Organic Herb & Vegetable Garden at The Breakers

One of my FAVORITE parts of The Breakers was that they had an Organic Herb and Vegetable Garden on the grounds that they grew and maintained themselves.  They also used what they grew in their restaurants.

I had heard about their organic garden prior to our visit and I was super excited to check it out.

Dale and I took a stroll thru the gardens one morning and I took another walk thru them at least once.  I absolutely LOVED them. 

In this first photo you can see a huge cactus/aloe-type plant they potted.  It was mammothly large!  They had a lot of potted plants and numerous raised beds.

Here's a look at some of the raised beds.  We were free to walk in and take a look at any time, stop by touch/feel/smell the herbs - it was so neat!

They offered a weekly garden tour, too, but we weren't around while that was going on...I think we missed it by a day! 

Some of the chef's would come out in the mornings to pick what they wanted to use for the day!  Talk about 'from garden to plate', eh?

The decorative bricks that surrounded the raised beds were delightful, too!

But it wasn't just this area that featured what they grew...many of the fruits were along side the one golf course walkway!

But before I get to those photos I thought I would post another shot of the herb gardens.

I counted at least 5 different kinds of basil!  Now that is impressive!

There were a few other raised beds that they were prepping for the next item to plant/grow but almost everything was well into the growing stages!

Nearly everything was clearly marked, too!  Which was super helpful for someone like me who was interested in what they were growing!

I probably nerded-out a little bit but it was so fun!

Just past the herb section of their garden was a walkway that ran along side the one golf course.  Again you could see the decorative brick under  your feet and green at every glance!

I mentioned in an earlier post that the salamanders and lizards were NOT afraid of humans and popped out to surprise passer-byes often.

The same went for the local squirrels.  As you can see this one didn't take his eyes off of me as he was ready to climb this tree.

I wish I had been able to more of the local birds - we did see some in the sky - flying by - but not as many on land as I had hoped but then again we didn't got outside of The Breakers all that much in the few days we were there either.

While walking by several different varieties of fruit plants, trees, etc...we saw these CUTE pineapples! 

They also had an Avocado tree that was doing well and a Lychee that already had a permanent sign...among others!

There was one tree on the opposite golf course that I was unfamiliar with and am still wondering what it was.  I'm tempted to call The Breakers and ask them.  I don't think it was a Sugar Apple but then again I haven't seen a Sugar Apple up close and personal before.  I will try and post it here down the road in case anyone has any ideas on what it COULD be.  I was so excited I was able to see The Breakers Organic Gardens while we were there!

Raw Eats, Organic Fresh Pressed Juices, Salads, and More from West Palm Beach

Yes...I'm still trying to catch up with vacation pics!  Today I will have a photo heavy post about the food I enjoyed!  For the most part I enjoyed a lot of raw food...pretty impressive for being on vacation, eh!?

First off we have some organic fresh pressed juices!  This red one is called ZEN.  It had Red Beet, Red Apple, Fresh Ginger, and Lemon.  It was great!  It was part of my lunch that day along side a salad.  I had a LOT of salads and they were all great!  I also got a bunch of ideas for salad dressings, too!

For this GREEN Juice...it's called Garden Tea and it was made up of Parsley, Mint, Kale, and Pineapple.  It was WONDERFUL!!! 

I really enjoyed both juices!  There were about 3 or 4 other choices, too, but they were REALLY expensive.  They averaged between 13 and 15 dollars each.  I opted for those rather than the 'adult beverage' options. 

The colors of the juices were AMAZING!  And they were oh-so-tasty!

Here's one of my many salads.  It was one of the restaurants at The Breakers CHOP Salads. 

The dressing was a citrus balsamic...yummy, yummy, yummy!

As you can see it has greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.  ALL of the lettuces were so crispy and fresh.  I am pretty sure that all of the tomatoes they used in all of the restaurants there were heirlooms, too!

Don't you just LOVE hierlooms?

Each morning I started my day with various fruit and fruit juices.  In this case I had strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe.

