Farmer Kenny.

A few months back we started getting raw milk from a local farm. It is pretty much straight from the cow, not homogenized or pasteurized. In Colorado, it is illegal to purchase raw milk so you have to buy a portion of a cow and then you have rights to the milk it produces.

So, the kiddos and I set out to Johnson Farms and met Farmer Kenny and the crew. We toured the farm, rode tractors, milked the cows and met the baby calves. Now we get 1/2 a gallon of milk each week and have since eliminated the tummy aches and diarhea Eli often experienced with regular milk. The boys fondly refer to the milk as Farmer Kenny's milk or Racoon's milk. A mini step we have taken in adding nutritional value to our diet.

Homemade Bread- Take 2.

This is my second attempt at making fresh bread. I milled the flour, mixed it in the Bosch, let it rise, put in a cold oven and while it tasted delicious the consistency was more like a muffin than a loaf of bread. Humpf....any suggestions?

Nutritious and delicious.

I think I have mentioned (on mulitple posts) how I LOVE the little health store by our house. They have miniature shopping carts so taking the kiddos to the store is a truly fun experience. We explore and I am surprised at how much a 2.5 year old can recognize at the produce stand- grapefruit, pears, kale, parsley, avocado. Luke loves filling up the cart and roaring it around the store.

Recently, I have started to make a conscioutous effort to reach for something new each week in the veggie department. We eat a lot of produce but it tends to be the same thing over and over- spinach, kale, tomatoes, apples, bananas, strawberries~ the old stand bys. Recently the bok choy looked so fresh I could not pass it by. I cooked it up with a little ginger and garlic, topped it off with sesame oil- delicious. It got me in the mood to try some others!

Next was red cabbage. I started reading some studies on the benefits of red cabbage and decided I was going to start eating a small red salad most every day before lunch. Anyway, it is really simple. Chop up some red cabbage, add a few cubes of beet and top with a bit of apple cider (organic and unfiltered). It is surprisingly good and the health benefits are off the charts. Luke and Eli both enjoy the cabbage but I think the apple cider vinegar and beet will take some time for them. (We juice beets but that tends to mask the earthy flavor.) If that does not sound delicious take a look at what it can do for your body~

Red cabbage is a great source of phytonutrients, Vitamins A and C (think strong antioxidant properties), iron, sulfur and anythocianin. I had no idea what anthocyanin was but after looking into it learned that it aids in brain health. Raw beets have high levels of anti-carcinogens, lots of carotenoids and folic acid. Researchers have refered to apple cider vinegar as the Wonder Drug~ lots of vitamins, beta carotene, potassium, magnesium and malic acid.

So, as any 2.5 year old would do, Luke is constantly pulling items off the shelf and trying to toss them in the cart. When I reach to remove it, he says, "It has to be nutritious and delicious, " with a cute little smile. No fighting back yet, I think that will come next year. But for being such a great helper, he does get to pick out a honey stick at the check out stand!

Our Graham Cracker-Gingerbread House.

This is a fun tradition we started this year~ homemade Gingerbread Houses. In sticking with our no refined sugar theme (almost) we made them out of homemade graham crackers (easier than gingerbread), cream cheese icing and a delicious assortment of other goodies from around the house. Unsweetened cocount for the grass, dried apricots for the trim around the house, raisins for the roof trim, almond slivers for the shingles, natural black licorice for a chimney and tree trunks, and fruit twists for the sidewalk- we just put it all together as we went. The one bogey was the Earth's Best Lollipop trees that made it into the scene. Oh and our new health food store in Colorado carries All Natural Food Coloring, I am in heaven and Luke loved the splash of color. It was a three day affair to make the house. The first day we spent making and baking the graham crackers. The second day on the icing and the last day we put it all together. Luke enjoyed eating it for another three! Lots of laughs out of this one~

All these changes.

While in Florida for Thanksgiving I got to spend some much needed time with my amazing sister, Jamie. She is genuine, insightful and so open with her heart. We are as alike as sisters can be and as different as sisters can be. During one of our deep conversations, she made mention of how much I have changed over the last five years and since meeting Matt.

