Bon Appetite

Making my food presentation look colourful and beautiful adds to the appeal of eating everyday foods. Stacking my apple rings, or arranging avocado slices over my salads somehow add flavor to enhance my taste buds. Maybe this is a result of my younger years when I had a spirograph and made beautiful shapes on paper with different coloured pens and mutli-shaped wheels. The creations were limitless.

 The same way as I decorate my meals, starting our day with prayer adorns or crowns our day with goodness, blessing and limitless power. Spending time at the Master's feet is the most nutritious meal of the day. After all, Jesus is the Bread of Life. 

 John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

 Isaiah 25:6 says: On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-the best of meats and the finest of wines.

 The sum and substance of this feast is Jesus Himself. He asks all to come to His "feast of love". 

Lord, help us to come to your banqueting table that You personally have prepared with the choicest of foods just for us. Let us always come at the beginning of our day so Your goodness, kindness, blessing and power will crown our days. And so too, others may desire to come to your banqueting table along with us.

In your name, Jesus.

Olé

This dish has quickly become my favorite. It's easy and everyone loves it. Who doesn't love a little pollo a la mexican?

  

2-3 breasts of beboned chicken thinly sliced. (Raw)

1 onion thinly sliced

4-5 sweet peppers sliced in strips

2 tbsps minced garlic

Toss together in large bowl.

Spice Mix;

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

Pepper

Combine these spices then sprinkle over and toss to coat chicken/veggie mixture.

Bake in preheated 375 oven for 20mins.

It's that simple.

Layer in warmed tortillas with lettuce, salsa and sour cream.

I just put mine on a salad bed. However you eat it, I can tell you that this will become a staple at your house.

OLÉ

Success!

Here's the finished result of the Chia Pudding. After successfully letting it sit overnight in the refrigerator and without looking at it, I opened this morning.

I layered it into a glass with bananas, strawberries, blueberries and almonds. It was actually better than I thought it would be. My next try will be made with coconut milk to add a little flavour to this rather tasteless pudding. It was a wonderful light breakfast packed with omega-3's. So if you are in need of a quick breakfast, shake a little up before bed!!

Instant pudding anyone?

Well, I've seen a lot of posts of this pepper-coloured seed, but I've never actually tried it. I remember growing up seeing commercials regarding chia pets...Ch-Ch-Chia! Its real name is Salvia Hispanica, yet we know it as chia. Proponents swear by the small seeds, claiming they have more omega-3 fatty acids than salmon, huge amounts of antioxidants and are excellent sources of protein and fibre. Claims also say chia seeds can help you lose weight, improve heart health and reduce inflammation.

Im just looking for

healthy food alternatives, so if even one of these claims is true....then its a bonus for my body.

Of course I'm a pinterest lover so I found this recipe for chia pudding there. Looks pretty easy, so here it goes:

          1/3 cup chia seeds

          1 1/21/2 cups almond or coconut

                    milk

           2 tbsps honey/maple syrup

          1/2 tsp vanilla

           Place all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake. Put in refrigerator for 1 hour then shake again. Leave for 4 more hours or even better...overnight.

Top with fresh fruit or toasted nuts for a wonderful refreshing omega-3 treat.

Im not a tapioca or rice pudding lover by any means. So lets see if this will become  part of my weekly food list. But I will add to my smoothies and oatmeal. 

A colourful plate is a healthy plate.

I've begun teaching the daycare kids the difference between eating protein, fruits and veggies. They have learned that a colorful plate is usually a healthy plate.

Today's breakfast was an eggwhite omelette on sautéed spinach with sweet peppers and freshly chopped wedges of tomato as a garnish. It was colourful and sooo satisfying. After the kiddies arrive and are settled, we go around the room and share what everyone has had for breakfast. They love telling me they added fruit to their cereal or berries to their yogurt. Maybe they will grow up to be future nutrionists or even ...organic vegtable farmers!

 

Love at first bite.

I've been developing a love for avacado of late. Never much cared for the texture, but knowing it's a healthy fat, I've been persistant at introducing my taste buds to this "fruit or vegetable"?

