Radishes, avocado, and cilantro for garnishing (optional)
In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat, and cook onion, garlic, salt, chili pepper, and sweet potatoes, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until mixture smells fragrant.
Add chicken stock, and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook another 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
Next add the black beans, and stir in, cooking another 5 minutes.
Ladle into soup bowls and top with radish slices, diced avocado, fresh cilantro, and shredded cheese.
Fresh organic foods are a great way to start your day. GMO foods compared to organic foods has a lot of conversation. It is true the vitamins maybe the same, but the phytonutrients are not. Phytonutrients are produced in the vegetable or fruit to combat insects and infections, the more phytonutrients the better.
Plant foods contain thousands of natural chemicals. As we noted they are called phytonutrients or phytochemicals.”Phyto” refers to the Greek word for plant. These chemicals help protect plants from germs, fungi, bugs, and other threats.
But genetically modified plants have been compromised. How? With glyphosate engineered into the seed, the plant has no reason to fight of infections, and insects. In turn, the plant becomes lazy so to speak, and the phytonutrient production in the plant is much less, meaning less nutrients.
There are more than 25,000 phytonutrients found in plant foods. When you eat or drink phytonutrients, they help prevent disease and keep your body working properly.
These nutrients act as antioxidants in your body, meaning they tackle harmful free radicals that damage tissues throughout your body. GMO foods compare to non gmo have much less antioxidant abilities.
It only makes since to eat all natural non gmo foods, that have been seeded, grown and harvested organically. To learn more about glyphosate link here to read, What Do You Believe About Glyphosate.
Core one apple, leaving skin on and add slices to a Nutri-Bullet, food processor, or blender. Add the coconut water and processes.
Next, over a medium sauce pot strain the pureed apple. Once the juice has drained, save the puree in a glass bowl. Add some lemon juice, and coconut sugar, and you have fresh homemade applesauce. Save in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.
With the other apple, leaving skin, core, remove seeds, and slice thick pieces into thin slices.
Add apple slices to the sauce pot. Bring apple slices to a soft boil. Next, add tapioca-root to a little water, and stir into sauce pot. Continue stirring until juice thinks some. Do not over boil the tapioca, as it can loss its thickening ability.
Next add coconut sugar and stir in until well combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
Break eggs into a dish and add coconut milk, and mix together.
Heat a large ceramic coated skillet over medium heat. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of grass fed butter, and melt. Coat both sides of sourdough slices and add to pan. Cook both sides until golden brown, but not burnt.
On individual plates, add 2 slices of cooked bread, and spoon on cooked apples with syrup. Top with 1/4 cup blueberries, pecan pieces, and shredded coconut. Enjoy the start of your day with this all organic breakfast.
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable, capable of irradiating cells from your body that would otherwise become cancerous. It is a vegetable among others in its class that stimulates the lymphatic system to detox your body as well.
As for garlic, it’s your digestive aid, antibacterial, and anti-inflammation friend. If you don’t like garlic, maybe you should get to know it better, because it fights off cancer as well.
Let’s get started with our featured recipe: Baked Garlic and Broccoli. It’s a very simple and tasty recipe, as well as a nice way to enjoy broccoli with the pure flavor of fresh garlic.
This recipe makes two (2) servings. Double it to serve four (4) servings or triple it to serve six (6).
Marinate the broccoli florets for 30 minutes with the olive oil and salt, so that they become tender.
Preheat the oven to 350 F for 5 minutes. Spread out evenly the broccoli florets and garlic cloves onto a baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Toss the broccoli and garlic, then continue to bake for for another 10-15 minutes or until broccoli browned a little but not burnt.
Remove from oven and let cool about 3 to 5 minutes. Place into a serving bowl, and make it a side with your favorite meat dish.
If you wish you can add other vegetables to the baking sheet, like carrots or zucchini. Enjoy!
The more natural your food that you eat the better it is for your health. When you cook your meal using prepackaged box or canned foods, there is really no nutritional value. Also considering the food has been processed, and doing so leaves little to none of the original nutrients.
