By Josslyn Streett, Reiki Master/Teacher for Rain Shadow Reiki in Sequim, WA
I absolutely LOVE the fall! I love the colors, the flavors and even the weather here in the Pacific North West, which lately has been a lot of rain. Not typical for Sunny Sequim.
Being with spiritual friends recently sharing a condo and cooking together at a healing retreat, I made this dish for them and they all wanted the recipe. I decided it would be easier to share it with everyone, and then I realized I already had on a blog two years ago when I was doing a cleanse. But, decided to post it again by itself because it’s so good, it deserves its own blog. This recipe is a great reminder that healthy food can be delicious and easy to prepare too. Pray you enjoy this as much as my family does.
“I wondered, “Why have I been chasing happiness my whole life when bliss was here the entire time?” – Elizabeth Gilbert from “Eat, Pray, Love”
Acorn Squash with Portobello Mushrooms
I got this recipe from www.jointhereboot.com two years ago when I was participating in a 15 day juice cleanse with Joe Cross from the movie “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” (The movie is well worth watching) Most of the food on the pre-cleanse was truly wonderful, but this is my favorite recipe from the whole cleanse, along with the juices we made. Yum! It’s healthy and easy to make. I hope you enjoy it as much as my friends and I do, it would be a great Thanksgiving add-on for sure.
Don’t forget to run your Reiki when you cook, adding Divine Love and Light to every dish you prepare. Reiki in your food helps to cleans out any toxins and boosts the nutrients to the vibrational level of your body so your body gets the best out of your food. It’s a win/win!
Blessings to all my Reiki friends,
Josslyn
“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
Laurie Colwin
Roasted Acorn Squash
Serves 4 as a main dish
2 med Acorn Squash
3/4 t. Sea Salt plus 1/4 t. Sea Salt
This recipe can be a main dish for four people or cut them up to be a side dish for more.
1/2 t. Black Pepper
6 T Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Large Portobello Mushroom (I use 2 because I like them and they cook down)
1 Large White or Yellow Onion, chopped
3t Fresh sage, finely chopped
(You can add a little red pepper too if you like a little more spice. My family doesn’t so I’ve omitted that ingredient.)
Acorn Squash:
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
Trim ends of each squash.
Stand the squash upright and half lengthwise.
Scoop the pulp and the seeds out and discard.
Brush each squash half with olive oil.
Sprinkle each squash half with 3/4 sea salt and pepper
Arrange acorn, large cut sides down on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
roast the squash until the flesh is tender and the edges are golden brown, 25 – 35 minutes.
Remove from over, flip squash over and set aside.
Filling
While the squash roasts: Heat olive oil in medium sauce pan over medium high heat.
Add onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until onion is clear.
Add mushroom, sage, 1/4 salt and saute 5 minutes.
Fill the squash with mixture and bake upright for 10 more minutes together.
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I felt inspired to share my family’s favorite pumpkin bread recipe. A friend back in California shared this with us when my boys were very little. We made it that first year and everyone loved it, so much we started making it for our neighbors, mailman and friends who would come over. It’s magic this pumpkin bread recipe. The grumpiest mail man in the world turned into the nicest mail man in the world once we game him some pumpkin bread. He actually wrote us a thank you note and I’m positive, to this day, we are the only ones he smiled for. Years later after we had moved away from our old neighborhood, we went back to visit. Low and behold, who pulls up just as we are outside saying good-bye to our neighbors, Joe, our ‘old’ mail man. He remembered us and smiled and said “HI” then asked how we were and where we landed after the trip. Magic pumpkin bread. Maybe, maybe not. But, it doesn’t hurt, does it?!
So, this Holiday season, make some magic pumpkin bread to give to your mail man, trash truck driver, chiropractor’s office, friends, or just for yourself. It’s delicious and everyone deserves a treat, even people who don’t normally get to have sugar, like me.
Here I’m listing the original recipe first and the healthier substitutions in parentheses. That way you may choose which version you want to make and eat. I’m grateful that I can still eat this wonderful pumpkin bread even though I do not eat sugar or gluten. But, the truth is, the original recipe truly does taste the best. Maybe not taste better, but the consistency is better. But, those of us with food sensitivities are used to trying new things and used to going without the old ones. We still live and thrive on delicious food. Enjoy either recipe depending upon your diet.
The muffins will be darker than these if you use prunes in place of the oil. Use applesauce on light-colored breads, like banana bread.
