Looking for Ideas for a Vegetarian Meal?

Look no further...

From Eden's Kitchen:

Spaghetti squash anyone? I've seen much yellower squashes, in fact I usually purchase them smaller & in a more mellow-yellow shade, but Eden bought this at the Gardener's Market last Saturday - the vendor said it was the "1st of the season." 

Here's the interior view - you'll want to remove the seeds. You can always dry the seeds on a paper towel or plate & save them for replanting at a later time.

A closer look.

Place face down in about an inch of water & bake - I usually create a tent of tin foil to drape over the squash to prevent burning & it allows the squash to retain its moisture better. For years I've spread a tablespoon of margarine on the interior of both sides, but for the last 2 times I've baked this squash, I haven't. And you know what?  It still turns out perfectly yummy - so unnecessary calories. 

The squash takes about an hour at 400-425 degrees. You'll need to ck the tenderness of the meat of the squash about 40 minutes along. 

Here's a stir-fry beginning - organic extra firm tofu, garden green beans, sliced mushrooms & sesame seeds, sauted in a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil on a medium to low heat. 

Ready to eat!

The spaghetti squash is towards the bottom of the plate. Now you see the reason for its name. If you gently remove a serving size from the shell of the squash with a fork, you'll get this strand-like texture, which is what you're aiming for.

This side-dish is delicious, nutritious & an attractive addition to your plate. Remember, any yellow or orange-colored food will be packed full of vitamins A & E - great for your skin! Squashes are usually a natural diuretic too.

The 1st time I remember having spaghetti squash was at a friend's house. My friend is quite the vegetarian cook & she actually used this spaghetti squash just as one would use spaghetti noodles. She cooked up her own pasta sauce, topped the serving of squash with the sauce & with garbanzo beans - it was superb - we'll have to make that one night for you/us.

The cucumbers have been prepared through the spiralizer - Eden says, "they taste better this way" - & much more attractive than your usual cucumber slices.

Here's another meal plated up. The cute button carrots are from the Gardener's Market & very sweet!

Hungry?

By the way, I finally tried Eden's popsicles from the earlier blog & they were sooooooooooooooooo good!  There's no added sweetener, but I guarantee that you'll be surprised how the natural sugars from the freshly squeezed carrot/strawberry blend will excite your taste buds & energize your body!

*One final note - personally, I never get tired of eating from a plant-based diet - never! There are just too many ways to prepare even one dish - you can change the seasonings, serve it hot or cold, or just replace an item or two on the menu & you'll have a completely different meal. You can easy google for vegan or vegetarian meals, to stimulate your creative foodie mind too.

**Besides, I've found that if I'm really looking to give my body the best nutrition possible, I can look no further than the plant kingdom. Garden-fresh & raw are our best choices, but a warm meal or soup on a cold winter day may be just the perfect choice.

I leave you in peace,

Marcy Hope Williams 

From Eden's Kitchen 

What's Cookin' Tonight? 

• Fresh Lemonade Juice Pops
• Roasted Sweet Onions, Yams &
• Russet Potatoes
• with a Fresh Garden Salad

Are your lips puckered yet? Can you smell the sweet fragrance from the lemon? I can. 

In fact halfway through loading these pictures I had to go into the kitchen and fill a tall glass full of ice cubes & lemonade - granted it wasn't fresh, it was Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade, but it did quench my thirst & oh how refreshing lemonade can taste on a hot summer day!

So you ask - why are you drinking bottled lemonade with all of these freshly-squeezed lemons abound?

Well, this is from Eden's kitchen, & by the time I got home, Eden had created popsicles. 


She juiced organic carrots & apple in her Jack LaLane Juicer. (Over the years, this juicer has proved most-reliable for our family & the company offers superb customer service.) 


She blended these juices together: carrot, apple & lemon with banana & fresh strawberries. I haven't tasted them yet - I have to be patient & wait until tomorrow!Popsicle

She had also sliced up onions. (I hope she had the fan on - it tends to circulate the air so you don't shed so many tears.) 

And seasoned the sliced russet potatoes & yams, coating the mixture sparingly with a few drizzles of olive oil.  

Then she roasted these root veggies in the oven, varying the temperture from 375 - 450 degrees. 

A fresh garden salad was prepared to create a refreshing summer meal.

From Eden's Kitchen

Blueberry Muffins - yummy!

Here's a pic of the muffins Eden made on her shelf - before she went shopping (I'll show you a pic after she's done shopping later - she does have the gift of finding food items I never knew existed!).

I asked if I could share the recipe with you, so here it is:

She tweaked this "really simple" Cranberry Muffin recipe found in Cooking with the Right Side of the Brain: Creative Vegetarian Cooking by author Vicki Rae Chelf to create a very tasty & moist vegan  muffin.  

