BLACK BEAN, AVOCADO & MANGO SALSA

Our friends, Sam and Emily Barker made this amazing meal for us. You have got to try it! It is going to become a staple dinner for us :) at least during mango season. 

BLACK BEAN, AVOCADO & MANGO SALSA from http://www.thedivineaddiction.com/

INGREDIENTS

For the Salsa:

2 (16 oz.) can black beans; rinsed and drained

2 avocados; diced

2 small (or 1 large) mango; diced

½ cup red onion; small dice

Juice of 2 fresh limes

Sea salt & pepper; to taste

¼ tsp ground cumin

Fresh cilantro; chopped finely; to taste

Happy Wrap

Tonight for dinner we had what I am going to call happy wraps. Doesn't it look like it's smiling? Delicious and nutritious! And for you meat lovers out there, you can substitute chickpeas with tuna. But I would recommend having both if you're going to have tuna :-)

Ingredients:

Chickpeas drained and rinsed

Romain lettuce leaves

Sliced olives

Sliced tomato

Sliced cucumber

Hummus

Avocado

Sliced or diced red onion

Directions:

Double tube romaine leaves together, and assemble your wrap with all the toppings you like, and enjoy!

PS. John enjoyed eating raw red onion tonight for dinner. Actually he ate all of this except for the lettuce. :) I love it when dinner works out for all of us! (it doesn't always, lately)

Superbowl Recipes

Well, I know it's not the superbowl now, but these are some awesome recipes!

I'm going to make this one tomorrow :) Enjoy! Forks Over Knives Super Bowl Recipes

Update - We made it, and it's amazing! You should try it, especially during tomato season!

TheColorfulKitchen.com

My friend Beth is seriously the best at finding excellent new recipes online! This week she shared 2 AMAZING recipes with us from thecolorfulkitchen.com
Delicious doesn't even cut it to describe this pasta, and have you ever thought of making cookies and brownies out of beans? Well, you should try it. It's amazing!

Easy Cheesy Pasta - Seriously, this is going to become a weekly staple in our house!

Black Bean and Oatmeal Brownies - Add a handful of chocolate chips, and a bit extra agave, and these are excellent!



 

Chickpea Chocolate Chunk Cookies - I could eat these everyday! And I could feed to my husband and son everyday without worrying about their health!



A blog that is vegan and gluten free is a dream come true, and this site is definitely that! Check it out!!!

 

thecolorfulkitchen.com

Put Nightmares in Proper Perspective

I have a lot of dreams, usually every night, and they are usually pretty intense and often frightening. I'm learning about these nightmares and how to view them so that they don't bother me as much. My counselor sent me this helpful article,

"Put Nightmares in Proper Perspective"

Put nightmares in proper perspective for better sleep

A surprising number of people are often disturbed by nightmares, disturbed to the point where it affects their ability to consistently get a good night’s sleep.  Here’s a few ideas to help put nightmares in proper perspective for better sleep.
First, rest assured if you are having a nightmare that you are in fact actually sleeping, and for those with trouble sleeping that’s a good thing right there.
Dreaming is a continuous process through sleep cycles, but typically the most vivid dreams occur during REM sleep. This suggests a nightmare is normally experienced during REM sleep, which means you can be assured of several more benefits beyond the fact that you are actually sleeping.
REM sleep normally occurs at the end of much deeper sleep phases.  So if you have a nightmare, you are in fact benefiting from the most restorative and physically refreshing stages of deep sleep that usually precede REM sleep.
Even if the nightmare is disturbing, in balance the physical benefits you receive from experiencing deep sleep are likely far more important to your overall well being.
Second, although the exact function of sleep and dreams is still not completely understood, many sleep experts believe dreaming and especially REM dreams help consolidate memory, process events, and help re-set one’s mood for a new day.   So even if you have a nightmare you can be assured that you are in fact processing events in your life as you should be through your dreams.
Some psychologists suggest that recurring nightmares are a symptom of trauma, stress, and anxiety experienced during waking hours.   If you are experiencing unusual stress or anxiety that affects your daytime functioning, counseling can help.  In this way professional counseling might also help reduce the frequency and intensity of bad dreams.
Finally, at the risk of stating the obvious, nightmares are in fact only dreams. They are not real. Reminding yourself of this might help you let them go, be less disturbed by them, and just accept them for what they really are — including the aforementioned significant benefits.
Putting nightmares in a realistic and accurate perspective might help you say what many of us say when we experience them: “Whew, I’m glad that’s only a dream!”
Nightmares are only dreams.  They can’t hurt you.
For more sleep tips and information on ways to sleep better naturally, or if you have a sleep-related question, feel free to contact us.

Vitamin E

Today I'm learning about Vitamin E, and it's natural sources. I love the website http://whfoods.org/ It is SO helpful to learn about vitamins and nutrients, why we need them, where we can get them naturally, etc.

