What I ate Wednesday!

Hi all! I have been trying to include more animal products in my diet this winter because I have been working on my blood deficiency (a chinese medicine term similar to anemia). But I have come to the conclusion that I have felt worse since adding more meat in my diet so I am going back to a more vegan (ish) diet.( I still like to eat seafoods occasionally). I actually think  blood deficiency/anemia comes more from a poorly functioning digestive system than having a high intake of animal foods. My gall bladder certainly has not enjoyed more animal products the past few months and I would prefer to keep it around for a while. Also when your liver is congested with animal products it can effect your energy levels and moods. In chinese medicine depression can be caused by a stagnate liver so when you want to be happy and feel great you should keep your liver qi flowing smoothly. Exercise, clean air, healthy diet, and a positive outlook all can keep your liver qi flowing smoothly! There are tons of chinese herbs and plant foods that can help keep your body from becoming deficient and for tonifying your blood and qi. I’m going to go this route for building blood instead of the meat route. One of the ways you can tell if you are blood deficient is if your tongue is very pale pink instead of a brighter pink color.

For breakfast today I had a breakfast taco ( a corn tortilla with sunbutter and shredded carrots) ,a grapefruit, and some cashews.

 

For lunch I had some more of my vegan chili (will post the recipe soon) and a smoothie with apples, ginger, radishes, cilantro, carrots, kale, and avocado.

 

For dinner I made a wrap with curried roasted veggies, hummus and fresh cilantro. I also had some of my leftover smoothie from lunch.

 

 

Smoothie Tuesday! Ginger red date smoothie

In Chinese medicine ginger and red dates are commonly used together in a formula called Gui zhi Tang and are used to help fight a cold or flu virus from attacking so this smoothie would be helpful at keeping colds and the flu at bay this winter. You could even add some cinnamon for extra effect:)

Ginger red date smoothie:

1 large apple or 1 1/2 regular size
2 carrots
1/4 large beet
4-5″ piece of fresh ginger (peeled)
5 soaked red dates
large handful of greens (I used romaine)
1/2 lemon with peel
1 tablespoon sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)
2-3 cups filtered water

*Make sure to drink smoothies at room temperature for your digestion’s sake!

*Cheers to good health*

This recipe can also be seen here http://www.rickiheller.com/2014/02/wellness-weekend-february-6-9-2014 with many other yummy vegan recipes.

What I ate Wednesday!

Now that I am over my winter colds I am starting to incorporate daily smoothies back into my life. I pretty much try to stick to soups and teas when I’m sick.(especially good and spicy ones!)  I had a great weekend intensive at school last weekend learning about the philosophy and techniques of acupuncture and chinese medicine. I am so happy to  be able to study this medicine! It’s much more than medicine it is also life philosophy. It is so interesting to me how much our thoughts and intentions play a such a large role in our health. Find out the things that make you happy and do those things alot and regularly!! Cheers to good health!

What I had for breakfast today was a slice of gluten free toast with sunbutter and an egg white with a green smoothie.( pineapple,grapefruit,kale, basil,apple, avocado and ginger)

For lunch I had some vegan chili topped with cilantro and avocado and some of my smoothie from breakfast

For dinner I had refried beans, rice and a salad (with romaine,cherry tomatoes, cranberries, apples,sunflower seeds, oregano lemon juice, olive oil and salt). I also munched on some of these chocolate chip cookies too.

Smoothie Tuesday! Basil cilantro smoothie

I love using fresh herbs in my smoothies! Not only are they amazing for you (anti inflammatory/cleansing) but they give your smoothies so much flavor! I sometimes let my kids decide if they want a smoothie or regular veggies for dinner and they almost always choose smoothies! But I still want them to enjoy the taste of real veggies without the sweetness so they still have to eat their regular veggies most of the time.

Basil cilantro smoothie:

Handful of basil
Handful of cilantro
1 apple
1 celery stick
1 cup orange juice
1 ” of fresh ginger
1 large kale leaf
1/2 avocado
about 2 cups water
pinch of turmeric

*Drink at room temperature for maximum digestive health. Even better drink it with a bowl of soup or a cup of hot tea!

I am on facebook ,pinterest  and twitter also so check it out! Cheers to good health!

This recipe can also be seen here http://www.allergyfreealaska.com/2014/02/06/whole-food-fridays-2-7-2014/with many other whole food recipes

Gluten free vegan rosemary bread

I have tried so many times to make a bread recipe that I am happy with. I made one with eggs that I liked but I would prefer to avoid eggs in my baked goods so I am excited to have a vegan yeast free bread to make. I also made rolls with some of the bread dough and they were really good too. I really should be studying right now but baking experiments are so much funner! I’m going to try to veganize my grain free chocolate chip cookies tonight so if all goes well I will make a note of it on that post what I used. If you want to have the bread more like the store bought size I would just double the recipe or add another half. It does rise a bit but not as much as it would with yeast and eggs.

Vegan gluten free rosemary bread

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend ( I used Bob’s red mill)

2 tablespoons fresh ground coconut flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1 1/2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds

1/2 apple

1/2 cup of water

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons vinegar

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup of oil (I used olive)

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon rosemary

pinch of sea salt

*Blend in the blender/food processor the apple and water

*Mix together the wet ingredients with the flax seeds and let sit for a few minutes.

*Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

*Add the dough to a greased loaf pan.( I also put some wax paper on the bottom to prevent sticking)

* Cook at 350F for about 30-40 minutes or until it starts turning a medium brown on the top (and the knife test comes out clear).

* Cool first then you can make smoother slices when cutting. Enjoy!

Grain free chocolate chip cookies

My family loved these cookies! I am going to try them with flax or chia instead of an egg so I can have a vegan option also. I used walnuts, sunflower seeds and coconut for the flour for these. I spent last week working on a gluten free and yeast free sandwich bread and got frustrated so I moved to cookies. I think I will do some more bread experimenting this week though because I was so close!

Grain free chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup walnut flour (fresh ground)

1/4 cup coconut flour (fresh ground)

1/4 cup sunflower seed flour (fresh ground)

1/2 tbs tapioca flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

1/4 cup oil (olive, grapeseed etc.)

1 egg

2 tbs honey

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch sea salt

* Grind your flours and mix together ingredients.

*Place dough balls on a greased pan and cook for about 10-15 minutes at 300F

*Makes about 8-10 cookies

 

Smoothie Tuesday! New Years cleansing smoothie and health tips!

Happy New Year! Here is a great way to start off the new year! Time to cleanse out all of those holiday goodies and excess winter weight. Another perfect addition to cleansing smoothies and juices is to add probiotics like sauerkraut , kefir, or kombucha to your daily diet. Flaxseeds and chia seeds are also awesome foods to keep your digestion moving and inflammation levels down. Just be sure to drink extra water to help the extra bulk keep flowing through your system!

Something that I do especially in the dry winter months to give me energy,decrease inflammation, help digestion and build my yin levels (the watery fluids in your body needed to be healthy) is to mix some nonfat yogurt or kefir with equal amounts fresh ground flaxseeds(or flax oil) and add a pinch of turmeric and spirulina. This is based on the Budwig diet and is also used to fight cancer and other degenerative diseases so it can not only fight them it can also help prevent them as well. It supposedly is a magical combination of a nonfat sulphur protein (yogurt/kefir/quark) and flax oil . I don’t normally eat dairy because of the effects on my skin and overall health but this is the exception to that rule because I only take it in very small amounts (1/4 cup per day) and I feel really great when I eat it. I can literally feel all the cells in body thanking me and giving me the energy that I need – similar to that first few sips of coffee;)

Below I listed some of the benefits of the ingredients of my New Years cleansing smoothie:

• Grapefruits-High in vitamin C, bioflavanoids, and potassium. Are an antiseptic, fever reducer, and helpful for fatigue. Grapefruits contain quinine which has a long history of being used as a treatment for Malaria, as well as arthritis and leg cramps.
• Grapes-Resveratrol  a flavanoid  in red and purple grapes reduce the body’s ability to store fat by about 130%. It also lowers blood pressure by improving the dilation of blood vessels. Resveretrol protects against brain damaging free radicals to improve brain health. Grapes are anti inflammatory and lower blood sugar in the body.
• Cilantro-Powerful cleansing herb which cleanses toxins and heavy metals from the body. Cilantro is also anti inflammatory and promotes healthy liver function.
• Apples-Protects against cancer, alzheimers, parkinsons disease, lowers cholesterol, prevents gallstones by preventing the build up of cholesterol in the body. The fiber in apples help detox the liver by keeping the digestive system moving so toxins are flushed out of the body.
• Celery-Potent anti inflammatory especially of the digestive tract, protects against damaging effects caused by eating fried foods, lowers blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscles surrounding the vessels allowing them to expand.
• Ginger- Strong anti inflammatory effects, gastrointestinal relief/digestive aid, helps with nausea, protects against colorectal cancer by inhibiting growth of cancer cells. Ginger kills ovarian cancer cells by apoptosis (programmed cell death) and autophagocytosis (self digestion). Ginger promotes sweating which is good for fighting a cold or fever.

New Year cleansing smoothie:

Blend:

1 grapefruit peeled

1 apple

1 1/2 cups grapes

1 large stalk celery

1-2″ chunk fresh ginger

handful fresh cilantro

about 3 cups filtered water

*Cheers to good health!*

My top 10 posts of 2013

I have been so busy with school that I haven’t been posting as many recipes as I would like too. Now that my first trimester of school is over I have a good studying routine going so I think I can get back to posting more recipes. I am working on a gluten free/yeast free sandwich bread recipe that I will post this week after I can get it to where I am completely happy with it. Here are the top 10 of my posts that  were the most popular in  2013:

 

Incredible hulk energy shake

Cranberry bliss bar

Raw pomegranate macadamia cheesecake

Raw chocolate chip molten lava cakes

Vanilla and chocolate vegan ice cream bars

Raw mini Mississippi mud cake

Vegan vanilla doughnuts with chocolate glaze

Mean green spirulina protein machine smoothie

Raw carrot cake with cashew butter cream frosting

Black forest mousse cake