The juice you see in this photo is fresh squeezed grapefruit juice!  It was terrific!  I need more grapefruit juice in my life...I have missed it a lot!

Other mornings I have various berries, melons, some pears, lots of citrus, etc.

Around mid to late afternoon I had a lot of veggies and some fruit too.  Here is a plate from one of those mini meals.  I had corn chips with a really great salsa, some guacamole, plus some raw squash, cucumbers, celery, and jicama.  I must have eaten my weight in jicama!!!  I think I had a slew of it each day!  YUM!

Other days I had various sweet peppers, carrots, zukes, beans, tomatoes, grapes, etc...

YUM!

And speaking of YUM...Mango Gazpacho!  Most of these photos are tidbits from our offerings at the Flagler Club Level.  The one girl specifically knew that I was vegan and I think she put in a good word for me so she pointed out this cold soup and I adored it!  I want to try and makes some VERY SOON so I will be sure to share those attempts with you! 

And I just LOVED these little shot glasses they put them in, too! 

This Mango Soup had, of course Mango, citrus, red pepper flakes, and some herbs!

Here's another salad I had and was great, too!  LARGE heirloom tomatoes, walnuts, pears, onions, cranberries, leafy greens, all with another citrus balsamic dressing but it was different from the one I mentioned above.  I think it had some kind of wild flower in it, too, the dressing not the actual salad...it was very unique!  I had another salad that was similar but it had marinated hearts of palm and pink beets!  I need more salads like this in my life, too!  VERY SOON I will be continuing on with some of these things!  I really enjoyed HIGH RAW during vacation and now that spring is here and the farmers markets are opening close to me again I hope to get back to it SOON!

One of my many mini goals during this vacation to The Breakers in West Palm Beach was to have coconut water straight from the coconut and you know what?  I did it!  Here is a pic of the one I got!  It was AWESOME!  And I pulled some of the coconut off and gnawed on it a bit, too!  SO GOOD!

Yeah...so...the coconut water IN the coconut was still $12!  Oye!

But it's not like I get REAL coconuts and fresh coconut water here in the snow belt so I was stoked to get it when I could!

The last full day we were there we decided to go to their Italian Restaurant and when I made the reservations they asked us if we had any special requests and I said 'Well, I'm looking for vegan options' and when we showed up our super nice waitress was WONDERFUL and said 'I know you are vegan let me tell you what we can do for you' and suggested the roasted brussels sprouts (with a bit of onion) in oil and they were done to perfection!

I also had a salad similar to the one with the pears and leafy greens above.  There was also a bruschetta, too!  YUMMO!

And FINALLY the last food photo I wanted to post was this dish!  It was listed on the menu as Vegan Porridge but I would just call it Vegan Lentil Chili.  It was excellent!  They topped it off with root veggies and a single apple crisp!

I could have eaten this dish every day I was there but the salads, fruits, and juices were DELISH, too! 

So...what do you think of some of the foods I consumed on vacation?  I think I did really good!  I certainly behaved myself and kept things interesting!

Rooftop & Container Progress

I've been wanting to post these photos for a while now but JUST got around to it today!  Sorry about that!  Thank  you for those who have been asking about our Rooftop Garden and Container Garden Projects!  Thanks for the continued encouragement, too!

In this first photo you will see 4 Brussels Sprout Plants in the orange buckets.  These 4 are doing really well. 

Next to that in the off white pail is one of the Dragons Tongue Plants.  These are doing really well too!  We've since brought another one of these plants outside but we have 3 others inside, too!  In the 2nd photo you can see what the Dragons Tongue Beans look like!  We absolutely LOVE them.  They are so unusual.  So fun!  So flavorful!

And we have a LARGE Broccoli Plant at the bottom that is MASSIVE.

We are eager to see the Broccoli Head start as well as eager to see the Brussels Sprouts start coming out of the side of the stalks.  I will surely keep you posted on that, too!

