The amazing benefits of vinegar

Benefits of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and other vinegars

• 1 tablespoon of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 4 ounces of purified water after a meal has been used as a natural remedy for heartburn and as a replacement for toxic heartburn medications.

• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar may help improve bowel irregularity, thereby removing toxins from the body at a faster rate.
• Helps clear up skin conditions and blemishes giving a smoother texture and complexion.
• Raw Apple Cider vinegar may also help with joint pain and stiffness.
• Apple Cider Vinegar helps to break down fats so that your body can use them rather than store them. For this reason, many diets include ACV in their regimen.
• On a small scale, ACV was studied by researchers at Arizona State University. The preliminary study was published in the Diabetes Care journal. It reported that ACV helps reduce levels of glucose.
• Helps with alkalizing blood, helping the body function at a healthy PH level
• Helps lower blood pressure.
• Cleanses the liver
• Help lower cholesterol and lower blood lipid level

Great on salads!


 
 http://www.livestrong.com/benefits-of-vinegar/
http://www.naturodoc.com/library/lifestyle/umeboshi_vinegar.htm 

I'm Thirsty!

Homemade Lemonade and Iced tea

Homemade lemonade is very nutritious and so easy to make. All you need is lemons and honey. I follow a simple rule, 6 lemons per 1 gallon of water. About 3 heaping TBS of Honey. 

These handy citrus juicers are around $10-15 bucks at Walmart. We like to make fresh Orange juice and Lemonade. 

The kids love to help, I slice 6 lemons in half, and they take turns squishing the juice out on the citrus juicer.

Add the honey to the jug, no need to heat it up. Its best to leave it raw to get optimal nutrients out of it

Once all 6 lemons are juiced you get a nice thick lemon juice! No need to heat, keep all the nutrients alive. Add this to the honey

Put the lid on! Let the kids shake away! Shake, shake shake... shake your booty... shake shake shake... The lemon will dissolve the honey withing minutes. Once the honey is all dissolved and the lemon juice is mixed up, add Cold water.

TADA!!!!!!!!!!! Fresh squeezed lemon juice!

You can even add iced tea and make your own Arnold Palmer! 

Clean up is easy, let the kids help, and the mess is minimal. They love to drink their hard work!

Making Iced tea is just as simple! Steep about 6 or 7 tea bags for 1 gallon of water. Only use about 1 Cup in the hot pan. This makes the concentrated tea.

Add the Steeped tea bags to a pitcher

Fill it up with Ice, and add water. Tada! Simple! If you like it sweet you can add, stevia, organic sugar, honey... 

Before you give up on SALAD, Try these!

I try to have a big salad at least once a day, at least 5 days a week. Some weeks I only get 4 days. But I'm working up to more. Its been about 6 months of  Eating salads. It has changed my body in so many ways. I have reached my 30 pound weight loss goal after 3rd baby, Less bloat, clear skin, maintain weight, steady weight loss, Getting a bunch of nutrient dense food. Not feeling deprived or hungry, Lots of energy to keep up with my kids.
Im really liking the flavored vinegars. I have tried red wine vinegar, orange vinegar, apple cider vinegar.. Here are a few pictures of the salads I love to eat. They are very filling, nutritious and healing. Give em' a try! You can also add Chicken, Fish, or your choice of lean meat if you like to have more protein. I add Chicken to my husbands when he's feeling REALLY hungry. Or even Chopped up Turkey bacon... Get creative!

 I made a veggie dressing out of raw nuts, organic tofu, onions, garlic, sea salt, brewers yeast all blended up. At the bottom of this post, there's a picture of the dressing before I blended it up...I poured it on heavy that day, I was craving a thick creamy dressing. It made a bunch, so I was able to store it in the fridge and have the dressing for a few days.

Sprinkled on top is hemp hearts and chia seeds.

 Black bean burger salad

Orange vinager as dressing, found at Trader Joes, Romaine, spinach, lots of veggies cut up, cilantro, beans... if you like it spicy sprinkle some cayenne or chop up fresh jalapeno..