Delicious Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
1. Beat together in first bowl:
4 eggs (or substitute 6 oz egg whites)
3 C sugar or ( 2 1/4 C Honey) or (2 C Agave) (when using honey or agave reduce the water by 1/4)
1 C vegetable oil or (1 C baby food prunes) or (1 C no sugar added applesauce)
2. In a separate bowl, sift together:
3 C flour or (3 C gluten-free Pamela’s Baking Mix) or (1 C spelt flour, 1 C brown rice flour, 1 C Buckwheat)
1/2 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, 3/4 t sea salt, 2 t cinnamon, 1 t nutmeg, 1 t cloves, 1 t allspice
3. Mix well, then add to the ingredients of the first bowl and blend with hand mixer.
4. Add last:
Make sure you have a Reiki Kid on hand to help with the making. They can run Reiki while they help. This is one of my first Kids Reiki students helping me make this batch.
2 C Pumpkin
2/3 C water (with agave or honey in between 1/3 and 1/2 C of water. Try the lessor amount and work up as needed.)
Twelfth in a series of blogs written by Josslyn Streett of Rain Shadow Reiki for her series on nutritional healing and juicing.
My Top 10 Juice Recipes
Joss making one of her first juices with her new Omega juicer.
My favorite part about doing a juice cleanse is, you got it, the JUICE! Most of the juice is delicious. The juice is especially delicious right after you juiced it. Mmmmmmm! The blends you can make are endless. I tailor my juices to what my body needs, loves and craves. I also tailor it to what I have on hand in the fridge. I have grown to love the fresh juice so much my body craves it daily. If I miss a day I know it and can feel it in my body. I don’t miss very often. In fact, in three months of juicing I’ve missed three days total. Not bad. I throughly enjoy the process of making the juice and consistently repeat in my head positive affirmations while preparing my fruits and veggies, such as, “I’m doing this for my health. I’m doing this for my beautiful body.”
So, I thought it was time to share my ten favorite juice recipes from the juice cleanse I did for detoxifying my body. To read the other blogs about the juice cleanse click on the underlined words throughout the blog.
Biggest Question I Get
Teach your friends how to juice. I’ve motivated at least three friends/clients to start juicing in the three months since I’ve started. Let them taste how wonderful the juice is and how good it is for them and they’ll be hooked. Lauren my Reiki Master/Teacher student juicing for the first time. She said “I’m hooked!”
The number one question I get is “How do you find your juice recipes?” Easy, the internet. When I started I just typed in some of my favorite foods with juice, such as “pineapple juice recipe” and the internet did the work for me. If you have a specific health issue you are working with, such as, stomach ulcers then you want to type in “Juice recipes for stomach ulcers.” If I’m sick I type in “Immune system boosting juice recipes,” and so on. Whatever you need for juice, you’ll be able to find a recipe that you like for the supplies you have. It’s been quite easy. That is how I found my first recipes. I write them all down and keep them for later. If you are a ‘friend’ on my Facebook page I also share a lot of juicing recipes on my page. (Right hand margin of the page to join my Facebook family.) I also got a whole batch of recipes with the ten-day cleanse that I did through Reboot Your Life website. If you join their emailing list you can print a 5 day, 10 day or 15 day full menu fruit and vegetable cleanse from their nutritionist for free. I got many wonderful recipes for juice, smoothies, salads, dressings and vegetarian dishes. They were a wonderful resource for me.
Top Ten Juice Recipes
This is enough veggies for about two days worth of juice for me. My husband drinks some but not a meals worth so I can usually make enough for him to take to work too. I do two days at a time so I’m not making juice every single day. This is the makings of V8 juice. I didn’t like that one so I didn’t include it in the recipes. My blog. LOL
With no further ado, my top ten juice recipes, in order by the websites I got them from. It was not easy to do. I have so many I like it was actually hard to get them down to only ten. So try them and let me know how you like them. Add or delete items as you wish. If you delete a dark green vegetable because you ran out or don’t like it, them make sure you replace it with another dark green. Same with any color of fruit of veggie, replace with a fruit or veggie of the same color group. Mix and match your juice to get a full rainbow of colors, nutrients and flavors.
Juice #1
Zucchini Juice
Unfortunately I didn’t write down the website I got this from because I was in a hurry when making it. And, when I went to look back again, couldn’t find it. I’ll keep looking and add it later for you. I had a whole bunch of huge zucchini’s from a neighbor with a backyard garden and wanted a way to make use of them. I found a delectable way.
2 Lg Zucchini
2 Apples
1 C Spinach
1 Lime
2 C Parsley
Zucchini is great for juicing because it has lots of health benefits and a lot more actual juice than most dark green veggies. Zucchini is a great source of vitamin B, potassium, fiber and some vitamin c and iron. It is low in sugar and carbs. Perfect!
