Superfood Hot Cocoa

Today was dreary, gray, wet and cold. I've lived in New England and in Scotland and I still think wet cold is the coldest cold there is. I must be getting acclimated to the south because today, for the first time this winter, I was truly cold. I currently am under a blanket and I am wearing socks. That is huge for this warm blooded gal. You northerners are probably laughing at this. But for Louisiana, this is COLD! (We'll laugh at you come summer time when you complain about the heat) Anyhow, today I was craving something warm to drink, something healthy and I started thinking about hot cocoa. You may be thinking I'm delusional to ever think that hot cocoa could actually be healthy. But surprisingly it is totally possible to make hot chocolate that is not only, 'not too bad for you', but is actually extremely healthy and delicious too!! Here's the recipe, but below, make sure and check out the reasons WHY the superfood ingredients in this delicious recipe make this hot cocoa so healthy.

SUPERFOOD HOT COCOA

Ingredients:
1 cup milk of choice
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2-1 Tbsp raw honey or a pinch of pure stevia
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2  tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Instructions:
1. Add milk to sauce pan and bring to a boil
2. Lower to a simmer and stir in cacao powder
3. Add in turmeric, sea salt and cinnamon
4. Stir in honey or stevia and vanilla
5. Add coconut oil and whip in until all chunks are melted and mixture becomes thick and creamy
6. Enjoy! (But let cool down and don't get impatient and burn the hide off of your tongue like I did!
(Makes one cup)

Okay so what's so super special about this cocoa? Check out the amazing health benefits of each of the ingredients below. Guilt-free HEALTHY cocoa! Who ever heard of such a thing?!

1. Cacoa: (No I didn't misspell it. :) Just read on...) As you may have heard (and you may have rejoiced as I did),  chocolate does have some health benefits, Unsweetened cocoa powder which typically is an ingredient of hot cocoa has a decent amount of antioxidants, is a rich source of fiber, has some protein and has very little fat. So it is not a bad choice by any means. But there is another chocolate source that is much, much better than the typically, over-processed cocoa our mom's used and is even touted by many experts on health and nutrition as one of the healthiest foods in the world! What is this superfood? Cacao powder. Very similar to cocoa powder but much, much healthier. Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume. It is less processed and has the highest concentration of antioxidants than any food in the world. It is an excellent source of monounsaturated fats, cholesterol-free saturated fats, vitamins, minerals, natural carbohydrates and a high concentration of iron and magnesium to name a few. It also is the only food to help our brains produce the 'feel-good' hormones: PEA, Tryptophan and Anandamide. It also contains flavonoids, which are known to help lower blood pressure and to improve blood flow to the brain and heart. All this with fewer than 15 calories per teaspoon. It was considered 'the food of the gods' by the ancient Aztecs. No wonder it's considered a superfood! And how does it taste? Surprisingly it tastes like what it is- chocolate. There are slight differences from regular cocoa that you may notice, and like dark chocolate it has a bit of an 'edge' to it, but with proper (healthy) sweeteners added, it can be used in the place of cocoa in all recipes. I often will make chocolate milk with cacao, milk, honey and vanilla when I want a filling and healthy snack. As with anything, go organic and raw and check out your sources. I do research first and then buy a lot of my health food on Amazon. You can get it here.

2. Coconut oil: Coconut oil is the darling of the health food world right now. And for good reason. Coconuts are an excellent source of nutrition and a wonderful way to increase healthy fats in your diet. Coconut oil has antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti fungal properties. It also has antioxidant properties and helps in the absorption of other minerals. Coconut oil is the richest natural source of lauric acid which has been shown to be useful in increasing immunity and fighting viruses and disease. Lauric acid has been shown to be preventative against some cancers and when combined with oregano oil has even been found to be more effective in fighting staph bacteria than antibiotics. And it tastes amazing! So coconut oil is pretty super as food goes. I add it to as many foods as I can get away with. It's my oil of choice in recipes and I love putting it in smoothies, greasing pans (Instead of Crisco. It has the same consistency), in sautéing, baking and as a skin moisturizer.  And there are ton more things you can do with it. As with everything you buy, buying certified organic is the way to go. In the case of coconut oil, also look for 'extra virgin' on the label. I use this brand and get it here.

3. Turmeric: Turmeric is another superfood with tremendous health benefits. To begin, turmeric offers anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and even anti-carcinogenic properties. It is touted as aiding in digestion and in assisting in reducing bloating and abdominal cramps. It can reduce the accumulation of toxins and harmful bacteria in the gut and is a useful treatment of diabetes, liver diseases, arthritis, skin and joint issues and gut inflammation, It can protect against heart disease, reduce cholesterol and can be used as an antibiotic on open wounds. I have used it in a ginger tea when I had a bad upper respiratory infection. Although it's commonly used in Indian food, it's a premiere ingredient in our Greek Chicken Schwarma recipe. Doesn't seem like a likely thing to put in hot chocolate, but even a little has great health benefits. And it gives my hot chocolate the tiniest little indiscernible kick. Tasty!

