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Eating the good stuff,

Tereza

Update on my weight loss journey with photos.

 So this is me on May 31st, 2015. I had been going strong on a Whole Foods Plant Based Lifestyle for 11 weeks and had shed 27 pounds. I weighed 211 pounds and was wearing a very old pair of pants that I hadn't put on since 2002. Pants were a 

size 18W.

I felt great. Had more energy, was exercising and walking almost daily. 

When I saw this photo, I thought I looked SHORT. :/

It really did not depict how I felt on the inside.

This is me 2 days ago - July 26, 2016.

Weight 171 pounds. Wearing a brand new pair of jeans

size 11 youth. 

Feeling great.

Confident.

Pretty.

Comfortable in my

new skin and body. 

I feel TALL! :)

My desire is to

keep going and reach

150 pounds and

then see what's next. 

In May of last year I could not foresee what I would look like or how I would feel this year. I just knew that I was feeling pretty great then and the results were showing up quickly and pain free. I wanted to keep going and that's what I did.

I still feel the same. I want to keep moving forward. 

I don't know where I will end up but I know it will be good. :)

What journey have you been on? How are you feeling? 

Blessings,

Tereza

How I lost 60 pounds and revolutionized my life!

Where have I been?

It's been almost a year since I posted here and maybe you have been wondering where I have been?

To the left is a photo of me and my husband taken this past Sunday and together we have lost 100 pounds.


So where have I been?

I have been busy changing our lifestyle. Something had to give because in the midst of all this, I am still homeschooling. So blogging had to fall by the way side. 

However, I am seriously considering posting again and even creating some videos where I will share our meals and recipes. Would you be interested? If so, leave me a comment and tell me what is your biggest challenge to change your lifestyle?

All I can offer you is hope. If I could do it with an American husband and 4 kids anyone can do it!! 

Go HERE to find out how we lost 100 pounds together and then come back and leave me a comment!



Blessings,
Tereza

Healthy Breakfast Options

We have for the past 2 years been on a journey to eating healthiER. I like to say that we already ate healthy because I didn't use pre-packaged, frozen or canned food but we did do the occasional fast food. We also didn't know that there were so many important steps to eating like fermenting food and soaking grains. Living and learning.

Today I was reading Mary's blog and saw that she shared a recipe for a smoothie. She too is on a journey to eating healthier. I thought that I might share the smoothie we made this morning and I took pictures of.

Today, we got started rather late and I decided instead of fixing our traditional breakfast of egg and fruit, I would just whip up a smoothie.

Here is the recipe:

1 large avocado;
2 or 3 very ripe frozen bananas (here is a tip: I buy the over ripe bananas that go on sale then I cut them into pieces and freeze them. When I need bananas for smoothies or bread/ cake I just use my frozen goodies.)
2 T of chocolate powder
about 2 cups of so of almond milk (use what you got: coconut milk, water or even cow's milk)

Blend everything until it looks like chocolate mousse or pudding! If you like it very sweet add your sweetener of choice. I got my kids used to eating dark chocolate, so the smoothie was sweet enough for them.

I served it in tall glasses with a straw.

See

happy 

kids!!!

Dad came home for lunch, so we had breakfast for lunch. I fixed the oatmeal pancakes I found on a comment a week ago. It's wonderful. I will share the recipe soon. I soak the oats overnight in buttermilk and prepare the batter in the morning. We also had sausage and fried eggs!! So yeah, we had breakfast today but it was for lunch! The fun and freedom of homeschooling!!

What did you have for breakfast today??

Blessings,
Tereza

The Perfect WheatLESS muffin

Wheat LESS muffins we had for breakfast.

As some of you may have noticed on my monthly Learning Logs, I have been cooking a lot of wheatLESS recipes. Since September/ October of last year, my DH and I have gone wheatless. When I saw how amazing we were feeling and how his borderline diabetic blood sugar levels were now NORMAL, I decided to do wheatless for the whole family.





Now, it has been easy for some of my kids, but for DS7 not so much. He is a big fan of sandwiches and from time to time he begs asks for them. I am still researching a hoagie recipe that does not include over processed items. Until then...

