New blog address www.tudohome.ca

Hello all. I've been busy working on my new blog. It is now up and running so please bookmark it or add it to your favorites. This blog will be inactive from now on but you can view the same info and more at

www.tudohome.ca

Join me on this new journey:-)

See you soon

Green salad with an Asian twist #beautydetoxrecipe

Hello everyone, hope you had as much fun as I did creating our 3rd Beauty Detox Blogging recipe assignment.

My version of Kimberly Snyder cucumber salad with an Asian twist.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 Bag of snow peas

Half cucumber

2 Garlic chives

1/2 Cup pecans

1 Tray of organic enoki mushrooms

2 Garlic cloves

1 Tbls capers

1 Tbls coconut oil

Tamari soy sauce

Vinegar (organic raw apple cider vinegar)

Salt (Himalayan pink salts)

Basil

1 Tsp grated fresh ginger

Directions

In a frying pan add coconut oil, finely chopped garlic cloves and capers. Saute on high heat for about 3 minutes until garlic golden. Add enoki mushrooms and cook for an additional 5 minutes on low heat.

Wash and trim the ends of snow peas and add to a salad bowl.  Add cucumber cut into small pieces and pecans.

Add enoki to salad bowl. Season with salt and basil and grated ginger. Drizzle tamari soy sauce and vinegar.

Mix, serve and enjoy.

Fresh and zestylicious :-)

Cheers,

Paula

Do you cook with Rhubarb?

Hey guys. A friend of mine has this beautiful rhubarb plant in their garden. Although it is not riped yet, we cut a stalk, removed the leaf and tried it out. It has a sour taste to it but refreshing.

I know rhubarb is known for its yummy pies and jams but I like it raw. Try it on salads or add it to the glowing green smoothie ;-)

 

I am definitely purchasing a rhubarb plant to add it to my vegetable garden. Rhubarb is a perennial and a very hardy vegetable. 

Rhubarb stems can be eaten raw or cooked. Only rhubarb stalks can be eaten, leafs are discarded as they are poisonous. 

Rhubarb is a rich source of dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

For more nutritional facts about rhubarb visit:

http://foodfacts.mercola.com/rhubarb.html

Do you cook with rhubarb?  If so, let me know what you make with it :-)

Rubharb recipe dishes coming soon...

Proud moment :-)

Hi everyone. Wow, I'm so excited that my version of the turlu vegetable casserole beauty detox recipe assignment, was featured on Kimberly Snyder blog.

Check it out :-)

Extremely thrilled :-) :-)

So encouraging and rewarding. Thank you beauty detox.

I browsed some beauty detox blog recipe assignments and was amazed to see numerous variations and colorful dishes of the turlu vegetable casserole. I will definitely try the many variations provided by other beauty detox bloggers.

Thank you all for sharing these amazing recipes.

And this weeks beauty detox recipe assignment:

Very encouraged to try this weeks recipe.

Can't wait to see everyone's yummy creations :-)

#beautydetoxrecipe

Kimberly Snyder blog link-

http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2014/06/11/new-recipe-cucumber-salad-asian-twist-beauty-blogger-assignment/

Turlu turlu vegetable casserole #beautydetoxrecipe

Hello everyone. I was so excited to see our 2nd beauty detox blogger recipe assignment, from Kimberly Snyder.

Her turlu turlu vegetable casserole, looked so very appetizing.

I was extremely excited to see this dish because i cook different variations of this dish either grilled or broiled. 

It's a delicious vegetable casserole that my whole family enjoys. 

So here is my version of Kimberly Snyder turlu turlu vegetable casserole.

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus

2 carrots 

1 eggplant

1 zucchini 

1 red and green pepper

10 mushrooms

5 garlic cloves

Half Spanish onion

1 beet

Oregano

Salt

Avocado oil

Green salad ( instructions below)

Serves 6

Instructions

Turn oven on broil

Place wax paper in a baking dish. Chop all the vegetables into small pieces and add to baking dish. 

Season with salt, oregano and drizzle avocado oil. Mix vegetables well. 

Put in oven and cook for 30 minutes on broil. 

Check dish every so often and turn veggies. 

Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool.

Simple, quick, and turlulicious :-)

Green salad recipe

Prepare green salad using watercress and lettuce. Season the salad with salt. Drizzle olive oil and vinegar and mix.

