Mornings are chaotic in our household. One thing I can rely on is that this breakfast will get the most resistant child out of bed, it’s fast and stays with you without causing a sugar crash.
Ingredients:
Costco Croissant
DocMayberry Raw & Pure Wildflower Honey
Instructions:
Place one Croissant on a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds (depending on your microwave)
Cut in half and spoon honey into the open, warm Croissant to drip down (~1 Tbsp, to taste)
OR cut long ways and spoon a layer down the croissant
Enjoy!
There have been several studies on Honey vs Table Sugar or other sweeteners and how they are processed in your body. Raw Honey not only has a world of additional micronutrients & enzymes but it has been shown to not cause the glucose spikes and be gentler on human digestion than other sweeteners.
It is important to remember that Raw Honey from your local Apiary is what we are talking about. Industrialized factory honey has had these health benefits removed through pasteurization, irradiation, etc.
I will include that full post with references soon!
In the mean time, check out these interesting articles:
Initially our Croissants would go bad before we could eat them all.
Now I take gallon zip lock bags, put 5-6 Croissants in each one: Freeze one and put the other in the Fridge. I have not tried microwaving a frozen Croissant, only the ones out of the Fridge.
When the we run out of Croissants in the Fridge, I throw the bag from the Freezer to de-thaw in the Fridge over the next 20+/- hours.
Works great for us! Great, fast breakfast in a pinch.
1 (ONE): I STOPPED THINKING IN BLACK AND WHITE AND GAVE MYSELF SOME GRACE. Understanding that a lot of little moves add up to make a striking difference was a light bulb moment for me. It reminds me every time of that quip: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”
The day is not lost if I “forgot” to exercise or stopped by for fast food. It is all about making the day just a little better than the day before — and being CONSISTENT.
For nutrition I try to remember: Home made / Farm sourced is better than from the Factory (eat as close to the source as possible). So: if I am really craving ice cream – make some from simple ingredients! Use the full butter and real sugar. This environment we live in today is full of plastics and estrogen like chemicals to which we need to minimize our exposure. Eating closer to the source with real foods will help tremendously (Check out COUNTDOWN).
For exercise I try to remember: Its not the time I exercise that matters, but the distance. And any exercise will help every system in your body (brain, heart, muscles, blood sugar, digestion, etc). Did you know you burn the same calories whether you walk that mile or run it? Yes, putting a little stress on your cardiovascular system helps your overall exercise reserve and cardiac functioning, but giving yourself grace that you are going to complete that mile, whether its sprinting or walking is step one.
2 (TWO): STOP THINKING IN TERMS OF WEEKS TO MONTHS WHEN GETTING GROCERIES. I think living through COVID-19 has put many of us in the habit of stocking up on shelf stable items to minimize trips to the store. Vegetables and fruits (living food) is not meant to last a month, let alone 2 weeks off the vine or out of the ground sometimes. Buy one week at a time and anytime you make a meal, see what veggies you can sneak in from the fridge so they don’t go bad.
This is one way that my chickens have really helped me feel better about my purchases. If I forget that leek or boston lettuce in the fridge drawer my girls eat it up with lightning speed and enjoy it so much. And I have so much fun watching them!
3 (THREE): MEAL PREP IS A MUST FOR ME. Washing, cutting and portioning +/- seasoning was game changing. It takes more effort than you know when you are already exhausted and don’t feel like cooking. It saves time and makes it easy to freeze.
Chicken breast into 1″ cubes, portioned for nuggets, pasta & chicken, chicken & dumplings, chicken pot pie, etc.
Chopped onion or bellpepper
Ground beef portioned for chilli or taco night
4 (FOUR): START THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN GROW ON YOUR OWN. Do you love herbs? Tomatoes? Eggs? Honey? Eggs and honey are a little more in depth, but herbs are a relatively low work for high yield option. In residency I had a jungle of basil & tomatoes growing on my apartment porch– all grown from seeds. I ate caprese salads till I was red, white and green!