1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

3 t baking powder

1/2 cup real maple syrup

2 T oil (we use safflower)

Energ Egg Replacer for 2 eggs (3 t replacer + 4 T water) (I've been using this brand for decades.)

1/4 c Whole Soy & Co Lemon Yogurt (We were out of almond milk so she got creative.)

1 t real vanilla

1 1/2 t cinnamon (Eden added this ingredient.) 

1 c frozen organic blueberries (She told me she didn't even let it thaw.)

Yield: 9 nice-sized muffins

Time: 25 minutes

1. Sift together flour, baking powder & cinnamon.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together maple syrup, oil, egg replacer mixture, yogurt (or milk) & vanilla.

3. Stir dry ingredients into liquid ingredients. Beat enough to blend well, but don't over-beat. 

4. Fold in blueberries.

5. Spoon mixture into well-oiled muffin tins.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

7 Enjoy!

*Special note - Eden is an amazing cook & raw-food preparer - she has blended her love of organic whole foods with her artistic flair to create some of the best-tasting & best-looking treats & meals we've created in our home.

Utah's Pioneer Day

CELEBRATING THE RED, WHITE & BLUE

So why are our streets lined with flags this day you ask? On July 24th each year Utah celebrates our statehood. The displays of the American flag are set up as a fund-raiser by the Boy Scouts for special activities throughout the year, usually summer camps. To me, this is beautiful site. 

I've lived in Utah now for 24 years & had never previously thought, of all of the places all over the world I would be living, that I would be here in Utah, but sure enough, here I am. Utah has provided me with a safe and healthy environment to raise my children and I am thankful. 

Here's a bit of Utah history to get acquainted. According to Wikipedia & other sites, "this day commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon settlers into the Salt Lake City Valley." The pioneers were seeking a place of refuge for their religious freedom so they traveled westward from Illinois. Typically government buildings are closed and fireworks, parades & rodeos are abundant.

The Little Bloomsbury Foundation is head and led by Chinese fire-cracker, Dr. B. C. Sun. The organization stands for "Promoting Peace and Hope in an Uncertain World." Every year now, for 6 consecutive years, Brenda has organized an art show for the local schools and community out of her uniquely-styled gallery home here in Logan, Utah. The art show is centered by a special theme she chooses every year, always to engage her Foundations's goal of Promoting Peace and Hope in an Uncertain World.  

I participated in two of her art shows by submitting a new cover of my children's book, A Crack in the Night © for 2010 and a special poem and artwork I created for her show in 2011 based on my upcoming soon-to-be-released book, Ruby Rose Comes to Town ©. The event brings together creative individuals like non other. The structure you see above was created by high-school students as a tribute to one nation. Brenda told me the students worked on this project for a combined 600 hours. This work stands about 20 feet high. 

NEW RELEASE!

 TWIGA

(pronounced twee-gah)

Now available at story-express.com!

Author Marcy Hope Williams shares her original folktale, which tells the story of a young  giraffe with a middle-child complex. Travel with her to the plains of the Serengeti in Africa to witness this triumphant tale of self discovery. And don't be surprised if you pick up some Swahili along the way! This book is dedicated to all of the sons & daughters who ever questioned their mother's love.

This special 1st edition of Twiga is a six-page short story printed on 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" paper. The unique cover art was created by award-winning master silk painter Christine Sutherland (csutherlandart.net) & is guaranteed to touch your heart. A must for all family libraries.  

AVAILABLE NOW!                            Price: $3.50

For all ages, especially for children & teens

What a Face!

Loves his toys

Knows who's family.

Such a prancer!

Add caption

Tug-a-war, anyone? 

Just came home from an awesome 2-yr-old's birthday party - we are so blessed to have families.

Well, tomorrow is Monday, let us all try to look at all of the incredible opportunities we have for making a difference for ourselves & for others. Let us work hard in making planet Earth a much better place for us to live one day at a time. 

Peace,

Marcy Hope Williams 

Greeting Friends & Readers across the Globe!

I have to be honest with you - it has been so much fun seeing where you are from. Currently I have readers in America, Russia, Germany & S Korea. So since my base of readers in Russia are seemingly growing as fast as my American readers - I thought it would be fun to add a note to my Russian readers.

Привет мои дорогие российские друзья и читатели.

Спасибо за то, что помогать расширять мой мир. Я надеюсь, что Вы преуспеваете 5548 миль или 8938 км от меня. Когда Вы думаете об этом тот путь, Вы - действительно не что далеко вообще, меньше чем 2 поездки поперек Америки.

************************************************************************

(Here's the translation for you Yanks :))

Hi my dear Russian friends and readers.

Thank you for helping to expand my world. I hope you're doing well 5548 miles  or 8938 km from me. When you think of it that way, you're really not that far away at all, less than 2 trips across America.

