A "Normal" Meal?

As I was eating dinner the other night I was considering how normal my meal seemed but how different it truly was. We had Hamburgers and Fries! YUM!

So, why is that different?

Well, let's start with the buns--I made them earlier in the week. First, we ground the whole wheat grain in our grain mill and then soaked it with raw Apple Cider Vinegar overnight for all our bread for the week. They next day, I made it using natural ingredients, such as honey for the sweetener. When I made the bread some of it I made into rolls and then squished them flat for hamburger buns! The fresh bread tastes so good!

And then there's the meat--it was actually ground venison! I can't really taste the difference on a hamburger. This is my low cost way of getting meat without hormones or antibiotics. Wild food is much better than something "caged" in a barn. And I get the extras from the hunter in my family--what a blessing!

Next there are the fries--they are store-bought--GASP! But there are sweet potato fries made with good oils (and I think they are organic--but I don't have the package any more!) I love to add Real Salt (that's a brand name) as I really enjoy my salt!

How about the toppings? Besides Organic green leaf lettuce, we have homemade ketchup (with organic tomato sauce, honey, tamari, raw apple cider vinegar, fresh minced garlic, and Real Salt) and Mayo (store-bought and made with grape seed oil.)

I guess that's about it for a "normal" meal at my house! It is possible to be healthy without giving up all your old favorites--if you are willing to invest a bit of time in the kitchen. And it's an investment that will pay great dividends!

Kitchen Essentials--Tools for the Natural Cook

First let's dream.... Your setting up your wedding registry and already health conscious (wish I was back then). What should you put on it?

• Stainless steel pans without the non-stick (preferably waterless cookware, like Saladmaster)
  
• A Cast iron pan or griddle (to replace non-stick) By the way, it also works to have a hot pan and cold oil--even eggs don't stick bad!
  
• Glass and Corningware-type oven and storage containers (avoid plastic.) If you get enough, you can double dishes and freeze half so you have frozen dinners with none of the processed food!)
  
• Stoneware for non-stick oven needs (such as muffin tins, bread dishes, and cookie trays)--I LOVE Pamper Chef's. Avoid aluminum and non-stick pans.
  
• A toaster oven (for reheating, since microwaves are NOT the best).
  
• A grain-mill (fresh flour is much healthier.)
  
• A Bosch mixer with food processor and blender attachments. You'll use these for everything since it's much healthier to cook from scratch. The mixer is MUCH better than a bread machine.)
  
• A garlic press and a homemade salad dressing mixer container (again, I love Pampered Chef's!)
  
• A Juicer (the kind the juices carrots and such--like the Juiceman Jr.)
  
• A few plastic storage containers (a very few! I try to avoid plastic, but use a tall approx. 2 cup kind to freeze chicken broth in. Since it's frozen, I don't worry about the stuff getting into it. If you prefer, you can pop them out of the container and store in something else once their frozen. I love having 2 cups of broth already measured out for me (the measurements are marked on the side.
  
• A large crock pot (so you can put a whole chicken in it and make broth.)

Well, now, that's my list of kitchen essentials. BUT, in reality I don't even have all of those yet. And it's almost 10 years too late for a wedding registry. So instead, I'm saving up for stuff and have been slowing gathering tools for a healthy kitchen.

Do you have a favorite kitchen tool I didn't include? If so, please share it.

Cooking Soaked/Sprouted Brown Rice

Take a pot and add:

4 1/2 c. water (prefer filtered or purified)
4 Tbsp. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (like Bragg's) or lemon juice, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, or whey
2 c. brown rice

Stir and cover with lid and leave for at least 7 hours on the counter. (If you have less time, do as long as possible, any bit helps).

In same pot, add 1 tsp. sea salt (opt.). Bring water to a boil for 5 min. uncovered. Then boil covered on low heat for 30-45 min. Do not take lid off early. Check to see if water is absorbed and rice is tender. If not, do not stir, but cover and cook another 10 min. or so until done.


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If you are curious what this does, you might look closely at the rice before you cook it. You can see it looks like a sprouted seed, though I rarely pay attention any more, so no promises that it will every time--I don't actually check. But the sprouting is something that changes the grain and makes the nutrients more digestible and also helps those with sensitive stomachs.


This recipe takes no extra time, just a bit planning. It should cook quicker b/c it is soaked. If you like, double the recipe and keep the extra for another meal. It's very soft and SO good for you. Sometimes I just add a bit of scrambled eggs, some coconut oil, tamari, and some veggies (like onion, pepper, or shreds of carrots) and make a meal of it. Or I add it to some chicken broth and make some soup.