So, I guess it's a fruit. Its also goes by the name of alligator pear. Regardless. I like it. Today I baked this pear in the oven with an egg in the hole. So easy! A little pepper, pop in a 375' oven for 30mins and VOILA! I paired it up with a Kale and strawberry salad. Sprinkled some walnuts, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, balsalmic vinegar and olive oil;

and it became a feast for the eyes. At least instagram thinks so. Hope you like it as much as I did.

Crockpot Breakfast

  

    This is a hearty Fast Metabolism breakfast made in the crockpot overnight.

1 apple chopped

 1 cup steel cut oats

 1/2 tsp cinnamon

 Pinch sea salt

 1 1/2cups water

 1 1/2 cups almond milk

 1 tbsp flax seed

 Spray sides and bottom of crockpot with a little pam.

 Add ingredients and stir, set crockpot on low for 7 hours.

 I like to take 1 cup portions and refrigerate for the week.

 Just heat up and add topping of your choice:

 Fresh berries

 pumpkin seeds

 dried cranberries

 

Healing Cabbage soup

 

         HEALING CABBAGE SOUP

This is an easy light soup that you can put together in less than 40 minutes from the Fast Metabolisim Diet.

 

 1/2 onion chopped

 2 cloves garlic chopped or pureed

 2 quarts organic chicken broth

 1 tsp sea salt or to taste

 1/2 tsp black pepper

 1/2 head of coarsely chopped cabbage

 1 14oz can Italian style chopped tomatoes.

In a large soup pot, stir fry onion and garlic in 2 tbsps broth until the onion is transparent. About 5 mins.

Add remaining broth, salt and pepper and bring to boil. Add chopped cabbage.  Simmer until the cabbage wilts, about 10 mins. stirring often.

Stir in the tomatoes and return to boil. Bring down to a simmer again for about 20-25mins.

Serve or store in refrigerator. Can be frozen in individual portions.

We Had A Wedding In The Family

My beautiful daughter Tori was married to Chris Lowe on June 22, 2013. What a beautiful day, and a beautiful celebration of love. My daughter has moved away now to Edmonton, but I know she's in the Lord's will and is loved and encouraged by a wonderful loving man. Here are a few pictures of their special day! I miss her!

Dancing in puddles.

Sorry dear blog. Im more faithful to my bible and journal than you. Its hard to find the time and sit and tell you whats on my mind. But boy, there is a lot on my mind. The enemy has come in with a vengeance of late, but I refuse to give up or quit. God has placed in me a tenacity to persevere when everything seems against me. And that is direct from the Holy Spirit. I don't apologize for it. My personality can be militant. But in Matt 11:12 the Lord says, "But from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence, and the violent seize it". My family has suffered a violent attack, being split every which way. My marriage has suffered and my children are suffering. But I know the word of God declares in Romans 8:31; "What, then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us". So I thank you Lord that you are for me and my family. That your good plans for us will prevail. That no weapon formed against us will prosper according to Isaiah 54:17. What therefore God has joined together, man must never separate according to Mark 10:9. I thank you Lord that you are giving this family a testimony of Your goodness towards us. I pray that we will be a witness to those who are broken and hurting. The Lord is teaching me the concept of "His extravagant love towards us". When I went to look up the word extravagant in the dictionary, there was no good definition of that word that fit His Character. As I prayed about it He showed me that man has no grasp of His Extravagant Love. It is too high, too deep and to wide for our minds. He showed me that the love He poured out towards us was extravagant, over the top and beyond description. But, if we open wide our hearts, He wants to pour into us that love so we can pour it out to others. We cannot love others in and of ourselves. That is just temporary and imperfect. We need the extravagant love of God. He wants to pour that love into every crevice and corner of our being. He wants us not to just to walk in that love but to dance in it as a little child dances in a rain puddle. 1 Cor 13 says if I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstacy but don't have love, then I am nothing. Nothing produces nothing. O God, I do not want to produce nothing in this life. I want to be fruitful, I want to see an abundant harvest in every area of my life. Lord, pour Your extravagant love into me, but as a vessel that is a conduit. Let me be a channel for Your love I pray in your Holy Name Jesus. Amen.