill-up, 

I made some strawberry syrup for my boys 

and their Saturday whole wheat pancake breakfast feast.

* Toss that store-bought pancake syrup and sugar-laden jam. Your family will love simple, fresh, homemade syrup. 

Whatever is left-over, use that week for almond butter-jam sandwiches for the kiddos!

And I made a quick fruit salad 

to go with their pancakes and our green smoothies. 

Strawberry Green Smoothie

- 2 cups water

- 3 cups of greens (red lettuce, collard)

-> blend 

- 1 cup frozen strawberries

- 1/4 cup ground flax

-> blend to smooth

Easy Summer Fruit Salad

- fresh strawberries

- frozen blueberries

- orange pieces (peeled, cut into slices & separated into small pieces

* optional: top off with soaked raw sunflower seeds and/or chopped raw soaked almonds; avocado is a surprisingly delicious add-in too

Simple Strawberry Syrup

- very ripe strawberries, stemmed & chopped

- honey

- cinnamon

- allspice

-> add all ingredients (sweetener and spices to taste) simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently; smash berries to a thick pulp; put into jar and use within one week or process in hot water bath for long term canned preservation

If you are new to whole food, vegan, and/or living food eating, 

keep it simple and easy!  

Your taste buds will be delighted, 

your body will be healthier, 

and you will find more success 

in meeting your healthful aspirations.

Weekend Fare

Saturday summertime lunches around our place consist of the same meals as most others across the nation...including burgers and potato salad. One huge difference--the ingredients. Fresh, wholesome, living, and nutritious generally describe our dining table digs. 

Take for example, our potato salad. They will never even notice the eggs are replaced with cauliflower. Or that the mayo is a thick, creamy homemade dressing with lots of herbs.

(Almost) Raw Food Vegan Potato Salad:

- potato, grilled & chopped (nope, it's not raw, but I know what my boys will eat) 

[while the 'taters are grilling, start prepping other veggies] look here to see how we cook 'em

- cauliflower, chopped

- red peppers, chopped

- pickles, diced (don't skimp here...make your own or buy a health food store brand like Strub's or Bubbies)

- celery, chopped

- fresh herbs to taste--we love cilantro around here (some came up from last year already, but if you prefer a more traditional taste, use dill)

fake mayo:

- about 1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)

- about 1/3 cup cold-pressed olive oil

- a handful of raw sunflower seeds

- touch of brown rice syrup or honey

- lots of dill

- big blob of mustard

- a dash of salt

Blend in high speed blender until creamy; taste and adjust ingredients to your liking.

Add all veggie ingredients in one big bowl. Stir. Add fake mayo to the texture and taste that suites your fancy. Viola, that is one healthy bowl of potato salad.

Then comes the burger. You can make raw food burgers. They do take time and pre-planning, neither of which was handy last Saturday. So, my boys ate this store-bought non-soy, no junk variety (Bahama Rice Burger). As for me, I just eat my fixings as my burger atop a big piece of lettuce. Want to add some tongue tantalizers to the burger? Take some of the fake mayo and add mustard & ketchup to it. And please, use home made or health food store variety condiments without the high fructose corn syrup or anything gross like that. Now, that is a burger sauce worth biting into!

As I previously shared, my 'lil spud doesn't fancy raw onions like his Raw Food Mamma, so I grill those for him and his daddy. Add a touch of olive oil and they gobble 'em up. Prepare all the fixings and stack on a plate. Half the fun is stacking the burger high with piles of veggies. 

Of course one could ruin the whole healthy meal with bad bread or yucky buns. Buy some of this (Dave's Killer Bread) or make some of your own. My little fella and I baked whole wheat bread together and it was so fun. His is the mini-loaf with all the fresh herbs.

Include your kids in the food prep and meal assembly. They will eat more of these delicious veggies if they partake in the preparations. My guy loves gathering herbs from the raised beds while the dough is rising. I let him pick his own herbs, rinse them, cut them (with scissors), and knead them into the dough. It's okay if they don't do it your way or the "right" way, just let them try.

So, make your next summertime Saturday lunch so packed full of living foods nutrients, that they won't know what him 'em. But, they will certainly be back for more!

Kiddo in the Kitchen

As a raw foodist, I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. And I love it. Thankfully, so does my son. Since infancy, I have involved him in food prep. Initially of course he was only an audience member, but now he is a full-fledged "chef" with his own apron and table knife. 

Back in the days (er, daze) when we had TV hooked-up to the outside world (via bunny ears to get 1 1/2 channels), my toddler son and I occasionally watched a couple of cooking shows on PBS. Apparently the shows rubbed off on him. As we would stand and work together at the counter, he would start talking. He would say things like this, "Okay people, now we are adding in the peppers. You just toss them on the top." And he would add in little diatribes like this, "Now, if you are wondering about the sauce, it is really easy to make. You just..." The first time I heard one of his narrations I asked him why he was talking aloud as he worked. He told me he was "talking to the people, mamma, just like on the cooking shows." Apparently he thought "the people" watched everyone work in the kitchen! 

Nowadays he is even used to the odd things food bloggers do with their fare, like photograph the food before consumption or photograph the food part way through consumption (because it looked so darned good that we had forgotten to snap an initial image). I try to leave the camera in its case and its drawer when quests are over for a meal. What would they think?!

Anyway, two days ago while my mom was here for a visit, we where schooling her in the fine art (ha!) of raw food prep and consumption. While I showed her our version of nori rolls, my son made his own salad. Then he said, "Take a picture, mamma. The people are really gonna want to see this!" So, I did. Here is the masterpiece my 5-year old made. Of course I did the cutting and chopping, as per his directions, but he dictated, assembled, and then shared it with his ma and grandma!

