Butternut and Spaghetti Squash Soup

Butternut and Spaghetti Squash Soup 

Made this fall soup this week, has a nice sweet and savoury flavour. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil

Salt

Pepper

2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

2 tsp sage

2 tsp ground ginger

1 Large Butternut Squash

1 Medium Spaghetti Squash

6 medium Carrots

1 Large Onion

1L Organic Chicken Broth

Prep:

Halve and clean insides of Squash. Halve and peal onion, wash carrots. Rub down all with mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning, about 1 tsp of each. Roast in oven for 45 minutes turning every 15 minutes. Once out of oven peal squash and cube all vegetables.

Cooking:

This soup can be done in the crock pot or on the stove top. Add cubed vegetables to crock pot or stove top pot. Cover with organic chicken broth, add rest of seasoning. If stove top simmer for 3 hours. If Crock pot cook for 8 hours on high or 12 hours on low. Once vegetables crumble with a fork purée either with an immersion blender or in batches.

I served garnished with a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning.

For this and other Gluten Free recipes I have collected check out this shared Evernote Notebook.

For other Spaghetti Squash Resources click here:

Clean Eating and More

Clean Eating and More

Based upon a number of recent conversations lately I have decided to put up this post. First I have made a lot of changes over the last 18 months, in my eating, exercise and more. I started doing DDP and went more than a year without missing a day on the mat. The big changes I made were going gluten free and for the most part avoiding dairy. I have also been reading books, watching documentaries and following blogs about health and nutrition. Here are some links and jumping off points for you.  

Dirty Dozen Clean 15 from David Suzuki

The dirty dozen and the clean 15 refer respectively to the fruits and vegetables that are the most and least contaminated by pesticide use, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Why do we care?

Pesticides are toxic by design! Different pesticides have been linked to a variety of health problems, including hormone disruption, cancer and brain toxicity.

But for most people, switching to organic produce is a gradual process. Because organic foods tend to be more expensive than their counterparts, making informed choices in the produce aisle helps minimize pesticide consumption while keeping the budget in check!

Should you avoid the dirty dozen?

Absolutely not! Fresh fruits and vegetables are always a healthier choice than processed foods. Besides, non-organic processed foods are sure to contain a slough of chemicals too! Instead, let the guide dictate your allocation of organic vs. non-organic purchases.

Why eat organic food?

All of this opens up a bigger discussion about the choice to eat organic food - and the reasons that not everyone does. Often, the decision comes down to bottom line.

Non-organic foods usually cost less money. But there are other costs - hidden costs - that have to be considered too. These include abstract factors like the cost of demanding more from the earth than it can produce and the long-term health costs associated with ingesting chemicals. Also included are tangible variables, like the government subsidization of industrial agriculture and our relative comfort (or discomfort) with foreign investment in commercial Canadian agriculture.

There are also ways to offset the increased out-of-pocket expenses incurred by prioritizing organic foods.

Committing to cooking whole foods from scratch - alongside careful meal planning, home gardening and food preservation - can largely counteract the cost of organic food purchases.
The process is gradual. Change takes time. And all of us have to work within our budgets.
Which is where the dirty dozen and the clean 15 come into play. The list is a resource to help you make the best choices for your health and for the earth, whatever your current budget or state of greenness.

The Dirty Dozen (in order of contamination)
Apples
Celery
Sweet bell peppers
Peaches
Strawberries
Nectarines
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Blueberries
Potatoes

The Clean 15 (in order of least contamination)
Onions
Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Cabbage
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Watermelon
Mushrooms

Next Wheat Belly- Dr. William Davis

I have been collecting Gluten free recipes for 18 Months.
General GF Food Stuff
With links to original sources.
Smoothies
Juices

Some other great links:
Christina Russell - Body Rebooted
Stacey Morris 
Reboot with Joe - Juicing for Weight-loss and Health

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.

