Zucchini Pizza

 I started with some zuchinni from my garden and some onions.

 I made some spelt pizza crusts using a recipe in my Whole Foods Binder System.

 A quick sauce also from the Binder.

 I used a 2 cup bag of mozzarella to dust over 4 pizzas. If you're gonna use cheese, use it sparingly.

Totally DELICIOUS!

Pretty Juice

This juice I made turned out so beautiful! 

 It is a mix of

• beet greens
• baby beets
• turnip greens
• baby turnips
• carrots
• cucumber

Not only is it pretty, it is delicious!!!

Stear clear of the inner isles!

http://health.rosefromarock.com/2012/07/24/stear-clear-of-the-inner-isles/

Here is blog post I wrote about shopping the perimeter of the grocery store vs. the inner isles.

Winter Gardening books and something EXCITING!

These are the books I am studying every spare minute I have (which hasn't been enough!). It is my plan to have food all through the fall and winter. I have often had carrots in the garden at Christmas time that I go out and dig, but I want to take it further than that this year. I hope I get enough time to study it to make it successful. Sometimes doing is the same as studying. I'd like to have some books behind me before I 'dig' in too deep though. Thank goodness I am going to have an amazing mentor to walk me through it. Oh, I didn't tell you?  Jim Kennard, author of many a garden book and President of www.growfood.com is coming to my house for a few days to mentor me. I am soooo excited!  I know I am going to 'grow' leaps and bounds with what he will have to teach me and I am anxiously looking forward to meeting him! Just think of the bounteous harvest he is going to inspire! :)

Carrots

Nice carrots, huh? My chickens sure thought so. They were having a feast in my garden, so I picked the carrots they were enjoying and decided to enjoy them myself!  I made a video of how I used them HERE.

My 5 year olds surprise for Mom

This morning when I was dressing after my shower, my almost 6 year old yelled through the door that I should not come out yet.  I heard scuffling at the door and for the next 15 minutes was commanded every few minutes not to come out yet. When I was finally allowed to come out, there he was surrounded by streamers he had decorated with. He had in one hand a bowl of peeled and cut up(with a butter knife) cucumber. In his other hand was a bowl with a pumpkin cookie in it. His beautiful blue eyes were looking at me with so much love and pride in what he had accomplished. I couldn't be more blessed. We may not have a job any more, and things might get stressful at times, but love conquers all.

When I went downstairs after eating the cucumber he so lovingly prepared for me, I was met with homemade presents from other boys along with wishes for a happy birthday. Happy Day. My 13 year old son watered my garden for me and is giving me money to save up for a garden training I would like, and my younger sons gave me change in envelopes to go toward the same cause. Sweet hearts.  My husband asked how he can bless me today, so we are going together to mail off some binders that were ordered and to buy pvc to make watering more efficient in my garden beds.

All through the house my little 5 year old has decorated with streamers. It is a truly happy feeling to be so loved and thought of. No gift could mean more to me.

        


           How cute is that?

Groceries for the next week or two

This is the food that I bought for $219 that will feed my family of 7 for the next week or two, depending on how much produce from the garden we supplement it with. We will have more fruit than this because of the double fruit share from a CSA that I purchased earlier in the summer. I just thought it would be fun to post this. My son and I had a fun time trying to make everything fit and be visible on the table. :)  I didn't think of doing this until on the way home from grocery shopping, so this is a very real view of our groceries.  Some of the items, like the taco shells and healthy oat packs were spur of the moment add-ins. Usually we make the shells, and usually I am too budget conscious to buy packaged oats but I thought it would be fun to give the boys each a box for a treat. You may wonder what I will do with such a huge bag of carrots. I juice them! I love juiced carrots and go through them way too fast. I got them for $9 at King Supers.

Anyway, here are our groceries for the next while.

