Probiotic Smoothie

I like this one because it gives a bit of help keeping intestinal balance, plus, it tastes good!

6 oz. or 3/4 C. Plain or Vanilla Soy Yogurt with cultures
1 Orange
6 Frozen Strawberries
1/2 C. Frozen Blueberries
Truvia if desired

Blend and, Voila!!

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Nutritarian Food Pyramid

Let's compare food pyramids for just a few minutes.
The University of Michigan was on the right track with their Healing Foods Pyramid, and I do like that they include water, but I think this new one by Dr. Fuhrman is better.
What do you think?
For more information on The Nutritarian Food Pyramid,
click here.

5 + 8 = -18.5

Well, after 5 days at the beginning of October and now 8 days more of juicing only, I have lost 18 and a half pounds. David and I are enjoying trips to local farmer's markets for fresh organic produce. This last Saturday after shopping for fruits and veggies we found ourselves in a department store buying David some smaller clothes! This combined with what he was doing before has added up to some great changes for him, too! Good things are happening here at our house. Hope they are at yours, too.
Have a happy, healthy day!!
Food photo

Juice. Ya Gotta Like It!

With 13 days under my belt and a few more to go, I've got to be able to prepare juices that I can handle on order to keep going. When I started it was a bit difficult because I was so new at it that I had no idea what fruits and veggies to combine, so I just picked out what sounded good and boy was I disappointed! For 3 days in a row I made myself drink juices that were terrible. I even made it a matter of prayer to try to figure out how in the world I could make this work for me. Anyway, as I thought through it I realized that I really like my citrus smoothie so maybe I should try using those fruits for juice. I did and it became a base for doing a little mix and match. This is my basic breakfast recipe with a few variations included:
First I gather my fruit and veggies.

I include:
1 Grapefruit
3 Oranges
2 Carrots
a 3" chunk of Cucumber
2-3 Kale leaves

Then maybe some
Strawberries
Or Cranberries
Or an Apple
Remember that grapefruit and cranberries are a bit sour so you want to combine them with something sweet. It also helps to think the other way around when making up your own recipes. You don't want juices that are too full of sugars, even if they are natural :) Before I finish my batch of juice I taste it to see if I like it. I usually do because I start with a tried and true combination but sometimes I need to adjust for the sweetness level. With the strong flavor of the oranges and grapefruit I can get away with adding things like Kale and Cucumber. After the juice is deposited in the collection pitcher, stir the juices together before serving. I especially like to dilute my juice with some ice.
If you line the pulp bucket with a produce bag it will make clean up easy! Also, you can recycle your pulp and peelings by blending them in your blender and making a lovely garden smoothie for composting the garden!

Juicing

Fourteen pounds ago I started juicing. Five days at the beginning of October, and now again, only this time I'm going for 2 weeks. This is day 4 and I'm really happy about how good I feel! I have increased energy and my thinking is better. I've been able to feel the happy ache of cleansing lungs and liver and head, so I know I'm getting good results already.
I've done cleanses in the past with water only, but it's more difficult both to do and to work into your regular daily life style. The plan is to become primarily plant-based in order to make the changes permanent in the most healthy way possible!
I guess you might say I've made a new lifetime friend, my juicer.
The one I have now is a Jack LaLanne, but I see a more powerful Breville on the horizon!

"Let Food Be Your Medicine", Hippocrates

Netflix is running several documentaries regarding eating and health, which I have watched with great interest. So much so that I am on a juice fast after seeing the results that Joe Cross had in his quest for improved health that he journals in "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". In two days I have lost 5 1/2 pounds and I feel great.

But I just finished watching Frontline's "The Medicated Child" (also on Netflix) and I could hardly believe what I saw! Well, actually, I can believe it, but it breaks my heart and makes me angry at this "system" that most of us have been taught to trustingly and innocently follow trying to take good care of ourselves and our families.
I don't profess to be any kind of an expert but as a thinking individual who has been reading alternative health care books for decades I am so very saddened by the fact that America's children are paying such a huge price.
It is my hope that anyone who reads this little piece will consider the insight of Hippocrates who said "Let food be your medicine", and may I add that in doing this we should also consider removing the non-foods, like chemicals, the over-processed and artificial substances from our diet at the same time... or sooner! In "The Medicated Child" not one word is ever mentioned about diet or eating more fruits and veggies. Instead children are filmed eating ice cream and corn dogs and they don't know why they're sick!!
Many thanks again to you Netflix and film producers and yes, some doctors too, :) who put forth time, money and effort to educate individuals and parents on this vital issue, through programs like "Food Matters", "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and " Forks Over Knives". At some point we may hopefully come to realize that our medical profession is wonderful when we need help after we've been injured but most know very little about how to get and keep people truly healthy.
In my humble, albeit emphatic opinion, why not try cleaning up our diets and doing a bit of reading in order to know for ourselves how to cure what ails us. Better yet, how about preventing those ailments altogether.

