My Beautiful Fruit Bowl

There is no talent in 'making' this dish, but it was too pretty to not photograph and it was too good to not share! I keep stressing the importance of eating fresh fruits and veggies and to completely fill yourself up on them, not leaving room for all the crap that is thrown our way all day, everyday!

I have in there really juicy cherries, tart blueberries and my cheat, prunes (dried plums). MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Simple Lunch Salad

I love fresh veggies! I also love salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This I made for lunch today and it totally hit the spot. Now the trick is, I am the only vegan on the planet who doesn't like the taste of raw tomato... Weird, I know. I keep trying them and I keep not liking them, but I am assured I will get there some day. Putting that aside, I try to put tomato in whenever I can, in this case, fresh salsa! Yeah, I put salsa on my salad. Sure did.

You will need:

~Spinach
~Carrots
~Favorite onion
~Fresh Cilantro
~Favorite fresh salsa
~Lime juice
~Apple Cider Vinegar
~Olive oil

Cut all that stuff up and throw it in a bowl. Put the salsa then the cilantro and then the lime juice, vinegar and oil. A little pepper on top is delicious. I also like to have a really spicy salsa to put on top. It makes for a neat combination for the taste buds!

Today I topped it off with a nice bowl of fresh fruit! Cherries, blueberries and some dried plums! The plums have a little too much sugar for my liking, but I don't eat them very often so what the hay!

Do It at Home; Save Money, Flavor and Nutritional Value!

I cannot stress enough my belief in the importance of fresh ingredients! Not only does it add to the taste and beauty of a dish, but if cooked properly, it adds greatly to the nutritional benefit as well.

Grow a little herb garden in the summer and bring it indoors for the winter, or learn how to dry the herbs and save them for the winter. It is a fun process and can be a fun activity for kids and adults alike. Seasonings for foods, and herbs and spices for teas can be preserved and used whenever you like and can save a bundle when faced with the grocery store.

Can or freeze veggies and fruits in the summer and fall months to allow for easy and nutritious meals in the winter! This will not only allow you to eat and feed friends and family with food that you know is good, but will allow you to support your farmers markets and groceries by purchasing produce that is in season and prevent purchasing out of season produce which is more likely to be loaded with pesticides and much older than 'fresh produce' stickers lead us to believe.

I will post instructions explaining the drying process for herbs and spices, along with a list of good ones ( the staples so to speak ) soon. As well as instructions for canning and my family's recipe for "Goop-it". A 'tomato based / garden leftover/ this is going to go bad before I can use it' recipe that I grew up on. It can be used for soup or the base for a lot of wonderful dishes!

A good resource to elaborate on this and more is to go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and learn how to can or dry or freeze anything you can imagine! Here is their link:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html