Green Lemonade

The boys have been drinking this juice, or a variation, since they were 6 months old.  It is a powerhouse of nutrition!

We use either apples or pears for a base... the picture below includes pears, because we were given a lot of local, organic pears from my father-in-law.  The greens we use vary, but we always try to include light and dark greens. Some light greens could be cucumbers, celery, romaine.  For the dark greens, kale or spinach are good choices.  We have been juicing the entire lemon, without peeling it.  Experiment and see if that works for your taste buds.  If it's too bitter, peel most of the skin and that should reduce bitterness.

I absolutely love ginger, and so I juice that at the very end of the process, because most of the other members of our family don't like it.  I pour all their juice first, then juice ginger and mix it with what is left over for me.

You'll have to experiment with the amounts of fruit vs the greens to get the right blends that your family will drink happily.  Then you can work to add more greens to the mixture.

School Lunch Salads

We alternate between sandwiches & salads for school lunches. 

This day the boys had orzo salads.

• Orzo
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Spinach
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Red Onions
• Sweet Red Pepper
• Sun-dried Olives
• Sea Salt
• Garlic powder
• Corn
• Sun-dried tomatoes

Maple Glazed Salmon

The recipe for this fantastic meal came from The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose.  I made some variations, due to ingredient limitations and taste. So, I'll list the way we made it, because it was SO good! 

There was such a positive response from the boys, we've had it once or twice a month since.  The whole family likes it, even Jeff!

Recipe:

• 1 cup Tamari
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 4 to 6 fresh or frozen salmon fillets, well rinsed

Mix all ingredients but the salmon in a blender.  Use the mixture to marinate the salmon for 1 to 24 hours.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place salmon in a baking dish with marinating mixture and bake for about 18 minutes.

I made zucchini noodles with our spiralizer and stir fried them with some other veggies for a side dish.
We started the meal with a small salad.  Ta-da... restaurant style!!!

School Lunches 2012/2013 school year

We've made some additions to our school lunch menus this year.

I found these nifty containers for lunches (Bed, Bath & Beyond)... they work great for sandwhiches and snacks.

Cheese sandwiches have been added to our menu a time or two per week.  We use either sprouted grain buns or bread, raw goat cheese and organic condiments.

The smoked cheese is amazing!  It is my favorite, but the boys prefer the mild cheddar.

Final Harvest before the first frost

 

 

Sniff... it's a sad day.  The last harvest from the garden.  We are supposed to get a hard freeze this week.  The kale could last awhile, but the freeze will kill the rest.

 

Goodbye til next year!



 

 

 

 

 

Garden Fresh Bruschetta

At the end of the summer, we had a plethora of tomatoes and basil... which led to many bruschetta snacks/meals.

We used sprouted grain pita pockets and toasted them in the oven... the sprouted grain option significantly reduces gluten issues for Matt.

I didn't follow a recipe for the bruschetta... played it by ear.

Chopped garden fresh tomatoes, basil, a dash of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, minced garlic and topped it with some shredded raw goat cheese.

Tastes likes summer.... summer in Italy :)

Taylor: Healthy Pizza

We all love pizza right?  Could there really be a healthy alternative that tastes fantastic?!
YES!
And that helps you lose weight and feel great at the same time?
YES!

Again, we are using "The Raw Food Detox Diet" by Natalia Rose as our guide.  Taylor chose the "Detox Pizza" section and fashioned it to each person's preference.

Taylor chose to make salad and individual pizzas for all 5 of us.  He was quite meticulous, so it took him a bit of time to accomplish.  But a wonderful thing about this recipe is that is as quick as it is delicious.  Too good to be true right?

The ingredients are simple:

• Sprouted whole grain tortillas
• Vegan organic Spaghetti sauce (many varieties at your local health food store and even some like Muir Glen at WM)
• Fresh Basil leaves
• Fresh veggies to taste (sliced onions, mushroom, sweet pepper, tomato etc)
• Shredded raw goats cheese (so far, we have had NO symptoms to this cheese like to cow's cheese or regular goats cheese... no congestion, constipation etc)

Super quick... super easy... super yummy!  Best of all combinations!

We had a salad first to help digest all the cooked foods.  Then dug in to each individualized pizza!  Thanks Taylor!  Great meal!