Last week when I was unable to move much from a car accident I was in, an old employee and sweet friend came over with her mom to bless me with a meal.  It was so delicious, and totally hit the spot.  She was even kind enough to bring over a copy of the recipe for me, making sure it was safe for Ellington since I’m nursing.  People’s kindness is so humbling!  One bite of her soup, and I was texting her that I would have to blog that incredible recipe.  Yum!  I have been craving it ever since I finished it off, and I made it today for my family to enjoy.  It was a hit with them too!

An added bonus is that it can be used on the Standard Process 21 Purification Program, on the Hallelujah Acres Diet and you can easily add in more protein for pregnant/nursing moms.  I cooked it as the recipe said for JB (vegan diet), and then I added chicken and quinoa for me (more protein).

Here is the recipe.

We have really been enjoying quinoa because it tastes so good, is easy and quick to cook, and provides a great source of protein.  Try it if you’ve never used it before.  It’s easy to replace recipes that call for brown rice with quinoa instead.  You can do so many things with this delicious food!  I ran across this recipe for quinoa that we also tried tonight.  Again, my family loved it!  Plus, I had never roasted garlic before, and I will definitely be doing that more often too.

Here is that recipe.

I sauteed the bell peppers and mushrooms in coconut oil, and added a little bit of tamari to them.

Finally, this third quinoa recipe is from my friend Lesley.  She brought it to a party, and as soon as I tasted it, I begged her to post the recipe.  She did, and we’ve already made it three times at the house; one of those was for mom who insisted she watch and learn how to do it.  It’s really simple and so delicious too.

I will share some new websites that I have found and really like too.  One is Kelly’s.  A few weeks ago, I stole a chicken taco recipe from her.  Bonus?  It’s made in the CrockPot, and who doesn’t love that?!  I have to tell you, I will be making chicken like this more often.  It is so easy, and so delish!  I didn’t know that you could cook chicken breasts in a CrockPot and they would flake apart with a fork.  Not only was this taco recipe great, but you could use chicken cooked like this in soups, sandwiches and salads.  The possibilities abound!  Here is the Taco Recipe.  I used the “Simply Organic Southwest Taco Seasoning” and homemade chicken stock (cooked using Sally Fallon’s ”Nourishing Traditions” recipe I have posted on this blog before) in mine.  Make sure you check all package ingredients- packaged spice companies tend to hide things in them like “partially hydrogenated oils” and “MSG”.  These would ruin your cleanse and your meal, and definitely shouldn’t be fed to your family!

A new veggie dish that we really like too is roasted butternut squash and brussel sprouts.  It is really tasty and simple!  Roasting the brussel sprouts really removes the bitter taste.  In a casserole dish, combine cubed butternut squash and brussel sprouts (bottoms trimmed and cut in half).  Toss with sea salt/pepper and coconut oil.  Roast at 375-400F for 30-45minutes until the edges are brown.  Stir occasionally while roasting.  Enjoy!  Harper likes these too.

For our sweet tooth that we developed over the holidays, we will be using this next recipe on the cleanse a lot.  I love it!  My friends, the Browns, treated us to these the other day.  They are wonderful!  Like I shared last time on the cleanse, I would make my “Almond Joy” version by stuffing with almonds and shredded coconut.  I love this new idea though.  Take organic medjool dates, slice them in half and remove seed.  Mix almond butter (or whatever nut butter you prefer) with a dash of organic cinnamon, sea salt and flax seed.  The flax adds great fiber and a wonderful little crunch (we crave texture a lot on the cleanse).  Spoon the nut butter mixture into the middle of the dates, and enjoy.  Yum, yum, yum!

Again, I would love to hear about your favorite healthy recipes!

Yesterday was pick up day for the organic food co-op we are a part of.  It only happens every other week, and our fridge was totally void of any produce, so I was really excited to pick everything up yesterday.  I get a lot of questions about what we get each week.  To give you an idea, here’s what was in my box yesterday:  2 big heads of lettuce, 3 acorn squash, 4 ears of corn, a bag of carrots, cauliflower, 2 heads of broccoli, celery, yams, tomatoes, 2 bunches of bananas, apples, nectarines, pears and plums.  It is so nice to have fresh, organic produce always available for the family.  And, now that I have Harper, it is so convenient to be able to pick everything up all ready for me, without having to go far and grocery shop…  Not to mention, it is way cheaper than me going to the store!  If you haven’t tried the co-op, you totally should.  We love it, and it is so worth it!  Contact Monica with any questions.

Last night, we had dinner at some friends’ house.  It was wonderful!  Why does food always taste so much better when someone else cooks it?!  They made us a salad with grilled chicken breasts, and brown rice and stir fry.  The stir fry had broccoli, onions, celery and carrots. 

My house smells delicious right now!  I am trying my hand at the real deal, homemade chicken stock.  There are so many things you can do with fresh broth, and when you spend the money on an organic, free range chicken, you don’t want to waste any of it.  I will let you know how the stock turns out.  Here is where I got the recipe and info from.  Again, love Nourishing Traditions!

Like I said, I did buy a whole, free range, organic chicken from Sprouts yesterday.  That is what we had for lunch.  I removed the parts from the cavity, and stuffed it with a lemon- cut in half, 2 bay leaves and 5 garlic cloves.  I put sea salt and black pepper and a little coconut oil all over the bird.  Next, I put it in the oven at 400 degrees.  After 30 minutes, I added brussel sprouts, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, water and butter to the pan, and returned it to the oven to finish baking.  It baked for about an hour.  This was such a simple, delicious dish!  Also, if you aren’t to the part of the cleanse where you can have meat yet, baking a mixture of vegetables like this turns out wonderful too.  I love the way baking makes my house smell!  Here is proof of the lunch, doesn’t it make you hungry?