People always ask me…”Is it hard not having all your stuff?”  I say “No, I always travel with my Vitamix!  That and my toothbrush.  Good to go.”

Happy Holidays….Ring in the New Year!  Yes, my Vitamix is always with me.  Thought I’d help you out with some recipes for this season.  Of course, I use my Vitamix most for green smoothies.  It always surprises me that I can drink these on cold winter mornings.  Your body gets used to having them and starts to crave them.  The past few days I was able to purchase some great organic cukes from the local store and have been juicing them in my Champion.  A great start to a day filled with healthy eating.  Then a great way to end the day is with some raw ice cream from the Champion using the blank screen.  It’s tough to eat healthy, especially during this time.  Try eating raw veggies or drinking water before your big meal.  If I start the day with something healthy and then eat a big salad for lunch, I feel a lot better if I splurge a little at dinner.   Plus I’m not as hungry.  My body has already gotten a lot of good nutrients and vitamins for breakfast and lunch.

Banana Cream Pie (Raw)  This is for my brother!

Crust:  3 cups walnuts, soaked and dehydrated (you can buy these in health food stores)  1/4 cup dates, pitted and soaked (3 hours or more)  1/2 tspn Bragg Liquid Aminos or pinch of salt

Filling:  2 cups young coconut meat, 3 medium ripe bananas, cut into pieces  2/3 cup macadamia nuts, soaked   10 dates, pitted and soaked  2 Tblspns psyllium husks powder  1/2 cup water of one young coconut  2 Tblspns alcohol-free vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean  4 ripe bananas

For the crust: Using your food processor, finely grind the walnuts to a crumble.  Add the 1/4 cup dates and Braggs and process until combined.  The mixture should be slightly sticky.  Press the dough into a pie plate.  You can dehydrate overnight if you want a crunchy crust.

For the filling:  In a Vitamix or strong blender, combine the coconut meat and coconut water, bananas, macadamia nuts, 10 dates, psyllium, and vanilla.  Blend until very smooth and creamy. Stir in the sliced bananas and spread this filling evenly over the crust.  You can decorate the top with sliced bananas, tossing them in lemon juice to prevent browning first.

This is so easy, right?  Even if you do not eat a raw diet, all of these ingredients are found in your local store.  Treat your family and loved ones with something they’d never expect.  And they will be sure to love it.

Did you happen to catch one of the episodes of “Dinner Impossible”, where the chef was at Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory in VT and he made these really weird ice cream concoctions?  Well here’s one that sounds weird, but is rather lovely!

Banana Ice Cream with Date Carob Sauce (Raw)

6 bananas, peeled and frozen

Sauce:  1 cup dates, soaked  1/2 vanilla bean, chopped  4 black olives, pitted  3 Tblspns raw carob powder  1/2 tspn ground cinnamon  1 cup water

Use your Champion with the blank screen to process the frozen bananas.  They will come out looking and tasting like soft serve ice cream.  For the sauce, in your blender, combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy.  If it’s thick, add water.  Add anything else that sounds interesting to you for a sauce….strawberries, orange…you get the idea.

Thanks, Chef Kelly Serbonich for these great ideas!

Here’s a recipe from a Paula Deen magazine.  It’s simple and you can use store bought pudding or make your own with raw ingredients and freeze.  Use the recipe above for the vanilla ice cream and add carob for the chocolate.  I hope you’ll try the living food way, this is a great start.  You can also eliminate the nuts if you’d like.

Frozen Striped Mousse

1 3.9 ounce package instant chocolate pudding  2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided  2 cups milk, divided  1 3.3 ounce package instant white-chocolate pudding  1/2 cup finely chopped pecans.

In a bowl, combine chocolate pudding, 1 cup cream, and 1 cup milk.  Beat until thickened.  In a separate bowl, combine white chocolate pudding, 1 cup cream, 1 cup milk and beat until thickened.  Take 8 (7 ounce) paper cups and spoon 2 Tblspns chocolate into them. Add a layer of nuts then a layer of 2 Tblspns of the vanilla mix and repeat again.  Freeze overnight.  Invert the cups and peel back the cup.  Garnish with chocolate sauce or fresh fruit.

 

Enjoy your holiday!  And remember….less is more.  It’s nice to share.

 

 

 

Remember when rice came in just two flavors?  Brown or white?  And brown rice wasn’t an option in my house.  What I remember is brown rice just took too long and had no flavor at all.  Oh, the variety of options today and the many different ways to cook rice. 

