Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Croutons

I love this – cooking late a night when the children are asleep and the house is quiet. Using up some end of the week vegetables before they go off. But also getting a chance to create and really think about the food I am preparing.

Not that I don’t consider it now – but I don’t always take the time to break down each piece of the food equation as I go about putting the dish together. By this I mean that sometimes I just throw the vegetables in and hope for the best!

So, last night I had a cauliflower to use up….I don’t know about you but this is one vegetable that I have had a weird relationship with over the years. I like this vegetable and everything from it’s Brassica family but when it tastes a little sharp or sour I often have a hard time getting the children to enjoy it.

The dish I ended up making was a cauliflower stew - to start if off, I began with sautéing the cauliflower together with onion, leek, celery and garlic in some water to sweat it down and then a little butter.

I would not ordinarily use butter – but I wanted to bring out a particular sweet taste that I know cauliflower has when cooked in this way. It was sautéd until lightly browned and very fragrant. Then I added turmeric, thyme, cumin seeds, cinnamon, salt and pepper and a little allspice to gently spice this up.

In the meantime I washed and rinsed a few red lentils (yes I am on a lentil binge right now) and brought them to the boil in a sauce-pan. Then I added some sliced carrots and sweet potato.

Once the cauliflower mixture was ready I added it to the lentils in the pot and let it all gently boil for about 40 minutes or so – until I was happy with the consistency.

It had thickened nicely and had a lovely fragrance. This was let cool overnight – but before serving to my taste tester I blended half of it in the food processor until smooth and then added it back into the sauce pan to heat.

To make it extra special I made some croutons with a little left over nearly stale olive bread by lightly frying them in crushed garlic and butter for a few minutes. It was a hit and something I will make again.

April

Cauliflower Soup with Croutons

Super Foods

I have been asked lately what foods would I consider to be super foods...and I know many people would immediately list off several wonderful foods - such as kale, broccoli, onions and fish. And each of these are wonderful - I eat them as often as I can. 

But there are a couple that really jump out for me - I would use them exclusively for their healing or energy shifting ability and then marvel at the successes I have had because of them. 

I would have to start with herbs, I use and enjoy many different ones - both dried and fresh, but there is one stands alone from this kingdom for me and that would be garlic. I simply love this food, remedy, herb and all round great healer.

Personally I have seen garlic work miracles in my own body, for my children and for many others around me as they literally astound themselves by healing without 'meds' while using garlic and a healing diet. 

The other super food - is perhaps something no one really considers that much at least not in the way I think they should...and that is water. Water is an essential element, and yes I would also have it listed as a food and it makes up the basis of my own food pyramid.

You cannot live without water. Absolutely every body function, process and system requires water to operate. And your body cannot cleanse, detox, heal, or eliminate debris when you are water deficient. This food is so important even your brain shrinks when there isn't enough to go around.

Other than that - a super food for me would be anything home made - sugar free, additive and toxin free, then carefully prepared by someone who enjoys working with food. Believe me, you can taste the difference...

April 

Fruit salad is a good place to start...

Magic Bullets....For Colds, Bugs & Flu

I've done a lot of research over the years on garlic - but it's not that I want to mention. It's the fact that I have taken oodles of garlic in one form or another to cure any infection, inflammation, upset, issue, problem or what have you....

I love this stuff!

This week the cold I had ended up moving into my sinuses and staying put. Of course for the first couple of days or so, I was so busy with Solstice and Christmas preparations that I was in a bit of denial about it all.

Then on my third day of feeling tired and headachy I knew I had to do something because it was now an infection in my sinuses. So, what does a Medical Intuitive do with a sinus infection? Mostly, I keep going, I did not change my Yoga habit or my holiday cheer (eating lots!) although I did alter the types of exercise I was doing.

And since I have long been steering clear of any type of medication or antibiotic (because I know these don't work and are the scourge of the earth, doing far more harm then good) - my medicine is always herbs, food, exercise, fresh air and rest when needed. 

