We Stopped Drinking Carbonated Beverages because ...

There is a great reason to stop drinking carbonated beverages. Click HERE.

What Food is This?

I had no idea that so many people eat so much junk food. I subscribe to a blog called "We Like It Raw" - meaning food, of course! A recent post there shared a story about Jamie Oliver, who is a famous chef, and how he's trying to help people to become more healthy.

The point that struck me the most in the links about Jamie Oliver is that many (or most) children today cannot identify basic foods such as tomatoes and potatoes. I grew up knowing how to prepare basic real food. Our children were taught salad-making and other cooking skills. I guess I did not realize how fortunate we are to know how to do these things.

Click Here for the story.

Gazpacho

I made fresh gazpacho last night. It's a cold tomato soup with cucumbers.

I only made a little bit because my husband does not like cucumbers. When he tasted it, he declared it good enough to feed someone who does not like cucumbers. It's a yummy, healthy food!

When you click on the picture, you will find the instructions:

From Food We Made

If You Can't Have Fun ...

... then what!?

Rhetorical question, of course, but you must allow fun into your life.

That's something I took a long time to learn.

Now I'm sharing it with you.

Take a break occasionally. Laugh a lot.

I digress here: Want what you have, not have what you want.

Anyway, have fun, even if you have to take the time to do it!

If You Can't take One Day at a Time, then what?

You know that saying, "Just take it one day at a time." Some people are so busy or stressed that taking things one day at a time is like looking at a mole hill and seeing an entire mountain. You know that "other" saying, "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill." I digress.

There is another saying that a mountain is conquered but one step at a time. So, if you can't take one day at a time, try one minute at a time. A few months ago I told that to someone who was having a bad time in her life. I have repeated it since. I even found that I can use it to my advantage.

Take a simple trip to the health food store to buy raw nuts. On the way is a certain mini-mart where a delicious iced coffee is available. An acceptable substitute is a bottle of starbucks mocha frappucino. But on my way to the health food store this week, I reminded myself that if I just drive PAST the mini-mart, I might be OK.

I was. OK. I mean that I drove right past that mini-mart and any other vendors of iced coffee.

By taking life one minute at a time, I was able to improve my eating for one minute, one day, and - well, you get the picture.

Iced coffee is one of my weaknesses. By taking one minute to skip that "Bad Food" - and I do mean that in all its implications - I empowered myself by one more minute, one more day, and - well you get the picture.

But you're not going to get a picture of iced coffee ...

Sesame Treats

Now that we eat real food, this is as close as we get to making cookies. There is no sugar, yet these healthy, non allergenic cookies disappear quickly. Here's what we do:

Put a dozen dates in a high-speed blender. Blond raisins or other dried fruits can be added for variety, but the dates are all that's really needed for sweetness. Add a little water and run at high speed until you have a sludgy drizzly mess.

Pour mess into a bowl.

Add about a cup of sesame seeds, 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, and a tablespoon or so of virgin coconut oil. Mix this up with a big spoon.

We have corelle plates and coat them with a little oil, which makes spreading out the goo easier. Any oven-safe flat thing will work such as glass plates or a cookie sheet.

Use the spoon to kind of slush it all around on the plates and spread it out evenly.

We put this in our NuWave convection oven at setting 2 for an hour. You could probably put in a conventional oven at 150 degrees, but we're not sure what the length of time would be.

After an hour we pull them out and use a pizza cutter to cut one huge piece into many bite size pieces. Then the pieces are turned over and they are put back in again for another hour. If it's very thick, they might have to be cooked some more.