For more info on soaking and sprouting grains, see: http://www.suegregg.com/about/c.htm. At the bottom of the page is an excellent brochure you can print out. Sue Gregg cookbooks are my favorites. You might also want to read this previous post.

Make Your Recipes Healthier by Substituting Healthier Ingredients

While a few of your recipes may not be worth the trouble, many recipes can be salvaged by substituting good ingredients. It's simple. Here's some suggested substitutes:


Salt ------------>RealSalt or Celtic Sea Salt

Sugar---------->Sucanot or Honey or Maple Syrup or Agave or Stevia

White Flour---->Wheat Flour (Pastry Flour or "White Whole Wheat" are lighter than regular Whole Wheat)

White Flour for thickening---->Corn Starch or Arrowroot Powder

White Rice---->Soaked Brown Rice

Canned Beans------> homemade beans (preferably soaked)

Vegetable Oil----->Extra Virgin Olive Oil (if not heating) or Ex. Vir. Coconut Oil (if heating very high)

Milk---->Raw Milk

Margarine---->Butter

Vinegar (balsamic, white, or whatever)----->Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (like Bragg's brand)

Soy Sauce----->Organic Tamari (organic is essential with soy to avoid GMO's)

Canned Vegetables---->Fresh (if possible) or Frozen Vegetables

The goal is to use quality ingredients in whole food cooking. If you replace the staples in your pantry, you'll find that cooking healthy can be simple.

The Chicken Soup Cure

One of my favorite healing meals is a soup made from homemade Chicken Broth. In fact, today I was starting to feel a cold coming on b/c of the cold, lack of sleep, and general busyness. So, I started out lunch with Chicken Broth and added Tamari (for saltiness--RealSalt would work too), a dash of cayenne and a small clove of fresh garlic (both for health and added right before eating). Now it was pretty strong with the garlic and cayenne, but it really did the trick.

Now how I made the Broth:

Take a whole Chicken (organic or at least natural--you can afford it if you are buying the whole chicken) and cut the wings off and cut them up. Put it all in a large crockpot and cover with water. (If your ambitious you can take off the skin, but that's too hard for me.) Add a few Tablespoons of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Add a few vegetables, like Carrots and Onions. Add some spices, like Basil, Oregano. Ideally fresh, but I never have those! Cook for 12-24 hours. The vinegar makes the calcium come right out of the bones, into the broth, and into you! The bones will be extremely brittle.

Take the chicken out (use for whatever). Strain out the vegetables and bones. Refrigerate until the fat is solid on top (I usually wait about a day.) Take the fat (and all the toxins in it) off. Freeze some of the broth in 1-2 c. portions to use in cooking.

Make the rest into a soup. Sometimes I just add the vegetables and the small bits of chicken back in along with some cooked rice and tomato sauce and spice it to taste. I just love these soups and fill so satisfied. I've learn that I am most satisfied with my food when it's healthy like this.

Now you know why your grandma said eat Chicken Noodle Soup for a cold. Unfortunately, the store bought stuff is not made this way, so you probably didn't think her advice worked. But now you know!

The Spice of Health

Somehow, someone tricked a lot of us into thinking healthy food shouldn't taste good!!! So I wanted to list a few things I use to keep my food from being bland. (Organic is best for all.)

-RealSalt

-Garlic Salt from RealSalt

-Organic Tamari Sauce (made from soy--must say organic or at least non-GMO)

-Butter (organic--I like cultured butter)

-Honey or Maple Syrup (should not use too much, but sometimes we need it sweet!)

-Cinnamon (I love to sprinkle on toast or pancakes and then add honey)

-Salsa (buy a good quality, pref. organic, and make sure to read the ingredient list or make your own and ferment it!)

-Mayonaise (Do like the Germans do--Ketchup and Mayonaise on french fries, if you can find ones without sugar or bad oils)

-Extra virgin Coconut oil on cooked food. Extra Virgin Olive oil on uncooked.

-Homemade salad dressing: Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tamari sauce, and honey. Mix with these ingredients in the proportion you like (Think lots of oil, and maybe a third as much vinegar and a bit of tamari and honey) and add spice as you like.

-Your favorite spice (non-irradiated spices can be medicinal! Just watch the mixes that they don't have sugar or regular table salt or MSG.)

Add these as freely as you like and remember it's healthy!! (Ok, the sweet stuff, maybe you need to check yourself, and the butter is not perfect unless it's made fresh by a local farmer, but the rest are on the "A" list!)