I need to laugh!

Seriously trying to remember that I need to laugh in the middle of it all. http://foodlaughterlove.com/category/laughter/

10 reasons to love Kale.

 I LOVE kale … can not get enough of it!!!!
I crave it. I eat it or juice it almost daily. The health benefits of this super food will have you craving it daily too! 

 Here are 10 reasons to love KALE! 

1. Kale is low in calorie, high in fiber and has zero fat.
2. Kale is high in iron. 
3.  Kale is high in Vitamin K. 
4. Kale is filled with powerful antioxidants. 
5. Kale is a great anti-inflammatory food. 
6. Kale is great for cardiovascular support. 
7. Kale is high in Vitamin A.
8.  Kale is high in Vitamin C. 
9.  Kale is high in calcium. 
10.  Kale is a great detox food. 

Ok to get you started here are 2
great recipes!  One for snacking & a juice!



Ok to get you started here are 2
great recipes to get you started!
 One for snacking & a juice!
Kale Chips - I love potato chips, so these are a great replacement !
    1 bunch of Kale leaves
    1Tablespoon of Olive Oil
    2 Table spoons nutritional yeast
    salt & pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350, and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Wash the Kale and with a knife or kitchen shears remove the leaves from the thick stem - or just pull them off with your hands. Tear them into Medium size pieces. Dry the kale. In a large mixing bowl addd half of the kale, sprinkle 1/2 of the olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper and mix well. Repeat with the rest of the kale. Place on a baking sheet or two. Bake until the edges are crisp, slightly brown but NOT burnt.  ENJOY !!!
Green Lemon-aide
2 apples
1/2 bunch of kale
1 cucumber
1/2 lemon
 Juice and enjoy!

Kale Chips - I love potato chips, so these are a great replacement !
    1 bunch of Kale leaves
    1Tablespoon of Olive Oil
    2 Table spoons nutritional yeast
    salt & pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350, and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Wash the Kale and with a knife or kitchen shears remove the leaves from the thick stem - or just pull them off with your hands. Tear them into Medium size pieces. Dry the kale. In a large mixing bowl addd half of the kale, sprinkle 1/2 of the olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper and mix well. Repeat with the rest of the kale. Place on a baking sheet or two. Bake until the edges are crisp, slightly brown but NOT burnt.  ENJOY !!!


Green Lemon-aide
2  green apples
1/2 bunch of kale
1 cucumber
1/2 lemon
 Juice, add some ice if you would like. Serves 2 ENJOY!!!

Award Winning Crock Pot Mac-n-Cheese

              This is a Mac-n-Cheese I created for a "crock off " a few years and it won! It's still my favorite and I love it, just don't eat that often, but I am sure it would be D.Lish for a Memorial Day or really any day! 

Award Winning Crock Pot Mac-n-Cheese


1 pound pasta any shape you would like1- egg4 cups of milk½ stick of butter4 oz of cream cheese cut into cubes_8 cups of mixed shredded cheese (you can use any kind)I use all kinds of cheese2-3 oz of brie (cut into cubes)2 oz of feta2 oz of parm1 can of artichoke hearts½ package of frozen spinachsalt and pepper to taste

Warm milk, spinach, brie, cream cheese,and  butter.Mix egg with salt and pepperTake the egg mixture off the stove, mix in the egg add ½ of the shredded cheese to the milkPut dry noodles in to crock pot, add the artichoke hearts and spinach and pour half of the milk mixture over noodles and stir, add ½ of the shredded cheese and stir again. Pour the rest of the milk mixture over the noodle and the rest of the shredded cheese. Mix all together. Make sure noodles are covered. 
Cook on high for 2 -3 hours. Leave alone do not stir. 
Serve with a salad and you are good to go!


p.s. adding a little prosciutto and pancetta is heavenly. 

Gin and Tonic with a twist.

A TWIST ON A SUMMER FAVORITE

Each summer I look forward to having a gin and tonic with my bestie Robin. We have been enjoying G& T’s for over 17 years. We have enjoyed them at the beach, on the lake, at parties, and now at our homes, 12 houses down from each other. We actually don’t get to see each other that often, simply because life is busy,  but hopefully that will change this summer! 

