Avocado citrus salad

This didn't turn out to be as flavorful as I had expected, but it was a healthy salad.

Recipe:
http://www.marthastewart.com/872685/avocado-citrus-salad

French lentil soup

This recipe came from my mom.  This is a simple, tasty, and hearty soup.  We usually eat it with a baguette or other loaf of bread.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped white onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

6 or so garlic cloves, chopped

2 boxes (32 ounces each) organic vegetable broth, no MSG (I used cans of Swanson's veggie broth)

1-1/4 cups green lentils, picked over for stones, rinsed, and drained

1 can (14-l/2 ounce) diced tomatoes (fire-roasted are great) in juice

Preparation:

Chop vegetables finely.  Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium-high heat.

Add chopped vegetables and saute (stirring frequently) until they have softened quite a bit (around 10 minutes). 

Add lentils, vegetable broth, and tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 40-50 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Baked carrots

 

Nico loves to eat these, too.  I take baby carrots, slice them, and then mix them with olive oil and a bit of salt.  Then, I spread them out in an even layer in a Pyrex dish and bake them at 400 degrees for around 40 minutes.  At about 20 minutes into the baking, I stir the carrots around to make sure they are covered with plenty of olive oil.  Enjoy!

Kale chips

 

These are so delicious and easy to make!  My son and husband love them.  You can find the recipe at:   

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/30/recipe-kale-chips-a-surprisingly-easy-and-delicious-veggie/

Pumpkin spelt muffins

A delicious way to welcome the fall season.  A thank you to Katie, who prepared these and posted a pic on Facebook and then shared the recipe with me.  The recipe comes from a wonderful website called 100daysofrealfood, and here is the link to the recipe:

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/09/25/recipe-whole-spelt-pumpkin-muffins-and-other-spelt-recipes/#more-3102

Chicken, quinoa, and broccoli

I bought a rotisserie chicken, steamed a head of broccoli, and prepared the quinoa by adding instant chicken bouillon.  Add one teaspoon instant bouillon to 1 cup boiling water.  This is a meal my sister-in-law and her husband prepared for us during our last visit to see them, and we loved it, so we decided to make it ourselves.

Mixed greens salad topped with tomatoes and persian cucumbers

 

You can find Persian cucumbers at Trader Joe's.  I peeled and diced them for Nico, and he enjoys eating them.

About my blog

For quite some time now I have wanted and tried to make a lifestyle change to eat healthier and to overcome my addiction to sugar, but have not been successful.  I doubt many will argue with me that it’s a good idea to eat more healthily, but it may sound a bit extreme to be so worried about sugar.  However, my frequent consumption of 1,000+ calories of high-sugar foods in one day could do some serious damage to my body and quality of life.  By eating in this manner, I am additionally not being a good role model to my son for healthy eating, nor am I supporting my husband’s goals to eat healthy meals.

God has fearfully and wonderfully made us and our amazing bodies, and He wants us to use these bodies to serve Him and to help and serve those in the world around us.  But, we must keep our bodies in good health to do this to the fullest.  That is the motivation for this blog – to motivate myself and others to eat healthily so that we can be in good health to serve God and help and bless others, and most importantly so that we honor God by taking care of the precious bodies he's blessed us with.  I believe that by chronicling what I cook, I will be motivated and encouraged to continue in this lifestyle change.

I am excited to share any recipes that I have, so please ask if you see something you'd like to make but that I've not posted a recipe for.  Also, I would love to receive recipes and ideas from those of you who follow my blog.  Thank you so much for taking the time to follow this blog and to encourage me on my path to healthy eating!