What's for Dinner at the Martin's??

Ah, the beginnings of Fall, leaves falling, cooler weather, winter squash, and COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Well, it's game day at our house. Of course, we're watching the T-sips, but I do love my husband and will allow him to watch his team in peace and with a full belly.

I made him a delicious, protein-packed game day dinner, here was the menu:

Black Soybean Succotash
Wild Rice Pesto
Gingered-Glazed Acorn Squash
Garlicky Collard Greens
Red Radish Pickles
Apples with Almond Cream

After 1 1/2 hours in the kitchen, we sat down (thank you Tivo) for this delicious meal. Let's just say, Jacob's plate was sparking clean! I so love feeding him after he's been traveling all week, especially a healthy, whole meal. I thought I would share the recipes of our top two favorites from the meal tonight.

Black Bean Succotash-from Glow by Christina Pirello

1 cup of black soybeans, rinsed well, towel-dried (I have to order these, let me know if you can find them in Houston)
1 inch piece of Kombu (seaweed isle at Whole Foods, this is amazing stuff, aka Nature's Beano, works to help the digestibility of the beans)
3 cups spring water
2 T of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 yellow onion diced
Soy Sauce
1 t mirin (rice wine also at WF)
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup plain soymilk
3 to 4 T of fresh chives, finely minced

Heat a dry skillet over med heat and pan toast the soybeans. They will wrinkle and split open, revealing a white line down the middle of the bean. When about 80% are split and the smell is fragrant, transfer to a pressure cooker with kombu. Add water, bring to a boil and boil uncovered for 5 min. Seal the pressure cooker, bring to full pressure, reduce heat to low and cook for 45 min. Remove from heat and allow pressure to decrease naturally.

Meanwhile, add the oil and onion and saute over med heat. When onion begins to sizzle, add a dash of soy sauce until limp, about 2 min. Stir in mirin, corn, and soy milk, season lightly with soy sauce, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 5-7 min, until slightly thickened. Add the beans and cook for another 2 min to blend the flavors. Remove from heat and stir in the chives.

Black soybeans are used to restore reproductive health, esp great for PMS, as well as cooling and relaxing the body.

Ginger-Glazed Acorn Squash-from Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello

2 acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed
Spring Water
3 T Safflower oil
3 T brown rice syrup
2 t of powdered ginger
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cinnamon
Sea salt
5 T of fruit-sweetened apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a baking dish and place squash halves cut side down in dish, add a little water and bake for 20 min. Whisk together oil, rice syrup, spices, and preserves. Remove squash from oven and turn up. Brush insides with syrup and spoon the rest in the hollow. Cover loosely with foil and return to oven. Bake until tender about 35 min. Serve hot.

These are incredible, delicious and as sweet as any dessert! Acorn squash have quickly stolen my heart as the tastiest and most versatile squash. One of the many reasons I love Fall.

Happy, healthy, and whole eating to you!

Normal Female, Normal Male!!

"Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." Jer 33:11

This news deserved a post of it's own. We received our test results from the geneticist and neither of us have any genetic issues!! Praise the Lord! This has been a huge burden lifted off of our shoulders and now we can continue to move forward in hopes of the great blessing of a baby. We did learn that I am heterozygous for a clotting condition called MTHFR, but so are 40% of Caucasian women. I met with our fertility doc on Tuesday and he said it's nothing to worry about. He's going to put me on high dose folate because this specific factor can rob the body of folate, as well as baby aspirin through my first trimester. Of course, I will be using Nattokinase, which is an enzyme that enhances the body's ability to fight blood clots, thus accomplishing the same purpose as a baby aspirin.

So, we continue to trust in God's plan for our lives and hold onto truth. I have been reading/studying Jeremiah lately, specifically the Lord's promise for restoration of Israel and His people:

"I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and my soul. For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all of this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them." 32:41-43

"And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do to them." 33:9

He's been really good to us, we are so blessed. So many of you have sent messages of great encouragement to me, and I just want you to know the blessing you have been to the both of us and how the Lord has used your words to confirm what He's doing in us and through us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for praying, we ask for continued prayer for wisdom, steadfastness, and peace. I believe in my heart that good things are coming, this has been a season, but a season that I am so grateful for.

-Cristina

Trip to TN

Well, obviously I am back. Been back for a few weeks now, but we moved the following week and then headed to Austin for a wedding over the holiday weekend. I am just now catching up.
Tennessee was wonderful! I had the best time getting to see my dear friend. I am so proud of her as she ventures into her own business and is working in Spain for an amazing wellness clinic! I am jealous, she has the most amazing view in the world to wake up to everyday! We caught up over tea and I started unwinding right away. She has the best back porch in the world, beautiful trees and the weather was perfect! The season is changing so every time the wind would blow, the leaves would flutter to the ground.

On arrival I met one of Ginny's clients who I had been super excited to meet. She is a young girl, 10 years old, who was diagnosed with Crohn's and at the peak of her illness was in the hospital for six weeks with doctors threatening to remove her entire colon! She has worked with Ginny and made remarkable progress in only months. It was great to meet her and her family, they are incredibly precious people. While I was there, Ginny hosted a cooking class for 18 people. Her sister, mother, and I assisted with the class and I actually got to share my testimony of healing with all of these people. The four moms that were there with their four young daughters amaze me! If you all read my Blog, please know how much you blessed me seeing your heart-and-soul dedication to your girls to help them become healthy again. Your faith and hearts made me so thankful for my own family who sacrificed so much for me to be healthy. It was very emotional for me to hear your hearts poured out, I thanked God again for bringing me to Ginny. We did a support group for all of these ladies and it was amazing to watch Ginny in action, helping them, encouraging them, and supporting the wonderful progress that's already been made with their girls.

I ate so well, had some great therapies done (shiatsu, reiki, infrared sauna, and foot baths), spent some amazing time outside, read, journaled, listened to worship music. Ginny also took me to a church function Friday night, in which I was "forced" to square dance. I have to admit, it was pretty fun! It all was exactly what I needed. I felt like a new woman when I got back.

We are praying about my next step into holistic and natural medicine. It's exciting to see how God is using this in our lives to help encourage others in their own health. I am already working with Ginny as her client coach, working with clients for a month after they begin the program. I have such a heart to help others who are struggling with illness. I know God has put that passion in my heart and it will be exciting to see exactly where He takes me.