Enjoying Our Smoothies

We have been enjoying our Vitamix tremendously over the last month. It feels good to know my little family is making good choices. We finished up our Whole30 challenge last week, but still have so much work ahead of us....Our plan now is to eat whole foods...We will stick to much of the Whole30 plan but will add in a few things, which we enjoy...Like rice, beans and whole grain. We are pretty positive that Freckle's stomach gets upset after eating dairy....So we are steering clear of dairy, like milk, yogurt, and too much cheese. We already switched to almond and coconut milk months ago and don't even miss milk whatsoever. Most every morning we start the day off with a smoothie. Each week I shop for fresh veggies and fresh fruit. I get a bunch of strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, bananas and freeze them so they won't go bad before the end of the week. I keep some of it out as well for eating. I also stock up on our dark greens. Spinach and kale is usually our go to for smoothies. I try to switch up the ingredients in our smoothies so we won't get too bored of the same flavors....It has helped so much in doing that.

Here are some variations we use just to give you an idea 

of what we make for breakfast smoothies:

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a handful of frozen strawberries

one frozen banana

a handful of blueberries

an apple

about 1 cup of almond milk

2 big handfuls of spinach

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A handful of frozen strawberries

a mandarin orange (whole)

one frozen banana

an apple

2 big handfuls of spinach

about 1 cup of pineapple juice

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A handful of frozen strawberries

a handful of frozen raspberries

one frozen banana

1 apple

1 kale leaf

2 big handfuls of spinach

either 1 cup of almond milk or

 1 cup pineapple juice

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A handful of frozen strawberries

one frozen banana

one big piece of pineapple

one apple

one mandarin orange whole

2 big handfuls of spinach

1 cup pineapple juice

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1-2 frozen bananas

1-2 handfuls of spinach

11/2 cups almond milk

1 scoop of protein powder

a handful of ice

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Handful frozen strawberries

1 frozen banana

1 kale leaf

couple handfuls of spinach

2 TBL. peanut butter

1 cup almond milk

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We also add in a bit of chia seeds or flax seed

 to the smoothies for more vitamins!

Good for you fruit with it's natural sweeteners and some greens added. 

Now that's what I'm talking about!

The Storm Before The Calm

We are on week two of changing our diet.So far so good. We have cut out dairy, wheat, grain, and processed food. It is a great feeling knowing that we are on the mend. Our bodies have been abused by junk for so many years, it has taken a toll on our health and mental states. We were feeling pretty bad inside and out. We were addicts when it came to processed foods, and sugar, sweets, bready stuff and fast food. Over time I had slowly introduced some healthier eating, by adding in more dark green veggies, cooking at home etc. But we didn't fully follow the healthy ways. We loved our pastas and pizza and burgers with soda pos all too much. It got to the point where we would just feel crummy and bloated. So we made the decision to change our ways. The past couple weeks have gone well, shopping is not too difficult. I buy fresh veggies, fruits and meat. We drink a lot more water and have cut out sodas and juice.We use coconut milk and almond milk for some of our smoothies. In the morning we start by having a fruit and spinach or kale smoothie or banana pancakes which consist of banana and egg only, eggs, sausage or a homemade Larabar.

Lunches will either be a leftover from dinner, chicken salad or egg salad: no bread, some fruit or a spinach/kale smoothie. Dinner is a little piece of meat, a dark green veggie ( our faves are usually fresh green beans or broccoli) we eat sweet potatoes, no white ones.. or just a smoothie. The nice thing about having a Vitamix is you can literally drink your salads. As I mentioned before, salads are not the easiest thing for us to chew a lot of. I like a salad, but just can't eat a couple or even several a day...So you put all the good greens with a bit of fruit and the Vitamix blends every bit of it, pulp and all. Voila...you get all the nutrients and vitamins you need. I have stocked up on fruit and freeze it all, then simply throw it in and add kale or spinach ...that's it. For a special treat, I will make a nice fruit only smoothie or a protein smoothie. 

All natural, all good.

I have been making homemade snacks from dried fruits and nuts. Lara Bars have been a hit. It hits the spot when we have a craving for something naughty for you: like cake. It might not be cake, but it curbs the craving for it. We were quite proud of ourselves for not eating the cookies and cake at church last Sunday also. I told Freckles, just walk away and don't even look at it...She even brought her own healthy snack from home and in the end, it didn't matter that everyone else was stuffing their face with cookies.

