Welcome to Sunday, Scrumptious Sunday in fact! It's another new addition to my blog, highlighting a healing recipe I've been eating and possibly obsessing over in this past week. You know what, I've been so happy to turn on my oven. This summer, plagued with high heat outside and low energy internally, oven cooking just didn't happen. I'm usually just a one pot gal....just cook it all together, serve it on up, and that's it. But, as I've shifted my meals to enjoying more fruits and veggies and less meat, I've found more energy to try different preparation methods with my meals. I know roasting veggies bring out their natural sweetness and caramel flavor, so I wanted to give it a whirl. (It still ended up all together in one pot at the end though.....can't teach an old dog all new tricks now 😉) I dubbed this "Autumn in a Bowl"--utilizing some of the bounty of fall thrown into a hearty, filling main dish. One food I'm thankful to have fallen in love with is brussel sprouts. I used to turn up my nose every year to these little beauties, making fun of my mom for liking them and giving them to Ginger under the table. I think one of the reasons I disliked them was due to the preparation method. Boiling them makes for a yucky, mushy, pungent sprout. Once I attempted to sauté them in a skillet, and discovered their subtlety sweet/smoky/earthy/delicate flavor, I was in love 😍. The other food I discovered I enjoyed was butternut squash. I used to be fairly picky about what veggies I'd eat (uh, does ketchup count?) in my younger days, but now I'm a bit more adventurous. I was afraid of peeling and deseeding them when I first started to learn to cook (felt too much like a carving pumpkin to me), so, I didn't. But as my skills have improved, from culinary classes, blog reading, and being sick with CFS, I made my first attempt. And I'm so glad I did! The next bonus of this dish: it's totally customizable! You can add any veggie, meat, or bean you'd like...whatever you got in your fridge or pantry. Do you have cannellini beans instead of chickpeas? Great. Broccoli instead of Brussel sprouts? Good. Carrots instead of squash? Perfectly fine! You have lots of different combinations at your fingertips! You can also customize to the season...make it a cold quinoa salad for summer time, or add broth and blend it all up to make a creamy, hearty soup. Or even add fruit! I added cranberry and walnut pieces in this week for a little change of pace. This is a versatile dish which is sure to please a lot of hearts in your household, including yours as the chef! So, without further ado...here's the recipe! Roasted butternut squash with Brussel sprouts, chickpeas, and quinoa, aka "Autumn in a Bowl"
Butternut squash 1-2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced into small pieces 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp herbs de Provence 1 tsp paprika Salt Black pepper 1-2 tbsp coconut oil Preheat oven to 425F. Coat a baking sheet with tinfoil. Peel, seed, and dice butternut squash. Sprinkle with cumin, herbs de Provence, paprika, salt, pepper, and coconut oil. Toss with fingers and spread out on baking sheet. Put in oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning once 15 minutes in. Brussel sprouts I bag of Brussel sprouts, rinsed, chopped into pieces 1-2 tbsp coconut oil Salt Pepper Rinse sprouts and chop into small pieces. Put coconut oil in large frying pan and preheat over medium high heat. Put sprouts in pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until sprouts are golden brown and toasted. Add in 3/4 cup chickpeas (I got mine from a can). Quinoa 1 cup dried tri colored quinoa 2 cups water Couple glugs apple cider vinegar Bring quinoa and water to a boil. Add in vinegar. Lower heat to medium high once quinoa is boiling. Allow quinoa to cook until all water is absorbed and the little quinoa curly q's begin showing, about 15 minutes. Remove squash from oven and dump in pot with sprouts and chickpeas. Stir and mix well. Once quinoa is finished cooking, add in to pot with sprouts, chickpeas, and squash. Mix well. Optional additions: Serve over salad greens and some diced avocado! You may not be able to see the salad greens in the pic, but they are there! How have you used butternut squash in a recipe? Same thing for Brussel sprouts? I'd love to hear your take on them. Take care and happy cooking!!
