Raised Bed Gardening.

Ever wonder how to grow your own veggies in town without making a mess of your yard? Raised bed gardening!

We are currently living in town, which makes it a little difficult to enjoy some of the perks that I grew up with. My Dad always, and still does, have a huge garden. His garden is as big as our backyard! I did a CSA share last year, which was wonderful, but difficult to pick up on the other side of town every Wednesday night. I really wanted to have my own little garden this year, especially since I'm preparing more raw meals.  I did some research on raised bed gardens. I also did some "selling" to my husband (he knows all about the business of sales so I had to "sell" hard) on what a great idea it was to have our own little "nice and neat garden." My hubby doesn't like clutter! I found these plans that I liked best! 

Home Depot, here we come! I picked non-treated wood of course. 

My husband needed a little help loading the boards:)

And I was feeling kinda weak so I needed pushing help!

I made sure not to get galvanized screws. I didn't want any chance of having chemicals in our garden. Crazy me!

Our back yard before the garden.

He measured and marked all of the boards for daddy! Note the color of our deck in this picture. We painted the garden to match it.

Almost together.

We painted ours to match our deck and trim. It will just help preserve the wood longer.  We actually ended up getting a stain with primer in it. It goes on like paint.

My dad brought his post hole digger since we don't have one. No one knew how to dig holes as good as Gabe:)

"good job daddy, keep working hard!"

Yay, now we just need some dirt. The dirt was our largest expense because I was adamant on getting organic soil. Our bed is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and 1foot deep. We used 15 bags, plus my dad brought us some good horse "compost".  AKA: manure!

Mixing the dirt.

Almost finished.

Just a few finishing touches.

Voila!

It's too early to plant most things, so we just did butter crunch lettuce, onions, and carrots. 

I had to have my dad help with the planting!

I labeled my rows and keep a key inside so I remember where everything is planted. 

Completely finished with the bird netting added. We have lots of little rabbits that would love to eat from my new garden!

So, later on in the season, I'll be updating you on my veggie growing progress!

Not So Green Sorbet!

If you can get your kid to eat spinach and spring mix, let me know how you accomplish that! Our son does a really great job eating what we provide for him, but leafy greens isn't one of those things. What 16 month old does though? Leafy greens are one of those foods that younger kids just can't understand how to chew:)

In order to make sure he gets the leafy greens, I made him a "not so green" healthy sorbet for his snack today, and it was a huge hit! If it melts enough it will be a "not so green" smoothie!

Not So Green Sorbet!


1/3 cup frozen blueberries
 5-6  frozen strawberries
1 large handful of mixed greens or spinach (kale would also be a good leafy green option)
1/3 cup frozen broccoli
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup almond milk (can add extra if too thick)
1/2 tbs agave nectar or to taste

Make sure to use frozen broccoli and not cooked so it retains all of it's healthy benefits. If you prefer a smoothie over sorbet, you don't need to use all frozen ingredients.

Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho

PINEAPPLE-CUCUMBER GAZPACHO

From RAW FOOD REAL WORLD by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis

4 cups chopped peeled cucumber (from 1 large English cucumber or a few Kirbys)

4 cups chopped pineapple (from 1 large or two small pineapples)

1 cup fresh pineapple juice

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 green onion, white and 1 inch of green, chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 handful cilantro leaves, plus few extra for garnish

3 tablespoons avocado oil, macadamia oil, or cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil

1 handful finely chopped raw macadamia nuts

In a blender, add 3 cups of cucumber and pineapple, the pineapple juice, jalapeno, green onion, lime juice, and salt. Blend until smooth. Add the remaining 1 cup of cucumber and 1 cup of pineapple, the handful of cilantro, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the oil. Pulse blender quickly a few times-the gazpacho should remain chunky. Taste for seasoning. If you have time, chill before serving. Before serving, add the macadamia nuts and stir to distribute them evenly. Place in serving bowls and drizzle the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Garnish with cilantro.

 Adding the remaining ingredients. Ready to pulse. 

