Hi everyone! I am sharing with you today this quick three minute video where I demonstrate how to make a Good Morning Gorgeous Smoothie Bowl. You can find the full recipe here.
Good Morning Gorgeous Smoothie Bowl!
Enjoy your day!
Sandra
Warning! It is hard not to eat the whole batch of these! The good news is they are delicious, and it is a small batch.
These cookies are an absolutely delicious shortbread cookie treat recipe with the chewy tart bite of cherries!
They are delicate little bites with simple, whole food ingredients that come together in ten minutes.
The recipe makes a small batch of eleven cookies. Just short of a dozen. I have made the recipe several times to perfect it, and eleven is the perfect number.
I have this Moon Cake Mold Press that I used to imprint the tops of the cookies with a rose, but it isn’t necessary to make these cookies. I use it to make gluten free mooncakes during the Autumn Moon Celebration and have had great success with it for cookies. It just makes them fancier, and I am a gadget junkie.
Sour Cherry and Honey Tea Cookies
The benefits touted in regards to cherries are they are anti-inflammatory, enhance sleep, help with post-workout soreness, reduce stroke risk and more. See this article on cherries if you want to learn more. I love all these benefits, but I especially love the taste of them, and all the benefits are a bonus!
Honey has trace minerals in it and is one of my favorite natural sweeteners. My father was a beekeeper, and I used to help him in the bee hives when I was a child. Honey is truly miraculous. It is still a form of sugar to our bodies, but a little goes a long way! To make sure I know I am getting a high quality, pure honey, I buy it from a local beekeeper or farm market where a beekeeper is selling their honey. Local food co-ops are another great place to find a reputable honey source.
This cookie recipe only has seven ingredients, and each one adds flavor.
Sour Cherry and Honey Tea Cookies
Preheat your oven to 325º degrees F.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup Sour (Tart) Dried Cherries (I used an organic cherry with no added ingredients, just cherries)
2 Tablespoons of Local Honey
1 Teaspoon of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon of Himalayan Pink or Sea Salt
Directions: Place all the ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until all the ingredients are incorporated and holding together with the cherries in small bits, but not completely pureed into the dough. You should still see bits of nice sized, but not whole, cherries.
Scoop the dough with a tablespoon cookie scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies two inches apart. Press the cookie with a round of the moon cake press or use fork tines to flatten the cookie to an inch thickness.
Bake in the preheated oven for just 9 minutes until the cookies are starting to brown on the edges. Cool completely.
Sour Cherry and Honey Tea Cookies
Enjoy!
Eat Your Nutrients!
Ming Ming Looks Out
Ming adores cool weather. She was with us in Northern Michigan this Summer enjoying all of nature’s pure beauty and the fresh, crisp air. She likes to take a dip in the lake, and this year especially she drank an abundance of clean, clear water from the lakes and rivers. I often wonder what she is thinking as she gazes off into the distance like this. Here she is looking over Lake Charlevoix on a beautiful evening after a swim.
I imagine she is thinking, “Summer is coming to an end, and we will soon be going home. I will really miss being outdoors so much during the day. The ducks, loons, geese, swans and little minks are wonderful to watch, even though I cannot catch them. The fresh smell of water and an abundance of extra oxygen in my nose gives me so much energy”.
Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!
Sandra
This is the perfect casserole for late Summer! Tomato, Basil and Spaghetti Squash are abundant locally, and this casserole is not only scrumptious, it is beautiful! The texture is soft and fluffy similar to a souffle or a delicate quiche, and the crumb topping adds just the right finishing touch.
I love all the vegetables incorporated in this casserole. Spaghetti Squash, unlike other winter squashes, has a very mild flavor and is light in color with Vitamin B-6 and Vitamin C, plus every essential mineral is found in spaghetti squash in trace amounts. Isn’t that cool?
Most people know that Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene. They also have excellent amounts of Vitamin C , Biotin and VItamin K included in their nutritional value. Take advantage of them while they are at their peak and very nutrient rich.
Scallions are an excellent source of Vitamin K. One cup of scallions contains 259% of the RDA of this vitamin. Holy Smokes! They also may help prevent cancer like other alliums such as garlic and onions. See this article by The Huffington Post.
