Lifestyle, not diet

I recently read Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book called Eat To Live.  It isn't a new book and Dr. Fuhrman has been around quite a while.  But the thing I noticed when I read his book this time around is that the things he recommends can be done for a life time.  I hope that other will enjoy reading his book as well.

www.drfuhrman.com

Skyview Farm and Creamery - Local and Fresh

A great resource for locally grown farm products is Skyview Farm and Creamery.

They produce dairy, beef and other fresh farm products.

You can find them at selected farmer's markets, visit their farm (see directions below) or meet at Overland Park drop off.

Here is the link to their website:  http://www.skyviewfarm.net/


Hours at the farm are Monday- Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 10 -4, and we try to avoid Sundays.
 
Directions: Take 69 Hwy.  south about 50 miles to Pleasanton.  Take the exit that is marked E.  850 Rd.  (Which is the same exit as the Mound City/52 Hwy.)  Turn left (east) and follow the black top as it makes a sweeping turn south and over a bridge.  Then turn left on 800 Rd., cross the RR tracks, and go about 3/4 mile.  We are on the left with a sign out front that says Skyview Farm.

Boycott These Brands!

DEMAND YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR FOOD
Parent Company Donations to defeat Prop 37 (California Right To Know GMO Labeling Initiative: PepsiCo, $2.5M · Kraft, $2M · Safeway, Member of Grocery Manufacturers Association, which donated $2M · Coca-Cola, $1.7M · General Mills, $1.2M · Con-Agra, $1.2M - Kellogg’s, $791k · Smucker’s, $555k · Hershey’s, $519k · Unilever, $467k · Dean Foods, $254k

Boycott the organic and “natural” brands listed below, whose parent companies* donated millions to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative.

Call their customer hotlines listed below, and post on their facebook pages.
Tell them you’ll support their brands when they publicly and financially support your Right to Know!

Brookside Organic Market

Sean and Ian got up early and drove over to the Brookside Farmer's Market this fine Saturday morning.  Oh what a bribe of the offer to buy coffee will do!

I picked up some kale transplants to the pack I bought last week.  I also bought Ian a tomato plant.  I bought 2 last week for myself.

I love spring!  I have begun putting my transplants into my raised beds. I am planning on letting my big garden bed in the back rest this summer.  I had the boys put tons of mulch on it. 

This is the first year where I finally have too much mulch!  I have never had enough.  I got my mulch by stopping and asking a crew that was doing tree trimming along the utilities on Blue Ridge Blvd.  I ask if they would drop off a load of their shredded stuff and they said sure!

I now have a huge pile of very roughly chipped wood in my driveway. 

Vegan Mayo!

After buying 2 big, beautiful artichokes at Trader Joe's I decided to find a recipe for vegan mayo in which to dip my leaves!

I found this great recipe video from Toni Fiore at Delicious TV.
http://www.channels.com/episodes/show/14506584/Homemade-Tofu-Mayonnaise

Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe - yummy - NOT VEGAN!!

From the Simply Gourmet blog

http://www.simply-gourmet.com/2013/04/294-flourless-chocolate-cake.html

Recipe:  Flourless Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Gastronomers Guide

8 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup of butter

1 tablespoon instant coffee grounds

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper-bottom and sides. Spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl add egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.

In a medium bowl, add egg yolks and beat until pale (4 minutes). Add sugar and continue to mix for 3 more minutes.

Place a large heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water and melt chocolate chips and butter; add instant coffee grounds and salt, combine well.  Let chocolate cool slightly.

Slowly pour cooled chocolate into egg yolk mixture. 

Add egg yolk/chocolate mixture to egg whites and fold until no streaks of white remain.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes.

Let cool slightly and remove springform pan.

Yields: 8-10 slices

Ready for some new healthy recipes?

A friend that I have only just met on Facebook shared her recipe for Chocolate Orange Chia Fudge Cookies and she said that she began with a recipe found on this website:
http://detoxinista.com/

I checked it out and there are tons of scrumptious recipes!

Non-GMO Shopping Guide

I just watched a documentary on PBS (of course) about the effects of genetically engineered foods on animals and people who eat them.  It was not surprising that the effects are illness, tumors and more.

The most common GMO crops are soybeans, canola, cottonseed, corn, and sugar from sugarbeets

We all know that GMOs are not good for us but many of us do not realize that unless it is labeled NON-GMO is IS Genetically Modified!!!

Check out this website!  It has articles, shopping guides, even mobile apps!

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/

http://vegan.sheknows.com/category/recipes/

She Knows is a good recipes website but there are ads all over it so be aware.  I really enjoyed the Asparagus & Lemon pasta recipe here.

For some reason the URL would not load into my recipe website list below, so I have put it here for now to be added later.

http://vegan.sheknows.com/category/recipes/

Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon Cream Sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 pound asparagus stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 cup raw cashews
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-1/4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2. In a deep skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in garlic and red pepper. Add asparagus and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Saute asparagus until crisp but tender, about 5 to 7 minutes, depending on thickness of stalks.
4. Meanwhile, puree cashews in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Add lemon zest, black pepper, and remaining salt, and blend together.
5. Add water and lemon juice in a steady stream to cashew mixture with food processor running; the sauce will be thin.
6. Add pasta to skillet, toss to combine, and remove from heat. Stir in cream sauce to coat. Taste for seasoning and serve hot.

The Chubby Vegan

Another great vegan recipe blog!  I was looking for a vegan wonton recipe, since I discovered that the wonton wrappers I have always purchased had eggs in them.  My search brought me to this blog.  It has all kinds of great recipes but I especially liked the one for mini-lasagna cup appetizers.  I am going to a wedding shower and bringing appetizers, hence the need for wontons.... follow me?

http://www.thechubbyvegan.com/

2 great vegan cookbooks

After re-watching Tackling Diabetes with Neal Barnard (see links in the Nutrition videos folder on the right) with my husband, I was inspired to find some new vegan cookbooks.

In the past while my family did not mind if I ate vegan, they did not necessarily want to.  I have found that recently everyone is more willing to get on board especially if there is tasty food being made.

So I went to the library and ordered a bunch of cookbooks and I have found that these two are my favorites.

*The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude by Brain Patton
The recipes are very straight forward and ingredients are pretty easy to find.  The chef does have a fascination with profanity so be forewarned.

*Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way by Chloe Coscarelli

Chloe's cookbook has tons of great pictures which is always a plus and her recipes are easy and also has mostly commonly found ingredients.  

I have already made several of the recipes in these books and like them alot.

NETFLIX

I am one of the cheapest people when it comes to TV or movie viewing but I have to admit that I am a big fan of NETFLIX!  For just $7.99 per month, we can watch great movies and tv series on the computer or through streaming player devices like Roku.  At our house, we rarely watch regular network TV anymore.

I have added a list of good nutrition/food related videos available on NETFLIX.

I just watched Vegucated the other night and while I personally did not agree with all the issues covered in the film, I think it is very insightful and needs to be seen.

My list of NETFLIX films is on the right.  Enjoy!