So in anticipation of our friend Amy returning the neighborhood for a weekend, I decided I should test out a new G&T recipe. I had just bought  fresh local organic strawberries from one of our farmers markets and had quite a bit of mint from our yard. 

May I introduce you to the Strawberry,Mint, Lime, Gin and Tonic aka the SMLG&T 

4-6 ripe strawberries per glass

5-9 mint leaves you decide how much lime.

1/2 teaspoon honey (I used local so it would help with allergies)

Muddle all those lovely ingredients together until a good juice forms, it should smell really great at this point. 

Add ice 

Add 1 oz of your favorite vodka (for a non-alcholic version just add more lime juice & honey!)

Fill glass with your favorite tonic 

Squeeze that lime and you are good to go! 

Now have a great weekend and enjoy!

As always please drink responsibly and know when to stop. 

AND NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE. 

                                                     ( Sorry I almost forgot to grab a photo, it was just that yummy)      

"Refried beans, but not really..."

 "Refried beans, but not really..."

         These are not your typical pinto or black bean refried beans, which are yumm-o and I like to make. I simply didn’t have any around and really wanted to make beans to go with the mushroom tacos.  What I did have was dried Kidney and Adzuki beans.

  About a year ago, I started keeping different types of dried beans around the house, because canned anything is just gross. It may take a bit longer but the health benefits far out way the time. Plus it forces me to manage my time a bit better.  Personally I soak my beans for a couple hours before I cook them. Here is a quick guide from Whole Foods  on cooking beans.

      The reason for having Kidney and Adzuki beans around would be the health benefits of these two power houses.   Adzuki beans, are originally from China and are used in all types of Asian cooking. We first discovered them while living in Korea Town, EVERYTHING has red bean paste!  We all know the kidney bean and are quite use to it being in our chili... they are the main  reason I don’t like chili with beans, funny right. But guess what... they hold flavor like no bodies business! And since white beans aka cannellini beans which are my FAVORITE are actually the same as kidney beans I decided to give them a try.  Check out what Dr. Weil says about Adzuki and Kidney beans.


Alrighty, then enough with the bean talk let’s get to the recipe- all of this is with pre-soaked beans.

1 cup Kidney Beans
1 cup Adzuki Beans
2 table spoons chopped Cilantro
zest from 1 organic lime
juice from 1 lime
1/2 onion chopped
1 table spoon coconut oil
1 pinch of himalayan pink salt
6 cups or more of water
2 drops doTerra Lime essential oil


Place beans on stove with the 6 cups of water and bring to a boil for 10 mins. Reduce heat to a low ...add the zest from the lime, the lime juice, 1 table spoon of cilantro , onion and the table spoon of coconut oil. Cover and let cook for 3 hours. Checking regularly to make sure that the water is still covering the beans, if it get to low just add more water.

After 3 hours(when you soak your beans overnight it doesn’t really take 3 hours, it take maybe 1.5 hours)  make sure the beans are cooked. Add 2 drops of the doTerra Lime essential oil, the rest of the fresh cilantro stir well. And now for the fun part start smashing those beans!!!! Or if you have a Immersion blender you can use that. Blend away until you have refried beans!  Serve with brown rice and your mushroom tacos! Also you could add a little Queso Fresco if you wanted...

 

Sorry it's not a better photo, but these guys where heading out to a client .....

Mushroom Taco's are my new favorite meal.

Mushroom Tacos

 

 

The mighty fungi that could , is how I think of Mushrooms. They are the hidden super food that often gets added to a dish. While they could easily be the the star. Mushrooms are wonderful for our immune systems, because they provide so many different minerals and vitamins we need. They are low in carbs, calories, strangely high in fiber and protein and fat free. Plus they are an AWESOME cancer fighter! I could eat them all the time and chances are they are always waiting in our fridge to be added to something, or maybe just sliced
 and eaten raw.

I am sad to say that the idea for mushroom tacos was not mine, I found a picture on either, Facebook, twitter, or instagram(where I spend to much of my time). Alot of the recipes called for just one type of mushroom and very little else. Since I had just been to the Farmer’s Market, I had some yummy local onion,  swiss chard, and mushrooms  to add. Really I could eat these every single day. 