Kiddo's Salad

cooked quinoa on bottom

shredded cabbage

sliced carrots

chopped red peppers

topped with:

thin-sliced roma tomato

fresh-cracked pepper

smashed avocado

(lots of love & fun)

* If you are here from the Heavenly Homemakers Fruit & Veggie Challenge, 

please click here and here for CSA information, recipes & photos!

* And yes, I just noticed that one of the nori roll links with photos show my son and gasp! He is wearing the same clothes in those photos as in today's. Oh well, we worry more about what's on our plates than we do about being fashion plates!  ;-)

Where You Are

Recently some of you have contacted me -- wanting more information about eating healthier in general. Some had requests about green smoothies. Some had requests for healthier cooked food recipes. As I continue to eat a raw food vegan diet, I realize that is not where most of you are at in your journey toward health. I want to meet you where you are. 

I used to carry the burden that it was up to me to change people. Nope, not any more. It is ultimately up to God. And you, of course. So, if a HEALTHIER YOU is what you really want, pray for the wisdom, guidance, and strength to do it. Then, go for it!

Reality in my house...

Number of Raw Food Vegans: 1 - me

Number of Wholesome Food Vegans: 1 - 5-year old son

Number of Trying to be a Wholesome-Healthy Eater: 1 - husband

If you are on the Standard American Diet (SAD diet), but want to stick your leg overboard and dangle it into the waters of healthy eating, before taking the plunge, that is fine. We all need to start somewhere. I did. You can check out my journey here...

LUNCH

mostly Raw Food Salad

- salad

- organic baby salad greens

- organic celery (chopped)

- organic baby spinach

- organic cilantro (chopped)

- red onions (grilled slightly--so son will eat them!)

- sun dried tomatoes (chopped small -- for flavor)

- avocado "dressing" (ripe avocado fork-mashed, half organic lemon squeezed into green mash, dash sea salt, splash organic cold-pressed olive oil)

- toss all of the above together, enjoy!

* Sometimes I don't put amounts for my recipes. To tell you the truth, I am not much a recipe-follower. I get an idea. Then I do what I can with what I have! It is up to you. Make food you want to eat! If you like cilantro, put a whole cup in your salad. If you don't fancy onions, leave 'em out. Do it so you will eat it. And like it!

BREAKFAST

fruit-filled vegan coffee cake

Berry Mixture:

3 cups berries
(I used strawberries & blueberries)

1/2 cup water


1/2  cup honey or brown rice syrup

3 TBSP arrowroot powder or ground tapioca (thickener)

Cook blueberries and water together until boiling.  Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for about five minutes.  At lowest heat, add sweetener and thickener, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.  Set aside.

Cake Mixture:


3 cups whole wheat pastry flour


1 TBSP baking powder


generous pinch sea salt


3/4 cup olive oil


 2/3 cup brown rice syrup
or honey

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
(or orange or almond…)

1 1/2 cups whipped silken tofu
(blend 1 container silken tofu in blender until to a pudding-like consistency)

1/4 cup fresh orange juice


1/2-1 cup “milk” (hemp, rice, almond, soy…)

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix at med-high speed for about 30 seconds. 

To make the coffee cake, pour half of the cake batter into an oiled stoneware baking dish or cast iron skillet.  Spread berry mixture over the batter.  Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls on top of berry mixture. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes -- 20 minutes uncovered, 20 minutes covered with foil. 

* portions of recipe adapted from... one found on my blog & at Christina Cooks & at  Heavenly Homemakers

Yum-yum! A fruit-filled coffee cake worthy of any cup of coffee or tea...or even eaten as breakfast (like at our house)!

So, wherever you are on your journey, do what you can to make your current recipes healthier. For example, cut out the animal ingredients, use whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour, use brown rice syrup or honey instead of white sugar, and make it from scratch!

Simple Path

My posting today is actually a re-post. I have another blog (Aspire to Lead a Quiet Life) and this is something I wrote back in December. With Spring knocking on the door and tulips poking through the dirt, we soon will be without Winter and her cold mornings. Although I am excited for greenery to fill my garden and summer sun to warm my face, I will miss the smells of simmering oatmeal on the wood stove...

Soft bubbles rise to the surface. They become more rapid in their ascent. Many more join until I can hear them knocking into the sides of the stainless tea kettle. The wonderful warmth of the wood stove heats the cold water into a frenzy of boiling bubbles. A favorite mug with a minty tea bag waits patiently in my hands. Soon I am sipping hot tea while stretched out legs offer chilly toes to wood stove warmth.

My son pads on out of his room. He wears his heavy morning slumber and rubs fists into eyes as if nudging them to accept morning's light. I hug his hot skinny boy self. My eyes close slowly, beckoning my internal camera shutter. My soul tries to capture this early morning moment and print it on my heart.

I mix rolled oats with their dust into a small pan of water. Thick, sweet, golden honey glops out of the jug and sinks to the bottom. Gently it rests under the oat mixture. I shake on dark brown pumpkin pie spices. The small pot, a lid, and its breakfast fare is set atop the wood stove. Soon I smell its warmth. And honey sweetness fills my nostrils. I add raisins, currants, and blueberries before taking it from the hot black surface. Scooped into a bowl with a wooden spoon and eaten with eager anticipation, my oatmeal concoction disappears.

Simple ways. Simple things. Simple gifts. Simple life.

When distractions of haste and a fast pace are set aside, it is easier for this Simple Country Girl to find God. 

His footsteps appear in the sand. I hear Him. I feel His hand in mine, tugging me along. I follow, trying to match my small steps into His large imprints. 

It is a simple path He walks.