Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Mashed Cauliflower. And, buying organic - we're making a difference!

I had yesterday off  so I took the opportunity to make something really special for lunch. Oh my gosh this is good!! I love garlic, I love shrimp, I love cauliflower. So, what a combination! This has real butter in it for the healthy fat you should have every day but the entire recipe only has 2 teaspoons. The garlic - GREAT health benefits, including naturally lowering cholesterol and it's delicious. I probably eat garlic every day.

Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

This makes one serving. To make more just multiply the ingredients to make enough for the number you're going to serve.

First , for the cauliflower - Break it apart and boil the cauliflower until it's well done. Then as follows:

2 cups of organic cooked cauliflower florets
1 tsp organic butter
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/8 tsp salt
2 - 3 tsp unsweetened cashew milk

Put all ingredients except the cashew milk in a food processor and process until it's a smooth as you can get it. Add enough cashew milk to make the cauliflower take on the consistency of mashed potatoes.

For the Scampi -
4 ounces wild caught gulf shrimp
1 tsp organic butter
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 T white cooking wine
red pepper flakes (I used 3 dashes but next time I'll use more)
fresh snipped chives
lemon slices
salt to taste

Melt the butter in a small skillet or saute pan. Add the garlic and the shrimp and red pepper flakes and cook until the shrimp are a nice pink with no gray. If using precooked shrimp (I did) cook until hot (don't overcook the shrimp, it's gross). Add the parsley and white wine and stir well. Pour over the garlic mashed cauliflower and top with snipped chives. Add some organic greens for garnish (and to eat) and the lemon slices to squeeze over the shrimp. This was so good I wish I had some right now!! It's making me hungry just typing the recipe!

An aside - this recipe contains no grains so it wouldn't contain anything processed anyway. But I don't use processed food or processed food ingredients that may contain GMOs and I try to use organic foods, grains, fresh produce, locally grown produce as much as possible. I refuse to buy meat that I know has been raised in confinements and fed GMO feed and loaded up with antibiotics (let alone the treatment of raising animals in confinements). I saw the first ads yesterday for a law firm representing people in a class-action lawsuit who have gotten cancer after being exposed to glyphosate while working with it.  I'd rather just avoid getting sick than having to sue and die after I've been diagnosed with cancer. And if you get it from working with it, well it just makes sense to me that if you're eating food which contains GMOs (as messed up as that is) and its been sprayed with glyphosate and non organic produce that's been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides that of course you're also eating it. I'd rather not knowingly or willingly eat poison! I know it's not possible to buy organic all of the time but if you do as much as possible, it still makes a difference in what businesses will stock their shelves with. And, I know it's expensive but if we all buy more organic, the prices will go down. I do know I'm seeing my local grocery store carry a LOT more products that are now organic where they didn't used to carry any at all. Congratulations to us! We're making a difference! We really are. Keep up the good work!

Lunch at the Office - Organic Steak and Mushroom Soup

I take my lunch to work with me virtually every single day for several reasons. It's economical, I know exactly what's in it, I don't do fast food and I don't do GMO. For those reasons it's pretty much required that I do the cooking. So, fine...I will. Today I brought organic steak and mushroom soup. The steak I had left over (sometimes left over steak happens...every once in a while!) I made using this recipe and it makes really good soup! If you don't have steak, cooked organic beef of any kind will work. After it's done I pack the soup in a plastic container to carry it but take glass or stoneware to heat it up in. Microwaving in plastic transfers chemicals from the plastic to your food and I don't want to eat that. Home cooked soup at work makes the day a teeny bit better.

STEAK AND MUSHROOM SOUP

1/2 cup cooked steak cut into cubes

1 medium size fresh organic mushroom cut into slices

1/4 cup chopped organic celery

2 cups organic beef broth

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tablespoon red cooking wine

Put all ingredients in a pan and cook until boiling and the vegetables are tender. Let cool and place in a plastic container to take with you. Heat it up in the microwave in the stoneware or glass and there you have it! And, btw, it makes my office smell like a gourmet restaurant and I've yet to have anybody complain.

Date Nut Cracked Wheat Cereal and reasons for organic and non GMO

I've made the switch to organic and non GMO as much as I possibly can because no matter how you feel about genetic engineering (the earth didn't make that!), the plants are sprayed with RoundUp (the earth SURE didn't make that!).  Since companies who produce GMO  and RoundUp laced products won't label them, if it isn't labeled as organic or non GMO, I won't buy it. Is that limiting? No so much. Companies are beginning to understand that a lot of us are voting with our money and are offering more organic. Companies that are proud to produce non GMO (thank you non GMO companies!) are labeling them as non GMO. Since the representatives that were voted in to represent human beings are instead representing big food and big agriculture, I'm voting with my shopping currency. And I feel I'm far healthier in the process. If the earth didn't make it, I'm not going to buy it or eat it.

This morning I made a simple bowl of cracked wheat cereal made by Bob's Red Mill and added a couple of things like dates and walnuts, cinnamon and honey. 

DATE NUT CRACKED WHEAT CEREAL

3/4 cup of water

1/4 cup of organic cracked wheat cereal

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 to 2 dates, chopped

1 tablespoon of walnuts

2 tsp of honey

Bring water to boil and cook the cereal until the water is absorbed and its become tender. Stir in the cinnamon. Add the dates, the nuts and the honey. I topped it off with about 1/2 cup of Silk non GMO (YAY!) cashew milk and a bowl of blackberries on the side.

This was delicious! I'll definitely be doing this one again.

Spiced Peach Pancakes and is it really a gluten sensitivity?

When I used to eat processed food before I knew better (our food supply is supposed to be healthy and safe, right? FDA and USDA tell us that and they wouldn't lie...much) and I ate pancakes made from processed flour with refined sugar my stomach felt like I'd swallowed a soft ball. So, I blamed gluten. I certainly can't speak for anybody who does have a real gluten problem (my son does and it makes him SICK) but when I stopped eating pancakes (or anything) made from processed flour and refined sugar I stopped having the softball in the belly issue. Plus, I wasn't craving sugar and processed snacks 20 minutes after having eaten even though I was stuffed. I've also lost 24 pounds since March by eating real food and NO dieting and no craving. And, I CAN have pancakes! I just make them from organic stone ground flour and add (for this one) fresh organic fruit. And, they're delicious. I also discovered that pancakes don't need added oil or eggs, either. At least this one doesn't.

SPICED PEACH PANCAKE

Pancake (makes one)

1/4 cup stone ground organic flour 

1 tsp aluminum free non GMO baking powder

1 tsp of local honey

dash of salt 

1/4 cup filtered water

Mix and pour into a hot, lightly oiled (I used coconut oil) griddle or skillet. Cook until bubbly on top and flip. Continue cooking until brown on the bottom and done.

Spiced peach sauce

One large or two small organic peaches peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 tsp of organic apple pie spice 

1/2 tsp of natural arrowroot

1 tsp of honey if you prefer the peach a little sweeter (mine was fine without it)

Microwave the peaches for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 45 seconds. Let cool until the sauce begins to thicken and pour it over the pancake. 

Delicious, organic, non GMO and made by the earth. IF THE EARTH DIDN'T MAKE IT, DON'T EAT IT!

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.