As I think back over this time I have to agree whole heartedly. Over these years I have become a wife and a mother, my eye's have been opened to so much regarding the ways of the world, how we live and my faith. My heart's desire to seek and learn is being filled and I am eager to continue down this path.

Jamie (isn't she simply gorgeous??) and Eli in Ponce Inlet, FL.

So, one change that is always constant in our household is food, what and how we eat. This past year I have been privy to lots of new information on nutrition that is steering me down a new path in the kitchen. The movie, "Food Inc" revealed some interesting insight into the food industry. It contains a lot of information I was familiar with but putting it into a visual medium puts a whole new perspective on things. The book, The China Study, was an insightful read, focusing on the health benefits of reducing animal proteins in our diet. I also pick up "The Healing Herbs" by Michael Castleman every now and again for reference on the curative power of herbs, love it, as well as, Vive le Vegan by Dreena Burton. All of this has led us to a more veggie friendly lifestyle. We still eat meat/fish- probably once or twice a week for dinner, another two or three nights are vegetarian fare and the rest are usually vegan. We are really working on reducing our dairy consumption too. It is an adjustment (more for Matt and Luke) than myself but we are well on our way. Hooray to healthier living!

One of Matt's very favorite vegetarian dishes is this Goat Cheese and Arugula Pasta. Easy to make too so I thought I would share it.

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 ounces goat cheese
• 2 cups coarsely chopped arugula, stems included
• 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Crumble goat cheese into a large serving bowl. Add arugula, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. Drain pasta, and toss with goat cheese mixture.

Juice It Up!

We just love juicing, it is a nice change from eating our fruits and veggies. We will juice anything we can get our hands on.....apples, oranges, carrots, ginger, beets, green peppers, spinach. You name it and we have probably thrown it into a juice before! After some research we purchased the Breville BJE510XL IKON 500 Watt Juice Extractor and have been extremely pleased, you get a lot of juice, a very dry pulp and somewhat easy clean up. Luke loves to hand me the fruit and then push down on the feed tube and watch the juice come pouring out. Before downing a glass he always insists on the mandatory, "Cheers."

Anyway, here are some of our favorite recipes.

1. Luke Delight- 3 apples, 3 carrots and a slice of ginger.

2. Jess' Masterpiece- 3 apples, 1 cucumber and 4 sprigs of mint.

3. Beet Surprise- 1/2 beet, 3 apples, 3 carrots. (It is best not to drink beet juice alone, it is an extremely powerful cleanser/detoxifier.)

4. Green Goo- handful of spinach, 4 carrots, 1 lemon and 2 apples.

5. Vitamin C Powerhouse- 3 oranges, 1 grapefruit, 1 banana (You never get a ton of juice out of a banana but if I have an old one around I throw it in for flavor.)

31....here I come.

I am not a big birthday person but did have some fun with the fact that I am a 30 something this year....yeah! This is my decade, I feel it! This year the day was pretty low key, Matt took me out for brunch (my favorite meal of the day), sent me on my way for a massage and then cooked a delicious meal. I have to share the recipe because it is one of my absolute favorites. Easy to prep and tastes like it came right out of a 5 star restaurant. You can use most any white fish in this recipe. I love Chilean sea bass and have also tried this recipe with flounder, cod and tilapia, usually I just get whatever is on sale as long as it is wild, caught in the US or stamped by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Ingredients:

3 TB peeled fresh ginger

1/2 c pineapple juice

1/2 c orange juice

1/3 c soy sauce

2 TB sesame oil

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4- 6 ounce fish fillets

2 chopped green onions

Grate the fresh ginger and mix with orange and pineapple juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and cayenne pepper in 1 gallon zip top bag. Squeeze bag and mix well. Add fish and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place fish in a baking dish, skin side down, and pour in the marinade. Cover with foil and bake until the center of the fillet reaches 150 degrees (about 25 minutes). Transfer fish to plates. Strain marinade and place in a saute pan over high heat and reduce, reduce, reduce! Boil marinade until thickened enough to coat a spoon, about 6 minutes; spoon over fish. Garnish with green onions.