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****Since I've been dealing with a lot of fear, brought on by stepping out of my comfort zone, I thought I'd take time to actually thank the cage I kept myself in. Because the only way I'll move through the fear is to recognize what it did for me at the time and tell my cage it's no longer needed. Hope you enjoy 😊 **** Maybe I'll start by thanking you. For so many years, you kept me safe. You truly threw up walls for me and didn't let me experience the so called "perils" life had to offer. Yeah sure, from time to time I'd try to escape, but your words and warnings about the world always proved to be true. I'd tuck my tail between my legs and come on back, closing the cage door behind me. - At times you were a comfort, holding me and keeping me sane when I felt my world was falling apart. I could cling to your rules, your rigidity, and your edicts. I knew I'd be okay if I always played by your rules. You know, I tried your ways for so long, that they became my own, whether I wanted them or not. - Even now, as the cage door is open, I tentatively take my first steps out in the sunlight, and I hear your words. In the past, those harsh remarks make me want to run back inside. But, now, your words aren't working. Your shouts are getting louder, the insults and fear mongering keep pelting me. But, I will not let them get inside my head anymore. I trust myself. I trust my life. I trust my intuition to guide me to the things/people/experiences I need in my life. You no longer need to dictate my life for me. - I appreciate your concerns. I hear your fear. But, I wonder if it's more about you than it really is about keeping me safe? It it more about Keeping me from harms way? - If it is more about you, I just want to express my sympathy. I've been so mad at you for so many years, thinking you were an evil tyrant who wanted to control my every move. My heart hurts for the pain you must feel working so hard to keep me truly stuck so you can feel good about yourself. Your walls aren't the comfort they once were to me. In fact, they feel like sandpaper or an itchy wool sweater which just never felt right. They just don't fit anymore. - I choose to live my life and do what feels good to me, including the food choices I make, the supplements I decide to put on/in my body, and the creative outlets I exercise. I'm blossoming and growing, you just aren't a part of it anymore. Have you ever kept yourself in a "cage" of sorts? How did you "escape"? I'd love to hear your thoughts...we can support each other as we take our steps forward toward freedom. ❤️️
Welcome to Healthy Thursday! Each week, I'll be sharing with you a variety of products and tips designed to help keep you and your family healthy! This month, I'll be discussing items to help with immunity boosting and staying well during the upcoming holiday season. I've been getting a lot of questions about the supplements I've been taking to help myself heal. While I can share what I'm taking, please don't take my regimen as the gold standard for healing. It's what's worked right for me...and even this constantly needs tweaking (every 2-3 weeks honestly) as my body changes. For your specific needs, contact me and we can discuss YOU on a more individual, personalized level. So, Brooke, what do you take? I take a lot of stuff, so I'll just share one at a time. I'll start with my immune booster, olive leaf. Why olive leaf? Well, we all know how healthy olive oil is for you right? It's good for your heart, circulatory system, blood pressure, skin, hair, extremely high in antioxidants, the list goes on and on. But, did you also know olive leaf can help boost your immune system? Olive leaf is naturally high in the plant polyphenol oleuropein, known for its free radical fighting abilities, which comes in handy fighting foreign objects like viruses and bacteria. In supplement form, you want to look for at least 12% standardized oleuropein. That way, you know you're getting strong fighters ready to do battle during the busy winter months! How many do you take? I just take one, one time a day with a meal. The recommendation on the bottle is 1 capsule with a meal 1-3 times a day. Why Nature's Sunshine? I love them for a variety of reasons. First, one of the amazing women on my healing team introduced me to these products and I trust her immensely. Second, this company produces their products in America, and I support American products whenever I can. Third, they are committed to purity and dedicated to science. They test their products over 600 times during ALL of the points of manufacture (ex. coming into the warehouse as raw materials, during and after encapsulation, even after bottling!). I appreciate a company who truly takes care to give us exactly what we're paying for! Lastly, this company has been around for over 40 years, selling their products all over the world. They were the first of its kind to encapsulate herbs, a process we take for granted today. Shipping is very prompt, customer service is wonderful, and their prices are very reasonable and competitive. Could this help me?
Well, it certainly can. I know plenty of people who begin using it as soon as they feel a tickle coming on. I also know how busy we all get around this time of the year and need all the extr heart healthy antioxidants we can get. Helping our blood pressure, and circulation during holiday (aka family stress) time is also a nice bonus! How do I order it/look for more information? Check out more information here. What happens if I have any further questions? Contact me here or via the form on my site. I'd love to assist you with finding exactly what you need to help you and your family live healthier lives! ****As always, keep your doctor informed of ALL medications you're taking both herbal and prescription. What works for some people may not work for all, so I encourage you to contact me and lets see what would be a good fit for you!**** |