Reubeniwiches – Reubens with Chickpeas!

Years ago…in the late 1970’s, we started our whole foods, natural – nutrition journey. We presently continue on this journey – hit or miss at times, but it’s a life journey.

Something we discovered a few years ago that we support and recommend to everyone we know and meet is CSA – Community Support Agriculture! We have been members for quite a few years now at a local CSA organic farm and we love it! Check your local area and see what you discover — Do it! Its an investment in your Health!

But, I digress… back to Reubeniwiches and what are they???

In the 1980’s we enjoyed eating at a local natural foods restaurant called “So Eat Already!” We enjoyed EVERYTHING on their menu but my favorite sandwich… was the Reubeniwich! Short but the sweet details — it’s a delicious vegetarian “reuben” made with chickpeas! It is fantastic!

The restaurant has been closed for years now but fortunately a friend of ours, Jane, worked there and shared this fabulous recipe with us! We are forever grateful and have thanked her many, many times over the years as miles have come between us… she’s living in California now and we are still in Pennsylvania. Once again… Thank you Jane!!!

Ingredients

1. Marinated chickpeas (recipe below)
2. Pumpernickel bread
3. Thousand Island / Russian dressing (homemade preferred)
4. Coleslaw – purple cabbage preferred (ev olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper to taste)
5. Swiss cheese (we prefer Jarlsberg – always…)

Marinated Chickpeas Recipe

Ingredients
2-3 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans drained, (we use canned Goya brand to speed up the process)
1 cup oil
½ cup tamari soy sauce, Kikoman Brand
½ cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
parsley, chopped
basil, chopped
oregano, chopped

Mix chickpeas with the other ingredients in a large bowl.  Let marinate overnight or for at least 2 – 3 hours.  This can also be made ahead of time, be frozen and defrosted by portions when needed. 

Note:  If using dry beans…soak overnight…cook in water on top of stove until done (approximately 1 hour).  Cool before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

Recipe can be doubled or tripled… we love to eat them right out of the jar at times!

Sandwich Details:

Lightly toast the Pumpernickel bread slices
Spread some dressing on the reverse side of the bread – Thousand Island / Russian
Add some coleslaw
Then, add some drained, lightly, mashed marinated chickpeas
Next, cover the chickpeas with thinly sliced Swiss cheese
Place the assembled sandwich – open faced – in the oven to melt the cheese!

And, ENJOY! It’s truly delicious!!!

Nikki loves her Reubeniwiches a slightly different way if you would like to try it. She doesn’t care for Thousand Island/Russian dressing or swiss cheese. (What is she thinking? I’ll never know!) So, she skips the dressing all together and tops hers with American cheese. It is her favorite way of eating Reubeniwiches besides the marinated chickpeas right out of the jar.

Let us know if you try these great sandwiches… we love sharing family favorites! ❤

Picture coming soon!!
We keep eating them too fast and forgetting 🤷‍♀️

You gotta try Moe’s if there’s one near you!

For all you foodies!!! If you haven’t checked out Moe’s Southwest Grill and there’s one by you… You’re totally missing out!

This is a place that I’ve urged my family to try. They of course assumed another Mexican fast food/casual place. “Ya, ok sure we’ll try it.” eventually. Well… That’s no longer the opinion anymore! This past weekend I got them to go.

I was completely on target with them loving it! Mom was checking everything out and got engrossed in the Moe’s Food Mission. It’s fantastic food people! No junk here. Grass fed, hormone free, fresh foods that taste great. There’s much more to them in terms of sustainability, nutrition, green, vegetarian, low calorie and community involvement (info here). Pretty cool stuff.

It’s normal southwestern food, tacos, nachos, fajitas, burritos etc. but with amazing ingredients and good prices for eating well. Here’s the menu. Our favorite parts of eating there… The 130 flavor soda dispenser, the queso and chips and the different salsas you can try. Adults and children’s entertainment which is perfect!

Moe’s was founded in December 2002 in Atlanta, Ga. There’s many states that have them (420 locations statewide and abroad), though they’re not everywhere yet so see if there’s one near you and go try it! Let us know if you loved it too. 

We’re a family of Moe’s supporters now! Yum! I’m ready for some chips and queso, which are FREE September 20, 2012!!!! Chips and salsa are always free, and another thing to mention… Kids eat free on Sundays at ours with an adult entree ($5+).