The macadamia nuts really added a nice touch. This is ungarnished obviously.  I'm an RN and mom, not a professional chef or photographer!!

The first day I made this I wasn't sure how much I liked it. I have never been a fan of the sweet/salty thing and this gazpacho reminds me of just that. I ate a bowl and put the rest in the frig. On day 2 I had a bowl and really enjoyed it much better. Day 3, I loved it! I used fresh pineapple that had been sitting on my counter, so placing the gazpacho in the frig to chill probably helps. It's a refreshing taste so on hot summer days it will be amazing! The only thing I will change is the amount of salt added. I will add just a little less next time:)

Raw Italian Herb Dressing

I found these fresh organic herbs at our local Hyvee. I love them!

Oops! Guess I ate most of the salad before my picture!

ITALIAN HERB DRESSING
By Raw Guru

• Italian Herb Dressing
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup flax oil (or 1 full cup olive oil)
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/8 cup water
• 4 teaspoons agave
• 1 large garlic clove crushed
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning mix
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

I decided to make this dressing because it looked easy, and I'm always looking for a new way to spice up a salad! It is delicious! Gabe actually ate raw mushrooms, bell peppers, and cucumbers out of it! I'm thrilled!!

For my salad I just used mixed baby greens, celery, yellow and green bell peppers, cucumbers, crimini mushrooms, and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds on top. I was so hungry I didn't even manage to get a picture before I had consumed most of the salad!

Morning green juice.

I was trying to come up with something easy, healthy, and green this morning. I used my juicer, but you could throw this stuff into a food processor as well for a little added fiber!

1 bunch of romaine (heart healthy and a good source of fiber, especially in a food processor)
1/2 cucumber (good for the skin, hydration, and a good fiber source)
1 generous handful of bean sprouts (anti-aging, cardiovascular health, stress, energy, it's a long list!)
1 whole apple (makes the juice actually taste good) (good fiber source, helps regulate blood sugar)
a squeeze of lime if you want (anti-oxidant, anti-cancer)

As you can see it was pretty tasty!

Super Easy Nut Milks.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I made my own nut milk with a Soyabella machine. You do not need a special nut milk maker. If you have a food processor and a nut milk bag, you can make your own homemade nut milk. You can buy nut milk bags at Whole Foods or anywhere online.

Here's how:

1 cup of soaked nuts of your choice (walnuts, almonds, pecans, brazil nuts, macadamia, sunflower seeds, etc.) It's suggested to soak any nuts with a brown skin (walnuts, almonds, pecans) in water overnight. My recipe with the soyabella also says to soak, but I do not soak mine. 

2 cups water Just double the amount of water compared to nuts. (2 cups nuts=4 cups water)

Blend in food processor just until rattling of nuts stops. Don't over blend or the particle get too tiny and clog nut milk bag.

Place nut milk bag over a wide mouth bowl and pour milk into bowl, straining out the pulp. Gently squeeze bag to get all milk out. Save pulp to use for other recipes if you want. 

If you want to sweeten your milk, add agave nectar or dates to blender. You can also add vanilla extract too. I like mine plain with nothing in it except the nuts and water, especially for recipes!

The only thing I do not make is Soy milk. I don't eat or drink anything with soy in it. It's one of the worst things to consume if you have endometriosis thyroid disorders. Very interesting read right here from the Endo resolved website, which includes the following:




Health Hazards of Soy


This is a list of health hazards of soy as reported by health and diet specialists: 

1. High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralised by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. 
2. Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
3. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women. 
4. Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
5. Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B12. 
6. Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D. 
7. Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein. 
8. Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines. 
9. Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods. 
10. Soy foods contain high levels of aluminium which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys
11. The various negative effects of soy weaken the immune system.

Baby Talk.

 Since green isn't all that pretty, I removed half of the smoothie and then added the green powder to the rest and layered. 