Anyway, on a quest to bring wholesome and wheatless food to my kids, I have been able to find waffles, muffins, cakes, cookies and snacks that are delicious and have no wheat in them.

Today, I bring you the Perfect wheatless muffin!! I get a lot of my recipes from Detoxinista.com and then I modify them according to what I have at home at the moment. So the original recipe is HERE. This is MY recipe that I baked this morning:

* 1 cup of creamy peanut butter (I use Smucker's natural peanut butter that has no sugar - just peanuts and salt - and that I can find at Walmart)
* 3 eggs
* 3 medium very ripe bananas mashed
* 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
* cinnamon powder to taste
* fresh ground flaxseed ( I didn't measure this. I added for nutritional purpose. I think it was probably 1-2 tablespoons)
* a pinch of salt

Put everything in a bowl and using an electric mixer beat all the ingredients together really well. Probably about 2-3 minutes. I think the electric mixer is key because it incorporated air into the muffins and they turned out fluflly and with a WHEAT/ cake texture. 

I baked at 350 F in my convectional oven for 15 minutes. The recipe makes 12 muffins cups filled to the top. :)

I think I could definitely use this for birthday cupcakes. That's how good they were!!

Enjoy!!!

Tereza







PS. Would you like to know more about our healthy journey? Leave me a comment. If enough people show interest, I will be glad to share the knowledge I have been learning and the results we have attained.

Garden Update II

I am still working on the Learning Log of August. We did so much that I am still including photos.

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in seeing what my garden is looking like.

On the left is the harvest of last week. Our second batch of green beans of our second crop, cherry tomatoes, okra (you forget to pick them just one day then the next day they are gigantic!), my wonderful eggplants and some banana peppers.

Here is what the raised beds look like. Behind this one with the eggplant, brocolli and okra,

I have another one with greens, banana peppers, cherry tomato going everywhere and more eggplants. 

Did I tell you I looooove eggplant???

Here is the raised bed with my 

greens and peppers.

Here is my cherry tomato plant that I started from seed.

It's going everywhere and 

it has crawled onto the ground.

Today I pruned it badly!!

it's all contained now inside a tomato cage.

I am hoping that it will bring more tomatoes before

fall gets here. It's Alabama so it might happen!

Here is today's harvest.

All those green cherry tomatoes 

came from the pruning of the 

wild tomato plant.

I will be making some green salsa of some sort. :)

And to make me even happier,

more eggplants!!!

How has your garden been doing?

I am really happy with my gardening experience.

I want to do it again next spring.

In fact, I am not stopping. I am planting some fall crops like greens, brocolli and lettuces.

Oh, and beets too!!

To your left fresh green beans 

from my garden!!

Just a little olive oil, salt and garlic. Sautee until they turn a darker green, probably 10 minutes and serve.

My kids who thought didn't like green beans have been eating their serving and licking fingers!!

Victory!! :)

What have you been planting??

Blessings,

Tereza

Back pain anyone???

Are you a blogger? Got a kid that spends too much time at the computer? Do you have funny pains around your body you don't know how you got them? or what caused them?

Take a look at this article and watch the video.




Happy blogging!!!

Tereza

Garden Update I

See Garden Update II  here...

This year we have planted a garden. This is my first garden. My DH always helped his Grandpa with his gardening, so he is the one with the experience.

My DH built us three boxes of 8' x 4'. We are growing green beans, zucchini, crooked neck squashes, cucumbers, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, okra, green onions, jalapeno peppers and green peppers.

You can see the beginning HERE.

Besides the raised beds, I have a few pots with crooked neck squashes, my strawberry pot, and three tomato plants in pots. I also planted herbs in pots. We have basil, cilantro, parsley and romaine lettuce in pots. Mint is also recommended to plant in pots since it is a weed and it will take over your garden.

I have another raised bed that already existed that we planted collard greens and our sunflowers. I  have transplanted a couple of zucchini plants to it too.

Behind the house we got a luffa squash, zucchinis and cantaloupes planted.

To the left some of our harvest: cucumbers, green beans, zucchinis and crooked neck squashes.

These squashes are so tender and sweet that I just slice them like you would cucumber and make a raw salad out of them. So good. Add a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and chopped cilantro and you got yourself a refreshing Summer salad.