I think I have noticed some slimming, but right now it's hard to tell. We need more time of doing this to see  results. One thing I had mentioned to Mr. Darling, is I am not really noticing that I feel good yet... I really think I am so unhealthy right now that I am filled with toxins. This change in lifestyle with our diet has been extreme for us... It's a huge change from what we were doing to our bodies. I feel like my body is in shock. I did some research and found that most people will experience the storm before the calm when you are detoxing. Here is an article I found online which explains what we are going through.

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The Healing Process, Often called 'Herxheimer Reaction' or 'Healing Reaction'.

When starting a detox of any kind or beginning a new course of powerful supplements, it is very important to understand the bodies natural healing process. This is to avoid being surprised when things start to 'happen'!

Understanding this can be the key to completing your detox safely, effectively and not giving up mid-way through.

Many people experience a healing reaction and get disheartened as they think "Hang on, a detox is supposed to make me feel good!". This can be confusing for some people who are unused to thinking about how the body works - it will make you feel good, but there are a few things to potentially get through first!

When commencing a detox many people can experience or report some pretty uncomfortable symptoms. One of the most common is a reduction in energy or 'flu-like' symptoms. They may feel the need to sleep longer, be tired, have aches and pains, digestive symptom disturbances such as gas, constipation, diarrhea, bad skin or the temporary worsening of an existing condition and other miscellaneous complaints. The symptoms vary according to the person and the level of their original toxicity.

The reason for this reaction is very simply explained. The body, during a detox, is ridding itself of the substances that have been making it ill. Detoxes rid the body of the materials that have built up in their individual cells, interfering with their normal functioning. As these substances (or 'pathogens') are ejected from the tissues, they are dumped into the system, making the body temporarily more toxic until they are excreted.

The healing reaction is your own immune systems automatic reaction to this temporary overload of toxins in your system before the body can excrete them all safely.

The healing reaction will be worse the more toxic the person originally. If you experience a healing reaction, embrace it as this means you can actually feel the toxins being flushed out of your body! After they have been excreted then you should notice the benefits. As the toxins will be rampaging round your body for a while it is a great idea to drink plenty of water to help the body with the 'flushing out' process and enable your liver to process,

 excrete and flush out the bad guys.

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So, now I need to keep telling us that it will get better, we just have to get through this storm. Making ourselves sick didn't happen overnight...This is going to take time, perseverance, patience and lot's of prayer. I am just so thankful that we are doing this together as a family, that neither one of is alone and each of us can be a cheerleader for the other. I am however very excited to see us

 transform into healthy people, which is what God intends. 

Here's to another week of health!

Being Healthy and Whole

This last week was my birthday, another year older. I am becoming more and more aware of how I feel and honestly it hasn't been good. I have been struggling with my weight for the last 12 years, though I have not gained any more weight in the recent years, it has just plateaued to nowhere. The things noticeable to me have been my skin, my hair and my overall mental attitude. I can't focus for long, I don't feel too sharp at times and a lot of times I have gone into a funk. I feel bloated often and suffer from headaches and fatigue. This just can't be how life should be at my age. I just don't feel like it is a quality life. If I don't feel good, everyone in my home suffers from it.

I am not the only one who feels this way though. My husband also feels pretty rotten. Not to mention our sweet Freckles. She herself deals with her weight and feels pretty bad after eating food... For my birthday we went to have frozen yogurt to celebrate. The whole night into the next day, Freckles felt terrible in her stomach. This has been happening often with other foods or junk as well. It kills me inside to see her suffer, not feeling like a 13/14 year old should feel like. I'd like to be the first to say, I didn't think our diet was really all that bad. But as we have thought about what we are eating...Not all of it is that good. We are your good ole average American who loves pizza, burgers, fast food and desserts too. Of course I would make good things too, like lean meats and adding in a good green veggie every so often.... But I do believe that all this sick feeling is coming from the long abuse we have put on our bodies. Slowly in the past several months we have been trying to stick to eating better sorts of foods. 

But we ended up eating junk, because it was purely convenient.

