Mandy Vlog: Recipes needed!

Have trouble meal planning sometimes? ME TOO!

Documentaries on Health

Looking for revealing documentaries on health and lifestyle?

Hulu and Netflix offer loads of great documentaries. Some of these are great for children to watch as well.  We have used some of these videos in our home school lessons.

The Gerson Miracle
    The Gerson family reveals how food is our medicine and can reverse health issues and disease that many doctors say can only be healed through intense, harmful chemical therapies. You can learn more about the Gerson therapy on their website, http://gerson.org

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead
    This documentary follows a man who changes his life through juicing and a lifestyle diet change.

A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms  
    This documentary tells about about how factory farms hurt the environment- how it harms the soil, our water sources, and therefore everything else.  Very interesting, as we often don't hear about this side of things. It's not just about how disgusting factory farming is!

Food Matters
     Is a collection of interviews with leading Nutritionists, Naturopaths, Scientists, M.D.'s and Medical Journalists providing proven solutions for overcoming illness naturally.  You can find more support, recipes, etc on their website,  http://www.foodmatters.tv .

Dirt! The Movie
    This is a wonderful documentary that details how the health of our soil impacts the health of our bodies. "Dirt feeds us and gives us shelter. Dirt holds and cleans our water. Dirt heals us and makes us beautiful. Dirt regulates the earth’s climate. Dirt is the ultimate natural resource for all life on earth."  More information available at http://www.thedirtmovie.org .

Hearty Vegan Potato Stew

Friends.. I have to say, this one is a keeper!

It's so easy, it should be a crime. I could give you the idea and you could come up with a recipe all your own, but I know, for me, I like just having a recipe on hand, so I figured that I would share it with you.

This is the hearty goodness that I whipped up tonight..

Hearty Vegan Potato Stew

3 russet potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1 qt. carton organic, low-sodium veggie stock (Trader Joes)
1 T. fresh thyme (minced)
1 dried bay leaf
2 c. frozen mixed veggies
3 green onions (whites only)
3 T. minute rice
1/4 c. edamame

1 clove garlic (peeled and left whole)
salt and pepper to taste

Add veggie stock to your pan, and throw everything in. :) Simmer until potatoes are tender and rice will be done as well at that point.

Serves: 3

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So.. a few things. 

1. If you don't have fresh thyme, just use dried, but only 1 teaspoon.

2. I made this soup mostly for G who is sick, so I didn't want to blow her away with the garlic, but I still wanted to have a little flavor in it. If you like garlic, you could always mince it up or grate it.

3. I had a good sized bowl and then G had a small bowl, and I still had 2 good sized servings left. I would say if you are feeding adults, you could get the 3 good sized servings out of it. If you're serving kids, you could probably get 5 kid servings out of it. Anything in between, you get the idea. It all depends on how big of servings you are giving.

4. Finally, I didn't had a large onion, but also didn't want a huge onion flavor, just something mild. Shallots would be great in this as well, cipollini onions would be great, or even just minced onions.

5. Wild rice would be AWESOME in this too!

Finally, whatever sounds good to you, throw it in. The edamame was a random throw in, and I ended up really enjoying it in there. Whatever you have would be great! It's hearty, and such a great comfort food on a chilly evening.

Hope you guys enjoy this one! I know I did, and I'm pretty sure it's calling my name again right now! :)

Enjoy!

XO, Lindsey

Vegan Cookbook Reviews

Happy Saturday!!

Hope you guys had a great week!

Wanted to share a couple cookbook reviews with you guys. This is my first vlog, I guess you call it, so I hope you find it helpful and informative!

These are the cookbooks that I talk about in the video that I am LOVING right now..

Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin.
and
Spork Fed by Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg.

What are your favorite cookbooks, vegan or otherwise?

I'd love to hear from you! Enjoy the video!



Happy Creating!

XO, Lindsey

Blueberry Goodness

Hello Friends!

My name is Lindsey. I'm a mother of one and a wife of 5+ years to my best friend. 

I love crafting, creating, and cooking. I also adore gardening and everything that comes with it. However, living in a condo in the city doesn't create the greatest atmosphere for the sprawling acres of garden that I'd love to have. One day.. one day. :) 

Mandy has asked me to do some writing for The Organic Family. I, of course was honored and excited at the opportunity. 