Our first Sunflower!!

We planted 8 but 2 died. We got six left that are growing every minute. These are mammoth ones!!!

Isn't it gorgeous??

For my breakfast of champions, I am alternating kale and collard greens. Next to the kale, we have mustard greens. These are wonderful sauteed with a bit of garlic and olive oil. I don't cook it to death like most Southerners, just enough to have it wilt and turn a dark green. Then I turn the heat off and serve it with brown rice and beans. Any kind of beans will do.

They are wonderful too the next day inside of quesadillas or grilled sandwiches.

These are my first eggplants. I shared on my Learning Log of May how we learned how to hand pollinate. My eggplants were producing purple flowers but they were wilting and falling off and no eggplant would develop.

So I went on line and found out that without pollination no eggplant would grow. We discovered the uniqueness of the eggplant flower and how to hand pollinate in order to get the fruit. You can find out more on hand pollination HERE.

Tonight I will be roasting these!!

Cherry Tomato in a pot, my herbs in the back and another crooked neck squash in a pot.

My sunflowers and collard greens. I have harvested the collard greens 4 times already and they just keep producing. They are due for another harvest.

As a first time gardener, I thought it would require so much work. Not so!! I like to check on it every day. It's calming and relaxing routine. I usually check on it at the end of the day.

I water every 2 or 3 days as it needs. I pray for rain (now I understand the fascination with the weather channel!!) and I check for pests. It's amazing how much you can get just for a couple of handfuls of seeds. it's been truly a wonderful learning season for all of us.

The children are enjoying planting, harvesting, cooking and eating the vegetables. We are spending less money at the grocery store for sure.

Oh, no ripe tomatoes yet!! We got big green ones so I think we should be seeing red one soon!! I will keep you updated!!

do you have a garden?? What is your favorite thing to grow? Have a question for me? Ask away.

Blessings,
Tereza

Garden Update II Here...

Why I am still breastfeeding.

 My youngest daughter turned 2 years old 

a few months ago.

 I am still breastfeeding her. 

I nurse her whenever she wants. 

When she is tired, when she wants to nap,  

or wants to cuddle or is thirsty.

Would you like to know more about 

the history of breastfeeding? 

Maybe the benefits of breastfeeding? 

Are you considering if you should take the time

 to breastfeed your baby? Is it worth while? 

Why can't I just do like most of my friends and bottle feed? 

If these are some of the questions in your heart,

 I would recommend you read on.

I highly recommend breastfeeding your children 

for as long as they want. 

It's so good for them. It's so good for you.

I shared HERE what it has done for me.

Read THIS to find out more.

 and if you already breastfeed, Keep a GOOD thing going!

Blessings,

Tereza

My First Garden

One of my dreams for the longest time, has been to plant a garden. I always thought that it would take so much time and that it would be so hard. I am realizing that there is nothing too hard or that takes too much of one's time when you really want to do it.

Left to right: Basil, Mint and Oregano.

Tomato plant. I got about 9 tomato plants total!

My own strawberry pot!!

Growing from seeds: cherry tomatoes and banana peppers!

Collards and Sunflowers!!!

Raised beds built by my wonderful handy husband!!

Mesclum and a red bell pepper plant.

More mesclum.

I would like to announce that these photos are at least a month old. We have harvested our first sweet strawberry. The kale, mustard, squash, green beans, okra and brocolli have sprouted and are growing. My cucumber, zucchini and eggplant are doing marvelously.

Today we planted cantaloupes and another type of squash. I also planted a cherry tomato plant and a jalapeno pepper.

I am so excited and I can't wait to show you more pictures of all this goodness!!

Do you have a garden? Any advice for a first timer??

Blessings, :)

Tereza

Olha o COCO ai gente!!!

The title of my post reads in English: Watch out for the coconut, y'all!!!

DS6.5 had been asking about coconuts. He had seen them on TV shows of people in tropical places. He wanted to open one, drink the water and eat the meat of it.

So yesterday, I stopped by the grocery store and bought the last one for a whooping $3.48 plus taxes.