Peace and Strength!
Yours, learning to be
Steven R. McEvoy

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DDP Certified Instructor

"Now we can travel with more books stored in our telephones than the ancient Egyptians kept in their vast library at Alexandria."
           Mike Aquilina

"No tea cup is big enough nor book long enough for me to be satisfied." 
           C.S. Lewis

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left over I buy food and clothes!"
           Erasmus

Carrot and Butternut Squash with Sage and Ginger Soup

Carrot and Butternut Squash with Sage and Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
5 cups rainbow carrots, peeled and chopped
2 butternut squash (about 4 cups or 2 lbs), chopped
2 cups rainbow peppers stemmed and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon sage rubbed
1/2 inch piece fresh turmeric pealed and grated
8 cups bone broth or beef or vegtable
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
5-7 fresh sage leaves

This soup can be done in the crock pot or on the stove top. For the crock pot I used the juices from a roast with potatoes and carrots as my stock. Sauté carrots until tender, sauté  butternut squash until browned and tender, sauté  rainbow peppers and tomatoes. Add all to crock pot and add seasoning add more stock as needed until vegetables are covered. Cook for 5 hours on high or 9 hours on low. Puree with an immersion blender or blend in batches. put back in crock pot and add juice and zest of 1 lemon mixing well. If you want to lighten the color, add 1/2 cup cream or sour cream. Serve and garnish with a spoon of hemp hearts and more lemon zest.

Note: if you are cooking on the stove top you might need to add half again to the sage, ginger and turmeric.

The recipe based on Carrot and Ginger Soup with Lemon Zest by Amy Myers MD.

For this and other Gluten Free recipes I have collected check out this shared Evernote Notebook.

Blast Off – Tony Abbott and Joanne L. Scribner - Danger Guys Book 2

Blast Off
Danger Guys Book 2
Tony Abbott (Author)
Joanne L. Scribner (Illustrator)
Open Road Media
ISBN 9781480486348

It is great to see these older stories from Tony Abbot back in print. Open Road Media had republished in their entirety Two of Tony Abbot's earliest series, both Danger Guys and Weird Zone. There are 6 books in this series and I have read the first two, they are fun stories they children enjoy. They are geared to a slightly younger audience than some of his other books. They are good reads, that I am enjoying sharing with my son. 

This is the second adventure of Zeek Pilinsky and Noodle -  aka Henry Newton. This story begins with Zeek and Henry realizing that the carnival is in town. As soon as they hear the sounds from the fair, they head that way. But like in the first adventure things do not go as planned. They go for a rocket ride and really end up going for a rocket ride. They "We cartwheeled over the library. Then we corkscrewed around the town hall dome about ten times. Finally we were jerked backward in our seats and we sailed up over Main Street." p.14 The rocket zooms around town and ends up in a secret lair on their school grounds and they end up in the clutches of Mr. Vazny a former science teacher calling himself Morbius. He plans on bombing the town and using the rocket he just stole from the carnival to do so. It's up to the danger guys to save the day again.


This is a fun fast paced story. It is a good chapter book for beginner readers. The book comes in at 51 pages with a number of wonderful illustrations by Joanne L. Scribner. It also has the first three chapters of the next book to hook young readers. Give Zeek and Noodles a shot and I am sure you will enjoy their adventures.

  
Books By Tony Abbott:
Goofballs
1. The Crazy Case of Missing Thunder (2012)
2. The Startling Story of the Stolen Statue (2012)
3. Superhero Silliness (2012)
4. The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery (2013)
5. The Scary Story of the Ha-Ha-Haunted House (2013) 

Underworlds:
1. The Battle Begins (2012)
2. When Monsters Escape (2012)
3. Revenge of the Scorpion King (2013)
4. The Ice Dragon (2013)

Danger Guys
1. Danger Guys (1994)
2. Danger Guys Blast Off (1994)
3. Hollywood Halloween (1994)
4. Danger Guys Hit the Beach (1995)
5. Danger Guys on Ice (1995)
6. Danger Guys and the Golden Lizard (1996)

Time Surfers
1. Space Bingo (1996)
2. Orbit Wipeout! (1995)
3. Mondo Meltdown (1996)
4. Into the Zonk Zone! (1996)
5. Splash Crash (1997)
6. Zero Hour (1997)
7. Shock Wave (1997)
8. Doom Star (1997)

