I'm Candi! I'm a stay at home reformed Christian Mom to 4 kids and a wife to a husband of 11 years. We homeschool 3 out of our 4 children and love every minute of it.
Showing posts with label organic living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organic living. Show all posts

Monday, May 31, 2010

Donut holes, The raw way! Delish!



Recipe

  • 2 C Brazil Nuts (trader joes )
  • 1/2 C Oat bran ( I got mine at trader joe's
  • 1 C oats ( I used my almond pulp this time)
  • 1/3 C Coconut Oil
  • 1/3 C Maple Syrup (I used honey) you could even use agave

Chop Brazil nuts in food processor until fine. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients, mix together and then add to the wet ingredients. Stir. Squeeze into balls. Roll in organic sugar and cinnamon mixture and refrigerate.

Topping:

  • 1/3 C organic sugar
  • 1 1/2 t. Cinnamon

I got this recipe from here, but i changed it up a lot. It was really good. Turtle LOVED it! Actually all the kids did except 1.

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Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Prov. 16:3


Day 3 is going good. The only way I am still going strong and not caving into temptation, is with Prayer. Praise God, that I've made it to day 3! You may laugh at that and think "it's only been 3 days", but if you know my addiction with coffee, several times a day, you would be amazed. So yes, I am praising Him for day 3. Thank you Lord!
I still love the almond milk! I've added the pulp already into lots of things. I made the kids pancakes yesterday and added the pulp into that along with almond milk in place of dairy or water, and they loved it!
We made green smoothies last night for dinner for My husband and myself and they were sooo good! The kids wanted to try it to and asked me to make more. So here's the recipe. This one isn't so green in color, which is probably why my kids liked it. This is what Sage said

"Mom I like this smoothie, but not the green one you made this morning" hehe, little does he know!

OK

1 1/2 cups pineapple I used fresh
...3-4 cups organic baby spinach some people use frozen
1 whole banana
about 1 or 1 1/2 cups blueberries( I used the frozen ones from Trader's)
1/2 cup to 1 cup of water, just enough to where it starts blending up in the blender without getting stuck.

if you don't use any frozen fruit in this put a little ice so its cold.
enjoy! they LOVED it!

We are making lots of nutritious snacks for the kids today. One is called donut holes. All raw. I will post pics and the recipe later. I hope they like it. I would love to hear your ideas, if anyone has or is doing a raw diet. Any recipes you can't live without?

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Green Smoothie Day 1 Not bad!




This was Day 1 of my green smoothies! It wasn't bad. I thought it was going to be horrible, it wasn't. OK so here's what I did

  • 1 1/2 c. Organic Spinach
  • 1/2 c. strawberries
  • 1/2 c. red grapes
  • 1/2 c. pineapple (fresh)
  • 1/2 c. water (next time I will use 1/2 of ice instead of the water)
put it all in the blender and blend! That's it. I'm on my way to better health already! And BTW this is very filling! My daughter wanted some and drank about 1 cup of it and loved it! Here are some sites on green smoothies and why they are healthy for you. If anyone has any recipes they love please send them my way!
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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Yummy Live Granola Recipe coming in Segments! It's live, it takes a few days!


Here are the cast of characters for this yummy Live granola. Here's some info on why we should sprout. We are totally new to this so any info you have is appreciated!

Nutritional value of sprouts
A great deal of nutrients are available when a seed sprouts as the sprout must have enough energy and nutrients to transform it from the seed into a baby plant that can then feed itself and be self sufficient. This means that when sprouting occurs the plant is at its nutritional peak. Many believe that weight for weight, sprouts have the highest nutritional content of any food type. Sprouts contain both vitamins, minerals, proteins and fibre, as an example Alfafa sprouts contain iron, magnesium, all 8 of the essential amino-acids, chlorophyll, vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin D, fibre and more….

In this day and age of processed and convenience foods it is of great comfort that sprouts do not contain any artificially added chemicals, additives, preservatives, E numbers etc. Sprouts are eaten in their natural form, when a sprout is at its optimal growth point it simply needs to be rinsed in water to make it ready for eating. This means that sprouts are a valuable toxin free food source.

Taken from the Happy Juicer website
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I have a new love.....Almond MIlk. It's replacing my half 'n'half!


I have done a lot of research and tried to find something, anything that has nutritional value(but still tastes good) to replace my addiction for half n half. I have done it!! Almond milk. Seriously people. I had my doubts, I've tried everything and this hits the spot for dairy. But unlike Dairy this has an amazing amount of nutrient value. I'm not saying dairy doesn't have any nutrients but let's look at some facts about almonds milk


Nutrient Facts for almond milk

Health Benefits of Almond Milk
  • Almond milk is rich in Vitamin E, a known antioxidant, and thus, is believed to good for those undergoing detoxification programs.
  • Almond milk contains high levels of unsaturated fat and has been associated with lower risk of heart attack.
  • Almond milk has been found to contain little to no saturated fat and no cholesterol, making it extremely good for those suffering from high cholesterol problem.
  • Almond milk does not contain lactose. This makes it easily digestible and the perfect alternative for those suffering from lactose-intolerance.
  • Owing to the absence of saturated fats and presence of unsaturated fats, almond milk can be said to be good for those trying to lose weight.
Nutritional Facts about Almond Milk
  • Almond milk is rich in protein and omega fatty acids.
  • Almonds milk does not contain cholesterol and saturated fats
  • Almonds milk has high levels of vitamin E and unsaturated fats
  • Almond milk contains minerals such as zinc, magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron.
  • 8 oz (237ml) of almond milk contains 70 calories, 2gm protein, 10gm carbohydrates and 2.5 gm fat: 2.5g
  • Almond milk has zero fiber.