Juice #2
Mean Green Juice
If you have seen the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” then you have heard of the Mean Green Juice. This is the juice they talk about drinking daily during their 60 day juice detox. (I did ten days. That’s enough for now.) This is also the same people who run the “Reboot Your Life” website with the detox diet I did. The Mean Green Juice is not only delicious, it’s packed with nutritious, as well. (Yes, I did that on purpose.)
6 Kale leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 in. piece Ginger
I put ginger is many of my juices for the awesome health benefits. Ginger helps nausea, inflammation, boosts immune system function, is an antibacterial and antiviral, increases blood flow and helps with detoxification. For more health benefits of ginger and a history, click this link.
Juice #3
Minty Fresh Berry Juice
Want to try a delicious fruit juice that the whole family will love?! Here it is. From Join the Reboot.
2 C Blueberries
2 Kiwi
16 Strawberries
2 C Mint Leaves
1/4 Pineapple (optional, I added that)
I LOVE pineapple and use it in my juice as often as possible. I’m a blood type A and follow the “Eat Right for your Blood Type” way of eating healthy and pineapple is great for type A’s. Pineapple is an anti-inflammatory, it has lots of vitamins and minerals like C, B, potassium, thiamine, manganese and magnesium and works for your body as a natural electrolyte. For more information about the health benefits of pineapple click on this link.
Juice #4
Fennel Pear Juice
Fennel is one of my newest and most favorite go to light green vegetables. It looks like a root but smells like black licorice. But the actual taste is much more subtle than black licorice. It goes perfectly with a pear. Yum yum! Also from Join the Reboot.
2 Pears
2 Med. Fennel bulbs
Pear and fennel is so refreshing. Fennel actually has a lot of health benefits too. Fennel offers relief from anemia, indigestion, flatulence, constipation, colic, diarrhea, respiratory disorders, menstrual disorders and bad breath. It has a very subtle taste and so can easily be added to salads and other foods without taking over the taste. Give it a try!
Juice #5
Mexican Style Jugo
Mexican Style Jugo, nice and spicy!
If you like spice, you’ll love this juice. Pablano peppers are high in dietary fibers and low in calories making them ideal for weight loss. They also help to boost the metabolism of the body and can be used as a replacement of salt in low-sodium diets. And, they make this juice just slightly spicy!! Another great recipe from Join the Reboot.
2 Lg. Cucumbers
4 C Cilantro
1 Lime
1 Pablano Pepper (ribs and seeds removed)
1 Golden Delicious Apple
Juice #6
Limeade
I have renamed this juice from Lemon Lime Juice to Limeade because it tastes like Limeade and I LOVE IT!! I have to say, I crave many of the juices but particularly this one and the Mexican Jugo. Can’t get enough of them. Must be something in them I really need, THE LIME!! Another great juice from Join the Reboot!
1 Lime
2 Pears
2 Carrots (med to lg)
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized, I like lots, my husband likes less. Tailor it to your taste)
Another wonderful green juice. My goal was to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet and all the wonderful nutrients that go along with them. My body needs and craves dark green leafy vegetables. Therefore, I make a dark green leafy juice at least five days out of seven. Two days a week I take a break and make one of the other juices for variety and fun.
1/4 head Cabbage
3 Celery stalks
1 Cucumber (med to lg)
1 C Spinach
2 Green Apples
1/2 inch Ginger piece
Once again, I LOVE spice so I use more ginger. Ginger is a great liver cleanser as are dark green leafy’s so use what tastes good to you and enjoy.
(Low sugar and gluten-free cranberry cookie recipe at the bottom of the page)
A few days ago I wrote a blog called ‘Just Like Sugar®’ Chocolate Chip Cookies. I do not eat chocolate or sugar so even though I made them and ate them, I had made them for the kids with the chocolate. I decided I wanted a cookie that I can eat for real. I’m experimenting with a new product that a client of mine brought to me, Just Like Sugar®. Read the first blog to find out about ‘Just Like Sugar®’ for yourself and another blog in the comment section that has written about as well and tells a bit about how the company discovered and created the product.
To make a long story short, the cranberry cookies are just as delicious as the chocolate chip cookies especially if you cannot have chocolate or sugar but you can have cranberries. Bottom line, I’d use it to bake over and over again. Sawyer, my nine-year old son even liked them better than the chocolate chip cookies and he LOVES sugar of any kind.
