Chicken with some greens

Add a tablespoon of olive oil and heat up your skillet on med/high heat

Add
Red bell bepper, chopped
Green onions, chopped
1/2 garlic clove, chopped

Cook veggies for a few minutes

Add chicken, organic, cut into bite size pieces

Cook chicken until golden brown one size, then flip

As the veggies become soft, move them to the outside of the skillet

Add shaved carrots the last 2-3 minutes of cooking (I learned adding them too early=black carrots)

Prepare your plate with leaves of Romaine lettuce and fresh spinach

Add your cooked chicken and veggies to the leafy greens.

Add your favorite salad dressing (preferably one without lots of sugar and additives).

We've been using raspberry balsamic vinegar lately.  It has a kick to it, but tte sweet raspberry juice helps to balance out the vinegar.

Enjoy!

Grinding Wheat

I've been grinding wheat for a few months now and am glad I made the investment of buying a NutriMill grinder.  I ordered my first bucket of organic wheat from Amazon.com and hope to buy the next bucket closer to home.  There are different kinds of wheat.  I buy the white hard wheat.  It has the same nutritional value as red wheat, but it has a lighter taste. 

Whole wheat is very nutritious!  It has over 20 vitamins and minerals, including iron, magnesium, and many b vitamins.  When you use white flour, you are missing out on all those nutrients because they have been removed by processing. 


Here is my wheat grinder, filled with wheat before grinding.

Here is what the fresh flour looks like.

If you don't have the money to buy a grain mill at this time, you can buy White Hard Wheat Flour at the grocery store.  That is what I did before I purchased my own wheat because I am picky and wanted to make sure I liked the flavor.  The only thing about buying whole wheat flour is that it does expire within a couple of months (because all those nutrients will turn rancid after time).  FYI, that is why they started selling white flour-it has a longer shelf life.  When I have leftover wheat flour, I freeze it until I am ready to use it.

I use my white wheat flour for all my cooking and baking and so far have yet to be disappointed.  I've served chocolate cake twice and no one could tell it was made with whole wheat! 

Optional Beef Veggie Stew

This is a good meal for a cold day.  Brown 1 pound organic beef (stew meat) in the skillet, then add the meat along with the following items to your crock pot:

1 box beef stock-look for all natural
1 can sun dried organic tomatoes
1 can organic corn
1 can organic white beans
1 package frozen organic green beans
1/4 bag of organic baby carrots
3 organic celeray stocks, cut into bite pieces
4 organic russet potatoes
1 green onion sliced up
Few chives

Cook on high for 7-9 hours or medium for 11-12 hours.


Now, I used all organic products and the total cost of this stew, with meat, was about 19 dollars.  I am sure we can get at least 10 bowls of stew, making the cost about $1.90 per serving.  This meal is high in veggies and the beans provide enough protein to make the beef optional!   Without meat the cost would be about $1.40 per serving.

Meatless Paninis

For lunch today we each created our own panini.  We used homemade whole wheat bread, but you can use any whole grain bread.  One day I'll show you how to make your own bread!

PB and apple panini:
Whole wheat bread brushed with olive olive
1/2 apple, sliced thinly
Organic peanut butter, 1-2 tablespoons

Apple and red pepper panini:Whole wheat bread brushed with olive oil
1/2 apple, sliced thinly
1/4 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 slice provolone cheese

Cook in the panini press for 3-5 minutes.

Oatmeal

Looking for a simple, cheap, healthy breakfast? One answer is oatmeal! 

Measure out 1/2 cup old fashioned oats.  Add one cup of water, give or take depending on your preference.  Add a pinch of salt.  This all goes into a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave for 3 minutes. 

Add 1/4 cup fruit.  I prefer rasins because they are sweet.  Here I used red and golden.

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Tip:  Oatmeal takes a few minutes to cool down, so I would recommend you put it in the microwave 5-10 minutes before eating.  You can fix your lunch while waiting for it to cool.

Why not just buy instant oatmeal prepackaged?  Here are the ingredients: 

Ingredients

WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, RAISINS, SUGAR, SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE, OAT FLOUR, GUAR GUM, SPICES, NIACINAMIDE*, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, FOLIC ACID*.
*ONE OF THE B VITAMINS

The amount of sugar in one packet of the rasin spice oatmeal is 14 grams. 


