THANKFUL FOR A MEAL THAT HEALS ON THANKSGIVING DAY

Ancestral Thanksgiving day meals were always full of healing ingredients, greens that aided in cleaning the blood, sweet potatoes were not meant to be covered in marshmallow.  Here is exactly what we will be eating in my house this Thanksgiving – give one of these recipes a try and KNOW that you adding something to your families table that heals.

If you’d like to listen to a radio interview with me discussing this recipe click here and give it a go!  http://southwestblend.com/Ultimate-Living/MMcCormick11-12-2010.mp3

Happy Thanksgiving y’all!

Apple Kuzu Drink
Collards
Ginger Garlic Lamb
Sweet Potato Soufflé
Ginger Butternut Soup
Apple Kuzu Soothy Pie

Apple Kuzu Drink
A hot cocoa replacement, my girls LOVE this drink and so do I! The combination of apples and kuzu calms the nervous system and the intestines. Known to calm hyperactive children, this is a must for all mamas and papas! This apple kuzu drink is also known to fight fevers in little people as well as adults. If my girls start to come down with something, I serve this little drink up!

Whatcha’ Need:
1 c. organic unstrained apple juice
1 tbsp. diluted Kuzu in cold water

Preparation:
Bring apple juice just about to a boil then pour in diluted Kuzu – stirring constantly to avoid lumps.  Serve in tiny little coffee or teacups – careful because it’s HOT!

Collards
Seriously old school Ancestral!

Once again I’ve got rules fo’ my GREENS:

1. Cook a HUGE bunch since they cook down big time and then you’ll have leftovers for the next day!
2. Wash ‘em well.
3. Chop ‘em up, stems and all.
4. Heat a big pan, add 2 tbsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp. of salt and chopped up garlic – I like a LOT of garlic so I hook ‘em up! Four cloves at least.
5. Add in your greens and salt towards the end.
6. Add a few Tbsp. of water to steam down the greens, then add more greens as the first bunch cooks down.

If you are suffering from digestive distress, cook your greens way down!  If you do not have digestive stress cook ‘em down any old way ‘cause greens are the one veggie that delivers more nutrition the longer they are cooked!

What to do with left over greens? Throw them into tomato sauce or tomato free sauce or add them to miso soup!

Ginger Garlic Lamb
Until it was recommended to eat this lovely little creature, I had never tried it before. Now I know that it is actually easy to digest! As long as it is prepared well and not greasy, my body does well!  Plus, the sweet potatoes mixed with this ginger garlic lamb are banging!

Whatcha’ Need:
1 leg of lamb
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of black pepper
1 onion sliced in half moons
1 celery stalk cut into large pieces
4 carrots cut into large long pieces
4 washed and unpeeled sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. crushed ginger
1 Tbsp. turmeric
2 Tbsp. Tamari or Shoyu soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Mirin
¼ c. water

Preparation:
1. Toss all of your spices and flavorings (soy sauce and mirin) into the mini food processer – blend it into a paste-like rub, and cover the leg of lamb, rubbing it all over.
2. Pour the water into the bottom of the roasting pan, place the leg of lamb in the water, surround the lamb with all the veggies and cover.
3. Roast in the oven at 325 degrees for 6 hours, adding more water if needed.

Sweet Potato Soufflé
I love pumpkin pie but last fall I wasn’t able to digest wheat and lately I’ve been careful of the amount sugar and wheat I put into my kids bodies. Instead, I came up with this recipe. It’s the perfect way to get my girls down with the sweet potato!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whatcha’ Need:
4 medium sweet potatoes
¼ c. coconut milk
¼ c. shredded UN sweetened coconut
2 eggs
1 tbsp. brown rice syrup

Preparation:
Scrub sweet potatoes and slice each one into 3 large pieces. Leaving the skin on them, place in a steamer on the stove.  It usually takes about 15 minutes until they are totally soft.  Check by poking with a fork. While the sweet potatoes are steaming, whip up the eggs in a large mixing bowl and add in your coconut milk. Peel your sweet potatoes using your fingers, this is easy peasy!

Lola likes to add the sweet potatoes and mash them in with the other ingredients.  I love my “wand” mixer with its easy handle for her little hands!

Once every thing is mixed, rub a small glass casserole dish with coconut oil before adding the soufflé! Lastly we cover the top with more shredded coconut and bake for 20 minutes!

Everyone loves this! We serve it as a dessert or along side a white fish dipped in cornmeal & cooked in coconut oil with a side of garlic collard greens!

Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
My only memory of butternut squash wasn’t such a good one.  I was invited to a neighbor’s house for dinner when I was 5 years old and the lady of the house served hamburgers without a bun and a scoop of cottage cheese along with a side of blended up butternut squash.  Later that night, I threw up. To this day I am not sure if it was the bland food or the cold family dynamic of that household but I avoided Butternut Squash for the rest of my life – until this past year.  It’s funny how a food memory gets embedded in your brain. I had to find a way to create a new relationship with my squash!  In Los Angeles, one of my favorite coffee shops and teahouse served an amazing carrot soup. I had an idea of the ingredients and made this bangin’ soup happen! Now I’m so psyched to share it with you all – I PROMISE you’re gonna LOVE it. The flavors are perfectly complimentary: sweet and mild heat mixed with yum! Roots and squashes take 15 – 25 minutes depending on how thickly you slice them.

Whatcha’ Need:
1 Butternut squash peeled and cut into medium sized pieces
3 medium carrots – cut into medium pieces the smaller the faster they cook.
1 medium apple peeled and cored
1 small onion cut into medium half moon slices
1 small piece of ginger – chopped or more depending how much heat you like!
1 tsp. of grated tumeric – I use fresh but you can use powdered if that’s all that is available to you.
3 cloves of garlic chopped large
1 tbsp. Tamari/Shoyu
1 large tbsp. of sweet white miso
5 c. water
1 c. left over brown rice

Method:
Put everything except the miso into the pot. Cover with lid.

Cook on medium low for about 20 minutes, long enough for everything to cook down.  If it looks dry, add more water. I usually pull out some of the liquid broth to dilute my miso. Make sure to turn the heat down before adding the diluted miso. After everything is blended, whip out your electric wand and blend this baby – if you don’t have a wand use your blender.

Apple Soothy Kuzu Pie
This is so yummy I can’t believe it’s so good for me – the combination of apples and kuzu are a natural calmer! I like making this pie in the wintertime, it’s a great cold weather treat and easy to serve up for guests!

Whatcha’ Need:
4 apples
¼ c. raisins
½ tsp. minced lemon peel
1 c. water and apple juice (vary mixture to your taste)
1 heaping T. Kuzu
2 c. water or juice
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground flax seeds
1 tsp. Ghee

Method
Peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a saucepan with raisins, cinnamon or lemon peel, and water and Ghee. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until apples are tender. Dissolve Kuzu in cold water, add and stir until thick. For a cobbler taste and crunch I top with my ground flax!