Catie's Story

I was first concerned with what I fed myself (and then later my family once I had one), the summer I lived with my grandmother. I watched a tumor grow in her colon like a pregnant woman. She drank a 12pk of diet coke a day. Two months after it began the doctor removed a five pound tumor out of her colon. She battled breast cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, and just lost her battle to ovarian cancer. She is a walking enigma of primary cancers. We ARE a product of what we eat, and how we eat it! A major turning point from JUST "organic and natural" foods-still processed-was when my second son was born. I was planning on breastfeeding him, and like his brother, discovered he was intolerant to milk proteins from cow's milk. For me this meant I had to remove any and all forms of dairy from my diet. And I had to read lots of labels. This "dairy free" diet I was on was the healthiest 15 months of my life. I felt AWESOME! Makes sense though, we aren't cows. But this diet also meant eating MORE fruits and vegetables that aren't loaded with butter and cheese to convince my pallet that I like them. Now I crave them raw, whole, as they are intended! BTW I've always been a "take it or leave it" kind of girl on meats, and never was a fan of seafood.

The Healthiest Cookie Recipe Ever

Not even kidding! I do 1/4c choc chips and 1/4-1/2c walnuts. I think subbing applesauce for the oil works as well but haven't tried that yet. I've also subbed raisins for the dates and they were still good. So the choc chips have sugar, but as far as I can tell they are still devoid of animal products. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I forget the brand name I buy but it's the red bag and they are super dark chocolate. Sunny needs to post her homemade chocolate recipe! Honestly you can make these without any chocolate at all and they will still be good. OR use cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips.. mmm..

Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes 30 Cookies)

3 Bananas (preferably ripe or spotty bananas)
2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 Cup Dried Dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 Cup Oil
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips, Walnuts or Raisins
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients.
3. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
4. Using a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon, place the batter onto a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 25 Minutes.
5. Cool and serve.


Compliments of Weelicious. 

My Newest Craving

I know "Ants on a Log" is supposed to be a kiddie food but I have seriously been craving this stuff lately! I use almond butter and dried cranberries. It's even better with dates AND you can add flax seed in your "peanut" butter. Yum!

PB Sunflower/Flax Seed and Fruit Sami

Since my toddler is so picky, it's hard to get him to eat much so when I make him food, I try to pack as much nutrition in there as I can. This morning we had flax-seed waffles and strawberries. I used his leftover strawberries in our sandwiches for lunch. Sprinkled with sunflower seeds and some flax seed and a drizzle of Agave. Really the strawberries are sweet enough to not need added sweetener though.

PS: I actually don't use peanut butter anymore as there are much better alternatives such as almond, cashew etc. The more nutritious, the better... but I still call it all "peanut butter" lol.

-Amber

And So It Begins...

Me, a small town country redneck raised on chicken fried steak, fried potatoes sweet tea and all things white, sugary and greasy is aspiring to turn vegan. Oh the irony! My BFF growing up was vegan. I always thought she was a little crazy for that (love you Val!) but in reality I was the crazy one... or my parents since they raised me.. we'll play a little pass the blame lol. But seriously, people haven't always ate animal products since the beginning of time. Where did this mind set come from that a human can't be healthy without consuming dead flesh and cow milk puss? I remember seeing a family at the park when I was in high school who were raising their child vegan and I seriously thought that was child abuse lol. As a kid, my brother and I could finish off an entire gallon of milk in a day between the both of us. I really don't recall ever drinking plain water.

I googled "redneck food pyramid" and this popped up lol. Looks surprisingly similar ;p

When my first child was approaching the age of solids, I decided I had better figure out how to give him the best head start on nutrition and started looking into home-made baby food and the current nutritional recommendations eg. no juice, no sugar, later solids, etc etc etc. You'd think it would just be common sense, and really it is, but first you have to get past the preconceived brainwashed ideals of what "healthy" is. When you step back, clear your head and look from a clear view it really is so obvious. Ironically, the Bible even tells us what healthy eating is. Fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and grains (or something along those lines). I love this clip.  My aunt and I were just discussing this. I don't think it is a sin to eat animal products and I don't think it's the end of the world if you do so, but all things in moderation. What us southerners eat, or what WE ate growing up is by no means moderation. Not to mention the dairy and meat you buy in the grocery store is LOADED with poisons. Hormones, pesticides, genetically modified organism. That cannot be healthy for anybody.

I have heard a million times that cheese and yogurt and eggs are some of the healthiest things you can give your child. I mean we've all seen the commercials right? It very well may be if they aren't getting human milk, but mine was, so he really did not need any of that. He did not need any other milk, or cheese, or yogurt or any animal products. I also let him teethe on beef jerky (the real kind, not Slim Jim). The more I learn the more I want to...

...but as the saying goes "when you know better, you do better". I really thought I was doing the best I absolutely could. sigh.. so I now have a child who is addicted to cheese and yogurt and has a strong aversion to all things green.

I have been slowly learning more and more about nutrition and natural healing. Over the last 2 yrs I have gone from eating "sugar-free" and "fat free" items to buying organic of the same, to getting rid of boxed processed precooked foods, to cutting way down on our meat but still eating lots of cheese and yogurt, to now trying to wean off of all things animal. Don't get me wrong, we still go to Sonic, eat frozen pizza and I still crave Coke like there's no tomorrow, esp since I had my second (high needs) child lol. It's very hard to find time to fix healthy meals with two kids to care for, but every little change helps. Just because I "fail" at one meal doesn't mean I can't start over again. It's not a diet, it's a way of life.

The better we treat our bodies, the better we feel and act. I for one am absolutely 100% positive that I can tell a difference in the way I myself feel and the way my toddler acts between real whole foods and junk food/chemicals. Around the time I got pregnant with my second, I had started really bearing down on eating just whole natural foods. DH would actually complain that all I bought was produce hehe :)  I take that as a compliment. No white flours, white rice, processed boxed foods. I make my own deserts with honey or agave and whole wheat flour, no sugars or artificial sweeteners and we drink water. Lots of water. The funny thing is, I actually lost about 25-30lbs from the time I got pregnant to after I gave birth eating this way. Believe me, I had no intention whatsoever of trying to lose weight, I was simply trying to be healthier for my children's sake. That was a great surprise ;p

OK let me stop talking already, point of all this being, when I finally came to the realization that ultimate health is a vegan diet it occurred to me that I really have no clue where to start cooking without animal products. I don't particularly care for the "feaux" meats. Grody! Maybe my taste buds will change to accommodate that later on. I created this blog as a way of getting ideals and recipes with reviews on vegan meals. I am not vegan (yet) so a lot of these posts are going to contain some animal products but we're getting there. One step at a time.

Hopefully some of my super healthy mammas will jump on board and share some of their healthy vegan recipes and meal ideas. If you would like to contribute, message me with your meal plan or recipe you've tried with your review and a pic if you so choose to txabarnhill@yahoo.com. I'd LOVE to hear your ideas!!