Wikipedia states “…rice is the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s human population…..it is the second highest worldwide production…providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.  In early 2008, some governments and retailers began rationing supplies of the grain due to fears of a global rice shortage.”  Do you remember that?  We now know there are more varities of this grain available to us than just from the “Uncle”.  The increase in selections of rice opens us up to a larger variety of dishes and international cooking.   Each rice has a different cooking time, so be sure to read your directions.  You can also rinse to remove any starch or excess residue that can cause the rice to turn out sticky.  Cook with a heavy bottom pot to give the rice a thinner crust.  Do not add salt or butter as it will kill its natural sweet flavor.  Rice kept for too long in the cupboard may require more water and longer cooking time because of losing some of its moisture.  Soaking the rice in cold water will give it a softer, fluffier texture.  Saving any leftover rice is great for making fried rice.  However, try to avoid using instant or precooked rice.

Let’s start with an explanation of types of rice:

Arborio:  An Italian short-grain rice that is used for risotto because of its high starch content.  This makes it creamy and thick when it is cooked.  This rice can be used for crispy Italian rice balls.  I used to love it when my Mom cooked Risotto.  I knew it was a special night because that yellow powder was so expensive.  There’s a great Mushroom Risotto recipe here: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mushroom_risotto/

Basmati:  This fragrant, fluffy and light rice is grown in the Himalayan foothills and is a standard in Indian cooking.  Jasmine and basmati rice can be used in sweet desserts and also fried rice.  Soaking this rice helps the rice expand to maximum length.  Drain thoroughly.

Bhutanese Red:  Similar to brown rice, this chewy short-grain rice is reddish in color and can be used in any recipe that calls for brown rice.

Brown:  White rice is polished to remove the bran coating, but brown rice has a nutty flavor that is a whole grain and high in fiber.  It can be sticky when cooked.  Read your directions.  Most brown rices should be soaked overnight.  Can be used in pudding, risottto, burgers and desserts.  It is high in fiber and B-group vitamins.

Jasmine:  This long-grain rice has a light and slightly floral flavor and aroma with a nutty flavor.  Perfect for Asian dishes with curry and seafood. 

Short-Grain White Rice:  Very flavorful.  Especially good when a creamy texture or stickiness is desired.  You can soak this grain for 20 minutes to relax it.  Use one part rice to one and 1/8 part water. 

Sushi:  This sweet, sticky short-grain rice is used in desserts and in risottos.

Texmati:  This rice is American grown cross between basmati and long-grain white rice and is light and fluffy.  It has a more neutral flavor than basmati rice.

Wehani:  This California created cousin of basmati, splits when cooked and makes a luscious choice for soups and casseroles.

 Now on to a recipe for Jasmine Rice Pudding….

1 14-oz can of low-fat sweetened condensed milk

4 Tblspns. toasted cocoa nibs

3 Large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup cooked jasmine rice

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Bring your condensed milk and 1 cup water to simmer.  Add cocoa and remove from the heat.  Let stand for 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture into a bowl and save the nibs for later. Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the milk and cocoa.  Stir in the rice and divide into 8 1/2 cup ramekins.  Put your ramekins in a roasting pan and fill with hot water up to halfway up the side of the dishes. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the hot ramekins  and cool. Sprinkle with the nibs.

There you go.  A great start to something new tonight for dinner.  Enjoy the day!

 

 

 

 

I’ve mentioned many times in this venue how raw, living food is what will allow the body to heal.  Not cooking your food keeps enzymes, oxygen and water content in your food, and therefore making it better able for your body to absorb.  Heating destroys nutrients and your food’s enzymes.  Heating also destroys water soluble vitamins like vitamin C and all the B vitamins.  I still eat a small amount of cooked food, but it just doesn’t taste the same anymore.  I’m eating more vegan food as well as high raw foods.  The past couple of weeks, since I’ve been moving around a lot, I’ve had a cucumber for breakfast almost every day. I know vegetables for breakfast?  Yes, and you can too.  It’s all about changing your patterns.  Fresh organic produce has been easy to find these days.  I am in the Adirondacks in New York State taking advantage of the local farmers markets every week. 

If you want to get good at anything, you have to focus, learn and invest some time in learning how it works, right?  Everyone needs to learn about taking care of their body because everyone has a body.  In addtion to your “day job”, you need to make the time to learn the basics of taking care of your body.  The reason we believe what the drug companies, media, agricultural and food and beverage companies have to say is because we are nutritionally ignorant.  So let’s learn a little bit more about the food we cook on a daily basis.