I have recently gone vegan, which I am still working through and trying to find the best and healthiest things to eat. I've been searching for new recipes to try and stumbled across this recipe for vegan blueberry scones I knew they were begging to be created in my kitchen! After a light dinner tonight, it was time, and they did not disappoint! I found them on the Earth Balance page. The recipe made 12 scones... I think. Maybe I should have counted before we started munching on them! :)

The original recipe called for two things that I swapped out for other ingredients. You could use gluten-free flour if you have it and coconut spread instead of regular vegan butter spread if you'd like. I didn't have either so I just used what I had. 

I also used frozen blueberries, but really the possibilities are endless! Blueberries, dried cranberries, raisins, orange zest, nuts.. Let your taste buds guide you! :)

So.. enough talk, more food. Enjoy one of my favorite new recipes!

Vegan Blueberry Scones

• 6 Tbs. warm water
• 2 Tbs. flaxseed meal
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbs. coconut spread or regular vegan butter spread
• 3/4 cup soy vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 Tbs. raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 F and line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Add the flaxseed meal and warm water to a small bowl, mix together with a fork, and let stand for 10 minutes.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in stand-mixer bowl.

Switch whisk attachment to paddle attachment on mixer and add in butter spread. Mix until combined, but do not overwork.

Stir in flaxseed meal mixture and yogurt into dry mix until just combined. Gentle fold in berries or any other additions you choose. 

Generously flour surface and roll out to approx. 3/4 inch thick. 

Cut into triangles or use a large ravioli stamp to cut scones. 

Place scones onto baking sheet, sprinkle tops with raw sugar.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

And ENJOY! 

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Loves to you all,

Lindsey :)

Back up and running

So I've pretty much let this blog go, but I'm in the process of bringing in contributing writers and invite anyone who has something to share to send in guest posts.

When I started this blog, we lived in the suburbs and desperately wanted to escape "city life".  Now we live in the country on twelve acres, so a lot has changed.

One thing hasn't changed through. It can be a real struggle to eat clean, healthy foods, especially when life becomes busy and rushed.  I have learned that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  It's okay to splurge now and then. It doesn't mean you have to throw your whole diet (and by diet, I mean "eating lifestyle") out the window.  It's really easy for me to feel overwhelmed when it comes to meal times.  I have five children, I homeschool, and I have a lot on my plate (well, figuratively speaking).  Sometimes supper time sneaks up on me, and I have no clue what I'm going to make.

I often forget to eat breakfast and lunch because I'm so busy making the kids' meals. I drink my cup of coffee and fool my stomach into thinking it has eaten, and then I snack on things as I put together the critters' lunches and... then when dinner rolls around, I realize I haven't actually had much of anything to eat!  It's not that I am purposely depriving myself.  I love food! But it's easy to get distracted and busy and forget to take care of myself. (Which I should, especially because I'm still nursing!)

Sometimes I don't plan ahead, and so I'm out and about and STARVING, so I pull into the drive thru lane and chow on some fries and burgers because, let's face it, when you are hungry, you often don't care about how healthy it is! You just want to fill the belly up and make the cranky go away.

Anyway, I figured it would be good for me to work on this blog a bit more often to keep myself more accountable and to share what I'm going through as I try to get back on the right nutritional path.  I've invited some of my friends to share as well!  Let's be honest with our struggles.  I want this to be a place to share successes, but also our goof-ups, hardships, and dislikes.  Let's share what works for us and what doesn't work for us.  Let's share information that we find useful.  It's not to scare people into eating healthy or to judge those who choose to eat differently than we do, but to inspire and encourage one another.

And, of course, I do hope to continue sharing posts on frugality, cloth diapering, elimination communication, gardening, and such!  If you have a post, link, photo, or recipe to share, please email me at talkto (at) mandymom (dot) com! :)

On the table: Planning Ahead

Let's talk about food and family for a second (okay, more than a second). We live in a convenience-society and a fast food nation. Our idea of preparing ahead of time for dinner is downloading the Domino's Pizza app on our iPhones or figuring out which restaurant we're going to eat at.  We are constantly bombarded with images of great looking food (that rarely looks that good in person, and certainly doesn't taste as good as it appears) and tempted by tricky labeling (All Natural! Low Fat! Sugar Free! Organic!).

I'm in one of those stages of life where there's been a lot of go-go-go, and I haven't been smart about preparing ahead.  It's also a stage of life where I'm pretty darn exhausted (hello, five children!) and sometimes don't have the brains or the energy to slave over a stove.

