Why shop at your local Farmer's Market, instead of at your grocery store?

Other than freshness and how long it lasts before you are able to eat it, the PRICE is much less!

Check it out--

Market

3 pints blueberries plus 2 pounds strawberries=$10
6 assorted bell peppers--all the more expensive colour--$3 (2/$1)

=

$13

Zehrs (my local supermarket)

3 pints blueberries=$9.97
plus
2 pounds strawberries=$9.98
plus
Bell peppers--generally $3.99/lb so if 6 peppers are 2 lbs, then $7.98

=

$27.93

Nuff said.  Check out your local farmer's market today!!

If you're worried about using all the berries on time, just remove them from their packages, give them a rinse, and place them in a single layer on a tea towel.  Dab the tops of them dry, and allow to completely dry, then put in freezer-proof containers or baggies.  I usually use containers, but they were all being used.

I kept one pint of blueberries and one of the pounds of strawberries in the fridge, so that I could add them to things like salads, cereal, etc.  The ones in the freezer are perfect for using in things like smoothies.

$10 worth of berries sure will go a long way!!

Today I made a VERY delicious and easy stew recipe--Chef Jo Lusted's Slow-Cooker Moroccan Beef Chili from Clean Eating magazine.  

It didn't take long at all to put together, and once it's all in the slow-cooker, you just have to wait!  It was really delicious--I highly recommend trying it.  And it's also not expensive, which we all appreciate these days.  

If you want to make this vegetarian/vegan, I don't see why you couldn't simply remove the beef and add the same volume in beans.  I would use something like red kidney beans. :)

Note that you will need to soak dried chickpeas overnight before adding them to the chili.

Ingredients


2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 lb sirloin beef, trimmed of fat and cut into ¼-in thick strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups low sodium beef stock, divided
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5 to 2-in chunks
1.5 cups jarred or boxed unsalted diced tomatoes with juices
1.25 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in water for 24 hours (Tip: If you don't have time to soak chickpeas for 24 hrs, boil them for 1 hr, until al dente, then drain and set aside.)
⅓ cup sliced dried unsweetened apricots
Sea salt, to taste
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ lightly packed cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves (Note: Chop just before serving)

Directions

* In a large nonstick skillet on medium, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add beef and cook until browned and cooked through, about 3 to 5 min. Transfer mixture to a 4- to 6-qt slow cooker.

* Return skillet to medium, and heat remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add garlic, onion, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper and pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 min. Add 1 cup stock and stir, scraping up browned bits in bottom of skillet with a spoon. Transfer to slow cooker.

* To slow cooker, stir in remaining 2 cups stock, potatoes, tomatoes, chickpeas and apricots; cover and cook on high for about 4 hours. Season with salt.

* Just before serving, combine zest and mint. Top chili with mint mixture.

Tip: For an added kick, harissa – a popular North African and Middle Eastern hot sauce – is the perfect condiment for this chili.

CHIA SEEDS!

There has been much talk about chia seeds, and there is lots of information in the Internet universe on their benefits, so I will only put a link to the benefits of chia in this post.

What I DID want to put in this post, is something I just learned--you can have soaked chia seeds in the fridge for as long as THREE WEEKS!!!

WHOA

In the few days since hearing that, I've used a lot more chia--because of the convenience of just spooning it onto my cereals and into my smoothies.  A LOT more!  And that's a good thing right?  Convenience AND a super food?!  YAY!

A certain someone (and by someone I mean me) was in this flash mob last week:

OM NOM NOM!  

Don't have much time, but HAD to share this smoothie recipe I just whipped up for breaky tomorrow!

Pina Col-ooh lala Smoothie!!

Coconut almond yogurt
Coconut water (or water if you don't have any)

Pineapple
Dried coconut
Sliced peaches (I used frozen--it's winter!)
1 banana

Blend all together!  I also added extras like wheat germ, maca powder and flax meal, but they're optional.

So good!  But dangit all...it's for breakfast TOMORROW!!!  BAH!!

OK gotta go!  Bye!

Today I decided to make something that I've been salivating over for at least a year, but was afraid to attempt it with my broke-ass blender: raw almond coconut yogurt!

(OK, to be fair to my blender, and so it doesn't feel bad about itself, I shouldn't say it's broke-ass.  It's not--it's a perfectly good blender, it just isn't high-powered, and would have trouble properly breaking down whole almonds.  Sorry blender, I still love you. <3 p="">
Now, I am not a raw foodist, I am just a person who wants to try different an new things, so I can tell you that this recipe is GOOD.  Good LORD is it good, and it is super easy too!


Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight in water in the fridge and drained
1 whole young coconut (water and flesh used--click here to find out how to open a young coconut)
2-3 probiotic capsules (the powder inside is what you'll use)
Dash real vanilla
Dash real lemon juice
Additional coconut water if needed

In a powerful blender like a Nutribullet, blend together the ingredients.  Blend until thoroughly combined, smooth, and to your desired consistency.  Feel free to add more coconut water as needed.

Pour into a glass container, and cover lightly.  Allow to sit on the counter for 4 hours to allow the probiotics to start to grow and ferment the mixture.  Then either consume, or put in the fridge with a lid on it.

It will stay good for about 4-5 days in the fridge.  If you know you are going to want to make it again in a few days (because you just love it so much!) simply set aside half a cup of the original mixture, and use it as a starter for the next batch, before the 4-5 days is up.  The culture will continue to grow in your next batch of yogurt!  Then repeat as often as you like!  How cool is that!

By the way--the lower picture is of my breakfast this morning, when I first ate my yogurt--I put strawberries, blueberries, raw cashews, chia seeds and flax meal with it.  Yummo!

For MONTHS I've been trying to find someone around here which not only sells Nutribullets, but actually have them in stock.  Yes, they're a very hot commodity around here, and I could NOT find any.  I even had my sister and her husband searching for me!

Finally FINALLY I found it at Bed Bath and Beyond.  We found a display...and none for sale.  My sister said, "Maybe they sell it Beyond?" which made me laugh. :)  The salesperson in that section came over to us and offered me to order it in, with the shipping waved since they didn't have any in stock.  HELLO!  Like you have to ask me twice?

So anyway, I got it the beginning of last week, and by golly it was so worth the wait!

I'd really wanted one because I wanted something that could pulverize ingredients the same way that a Vitamix can, without having to pay $500.  That's a lot of money!

The first smoothie I made was this:

It turned out really well!  The white things in it is raw oatmeal.  I've added oatmeal to my breakfast smoothies before, since it adds not only more nutrients but keeps me fuller longer.  It doesn't change the taste at all, just makes it thicker.  In the Nutribullet it was completely broken down as well.

I also added baby spinach as you can see in the pic.  Some of you may think that's a little kinky, but it doesn't change the flavour one iota, and adds a bunch of nutrients.  There's a couple of handfulls in there!

There is also strawberries, pineapple, blueberries--all from frozen because there's no growing season here in the winter--as well as a few cashews, flax seeds, and wheat germ.  It was very tasty, and a nutrition explosion!

The second smoothie I tried to make contained 1 whole carrot in the ingredients.  The flavour was really nice, but I didn't realize how much FIBER is in a big carrot!  It made the smoothie really mealy tasting, and I ended up tossing it--I just couldn't get over the texture.  BLECH.  BUT that was a learning experience--if I want carrots in my smoothies, I'm either going to have to strain them or juice them. :)

I intend to make a lot more than just smoothies with my beloved Nutribullet, so stay tuned!