Stuffed Recipes!!!

So I love to stuff peppers and mushrooms!!! really I would try to stuff anything, lol! Here are some of my faves so far:

This is a Portabello mushroom stuffed with a Mexican bean filling: black beans, peppers, onions, and corn sauteed with Spanish seasonings. Bake the mushroom with the bean filling. Top with a Avocado salad: avocado, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice, seasoned with black pepper & salt. 

This is a raw stuffed red pepper with the same avocado salad! Two great ways to use the same salad!

This is a sweet potato and veggies stuffed Portabello mushroom: Roast sweet potatoes, shredded carrots, parsnips, turnips, add cauliflower, onion, ground walnuts, season, and then mash! Stuff the mushrooms sprinkle with nutritional yeast and bake until the mushroom is tender!

I love Spaghetti Squash! This is a Mexican style squash! Roast it first, then gently scoop out the "noodles" and place in a saute pan. Add onions, corn, beans, carrots, and peas. Season with  Spanish style seasoning and  a little olive oil. Stuff back into squash shell, bake for a few minutes :)

Yummy Green Pepper stuffed: One pack of mushrooms chopped, 1/2 onion chopped and both sauteed in a little oil. Season with cumin, pepper, chili powder, and basil. Once browned, add fresh chopped parsley, about 1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, and 1/2 a carrot shredded. Season again with cumin, pepper, SALT, and basil. Add in spinach. Stir and let sit on low while you prep the peppers. Chop the tops off your peppers, remove seeds, stuff with filling, put in a backing dish, and bake at 375 until the pepper looks tender.

Another stuffed mushroom!!! This is a sauerkraut and mushroom filling! So easy, drain a can of sauerkraut and saute with onions and mushrooms! season with pepper, onion/garlic powder, cumin, and stuff the mushroom! Bake until its tender!

These are some of my favorite recipes! Try them, play around with the ingredients and make it your own :)

Keep It Simple. Health, Beauty, & Fitness.

On a daily basis we are bombarded by things, products, constant advertising, someone always telling you to buy more, do more, look better, younger, and thinner. No one ever says, do nothing, relax, buy less, and feel better :) Why? My guess is that as we simplify our lives we start educating ourselves and we stop supporting companies who's practices are unethical and who's products don't live up to the hype.

About 3 years ago I gave up skin care products. I use to look for anything that would promise me beautiful, acne free, wrinkle free, glowing skin. Drug stores offer so many products, I bet I had tried 80%, NONE lived up to the promises, most dried out my skin, or made it even more sensitive. I had been working at a local spa and had access to professional skin care products. So I bought them, not impressed either. These were expensive (even with my discount) and to get the "promised results" I would need a "system" of products to follow each day...wash with this, tone with this, moisturize with this. Really??? When did our skin become so complicated??? There had to be a simple way.

I had been using coconut oil in my kitchen for a few years, and after a little reading online, I decided to go for it! This became my moisturizer! At first I felt a little awkward going to my kitchen for my new beauty regimen, but after a little while it just felt right. Face wash??? I know, we need to wash our skin, with a product made in a lab, by people wearing gloves and masks? I don't think so. I began using a warm wash cloth to remove make-up and dirt, and sometimes Witch Hazel (on a cotton ball) just to freshen up during the day.  I then apply a thin layer of coconut oil, wait a few minutes and then do my makeup (which is kept very minimal). I found in the winter months I needed an oil which wasn't so "dry", so I did some research and discovered Grape Seed Oil was recommended by bunch of natural health forums for skin use! So I went to my kitchen and grabbed my oil (which I had been using to cook with) and put some on my face! I love it! I have been using it all winter and it works great!

