Fish is something new to our family! Growing up we didn’t eat much fish, probably because it was more expensive than other meats and probably because my grandmother didn’t cook fish! With my third pregnancy my midwife stressed the importance of eating fish especially when pregnant. I knew that it was important, but I just didn’t know how to cook it, where to purchase it, how to prepare it. It was a HUGE unknown for me! Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part XVII – Fish”
We just LOVE stir fry around this house! The kids eat it up like it’s going out of style. Also since dear hubby is Asian he has a true love affair with WHITE rice. The kids definitely take after him in that! I think they have his Asian blood! I too have been bitten by the bug and would definitely prefer white rice over pasta or other carbs, but in our current lives we’ve cut it out almost entirely.
Occasionally we will have fried rice and for that there is no substitute! I just go with it, have the white rice and treat it like dessert! SO yummy… but that is a post for another day… although maybe it won’t be a post at all. I do most of the cooking around here, but hubby is definitely the pro at fried rice. I’ve attempted a few times, but my kids well tell me, “It isn’t as good as Papa’s!” So it probably isn’t worth posting one of my recipes! Maybe we will have a guest post and dear hubby can share! Don’t hold your breath! 😉 Not sure that will ever happen!
So.. on to our stir fry. I often just take a gander at what is in the fridge and just throw it all together. It’s a great way to use what veggies are left over and hide some not so favorites! We have also started serving it over [amazon_link id=”B0036FB6FY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]quinoa[/amazon_link] instead of rice. Not quite as good, but a great substitute. The kids love it and Brian is ok with it. I also like stir fry because it is a cheap and easy way to feed lots of people. Also, by using the [amazon_link id=”B0036FB6FY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]quinoa[/amazon_link] which is high in protein it helps to fill you up without having to add meat!
I often don’t add meat to it, especially if I’m making it for lunch. Here are the most common ingredients that I use, but it can be changed in 1001 different ways. I’ll have a few variations at the bottom!
Basic Simple Stir Fry
Ingredients:
2 carrots chopped
1 head of broccoli chopped in bite sized pieces
Large handful (about 1 cup) sweet peas
1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic diced
1 can sliced water chestnuts
2 cups [amazon_link id=”B0036FB6FY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]quinoa[/amazon_link] uncooked
3 TBSP [amazon_link id=”B0043RKUP6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]tamari[/amazon_link]
3 TBSP water
3 TBSP [amazon_link id=”B0001DMTJG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]oyster sauce[/amazon_link]
oilInstructions:
Cook [amazon_link id=”B0036FB6FY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]quinoa[/amazon_link]. Usually takes 2 cups of water per cup of quinoa. I often cook mine in the [amazon_link id=”B002CVTT52″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]rice cooker[/amazon_link]. Then it’s quick and hands off!
Add oil of choice to wok (I usually use [amazon_link id=”B003QDRJXY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]coconut oil[/amazon_link], occasionally bacon grease) and cook onions until transparent and garlic soft. Add broccoli, carrots, [amazon_link id=”B0043RKUP6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]tamari[/amazon_link], water and [amazon_link id=”B0001DMTJG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]oyster sauce[/amazon_link]. Cook for about 5 minutes with lid on to cover and steam. At end add water chestnuts and sweet peas. Cook until water chestnuts are warm and sweet peas are blanched. Serve over [amazon_link id=”B0036FB6FY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]quinoa[/amazon_link]!
Variations:
[amazon_link id=”B0001DMTJG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Oyster sauce[/amazon_link] often has a lot of sugar in it. If you have a good fermented version please share! In place of [amazon_link id=”B0001DMTJG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]oyster sauce[/amazon_link] can use fish sauce and a bit more water and a bit of [amazon_link id=”B000EDM6KU” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]arrowroot[/amazon_link] to help thicken it.
Sometimes we add green beans, a bit of kale or spinach, peppers,
Can add hot peppers or some hot sauce to give it a bit of a kick!
The possibilities are endless!
