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