Well, here I am again. Beginning again. I've read that the only way to fail is to give up trying. I think I'll take that! My weight continues to be an issue and I continue to struggle with knee, hip, adrenal/glandular issues. Challenges, but not impossibilities. After Passover, I will be beginning again.
Now that I wrote that, I'll have to come back, won't I?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Born In The Wrong Century?
I came across this fun blog Born In The Wrong Century - Lots of ideas here!
Healthy Cereals
Our family does not eat cereal very much for several reasons. One is the cost. The price is so much more expensive than oatmeal, which my husband and daughters in particular, really love. Then awhile back I read about a study where they fed rats cereal, rat food and the third group was fed the box that the cereal came in. The rats that ate the cereal died first. The rats eating the cardboard box the cereal came in lived longer! That was eye opening. We never did eat all the sugary and colored cereals, but even some of the plain cereals are not that great for you.
The one cereal I have occasionally enjoyed when in a no cook or speedy situation is Nature's Path. They are a good company from what I've read and are based in Blaine, WA, which is just up the highway from my parents.
The Cornucopia Institute released its survey of cereal brands and companies, paying attention to details such as organic certification, use of GMO foods and use of hexane and petrochemicals. You can see the scorecard HERE. I was happy to see Nature's Path received their highest score! Since a lot of families use cereal, I thought you might like having this information.
The one cereal I have occasionally enjoyed when in a no cook or speedy situation is Nature's Path. They are a good company from what I've read and are based in Blaine, WA, which is just up the highway from my parents.
The Cornucopia Institute released its survey of cereal brands and companies, paying attention to details such as organic certification, use of GMO foods and use of hexane and petrochemicals. You can see the scorecard HERE. I was happy to see Nature's Path received their highest score! Since a lot of families use cereal, I thought you might like having this information.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Crockpot Cookery
After years without one, I purchased a crockpot last winter. It is just a cheapy Rival that Target had on sale for $15 (normally $40) last year during the holidays. So far the funnest thing I have made in it is tapioca pudding, but I have used it for soups mainly.
Today I found this post with some great crock pot tips from Deborah Taylor Hough's The Original Simple Mom blog. She is also the author of the Frozen Assets: How To Cook For A Day And Eat For A Month book which I liked when I was doing freezer meals. Talented lady.
I have been on the look out for crock pot recipes that don't say "Open a can of Cream of Chemical Soup", then add...
Any healthy crockpot recipe recommendations out there?
Today I found this post with some great crock pot tips from Deborah Taylor Hough's The Original Simple Mom blog. She is also the author of the Frozen Assets: How To Cook For A Day And Eat For A Month book which I liked when I was doing freezer meals. Talented lady.
I have been on the look out for crock pot recipes that don't say "Open a can of Cream of Chemical Soup", then add...
Any healthy crockpot recipe recommendations out there?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Never Give Up!
So, I'm basically back to Square One! My weight has a "set point" like a thermostat and if I don't continually exercise I go right back to that. Exercising has been difficult since my knee injury three years ago. The knee is better but now I have severe hip bursitis. I have been in physical therapy twice. It works for awhile and doesn't. All summer I've been thinking about what to do. It is important to me to become healthier and to do my part to live as long as possible for my wonderful family that YHVH has given me late in life! I've decided that the best thing for me to do is to jump back in to blogging. That gives me a little bit of accountability and a way to make a commit. So here I am. Never give up!
In the past I have balked at meal planning, but now I think I'll give it a hand. Because my family honors the 7th day Sabbath, my meal planning has changed some. It takes some planning to prepare ahead of time, our festive meal for Friday night as we celebrate the beginning of Sabbath and also make one or two meals for lunch and dinner on Sabbath at home or to take with us to our fellowship/worship meeting. And sometimes I forget about items in the refrigerator and they need to be thrown out! Such a waste! Planning will help reduce and hopefully eliminate this.
Today I've been looking online for some free planning calendars. So far, I found these at The Project Girl. Vertex42 has a variety and if you like using Excel you can download the files there to use, OR you can use the pdf files and print them right out. My favorite resource for homeschooling forms and calendars, Donna Young, has some options as well.
For now I am going to print out some and see which works best for me, then I'll either download and available Excel file or figure out how to make one myself.
If you have done menu planning, I would like to hear from you. What helped? What didn't? Anything you would avoid, do differently, etc?
In the past I have balked at meal planning, but now I think I'll give it a hand. Because my family honors the 7th day Sabbath, my meal planning has changed some. It takes some planning to prepare ahead of time, our festive meal for Friday night as we celebrate the beginning of Sabbath and also make one or two meals for lunch and dinner on Sabbath at home or to take with us to our fellowship/worship meeting. And sometimes I forget about items in the refrigerator and they need to be thrown out! Such a waste! Planning will help reduce and hopefully eliminate this.
Today I've been looking online for some free planning calendars. So far, I found these at The Project Girl. Vertex42 has a variety and if you like using Excel you can download the files there to use, OR you can use the pdf files and print them right out. My favorite resource for homeschooling forms and calendars, Donna Young, has some options as well.
For now I am going to print out some and see which works best for me, then I'll either download and available Excel file or figure out how to make one myself.
If you have done menu planning, I would like to hear from you. What helped? What didn't? Anything you would avoid, do differently, etc?