We started reading up on health and watching documentaries on better health and eating and came to the conclusion that we really need to change. We need to be stricter. Especially when our guts feel cruddy, or my hubby having slight high blood pressure or when my head is just pounding all the time where I can't think straight or function. Not to mention the weight is certainly not coming off the way we are doing things right now. I read some great passages in the Bible on health as well...Which really put things in perspective for me. My dear Hubby and I ordered a Vitamix for our 20th wedding anniversary which we celebrated a couple weeks ago, We decided to move ahead and make our health our priority and take care of our vessels in which God has given us. The Vitamix was really a great incentive, since if you are like us, we can only chew a salad so much...But heck, now we can actually blend our salad up and drink it several times a day. By using a Vitamix, you are blending everything up and drinking all the goodness. It is not like juices, where you discard all the pulp and fibers...You actually blend every bit of your fruits and veggies and drink it. That is so doable for us. 

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The diet God gave people in the beginning was fruit, grains, and nuts. Vegetables were added a bit later (Genesis 3:18). "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed ... and every tree ... yielding seed." "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." Genesis 1:29; 2:16.

(strawberry, blueberry, banana, chia seed, flax seed and spinach smoothie with banana pancakes)

So, I did a little research on what we would need for our pantry. Went out and bought lot's of spinach, kale, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, avocados, and a bunch of fruit, nuts, chia seeds and flax seed. We didn't buy anything processed. We are cutting out refined sugars and processed foods, grains, corn, bread and dairy products, and will not be stopping at a fast food joint. We are set to eat lean meats, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds. We will be cooking with coconut oil and seasoning up our food. This could be a great way to find out if perhaps we are allergic to anything. And these are good foods that will clean out and detox your body and your gut. Mr. Darling already feels he has energy and can focus better. We are so excited to make these changes for the better, which will promote a better, clearer mind set, attitude, spirituality and new body.

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"Eat ye that which is good." Isaiah 55:2.

(Spinach, Kale, apple, banana, flax smoothie)

I know it will take time and learning new habits and breaking the old ones will be challenging. But really it is a mind set. We can do this! Even if we don't lose a ton of weight at least we know that what we are putting into our bodies are good for us. America's food is a bunch of junk, not good for you. Filled with chemicals, preservatives and words in the ingredients that you can't even pronounce. Okay, some of it is sure darn good tasting...but most all of it is so darn not good for you. You are what you eat... And I don't want to be junk. We have also decided to do the WHOLE30 challenge. Eating clean and whole for 30 days. If you don't know what that is, you can find info through the web, with how to get started and what to get for your pantry along with recipes. In a lot of ways it is like the Paleo way of eating. Heck, if it makes us feel better, what do we have to lose? Well, I'll keep you all posted as to how our new journey is going. Please keep us in your prayers if you think of us. It won't be easy...and know,  this is not a diet, it is a way of life.

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"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2. 

(Apple Pie Fruit Leather)

Okay, so you may have noticed the pancakes a few pictures up. Freckles and I love pancakes for breakfast....But now that we started this challenge, I was like, what about our pancakes and snacks we like to eat. Well, Pinterest has been my friend, as I have found some good recipes that is WHOLE30 challenge safe... The pancakes you noticed are actually just mashed banana with eggs in it then cooked like a pancake. Alright all honesty, it was not a pancake, at least what I am used to...But this stuff was pretty good, with a nice banana flavor, my daughter didn't even know that it had egg in it. I just added a touch of cinnamon and baking powder and voila, pancakes, which surely will be my saving grace..Ha Ha....What about milk??? I cut out milk a while ago, We drink either coconut or almond milk which has more calcium than milk and better for you !!! Oh yeah, snacks!!! Well, we can certainly make spinach and fruit smoothies, nuts and how about fruit leather? We made our own...No sugar added, just the no sugar applesauce with some apple pie spice and cinnamon...It is a nice snack...I will be making other flavors just to switch it up. I will also be dehydrating fruit snacks. I found a recipe for Lara type bars on Pinterest as well...Oh my, if you have not tried a Lara bar go get one...It is wholesome good, with no added sugar, just a nice medley of cashews, pecans, almonds, dates, and dried cherries.

 It will carry us through when we have a sweet tooth.

My body is probably in shock and will go through withdrawls... I just know it will be worth it in the end. I just want my family to be healthy inside and out no matter what.

 I want us to be healthy and whole.

Your thoughts and prayers are coveted!

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream

Our Summer vacation has officially ended. Now on to school. But before we blog about our home school adventures, I wanted to share this yummy, yet healthy ice cream recipe. We made this the other day as a little treat. Looks like we are heading into a bit of an Indian Summer...And to beat the heat we like cooling off with a cold treat.

