Need Some Chocolate

My husband has an evening sweet tooth. Despite my desire to get away from sugar, he needs his comfort food. Somehow (full sugar) cookies, ice cream bars or pie make it into my raw-food, no-white-flour-allowed kitchen. Once in while, my husband will want to dip his toe into the raw-food lifestyle. Last night he asked me he asked me to experiment with a few raw dessert recipes.

When visiting a raw food restaurant in New York or San Francisco, we have tasted delicious raw confections. A chocolate pie from Cafe Gratitude comes to mind. I pulled out the raw food recipe books and tried a lemon pudding. One cup of soaked Brazil nuts, 8 soaked dates, the juice from three lemons and 1 teaspoon of lemon peel. Process in a food processor or Vitamix.  If you like lemons, it is quite good. However, it was too tart for a non-lemon lover. Hmm…perhaps a little dried coconut on top?

Ok, let’s try something chocolate. I pulled out David Wolfe’s Naked Chocolate. Synthesizing the Chocolate Fudge and Fudge Reloaded recipes, I came up with:

• 1 cup of raw cashews soaked
• 1 cup of dates
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 1/4 cup dried shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup water or date soak water

Process in a food processor. Spread on a cookie sheet 3/4 and freeze for an hour (or eat it right out of the bowl). Wow, really good. The cashew pieces kept it a little crunchy and there was just enough sweetness to pull the chocolate taste out of the cacao.

Does it taste like Giant Eagle chocolate chunk cookies? No. Will it calm down a chocolate craving. Absolutely.  And, my body doesn’t have to feel the after effects of a sugar-egg-butter-white flour concoction – baked at 375 degrees and solidified into a gooey mass -causing my white blood cells to go into panic mode.

Amazing Kale Salad From Shelly Young

My new favorite recipe book

Over the last few months, my diet has moved towards an alkaline diet (and away from sugar and coffee – which, are extremely acidic) and Dr. Robert Young’s program. However, I have noticed it was hard to sustain or rather get excited about this diet because I was constantly searching different food options. Last week I picked up  Shelly Redford Young’s recipe book, Back to the House of Health 2
and am experiencing a whole new world of kitchen fun.

The recipes in here are really amazing and are providing tasty and filling options so that I can get excited about and maintain this way of eating. I have not been this motivated about a recipe book in a long time!

One of my favorites so far:

Spicy Kale Slaw on page 55

You will need:

• 1 avocado
• 1 cup of jicama – peeled and cubed
• Juice from 1/2- 1 lime
• 1 scoop soy sprouts (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon Udo’s Oil (I use flax oil instead)
• Real Salt to taste

Place these in a food processor and process until smooth. Then add:

• 1 carrot washed and cut into small pieces
• 3 kale leaves chopped (make sure to remove the spines)
• 1/2 jalapeno (optional – must like spicy to enjoy this)
• 1 tomatillo (I don’t ever seem to have one so have not yet used)
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

Pulse these ingredients until chopped but not smooth. They give the ‘slaw’ some crunch and chewability.

I have eaten this one for lunch and dinner. Completely satisfying and of course very healthy!

Omega 3 Oils

Taking a daily Omega 3 oil from fish, hemp and/or flax seed can stave off mental illness in those at highest risk, trial findings suggest.

A three-month course of the supplement appeared to be as effective as drugs, cutting the rate of psychotic illness like schizophrenia by a quarter.

The researchers believe it is the omega-3 in oil – already hailed for promoting healthy hearts – that has beneficial effects in the brain. Read more from Dr. Young’s Blog.

Green Juice Ideas

When it comes to juicing, my ingredients are usually dictated by what I find in my refrigerator.  However, in an effort to keep me excited about juicing, i.e. choose a green juice over a cup of coffee, I need to mix it up. Below are a few variations for your juicing regimen.

Basic Green Vegetable Juice:

• 2-3 stalks of celery
• 2-3 leaves of kale – discard the stalk before juicing
• 1 cucumber – peeled if not organic
• 4-5 leaves of lettuce
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• handful of parsley or spinach
• juice from 1/2 lemon

Post Work-Out: (alkaline, sodium, calcium, electrolytes – it’s all there)

• 1 cucumber
• 2-3 ribs of celery
• 1 green or sour apple
• 3-4 leaves of kale
• 1/2 inch of ginger
• 1 tsp soy sprouts (optional)

Stress Alleviator: (provides sodium potassium balance to keep you centered + alkaline minerals  that promote a calming effect in the body)

• 5 leaves of kale
• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1/2 loose leaf lettuce

Young Coconuts

There are so many yummy recipes the require young coconut water or meat. However, in order to get either of those two ingredients, you need to be able to find and open a Young Coconut.

I have purchased young coconuts from Whole Foods. Whole Foods it the most convenient way buy a coconut, however,  it is a little expensive at $3.99 a piece .   Asian food stores/markets also carry coconuts and they are usually less expensive. You can also purchase coconuts online, however shipping tends to be  outrageous.  Check your local stores and produce markets. Coconuts seem to be gaining in popularity. You may be pleasantly surprised to find one.