Shopping list
 2 tablespoons Rice bran oil ( or bacon fat for paleo)
 1 Sweet Onion Sliced
 2 pounds of Mushrooms
 Let me say this don’t ever wash your ‘shrooms they soak up  the water and lose their yummy taste, take the dirt off with paper towels. Then peel the “skin” off the mushroom, this step is not required, but it makes the mighty fungi all the better! I used a mixture baby bella's, crimini, portabella, chanterelle, and shiitake. Slice thinly mushrooms and save stems for later!
5 leaves of Swiss Chard
( To make ribbons - de- stem your leaf and roll the swiss chard, now slice it, viola you have ribbons)
 1 Avocado
 1 teaspoon Organic chili powered
 1 teaspoon Organic Ancho Chili powered
 1 tablespoon of Coconut amino acids
1 teaspoon of Brags amnio acids ( or add more coconut oil to be soyfree)
 Pinch of Trader Joe’s South African Smoke
3 cloves of garlic
 Cilantro to taste
2 Limes
Avocado
Tortillas
 Directions
Heat 1 tbs of rice bran oil
Toss in the  onion sliced any way you want
while these are caramelizing ...
Prep 2 pounds of mushrooms
Add 3 cloves of minced garlic to your onions, stir then into your onions, for 30 sec. Add your mushrooms and 1 TSB of Rice Bran Oil. Stir for 30 secs, add 1 TBS of coconut amino acids and 1  tsp of brags amino acids. Add, your pepper mix. Mix it in well, turn down the heat a notch.Add your ribbons of swiss chard. Add lime juice from 1 lime. Stir well. Let the swiss chard cook down. Toss in the cilantro right before serving.

Serve with lime wedges, avocado and cheese if you wish. We ate (devoured) ours with corn tortillas, organic brown rice and “refried” beans, check out that recipe here. 

Okra to be or not to be

  This is a post from another blog, I had, but let me just say I am so excited for it to me Okra season soon! I loved the Okra so much it is now one of my favorite things to grow!

Let me say okra has creeped me out for years, I am from the South, grew-up with people eating the slimy, green, squishy vegetable… but I would not & did not.
Yesterday my friend Amy & I went to the 12th South Farmers Market (http://www.12southfarmersmarket.com/) , I love to buy from local farms and eat what ever is in season, personally think it’s great for our bodies. We went by to see one of my favorite vendors www.delvinfarms.com. Cindy Devlin had some beautiful kale, peppers, squashes and some simply gorgeous PURPLE OKRA. I mentioned how lovely it was & started to head out with my bunches of kale, (for kale chips, kale salad, I heart kale). Cindy , asked if I had ever had roasted okra… I said no, & made that it’s gross face. She simply said “It’s not slimy, it’s crunchy” She had me… I think I love french fries because they crunch.
Pre-heat your over to a super hot 475 +
1 bunch of FRESH okra, either purple or green wash & dry. Place on a baking sheet & drizzle with Organic Extra Virgin Oil Olive, sprinkle with some sea salt & pepper, mix them all up with your hands because its so fun to use your hands and lay them single file on the sheet. Pop them into the oven in for 6 minutes flip them over stick them back in the oven and let them sizzle, thinking our cooked for about 18 mins.
As I pulled them out my hubs said, I don’t really like Okra, but I’ll try it…
Well, we inhaled them, I barley got to grab a picture of the finished okra, that turned a deep green as they cooked. On Saturday when I hit up another Farmers Market, I’ll be grabbing more okra!!!!

Dealing with Allergies, Holistically.

                 

   

            It’s that time of year again, where our nose is running, our eyes are puffy. It’s ALLERGY season. Living in Nashville, which is know as the allergy capital of the United States, or so I am told. It’s also the most beautiful place ever. I have never seen so many shades of green!!!

       Last year, my allergies where horrible. Everything from double ear infections, to a 4 month sinus infection. It was HORRIBLE. I think I tried 6 different antibiotics, 3 different allergy medicines, and 2 different nasal sprays. It sucked. I was so thankful for a really great ENT Mark A. Williams, M.D., Ph.D. and his team where life savers! You can check out his practice here ( http://www.entson.net). 