4. Cinnamon: Cinnamon is more than just a friendly little spice to put on your oatmeal and cinnamon rolls, it is also loaded with powerful antioxidants. The antioxidants in cinnamon have anti-inflammatory effects which may help lower the risk of disease. It can lower blood sugar levels and has a tremendous anti-diabetic effect. It has beneficial effects on Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases and has been used to successfully fight bacteria and fungal infections. Surprised?!

5. Sweetener: Raw honey is the sweetener of choice for the Superfood Hot Cocoa because of its help with stomach issues and its antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-fungal and wound healing properties. But because it's a Daniel Fast and honey isn't allowed, I'm using a pinch of concentrated all natural stevia powder instead. This isn't the stevia you usually see in the grocery store which is highly processed, with all types of fillers and artificial ingredients added (and some brands even add processed sugar). This is the pure, organic, undiluted stuff and trust me on this- a little bit goes a long way! So I use a pinch of it, I taste it and I adjust accordingly. This is a product that I use a lot. It takes only 1/2 tsp of pure stevia for an entire pitcher of ice tea. I'm telling you, this stuff is stout! I also get this brand on Amazon and you can also get it here.  (This isn't the only good stevia around, but I love it and it's a good one that I can recommend). But to be honest, raw honey is probably a more nutritious option for hot cocoa (and after the fast it will probably be what I use), but for the Daniel fast I will stick with my stevia. Some DFast purists don't even allow stevia. But I'm obviously not a purist and anyhow, its from a plant. So there!

The remainder of the recipe calls for milk (I used organic almond milk), a tiny pinch of sea salt and vanilla (optional) and there you have it.  Superfood Hot Cocoa!

*Some other ingredients you can also add to this recipe are maca powder and also ginger. These also have great medicinal, superfood benefits which would add even more nutrition to Superfood Hot Cocoa.

Crispy Eggplant Pasta

Last night I made probably the best thing I've eaten on this Daniel Fast so far. And it wasn't on the menu either. Last time I was at the grocery store, in the produce aisle I spied a large, lovely eggplant. Although I knew there was nothing on the menu with eggplant as an ingredient I threw caution to the wind and dropped it in my grocery cart anyway. Fast forward to last night- I was trying to decide what to make. I was tired of soup, weary of Mexican, not feeling a salad, still burned from my last pasta disaster (the infamous cauliflower Alfredo- Yuck!) so I decided to try something with eggplant. I perused Pinterest with the search title of "eggplant, vegetarian, dairy free" and although I didn't find anything dairy-free per se I did find a recipe I felt I could adapt without losing integrity. I hate to tell you that I took no pictures to tell of it's glory because I was halfway through my second helping before the thought occurred to me. Oh well. However, I do have a link to the original recipe here and you can gaze at the original blogger's beautiful pics. I highly recommend that you try this one out for your Daniel Fast unless you have a problem with eggplant ((gasp)). The original title of the dish is Vegan Eggplant Parmesan. But since my D-Fast adaption is cutting out the dairy (i.e. the parmesan) I changed the name of the dish for my purposes here. However, the original recipe could still be used for a Daniel Fast if you have the ingredients -vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast- I had neither so... However even without these it was still amazing! Anyhow, here's the link so you can check out the lovely photos. I followed the directions exactly except for the parmesan. It was still divine and oh so crispy. The marinara sauce recipe I added was also from the same blog. Highlighted items in the recipe are my adaptions to the original recipe. You don't have to follow my changes, because I feel sure the recipe is great on it's own without them but my changes were made because either I didn't have an ingredient or I added something I particularly like. It's all up to you. Enjoy!

Crispy Eggplant Pasta

Ingredients:

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

• 1 medium eggplant (as narrow as possible - see notes for more tips)
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (or other flour of your choice) I used King Arthur white whole wheat
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (GF for gluten free eaters)
• 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan (or sub 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast) I omitted this ingredient
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh) I used just 1/2 tsp of dried oregano and ADDED 1/2 tsp dried basil and 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt I used 1/2 tsp
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other neutral milk)
• 1 tsp cornstarch

PASTA + SAUCE

• 8 ounces pasta (such as linguini, but any kind will do, including veggie noodles or gluten free) I used WHOLE WHEAT thin spaghetti
• 2 cups marinara sauce

MARINARA SAUCE

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce OR 6-ounce can tomato paste (organic when possible)

1/2 tsp each dried or fresh basil, oregano, garlic powder, granulated sugar I omitted the sugar but added a Tbsp of pure Real Apple brand apple juice. Also after tasting I added more of the spices than 1/2 tsp.