I incorporate herbs whenever I can into what I am eating for all their various health benefits and the flavor they add. Basil adds a sweetness to this dish that I love.
Let’s start cooking!
Bacon, Tomato and Basil Spaghetti Squash Casserole
To pre-cook the spaghetti squash, preheat your oven to 350º degrees F. Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a large spoon. Fill a large casserole pan with an inch of water and place the squash cut side down after lightly seasoning it with salt and pepper. Bake for one hour until a knife inserted in the squash slides through easily. Flip the squash over cut side up to cool. Then, take a fork and remove the squash into spaghetti-like noodles from the skin. At this point you can refrigerate the squash and make the casserole later, or move on to making the casserole.
To Make the Casserole:
Preheat your oven to 400º degrees F. Line a 10 inch round spring form pan with parchment paper after greasing it with coconut oil and set aside.
Ingredients for filling:
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash (approximately 4 cups cooked)
1 Egg
4 Strips of Bacon, cooked and chopped (omit if making it meatless)
1/2 Cup Superfine Almond Flour
1/4 Cup Good Quality Mayo (I used Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo)
2 Scallions, Sliced
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil (or 1 Tablespoon Dried if you don’t have fresh)
1 1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink or Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Pulse all the ingredients except the bacon in a food processor until smooth and incorporated. Fold in the bacon.
Pour the filling into the prepared dish.
For the Topping:
Ingredients:
1 Large or 2 Medium, Ripe Tomatoes (sliced in half and then thinly sliced into half moons
2 Sliced Scallions
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
1/2 Cup Superfine Almond Flour
2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil
1 Teaspoon of Himalayan Pink or Sea Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
Directions: Place the sliced tomatoes in a decorative pattern on top of your filling (see the photos).
In a mini-processor or a full sized one will work as well, pulse the topping until it looks like crumbs. Sprinkle on top of the casserole evenly.
Bake in your preheated oven for 50 minutes. The topping will be golden brown and the casserole puffed.
Cool ten minutes. Then, remove the outer ring of the spring form pan and serve in the parchment.
Eat Your Nutrients!
Happy Monday Morning Beautiful People! Here is your Monday morning Healthy Living Tip:
It is so true that when we start out with the intention of being positive with our thoughts and ideas throughout the day it goes so much better for us! We also spread the energy to others!
Can you think of some people you just love to be with? Are those people happy and positive? It really does create a boomerang effect. It helps us be more creative when our minds are focused on a positive outcome. Good things happen when we can remain positive even in adversity.
This week I challenge you to start each morning when you wake up with three positive thoughts and an intention. If you slip during the day into a negative thought pattern, replace it with a positive thought. Over time, it will come naturally to you as you change the way your brain thinks, and this will be reflected in your day to day living and feelings of well being.
Enjoy your day!
Sandra Shields, Certified Health Coach
sandrashieldshealthcoach.com
You can sign up for my free monthly newsletter on my coaching website above.
Peaches are in season now, and juicy ripe peaches are so good in ice cream! My children have been gobbling up all the peaches as I buy them at the organic market, but I was able to snatch a couple to make this ice cream recipe before they were gone. Peaches are very similar to tomatoes in that when they are ripe, and in season, they taste like a different food entirely. Do you know what I mean?
So, today I have a very simple and delicious seasonal ice cream recipe to share that is Dairy Free!
SIMPLE PEACH ICE CREAM
You will need an ice cream freezer. I used a Cuisinart.
Ingredients:
Two Ripe and Juicy Organic Peaches, Peeled and Pit Removed
1 Can of Full Fat Coconut Milk
6 Tablespoons of Good Honey
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon
Directions: Here is where an immersion blender comes in handy, but you can also use a regular blender and get the same results, just more clean up! Place all the ingredients into a 4 cup glass measuring cup, and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Alternately, place in a blender and blend until smooth.
Refrigerate for four hours to chill thoroughly. Freeze in your ice cream maker.
Enjoy!
Sandra Shields, Health Coach
Eat Your Nutrients!