So check out Vitamin E

A brief synopsis of what I learned is that Vitamin E protects us from free radical damage (cancer), as well as heart disease. Cool!! Give me some of that!

Here is part of their chart of the foods you can get it from. Click on each food to learn more about it too!

World's Healthiest Foods ranked as quality sources of vitamin E
Food	Serving Size	Cals	Amount (mg (ATE))	DRI/DV (%)	Nutrient Density	World's Healthiest Foods Rating
Sunflower Seeds	0.25 cup	204.4	12.31	82.07	7.2	excellent
Spinach	1 cup	41.4	3.74	24.93	10.8	excellent
Swiss Chard	1 cup	35.0	3.31	22.07	11.3	excellent
Turnip Greens	1 cup	28.8	2.71	18.07	11.3	excellent
Asparagus	1 cup	39.6	2.70	18.00	8.2	excellent
Mustard Greens	1 cup	36.4	2.49	16.60	8.2	excellent
Chili Peppers	2 tsp	15.2	2.06	13.73	16.2	excellent
Almonds	0.25 cup	132.2	6.03	40.20	5.5	very good
Broccoli	1 cup	54.6	2.26	15.07	5.0	very good
Bell Peppers	1 cup	28.5	1.45	9.67	6.1	very good
Kale	1 cup	36.4	1.11	7.40	3.7	very good
Cayenne Pepper	2 tsp	11.4	1.07	7.13	11.2	very good
Tomatoes	1 cup	32.4	0.97	6.47	3.6	very good
Avocado	1 cup	240.0	3.11	20.73	1.6	good
Peanuts	0.25 cup	206.9	3.04	20.27	1.8	good
Shrimp	4 oz	134.9	2.49	16.60	2.2	good

Thai Chickpea Quinoa

Our neighbor, Beth Winder, made us DELICIOUS quinoa one night for dinner swap, and I just had to have the recipe! THIS is it. I have adapted it to our own preferences. It is an excellent way to eat quinoa. 

And HERE is why it is so healthy and wonderful to eat Quinoa.

Thai Chickpea Quinoa 

YIELD: SERVES 4

 

TOTAL TIME: 30 MINUTES

ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 can chickpeas
3/4 cup shredded (or finely chopped) carrots
3/4 cup shelled edamame
2/3 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (or cashews)
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro

sauce
3 TB. agave
1 TB. apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar)
2 TB. canned coconut milk (I froze the rest in ice cube trays)
1 TB. honey (or brown sugar)
2 tsp. creamy peanut butter (it mixes in easier if it's melted, FYI)
2 tsp. garlic
1/4 cup lime juice (or lemon)

1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions

Prepare quinoa according to directions, which will most likely call for 2 cups of liquid. I prefer to use low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock, so if you have that, use it!

While quinoa is cooking, combine all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well to combine. 

Once quinoa has absorbed all of the liquid, stir in the sauce and toss well to coat. 

Add in chickpeas, carrots, edamame and green onions, stirring to combine. 

Taste and season with a little salt and pepper if needed. 

Toss in half of the peanuts and cilantro, then serve in a large bowl, topped with remaining peanuts and cilantro. 

I like to serve this with a salad, soup or even a little sandwich!

Cream of Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Cream of Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Serves 

Ingredients:
Veggies:
- 2 onions
- 4 Tb. garlic
- 2 stalk celery
- 2 cups frozen (or fresh) peas
- 5 cups cauliflower
- 5 cup broccoli

- 6 cups water or veggie stock

Seasonings:
- 1 Tb. dry oregano
- 2 tsp. dry thyme
- 2 tsp. dry basil
- 2 tsp. coriander
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 3 TB soy sauce
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. brown mustard 
Finishing Touches:
- 1 large handful (about 1 1/2 cup) spinach
- 1 can chickpeas or white beans
- 1 cup nutritional yeast (in the bulk section of your health food store)
- 1 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (or to taste)

- 1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
- fresh cracked pepper

Directions:
1. Heat a large pot on medium high heat while you rough chop your onion (but not so rough as to chop your finger :) I've learned that lesson a time or two...), then start sauteing your onion adding sufficient amounts of water to keep it from sticking or burning.

2. While onion is sauteing, rough chop all your other vegetables and add (except for spinach) to the pot. Saute for about 5 more minutes, or until onions are translucent.

3. Add water/veggie stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to a simmer.

4. Add all the seasonings and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, add nutritional yeast, beans, cashews (that's where the "creamy" comes in!) and lemon juice. Then puree using an immersion blender (or ladle small amounts carefully into a blender).

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tips:
-You can garnish the soup with anything you like really, cashews, sliced spinach, cilantro, bell peppers, avocado... you name it!
- You can use this as your main dish, as a side, as a base for another creamy soup. The sky is the limit!
- And don't be afraid of substituting other veggies. Use what you have.