Do you know where your food comes from?

Whatever way you choose to eat, I do believe it is important to know where your food comes from and become educated about the food industry and some of the politics behind it (like who indorses the food pyramid we teach our kids about at school???? most likely the meat and dairy industry). Until I watched, Food, Inc I was really oblivious to a lot! Not that I didn't care, I just didn't know. I watched this almost 2 years ago which is what got David and I thinking more about what we are buying and which companies we are supporting.

I highly recommend watching Food Inc. if you get a chance. You can see it on Netflix. HERE is a list of other food documentaries you may be interested in.

My other tid bit this morning is about eggs. I do love to eat eggs. I am now buying my eggs from a local lady I found on the Internet. Doing a search on Craigs list takes a matter of minutes and you should be able to find someone fairly close to you selling free-range, organic eggs. Once you buy them, open them up and compare them to an egg from Costco! My kids and I did this and they were so amazed to see the different yoke color from a free range egg which is bright orange vs. the light pale yellow color of the Costco egg. The taste is amazing also!

Here is an article you can read about eggs. I didn't know cage-free, did not mean free range! Very interesting and it only takes a few minutes to read. You can find the article HERE!

I have enjoyed supporting my local farmers and my cute egg lady, Una! Educate yourself and figure out what is important to you and your family!

Green Smoothie Girl!

Last week, my friend Cody and I went up to Sandy to hear Robyn Openshaw speak, the founder and inventor of greensmoothiegirl.com. You can go right to the website HERE. For 16 years she has been eating whole foods and creating whole foods for her four children and now sharing them with the world. I purchased her 12 steps to whole foods, which is expensive but well worth it. You focus on one step a month, such a great way to make the transition into whole foods eating without being stressful and overwhelming. This month, my family and are are starting with one green smoothie a day, which is chapter one. (I have already been doing green smoothies every day for the last year, but not really making my kids. This is a great way for us to make the change together)

Here is a link to The 12 steps book.

I highly recommend her book. If you need to start somewhere, but cant afford this one yet, then you can buy The Green Smoothie Diet, her first book and introduction to green smoothies HERE on Amazon.

At the class, she gave her story and talked about how her grandma cured herself of cancer on a raw diet and flooding her system with raw vegetables. She also reminded the young mothers (and I still consider myself one) that we are the ones that can change the world by eating whole foods and teaching this to our children. We can help the rate of disease by not being afraid to get rid of the processed food in our house and taking the time to learn, one step at a time, how to eat whole foods, prepare them for our children, and share them with those around us.

She shared one of her recipes (our FAMILY favorite soo far) from her book during her lecture and made samples for ALL the people there. I double this for all five of us! Great way to start the day and this is awesome pre workout fuel. One batch is 450 calories.

Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie

by Green Smoothie Girl

1 1/2 C. coconut water
(I use the coconut water from Costco. comes in a case like soda does)
6 baby carrots

1/4 C. chopped dates

1/4 C. raw cashews

2 T. vanilla

1 small beet (or part of a large beet. I got these baby beets from the store and one is just perfect)

2 C. frozen strawberries

(sometimes more for the kids if they want it sweeter)

Blend all together in your power blender and enjoy! The color is beautiful and you can see the happy faces on my children! And I am a happy mom knowing they are going to school loaded with good energy for their brain and awesome fuel for their tummies! If they are still hungry, I will make them whole grain toast and organic eggs to go with it...but at our house...the rule is.... .....SMOOTHIE FIRST!

(p.s. It was worked better for us to not let the kids see what I am putting in the smoothie, until after they try it. They are more willing to drink it when they don't know what is in it. Once I get their approval, then we play a game called,

"Guess the Ingredients!"

Speghetti Squash my favorite way!

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash:

Cut off the end of the squash and then cut lengths wise. Scrape out the seeds and sprinkle with fresh sea salt and pepper. Turn flesh side down and put in a Pyrex. Bake at 400 for about 45 minutes until you can put an indent with your thumb in the squash skin. Once cool, scrape out the squash and it should shred like spaghetti!

Sometimes, we will just eat it as a side dish or top with our favorite marinara sauce. This time, I used an Alfredo sauce from Oh She glows. As you can see from the picture, I just lightly drizzled the squash (and steamed broccoli) with the sauce. Enjoy!

Alfredo Sauce
from: Oh She Glows

1/3 C. raw cashews
1 garlic clove
3 T. nutritional yeast
3/4 C. unsweetened almond milk and maybe a little more to reach desired consistency
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 T. non-dairy butter (like Earth Balance)
2 T. Tamari soy sauce
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 T. Tahihi
pinch of nutmeg (I just used the tiniest bit)
sea salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t. paprika

Directions:
Throw everything in your blender and blend until smooth! I love this recipe and I love everything I have tried from Oh She Glows. com. Why try to invent my own recipes, when she does them just the way I like!

Happy January!

I can't believe how quickly the last few months have flown by. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, an anniversary and two kids birthdays...the last few months were a blur. I am excited to be back on a good schedule with the kids in school and going to bed at a reasonable hour. David and I have been "detoxing" for the last two weeks. It has been great to get excited about whole food eating again. I feel like between Halloween to new years we got lost in the sugar rush that goes along with celebrating.
I am looking forward to another year, continuing to put in action what I have learned last year..making this transition more lasting and permanent.

Here is a great recipe I found from http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/. It is a beautiful website and the writer and recipe creator is very knowledgeable with nutrition and I have really enjoyed her recipes so far. Here is one that I think you will like. The link to the original recipe is HERE:

Ingredients:
2/3 C. almond milk (unsweetened)
1/4 C. pumpkin puree
1/4 C. quinoa, well rinsed
1 t. coconut oil
1/4 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I was generous with this)
pinch of nutmeg and ginger
stevia to sweeten

Topping:
1 T. coconut oil, melted
1 T. agave or pure maple syrup (can use stevia if wanting no sugar)
1.5 T. finely ground almond flour (i just throw almonds in my high powered blender and grind )
1/4 C. pecans, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 250 degrees
2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients (minus the topping). Pour into small casserole dish, cover and cook for 30 minutes
3. While cooking, combine the topping and add to the quinoa after it has cooked for 30 minutes. Bake uncovered with topping for an extra 15 minutes.

Makes 2 Servings...Great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a bite here in there throughout the day.

Each serving is about 300 calories with 7 grams of protein.