Easy Stuffed Peppers (Jalapeno Popper Substitute)

Gather together:

• 4 large green peppers like above
• 1 can organic chick peas
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, I prefer the sheep's milk one
• 2/3 - 3/4 cup grated cheese of your choice. I used a Manchego cheese, again, sheep's milk
• spices to your taste, I used my pulled pork blend (see below)
• Other spice options: curry powder, Italian blend spices, chili powder... play with it

1. Cut peppers in half length wise
2. Put 1/2 can of chick peas in a bowl and mash up
3. Crumble feta over and blend in
4. Add grated cheese and spices
5. Blend all well together
6. fill each 1/2 of pepper with stuffing mix & arrange on baking sheet so they will not tip over
7. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes

• Pulled pork blend: ground pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili pepper, thyme, all-spice, turmeric    Use 1 Tbsp. of each spice except1 ½ tsp. allspice OR blend to your likes and tastes.

My apologies... I forgot to get a picture of the end product. They were yummy!

Carrot Cake: Grain Free & Cow's "Liquid Lactation" Free :)

                              Read on my friends... recipe is below!

I work with people who have health challenges... sometimes big health challenges:

• auto-immune,
• cancer,
• diabetes, etc.

The ravages of modern living and modern eating raise holy hell with people's bodies creating ongoing inflammation, immune activation, cellular metabolism issues, blood sugar issues, glandular ill health... BUT, people still want an occasional celebratory food to relax into and enjoy.

With above said health challenges; the removal of gluten, grains, and cow's milk dairy (it is a caesin & A1 protein / caesin issue) are imperative (from a functional medicine / natural health perspective) to reduce gut and immune health inflammation and get the healing process rolling.

My son Jakob's birthday is always celebrated twice: once with his summer, Lake Ozonia friends and once with family. Dates and times available never seem to mesh to celebrate with all together.

                    Summer Friend Birthday Celebration: Bridge Jumping, Jake's On The H2O, & Cake

This year I made him the standard, as close to whole food, Oreo® cookie cake that a mom can muster up in the kitchen. I use Newman's Organic creme filled chocolate cookies. It is year # 6 for this cake, making twice yearly for both sons, and I think I have perfected it. 

Now comes the family celebration cake. With health issues to consider, I have opted to make a non-inflammatory cake of Jake's 2nd favorite option... carrot cake.  Click carrot cake, back there, for the standard whole food carrot cake recipe. Oh yeah... and enjoy. 

Grain Flour Free, Cow's Milk & Butter Free, Gluten Free BUT Yummy Whole Food Carrot Cake:

• 3 eggs 
• 1 cup buttermilk (I used raw goats milk soured with 1 tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar)
• 3/4 cup organic coconut oil  (melted)
• 3/4 cup sucanat sugar
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. unrefined sea salt
• 3/4 cup fresh ground coconut flour
• 1 cup fresh ground almond flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2-3 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1 tsp. cardamom
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 rounded TBSP. baking powder
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 - 8 oz can pineapple with natural juice, no added sugar (I used the organic canned pineapple from the Coop, it is  a 14 oz can, i used 1/2+.  I will use the whole can the next time I make this yummy cake.)

(All ingredients organic and naturally raised)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. Beat eggs, then beat in buttermilk, and coconut oil.  
2. Blend in sugar, vanilla, and spices.
3. Mix in nut flours, b. soda, b. powder, and salt.
4. Shred carrots on a cheese grater and blend into batter.
5. Chop pineapple pieces in blender to a puree and mix into batter.
6. Add 1/2 the can's pineapple juice and mix in well.
7. Use coconut oil to grease two 8" round cake pans, divide batter evenly between two pans
8. Bake for 45 minutes, until cakes is pulling from edge of pans and knife inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool until just warm and turn out on cooling racks.  
10. When completely cool, frost the bottom layer, add the top layer, and frost top and sides completely.

Options: You can add the raisins, coconut flakes, and walnuts of the original recipe.

Frosting:

This creates a cow's milk dairy free frosting. Auto-immune conditions benefit from avoiding gluten and cow's milk dairy.

• 2 cups raw unsalted cashews, covered in water and soaked overnight (24 hours is even better)
• 3/4 - 1 cup sheep's milk feta
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp. water (use water from soaking the cashews)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• pinch or two of unrefined sea salt

I soaked 2 cups of organic, raw cashews (I think they were free range?) overnight in a wide mouth 3 cup peanut butter jar. Put the cashews in the jar and just cover with enough water to submerge the nuts. They will swell considerably by AM.

1. Drain cashews. Place in food processor with remaining frosting ingredients.
2. Purée on high. You want all ingredients to blend well together into a creamy consistency.
3. Scrape out of food processor into a bowl and freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from the freezer and fluff with a fork. 
5. Freeze again for 15 minutes. 
6. Fluff up again.
7. Freeze for 15 minutes.
8. Fluff again.
9. Freeze for final 15 minutes.  
10. Fluff very vigorously until frosting becomes light. 
11. Frost your carrot cake.
12. Refrigerate until serving time.

Summer Veggies & Cheese

Summer time and the living (cooking & eating) should be easy. Produce is abundant everywhere. I advice growing your own or buying from your local farmer who gardens without the use of any chemicals. Summer enjoyment of the bounty needs to be fresh and in simple preparations so we can get back outside ASAP.  Grating and quick stir frying veggies is easy and a speedy way to get dinner on the table.

