Championship Bean Dip

We’ve adopted this recipe from Tast of Home, and we make it all the time.  It goes well with a lunch, as a snack, or even by itself since it’s so filling.  We like it best with our favorite Organic Corn Chips (available in Bulk Natural Foods dry goods orders).

1 1/4 cups Pinto beans
1 cup  cranberry or tomato salsa
1 cup (4  ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
corn chips

Directions:

Put the beans in a large glass bowl and cover them with about 1 inch of water.  Let them soak for about 36 hours, adding more water if necessary.  Rinse them in a colander and put them in a pot with clean water and a little salt.  Let them boil for about an hour, or until soft.  Drain out about 1/2 of the broth, but keep the other half in the pot.  Mash the beans with the broth.

In a bowl, combine the mashed beans and all the other ingredients except the chips; transfer to a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or until heated through, stirring once or twice.  Serve with Corn Chips.  Makes 4 1/2 cups.

Echinacea Plus Tincture in Glycerine Base

A friend taught us how to make this simple tincture many years ago, and we’ve been using it ever since. Most tinctures are made in alcohol (alcohol extracts the beneficial properties from herbs best), but because we wanted to give this tincture to our children, we’ve always made it with vegetable glycerine, a naturally sweet substitute for the alcohol. We don’t sell the herbs or the glycerine, but our friend Vlad does. Visit his store, MoreThanAlive.com here.

5-6 cups Echinacea Root

1 cup finely chopped or grated fresh garlic

1 cup Pau D’Arco Inner Bark

1 cup Siberian Ginseng

Cayenne Pepper, fresh or dried – the amount is up to you, but do use some.

4-6 cups vegetable glycerine

1. Put  the herbs into a glass gallon jar.

2. In a separate container, mix about 4 cups of the glycerine with 4 cups of water. At first, the glycerine and water will not combine. Just keep stirring, and they will eventually come together. When they do, pour the mixture over the herbs in the jar.

3. If the jar is not full, mix enough of the remaining glycerine with water to fill the jar.

4. Put the lid on the jar and leave it in a cool dark place for 4-6 weeks, shaking the jar once a day. After 4-6 weeks, the tincture is ready to use. Strain it through a white cotton cloth or several layers of cheesecloth, pour the liquid into a clean bottle, and store it in the fridge.

We give this to our children by the dropperful or by the teaspoon.

Plague Tonic a.k.a. Supertonic

Our all-around elixir for what ails you. Plague tonic can instantly stop a cough. It will shorten the duration of any cold. And it will help keep you healthy when you’re surrounded by sick people. Plague Tonic takes a bit to make, but it’s inexpensive and potent. Take it by the dropperful, by the spoon, or by the shot glass, depending on how brave you are or how quickly you need to get well .

We make a gallon of this stuff every fall, but the recipe can easily be scaled up or down to meet your needs.

Use organic ingredients if possible.

1 pound garlic

1 pound yellow onions

1 pound fresh ginger

¼ to ½ pound fresh horseradish root

Cayenne – this can be up to ½ pound of fresh hot peppers (preferably red, but green will do) or as little as a shake of ground cayenne powder. Play around with the measurements until you reach the spiciness that suits your taste.

Raw apple cider vinegar (like Bragg’s, Spectrum, Eden, or Heinz – Bragg’s is available on our dry goods order, which will open soon) – you’ll need about 2 – 3 quarts.

Directions

The object here is to make the vegetables into the smallest possible pieces and combine them with the apple cider vinegar. If you have a Vita Mix or strong blender, this is a one-step process. Skip down a couple paragraphs to see how we do it. (If you don’t have a Vita Mix, you can order one here and get it shipped free with our free shipping code.)