Sea salt to taste (1/4 tsp) I used 1/2 tsp

Instructions:

1. Slice eggplant into thin rounds slightly less than 1/2 inch thick, and sprinkle each side liberally with sea salt. Arrange in a circular pattern in a colander and place in the sink to draw out the bitter taste of the eggplant.
2. Let rest for 15 minutes, then rinse and arrange on a clean absorbent kitchen towel. Top with another clean dish towel and lay a baking sheet on top. Place something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, to thoroughly dry for at least 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray. Also, if making pasta, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.
4. Prepare your dipping stations by placing almond milk + cornstarch in one bowl; flour in another bowl; and bread crumbs + sea salt + oregano + vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast) in another bowl.
5. Once thoroughly dry, dip eggplant slices in flour, then almond milk mixture, then breadcrumbs. Arrange on the baking sheet and pop in oven to bake for a total of 20-30 minutes.
6. IMPORTANT STEP: While the eggplant is in the oven, bring a large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sub canola or grape seed) and pull 3-4 eggplant rounds out of the oven at a time and sauté to give them extra crisp and texture. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side (or browned) and then return to oven to continue crisping. Do this in batches until all rounds are browned.
7. While eggplant is browning in the oven, prepare marinara. I prefer adding my tomato sauce and spices to a serving bowl and microwaving to warm, but you could also heat it on the stove. Set aside.
8. Once done cooking, drain pasta and cover with a towel to keep warm. Set aside.
9. To serve: Plate pasta and eggplant slices and marinara in a dish as a dipping sauce. Additional vegan parmesan cheese makes an excellent topper.
10. Leftovers don’t really reheat well, so it’s best when fresh. See notes for additional tips on crispy eggplant!

Notes

*Loosely adapted from the Crispy Aubergine Pesto Pasta from Top with Cinnamon’s new Cookbook!
*EGGPLANT TIPS!
- Buy a narrow eggplant - the really big wide ones don’t get as crisp!
- Don’t skip the salt / drain step - it really helps draw out the bitterness.
- Once coated, make sure you get the eggplant in the oven as quickly as possible so it doesn’t sit there absorbing any excess moisture.
- Really press down on the eggplant after rinsing to ensure you get all of the water out you can.
- Although it’s an extra step, browning the eggplant in the skillet in addition to baking yields the crispiest result!

Taco Soup Recipe

Tonight was one of my favorite Daniel Fast meals. Taco Soup.

You just can't go wrong with this soup. It's especially nice to have hot soup now that the weather is finally acting like it's winter time! This recipe has a little bit of kick to it that I guess came from the spices in the Ro-tel tomatoes. I'm not sure but that little bit of heat wasn't too much and was a nice touch. I suppose it could have been the taco seasoning. You can certainly used packaged taco seasoning but I encourage you to read the ingredients label first. As stated before in this blog, if the ingredients are not anything you recognize or can easily pronounce, then they are probably artificial and processed ingredients. Better to make your own. I'll provide the recipe for homemade taco seasoning below.  You probably have most of these in your cabinet anyway. I originally got this soup recipe from The Ultimate Daniel Fast website but I've adapted it a bit for my family's own taste.

Taco Soup
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
4 cups vegetable broth or water
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilis
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can refried beans (organic and vegetarian if you can find it)
1 can corn drained (or better yet, frozen corn)
1 Tbsp DIY taco seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
*1 to 1 1/2 cup cooked brown rice

Cook rice according to package directions. Sauté diced onion in olive oil over warm heat until soft and translucent. Add broth, tomatoes, beans, refrieds, corn and seasonings. Heat to boiling and reduce heat and cook 30 minutes. Add cooked rice, the last few minutes of cooking.

Yield: 8 servings
*Can substitute polenta or quinoa for brown rice.

DIY Taco Seasoning

I've found that making your own seasoning mixes rather than buying the super processed, artificial packaged ones is a much healthier and affordable option. We eat a lot of Mexican food so we use this one a lot so it saves us a lot of money.  

DIY Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
3 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp sea salt

Combine ingredients in a jar, shake to mix. You can adjust the ingredients to your taste, double or half this recipe.

Recipe- Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potato(es)

olive oil

salt

pepper

rosemary

almond milk 

Bake sweet potato(es) in the oven or microwave (I was impatient and microwaved it for 10 minutes). When cooked through careful cut lengthwise and scoop out middle. Take the empty shells and brush inside and out with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. (Just watch them carefully so they don't burn -I find that every oven is different). While the potato skins are cooking, mash sweet potato filling and mix with milk* and seasoning **. Then when shells are done, stuff with filling and bake for an additional 10 minutes until heated through. 

*The amount of milk depends on the amount of your sweet potato filling. I just poured like a couple of Tbsp at a time (you don't want it to be too liquidy) until it was creamy, like mashed potatoes. 

**The seasonings are according to your taste. I'd never added salt to a sweet potato before but the salt along with the rosemary made a deliciously complex flavor. 

I wish I'd taken a picture but I gobbled it down too fast. I had to fight Keith off of them which I wasn't counting on since he's never been a big sweet potato fan. Guess I'll have to make more than just one next time! :)

Good stuff!

Had a pretty successful fasting day today. Breakfast was pretty great. I made my fruity nutty cereal which is basically any type of berry you want (I had several different types), nuts (I used pecans and almonds), sliced banana, coconut in almond milk. Yum! If fresh peaches were in season that would be pretty awesome as well. But I imagine any type of fruit would work.