For last eve's quicky, get back outside dinner:

• 1 medium yellow squash
• 1/2 large red onion
• 3 medium cloves of garlic (yup, dragon breath here I come!)
• Goat's milk cheddar from Nature's Storehouse, Canton, AND from Goats living and lactating in Candor, NY! How awesome is that?
• Goat's milk Manchego cheese from the Potsdam Coop, maybe it was sheep's milk cheese??? That is what wikipedia tells me manchego is made from and who am I to argue with wikipedia?
• any fresh herbs from your garden or your farmer's garden (basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon balm... use your imagination here to mix and match fun flavors from Mother Earth)
• butter or ghee from pasture raised, lactating animals

1. heat an appropriate sized pan for the amount of veggies you are grating to feed the crew who will grace your table 
2. add some ghee or butter
3. chop onion into any size or shape you desire and saute in the above warmed up pan
4. while onion is gently cooking, use the above cheese grater contraption and grate the yellow squash
5. when onion is soft but not over cooked, add grated yellow squash
6. while yellow squash gratings are gently cooking, grate your cheese chunks on same said grater contraption            
7. peel garlic and put into your garlic press or finely chop garlic
8. fine chop the herbs you have gathered
9. spread cooking veggie mix into even layer in pan
10.  sprinkle garlic across top of veggies
11. sprinkle chopped herbs atop this mix
12. top with cheese
13. cover pan and turn off heat; you want cheese to melt but do not want mushy, color drained, over cooked veggies (trust me on this one)
14. in 5 minutes or so, uncover pan and place appropriate amounts of food onto the plates of the crew gracing your table

Options to play with this veggie mix: 

• use a zucchini in the grated veggies
• use any seasonally & locally available produce in the veggie gratings. If the veggie is not appropriate for grating (tomatoes), then just finely chop them
• try any kind of cheese that you have on hand or suits your fancy
• add chickpeas, lentils, or whatever bean you crave
• add chunks of chicken, sausage...
• toss some raw nuts or seeds on top of your veggies
• sprinkle with unrefined sea salt (depending on the saltiness of the cheese) and fresh ground pepper
• olives?
• roasted red pepper chunks

Iced Chai Anyone?

We have more hot days predicted for next week. A glass or mug of easy* iced chai tea and a peaceful sitting space might just cultivate a relaxing moment or two.

Here's how I do it:

1. I make 12 ounces of very strong black tea, let it cool, and make it into ice cubes. (Yes, this takes a little time but it so worth the effort. Using plain water ice cubes just dilutes the chai tea flavor.
2. Put 4 chai ice cubes in your blender.
3. Add 1/2 to 2/3 cups full fat milk from some sweet pasture raised, lactating animal (or your favorite nut/seed milk)
4. 1/2 to 1 tsp. chai spice mix - see below
5. 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. real vanilla extract
6. 1 tsp. local, raw honey
7. optional pinch of black pepper
8. Blend into a frothy liquid and pour into a wide mouth, pint ball canning jar or some other acceptable, glass receptacle.
9. Enjoy!
10. Double or triple to share with a friend or two.

*I say easy because making traditional hot chai is a process that simmers the whole herbs and spices; not the below ground blend I am suggesting you mix up and have handy for easy iced chai making.  In a jar I put: (keep in mind these are all approximate measures and proportions based upon the strength of the spice flavor.)

• 2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. cardamom
• 1 tbsp. ginger
• 1-2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1-2 tsp. star anise

I make a batch of this and keep it in an 8 oz. ball jam jar.  I also use it in cooler weather to whip up an easy hot chai tea.

The North Country & Florida Mesh

I love Indian food. I love the Indian drink Mango Lassi.

Yesterday a dear friend gifted me 2 mangos that came straight up from Florida, picked from the backyard of another fellow Lake Ozonia neighbor. (picked from their Florida backyard... mango trees would suffer in the ADK mountains come winter!)

To feed my clutch of kids this AM, I started them with a mango lassi; melding the best of Florida fresh fruit with the best of the North Country.

• 2 medium ripe Florida Mangos
• 1 cup full fat goat's milk yogurt
• 1 cup full fat raw goats milk
• 1 heaping tablespoon of raw, local honey... thank you very much Mark Berninghausen of Squeak Creek Apiaries out in the Brasher Falls area
• 1/4 tsp. of rose water made from the roses at Old Market Farm in Winthrop
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom 
• 3 ice cubes
• garnished with local strawberries fresh off the vines from Martin's Farm Stand, Potsdam

Sometimes I just have to go with the flow and enjoy a melding of local and well, not so local. The Lassi was deeeelish! The kids were happy! 

Use this recipe with any fruit combination & enjoy.

You Do NOT Need Me

      But that's ok 'cuz I have Lily...               and we need each other!

You read that correctly. You do NOT need me.

Your body will heal simply by switching to a whole food diet.

May I refer you backwards to a previous post: Longevity Recipe

When you swap out your current eating habits for a 100% whole food diet amazing things will happen:

• You will no longer crave sugar, salt, garbage food stuff
• You gut lining will heal
• Your gut microbes will re-balance themselves (and the whole cascade of good things that happen when gut microbes are balanced - think neurological, immune, digestive... whole body health
• Your weight will normalize for you
• Body aches will lessen and maybe just completely disappear
• High blood pressure and cholesterol will wave bye-bye
• Adult Onset Diabetes will exit your life
• You will feel so good you will change other lifestyle habits because feeling good begets wanting to feel even better
• And it all snow balls on, and on, and on

What I CAN do for you is this: give you tips on how to speed up your body's amazing healing process:

• herbs and supplements help hurry the healing process along nicely & naturally
• foods that will have health restorative effects specific for your body's needs
• foods better avoided for your specific health needs
• lifestyle choices to accelerate that feeling of crazy, good, vibrant health...
• online classes to study health in the comfy space of your home! ($35 an online class and subsequent classes only $25)

And all with a smile, hug, and healing love!

PS If you honestly want to self heal... browse about my website. Between the free information, you tube video links, and my online classes... you can heal yourself.