Outta the Garden

Lunch.

When gardens are fully loaded with God's bounty, what could be better than picking it right of the vine and setting it right onto the table? Not much!

Veggie Salad

1. put into a bowl:

red pepper-chopped

tomatoes-cut into small pieces

2. put into a steamer for about 30 seconds:

green beans-snapped

bok choy-chopped (green leafy parts too)

3. toss all in one bowl with some olive oil, a dash of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and fresh pepper

Here is my little fella, showing you his food-messy face and a bite of salad!

~ Did you know? Green bell peppers are actually UNripe peppers. We avoid the green ones in the store and wait for them to turn a brilliant color in the garden.

~ Try something new this autumn...make spaghetti sauce from scratch--wonderful smells will fill your home for about 6 hours while the tomatoes cook down.

My recipe: 15 tomatoes, cored. Blend about half. Chop the other half. Do this while 3 big onions are sautéing in a olive oil. Add tomatoes to onions. Turn heat to low. In about three hours add some herbs (if fresh, use more).

Simmer for about 6 hours. Stir often. When it's done, pour into shallow roasting pans to cool. Put into freezable containers. Place in fridge overnight. Put in freezer in the morning.

Viola! Pizza sauce. Spaghetti sauce. Soup base. Add additional herbs to suit the wintertime meal on the menu.

* If you have noticed a lack of input here on the blog it is because we are knee-deep in food preservation, homeschooling, tending to the ranchola, and praying for this nation. I do believe that it is important to share recipes and facts and ideas and encouragements, but I do think it is more important to tend to those other listed items. If there are any readers left, try something new and fun with God's bountiful harvest!

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!

Lunch: Fresh is Best

What's for lunch at your house? 

Summertime brings with it so many fresh and scrumptious options. 

Here is what the mid-day meal looks like around here.

Sub-style veggie sandwiches on 

homemade whole wheat Walla-Walla sweet onion bread. 

Filled with organic, garden-fresh veggies...

zucchini, beet greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers,

wholesome pickles & lettuce

Yes, even some green beans. 

What a crunch!

Raw foodist can even partake in this garden fare, 

just use a large leaf of sturdy lettuce for the "bread". 

I sprinkled on some hemp seeds for added protein.

And we love mustard. 

Either we make it ourselves 

or use an organic variety from the store.

Yummy in my tummy!

For dessert, what could be better 

than the in-season fruit just waiting to be eaten? 

Splendid summertime strawberries! 

Sooo goood as the kiddo says.

* For some other nutrient-dense lunch ideas, look here and here. And here.

* I think I skipped breakfast in our summertime line-up. That one will come soon.

* We use organic produce from our garden & our local CSA.

Remember, 

fresh is best 

&

right of the vine is simply divine!

Step-by-step Green Smoothie

Initial Reaction to Green Smoothies

All folks physically cringe when I describe a glorious green smoothie. And some even audibly voice their disapproval with out loud gagging noises.

But, most take a sip when offered one, especially if they watch me drink mine first.

And then they chug the entire glassful when given the "okay" to do so.

After I explain a few health benefits, they often ask me how to make green smoothies at-home...

Reported Benefits of Green Smoothies

I would say that 9 out of 10 persons I have tempted to try one of these concoctions, continues to make and chug these nutrient-dense green drinks. Reported health benefits and improvements in my circle of green smoothie drinkers include:

increased energy

diminished food cravings

quicker recovery from physical exertion 

hair, darker & thicker

skin, softer & smoother

weight loss

lowered cholesterol

seasonal allergy relief

increase in general well-being

lowered blood sugar levels

and on 

and on

For an introduction to green smoothies, click here.

And for more ideas and recipes, click here.

Making a Green Smoothie 

1. 2 cups of water

2. add large amounts of greens (I fill to near the top)

pictured here: pink chard, yellow chard, lambs quarters (yes, it is a weed)

3. blend to smooth

a hi-speed, hi-power blender (i.e. K-tec or VitaMix) works best as you want to break open the actual cell walls of the greens

4. add frozen fruit (about 2 cups)

I often use blueberries or strawberries; add in a frozen banana if you are new at it and like a creamy texture akin to a shake

5. blend to smooth

add-in some other goodies like ground flax, hemp seeds...or for sweetness, add-in a couple of dates or a dollop of honey/agave/brown rice syrup

6. drink!

not all green smoothies are green when done--but the green nutrients are packed to the rim!

Why not give it a whirl?! Yeah, pun intended. Blend yourself up a nice glass of nutrients...

By the time breakfast is done, my family has met the standard daily recommended servings of fruits & veggies! Soon, I will post the rest of our general breakfast menu, complete with photos... 

whole wheat scones

strawberry sauce

fruit salad

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.

Nuts for Coconut

Yesterday 4 health-filled coconuts came to our home. This morning, I took one of them and poked it's eye right out with the pointy end of a knife sharpener. I inserted a straw and let the kiddo drink. After he had his fill, I drained it's water. That most nutritious & delicious source of electrolytes was for me. What to do with a coconut missing an eye? Pop it into a plastic bag, tie it off and smash it to pieces by slamming it onto the sidewalk. Repeatedly.

Now, that does not sound like a very nice thing to do to a poor lil coconut, does it?! 

Oh there are more civilized and stylish ways to get to the "meat" of the coconut, but hey, this is Simple Raw Food Mamma and I am a farm girl...

After the rather un-fanciful treatment of one hairy little coconut, we had rawsome green smoothies for breakfast today!

- 1 1/2 cups water (preferably coconut water, if you didn't drink it all yet)

- cram blender up past the 3 cup mark with greens (garden-fresh spinach & collard)

- blend

- add about 1 cup of blueberries

- and 1/2 peeled orange

- and a chunk or two of coconut

- blend again

Viola! Yummers!

Recently...

We have made raw strawberry pie.

We have made a whole wheat crust filled with gooey, spiced plums.

We have made a farm fresh, very colorful & flavor-filled veggie salad.

Oh, the fun and the yum we had in our kitchen! Stay tuned for posts and recipes and pics on the above...

Eat More Fruits & Veggies

Eating more fruits and veggies. That is a challenge for some. For me and my clan, it is a way of life. You see, the more living foods you eat, the more your living body thrives! Simply put, enzymes are the catalysts for all sorts of functions and processes within your body. Enzymes are destroyed when food is heated. A raw/living food way of eating, nourishes your precious body because the enzymes are still intact. Still living. Still working.

So, eat 'up! Grab yourself a 'nana or peel an orange and read along...

See my story here. 

Learn about some raw food facts here and basics here.

And look to the side bar for other topics, ideas and recipes.

Scroll on down to my last post. 

What an easy & fun & messy way to get some fresh wholesome fruit 

on your plate and into your mouth!