Then lunch was freakin great as well. I saw this recipe posted on Facebook this morning and I adapted it to be DFast friendly. Twice baked sweet potatoes. Pretty simple actually. Now I love me a sweet potato. I'm not talking about canned yams loaded down with sugar and marshmallows served on holidays. But the real thing with the skin. My dad always called it 'country candy' and we had them a lot growing up. Nothing better than a hot baked sweet potato slathered in butter. Yum. But since dairy's not allowed in the fast I tried this recipe instead. Keith isn't a huge sweet potato fan so we don't have them often. But I may have converted him. Sweet potatoes are a much healthier option than white potatoes so I'm going to try to get creative and add them to our diet more. I didn't get a picture of my sumptuous sweet potato lunch but here's the recipe. 

For supper we had the shish kababs.

These were a bit of a disappointment. The marinade was great and they tasted fine but they just seemed to be lacking somehow. Perhaps had I served it with something else, or added potatoes to the mix, they would have been more filling. I think they'd be great as a side dish but as the main entree, I just wasn't left very satisfied. However, this IS a fast lest I forget. :) I think that's kinda the point. Anyhow.  Definitely not a failure. Just not as amazing as breakfast and lunch.

A lot of these recipes are so satisfying that I often don't feel like I'm fasting at all. Keith's losing weight like crazy but he's also not going back for seconds like I am either. So I need to get myself under control and tell myself NO. :) Anyhow, hoping tomorrow is as successful as today!

Week 1 Recap and WEEK 2 Menu

Hey all. Well how'd everyone do with Week 1 of the Daniel Fast? We did pretty well overall except for a couple of mess ups (In addition to my nasty cauliflower Alfredo I also had a huge smoothie failure which I shall not elaborate on). I didn't completely stick to the Dinner idea list. That big honkin batch of soup that I made on the first day reappeared many times during the week for lunches and even for dinner a couple more times when we didn't feel like cooking. As you know I attempted the Alfredo instead of sticking to the list, which along with the nights we had left overs replaced the burrito bowls and taco soup so that will be on the list again this week. Here's what I ended up having this week. Keith's was slightly different since he chose different items for lunch and also was away one night on a hunting trip and had to eat what he was served.

Monday: Detox soup for the masses (Success although we made so much and had it so often that I don't think I want to see this soup again for a long time).
Tuesday: Portobello fajitas. (Success!)
Wednesday: Soup left-overs
Thursday: Alfredo disaster
Friday: Soup left overs
Saturday: Greek salad (Success!! This salad was glorious! We shall see it again next week. More on it below)
Sunday: Stewed cabbage and sliced potatoes and onions sautéed in olive oil (Success! This is a favorite of ours any night of the week, Daniel Fast or not. Especially good in the summertime served with sliced tomatoes when they are abundant)

A little about the Greek Salad. I don't know if I was just super hungry or what but good grief it was good. Sliced mushrooms, diced red onions, sweet bell peppers, green olives, pickled artichoke hearts, avocado, grape tomatoes, pecans and handful of hemp hearts served with Italian dressing. Yum Yum!

For breakfasts I usually had a smoothie or oatmeal.
I had the best smoothie of all time this week--Frozen strawberries, half an avocado, half a banana, tofu, coconut oil, hemp hearts, pineapple juice. Yum! For lunch I either had left-overs or I ate breakfast so late that I had my breakfast at lunchtime.

But despite all this healthy food, I've lost one pound is all :(. But I do feel sharper and healthier. The longer you eat healthy, the less you want to eat junk. And I have found myself a lot more focused and have had some really good times in the word and in prayer. More on that later in the week...

Okay so what's on the menu this week? This is just a guideline. As you can see I don't always stick to it.


WEEK 2:

Breakfasts:
Smoothies
Oatmeal
Fruit and Nut Cereal --This is basically, different types of berries and/or fruit, bananas, coconut and nuts in a bowl with almond milk. I eat it like cereal. Its really yummy and surprisingly filling. You could use any type of berry or sliced fruit.

Lunches:
Leftovers
Tortilla with avocado

Dinners:
-Spaghetti with sautéed vegetables (See Recipe)
-Burrito bowls --Sautéed onions and bell peppers, black beans, refried beans, avocado, salsa in a bowl of Cilantro Rice 
-Grilled (or roasted) veggie shish kebobs (Link)
-Pesto Pasta with sautéed vegetables --Basil or Tomato pesto--to taste, as much or as little as you like-- mixed with whole wheat spaghetti and sautéed vegetables. Could use zucchini, eggplant, onion, mushrooms, etc.
-Taco soup (Recipe) Another tried and true that we return to each year (adapted from The Ultimate Daniel Fast's taco soup recipe).
-Greek Salad (Link) Original recipe is in the link. But you can see how I adapted it above. 

Snacks:
Nuts and dried fruit
Granola (Link) I follow this fairly close but I prefer pecans to walnuts and I add some cinnamon to the mix and also I don't add the dried fruit until towards the end of the baking time to keep it from becoming too dried out and chewy. I also bake longer than the recipe calls for. Maybe I should have just written out my own recipe lol 

I realize that I only listed 5 dinner items but I want to leave it open for ideas that may strike me throughout the week plus the inevitable left overs. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Spaghetti Sauce (with vegetables) Recipe

SPAGHETTI SAUCE (adapted from 'Jo Mama's Best Spaghetti Sauce' recipe)

Ingredients:
1 small onion chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 28 oz can organic crushed red tomatoes
1 28 oz can organic tomato sauce
1 12 oz can organic tomato paste
1-2 cups of water (depending how long you cook it. The longer you cook it the more water)
2 tsp parsley
3 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Real Apple apple juice (or any other apple juice that's not from concentrate and is purely apple with no additives)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
Sautéed or roasted vegetables (Can be eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, sweet peppers, squash, etc.)