Mostly we have been gnawing on the beans - raw - to snack on throughout the day.  Some of our Little Marvel Peas are harvesting, too, and we've been snacking on them.  Most of the Little Marvels only have 1 or 2 peas in a pod.  This morning we found a few that were 'hiding' and the pod wilted but the pea inside was still fresh and tasty.

Our Basil has really taken off, too!  I had to grab some a week or two ago and it's really helped with the growth by keeping up with the plucking.

I ended up making some Walnut/Pinenut Pesto with the picked Basil.

In another week or so I will probably pick some more.

I just LOVE the aroma of the Sweet Basil and could just go out and breath in the scent and be happy!

Our Loose Leafy Greens are the WINNER so far.  With the little bit that we planted we have already harvested it about 6 times.

I harvested quite a bit yesterday and haven't used it yet so I might try and do a green smoothie with it tomorrow and/or maybe try and do a sauce or dressing with it, too!

A few select 'greens' on the spicy mix (on the left) flowered and was close to going to seed, I think.

The Spicy Mix sure is spicy so I might try and juice it, too!  Oh...the possibilities!

There are a few things that haven't going well for us - such as Onions and Carrots.  So far all of the onions we have tried haven't done anything.  We are trying one more carrot container in the meantime but so far no such luck with carrots either.

And check this out!  Our very first Pepper!  This will grow to be a Sweet Orange Pepper!  We have a few other varieties that are getting plentiful as well.  This is the most progressed one, tho! 

We've transplanted nearly everything at least once.  We were able to transplant a few things easier than some others - but - I guess - you will have that, eh!?

Most of our Contender Beans didn't make it but we were able to save TWO of them and we brought them back from the brink and they are flowering and budding right now. 

Sam can't wait for the Sunflowers to get big but I will say they are growing quickly!  And FINALLY we have a few heads of Rosalita Lettuce that we were able to bring back from the brink, too, but they still have a ways to go!

Beans, Grains, & Veggies Dish

This is one of the dishes I came up with last week!  I was looking to incorporate the Rice & Lentil Medley from Whole Foods Market I bought a while back along with some fresh and frozen veggies I had on hand.  After I was half way thru with making it I noticed I had a little less than a cups-worth of Black Beans that I needed to use SOON so I threw those in, too!  Basically - this was a "Throw-In What You Have" Dish.

I started off with a frozen Mushroom and Onion mix in with a little bit of Coconut Oil.  I then threw in some red and green peppers, some corn, fresh broccoli, and frozen Carrots.  I added the Black beans towards the end since they were technically 'left-overs'.  I really didn't add much else to this - other than the ingredients you see - with the exception of the very little bit of Coconut Oil.  It turned out really well.  The Rice and Lentil Medley had White and Brown Rice, Red and Green Lentils.

Faux Fried Rice

I was going to post about this rice yesterday but I figured with the lengthy progress on the Container and Rooftop Gardening I didn't want to push my luck!

So...today is another day and I have another post.

I also have another rice dish as you will see here!  I wanted to do something like Veggie Fried Rice but this isn't 'fried' per say.  It LOOKS like 'fried rice' so I think I will call it Faux Fried Rice.  Here is what I did and what's in it...

2 C Cooked Rice

2 T Minced Garlic, Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes Combo (or 1 T of each)

1/2 tea Onion Powder

1 C Mixed Veggies

2 T Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Soy Sauce)

1/4 tea Turmeric

As you can see the veggies I used were a mix of: Peas, Green Beans, Corn, Carrots.

This turned out wonderful and I can't wait to have it again!

