PACK YOUR LUNCH! - Chicken Cobb Salad

Make it easy on yourself. Pack a lunch to take to work that is nutritious, dense with protein, vitamins and minerals, not enormous (don't stuff yourself!) and will keep your cravings at bay. Stay away from the processed bread, the fast food restaurant down the street, the pizza joint, the vending machines, the soda machine (WATER, WATER, WATER - the earth makes water) and be good to your body.

Here's one idea - 

Chicken Cobb Salad with balsamic vinaigrette (or in my case just vinegar). Easy to make and just takes a few preparations the night (or weekend before).

Early preparations -

Grill enough chicken for several days and freeze it. I grilled the chicken in this salad with olive oil, basil and garlic on Sunday and did enough for several future lunches and froze it. Then I just took some out of the freezer this morning, microwaved it for 20 seconds, sliced it up and put it in the salad.

Boil an egg (or six) the night before. Use one in your salad.

Chop your lettuce and other veggies the night before.

For this one I assembled it all in a bowl with 1/2 of a sliced avocado, chopped tomato and green pepper and onion. Plenty of protein and veggies. 

You can make any kind of dressing you like. PLEASE don't use commercially prepared bottled dressing unless you read, read, read the label. Most are LOADED with chemicals and sugar and all kinds of things that will cause cravings and other issues. I used about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (no oil - your choice if you do, but if you do, use olive), a dash of dried dill or basil or Italian seasoning and another dash of stevia. Add a little salt and pepper that I keep at my desk and I'm good until dinner time. Do I get hungry? Sure. I'm supposed to get hungry. Is it out of control? No. Because I'm not craving. Craving and hunger are two entirely different situations. If you get out of the junk, processed foods, refined sugar and STAY out of them, the cravings for garbage food will stop. I can manage my hunger as long as the cravings aren't there.

If it isn't from the earth, don't eat it!

  

Farmer's Market and Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole

I love Farmer's Market! You meet some really cool people. This is Bob. Bob sells organic produce at Farmer's Markets in Central Illinois that he grows himself and, along with these items on this particular day,

he also had eggplant. I bought that from him along with Swiss chard (both VERY reasonably priced) went to the neighboring booth, bought a watermelon and went about my merry way with my edible treasures. I cooked the Swiss chard for supper that evening along with burgers on the grill, had the watermelon for dessert and the next day made Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole.

I don't bread and fry the eggplant. It's messy, I don't want the breadcrumbs (processed, I don't eat bread unless I make it myself) and...it's messy. So for this particular casserole (you gotta like...er, make that LOVE eggplant because this is really eggplanty), here is the recipe I used -

1 large (not enormous, but large) firm eggplant peeled and cut into smallish chunks (like 1 1/2" by 1 1/2")

4 ounces of sliced mushrooms (whatever kind you like. I used baby portabella for this one because that's what I had)

1 pint (or 2 cups) of marinara

4 ounces of mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Layer the eggplant and mushrooms in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Pour the marinara over it and cheese it up! as in layer the cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. If you want it a little browner (I did) put it under a low broiler for about 5 minutes or until it's as brown as you want it. Serve it with organic garlic bread or garlic biscuits. It's not bad! And, it's from the earth!!

Marinara and Home Grown Tomatoes

From this -

to this -

to this -

Summertime and bounty from the garden and the opportunity to make your own marinara sauce with nothing added to that that you don't want in it, as in chemicals and preservatives and sugar along with those "natural ingredients" that processed marinara and pasta sauce has that aren't particularly natural. The definition give by the FDA as "natural" is "nothing artificial or synthetic (including colors regardless of source) is included in, or has been added to, the product that would not normally be expected to be there."   I don't know about you but I prefer WANT to know what's in my food. The label "all natural" doesn't quite get it for me.

If you grow your own tomatoes you can use the less than perfect for sauce. If you don't, utilize your local farmers markets who may have vendors who will sell you their less than perfect at a discounted price. Peppers and onions - same thing. Grow your own or check out your farmers markets. As far as recipes, you can make up your own or find any number of recipes online but for this one here's what I used -

2 1/2 gallons of fresh tomatoes blanched (I used Roma and an heirloom variety called Ace 55 and another heirloom beefsteak).

2 large green peppers chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 tablespoons of dried Italian spices

1/2 C white wine

Salt to taste

Put it all in the crock pot and let it cook until it cooks down as thick as you want it. I let it cook all day. If I want it really thick I cook it some more the next day. This particular batch made 4 pints. We can tomatoes as much as we can for as long in the season as we can. Stewed tomatoes, marinara, spaghetti sauce, salsa. We have enough for the entire year. Most important, we know exactly what's in it and what's not in it, like BPA.