Monday, January 3, 2011
Interested in Raw Foods
Right now you can download a free pdf of Jordan Rubin's new book The Raw Truth at the Garden of Life website. Thank you Mr. Rubin!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Book Review
Before I begin writing, I want to apologize to my vegan friends! I just finished reading The Butcher and the Vegetarian: One Woman's Romp Through a World of Men, Meat and Moral Crisis and it was a really fun read as well as being informative. The author, Tara Austen Weaver also has a foodie blog called Tea And Cookies that I am hoping to explore.
Part autobiographical, part confessional and part adventure story, Weaver's book also shares information about food, food ethics and how discouraging it can be to get accurate health information and treatment. Her journey into the world of the local butcher shop began when her Chinese health practitioner and naturopath told her she needed to begin eating meat to get healthy. Since she has a thyroid disorder, as do many of my family members, including my Hubby who had to have his irradiated, I was hoping she would end the book with a "magic bullet." However, her conclusion was the same as most of us come to - that each of us has to navigate the medical and health communities ourselves and there is rarely one answer, let alone one that is simple or magical.
As a person who has eaten meat and feels better eating vegetarian, but has also eaten vegan and considered Raw, I enjoyed her discussions on the process she has gone through. Since she lives in two places I have/do (Washington State and Northern California) I was happy to note some of her great resources. She was able to do some "investigating" as well and reported on some of the naturally raised meat choices available. The one I am pursuing further is Prather Ranch which I have passed while travelling up I-5. My local Co-op carries their meat so next month we may try some. I was impressed with their humane treatment and slaughter practices as well as the fact that they use all of the animal and they have been practicing ethical and environmental practices for more than thirty years because they actually believe in it, not just because they jumped onto a bandwagon!
For my friends in Washington Skagit River Ranch is a great resource for meat and eggs. They sell at some farmer's markets in the Seattle area as well.
The book does a good review of the politics of eating meat and how it affects the animals and the environment and she touches on the conflict of having something taste so good and feeling guilty for eating it. I also enjoyed her humorous anecdotes of growing up in the Hippie culture of northern California in the 1970s and eating healthy long before it was "popular". My Grandma Hopkins was a "health nut" and some of my kitchen experiences with her (or should I say "experiments") echoed those of Tara.
One caution if you have young readers, she does briefly touch on some topics such as inappropriate touching by an adult during her childhood (I don't want to be flagged in the search engines by using other wording), that are briefly and respectfully presented as part of her journey.
Overall if you are new to healthy eating or considering whether or not you want to eat meat, live as a vegan or vegetarian, I think this would be a good resource. Even if you are experienced and settled in your healthy eating choices, you might enjoy her humor and relaxed writing style. I had to laugh at some of her comments about "facing the meat in the fridge" as I can relate to them as well. I have a love/hate relationship with meat - repulsed by it but also enjoying it when it is prepared well. I am hoping her blog will carry the same writing style. For me, I would consider this a book I would read from the library (which I did), but not keep as a reference book on my shelf. It is not because of any failure on Tara Weaver's part, but because her book is not really meant for that purpose. If you have read this book or do so after reading my review, I would be interested in hearing your opinion.
Part autobiographical, part confessional and part adventure story, Weaver's book also shares information about food, food ethics and how discouraging it can be to get accurate health information and treatment. Her journey into the world of the local butcher shop began when her Chinese health practitioner and naturopath told her she needed to begin eating meat to get healthy. Since she has a thyroid disorder, as do many of my family members, including my Hubby who had to have his irradiated, I was hoping she would end the book with a "magic bullet." However, her conclusion was the same as most of us come to - that each of us has to navigate the medical and health communities ourselves and there is rarely one answer, let alone one that is simple or magical.
As a person who has eaten meat and feels better eating vegetarian, but has also eaten vegan and considered Raw, I enjoyed her discussions on the process she has gone through. Since she lives in two places I have/do (Washington State and Northern California) I was happy to note some of her great resources. She was able to do some "investigating" as well and reported on some of the naturally raised meat choices available. The one I am pursuing further is Prather Ranch which I have passed while travelling up I-5. My local Co-op carries their meat so next month we may try some. I was impressed with their humane treatment and slaughter practices as well as the fact that they use all of the animal and they have been practicing ethical and environmental practices for more than thirty years because they actually believe in it, not just because they jumped onto a bandwagon!
For my friends in Washington Skagit River Ranch is a great resource for meat and eggs. They sell at some farmer's markets in the Seattle area as well.
The book does a good review of the politics of eating meat and how it affects the animals and the environment and she touches on the conflict of having something taste so good and feeling guilty for eating it. I also enjoyed her humorous anecdotes of growing up in the Hippie culture of northern California in the 1970s and eating healthy long before it was "popular". My Grandma Hopkins was a "health nut" and some of my kitchen experiences with her (or should I say "experiments") echoed those of Tara.
One caution if you have young readers, she does briefly touch on some topics such as inappropriate touching by an adult during her childhood (I don't want to be flagged in the search engines by using other wording), that are briefly and respectfully presented as part of her journey.