This year I knew my body, mind and spirit could not go thru all of that again. Nor could my wallet. I was spending about $350 a month on medicine, tissues, and everything else. This year a friend introduced me to doTerra Essential Oils. I bought them to try on my mom, for her heart (I’ll blog about that soon). Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They can be both beautifully and powerfully fragrant. dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. In addition to their intrinsic benefits to plants and being beautifully fragrant to people, essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. But I knew I needed to try them on me first. After a week I realized that I didn’t need allergy medicine once a day, I thought maybe it was just the fact that it was simi- nice out. When we where with my mom I realized I had zero post-nasal drip for weeks. The only thing I had done differently was rubbing the oils on my feet morning and night. 

                                                                                          The Holy Trinity:

                                                                     

      We got home and I finally ran out of a few of the oils, I suddenly had an ear ache and a runny nose. I was down for the count.  I immediately ordered more lavender, lemon and peppermint.  I treated my earache with Melaleuca and oregano, just on the out side of my ear and just a tiny drop of each. My earache was gone in days.  Once I got the holy trinity back in my hands as I like to call it. I used 5 drops of each in a shot glass with a tiny bit of water, 3 times a day. After about 2 days, I was able to only use the trinity once a day. Now after a month, I use it only every other day. It’s amazing! I feel so blessed and thankful, that I not only found a natural way to help with my allergies, it is even more cost effective than traditional medicine.  ($30 a month verse $350 a month)

I would love to tell you more about our journey with essential oils , health & healing! Feel free to email me : rebeccasmith9@gmail.com  You can learn more about the oils here. Also I don’t suggest taking essential oil internally unless they are (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade®.

Breaking the Myth of Fear.

This morning my first thought was full of fear. It was so negative. I could feel darkness begin to creep in around my heart before I ever raised my head from my pillow. I swallowed it down and tried to push is aside. The same thoughts, kept coming up over the next hour, it sucked.  I didn’t want to start my day this way. I don’t want to manifest the fear/negative into reality. Then I turned on some worship music. Then I checked Facebook and Christine Caine had posted this photo:

All I could say was AMEN.  I went on with my morning. The fear kept coming in. I checked Facebook again ( may have an avoidance issues) and one of our pastor’s had posted this :

Tim Coleman My PRAYER for YOU today is that you are NOT tormented by fear or anxiety of the days ahead. When troubles come you can face them head on because God is IN you and on all sides of YOU yelling, BRING IT ON!!!

Romans 8:31

I stole it right away... 

then it hit me... 

something is happening today... When Fear walks in FAITH walks out. 

Fear is trying to take over not just me, but others, it’s trying to change the positive that is happening and it’s trying to back us into a corner. That is when I said NO, I won’t let it happen, for every fear filled thought I am going to say out loud the positive, 12 times! ( I have been reading several of Dr. Caroline Leaf’s books) I will not draw the negative darkness towards me and mine. I will believe the positive, the best , the blessing and the favor. Ain’t got time for fear. 

I decided to look up what fear even meant, don’t think I have ever done this... 

fear  

/fi(ə)r/

Noun

An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

Verb

Be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening: "farmers fear that they will lose business".

Synonyms

noun.  

dread - fright - apprehension - funk - awe - alarm

verb.  

be afraid - dread - apprehend - funk - be afraid of

Look at that, an unpleasant emotion caused by belief. ( Doesn't seeing it simply written out break the "power" of fear) Well, I control my emotions and my beliefs. So I have the power to change them. OK THEN, GAME OVER... I DECLARE I AM A FEAR FREE ZONE. MY BELIEF IS THAT I HAVE JOY. MY BELIEF IS THAT I AM BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED. MY HOME IS A HOUSE FILLED WITH JOY, BLESSING, AND PEACE, NOTHING ELSE CAN LIVE HERE. 

My day has  been beautiful.  I spent time with people I love, at places that make my heart happy. I won’t let the fear that I have been battling for the last few months distract me from the life FILLED with PASSION that I have been called to live. I won’t let it stop me from starting the business' that have been calling to me for months. I won’t let fear of sickness, lack of money or time rob me anymore. I am walking into my next. I am walking into the purposes of my life. 

It's time friends for us to be who we are meant to be, it's time for the next it's time for us to start.  

If you want to hear a great message about walking into your next check out this ! www.oasischurch.tv