An Organic Valentine's Day!

"The greatest wealth is health." ~Virgil

My hubby and I have decided to make a sweeping lifestyle change and eat organic.  The decision stemmed from my father-in-law having recently been diagnosed with ALS.  ALS is a disease that no one really knows much about.  There is no cure and the doctor's don't have a lot of answers so many people, like our family, turn to message boards and ALS forums to see what may be working for others living with the disease.

One common theme we have been seeing from others living with this is to start eating fresh, organic foods.  I'm not going to go into all the reasons this is good for you if you are living with ALS, but my hubby and I decided we would like to overhaul our diets as well and start eating organic foods ourselves.  I am not going to be changing the premise of my blog at all.  Just know that I will be using organic ingredients and if anyone reading this wishes to do the same or not it is entirely up to you!  (Besides, I am sure that I will occasionally have something that doesn't say organic on the package and if I do I am all right with it.  My goal is to just do the best I can and feel good about it!) 

That being said, I decided to invite my parent's over for a Valentine's dinner.   All my ingredients were bought at Whole Foods for today's meal, which was a tad bit pricey so I will be doing a bit of investigative grocery shopping to see what other stores offer in the organic food variety, even Wal-Mart sells organic stuff these days so it will be fine and shouldn't hit us very hard in the pocket book at all.

Drip Beef Sandwhiches adapted from the Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:

1 whole Beef Chuck Roast, 2.5 Pounds

1 can Beef Broth

3 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon Salt

¼ cups Water

½ jars (16 Oz) Pepperoncini Peppers, With Juice
Fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Buttered, Toasted French Rolls

Directions:

1.  Combine all ingredients in a large heavy pot. Stir the liquid a bit to combine seasoning with the liquid.

2.  Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven for 5 to 6 hours, or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart.
3.  Shred the meat up completely. 
4.  Add the meat to your rolls, top with mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler until cheese is melted.
5. Serve with juices to dip your sandwhiches in.

This sandwhich turned out amazing, I topped the meat off with some fresh mozzarella and it took the sandwhich over the top!  My hubby and dad each had seconds, which is always an indicator the meal is a good one.  I tossed a salad with some cucumber, spinach and it is not shown in the picture but I added dried cranberries and pecans to mine as well.  I also had made brownies for dessert. As I was looking in my fridge at some strawberries my hubby had bought the other day a little light bulb went off and I had a flash of brillance.  What if I made strawberries and cream to top of my brownies with?    Dare I do it?  I got to searching and found a super easy recipe so what the heck, I gave it a shot and boy was I not disappointed in the least that I did.  Mmmmm.......

Strawberries and Cream adapted from Now....You're Cooking!

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon orange juice, (bailey's irish cream is really really good in this too.  I just didn't have it on hand)
1 1/2 - 2 pints fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

Directions:

1.  In a large mixing bowl beat the cream and sugar with a mixer until thick it is just thickened but not yet stiff. Add the sour cream and mix. Gradually add in the orange juice and continue to beat until mixture is whipped and fluffy.
2. Serve whipped cream over the strawberries.  I also had some brownies on hand so used that brownie as a base. 


Ok, so this dessert was the absolute bomb!!  I loved the home whipped cream so much I have vowed to never again in my life buy the store bought variety.  Try it yourself and you'll see! ;^)