The next challenge is opening a coconut. You need a cleaver and a good demonstration. This is the most straightforward video demonstration I have found. How to open a Young Coconut. YouTube offers several others.

My new favorite breakfast

In an effort to eat as alkaline as possible, it seems a constant struggle to find something for breakfast that fills me up. Green juice doesn’t give my stomach the satisfaction that it is craving.

My new favorite breakfast starts with my Vitamix (a food processor or blender work as well), an avocado two very green bananas. (Apparently, green bananas are lower in sugar and therefore more alkaline than yellow or ripe bananas.)

From there I add 1-2 cups of water and one of the following:

• A large handful of spinach or romaine lettuce
• A couple stalks of celery
• Soy sprouts and the juice of half a lemon or lime (to cut the sprout taste)

Sometimes I will also add a tablespoon of non-GMO lethicin granules for extra creaminess (also alkaline).

The result is a smooth and creamy green bowl of happiness.  Of course, my husband looks at my concoction with bewilderment.  But, we knew that would happen.

Make your own dressing

Over the past couple of years, I have taken to experimenting with mixing my own salad dressings. Store bought dressings always seem to ‘lack’ something. Perhaps it is that ‘living’ feeling. Perhaps I can’t help but question how long a dressing has sat on a store shelf, where it came from, or what kind of oils the manufacturer used.

Even if it is psychological, (which, it isn’t), I always feel that my salad is healthier with a home made dressing

The base of my dressings always include oil, lemon juice and some type of salt flavoring. From there, I will add spices or other ingredients to jazz it up.

Below is a basic dressing that has become a staple.

• 2 tablespoons flax oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon of honey, agave or other sweetener
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• sea salt or Real Salt to taste

Process it in a blender and store in the refrigerator.  It will ast a couple of days.

Super Soy Pudding

It is the morning of Thanksgiving #1. I celebrate two, one today and one on Friday.  Knowing this weekend could be full of over-indulgences, I wanted to eat something that would be both healthy and filling for breakfast.  I found this Super Soy Pudding on the  phmiracleliving.com web site and thought it was worth a try. The is a recipe from Shelley Redford Young, wife of Dr. Robert Young of The pH Diet. It is said to be high in good fats, Vitamin E, Calcium, Potassium with the almond milk and avocado, and high in proteins from the Soy Sprouts.

I actually cut this recipe in half:

1 C. Fresh Almond Milk
2 Avocado’s
1 lime
2 scoops Soy Sprouts Powder
1 pkg. Stevia
6-8 Ice cubes

It did come out very creamy and pudding like. Then again, anything with avocado and ice cubes should do that.  It was a little more tart than expected, however, on some level my taste buds were thinking vanilla or chocolate pudding – which this wasn’t.   It was OK. While it was ‘healthy’, I am not sure I am satiated – even after waiting  20 minutes for it to register with my brain.

Conclusion:  If I want to stay alkaline, I will make this again. If I want something that is still raw but, resembles my version of ‘real’ pudding , the recipe will look like this:

1 C. Fresh Almond Milk
1 Avocado
1 Banana
1-2 TSP Cacao Powder
1 tsp Macuna Powder
1 pkg. Stevia
3-4 ice cubes

Now, that is healthy, satisfying and delicious!

Monday morning cleanse

I woke up on Monday morning with that bloated, sluggish feeling of over-indulgence.   Without going into the ‘unhealthy’ specifics (I think tequila, guacamole and fried plantain chips were involved), let’s say that I felt my body needed a little extra assistance to get the excess water and toxins moving. It was the perfect time to try Dr. David Jubb’s Electrolyte Lemonade from the  LifeFood Recipe Book.

The recipe:

• 2 organic lemons, yellow skin removed, keeping the white pith
• 2 tablespoons of flax oil
• 1 organic apple (he recommends a pear but, I didn’t have one on hand)
• 1/2 tsp.  Celtic sea salt
• 4 cups water
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup (raw honey or stevia is also listed as options)

The lemon and the oil are said to detoxify while boosting the immune system. Flax is also great for providing Omega 3 fatty acids. Citrus pectin restores absorption of ‘good’ fats into the cells.

After 15-20 seconds in the Vitamix, I gave it a try. The drink came out surprisingly refreshing and tasty – after I removed the chucks of pith.  Usually the Vitamix will smooth everything out, however, not so with lemon pith. I had to pour the concoction through a strainer to make it palatable. It was creamy and delicious, much more substantial than the lemonade used in the Master Cleanse.

I had several glasses of it throughout the morning and revered back to a healthier fare throughout the rest of the day. It is now Tuesday morning and I feel much clearer and the over-indulgence bloat is gone!

BTW, the Electrolyte Lemonade could be used as part of a more extensive 7 or 14 day cleanse. However, a week or so before Thanksgiving doesn’t feel like the appropriate time to cleanse. Definitely, after the holiday!