     

• 2 14.5-ounce cans coconut milk (full fat)
• 1.5 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
• ½ cup agave nectar

       INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the coconut milk and green tea powder in a saucepan over high and bring to a full boil.
2. Stir well to incorporate the powder until it is dissolved, which will take some time because matcha doesn’t dissolve easily.
3. Remove from heat, stir in the agave and allow mixture to cool before pouring it into a container and refrigerating it.
4. Once the mixture is cold, add it to your ice cream maker, following the instructions.
5. Enjoy your healthy ice cream!

 

And...What's a cold treat without a nice vintage dessert dish huh? Freckles and I found these fun dessert dishes while thrifting this last weekend. Okay so there was only three...but that didn't detour me from getting them for just a few dollars.

 

I think the dessert tasted better in them. Ha Ha...
Hope you enjoy...Try it out, your gonna love this one.
Oh....You can buy Matcha on Amazon here

Homemade Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream

Those hot Summer days you yearn for something nice and cold to quench your cravings...Sometimes it can be hard to find healthy options, so you must make your own. Right now we are in the midst of taking dairy out of our diet to see if there are any changes with allergies. Both my hubby and daughter have asma and my hubbs has allergies realllly bad throughout the year. Perhaps it is all that creamer in his coffee or cheese on the pizza's he loves. We are now on week two. All was well until Sunday after church we usually go out to fellowship and have snack...My dear Mr. Darling went out for a snack, I was standing right next to him as he was chit chatting it up and dipping tortilla chips in a bowl of CHEESE. He said " oh this dip is so good" and I'm like, hey, your eating dairy silly head. He was all " um crap"... Poor thing forgot all about it. Well later that day he was all stuffy and clogged up. I am not sure if the cheese was to blame, but we are supecting perhaps it is. So now back to the drawing board. We have to eliminate dairy for at least 6 weeks then bring it back and see how they feel. If they see a change....then we have most likely found the culparate. In doing this elimination we are also hoping to allow our bodies have a break to cleanse itself...maybe even lose a few pounds. My daughter has seen and felt a difference only within week two of eating better, less carbs,less refined sugar, no wheat, and no dairy. She has lost 5 pounds and feels happy in her skin. Since our vacation a couple weeks ago I myself have changed my diet and have been moving and excersising...and lost 20 pounds without trying hard. I don't feel a change though...I have much more weight to lose. Okay, I am rambling on. I meant to be blogging about this yummy ice cream we made. This is a great way to enjoy a cool treat on a hot Summer day. Free of dairy.

You will need 2 cans of coconut milk
1 1/2 cups of frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
a blender and an ice cream maker. I am sure you could still mix this
all together in a blender and freeze in a bowl or popsicle molds.
We used our ice cream maker this time.
 
Mix the ingredients in a blender, pour into ice cream maker and churn for 25 minute. Then place in the freezer 2- 6 hours till frozen. Now you can induldge in a sweet, creamy healthy ice cream.
Hope you enjoy the recipe. It is delish.
 
Wholesome Goodness.
Have a great Summer week

Apricot Nectar....

Summer is officially here!
 Happy Summer y'all!!!
Our apricot tree is abundent with fruit this Summer. yay! I had already decided since we don't know when or where we are moving, I wasn't going to can this year. But certainly don't want to see all the fruit go to waste. I shared a bunch of fruit with our friends who are going to make a batch of apricot jam. Then we'll eat some fresh of course. There is so much still left so I picked a basket full...about 10-12 cups and decided to make some apricot nectar juice....
 
I made 3 quarts of juice to drink. Oh yummy...It turned out so yummy. I plan on having a cup every morning with breakfast. I'll probably make some more since there is so much still left on my tree.
Click Here to read about apricots health benefits.

 Apricot Nectar
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Apricots I used about 10-12 cups
Water
Sugar(optional)
Lemon juice
Water bath or steam canner
Canning jars, sterilized
New lids
Rings
Chinois Strainer (food sieve)
1. Wash and pit all your apricots. Put apricots in your large thick bottomed pot--very important because you don't want the bottom to burn. For every 4 cups of apricots you put in, add 1 cup of water. Let sit at a gentle boil until apricots are very soft--I let mine sit 30 minutes.
2. After your jars have been sterilized add 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice.
3. Set up your sieve (or chinois) over a bowl to catch all the juice. Gently pour several cups of the apricot/water mixture in your sieve and using the pestle push the mixture all around trying to get out as much juice as possible. Pour juice into a pot add sugar to taste, stir well. I used about 1/4_ 1/2 cup sugar to taste...But you don't need to add sugar if you wish. That all depends on your taste if the apricots are too tart... Pour juice into jars, filling up to the neck. Dump out remains of apricots.
4. Top each jar with a lid and ring. Process for 20 minutes according to manufacturer's instructions.
You won't need to process them if you are making small batches and drinking them within a week (keeping them refrigerated of course). If you plan on making a bunch
 and can't drink them as quickly it would be wise to process them!
Enjoy!

