My Garden Update...Nothing But Pictures..

Dill Flowering

Watermelon doubled in size..

My Garden Update_Vegetables and Fruit Seedlings

A gardens' best friend...

Lemon Seedling

Lemon Seedlings

African Marigolds

Sweet Peppers.

Moon & Stars Watermelon

~My Walking Views in the Morning~

 Nice and Steep.

Who needs a membership to some gym... when you have the great outdoors..

To get the results I want, I work out twice a day everyday.

And yep my second work out is at the gym..:)

At the top of this steep hill in my house (the Majestic)

Tangy Sweet Tangerine Juicing Recipe ~For Family of 5~ Black Folks Eating Right

I have always enjoyed tangerines, but I have never juiced them until recently and wanted to share a juice recipe that I have been experimenting with.

This recipe will make about a gallon of juice.

10 Tangerines

12 Golden Delicious Apples

2 Leafs of Kale

1 Raw Beet (with leafs)

1 Pineapple

1 Grapefruit (hence the tangy)

Handful of Fresh Spinach

This juice recipe is delicious and one of my favorites to date. 

The tangerines with the pineapples really makes this juice sweet.

Pineapples are great at masking the kale and beets.

I used a Omega Juicer 8006 Chrome

Health Benefits of Tangerines

The originals of Tangerines

Sea~of~Green Salad: Black Folks Eating Right~A Plant Based Diet

      Mingz Sea of Green Salad

I love salads, and one of my favorite salads to make, is my “sea of green” mixed salad…

I used to purchase the bag salads until I realized that making my own is so much better. I used a combination of 3 green lettuce (no iceberg), Kale, and fresh spinach, along with carrots. 

I love  Red Wine Vinaigrette (full of high fructose corn syrup) but it is so delicious.

With this beautiful salad and not pictured, I baked a fresh pink salmon seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning and Sweet Onions

..DELISH…

Frozen Fish bake for an hour on 320

Fresh bake for 30-40 mins on 350

topped with sweet onion

and covered with Old Bay Seasoning

Pineapple, Beets and Nectarine Juicing Recipe: Family of Five Black Folks Eating Right

If you are on a whole food plant based diet and you make your own juice, you are going to enjoy this recipe. I often use pineapples in my juice. 

Pineapples do a wonder job at masking the vegetables, and the grape fruit I use. 

Pineapples will also make your juice taste like you've added a ton of sugar and you only need ONE to do the job. 

No lie try it for yourself!

The recipe below calls for quite a bit of fruit, and all of my fruit I purchase from my local Farmer's Market.

Click here to find a Farmer's Market in your area.

The juicer that I use is the Omega Series…I love this juicer!

The benefits of Kale

The benefits of Raw Beets

How to choose the right Beet.

Recipe for family of 5

10 Navel Oranges

10 Nectarines

5 Granny Green Apple

5 Golden Delicious Apples

3 Bunches of Kale

1 Large Beet

1 Grape fruit

1 Pineapple

This makes approx. 1 gallon of juice

~A Healthy Munchy Snack~ Black Folks Eating Right

The munchies we all get them right??

Well at any rate, I found another low fat, snack that you can put into your kids lunch, next to your desk at work or for that midnight snack you crave. It satisfies that sweet, nutty craving we all seem to get every now and again.  

Here is a recipe that I modified to suit my taste buds…

try it and enjoy!!

What I used:

2 cups Uncooked, Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

1 cup of  Craisins 

1/2 cup toasted Coconut {sweetened or unsweetened}

1/3 cup roughly chopped {shelled} Pistachios

1/2 cup Honey

2 tablespoons Coconut Butter

1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract

1/4 teaspoon ground Cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1 pinch Sea Salt

DIRECTIONS:

To toast the coconut just preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Scatter the coconut onto a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden, stirring {and checking on it} often.

In a small bowl combine the honey, coconut butter, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon and a pinch of kosher salt. Stir and set off to the side.

In a large mixing bowl; combine the oats, craisins, pistachios, toasted coconut and  pour in the honey mixture. Stir to combine.

Spread the granola mixture onto the same pan you used for the coconut and bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes, rotating the pan 

 Stir and continue to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the granola is a deep golden color

. Let cool and store in an airtight container for a few weeks.

I often make a large batch and store...

GREAT FOR BREAKFAST TOO!

Mama Mingz Pizza Sauce~Black Folks Eating Right

My son loves pizza and that was the one foods he begged me to allow him to eat with a plant based diet.

Why not, 

I can find a low calorie recipe sauce for pizza I already have a bread maker that makes pizza dough. I am more than half way there.

And I did.

And he loves it. 

The sauce is pretty good, if I don't say so my self.

(say it in your best Italian accent)

"MAMA Mingz Pizza Sauce"

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 cup minced  Sweet White Onion

2 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press

2 tablespoons minced Sun-dried Tomatoes 
{ packed in olive oil}

2 teaspoons Dried Oregano

1-1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil

1/4 cup White Wine (like a Chardonnay)

1 {6 ounce} can of Tomato Paste

1 cup Water

2 pinches of Kosher Salt

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

 Heat a large {10 inch} skillet over moderate heat. Add in olive oil and when hot, add in the minced onion and garlic. Stir until soft.

Now add in the minced sun-dried tomatoes, dried oregano and basil and stir. The oil and the heat of the pan will soften up the dried herbs.

Pour in the 4 tablespoons of white wine and let that simmer until reduced by half.

Add in the entire can {6 ounces} of tomato paste and the cup of water. Switch over to a wire whisk and stir until combined. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes before seasoning with kosher salt and black pepper.

Pour in to a jar to cool and store in the fridge for a week, or use it tonight.

Raw Almond Milk Recipe-Plant Based Diet

One of the many changes I've eliminated in my family’s diet is the consumption of dairy products. I would either purchase Rice Milk or Almond Milk, now I currently make my own Almond milk and it’s  easy and very good. 

You can purchase raw Almonds on line or your local Whole Foods Store.

You will need:

Raw Almonds

A blender

A cheese cloth, muslin cloth or, Strainer

Fresh Ground Cinnamon or Vanilla Extract

Water

MAKES about 2+ cups MILK

1-2 cups whole raw almonds and clean water to soak the almonds* preferable overnight, but for at least 12-14 hours

2-3* cups water

Soak your almonds for 14 hours at room temperature in a large mixing bowl with clean water.

Drain and rinse your almonds.

In a blender, blend the almonds with 1 cup of water until smooth

Then add your ground cinnamon or vanilla to taste

 I use 1 Table spoon of Vanilla Extract

…blend on high for about 1 minute.

Add the second cup of water and blend for 2 minutes on high.

 At this point it is up to you whether you would like your milk thin, the consistency of 2% milk or not therefore slowly add more water and blend for  another 2 minutes on high

Strain this mixture in a fine metal mesh, strainer or cheese cloth strainer and

 reserve the pulp for other recipes…(coming soon)

Refrigerate your milk in a sealed glass container for up to 5 days.

*Soaking nuts such as almonds helps to reduce phytic acid - making it easier to digest and reducing symptoms of bloating and gas when consuming nuts/legumes/grains/beans