I realized that nature got it right and science is messing with us! I understand science is important, but I don't want to be a science experiment! There are so many ways to keep your skin looking and feeling great with products made from natural resources and minimally processed! Try it, why not :)

Next on my keep it simple list- Food!! I have to say, if you keep your food simple, you will NOT have to struggle with cravings, upset stomachs, mood swings, or restrict calories. Just last week I was eating my 4th banana at work and someone said "are you really going to eat 4 bananas today"? I answered, "no, I am going to eat 6".  She thought the idea of eating so many bananas was crazy, even unhealthy. I wanted to ask so badly, "would you prefer I eat a sandwich, a protein bar, or some sort of packaged snack promising weight-loss, or digestive health"? No thanks! I really think there is something wrong in this world when eating food provided by nature, in the MOST natural state is weird, crazy, and unhealthy...and processed food with an easy to read nutriton labels is the better option! Nature got it RIGHT so don't fear food which is created for human consumption without any tampering in a lab! Again...no thank you! Keep it simple! Bananas, apples, melons, grapes, carrots, cucumbers, etc. make great snack or meal options! EAT UP!!

Fitness, it is SO IMPORTANT!!! It is part of being a human! We are designed to move. The body and mind respond to movement, endorphins (happy hormones) get released, mind gets clear, stress relieved, we feel good. Ever sat around too long and when you get up you feel awful. Instantly want to stretch, your back hurts, neck is stiff, and you're tired? Exactly...those are the negative side effects of NOT MOVING. You don't need to buy a bunch of work out DVDs or learn some insane workout to be fit. There are simple moves you can do and see amazing results...fitness doesn't have to be complicated or boring. If you need some assistance make an appointment with a trainer and have an "at home" workout designed for you! A personal trainer will show you the correct form, fun exercises, and make a program for you to follow on your own and at home! Another good place to start is walking, running, or dancing!! Once you start moving, you will crave it. A simple thing like dancing can really get you in awesome shape...and its FUN! Don't over-think it...just move!

Simplifying your life can open your eyes to a new world. It can bring good health and a sense of calm! Get rid of things that are complicated, and embrace the simple life.

My Inspiration...The Ladies of Raw Food

Some of my favorite ladies of the Raw Food Vegan Movement!!

 Get to know some of these amazing women and what lead them to this incredible lifestyle! Not only will you be inspired, but you will see how beneficial a Raw Food Vegan lifestyle can be! Find them all on Facebook, check out their websites, books,etc. They all have different yet similar stories...they were all in search of HEALTH!! Please check them out :) 

Kris Carr of Crazy Sexy Diethttps://www.facebook.com/KrisCarr.FanPage?ref=ts&fref=ts

Drew from Sexy Raw Food and Fitnesshttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Sexy-raw-food-and-fitness/124975714243447?ref=ts&fref=ts

Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram Of FullyRawhttps://www.facebook.com/FullyRawKristina?ref=ts&fref=ts

Freelee Frugivore AKA Banana Girl of Go Fruit Yourselfhttps://www.facebook.com/GoFRUITYourselves?ref=ts&fref=ts

Sheleana Breakell Of Yound and Rawhttps://www.facebook.com/youngandraw?ref=ts&fref=ts

They are so inspirational! They LIVE this lifestyle and have seen long term health & weight benefits! They are confident, beautiful, and most of all they put themselves out there! People can be very critical...yet these wonderful ladies stand up for what they believe in and continue to educate others!

Good work ladies :)

The ugly and painful truth~ Earthlings

I had attempted to watch this documentary before...but only managed to get through about 20 minutes, this time I painfully watched the entire film. It was ugly, disturbing, and...brutally honest. I had seen the link to the movie on a Vegan forum and it had awesome reviews. It's called Earthlings. Really, the most important movie you will watch! I have seen other documentaries about the food industry, Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, but this movie was unbelievable, heartbreaking, and so so sad. 

It starts with Pets, mostly unwanted ones, puppy mills, and shelters. I am a pet owner and love my dogs like they are my kids! I enjoy their company, I snuggle with them, I seek comfort from them, they are part of my family. I couldn't imagine hurting them, giving them away, or dumping them on the side of the road and leaving them to die!!! The movie reveals some very disturbing behaviors humans will do...throw a stray dog into a dumb truck to be crushed, euthanize hundreds of dogs because some selfish person decided they didn't want them anymore :(  The images were real and horrifying, so intense I began to cry. 