Weird Zone
1. Zombie Surf Commandos from Mars (1996)
2. The Incredible Shrinking Kid (1996)
3. The Beast from Beneath the Cafeteria! (1996)
4. Attack of the Alien Mole Invaders! (1996)
5. The Brain That Wouldn't Obey! (1996)
6. Gigantopus from Planet X! (1997)
7. Cosmic Boy Versus Mezmo Head! (1997)
8. Revenge of the Tiki Men! (1997)

Secrets of Droon
1. The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet (1999)
2. Journey to the Volcano Palace (1999)
3. The Mysterious Island (1999)
4. City in the Clouds (1999)
5. The Great Ice Battle (1999)
6. The Sleeping Giant of Goll (2000)
7. Into the Land of the Lost (2000)
8. The Golden Wasp (2000)
9. Tower of the Elf King (2000)
10. Quest for the Queen (2000)
11. The Hawk Bandits of Tarkoom (2000)
12. Under the Serpent Sea (2001)
13. The Mask of Maliban (2001)
14. Voyage of the Jaffa Wind (2002)
15. The Moon Scroll (2002)
16. The Knights of Silversnow (2002)
Special Edition 1. The Magic Escapes (2002)
17. Dream Thief (2003)
18. Search for the Dragon Ship (2003)
19. The Coiled Viper (2003)
20. In The Ice Caves of Krog (2003)
21. Flight of the Genie (2003)
Special Edition 2. Wizard or Witch? (2004)
22. The Isle of Mists (2004)
23. The Fortress of the Treasure Queen (2004)
24. Race To Doobesh (2005)
25. The Riddle Of Zorfendorf Castle (2005)
Special Edition 3. Voyagers of the Silver Sand (2005)
26. The Moon Dragon (2006)
27. The Chariot of Queen Zara (2006)
28. In the Shadow of Goll (2006)
Special Edition 4. Sorcerer (2006)
29. Pirates of the Purple Dawn (2007)
30. Escape from Jabar-Loo (2007)
31. Queen of Shadowthorn (2007)
Special Edition 5. Moon Magic (2008)
32. Treasure of the Orkins (2008)
33. Flight of the Blue Serpent (2008)
34. In the City of Dreams (2009)
Special Edition 6. Crown of Wizards (2009)
35. The Lost Empire Of Koomba (2009)
36. Knights of the Ruby Wand (2010)
Special Edition 7. The Genie King (2010)
Special Edition 8. The Final Quest (2010)

Don't Touch That Remote
1. Sitcom School (1999)
2. The Fake Teacher (1999)
3. Stinky Business (announced, not published)
4. Freak Week (announced, not published)

Cracked Classics
1. Trapped in Transylvania: Dracula (2002)
2. Mississippi River Blues: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (2002)
3. What a Trip!: Around the World in Eighty Days (2002)
4. Humbug Holiday: A Christmas Carol (2002)

5. X Marks the Spot: Treasure Island (2003)
6. Crushing on a Capulet: Romeo and Juliet (2003)

Haunting of Derek Stone
1. City of the Dead (2009)
2. Bayou Dogs (2009)
3. The Red House (2009)
4. The Ghost Road (2009)

The Copernicus Legacy

The Forbidden Stone (2013)

The Serpent's Curse (2014

Novels
Kringle (2005)
Firegirl (2006)
The Postcard (2008)
Lunch-Box Dream (2011)

Author profile interview with Tony Abbott.

Blood of My Blood – Barry Lyga - I Hunt Killers Book 3

Blood of My Blood
I Hunt Killers Book 3
Barry Lyga
Hachette Book Group Canada
LB Teens
ISBN 9780316333498

Of late there have been a number of trilogies that have let me down, they started off amazing and went downhill; each successive book just a bit more disappointing. That was not the case with the Jasper Dent or I Hunt Killers trilogy. With each book I had a greater respect for Lyga's powers as a wordsmith. My first response was 'Wow! An amazing conclusion to the series. With every book I read by Barry Lyga my respect for him as a writer goes up.' And reflecting back after thinking about the book for a few weeks I can honestly say this is one of the best series I have ever read. I average over 100 books a year, and to be honest waiting for the final installment in this series was painful.

As fan's will know book two ended with three simultaneous cliff hangers. Our friends Jazz, Connie and Howie are all in life threatening danger, without a lot of chance of things improving. In fact things are going to get worse, much worse. And Jazz realizes the only way he will ever catch his father is to break the law, lots of laws and maybe even do things he never ever wanted to do.