When you cook food on a grill, stove top, oven, camp fire or a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure of the food and change the nutritional content and digestibility.  This structure becomes denatured, deranged and degraded, and the molecules are changed into new chemical configurations and carcinogenic byproducts are formed, thereby promoting a broad spectrum of allergies, infections and degenerative diseases..  Certainly the degree to which this happens depends on the cooking time, temperature and method of cooking.  Heating food above 105-120 degrees F, destroys all enzymes and lowers the concentration of vitamins and minerals.  You body can produce the enzymes necessary for digestion and absorption of food, however this process requires a great deal of energy that would otherwise be used for  the process of elimination, fighting disease, and allowing you to function at an optimal physical and mental level. 

In cooked foods, fats are carcinogenized, carbs are caramelized, and proteins are coagulated and become virtually unusable by the body and fiber becomes barely usable in the colon.  Heating food also creates toxic byproducts.  Here’s a few of these dangerous byproducts:

Acrylamides:  Cancer causing byproducts of cooking carbohydrate food such as breads, potatoes, pastries and any other kinds of starch.  The FDA acknowledges on their website the perils of acrylamides, but the processed and fast food industry would rather you don’t know about these.

Epoxides, Hydroperoxides, unsaturated aldehydes:  These three are generated when you cook the fat from meat, milk, eggs and fish.  From Wikipedia, “An epoxide is a cyclic ether.”  The rest of the definition on Wikipedia was not even understandable to me.

Furfural/furans: generated when sugars are heated.  Wikipedia states, “Except for occasional use in perfume, furfural remained a relatively obscure chemical until 1922, when the Quaker Oats Company began mass-producing it from oat hulls….When heated above 250 degrees, furfural decomposes into furan and carbon monoxide, sometimes explosively… Furfural is also used as a solvent in petrochemical refining….” 

Nitrosamines:  When nitrogen oxides in the gas flame from gas ovens or barbecues interact with fats, these toxins are created.  Nitrosamines are chemical compounds of a chemical structure, some of which are carcinogenic.

Polycyclic Hydrocarbons:  These carcinogens are generated from the charring of meat. From Wikipedia,  ”PAHs occur in oil, coal and tar deposits, and are produced as byproducts of fuel burning….as a pollutant, they are of concern because some compounds have been identified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic….PAHs are also found in foods.  Studies have shown that most food intake of PAHs comes from cereals, oils and fats.  Smaller intakes come from vegetables and cooked meats.”

Hydrogenated oils and Trans fats:  These are man-made.  They are also called hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and were specifically developed to allow processed foods to sit on the shelf longer without going rancid.  Many of today’s common foods are now cooked in these trans fats.  Consuming these fats can lead to obesity, heart disease, an increase in bad cholesterol and lowering of the good.  Also keep in mind when you heat common cooking oils, the heat denatures the oil molecule and causes the oil to turn rancid.

Are you still asking yourself what happens to you if you eat cooked foods?  Digestive leukocytes is a term that refering to when your body produces an increase of white blood cells, indicating the body is on the attack.  This response also happens when you eat cooked food.  However it does not happen when you eat raw foods.   A build up of toxic, acidic waste materials, often referred to as “free radicals”, accumulates in the skin, liver, nervous system and brain when you consume large amounts of cooked food.  When you don’t get the proper nutrients in your diet, your white blood cells are always on the attack mode.  Toxic waste are circulating in your weak and overworked body, allowing it to breed common ailments such as allergies, headaches, sinusitis, diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, depression, arthritis, osteoporosis, and various cancers will thrive.  Unfriendly flora build-up is also a byproduct of cooked foods.  Unfriendly bacteria take over the colon, feeding on thick, undigested and uneliminated cooked food putrefying in the intestines.  This flora will give off a waste product that is a food for cancer cells.  Eating a plant based uncooked diet will decrease the toxic load on the colon and will also decrease unfriendly bacteria and its dangerous byproducts.

Not cooking your food will have the following benefits: Weight stabilization, increased energy, more restful sleep, radiant skin, enhanced mental clarity, increased immune function and prevention of illness.  You don’t need to eliminate all cooked food from your diet to have these benefits.  How about just substituting one meal a day with raw food for starters?  Or if you are already doing that, how about increasing to one day a week eating nothing but uncooked food?  Most people believe lunch or dinner is their best bet for raw.  Large salads with every veggie in the fridge, juicing a meal or sandwiches with sprouted grain bread (these breads are usually available in the frozen section.  They are baked at low temperatures to retain the nutritional content of their ingredients). Top your sandwich with all raw ingredients, like veggies and sprouts.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, just make it colorful.

