Howdy Y'all

It's been a while since I posted last for many reasons. We've been really bad about our eating lately (well up until about three days ago) and were going out to eat far more than we should have been. We have since realized our folly (putting back on all the weight we lost was a good indication) and have gone back to a more mindful, local, and organic way of eating again.

It's such a battle to maintain your way of eating in today's world (especially here in America). Fast food signs light up the night, quick and easy options that are neither prepared with love or attention are around every bend, and it's easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of life.

So today we made the decision to stop! (Or at least try to)

Today we went to the farmer's market as we always do but due to the time of year the pickings are growing more limited. Last week we didn't buy much of anything, and this week we only bought eggs and onions. We then went to the local organic market and were surprised to see that they didn't have much in stock either! It seems we have finally stumbled into Florida's less productive growing season (not sure though, have one more store to try tomorrow). We initially had plans to meet friends at CYM Coffee Co for a coffee morning, but had to rain check those plans for now. So we were left trying to figure out what to do about breakfast.

Now the more we look at it, the more it is truly impossible for us to go out to eat at most places in town. Either they are great dairy free options for me, or there are wheat free options for him, but hardly anywhere in between for standard breakfast fare. Plus as we've discovered, those two ingredients hide in an array of things you might not expect them to be in. So what should we do?

Well the easiest answer was eat breakfast at home! Take time to lovingly prepare the food we already had purchased or were going to purchase and to enjoy them at our own pace. So we went to our local market and picked up a few things. One of which was Udi's Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. These are GF, DF, and SF and they are delicious! In fact they are better than the local ones we had previously, and slightly cheaper.

We also found Teechino - an herbal coffee replacement with no caffeine. So we came home, cracked open the can of Bay Harbor Maple Syrup Flavored Smoked Boneless Sardine Fillets, toasted the bagels in the oven (we are currently sans toaster), and I cooked myself some of the delicious farmer's market eggs. Add a touch of EarthBalance spread and the Dreamin' Berry Strawberry Lavender jelly and it was a breakfast in heaven!

It was so nice to be able to sit at the table, eat mindfully, and enjoy each others company. This is a new treat as until two weeks ago Logician worked Saturday mornings. What a great start to the day!

I am still trying to get back to Super Secret Tuesdays and will even have an extra person to cook for this week (maybe). So that should be fun!

Be mindful, enjoy life, and bring gratitude to all you do!

Lessons Learned: Juicing/Rebooting Guide Pt 2 Tips and Tricks

Without further ado - the second of my Juicing/Rebooting posts to share the lessons we've learned:

Alright so you sat down, did some calculating and planning and now you're all set and ready to juice; right? Wrong!

The first and most crucial of all next steps is: To buy a juicer!

There are so many on the market and I will be the first to admit I did no research on the one we bought. I left that to my technophile Logician. We ended up getting one similar to the one Joe Cross used in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I know this documentary and website are mentioned eighty four billion times on this blog, I promise one day that will all stop.

So we got a Breville Juicer and ended up getting the Juice Fountain Plus from a department store near us and were able to start juicing right away. The only thing we're sad about with our juicer is it's lack of ability to juice grasses (Wheat, Barley, etc).

I won't go into a long post about the types of juicer but keep in mind that you will be using soft fruits and veggies as well as tough ones. Keeping the pulp or using puree is up to you, but even our juicer lets us collect the pulp should we wish to keep it.

So I've got a juicer, now what?

Good question. So now you have to decide what fruits and vegetables you are going to juice. There are many websites online with recipes, boards on pinterest, books from the library, and recipes on the Reboot site. But even those can get a little tedious at time.

So here are some tips/tricks we found on our juicing journey:

• Organic vs Conventional - I will be the first to admit that even a few months ago I really didn't see the difference. I worked in two different grocery stores, both of which sold many Organic varieties but did not yet understand just how much better Organic and/or Locally grown items are. When we began our first Reboot we bought bags of pre-sliced, conventional Kale and found that it barely provided any juice at all. We switched to actual Kale leaves, but did not get the best juicing results until we switched to Locally or Organically grown (usually our Local is also Organic). Then came cucumbers. Our farmer's nearby are some sort of magicians - we used one medium sized cucumber and got almost 16 ounces of juice! That's almost a whole serving!! Sadly cucumber season is over for us for now, so if we have to buy them at the grocery we choose organically grown. We have found that really all Organically/Locally grown items seem to be better than conventional but especially: Cucumbers, Carrots, Greens, Mushrooms, Apples, Pears, Lemons, Limes, really any citrus, tomatoes, and ginger.

