Avocados

I did it!  And I liked it! Somehow through Facebook, I friended someone whom I've never met. She has a screen name that includes the word Homeopathic because that is her stewardship and who doesn't want to learn more about helping oneself through non-toxic remedies? What is in the prescription drugs that are dispensed from the pharmacy anyways  we are trusting the FDA to protect us and through awareness, you'll learn, they really don't have your best interest at heart.  Melissa invited me into a Facebook group that encourages you to drink a green smoothie each day for 30 days straight.  You don't have to drink more than one and they give you recipes and a shopping list.  It's super easy!  

I use a standard blender, nothing fancy and I drink my coffee then we make a smoothie!  We've had a few different recipes so far, mostly I just think of what I have and if it doesn't taste good then we add local honey to make it all better.  Whatever I have left over from that batch, I save for my daughter's arrival after-school.  If I have even more than enough left after her consumption, I store it until the next morning and use it as my liquid. 

I'll start with yesterday; we received a recipe that contained cashews and it just so happens that I had some in my pantry that my husband has been gnawing away on.  Part of the recipe recommended that we soak the cashews in the liquid we would be using so they would soften and become easier to puree.  I've never really eaten cashews much less drank them but hey, if it's a recipe and I have the ingredients, I'll try anything once.  I soaked the cashews in water then added spinach, a banana and strawberries for a delicious and creamy smoothie.  The encouraging part is that cashews are mother natures way to treating us naturally the way the prescription prozac can work, as an antidepressant.  I didn't know that but I am certainly glad that through nature, us crazies have been given aid.

Through the Facebook Group, I've seen talk about mixing avocado's into a smoothie and even how to freeze them.  This week as I was shopping, I saw avocados on sale for $0.50 each and knowing a deal, I bought 2.  I normally don't eat avocados but I was going to try serving them with Eggs this weekend but alas, a smoothie recipe evolved and here it is:

2 handfuls of spinach, 2 tbsp of cashews for the crazies, apple, blueberries, and finally, half an avocado.  Yep, smooth.  

Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins 

and folic acid. They also act as a "nutrient booster" by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble 

nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit. 

Number of calories in a half of an avocado is about 130 calories.  Enjoy this smoothie.  

Your body will be screaming with joy and your heart will be light from guilt.  

Speckled Butterbeans

This past week, I shopped at the "Produce barn" in Gastonia, NC.  It's a small business that is full of herb plants, goat soap and you guessed it, produce!  Along side of the vegetables, they  have bins of beans.  Who doesn't like the feel of sticking your hands in a bin and just letting the beans run through your fingers (Shh, don't tell my kids I do that!).  This week I purchased the beans you see in the first picture.  They are called Speckled Butter Beans and are a southern food similar to Lima Beans.  I've never eaten either so I thought for $0.99/lb I'll try it!

I wasn't sure how long the beans would take so I decided to start my bean experiment at 4pm.  I sliced onions, diced garlic and washed the beans!  They are just beautiful beans, aren't they?

My dinner idea was to cook them in the marinara sauce that my husband bought as serve a vegan meat sauce using beans as the protein. We are certainly not vegans because I lack the discipline to succeed in that lifestyle choice but I do want to eat meat-free a few times per week.  The beans cooked for about 2 hours on the stove-top and smelled fantastic surrounded in the sauce.  I tasted them and still good.  I decided to puree most of the mixture so it was nice and smooth but loaded with nutrients. Things are going downhill now.  As I plated up dinner, as my daughter went to wash her hands, she asked me to give her 2 meatballs?!  Well, she was going to certainly wonder where her meatballs went as this is what she saw on her plate:

I sat quietly eating thinking how happy I was that my serving was small. It wasn't bad if you like a refried bean taste but even still, I added salt and looked around as everyone else began eating. Inwardly I wanted to scream...don't eat!  Stop...it's not what you think it is but I wasn't sure that laughing aloud wouldn't have been a better option etiher.  The crowd's response was going to be the indicator of success and here it comes.  One of my children didn't have any sauce so he was fine.  Another child didn't seem to mind the sauce meanwhile across the table, my husband was blatantly not happy with the taste of this bean sauce! Eventually, he ate his plate and then asked me not to cook it again.  He thought pasta deserved more.

Oh well; the sunshine of my day was that I had dehydrated 3 large tomatoes.  What we ended up with were these deliciously sweet treats that are a great snack for adults who like sweet and tart in the same chew.  So, above all else, my day was still victorious and I am thankful for optimism.  And the savior-a dehydrated tomato.