Avocado for Breakfast?

Okay, so you may think I'm nuts but really this is our favorite breakfast. We started cutting up Avocados for snacks and eating them with salt & pepper....one of my husband's favorites!!!  Today I ate Avocado and Cantaloupe with crushed black pepper and salt for breakfast and it was SO satisfying and delicious!  This has a mild yet sweet taste and Oh so good for you!   Avocado's benefit you in many ways:


1. Promote Heart Health
2. Anti-Inflammatory Benefits
3. Optimized Absorption of Carotenoids
4. Supports Cardiovascular Health
5. Promotes Blood Sugar Regulation
6. Anti-Cancer Benefits

So What about all that FAT you ask?  Well, many do think Avocados are high in fat but it's good beneficial fats!!  I encourage you to read the following article to get details on the benefits listed above.  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5

And my final tip, always peel your avocado to get the best benefits.  The dark green closest to the skin provides the richest carotenoid antioxidants similar to carrots and tomatoes. 

Enjoy your breakfast and the health benefits from this wonderful fruit!

Why Say No To Gluten

So my son and I recently went Gluten Free.  He was complaining of leg cramps, tummy problems, brain fog, trouble sleeping, you name it he was always feeling sick and he's only 11. He use to run home from school every day and his knees were hurting so bad he didn't run anymore.  He also said his back hurt and he was always sick after eating!  I have always had digestive problems but could never put my finger on it.  I decided he and I would go gluten free and see if we noticed a difference and WOW what a dramatic change in the way we feel.  He no longer complains about feeling bad and is running again.  I feel SO much better and have more energy. Gluten free for us is a healthy alternative to feeling bad and possibly avoiding trips to the doctor for illnesses created by gluten. 

To see if "Gluten free" could help you, read the following two articles.  Everyone has a different threshold for how much gluten they can tolerate, maybe it's time you try it to see if you notice a difference in the way you feel. :)

http://www.therawfoodfamily.com/7-reasons-why-gluten-is-bad-for-you-and-your-kids/ 

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/11-ways-gluten-and-wheat-can-damage-your-health/

8 Additives From The US That Are Banned In Other Countries!!

I follow many blogs and one of my favorites is Food Matters.  They have several interesting movies out too.  If you ever want to know the truth about our foods, watch their movies.  However, today they posted one of my favorite articles, "8 Additives From The US That Are Banned In Other Countries".  I've stayed away from many of these since I joined the Feingold group in 2007 but I'm so glad they're bringing more awareness to it.  It's a quick read with pictures, so easy to scan.
http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/8-additives-from-the-us-that-are-banned-in-other-countries

Happy Eating!!

Crockpot - Grass Fed Beef Roast, Potatoes and Mushrooms

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying your Summer!  We are staying busy and need fast, healthy dinners.  

Yesterday we had one of those very busy days.  I decided to put a Roast in the crockpot for dinner, Yes Red Meat but Grass Fed Beef with lots of health benefits!  (I've listed the benefits and an article at the end of this blog.)  Anyway, we LOVED it; I hope you give it a try on one of your busy Summer days.

1 Grass Fed Beef Roast (2 pounds)
2 cups Organic Low Sodium Beef Broth
1 cup of Water
3 Cloves of Garlic minced
2 T. Coconut Liquid Aminos
Sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning - gives it a little kick!
2 t. salt
Lots of fresh ground pepper
2 t. garlic powder
Cook in a large crockpot on HIGH for 4 hours

After the roast has cooked for 4 hours, add several peeled potatoes cut into big chunks.  I sprinkled these with Salt and pepper and made sure they were down in the juice. Leave crockpot on HIGH

After the potatoes had cooked for an hour, I added a full bag of organic pre-cleaned mushrooms I purchased at Spouts.  I left the crockpot on HIGH and let everything cook for another 1 1/2 hours.  The mushrooms seemed to disappear into the juice, YUM!

We usually have leftovers but not this time, every bit of the roast, potatoes and mushrooms were gone!

I served fresh fruit along side the yummy dish. ENJOY!!

Grass Fed Beef Benefits:

1. Because grassfed meat is so lean, it is also lower in calories. 

2. A 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished steer has almost 100 fewer calories than a 6-ounce steak from a grainfed steer.

