Cranberry Shweet Potato Juice

Today I started on juices and sauces for Thanksgiving. Here is one of the juices I made up today that came out really good.

Cranberry Sweet Potato Juice

2 Cups fresh Cranberries
2 Gala Apples
1 Garnet Sweet Potato medium
1 Orange
Juice in order listed. This will rock your world for Thanksgiving!

Til tomorrow
Sandi

Fennel, Beet, Prickly Pear Pick Me Up Juice Recipe

Now if the title of this new recipe has not scared you away I would love to share with you this Smooth Morning Juice I came up with today. Let's go back to my last visit to the Farmer's Market. While we were there I decided to pick up at least 2 items I have never juiced before and create a new recipe. So the two new items are Fennel and Prickly Pears or cactus.  I brought them home and started my journey of creating a new recipe not only for good taste but also for the healing properties.

Health Benefits

What can Fennel can do for you... It's main aid is on your digestion. It will help to regulate you as well as in reliving nausea, indigestion, constipation and flatulence. You can also use fennel to detox your body as it works as a natural tonic for your kidneys, liver and spleen. It has a very sweet licorice taste which can be controlled by the amount of fennel you use and also by the other produce you juice along side it.

Prickly Pear,  Cactus, Nopales different name for the same plant. This fruit of a cactus plant, really interests me as I have high cholesterol and have worked long and hard to lower it with proper diet and without the use of medicines. Cactus has polysaccharides fibers which help to lower LDL Cholesterol (the bad kind) and triglycerides (fat cells). It also high antioxidants which is always a good thing.

So now that I know about my two new produce and the benefits so next the big thing...

HOW DO THEY TASTE?

Both the Fennel which tastes like licorice and the Nopales or Prickly Pear which really has no taste maybe a slight vanilla taste will work well in many combos. The Nopales when juiced is slightly thick....I thought it might be slimy but I was pleasantly surprised to find when I juiced the green cactus the juice was clear, slightly thick and lightly flavored. I decided to add it to one of my morning juice recipes and                                          see how it taste. I was not disappointed  Oh let me say I do NOT like licorice AT ALL. BUT the fennel juice is not overly sweet and when added to the right combo of other juices it accents and did not over power.

Fennel, Beet, Prickly Pear 

Pick Me Up Morning Juice

1 Cup Cranberries
6 Large Strawberries

2 Bartlett Pears

1 Large Beet

1 Prickly Pear (Cactus)

1 Fennel Bulb

1 Large Gala Apple
1 Large Granny Smith Apple

8 Carrots

Juice in the Order Shown Above. Drink over Ice or Cold.

Til Tomorrow

Eat and Stay Healthy

Sandi~

My Eat 2 Live Lunch

I've been reading Dr Fuhrman's,  Eat To Live Book and have been really studying it closely. Each day I take one of his ideas and add it to my juicing regimental.  Since I had juice for breakfast today I decided to have a nice filling salad for lunch.

I started with a large mixing bowl and I added the following and mixed them well.
2 handfuls of baby spinach
4 handfuls of Spring Mix (i buy the premixed and I wash it.)
(It includes baby lettuce, baby greens, endives and radicchio)
6 baby bella mushrooms cleaned and chopped
2 roma tomatoes chopped or 1 beefsteak
1/2 of a large cucumber sliced and chopped
1 Cup mixed beans (I use Kroger's Organic brand of Three Bean mix) Rinsed and drained

Then I made up the dressing below and added it to my salad and lightly stired it around until it is all coated.
DRESSING
1/8 of a sweet onion chopped well
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 orange juiced
1 lime juiced
black pepper

Notice I did not add salt and did not feel like I needed it at all! Yeah! The taste buds have changed and do not crave it now! I started with a large bowl of this and placed the remainder in the fridge. I ate as much as I wanted and guess what this is actually love calorie and very good for you. I adding a large glass of ice cold water and I have been full all afternoon.
Til tomorrow
Eat Healthy Today
Sandi

White Bean Soup for a Fall Day

Today is kinda cold here in the Dallas area...Woke up to 39 degrees and that is a bit chilly. So I wanted  to make up a pot of soup that is healthy and filling and tastes good. This is the soup I made....Must say it DOES taste good and very easy to create. You can put everything into a crock pot and turn it on as you leave out the door in the morning and it will be ready for you when you get home. I choose to cook mine on the stove since I was home anyway and cleaning out the fridge.

Here is Sandi's White Bean Soup
1 Can Organic Great Northern White Beans (15 oz) rinsed well
1 Can 14.5oz of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
+ 1 Can of Water
5 Roma Tomatoes pureed in the blender
4-6 oz of Frozen Corn (if you use canned rinse well)
3 oz  Frozen Bell Pepper (if using fresh 1 small Bell Pepper)
4 oz Chopped Frozen Onion (or 1 small fresh)
dried garlic or 3 cloves fresh chopped
seasoning
2 - 3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning dried
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1/2 Tablespoon or more Black Pepper

After everything above cooks down you will want to add in the following.
1/2 Cup Brown Rice
1/2 Cup Quinoa

 (If cooking in the crock pot I would transfer the soup to a stock pan and cook the  Brown Rice and Quinoa in the soup. They will take in all the flavors from the soup and you will not taste the nutty flavor from the brown rice. Personally I find Quinoa to be bland but in this soup it is amazing! You might need to add extra liquid (I added fresh tomato juice but water is fine) as the rice and quinoa are cooking as they do take up moisture. Cook the soup at least 30 more minutes or until the rice and qunioa are cooked.

