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!

Recipes, Fruit Flies & Garden Update

Ahhh, I felt wealthier today. Do you ever just sit back for a few minutes and count your blessings, only to realize how truly blessed you are? Well, I definitely had a moment like that. We spent the day doing yard work: mowing, weeding, weed-eating, gardening, etc. It was in the 90s, so we were pretty crispy burnt by the time it was over, but looking around at the backyard, seeing how much plenty our garden is producing, and how grateful my family is for this adventure called life...and how rich we truly are in blessings! Here are a few pictures that my husband took after it was all done. I think the trellises will do really nicely for the greenie beanies and cucumbers.

Look in the back of the 1st picture: compost bins ready to go and......rainbarrels! Woo Hoo! Let's use the water from the sky before using the water from the tap! I'm excited for this added feature!
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So, a few tips: if you have a plethora of fruit flies at your house, put a small amount of apple cider vinegar in a cup, along with a drop of soap. Mix it, and then watch the flies DIE! Bahahaha! I hate pesky fruit flies, bleh! We do this once a week just after grocery shopping and our kitchen is pretty much free of the little buggers.
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I have been making some super fun recipes, compliments of Simple Healthy Tasty-see the link to the right, she is FABULOUS!!  First of all, CHEEZY SAUCE! We are really trying to stay away from dairy, so imagine my giddiness when I found this little baby, and it is so YUMMY! We had sloppy joes, healthy style. I have adjusted the recipe a bit because I didn't like the original very much. It's more like a "Taco Joe". :)

First of all, I made homemade whole wheat jumbo rolls instead of buying them at the store.

Then, I made the following:

Mushroom and Rice Cheezy-Q's

6-8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped small

1/2 onion chopped

3 cups cooked brown rice

Olive Oil to taste

Large can of tomato sauce

Taco Seasoning to taste

Place some oil and the onion in a large frying pan, chop up the fresh mushrooms add to the pan saute for a minute then add the rice, sauce and seasoing, stir until it is hot remove from heat. Put your roll/bun on your plate and spoon some Mushroom concoction, followed by Cheezy Sauce. Eat open-faced style.

Cheezy Sauce

1 ½ cup raw cashews

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ cup water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients in blender. (Wet ingredients first!) Blend until smooth. Use as a sandwich spread, a dip for crackers or veggies, for nacho cheese, or anything else you want to use it for.

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Sunday Dessert night was chocolate cake, coconut cream sauce and fresh berries.  Here is the recipe:

Super Moist German Chocolate Cake

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

3 T. sifted cocoa powder

1 t. baking soda

1 c. Sucanat

1/2 t. sea salt

5 T. coconut oil

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 T. vanilla

1 cup cold water

Put your flour into mixing bowl, add cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt and mix well.Make three deep holes in the dry mixture. Into one, pour the oil, into the next, pour the vinegar, into the next, pour the vanilla.Pour the water into the bowl, over all of this.Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until there aren't any more lumps and pour into a 9x9 inch baking pan.Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, test with fork.Can also be made into cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes.

Top with whipped Creme and fresh berries

Whipped Creme

Take a can of coconut milk (not light kind) and get cold in fridge. Open the can and with a spoon, spoon out only the thick stuff. Put into a small food processor or blender, and add about 3-4 Tablespoons Sucanut and ½ teaspoon vanilla.

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So, a local health food's store is going out of business (sad!), but yay for 50-75% off of their products! I've never bought vanilla bean before, and have never even seen it, but when I saw it was 50% off, I had to snag some. I went home and made these little babies to go with the super hot day we were having.
Here is a picture of vanilla bean, if you've never seen it. They smell sooooo good!!!!

Healthy Vanilla Milkshake

2 cans coconut milk
2 frozen bananas
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Agave
1 small handful macadamia nuts (I used raw cashews)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Vanilla bean, just the inside scraped out (optional)
4 cups ice

In blender blend everything but ice until smooth.  Add ice blend again until smooth.  Drink right away or if you like a really thick milkshake, place in freezer for 1-2 hours then stir well and drink!