With this is mind. I add raw garlic to the mix - over the years I have found it easiest to get it into me in guacamole on small crackers. And I have been known to take up to 28 cloves in a single day (tooth abscess) but usually 5 to 7 will do the trick.

My method is simple, take the garlic (must be raw, crushed, allowed to stand for 10 minutes) a few cloves (this week about 7 each day) and blend these into the guacamole. Eat this throughout the day (until I am tired of it!) and then sleep.

Within a few hours of starting this 'medicine' - my head starts to clear, and I feel better. But, I don't stop yet because 72 hours are key for the first round. Once I have done the first 72 hours then I take a break of a day or two and go right back for another 72 hours of garlic.

What I have found over the years (I have taken only garlic for everything from a uterine infection to kidney infection) is that the garlic has an intelligence of it's own. It has been shown to target the site of inflammation directly and starts working immediately.

Garlic is also a herb with powerful anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal properties. Yet, because it is a food your body treats it like that and it only goes after the 'problem' while not disturbing your internal balance of beneficial bacteria.

To accompany this I also increase and find ways to put more herbs in my diet - I might make a tea with lemon balm and this past week I added elderberry to the turkey stuffing, sage, thyme, rosemary, and fresh parsley to nearly everything....breads, rices, meats, fish and so forth. 

Each of these herbs (and foods) boost immune function and support the work of the body during the inflammatory process. 

There is always a better, safer and healthier way to heal your body while removing the source of the inflammation - instead of pushing it into the tissues (which is what modern medicine is known to do). Like any other dark energy (energy vampire), you want to draw it up and out while rendering it harmless in the process and there is not one thing that does this better then garlic.

April

Garlic Guacamole 

End of the Week Stew

Tomorrow is market day, the day we buy all our vegetables and fruit for the week. Actually we try to shop as little as we can, producing as much of our own food and growing anything that will grow. That way we have less opportunity to bring home things we do not need. 

So far, we are able to grow all our own herbs, onions, salad leaves, greens, leeks, some carrots, runner beans, peas, and of course we are waiting on a few other little 'crops' to mature. It is the highlight of my day going out into the garden with a basket to see what I can find for our meals.

Today being the end of the week, there is not much left over from our shopping last Saturday - a couple carrots, one leek, sweet potatoes, avocado and onions, garlic and that's about it. When I first looked over the selection, my thought was - we need more vegetables to make a meal.

But then I quickly realized that all I needed was here. Right now I am looking at the meals I have prepared for the day and I am quite pleased with making something from 'nothing'! 

Since I had mung beans soaking for some bean burgers, I took a few beans and put them in a pot with seaweed. To this I added 4 sweet potatoes and one of the carrots all chopped. Then I sautéed garlic and 2 large onions with turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper and this went into the stew.

End of Week Stew cooking 

When the stew was nearly ready I went into the garden, to find French sorrel, chives, Welsh Onion, parsley and some other leaves. I used about a cup all total - chopped up and stirred into the bubbling stew. I only let this cook for another few minutes and then turned it off. It smelled lovely and was rich and thick by now. 

While this was cooking I made some guacamole from the avocado, garlic, lemon, olive oil and fresh parsley. This is one of my favorite snack foods, avocado is so good for your skin, digestion and of course all that raw garlic can't be bad for you either. I usually put extra in mine. LOL

Freshly made guacamole 

I put this together with some crackers and goat's cheese muffins left over from last night and voila! A wonderful meal. 

Homemade crackers and muffins

The rest of the veggies (onion, carrot, leek) will go for our mung bean burgers later tonight and I am off to the garden to gather more greens and herbs for them. Fresh parsley and coriander are always lovely in these burgers. 

Living like this, close to the land, being conscious of our food and taking the time to remain in touch with our bodies brings us back to the basics of what is really important far more then being able to open a tin of soup or order a take away meal. 

Food is life and it feels good to be alive.

Have a healthy day,

April

Mung bean and sweet potato stew