Mixed Vegetable Curry & A Not-So-Awesome RAW Spinach Tomato Soup

Thursday Night I was preparing my lunch for the following day and decided Vegetable Curry sounded good.  I used Frozen Veggies PLUS an Onion as the main 'brunt' of it.  The Mixed Veggies were Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Peas, and Beans.  I added 4 small tomatoes to this, too!  I also added 1/2 tea of each of the following...Garlic Powder, Turmeric Powder, Cayenne, Cinnamon, Ginger Powder, and a little Jalapeno Powder because I didn't have Curry.  Towards the end I added about a tablespoon of shredded coconut and a teaspoon of Organic Sugar (Vegan) from Wholesome Sweeteners.  I added water as needed while cooking.  It turned out really good with some heat but also a tad of sweetness, too!  I'm still craving some Dal, tho, so I might be making some of that soon!

Earlier in the week I made this Raw Soup.  It's mostly made of Spinach, Tomato, and spices...but it needs some work!  It looks good but I wasn't completely excited about it.  I did have 1 bowl but I am certainly going to tweak it before posting.

I'm still trying to catch up from being away for a few days.  I think I'm almost there!  Might have one or two more smaller posts to post from last week.  PLUS...tomorrow starts a new week...with more kitchen adventures!

Get Your Freekuh On!

I bought some Freekeh a while back but didn't use it until Sunday while making a dish for my lunches this week.  This is the first time I have used it and I must say I enjoyed it and will certainly be using it again!  The brand I bough was Freekeh Foods.  The first flavor of theirs I tried to work with in this dish was their Rosemary Sage. 

If you aren't familiar with Freekeh it gets it's name from the process which means "to rub" in Arabic. Freekeh was created by accident nearly 2,000 years ago when a Middle Eastern village was attacked and their crop of young green wheat was set ablaze. Most folks would sulk over their misfortune, but the crafty villagers rubbed off the chaff, cooked it up.  Of course I LOVE reading about the origins of foods so I was happy to hear the history of this as well!  Freekeh is similar to Barley or brown/grain rices.  It has a chewier texture which I like a lot!

Freekeh has several nutritional attributes that are superior to those of comparable cereal foods. Some people consider it a superfood. It compares well to other healthy grains such as quinoa and farro. Freekeh has at least four times as much fiber as some other comparable grains, consisting mostly of insoluble fiber. It also has a low glycemic index so is suitable for managing diabetes.

In the dish you see above I used the following:

1 C Dry Freekeh Foods Rosemary Sage Flavor (when cooked I found it at least doubles, so Approx 2 C Cooked)

I cooked the Freekeh for 25 minutes.

I then added various amounts of the following - mostly frozen - Peas, Carrots, Red Peppers, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Green Beans, Asparagus, etc.

I think it turned out wonderfully!  I didn't even add any additional flavors to this!  The Rosemary Sage was just right.  If you wanted to you could probably add some soy sauce or some Aminos for you wanted it a bit salter.  

I can't help by think of the song by Missy Elliott "Get Your Freak On".  I've always liked her!  Her videos are very creative and she's more of a Tomboy than a Girlie-Girl.    Most of her songs aren't for younger audiences altho I really liked the cover of Car Wash she participated in for "Shark Tale" Soundtrack that was probably one of the more family friendly sounding songs she's done.

Vegan MoFo ~ Vegan Persillesauce (Parsley Sauce) ~ Denmark ~ This One's For You!

A special HELLO to my readers in Denmark today!  I saw a few of you lurking yesterday and I appreciate it!  So this veganized attempt is for you guys!

Parsley Sauce or Persillesauce is something I recently saw online that many people of Denmark use for MANY things.  I wanted to try it but minus the dairy!  Here you will see that I added it to Zucchini, Onion, Corn, Peas, and Carrots as a side dish. 

Here is what this sauce has in it...


1 T Earth Balance
2 T Soy Flour
Pinch Pink Himalayan Sea Salt & Black Peppercorns freshly ground
1 C Soy Milk

Just for kicks - I did half the batch of this as-is and tried the other half with a BRAND NEW Wildtree Product.  The Everything Spice Blend.  I'm just starting to use it but I already like it! 

I just sprinkled a little bit on and mixed it in!

Inspired by the ubiquitous “everything” bagel, this blend can now be applied to, well, everything! Use as a coating for fish, flavor pretzels, or mix it into butter to make a unique everything spice garlic bread!