Aftertaste
I did not taste an aftertaste like many commenters on Amazon and other blogs talk about with the baked cookies. However, when I tested the batter before baking I did taste a bit of an after taste AND when I used it in my tea as well. It was not distasteful to me but I can see how some people said it had an after taste. The baking somehow takes care of that from what I experienced.
For more information about Just Like Sugar® please go to my first blog
Reiki your recipes
Reiki or pray over anything that you take into your body for a healthier outcome. Blog coming soon on ‘Reiki your food’ !
Before baking with Just Like Sugar® I muscle tested myself and my assistant as I had the client who brought it in to me in the first place, to see if our bodies “liked” the product. We all tested positive for the Just Like Sugar® product. We had the green light to go ahead with out baking experiment. We also did Reiki over the batter before baking the cookies to assure the best energy and nutrition possible. Reiki your food!!
Delicious!!
Cranberry nut cookies
Totally non-biased kid ratings
Sawyer (Age 9) and my baking assistant, said “These are even better than the other ones. I like the cranberries even better than the chocolate chips!” He rated the cookies a 10 out of 10!
Success!
The second experiment was a success as well. We LOVE the cranberry macadamia nut cookies and we will bake them again.
Yield: approximately 20 cookies. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla then beat together. Add Pamela’s Mix, chocolate chips and nuts, then mix thoroughly. Place scoops of dough (1 TBSP scoop) on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. Eat and enjoy!
.
Sawyer loves to help me in the kitchen, sometimes.
(I changed some things just because that is what I do. Play with it and have fun!)
1/2 cup butter (this would be a good one to play with. My kids said it was too much butter and they LOVE butter. Any suggestions?)
7/8 cup Just Like Sugar (next time I’ll buy and try the brown sugar version)
1-1/2 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
1 cup cranberries dried
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
2 med eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Yield: 20 cookies for us.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla then beat together. Add Pamela’s Mix, chocolate chips and nuts, then mix thoroughly. Place scoops of dough (1 TBSP scoop) on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. Eat and enjoy! 1 hour to make and bake cookies, 1 hour to write the blog.
Cranberry nut cookies
Loving comments greatly appreciated!! Try the recipes and come back here and tell us what YOU think!
(Low sugar and gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe and kid approved ratings at the bottom of the blog)
The ONLY sugar in these is in the chocolate chips! Find out HOW. Read on……
Note: This blog write up is not paid for by any companies. This is my choice to bake and rate these products, a totally non-biased, non- paid opinion. If either of these companies would like to pay me for a testimonial please, I’d be happy to oblige, feel free to contact me via my email! Although, it looks like I have already done it here for free. Oh well, Never mind.
SUMMER IS HERE!!
Summer is here, my boys are out of school and I am a mom FULL time again! The blogs may change a bit because my blog is simply a mirror of my life and what’s going on in that moment.
Baking Fun!
Sawyer is an early riser so we have some time together to do projects in the summer without big brother around. Not the government big brother, HIS big brother. “Hmmm, I wonder if these will taste good?”
Yes, summer is here but in the Pacific North West it is still in the high 50’s and low 60’s with gray. So, excellent time to bake!! I love to bake and I love experimenting with new recipes. I change the recipes a lot since I do not eat any sugar, gluten or soy in my daily diet and have to change most recipes to suit my body’s desires. I have not had a desert for over a year and a half. I have gotten used to this and am happy 99% of the time having fruit in place of desert. However, now and then, it would be nice to have a cookie or some other yummy desert. So, I’m experimenting with a new product that a client of mine brought to me, Just Like Sugar®.
Just Like Sugar®
Just Like Sugar ingredients
On the package for Just Like Sugar® it says, all natural, gluten-free, zero carbs, zero calories, diabetic and celiac safe, no soy, no yeast, no animal derivatives, no “MSG”, no L-Glutamic Acid, no D-Glutamine Acid, no Aspartic Acid, no preservatives or dairy. It is not organic but you can take care of that with Reiki. (A blog coming on that topic soon! Reiki your food!)
Just Like Sugar’s® ingredients are chicory root dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin C, natural flavors from the peel of the orange and that is it!
Just Like Sugar® costs more and you need to use more than sugar because it is not nearly as sweet. But is still very good and for people like me who have changed their taste buds by not eating any sugar, it is plenty sweet! I bought a 16 oz bag of Just Like Sugar from Amazon for about $14 with free shipping. The recipe below used almost one cup of the product.