The film moves on to the food industry, meat & dairy. I don't eat meat or dairy anymore, but I never thought about where my cheese or chicken came from when I did. I never gave it much thought until I began researching  organic foods and plantbased diets. This is the most graphic and horrible part of the movie, not only the way we treat our food supply, but also the behaviors of the employees in these factories. I think the moment we begin slaughtering animals in such masses, and so brutally, we become desensitized & mentally ill, and no longer see animals as actual living, breathing beings. The amount of meat produced in this country is out of control, we are destroying our land, creating illness and disease, and being extremely inhumane! Next time you go to the store, think about where your meat came from, the horrifying process, and the filth it lived in, and the disease it caused...do you still want to eat it??? 

The film sadly continues to expose the whaling and dolphin industry, mainly in Japan. Images one can only bare to watch for a few minutes without getting sick. I didn't know this was happening, I had always considered these amazing animals something pretty incredible, not anything we would harm, and definitely not food! Earthlings then goes on to expose fur farms, the circus, zoo, and animal testing. Very disturbing images of animals getting their fur removed while they are still alive, monkeys being used to simulate head injuries, and it goes on and on. I cried through the entire movie.

Is this just one of those "shock factor" movies made to make us feel bad or scared? Some might say it only exposes the bad and doesn't show the good, like local beef farms, or no-kill shelters. It is shocking, only because this is reality and it is the majority! I bet 90% of Americans DO NOT purchase local farm-raised meat, or local raw milk from the dairy farm. We get these items from a HUGE grocery store, and they get them from industrial meat/dairy factories. We don't care or question the quality of the food, the living conditions, the horrible of work conditions, and the disease and illness these foods have caused...not to mention the stress put on the environment. It is easier not to ask questions because we know the answers would make us angry. 

I want to know, I want to teach my child the truth, I want to stop this madness, I DON'T believe that ignorance is bliss. Ignorance equals health issues, disease, pollution, destruction, and a horrifying future for our kids and grand kids. Selfish? Yes we have become a selfish and greedy specie, where we ONLY think of ourselves. The problem here is that as we live these lavish, over fed, yet empty lives, and karma is already winning. This lifestyle has created more problems, more illness, more death, more addiction, and more mental disorders than ever...KARMA!! So maybe this selfish behavior is proving to be destructive, and change is needed now more than ever. When we start opening our eyes to the devastation we have created and are supporting, we can begin making changes, but as long as we keep our eyes and minds closed and turn the other cheek we will continue down this path. 

You decide...but your decision will effect me and my family, so please don't be selfish!

Everybody needs to watch this film!!!!!
   http://earthlings.com/?page_id=32
 

 

The best "Taco Pie" ever

Taco Pie Recipe!!

This is one of my favorite Mexican meals! I took the Taco idea & Lasagne idea, and made a "Taco Pie"!! So here goes:

Chop and roast 2 large or 3 medium Sweet potatoes! Season with chilli powder, pepper, and red pepper flakes! Roast on a cookie sheet on 375 until browned a little and soft! Place in a baking dish and smash! This is the base!

Add a layer of black beans, and top with your favorite salsa (as much or as little as you like)

In a saute pan, cook up some red & green pepper, corn, and onion (about 1/4 onion chopped). I used a small bag of frozen peppers, and frozen corn. You can use fresh! Layer the cooked veggies on top! Place in the oven on 375 for about 10 minutes!
**Meanwhile, thin slice romaine lettuce, chop half a large tomato, chop one avocado, and a 1/4 red onion. Also chop jalapeno peppers if you like a little spice :) **

Remove the "taco pie" from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, top with your fresh veggies, squeeze a little fresh lime juice, and sprinkle with black pepper! Scoop out and serve :) This is a great mix of hot and cold just like a taco...and very filling!!

Enjoy!

Recipe Review~ Quinoa Brownies

 ~RECIPE REVIEW~

I recently found this recipe online and was really excited to try it! One thing I have learned through "Pinterest fails" is that some online recipes just aren't very good! I was skeptical...but this is a HIT!! I wanted not only to share this recipe, but give the credit to the fabulous creator! 

Here is the link!
 http://rinutritionhousecalls.com/?p=1349


This is mine :) Hot out of the oven, perfect and gooey like a brownie, and I used creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy! The texture is great, though my blender did not like it...I switched over to the food processor! 

My son thought these were great...he had 2! I love the simple ingredients and the fact that there is no flour, no sugar, and no artificial crap!! Great recipe, I give it 2 thumbs up!