 Baby Spinach salad

tomato, red onion, seeds, nuts, dried cherries

Orange vinegar for dressing

 Asian cabbage, raw bok choy, romaine salad.

Fresh cooked beans, lots of chopped up veggies, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and sprinkled brewers yeast. (kinda gives it a cheesy flavor.

 Every week I try to prep a big bowel and that current day. It works out to be 6 huge salads. I pre-cut all the non soggy veggies and that way I don't spend a bunch of time I don't have on chopping veggies every day. It takes 1 hr a week... Not too shabby. Sometimes I do it real late when the kids are in bed. Or I'll do it on a weekend when my husbands playing with the kids. Or if I need a break I'll even turn on a show for the kids so I can chop for awhile. Sometimes I even start it, and have to finish it over little chunks of time. It just takes practice.

 Purple cabbage, romaine, spinach salad

This was fresh out of a prep bowl, haven't added the fun toppings yet. See below

 Salad photo right before this one all dolled up.

I made a creamy sun dried tomato dressing. 

1 block tofu, onion, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, brewers yeast, sea salt, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and as much water as you want to reach desired consistency.

I eye ball everything and never measure... I should probably get better at that.. sorry..

 Showing The baby her work of art. She helps chop veggies, hanging in her Bjorn

 Bok Choy, Romaine, Spinach, Lots of veggies finely chopped, fresh soaked garbanzo beans, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp hearts, with red wine vinegar as a dressing.

 Prepping for 6 more days! Once its prepped, it takes 5 minutes to make lunch or dinner. Or pack and take to work. So easy and fast! Try it!I invested in air tight tupper ware and it keeps all the veggies fresh for a week.

 Lunch for my hubby and I

I added black bean burgers and salsa to these.. mmm

 More fresh veggies, raw nuts, creamy homemade nut tofu veggie dressing.

 Taco salad.. Probably my favorite, salsa, Sour cream, beans, avocado... mmmmm

Here is 1 1/2 weeks worth of prepped salad for my husband and I. In the blender is an example of a dressing, more blended up veggies, tofu, tomatoes, seasonings and water. 1 hr of prep = 1 1/2 weeks of lunch or dinner. 

Hope you can be inspired!

Thanks for reading!

My favorite Salad toppings

Salads are one of my favorite foods. All the toppings make it taste awesome and it gives your body all the nutrient dense foods it craves. After I eat a salad I feel energized, satisfied and nourished. When you give your body the foods it REALLY craves, it will work how it is meant to.

Here is a list of some of the toppings..........

Not pictured are whole beans, black, kidney, navy, garbanzo

And Chia seeds

 Raw nuts and seeds. I buy them in bulk and store them.

 Fresh squeezed lemon.. 

we won this juicer at the fair a few years ago, just stick it in and squeeze!

 Hemp Hearts, Flax seeds, Quinoa.. (Costco is amazing with their selection)

 Raw garlic! I put garlic in everything and found buying it already peeled makes it easier to use.

 I freeze half of it because it does spoil fast, no preservatives

I have always wanted to try sprouting. I googled a you tube video by the sprout people and watched how to do it. I just used a jar, and a paper towel and a rubber band.. 3 days later... there was sprouts! 

I want to try Seeds next. 

 I'm all about saving time. I don't want to chop up a salad everyday and honestly I don't have time to chop up a salad every day. But if I take an hour once a week, I can make a lot of salad. In air tight containers it stays nice and fresh. In the blender I have veggies and tofu and I made a salad dressing. Sun dried tomato.. That's another post... I don't add all the wet toppings like tomatoes, avocado, nuts or seeds.. I just prep all the hard vegetables like peppers, lettuce, kale, onion, carrots, celery, radishes, cabbage... the hard ones. Then daily I can add what ever topping I want to make it taste however. Some days I like it creamy with avocado, my creamy dressing or I like it light with vinaigrette or lemon juice. Other days I make it taste like salsa and beans... The possibilities are endless... I have been designated at all the family holidays to bring salad.

My baby girl will have memories of chopping salad. Never too young to start!