This morning Gabe and I had a mini play date with my friend Laura and her two daughters. Laura and I were discussing our interests and updating each other on what's been going on since we saw each other last, which has only been about a week:)  She was sharing with me all of her new ideas that she posts on her blog, B and B's Nest. It's a wonderful blog about renovating, redecorating, and fun little projects that Laura does in her not-so-spare time! She would love for you stop by and take a look!

Since we have kids, "baby talk" always comes up! We were discussing how to get our children to eat veggies when it isn't their favorite thing to eat. Since smoothies and shakes are so easy and quick, I was telling her how I often put healthy supplements in our smoothies! We are big "superfood" fans around this house. Yes, Eric too!  Here are just a few that I tend to put in smoothies to help amp up the nutritional value: Goji berries, Spirulina, Maca, cacao nibs, Bee pollen. Visit David Wolfe's SUNFOOD website for superfoods. He also has a very informative book, Superfoods, that gives you all you ever wanted to know about the top superfoods. I own it and read through it often. I also keep frozen wheat grass, Chia, and flax oil for smoothies too. My Raw organic green superfood you see below is taken daily by all of us here. It's from Garden of Life. In addition to using these "superfoods" in your smoothies for kids, you can always add a  small handful of spinach, mixed greens, peas, green beans, beets, and the list goes on and on! It's healthier to add the raw veggies in a smoothie instead of cooking all of the good vitamins and minerals out of them. If you have a picky eater, they will most likely consume the healthy part since it's disguised in fruit of your choice! Gabe hasn't turned down one healthy smoothie that I've made yet!

1/3 c frozen banana, 1/3 c frozen mango, 1/4 c frozen or fresh pineapple. Then add the serving amount of your green supplements!

He likes it:)

 Garden of Life has become one of my favorite brands of raw supplements. I came across it one day while browsing through one of the aisles at Whole Foods. They also carry raw enzymes, raw protein, raw kids vitamins, and even raw prenatal vitamins to name a few!

Evergreen WheatGrass is the brand that I buy. Check out their website for more information.

A quick tip for a "frostier" smoothie:  I like to buy organic frozen berries for my smoothies. I freeze my own bananas, mangos, pineapple etc. I add some homemade almond milk and occasionally a touch of orange juice (or fresh squeezed OJ if I want 100% raw) to help thin it out to the perfect consistency!

Mango Shake

This recipe comes from "RAW FOOD REAL WORLD" by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis.

Mangos are full of vitamin A and one of the richest sources of carotenoids, which help ward off colds and reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.* Mangos anyone?

MANGO SHAKE

3 cups diced mango
2 cups coconut water
3 Tbs. agave nectar or 2 packets stevia
2 tsp. vanilla extract
squeeze of lime juice
pinch of sea salt

Puree all ingredients until smooth.

You can buy coconut water to save a little time. I love to buy fresh ones myself.  Water should come out clear. There's an art to opening these bad boys too! Good luck. It took me a while.

 Coconut water is full of electrolytes and great for hydration. A great alternative to sugary electrolyte waters. It can cause diarrhea, but mostly if consumed in excess. It's also great for urinary infections and helps dissolve kidney stones! Oh yeah, and it kills intestinal worms:)

I love this "unprofessional" picture because it reminds me that I have a son:) BTW, he loves coconut water. Sometimes I poke a hole in the top and let him drink straight from the coconut!

Without child items in background! This coconut gave me exactly 2 cups of water. 

The meat should also be white. As you can see, this coconut didn't' have a very thick meat lining. You can always freeze it and use it in other recipes or dry it. 

Just spoon it out.

I learned how to properly cut mangos when I was in Honduras.  Hold mango upright and cut just to the edge of center . This will allow you to miss the seed. 

Turn it and cut down the other side.

I then cut the edges off the seed.

Slice through mango but not all the way through the skin.

Turn it inward and cut the slices off.

I drank mine out of the coconut for fun:) Delicious!

Everything you wanted to know about coconut water right here! I'm a firm believer in prevention of ailments and diseases first, but treating with natural remedies (foods and herbs) is one of my favorite things~