Staple, a basic dietary item.  In my life, it’s not flour, rice or corn, it’s almonds, dates, a sprout bag (ok, that’s not food) and some sort of frozen fruit.  As long as I have these few items, I can eat for a day or more.   Of course, I have more than that in my kitchen, but I always have these items on hand and here are some great recipes for you to make with these items. 

Nut Milk

–Two cups water in your blender—-I use the Vitamix.  The BlendTec works well also.   I like my pulp as smooth as I can get it.

–One cup Raw almonds–they say raw almonds are getting hard to find.  I still can find them in my local health food store.  I actually just found them in a big box store, though they were not organic.

Put ingredients in your blender and blend until milky white and the almonds are well ground.  Squeeze through a nut milk/sprouting bag into a container.  The pulp can be stored in a separate container for up to a week in your fridge.  I will use the milk the same day or one day later.  Since this is fresh nut milk, it won’t last long in your fridge.  But this is easy enough to make every day.  You can add more nuts and water or less nuts and water, depending on how much you want that day. 

Here’s what you can do with the milk and pulp.

Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

Idea number 1:   Cereal–2 tablespoons nut pulp.  That’s all I can have since too many nuts tend to upset my stomach.  Add cut up banana, cinnamon, agave or honey, soaked raisins(these are quick, one hour or more), and any other fruit you have on hand or that you would like.  I let the mixture set for a bit.  This lets the honey absorb and makes it the consistency of oatmeal.  Enjoy for any meal.  Serve room temperature.

Idea number 2:  All of the above plus add some cold nut milk.

Idea number 3:  Nut pulp, finely diced apple, soaked raisins, cinnamon and honey/agave to taste.  This is a great treat for the kids too!   I just made this! 

Idea number 4:  Raw Chocolate Milkshake–2 cups nut milk. 1 Tablespoon raw cacao.  1 half frozen banana.  4 soaked dates(dates you can soak for a couple of hours or overnight).  1 Tablespoon agave or honey(optional).  Place all ingredients in your Vitamix or blender of choice.  Blend until smooth.  Alternative ingredients to add into your shake: Soaked walnuts, blueberries, strawberries, coconut.  Won’t the kids love a chocolate milkshake that’s HEALTHY!

What great ideas.  Easy is my middle name.  If I had a bigger kitchen with more counter space, I’d definitely purchase a dehydrater.  But as you can see, with many staple ingredients that last on the shelf or in the fridge/freezer forever, you can make raw, healthy meals and treats in no time at all.  And the best part?  I made up these dishes.  I didn’t follow any specific recipe.  It’s what I’ve come to enjoy and when I figured out the tastes I liked and what my stomach could handle, the rest was cake!  I mean, easy!  Yes, I still love cake.  I cannot deny that fact.  Is it anyones birthday this week? 

Have a great time experimenting with your food.  I wish you this week…ease of preparing your meals and snacks and healthy digesting.

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle

Webster’s defines the word sprouting as the following: to grow, spring up, or come forth, to send out new growth:  cause to develop.  When a recipe calls for “sprouted almonds”, that means soaking in water for at least a few hours.  You won’t see a tail in that time from an almond.  However, there are some seed and bean that you will see that cute little tail spring forth.  Sprouting is waking the seed or bean up.  It is also means soaking the bean over night and then rinsing said seed or bean, until it grows a tail.  Some tails are longer than others. Proteins, enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients activate with sprouting.  Beans are a time-honored way to get plenty of protein with low fat, high fiber and no cholesterol.  Steve Meyerowitz says, “Sprouts are a veritable vitamin factory.”

Today I am letting you in on one of the secrets of a living food lifestyle.  It really is easy!  There’s minimal prep time except if you have to sprout something.  However, it does require a commitment.  A commitment to be happy and healthy!  Didn’t you hear the news about the key to the door of happiness?  There isn’t a key!  The door’s not locked!

Yesterday I stopped in to see my good friend Sarah.  She was preparing Halva, the raw version.   Halva is a confection made from semolina. It’s originally from India and made with a variety of ingredients, including sugar, flour and oil.   I’ve never tasted the real thing and I don’t want to now, ’cause the raw is so good!  I believe it took a total of 15 minutes and that included a call from her husband and the time it took for us to taste it.  Let me be honest with you (I seem to do that a lot), it was fabulous.  I’ll be making it this weekend and will share that recipe in another episode.