It has Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Onion, Caraway Seeds, Garlic, and Salt in it and it's ORGANIC!

Raw Food & Mono Meals

 I took a few days off but I'm back and have LOTS to post about!!!  This is one of them!  Fresh Produce!  Raw Food!  Mono Meals!  Clean & Healthy eating and Snacking!  I also posted these on Instagram.  I'm working on adding additional tabs to my site, here, and will try and connect other places you can find me.  I've made some new friends on Instagram and have really enjoyed their posts.  I've also found out a lot of them have blogs so I will be linking up to them soon!  Let me know if you are on Instagram and I will FOLLOW you on there, as well.  As you can see I have Apples I bought this past weekend!  They are Organic Gala Apples.  My area is a little short on Organic foods so when I find them at a good price I try and buy them!  I found these at Aldi.  This post is also a little earlier for my Midweek Munchies Post but I really stocked up so I will have more to post on Wednesday - stay tuned for that too!

 I also found Avocados!  They tend to be expensive here so when I saw them for 68 cents at Aldi's I couldn't resist.  I just found out they will be even cheap on Wednesday so I hope to go back!  They should be 48 cents then!  Woot!  I bought two this past weekend and ate one already.  I usually try and buy at least half of them ripe and the other half not ripe so I have time on them.

 I also got some Blackberries!  Another thing I usually don't buy because of the price...but these were only 99 cents!  YAY!  I brought them with me today and might have them for my lunch today or breakfast tomorrow!  I'm thinking about using them in with Grapenuts & Coconut Milk!

 Mangoes!  LOVE Mangoes!  Another fruit that is pricey here but they had these crates of 6 at Sam's Club for about $6...I HAD to get them!  As you can see I already ate half of them.  I'm getting my husband into them, too!  But they have to be almost over-ripe for him to eat them!  We had 1 each and split the 3rd for a snack yesterday!  It was AWESOME!

And I got these little cuties at Aldi's too!  Mini Sweet Red Peppers!  I haven't eaten any of them yet but might try and do something with at least half of them tonight.  I am thinking at least half of them I might slice up and dip in hummus and/or Guacamole.

Now that we are Sam's Club members I hope to get more bulk fruits and veggies but the closest one is a good 40 minute drive from our house so it won't be consistent...but when we do I hope our trip is meaningful.  I'm also sprouting again which I will do another post about in the next few days!  Right now I am sprouting lentils!  So far - So Good - on the attempt!

Since it's just ME that eats this way in my house...it's EASY for me to do Mono Meals.  Much of what I have learned about Mono Meals came from Dan McDonald (AKA The Life Regenerator) and Dara Dubinet!  Both of which are on YouTube as well as many other Social Media Outlets.  I have Dara on Facebook and I'm super excited because Dan recently LIKED one of my photos on Instagram!  It was of my Lentil Sprouts!  Woot!

Participating In:
Marvelous Monday
Monday Mellow Yellows

Top 20 Ingredients I Can't Live Without!

Alicia Silverstone over at The Kind Life posted about the 20 ingredients she can’t live without. As did Cadry at Cadry's Kitchen.  So I decided to follow suit!  Here are my TOP 20 Ingredients in random order.

TEA - As many of you know I drink A LOT of tea.  All day...all night...I have even started using it in dishes!  All sorts of tea...Black, Green, White, Yellow, fruit and herbal tisane's, Oolongs, Pu-erh, Blends, Purple, Guayusa, Rooibos, Honeybush...the list goes on and on!

CHICK PEAS & BLACK BEANS - I was going to list these separate but came up with too many items I MUST HAVE in my kitchen, apparently!  The older I get the more I LOVE Chickpeas.  They are so versatile!  I would have also put HUMMUS on the list but it's not just ONE Ingredient it's a FOOD, a dish, a delicacy, really.  Okay, okay...you can tell I LOVE hummus!  Well, Chickpeas are one of the ingredients so it works, right?