Overall if you are new to healthy eating or considering whether or not you want to eat meat, live as a vegan or vegetarian, I think this would be a good resource. Even if you are experienced and settled in your healthy eating choices, you might enjoy her humor and relaxed writing style. I had to laugh at some of her comments about "facing the meat in the fridge" as I can relate to them as well. I have a love/hate relationship with meat - repulsed by it but also enjoying it when it is prepared well. I am hoping her blog will carry the same writing style. For me, I would consider this a book I would read from the library (which I did), but not keep as a reference book on my shelf. It is not because of any failure on Tara Weaver's part, but because her book is not really meant for that purpose. If you have read this book or do so after reading my review, I would be interested in hearing your opinion.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Vintage Cookbook
My friend Stephanie on Facebook posted a link to download a pdf version of the orignal Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I thought it would be interesting to see this and it's free. I'm sure cooking has changed a lot since then. You can down load it here.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Soy and Hexane
Deciding whether or not to eat soy, is a complex issue. There are some serious health implications with certain types of soy including soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein. There are some concerns for those with thyroid disease as well, since there are chemicals in soy which can cause thyroid goiters. Then there is the estrogen effect.
When you research soy you can find a gamut of articles on each side of the fence. The most conservative say that only fermented forms of soy such as Miso and Soy Sauce are okay for human consumption. Just when I got used to and actually started liking Tofu and Tofu noodles! LOL
A greater concern is Hexane gas, a neurotoxic chemical solvent. Natural New TV shared this on the use of Hexane gas in soy processing. If you use soy, check your labels! The Cornucopia Institute has this soy score card which can help you evaluate your favorite brands. I was surprised to see some readily and widely available brands that received a ZERO rating!
When you research soy you can find a gamut of articles on each side of the fence. The most conservative say that only fermented forms of soy such as Miso and Soy Sauce are okay for human consumption. Just when I got used to and actually started liking Tofu and Tofu noodles! LOL
A greater concern is Hexane gas, a neurotoxic chemical solvent. Natural New TV shared this on the use of Hexane gas in soy processing. If you use soy, check your labels! The Cornucopia Institute has this soy score card which can help you evaluate your favorite brands. I was surprised to see some readily and widely available brands that received a ZERO rating!
Answers on Dehydrating
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my post about dehydrating. So much has happened between then and now that this is the first opportunity I have had to post answers. I am uncertain how to answer through the comments themselves, so I will answer here.
While fruits and veggies that have been dehydrated, can be re hydrated to use in recipes, I will not be doing that with these pears. I have used other re hydrated fruits but I think that the pears would just fall apart. They could be used for a cake or muffins.
We will be using our pears for snacks. Dehydrated fruit snacks are very expensive in the store and most of them contain sulfuring of some type for preservation. Since I am allergic to sulfur, this is not a good option for me. Personally I don't care if my fruit looks brown as long as it tastes good! However there are some things you can do naturally. One thing is soaking them in lemon juice. Not only does this help with coloring but Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) is a natural preservative. Potentially this will help them store longer.
To date I have dehydrated bananas (a big hit in our family) and pears. Apples are next.
When I was growing up, my Grandma dehydrated a lot of food. She took classes from a local woman named Gen MacManiman, a master herbalist who wrote a book called Dry It You'll Like It. A lot of her information is geared to "make it yourself" dehydrators and the old kind running on light bulb heat. However, she does have great tips and a little info on drying herbs and what they are good.
I purchased my dehydrator from a local company who happens to make one of the most highly acclaimed dehydrators used by raw food chefs and other "health nuts", called an Excalibur. They sell on their site and on eBay. You can buy less expensive models but this one is engineered very efficiently. Also the round ones cannot do very much at a time. I find even with the big one, I need to do a couple batches to go through a box of fruit.
Excalibur has their own book, Preserve It Naturally, which is a great resource whether you use their dehydrators or not.
In the future, I hope to dehydrate some veggies for making homemade soup mixes and more fruit to have for summer snacks in the winter!
While fruits and veggies that have been dehydrated, can be re hydrated to use in recipes, I will not be doing that with these pears. I have used other re hydrated fruits but I think that the pears would just fall apart. They could be used for a cake or muffins.
We will be using our pears for snacks. Dehydrated fruit snacks are very expensive in the store and most of them contain sulfuring of some type for preservation. Since I am allergic to sulfur, this is not a good option for me. Personally I don't care if my fruit looks brown as long as it tastes good! However there are some things you can do naturally. One thing is soaking them in lemon juice. Not only does this help with coloring but Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) is a natural preservative. Potentially this will help them store longer.
To date I have dehydrated bananas (a big hit in our family) and pears. Apples are next.
When I was growing up, my Grandma dehydrated a lot of food. She took classes from a local woman named Gen MacManiman, a master herbalist who wrote a book called Dry It You'll Like It. A lot of her information is geared to "make it yourself" dehydrators and the old kind running on light bulb heat. However, she does have great tips and a little info on drying herbs and what they are good.
I purchased my dehydrator from a local company who happens to make one of the most highly acclaimed dehydrators used by raw food chefs and other "health nuts", called an Excalibur. They sell on their site and on eBay. You can buy less expensive models but this one is engineered very efficiently. Also the round ones cannot do very much at a time. I find even with the big one, I need to do a couple batches to go through a box of fruit.
Excalibur has their own book, Preserve It Naturally, which is a great resource whether you use their dehydrators or not.
In the future, I hope to dehydrate some veggies for making homemade soup mixes and more fruit to have for summer snacks in the winter!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Dehydrating
So, this may not be the most glamorous photo I've ever taken but this jar is filled with yummy goodness. Who knew 15# of pears could fit in a gallon jar?! I made these in my Excalibur dehydrator. I have only used it twice but have 20# of apples coming specifically for dehydrating and I can't wait! Have any of you dehydrated? What do you like to do and any tips?