Orange Ambrosia Cup How-To

This little fruit cup is both easy to make and impressive, and I'm no whiz at cutting fancy shapes out of fruits and veggies! First of all I measured from the top of the orange down about 1 1/2". This left enough of the orange to make a nice sized cup. At that point the orange measured horizontally at 10" around. The scallops on my flower cookie cutter are 1 1/4" so this meant I could evenly draw 6 scallops.

Next I cut the top off the orange with a citrus knife taking as much of the ink off with it as I could. The rest of the ink I washed off carefully with water and a scrubbie thingy.
Then I cut and scooped out the fruit of the orange and put the pieces into a bowl for use in the fruit salad.


After getting the orange cut up I added a small banana, sliced, stirring it to coat the slices with orange juice preventing them from turning brown, and 4 cut up strawberries. The empty orange had about a 1/2 C. capacity and this little fruit salad fills 2 orange cups very nicely. I think I could have put more fruit in the cup than the picture shows. Of course you can fill this little cup with whatever combination of fruit is your favorite. I put a little coconut ribbon on top before placing the strawberry.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

How-To Freeze Ice Cream In A Plastic Bag

Summer is coming fast and some days our weather here is already in the high 80's. Strawberries are in full swing at the fruit stands, too, and it's time for a good strawberry ice cream recipe. This freezing method is great for Family Night or as a party activity for the kids.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Blend in blender:

3 Egg Yolks
2C. Coconut Milk or Milk of Choice
1/4C. Xylitol (or sugar)
Pour into saucepan and bring to scalding on med. heat. DO NOT BOIL. Cover and cool to room temp. and place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Almost liquify in blender:

2+ C. Hulled Strawberries
1/4C. Honey or Light Agave (or sugar)
1t. Vanilla
Chill.
Stir mixtures together. Pour 1/2-1C. ice cream mixture into sandwich sized ziplock freezer bags. For each sandwich bag you will also need a 1 gallon freezer bag and a friend. You will need at least 4. Fill gallon bags half full with ice. Sprinkle ice with about 1/2C. table salt. Add one bag of ice cream to each gallon bag and turn over and over to churn and freeze ice cream. Putting a towel on the table is a good idea for soaking up any spilled water (or, heaven forbid! Ice cream!!)

For a simple and easy 5 minute vanilla recipe click HERE.
And for more info click HERE.

Sweet Succulent Strawberries

Did you know that not just oranges, lemons, grapefruits and such are high in Vitamin C? Strawberries are citrus too! But, 1/2C. of strawberries has only 23 calories while grapefruit can be as high as 47! Bring on those luscious berries!
Fresh Ice Cream and Cobbler coming soon.
"Tis the season!

Fun Fabulous Fruit!

What person out there doesn't enjoy picking up a cold piece of their favorite fruit on a hot summer's day and biting into it's cool mouthwatering sweetness? Or drizzling a bit of milk over a warm fruit cobbler or crisp? Fruit is wonderful all by itself, just as God created it, or YOU (or better yet, the kids) can get creative. There are so many things that can be done with fruit. It's breakfast time here at my house, so off to the kitchen to do just that ~ create...! ...OK Here they are:

Poking two holes in the apple will make it easier to get the pretzels in for the ladybug's antenae, and the raisins are stuck on with peanut butter.

It doesn't take much fruit to make these little critters so use your leftover canned fruit to make this yummy Mixed Fruit Cobbler:
In a sprayed 8" square pyrex put remaining fruit from -
1 15 oz Can each of Fruit Cocktail, Pears and Peaches drain juice (about 2C.) into a saucepan, cutting the fruit halves into slices
Sprinkle with Raisins
Add to the juice in the pan -
2 T. Corn Starch
4 Packets Truvia, or sweeten to taste with other sweetener
1/4 t. Cinnamon, if you like
Bring the juice mixture to a simmer stirring constantly until it bubbles and thickens. Pour it over the Fruit. Now you're ready for the topping:
1 C. Flour (I use whole wheat)
3 Packets Truvia or Sweetener to taste
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
3 T. room temp. cube margarine
1/2 C. Milk
Stir together and drop by tablespoonfulls onto the top of fruit. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. If desired, pour a bit of sweetened milk over warm cobbler to serve. Options: If you don't want to take the time to make a cobbler, the fruit can be spooned over waffles or pancakes. You can also add the leftover pineapple to the cobbler which is yummy, but this time I'm saving it for a smoothie!