Continue for: our super simple chocolate sauce recipe (3 ingredients, no refined sugar); the nutritional benefits of dark chocolate; tips for relieving stress; some helpful hints on how to transition to plant-based feasting; another really helpful/illuminating podcast (a Grandfather who’s working through his first month of transitioning plant-based <—ie really helpful for you souls who are just starting out); how Ian reminds me of the nutritional guide in that interview because he’s been sparking up the health of many of his coworkers; plus 3 whole days of examples of what this plant-based (MOSTLY) whole-food :-) family is feasting on & and the heart-fluttering ways we keep active via Lifestyle Medicine guidelines (<— dance breaks with my cub all day, every day).

Continue for: a metaphor for the robbery of our future; our Cappello Cornbread Recipe (plant-based, whole-food, gluten-free); the nutritional wonders found within; a perfect day at my childhood beach with souls that fill my heart to bursting; plus 3 whole days of what this family feasts on while we’re living our healthiest lives via plant-based diets and Lifestyle Medicine pillars.

Continue for: our super simple chocolate mint nice cream recipe; the environmental and nutritional reasons you want to steer clear of cow breastmilk (<— and this is coming from someone who only stopped those book reports because I started slinging scoops of frozen custard as my first job… <—and chose that profession so I could gorge myself at a discount); a whole family working on Dr Dean Ornish Lifestyle Medicine principles (including our 5 year old); plus three full days of examples of what we’re eating: the healthiest, cheapest, kindest diet there is.

Continue for: our Cappello Chili Recipe; the many benefits of beans; Q’s first foray into political commentary (and subsequent discussions on how to redirect that anger); and three full days of this family thriving off the kindest/cheapest/healthiest diet there is.

Continue for: Quill’s favorite Super Simple Sesame Dressing (<—plant-based, but we do this in moderation because it is not a whole-food); studies that point to the nutritional benefits of sesame oil; a podcast interview with yet another Pediatrician explaining why and how you should shift your children away from animal products (just like us, she started out as your Standard American carnivore and then learned better through science); Dr. Joanne Kong illuminating that The American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, The Mayo Clinic, Harvard School of Public Health, and the National Institute of Health are also urging you toward a Plant-Based diet; a podcast with a Nutritionist illuminating how to raise healthy children with PBWFs; and 2 full days of what this family is eating (<—the cheapest, kindest, healthiest diet there is.)

Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, GROW FORWARD. If not for yourself, then do it for YOUR CHILDREN.

Continue for: our favorite PLANT-BASED WHOLE-FOOD way to start the day (<—remember, “Saving The Planet Begins At Breakfast”, this Sweet Cinnamon Oatmeal is a delicious way to move forward, and it's an Overnight recipe so you don't even need to cook it!), why I’ll be spending 4th of July at home and avoiding a family cookout of disease and environmental harm (additionally: why I will no longer meet with folks and the fresh souls they’ve brought into this world if those parents are still selfishly doubling down on a diet that is ruining that soul’s future. My heart can’t bear it and my brain can’t reconcile the negligence), plus 2 full days of a family living-by-example and showing y’all how you can eat joyfully, healthfully, kindly, cheaply on Plant-Based Whole-Foods.

Continue for: how charring meat causes carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (MMMmmm, Cancerous grilling!), how consuming animal products causes bacteria in your gut to create hydrogen sulfide (<—associated with colitis) and secondary bile salts (<—associated with the following cancers: colon, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, liver, pancreas, and biliary tract…and that’s on top of the diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all the other diseases I’ve mentioned many times, and on top of the irreversible damage those products are doing to our environment, BUT IT TASTES GOOD, RIGHT?!); plus two full days of a family feasting and living-by-example with plant-based whole-foods (cheapest, healthiest, most environmentally friendly diet of them all.)

Continue for: how to make our “Holy Moly!” Sauce (Q’s response at first taste: “HOLY MOLY! This tastes like guacamole! I want this on ALL my meals from now on!!!”) including its health benefit line-up; even more planetary imperatives (The Arctic hit 100.4 this week); and 2 full days of this family living-by-example and eating the cheapest diet, the most environmentally sustainable diet, the HEALTHIEST DIET: Plant-Based Whole-Foods.

Continue for: Plant-Based Whole-Food “Loaded Potato” Soup, even more planetary imperatives (fresh and forward-shaking podcast), and 2 full days of a family thriving on Plant-Based foods and Lifestyle Medicine pillars.