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Combine with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then simmer on top of stove for 1 hour or more (can also be cooked in crockpot). Sauté vegetables in olive oil or if roasting, brush lightly with olive oil and bake. Serve sauce over cooked spaghetti and the vegetables

A Failed Experiment

Today I looked at my menu and didn't see anything that tickled my fancy so I decided to peruse Pinterest to find something that did. Prominently featured among the health conscious recipes, was 'cauliflower Alfredo' which is touted as being undetectable, as good as the real thing. Creamy and white it sure looked like Alfredo. Just cook the cauliflower, season it, blend it with non-dairy milk and voila- healthy Alfredo sauce. I had half a head of cauliflower and all of the ingredients, so I went for it. I also made some pasta, topped with some sautéed vegetables (And garlic. Lots of garlic) and the 'Alfredo' sauce. I had high hopes. But alas...they were dashed. I will spare you the Alfredo recipe because it basically sucked. And once I added it to the sautéed vegetables it turned an unappetizing beige color. It wasn't awful. It just didn't taste or look like Alfredo sauce. It tasted and smelled strong... like cauliflower blended with 'not real' milk. :P So that's that.  Beware of recipes that claim to be 'exactly like'______. More than likely they aren't. I'm also leery of zucchini noodles and spaghetti squash. I struggle already with whole wheat noodles. I know they're healthier but lets be honest. White tastes better. At least to me. I have a similar struggle with brown rice. Maybe one day I'll feel differently. But tonight I am a dissatisfied customer. Oh well. Tomorrow's another day. Better stick to the menu!

On another note: This morning while I was making oatmeal I was craving butter. I love me some creamy butter in a hot bowl of oatmeal. Earlier, when we were shopping for the fast, I felt that I needed to find a butter substitute for the fast that would fall within the D-fast guidelines. My search down the dairy aisle yielded a couple of dairy-free choices. They had healthy sounding names, said no GMOs and had things like olive oil in them. I guess I was blinded by my butter love and skipped over the ingredients. So what'd it taste like? You know that fake plastic-tasting butter flavor seasoning that you can sprinkle on popcorn and such? Yea thats what it tasted like. Kinda like the difference between a real banana and banana flavored candy. Ewww. I guess when you've partaken of the real long enough, you can easily spot the fake (there's a spiritual lessen in there somewhere). True it was dairy free and therefore 'Daniel Fast friendly' but I think if I was craving butter during this fast it'd be a better choice for my 'temple' to cheat and eat real, non-processed, dairy butter rather than fake butter-flavored chemicals. For the record, the fake butter ended up in the trash and I'm just going to stay off butter, real or imagined the rest of this fast.

Fake butter ingredients. Is any of this actually food?

After the fake butter fiasco, I started checking the ingredients of questionable food items (you'd think I'd done this already. Rookie mistake. Or a state of denial) And lest you think this post is all bad news, I made a happy discovery.

This...  Simply Apple, apple juice. All apple juice. Nothing else. This is a good sweetener for smoothies and whatever else you need sweetened. And it doesn't suck. Tastes great. Yay! So tomorrow I'll be making sure to check ingredients and I'll be trying again. :)

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortilla Recipe

Last night it was Portobello Fajitas. This was a first time recipe for me and it was really good. Definitely will keep this one on my list. But I honestly think I could have just as easily had button mushrooms rather than the portobellos. Didn't taste much different although the portobellos are obviously more meaty. Nevertheless it was delicious and filling. In addition to the sautéed mushrooms, peppers and onions, I added baked corn (drained corn baked on a oiled cookie sheet), avocado and salsa on homemade tortillas. Homemade tortillas are SO easy to make and once you have had them, you'll never want to return to store bought! :) I used to be intimidated by them but when my daughter told me how easy they were, I bit the bullet and tried them out. Delicious! I got the recipe HERE at 100 Days of Real Food which is a GREAT resource for transitioning to whole food eating. There are tons of kids lunch ideas on this site for those of you with school age children and lots of information and recipes. Another go-to site for me. Anyway, here's the recipe. Let me know if you tried any of the recipes here and how you liked them. :)

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas 
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur white whole wheat)
1/2 cup oil (I used olive)
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water