3. Extra Omega-3s

The CLA Bonus:   The meat and milk from grassfed ruminants are the richest known source of another type of good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA.  When ruminants are raised on fresh pasture alone, their milk and meat contain as much as five times more CLA than products from animals fed conventional diets. 

CLA may be one of our most potent defenses against cancer.

To see more on Grass Fed Beef, Visit  http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-natural-beef.asp 

The Best Green Breakfast Smoothie!!!

Well now that school's out, I can refocus my attention on foods and healthy eating again, Yippee for Summer! 

So I was in Whole Foods about a year ago and I ordered their Green Smoothie thinking, "how can this taste good, but I've got to try it?" I have to say it was delicious!!!  I now make my own version of it.  My husband and I love it but I have to sneak the green leaves into my son's. ;)

Coconut water helps cut the acidity of the orange juice and it's low in calories, naturally fat- and cholesterol free, more potassium than four bananas, and super hydrating, so give it a try.  

Mix all in blender:
1 c. Pure Natural Coconut Water
Splash of orange juice
1 banana
1 t. chia seeds
1 t. hemp protein
1/4 c. frozen blueberries
3 - 5 pieces of frozen pineapple
Handful of spinach leaves
Handful of Kale leaves

Blend well and enjoy! YUM!

 

Delicious Deviled Eggs with Vegenaise

For Memorial Day I made the traditional Deviled Eggs and used Vegenaise (Soy Free) for a GREAT taste and it's heart healthy. These eggs disappeared within 15 minutes and I made them twice for two different parties!!!

If you like Deviled Eggs but you don't want all the cholesterol from the mayo, try Vegenaise and select the brand that best fits your taste.  Here's a comparison chart to compare your mayo with Vegenaise:  http://followyourheart.com/are-you-ready-to-make-the-switch/  

Deviled Egg Recipe:
 

8 large eggs, hard boiled & peeled
1/4 cup Vegenaise
1 1/2 tablespoons Miss Jenny's Bread & Butter pickle juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
Salt and pepper, for taste
Paprika, for garnishing

Our favorite Flax Muffin

These are Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Flax Seed Muffins!  My 11 year old LOVES them for breakfast or a snack.  I buy them at Whole Foods or Sprouts and I bet Trader Joes would have them.  They cost about $6.99 for the 4 and I find them in a freezer near the bakery at Sprouts.  They have 4400 mg of Omega 3 per muffin AND 10 Grams of fiber, SO good for you!!! Microwave for 30 seconds or until the chocolate starts to melt....it's OH SO YUMMY!  Enjoy!

MSG - Say No!!!

So many of you are wanting to clean up your diet and want a step by step plan on how to do that.  The first thing you should do is go to your pantry and read the labels.  Look for MSG and throw these items away or take them to the food pantry near you!  Here's a partial list to help you get started:

• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Glutamate anything
• Glutamic Acid
• Hydrolyzed anything
• Hydrolyzed Corn Gluten
• Hydrolyzed Pea Protein
• Plant Protein
• Textured Protein
• Autolyzed anything
• Autolyzed Yeast Extract
• Autolyzed Plant Protein
• Yeast Extract
• Yeast Nutrient
• Caseinate anything
• Calcium Caseinate
• Sodium Caseinate
• Gelatin
• Aspartame (any artificial sugar)

The next ingredients listed do not contain MSG, but are added to activate MSG already contained in the food product. These two chemicals are very expensive and have no other function. If you find them on the label you can be assured that MSG is present.

• Disodium Guanylate
• Disodium Inosinate

This information came from the following article.  I suggest you take the time to read the symptoms associated with Toxic poisoning to see if any ring a bell with you.  
http://www.saynotomsg.com/basics_list.php 

Super Easy Red Beans & Rice with Raw Veggies

So today was one of those VERY busy days!  When this happens I prefer to have a meal waiting for us around 6:00pm.  This is one of my favorite recipes and the kids like it too, hubby eats anything I put on the table but Spaghetti Squash!

Red Beans and Rice with a veggie tray or a very unofficial handful of raw veggies for each person.

1 pkg Dry Red Beans rinsed (NOT kidney beans)
4 C. water
1 whole red onion diced
3 cloves of fresh garlic
3 t. dried cilantro or a sprig of fresh
2 t. garlic powder
1 T. coconut amino
Salt & Pepper to taste
1-3 t. Old Bay Seasoning (more or less to make it spicy)
optional: Spicy sausage cut up into 1 inch bites

Mix ALL in crockpot and cook for 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on High.  Adjust the water to your liking, use more for juicier beans and less for thicker beans.  We like juice so we can put it over rice.