We broke into it this morning, they drank the water and marveled at God who created such a unique fruit that has water, good fats, lots of protein and is a drinking cup or bowl when you are done eating and drinking it.

I remembered I had some tapioca in the freezer. Tapioca is the starch of the yucca root and in Brazil it's made into a flour and then into a pancake. We spread butter on it and eat it, or soak it up in fresh made coconut milk. And that is exactly what I did!!!

It is soooo good!! This is the traditional way to prepare it. Some people fancy it up drizzling condensed milk or syrup over it. Some even use it like bread and make grilled cheese out of it.

Me? I like it soaked with fresh made coconut milk. The pancake gets a little soggy and becomes gooey. I love it!! It takes me back to my childhood at my Grandma's house. :)

What did you have for breakfast on this beautiful Saturday morning??

Blessings,
Tereza

You can CHANGE....

Salad: green leaves, tomatoes, avocados, apples and bell pepper.

 I shared HERE how I lost weight and how I am still working on it.

Recently I read a post from Leo Babauta where he talked about building the muscle of change. 

It dawned on me that this is the way I have been changing my eating habits. 

For over a year now, slowly and consistently I am changing them.

It's a really good article. Now, it's bookmarked so I can read it again and again.

Here are some of the changes I have accomplished in over a year now:

* I no longer drink coffee loaded with sugar in the morning, 

I drink a green smoothie loaded with kale, spinach 

or 

any other green leaves I have on hand.

* I don't drink sweet tea with meals when we go out, I drink Water.

* I am eating more fruits and vegetables everyday.

* I take a multivitamin, fish oil and VITEX every day.

* I am baking my own bread  most of the time.

* No more cokes or sodas on the weekends. 

Sometimes I will take a sip of someone else's drink and decide that I just don't like the taste. :)

* I am consciously being more active without joining a gym.

* When I crave something sweet, creamy or fatty I go for dark chocolate. 

It actually helps me lose weight.

The consequences: I lost weight, have more energy and feel a whole lot better!!!

 What do you think? What do you want to change in your life?

Blessings,

Tereza

Home birth is a beautiful option!

" I don't want to minimize this experience,

 I want to EXPERIENCE it."

 by Ina May Gaskin

That was the reason why I wanted to have a home birth after delivering 2 babies at a hospital. Both births were normal vaginal deliveries with epidurals, BUT there were so many interventions and so little freedom that although my babies were healthy I felt robbed.

If you ever thought of having a natural delivery, with no interventions, or white jacketed personnel around you, or maybe in the security of your home, listen to yourself. Research your dream, your desire, don't discard it just because 80% of births today happen in a hospital! It wasn't always like that. It doesn't have to be that way.

Below Ina May Gaskin, the midwife who helped women, who did not want to believe the lie that birth is unsafe, pursue the experience of it. Enjoy!



Blessings,
Tereza

5 minute Artisan Bread

A while back trying to make my own homemade bread, I tried the 5 minute Artisan Bread.

No, I didn't buy the book.

I just watched a few videos and

read a few blogs and recipes.

Just Google it and you will find so many links 

you won't know where to start.

Here is my round bread before going into the oven:

Fresh out of the oven!! Brown crust and hearty taste!

Check out the flax seeds I added to the dough.

We have settled on my Easy Homemade Bread instead of the 5 minute Artisan Bread.

 I found that the Artisan Bread like white French bread 

(the authentic one, not the one you buy at Walmart!)

 can be hard on soft gums and babies mouths.

How about you? Do you bake at home? What is your favorite bread?

Blessings,

tereza

Breakfast of Champions

I shared HERE how I lost weight and what I am doing.

Today I want to share with you, two of my favorite breakfast options. Now, remember this is a vegetarian breakfast. There are no eggs, or meat, but there is a little cheat. ;)

Green Smoothie

2 cups of frozen fruit (any type you like. Here I used peach, pineapples and strawberries)
1 ripe banana
water
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 tablespoon of milled flaxseed

Blend everything together until smooth. No sugar or sweetener was used. There is really no need for it if your banana is really ripe. 