Sugar cane to Just Like Sugar®conversion chart
Sugar to Just Like Sugar®
1 t = 1 -3/4 t
1T = 1 -3/4 T
1/8 C = 1/4 C
1/4 C = 7/16 C
1/2 C = 7/8 C
2/3 C = 1 -1/4 C
1 C = 1 -3/4 C
Gluten Free
Our favorite gluten-free baking mix!
I am not celiac but I am gluten-free because my body prefers that. Therefore, my recipe also uses a gluten-free flour by my favorite brand, Pamela’s Products. I used the basic recipe for chocolate chip cookies off of the bag of Pamela’s Products Baking & Pancake Mix and then tweaked it a bit. I bought it at Amazon for $44.61 for 3, 4 pound bags with free shipping. We use this for all baking, pancakes and waffles mostly. YUM!
The ingredients for Pamela’s baking mix are: Brown rice flour; White rice flour; cultured buttermilk; natural almond meal; tapioca starch; sweet rice flour; potato starch; grain-less & aluminum-free baking powder; baking soda; sea salt and Xanthan gum.
Alterations to the recipe
I did not change out the chocolate chips, even though they have sugar, because my kids love them and since they are so incredibly deprived of eating “normal” kid food (LOL) I kept them in for this recipe. I also wanted to keep the recipe as much to the original recipe the first time and then alter it more from there. In the future, I will use something else that I can eat to replace the chocolate, like cranberries or raisins.
Reiki your recipes
Reiki or pray over anything that you take into your body for a healthier outcome. Blog coming soon on ‘Reiki your food’ !
Before baking with Just Like Sugar® I muscle tested myself and my assistant as I had the client who brought it in to me in the first place, to see if our bodies “liked” the product. We all tested positive for the Just Like Sugar® product. We had the green light to go ahead with out baking experiment. We also did Reiki over the batter before baking the cookies to assure the best energy and nutrition possible. Reiki your food!!
Delicious!!
For this first time using Just Like Sugar®, I really just wanted to know if it tasted good or not and would I use it again. IT DOES!! The cookies are DELICIOUS and I would totally bake with it again. Here are the results from my very picky kids and neighbor kids.
Totally non-biased kid ratings
Note: None of the kids tried the cookies at the same time as the other kids. I did not want anyone else influencing their words and ratings.
Sawyer (Age 9) and my baking assistant, said “Mmmmmmm, Delicioso!” and many other great adjectives that I can’t remember but went on the entire time he was eating his cookies. He rated the cookies a 9 out of 10!
Robby (age 11 1/2) said “Delicious” and rated it a 7 out of 10 because it tasted really good but was more flaky then he likes.
Neighbor Tim (11 1/2) rated the cookies a 7 out of 10 and said they were very good!
Neighbor Josiah (8 1/2) said “scrumptious!” and rated the cookies a 9 to 10 out of 10!
Adult Josslyn who has lived without desserts for a year and a half, 10 out of 10!
Success!
Mmmmmmmm, delicioso!!
The experiment was a SUCCESS!! I will most definitely bake with Just Like Sugar® again with my other favorite recipes and share them with you! A lot of people on Amazon and other websites talked about an after taste. With the cookies I did not taste any lingering after taste.
Yield: approximately 20 cookies. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla then beat together. Add Pamela’s Mix, chocolate chips and nuts, then mix thoroughly. Place scoops of dough (1 TBSP scoop) on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. Eat and enjoy!
.
Sawyer loves to help me in the kitchen, sometimes.
(I changed some things just because that is what I do. Play with it and have fun!)
1/2 cup butter (this would be a good one to play with. My kids said it was too much butter and they LOVE butter. Any suggestions?)
7/8 cup Just Like Sugar® (next time I’ll buy and try the brown sugar version)
2 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
1 cup mini chocolate chips (We lowered the amount of chocolate chips, but Sawyer and I agreed this is even too much. I’ll lower it even more next time)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (Thank you Nana for sending these up from CA! LOVE macadamia nuts and they are sooooo good in cookies!)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Yield: 23 cookies for us.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla then beat together. Add Pamela’s Mix, chocolate chips and nuts, then mix thoroughly. Place scoops of dough (1 TBSP scoop) on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet. Eat and enjoy! 1 hour to make and bake cookies, 4 hours to write the blog.
Loving comments greatly appreciated!! Try the recipes and come back here and tell us what YOU think!
Josslyn Streett
Rain Shadow Reiki
rainshadowreiki@gmail.com or 360-460-7829
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In Love and Light of the Divine, Welcome to my website/blog where I share ideas on how to live a more spiritual life using Reiki and other spiritual tools and techniques. I help private clients like you break through blockages keeping them from moving forward on their spiritual path.
