Beet The Heat Salad

 Beet Quinoa Salad

I like beet salads.  I actually have quite a collection of beet salad recipes that I cycle through.

With a delicious and interesting combination of flavors I think that this particular beet quinoa salad is one of my favorites.

I don't use strict proportions with this salad - so that the ingredients ratios can be more or less individualized according to your personal taste preferences.

Organic mix of lettuce greens chopped fine
Organic beet, cooked and cubed into 1/4-inch dice
Organic carrots, cubed into 1/4-inch dice
Organic spring onions or chives, thinly sliced
Handful of cooked quinoa
Handful of crispy walnuts
Handful of dried organic cherries
Sprinkling of blue cheese
Olive Oil Dressing

Combine lettuce, beet, carrots, scallion or chives, quinoa, walnuts and cherries and stir together well.  Serve on plate or plates with a sprinkling of blue cheese and olive oil dressing of your choice. 

My fav dressing is super simple.  I combine a good quality olive oil with freshly squeezed lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey, and sea salt.  The honey mustard flavor compliments the beets and cherries.

Disheartening News For Fish Lovers

In a recent post I wrote about how to carefully seek out wild-caught salmon, sockeye salmon, particular, over farm-raised varieties of salmon, for both health and environmental reasons.

Then I came across a disheartening article in Forbes Magazine that addresses the wide-spread nature of fish fraud in the United States.  After reading this article I began to wonder whether the fish that is labeled wild-caught sockeye salmon really is wild-caught sockeye salmon.  This is very disturbing news - especially for you sushi lovers out there!

Fake Fish On Shelves And Restaurant Tables Across USA, New Study Says - Forbes

Weston A Price Foundations Dietary Recommendations for Pregnancy

I found the following guidelines for expectant and nursing mothers.

Recommendations for Pregnancy Diet

Cod Liver Oil - that supplies 20,000 IU vitamin A and 2000 IU vitamin D per day
1 qt. whole raw milk - preferably from pasture-fed cows - can be cultured such as kefir
4 T butter daily, preferably from pasture-fed cows
2 eggs, daily, preferably from pastured chickens
Additional egg yolks daily, added to smoothies and salad dressing
3 - 4 oz. fresh liver, once or twice a week
Fresh seafood, 2 - 4 times a week, salmon, shell fish and fish roe
Fresh beef or lamb daily, consumed with the fat
Oily fish or lard daily for vitamin D
2 T. coconut oil daily, used in cooking and smootohies
Lacto-fermented condiments and beverages
Bone broths used in soups, stews, and sauces
Soaked whole grains
Fresh organic vegetables and fruits

Avoid:

Trans fats - or hydrogenated oils
Junk food
Commercial Fried Foods
Sugar
White Flour
Soft Drinks
Caffeine
Alcohol
Cigarettes
Drugs - even prescriptions drugs

Important Warning:  Cod liver oil contains substantial levels of omega-3 EPA, which can cause numerous health problems, such as hemorrhaging during the birth process, if not balanced by arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid found in liver, egg yolks, and meat fats.  Please do not add cod liver oil to a diet that is deficient in these important animal foods.  It is important to follow our diet for pregnant mothers in its entirety, not just selected parts of it.

New Post On Sloppy Joe's

Credits to Carrisa for sending me this recipe.  The Sloppy Joe's turned out to be such a hit in the household that they were eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner here.  The recipe makes a huge batch and what we had lasted in the fridge for several days.  The flavor actually got better after a day or so.

The only things that were changed up by me - is that I subbed in grass-fed beef and all organic ingredients.

http://pinterest.com/pin/298785756498780147/

Wild-Caught Sockeye Salmon

I like the taste of fish - and wild-caught salmon is one of my personal favorites.  However, unless, one seeks out wild-caught salmon, specifically, the salmon one finds at the supermarket or the salmon served in a restaurant will, more often than not, be the farm-raised variety.

When I go to the supermarket I specifically seek out wild-caught salmon.  Wild-caught salmon, unlike farm-raised salmon, has a season.  If the salmon is not in season it is not available.  However, canned sockeye salmon and flash-frozen sockeye salmon are a good alternative when fresh salmon is out of season.  If a package reads "Atlantic Salmon" or "Farm-Raised" I do not buy it.  If I am uncertain I ask.

Wild-caught salmon is nutritious and has a more favorable omega-three profile than farm-raised salmon because wild salmon eat a healthier diet than farm-raised salmon and are not exposed to unnatural foods - such as corn and soy - and dangerous pesticides that are used to combat algae and sea lice in fish farms.

As an added bonus wild-caught salmon is a sustainable protein source because wild-caught salmon, unlike other protein sources, are allowed to live out 95% of their lives in nature as nature intended.

The wild-caught salmon are not harvested until they are at the very end of their lives just as they are preparing to spawn.  After salmon spawn - if they have not been caught by man or eaten by a bear - they die naturally.

Most native adult Pacific salmon feed on small fish, shrimp and squid.  Sockeye salmon, however, essentially vegetarian, eat plankton, and do not accumulate as much mercury as larger ocean fish do.