Be proactive about your own health.  Stay informed.  It’s your job.

As always, consult your primary physician if you have questions regarding your specific circumstances.

One of the chemicals used to make Teflon is called PFOA (ammonium perfluorooctanoate), also known as C-8.  I decided to do a little more research into C-8, when one of my readers sent me a link to an article about babies being exposed to hundreds of dangerous chemicals in the womb (thanks Taylor).  Before I even began to think about getting pregnant over 20 years ago, my parents had already supplied me with enough information regarding toxic chemicals in products I use on my skin, not to mention what I eat.  I knew that what I ate or put on my skin would make it into my unborn baby.  I started changing a lot of things back then and just continued that.  Now I am blessed with the opportunity to tell all of you some of the things I’ve known for some time. 

How are our unborn babies getting exposed to toxic chemicals?  Here’s a quote from the article I mentioned above, “…according to a new study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group…..laboratory tests of the umbilical cord blood taken from 10 babies born in August and September of 2004 in U. S. hospitals…..revealed a total of 287 chemicals….The blood…collected by the Red Cross after the cord was cut, harbored pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage.  Of these chemicals, the researchers say, ‘we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous systems, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests’.”  Mmmmmmm….I think I’d be concerned if just ONE of these chemicals were found, let alone 287!  Some of these chemicals were mercury, fire retardants and the Teflon chemical known as C-8 (PFOA).  In 2009, a study at the University of California found a strong link between levels of PFOA in blood and infertility in women of child-bearing age.  This chemical has also been found to alter hormone levels, affect the immune system and cause dangerously high cholesterol.

Toxic chemicals are far more dangerous to a fetus or developing child.  Here we have a product, Teflon, being advertised as making life easier, but it is poisoning us and our children.  This product is also used in carpet and clothing cleaners and in cosmetics and food packaging.  C-8 has been linked to cancer, organ damage and other health effects in laboratory animals (I do not believe in animal testing).  Two to five minutes on a stovetop and cookware coated with Teflon can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and starts to emit toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesess each year.  C-8 is not only in cookware, but also clothing.  “According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some of the highest C-8 levels were found in children”.  DuPont claims that the substance is completely safe.  That C-8 is in everyone’s blood.  And inhaling the chemical may get you flu-like symptoms that are reversible and last only a couple of days.  A warning is on the DuPont website, but not on their pans.  Time to take a second look at your cooking products?  No?  Ok, then I’ll give you more.

In birds, when inhaling the toxic fumes, their lungs hemorrhage and fill with fluid, leading to suffocation.  DuPont has never studied the incidence of fever among users of their non-stick pots and pans. 

In 2001, residents living and working around a Teflon plant and landfill, filed a class-action lawsuit against DuPont for withholding information about contaminated water, air and bodies by the chemical C-8.  C-8 was originally produced by the 3M Company. 3M stopped their production due to concerns about toxicity. C-8 accumulates over time and never breaks down in your body or the environment.   Local residents were drinking the water and breathing the air.  Children were exposed to this chemical.  Residents also worked at the plant and were lied to.  DuPont has never volunteered any information.  Residents are also being denied health insurance coverage due to their exposure to a toxic chemical.  Cancer and birth defects are high in this area. 

What else?  Did you know that recent FDA studies revealed that 20% of PFOA levels in human blood may come from the leaching of PFOA coating from the lining of microwave popcorn bags? 

Here’s some good news: In 2006, the EPA entered into an agreement with 8 major makers of PFOA to eliminate virtually all sources of this chemical in the environment by 2015.  Could it be too little too late? 

Make your own choices.  Read labels.  Breathe.

I was sitting out on my back deck enjoying the river flow by.  The sun finally came out today and it feels like summer is finally showing up.  I just drank my green smoothie, and I started to think about what my body wants now.  Apples and raisins came to mind and I found a great recipe for Apple Raisin Squares.  It only requires a half cup of sugar and you can substitute sugar with anything from agave and stevia to maple syrup or honey. If you do this, you would have to decrease liquid in the recipe.  Also try substituting some raw ingredients when you can, like raw walnuts, or make your own flour!  If that sounds interesting to you, here are some conversions to help you out.

