Category — recipes

Sometimes I read something on a blog or in a book and I think, wow. One day, I’ll write that good. Cook that good. Be that funny, endearing and interesting. I think that when I read Kathleen Norris, or Annie Dillard, or Ann Lamott.

It’s fun to be in my twenties, as long as I continuously recognize the fact that I’m a noob at life for most intents and purposes. I feel like a wobbly kid walking on that balance beam at the playground that is actually only a foot off the ground. On this blog, I write about all the crazy and ordinary shenanigans and ideals I get myself into and I don’t spell check or edit or draft – I just lay it out there. People think their whole childhood about being a “grown up” and what they really picture, or at least I did, is being in their twenties and thirtees: what job you will have, who will be your spouse, what cute little kids you will have, what your house will look like… then BAM! You’ve arrived! Look around – this is what you’ve pictured as being “grown up”! And then the kids start to age and EEK, so do you. The future, being the mom of older kids, being a mid-lifer, or older, seems a million miles away.

Sometimes I meet some woman who is passed her 20’s and 30’s and I realize it must be rather grand. I met one last week at knitting- a sarcastic, fun, energetic mom from church. Or I’ll read someone’s blog who strikes me as being very comfortable in their own skin, or very at peace with life, and I begin to look forward to growing older, wiser, more seasoned and secure.

Blogs like this. I read Karina’s Kitchen from time to time and its like listening to the rambles of the mom figure I’ve always wanted, lol. She’s gifted in the kitchen, gifted with words, spunky and unapologetic in her humor. I like her. So I’m passing on her blog, for those who haven’t read it yet (if there are any of you left?) because maybe seeing a woman like this age so gracefully in her demeanor will inspire you too. Doesn’t it just make you wanna live life to the fullest, whatever that means for you?

(Doesn’t it also make you wanna bake some muffins?!)

Since my internet connection has been rather spotty tonight, I wasn’t able to get you some pictures of our camping trip due to long uploading times. One of the things I thought about a lot while camping was the way in which intentionally eating well was HARD. Camping, I found out, is considered by many to be like vacation or holidays- as in, no holds bar on crave eating, lol. I had brought only healthy things that for the most part adhered to my “whole foods” diet, (and some creamed raw honey to curb my sweet tooth!), but I still felt at the end of the trip like I was a bit bloated just from the bread for sandwiches, etc. I found people were curious as to why eggs, butter, sausage, etc was okay for me but not things like marshmallows or diet coke or french toast, so I had the opportunity to share how I’m trying to eat to get healthier (losing weight a plus). Aside from what I thought was a pretty healthy diet already, I’m doing more to add nutrient-dense, whole foods and cut, well, the opposite! In addition, I’m going to be using herbal teas to support my vital organs (to clear out and support things like my liver, hoping to also see my skin acne improve).

Anyway, with all the curiosity I decided to post something I had come up with to give me meal plan ideas and so on. It’s an example of what foods would be consumed on an ideal day in my diet. (And I don’t mean diet as in “South Beach” or “Watch Watchers” but in the traditional sense of the word- i.e. “the food I eat”.) I’ve done an okay job with some of these for about a year now, and I’ve gotten more focused about it in the last week or so. This week I plan to be truly intentional because I’m feeling my body saying something like, “I need support; mayday, mayday!”

Example of my ideal diet:

Breakfast:
• 8 oz. homemade raw milk kefir smoothie blended with organic frozen fruit and 1 tbsp of raw unfiltered local honey
• 1 slice of bacon cooked in coconut oil in cast iron skillet, a poached farm-fresh organic egg (yoke unoxidized / runny) on top of a bowl of quinoa and kale, along with a variety of seasonal sautéed veggies(squash, mushrooms, green beans, onion, sweet potato, etc.), sprinkled with nutritional yeast (for a vitamin b complex, etc) and topped with local hot sauce (peppers are anti-inflammatory)
• 6oz. organic fair-trade coffee, 2 tbsp’s whole raw milk

Lunch:

