Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. It always seems full of new energy, new hope and promise. I love the beautiful sounds of the birds and smell of fresh air that jog childhood memories of Spring. Today I heard my first turtle dove and I saw a majestic bald eagle flying near our home! I was so excited to see it that I stopped in the middle of the road just to watch it. There is a wonderful sense of new life in the Spring with the daffodils and tulips breaking through the ground and trees budding into bright colors. With every warm day we see our honeybees out flying around. Our neighbors chickens are exploring everywhere searching for bugs and are back to laying an abundance of eggs.
Grow Your Own – THE TIME IS NOW
Vegetables, herbs and fruits are a vital part to good nutrition. With the rising costs of healthy food options, growing your own may be an alternative for you. In addition to the obvious notion of eating your produce, there are the added health benefits of working outside (exercise is essential to health) and the enjoyment of reveling in the beauty of nature (recreation – Re – Creation; new life and freshness for you mind, emotions and spirit).
Part of our passion is to give you resources and to cheer you on into this area of gardening. If gardening is an interest to you – now is the time to begin. We have tried a variety of gardening techniques and one of the books we love is “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Barthelomew.
Under Construction
This year we have launched a new construction project of putting up a small greenhouse (10’ x 12’) in order to extend our growing season and to attempt the possibilities of hydroponic gardening with a tank of Tilapia. This is totally a work in progress, but we wanted to bring you along on our journey. We were blessed to have our neighbors, Bill and Tarey Shipley, join us in this endeavor so we split the costs and the effort. We want to encourage you by giving you the resources we found so that you may be inspired.
Regardless of whether you grow you own or not, our challenge to you is to eat and/or drink as many veggies as you can each day. A great place to start is to drink a smoothie everyday making sure it is comprised with 50% vegetable (organic spinach or kale are a great place to start). You can find an easy smoothie recipe option that can be adapted to your personal tastes here.
Our foundational books listed in Resources are “Grain Brain” and “Wheat Belly”. This month we would encourage you to read “Brain Maker” (We will use this book as a reference for next week’s post).
Challenge and Encouragement
When it comes to vital health and wellness, we believe it is best to be pro-active and focus on prevention of illness and disease whenever possible, so that you can more fully enjoy quality of life, not just quantity of years. Our challenge for you is to examine areas of your life that may be negatively affecting your health now or potentially in the future, and commit to making small changes.
We want to offer encouragement by giving you suggested resources that can help turn your health around. Remember we are all “under construction” and there are always opportunities for “new life in the Spring”.
When our youngest son was four or five he fell in love with bugs of all kinds. He could say very early on “I want to be an Entomologist”. He had some pretty sever issues with dyslexia, which magnified the importance of making learning fun and exciting for him. One of the Specialists we were working with praised the fact that we were home schooling which allowed for very personal one on one education for him. We really had to think outside the box and we focused our educational instruction around things he wanted to learn about. We immersed into the world of insects and arachnids. We were the proud owners of a very large tank of hissing cockroaches as well as a tarantula named Curley (just to name a few). No, this post is not about eating insects. What I wanted to point out was that in the insect world, the brighter the color often served as a warning sign to other insects of danger. Colors like yellow and black or red and black. Even poison dart frogs (not part of the insect family) have beautiful bright colors which signal danger.
This is not so in the food world. Our goal when choosing healthy foods to eat is to find the brightest variety of colors we can. I have always heard that the brighter the color, the more antioxidants, and the better it is for you. Along with this thought is the statement often quoted, “Eat the Rainbow” (which is totally not to be confused with the Skittles version of “taste the rainbow” ha!). I’ve said it myself many times. I try to live by that concept and use many different brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and the tastes are fabulous together. While I do want to be your greatest encourager in this area (even taste alone would force that issue), I decided to search out facts from others more qualified that I to prove the truth of this concept.
I typed in this question in the search bar: Do bright colors in foods have more nutrients?