Homesteading

Here is a link to a really good article on homesteading/urban farming. It is what my family is moving into, so it was interesting to read about things that are similar in our lives, and the things that my family has not yet tried.  It is a very good read.

http://www.rosefromarock.com/2012/07/17/why-should-i-homestead-and-keep-a-journal/

Lunch from the garden today

I weeded for a few hours in the garden today and on the way inside I picked a few things to make lunch with:

• baby potatoes
• kale
• zuchinni
• green onions

I started them sauteing in a wee bit of olive oil.
I then added:

• green peppers
• Mrs. Dash garlic and herb
• Better than Bouillon Organic chicken
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 cups water

 I let it cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

I was going to take a picture of this yummy lunch but my husband has my phone with him today. He is building fences at a cattle ranch with my 10 year old son. He is being fed by the ranchers wife. I wonder what she is going to make today.

Weekend Pig-out

This weekend I was at a LEMI training in Salt Lake City. While I was there I was not as diligent in food combining or food choices as I usually am. I wanted to have fun in every way possible while I was on this mini-vacation, and I figured all of my food rules should go out the window for a time.
For breakfast I had fruit. Even without rules, this is what my body wants in the the morning. It is more than a habit because my body just feels better when I treat it that way.
Lunch was pita sandwiches with hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes,lettuce, red onions, avocado, and lime juice.
Those parts of my day were easy to make good decisions on. They are what I eat normally and what make my body feel the best. It was dinner that threw me for a loop. It varied between hamburgers(bun and meat don't food combine well) and fries cooked in unhealthy oils, to deli baked potatoes( with intestine clogging cheese and sour cream) and white pasta that acts like glue in the intestines,and it did not include  any veggies. It didn't stop there I am afraid. I also had ice cream, cookies and hard candies. One night a kind man we were staying with was making a green smoothie for himself while my friend and I were eating the deli food we had just bought. I told him that under normal circumstances I would have had food more along the lines of what he was having. He then poured me a glass of his smoothie that was full of veggies and fruit. I drank it, wondering how it would work on my belly that was digesting starches at the time. Within a half hour of having the fruit with the starches my belly was in a turmoil. It was still rumbling and having problems when I woke up the next morning. Note to self: when you know about food combining, USE the knowledge! :)
I got home at 5 am today. I was awake for 22 hours - it was a long day but so worth the mentor training I was a part of.  When I weighed myself after my adventurous 3 day weekend I had gained 5 pounds!!!  Most of that weight will come off easily when my digestion goes back to normal. I did get an insight into what others must go through who don't know about food combining and eating whole foods. Even eating well for breakfast and lunch didn't save me from the weight gain and digestive issues that the crazy evening foods gave me. I entered into the decision to eat whatever tempted me, knowing that there would be a consequence. I am heavier and my digestion is slow, but I do have a resolve to go back to my whole foods ways because I know that I will feel better. Once in a while this sort of lesson is good for me. It reminds me of why I do what I do.

Carrot I picked this morningI

This morning I was out weeding my garden(I have time now that my binder is done) and saw the top of a carrot poking out of the ground. It was bigger than I thought it would be, so I pulled it to get a better look. I was amazed on a couple of points.   First, in years past I have planted carrots directly into the ground - not in a box with homemade soil, so they have been rather short and squirrely as they tried to find which way they could grow through pebbles and such. This one grew pretty straight.  Second, These haven't been growing for very long and they are so big.  It doesn't happen very often that I have a carrot for breakfast, but I totally ate that beautiful carrot today along with those peas in the picture. I saved the carrot top for juicing or in a smoothie later. I love my garden.

Brian's Smoothie Experience

This smoothie is  the one I made for breakfast this morning with Paris Cos Lettuce, strawberries, bananas and water. My Mom engraved this mug for me. I think she should sell them on my website.

Brian has been giving whole foods a real heroic effort this week. He has not had tater tots all week!  For the most part his food has been simple and wholesome.  

This afternoon Brian was feeling a drain in his energy and felt like he wanted some caffeine to get going again. We are getting our home businesses going and can't afford to be tired.  I say he 'felt' like he should have caffeine, but he did not actually have it. He asked me how to make a green smoothie so he could try out if it actually would give him energy.

I went out to the garden and grabbed him some kale, washed it, and put it in the blender that had about 2 cups of water that Brian had prepared. I blended it for him, then he put in 2 bananas and a few cups of berries. 

