Category Archives: Bread

Quick and Easy Fall Recipe

fall leaves

Fall is here!!!! Fall is my favorite time of year. I really enjoy the beautiful painted leaves of nature and the cooler temperatures. It seems fall is the season of festivals and football.  With football comes food and friends. The thoughts of hot soups and Chili comes to mind. I want to share a quick and delicious chili dish recipe just right for fall.  This recipe is great when having friends over to watch the big game or just right for a quick and easy dinner  after a busy day.

Major Weigh Down Update #2

lighthouse update 2

I have had a discouraging month with my major weigh down plan. I said discouraging but I did not say I am quitting. I am still very determined to lose my 75 lbs. I have tried to figure out what has went on this month. It seems like I have begin to crawl instead of leap. I only lost 4 lbs since my last update on August 28th.

Maybe some of the changes I made over the past few weeks have not been good changes.

I have began eating out nightly with my husband. We are still splitting our meal between the two of us. This makes it very inexpensive for us to eat out. This seemed inviting after a long day at work. I should have remembered I was on a weigh down plan not no a wallet weigh down plan. Maybe it goes back to the thing I have said before about cooking your own food and knowing exactly what is in your meal. Restaurants may add more salt. They may even sneak a little sugar in the food that I would not be adding. Either way this change is going to be altered down to only couple times a week.

Fall is Here time to Cook Chili

fall leaves

The brisk feel of fall is in the air. The sky is bright blue. Fall does not officially arrive for couple more days. To me it feels like it is already here. I hope to get my fall wreath on my front door today. I can’t say fall is my favorite season. I am not sure I have a favorite season. I am just thankful for each new season that comes. I am thankful to see another season come and to be allowed to breath and spend time with my precious family. I guess summer may be my least favorite. It gets too hot to be outside. Even with the heat I enjoy being out grilling with friends and family. Fall is an awesome time to get out for a walk. When my boys were little we always took a fall hike picking up the prettiest colored leaves we could find. We would bring them home and press them in a book then make pictures with them. Don’t miss the beauty of fall. Get out and enjoy.

When the cool air moves in, my mind always turns to cool weather foods. Chicken stew, turnip greens, baked apples, vegetable soup, and chili always brings a hint of fall to your kitchen.

Red, Yellow and Blue are they Good for You?

colors

Do you read labels and packages? More and more manufacturers are putting on the front of their containers or packages “NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS”, “NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS” AND “NO ADDITIVES”. Why do they feel the need to tell us this? They do it to set themselves apart from the companies that are adding these things to their products.

So many of our foods have artificial ingredients and even chemicals in them, that the companies that do not add these ingredients and chemicals are having to label that their products are free of them. On a continued basis our food is compromised in many ways. It is all for one reason, to sell their product. They elect to forget how unhealthy these additives are for us. When will companies responsible for providing us with our food, actually be held accountable for what they are doing to peoples health?

Preserving For the Winter

squash small

As the summer of 2012 comes closer to the end so does my weekly trips to the farmers market. My weekly visits will be put on hold until summer of 2013. Putting vegetables on hold is not quite as easy as putting a date on a calendar. However it is not very difficult either. This is the time of year to preserve for the winter. Preserved fresh, locally grown and organically grown vegetables will taste much better this winter than the ones you find in the freezer section of your grocery. Not to mention the self satisfaction of knowing you have done the best you can for your family. I like to freeze some squash for squash casserole, stewed squash and squash puppies. (Squash puppies are delicious with beans, chili, soups, leafy greens or fish. You just add grated squash to your favorite hush puppy recipe.) I also try to freeze some okra for stewing or baking. I like to can some squash relish and some jellies to share with family and friends. I have gotten my squash relish canned and that is all. I am behind this year and I will need to get to work over the next few weeks to catch up.

Gluten and celiac disease

wheat

Have you noticed the changes in our food over the last few years? Over 50 years ago people grew their own food or purchased it from a neighbor. People worked hard in the fields pulling weeds and chopping weeds with a hoe. They did not use poisons as freely as today. They watered from springs only when they had to. They waited for rain if at all possible. Over the years our food has lost so much of its valuable health benefits. Now crops are heavily sprayed with pesticides and fertilizers. Special chemicals are put on our vegetables to make them larger. The days have passed where the weeds are pulled or chopped out. Weed killer is now sprayed on a regular basis.

Even the wheat grown today is different. We have to have hybrid or super charged grain. Why can’t we just have regular grain for our bread? Our wheat has been altered so much that it is not healthy anymore. Wheat now spikes your sugar level worse than actual sugar. This has been caused by crossbreeding plants and trying to make super grain.

The change in wheat has caused other issues as well. One being the increase in gluten. Years ago wheat only contained about 3% gluten. In recent years this has increased to 50%. This is caused from the production of hybrid wheat. Hybrid wheat was introduced into our lives because of the high yield, meaning more money at the cost of the health benefits. The overload of gluten is bringing with it many health issues such as constant inflammation, digestion problems and many autoimmune diseases.

Preparing Meals During School Year With Less Stress

happy girl

Fall is just around the corner. Fall brings beautiful colors, cooler weather, football games, and kids returning to school. I used to say fall was my favorite season. As I get older I have decided I have no favorite season. I enjoy each season, each day, each week, and each year. I am just glad to be blessed with each of them and blessed with life and breath. The average kid would let you know fall was not their favorite time of year at all. Most of them would like for it to remain summer vacation all year. They do not realize school days are some of their best days. Some day they will wish they could do it again and know it was something to appreciate.

It is the responsibility of parents to see that they have everything they need to succeed in school. You make sure they have pencils, paper, books, book bags, and clothes. A nutritional breakfast, lunch, and dinner need to me added to that list. We have all heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It has been discovered kids that have a good breakfast are more alert and do better with their school work. They also need a good lunch to keep them strong and maintain their energy to continue their day. Then a nice peaceful time around the family table enjoying a healthy and warm dinner meal.

Is Salad a Good Choice when Dieting?

salad

If you are following my blog you know I am on a weigh down journey. On this journey I am planning to lose at least 75 lbs. I plan to lose this weight by portion control. I do not say I am dieting, and I know this has been said over and over but I truly do plan on this portion control being a way of life. At this point I have lost around 20 lbs. Today, I went in to a BBQ restaurant for lunch. I decided to have a smoked turkey salad with honey mustard. When my salad was brought to the table I immediately halved it and put half into a to go box. As I dipped my fork into the dressing and spread over the salad, I began to think. Is a salad always a good choice when trying to lose weight?

Have you ever seen a sick monkey?

monkey

Monkeys really do eat bananas. When you visit the zoo, bananas are what they are eating and peels will be laying around. I do not remember ever seeing a monkey eat anything other than bananas. Just think about all the energy they seem to have, and I have never seen a sick monkey at the zoo. It makes you think about their nutritional well being. It must be pretty good.

close
Facebook IconTwitter Icon