Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

A new friend (thank you, Randy!) showed us a "secret" place close by that sells bags of organic juicing oranges for $2/bag.

It's so cute! You turn into a little driveway, walk into the small, covered fruit stand right next to the orchard, choose your bags of oranges and ruby red grapefruit and leave your payment in the box.

These oranges are not pretty, but they are DELICIOUS!











In an organic system you don't waste anything. We need to educate the consumer to accept a tiny blemish on an orange.
~ Robert Patterson

Lemonade!

We were recently given some fresh lemons from Helen's tree and thought we'd make lemonade on this gorgeous day. Here's our sugar-free, healthy treat!

Lemonade Recipe

1-1/2 cups Lemon Juice, fresh-squeezed

6 cups cold Water, pure

3 droppers Lemon Drop stevia

& a little Lemon zest

Combine all ingredients and serve.

Day 37 ~ Raw Foods

1:34 PM ~ I just returned home from Marilyn's and my footbath water was the lightest orange that it's been. Yeah! I shared that mornings are still a little difficult for me and she said that sounds like it will be my indicator for completely renewed health.

Right now mornings are difficult since the body uses resting and sleep for continued detoxification. My body works hard overnight. :-) When I am able to hop out of bed like I used to, I will know my body is cleansed.

I brought home more highly-alkalized water for the humidifier and will continue this treatment at home. My lungs have been releasing less and less resinous goop as the days go by.

I always learn something interesting when I have time with Marilyn. She shared more about Raw Food today ... including some incredible desserts. I browsed through 4 cookbooks by Kristen Suzanne and can't wait to try some of the recipes!

Pina Colada Muffins

Pina Colada Muffins

3 eggs
2 T coconut oil (or butter), melted
1/6 cup agave nectar (or 1/4 cup sugar)
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 c pineapple, finely chopped
3 T coconut, grated

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees F.
2. Blend together eggs, coconut oil, agave, and salt.
3. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into the batter until there are no lumps.
4. Fold pineapple into batter.
5. Pour batter into greased muffin cups
6. Sprinkle grated coconut on top.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes.
Makes 6 regular size muffins, or 12 mini muffins.

Broccoli Celery Soup

I have another EASY soup recipe with various options to share...

Broccoli Celery Soup
2 hand-sized clusters of fresh Broccoli, broken into florets (slice & use stem too)
1 Onion, sliced
6 celery ribs, chopped
1-1/2 cup+ Vegetable Broth
1 tomato or several grape/cherry tomatoes, diced
Olive Oil
Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1. Steam broccoli in a little vegetable broth. Steam only until broccoli is warm (do not let broth boil). Should still be crunchy and bright green. And you shouldn't be able to smell it cooking.
2. Saute the onions in a bit of olive oil...they become so sweet.
3. Add celery to the onions. Saute for just 3-4 minutes.
4. Into a Vitamix, add broccoli, then the onions/celery.
5. Pour vegetable broth into the Vitamix until the liquid comes to the 1-1/2 cup mark.
6. Mix on speed 5-6 for about 30 seconds...until all ingredients are combined.
7. Pour into a bowl and add about 10 drops of Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Stir.
8. Top with tomatoes.
Delicious!

Another Option:
Last night before topping with the tomatoes, I added some cooked brown/wild rice. It made a real "meaty" soup.

Tropical Apple Kale Smoothie

I have perfected a wonderful fruity green smoothie. Hee hee!!

Tropical Apple Kale Smoothie
1 apple, cored
2 kale leaves, minus the stems
1/2 banana

1 t. coconut oil, organic, unrefined
1 cup cold water

Into a Vitamix...

1. Add one cup of water, kale and apple. Blend together.

2. Add banana and coconut oil. Blend together.

3. Enjoy!

* I really like this recipe. You can also add 1 cup of crushed ice if you want it thinner/slushier. I've tried it both ways and I prefer it without the ice.

Day 25 - BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

My best day yet! A little slow-going in the morning still, but around 1 PM I felt more normal than I've felt in a long time and it just kept getting better throughout the day! Woo woo!!