**YOU Will Noticed I have not added salt again. I personally am not adding salt to my soups as I find that my using most fresh or frozen produce, I don't have the need for the extra salt. You can add it of course just remember don't over salt.*8

You will have leftovers and I know..."WHO wants to eat the same thing day after day". Well here is a fun way to enjoy our leftover soup and yet it will be different.  Clean 1 cup of fresh spinach and place it in the bottom of a large soup bowl. Ladle your hot White Bean Soup on top of the Spinach. Let it sit for about 3-4 minutes and then stir and enjoy. The hot soup will cook your spinach and add a how new depth to your soup.

Other Add ins:
Steamed Broccoli
Steamed Carrots
Fresh Tomatoes Cut in Chunks
Spaghetti Squash
The list is endless...

Hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did. Love to hear from you. If you would like to share your recipes on our blog please drop me a  note at livingtheshweetlife@gmail.com
Til Tomorrow
Live Healthy!
~Sandi

Vegan Chili Oh So Good

Dr Fuhrman got me thinking a whole new way about eating. I have been reading his books Eat to Live and Super Immunity and both books have recipes for soups and stews that are simple and easy for you to make and eat every day of the week. So, I decided to make up our own chili for us to eat on this week. I made this chili up on my way to RCIA Class Monday night. I put it in the crock pot at 5 pm.... it was ready to eat when we got home from class at 9pm.

Here is what it took.

1 can of Diced Salsa Style Tomatoes
(Fire Roasted in Tomato Puree) mine was Kroger brand
1 Can of Water (use the tomato can)
1 can Tri- Bean Blend 15 oz
(Simple Truth Organic from Kroger) rinsed under water
6 oz Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
3 oz Frozen Bell Pepper
3 oz Frozen Chopped Onion
chopped garlic as much as you like ( I use fresh some people use dry)
Adjust the following spices to fit yourself
Chili Pepper - 1 Tablespoon
Cumin- 1 Tablespoon
Paprika- 1 Tablespoon
Black Pepper- 1/2 Tablespoon
I personally do not add Salt... You can add salt if you wish.
This makes a small crock pot full of chili. I put it on to cook on high for 4 hours and it is perfect when i got home. It is vegan NO meat in it. I  plan to add mushrooms to my chili tonight to get a "meat" variety and will let you know how it works out. I plan to add the mushrooms at the end maybe the last 2 hours.

If you make  this I would love to hear how it turns out for you. Drop me a note.

Funday Sunday with the Family

September 2 was another Funday Sunday where in the Tree House. Zoe Bug and her Momma where here all day long. Momma and I sneaked away to go birthday shopping for The Bug's 1st birthday next weekend. We visited a Whole Foods first to get a fresh made juice... I had a BEET IT (orange, beets, carrots and lemons) and Keelee had a Good Morning Juice (orange, carrots and apples.) The perfect start for our 4 store shopping spree. Whole Foods and Sprouts for our good healthy foods and soaps and Dollar Tree and Target for party supplies and birthday clothing. Even picked up Zoe's 1st Christmas gift from Fisher Price (of course). Got some fun snapshots of the baby playing with the citrus and apples here at the house. Lots of fun now time to sleep so I can finish her 1st Birthday doll and whip up some doll blankets and pillow for her buggy.

Til tomorrow
Stay juicing and healthy!
Sandi

It's a New Juicing Month!

September is here and with it a new challenge... Work out 3 days a week at the gym and get the weight lowered some more. It has been 5 1/2 months since I started my journey to better health. So far I have lowered by weight from 259 pounds to 204 pounds. At the present my weight is up a little from that but part of that is from some unexplained swelling in my legs. Even so I am very happy and feel so much better than I did when I started 2012.

 My goal this month is to hit the 200 mark. To keep me honest and on point I commit to sharing with  You my friends, my daily steps.

Stepping I did this morning with my Beet It Juice and an hour walk around the Apt Complex. Not to bad heat wise at 7:30am and Chico my hearing ear dog loved it.

Lunch was created with some extra zip from my plums that were getting soft. YUMMM.
One thing I know I need to do is lower my fruits and raise my greens and veggies in my juices. So hard when it is hot outside and I just want ice cream SO BAD. But I just might have reached the perfect combo for my lunch juice. I have some freezing for a quick whip in the blender tonight for an "Ice Dessert".

My lunch juice was

6 plums ( smaller)
1 Cup of Fresh Cherries
3 Slices of Fresh Pineapple

1 Beet
2 Oranges
12 Carrots
1 Organic Cucumber

Juice in the order listed... The reason being that the harder produce will wash out the residue left from the softer produce... Nothing is wasted.

So now I am off to make Mean Green and do some sewing for my grand daughter's 1st Birthday.
Til Later
Sandi