I do love myself some green beans but mine always turned out mushy until I learned this great trick! So, toss beans (with the ends cut off) in a pot of boiling, salted water. Wait until the water begins to boil again. Once boiling let it be for about 5 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander but DON'T rinse them. Put them back into the pot and stir over high heat for about one minute (this will dry them out). Toss in 1 TB of butter and serve. Crunch, crunch!

One last thing, I was spoiled rotten this year. Gift cards, clothes, picture frames, you name it but I am thrilled to say I received a Nutrimill Grain Mill so I can starting grinding my own flour to make homemade bread. I have been waiting for this, semi patiently and can't wait to get started! Ordering my grains here shortly so stay tuned.......

The Queen of...

Banana Bread! For the last five years I have tried and tried to make my husband a loaf of banana bread that he enjoys as much as his mothers. I have tried her recipe but could never get it just right. I tried dozens of others, some were too dry, others were too banana-y, some were too sweet and others were not sweet enough BUT finally....drum roll......I was able to make a delicious, two thumbs up, five star loaf. Not once, but twice. The recipe comes from a great book recommended to me called, "The Amazing Wheat Book" by LeArta Moulton. It is chock full of good, wholesome recipes- everything from a homemade taco seasoning to bread. Here it is:

Banana Nut Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sweetener (I used 1/4c honey and 3/4c agave)

2 eggs, beaten

3 bananas, mashed

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

1 t soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter and honey. Add eggs, then mashed banana. Sift dry ingredients (this is worth the extra time) and add to first mixture. Added chopped walnuts. Bake in buttered 9*5 loaf pan at 350 for 45 min - 1 hour.

(I could not snap the picture fast enough, Matt had already dug in!)

Lucky enough for me, when I told my mother-in-law about my accomplishment, she said, "Good. I can finally stop making it for him." Love ya Grams!

Nice and Easy Brunch.

Inhale......do you smell the delicious aroma of french toast coming out of your kitchen? No, well you should because this recipe is so very easy, absolutely scrumptious and refined sugar free! It comes from my friend, Jen. She is THAT friend who has the most perfectly decorated house, always brings the most delicious dish to the bbq and can whip up custom made drapes that would put Nate Berkus to shame. Amazing! So, if you have an extra 15 minutes tonight, throw this together and your family will thank you in the morning. Oh and you may just feel a tad bit like June Cleaver (see picture below). 

French Toast Bake~

1 cup maple syrup

2 tsp cinammon

1 stick butter

about 6 slices of bread (Publix Homestyle bread is great. About 1.5 loaves) 

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

vanilla

Melt the first 3 ingredients in a pot and then pour in a 9*13 buttered pan. Put 2 layers of bread over the mixture. Beat eggs, milk and vanilla and pour over bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night. Bake in 350 oven for 45 minutes with the foil on. 

Granola Cruncher.

Granola cruncher, tree hugger~ I am from Colorado, what did you expect? One of my new favorite recipes (from my friend/mentor, Rebecca) is absolutely delicious.  Give it a try if you are up for something free of refined sugar, sweet and both breakfast and snack worthy. Yummy. Yummy.

Multi-Grain Granola:

Add or remove any ingredients to suit your taste, simple as that!

Combine:

4 c rolled oats

1 ½ c puffed quinoa*

1 ½ c puffed brown rice*

2 c puffed millet*

2 c puffed kamut*

1 c sliced raw almonds

2 c chopped raw pecans

1 c raw cashews (opt)

1 c raw sunflower seeds (opt)

3 c unsweetened coconut*

½ c flax seed

1 ½ c pumpkin seeds

In saucepan, heat:

1 ½ c unrefined, virgin coconut oil*

2 ½ c honey

1 ½ T vanilla

½ t nutmeg

1 t cinnamon

2 t sea salt

*available at health food stores or Publix in the Greenwise section.

Pour warm mixture over oat mixture and stir until moistened. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spread mixture evenly in sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (or until golden), stirring occasionally. Remove and immediately store in container. (If you let it cool on the parchment paper it sticks). Makes about 30 cups. You can also add raisins (after baking), cranberries, chocolate chips, dried apricots, dried apples.

Oh and being a tree hugger is not all that bad!