Juicing

How many vegetables and fruits are you eating a day?  Plant-based foods should be 40% of your daily diet.  I wasn't even close to getting the recommended daily amount.  Some days I wasn't eating any!  So to ensure that I am fueling my body with the good stuff, I started juicing about a week ago.
Research has proven juicing has many benefits and there are healing powers. It allows highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes to rapidly enter the bloodstream absorbing all the nutritional benefits. It can also reduce chances of the three leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer and strokes.

This food pyramid was illustrated in the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. 

As a beginner to this juicing world, I relied heavily on Pinterest and YouTube to figure out how and what to juice. After three attempts, I found a recipe that my husband and I really liked. But you can add or subtract any ingredient and still get a tasty drink.

2 handfuls of spinach or kale

2 apples

1 pear

2 carrots

1 pineapple spear

1 cutie orange

and a wedge of lemon

I love the fact that I am rebooting my system and experimenting with different recipes. I feel really good about getting the right nutrients in my body.  After a week, I don't know if I have more energy, but my skin does have a healthy glow. I think over time I will definitely feel more energized. Do you juice? What recipes do you like?

     

Jambalaya

I was looking for a dish to take with us for deer camp and wanted a one pot dish.I may have out done myself!  I just found my new favorite comfort food recipe!  Who wouldn't like chicken, shrimp and sausage in one dish?  Jambalaya has always been one of my favorite dishes.  Now I have the perfect recipe.  And it is so easy!

Let me know what you think!  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 green pepper diced
• 1/2 red/orange/yellow pepper diced
• 1 onion diced
• 3 stalks of celery sliced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 lbs chicken, cut 1inch pieces
• 1/2 lbs sausage, cut in 1/2 inch slices
• 1 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp (I take tails off)
• 1 can dice tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups uncookd white rice
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Cooking Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat.  Stri in the chicken until no longer pink, set aside.  Cook the sausage, then set aside.  Cook shrimp, then set aside.   
2. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery; season with salt Cajun seasoning.  Cook and stir until the they are soft, 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the rice and dice tomatotes and chicken broth, bay leaves and thyme.  Add all the meats back in and bring to a boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Remove pot from heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Discard bay leaves, serve and enjoy!

Happy Fall and Chili Season

There's a chill is the air with the changing of the seasons.  Hurricane Joaquin has dumped a lot of rain and is causing some flooding along the east coast.

The season of change at my house is no exception.  The twins have graduated out of their cribs to twin beds!  They were so excited when we were setting up the beds and rearranging their room. But when it came to bedtime, it was a different story and they weren't so sure.  They cried for comfort in their strange new setting and their new beds.  They managed to fall asleep after an hour of getting up and coming out of their room three times.

The next day, we woke up to them in the living room watching TV.  They have learned how to operate the remote at a tender age of not even two.  I think they are loving their new found freedom. Naptime, on the other hand, is a whole other story and is something that we will have to work diligently on to establish a new routine.

Chilly weather and weekends are perfect for crockpot meals!  Add football, and we've got our agenda for the weekend.  My husband grabbed our favorite red chili recipe and loaded up the crockpot!  You would think that it would last a few days, but not so much in this house.  It will be gone by the end of the weekend.

I am really excited to share this delicious chili recipe as my first clean eating entry to my blog!  It comes from our dear friend Tracy who use to be our neighbor in MN.  She is a hospice nurse and is a wonderful person inside and out.  Thank you for sharing this recipe with us, Tracy!

Enjoy and bon appetite!

Chili

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp accent
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 15 oz red chili beans
• 2 cups celery chopped
• 1 cup onions chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 quart (4 cups) cooked tomatoes
• 3 cups water
• 2 Tbsp chili powder

Cooking Directions

1. Brown ground beef and drain. Then add all the ingredients into your crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours.
2. Optional: Top you bowl of chili with sharp cheddar cheese and diced onions.