Week 1 Thoughts - Recipe Reviews, Sweetener Ideas, and Random Musings

We made several soups this week from Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live Cookbook.  This isn't an in-depth review, but I just wanted to share my opinions.

1. Brocolli Mushroom Stew- I thought this one was great.  Mackenzie wasn't thrilled with it, but she had two servings.

2. Dr. Fuhrman's Anticancer Soup - There are rave reviews for this soup, and it is the one he most often promotes.  It is packed with the GBOMBS (Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds), less the berries.  But it really didn't have much flavor to me.  So, you can really add any spice you prefer and that is how it will taste.  I liked adding dried Red Peppers and I loved adding lemon juice.  I don't think it will be my "go to" soup, but if I'm going for the health benefits, this is 2.5 cups of Nutritarian gold!

As a side note, the directions include putting whole zucchinis in a pot to soften, and then dumping pureed veggies over it, then pulling the zucchinis out to chop them.  The zucchinis were gross and hard to work with this way. Next time I will put the zucchinis in the pot, continue pureeing other veggies and put them into a large bowl, adding them to the pot AFTER I pull out the zucchinis!

2. Very Veggie Stew - also good - this one has the strange flavor of cinnamon with veggies....which reminds me of those Mexican chilis that have cocoa.  Odd, but not bad.  I think next time I'll leave out the cinnamon and just enjoy vegetable stew.

4. Tomato Bisque - Absolutely loved the flavor of this one.  I could eat it every day.  Mackenzie didn't like how chunky it was - she thought it should be blended and creamy, so we'll make it that way next time.  

We made it through the week with plenty of groceries - we could easily go two more days before going back to the store, and we probably will. Our little kids normally have cereal for breakfast with way too many scoops of sugar on it, but when I made my oatmeal every morning, they would ask for it instead.  A much healthier alternative! (whole grain oats, sunflower seeds, frozen blueberries or raspberries, a fresh banana, and some walnuts)

Mackenzie slept over at a friend's house, so she packed up her meals:

1. A baked potato with salsa

2. Almonds, oats, and frozen berries in a baggie

3. A container of soup

and

4. Acorn squash and Dark Karo Syrup for dessert

She is really excited to be prepared to resist pizza and doughnuts!

Why Dark Karo syrup??

Dr. Fuhrman wants absolutely no sweeteners because they are "empty calories", but that doesn't match our lifestyle quite yet.  Our palettes are looking for the sweet sometimes.  So, we are choosing to avoid artificial sweeteners completely, as I believe they are poisonous to the body and mind, and also to avoid sweeteners with fructose, which is not used by the body, but is filtered by the liver, adding strain to it, as well as spiking insulin.  Karo and Dark Karo syrups, however, are made with pure glucose.  The body recognizes this as a source of energy and uses it to power the body, and none of it goes to the liver.  

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY