We recently discovered the miraculous wonder of EASY oven roasted corn on the cob. Never did I imagine it being so simple. Here’s the secret recipe!
1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
2. Place entire cob in the oven (husk, silk and all!) – There’s no need to do anything to it. See below
Oven roasted Corn on the Cob
3. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and shuck as normal. The silk will practically fall off on it’s own AND you have a super rustic, old-fashioned holster! Season and enjoy!
PURE Joy!
Filed under: Uncategorized
We serve an awesome and powerful God!
Romans 1:20 states “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse.” I never more clearly understood this verse until this past week when it was introduced to me that the foods we eat have innate design as to the healthy benefits they can provide. For me personally, this verse speaks to God’s ability to naturally provide for our body’s needs by creating food and plants BEFORE He even created the first man and woman. Let me use an example:
You have probably heard the statement that carrots contain Vitamin A which is good for the eyes. BUT have you ever looked closely at a sliced carrot? Probably not, at least I sure hadn’t.
A sliced carrot closely resembles the eye – complete with pupil, iris, and radiating lines. Science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the EYES!
TOMATO – four chambers and red! Hmm – Any guesses? Tomatoes contain lycopene which stops bad cholesterol from binding in the plaque that narrows and hardens arteries thereby reducing the risk of increased blood pressure and heart disease.
Walnuts look like a mini-brain, even to the details of the wrinkles and folds. The high concentration of DHA within the nut helps develop three dozen (36) neuron transmitters to improve cognitive development.
Eating kidney beans helps detoxify your body of sulfates which is harmful to blood pressure. High blood pressure reduces the filtering efficiency of your kidneys to remove waste from your body.
.FIGS and Avocadoes both contain healthy fats and minerals which are extremely beneficial to the male and female reproductive organs. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and can help increase the male sperm count. Avocadoes help the female body balance hormones and reduce the risk of cervical cancer. OH and it takes 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. Coincidence? I think God knew what He was doing.
The list can go on and on. Sweet Potatoes – Pancreas , Olives – Ovaries, Celery – Bones. So, if you’re looking for specific health benefits look no further than the natural food you put in your body. We serve an awesome God and He created our food to serve a function. Be the sleuth and look for clues the next time you shop.
This is my attempt to better equip all of us in attempting to explain why we pursue and follow the clean eating lifestyle, especially when sharing with those about whom we care most. I’m sure we’ve all been faced with the situation of trying to explain our choices to one or more friends, family, colleagues, etc. who know nothing or very little about “truly” clean eating. So, here’s my version of how to reach out.
Let’s make it simple and start with a definition:
a·pol·o·get·ics – noun
- a defensive method of argument
- the branch of theology concerned with the defense or proof of Christianity
Although our family believes in the power of Christ and that we are called to care wholly for ourselves, others and the world God gave us – I need more room to cover that one! – I’m going to focus on definition number one for the sake of defending the clean eating lifestyle.
1. Share your story – I find it most effective to start any clean eating discussion by explaining your side of the story. Obviously, with clean eating, this typically happens over food. (Thank Captain Obvious for that one!) Get started with your own personal motives. What influenced you personally to shift from “conventional” food to clean eating lifestyle? What changes have you experienced (weight loss, clearer skin, reduced medications)? How difficult was the transition? Let’s be honest, none of us are perfect. Our family still has it’s setbacks. Who doesn’t love those gooey, delicious box brownies with heaping ice cream! but let’s get back on point.
For our family, it started as we investigated natural, un-medicated birth stories and the profound impact the drugs could potentially have on our first child. Over time, it morphed as we sought to be intentional parents to examine what we put in front of our children. Yes, it was overwhelming at times. No, we didn’t fully know the direction we were headed. Keep in mind, we see it as a constant process to be ever mindful of how we “actively” live our lives. The first step was coming to a decision to make up our own minds and reassess the foundation of what we believed REAL food to be and dig deeper beyond the creative marketing facade of food conglomerates. Taking what our eyes and minds are “fed” daily through marketing gimmicks at face value in order to find the underlying truth to how and what food should be. That’s why we refer to it as a “lifestyle”, not a diet or the latest fad. We have decided as a family to make this a permanent change!
2. Present facts and evidence – Now, the common response you’ll probably get after telling your side is the “well, that’s all good for you but not really for me” bit. Here’s where the 1-2 punch comes in. Drive it home by referring them to articles, facts, evidence that shows them how “conventional” food affects their body and behavior. For starters, here’s a handy one on coke (or soda, if you prefer the term) or on Smoking. By introducing actual evidence and hard numbers, it becomes more difficult for your audience to directly dismiss. Who doesn’t want lower cholesterol? What do you mean I can lose 10 pounds without working out?
Yes, numbers can be fudged. Yes, clinical study results can be subjective based on who or what cause is supporting the study. That’s why it’s important to analyze the resource before offering it as evidence. Do so with care!
3. It’s a pyramid – No, I’m not promoting the government’s extinct food pyramid here. I’m referring to the Egyptian pyramids! We all know that they weren’t built in a day. It took significant time and small individual building blocks to create a masterpiece. As with any major life change, the initial shift can seem like a major tidal wave to swallow for the newbie. Present your audience with introductory small steps they can take (SEE BELOW!). Reinforce the point that it’s about incremental forward movement to reach a life-altering fantastic goal! We all learn to crawl before we can walk. (Okay, okay, enough cliches!)
Truth be told, we (as Americans) live such hectic and frenzied lives that it’s no wonder we expect immediate results. I once heard it said that the only thing Americans fear is inconvenience. Ponder that for a minute! It rings true in more than just our fast, faster, give it to me NOW food! But it’s very important to remember that TRUE change takes time and effort. In committing actual effort to make the eating lifestyle change, the results WILL come.
Here’s a few quick tips and guides to get started on this new awesome adventure to living a better life..
- Follow the “Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen” list when shopping
- Buy (and USE!) Reusable shopping bags – Truth on the plastic stuff
- Food Inc.’s steps toward change
- Go shopping with them the first time. It’s always better to have a partner!
- Shop at local farmer’s markets for fresher, better tasting produce. Or better yet – pick it yourself!
4. Top 3 rebuttals –
- MONEY -“Buying organic costs significantly more!” “I’ll blow my grocery budget!” While it is true that buying organic is more expensive (Here’s why it costs more!), not everything needs to be organic! It’s about making smarter choices to incorporate more fruits, vegetables and whole grains while cutting back on the amount of meat, dairy and unhealthy fats that constitute a significant amount of the average household grocery budget! Instead of buying two bags of Baked Lay’s potato chips, you can buy a 10# bag of potatoes and a watermelon for the same price.
- Nothing wrong with me now – This is often the response of someone disillusioned by the creative marketing mentioned above. Typically, the hard numbers and facts you present should help diffuse this one.
- Don’t know how to start – see the tips in #3 above!
Congratulations, you made it through my long winded, wordy prose. I hope I didn’t cause too many casualties along the way! In all sincerity, life-altering changes are real, even today. The best encouragement you can offer is to accept an authentic, non-accusatory attitude. Isn’t that the best part of life, knowing you’re not alone and someone is there who deeply cares for your well-being!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Hey everyone. Our family is back together after sending the girls to grandma’s for a week and I took a trip to see my parents to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. Quite a life she’s led!
Here’s a sneak peek on the upcoming posts I have planned and am working on:
- Clean Eating Apologetics – how to start a clean eating conversation with “conventional” eating family and friends
- Our weekly meal plan
- Easy Energy Saving Tips
as always there will be more to come. The first post should be released on Monday!
Filed under: green living
I’m going to start and end this post with a question.
Can you remember how you got introduced to the “green” lifestyle (eating, cleaning, living, energy, whatever)?
For our family, documentaries have played a large part of our questioning societal norms when it comes to clean eating and living. Whether Food Inc., FRESH, Waiting for Superman, and so on, we want to pursue the best without doing what we’ve always done. As we continually reassess what’s best for our daughters and how we as parents appropriately weigh the pros and cons of our decisions, to provide a lifestyle for them that’s better than we may have had. Note that I do realize I’m not saying anything new for the majority of parents out there. In fact, I know that there are many more people out there far more eloquent than I on any number of topics which is why we view documentaries. To see a new perspective, gain new insight and decide for ourselves what we deem most important as a family. To educate ourselves in order to teach a younger generation.
Now that the intro’s been set, let’s get to the real post!
The most recent documentary shared with us by close friends is “Bag It – Is your life too plastic?” 50,000 foot intro is that it’s a documentary about the use and side effects of plastics in our everyday lives. Don’t fret – I don’t believe in spoilers. You’ll have to watch it for yourself.
We’ve been attempting to live a greener life by using reusable bags, making our own cleaning products, changing the way we eat, and others. But after watching the film, we’ve modified our green living plan a bit and better defined our NO plastic commitment. So here it is,
- ALWAYS use reusable bags for groceries – This includes refusing the plastic produce bags
- Buy BULK items in our own containers. If we don’t take our own container, don’t buy it!
- Use glass or metal water bottles and cups, never disposables
- Use our own containers when eating out (i.e. ice cream, coffee, date night leftovers, etc.)
As more long term goals to shoot for…
- Compost ALL food scraps instead of putting in trash bags
- Replace all plastic storage containers and bags with glass or metal
- Buy milk in glass containers
- Buy local meat and produce at the source in our own bags
So we’re committing to just “BAG IT”. Now it’s your turn, so go watch the film and decide for yourself.
“Is your life too plastic?”
Thanks to all who have continued viewing our family’s blog since the last post in April. Quite a bit has changed for us and we just want to give you a quick update.
First and foremost, that I have now officially started grad school full-time as of last Thursday. Now being one week in, we see that it’s going to consume much more of my time than previously thought. While the first few weeks have been an adjustment as I transitioned into a regular study schedule, they have gone very well.
Secondly, through consistent prayer and the support of close friends and family, David (my husband) will halt all career opportunities to accept the challenge of stay at home fatherhood to our two beautiful girls. To say that God has come through miraculously is an understatement! It has been as much a time of transition for David since my last post as it has been for me. His support and encouragement has been amazing. In his own words, it’s God working through him, not his own effort.
Finally, David will be taking over the consistent updates to this blog. He even wrote this first post!
– – – – – –
Now that you all know the true author, I (David) can only hope to maintain the same level of outstanding viewership which Sally Ann garnered. I know I have a large void to fill and will commit my best to updating all of you on our new “WHOLE” life as it continues to be redefined and redirected from conventional cultural eating and lifestyle beliefs to one more attuned with mutual respect of the environment and the world in which we live. Just a note – we’re not growing dreadlocks! That is to say, we believe that TRUE knowledge and experiences have the ability to produce life-changing results when your life is appropriately affected (more on that in the coming posts). For now, stay tuned as the Eating Clean and Living Green journey continues…
Filed under: Uncategorized
Just to clarify, my lapse in posts does not reflect a lapse in our new lifestyle—instead, it reflects a surge of busyness that has all but encompassed me since getting into school and trying to finalize all things in regards to this new chapter in my life. I start classes May 31, and tuition is due May 7, so I’ve been a busy bee (on top of reading three of the four Twilight books in the past three weeks…halfway through the fourth one now).
This blog will absolutely have to take a back seat to school, but I am still documenting our meals and will update as I can.
Please comment/contact me if you want to start on a clean eating/green living journey of your own. I’d love to help in any way!
Filed under: clean eating
I don’t even remember where I ran across this fact, but no sooner had I read it than I had to test it out: scallions can be regrown in a glass of water three or four times.
That’s right. Buy some a bunch of organic green onions/scallions, dice the green stalk all the way down to the root (careful to leave at least 2-3″ of root), then stick the roots in a glass of water. I kept mine by a window the first time around, but not the second time—location didn’t seem to make a difference. Check this out:
Day 1
Day 5
What a great way to stretch our dollar out a wee bit more!
We are now 13 weeks into our whole-foods eating journey—or three complete months. I can affirm now that we will absolutely not go back to the way we were eating in the past. We do still have some hang-ups that will have to be addressed at some point (the occasional box of brownie mix and questionable-ingredients-ice cream on the side), but all in all, we’ve made a near total move away from processed foods. It feels so, so good!
It’s been two weeks since my last meal recap because we’re sort of gotten into a routine with breakfast and lunch. Our dinners are where we really switch things up and try a couple of new dishes every week (haven’t repeated a dinner other than veggie stir fry since January 1!). Every now and then, we’ll try something different for breakfast, but for the most part, it’s rolled oats with various items mixed inside or placed on top or muffins or whole-wheat pancakes. All delicious, and for our family, it’s enough variety—at least for now.
Out of a need for ease and convenience, lunch is exactly the same every single day. David and I love the predictability, and the girls seem to appreciate it too.
Breakfasts
*(Almost) Vegan cranberry muffins
*Rolled oats made with organic almond milk and topped with banana, ground flax seed, peanut butter, and chia seeds
*Same as above, but for a topping, David blended up frozen mixed berries into a puree and mixed that in the oats, then topped with banana.
*Oatmeal-cakes/fritters. David got creative and made these oatmeal cakes which we topped with jam. They were sort of like pancakes with granola mixed in. An interesting twist on our traditional breakfast.
*Pancakes and eggs from IHOP (we woke up and were totally—and I mean totally—out of breakfast food. Oops)
*Sweet potato pancakes from Tupelo Honey Cafe
Oatmeal-cakes/fritters before jam application
Madilyn gets really excited when we bring food to the table.
Lunches and Snacks
*When the girls were spending the weekend at my parents’ house, we ate a lunch out at Roly Poly. Mm!