There was a lot of great information on this topic, but I wanted to share just a short excerpt from one article, in case you needed a push in this direction. The link for the entire article is here:
“Kathy Hoy, EdD, RD, nutrition research manager for the PBH, says eating a variety of foods helps ensure the intake of an assortment of nutrients and other healthful substances in food, such as phytochemicals, noting that color can be a helpful guide for consumers. “Nutrients and phytochemicals appear to work synergistically, so maintaining a varied, colorful diet with healthful whole foods is a pragmatic approach to optimal nutrition.”
And since the average American is eating less than five servings per day of their peas, carrots, and cantaloupe, when it should be upward of seven to 13 servings for most adults, many consumers could be unknowingly missing out on a gold mine of disease prevention.1 It turns out that having clients count colors instead of calories may be an easier fix for not only weight control but overall wellness.”
I think I feel a song coming on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”….. you can listen if you want to, just click your heels together (or click the button below) and say…..There’s no place like home.
I love this time of year! Spring is so full of new life, hope and anticipation. During this incredible time of planning and preparing gardens that will produce wonderful herbs, fruits and vegetables, WellStone Gardens continues to plan and prepare Healthy Cooking Workshops. This month we have repeated themes done in the past with delicious new recipes and new locations.
Last week our workshop theme located here at the farm was Healthy Italian Cuisine. Our menu included three new gluten-free paleo recipes: Cashew Pizza Crust, Garlic bread sticks and Chocolate dipped almond cookies. A very special thanks goes out to Linda Sheldrake for all her work of adapting and refining recipes. I am so blessed to have the expertise of both Linda and Jessica Schieber when converting, adapting or creating new recipes that are always scrumptious.
The dilemma we came across this week was the vote on the winning recipe. It was a split between the pizza crust, the bread sticks and the cookies. We ended up with a triple – the bases were loaded! In talking others who were not at the workshop, we have had the request to post the Cashew Pizza Crust. In addition to tasting the pizza during the workshop, each participant made their own individual crust and took it home. We all had a great time. On a side note, the cookies were so yummy, moist and healthy that I ate them with my breakfast and as a special afternoon snack. Oh the blessings of healthy cooking!
This week we have two workshops. We start with healthy Mexican Cooking and are going to use a fun new gadget to make our paleo tortilla’s. I’m excited to experiment! This weekend we are going back to beautiful Casa Somerset, this workshop will have several hands-on stations working with the theme of healthy foods for busy on-the-go lifestyles. We will let you know the winning recipes as the votes come in!
Our focus this month is to encourage setting small step healthy goals in all four areas of wellness. Challenge yourself to start one new healthy eating habit, one new exercise habit, one new recreation habit, and one new inspiration habit. Write it down and allow others to help and encourage you in these new goals. Be blessed and eat healthy!
Surprise! We are working at trying to bring all our blog posts up to date. So, you may be asking, “What has been going on with WellStone Gardens for the past year?” Here is a quick and condensed version on the nutrition side.
We had a busy summer on the farm with a bus load of inner-city students and their mentors coming out for an afternoon of fun and food. We created a new name for the farm – South Grand Farms – which has its own facebook page and group, (links are below) as well as YouTube channel. We do have a video of our church coming out for a picnic and a day of fun. If you haven’t seen it you can log into you tube and type in southgrandfarms in the search bar; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiBQ3lc11zU. We continued to have college kids come out on Friday Nights and Nicole organized staff members to help with all events. We completed our third annual Plunger Games with new events down on the river. More video’s are coming soon!
WellStone Gardens hosted a six week long healthy cooking class series at the Cass Career Center. We are now hosting those classes here on the farm twice a month, as well as in other locations as opportunities arise. Workshops include food samples, recipes, demonstrations, instruction and interaction. LiveBlueKC also hired WellStone to teach a couple of healthy cooking session for children in Prairie Village and Zona Rosa. It was great fun making healthy power balls with kids!
This month we had fifteen new people join our classes here on the farm. We started sending out post workshop surveys This Saturday, February 28th, beautiful Casa Somerset in Paola, KS will be featuring WellStone Gardens Healthy Cooking 101 from 11:00am – 1:00pm! Final registration ends this Wednesday, February 25th.