1 1/2 pounds of wheat equal about 4 cups flour, 1 pound of oats equal about 3 cups flour, 1 pound of corn equals about 3 1/2 cups flour and 1 pound of millet equals about 2 1/2 cups flour.  Here’s that recipe:

Apple Raisin Squares

1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/4 cup corn, safflower or light olive oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups finely chopped apples, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and apples.  Add raisins and walnuts. Stir in flour mixture until thoroughly mixed.  Pour into 2 greased 8×8 pans.  Bake for 35-40 minutes and cool and cut into squares.

Check out these substitutions for some favorite baked good recipes:

Barley flour has a mild flavor and can be substituted in pancakes, cookies and quick breads.  You can replace up to half of any wheat flour in a recipe.

Buckwheat flour is the same for substituting as barley, but in baked goods it will be heavier.

Brown rice flour is great for those with wheat allergies.  You can replace up to 1/4 of any wheat flour. Rice flour absorbs more moisture, so you may need to add more liquid.

Quinoa flour is higher in fat and tends to make a moister baked good.  Replace up to 1/2 of wheat or white flour in your recipe.

Wheat germ can make for a more nutritious baked good.  Replace up to 1/3 of flour.

Spelt flour tends to make heavier baked goods so you would need to increase your baking powder.  I look for baked goods that contain spelt flour when I am shopping for treats.  People with wheat allergies can tolerate spelt and is great for making pasta and bread.

My favorite, almond flour.  Less carbs than white flour and they help raise HDL (the good cholesterol) and lower LDL (the bad).  Using almond flour instead of wheat flour in your favorite baking recipes will result in a similar taste.  Baked goods tend to brown more quickly with almond flour, so adjust your oven temp about twenty degrees.

This one I’d like to try myself….coconut flour.  It is the highest in fiber of any flour available.  It’s gluten free and you can substitute a quarter of your regular flour with it.  Add an equivalent amount of liquid to the recipe.  If you want to only use it, add one egg per ounce of coconut flour otherwise it may taste dry.

If you are allergic to wheat, try gluten free.  You can purchase great gluten-free products at most health food stores and now a lot of grocery stores have gluten-free isles.  You can even buy gluten-free flour.  When you substitute gluten-free for wheat flour, your best bet would be to stick with recipes that have a small amount of flour.  You can make pastry dough with maize cornflour, milk powder, coconut and butter.  Replace gluten in your baking with xanthum gum, guar gum or pre-gel starch.

Instead of oil?  How about apple sauce?  It may make cakes a bit heavier, but still good.  When substituting for sugar, honey for example, will taste sweeter than granulated, so you would need less.  When substituting with maple syrup, grade B is thicker and darker and better for baking and costs less.  Use 3/4 cup for every cup of white sugar and decrease the liquid by 3 tablespoons.  Date sugar, made by grinding dates, can be used exactly the same way as ordinary sugar.  I could write a whole blog on sugar substitutes like Nutra-Sweet and Equal, but I’ll just end with this, “The final report of a seven-year study by the Ramiazzini Foundation on aspartame (also known as Nutra-Sweet or Equal) has linked it to high rates of lymphomas, luekemias, urinary tumors, tumors of certain nerves and other cancers in rats.”

Here’s to substituting some good things with even better things!

I’ve been hearing so much about all the shifts in the universe these last months.  Is this the time for you to shift?  What do you need to do to shift?  What are you experiencing these days?  Is there struggle?  Is there drama?  Is there something pushing you from behind?  How can you use these struggles and difficulties?

Most of you know I am closing my business that I’ve had for 20 years and moving to another state.  Big changes, right?  I’m ready; I’ve been ready and preparing for quite some time now.  A good friend of mine decided a few weeks ago to start eating healthier.  What was it that caused her shift?  She certainly has heard me talk about adding living foods and decreasing processed foods for many years.  So why now?  Why is she now reading these blogs I’ve been writing, when I’ve been writing them for over six months?  Very simply put.  It was her time.  Another friend of mine I’ve always felt was struggling with what we’ve been talking about regarding shifts.  But the struggle was with me, not just the idea of shifts. She certainly has enough skill and tools to do her work.  Today was the first day she actually opened up to what the problem was and why she didn’t exactly “hear” me.  She quickly changed the subject, but not before I “heard” what my intuition has been telling me for years.  Was this my time?  Have I been doing so much clearing of the old, to actually begin to accept the truth?