Friday, November 5, 2010
Organic Eggs
Eggs are a controversial subject in healthy eating circles. Some people don't eat them because they are vegan and I do respect that. Others don't eat them because of cholesterol issues. In today's market there are more reasons to not eat them than cholesterol. The type of chicken farming that happens today has significantly decreased the quality and the taste of eggs.
If you have chickens in your back yard, you are extremely blessed. Home raised chickens produce eggs of higher nutrient quality and just looking at one broken open you can see the difference in color and texture. But wait until you taste it, yummy! Eggs happen to be one of my favorite foods in the entire world... I'd rather eat them than ice cream. But eggs don't like me so well and when I can, I adapt a lot of my recipes for vegan.
But today on Facebook I ran across a post that Nutiva had shared and thought it was interesting. Those of us who do buy eggs that we think are healthy... well, maybe they are not!
I hadn't heard of the Cornucopia Institute before but they have this video that talks about egg farming and quality as well as an egg score card that scores various national and regional egg farmers on their care of and provision for chickens. Many of the places where I have purchased "organic eggs" receive a 1 egg score (which is the lowest). Many producers in my home state (Washington) receive high scores, 4-5 eggs, but very few where I live in California. For locals, it appears that Clover Organic Eggs (Clover Stonetta) and Wilcox Organic Eggs (they are west coast) and Organic Valley (Wisconsin - so they are trucked a long way) are the best choices at 3 eggs which is still considered "very good" on the scale. The big surprise for me was the 1 egg score for Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Safeway's brands! I have purchased all of these eggs in the past.
Lately I have been purchasing from our local farmer's market, but I believe they are still a large producing ranch and I want to look into it further. They are called Haney's Egg Ranch in Ceres, CA. The eggs definitely do not look and taste like farm eggs but they are better and less expensive than many in the stores. Well, doing a little research while I'm writing this up, it doesn't look good. I found a website called California Factory Farms whose purpose is to give information on farms in the state of California known for confining animals. Haney's is on their list. Sad... I think there is the perception that if someone is at a farmer's market they are "healthy".
Some of you might not care about how the chicken is treated. I do, but aside from that, when the animal is not treated well, it effects the quality and nutrition of the food.
I sure would like to have chickens in our backyard but it is required to have 10k square feet or more and we are just under 8K.
If you have chickens in your back yard, you are extremely blessed. Home raised chickens produce eggs of higher nutrient quality and just looking at one broken open you can see the difference in color and texture. But wait until you taste it, yummy! Eggs happen to be one of my favorite foods in the entire world... I'd rather eat them than ice cream. But eggs don't like me so well and when I can, I adapt a lot of my recipes for vegan.
But today on Facebook I ran across a post that Nutiva had shared and thought it was interesting. Those of us who do buy eggs that we think are healthy... well, maybe they are not!
I hadn't heard of the Cornucopia Institute before but they have this video that talks about egg farming and quality as well as an egg score card that scores various national and regional egg farmers on their care of and provision for chickens. Many of the places where I have purchased "organic eggs" receive a 1 egg score (which is the lowest). Many producers in my home state (Washington) receive high scores, 4-5 eggs, but very few where I live in California. For locals, it appears that Clover Organic Eggs (Clover Stonetta) and Wilcox Organic Eggs (they are west coast) and Organic Valley (Wisconsin - so they are trucked a long way) are the best choices at 3 eggs which is still considered "very good" on the scale. The big surprise for me was the 1 egg score for Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Safeway's brands! I have purchased all of these eggs in the past.
Lately I have been purchasing from our local farmer's market, but I believe they are still a large producing ranch and I want to look into it further. They are called Haney's Egg Ranch in Ceres, CA. The eggs definitely do not look and taste like farm eggs but they are better and less expensive than many in the stores. Well, doing a little research while I'm writing this up, it doesn't look good. I found a website called California Factory Farms whose purpose is to give information on farms in the state of California known for confining animals. Haney's is on their list. Sad... I think there is the perception that if someone is at a farmer's market they are "healthy".
Some of you might not care about how the chicken is treated. I do, but aside from that, when the animal is not treated well, it effects the quality and nutrition of the food.
I sure would like to have chickens in our backyard but it is required to have 10k square feet or more and we are just under 8K.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Welcome!
It has been a long off and on journey, but I'm itching to "get back on the trail" and begin sharing with you my fun in the kitchen, ideas and learn what you are up to as well. Welcome back to my blog, "My Journey To Wholeness". Please excuse a little construction mess as I get the links and side elements set up. Please drop me a line and let me know how you are doing!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Do You Like To Cook?
Since giving up packaged and processed foods almost completely a couple years ago, I have been having fun learning how to cook. I found another friend, Lori, who loves to cook too. She loves it so much she became a Pampered Chef Consultant! In January I went to a party she put on with my friend Lynette from church. The house across the street from Lynette had out a sign that said "I'm Beautiful Inside" which made me chuckle and we all discussed the house and the neighbors affirmed that it really was. So, I went home and checked it out on the Internet. Curiosity killed the cat, true, but Grandma Hopkins always said, "Satisfaction brought it back!" :-) That is when we discovered that house prices in our city were 40-60% of what they were 6-12 month prior. The ball began rolling and two months and a handful of days later we moved into our new home on the girls' 6th birthday!
