Pumpkin & Pomegranate

I have mentioned before that I often don’t post because I eat a lot of the same stuff over and over again and that gets repetitive for everyone. But I thought I’d just post what I made for dinner the other night. I was eating alone and so I tend to make a lot of random combos of nutrient filled foods for my belly on the average night. This night was all about nutrient density and trying to get in some things to help kick start my thyroid. I don’t have a serious issue, but apparently I have some issues that would get better if my T3 got a little kick start. I am supposed to include more foods with zinc, selenium, and iodine into my diet. I keep forgetting to eat my seaweed, but tonight I did remember. I incorporated dulse into my dinner bowl, and it was pretty tasty. It didn’t seem out of place at all.

Ok started out by roasting some broccoli and red bell pepper (I always use organic red bell pepper as it is one of the dirtiest items when it comes to pesticides). I roasted them with a little olive oil and some Caribbean blend I recently purchased (delicious). I did this in a 425° oven for about 12 minutes, stirring once.  I then topped that with some Himalayan pink salt (Trader Joe’s carries it now!) and some dulse pieces (the pretty purple things).

Next up I picked 3 eggs from my stash of farm fresh eggies. I visited the ladies last weekend and they are upping production! You cannot tell but a couple of these are a gorgeous pale blue. I forget which kind of chickens lay them, but I do appreciate the variety when it comes to color! If you are interested in getting pastured or back yard eggs I HIGHLY recommend it. Not only are they more nutritious, but the animals are happier, healthier, and are not tortured like they are when you buy eggs from grocery stores. I will never ever recommend buying eggs from a grocery store again. Frankly the animals are tortured and to me that is worse than eating chicken if the chicken is truly free range (and no egg company that sells to grocery stores is truly free range and truly humane). If you want to find a place to buy eggs do what I did. Go on craigslist and search for eggs. Then ask the people who sell them a few questions.

1. Do you beak trim or beak cut?

2. What happens to the chickens when they stop producing eggs?

3. Do you hatch any of the chicks? If so, what happens to the male chicks?

4. How much space do the chickens have to run free?

“Certified humane” places allow beak trimming which is TORTURE. I personally am not comfortable buying eggs from a place that sells the older hens off to be food because I do not eat chicken, and that would mean my money was going to the support of eating chickens. I prefer pastured eggs, but I do buy eggs from a friend who has very happy backyard chickens. They do have less space than the other person who lets the chickens run free, but their chickens still do have space to be chickens, and they get plenty of time to pick through compost and garden areas finding worms and bugs. Neither place I buy from destroys any animals. One place does not hatch any of the eggs, and the other place only hatches eggs when the hens hide the eggs from them. They allow both male and female chickens to continue living because to them they are pets and are not there for profit. I have no problem driving a ways to get these eggs because I can see the chickens for myself and I know they are very well cared for.

next up I fried 3 eggs in some virgin coconut oil. See those yolks? If your yolks are yellow then they are missing nutrition. Pastured eggs also have 20 times more omega 3 fatty acids than factory eggs. It is worth the money.

I broke a yolk :-( Oh well! Still tasted wonderful

I prefer them a little less cooked, but I was distracted as I was trying to clean up as I went.

So that is a somewhat typical dinner for me, takes all of 15 minutes to prepare. I would also eat this for breakfast. I have a lot of go-to throw together things I make. They are really easy and usually based on roasted, steamed, or sautéed veggies. That is the basis of a healthy meal!

After dinner I had a grapefruit, and right before bed I had a bag of frozen blueberries (left out to thaw) with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a couple of tablespoons of my new nut/seed butter. Perfect dessert. The nut-seed butter had the selenium I needed, and while there isn’t much zinc in broccoli, there is some. It was all pretty delicious though ;-)

I am so happy to have my eggs back!