Arugula & Baby Portobella Salad

Arugula is a leafy green herb from the mustard family. It can have a somewhat peppery, hot taste to it. It makes a unique addition to a salad.

Salad Ingredients:
Arugula
Spinach
Avocado
Baby Portobello Mushrooms
Red Onion
Bragg Nutritional Yeast
Kelp Sprinkle

Chop lettuce and vegetables as you like them. Add nutritional yeast, kelp, and dressing on the top. Toss and serve!

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T fresh minced garlic
1/2 t. Celtic Sea Salt
1/2 t. Ground Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well. Refrigerate.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups freshly ground soft white wheat grain
1 cup oats
1/2 cup wheat germ or flax seed meal
1 cup turbinado
1 1/2 sticks butter softened
1/3 cup peanut butter (or almond butter)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or other seed or nut of your choice
1/2 cup chocolate or carob chips

In a mixer, blend the butter and sugar. Add eggs and peanut butter and beat well. Add all the other ingredients and mix just slightly until everything is moist.

Spoon onto a well-greased pan or onto a pan lined with baking paper.

Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes.

Basic Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups almond milk
2 1/2 cups freshly ground soft white wheat grain
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup sucanat
2-3 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Place all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir well. Add the milk, nuts, and bananas. Stir just until moistened.

**You can add dried fruit, fresh blueberries, or even carob chips! We have served them with homemade chocolate icing as dessert. Get creative and come up with your own combination!

Pour into a muffin tin that has been well greased with oil. I use safflower which is a high heat oil. Makes about 18 muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

This recipe has no oil, eggs, or dairy. I keep boxed almond milk in the cabinet to always have on hand. This recipe works great for days when we are low on refrigerated items. You can freeze your bananas that are turning brown, and you will always have them on hand. Just put them in the fridge to thaw over night. These muffins freeze well.

Thanks Anna Kathryn for asking for this recipe!

Whole Grain Dough Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey or sucanat
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. gluten (optional)
1 T lecithin
4 - 4 1/2 cups freshly milled flour
1 T yeast

In a mixer with a dough hook, combine water, oil, honey/sucanat, and salt. Add yeast and 4 cups of flour. Mix until smooth. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough is only slightly sticky. Allow mixer to knead the dough until smooth and elastic- about 5-6 minutes.

This will make 2 one pound loaves. Roll dough out on a slightly floured surface and roll up into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan. Allow dough to rise until double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Place loaf on a cooling rack to cool completely. Or you can eat it hot with fresh butter and honey!

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled, and the bread freezes well!

Live Active Nutrition Instead of Coffee

Try starting your morning with live active nutrition. This morning we made Carrot Spinach Apple Juice in the juicer. It will give your body energy and feeds your cells living nutrition to get you started right! It helps to turn your body alkaline.

We think coffee gives us the boost we need to get our body and mind going but actually it has a negative affect on the body. It turns the body acidic which produces an environment that disease thrives in. It also acts as a diuretic contributing to dehydrating your body. It can contain caffeine which is NOT a nutrient. It is a stimulant which actually triggers your body's stress response.

Your body adapts to the stress by stealing nutrients and energy from a system that does not have to have it for immediate survival. Essentially you are robbing one system to pay another which is not a longterm strategy to keep your body healthy.

For true sustainable energy you want to give your body excellent nutrition on a daily basis. This will decrease your need for outside stimulants to give you a boost.

Apple Beet Morning Treat!

Apple Beet Juice

Ingredients:
4 Gala Apples (large)
2 Beets

We have a Hurom Juicer and enjoy making fresh juice in the mornings.  It is a great way to get power packed nutrition to start your day.  It is nutritious as well as cleansing for your body.  Apples and beets are filled with antioxidants which prevent disease and feed your cells live active nutrition.

This made enough for our family of 5 to have 4 ounces each!  Yes, it does taste different from store bought.  But there is NO COMPARISON.  Store bought juice is mostly sugar, often with additives and dye, and contains limited fiber and no living nutrition - not to mention you have no idea from where that juice originated!! We do not buy juice in our home. Period.  This is the option for our kids.  It did take a little while for them to adjust to fresh juices, but after they adapted, they love it and ask for it!

Our kids are allowed to take different days to choose their own fruit and vegetable combination.  When they are involved in the process, they take ownership and begin to enjoy it.  As we make the juice, we talk about what is actually in the fruits and vegetables and what it is doing in their bodies when they drink it.  Kids minds are sharp enough to realize the benefits.  When given the good options to choose and the proper education, they begin to make these excellent choices on their own!

Is it always easy to get them to adapt to the healthier option?  NO!  Do we have some difficult conversations?  YES!  But I NEVER regret the investment and time it takes them to learn to enjoy the healthier option.

Carob Banana Walnut Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 cups almond milk
4 T carob powder
3 frozen bananas
1 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup flax seed meal

Topping:
Carob Chips
Bananas
Walnuts

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. I had a cup of pulp left from juicing that morning that I added as well. It contained apple, spinach, and carrot. Top with carob chips, bananas, and walnuts.  This made enough for 6 servings that were about 6 ounces each for our family.  You can adjust the recipe for the serving size you need!  You can also add more almond milk if you like a thinner smoothie.

If Food Products Were Honestly Labeled

I ran across this cartoon from Natural News.  I have learned so much from reading food labels, mainly that I need to stay away from many products that have a list of ingredients!  This is what has spurred our family on to eat more whole foods, grind our own grain, and come up with ways to make the prepackaged items that we like from scratch.

Start reading food labels and google the words that you are not sure what they mean.  I think you will be inspired as well!

A great resource for examining food additives is a book by Dr. Russell Blaylock called Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.