How about that sprouting lesson?  Today it is sprouted bean mix.  I like adzuki, mung, green and red lentil and fenugreek.   All these make one interesting blend of flavors.  Here’s how easy it is.  Take a handful, a cup (however much you want), of all your beans (a little less of the fenugreek), place in a mason jar, glass bowl or your sprouter.  Soak overnight.  Rinse and drain in the morning into your sprout bag or leave in your sprouter.  I use a sprout bag or the Biosta Sprouter. With the sprout bag you can rinse through it and leave in a colander to drain in the sink.  With the Biosta, fill the top layer with water and then it drains itself through the next two layers, rinsing the other layers as it drains. Then for two or three days, rinse and allow to drain at least 2 times a day, more if you are home.  Too much sunlight and they can wilt and die.  Once you see the tail spring forth, or you taste it and it’s soft enough for you, go ahead and eat it!  You can place this mix on your salad, on a sandwich with avocado and lettuce, in your guacamole, in your green drink, or by the handful.  Great for travel or in the office for that snack at your desk.  And it’s living food!  Living food is filled and surrounded by energy.  By eating living food you are absorbing that energy field.  You are reaping tremendous health benefits.  This mix will last in the refrigerator a week or more.  You can rinse again if the mix starts to get slimy.

Adzuki beans contain protease inhibitors which discourage the development of cancerous cells.  Fenugreek is used as a digestive aid.  This sprout could reduce inflammation.  Lentils are great substitutes for meat and when combined with a leafy green, they are better absorbed by the body.  Mung are rich in vitamins A, B, C, and E, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium.

Again, I ask you…..What are you waiting for?  Another good thing about dry seed and bean?  They will outlast you!  Store in the fridge or freezer.

Happy living trails to you.

Donna, yep I sprouted that, Bergonzi-Boyle

What? You grow grass?  Isn’t that illegal?  Common words I hear when I tell people that I’ve been growing grass for the last 15 years.   They start to walk away from me when I tell them my Dad turned me on to it!

I first saw that beautiful grass at The Optimum Health Institute in CA. My parents were working there and my brother Michael had just started there too.  He designed and built the greenhouse along with my Dad, and also built up his reputation as being one of the master wheatgrass growers in the country.  A greenhouse filled with grass and sprouts is a site to behold.  The energy, the oxygen, the green!  Just breathe and be healed!  Why do we hold our breath?  I have been a practitioner of yoga for over 15 years and I know why. Breathing takes you into the present moment.  You cannot be in the present moment without the willingness to feel hurt.  That is a tough statement to comprehend, let alone “feel”.  But I’ll go into that in another excerpt.  Let’s get back to growing grass….

I watched and listened to my Dad and brother.  “When is my turn”?  I continued to ask myself that. I knew I would get there someday.  With their advice I was able to grow grass in my small apartment some 15 years ago.  Then there was a time I just didn’t have it in me to grow but wanted to drink wheatgrass juice, so I ordered it online.   I never knew when they harvested it.  It just didn’t taste like what I was used to.  I would occasionally be at a juice café and order a shot.  And again, I’d say, “Is this what these people think wheatgrass juice is supposed to taste like”?   Ok, that’s enough of this…..it’s time to start another business.  My reasons?  I wanted fresh cut, organic wheatgrass juice every day and I figured if I did, then someone else out there does too.  It’s easy enough.  I have my Dad and my brother, right?   And Michael even has a DVD with all the directions for growing wheatgrass and sprouts!  I can do this!

For a year I grew wheatgrass and sprouts and delivered an exceptional product to as many customers as I could.   Now I grow on my kitchen counter.  I grow on my dining room table.  I grow and sprout wherever I can, as much as I can.   Sprouting seed and growing wheatgrass may take some time to figure out.  Your environment has a lot to do with all the problems you may encounter.  I’ve learned that airflow is the biggest issue surrounding the mold problem.  Living in the northeast is challenging to say the least.  I now grow pea shoots in my sprouter.  No soil!  I know, that’s crazy.    Don’t tell my brother.

I can’t live without my sprouter, sprout bag, my colander, my green bags(to keep all my produce fresh longer), and some great trays for growing my sprouts and wheatgrass.  I keep a kitchen stocked with seed and a library stocked with books about sprouts and live food.  Because of the size of my kitchen and winter being upon us, I grow one thing at a time.   But there is no reason, with all the new sprouters and tray holders out there, that you can’t grow more than one sprout.  The hardest part is just getting started.  Sprout one thing at a time at first. Get really good at it and then start something else.  The theory behind sprouting and growing is basically the same with a lot of seed and bean.  The principals are the same too.   Keep good air circulation, don’t let the seed dry out, and keep it out of too much direct sunlight (sounds like the directions on how to keep a gremlin)!   Wheatgrass is baby grass. It needs to be nurtured.   And for goodness sake, keep your grass away from the pets!  You’ll have to grow a separate tray for them. My cat loves to chew it right out of the tray. I also juice it for him and give it to him in a dropper.  He loves it!  I’ve seen a dog totally tear a tray of wheatgrass apart, like it was catnip.  What a treat for them!  And during the long winter months, when dogs can’t get outside to chew grass, this is the perfect substitute for them. Wheatgrass juice, it’s not just for humans!  Keep on growing, folks!