Homemade Peanut Butter

Bethany, this one is for YOU!
I have always been a lover of peanut butter. However, the more I read about what is in the PB sold in the stores, I cringe!

Peanuts in general hold a lot of toxins in them, so of itself Jif, Peter Pan and Skippy will take the cake in filling your body with unwanted junk. That aside, check out the ingredient list. You figure, it's peanut butter, it's made of peanuts, right? Wrong! In addition to peanuts, check out all the oils and unpronounceable words on the label! Most PB's have rapeseed oil in it. In it's pure form, it is toxic for human consumption because it is at least 50% erucic acid. This acid has been known to create fatty deposits around the hearts of animals. Now, there has been a rapeseed plant modification that supposedly lowers the amount of acid, but once this oil is brought to the high temperatures prior to adding it to food, it turns rancid-therefore carcinogenic (and full of free radicals). It has been linked to many other health hazards, as well. 
Try researching some of the other things in peanut butter....

Enter the high power blender. Mwah! I love it! Add 2 1/2 cups of peanuts, and blend at speed 5. With a spatula, push the peanuts towards the blade, and start it again, up to speed 5. Repeat over and over until you reach the desired consistency. It usually takes me 5-6 times. Oh, and don't forget the sea salt, to taste. Store in fridge. It is SOOOOOO good!
(I actually have to hide it in the fridge, or my hubby goes hog wild over it!)

Ingredients? Just peanuts, thank you.

Pink Hummus Quesadillas

Pink Hummus Quesadillas

1 c dry chickpeas, soaked overnight and sprouted 3 days
4 T fresh lemon juice
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
4 t homemade taco seasoning
1/2 c sun dried tomatoes, drained
1/2 c salsa
1/2 t sea salt
8-10 T water
corn tortillas
2-ish c fresh spinach
1 c fresh cilantro
1 c shredded mozzerella

Blend all but the last 4 ingredients in high power blender.
Heat some coconut oil in skillet, and stack 1 corn tortilla, sprinkling of cheese, pink hummus mixture (thick), chopped spinach & cilantro, another sprinkling of cheese and 1 corn tortilla to top. Fry until crispy on both sides, and cut into quarters. Serve immediately.

I made the mistake of having Ben fry these, and he put on wayyyyy too much cheese, so be careful! The pink hummus is so flavorful, and if you use too much cheese is just ruins it. We know for next time, but it was so tasty!

Taken from GSG, with some alterations for flavor-i.e. garlic, extra water, etc.


Soooo, Father's Day. I always let my hubby pick out what he wants to eat for dinner, and for the dessert. Well, not that this was a mistake, but it certainly posed some difficulties when he chose a dish that had a lot of cheese, and a dessert that had a LOT of sugar. Not only did most of us have sore tummies for several days, but I found the the raging monster of sugar cravings reared it's ugly head. I had a really rough week both physically and emotionally because I started thinking sugar-sugar-sugar all the time. It was amazing to me how even a taste of it gets your body craving it like crazy, even though it's been weeks since you had it.

Has anyone else had issues with their tummies and their brains after going off of a food, and then eating it again?

Pesto Pasta

We have made this dish twice, in the last 2 weeks, and each time it disappears before I get a picture. I was very skeptical because of all the basil--I've never had pesto before--but it was absolutely scrumptious! This recipe originally comes from Green Smoothie Girl, but I made a few adjustments based on our tastes.

Pesto Pasta

1 1/2 lbs whole wheat pasta or gluten free pasta
1 lb spinach, lightly steamed
30-35 fresh basil leaves
6 cloves garlic
2 fresh roma tomatoes
4 oz shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raw walnuts
sea salt to taste
Optional: additional steamed cauliflower, broccoli and/or carrots. Mushrooms would be tasty as well!
Combine all ingredients except pasta in high power blender. Blend 2 cycles of Sauces. Toss with cooked pasta and additional vegetables, and sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese.

P.S. I have many more recipes to come, I have taken pictures, even! I will also write about Father's Day weekend, and a slip into old habits. Our tummies are still recovering, and you do NOT want to be in the same room as my 3 year old!!! Peeee-yooouuuuuuu!!!!