White Rice - If you will be out all day, put in a the rice cooker and set the delay timer so it's done when you want to serve dinner.  

When you get home get out the fresh colorful veggies (Carrots, Sugar Snap peas, Cherry tomatoes, & Celery). Serve with Red Beans & Rice, Super Easy!

My Favorite Quick Cookies!

So I've had requests for dessert ideas.  These cookies are my absolute favorite and they are Gluten/Dairy Free.  My kids LOVE them too and they are so easy to make.  The brand is Immaculate Baking Company. You can buy them at Whole Foods, Sprouts & HEB in our community.  HEB has the best prices at $3.29!  The price can range up to $5.00 a package depending on the store.  You find these in the refrigerated section by the eggs or Nestle Toll House cookies.  You break them apart, lay them on a cookie sheet and I smash ours a little so they are thinner (our preference), bake for 17 minutes and enjoy!!!  My family now prefers these over regular choco chip cookies. 

Reading Issues

Does your son or daughter have trouble reading in school?  Have you had their vision checked for tracking problems?  My son couldn't read in Kindergarten and his writing was horrible!!!  I took him to a specialist who tested him using little goggles to see how his tracking was doing.  I was amazed!!!!  His eye movement was all over the place, one eye went left while the other went right and rarely did they move together.  The eye doctor prescribed prism glasses and he was reading in about a month!!  What a huge difference the glasses made in his life.  Here's a link to a similar test like he took: http://www.micromedical.com/visualeyes.html. 

Signs of your child having vision problems are starring out into space. Looking up and back down at the page quickly to refocus while reading.....many reading instructors see this as a "tick" however the child is trying to follow the line and refocus.  Taking deep breathes while reading.  I know this sounds crazy but have you ever been nervous and took deep breathes to help you cope with the situation.  My son would stop after every line and take a deep breathe....drove the teacher's nuts.  Once we put him in the glasses, the reading came very quickly and all his reading habits disappeared.  Now he has a major love for reading and owns a kindle to download books!  I suggest teaching your child to use their finger and point to every word so they don't lose their place in the line and have them tested....what could it hurt!

Recipes - Turkey Meatloaf, Green Beans & Rice

So one of our favorite meals is Turkey Meatloaf, Green Beans & Rice.  Here are my recipes:

2 lb. lean ground turkey (organic preferred)

¼ c. Applesauce (makes it fluffy)

2 Eggs

2 t. chopped garlic

1 small onion diced

2 T. liquid Coconut aminos

¼ t. garlic powder

1 t. chopped fresh or ¼ t. dried sage leaves

½ t. salt

Small squirt prepared mustard

Squirt of ketchup

¼ t. pepper

2 slices gluten free bread torn into small pieces (O'dough's brand preferred)

Topping

½ c. ketchup or BBQ sauce

Small squirt of mustard

Splash of coconut aminos

After putting meat in a greased 9 x 13 pan, cover it with the topping to keep it moist

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Bake uncovered 1 hr to 1- 15min….themometer should read 160 degrees in middle

Green Beans - Fresh or if you're in a hurry, use Low Sodium Green Beans with no preservatives.  Add your own Salt and onion for flavor.

Rice - We like Black Rice with Meatloaf but you could use any kind.  I prefer to change up my rice (brown, black, jasmine, white) because they all have different health benefits.  Put in a Rice cooker early and set the timer if you have one.  

Who Am I?

Well this is the first of many posts I will make in the next few months.  

We are a family of four and have altered our way of living drastically over the past 6 years.  I use to be a working Mom in the corporate world of software.  But when my youngest son started school it was time to say Good-bye to working and hello to staying home!  I'm SO glad I made this decision because our 5 year old (now 11) struggled thru Kindergarten.  He was full of food allergies/issues along with minor health problems.  My oldest son is 13 and has the usual allergies to pollen.  I have learned SO much over the past 6 years that some think I'm a "White Witch" (You know who you are) and others want me to share my experiences and recipes so they can clean up their diet.  So here goes....the first of many posts that I hope you will find entertaining and useful in your own lives and families.