So, to "initiate" my new home and open the doors of hospitality, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party. I've always loved their products and when I was engaged my church family hosted a "Pampered Bride" party, it was so much fun! We've been married 10 years now and all that stuff is going strong. A few places I have replaced... not because I didn't like them, but because they made improvements on them.If you are local to me and I didn't catch you at church or Facebook, you are invited. 6:30 tonight. We are having Mexican Chicken Lasagna and a Summer Berry Shortcake dessert (I bought 4 types of organic berries -strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry!). We had the dessert Mother's Day at Lori's and it was delicious!
If you can't come but would like to order, you can do so at: Lori Loves To Cook and remember to put my name as the hostess. Thank you in advance!
Also, since after two months, I finally have my kitchen almost all set up, I am going to start blogging here more often. I've missed it and I've missed my healthy cooking the last couple months. Time to get back on my journey.
So, to "initiate" my new home and open the doors of hospitality, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party. I've always loved their products and when I was engaged my church family hosted a "Pampered Bride" party, it was so much fun! We've been married 10 years now and all that stuff is going strong. A few places I have replaced... not because I didn't like them, but because they made improvements on them.If you are local to me and I didn't catch you at church or Facebook, you are invited. 6:30 tonight. We are having Mexican Chicken Lasagna and a Summer Berry Shortcake dessert (I bought 4 types of organic berries -strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry!). We had the dessert Mother's Day at Lori's and it was delicious!
If you can't come but would like to order, you can do so at: Lori Loves To Cook and remember to put my name as the hostess. Thank you in advance!
Also, since after two months, I finally have my kitchen almost all set up, I am going to start blogging here more often. I've missed it and I've missed my healthy cooking the last couple months. Time to get back on my journey.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Wellness Wednesday and Soup
Last week I was busy taking care of sick children and didn't get posted for Wellness Wednesday. Today I stepped on the scale and was disappointed to see that I had gained 3 pounds and I now weigh 315#. :o( Well, instead of dwelling on it, I'm going to use it as an opportunity to get busy. I refuse to let it start climbing back up.
It isn't too much of a surprise because this last week I had a candy binge. Well, I'd rather not be writing this or posting my weight increase, but hopefully if I am honest,The strange thing is that it doesn't taste that great to me anymore. I can taste all the chemicals and it is not satisfying. But my body goes through periods of craving it and I don't mean that I emotionally crave it; I physically crave it! This is something I don't quite understand. Two things I have noticed though, the cravings seem to be worse when I have been too tired to make homemade bread and that after I eat processed sugar my glands become swollen. As for the bread, I am guessing that because I am using fresh ground flour, I am getting vitamins and trace minerals that I don't otherwise. As for the glands, it is well documented that sugar decreases immunity.
As for exercising, the pain in my knee increased and so I had to stop. It is feeling a little better again. So, now I need to work up the gumption to get started again. If you feel led, please pray for me in this.
Now for soup... We had wonderful turkey barley soup after Thanksgiving. It was so good that I'm thinking about doing another turkey at Christmas so that I can make more!
Today, I made soup for dinner. This is a great, thick soup for a cold fall or winter day. First I started with the broth from the beef roast I cooked in the pressure cooker yesterday. Then the fun began. In the Vitamix I blended up some frozen spinach, green onions, celery stalks, a large bunch of broccoli and 4 cloves of garlic. This made a thick green paste that wasn't overly appetizing to look at. I poured it in the pot with 2 bottles of organic spaghetti sauce, 2 packages of frozen veggies, 2.5 cups barley and 6 cans of diced tomatoes (that I blended in the Vitamix to make tomato sauce), then I began adding herbs -savory, oregano, basil, rosemary. Oh, I had half a jar of organic tomato juice in the fridge that I added too and one pound of cooked ground beef. This soup lends itself well to cleaning out the fridge! :o) It cooks up nice and thick more like a chili than soup. It's definitely a hardy dinner and my Hubby likes to take it for lunches. It could be served with cheese or sour cream on top and with fresh bread or corn bread.
It isn't too much of a surprise because this last week I had a candy binge. Well, I'd rather not be writing this or posting my weight increase, but hopefully if I am honest,The strange thing is that it doesn't taste that great to me anymore. I can taste all the chemicals and it is not satisfying. But my body goes through periods of craving it and I don't mean that I emotionally crave it; I physically crave it! This is something I don't quite understand. Two things I have noticed though, the cravings seem to be worse when I have been too tired to make homemade bread and that after I eat processed sugar my glands become swollen. As for the bread, I am guessing that because I am using fresh ground flour, I am getting vitamins and trace minerals that I don't otherwise. As for the glands, it is well documented that sugar decreases immunity.
As for exercising, the pain in my knee increased and so I had to stop. It is feeling a little better again. So, now I need to work up the gumption to get started again. If you feel led, please pray for me in this.
Now for soup... We had wonderful turkey barley soup after Thanksgiving. It was so good that I'm thinking about doing another turkey at Christmas so that I can make more!