When we can we use a large pressure cooker/canner. If you aren't comfortable doing that the marina sauce can also be frozen. Freezing is easier and we enjoy the process and like having the jars sitting on open shelves. They add to the atmosphere! 

Multi-grain Pancake with Strawberry Sauce

This is so good! I love this pancake, especially in the summer. And, if you have it in the winter it  will remind you of summer. A favorite of mine and it's fast!

Strawberry Sauce -

1 cup of frozen sliced strawberries

1/2 - 1 packet of stevia OR 1 tsp of local organic honey

1 tsp of natural arrowroot (I used Bob's Red Mill for this)

Stir the berries and powdered ingredients together and microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for 45 more seconds. Let cool.

Pancake

2 T organic white flour (I used Gold N White that I got from Country Life Natural Foods made by Natural Way Mills)

1 T organic stone ground or old fashioned oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 T organic kamut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 tsp aluminum free baking soda

dash of salt

1/4 cup of filtered water

Mix all together and pour the batter into a lightly oiled (light olive or coconut oil) hot griddle or skillet until bubbly on top. Flip over and finish cooking. 

Top with real butter (organic, grass fed dairy, if possible) and spread the cooled strawberry sauce over the pancake and enjoy!

Real Stew!! French County Stew

I used to think that eating a bowl of stew was far too substantial! That's food, REAL food. Until I began to think of the way my very thin great grandparents ate. They had breakfast, real breakfast and then they went about their morning. At noon, they had lunch (they called it dinner) and went about the rest of their day. At dinner time (supper for them) they had their evening meal consisting of real food and called it good. They didn't do the eat all day long thing snacking here and there and everywhere. Their tummies actually got empty the way a tummy is designed to do. They looked forward to their next meal because they were actually ready for it. They hadn't stuffed themselves with snacks and cookies and energy bars to keep their energy up (and that doesn't work, btw). Real food does just fine keeping your energy up.

I put this stew in my crock pot at noon today. I love crock pot cooking because when I get home from work dinner is waiting making the house smell homey and welcoming. Usually I do the prep work in the morning before I leave for work but today I came home to check and see if my husband and his new carpal tunnel surgery arm needed anything and, since he was doing just fine, I put this together for our supper. Considering I was very limited by time, it had to be a pretty quick project and it was.

Ingredient list - (organic, locally grown as much as possible)

1/4 pound bacon

1 pound of stew meat (grass fed, locally grown if possible)

3 tablespoons of flour

About a dozen or so small baby potatoes or two large baking potatoes scrubbed (peeled if they aren't organic) and cut into 2 inch chunks

6 organic carrots cut into chunks

1 thinly sliced large onion

1 large jar of button mushrooms drained

1 cup of red cooking wine

1 can of vegetable broth

2 beef bouillon cubes 

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup arrowroot

1/2 cup water

frozen peas

Fry the bacon keeping the "drubbins" in the skillet as in keep the drippings, you'll need them.

While the bacon is cooking dredge the stew meat in the flour and scrub and prepare the vegetables. Lay the sliced onion on the bottom of the crock pot. Remove the bacon to paper towels and brown the garlic and the stew meat in the bacon drippings. Place the browned meat and garlic in the crock pot and pour the red wine in the skillet to utilize the flavors of the drippings. Put the vegetables (except the peas) in the crock pot, scrape the meat and bacon bits out of the skillet with the wine and pour the wine and meat drubbins concoction over the vegetables. Add the jar of mushrooms, the can of broth and the bouillon cubes and the bay leaf. Crumble up the bacon and put it in there, too and add some freshly ground black pepper. Depending on how soon you need it to be done (I put mine on 6 hours) turn your crock pot on and let it cook. 

Fast forward five hours, arrive home from work and the house smelled wonderful, my husband was relaxing in his recliner and hadn't had to lift a finger (which was good 'cause he can't) and there was a welcoming pot full of a really nice french country stew that was almost complete. A few minutes before serving stir in the arrowroot dissolved in the 1/2 cup of water and let  it cook until it thickens (won't take long). Right before serving stir in a few frozen peas. Side the stew with a biscuit made from whole grain flours and a bit of real butter (no margarine...chemicals, chemicals, chemicals!). Include a salad if you like and some fresh fruit for dessert. I'll be making this one again!

Choices and...$1.71??!!

So, today is the day my husband is having carpal tunnel surgery, his second. We had to leave the house at 4:30 this morning and he couldn't have breakfast so neither did I. Since he's been taken to surgery I thought I would check out the hospital cafeteria and see what I could find for breakfast that the earth made and won't set me up for craving.

Hmmm...the earth didn't make this.

or this.