Because sockeye salmon are small, weighing between 5 - 15 pounds, they cannot be line-caught.

Sockeye salmon is a great choice for a healthy source of sustainable protein.

Super Simple Summer Supper

Keeping with the super simple theme - I have been trying to minimize my cooking/ kitchen time while still maximizing flavor and variety.

From the genesis of a Sunday Pot Roast I was able to get three meals.

Sunday night I served pot roast with vegetables.

Monday night I served shredded beef taco salad made from the left-over meat and I served it with guacamole and salsa, corn chips and shredded cheese.

Tuesday night I made cream of potato soup (made with awesome broth from pot roast) and served it with coleslaw.

Tonight I made large pot of sloppy joe's made with grass-fed ground beef and using a recipe that I got from Carrisa.  I served the beef with shredded lettuce, guacamole and salsa.  I did a repeat of guacamole and salsa because I am trying to perfect them.  I was happy with the guacamole this time and I am still working on the salsa.

Super Simple Taco Salad For Dinner

Yes - in case you haven't noticed - my enthusiasm for smoothies has been waning lately.  Rather than chugging down smoothies everyday - I have been enjoying them more occasionally - and as a treat rather than as everyday sustenance.

Ironically, on the other hand, my husband and I have done a role reversal, and he has become the smoothie aficionado in the family.   His take on smoothies is completely different than mine - but, this is a topic that I can save for another blog post. 

Meanwhile - I am still out of town.  And my husband, who came up for the weekend, noticed how much better the vita-mix works than his regular blender, and left with my vita-mix!  Yes - I travel with a blender - and apparently so does he! 

One of the things that I hope that I am learning to do while I am away is how to prepare a wider variety of food more efficiently and effectively.  I tend to complicate my life, especially my life in the kitchen - and when I  am on my own I often try to find ways to simplify and streamline my food life.  The fastest way to simplify my food life is to get into a food rut and eat the same food more or less until the pot of whatever I made has been exhausted.

But, because I am not cooking in my own kitchen and am not preparing food just to please or displease myself - I am trying to focus on both efficiency and variety without becoming overly complicated.

Tonight, for instance, I am taking the roast beef that was prepared yesterday - and I am re-inventing it.  I am shredding and seasoning it with coriander, cumin, chili powder, and garlic that has been sauteed in coconut oil for a spicy taco like flavor.

I will serve the beef along side shredded organic romaine lettuce, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, shredded organic raw cheese, organic sour cream, and organic corn chips - so that each of us can compose our own version of a taco salad.

For dessert I will slice up an organic watermelon.

This is probably one of the easiest meals I have made in a long time.  Maybe this is the beginning of a new trend.

Egg Nog in the Raw

This is certainly not a traditional egg nog, but it is high on my list for heavenly.

Raw Egg Nog

1 quart raw milk
6 eggs
2 - 3 T raw honey
1/3 c. raw cream
dash of dry ginger

Blend everything together.  Adjust honey and ginger to taste.

Green Vegan Smoothie

With the weather still in the triple digits - and the kitchen running like a smoothie laboratory - I decided to make a green vegan smoothie before my walk this morning.

The green juice base I used was made up of freshly juiced spinach, kale, parsley, cilantro, celery, cucumber, green pepper, chard, lemon, lime and ginger.

Green Smoothie

1 c. green juice base
handful of sunflower seed sprouts
1 c. frozen organic blueberries
1 small organic banana
2 T chia seeds
1/4 avocado
1 scoop raw vegan protein powder

Blend it all up until very creamy and smooth.  It may take a little bit longer to get the chia seeds completely blended up.

Homemade Egg Nog

While Charlotte recovers her strength - and to some degree her appetite - Brett and I have been busy procuring and preparing food that we hope will both tempt and nourish her and the growing twins that she is breast-feeding.

Eggs have not sounded super appealing to her lately - and knowing how important eggs are - the choline-rich yolk in particular - to brain development - Brett came up with the idea of making a non-alcoholic eggnog for Charlotte.

Not only is eggnog delicious - but it is full of good and easily assimilated nourishment.

Here is Brett's awesome, labor of love, eggnog recipe.

BRETT'S NON-ALCOHOLIC EGGNOG

6 large eggs
2 egg yolks
10 T. sugar
1/4 t. sea salt
4 c. whole raw milk
1 - 2 T. vanilla extract
1 t. grated nutmeg
1/2 c. heavy cream - opt.

1 - Whisk eggs, yolks, and sea salt in heavy sauce pan - off the heat.
2 - Stir in  milk, 1/2 c. at a time, blending well after each addition.
3 - Heat slowly over lowest possible heat until it registers 160 degrees on a thermometer.  It should be thick enough to coast the back of a spoon and this usually takes about 25 - 30 minutes.
4 - Stir in vanilla and nutmeg.
5 - Cover with plastic and refrigerate until well chilled.
6 - We use raw milk that is so full of cream that Brett often does not need to add cream  If you, however, use cream - whip it until soft peaks form and then fold it in and incorporate it gently into the egg nog.