Orange-Pine-Strawberry Smoothie

I won, I won, I won! I won again! :) I love being able to introduce kids to drinking fruits and veggies, and hearing them thank me for it. Our good friends were going out of town today, and I decided to have the kiddos over while Mom packed for the trip. Total of 10 kids running/crawling around my house, and we had a blast! At lunch, I served green smoothies, and those kids were slurping them down so fast, and didn't even want the rest of the lunch, just smoothie. :)

I mowed today. It was 96 degrees. I was bushed by the time I finished, so we had a very simple dinner. Instead of making salad for our predinner enzyme consumption pleasure, I tried this smoothie, and once again, it was slurped down, with folks asking for more more more!

8 leaves swiss chard (from my garden!!!) :)
8 leaves beet greens (from my garden!!!!)
1 T flax seed oil
juice from 2 oranges
1/2 c water

Blend blend blend, and then add:
1 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries
1 cup frozen pineapple
fill the rest of the blender with frozen strawberries

Blend until smooth, pour, serve with a straw! :)

Enjoy!!

Potato Salad

One of my summer favorites, I knew this recipe had to be adjusted to make it healthier. This is what I came up with:

Potato Salad

8 small white organic potatoes
8 small red organic potatoes
2 small sweet potatoes (mine went bad, dang it! But I'm sure it adds more fun flavor!)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
Diced red & green organic peppers (I ran out of these, too!)
1-2 diced cucumbers
4 vertically sliced kosher dill pickles, diced
15 baby carrots, sliced
3 stalks organic celery, diced
fresh mint (to taste-about 5-7 leaves)
chives, to taste

Dressing:
6 small cloves garlic (crushed)
3 tbsp raw honey
9 tbsp apple cider vinegar
15 tbsp flaxseed oil

Boil potatoes whole in skins until they are just done. Once potatoes are done, remove from stove, drain, and chop into quarters when cooled. Combine all ingredients well in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir through. Cool completely in fridge for a few hours to allow flavors to blend. A sprinkling of paprika would add a little bit o pretty, too!

Spruced Up Green Salad

Our family has our salad at the beginning of the meal, as the main course. The "dinner" that follows is served in smaller portions because we have just filled ourselves up with all sorts of nummy green food! ***see below for more information on this***

Well, last night, I commented that we really needed a new spin on our salads. I mean, even though I make a different dressing most nights, it's the same salad every night. So, we all started brainstorming, deciding that adding a fruit and a nut, along with some raisins would make things more interesting.
I chose to add apples and walnuts to today's salad, but I could have easily done strawberries, blueberries, pears, mandarin oranges, mango, almonds, pecans, macadamias, etc. Get creative!!! :)


So, here's what we did:
2 cups fresh organic spinach
1 head of Bibb lettuce
2 organic apples, diced
(I was out of raisins, dang it!)
1 handful of raw walnuts, chopped

Mix together and add the following dressing:

1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 c raw apple cider vinegar
1 c olive oil
1 T mustard
1 t sea salt
1/2 c onion
1/2 c alfalfa and red clover sprouts
Blend all together in your high powered blender and then add 1 T poppy seeds. This makes a LOT of dressing, so add and mix, and add more if needed.

The result: 2 of the 4 kids had seconds, and the other 2 ate and said it was really good. And it was! Soooo GOOD!

***Enzymes. Green plant food provides enzymes. What are enzymes? Enzymes is what our bodies NEED to break down our food and get the nutrients from it, sending the rest out of the body. Enzymes are critical for DIGESTION! Our bodies have a limited capacity to produce these critical elements, and anything we can do to help our body digest will allow it to focus more on cleaning and healing and protecting itself, since most of our energy is used for digestion. If we eat a nice big salad, as well as green smoothies every day, preferably prior to eating anything cooked, our body will thank us later for the help in digestion.
Short term effects of our body pulling enzymes from ourselves: indigestion, heartburn, constipation, gas, bloating
Long term effects: all degenerative diseases, resulting from burnout of our organs.
Now, I kinda like my organs, and I especially like them healthy, so anything I can do to not tax them-I'm gonna do it! Including having a salad prior to my dinner, and any other time during the day that I need some good ole enzymes.

p.s. the only other food out there that is higher then greens in enzyme content is sprouted seeds, nuts and grains. Our family has started sprouting, and I sneak them into EVERYTHING! The kids don't even notice it in salad dressings, wraps, smoothies, etc. Bahahaha!