• Strong Flavors - I cannot stress this enough to people new to juicing. This was the very first lesson we learned the hard way. Beets, Garlic, Ginger, and Onion are super strong! A little goes a long, long way! The only time that isn't entirely true is with Ginger. Depending on your other flavors it can get overpowered, but the others will stand up and and dominate if you are not careful. We found that for two sixteen to twenty ounce servings of juice (which we made at one time) a ping pong ball sized beet was just small enough to not overpower. Logician says no small amount of onion is tolerable, same with garlic - but I have found one small clove of garlic for two juices, or about 1/8th or less of a small (tennis ball sized) onion seems to be okay.

• Peeling - ALWAYS PEEL CITRUS! Another lesson I cannot stress enough. You do not have to peel all of the pith off, but do peel the rinds. Logician loves to put citrus rinds down the garbage disposal to freshen up the kitchen (make sure you see the bit about flies for more on this). You could also save them to make zest for cooking or garnishing.

• Variety - During our first Reboot we tried to expand our recipes by creating some of our own. However we got too focused on making enough juice that we didn't put in enough nutrients. This time we did two things to help combat this problem. The first was that whenever we invented a juice we tried to have at least four different colored items and at least one type of leafy green. Most lettuces, spinach, and kale do not seem to have very strong flavors but provide a lot of nutrient value. The second way we did this was to use a green "Super Foods" powder. We tried to do this sparingly, but when we were in a hurry it was a good way to give ourselves some nutrients.

• What Speed do I use? This is a very good question, most juicers come with a manual that explains most of that. We have found the ginger is best juiced wrapped in leafy greens; soft skinned cucumbers (or peeled), tomatoes, grapes, greens, etc are best juiced on low; you can juice a banana with some success if you place it with a harder veggie (Logician used carrots); and lastly do the greens in between other veggies for maximum juicing.

• Go slow! Putting too much in the juicer at once tends to flick bits all over.

• Flies - we have had an overwhelming influx of little flies that seem to enjoy annoying us when we juice. There is nothing like having a clean house that suddenly seems overwhelmed by the little buggers. We tend to use a varied approach that still doesn't seem to eliminate the entire problem but helps keep it down.

1. Pour boiling water down the drain at least once a day
2. Keep fruit fresh, covered if needed, and away from the sink.
3. Place fly traps such as fly paper near the drain.
4. If you have a garbage disposal: once a month (or more frequently) place a large quantity of ice into the disposal side of the sink. Turn the water on to a steady, but light stream. Add a small amount of dish soap and push the ice into the disposal. Likely some greyish muck will eventually rise into the sink, let the disposal continue to run until all the water clears.
5. Bag up all pulp and trimmings that you're not keeping or place it in an airtight composting container.
6. Promptly remove the garbage when it is full.

• Above all else have fun with your recipes. See what's in season and local. Our bodied do best when we are eating in line with the area we're living in. If you tend to live in a colder region, tropical fruits might not be best for your body. Especially in the dead of winter. By following the seasons and doing what you can to support your local agricultural community you can help bring your body back in line with nature.

• Stay hydrated! This is a very, very, very important step. The Reboot site recommends a certain amount of water, but find what keeps you feeling your best. For me it's at least 1.5 L of water a day, but I am best when I have 3L or more. Logician tends to drink AT LEAST 3L on a good day. Water is good for you - that's not just a myth!

This is what our fridge looked like after our first Rebooting shopping trip. As you can see it has some of the bad things we've now cut out (soda), and things we have now changed (conventional store bought eggs).

• It's a good idea shop ahead but don't shop too far in advance or else you'll end up tossing out far more than you use. It seems to work for us if we shop for about 2.5 to 3 days at a time. Especially when Rebooting. We sit down, drink our morning juice and plot out several days worth of juices/meals. Then we leave room for one or two "Make it up" juices to use up whatever we have left. This seems to keep our fridge full of goodness without causing waste.

So now you've got some tricks, tips, and lessons to use! The only thing left to do is starting adding delicious fresh juices to your diet and enjoy!

Baked Zucchini

As mentioned in yesterday's post we had intentions of turning that forearm sized zucchini (courgette) into a delicious contraption, which happened today with awesome results! But first I must begin with breakfast.

So we have decided (I think I mentioned it before) that there is nothing quite like farmer's market eggs. I will never buy store bought eggs again unless I absolutely have to... The picture isn't so good but this is four eggs (they were the smaller variety, so four is equivalent to two large eggs), a GFDF Sourdough bagel with EarthBalance spread and two of the other types of jellies. One side has Strawberry Lavender, the other has a Strawberry Basil. I rounded that all off with my delicious Tetley British Tea blend with some coconut creamer and honey. It was really delicious and gave us more ideas on how to use some of the other jellies we purchased. Though in the long run we have decided the Strawberry Lavender is the best "toast" jelly of the ones we got. But we still love them all!

The picture isn't so good this go round, my camera seems to have ate the one I edited better.

So then came preparations for dinner. When we began planning this endeavor we had two things to start with - an awesome zucchini and several delicious jams and jellies (The Root Cellar Jonesville made the jellies, as mentioned yesterday). So Logician put his thinking cap on and decided we needed Crab Meat. 