I bought name brand Quaker Oats and measured out at least 26 servings (should have measured before we'd used some of it).  Even if you paid $4.00 per canister and you only got 26 servings, you'd be paying 15 cents per serving!  Raisins are also cheap.  You have a whole grain breakfast with a serving of fruit on the side without any ingredients you can't pronounce or don't recognize.  I appreciate the instant oatmeal makers attempting to give me some extra vitamins but I believe I'll just get those in my fruits and veggies instead. 

We also eat boxed cereals some days but only after reviewing the label.  It has to be whole grain and it shouldn't have ingredients we can't pronounce. 

Veggie and Wild Rice Pilaf

I adapted this recipe from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook. 

Add
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
to one tablespoon hot olive oil. 

Cook for about ten minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 uncooked Whole Grain Medley (Archer Farms blend of brown rice, rye, bulgur, wheat, red quinoa, and wild rice )  Remember to wash and drain the grains first.

Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add chicken broth (I prefer organic)
Bring to boiling, reduce heat.
Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, or until rices are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

While it is cooking you can shred your carrot and zucchini and toast your pecans.  Toast 1/3 cup pecans by spreading them onto a baking sheet and baking at 350F for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Stir in
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shdreed carrot
1/8 tsp black pepper

Let stand covered for 5 minutes.  Then stir in the pecans.

Finished product:  whole grain meal with veggies and pecans for protein!

Juicing

We were inspired to start juicing veggies and fruit after watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Now, let's face it, it would be healthier just to eat all your veggies.  However, the thought of eating a beet, fennel, and kale...well, I just have never imagined eating any of those items!  We bought our Cusinart juicer at a local Sam's club for 99 dollars.  To me, it was worth it! 

Here is one of our juicing recipes we threw together today for lunch. 
Two handful of red grapes
4 medium/large carrots
1 large beet
2 small green apples
Handful of fresh spinach
Two handfuls of kale
Two handfuls of swiss chard
Half a fennel bulb

Fresh ingredients before juicing. 

 Stir with a spoon.

Result:  One delicious drink full of micronutritents.

Caution:  the beet juice does stain. 

Welcome to my blog!

My family has been on a journey the past month or so.  It all started with a Daniel Fast.  That is when we quickly learned we are addicts!  Addicted to fats and sugars specifically.  When we attempted our Daniel fast, we constantly found ourselves craving cheeseburgers, pizza, candy, and pretty much anything else we weren't supposed to eat on the fast.  For those of you who don't know, a Daniel Fast is based on Daniel from the Bible.  He worked for the King and was fed the King's food, from which I can tell included wine and meat for sure.  Daniel asked to only be fed vegetables and water.  The guard in charge of Daniel didn't want to risk giving him only veggies-if Daniel couldn't work for the King as other meat eating servants did, the guard could be put to death.  Daniel asked if he and his friends could eat the veggie diet for ten days.  The guard agreed and that is what Daniel and his three friends ate.  Daniel 1:15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.  Who knew the Bible discussed nutrition?  Not only did Danel and his friends improve their health, the Bible also tells us God gave them knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.  Later in the book of Daniel, you can read about how he fasted for 20 days.

We were supposed to do the Daniel Fast for 20 days.  Day five we cheated a little and added in some chicken and birthday cake for our daughter's birthday.  Day seven we couldn't fight the addictions anymore and we went out to eat cheese bread sticks and calzone.  It tasted soooo good.  Then we sat around on the couch for about three hours because we felt like we had eaten bricks for dinner.  Ever since that night we decided we needed to take the Daniel Fast one choice at a time.  In fact, we needed to make every meal choice one choice at a time.

I am not saying we are only Daniel fasting from now on, nor am I saying every recipe I will share is Daniel Fast approved.  I am just explaining how our journey began.   Our goals are to eat veggies, fruit, and whole grains every day.  Occasionally we will have meat, but we will use organic, local meat when possible. 

I'll share recipes as I discover them and hope that if nothing else, someone is encouraged to eat a healthy meal.  Remember, just make one choice at a time!