1. In a heavy duty mixer, mix flour, oil and salt with a dough hook until crumbly. Scrape down the sides as needed. (Before I got my stand mixer, I used my food processor which had a dough attachment. You can also use a hand held mixer if it has a dough hook).
2. With mixer still running, add warm water. Continue mixing until dough is smooth, about 3 minutes. (If you don't have a stand mixer, Just stop mixing and add the water. Not a deal breaker.)
3. Take out the dough and divide dough into 12 equal pieces*. Then I roll each piece into a ball with the palm of my hands.
4. Cover with a clean cloth and let rest at room temp for about 15 minutes.
5. To flatten the dough balls into lovely tortilla shaped circles, you can do it the easy way or the Not so easy way lol.  Easy way: Get a tortilla press. They don't cost much and you can get them on Amazon. If you go this route, place ball in the center of the press, and press down hard. Thats it.
More difficult way: On a lightly floured board or counter, roll out dough balls into an 8-10 inch circle. But take my word for it... get the tortilla press.
6. Lightly grease (I use Pam) a griddle or frying pan and when pan is hot, carefully transfer each tortilla to hot pan and cook, one at a time, until puffy or lightly brown (about 30-45 seconds per side). I have a cast iron griddle that I use for this.
7. Set aside cooked tortillas on a plate or tortilla warmer until ready to eat. Eat within the hour or refrigerate or freeze. Freezes well in a freezer bag, but wait until they have cooled to room temp before freezing or they'll stick together.

*To divide into 12 equal pieces, form into a log and then cut in the middle. Then cut those pieces in the middle and so on until you have 12 equally sized pieces.

First Day- Detox Vegetable Soup.

Well, Day 1 of the fast is almost over and so far so good. We didn't cheat and we aren't starving so I'd call that a win. Only 20 more days to go :). Tonight I made the "Fall Detox Vegetable Soup". I'm not sure why it's considered a 'detox' soup but I'll just take their word for it. It was a new recipe so I wasn't sure what to expect but thankfully it was really good. As Keith said, this would be a good meal any day of the week, not just during a Daniel Fast. This recipe made a lot so we'll be having this again. But anyway I can now confidently give this one two thumbs up. I made a couple of changes just because I used what I had, but it was pretty close to the original. So here's my version of the recipe but the link to the original version is on my Week 1 Menu post if you want to try that one instead. It sounds amazing as well.

I forgot to take a pic of the finished product until after we'd already eaten.  But as you can see there's still a lot ( I know what we'll be having for lunch tomorrow. :)

"Detox Vegetable Soup"

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (I admit it, I didn't peel anything)
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 large sweet potato chopped (Didn't peel this either)
2 cups of yellow squash
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 cups sliced cabbage
1 28 oz can organic crushed tomatoes with basil
4 cups *vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt (I added more to taste. 1 tsp didn't seem like enough but that may just be me)
1 cup of brown rice cooked

1. Heat oil in large pot (I used my cast iron Dutch oven).
2. Throw in onion, carrot and celery and cook 3 minutes (I definitely went over the 3 minutes recommended. Got busy chopping the other vegetables and the time got away from me.)
3. Add in garlic and cook 1 minute (again, I got sidetracked and cooked this longer)
4. Add in sweet potato, squash, broccoli and cauliflower and cook 5 minutes (and yet again...)
5. Top with cabbage, tomatoes, stock and spices and stir
6. Bring to a boil and then let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes (it was more like 45)
7. I cooked the rice separately to be added to the bowls of those who wanted it, since two of mine aren't crazy about rice.  But it could be added to the soup right before serving if you prefer.

As I said earlier, this makes a lot. So you could half this recipe if you don't want a lot of left-overs. So filling we don't yet feel like we are fasting.

*About the vegetable stock- you can buy vegetable stock, but something I do is whenever I chop vegetables, I put the scraps (tops, left over bits) in a freezer bag and store in the freezer. I add to it every time I chop vegetables. Once the freezer bag is full I fill a large pot with water, add a bay leaf, a crushed garlic clove if I have it, some dried herbs (parsley, basil etc, whatever I have) and boil about 45 minutes. Then I strain the stock, keeping the liquid and discarding the vegetables and cool to room temp. Then I freeze it by the cup in quart freezer bags to pull out and thaw whenever I need vegetable stock. Saves money and cuts down on food waste.

Cilantro Rice Recipe

I use Cilantro Rice often, when we have Mexican dishes like fajitas, soft tacos, taco salads or burrito bowls. It's pretty straightforward and I often use it during our yearly Daniel Fast as well.

Cilantro Rice

1 cup rice (brown or my favorite, Jasmine)

1 cup loosely packed cilantro

1/4 cup chopped onion (green, red or yellow chopped fine)

1 jalepeno to taste 

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp salt

Cook rice according to package directions. Puree rest of ingredients in a blender and mix with cooked rice. 

For a Daniel Fast (or a whole food diet) use brown rice. 

Green Fruity Power Smoothie Recipe

This is my go-to smoothie recipe adapted from several different sources to my liking. I could (and often do) have this every single morning. I need to branch out and try some different smoothie recipes but- if it ain't broke, why fix it, right? Several of the ingredients are optional but you can make it with what you have or perhaps branch out to try new things. (I will be providing links to sources for ingredients and products from time to time. These are my affiliate links but if the price isn't the best I encourage you to shop around. But I only link to what I actually buy myself). Here I'll share my regular recipe and my adapted Daniel Fast-friendly version.