And this is what you end up with! No veggies left in the bowl! When we had this last week, my oldest, Tonchi (4), had THREE servings and still wanted more! And then cried when there wasn’t any broccoli in his last serving!
Did you grow up using hydrogen peroxide? We did! And boy did it sting on open wounds! As I’ve recnetly been working as a nurse, the medical profession no longer advises using it to clease wounds. The argument is that not only does it kill bacteria, but it also kills the new healthy cells growing to heal the wound. Continue reading “Hydrogen Peroxide – H2O2”
[amazon_link id=”1400064163″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]
[/amazon_link]
Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand
WOW! Where do I even start? This biography is absolutely amazing! I learned so much by reading this. This book is well written and evoked many emotions: hope, sadness, anger,disbelief, and more. It also made me contemplate hatred, forgiveness and faith.
The book is about Louie Zamperini, an American who was raised in New York. He game from an Italian family of two sisters and a brother. He was quite the problem child, into mischief of every kind and often not caught. He could have been described as a bully, thief and general miscreant.
His older brother Pete encouraged him to be a runner and helped him train and cheered him on. In highschool Louie developed a love of running and became very good at it. Good enough to go to the Olympics. He didn’t medal, but it was his first go and he was young and had many opportunities yet ahead of him… or so he thought. Life quickly changed.
The US was pulled into World War II and Louie signed up to serve. He was stationed in Hawaii on bombers, assisting with air raids in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission his plane went down.
In God’s amazing grace he survived the crash with two fellow airmen and then survived 48 days at sea on a raft, often with sharks swimming around the rafts and bumping them hoping to get an easy meal. The men survived on rain water and the occasional fish or bird they could catch. They even survived a Japanese plane that flew overhead and shot at them, taking multiple passes over them.
They survived at sea, only to be washed ashore an island that was held by the japanese. Louis and his friend Phil (the other man didn’t survive long enough to make it to shore) were taken into custody and became POWs. They stayed on the island for a time and then were transferred to a POW camp in Japan.
The atrocities that they experienced were saddening. It is amazing what these men suffered and survived. I don’t want to give away the end of the book, but it is absolutely astounding. God used this man and his experiences in unbelievable ways.
There was a hold on this book at the library and now I know why. I wasn’t able to finish it the first time I checked it out and had to return it and be put on the waitlist again. It was well worth it. I would have liked to meet this man!
I know not every POW in WWII was able to survive as Zamperini did. After reading this book I have new sympathy, love, respect and renewed faith. I need to read more books about our military. They serve us in so many ways and definitely don’t get the respect or thanks they deserve. We have no idea what struggles they go through and survive. This book is an inspiration and I HIGHLY recommend you read it!
Thanks to the Holistic Mom’s Group Mamas we now have a fantastic pudding recipe that the whole family really enjoys! It is super simple, super good and super healthy too!
Here is the recipe and then I want to talk about a few variations and a little about the ingredients:
Chia Seed Pudding
1 can coconut milk
⅓ cup chia seeds
1 TBSP honey
⅓ cup raisins
2 tsp vanilla
Mix all ingredients together and let it sit for at least an hour.
Then enjoy!
Variations:
This is a fantastic recipe and a HUGE favorite in this house!
One other note on chia seeds. Have any of you used these before? What else do you like to do with them? I have also added them to kombucha which is even more like bubble tea! as if kombucha isn’t nutrient dense enough!
There are so many health benefits to chia seeds. They are high in fiber and also rich in omega-3 and 6 fatty acids (even more than flax seed!). They are also rich in protein, Vitamin B (especially niacin and riboflavin), calcium, magnesium, potassium and help control blood sugar.
When you soak these seeds they adsorb up to 7 times their weight. This makes them great for cooking with or for use as a thickener. I’ve added them to smoothies (soak ahead of time so it doesn’t get too thick), or add to fruit and yogurt for breakfast, or even to meatloaf or hamburgers or meatballs where eggs would have been used as a binder. It also works well in my baked oatmeal recipe instead of the eggs.