Steel Cut Oats with fruit and yogurt

I soak my steel cut oats in water and 2 T of whey from my homemade yogurt for 24 hours outside the refrigerator. I read that soaking the oats make them more digestible and you are able to absorb the minerals and vitamins from it much better. After 24 hours I rinse the oats and cook them in water. Because they have soaked they cook much faster, in about 10-20 minutes depending how soft you like them.

I cook a batch and keep in the fridge. In the morning I scoop a portion into a bowl and heat it up in the microwave. I add slices of one ripe banana, a handful of frozen blueberries and (here is my cheat!) a dollop of my homemade yogurt with no sugar or sweetener added.

Yumm-O!! Enjoy!!!

What does your breakfast of champions look like?

Tereza

Do you want to lose weight ?

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. This post has informational content only and it describes my personal experience. Please consult your physician when deciding to diet and exercise.

Roasted vegetables with dried herbs and olive oil.

 I am down to 218 pounds!! It's been over 10 years since I have seen this number.

If you remember, I wrote HERE how I lost 20 pounds. That was last year in January. You can go to that link to find out how I did it.

Well life went on and my new lifestyle went by the way side, but NOT completely! Although I was NOT eating vegetarian most of the time, I still kept doing a few things that in the long run helped continue to shed pounds although more slowly and not as painfully.

This is what we did as a family:

1) we no longer drink sweet tea with dinner. I serve water to everybody. Occasionally the adults will have a soda on the weekends, and the children will have sweet tea.

2) The children no longer drink juice with their breakfast. I fix them fruit smoothies with my homemade yogurt and I add flaxseed oil and honey. Or we will eat fresh fruit and drink water.

3) I kept active. No, I don't go to the gym and I don't have a strict exercise routine. I just seek out exercise and stay moving. For example, we bought a new house in June and we have now 4 plus acres to mow. Well, I decided to learn how and each day would pick a patch and work at it for an hour or more. By the time I was done mowing all the patches, it was time to start again. :) But I had such a great time and I burned a lot of calories and shed a few pounds. Another thing I am doing is reading my emails and browsing blogs standing up instead of sitting down. Those are just a few ideas of how a SAHM can move more without joining a gym. What are some of the things you could do?

4) Began taking a supplement and still do everyday. Most people are deficient in B vitamins and minerals. If you drink sodas you definitely need a mineral supplement because the sodas rob you of calcium and potassium. I take Life's Fortune and I really like. It gives me energy throughout the day.

5) I have a bowel movement everyday. If you don't have one, begin by drinking more water, not juice or coffee, just plain water. Then begin eating more fruits and vegetables. I love prunes. Eat 2 a day to get you regulated or try drinking 1/2  cup of prune juice first thing in the morning. Just Google Bowel Movement if you need to understand why it is so important, or watch Hoarding: Buried Alive to see why you need to get rid of trash everyday.

So that is what I was doing when January 10th came along and then we began a fast in our church. The fast only lasted 10 days and we called it a Daniel Fast. A Daniel fast is Bible based and it consists of fruits and vegetables only.

Savory apple salad with balsamic vinegar.

My DH and I decided to join in and after 10 days we had lost weight, felt lighter and so good. So I was doing some research and found EAT to Live. After reading about it, searching for reviews and blogs I figured that it was similar to what we did last year but with more restrictions. So again, I proposed to my DH that we do the lifestyle again for 5 days a week and eat whatever we want on the weekends.

It's been a month since we began, my DH has lost 20 pounds and his blood sugar is now normal. I lost almost 15 pounds and I am feeling soooooooo good.

Next post I will share how our lifestyle is different from Eat to Live regiment. And what a daily menu actually looks like. Are you interested???

Blessings,
Tereza

Perfect Homemade Yogurt every time.

The consistency of still warm yogurt.

Recently I began making my own yogurt at home. Why eat yogurt? Because it has live cultures that are beneficial for your digestive system. Did you know that your immune system begins in your gut? So it's a good idea to keep it working properly. If you have heartburn, constipation, diarrhea - these are all good reasons to eat yogurt.

Unlike milk, yogurt is easier to digest and much healthier. Although my American DH grew up drinking milk with his meals, I made a point to NOT encourage this habit in my children. They will drink milk with the occasional cookie, but most of the time they will get their calcium from dark greens, cheese and yogurt.