Place salad on a flat platter.

Add turlu on top as seen below.

Serve and enjoy :-) 

Cheers,

Paula

My refreshing outdoor lunch :-)

Spent my morning removing weeds from my vegetable garden. Everything is growing nicely.

Outdoor work does make me hungry, so I tossed up this quick, easy, and very refreshing salad for lunch. 

Serves 1 

Ingredients

Watercress

Pineapple 

Cucumber

Beet ( half of one beet)

Olive oil/ vinegar/ salt/ oregano

Instructions

Chop pineapple, beet and cucumber into small pieces. Add watercress and ingredients to a dish. Season with salt and oregano. Drizzle olive oil and vinegar and mix together. 

Super refreshing outdoor lunch. 

With my salad, I had a glass of my pre-made water pitcher. 

Got this recipe from Pinterest and decided to give it a try. It's easy to make and tastes like ice tea. Very refreshing.

Here is the Pinterest recipe photo

Watercress soup. Easy and delicious :-)

A must try...

It only takes about 20 minutes to make this delicious watercress soup.

It is one of our faves :-) can be eaten warm or at room temperature.

Recipe

2 potatoes 

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch of watercress

Salt to taste

In a pot, bring water to a boil. Add the potatoes (cut in quarters)and garlic. Let cook for 15 minutes. 

Bring heat to low and Purée the potatoes and garlic. 

Add watercress (can be added by whole stems or cut the stems in half, whichever way preferred) and season with salt. Cook on low heat for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and serve. 

Super easy, super delicious. 

Super easy and versatile dishes using watercress

Hey everyone, June is the month that I get to pick fresh and completly organic watercress. 

I have a ravine in the far back of my property and a few years ago I came across this beautiful area full of watercress. Ever since, I pick baskets of fresh and tender watercress. 

I love picking watercress, it is so soothing and peacefull to hear nothing but the slow flow of the water and all the sounds of nature. In addition to relaxation, family and friends usually tag along and we have a great bonding time :-)

I harvest watercress through out this month, once July comes along, they taste bitter. 

I sure enjoy this delicious vegetable in  many of my dishes. I make watercress salads, soups, sandwiches. I also add it to my green smoothie. 

Doesn't get more organic than this.

Watercress is a rich source of vitamins and minerals, and is so versatile. 

Check back to see all my watercress dishes. 

Beet Green Salad-- beetlicious

Made this quick and easy salad. 

I love beets, they taste so earthy. 

I always soak my lettuce in vinegar water before starting dinner. I leave it for about 15-20 minutes. Than I rinse it well and spin it, to remove any excess water.  Super clean....

Beetlicious salad

1beet

I head Lettuce

Half cucumber

2 Green onions

Salt to taste

Oregano to taste

1 garlic clove chopped

Olive oil

Vinegar

Look at that water after soaking the lettuce for about 15 minutes. 

Gardening days

As promised here are a few photos from my spring garden clean and planting.

Hope I inspire you to start your own organic vegetable garden. It's easy, and very rewarding. Planting is time for myself, it's a sense of peace. A soul rejuvenation :-) 

Happy planting

My vegetable garden

My fruit trees ( pruned and treated)

And my angel garden, all it needs now is water and watch it grow beautifully.

Got around to planting my vases, and some more flower gardening.

Everything looks so much refreshing and alive in the spring. Hibernation over, spending most of my days outside. Vitamin D provided naturally :-)

The only thing that this great weather brings that eat me alive are mosquitoes. Boy do they ever bite.. I have searched and purchased mosquito traps, repellants, candles, sprays, garlic powder, garlic water, burned sage and so far none really work. So I'm asking you, if you have any suggestions to repell Mosquitos please do share. All recommendations are so greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...

Planting season

Hello everyone, spring is finally here. Spring means outdoor cleaning and planting for me. It is excitting, I spent last weekend planting my vegetable garden with family. It is so rewarding to see your own vegetable garden produce. Yes it is hard work but it is so rewarding in so many ways. What better than your own organic vegetables, straight from the garden to your plate. Doesn't get any fresher than that:-). This year we expanded my vegetable garden and here is the list of vegetables planted:

Tomatoes

Romaine lettuce

Swiss chard

Kale

Celery

Spanish onions

Onion Chives

Garlic chives

Hot peppers

Potatoes

Beans

Cucumber

Zucchini 

Eggplant

Brussels sprouts

Corn

Parsley

Spinach

Yeap, that's all for this year. It has been a week since we planted and all vegetables are adapting well to soil and weather :-). I was a bit skeptical of my soil this year since it's a new area and the soil was only prepared last fall. But my veggies are adapting pretty well.