Today, I made soup for dinner. This is a great, thick soup for a cold fall or winter day. First I started with the broth from the beef roast I cooked in the pressure cooker yesterday. Then the fun began. In the Vitamix I blended up some frozen spinach, green onions, celery stalks, a large bunch of broccoli and 4 cloves of garlic. This made a thick green paste that wasn't overly appetizing to look at. I poured it in the pot with 2 bottles of organic spaghetti sauce, 2 packages of frozen veggies, 2.5 cups barley and 6 cans of diced tomatoes (that I blended in the Vitamix to make tomato sauce), then I began adding herbs -savory, oregano, basil, rosemary. Oh, I had half a jar of organic tomato juice in the fridge that I added too and one pound of cooked ground beef. This soup lends itself well to cleaning out the fridge! :o) It cooks up nice and thick more like a chili than soup. It's definitely a hardy dinner and my Hubby likes to take it for lunches. It could be served with cheese or sour cream on top and with fresh bread or corn bread.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wellness Wednesday and Turkey
Well, the scale didn't budge even though I walked 3 miles this last week. I would have been walking more but my family decided to hide all my exercise DVDs from me! I was not a happy camper. It wasn't on purpose but it was very frustrating! It takes a lot of mental energy to get yourself back exercising after a long break and I certainly don't need help finding ways NOT to exercise! LOL The DVD was found last night, all was forgiven and my girlies walked with me this morning. While I have the physical energy to push ahead further and do 2 miles or more, my knee begins to complain by the time I hit one mile. Not so sure I can keep heading off that surgery. Sigh...
Monday I made our turkey. A lot of people think that is strange I know, but we don't have anyone coming over to see what it all looks like and it takes a lot of pressure off me to do it ahead of time and then I can enjoy Thursday more. I tried cooking my turkey breast down this year to keep the white meat moist and it seems to have worked.
It doesn't look very glamorous I know! :o) I make a paste by melting 1 stick butter. I've tried olive oil but it just doesn't taste good for turkey. In my cuisinart mini chop, I chopped up one bunch of fresh Rosemary (leaves only) and one bunch of fresh sage. Hmmm... this smells so good. I couldn't find fresh Thyme so I put in some dried Thyme, salt, pepper and about 6 garlic cloves. After this is chopped I add it to the butter and even if the butter is still warm and liquidy, it returns to solid state when it touches the cold turkey. I slather the outside, the cavities and underneath the skin of the breast on each side.
We couldn't afford an organic turkey, so I bought a "natural" Kosher turkey at Trader Joe's. That was the CLEANEST bird I have ever cooked! But if you use giblets, there won't be any - they're not Kosher! No issue for us.
I carved the turkey Monday night and made a packet of white and dark meat for Thursday and put it in the freezer. I will rewarm this, likely in the oven with a pan of water below it to steam it and keep it moist (we don't generally microwave). The other meat I divided into quart freezer bags in meal sized proportions - sandwich slices, meat for stir fry, meat for a casserole or enchilada, etc.
Next I took the carcass... half went into my 8 quart pressure cooker and half into the roasting pan on the stove. Because of the large quantity of fresh herbs, it really flavors the broth. It tasted so good without the need of adding any bouillon or flavoring except salt. The meat juices and broths I let cool over night. This way I can remove the fat.
Yesterday I made soup. It was a huge hit with my family... everyone except my son who doesn't eat much of anything... I'm not sure he will even eat turkey for dinner! LOL I used my 5 liters of broth which I made plus 3 liters of organic, free range chicken broth from Trader Joe's (I just didn't have enough of my own for the amount of soup I wanted to make). I cleaned out the freezer - a package of corn, peas left over from stir fries and rice and a package of "California Style" veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and green beans) which I chopped a little smaller. For a little flavor kick I added some of my chopped up and frozen red peppers. Then I added some fresh onion and garlic, chopped up turkey and 3 cups of Pearl Barley.
I love Barley. As a child when my Mom and I were moderately poor, I loved Campbell's Scotch Broth soup. What an odd choice for a child, but it was my favorite. I don't use boughten soup now due to the MSG and other chemicals, but I haven't lost my taste for Barley. In the past I have tried brown rice, white rice, macaroni, shell noodles and egg noodles. Nothing really satisfied. Barley was the missing ingredient. The soup sat on the stove for about an hour and a half. I felt this was safe because most of the items were frozen and the pot was cold to the touch. This gave the time for the barley to expand, then I cooked it about 1.5-2 hours on the stove.
My five year old girls loved it so much they asked for it again and Hubby says it tastes even better today! :o) After dinner I had 6 quarts to go in the freezer and one quart left in the fridge.
Tonight I'll probably make pies and tomorrow I will have free time to get everything else ready to eat mid day. For a treat tomorrow night as a family, we will have leftovers and watch the movie Wall-e together. I can't wait.
I took off my tshirt that had turkey grease on it. Abbie promptly curled up and went to sleep. Probably smelled like Heaven for a kitty! :o)
Monday I made our turkey. A lot of people think that is strange I know, but we don't have anyone coming over to see what it all looks like and it takes a lot of pressure off me to do it ahead of time and then I can enjoy Thursday more. I tried cooking my turkey breast down this year to keep the white meat moist and it seems to have worked.
It doesn't look very glamorous I know! :o) I make a paste by melting 1 stick butter. I've tried olive oil but it just doesn't taste good for turkey. In my cuisinart mini chop, I chopped up one bunch of fresh Rosemary (leaves only) and one bunch of fresh sage. Hmmm... this smells so good. I couldn't find fresh Thyme so I put in some dried Thyme, salt, pepper and about 6 garlic cloves. After this is chopped I add it to the butter and even if the butter is still warm and liquidy, it returns to solid state when it touches the cold turkey. I slather the outside, the cavities and underneath the skin of the breast on each side.
We couldn't afford an organic turkey, so I bought a "natural" Kosher turkey at Trader Joe's. That was the CLEANEST bird I have ever cooked! But if you use giblets, there won't be any - they're not Kosher! No issue for us.
