My life is over.

Ok so quick post to let you know my ENTIRE WORLD IS CRASHING DOWN AROUND ME. I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE THIS AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO. JUST END IT NOW!!!!!


....Ok, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic. BUT...get this. My dear friend just sent me 2 articles about agave nectar, which I SWEAR by...telling how HORRIBLE it is for you!!! Granted, this is only one source and maybe it's not all totally true...but that one source IS Sally Fallon, who is like THE god of holistic nutrition. And she's a smart cookie and does her research. So it's probably totally true and reliable. :-(

Apparently, agave is produced the same way as HFCS and even MORE concentrated fructose than HFCS. Ugh, I don't even know what to DO. Apparently...I mean, understandably so...the best way to go is just mostly avoid sweeteners. If you do eat it, use raw honey, organic maple syrup, molasses...ya know. NATURAL stuff. While it doesn't keep your blood sugar from spiking, those things aren't as BAD as processed sugar and stuff, so used sparingly, they're probably the safest things. I don't know about Stevia...I'll have to read more about that too. Apparently xylitol is death too. Produced using chemicals, then the crystals are forced out of solution by adding ETHER and then they are extracted using ROTARY EVAPORATION or CENTRIFUGATION. I used that junk in ORGANIC CHEMISTRY to synthesize chemicals, man!!! This is just ridiculous and scary.

Anyway...here are the links if you are interested in reading more about it:

http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Nectar-of-the-Gods.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Nectar-Worse-Than-We-Thought.html

I gotta get back to work..just had to freak out and rant. Peace out, yo, and stay away from the sweet stuff! IT WILL ALL KILL YOU!!!

Wow, time flies....hehehhh.. :-/

erries
Sooo, yes. It has been over 2 months since I last wrote in here. Partially because life has been crazy getting everything pinned down and paid for for Natural Chef School, partially b/c I've been uninspired as far as food goes, and partially because I have new things occupying my time ;-)

BUT I am back! With a vengeance!

I have started the Master Cleanse and Clearvite program, so I'm going to chronicle my ventures on here. I only did 3 days of the Master Cleanse, which was actually GREAT. It's supposed to balance your blood sugar and get rid of all the antigens in your body, so it can kind of clear out and start over. Basically, for 3 days, all day I drank 12 tbsp organic fresh squeezed lemon juice and 12 tbsp grade B organic maple syrup in 7.5 cups of filtered water. Also, I could eat raw or steamed vegetables I had NEVER eaten before. And let me tell you....I now know there was a REASON I had never eaten them. EW.
Anyway, it was AMAZING how good I felt doing this cleanse! I had tried to do a 3-day juice fast 2 summers ago, and the morning of the 2nd day I blacked out and got a migraine, and that was the end of THAT. This, though...I never even got hungry! If I did start feeling any slight hunger pangs, I just took a swig of my concoction and they went away INSTANTLY. It was crazy! And the syrup kept my blood sugar level the whole time, so my head was clearer than it ever is. I felt awesome! Haven't felt quite as good since I've started incorporating food back into my diet...but hopefully that will level out.

Now I'm doing the Clearvite program, which is also for detoxification and to find any food allergies and heal them. I'm in the first 4 days now, in which I can only eat mostly fish, some chicken and turkey, and lots of gluten-free grains, fresh fruits and veggies, minus corn, tomatoes, soy, and peanuts. Random. Oh, and everything has to be ORGANIC. I tell you what, you don't realize how many little things go into what you eat until you think that EVERYTHING has to be organic. It really limits what you can have.

So basically, it's a pain in the buttox, but if it'll make me better...I'm up for the challenge! So I've been trying new recipes and stuff out, and they've been pretty darn good so far! So I have new stuff to share with you now, and I'm newly inspired! So here goes...

Day 1
Breakfast:

• Clearvite shake with frozen berries and rice milk
• small bowl of maple buckwheat flakes in rice milk

Lunch:

• Sunflower pate wraps - these.were.AMAZING. Yes, yes, it sounds weird...but honestly, it tastes just like chicken salad, except it's made out of sunflower seeds! I based it on the recipe from one of my fav blogs, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, and tweaked it a bit based on what I had. Here's the recipe I followed:

Sunflower Pate:

1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 5 hours

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup finely diced shallots

1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

A few sprinkles freshly ground black pepper

A few shakes of sea salt
A dash of Spike

Fillings:
sliced raw broccoli
sliced raw cucumber
sliced raw carrots

Organic nori sheets for the wrap


Place all ingredients for pate into food processor or blender (I used our VitaMix). Blend until fairly smooth. Take sheet of nori and spread some pate down the middle. Add desired fillings. Roll into a wrap, and wet the edges with fingertips, to get the nori to stick to itself and stay closed.