This jar salad is so full of freshness, it makes me want to sing!
Food is supposed to make us feel good! So often today, the food that makes us feel “good” is not good for us. We have been inundated with ads and media from food manufacturers that tell us a food will make us happy.
Food that truly makes a person happy is the food that supports every cell of the body. Food that your body recognizes and knows what to do with. Pure, real, unprocessed food. It makes us feel good and look good. It gives us energy, and makes our skin glow and hair shine. It promotes longevity and prevents disease. Our bodies are like a very intricate computer that communicates with all the different components. We don’t want to confuse it by putting in artificial food that we weren’t made to process.
Peachy Jar Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette
You can make this jar salad to pack for lunch, or make a larger version of it for another meal to share. It keeps well also! After a day in the refrigerator, the flavors meld even more!
PEACHY JAR SALAD WITH GINGER VINAIGRETTE
Ingredients for the Salad:
1 Cup of Ripe Tomato (Your favorite, any color. I used Heirloom)
1 Ripe and Juicy Peach (sliced and tossed with a tsp. fresh Lime Juice to prevent browning)
1/2 Cup of Watermelon (cubed)
1/2 Cup of Cucumber (cubed)
2 Green Onions (thinly sliced)
1/4 Cup Raw Pecans
1/4 Cup Green Pepper (diced)
GINGER VINAIGRETTE
This makes a 1/2 Cup of dressing, so you will have extra!
1/3 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoons of Fresh Lime Juice
2 Teaspoons of Fresh, Minced Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon of Minced Jalapeno Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt
1/8 Teaspoon of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Directions: Puree the Vinaigrette ingredients thoroughly in a blender.
To assemble your salad: Use a generous glass jar that holds 4 cups. You can also make two smaller jar salads with pint jars, which hold two cups each.
Place two tablespoons of Ginger Vinaigrette in the bottom of the jar.
Add the other prepared ingredients in the following order from bottom to top:
Seal your jar, and refrigerate until ready to eat! You have made sunshine in a bottle.
Before eating, toss your salad gently by inverting the jar several times to coat the salad with the dressing. Remove lid and enjoy.
*I used organic ingredients
Peachy Salad in a Jar with Ginger Vinaigrette
Eat Your Nutrients! Don’t settle for less. It makes All The Difference!
Eat Your Nutrients!
What is important to you that you have been struggling with? What is one step you could take today?
Maybe it is prayer, brainstorming with someone, reaching out and asking for help. creating a Vision Board, or setting a schedule and sticking to it, revamping your budget, going back to school, a lifestyle change, signing up for a fitness class, cleaning out your pantry of food that no longer serves you. Is there a time when something seemed impossible and you found a way? Health Coaches help people reach their goals and support you in individual and group programs.
Have a beautiful day, and live the life you have been given. There is know one like you!
Sandra
Sign up for my free monthly newsletter on my website (sandrashieldshealthcoach.com) for more tips and inspiration.
On a beautiful Summer evening, I don’t want to be in the kitchen. Did you ever notice with grilling, you get to sit and relax while the food cooks more than when you are preparing a meal in the kitchen?
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Grilled vegetables also taste really delicious, they aren’t mushy, and you can combine ones that have relatively the same cooking time, toss them with a marinade and seasonings and come up with endless one dish vegetable sides.
Here is a fairly quick recipe for grilled zucchini, tomatoes and scallions I find Summery and a crowd pleaser.
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Organic Ingredients:
4 Zucchini on the smaller side (about 4 cups) sliced into spears
2 Local Medium Tomatoes (any color)
1 Bunch of Scallions, sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil, torn roughly into pieces
1 Tablespoon Fresh Snipped Dill
2 Tablespoons of Virgin Avocado Oil
1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt
Directions:
In a large bowl toss all the prepped ingredients together until well coated with oil. Place in a grill pan with holes. Grill on medium for 30 minutes, top of grill down, (relax until the vegetables are tender).
Eat Your Nutrients!
Good Monday Morning! Are you speaking words of affirmation to yourself? What you say to Yourself makes a difference! No negative self chatter. It makes a difference!
Sam Eats Her Nutrients 
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