Let’s go back to my first friend.  She started drinking a lot more water, took out soda and her nightly handfuls of jelly beans completely.  She added more fruits and fresh veggies and was very conscious about what was coming up for her.  She called me after about two days of this and said, “What’s up with the sugar cravings?”  I laughed and said, “Ah, you are noticing you have sugar cravings?”  That’s a great first step.  Noticing.  In yoga we say, first acknowledge you have the feeling.  But how can you notice it if each time it comes up, you are quickly pushing it down with sugar, processed food and/or alcohol (you know the rest)?  She’s now been walking this new lifestyle for a few weeks.  Today her phone call was, “What’s up with the nausea?”  Yep, something else to notice.  Toxins build up in the body.  They build up from past emotional struggle and from past food that has not been “digested”.  And toxins are toxic!  The more we accumulate, the harder it is to get rid of.  It builds up and backs up.  So now, my friend, ”Are you also having some really good bowel movements?”  Oh yeah.  Now you are helping to get rid of those toxins. 

Ok, so what can I do about these things?  Nux vomica, the homeopathic alternative for nausea, comes in those little blue vials filled with little white pellets.  You usually disolve 5 pellets under your tongue, three times a day.  You can always find something for whatever you are experiencing in the Boiron aisle.  The bowel movements, I’m afraid, not as easy to ease.  It has to happen.  Stay close to a bathroom and just know that this too shall pass (pun intended)!  Length of time?  Varies for everyone, depending on how much is in there and how much of a transition you are going for.  If you have been a standard american diet (SAD) eater, then I suggest going to vegetarian food for a bit.  Adding in more and more raw and fresh fruits and veggies.  Read, read and read some more.  Find a group or person in your area that have some experience with living food and detox.  Drink, and drink some more green smoothies!  Add the high water content veggies like, cucumber and celery to your diet.  My friend didn’t go completely raw.  She did what she felt comfortable with. It was her time. 

Louise Hay has some great things to say about nausea….Fear, rejecting and idea or experience.  Your mantra?  “I am safe.  I trust the process of life to bring only good to me.”

I’ve been doing a lot of tapping.  Have you checked into that yet?  Sure, I have my bad days.  My cat got sick again, my brother lost his job this week and I could add more about my life, but the good news is….I feel great!  It’s my time.  Is this your time?

These statements should not take the place of your primary health care physician.

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in products like food, water and milk container linings, including baby bottles, water pipes, and even dental sealants. Tests have concluded the finding of toxic levels of this chemical in “microwave safe” packaged containers also.  This chemical, since 1936, has been known to mimic estrogens, and also disrupt the effects of estrogen in the developing brain at low doses.  BPA is also implicated in disease and developmental problems, including an increase in breast cancer cell growth and also an increase of some prostate cancers.  Recent studies have linked BPA to heart disease and diabetes.

Dr. Belcher, an associate professor in the pharmacology and cell biophysics department at UC College of Medicine, explains that “BPA molecules are linked into polymers used to create polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins that are widely used in many products”.   Scientists have known for years that BPA molecules are unstable and they can leak into foods or beverages that come in contact with the plastic, especially when used for extended periods or used in high temperatures, like a microwave.  When these plastics and resins are exposed to high heat or hot liquids, BPA leaches out 55 times faster than under normal circumstances.  How much do you use your plastic containers, plates and bottles in the microwave?  Want to think twice about that?  Children were shown to have higher levels than adults. If you are pregnant or nursing, you should especially avoid BPA leakage.  How about using glass containers to reheat and glass to store your food, and heating the baby bottle on the stove top instead?  BPA can also leak when hot foods are stored in plastic containers or when plastics are put in the dishwasher or cleaned with harsh chemicals.  Take a look at your plastic containers.  Are they scratched and worn out?  Do you leave liquids sitting in your plastic bottles throughout the day?  It’s time to throw out the old and start using something different.

In February, 2008, the FDA saw no reason to ban or restrict the use of BPA.  In March of this year, U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation to ban the chemical BPA in all food and beverage containers.  Last week, six baby bottle manufacturers announced they would stop using BPA in their baby bottles.  The gas and chemical company, Sunoco, told its investors that it will now be refusing to sell BPA to companies for use in containers for children younger than 3.

What can you do right now?  Watch what you put in the microwave.  Use glass baby bottles and dishes.  Throw out your old plastic cups and dishes, store leftovers in glass containers and use glass instead of plastic in the microwave if you absolutely have to use it.  I use glass mason jars for my drinks and I rarely use the microwave.  I still haven’t gotten rid of it, but it’s on its way out.  Plastic wrap?  Never use in the microwave.  Bottles and containers with the recycling No. 7 on the bottom, may contain BPA.   Many companies are now advertising BPA Free items. 