We have started sending out post workshop surveys and having the participants give feedback on their favorite recipe. The favorite chicken pot pie recipe winner this month is listed below (we tasted 3 different ones and a fabulous shepherd’s pie, as well as sides and dessert! If you want all the recipes we are working on a way for you to purchase them online. Many are original. To TASTE these yummy foods, come to a workshop!)
Paleo Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from: peleoinpdx.com
For the filling:
2 Tbsp grass-fed butter (I used ghee- clarified butter)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large stalks of celery, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced (I used crushed)
2 large carrots, chopped
1.25 cups butternut squash cubes ( I have used it with and without the squash- both are good)
1/4 cup chicken bone broth
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk ( I used Trader Joe’s heavy coconut cream)
3 cups leftover shredded boneless skinless chicken thighs (I used organic from Costco)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (I used 2 tbls. dried)
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces (I used French cut)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery, and stir. After a few minutes, add the squash. Stir and continue to cook.
Stir in the chicken and add the broth. After a minute or two, add the sea salt, pepper, turmeric and fresh parsley.
Next, add the coconut milk and green beans, and stir well. Cook 3-4 more minutes and if mixture seems like it needs more liquid, add a bit more broth.
Remove from heat and pour mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle almond flour topping evenly over the top (recipe below) and place in oven, uncovered. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
For the topping:
1 cup blanched almond flour
3 Tbsp grass-fed butter
Pinch of sea salt
In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the almond flour and a pinch of sea salt. Mix well, until almond flour is coated in the butter (it will be in small clumps). Remove from heat and use atop of the filling, once it’s been poured into the casserole dish
Our March Healthy Cooking Workshops are moving to Tuesday nights here at the farm on the 3rd and the 10th from 6:00 – 8:00. Our workshops are always fun and interactive! See it, taste it, live it! Get healthy!
Friday Nights Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/312671425556409/
South Grand Farms Page Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/southgrandfarms
This workshop is perfect for beginners as well as students who enjoy reminder updates and review techniques who are familiar with a Paleo approach to grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, low carb, high protein cooking. We will be covering the foundations of healthy cooking as well as helpful cooking tools. As always we will be sampling tasty new dishes and reviewing some fast and easy prep options. Students receive copies of all recipes for the class.
Menu: Delicious Beginnings
Paleo Friendly Zuppa Tuscona Soup
Lettuce Wrap Chicken Salad
Homemade Mayo base with options
Almond Flour Flat Bread with Herb Ghee
Spinach Salad
Carrot Cake Muffins
Mini Dessert Trio – Apple Crisp, Chocolate Cupcake with Frosting, Orange Creamsicle Tart
Thank you so much to all those who attended our first cooking workshop! I apologize for not having the handouts I intended to have at the class, so this post will give a breakdown of the basics of what we covered as well as the recipes we used. (This was a 2 hour workshop, so this post may be a bit lengthy).
We began with the early process involved starting WellStone Gardens. In my research to find easier, cost effective ways to grow organic veggies for my own smoothies, we read the All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. My husband designed and created raised bed garden yard art. Several of the beds are total stand up gardens that require no bending over. They all worked beautifully and we will offer workshops to show how to build your own raised beds. You can order beds ready made from our two younger children at www.carvdcarpentry.com .
The next part of our health process was researching the best ways to prepare healthy meals, snacks and smoothies. I wanted “slow food – fast”. This was a lengthy process in my quest to design healthy, cost effective, time efficient, delicious food. These cooking workshops allow the opportunity to pass along some of my successes and to allow the participants the opportunity to taste recipes before going to the time and expense of buying ingredients they may not like. I believe if participants can “see it, taste it, smell it, do it” when learning, they are much more likely to apply it and make real lifestyle changes. Classes also allow for relationship building, encouragement and time for questions and answers.