• canned tuna or wild caught salmon (with bones and skin) on salad of leafy greens and veggies, with homemade dressings like EVOO and vinegar, etc
• a fermented cod liver oil supplement – dosage to provide me with at least 20,000 IU vitamin A (needs for nursing women) and comparable vit D support (5-10,000 IU)
• Strong tea of dandelion leaf and root, red clover, red raspberry leaf and nettle (which is a liver, kidney and uterine tonic for hormone balancing and gentle cleansing – as I can’t do a full on liver detox while nursing)

Dinners:

• Stews (bone broth, veggies, pieces of chicken, etc), quinoa bowls (soaked black beans over sautéed kale and quinoa, etc), baked or sautéed meat and veggies (curries!), stuffed peppers, soaked legumes/beans/grains in moderation (quinoa or brown rice, lentils, etc)

Light or In-between meals and desserts:

• a baked sweet potato with skin and butter and raw honey on top
• celery with all natural no sugar peanut butter (ingredients should be peanuts, with or without salt), or raw tahini (almond butter)
• handful of mixed nuts (esp raw almonds)
• stove popped popcorn in coconut oil with nutritional yeast and sea salt (“real salt” brand for minerals)
• steamed edamame in the pod with sea salt
• Occasionally a small baked good, made without refined white flour or sugar.
• Kale chips (kale baked in extra virgin olive oil and sea salt)
• Seasonal variety of fruits and veggies (carrot sticks, sweet bell peppers, cucumber, baked sweet potato “fries”, etc.)
• Fresh, plain whole yogurt with some fruit, cinnamon, and raw unfiltered honey
• raw milk steamer (raw milk warmed on stove with raw honey, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, cloves, fair trade organic powdered cocoa and homemade vanilla extract)



Not allowed:

• sugars– which is in everything from cereals to bars to breads to ketchup to peanut butter these days… (oh, and this includes every type of sweetener except raw honey – and even that can be too much of a good thing — I have to remind myself! lol I have been using Xylitol in small amounts here and there as well, like if I want a touch of sweetness to my coffee)
• refined processed foods (most things that are prepackaged, preprepared, etc fall into this category)
• empty carbs (refined white flour pastas, breads, scones, bagels, fruit juice, yogurts, baked goods, white rice, etc – this stuff WILL mess with your insulin and WILL make you store fat. Period. Tip: If something says “fat free” or “light” on the package, its a good idea to puke on it. Or put it back on the shelf, whatever.)
• trans fats (like hydrogenated vegetable oils) (fast food is a duh)
• foods with soy and corn additives (high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, so on)
• basically anything that is not a “whole food” or was not made with strictly whole, natural foods. If you can’t read the ingredients, you are better off not eat it (this includes “healthy” cereals, salad dressings, you name it). Look at nutrition labels and know what you are eating. Bonus: eating whole foods (organic or fresh and local when you can) is NOT more expensive than prepackaged NON-food when you actually look at it pound for pound unit comparison.
• In summation, give your body what it was made to consume. Food. Just food. Kinda easy to remember, heh?

of course, plenty of water is always a good idea as well

To add to my nourishing diet I am hoping to strengthen my body physically. This week I have 3 practice jogs for 30 minutes each before the big race (5k, lol) on Sunday for Race for the Cure. But my goal is to also begin to develop a backyard obstacle course with things like ropes, tires, a soccer ball, orange cones, so on, that I can run through several times a day with Ethan. In addition, I’ll be starting a yoga class.

So if my connection cooperates, I’ll be posting the pics tomorrow, stay tuned!

I used this recipe for the homemade chocolate zucchini cake (doubled for the castle bunt pan and the muffin pan). Instead of white sugar I soaked turbinado with the wet ingredients for 15 minutes before adding the dry ingredients. I used whole wheat pastry flour, oh and raw milk instead of buttermilk. I also omitted the pecans because I don’t think Ethan would like that, and it is his birthday cake, after all

The frosting is cream cheese – from the delicious Birth day Cake recipe here. I tripled the recipe listed for TONS of frosting, plus adding two ripe bananas.

Topped the cake and muffins with slices of fresh strawberries and a few blueberries. I then mixed honey with a can of pureed pineapple and drizzled it over everything.

Hungry yet?!?!