1. Finely grate, chop, or blend all of the vegetables using whatever kitchen tools you have on hand. You may need to peel the garlic, onions, ginger, and horseradish. And you’ll definitely want to peel them if they’re not organic. Be sure to wear gloves if you’ll be handling the hot peppers.
2. Once the vegetables are chopped small, place them all into a glass container that has a lid. A one-gallon jar is ideal. Pour the apple cider vinegar over the vegetables until you have about a gallon altogether.
3.  It’s best if you can keep the container in a dark place for 6 weeks, but you can start straining off some of the liquid right away. After 6 weeks, strain the entire gallon through a cloth, squeeze it out, and transfer the liquid to a clean bottle or jar. Plague tonic does not need to be refrigerated. The apple cider vinegar base preserves it.
4. To use… Mostly, we just pour a little plague tonic into the bottom of a cup, add a little water, and chug. It’s nasty-tasting stuff (My husband says it will scare the cold out of you.), but to really pack a wallop, take as much as a quarter cup at a time. You can get creative too, and make a salad dressing with olive oil, plague tonic, and a little honey.

If you have a Vita Mix, wash and chop all of the ingredients. Peeling is optional, but recommended if you’re using conventional produce. Pour 2-3 cups of apple cider vinegar into the Vita Mix and add 2-3 cups of the chopped vegetables. Blend on high until the veggies are pureed, then pour the mixture into a gallon-sized glass container. Repeat until all the vegetables are used up. Then follow steps 3 and 4.

Julie’s Superfood Smoothie

I seldom measure out when I’m throwing stuff in the blender…I usually just taste as I go. Here is an estimate of what i use:

Half can of coconut milk (full fat – should have about 14 grams)

1/2 cup frozen blackberries

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

2 Tbsp cocoa powder (you could use less but we really like chocolate!)

1 Tbsp Superfood

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2-1 tsp vanilla

1-3 Tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup – the amount of sweetener depends on your taste buds (you could also try out a small amount of stevia, but I don’t like the taste as much)

water (for consistency)

ice (large handful??)

2-3 raw, pastured eggs (throw these in at the very end of blending)

Blend on high. Taste before you pour it into cups!! I usually end up with about 3-1/2 cups worth. If we use this as a meal replacement, the 1 yr old gets about 1 cup, the 3 yr old drinks about 2 cups (he loves this!!) and I have to fight him for the last 1/2 cup With the fat from the coconut milk, the protein from the eggs (you could use protein powder if you don’t have access to pastured eggs) and low-glycemic berries you have a complete meal that is very filling and super nutritious.

I hope my “guesstimate” gives a good reference point! Let me know if you find other things that work well in it.

Julie Wall

Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant

www.marykay.com/juliewall

juliewall@marykay.com

Garlic Tea

Garlic tea is most comforting when your head is stuffy and spinning. You’re not really supposed to taste the garlic. It’s only there to help you get better. But there is plenty of lemon and honey to make this medicinal tea taste cozy and soothing.

We prefer to put the garlic through the blender, but feel free to grate or press it too.

Boil 12 oz water and pour it into the blender. Add 1-3 cloves of peeled, fresh garlic. Blend on high for 30 seconds or so. Then pour it into a mug.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon, adding it to your ‘tea.’

Sweeten to taste with honey and stir in a tiny sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

The cayenne is surprisingly soothing to a sore throat, but it has another purpose in this recipe. Cayenne greatly aids circulation, and in this tea, it helps to deliver the healing properties of the garlic, quickly and effectively, to the places it’s needed most.

Simple Peach Slushy

With all the peaches we’ve had lately, we’ve been making this refreshing slushy quite a bit. It’s so easy that I don’t think I can really give you a recipe, but I’ll tell you what we do. For our 8 cup capacity VitaMix, we put about 3 cups water in the blender container and then add frozen peaches while the motor is running until the container is full. Add a spoonful of honey or a pinch of stevia powder, and it’s done.

This slushy is equally good made with frozen strawberries instead of the peaches. Yum!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

I don’t like those pb and banana sandwiches that were popular in the 60′s (not that I’m old enough to know). And I didn’t think I would like this smoothie either. I wouldn’t even have tried it except that my daughter found it in a recipe book and decided to make it without my knowledge. Although this smoothie doesn’t boast any super healthy green ingredients, it is sooo good! And simple too.