GRAPESEED OIL - Why GSO?  I think this sums it up nicely!  I LOVE IT!  If you want to order some let me know!!  I can have it shipped directly to you!

LEAFY GREENS - I know this is more than ONE but I couldn't resist!  There are so many Leafy Greens to choose from and they ALL have their benefits!

CASHEWS - And other nuts, really.  I'm very fortunate to NOT have allergies to Nuts!  I don't think I would be able to deal with that intolerance, to be honest!  I'm finding Cashews are very versatile as well and now that I'm NOT doing dairy there are many things I can do with them as a substitute. 

NUTRITIONAL YEAST - I have used it for YEARS - but have been using it on a weekly - sometimes daily basis these days!  Along the same lines would be HEMP HEARTS and CHIA SEEDS, I guess, too!  For Digestion Issues/Benefits as well as a protein option.

VARIETY of RICES - Again, I am a REBEL, here, and noting more than one but I really can't help it!  Just when I think I know which RICE is my favorite I discover new ones...like Medleys from Bob's Red Mills as well as FORBIDDEN RICE, lately, too!

QUINOA - Quinoa is in a category all of it's own for me!  I have been eating it for years but continue to be amazed by it!  I LOVE the nutritional benefits as well as digestion support but also the texture and flavor and the ability to make it MORPH!

TOMATOES - Any kind, really.  I could go on and on about THE TOMATO but I will let it speak for itself!  YUM!

BALSAMIC VINEGAR - Yes!  BALSAMIC VINEGAR...Wildtree Brand, specifically.  And I'm not just saying that because I sell it!  The flavor CANNOT BE BEAT!  Plus it has the Grapeseed Oil Base, too!

TAHINI - I thought it was just for HUMMUS but it's good for SO MUCH MORE!!!  I'm using lately in Cheese and Cream Alternatives, too!

GARLIC - Need I say more?  I just LOVE it!  I can't get enough of it!  I'd put it on cereal if it were allowed.  Okay...that might be a stretch...but...you know what I mean, right!?

ONIONS - They give flavor to EVERYTHING and they make the perfect base for many things!

LEMONS & LEMON JUICE - I almost over looked this one.  It's one of those things I really use a lot of but just USE it and tend to forget about it BUT if I run out...there is HELL TO PAY, Mister!

CORN - It's so sweet, It's so cute, It's SO GOOD!  I have been using it more and more to kick certain recipes up a notch as well as add to leftovers, wraps, salads, etc.  So simple - yet - SO effective!

COLORFUL BELL PEPPERS - LOVE them!  In every way!  I find myself adding them to EVERYTHING and then some!  The sweeter the better!

SPROUTS - When I was a toddler they used to be one of my 3 favorite foods (next to Dried Apricots and Lima Beans - which SHOULD also play a part in this list somewhere...there...they just did!) and I lost touch with Sprouts for a while but have been having FUN Sprouting my own Sprouts at home on and off again for a couple of years!

CARROTS & CELERY - Mostly because I can't have one without the other - and because they are right up the same alley as Onions and Garlic and Corn!

ALMOND MILK - I prefer Almond Milk to any of the other Milk Alternatives.  It's my default, really.

AVOCADOS - I wish I could have one everyday but they are really expensive here but when they are on sale!  I'm ALL OVER THAT!  Nom.Nom.Nom.

Hope you enjoyed my list!  If you do one let me know!

Random Protein Percentages

Protein Content of Fruits
Banana: Papaya: Peach: Avocado: Orange: Watermelon:	4% 7% 7% 5% 9% 7%
Average protein content of fruit: 5%
Protein Content of Vegetables
Tomatoes: Cucumber: Lettuce: Celery:	17% 21% 59% 25%
Average protein content of vegetables: 20%
Protein Content of Nuts & Seeds
Almonds: Sesame Paste (tahini): Sunflower seeds: Pumpkin seeds:	15% 12% 15% 17%
Average protein content of nuts and seeds: 15%