VOILA! A delicious and nutritious gluten-free, Organic, Clearvite Diet-friendly lunch! OH SO GOOD!


Dinner:

• -Citrus chicken I have previously posted the recipe for, except I used oranges and lemons, and cherries because I didn't have any cranberries.
• Boiled beets
• Roasted brussel sprouts - cut brussel sprouts in half, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Place on top rack of oven at 450 for about 10 mins. Delish!
  

Oh, and for random snacks throughout the day, I ate apples, I think....Oh, and I made some cashew butter by putting some cashews, melted coconut butter, and a bit of water in the blender. It was very watery at first...but after I put it in a container in the fridge, it's actually the perfect consistency! I made ants on a log with it and it was yummmm :-)

Day 2
Breakfast:

• Clearvite shake with 1 orange, 1 tbsp coconut oil, a handful of shredded coconut, ice cubes, and rice milk
  

TO BE CONTINUED.... since it's been a week since I started writing this post and still haven't had time to finish it....lol ;-)

Thanksgiving Weekend Magic :-D

I am thankful. Are you thankful?

I don't think we stop to THINK about all our blessings often enough. I know I am as much a culprit in this accusation as anyone. But you know what? I am SO.BLESSED.

This Thanksgiving weekend was phenomenal. I spent it with my wonderful family and two of my very dearest friends who came up from my alma mater. It was a few days just so relaxed and full of love, joy, and happiness...I can't even describe it. To have people who care about me so deeply and truly is a rare thing, I know - and I cannot thank God enough for it! It was so wonderful to be so comfortable in that love, and just live life and LOVE it! We have health, jobs, food, a roof over our heads, amazing family and friends....I really could NOT ask for more and I have no business ever worrying about anything! God is so good to me.

I also had lots of time to COOK! So, be excited - I have tonssss of recipes to update you on! And I took picturesss!!! So here goes!

The day before Thanksgiving, after my friends got in, we had a Sisters Dinner - my 2 friends are sisters, and my 2 sisters were the only ones home. So, I decided to make chicken. I adapted it from a recipe I found online, but it really ended up being my own concoction I changed it so much, and it turned out DELISH!!!

Orange Lemon Agave Chicken:

• 4 organic chicken breasts
• agave nectar (I ended up using probably about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• olive oil (enough to keep chicken moist...don't really know exactly how much I used ;-)
• 1 tbsp. salt
• dash cumin
• dash chile powder
• 1 lemon
• 1 candy orange (or just a small orange)
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Remove chicken from packaging, rinse, and place in glass pan, skin side up
3. Drizzle olive oil and agave over breasts
4. Mince garlic and put on chicken
5. Sprinkle with cumin, chile powder, and salt; rub toppings around and into chicken
6. Wash lemon and orange and cut into slices; squeeze juice over chicken, then arrange the slices all over the chicken
7. Sprinkle chopped green onions on top
8. Add cranberries so everything is sitting right on top of the chicken
9. Cook for about 30 mins, and check to see if it's cooked all the way through

The next day for Thanksgiving, I made even MORE deliciousness.
First, I made the cranberry bars from Elana's Pantry, which were amazing again! They were definitely a big hit, and I saved some of the filling as cranberry sauce so I didn't have to use the sugary canned stuff- it was delish!

I also made the Pear Pomegranate Salad with Orange Vinaigrette from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen (another one of my faves!). I would recommend making the dressing at least the day before - it's much much after it's been sitting a while!



Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
pinch cinnamon
(I added more orange juice and some agave too, as I found the original dressing a bit too bitter and vinegary for my taste - this helped a lot)

Salad:
8 cups mixed organic greens
1 ripe, firm pear, cored and sliced thin
1 cup pecans, toasted*
1 cup pomegranate seeds (arils)

To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a glass jar (old almond butter jars work well), and shake well.

Toss all salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss again. Serve immediately.

*To toast the pecans: We like to use the small Native pecans - place them in a glass baking dish and toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. This brings out their yummy nutty flavor and increases the crunchiness. Watch them carefully, you don't want them to brown too much or burn, just be lightly

My sister made an edible chocolate peanut butter pie that was INCREDIBLE too. I don't know exactly how she made it, but I do know she made the crust out of crushed Corn Flakes and melted Earth Balance, and pressed it into the pie pan. The filling was chocolate tofu, coconut milk, and peanut butter. OH SO GOOD!!

The next day, I made a Butternut Squash Tart from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free as an edible alternative to the sugar-ridden pumpkin pie my brother had made, and let me say, it turned out AMAZING!!! Everyone REALLY loved it!

