Rainbow Carrots

 Several weeks ago, I was surfing the internet as I usually do, looking at photos of food blogs that are a joy to look at, primarily for the gorgeous photos of yummy food that makes you crave it that second! Primarily I go, just to look at the photos of course. All the love and skilled creativity that goes into food blogs. The staging of the meal, the lighting, and how some dishes seem to pop out and say Make Me Now and then Eat Me!


While looking for our Easter Dinner, (I had decided that carrots would be the best themed menu for this year), I found the most amazing photos of Rainbow Carrots at Family Fresh Cooking. And yes these carrots screamed Eat Me, ASAP.


So off to the market I went to buy my own batch of Rainbow Carrots, and to my surprise my trustee whole foods market did not have them in stock. Sadly, realizing that rainbow carrots would not possible happen for Easter Dinner, I headed to my corner grocery market for some last minute items, and there they were. Flashing the brilliant colors of purple, red, orange, and yellow. In my head I was singing hallelujah.


Yes, I know it may seem funny, or even trivial, that I get this excited about food, and carrots for that matter. But I do. And it was fun taking the photos. The colors were gorgeous, and they tasted amazing. With just a touch of garlic to the melted Kerrygold Butter, and then slow roasted to perfection.

Ingredients:

• 1Batch of Rainbow Carrots
• 2 Tablespoons of melted Kerrygold Butter
• 2 teaspoons of Garlic Seasoning
• Fresh Thyme (optional)

Directions:

Set to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter and add in spices. Wash/ dry, and cut off the tops of the carrots. Place carrots on parchment paper, and with a rubber brush, start to brush on butter mixture on to the carrots. Make sure to turn the carrots while brushing. I roasted mine for about 45 minutes, but times may vary. 


Serve and Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Spinach Smoothie

Spring is in the air, or should be at least. All the updates on Fb from around the country keep telling me that it is. People are grilling, and drinking fruit smoothies as the weather gets warmer. Portland has yet to warm up. The only signs of spring are the birds, and the slow bloom of our cherry blossom trees, and tulips. Of course it is still cold, and we are prepared for the cooler weather and rain until early July, which then we will join the rest of the country in summer weather, and the joys of warm summer grilling parties next to the pool. 

When my friend posted a similar recipe, "Green Monster Spinach Smoothie" that she made, it only reminded how much I loved the warmer weather, and sipping on smoothies. Immediately, I sliced and froze my bananas. This recipe is packed full of nutrients, and could serve as a meal. I tweaked a few ingredients, to make it more Paleo friendly, and added strawberries, and a hint of cocoa. 

Every ingredient in this recipe, is a power food, and good for you. It was a great afternoon treat for my girls too. All three, drank it up and have been begging for more. Perhaps, breakfast tomorrow will be served with an egg, and this tasty treat!

Ingredients:

• 1 sliced frozen banana
• 1 cup of sliced Strawberries
• 1 tablespoon of Almond Butter
• 1/2 cup of Plain 0% Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup of Coconut milk, unsweetened
• 5 cups of baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1/2 tablespoon of 100% pure Maple Syrup
• 1 heaping spoon of Cocoa Powder

Directions:
In a blender combine all ingredients, and puree until desired consistency.


Serve and Enjoy!

Obesity in Animals and Infants, not just an American thing anymore

Tonight we ran across an article talking about the obesity epidemic we face as a society, and the role that our ecological system plays in this problem. Here was my husband's thoughts that I found quite interesting! Which I feel about sums it up, and I quote;

"I don't think any one thing is the actual cause of why people and
animals are getting sick "fatter". I think numerous contributing
factors are what is causing the problems. For example


1. Pollution is a major problem that is destroying our ecosystem. The
same ecosystem that provides a closed loop cycle in the production of
our air, water, food, environment. Issues created in a closed loop
system turn into compounding issues in all parts of it.


2. Genetically modified seeds. This has been shown numerous times that
it destroys the environment as well as the animals "humans included"
internal organs.


3. Current farming methods have removed a vast majority of the
nutrients in the soil. It can take up to 25 years using the
Hugelkultur Raised Beds method to increase the vitality of soil to
where it needs to be. Newer farming methods such as permaculture,
aquaponics, landraces, food forests, etc. can provide over 1 million
pounds of food from just 3 acres and can help heal a natural closed
loop system like our ecosystem.


4. A move away from natural foods. As we have seen the cost for a
family to get natural foods such as grass feed meats, birds "chicken,
turkey" that are free range and only eat bugs is cost prohibitive for
most people. So the move to food for both people and animals that are
not made by nature in the real world is having dire consequences
beyond what most people can fathom.


5. Fitness. The most financially important phrase in fitness and
health is "to keep them confused".  I see people buying into
mis-information that is un-healthy and counter productive to the way
our muscle, skeletal, and internal systems actually need. Also a move
to people working in doors at desks is not natural and bad for you as
we have seen in recent studies.


6. Health system. Our current system frequently causes more harm than
good and renders many people in effect lifelong patients.


7. Life improvements. When I look at some improvements that we as a
society has created in the past 100 years it looks like some key
inventions actually do more harm then good. Nike running shoes for
example. Staying up late and getting little sleep due to technology.


8. Stress. Humans have always had to live with stress, however in our
natural environment those stresses were only present a few times a
week. We were more in tune with our surroundings and had more control
of our lives. Our current society has created a almost endless and
constant supply of stress of which most of it is actually false.
Stress has been shown to contribute to weight gain. I wonder if the
animals that were living in cages experience the same type of constant
stresses."

Here is the link to the article. 

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-12-19/animals-and-6-month-old-infants-are-getting-fatter-…-which-mean-it’s-somethin


http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/the-real-cause-of-the-global-obesity-epidemic.html

Easy Lazy Sunday Mexican Salad

Ever feel like you really just do not want to cook anything elaborate, but at the same time you are craving taste, flavor. You would go eat out, but you know that they are going to throw ingredients into that super yummy dish, that are really unhealthy. 
That is how I felt tonight, which is why I have named this dish Easy Lazy Sunday Mexican Salad. This salad is packed full of nutrients, and is fast and easy.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head of Lettuce
• 1/2 Avocado
• 3 green onions
• 12 ounces of Grass fed Organic, ground beef
• 2 Organic Roma tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of fresh salsa
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 3 teaspoons of Chili powder
• 1 clove of garlic
• A pinch of Sea salt, and black, and red pepper

Directions:
In a skillet brown beef, thoroughly. As you are cooking the meat, add all the spices listed above. When ground beef is 1/2 cooked add in green onion and then once meat is done, add in Salsa, and tomatoes. Stir well. 


Chop/Dice up lettuce, and slice avocado. In a bowl, toss lettuce, and then top with grass fed beef, and avocado.


Serve and enjoy!