Cold Cereal Breakfast



Standard sugar-coated American breakfast cereals are a very poor choice for breakfast but even 'healthy' cereals by themselves are not a good choice.  But having grown up with cold cereal breakfasts, it is nice to have occasionally so this is my nourishing version of cold cereal.  Most importantly, I always feel great after eating this breakfast, light and energized.

Ingredients by bowl (use all raw organic nuts):

~ 1/2 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt or Kamut flakes

~ 1/4 cup Arrowhead Mills Bite Size Shredded Wheat

~ 1 tsp freshly ground flax seed

~ 1 tsp black sesame seeds

~ 1 tsp unhulled yellow sesame seeds

~ 1 Tbl pumpkin seeds (or pepitas)

~ 1 Tbl sunflower seeds

~ 2 Tbl pecan pieces

~ 2 Tbl walnut pieces

~ 1/4 cup puffed rice or millet or similar cereal

~ 1 Tbl organic raisins

1 banana, sliced

1/2 cup organic blueberries, fresh or frozen

(in the fall substitute pomegranate seeds for blueberries)

1 - 1 1/2 cups non-homogenized organic milk (we use raw milk with the cream skimmed off)

Add ingredients in a cereal bowl in the order listed up to the milk.  When ready to eat, add milk and enjoy.  Above recipe is 1 serving.

You do not have to use the cereal(s) that I use.  My criteria when choosing a cereal is:

1.  Never buy one that has processed sugar added.

2.  Buy one with a total sugar content per serving less than 4 grams.

3.  Never buy one that is enriched (other than natural vitamin E used as a preservative).

Cold cereals, even the 'healthy' ones are very processed thus have little nutritional value by themselves.  I use the cereal as a filler - the nutrients of this meal comes from all the added nuts, seeds, fruits and raw milk.  If you have digestive issues, eat the fruit separately before your bowl of cereal.

Weekly Challenge - Week 19 (May 7, 2013)

Review, refocus, renew.

 

This week, please go back through all of the weekly challenges, and read all of the information in the basic posts.  It is easy to slip off track and back into old eating patterns and habits.  If you have been following the blog and weekly challenges, you have come a long way this year!  Please use this week to review and recommit.  If you have gotten busy this spring and drifted, don't be discouraged or feel you are behind.  Use this week to get back on track. 

If you are working on changing your diet to 100% God-made foods, once you cheat once or twice, the addictive quality of man-made foods and ingredients can draw you back into the typical American diet.  If you have been doing well following the weekly challenges, you might be feeling better and thus you might not see the negative effects of the man-made foods right away, especially if the things that have snuck back into your diet are sugar and stimulants.  These will, in fact, give you a temporary lift and give you more energy, enticing you back. 

 

Spring is a wonderful time of the year, usually an energizing time of the year for me.  I spend more time outside and less time in the kitchen cooking.  But there is also many more fresh fruits and vegetables available to enjoy.  Buy them, use them, make simple dishes.  And don't forget that you must plan in advance - don't forget to make your meal plan. 

 

Your efforts will pay off in the long term but you must spend the time and energy upfront learning and using this new knowledge.  Take this week to review what we have covered this year so far, refocus your efforts, and renew your commitment.

 

May God bless your efforts abundantly,

 

Mary 

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins



We drink raw milk, thus it is not homogenized and so I skim off the cream to make butter.  Sometimes, the cream starts to go sour before I get enough for a batch of butter so I created this recipe to use my cream that had soured.  Of course, you can also use store bought sour cream.  Everyone is my family loves these.

Ingredients:

 

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

  (or 1 3/4 cups soft white wheat berries, ground fine)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder (use aluminum free)

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbl poppy seeds

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp sea salt

 

zest of one large organic lemon, finely chopped

juice from the lemon (~ 1/4 cup)

1 1/3 cups sour cream

2 large range-free eggs, fork beaten

1/4 cup maple syrup

4 Tbl unsalted butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.  Don't over mix.  Grease muffin tins with butter and fill 3/4 full with batter.  Bake for about 20 minutes until set and top lightly browned.  Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack.  Delicious warm.

Treat Poison Ivy with Jewelweed



 

I have heard how effective jewelweed is in treating poison ivy, but this week I had a chance to test it.  I got mad at some poison ivy vines last weekend and was pulling it with gloves that had holes.  So, of course, poison ivy erupted a day later.