Butternut Squash Tart *slightly revised*
serves 8 – 12

Crust (my own concoction because I didn't want to make the flaky gluten free crust she called for):

• 1.5 cups raw pecans
• 7 pitted dates
• pulse these in vitamix or food processor until COARSELY ground
• add 1/3 cup melted Earth Balance and 1/4 tsp salt
• mix well
• press into bottom of tart pan and up sides to create crust
  

1 (3 pound) butternut squash
1/3 cup agave
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese at room temperature
3 eggs
1 teaspoon good quality cinnamon

Place a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel butternut squash, remove seeds, and chop into one inch cubes. Place in a large sauce pan, fill half way full with water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until squash is fork tender. Drain squash in a colander set in the sink. Let squash cool slightly.

Place squash in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process squash until it’s a smooth puree. Add agave, mascarpone, eggs, and cinnamon. Process until smooth. You’ll have about 5 ½ cups of puree.

Transfer the butternut squash puree mixture into the tart pan. Fill as full as possible without having it overflow. Place in the oven on the sheet pan and bake for 22 minutes. Rotate the tart 180 degrees and bake for another 23 minutes or until the squash filling is set. You can tell by wiggling the sheet pan slightly – if the middle doesn’t wiggle it’s done.

Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

As you can see, my Thanksgiving was FULL of wonderful food, family, and friends, and I couldn't be happier :-D It was even BETTER that I was able to make all these delicious, healthy alternative to normal foods. And you know what? Even our guests LOVED the stuff I made - they said it tasted completely normal, or often even better than normal, sugary, processed stuff! Just goes to show ya - you don't need to eat death to eat delicious :-)

God bless everyone, and remember to be thankful ALWAYS - it will keep your priorities straight and your outlook on life positive.

Having been properly chastised...

Sooooo, I know. I haven't posted in a long time. Again. I was down visiting my friends at college again this weekend, and my dear friend was kind enough to bring this to my attention (not that I didn't already know... ;-) But anyway, since he has reprimanded me, I thought I better get crackin!

The only problem is...I haven't been eating anything normal or interesting. For some reason, a lot of my health problems are coming back. I get sick almost every time I eat again now, which hasn't happened for years. And it shouldn't be happening, given everything I have been doing and continue to do to keep it under control. It is very frustrating, and I would appreciate prayers if you can spare some :-) I'd like to get this figured out and fixed, if possible.

Sooo instead of posting stuff about food, I'm going to share my latest discovery. Well, not really latest, haha, but it's a great one!

So I am pretty much an all-natural health hippie, if you hadn't noticed. I hate using ANYTHING with chemicals in it - it freaks me out. And I've always had bad skin, and I've tried just about everything out there to make it better, and nothing ever really worked. I actually went on antibiotics for about 2 years before I knew the horrors of antibiotics, and that helped my skin a lot - unfortunately, that's what originally DESTROYED my stomach. Sooo I'm not doin that again.

Anyway, I'm always looking for products that are ACTUALLY all natural. Not the ones that SAY "All Natural" and then actually contain DMDM Hydantoin (a preservative that releases formaldehyde into the product. Um, I'm sorry, but last time I checked I wasn't trying to transform myself into that cat cadaver I dissected in Anatomy and Physiology...)

I couldn't find any good face washes that didn't irritate the heck out of my skin or have chemicals in them, so I decided, "Hey, why not try making my own?" Ahhh, the wonderful world of Google :-D Seriously, you can find out how to do ANYTHING on the internet. I did some searches, found what ingredients were common among a lot of the recipes, and whipped up a batch. And you know what? Nothing I've ever used has made my skin so SOFT, non-oily, and clear. Now, I'm not going to claim a miracle. I have bad skin anyway, and this didn't cure it, but it helped SO much more than other things I've tried! And it's not full of JUNK THAT WILL KILL YOU!!! And it's so cheap and easy!! AMAZING!

Seriously, people rely on chemical trash WAY TOO MUCH. I am absolutely convinced God gave us everything we need in nature. That doesn't mean I'm not thankful for modern technology and scientific discoveries - I am - but people rely on them way too much and over-use them. Nature is beautiful, and safe, and it WORKS.

So I will now share with you my miracle recipe for, as my family calls it when they see me walking around with it on, "Breakfast Face Wash" :-D

Breakfast Face Wash

• Take some whole grain oats (organic is great if you've got it!) and put them in a coffee grinder (this is great for absorbing oil and exfoliating)
• Throw in a few coffee beans (to help constrict pores and improve circulation)
• Grind well
• Pour in some honey and whole organic milk until mixture is a good consistency - you should be able to rub it on your face without it just running off. Let it sit for a while and it will get thicker as the oatmeal absorbs the moisture, and you may have to add some more milk. The fat in the milk, and the honey, are both great for moisturizing your face.