We started with discussing several books that made real impact on my own thinking and health. These books are listed under our resource page, but I will list them again here. The first is Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD. The second is Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. The third is The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. There are many more that are listed, but they all follow the same basic principles. I need to say that I personally do not agree with the total Paleo premise of “cavemen roots”, but I do believe within the past 50 -150 years our food production has dramatically changed. These changes are negatively impacting our health. Rick Warren in his book The Daniel Plan states that “convenience is killing us”. There is also many websites dedicated to “clean eating”. Lots and lots of information that you may or may not have time for. Basically these cooking classes provide recipes that focus on high protein, low carb, lots of veggies. We do follow grain free, gluten free, mostly dairy free principles. If you are interested in just finding recipes, type the word “Paleo” before any type of recipe you may be looking for and you will find many delightful websites. Some of my favorites are on the resources page.
Our first demonstration involved using a nutri bullet to make a smoothie. I like the nutri bullet for its size and portability. I use it every morning for my own smoothies. The nutri bullet works best with fresh veggies and fruits. If you are wanting to use frozen, I use my vitamix blender. If you are wanting a thicker “milkshake” texture, be sure to use frozen bananas. We used about 1 ½ of fresh spinach with a little purified water and blended it down to make more room. We then added a banana, some mango, some pineapple, some apple and blueberries. I personally add some green powdered super food to my morning smoothies. Mix and match other greens and fruits to your liking. My favorite green is kale.
We briefly mentioned bullet proof coffee (not related to the nurti bullet). You can look that up at www.bulletproofexec.com. I love it and also drink this every morning. I use coconut oil, not MCI. (I do blend it in my nutri bullet).
We discussed how to make easy chicken, using a whole organic chicken (I get a two pack at Cosco). I use a Power Cooker electric pressure cooker. I love it because it is so easy to use and you can find it at most Wal-mart stores. I used a carton of organic chicken stock (Cosco), an onion, carrots, celery, garlic, two tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar, and two tablespoons of Coconut Secret – Raw Coconut Aminos (soy free aminos – delicious; we used it in two other demonstrations). I also seasoned the chicken with a poultry herb mixture. You can easily cook a whole chicken in an hour (maybe less if it is smaller). I cooked mine for 1 ½ hours because I love pulling more nutrients from the bones for the broth. (We will do more with bone brothing later. If you are interested now you can research many sites, I like www.whole9life.com/2013/12/whole9-bone-broth-faq/ . A pressure cooker does the work of a slow cooker in record time.
For our taste testing I used a NuWave burner to reheat the chicken I had already cooked. The burner is portable and does not get hot so it is easy for demos. I added some Raw Coconut Aminos to kick up the flavor.
We also tried some cauliflower “rice” which is so simple. You just chop cauliflower using an S blade in a food processor until it resembles the size and texture of rice. We then did a quick “stir fry” using organic butter (you can use ghee or coconut oil – some in the room might not have enjoyed the coconut oil). We added our Raw Coconut Aminos again for flavor. You can use this “rice” in any stir fry combination you desire. I just wanted to give a foundation of the basics and we will use them in other recipes as we go along. A good site with photos is www.everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/ .
Other taste tests included kale chips. These are so easy. Just cut kale leaves away from the stems into the size you like. Put them in a Ziploc bag and add a little olive oil or avocado oil and celtic sea salt. Place flat on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees until you have your desired crispiness. We had no leftovers.
The Chocolate Cupcakes and the Lemon Bar recipes came from the Paleo Desserts book by Jane Barthelemy. You can go to www.janeshealthykitchen.com to look for an ebook version. The recipes I used are on page 50, page 181, and page 86. I have emailed her directly to get her permission to put these recipes on a blog post, but haven’t received a reply yet. If I get permission, I will post them separately. The Just Like Sugar Table Top Sweetener is very healthy, but it does have a slight aftertaste. Jane has a great post on “What are the Best Paleo Sweeteners?” (I want to give a special thanks to Linda for her help and expertise).
The chocolate chip cookie recipe was adapted from several different recipes. Another good site to look through is www.elanaspantry.com . Here is my own version for these cookies.
Mel’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour (I used Honeyville brand)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup organic dark chocolate chips ( I used a 70% strong dark choc. bar and broke into small pieces)
¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
¼ cup raw honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 organic egg
Cookie Baking Instructions
Place dry ingredients in a large bowl
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix well to combine (I again mixed wet ingred. in nutri bullet)
Roll cookies into 1-inch balls – (I used a melon ball scoop)
