Day 650, Recipes for Lunch

 

“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isaiah 58:11).

 

 

I am working on a new way to create menu plans.  Hopefully, I will also result in having more recipes to share.  Additionally, I want to commit to better eating, as that is what I am all about.  Joyful Vibrance LLC is about that too.

 

My menu plan, so far, looks like this.  I am linking recipes and photos to the meals.  However, you will not be able to follow these links because they cannot access my private files.

 

June 2020
	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1.	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner
2.	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner {5	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner
3.	Breakfast Lunch {1 Repast {4 Dinner {3	Breakfast Lunch {5 Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner
4.	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner
5.	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner
6.	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner	Breakfast Lunch Repast Dinner

 

 

I have been rating the recipes.  If a meal plan gets a 5-star rating, it is ready for my cookbook.  Otherwise, you probably do not even want to try it.  A 4-star rating means that with a little bit of work, the recipe will be ready for my cookbook.

 

Speaking of cookbooks, I have a 2012 cookbook on Amazon.   I may do another one; I will have to see how this project goes.

 

 

For lunch today, I had something a little more tried-and-true.  Below is the recipe, including the nutritional information, which is quite astounding.  I have not found a recipe with a more complete nutrient profile than this drink.  As the supplements do not interfere with the flavor at all, you can add them or not.

 

If you are interested in my earlier work with green drinks, you can download Joyful Vibrance:  Transform Your Body Image, Energy, and Mood!

 

V8 is not organic, but if you want an organic drink like it, you can probably find one in your local area.  V8 tastes good and is not that expensive, so I use it.  If you have a lot of energy (and you might, once you start using green drinks,) you can make your own V8 with a Vitamix.  You will also want to use organic spinach, as spinach is one of the Dirty Dozen.  I always use organic spinach.  Of course, you are not limited to spinach, either.  Try this recipe with any leafy green.  If you cannot buy organic vegetables, use non-organic.  It is better to use non-organic veggies than not to use veggies at all.  At least that is what Joshua Rosenthal, our chief educator at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, taught us.

 

 

 

 

Last Tuesday’s recipe has a photo, which I shared on my blog.

 

 

Here is the recipe for it.  Note:  there are two small servings in this recipe.

 

 

 

 

So far, since doing this project, I have only created two recipes that get five stars.  However, I hope to make many more 5-star recipes.  When I wrote my 2102 cookbook, I created new recipes often.  After I published the cookbook, I attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and learned a lot more about nutrition.  Still, perhaps it made me too restrictive.  You may realize that when you create a recipe, you sometimes make compromises.  You may compromise nutrition for taste or variety for economy.  Hopefully, I can rethink those values and come up with DelectaBalance food–food that is delectable as well as nutritionally balanced.

 

I will let you know more about the recipes project.  This afternoon, my appetite kicked up, and I started eating off my plan, so I may not make everything I intended until later.  That is okay.  I want to stay flexible.

 

 

EVENING PRAYER

Dear Lord,   It is such a blessing to be writing this–when I am not too high–not too low.  At least, it feels like I am in the middle.  That does not usually happen for a very long time.  I am generally up and down like a roller coaster.  This is my eighth blog entry since returning home from Santa Fe House.  I pray my readers will read all eight posts because they are hopeful and positive.   Lord, bless my husband.  He is so peaceful, for which I am very grateful.  He has provided amply for me, something I have never experienced before.  I believe he is struggling, but he does not let on.  Help me to read him.   The Fourth of July is coming up.  My neighbor would like to take me to an outdoor, neighborhood program.  However, it looks like they will not have it this year because of COVID-19.  Lately, I have not thought about the pandemic as much as I did before Santa Fe House.  I take my mask when I go out, however, and often even wear it.  Life would be so pleasant if the epidemic was over.   Things seem normal again, though, because we can get groceries within two hours and buy toilet paper.  There are very few, if any, items we need that we cannot obtain.  However, my step-son still visits us from the patio.  His daughters came over too and hugged my husband with their little masks on.   Life is okay, though, because I am not depressed.  The pandemic is not over, yet I am not down.  I pray that if any of my readers are suffering depression or anxiety to not give up hope.  I thought I had tried everything.  Tricyclics are not for everyone.  I tried one of them decades ago, and it threw me into a rage.  I was afraid to try another.  Surprisingly, Imipramine works for me!  I debated over whether to take l-tryptophan too.  I decided to do so and dropped the SAMe.   Only time will tell how long that is going to hold.  I take pharmaceutical grade fish oil too, three or four capsules daily with 600 mg of omega-3 fatty acids each.  According to Dr. Andrew Stoll, fish oil will make other bipolar meds work better and longer.   I work hard at getting a complete supply of nutrients every day, as much from food as possible, though I do believe in using a few supplements.  I love Cronometer and recommend it to anyone serious about their health, especially if they struggle with their mental health.   Balancing zinc and copper is crucial for sound emotional health, and Cronometer is a handy tool for ensuring that balance.  A vegan or mostly vegan diet will most likely require a zinc supplement to reach the ideal ratio.  Too much copper is one cause of mental health symptoms.   Lord, thank you so much for bringing me this far.  Let me grow in wisdom and walk in the right paths with you.  Isaiah says, “The LORD will guide you always” (Isaiah 58:11).  I believe there are conditions on this promise, such as caring for the poor.  Fasting is also mentioned in Isaiah 58.   Let each of my fasts be guided by you.  What shall I name my fast tonight?  I think I will call it Peace Fast.  Tonight, I feel peace.   Bless me in my quest to eat better and have recipes to share.  When I master that, the real me will come out.  Bless my readers that they will return to my blog, over and over, and help me give them something worth their time.  Give my readers vibrant joy–the real thing–not some drug or sensual fix.  That is not what I mean by vibrant joy at all.  I am talking about having a meaningful life, of giving service, of being a linchpin to those we serve.  (See my Core Code.)   Amen.

 

If you would like to join me on this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One.  If you wish to download a FREE copy of my ebook (with no need to enter your name or email), click on the book below.