Whole fresh food on the hand, prepared by nature to meet your body’s nutritional needs, is a lot better choice. You receive more vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients for optimum, if not better health, including better energy levels, weight management, and disease prevention, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Plant foods are the best sources of vital nutrition, and the more you eat the higher your chances of ageing gracefully, as they say.
Herbs are part of the plant food choices. They can provide a number of health benefits, as they are used for medicinal purposes, while adding natural flavors to a variety of prepared dishes, including desserts for those with a sweet tooth.
If you love gardening, and if you don’t have a plot of land, maybe you like having potted plants on your patio or balcony, or even a sunny window that can accommodate potted plants, then you could possibly grow your own.
Just think of the Italian dishes you can make with the fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme you would be harvesting from your garden or potted herbs.
Or the peppermint tea you can make for when you have an up-set stomach or the basil to add to your pitcher of watermelon juice or sliced tomatoes.
Herbs are really easy to grow and as we mentioned are dense in nutrients. More commonly grown herbs include basil, sage, thyme, mint, and rosemary. But let’s talk about some other herbs that you might already have in the garden, or buy as a tea when you’re not feeling well.
Healthy Herbs You Can Grow In Your Garden
Echinacea
Echinacea also referred to as a “Purple Coneflower,” grows from 1-2 feet tall. It was used in ancient cultures as a way of reducing the symptoms of viral infections due to a cold or the flu, and other infectious illness.
It is also available at your local co-op or Whole Foods Market as a tea, supplement form or as a tincture. If you have this herb or flower in your garden, you can make a tea with the plant parts whenever you feel a cold coming on.
Echinacea contains antioxidants called phenols which help to regulate certain enzymes and human cell receptors in the human body. The herb also has alkylamides, and this compound directly affects the immune system when confronted with invading infectious bacteria.
Cilantro
Cilantro has become a popular herb to grow in home gardens. The herb is also commonly recognized as leaf-coriander in Asia and quite similar to dill in culinary terms, as the leaves and seeds are used in many culinary dishes, such as in the Mediterranean and Latin American countries.
The herb bolsters many plant derived chemical compounds that are used as disease preventing and health-promoting properties. It also contains minerals such as potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium.
Potassium is an important for cell and body fluids that help control the heart rate and blood pressure. Iron is needed for red blood cell production, and manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
The American diet lacks the very essential mineral magnesium that has many uses in the body, from sleeping well, digestion, elimination, muscle and bone health just to mention a few.
It is also rich vitamins, which include folate, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin-A, and vitamin-C, which are essential for optimum health.
Chamomile
This plant has white daisy-like flowers and is best grown near the house where you have ready access to it. The flowers are used for their health benefits including the management of colic, indigestion, skin irritations, inflammation, and anxiety.
It can be infused as tea using the plants leaves, stems, and roots or worked into a salve that can be directly applied to the skin to relieve irritations, as the plant has natural anti-inflammatory and anti-septic properties, and helps in clearing up skin irritations like eczema, acne, and allergies.
In medical studies chamomile tea was noted to raise urine levels of glycine, a compound that calms muscle spasm.
What a great plant to have around after working in the garden all afternoon. Make a tea in the evening and your muscles are relaxed.
Feverfew
This plant is best grown in flower gardens because they produce nice yellow daisy-like flowers with yellow-green leaves that resemble those of chamomile, for which it sometimes is confused. The herb plant is also known as Midsummer Daisy, and Wild Chamomile.
Both the leaves and flowers of this plant or herb can be brewed into a tea or chewed directly for the relief of various kinds of uncomfortable symptoms, like:
It can also be made into a salve so that it can be directly applied to skin irritations.
Lavender
This plant or herb produces lovely purple flowers, you may have seen it, and referred to as French Lavender.
Lavender is used as an essential oil for aromatherapy. The aroma or the smell of lavender is relaxing and calming to the mind and body.
It is also used as a natural pain reliever, and it can be prepared as a tea, or directly applied as a salve to bruises and cuts on the skin, to help relieve pain and inflammation of these affected areas, and also works as a natural antiseptic when applied to affected areas of the skin.