Ventured out to Harvest Health for a few things. Picked up Coconut Flour and a great cookbook for baking with it: Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat I also bought organic red grapes. Yum Yum! We love organic grapes...no strange coating left in your mouth after eating them. And these were so crunchy.

Made Crockpot BBQ Chicken and Baked Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Cinnamon for dinner. Here are the easy recipes:

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

1. Place 1-2 pounds of your favorite pieces of chicken in the crockpot.
2. Pour 3/4 cup or so of BBQ sauce over the top. (We love Trader Joe's BBQ sauce for a prepared sauce.)
3. Cook on low for 5-1/2 hours.
4. Serve as is right from the crockpot or pour a little more warmed-up BBQ sauce on top per your preference.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

with Honey and Cinnamon

8 small to medium sized sweet potatoes
2 T butter **
2 T pecans, chopped
1 T honey, raw
cinnmon, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place sweet potatoes on a cookie tray and place in oven.
3. Bake for 45 minutes.
4. Slice sweet potatoes open and put contents into a serving bowl.
5. Place 2 T butter and 2 T chopped pecans into a small sauce pot. Melt butter and coat pecans.
6. Take sauce pot off the heat. After a couple minutes add 1 T (or to taste) raw honey and stir.
7. Add cinnamon to taste. I used 3 shakes.
8. Pour honey-cinnamon sauce over sweet potatoes and stir until well combined. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving, so sauce infuses with the potatoes. They will remain plenty hot for serving.

**Healthier and tasty option: Substitute 2 T flaxseed oil for the butter. Do not heat.

As we head into the cooler weather, I'd love hear about any easy Crock Pot Recipes you have. Post here or send me an email. :-)

Easy Homemade Broccoli Soup

Have to share this EASY recipe with you for homemade broccoli soup!

1 hand-sized cluster of fresh Broccoli, broken into florets (slice & use stem too)
1/2 Onion, sliced or diced
1 cup+ Vegetable Broth
Olive Oil
Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1. Steam broccoli in a little vegetable broth. Steam only until broccoli is warm (do not let broth boil). Should still be crunchy and bright green. And you shouldn't be able to smell it cooking.
2. Saute the onions in a bit of olive oil...they become so sweet.
3. When broccoli and onions are ready, pour the broccoli then onions into your Vitamix.
4. Pour vegetable broth into the Vitamix until the liquid comes to the 1 cup mark.
5. Mix on speed 5-6 for about 30 seconds...until all ingredients are combined.
6. Pour into a bowl and add about 10 drops of Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Stir and eat!
Serves 1-2.

Delicious!

Other Options:
- I think the next time I have avocado in the house, I'm going to add 1/2 an avocado to make it even creamier.
- I was also thinking about dicing some Grape Tomatoes (or Red Peppers) and tossing them in for nutrtion & color.

Apple Kale Green Smoothie

This is the Green Smoothie recipe that I tried this evening. It certainly woke me up! Caffeine has nothing on this drink. Hee hee!!

Apple Kale Green Smoothie

3 apples, cored

3 kale leaves

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 cups water

Blend all in a Vitamix.

A little love for your cells!

Fruit Smoothies

It's starting to heat up in our little neck of the woods...uh..desert!
Here's one of our favorite cool-down recipes...so easy!

All Fruit Smoothies
1 cup fruit juice (any combination)
1-1/2 cups frozen fruit (any combination)

1. Pour the fruit juice into a blender or VitaMix. Add the frozen fruit.
2. Blend.
Hint: If the blades get stuck, add another tablespoon of juice.

Tiffani's Favorite:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup fruit punch ~ we like Juicy Juice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen pineapple

Traci's Favorite:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup fruit punch
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

*Other possible additions: shredded coconut, Mountain High Yoghurt, soaked almonds...be creative!

Egg Casserole

This is one of our family's favorite recipes. We normally eat it for dinner, but we made it for breakfast to share with Grandma & Grandpa before they drove back home this morning.