Asides from planting I also pruned all my apple and pear trees a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately our canadian frost only left a couple of weeks ago. But looking forward to great sunny days.

I will be adding pictures of my vegetable garden sometime this week. 

My father has always grown his own vegetable garden. He is a wonderful father and an expert teacher. I love listening to all his advice on what and how to plant. He also shares all of his planting strategies that he's adapted through out the years, and all the tales of gardening from back home, Portugal. It's not only soothing to garden but to hear old stories that fill my soul with laughter and memories. 

One thing I learned quickly you can't change an old habit, your elders are always right lol, so they think :-).

Well that's all for today. I promisse I will post pictures of my garden very soon, till than hope you have a great weekend.

My everyday green smoothie

I prepare the juice every night so my boys take it with them in the morning. My family and friends love it. 

It's easy to make and so deliciously healthy. I sip on it through my morning, sometimes I'll still have a bowl of steel cut oats with some blueberries, raspberries and blackberries if I feel hungry.

Green smoothie ( makes 3 bottle servings as shown on picture below)

Instructions:

In a blender pour 1 1/2 bottle of distilled water.

1 small head romaine lettuce

A bunch of spinach

2 celery stalks

1 granny green apple

1cup chopped up pineapple 

Juice from one lemon

Blend veggies first, than fruits. Enjoy this light delicious green smoothie.

Sometimes I add one of the following;

Carrot, pear, banana,papaya, cucumber, grapefruit, or I substitute the spinach with kale.

Hope you try this delicious smoothie, I know you will enjoy it as much as I do.

A gift well thought out

I made this simple but beautiful arrangement for a friends birthday. I picked colors that would go well in her house and used white birch to fill the vase. It was a hit, she loved it and so did everyone else lol. In fact I have more orders than I wanted lol;-).

Hope you all like it.. And get inspired...

A nice summer refreshing look..

You tube video Sochi 2014 : Go Canada! [HD]

http://youtu.be/_RTCafod7UA

Quote of the day

This is one of my many favorite quotes. 

I sometimes come across some good quotes. A lot of them are great self help quotes/sayings.

An afternoon snack

This tasty snack can be a delicious appetizer at your next guest gathering. 

Easy to prepare and yet so tasty.

Fig jam and goat cheese. Pour jam on top of goat cheese and serve with crackers. My favorite crackers, cranberry & sunflower seeds.

I had this for my afternoon snack with green tea. 

Yogi- green tea ( very smooth, not bitter at all) love this green tea. Yogi sends a message in every tea bag

Fibrelicious breakfast

Cooked steel cut oats 

Cook steel cut oats ( follow package directions) I use Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats

Preparation

In a bowl add desired amount of cooked steel cut oats

Add a spoon of non fat Liberte Greek yogurt (vanilla flavor) 

Add a spoon of hemp seeds and grinded chia seeds

A handful of raspberries and blackberries

Mix and enjoy

Great source if fibre, omegas, probiotic and antioxidants.

Cozy Sunday

What better than lounging around the family room, enjoying a cup of tea and watching the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games  with my loved ones.

Just watched the woman's snowboarding and now watching the man's Olympic downhill. Loving every moment of these Olympian games. Hope you watch, enjoy and relax with a nice cup of tea or whatever makes you happy:-) 

Yogi - lemon detox tea

A message in every tea bag, this one says

" Grace brings love and prosperity"

2014 Sochi opening Olympic ceremony

Wow, what a spectacular ceremony. It was phenomenal. Russia did a superb job. I loved it, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful :-) 

I was disappointed in how the CBC hosts were so critical on the small and few glitches of the ceremony. I was also disappointed in the absence of Canadian leaders cheering and supporting our strong canadian team at the Sochi ceremony opening. CBC hosts did comment on some leaders not being at the Sochi opening ceremony such as the French president however not sure why they didn't comment on the Canadian leaders or why none were seen on the podium standing strong and cheering on.

Here are pictures of the ceremony being shared on Facebook;

Support our Canadian Olympic team! Cheer on!