My Green, Fruity Power Smoothie 

1 cup liquid (I often use fruit juice- pineapple is my favorite, can use milk or water also)
1 to 1 1/2 cup of fresh spinach
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
Half a ripe banana
1 cup (ish) of frozen strawberries (or any frozen fruit)
Raw honey or a tiny pinch of unprocessed organic stevia to taste (A pinch of the real stuff goes a long way! This is optional though because bananas and fruit juice usually add enough sweetness).
1 Tbsp organic coconut oil (I melt it for about 10 seconds in the microwave so its not solid but thats up to you.)
1 tsp soaked chia seeds (I soak about 10 minutes while I mix everything else) or my new favorite, hemp hearts (which you don't have to soak :)

Optional additional ingredients I may add depending on my craving that day. 
Oatmeal, Nuts, Flax seed meal, organic cacao powder (but only if I'm using milk as my liquid) or real Peanut butter etc.

Mix liquid and fresh spinach together first then add other ingredients and mix again. I have a Ninja blender which I highly recommend. It will liquify anything!

Daniel-Fast-friendly version of My Green Fruity Power Smoothie

1 cup of liquid (almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk or water)
1 to 1 1/2 cup fresh spinach
2 Tbsp of silken tofu
Half a ripe banana
1 cup (ish) of frozen strawberries (or any frozen fruit)
1-2 Tbsp pure, non-concentrated apple juice (if you need extra sweetness) 
1 Tbsp organic coconut oil
1 tsp soaked chia seeds

All of the Optional additional ingredients are D-Fast friendly.

Mix liquid and fresh spinach together first then add other ingredients and mix again.

Let me know if you try this and if you like it or have any creative variations of it you'd like to share. :D

Daniel Fast- WEEK 1 Menu

With doing the Daniel Fast each year for the past 6 years, there are a few things I've learned along the way to help make things easier. I've learned that organization is the key to success. You must have a menu. And planning only for the main evening meal isn't enough. I need to have a meal plan for the entire day (including snacks) if I want to succeed. Also, another thing I did last year which I plan to do again this year is to make my menu and shopping list for one week at a time. The Daniel Fast is mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and in my zeal (and hatred for grocery shopping) I've often overshot the runway and bought enough for the entire fast, only to see it spoil before the fast's end. So shopping for ingredients each week is a more economical way to go. Also if you have family members in the house who aren't doing the fast with you, most of these recipes can be adapted to include meat. Often in prepping for the fast, I will brown several pounds of hamburger meat and freeze in bags per pound or grill some chicken breasts beforehand. Also, cooked whole chickens sold at most grocery stores are a good option. It could be done the night of, but if you're like me, cooking meat that I can't have is a bit painful. I prefer to do it beforehand to alleviate temptation.  So anyhow, those are my helpful tips before I share my menu for this upcoming week beginning with Monday.

The double starred menu items ** are recipes I've never tried yet. So these may or may not be to our liking. I shall take pics and give a full review once it has been consumed. Non-starred items are tried and true.

I will be adding recipes or links to recipes throughout the day. So stay tuned. The menu is in no particular order so I can choose from a selection what to eat each day.

By the way, I plan on blogging on more than just the Daniel Fast. It's just what I'm doing right now. So if the Daniel Fast isn't your thing, hang on, there will be more varied content as time goes on :). 

MENU WEEK 1:

Breakfasts:

Green Fruity Power Smoothie ( Recipe )

Baked oatmeal** ( Link ) This website has lots of recipes I need to check out!

Peanut butter (natural) and banana on whole wheat pita bread or a whole wheat tortilla

(Some Daniel Fast experts allow for whole wheat breads as long as there's no yeast. Other purists say no gluten at all. This week, I'll go with the more tolerant DF enthusiasts to ease us in and hopefully the DF police won't come after me. ;) Next week, no gluten!). 

Lunches:

Avocado on whole wheat tortilla or whole wheat pita

Left-overs

Peanut butter and banana on whole wheat pita or whole wheat tortilla

Dinner

-Fall Detox Vegetable Soup**( Link ) This looks amazing! This website has some great looking recipes

-Portobello Fajitas **( Link ) Really looking forward to trying this one! 

-Burrito Bowls
Basically how I do it is- cilantro rice ( Recipe ), black beans, refried beans, avocado and sautéed peppers and onions. 

-Taco Soup ( Recipe ) Another tried and true recipe that even my non-fasting ones like;  from my favorite, go-to Daniel Fast website. 

-Veggie kabobs** ( Link ) Yum! This blog has some great recipes I've tried before.

-Greek Salad ( Link ) Another tried and true D-Fast staple

Snacks:

Almonds (raw or smoked)

Peanut Butter Bites ( Link ) Recipe is for almond butter but I personally prefer peanut butter

Hummus and pita chips or veggies 

What is a Daniel Fast

To start this year off right Keith and I are planning to do what we've done the last six years and to do a Daniel Fast for the next 21 days starting Monday the 11th. Okay I realize that it's already January 8 so we're a little behind in the starting the New Year off right thing, but we wanted to wait until we returned from St Louis visiting our grand babies (their parents were there too now that you mention it ;) ), made a menu and went grocery shopping. The menu is made and the grocery shopping will happen tomorrow (I hope). The plan is to begin on Monday.