About 20 minutes later I saw him doing something with a little more spring in his step and asked if he had any more energy than a few minutes ago and he said "YES".  I asked if it would be right for me to blog that the smoothie had given him energy and he agreed. 

Brian is not someone who believes something just because someone tells him it is true. He has to test it and think about it and ponder about it, etc.  He has slowly been coming over to 'the dark side' and his health has shown it. He rarely gets sick anymore and he tells people its because of how we eat. At one point in my health crusades he teasingly called me the 'Health Nazi'. He is a tease and it was funny at the time, but look at where my efforts have gotten us. A healthy strong family. It is a mission in progress as life throws curve balls, but we are on a good path if my husband is asking for a green smoothie instead of a soda. :)

Today's Salad

• Frozen Corn
• Frozen Peas
• Roma Tomato, chopped
• Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped
• Kidney Beans, sprouted and slow cooked in BBQ sauce
• Homemade Ranch Dressing (recipe in Whole Foods Binder System)
• Parsley

Video peak at the Whole Foods Binder System

• Lose weight,
•  have more energy,
•  whole foods the family will love,
•  shopping strategies and tips, 
• whole foods information and tips,
•  food combination tutorial,
•  and more.

This is only on sale through the 12th of July. After that the prices will go up. Pre-order and I will ship it out to you on the 12th or email it, whichever you choose. To order, go to www.inthegardenofeatin.com

 Complete system in a box

      $39.95 plus S&H
              or

       Emailed copy

          $19.95

Brian's food today and what is going on.

Today was monumental for Brian. He did awesome with his eating , and because of it he may have found a food allergy to wheat. We will try it again a few times, but eating mostly fruits and veggies leaves him feeling fine until he has had his pita. Hmmmm.

Instead of soda today, Brian has been drinking fresh juiced oranges. He likes it so far.

We ate peaches, orange kale juice, and pitas stuffed with veggies today. I made some raw banana ice cream tonight to snack on while I worked on my binder system. It was heavenly.

We didn't eat much, but we are feeling fine. Brian said he is making a real effort to not be putting the normal processed cheese on his pita. We do both have a headache that I think is a mixture of not enough water in the heat and from the cleansing we are doing.  At the reunion I outdid myself on junk, so I have been expecting something to come along from cleaning myself out again. It is natural and will go away.

Tomorrow we are celebrating our anniversary a bit early while our kids are visiting their Grandparents for a cousins party. Brian has built 8 long bows that we are taking to archery shops in Fort Collins to see if they will carry them there. While we are there we will get to eat out. That is quite special while we are counting our pennies these days. It will be fun to spend the day with my sweetheart.

I have been asked to manage a non-profit garden in Fort Collins and will be going to check that out tomorrow too. I don't know how many more things I can add to my incredibly busy schedule, but I think this one would be worth it. It will give me the chance to teach people about my Binder System too.  I am finishing it up and feeling the usefulness of it.  I know it will help people and I am excited to see it. www.inthegardenofeatin.com

Brian is giving whole foods a try

My husband Brian loves tater tots and eggs in the morning. It has been years of him having his breakfast, and the rest of us having ours.

He eats lots of salads and for the most part eats healthy, but he wouldn't give up his tots.

Brian told me yesterday that he is ready to give my style of eating a try to see if it will help him have more energy.

I decided to fill him with as many greens and body cleansing foods as possible this week to give him a good 'taste' of how he could feel.
First thing, I juiced a bunch of greens from the garden and added cucumbers, apples and ginger. His comment:

• This isn't very good. (That was totally just his opinion. I thought it was delicious!)
• I didn't feel hungry like I thought I would. It lasted until lunch.
• I didn't get the mucus feeling in my throat like I usually do after breakfast.
• My belly didn't give me my usual morning trouble.

On to Lunch,

 I made a smoothie with frozen strawberries, bananas, lots of greens from the garden, and water.
Comments:

• This tastes good.
• I'm not even hungry yet from breakfast.
• Is it healthy to be so full?