Be proactive about your health.  I wish you good health!

We love our rice cookers. Well, I love mine at least.  I use the Miracle Stainless Steel Rice cooker, no chemicals to worry about like the plastic ones – it is an all stainless steel bowl.  Anyway, there is so much you can do with these bad boys.  Aside from just cooking up the perfect batch of rice, you could use it as a steamer to steam potatoes, shrimp, crab legs, vegetables.  I make soups, sauces and stews.  Your imagination is your limit.  Here are some of our favorite recipes.  Give them a try…tell us what you think…please please post a response.  I’m lonely on here…

RICE COOKER JAMBALAYA

1 1/2 c. uncooked rice
1 lb. shrimp or crawfish
1 stick butter, melted
1 lg. onion
1 c. bell pepper
3 ribs celery
2 tsp. Cajun Seasoning
2 cans beef broth
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1-2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. Accent

Combine all ingredients in the rice cooker and cook on regular cycle.

SLOW COOKER SWEET AND SOUR PORK

2-3 pounds cubed pork
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine or cider vinegar
1 large onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, cut into slices
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water or apple juice
1 1/2-inch square cube ginger, freshly grated
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 green peppers, cored and cut into quarters

Spray crock-pot liner with olive oil spray. Combine soy sauce, water, and cornstarch with brown sugar. Put washed and dried pork into crock-pot and stir in remaining ingredients except green pepper and tomatoes.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Stir in green pepper and tomatoes.

Cook on high for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve on a bed of rice.

Variations: To make Polynesian pork, eliminate tomatoes and stir in cubes of pineapple and cashews during the final hour.

SHRIMP PILAF

1 med. onion, chopped
1 chopped bell pepper
1 1/2 c. rice (rice cooker measuring cup)
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms & liquid
1 can beef broth
1/4 lb. butter
Salt & pepper
1 lb. shrimp

Combine everything together and pour into the rice cooker and turn cooker on. When done, the cooker will go off.

SPICY BLACK BEANS AND RICE

Black beans are high in protein, magnesium, manganese, folate, potassium, calcium and iron. They are economical and can be purchased in bulk and stored in airtight containers (like the Oliso Vacuum Sealer) for at least one year.

1 lb dry black beans
1/4 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 shallot, minced (optional)
2 bell peppers (red or green), chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 packet Goya Sazon (seasoning)
1/4 cup white wine (or wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 teaspoon Frank’s Hot Sauce

Pick over beans to remove imperfect beans and any foreign matter. Rinse well in cold running water.

In a pan, bring beans to a boil in 6-8 cups water. Boil over high heat for 3-4 minutes, then cover and set aside for an hour. Alternatively, boiling can be omitted if beans are soaked overnight.

Drain and rinse beans. In a large saucepan, soak beans in 8 cups fresh water. (This time, do not drain.)

In a skillet, sauté onion and pepper over medium heat until onions are tender and translucent. Add garlic and oregano when onions begin to color (about 5 minutes). Do not allow garlic to brown. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.

Stir mixture into beans in saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low.

Simmer until beans are tender. Serve over steamed white rice while still hot.

Can be prepared in a Crock-Pot. Just soak beans overnight and put everything into the Crock-Pot in the morning. Set on low and cook for 8 hours, or until beans are tender.

If you own a small (2.5-4 quart) pressure cooker, these can be prepared in less than thirty minutes. Sauté onions then add pre-soaked beans to pressure cooker; cover with water or broth and remaining ingredients. Cover and cook at 10 lbs pressure for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow sitting 10 minutes, then reducing pressure; seasoning to taste and serving.

Can be frozen in smaller portions for up to 6 months. If preparing larger quantities just for freezing, omit the seasonings and add them in while reheating, instead.

Recipes donated by www.cooks.com

Ok, so I wasn’t always a grocery shopper.  I mean, I’ve been a bachelor for years and it wasn’t on my top priority list.  That was until I got on my health streak (which I have continued for YEARS now).  So, I thought I’d share some good tips with you when you go to the store.  Check it!

What You Should Buy At The Grocery Store?

Do you know what you need when you leave for the grocery store, or do you just pick up foods and toss them into your shopping cart ad-hoc? Grocery shopping might not always be the most fun task on your “to do” list, but it can be made easier and quicker if you shop with a list. If you know what you need to purchase before you enter the sea of glimmering cereal boxes and walk down the aisles of candy land lane, you can prevent yourself from tempting foods that just aren’t healthy for you, or better yet, you can stop yourself from overspending at the check-out line.