Are you familiar with chia seeds? What do you use them for? I’d love to hear new ideas!
I’m always looking for a new breakfast recipe. I feel like we run out of options besides eggs for breakfast pretty quickly! And now that baby girl can’t have eggs, it has made breakfast that much harder. Over the weekend I did make the Oatmeal Bake which has been a hit in this family, but just left out the eggs and decreased the water by ½ and it turned out great! We all liked it and we all could have it. Continue reading “Banana Muffins”
Raw Meat Appetizers
Ok Sally… I’ll go with you most of the way, but I think now you’ve gone too far! Raw meat appetizers? Those containing raw lamb, raw beef, raw fish? I’m not so sure about this! I’m not a huge fan of tartar and this goes a bit further than that!!!
Ok.. so I guess I do love me some high quality sushi! Mmmm… that, in my book, is a little piece of heaven! I could have sushi every day! I just wish it wasn’t so pricey, and no, I don’t count the sushi at the local chinese buffet as even edible.
But back to the raw lamb, beef and raw fish salads. I guess I shouldn’t judge. I guess I did have to try sushi for the first time at one point in my life and I guess I’m going to have to try a few of these. Any pointers? Any favorites for you?
As I also read additional information in this chapter about the benefits of the raw meats, it started to change my mind and convince me that the benefits are immense. The first being the need for vitamin B6. This vitamin is shown to increase fertility, but deficiencies can be severe. Some effects of low amounts of this nutrient include PMS, morning sickness, diabetes, heart disease, carpal tunnel, toxemia in pregnancy, asthma and some cancers and much more. That alone should be convincing enough… but not for me… still a little leary of flavor and texture!
Another bonus in my book, though!!!! Raw milk contains Vitamin B6! I’m ok so far! This isn’t helping in the decision to cut out dairy or not!
This will still take some contemplating and A LOT of courage! I’ll be sure to let all of you know if I take the dive!
Gourmet Appetizers
This chapter is just as it sounds… gourmet! The ingredients are way too expensive for our grocery budget, nor do I currently have dinner parties where these dishes would be appreciated. There was a time, but that was pre-kids with a dual income!
I really don’t bemoan the fact. I LOVE my life now and there will be a time when dinner parties may crop up on our calendar once again. I look forward to that, but I’m content with where we are currently! Also, a lot of these recipes use grains and dairy which we are trying to avoid at the moment. Possibly that will change and we may be able to test these out!
However, the side bars, once again provide a lot of very interesting information. I think I’ve mentioned vitamin B12 before and the fact that it can only be obtained from animal products. Fallon comes down pretty hard on vegetarians, stating that they harm themselves and their babies in utero or via breastfeeding becuase their children aren’t getting enough of the vitamin which is essential for brain growth and normal functioning. Even though seaweed does have vitamin B12 there have been studies to show that it doesn’t help to correct the deficiency.
Another excerpt talks about the benefits of goose and duck fat which seem to correspond with lower incidences of heart disease, along with eating foie gras. Of course this study was in frenchman, particularly those of the Gascony region. I’ve heard that there are some butchers in northern virginia that do sell duck fat. I’ve also heard that it is amazing and once tasting it and cooking with it there is no return! Dear hubby would love it if we ate foie gras weekly and I’m sure would be a fan of the duck fat as well. It is on my future to do list, which is so long it will probably be at least a year before it happens!
Anyway, another great chapter, with lots of interesting information. Take a look for yourself!
As I mentioned earlier this week it has been quite warm for March/April for Northern Virginia. Because of that I’ve been in the mood to use the grill and have summer salads for dinner! I know! Summer isn’t anywhere close, but I’m so ready for the warm weather! Just having the front door open, breezes in the window, hearing the birds chirp and the warm sidewalk under bear toes! Hmmm!!! The joys of spring and summer! Continue reading “Taco Salad with Homemade Taco Dressing and Side Pepper Salad”
Home of the Hymn of the Month Community
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Green & Grateful 