When I go grocery shopping, I avoid certain foods because I know they are unhealthy, and I don't want to put that into my family's bodies, but then, a couple days later, I am wishing I would have grabbed that frozen pizza because it may not have been healthy but neither were the tacos we just scarfed down from Taco Bell (and the frozen pizza would have been cheaper).

I am recognizing that with all I have on my plate (no pun intended), I really need to have a plan. I have made meal plans and such before, but they never quite worked out because I would have a day or two where I felt really weary (and lazy) and didn't want to put forth all that effort.  Then veggies and food would go bad, and I would have wasted lot of money and.. bleh.

I see that, especially in this season of our life, I need to be super-duper prepared.  I need to have food I can just grab and go- throw in a lunch box before heading out the door or quickly put together when we get home after an exhausting day. I don't want to sacrifice nutrition just because we are busy.  In fact, I need that nutrition even more!

I realized the problem with my meal plans was that I did not allow for quick and simple meals beyond a peanut butter banana sandwich, so, a couple weeks ago, I decided to give meal plans a try again.

In an effort to eat more real food, less processed crud I am trying to make more foods from scratch.  I enjoy cooking and baking, but, like everyone, I have those down days.  And, like everyone, sometimes I just don't have time to make tortillas or bread from scratch.

But wait, actually I do.  IF I plan ahead.

A month or two before I give birth, I usually start cooking (and baking) up a storm so I can have a freezer full of food to rely on after the baby is born. I know this is nothing new to most of you, but I often forget that I can use my freezer to my benefit in this area.  So, when I have time and energy, I can make a large batch of muffins, pancakes, and breads to enjoy later.  (I have a bread maker, which means I really have no reason not to make my own fresh, healthy bread.)

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on store-bought breads and such?  It's pretty gross.  I mean, the list on the package of flour tortillas I picked up the other day had me wondering why something that only takes three or four ingredients had a list of at least twenty (most of which I could hardly pronounce).  This is one of the main reasons why I like making my own sandwich bread and tortillas.

While I was raised on mostly whole, real foods, I took a rebellious turn when I left my parents' home.... mostly because I didn't know how to cook (but I could bake brownies, cakes, and cookies!). It really didn't occur to me that junk food was not just stuff that had loads of sugar.  I didn't realize that most of the food on grocer's shelves were bad for me.  I thought food was food, and I didn't think it really mattered what I ate. I didn't know about GMOs and whatnot. Of course my mom talked about eating healthy food and would tell us what was healthy and what was not, but I didn't understand the true impact of unhealthy products upon our bodies.

Only in the last 4 or 5 years have I finally began to get a clue about food, and even then I still often make poor food choices simply because I am tired and am not prepared.

Looking back on my childhood food experience, I can see that my mom really worked hard to put nutritious food on the table.  (All my friends knew that you didn't come to my house for snacks like Fruit Roll-ups or Cheetos. They knew my mom was a "health nut".)  I am really grateful that she gave my growing body that healthy foundation.

I want to give my children that same healthy food foundation as well as the knowledge and understanding that goes with it.  So, while I'm learning, so are they. When they ask if we can have something, we pick it off the grocery shelf (or look it up online) and examine the ingredients.  They have come to understand what certain ingredients are, and we've researched various ingredients (especially icky stuff like aspartame!) so they know the adverse effects they can have on the body.

I really struggle with eating whole, real foods because I really enjoy sweets. I would much rather have a whole, real food meal, but then I want to finish it off with a big bowl of Bluebell ice cream with Reese's Pieces and Butterfinger crumbles mixed in. I'm not big on Hamburger Helper or Mac & Cheese mixes, but, by-golly, I sure enjoy chocolate by the (double) handful.

I am having to train myself to reach for a sweet apple or banana instead of junk food sweets. I feel like I need to write myself a note and put it on the fridge. That note should say, "EAT AN APPLE, WOMAN," so I don't forget.  Because, hey, aren't fruits and vegetables the original fast food?

Anyway, last week's menu plan did not go as well as I had hoped, mainly because my husband's work schedule has been all funky and so it threw our meals out of wack, plus he's been working on a friend's house and is often not home for meals, or we are all out of the house and starving. On the plus side, I did manage to whip up several healthy dinners even in my exhaustion and even put together a great lunch for a picnic at the park.

So, I've confessed my struggles, figured out (what I hope is) a good solution, and am going to put more effort into planning head.

What do you do to make sure your family has healthy meals for busy days? Are you good at planning ahead? Do you make a meal plan and stick to it? Do you struggle with all of this like I do?