Writing this made me hungry. Talk to you soon.

http://www.moes.com

Quote: Abraham – Hicks

You are the creator of your own life experience, and as the creator of your experience, it is important to understand that it is not by virtue of your action, not by virtue of your doing—it is not even by virtue of what you are saying—that you are creating. You are creating by virtue of the thought that you are offering.

You cannot speak or offer action without thought-vibration occurring at the same time; however, you are often offering a thought-vibration without offering words or action. Children or babies learn to mimic the vibration of the adults who surround them long before they learn to mimic their words.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the book “Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth and Happiness” # 552

Thank you Esther (and Abraham and Jerry)! ❤

Anxiety Will Not Get ME Down!

Definition of PANIC ATTACK:

 

 

an episode of intense fear or apprehension that is of sudden onset and may occur for no apparent reason or as a reaction to an identifiable triggering stimulus (as a stressful event); specifically : one that is accompanied by usually four or more bodily or cognitive symptoms (as heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, or feelings of unreality) and that typically peaks within 10 minutes of onset 

From Merriam-webster.com

I wrote the following post in my journal while sitting at the dr’s office on a Saturday night! I am a real person! I fight real battles! Sometimes I feel like this:

I thought I would create a post about anxiety and panic attacks. This is something that happens to a lot of society, but it’s a matter of will you let it get you down?

I have posted before about my amazing grandmother who passed away back in 2008 and my mom who survived a widow maker heart attack on the way to burying my grandmother. This was a very traumatic day in my life! I understood everything with my gram because I had helped take care of her and had her live with us during the last 4 months of her life. So yes, understood, but still missing her!

Mom’s heart attack on the other hand was a complete shock to our family and the entire funeral procession for my gram! Mom had suffered a widow maker heart attack while in the limousine of the procession! The entire procession stopped in the middle of the street! My aunt performed CPR on my mom and a sergeant in the local police department “made a wrong turn and came upon our funeral procession!”

Being a sergeant in the local department, he had a defibrillator in his vehicle. He used the defibrillator on mom right before the ambulance showed up, they raced mom ( breathing at that point ) to the nearest hospital where they performed surgery immediately! Mom is at 100% and doing amazingly! God definitely watches over all of us!

Anyway, why did I tell you this story? Well, because as I said earlier it was a very traumatic day for me! I was very strong that day and trying to help figure out things for the situation at hand, but as time went on, my anxiety got me down! I ended up at the doctor in the middle of a panic attack and crying my eyes out! He tells me that I am not alone! Other people get like this too! Panic attacks are one of the scariest things for me to endure! They make me feel completely out of control of myself and sometimes even feel like I could die!

I can’t stand it anymore! As I write this, I am sitting at the doctor’s office in the middle of a panic attack! It absolutely sucks! What horrible feelings! I am writing this to help calm down, because I love blogging, and to say out loud that I am tired of letting anxiety get the best of me!

I AM STRONG! I AM IN CONTROL! I AM ME!

This is important! If you feel this way, you are not alone! Remember that and take the steps necessary to feel better! Visit your doctor and discuss it with them! I couldn’t battle the feelings on my own! I tried for a long time! I finally came to the realization that i need a little extra help sometimes!

Hope this post has helped someone today! I know writing it has helped me as I wait for the doctor to come in.

I refuse to let anxiety and panic attacks get me down! I push right through the best that I can and keep going as Mommy and wife.

Six Degrees of Separation to Deepak Chopra

I’m feeling very zen today. LOL.

Just in case you don’t know… there’s this idea that everyone, on average is about six degrees of separation to anyone else on earth. Here’s the Wikipedia link. They say it better than I do:

Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

That being said… I found out today that I am one to two degrees separated from Deepak Chopra! He is actually one of my friend’s great uncles! Way cool! If you don’t know who he is… well here ya go. Wikipedia Link and Deepak’s site. His videos are really interesting. He’s an amazingly accomplished man in both academic and spiritual endeavors. Whether one agrees with his views or not, one has to agree with the fact that he has managed to make an impact on this world. It would be a distinct privilege and honor to meet him if I ever did. I happen to like his thoughts and ideas. I’ll have to keep you updated if I get the chance! *fingers crossed,* hoping my aura is good and our paths cross one day… 🙂

“Together we can help create a peaceful, just, sustainable and healthy world.”
Deepak Chopra