There were, however, other choices. I chose eggs and potatoes. There were other things like bacon and sausage and gravygravy, little boxes of cereal, juices, bread, etc. but I thought I'd stick with what seemed to be the safest path and hopefully didn't have anything in it that would set me up for cravings. I got up to the cash register and the cafeteria lady rang me up, said $1.71, I paid her and took a seat. I was so sleepy that I got through about half of my breakfast and quite a bit of coffee before it struck me that I had just paid ONE DOLLAR AND SEVENTY-ONE CENTS for breakfast! It wasn't bad at all, it didn't cause me any cravings, extremely reasonable and perhaps I should reconsider my choice of dining out options! 

AND surgery was quite successful, by the time I was done with breakfast my husband was already done and we were home in no time. And he got his own home cooked breakfast upon arrival and then proceeded to snooze the day away. 

BREAKFAST!!

I can't speak for everybody but I get up hungry. A a bowl of processed sugary cereal loaded with chemicals and preservatives that has been made from GMO grains is something I avoid. To eat that would make me wonder what I did to make myself mad at myself.  Plus, if I did that not only would I feel like I was poisoning myself but by 9:30 I'd be STARVING and looking for the donuts and there would go the entire day. I have to go to work so that means that whatever I fix is going to have to be pretty fast. This morning it was potato and mushroom hash topped with a poached egg that I get from the local lady who raises chickens.  Recipe for the hash - 1 chopped (organic if possible) red potato, two chopped baby portabello mushrooms and a tablespoon of chopped onion.

Add three chopped sage leaves or 1/4 tsp of dried sage if you don't have fresh sage.Cook in 1 tsp of coconut oil and top with a poached egg. Add some fresh fruit and a cup of coffee and it's breakfast that will stave off the cravings and keep you going until lunch. However, if this isn't a big enough breakfast for you, have a bigger breakfast. By lunchtime you're still going to get hungry. At least you should. You're supposed to get hungry. It's the cravings we seek to eliminate and there's a big difference between an empty tummy that's growling and cravings that make you look for a fix.

Real Food Means Real Food

I'm not going to vilify meat. If you can look back and remember what your great grandparents ate, unless they were definite vegetarians, they ate meat. HOWEVER, I do believe it needs to be grass fed  and locally grown. Meat raised in confinement operations is not only cruel but it's loaded with antibiotics,  growth hormones and possibly is connected to Alzheimer's. Real food means meat raised the way it was intended to be raised as a respected creature of the earth. Not locked up in some confinement and fed feed that it would never eat in its natural environment

So, recipe here...grass fed ribeye marinated in garlic, soy sauce (or liquid aminos) and Worcestershire sauce (3 parts soy (or aminos) to 1 part Worcestershire and a huge tablespoon of minced garlic and black pepper. Grill to your liking. Serve with whatever your garden or local farmers market or grocer has available. Tonight here was grilled potatoes with peppers and onions, locally grown green beans and tomatoes. REAL FOOD and only from the earth. Guarantees that the nutrition level is there and will help remove junk food cravings.

Food Addiction or Chemical Addiction

Processed food is addictive. I believe that with everything I know. I know that I can eat a big stack of pancakes made with processed flour and refined sugar and 20 minutes later I'm thinking of the next thing I can find to eat and that even though I'm uncomfortably stuffed, I still want to eat and I will do that all day. I'm familiar enough with addiction to know that I'm not hungry, I'm CRAVING. This is the behavior of an addict. The food giants do this intentionally. They don't care about your health but they do want your money. Therefore, the more you crave, the more you give into it, the more money you put into their pockets. If you  look at people in this country who are not just a few pounds overweight, they're obese by hundreds of pounds and to the point of being disabled, there is something wrong with our food supply. It's being being manipulated and they have no intention of stopping.

For years I threw money at losing weight the way the food and diet industry told me was the way and snake-oiled me into believing was the answer. Well, not only was it not the answer, I wound up fatter and broker and sicker than before. One day it hit me that the only "diet" (which ISN'T a diet at all) is that the earth makes absolutely everything we need to live a healthy life without an obesity issue. Once I started eating food that comes only from the earth, the weight just started coming off on its own, the stress surrounding food and weight disappeared, the guilt disappeared, my energy came back 10 fold on top of not spending my money on food that is basically poison and it just makes sense.

This is not a diet, it's a way of life. Yes, you have to give up processed food. Yes, you have to cook or find a food supply that you know isn't processed. No, you don't have to suffer. When you eat what the earth provides (and not the garbage the food giants would prefer you buy) your body knows when to stop eating. When you give it the nutrients it needs with REAL FOOD, you don't overeat unless you force yourself to.  They say it takes three weeks to break a habit. Perhaps. But if you will take three days to get out of the junk, go cold turkey, get it out of your system, you'll feel better than you have in years. What have you got to lose? Oh, that's right - excess weight, stress from dieting and failing, feeling lousy, giving your money to charlatans...those things. I don't miss even one of those.

IF THE EARTH DOESN'T MAKE IT, DON'T EAT IT!