Rub on your face and leave on for a few minutes - usually about 10 - then rinse off with warm water, then splash your face with cold water, and VOILA! Your face will feel smooth as a baby's butt. Although I've always wondered why you would want your face to feel like the back end of a tiny human....but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, I hope this has been enlightening and that it works for you. I love it! I just mix up a small batch and keep it in the jar in the fridge (you can't make a lot b/c it will rot).

Oh, and my lovely roomie told me about another face mask she loves, which I haven't tried yet, but it's supposed to tighten pores and help get rid of red spots leftover from old acne. Apparently you just take egg whites and add a bit of lemon juice and let it sit on your face for a while. I'm going to try that soon too!

Well, I must go now, my lovely readers...if you exist...live long and prosper.

....and do yourself a favor and stop using regular cosmetics. I will put up another post soon about exactly why...but to give you a small taste of how horrific cosmetics are (since there is actually no regulation whatsoever as to their ingredients), let me just tell you a lot of them contain ingredients such as....wait for it.....ANIMAL POOP.

On that lovely note, sweet dreams! ;-D

Migraines are the devil.

SoooOOOooooOOOo....I got really behind on posting because I was struck down by a migraine when I was trying to get caught up in the first place. So then, the next day, I had that weird "migraine hangover" feeling when I woke up. After I get a migraine, I always just feel like it happened because my body is horribly toxic for some reason (even though I don't really eat toxic food...ever...well sometimes I cheat I guess, but it shouldn't effect me THAT much!!) ANYWAY...I woke up and just wanted to GET THE JUNK OUT OF MY BODY. Sooo...I made a smoothie.

***WARNING: THIS SMOOTHIE IS NOT FOR WEAK, PANSY, WANNABE-HEALTH FREAKS - HARDCORE HIPPIES ONLY!***

• Smoothie: 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, a ton of flax seeds, some ice cubes, and Garden of Life Perfect Food - this is a Greens powder, and supposedly the BEST you can buy. But I tell you what...you can SURE tell it's good for you!!! This is definitely not a smoothie you make to enjoy....but MAN did I feel good drinkin' it! :-D

I have also been making smoothies with organic cabbage in it - another good antioxidant organ cleanser to add in.

Today for breakfast, I made The Spunky Coconut's Grain Free Pumpkin Pancakes - and they were great!! :-D Very Fall-y, which I LOVE! They were very light and fluffy, but almost like...whipped egg-fluffy. I don't really know how to explain it. They weren't bread-y. But they tasted deeeeeelicious! Now just the age-old problem of finding a pan that actually doesn't destroy pancakes when you try to flip them, doesn't burn them, but also won't KILL you if you cook on it. Hmph.

Anyway......I think that was about the only interesting thing I really ate this weekend. Busy, busy, busy! Still trying to find money for nutrition school and a place to live in Cali..............any offers??? ;-)

Baking Time!

***SORRY This is so late! I started typing it last week and was smote by a migraine in the middle of it, so I went blind and was not able to finish it....but here it is finally!!***

SO. I baked a lot this weekend/week! There were several recipes I wanted to try, and they all came out really well! As far as the regular food I ate...um...haha I got kinda behind on my posts! I'll just try to tell you the interesting things I ate, to give you good ideas maybe.

Breakfasts:

• smoothie - organic cabbage, frozen mixed berries, 1/2 banana, flax seeds, ice cubes, water
• smoothie - 1/2 cup organic plain yogurt, crushed pineapple, banana, flax seeds, almond milk
• banana pancakes made from leftover waffle batter from the weekend

Lunches:

• sprouted grain wrap with roasted chicken, cucumbers, spinach, Garlic Goddesss dressing, and a kiwi
• leftover taco salad
• Cuban pork, black bean, rice, and plantain wrap (this was WAY too carby)

Dinners:

• chicken, onion, pepper fajita
• mini portabello mushrooms sauteed in Earth balance and garlic salt, with shredded chicken, and a cob salad with homemade yogurt dressing - a bit of plain, fat free organic yogurt and a squirt of key lemon juice
• ground beef in red sauce over random organic greens and sauteed mushrooms, and santa claus squash boiled, with a bit of honey and cinnamon drizzled on top

Ok, NOW for the exciting part.... I already posted about my carrot cake I made (I'm adding pics to that post too now, if you want to check them out.)