Banana Pineapple Popsicles

 

We pulled out our Popsicle molds and fruit this week to make a healthy cold treat. I used my canned bananas which I canned this last Winter...(comes in handy when you don't have bananas on hand) and a can of pineapples along with coconut milk, blended it all together, making a very natural tropical Popsicle.

  

Banana Pineapple Popsicles

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About four ripe bananas

1 can Dole pineapple with the juice

start blending this mixture while adding vanilla coconut milk until you get a smooth mixture. Pour mixture into Popsicle molds and freeze for about 8 hours.

Enjoy.

 

These are great snacks. My family loves them. I love the natural taste the best. We'll be spending the remaining Summer making different healthy fruity Popsicles.

 

We are crossing off some of our Summer Bucket List. Woo Hoo.

Hope your all having a great Summer.

Being Real...Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries Or A Chair Full Of Bowlies...

You know, I have done this blog thing for a while now. Some may think ahhh just another bowl of cherries. Well, I have news for many of my readers who don't know me personally. I am real. Not just a screen in your living room sharing a bunch of happy pictures, not just words... I am real, just like you and everyone else. I may seem to paint my life as if it were a bowl of cherries but, in all honesty... my life, just like yours truly isn't that. I struggle with pains, ailments and hardships just like the next guy. Recently I have been thinking a lot about myself. I felt compelled to share some of me that I have been struggling with for many, many years. Not for pity, or for people to feel sorry for me... but to show that I am a real person and have to overcome.

Since I was a teenager I was diagnosed with a mitral valve prolapse, tinnitus and migraines. I have suffered with palpitations of the heart, constant ringing in the ears and excruciating pain in my head which only worsened as I got older. On top of having periodic migraines I have chronic headaches. Eight years ago I found my self in the land of vertigo. My world was spinning almost constantly...only medication would band aid the problem making it temporal. I went from doctor to doctor to specialists of all kinds getting no answers to the true problem. I couldn't concentrate, or function as a wife and mother of my two children. I lost years and time that could have been spent out of the darkness.

Up until 8 months ago I was talking to a friend of mine who suggested I try seeing a Natural path. I did. After telling her my story and symptoms she concluded right then and there that I was devastatingly vitamin deficient in Vitamin B 12. She was sure with high doses of vitamin B 12 through injections that I would start to feel better. After 3 months of shot treatments my world stopped spinning. I was angry at first. I felt robbed of the last eight years of turmoil. It was the simplest answer to constant prayer. It has been 8 months. At times I will get a bit dizzy, but nothing like it had been for so long. I am so thankful to God for taking me out of the deep depression state I had grown in.

There is still work though. Through the years of this darkness I gained weight, I was also vitamin D deficient and now coming to terms with perimenapause. Yes, I am in my mid thirties learning that I am a complete hormone imbalance. I started taking natural esroven in hopes of relieving many of the symptoms I have been going through. I have finally realized I have probably been perimenapausal for the last year. I still struggle with migraines now only adding on the feelings of my whole body aching, mood swings, sleeplessness, etc... my list goes on. It has been somewhat taxing on me as well as husband and children. I am thankful for the Lord in my life. Without Him and his pure grace on me. I could not get through even a day of this. It is because of Him & my little family that I can go on, get well and be happy.

It is never to early nor too late to make changes right !

I am happy to share this part of me with you to show you that through affliction there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am vowing now, to get well, get healthy, get in shape and be happier even through the struggles of everyday life. I am going to do this for ME, for God and for my family. I hope you will too.

With that, I must also confess that what I show here is also very real, straight from my heart. We do have the happiest times. I am in a wonderful place in my life where I can be home with my children. It is a growing experience... I am a proud mother. So, even though life may not seem to be a bowl of cherries at times, life could be a bowl of cherries if you make it that way. Thanks for reading, for understanding and giving me a chance to be real.

Or better yet, Life is just a chair of bowlies !!