Okay you may be wondering what on earth I'm talking about.  So what exactly is a Daniel Fast? Actually it is named after Daniel in the Bible who, with his friends Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego (remember them?), abstained from eating meat, rich foods and wine for a period of time for spiritual and also health reasons (Daniel 1:8- 16 See scripture). Later in the book of Daniel, big D also fasted in the same manner while seeking the Lord and praying for his nation Israel. (Daniel 10:2-3 and 13.) The whole chapter is fascinating but these verses specifically refer to his fast and show where we get the 21 day Daniel fast. (See scripture.) Any person with the most basic degree of knowledge about health would agree from the Biblical description of Daniel's fast, that this kind of eating would be very good for your body.

There are other types of fasts besides the Daniel Fast. There are liquid fasts, where only liquid and no solid food is consumed for a period of time. Partial fasts are another type, where perhaps a meal is skipped each day for a period of time or some other variation of abstaining from certain foods. As with any type of fast, children and those on medication or who have health problems, shouldn't participate. But there are so many health and spiritual benefits to it that Keith and I have started each New Year for the past 6 years with a 21 day Daniel Fast. Kind of kickstarts our year with a good detox (especially after all of the Christmas binging!) in addition to aiding us in focusing more in prayer. I wrote pretty extensively about fasting in my Worshiping Warriors blog a while ago. For more information on the spiritual benefits of fasting this is a good resource (See here.)

But as for the health benefits, think of the Daniel Fast as a paleo/vegetarian (pegan?), gluten free, lactose free diet. Whew! (We should be glowing with health after this is done!!!) There are tons of resources on the internet on the benefits of a paleo diets, going vegan, dropping the gluten and dairy. I'll provide links as we go. But this particular way of eating is our short-term, 21 day goal. We don't plan to continue this after the 21 days.  My long-term goal is to stick with the whole food approach of no processed foods (i.e. no white sugar, white flour, anything in a box, anything with added preservatives or colors) from here on out. To eat food as close to it's natural state (within reason) as possible. And that's what I hope to adhere to from here on out. I have done this whole foods thing in spurts but I've not really made it a committed lifestyle yet. But hopefully that's about to change. Wish us luck!

Since we've been doing the Daniel Fast for several years, I have some tried and true recipes that I'll be sharing here in the near future. I've also been compiling some new Daniel Fast recipes for the last few weeks so I will be trying some new things this year. I'll be honest and let you know if they are worth your while or not. There are several worthy blogs out there with good D-Fast recipes (not to mention Pinterest) so if you see anything worth trying, please comment (on here please, not only on Facebook :) ) and share your success, failures, and any good recipes you have with the rest of us. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes. It'll be interesting... Stay tuned!

Visiting our grand babies during the holidays. 

New year. New season. New blog,

Hello all! Welcome to 2016. It's a new year and a new blog. I haven't abandoned the old one (as of yet) but I decided I'd try something new. Whereas the old blog (See here) was a spiritual diary of sorts, this one will be a bit different. I hope to take a 'whole person' approach- discussing our body, soul and spirit. Sometimes if one area gets out of order it can affect the others. So here's my attempt at finding wholeness in the main areas of life, starting with health (I plan to write on the other two facets also as time goes on). But the older I get, the more physical issues I find myself facing and the more I find myself searching for natural solutions. Everything I've researched points to how what we put in our bodies affects our over-all well being. Our ancestors would probably not even recognize what we today call 'food'. Their food was tilled from the earth, caught from streams or harvested from the forest. It took effort to get their food on the table. Today we don't even break a sweat getting into our car, driving to the supermarket, and picking up a frozen dinner or boxed mix to microwave for our family's dinner. It's no wonder this generation is sick, fat, tired and addicted to processed food. Make no mistake, I'm talking about myself. I am guilty. And I have no excuse. I've known about this for a while. I read up on whole real foods before it was a 'thang'. But truthfully, more often than not, convenience won out over conviction. Plus to be perfectly honest, I LIKE processed food. I love Twinkies, I love chips, I love the convenience of canned cream of mushroom soup and instant rice. I even like most fast food- Whataburger, Cane's chicken fingers, PIZZA! When I was young I had the metabolism of an athlete (without actually exercising) and could eat whatever I wanted and stayed slim. Ha! Those days are long gone. And as i've entered my 50's, i'm seeing how my health is being affected by all those years of no exercise and lots of processed food. So it's time for a change. I'm not getting any younger and life's not moving by any slower. It's now or never. 

So in addition to sharing spiritual insights, the dual purpose for this new blog is to explore better and more natural ways to care of this temple. And I need accountability. If left to my own devices I'll still be eating Bugles in bed (like I was this morning) ten years from now. Except 10 years from now will I even be able to get out of bed?! Well, I'm not waiting around to find out! I plan to transition to whole, non-processed foods and exercise and to chronicle it here. I plan to share recipes, resources, my successes and failures and hopefully inspire someone along the way to do the same. So here's to wholeness of body, soul and spirit in 2016. Join me on this wholeness journey and let's do This Whole Thang!