But, that’s not all; if you make a list ahead of time you can fill your basket with healthy snacks, eat healthier meals throughout the week and build a shopping list that will last a lifetime.

Here are some staple items to put on your list:

Vegetables and fruits are best when in season and should make up the largest part of your list. Vegetables and fruits have vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and are low in calories.

Meats should be mostly fish, – think omega 3s – and poultry, but don’t eliminate your hamburgers and steak. Serve lean cuts of beef and pork cooked in olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

Whole grains are important for vitamins, minerals and fiber. Choose quinoa, millet, spelt and steel cut oats. Choose breads and cereals made from whole grains and read labels.

Dairy products such as milk and cheese should be eaten in moderation and kept low in fat. Goat’s cheese such as feta is a great option. If you do not want bovine dairy products, choose almond milk, rice milk or soy milk.

Salad Dressings often hide refined sugar and poor quality oils. Make your own. Buy olive oil and balsamic, mix together with a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Remember to Drink water, juice and herbal teas; all are good choices. Better yet, make your own juice to eliminate unhealthy preservatives and hidden sugars found in the juices from frozen concentrates and supermarket shelves.

Choose certified organic foods when possible. Certified Organic means your meats, fruits and vegetables are free of added hormones from animals and free of pesticides.

Find what works best for you, but here are some grocery items I keep on my weekly shopping list:

· Steel cut oatmeal, stevia or organic maple syrup to taste

· Plain non-fat organic yogurt (or make your own yogurt), stevia to taste

· Non-fat milk

· Seasonal fruits

· Season vegetables

· Certified organic chicken

· Certified organic ground turkey

· Raw almonds

· Raw walnuts

· Dried raisins, apricots and mangos

· Ezekiel whole grain tortillas and bread

· Fresh sliced deli meat

· Feta cheese

· Spinach Lettuce

Dark organic chocolate, 60% or more – delivers healthy antioxidants while it feeds your sweet tooth.  Isn’t that awesome?

Enjoy and Be Well,

Juicy Josh

www.877myjuicer.com

I’d like to see the look on my grandfather’s face if I time traveled back to 1950’s America and told him I ate a diet consisting primarily of uncooked, raw food.  He’d probably spit hot borsht at me.  A man of true serenity and balance, he did live to be 99 so, in preface to this article, I restate my overarching belief in the moderation of all things, including diet.  Neuroticism around food is unhealthier than unhealthy food.  At least that’s my opinion.

That said, I eat healthy, I pay attention to what goes into my body and I am pretty aware of its effects.  The last several years have seen a rise in popularity of what is most usually called the Raw Food diet and there’s some real compelling evidence of its benefits.  The raw food diet is a diet where at least 75% of what’s eaten is unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed.   The theory is that heating food above 116 degrees F destroys enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption process. Cooking is also thought to diminish the nutritional value and life force of the food you ingest.

The stated benefits of this way of eating are compelling.  Increased energy, improved skin appearance, better digestion, weight loss, reduced risk of common illness such as flu to more serious problems such as heart disease and cancer are just a few of the plusses.  Raw foods contain enzymes which greatly aid in their own digestion, freeing the body’s own enzymes to do the work unimpeded of regulating all the body’s many metabolic processes. Heating food degrades or destroys these enzymes in food, putting the burden on the body’s own enzyme production.  Eating food without enzymes makes digestion more difficult, leads to toxicity in the body, to excess consumption of food, and therefore to obesity and to chronic disease.  Raw foods contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that stimulate the immune system and enhance digestion by populating the digestive tract with beneficial flora and raw foods have overall higher nutrient value than foods which have been cooked.  The diet is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber and phytochemicals.

So what can you eat?  Basically unprocessed, organic, whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, grains, legumes, dried fruit, seaweed, freshly juiced fruit and vegetables, purified water and young coconut milk.  There are many books written about the diet but the one describing the easiest transition is the Complete Book of Raw Food.  Another great one is the Raw Nirvana DVD Set.

Now although at least 75% of what you eat should not be heated over 116 degrees F there are a few cooking techniques that can make foods more digestible and add variety to the diet, like sprouting seeds, grains, and beans; juicing fruit and vegetables; soaking nuts and dried fruit; blending and dehydrating food.

Skeptical?  Try it for a month.  If you don’t feel better you can write me a nasty email.

In the meantime…

Be well

JuicyJosh

www.877myjuicer.com