Continue for: our basic polenta recipe, some pages from last night’s reading about how the food you eat affects your hormones (there’s a whole paragraph on endometriosis and PCOS, and I’ve added some links), and a full day of Plant-Based Whole-Food Feasting and a family living-by-example on how to be kind to the earth and kind to your body.

Continue for: our super easy Lentil Loaf recipe (plus added info on the nutritional bounds lentils have over cow carcass, budget comparisons, and environmental imperatives), how an animal-product-dense diet leads to Diabetes and how Diabetes increases cancer risk, and a full day of Plant-Based Whole-Food family feasting and thriving via Lifestyle Medicine pillars.

Continue for: how to meal-prep a whole bunch of sweet potatoes to fuel you through a week, a full day of Plant-Based Whole-Food Family feasting, and a family living by example so we can show our son how to nutritionally thrive while leaving the kindest footprint on this earth.

Continue for: how we make Plant-Based Whole-Food Pesto, pages from gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz’s book describing how our immune system is affected by what we eat (<—another world-renowned/award-winning doctor who promotes PBWFs), and a full day of PBWF Family feasting.

If you’re looking for a healthy, cheap, super-easy, delicious option to throw into your plant-based whole-food lineup, continue for: our balsamic tomato recipe; plus continued current-events & racial discussions with a Pre-K Cub, and a family leading-by-example and thriving via Lifestyle Medicine pillars & Plant-Based Whole-Foods (earth-kind, body-kind, and cheapest of all the diets.)

Who here thinks you need the breastmilk of a cow to give you calcium? I sure did; and I loved cheese and ice cream so much I ate my weight in them several times over.

There are a feast of plant-based calcium sources that are as kind as they are healthy (cashews are one of those sources); and here are the simple directions to make a cashew cream.

If you’re used to filling your day munching on junkfood, and you’re compelled to to start on a healthier path, start by swapping out your go-to inflammatory baked-good with a healthier option.

These brownies and bursting with fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and they taste like a fudgy oreo.

Want to avoid taking a sleeve of medications? Want to reverse diseases holding you and your kin back from your healthiest/strongest/kindest lives? Truly listen/read the doctor-lead resources I post, and have your mind opened to the reality that what you eat either heals you or harms us all.

The inspiration for this recipe actually comes from the first vegan that ever entered my realm. Chris had a radio show just before mine on our college radio station. We were “friends” from the start, but I was a complete jackass for the first year, because veganism was so counter opposite to my culture that my response was to be passive aggressively offended by his compassionate choice.

One night, Chris came to one of our boardgame-potlucks and whipped up a dish by mixing a can of vegetarian refried beans, a can of Rotel, cilantro, and lemon juice. It was simple, delicious, and swiftly convinced me I didn’t need to be buying the lard-filled bean can version ever again.

We’ve been making something akin to the Chris recipe for years now; and what follows is our bare-bones version, because I err on the side of simple-spinal-columns for posted recipes, and hope y’all will throw in whatever you want to make it your own (that’s what we do over here. Every batch is different, but the framework is the same).

We and our kin should mainly be drinking water. If you find yourself wanting to drink something sweet: make sure it is full of fiber, not empty/harmful calories. You want to be consuming something that will fill you with power and vitality, not lead you down a path of chronic disease and inflammation.

Want to dip your toe onto a new path of health and environmental kindness? Start with a simple smoothie. :-)

The cruelty of factory farming animals, and the impact of livestock on land, water, emissions, and other species is well understood as fact. Sadly, it seems those facts are easy to ignore (because if you’re still eating this stuff, you’re basically stating —like I once did— that taste is more important than any of the before-mentioned impacts); my wonder is whether knowing what animal products are doing inside of your body may shake you into wakefulness, or —most importantly— whether this knowledge will make you internalize how they are harming the souls in your care. That was precisely what compelled me to get my husband and son on board. Saving myself by sitting back in silence was selfish: saving my son and soulmate was imperative, hollering out to the rest of you is a compulsion in empathy and purpose.

After years of couch sitting and feasting on harmful foods, I’m now spending my free-time digging into new research and explanations of how our diet is affecting us all; and I’ll keep siphoning off time to relay this information to anyone who wants their mind opened and health bettered. Below you will find some purpose-driven mind-rattlers, but we’ll start with the most important.