And hey! If you want to get into running your own backyard egg and honey show– I am here for it and will help you as much as I can. My family has found it immensely rewarding. Also, of course, you can visit our store and purchase your own eggs and honey from our harvest.
5 (FIVE): IF YOU CANT GROW, HOW DO YOU GET CLOSER TO THE “SOURCE” WITH YOUR NUTRITION? Read the label: get as few ingredients as you can in an item. Think WHOLE FOODS as ingredients. Is there a local farmer or local business that has food staples you can purchase? Some farmers allow purchase of a cow to then have cuts of meat straight from the farm, not filled with saline or other preservatives.
6 (SIX): HAVE FUN! FIND THE BEAUTY IN THE MOMENT. If there is anything that practising as a physician has taught me– its (1) that stress 100% deteriorates your health, and (2) no one knows when the Good Lord will call you Home. Stress is (mostly) optional. There are several good books about this and a long list of studies showing how having a embracing attitude toward stress can improve your health on a cellular level, not to mention your head space. Have fun with spending effort on yourself and showing yourself some love.
1/8 cup garlic rosemary bread seasoning from Publix (1 palm full)
(*approximate measurements, more about proportions.)
—> Bolognese Sauce
Above plus:
Ground beef cooked with Montreal seasoning (to taste)
Excess fat removed
And then trust me: ——add KALE 👌
Super boost of Vitamin C and iron 💪
This experiment starts about 6 months ago when I received a huge box of Farmers Market tomatoes unexpectedly. No one in my family eats tomatoes except myself.
So what does one do with 30-odd tomatoes and an average liking of the fruit?
Make an fried egg and tomato sandwich of course!
(With our very own fresh eggs! If you need some hit up DocMayberry’s Farmers Market on our home page)
I made it “fancy” to my taste that day with some basalmic glaze, green onion and pickled onions. Heavy on the onions 🤣. I couldn’t find real cheese, so I used up some left over cream cheese. Lots of pepper and some sea salt. Strange craving day.
When I built the house we currently live in I made sure I had a 36” freezer because I was SICK of throwing away so many spoiled foods.
I learned that many foods do excellent in the freezer and it’s a healthy way to keep foods at the height of their ripeness / readiness.
So after my 2 tomato sandwiches I froze the rest and forgot about them.
Yesterday my husband got a big freezer haul and we had to pull out my tomatoes. So I ran them under the boiling water spout and peeled them easily, put them in a big bowl and left them in the fridge.
This morning I came back to my huge vat of frozen tomatoes. They seeped quite a bit of clear fluid without their skins. You will want to pour this out. Don’t. It is liquid sunshine and full of vitamin C.
My family only eats tomatoes in spaghetti sauce. Otherwise I probably would have tried a delicious Tomato Basil Soup. So, spaghetti sauce it was.
TOMATOES, onions, GARLIC, Italian seasoning, rosemary, bay leaves.
(The variation in color of garlic is due to me using up all our frozen garlic and adding some fresh garlic. And technically I used one purple onion & 2 white onions because the purple one needed to be eaten instead of using all 3 of the same type of onion)
I broke out my blender but of course it had to be charged and died on me.
I put two palmfuls of Italian seasoning and one palmful of Publix’s garlic rosemary bread blend —and hoped for the best.
Then my husband had to see what the commotion was and he pulled out the real machinery for such a big job and got me the Vitamix.
It was quick work now I had reinforcements.
After the spaghetti “soup” was complete and mixed I filled a large jar and put it in the fridge with 2 bay leaves on top. The rest went in quart sized freezer bags with a bay leaf (I have a lot of bay leaves).
So now to convert this to a meal my family would eat, my husband now invested in the process cooked up some ground beef to make it bolognese. He also got some REAL parmesan cheese 🥰.
The meat was seasoned to his liking with this industrial sized bottle of Montreal seasoning we got at Costco for another recipe I tried to follow.
I made some egg noodles from Trader Joe’s because my tummy likes them so much better than other noodles.
Then we drained most of the pasta water out. I read somewhere that keeping about a cup of pasta water helps the sauce meld with the sauce. Apparently it’s science and now all my sauces are a bit on the runny side. Maybe cream would help that…?