Fresh Salmon Fish tacos

My Husband loves fishing... Sometimes I think he loves it more than me. (wink) He gets excited for fishing, quiet mornings on the water... no kids... I dread fishing it means I get the mess left in the kitchen, and the fishy smells of fish droplets all over the floor... Someday I'll go fishing and love it as much as him. 
I do love the dinners we make and the Smoked salmon he makes.So he can go fishing... and I'll keep cleaning up his mess...

Salmon Fish tacos are one of our favorites to make. Here are the ingredients:

Salmon.. As much as you need to feed as many people as you want...
Cilantro.. As much as you need
Tomatoes
Avocado
Red onion
jalapeno 
Cabbage.. I like the purple cabbage, it makes a pretty presentation. 
Lime (to fresh squeeze on the taco)
Corn tortillas (heat in micro wave or oven before serving)
Sour cream.. I like the low fat

Here's the famous RMF Smoked salmon

Many people say it's the best they've ever had

Salmon Jerky

Almond basil Pesto

We had a huge bunch of fresh Basil from our produce box last week. Instantly I thought we are going to need to make Pesto for dinner.
We have tried the recipe with Pine nuts, but we were out of pine nuts and I remembered seeing a recipe using raw almonds instead of pine nuts. It turned out DEEEElicious!

1 Cup fresh Basil, Packed in tight
1/2 Cup raw almonds (chopped up real good, Blentech or vitamix or fod processor)
2/3 Cups grated parmesean
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup Olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients until smooth, I added bits of water make a little thinner.. you can use more oil too)

I cooked up some Quinoa, Penne noodles, grilled Zucchini (out of our garden), Mushrooms, and I baked some Chicken breast for my hubby and the kids.

 Grilled zucchini, mushrooms, tomatillos

My hubby eats meat, when I make food, I cook some meat for his meal

Here is the meat free version. The pesto is sooooo nummy. I never tried it on quinoa before, but it is great! I also roasted tomatillos, They added a good zing to the other grilled veggies.

I love to make enough food for left overs. For lunch the next day I had Quinoa, fresh and grilled veggies topped with Almond Pesto.... MMMMMMM

Fast Food can be healthy too..

Being out on the road is a way of life when you have a bunch of kids and an active busy life. Family trips, vacations, school days and longs days of family activities can result in unplanned time away from home. I have learned fast food can be convenient and sometimes a good option when feeding a family of 5 out on the road.

Im not suggesting McDonalds, Jack in Box, Burger King, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, KFC, Sonic, chic-fil-a.....   

Im saying Subway, Chipotle, Taco Delmar, Q'doba, Extreme Pita, Taco Time (Better than taco bell... but still watch the fried foods), Jama Juice...

These are where we end up on days where stuff comes up, late nights, busy days or on days we travel. You can find these healthier food chains Nation wide and it makes traveling with a family of 5 easier to feed.

Pizza is another one of our favorites...(Not just because this is how my husband and I met... Ok maybe thats a small reason why) I try not to get it too often, I even try to make my own at home. Pizza crust can be simple to make... You can use healthier flours.... but this post isnt about making our own.. its about eating the best we can out on the road or on busy days... when the time gets away from us and we are at families or friends houses or we have a bunch of people over... All of a sudden the clock turns to dinner and no one has prepped food ... Papa Murpheys take n bake Gourmet Veggie substitute with red sauce... my favorite... I know its not the best, but it is packed with vegetables and it makes me feel not as guilty.

I try to eat whole food and feed my kids as healthy as possible and most days we accomplish this... Other days when we find ourselves out on the road, we eat the best we can with what we got. Don't beat yourself up if every single day isnt homemade perfect food. None of us are perfect and we would all go crazy if we tried to be! Just try to make healthy choices with healthier food chains! We are so fortunate to have companies out there who offer healthy choices! Take advantage of them!

Papa Murphy's Take-N-Bake Pizza

Gourmet Veggie red sauce...  

I was raised to eat fanatically, and it is difficult to uphold. I have learned to not be so crazy and to do the best I can. Most days we eat a ton of vegetables, and home made food. Other days we do the best we can.