In the end we ended up using the following:

**** This Recipe Includes Mussels and Crab! Otherwise it is GF, DF, and Egg Free ****

Which includes:

1) Left over Paprika Gluten Free Bread Crumbs (which were mixed and used sans egg or other wet ingredients on the Potato Cakes I made for SST #1)

2) A Red Bell Pepper

3) One can lumped crab meat

4) One can sustainably harvested Bay Harbor mussels

5) Vegan Gourmet Cheddar style non-dairy cheese (we ended up using just over 1/3 of the block)

6) The Root Cellar's "Smart Tart" Hibiscus Jelly

7) One small can mushrooms (as we have these on hand, use fresh if you prefer)

8) An one inch piece of organically grown ginger

9) One very large Zucchini/Courgette purchased at the farmers market.

That's it, that's all we put in this delicious meal aside from the spices. Which we used: Course Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Ground Gloves, Smoked Paprika, Savory Leaves, Ginger Powder, Minced Garlic in water, Tumeric, and One Black Cardamom Pod (which was removed prior to baking).

To make: 

1) Carefully trim the ends off the zucchini and slice in half. Remove seeds and discard, then using a melon baller or ice cream scoop gently scrape out the innards until a small layer remains. They should resemble boats. 

2) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, put skillet on over medium heat and warm about a 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the pan. Slice the onion into strips and sautee with the garlic and ginger until caramelized. Add the smashed zucchini innards and salt, pepper, tumeric, the cardamom pod, savory, and cumin. 

3) Cook for several minutes until warmed through (we added three to five tablespoons of the strained mussel juice from the can). Add the red pepper cut into one inch long strips. Cook till warmed.

4) Add the crab meat (strained), mussels (strained), and canned mushrooms (strained). Then add the liquid from the crab meat. Cook until warmed through and add the remaining spices and any additional amounts of the others as needed. 

5) Put into a heat safe bowl and mix in about 1/4 a cup GF bread crumbs and 1/4 cup shredded non-dairy cheese. Add just enough bread crumbs and cheese for the mixture to bind together well. 

** You can stop here and turn this into delicious crab cakes. We had that thought but already had the zucchini prepared. Next time - crab cakes! **

6) Place the two halves of the zucchini on aluminum foil (which we didn't do, would have been smarter to do first), and fill with the stuffing. Slightly overfill one side and under fill the other. 

7) Make small indentations in the stuffing in the under filled half and alternate with 1 teaspoon of jelly and a pinch of cheese. On the other half add a line of jelly and a line of cheese (both of these are optional but tasty).

8) Gently place the two halves back together (the stuffing was very compact for us so we didn't have any spillage). Then roll in aluminum foil and try to have it sit so the seam is horizontal. 

9) Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, then  flip the zucchini and increase the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 20 minutes. 

10) Remove from oven, using tongs remove the aluminum foil and slice with a sharp knife. Plate and enjoy!

This is what it looked like when we plated it. We ended up splashing some Tabasco Sauce on it at the table but it was quite delicious! We did decide however that it would be better with less cheese and a sharper flavored variety. But all in all it was very good. The jelly gave it a nice hint of tartness that really made the crab and mussel flavors pop. 

We ended up only eating about half of the zucchini and look forward to having it as left overs for lunches tomorrow. But I couldn't let the evening go without trying out another one of our jelly ideas. Using the jelly as a tea concentrate. I used about a 1/2 tablespoon of the Smart Tart Jelly and 1 teaspoon locally produced honey, added boiling water and voila!

It was quite tasty, though in the long run the honey over powered the jelly a bit. What was neat was the hibiscus sank to the bottom and would swish up whenever I took a sip. It was a nice compliment to the dinner. We are really excited about continuing our use of these awesome jellies in the next few days. Here's what's to come:

Super Secret Tuesday #2 (for real) - I plan on using the Strawberry Basil jelly for some highjinks, we'll see how it turns out!

July 4th BBQ - We are going to grill some white fish (cod, tilapia, or mahi mahi haven't selected yet) with the Jalapeno jelly, add in some delicious bicolored corn, and finish off with some GFDF crepes with an augmented version of the Vegan Coconut Creme using the blueberry jelly (oh yea, my mind is drooling over this one!). 

What's on Hand Thursday #2 - I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen here, it will likely amount to what leftovers we have going from the other two days and what sort of mood I am in. But I am thinking this will be another night for the Jalapeno to feature. We'll see how the week progresses!

Thanks for stopping by and here's to another delicious adventure in eating! I am really glad that we are sticking to our weekly Farmer's Market trips. They really have made a huge difference in how and what we eat, and it's really interesting as we learn the ebb and flow of the growing season around us!

Juicing/Rebooting Post #2 should be up tomorrow! Then look forward to Super Secret Tuesday #2 - because I am!

Namaste!