To go back to my first impressions, wow! One of the greatest things about Lyga's stories is the characters, and the growth of the characters in this story is incredible. The pace of the story and plot twists are at times overwhelming. The story is very very well written. This book was so addictive, I stayed up reading and did not put it down until I was done even though I had to work the next morning.

Blood of my Blood is an amazing story in an excellent series.  

Books by Barry Lyga:
I Hunt Killers:
I Hunt Killers (2012)
Game - I Hunt Killers #2 (2013)
Blood of My Blood - I Hunt Killers # 3 (2014)

Every Hunter is Hunter (2026)

…

I Hunt Killers Short Stories:
Down Time (2018)
Lucky Day (2014)
Career Day (2012)
Neutral Mask (2013)
Blood Boy (2014)

…

Before the Hunt (2025)

…

Brookdale High:
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (2006)
Boy Toy (2007)
Hero Type (2008)
Goth Girl Rising (2009)
Bang (2017)

...

Archvillian:
Archvillain #1 (2010)
The Mad Mask - Archvillian #2 (2011)
Yesterday Again - Archvillian #3 (2013)

...

The Flash Series:
Hocus Pocus (2017)
Johnny Quick (2018)
Tornado Twins (2018)

…

Crossover Crisis Series:

Green Arrow's Perfect Shot (2019)

Supergirl's Sacrifice (2020)

The Legends of Forever (2021)

…

Other Books By Barry Lyga:
Graphic Novels in Your Media Center: A definitive Guide (with Alison A.W. Lyga - 2004)
Wolverine: Worst Day Ever (2009)
MangaMan (with Colleen Dorren 2011)
Unsoul'd (2013)
After The Red Rain (2015)
The Secret Sea (2016)
Thanos Titan Consumed (2018)
The Hive (2019)

...

Short Story Project 2017
The Ghosts at 95
Loving The University
The Ideas of March
Four Minutes
Pulse vs. the Killing Fiend
Her Decade
The Life Cycle of Stars (Ignition)
Bobby
Trading Worlds
When I Die
The Autopsying of Michael Edward Morgan
Meet Me Tonight
...

Contributed to:
Geektastic (2009)
Who Done It? (2013)

Author Profile and Interview with Barry Lyga
Author Profile and Interview with Randall Banner

Wee Danny - Gerard Brennan

Wee Danny
Gerard Brennan
Blasted Heath Books
ASIN B00GYZLHRU

One of the readers of my review blog suggested I give Gerard Brennan a try. The first one I tried was good but not great it was a collection of short stories called Other Stories and Nothing But Time. Reading it I could see where the recommendation came from, it felt kind of like reading Chuck Palahniuk or Irvine Welsh but not quite. This one was much much closer and I see why Brennan is compared to those two.

This is a novella set in the world of Wee Rockets. The main character is Danny Gibson a young tough serving time in a facility for young offenders. Danny is not tall in stature but he is tough as nails and also smart, even if that brain is often turned to destructive tendencies. He is learning how to act in front of his staff, the teachers and even his educational psychologist. But there are some things he just cannot let go. He will not show weakness. And he is vindictive. But something strange happens; Conan Quinlan a new detainee has found a soft spot in Danny's armour. Conan is on the autism spectrum and the teachers do not thing he is in the right facility. Danny sort of takes him under his wing.

This story really surprised me. It was rough and raw like other stories by Brennan I have read, and yet this one over comes that anger and harshness and shows us something else. The story was really well done and immediately upon finishing it I started reading the novel set before it Wee Rockets.

Books by Gerard Brennan:
Wee Rockets
Wee Danny
The Point
Breaking Point
FireProof
Undercover
Other Stories and Nothing But Time
Welcome to the Octagon

Books Contributed to:
Requiems for the Departed
Streets of Shadows
Twelve Mad Men
The Tabacco-Stained Sky
True Brit Grit

Updated 2016-04-13

This post has been redacted because of personal conviction. I would appreciate if you say a prayer for me. 

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. 
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, 
O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, 
thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, 
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. 
Amen.