That's a lot of good stuff!!! I've done some research on which is better to do store bought or homemade.... it looks like some of the almond milks out there in stores have alot of sugar in them. Which i am trying to stay away from. So homemade it is! Here's how I did it.

  • 1 1/2 cups all natural or organic whole almonds.
  • enough water to cover the almonds.
  • put almonds in jar, cover with water, let sit over night.
  • next day, put almonds in blender with 3 cups purified water and blend.
  • strain, I used my reusable coffee filter to strain and a wooden spoon to make sure I got all of the milk out of the almond puree.
  • store in fridge.
  • I am going to save my pulp that was strained and put it in oatmeal, cakes, muffins. Whatever. If you have any ideas or recipes please give them to me.




Thursday, May 27, 2010

Rice milk? Anyone.........


So I watched this video on milk last night about milk and how we shouldn't drink it at all. It freaked me out a little. I'm not going to get crazy and ban milk from my family's diet, but I want to try and consume less dairy. Dairy has always been a struggle for me. I know that I am addicted to it. I probably drink on my own, at least 1 big container of half n half a week in my coffee.. CRAZY, huh? I've been trying to use Coconut Creamer, and it is really good. I am making some changes, but they need to be more drastic. So any help or tips on how to quit the dairy all together would be awesome!
So I bought Rice milk tonight, has anyone ever used this? I'm going to try and substitute my family's milk for this in cereal and oatmeal and stuff like that and see if they like it. I will report back. Does anyone have any good recipes they use for this? After researching this more tonight I've found that almond milk is actually alot healthier, I am going to make that next week. It looks really good! Here's a recipe I found for it. I found it one The Happyfoodie Blog

"A sweet and delicious fresh milk with the elegant essence of vanilla"

1 cup soaked raw almonds (soaked 4-8 hours)
4 cups filtered water
Pinch of sun-dried sea salt
1 T non-alcohol vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean (optional)
3 T raw honey or maple syrup (or 3 soft dates, pitted)

In a blender, at medium, then high speed, blend soaked almonds, water, and sea salt until smooth. Pour through a strainer (or use a nut bag) to separate pulp. Pour liquid back in the the blender and blend in vanilla extract and bean (if using) and sweetener until smooth.


Human beings should not drink milk from a cow. It's that simple. So many illnesses and afflictions in children (and adults for that matter) could be cured if they would just cut out milk and milk products. There are tons of doctors, organizations, websites, etc...that will tell you the same thing, so you can do your own research. Here is one to get you started. Almond milk is a delicious alternative to cow's milk. Once you make your own...you'll never go back! It's so creamy and delicious. Perfect for dipping cookies, baking with, or drink it plain. Yum!

Here's some more cool info I found out about almonds which makes me want to substitute with it even more!

Almond milk is a milky drink made from ground almonds. Truth be told, it's much more almond than milk, as it contains absolutely no cholesterol or lactose. It can, however, be used to replace real dairy milk in many recipes.

Being able to use almond milk in place of dairy milk provides quite a few benefits. Besides opening the menu up for the lactose intolerant, it also removes the ever-problematic cholesterol from the equation.

Almonds alone have been hailed as a "super food" due to their high concentration of vitamins (especially the all-important Vitamin E), antioxidants, protein, and minerals such as zinc, magnesium, potassium, iron - and calcium. In fact, an eight-ounce glass or dairy milk contains 300 milligrams of calcium. Eight ounces of whole almonds - the overwhelming ingredient in almond milk - contains almost 550 milligrams of calcium.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Menu Planning May 10th-16th


I started Emealz a few weeks ago. I LOVED the first week. But by the second week I could only use 2 of the meals off the list because the other's just are not appealing to me. I still like the company and hope next weeks meals are better but until then I'm going to try and do my own.
Here is a week worth of breakfast, lunches and dinners I am going to do with my family . If there is a recipe you want that isn't listed just leave a comment or email and I will send it to ya!

Monday

Breakfast~ Pancakes,Fruit
Lunch~ Crunchy Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Dinner~ Pad Tai

Tuesday


Breakfast~ Ham and egg cups (also trader joe's has ham for 1.oo a pound normally 4.99!)
Lunch~ Thai Chicken salad
Dinner~ Hot sauce and cola chicken wings (for the kids plain chicken wings) and Avocado salsa

Wednesday

Breakfast~ Hard boiled eggs and toast W/fruit
Lunch~ Mustard Chicken Salad
Dinner~ French dips and chips

Thursday

Breakfast~ Ham and egg cups again! Hey I need to use all that TJ's ham!
Lunch~ left overs or Ham sandwiches LOL
Dinner~ Quinoa Salad

Friday

Breakfast~ Oatmeal
Lunch~ Quinoa Tabbouleh
Dinner~BBQ chicken salad

Saturday

Breakfast~ Avocado Eggs Benedict
Lunch~ Trader Joe's Carne Asada Taco's
Dinner~ Irish Steaks, Sweet potato's and baked cabbage with lemon.

Snack idea's
  • Strawberries with whipped cream
  • apple's and Peanut butter and honey
  • Popcorn
  • Watermelon