There are many different 'jewelweed' products available.  I bought the soap, shown in the photo, to shower with after working with poison ivy, as a preventive treatment.  I bought it to have on hand when needed.  This time, however, I used it as a salve once the poison ivy started.

 

I noticed the poison ivy developing when my hand started itching like crazy and a few bumps appeared.  I was going out to the garden, so decided to do a quick treatment on the way out the door.  I just wet the soap and slathered it on the itchy poison ivy spot.  I did not rinse it off, but left it to dry on my hand.  It immediately took away the itching. 

 

Later that day, after doing dishes, it started to get very itchy again, so I repeated the process.  Again, it immediately took away the itching.  I treated the area this way once or twice a day for about four days.  Sorry I don't have a better photo of the poison ivy, but it never developed (thank goodness). 

 

Now for an amazing fact.  Jewelweed typically grows near poison ivy!  I love to learn of the natural remedies, such as this, that God has provided.  This is not a food but many of the remedies are foods, herbs and spices, and most of which we typically have in our kitchens. 

Jewelweed is a member of the impatience family and does grow in Texas.  You can use the oil that you get by rubbing the stem of a stalk of fresh jewelweed on poison ivy also.  I am going to be on the look out for jewelweed today when in the field working; it likes growing conditions like ditches along roadways if you look for it.

Green Beans with Almonds



 

We don't eat frozen vegetables very often, but when we do, I like to liven them up.  This simple recipe is a great one for frozen green beans.  (We don't eat frozen vegetables often because I find the flavor of fresh organic vegetables so superior to frozen ones, and I never use any canned vegetables of any kind.)

 

Ingredients:

 

2 to 3 cups of frozen green beans (or fresh)

1/4 cup yellow onion, diced

1/4 cup almond slivers

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

1 Tbl olive oil

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 

Steam green beans for 12 minutes.  Meanwhile dice onion and mince garlic.  Heat a heavy skillet (don't use one with a non-stick coating), and add olive oil.  When hot, sauté the onion, garlic and almond slivers together for a minute or two.  Add the green beans and toss another minute.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Scalloped Potatoes



Julie and I served these potatoes at a brunch we had last week and they were a big hit.  This dish goes great with a side of vegetables (we had green beans) and meat (we had BBQ chicken).

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup white cheddar cheese (4 oz), shred it yourself
2 Tbl whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
~ 2 lb potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
~ 1 1/2 to 2 cups milk, scalded (heated to just below a boil)
1/3 cup soft whole grain bread crumbs (optional)
2 Tbl unsalted butter

Paprika

 

In small bowl, toss together cheese, flour, sea salt and pepper.  Grease a 2 quart glass casserole dish with butter and arrange 1/3 of the potato slices in the bottom. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese mixture.  Repeat layers of potato and cheese mixture twice.  Pour hot scalded milk over the potatoes, enough to just cover potatoes.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika. Dot with butter and cover.

 

Bake covered in oven at 375 °F for about 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 - 45 minutes longer, or until topping is browned and dish is no longer runny. This recipe is very forgiving on time.  Turn off oven and keep in warm oven until ready to serve.

Tortilla Soup



This is a very easy to make, delicious soup that is great for a large crowd and excellent reheated.

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 Tbl olive oil
1 32-oz can of diced organic tomatoes (I like Bionaturae or Muir Glen)
   or 2 cups of fresh Roma tomatoes, chopped
3 cups of homemade chicken broth
  or a mix of homemade chicken and beef broth
1/2 bottle of Bionaturae Strained tomatoes
1 1/2 cup filtered water
1 tsp sea salt (or 1 1/2 tsp if using fresh tomatoes)
1 tsp pure honey
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp lemon pepper (check ingredient list - I use Frontier organic)
1 tsp ground cumin

Shredded good quality chicken
Organic tortilla chips (always buy organic corn products)
Fresh avocado chunks
White cheese, shredded (Monterey Jack or Cheddar type)



 

Sauté onion, peppers and garlic in olive oil in glass soup pot.  Add the tomato products, broths, water, honey, sea salt, spices, and Tabasco sauce.  Simmer with lid cracked for an hour or two.  When ready to serve, fill bowls with cracked chips, chicken, avocado and cheese.  Ladle the hot soup into the bowls and serve immediately.