This count of 1525 is how many times I have used this blender in the 2 years that I have owned it.
I used my other one for about 10 years before needing to buy this new one.









Dinner

 The other day when we were traveling, we stopped at Subway for lunch. They had a new sandwich there that I was very excited about. It begins with lots of avocado, gets topped with tons of veggies, and ends with mustard on top. It was so delicious that I had been thinking of it ever since. When we needed to get groceries for the week, I made sure to get ingredients for the same sandwich every day. 

• Pita bread
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• bell peppers
• avocado
• pickled banana peppers
• Vegenaise
• mustard
• greens (not shown)

This was my sandwich. I had several more too. :)

This was my husbands. He added beef to his. I told him that the meat and bread together would make him tired. I was right. He was asleep in no time. Of course, being up until 4 in the morning building long bows couldn't have contributed....... :)






That is what we ate for the day. Later in the evening, Brian made himself another pita sandwich, but I was fine. This may not seem like much food, but we had was nutrient rich. It has been hot, so our appetites have been low and we have been eating whole foods for a long time so we are not having to get rid of many processed food addictions. My husband didn't have his eggs and tots in the morning, but otherwise he has been eating healthy for a long time. I say this just so if you are coming from the Standard American Diet, you won't see this food and get scared. It is one step at a time.

Asparagus and Kohlrabi

When I left for my family reunion  a week ago, I thought the asparagus I had planted had been too far gone to survive. I had bought the roots at a hardware store for cheap and was just hoping for the best. I kept watering this bed just in case.  I loved seeing the asparagus in my Dad's garden and thought I would plant again in the fall. I got home though, and lo and behold there was asparagus!!!  We won't have any to eat this year, but next year we will be able to sample them sparingly. We will let the roots grow strong and then the year after that we will be in asparagus heaven!

This is Kohlrabi. If you haven't tasted it, it is crunchy with a very mild flavor. We eat it raw in salads. It is best not to let it get too big because it can get tough and woody. When it is about a baseball size we will harvest it, peel it, and cut it up to enjoy it. The last ones I grew were green so it was fun for these to be growing purple. I will let one of these go to seed so I can save the seeds for next year.

YouTube Kale Smoothie from the garden

Today I posted a video on YouTube showing myself bringing kale in from the garden and making a smoothie with berries, date sugar and water. You can watch it here.

Death Sentence

 This is the story of my sister Kerissas rise from deathly sick to vibrantly healthy.
http://health.rosefromarock.com/2012/07/03/death-sentence-kerissas-story/

Garden Embellishments

Isn't this cute? My parents used slabs like the ones I built my garden with to do siding on this little garden shed. So cute!

I liked this placement of painted tires, herbs, and sundial in my parent's garden.     I want one. :)

• The honeysuckle growing on the left has grown amazingly fast. It smells so good. 
• The planter holder on the right was my Great Grandma's. Special.  
• The white tube looped around the top rail of the fence is lighting. It looks really good at night. 
• This is the entrance to the 'Secret Garden'.

Family Feelings

Yesterday was the birthday of my Grandpa who would have been 98 years old. Before he died he requested that we all get together around his birthday each year. We had a beautiful cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He would have been proud, and I am sure many of us felt his presence there at this special gathering. Where my family is, love is. I am so thankful for that fact.  I know many people are not so fortunate as I am. When I feel such complete love and acceptance it makes me want to make sure everyone feels that way.  Christs love is complete and all encompassing and I know everyone is going to feel that someday, even if it doesn't happen for them on this earth - which I hope it does.

Gigantic Slip and slide

We look forward to this every year. It started when my Dad was working with this material when it was wet, and he slipped. Great things sometimes come from accidents!

 My nieces were completely exhausted from a day of cousins, water, sand, good food and fun.

Family is where it's at.

Getting the slip and slide ready.

This was one of the highlights of the party. Yes, I went down it along with most of my cousins and even my 55 year old mom. :)   (She doesn't count as 55 really, she is like a little kid.)

The best part of the whole day was just the feeling of love in the air. I am so blessed to have such a great family. Every one of them is special to me.