1 T. butter
1-½ c. (6 oz.) Canadian bacon, diced
1 t. onion powder
2 T. chives (fresh or dehydrated)
8 eggs, beaten
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
3 c. diced potatoes, thawed
1 c. milk
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Melt butter in skillet and saute Canadian bacon, onion powder, and chives for 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs with milk, salt, pepper, potatoes and 1 cup of the cheese.
3. Add the bacon mixture and stir well.
4. Pour into a 13x9 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese over the top and bake for 10 minutes longer or until casserole has cooked through and is firm.

Serving Suggestion: Serves 6-8 ~ Cut into squares and serve with toasted English muffins

"Good Rice"

The rice we had in Florida was so delicious, we decided to find a recipe for "Good Rice." Here it is...we added clove of garlic to get closer to the recipe we enjoyed, but there still seems to be something missing. Anyone know what it could be??

1/2 cup butter
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 large onion, chopped
salt, to taste
Optional: 1 clove of garlic

1. Melt butter and saute onion until transparent. Add rice and stir constantly until it turns a caramel color.
2. Add chicken broth, then parsley, basil and salt. Bring to a boil and lower flame. Cover and steam rice for 18 minutes. Fluff with a large 2 prong fork.

Monterey Chicken Casseroles

We found this recipe in a magazine years ago. It quickly became a family favorite...a "double do-over." We bake the casseroles in the individual baking dishes, but I'm sure it can probably be baked in a larger single baking dish.

6 six-inch Corn tortillas, each cut into 6 wedges
2 cups Chicken, cooked/cubed
1 cup Corn, frozen
4 oz can Green chiles, diced
1 16 oz. jar Salsa verde
3 T. Sour Cream
1 T. Flour, all-purpose
1 cup Mexican cheese, crumbled
Optional: diced tomatoes, diced jalepeno peppers, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, etc.

1. Preheat oven at 350 F degrees. Spray four 10-12 oz baking dishes with non-stick coating.
2. Place 5 unbaked tortilla wedges into the bottom of each dish.
3. Place remaining wedges on a baking sheet; bake for about 10 minutes (until crisp & golden).
4. Meanwhile, combine chicken, corn, chiles, salsa, sour cream, and flour in a medium bowl and divide mixture between the four baking dishes.
5. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
6. Arrange baked tortilla pieces on top of baked casseroles and top with cheese. Bake 5-10 more minutes. Garnish per taste. Makes four servings.

Optional garnishes: cilantro, cheese, jalepeno peppers, olives, sour cream, tomatoes, etc.

Summer Corn Salad

For many years, our friends, John and Emily have blessed us with ears of fresh corn right off their farm here in southern California. There's nothing like it! Sometimes we eat it right off the cob, other times we shave it off and make this refreshing Summer Corn Salad.

2 cups corn, fresh (or frozen/thawed or canned)
1 cup tomatoes, fresh & diced
1 cup mozarella, fresh & diced
4 basil leaves, chopped
1-2 Tablespoons Italian salad dressing

1. Combine all ingredients in a pretty serving bowl.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

* We like using cherry, grape, or sugar plum tomatoes...just slicing them in half.
** Variation: Sometimes we omit the dressing and just opt for a little salt and pepper.

Corn Casserole

We love cooking together...here's one of our favorite Corn Recipes. It's very tasty and light...perfect as a side dish, for lunch with a salad, or pour chili over the top.

Most corn casseroles have eggs, but we've found this one perfect for families with children who have egg allergies.



1 15 oz. can Corn, drained (about 2 cups fresh)
1 15 oz. can Cream-style corn
1 cup Sour cream
8 oz. pkg Corn muffin mix
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients except the butter.
3. Place the butter in an 8x8 baking dish. Rotate dish, so it is well-coated with butter.
4. Pour excess butter in with the other 4 ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour entire mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 50 minutes.
6. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*To control the amount of salt in the casserole, we use unsalted butter and unsalted cream corn. Play with it and see what tastes best to you.

** Inspired by one of our favorite cooking hostesses, Paula Deen. Paula Deen's original recipe used a whole stick of butter & a topping of cheddar cheese.