Our different languages are so amazing - the sounds, the letters and I am sure even some of the meanings translate differently. I do believe we are universally connected and similar though as human beings. More on this subject later - time to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (work tomorrow).

By the way, I should have my website (story-express.com) updated with my new book info sometime next week - I'll let you know. 


For now, would you like a sneak-peak of the front & back covers of the book? I thought you might. By the way Twiga is pronounced twee-gah. 

Have a wonderful day tomorrow 

& 

make each moment count! 

Marcy Hope Williams

What about Left-overs, A Mystery & Cotyledons?

Here's the left-over sunflower seed sprouts from last week that I failed to clip & harvest. Live & learn - I had no idea (until tonight) that if you let them go this long, the leaves become very bitter and has a very strong weedy taste to it. In fact the leaves have become fuzzy too. 

Now, I am sure this is all part of nature's plan to help protect the plant from predators; however, I was a bit disappointed to see so much waste - I was so looking forward to adding this ingredient to my salad - oh, alas! I'll leave a few in the pot & later transplant them so that they can grow into the full-fledged sunflowers they were destined to be. Then I could harvest the seeds!  

These are the sprouts that were too overgrown to eat, a whole towel full!

Later that night... mystery solved! 

My daughter Eden who has been working with plants for almost 5 years now enters the scene. I showed her the sprouts & she explained to me that when a plant grows, its first two leaves, which are part of the seed or embryo, are called the cotyledon leaves. The next leaves are usually different than the first two. 

So I took a second look at the sprout. She was right - the 1st two leaves were the sprouts that I was used to eating, but the other leaves on the plant had grown very different. So, guess what? I can still eat the cotyledon leaves off of these sprouts! I am sad though that I plucked so many out of the ground tonight instead of creating a field of sunflowers. 

Have you ever imagined if we were to actually plant all of the seeds that go through our hands, what a Garden of Eden the earth would be?  

I think these thoughts especially when I cut open a tomato. Every time I use a bell-pepper, acorn or pumpkin squash, I always remove the seeds, dry them out & store them - you never know when we'll need to use them!

I decided to cut & wash the rest of this red-cabbage head 

so it wouldn't go to waste - 

that way I can easily use it for a quick meal. 

Here's my basic salad tonight - plus, I'll bring a serving to work tomorrow. It looks refreshing - doesn't it? You can't see the yellow-crooked neck zucchini very well, but it's been cut up into bite-sized pieces. 

Turning the last corner before my house, my neighbor stopped me & gave me the yellow squash & a nice-sized zucchini. At first I looked at them & thought.. stir-fry!  But on second thought, I decided to make a nice fresh salad - more vitamins & minerals that way.  I'm sorry I didn't take a photo of the squashes before I began cutting, but believe me, the yellow squash was used tonight.

I consciously added many cruciferous vegetables to this salad to increase my chances of staying healthy. (Definition of cruciferous: a plant with long narrow seedpods, e.g. the cabbage, turnip, broccoli, or wallflower. Others - known as the "headless crucifers" include dark green leafy vegetables like kale & collard greens. Phytochemicals are found in cruciferous foods. 

This info was found on the American Institute for Cancer Research - you can easily google them on the web. 

Phytochemicals: The Cancer Fighters in the Foods We Eat

Phytochemicals are naturally occurring plant chemicals (phyto means plant in Greek). They

provide plants with color, odor and flavor.  Once we eat them, however, research shows they can influence the chemical processes inside our bodies in helpful ways.

Findings from laboratory studies have shown that phytochemicals have the potential to:

• Stimulate the immune system
• Block substances we eat, drink and breathe from becoming carcinogens
• Reduce the kind of inflammation that makes cancer growth more likely
• Prevent DNA damage and help with DNA repair
• Reduce the kind of oxidative damage to cells that can spark cancer
• Slow the growth rate of cancer cells
• Trigger damaged cells to commit suicide before they can reproduce
• Help to regulate hormones

                              

            **********************************************

Green olives added. 

I usually try to add some type of protein, so on went the raw sunflower seeds & vegan Garden burger Veggie Medley Veggie Burger (that's what they're called J.)

I'll leave you with this circular thought:

The healthier you get, the healthier you choose to eat.

and

The healthier you choose to eat, the healthier you get.

hmmm - sounds easy!

Kohlrabi, Spiraled Zucchini, Yellow Squash & Purple Cabbage, Anyone?

There's never any reason to be bored of the vegetable kingdom - personally, I know I haven't tried all the varieties that are available to us... yet.