How to eat healthy while Dining out...

Eating out at restaurants is a big part of our families way of getting out and getting together. We have a big family, and birthdays, holidays, special occasions usually results in a get together at a restaurant. There are all sorts of things you can do make your dining experience more healthy, and keep you on track for healthy eating. 
I try to avoid restaurants who use a lot of fried foods or who don't offer a bunch of vegetables on their menu. 

~Mexican restaurants

..... My personal favorite. The kids love it too! 

Whole beans (you gotta ask for them). Ask if Lard is used in re-fried beans

Veggie fajita, corn tortilla, whole beans, hold the sour cream, devour the guacamole, smother on the salsa..

 *I hold the rice too or I give it to the kids.. A lot of times  Restaurant Mexican rice is white rice with tomato sauce on it. 

~Thai Food....

Another one of my favorites

Lots of vegetable options

seafood or tofu

~Vietnamese.... 

Fresh food, lots of vegetables and seafood or meats

~Indian food ...

Great lunch buffets! 

Lots of Veggies, They use great seasonings.

 I like to be inspired by their food and try to make it at home. 

~Breakfast restaurants...

When we go out for breakfast We like to find wholesome restraunts

I always order garden scrambles.. If the menu doesn't have one, I always have them scramble some eggs and throw whatever veggies in they have in back. I've had some pretty neat creations that way. 

Some other tricks when I go out to eat:

 I don't get dressing on my salads, (side of lemon)

I always order salad instead of fries, 

some places even have fresh fruit or veggies as sides...

Nothing Fried.. Always grilled or baked

Corn tortillas instead of Flour

Ill make salads out of veggie burgers and hold the bun

*I get water or hot tea, or UNSWEETENED ice tea

I eat half the food and put the other half in a to go box

Eating healthy food doesn't have to be limited to just your kitchen. You just have to know what your looking for.

  If we are going somewhere with a big group of people and I know there isn't a lot of healthy choices, I'll eat before I go, and just have a small side of steamed veggies or side salad. Going out to eat is about getting together and enjoying everyone's company! I try not be the crazy food person who makes a big deal out of stuff.

      

A few Kid Plates

Kids can be picky eaters. I try to make small adjustments to have them eat the same things we eat. Whole unprocessed foods is my goal every meal, some days are easier than others. Here are a few kid plates we have made recently. We arn't vegetarians, but we also don't eat meat everyday. When the kids do eat meat, I try to make sure its free range, hormone free, fresh caught fish and preservative free. I used to be a vegetarian, but I cannot deny that whole food is whole food and some "Veggie" burgers or "Vegetarian" products are more processed than meat, and often times have more additives in them.

 Avocado, Cherry tomatoes, Organic Turkey sausage (Nitrate free, preservative free)

 Fresh picked Black berries from their Grandpas house. They love picking berries and coming home and eating their hard work.

 Old Fashioned Oat Meal, Bananas, Green Apple, Blueberries, Chopped walnuts (Raw), Flax seed. Drizzled with Pure Maple syrup.

 Avocado, tomatoes, whole beans, Daddies Salmon,

 The kids love to watch daddy clean his fish and cook it. Recently they went on the boat and went fishing. Kael started dancing with fish when they pulled it in the boat and it was flopping around.

 Home made bean burger, Whole grain bread, peanut butter & Honey, Veggie fruit smoothie, Veggie burger from Costco.

 Fresh fruit is always a big hit!

 Home made pickles 

Apple cider vinegar cucumbers

When I first made these I never thought my kids would eat them. My 2 yr old LOVES them...

Peas, Organic tofu, Yams, Red wild rice

 Scrambled eggs, Avocado, Veggie smoothie (Kale, Spinach, blueberries, carrot, banana, water)

The kids like to run around the house pretending to catch Dragon eggs,

 so they can have "Dragon Eggs for breakfast.

 Frozen Cherries

they taste like mini soda pops

our family loves them

 

 We make pancakes a few times a month

we put blueberries or bananas, or green apple and cinnamon

to flavor them

Also pure maple syrup

 More fresh fruit!

After nap snack

instant energy!