I carved the turkey Monday night and made a packet of white and dark meat for Thursday and put it in the freezer. I will rewarm this, likely in the oven with a pan of water below it to steam it and keep it moist (we don't generally microwave). The other meat I divided into quart freezer bags in meal sized proportions - sandwich slices, meat for stir fry, meat for a casserole or enchilada, etc.
Next I took the carcass... half went into my 8 quart pressure cooker and half into the roasting pan on the stove. Because of the large quantity of fresh herbs, it really flavors the broth. It tasted so good without the need of adding any bouillon or flavoring except salt. The meat juices and broths I let cool over night. This way I can remove the fat.
Yesterday I made soup. It was a huge hit with my family... everyone except my son who doesn't eat much of anything... I'm not sure he will even eat turkey for dinner! LOL I used my 5 liters of broth which I made plus 3 liters of organic, free range chicken broth from Trader Joe's (I just didn't have enough of my own for the amount of soup I wanted to make). I cleaned out the freezer - a package of corn, peas left over from stir fries and rice and a package of "California Style" veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and green beans) which I chopped a little smaller. For a little flavor kick I added some of my chopped up and frozen red peppers. Then I added some fresh onion and garlic, chopped up turkey and 3 cups of Pearl Barley.
I love Barley. As a child when my Mom and I were moderately poor, I loved Campbell's Scotch Broth soup. What an odd choice for a child, but it was my favorite. I don't use boughten soup now due to the MSG and other chemicals, but I haven't lost my taste for Barley. In the past I have tried brown rice, white rice, macaroni, shell noodles and egg noodles. Nothing really satisfied. Barley was the missing ingredient. The soup sat on the stove for about an hour and a half. I felt this was safe because most of the items were frozen and the pot was cold to the touch. This gave the time for the barley to expand, then I cooked it about 1.5-2 hours on the stove.
My five year old girls loved it so much they asked for it again and Hubby says it tastes even better today! :o) After dinner I had 6 quarts to go in the freezer and one quart left in the fridge.
Tonight I'll probably make pies and tomorrow I will have free time to get everything else ready to eat mid day. For a treat tomorrow night as a family, we will have leftovers and watch the movie Wall-e together. I can't wait.
I took off my tshirt that had turkey grease on it. Abbie promptly curled up and went to sleep. Probably smelled like Heaven for a kitty! :o)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wellness Wednesday
Welcome any visitors and newcomers. On my old blog I had a weekly Wellness Wednesday post where I checked in with my weight loss progress and discussed other health and nutrition information. For those of you new here, I am NOT dieting. I am only trying to be healthier in food choices and exercise. This is the best way for me and so far I have been fairly successful with it. It's slow going but the changes are long lasting!
The last 3.5 months I have not been able to exercise due to tearing the meniscus in my left knee. Until a day or two ago I was ready to give in and have the surgery to repair it, but then I realized that a lot of my pain is coming from hip bursitis and accompany Ilial-Tibial Band Syndrome (tightening of the bands between the hip and knee), which has been magnified by the sore knee. So, I cancelled the PT appointment that I had for today because it was to decide about sending me to the surgeon. I will reschedule that so that I can have a week or so to begin the strengthening process of the Ilial-Tibial band and see if that eliminates many of my issues.
Today was the first step. I walked one mile with Leslie Sansone from the two mile walk DVD that came with Walking The Walk: Getting Fit With Faith. In reality, I likely only walked a half mile because I was very slow pokey, but the important thing is not speed or distance, but moving without causing further damage. It was a good way to get my toes wet and it felt good! So far, several hours later, I am not feeling any adverse effects. Now, I'm actually a little bit excited.
This morning I weighed 312#, which surprised me since I haven't been eating a whole lot, but I also haven't been eating as many live foods and was sick the last week, so less active. Still, while I gained back a couple pounds, I actually don't weigh any less than when I stopped exercising.
That last sentence is pretty boring for anyone else. But, for me it is exciting and victorious! In my nearly life long battle with weight, I have never maintained a weight loss after stopping exercise. This may seem like a small thing to many of you but for me it is HUGE! I am so excited! This is a sign of God's healing work in my body and in my emotions. He is transforming me and it is amazing to me! This gives me hope to keep on going!
So, I hope someone will check in here and comment, and I hope to continue posting on a regular basis besides Wellness Wednesday!
The last 3.5 months I have not been able to exercise due to tearing the meniscus in my left knee. Until a day or two ago I was ready to give in and have the surgery to repair it, but then I realized that a lot of my pain is coming from hip bursitis and accompany Ilial-Tibial Band Syndrome (tightening of the bands between the hip and knee), which has been magnified by the sore knee. So, I cancelled the PT appointment that I had for today because it was to decide about sending me to the surgeon. I will reschedule that so that I can have a week or so to begin the strengthening process of the Ilial-Tibial band and see if that eliminates many of my issues.
Today was the first step. I walked one mile with Leslie Sansone from the two mile walk DVD that came with Walking The Walk: Getting Fit With Faith. In reality, I likely only walked a half mile because I was very slow pokey, but the important thing is not speed or distance, but moving without causing further damage. It was a good way to get my toes wet and it felt good! So far, several hours later, I am not feeling any adverse effects. Now, I'm actually a little bit excited.
This morning I weighed 312#, which surprised me since I haven't been eating a whole lot, but I also haven't been eating as many live foods and was sick the last week, so less active. Still, while I gained back a couple pounds, I actually don't weigh any less than when I stopped exercising.