BUT I also found a recipe for cranberry bars on Elana's site. Have you ever worked with fresh cranberries before? I mean, I'd always seen those Ocean Spray commercials with the guys standing in the cranberry "pools" or whatever the freak they are...what are those?? How do cranberries actually GROW? Hmm I'm gonna have to look into that...

ANYWAY - I'd seen those commercials, and thought how cool it would be to be walking around in a pool of cranberries. I mean..AWESOME! So when I made these cranberry bars they use fresh cranberries, and let me tell you...the are SO MAGICAL to work with!! I mean, I was washing them, and they're all floating in the big silver bowl, and they're shiny and such a beautiful color, and so winter-y...AGH it just made me so happy!!! And then when I was COOKING them - good night!!! They smell AMAZING, they're so COOL, and they just start popping and sizzling...haha I LOVED it! :-D They're just so happy!

So yes, I made these, and they turned out AMAZING! Just the right amount of tart and sweet...I'm DEFINITELY making these for Thanksgiving! And the best part, as always? - I CAN EAT THEM WITHOUT REGRETS!!!! Man....it's the small things in life ;-)

Gluten Free Cranberry Bars

1 cup raw pecans
5 dates, pitted
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
6 cups fresh cranberries, picked over (discard bad ones)
1 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon orange zest

1. Place pecans and dates in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground

2. Pulse in oil and salt until mixture begins to form a ball

3. Press crust into an 8x8 inch greased baking dish

4. Bake at 350° for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned

5. To make cranberry topping, place 4 cups cranberries, agave and orange zest in a pot on the stove

6. Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer 10-15 minutes, until cranberries start to dissolve

7. Add remaining 2 cups cranberries and cook covered for 5 more minutes

8. Remove mixture from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes

9. Pour mixture over pecan crust

1. 
   

10. Allow bars to set for 60-90 minutes

11. Serve

1. 

Fall Festivals and Birthdays

So here's my post for the whole weekend - I tried quite a few new recipes that turned out really well!
Saturday, I went to a Fall Festival for our housing area, and it was SO NICE because the weather was perfect! And my little sister won a Chik-fil-A gift basket 30 seconds after we got there...haha it was awesome :-)

I woke up Saturday morning and decided to make a breakfast burrito. So, I sauteed up some onions and yellow peppers, a bit of potato, and mixed it with 1 scrambled egg and 1 organic sausage, and wrapped it up in a sprouted grain wrap with a bit of shredded cheese. It was sooo good! I love breakfast food!

For lunch, it wasn't very healthy...they had hamburgers, which I ate without a bun, and some chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A, plus some pickles...mmmyeah.

We had a really late dinner because we went to 5:30 Mass and then people were out...we didn't eat till about 9 pm, as we were watching the football game. Anyway, we decided to have breakfast for dinner too - a true American tradition! We had the same egg thing I had for breakfast, minus the wrap, and my sister and I tried The Spunky Coconut's grain free waffles, while everyone else ate regular white flour death waffles. Mine turned out really good, they were very tasty with a bit of Polaner's Black Cherry 100% fruit jam on them, but they weren't really like waffles at all - they were very soft and floppy, not crispy at all. We actually used leftover batter this morning to try them as pancakes, and I liked them better that way (of course that had nothing to do with the fact I threw a few chocolate chips in them.. ;-)

I keep trying to cook on non-death pans though, because I know Teflon will definitely kill you, but all these non-nonstick pans are so hard to cook on! The first batch of pancakes were completely obliterated. Then I tried putting a TON of coconut oil on the pan (I had just used Earth Balance at first), and it worked a lot better, luckily. Still though...does anybody know of better pans that won't kill you??

Let's see...today was my youngest sister's birthday...I was pretty sure she was 7 the last time I checked, but apparently she's 15. How does this happen, when clearly I haven't gotten any older??

Breakfast:

• 5 lil pancakes, made from leftover waffle batter

Lunch:

• Taco salad - organic romaine lettuce, black olives, canned corn, cherry tomatos, shredded Mexican cheese, dressing made of salsa and sour cream (not the best health-wise, admittedly), crumbled Fritos, chunked Mexican flavored organic chicken

Dinner:

• Garlic roasted chicken
• sweet potato casserole (mashed sweet potatoes, agave, honey, eggs, cinnamon, with a toasted pecan topping, baked...I'll get the actual recipe lol)
• fresh corn on the cob
• Grain free carrot cake with cream cheese frosting - This turned out really well too! I would make some changes though...it tasted more like carrot muffins, so I might put more sweetener in next time. Also, it pretty much EXPLODED when I tried to take it out of the cake pan, so I'd suggest parchment paper in the bottom. Really good though, very moist! I'll post pics later too :-)