Here you see my lunch today. Remember all of the veggies that we picked up from the Gardener's Market - well, they had better be eaten & sooner than later! In this pic, you'll see both yellow & zucchini squash that has been processed through a spiralizer. My daughter has one. This simple kitchen gadget creates strands of thin beautiful veggies that add a different texture & beauty to your salad presentation. Yes, there's beet chunks in there too.

I brought a small snack of peas & a small pepper to snack on during my break at my day job. Yes, I'm still working 40 hours/week to pay the bills in hope that one day - one day, my dream will come true & I will be able to write full time for children & for adults.

Eden topped her lunchtime salad with sheer strips of kohlrabi. This vegetable has been called the German Turnip - it's from the cabbage family. The taste resembles the stalks of broccoli or cabbage hearts, but much sweeter & more mild. I have read that in Kashmir, this is a common vegetable eaten approximately 3 times/week.

Here's her salad with a sprinkling of Brewer's Yeast (a great source of B12).

And lastly - the final additions are raw tofu, (a feta cheese look-alike), cauliflower florets & dressing.

PS: By the way, Eden told me of a great film on Netflix - "Food Matters." I haven't had a chance yet to view it, but she said it was better than another food documentary named, "Forks & Knives."

Until next time, I wish you peace, sunshine & good will to yourself & your fellowman/woman.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Just wanted you to know, we are extremely close now to releasing my original folktale, so please stay tuned...  Have a great day today!

Dinner & A Spiritual Analogy

1st - dinner, then the analogy! 

On our menu tonight, we have torn butter lettuce from Saturday's Gardener's Market, handful of grape tomatoes, halved artichoke hearts, Peoloponnese Kalamata pitted olives, a sprinkling of cooked golden couscous, topped with a couple of sprigs of fresh basil & not to forget, a drizzle of Annie's Goddess Dressing (good for men too - I promise).

If you've never tried fresh basil in your salad, you'll in for a treet - the taste is so refreshing & invigorating. The only ingredient I wished I had was cubed cucumbers - that would have been perfect! Perhaps you can remember them on your next shopping trip!

Here's a photo of the salad mixed & ready to eat! It was delicious!

This is me & Cherry. Cherry is a 13-year-old delightfully young Shih Tzu. The owner (another writer & his wife) told me that Cherry sat in this position for 20 minutes. They told me perhaps her tail acts as a support & balance - personally, I was amazed!

The Analogy

Remember how a couple of days ago, I shared my sprout project with you? I grew half of the sunflower seeds in a mason sprouting jar & the other half were grown in good ol' Mother Earth. We viewed how the seeds which were grown in Mother Earth by far, out-surpassed the ones in the mason jar.

So, I was thinking today in class how important it is where we choose to plant our spiritual seeds (ourselves). Do I plant myself in a desolate desert or do I plant myself in a fertile field? Which soil nurtures my growth best?

What soil have you planted your seed in?

At church today the lesson was an analogy of a seed. We discussed how two people may both have been given a potent viable seed and both may have each planted their seed in fertile ground; however, if one tends to their plant by proper watering & nourishing it, and the other ignores the plant once it begins to sprout, which one do you think will flourish?

Our spiritual seeds too need to be tended & nurtured - they cannot be ignored. Only when we properly feed these spiritual seeds with faith, hope & action, do they grow, mature & ripen to the beautiful creation intended.

I leave you tonight with all of the peace & love in my heart.
PS: Don't worry, I won't run out!


Marcy Hope Williams

What to do on Saturday mornings? 

Gardener's Market, of course!

Look what we brought home! I know there's controversy - which is better local or shipped? My vote is for local produce. Local markets provide much much more than simply fresh produce. Check out the fun next Saturday!

Time to Harvest

So counting 24 hours of soaking time, the sunflower seed sprouts took approximately 6-7 days to grow - not bad for a little sunshine in your life!

Trim the sprouts with a scissor just above the dirt line and swish gently in cool water, coaxing the seeds off of the tips of the leaves. 

Simple ingredients & ready to assemble. I actually like pre-washing & preparing my vegetables ahead of time, so dinner prep becomes a snap. You can substitute shredded banana squash for carrots - they're great in a salad or in a wrap & adds a bright color to your meal. And you know what that means - more vitamins & minerals. 

Yes, I like to take vitamins - I can actually feel the difference. For decades, I've always found the best quality at my local health-food store. Currently, I'm taking Garden of Life Vitamin Code for Women - the label says Raw Whole Food Multi, Garden of Life Raw Vitamin D3 Code Raw, Solaray Calcium & Magnesium and Solaray B Complex. By the way, these are rice chips on the side. I don't actually add salt to my diet other than on a chip or cracker once in awhile. 

And not to forget my protein entree - this was my left-over from a Mexican Restaurant I visited with my friend two days ago, lasted me for 3 meals besides the lunch at the restaurant! It was yummy! The meal you see above was split in to two meals - lunch & dinner.