We never measure the ingredients, so feel free to tweak these measurements to your taste.

3 cups milk

6 frozen bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

Quinoa Lentil Salad with Feta

A summer staple in our house, this salad has all the qualities of a perfect summer lunch: cold, refreshing and easy to prepare ahead of time. Although quinoa (pronounced KEEN wa) is not technically a grain, Nourishing Traditions recommends soaking it for at least 12 hours before cooking.

1 cup dry green lentils, soaked overnight in 2 cups water + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup quinoa, soaked overnight in 1 3/4 cups water + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint (or 2 t. dry mint)

3 tablespoons minced fresh dill (or 3 t. dry dill)

black pepper to taste

1 small bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup packed minced fresh parsley

1/3 cup finely minced red onion

1 stalk celery, minced

1/2 cup (2 oz) feta cheese, crumbled

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

In two separate covered pots, bring lentils and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to finish cooking. If necessary, drain the lentils. Let the quinoa and lentils cool, uncovered, for 30 minutes or so.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients except for the tomato and walnuts. Add the lentils and quinoa, stirring to combine. Chill, covered, for about 4 hours.

Just before serving, top with the sliced grape tomatoes and walnuts.

Basic Soaked Granola

When I first heard the term ‘soaking’ grains, I pictured grains actually immersed in a liquid, but this is not necessarily the case. In this recipe, oatmeal is ‘soaked’ in a mixture of melted butter or coconut oil with some added whey or lemon juice. It’s pretty dry, actually. The acidity of the lemon juice (or whey) neutralizes phytates and enzyme inhibitors naturally contained in whole grains, allowing our bodies to better digest and assimilate the nutrients from the grains.

Sally Fallon explains it best: Phosphorus in the bran of whole grains is tied up in a substance called phytic acid. Phytic acid combines with iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in the intestinal tract, blocking their absorption. Whole grains also contain enzyme inhibitors that can interfere with digestion. Traditional societies usually soak or ferment their grains before eating them, processes that neutralize phytates and enzyme inhibitors and in effect, predigest grains so that all their nutrients are more available. Sprouting, overnight soaking, and old-fashioned sour leavening can accomplish this important predigestive process in our own kitchens. Many people who are allergic to grains will tolerate them well when they are prepared according to these procedures. Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon, Pg 25

In a large bowl, combine the following ingredients and soak overnight or for about for 12 hours:

8 cups rolled oats

1 cup melted coconut oil or butter

1 cup rapadura or honey

3 tablespoons whey (you can substitute lemon juice or cider vinegar)

In the morning, add these ingredients:

1/3 – 1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 cups dried flaked coconut

1 cup chopped almonds or pecans

Bake in 2 buttered 9 x 13 pans at 350 degrees, turning every 5 minutes until golden, or dehydrate until crispy.

It’s fun to play around with this recipe, adding different extracts and dried fruits to give this basic recipe a little variety. Try adding dried cherries or cranberries and extra vanilla for a cherry vanilla granola, or cherry almond with almond extract. Orange peel can add a nice flavor too.

This same grain-soaking method can be used to make a delicious fruit crisp…

Lia’s Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables I’d never paid much attention to. Sure, it’s nutritious, containing some of the same amazing health benefits as broccoli, but boiled cauliflower? Blah!

After the birth of one of our daughters, my friend Lia made a dinner for our family which included this cauliflower, and my husband, who had never cared for cauliflower before, made certain that I got hold of this recipe. Cauliflower has become one of our most loved vegetables. We like it best served with Nourishing Traditions’ Spicy Meatloaf or a simple roasted chicken.

1 head cauliflower, with the bottom cut flat

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel (See tip)

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Mix together the butter and seasonings. Rub all over the cauliflower.

Bake in a covered casserole dish at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Tip: I keep a resealable bag full of lemon rinds (leftover from juicing) in the freezer to have on hand for recipes like this. I actually think they’re easier to grate when they’re frozen.