That last sentence is pretty boring for anyone else. But, for me it is exciting and victorious! In my nearly life long battle with weight, I have never maintained a weight loss after stopping exercise. This may seem like a small thing to many of you but for me it is HUGE! I am so excited! This is a sign of God's healing work in my body and in my emotions. He is transforming me and it is amazing to me! This gives me hope to keep on going!
So, I hope someone will check in here and comment, and I hope to continue posting on a regular basis besides Wellness Wednesday!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A Fun Tool and A Great Store
Earlier this year I found Down On The Farm where Marci blogs about her interesting adventures on Amazing Graze Farm. Marci also has a great little store, which I believe is a new adventure this year.
She has quite a collection of items, tools and goods that are useful for healthy cooking and living. Recently I purchased some Sue Gregg cookbooks as well as Wrapping It Up, by Vickilynn Haycraft who is on a couple yahoogroups with me. I do not know her personally but she seems nice and always has such helpful suggestions. I'll be writing more about my positive experiences using her tortilla method soon!
The fun too I purchased at Amazing Graze General Store is the Natural Peanut Butter Mixer. This is one of those feats of engineering where you scratch your head and say "Why didn't I think of that?!" I love natural peanut butter, having grown up on homemade or Adam's Peanut Butter. I can't stand the regular kind - it actually gags me! I wasn't sure if this little device would work but wanted to give it a try since we always end up with a dry brick of peanut butter on the bottom that has to be chiseled out.
It WORKS! It's so awesome. We can use the jar all the way to the bottom. The tool does not actually fit on the lids of the jars we have from Whole Foods Market (Their 365 brand of crunch peanut butter is so awesome, the best and freshest tasting I've ever had - but the organic has sweetening - ICK! So, we don't buy that.) It would fit on Maranatha, Laura Scudder or Adams pint jars. Hubby puts it in and holds it over the jar (so theoretically this might also work on a bigger jar?) and turns the handle. The screw like device turns and churns inside the jar, mixing the peanut butter and the oil back together. We have used it on two jars and it stays mixed in the fridge, so we are quite pleased. This makes peanut butter eating much more pleasant.
I like to support good people starting out with their own businesses. If you are on the lookout for any of the things that Marci carries, I definitely recommend Amazing Graze store. Not only are the products of high quality, but the prices are competent and the customer service is awesome!
Pressure Cooking
Sorry for the funny photo... I'm not very glamorous at staging foods. This is some chicken broth and it is HOT, that I made in my pressure cooker. I am still amazed at how good chicken broth tastes this way and also what a great way to save money it is!
I put 3 chicken breasts and 6-7 thighs in my 8 qt pressure cooker. Next I added one gallon of water and because I'm not supposed to be up standing a lot on my knee still, I didn't put fresh onion and garlic, but usually I do. This time I used dehydrated onions and granulated garlic. (The sediment you see on the bottom of the jar is the onions, garlic etc.) After that I tossed in Cumin, Salt, dried Cilantro, red pepper flakes and Cayenne Pepper. Well, in my brain I was thinking of paprika, not Cayenne and I ended up with chicken broth so HOOOOOT that it's almost unbearable! LOL It's going to have to be thinned down with some store bought broth.
I cooked this at pressure for 5 minutes and then let the pressure go naturally, which was supposed to take 5 minutes but I think it took ten. Chicken cooked this way is moist and tastes great. It is an excellent way to make shredded chicken for Mexican cooking and salads.
Generally I use the broth the next day to cook rice in the pressure cooker, but since it was so hot, I'm holding off on that for awhile! :o) I will freeze some of it though for later use. In the future I will start canning that. Making broth this ways uses NO BOUILLON! This means NO MSG. Yeah!
In the spring I purchased this Fagor set and really love it. First I did research and after reading an article reviewing their performance at America's Test Kitchen, I chose Fagor over some of the more expensive Swiss sets because they said it performed just as well as a set 3-5 times the price and had gread safety measures built in - which as a Mom, is important. I love it so much that I will be getting another one next spring when we get our tax return - a larger one to do more stuff! This will also give me two lids so that hopefully I can use two pots at the same time. Currently I have two pots but only one pressure cooker lid. They are made really well of high quality stainless steel, which was a priority for me as well.
On one of my blog hopping adventures I found The Veggie Queen and ordered her DVD, hoping to learn more. Imagine my surprise when she was using my very same pressure cooker! I did learn a lot of tips watching her but for less money could have bought her cookbook that has a couple chapters on pressure cooking. She is vegetarian and gave a lot of great ideas.
You don't need to be vegetarian to enjoy it. In fact one of our favorite things is to make a fork tender pot roast in 45 minutes! I have found that I can use cheaper roast cuts and they will be more tender cooked in the pressure cooker.
Our favorite thing to cook in it though is rice. It is so much easier and makes brown rice so much more enjoyable than the steamer (which leaves it chewy/crunchy).
The best pressure cooker specific cookbook I have found is Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass. I also have her book Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, which I haven't used yet, but plan to in the near future. I would love to explore more nutritious side dishes than just having potatoes or pasta all the time. And I am hoping to experiment with Legumes, which aren't a favorite in our family but we are trying to do some more healthy foods and so we (the big people) are willing to try! :o)
Do any of you use a pressure cooker? If so, do you have any favorites or tips to share? I'd love to hear.
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