*Diced raw veggies (carrots, bell peppers, and edamame)
*Roasted red-pepper hummus and/or leftover cashew-spinach pesto on real whole-wheat bread p.539*
*Homemade granola bars with dried cranberries and raisins mixed in
*Kale chips (I tore the kale into small pieces, coated with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, and baked for 7-10 min. at 350)
*Smoothies (blended frozen strawberries, a fresh banana, tons of spinach and kale, and water)
*Clementines, bananas, and organic, unseasoned popcorn from bulk kernels were our snacks.
Dinners
*Again, while the girls were out of town with my parents, we ate out at 131 Main one night before watching The Hunger Games.
*Beet sandwiches p.83* with kale chips and baked potatoes (baked organic spuds with salt and pepper)
*Asian veggie stir-fry (2C of cooked brown rice thawed from my bulk stash in the freezer put in a skillet stir-fried with olive oil, soy sauce, and loads of our lunch veggies + some leftover frozen corn this time around)
*Green gumbo with potatoes and zucchini p.126* This was really tasty, but the lackluster apperance got to me a bit.
*Carrot Apple Ginger soup with apple chips (just baked apple slices w/cinnamon on top) and homemade whole-wheat baguettes—variation of p.539*. Rolled dough into long baguette-style rolls, brushed with olive oil and baked.
*Quinoa Tabbouleh p.164* The radishes in this dish were the peppery stars, and the texture was just amazing. Yum!
Green gumbo with potatoes and zucchini over brown rice
Bowl 'o' gumbo
Carrot, apple, ginger soup with homemade whole wheat baguette
Quinoa tabbouleh
Desserts
*I’m now a Gold member at Starbucks which, as cool as that is, means I’m spending too much money there! I’m really going to try the hot tea and honey this week. I promise!
Upcoming eating clean, living green goals:
1. Try a new vegetable/fruit/grain every week for a while—so, the dandelion greens were impossible to find outside of picking them in a field. Oh well. This week, we’ll be experimenting a bit with broccoli—roasting it and mixing with pasta.
2. Remove dairy from our diet to see the health effects—After three weeks of dairy-free living for the girls and limited dairy intake for us, we’re decided to stick with totally avoiding cow’s milk but eating other dairy products in moderation if the opportunity presents itself. Our budget certainly doesn’t want us to start buying yogurt (or whole milk to make it) and cheese right now, but if someone else offers it, we won’t say “no.”
3. Once our shampoo and conditioner and other toiletries run out, start making our own. A friend of mine has had great success making her own hair products, lotion, blush, foundation, face wash, etc from really simple ingredients. Excited to try!
4. Use more reusable containers—especially glass ones. Thanks to a tip from one of my blog readers and an emailed coupon, I bought a set from Bed, Bath, and Beyond last week. Yay!
Articles of interest
Filling your child’s Easter basket without all the processed junk
Link between fast food and depression
*recipes taken from Mark Bittman’s “The Food Matters Cookbook.”
Per your request, here’s the recipe I have modified and used to make triple batches of delicious cranberry muffins that—aside from honey—are vegan. They freeze really well and are intensely filling (read: I eat 1.5 or 2 at the most for breakfast, and that keeps me full nearly until lunch).
When you substitute honey for sugar as a sweetener, you use a little less of the honey than the amount of sugar you would have used (since honey is so much sweeter), and you decrease the amount of all of liquids in the recipe (since honey is liquidy where sugar isn’t). That’s why I’ve got the less-than signs in the ingredients below. From what I read, you decrease by 25%, but I think you have to eyeball it a little bit. The batter shouldn’t be runny; it should be pretty thick. Use less liquid than you think you need, then add in more if it’s too stiff.
Cranberry Muffins (makes 12)
2 C whole-wheat flour
1/2 C rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C chopped fresh cranberries (or buy them frozen, then thaw, then chop)
<2/3 C almond milk, unflavored
<1/4 C Earth Balance, melted
<1/2 tsp vanilla extract
<2/3 C honey
1 flaxseed egg
Preheat oven to 400F. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in cranberries. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine almond milk, vanilla, Earth Balance, and honey, and mix thoroughly. Add to flour mixture. Add flaxseed egg to flour mixture. Stir just until uniformly moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with oil. Bake for 18 minutes or until muffins brown slightly. Leave on wire rack until completely cool, then package for freezing if desired.
Tips
1. Melt the Earth Balance just before mixing it in so that it’ll be super hot. That way, when you pour in the honey and stir, it mixes in easier. Stir until there’s little to no resistance from the honey.
2. Coat your measuring cup in oil or Earth Balance before measuring the honey. It’ll help it slide out easier when pouring.
Eating Clean and Living Green 