So I researched for a while and found an easy method that works for me. Unlike this recipe that requires a crock pot or this ONE that requires a cooler, I used this ONE that uses the oven and its light as the base of my recipe.


Here is what I do:

1) I use 2% milk (I wish I had raw milk but unfortunately where I live it's illegal for human consumption! Right! whatever...) and then I "boil" (not really... I heat it up until I see bubbles forming around the top) in a stainless steel pot.

2) I use 1 T of greek yogurt to every 2 cups of milk.

3) Once the milk "boiled" I let it cool until I can put my finger in it and it feels like the same temperature of my daily hot shower. Yes, that is right! I don't have a candy thermometer. I use my finger. :) Now if you want to be precise you can use this post to monitor temperatures and follow the rest of my recipe exactly.

4) Once the temperature is right I add the tablespoons of yogurt that are room temperature mixed in with a few tablespoons of room temperature milk. Yes, room temperature is key here!

5) Mix in the yogurt (your starter) slowly, gently. Then I cover with the pot's lid and add a few thicker dishtowels on top and put in the oven with the light on and forget about it until the next morning when I come in to make breakfast.

That's it!!! easy peasy... no washing, rinsing or boiling or any of the other complicated stuff the other recipes call for.

I put in the fridge so it can cool and it will firm up a bit.

My homemade yogurt and my starter of choice.

I usually make about 8 cups at a time and use 4 T of starter. Once you have your own yogurt you can use it as your starter. No need to buy from the store any more.

I add this fabulous yogurt to my children's smoothies (I don't use milk for smoothies. Yogurt or water plus the fruit), homemade sauces and gravies, pasta sauces, icing for cakes and cookies, salsas and more.

Next post I will show you how to make cream cheese and use the whey from your own homemade yogurt.

If you enjoyed this post, leave me a comment, will you??

Blessings,
Tereza

PS Here is another great post about yogurt and how-tos and even troubleshooting. Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Bread

Homemade bread! Yummy and healthy and EASY to make!

About a month ago I decided to try making bread at home. I have 4 children, we eat bread everyday. We eat whole wheat bread and if you do too, you know it's pretty expensive. I stay away from the bread that is made with high fructose corn syrup. My options are not many and the price is high.

After a bit of research, I found the 5 minute Artisan bread recipe. Didn't have to purchase the book, but just browsing a bit on the net and you can find video tutorials and blog posts with lots of reviews and the recipes.

I enjoyed the bread but it was a bit tough for everyday sandwiches. So I went back to the drawing board (the net) and found this recipe. After a couple of tests I tweaked it and now this is the recipe I use:

1 1/4 C warm water (I use hot tap water)
1 T dry active yeast
1/4 C honey or 1/3 C sugar (I have used granulated sugar and brown sugar. Now I use pure sorghum only)
2 C whole wheat WHITE flour
1/4 C wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 T yogurt or buttermilk
1 T olive oil
1 T vinegar
1 C bread flour

Look at my rolling pin! It's an old bottle! :)

The original recipe uses potato flakes and nonfat instant dry milk, two items that I do not use everyday and don't have in my pantry. I really wanted to use a recipe that incorporates everyday ingredients. The potato flakes are added to make the bread soft so I played around and found that the same amount in bread flour worked perfectly.

I double the recipe above (my version) and make 3 loaves each time. They last us about 3 days and so I only make bread every 3 days.

Crystal is a great teacher. Her videos show how to make the bread. It's easy, no need to knead at all!!! I don't have a kitchen aid or a dough hook. So I use the technique taught in 5 minute Artisan bread to mix my dough. Crystal's timing is also perfect. The bread rises every time and comes out soft and yummy!!

My bread ready for the oven after 1.5 hours to rise!

After some calculation, I figured my bread is probably costing about $1.50 a loaf. It's a pretty good price. the cheapest I have found bread at the store was $1.80. Now more than cost, what keeps me making bread every 3 days is knowing the nutritious value of it and what actually goes in it. There are no secret or hidden ingredients in it.

I hope you enjoy and try it.

Blessings,
Tereza