I didn’t want to make more dishes so I mixed it right in the pasta pot 🤷♀️.
Proportions.
Mixed. (Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves)
Plated.
And the kale is a happy addition from my husband ♥️ Genius! The bright notes in the fresh tomato eliminate the bitterness in the kale.
If you are anemic this is great. The iron from the ground beef is better absorbed with the wealth of vitamin C that accompanies it.
VERDICT:
10 out of 10. Can’t wait to eat again and probably the only way I’ll ever eat kale.
Recycling Ideas:
-Use tomato garlic sauce in 1:1 ratio with rice for a nice side dish. Possibly add turmeric and fresh ground black pepper for its anti-inflammatory effects.
This stove and I are about to really get to know each other.
The goal of “2023 Recipe Tuesday” is to come out with some sort of culinary attempt every week since we know that health starts with what we put in our bodies.
American culture is one of convenience feeding and now our country has an overwhelming number of citizens with end stage heart disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases and cancer. It is not a direct cause and effect, but it all adds up. We need to start a culture of understanding what our bodies are processing in order to move and grow every day. Our children need to see this is an indelible part of our lifestyle and that dinner is a ritual that includes setting the table, a healthy meal and family conversations (and then of course cleaning up).
Mari Beth and I know very little about cooking. We are both completely self taught. We have busy lives (bringing you the most wonderful high quality horse manure compost fertilizer!So you can grow your own backyard farmers market 😁) and so our main requirements are: delicious, nutrient dense, easy and quick meals.
Some recipes may be reviews of other recipes.
Forewarning: I don’t like measuring and I like using food already in my kitchen. I will get better at this.
The other thing we will try to do is keep up with a general “grocery list” of items that are pretty good for giving you the bones of most of your recipes. Like say — onions, garlic, eggs, milk… so when you make your grocery run you will have a good start.
We will also be mindful of leftovers and using those into the next recipe.
Our YouTube channel should also include some coverage if you want to check us out there (@DocMayberryFarms).
Thank you for joining us and I hope you are able to find some information here to improve your health (and hopefully your family’s health) in a meaningful way ❤️
Recently this has been a side dish to accompany any protein of choice that we have on repeat. Basically it’s potatoes or green beans lightly coated with olive oil and some seasoning and then air fried for 15min (for 0.75-1” potato squares) or 6-8min (for green beans).
Start with potatoes or green beans. My favorite potatoes are sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 0.75-1” chunks, but my family loves the teeny-tiny potatoes. You can get any of these at Costco in bulk or at Trader Joes. Our potatoes tend to last for a reasonable amount of time on the counter, so usually I purchase the potatoes in bulk at Costco.
Costco green beans option:
We don’t even cut them. Just coat & air fry! Next toss /stir / mix the vegetables with some olive oil and herbs to taste.
Lately the fastest and most appreciated version of herbs has been from Publix. Their bread dip seasoning blends is addictive: especially the garlic rosemary. There are also some flavor options at Aldi’s in a similar container. I am working on being ”greener” and growing my own herbs. One…. Step…. at …. a ….. time……… Today you may be happy to note I included some freshly grown dill.
Mix in about 1 tablespoon of seasoning and approximately 1-1.5 tablespoons of a healthy oil for every 2 cups of vegetables. You be the judge though; do what feels right. Sometimes I get fancy and I add fresh garlic or some chopped onion, bell pepper, zucchini or whatever veggie your heart may delight in that happens to be in your fridge.
So you can see this also helps us use some of our produce before it spoils.
Follow your air fryer’s directions. Ours has to have the plate heated before adding food. For denser veggies (potatoes) it usually takes 15min to cook. ”Lighter” veggies like green beans cook in the 5-8min range. I usually cook everything according to the longest requirement for whichever vegetable is present (i.e. if I have potatoes and green beans, onion, etc: then I cook 15min for potatoes).
You could cook separately but usually meal time is a mad rush and just needs to be done ASAP. Thus: high efficiency cooking!