An Herb Garden Year After Year
There are several benefits to having these herbs as well as others we did not refer too. Those that produce flowers are a beautiful display for the garden. Many are perennials, meaning they come back year after year to give you the health benefits you need.
Others are annuals, like basil and the cilantro we mentioned. They can be reseeded by allowing the plant to go to seed. Just remove the flowers after the petals have faded, alone the seeds to dry and put them into a labeled envelope and date it.
The following season you will have new seeds to start your annul herb garden to once again reap its health benefits and culinary flavors.
You know the best part of growing your own herbs, is you can pick them fresh as you need them, and you are assured they are grown in organic soil without the use of pesticides.
An added benefit to using culinary herbs from your garden is you can feel doubly joyful, for not only preparing your own whole food fresh meal, but you also grew the herbs in your garden.
Fresh produce from the garden. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? SALSA!!
But first a little tomato trivia:
The U.S. Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1883 which levied a 10% duty on imported vegetables to protect American growers from foreign competition.
This same year they declared the tomato a vegetable, so it could be included in the tariff, and from that time on the fruit was converted to a vegetable.
Read More About Growing Tomatoes In Your Garden To Make Your Own Garden Fresh Salsa
So if you just decided to like cauliflower, there is no better time then right now and with such a great recipe: Chopped Broccoli Tomato and Bacon Salad.
This salad can even be a meal in itself as it contains protein, with both the bacon and eggs included.
Enjoy the video.
Chopped Broccoli Tomato and Bacon Salad
4 bunches broccoli, chopped
½ head cauliflower, chopped
12 bacon strips, cooked and cut into 1 inch strips
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup white onion, chopped
2 hard-cooked eggs, diced
1 cup mayonnaise (homemade recipe to follow)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
In a large salad bowl, combine the; set aside.
In a large salad bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar.
Add broccoli, cauliflower, bacon, tomatoes, onion and eggs.
Mix vegeatble/bacon miture with wet ingredients, till well coated. Plate and serve.
Watch the video for homemade mayonnaise, made with both olive oil and avocado oil.
Benefits: Atherosclerosis, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease, and Hypertension.
(Source: WebMD)
Oregano
Benefits: Antioxidants for Immune System Support, Antifungal, Antibacterial, Anti-inflammatory Properties, Cancer-Fighting Effects And Upper Respiratory Infections.
(Source: Mercola.com)
Basil
Also Known As Saint Joseph’s Wort, This Spice Is Rich In Antioxidants, Vitamins A, K, C, Magnesium, Iron, Potassium, and Calcium.
Benefits: Reduces Inflammation and Swelling And Anti-Aging Properties.
(Source: Medical News Today)
Thyme
A Wonderful Herb With Culinary, Medicinal and Ornamental Uses.
Benefits: Acne, High Blood Pressure, Protection From Foodborne Bacterial Infections, Colon Cancer, Breast Cancer and Yeast Infections.
(Source: Medical News Today)
Rosemary
Great Source of Antioxidants and Anti-Inflammatory Elements.
Benefits: Improves Digestion, Engances Memory and Concentration, Neurological Protection, Prevents Brain Aging and Helps In Cancer Treatment.
(Source: Medical News Today)
Parsley
Nutrients: Vitamins K, C, A, Folate, Fiber, Iron, Anti-Oxidant Nutrients,
Benefits: Heart Health, Protection From Rheumatoid Arthritis.
(Source: WHFoods.org)
Ginger
Used In Antacid, Laxative and Anti-Gas Medications
Benefits: Muscle Pain From Exercise, Chemotherapy Nausea, Ovarian Cancer, Asthma, High Blood Pressure, Painful Menstruation and Migraines.
(Source: Medical News Today)
Clove
Benefits And Uses: Diarrhea, Upset Stomach, Expectorant, Hernia, Bad Breath, Intestinal Gas, Nausea, Vomiting, Tooth Ache Pain, Topical Remedy for Pain, Mouth and Throat Inflammation.
(Source: WebMD)
In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat, and cook onion, garlic, salt, chili pepper, and sweet potatoes, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until mixture smells fragrant. 
Add chicken stock, and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook another 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
Next add the black beans, and stir in, cooking another 5 minutes.
