So You Say You Can't Cook?

I hear this from quite a few of my clients, "My cooking attempts begin and end with boiling water or pushing start on the microwave. I just don't have time to cook!" 

If the best you can do is boil water....well then you, too, can cook!  I was inspired to write about this method of cooking after using my new Paula Dean copper bottomed double boiler.  My honey gave it to me for Christmas since I do all of the cooking in the house.  Perhaps that may change this New Year.......

Who says you have to do all the cooking? There are many ways to share the work of preparing dinner. Get the family together, and have each person prepare part or all of a recipe. Small children can help with some parts of the meal, like washing and tearing lettuce or setting the table. You can also have older kids take one night of the week to prepare something they want to eat. Not only does it take the work off you, but it also teaches them a skill they’ll use the rest of their lives.

One of my favorite methods of cooking that is so easy and healthy is STEAMING.  Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food. 

Overcooking or burning food is easily avoided when steaming it. Health conscious individuals may prefer steaming to other methods which require cooking oil, resulting in lower fat content. Steaming also results in a more nutritious food than boiling because fewer nutrients are leached away into the water, which is usually discarded. A 2007 USDA comparison between steaming and boiling vegetables shows the most affected nutrients are folic acid and vitamin C. When compared to raw consumption, steaming reduces folic acid by 15%, and boiling reduces it by 35%. Steaming reduces vitamin C by 15%, and boiling reduces it by 25%. Phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties have been found to retain significantly better through steaming than through boiling or microwaving.^[1] Most other nutrients are reduced by a similar amount by both methods of cooking.^[2]

We know there are times when you get home and the last thing you want to do is cook dinner. With a little planning, you can have meals all ready to be cooked. There are a number of great recipes you can partially prepare ahead of time and finish another day. Many recipe books and websites even label those meals as “Make Ahead.” Also, look for recipes you can double or triple and freeze the leftovers for another day.

Steaming is a great way to re-heat a meal instead of the microwave.  Give it a try, the flavors and colors will be sure to please the whole family!

Wild Nettle Soup

A GREAT recipe from our friend over at Forage SF

Nettle Is Great…Wild Nettle Soup Recipe

Recipes

Nettle is great. Its all around, good for you, plus there’s the element of danger when you’re harvesting. It’s like collecting sea urchins. Will it get you? Are those gloves really thick enough to ward off those spiny stems? A question Ive been forced to answer in the negative far too many times. For those of you that like a bit of danger with your foraging, but aren’t quite up for wild mushroom collecting or boar hunting, the nettle is a good bet.
There are two kinds of nettle that grow in our area (that area being Northern CA).Urtica diocea, which is also known as river nettle, and Urtica urens, which I call farm nettle, its more often cultivated, and much less intense, cousin. River nettle is what grows most often in the wild, so that’s what I end up using most of the time. You find it often growing in stream beds and in other moist nutrient rich environments. “Farm Nettle” can also be found wild, although much less often, in what are referred to as “disturbed places”. Areas where the earth has just been upset for some reason (hint: there’s some in Golden Gate park if you know where to look).
River nettle (diocea) is much more intense than in both sting and flavor. Whereas farm (urens) will give you a bit of a prick to let you know its nettle, river nettle will bite you, a searing pain that, instead of going away after several hours of throbbing, actually seems to turn into a general numbness/tingle for as much as 48 hours (hint: use vinegar to get rid of the sting, or if you’re near a marsh, the goo from the base of cattails works too). If you’re using it in soup, river nettles are really the best. The intensity comes through in the soup in all the best ways.
With that said, lets get on with it. Go collect some! I wont tell you my spots, but I will tell you that they like to grow in moist, nutrient rich soils. Try to harvest them before the plant has gone to seed. As in all plants, you want to collect them when they’re putting the most amount of energy into the part you want to eat…perhaps confusing, but a good principle. When plants are flowering, eat the flower, when they’re shooting up out of the ground in spring, eat the shoot, when they’ve gone to seed, eat the seed (although I havnt heard of people eating nettle seed, I don’t see why not). Enough talk, on to the recipe.
This soup is a real standby for The Wild Kitchen (my underground restaurant). People love it, so it keeps coming back from month to month while nettle is in season.
You’ll need:
Food:
-1 lb nettle (collect it, or you can often find it at farmers markets in season)
-1 lb russet potatoes
-1 lb leek
-6 Cups chicken stock
-2 Tbsp butter
-Salt/pepper to taste
-Small tub crème fraiche
Equipment:
-Heavy gloves (seriously. If you’re using the thin latex kind, so popular in restaurant kitchens and the nether regions of the airport security line, wear double, or even triple. A good thick pair of dishwashing gloves works perfectly)
-Heavy bottomed soup pot
-Stand up or hand (immersion) blender
-Wooden spoon
-Scissors
-mixing bowl
1.First, you’ve got to deal with the nettle. Put a pot of salted water on to boil. With your gloves on, use scissors to cut the leaves from the woody stem, discarding any brown leaves. Wash under cold water. Get a mixing bowl, and fill it with iced and salted water. Throw nettle into boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, then immediately place in ice water. This is called blanching and shocking. The boil gets rid of the nettle sting, and the ice water helps it retain its vibrant green color. Once they’re cold, squeeze water out of nettles, and reserve.
2. Cut off the white section of the leeks, slice them lengthwise, and wash very well. Tons of dirt likes to get stuck in leeks, and it’s the last thing you want in your soup. After they’re clean, chop them and reserve.
3. Dice potatoes.
4. Melt butter in pot over medium heat, making sure not to let it burn. When it begins to bubble, throw in the leeks, cook 5 minutes (if they start to brown, turn down the flame, you want them to sweat). Add potatoes, cook 5 minutes. Add nettle, cook 5 minutes.
5. Pour in chicken stock, mix, turn up heat until it comes to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.
6. Allow to simmer 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Turn off heat and either blend with you immersion blender, or if using a stand-up, blend in batches with a ventilated blender (take that little plastic thing out of the middle of the lid), and a towel on top. With the danger sounding too much like you dad, BE CAREFUL!. Hot soup on the face is not fun.
7. When its blended, add two spoonsfulls of crème fraiche, mix. Serve hot with a drizzle of crème fraiche on top. This soup will taste quite “green”. Crème fraiche will balance it to your liking.
8. Enjoy! And regal your friends with your daring tales of nettle foraging, they’ll be impressed.

Mindfulness Meditation - Calm Thyself

I've been practicing mindfullness meditation for a few years now and let me tell you, it has made a huge difference in the way I feel.  As a typical Type A for as long as I can remember, I knew that my body was paying the price for all the rushing around, stressing out about everything under the sun.

Recognizing what all the stress and drama was doing to my health was the first step in making permanent changes.  Meditation was the answer for settling my Monkey Mind down enough to manage all the energetic shifts that were and are taking place in my life and the world as I experience it.  This article from the  Harvard Medical School blog has good information and guidance for those of you that want to give meditation a try.  I highly recommend the practice to all my clients since managing stress is one of our biggest challenges in this day and age.

Give it a try......it may just be The Cure you've been looking for!



Is STRESS Making You Fat?



Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands in response to stress, and research does suggest that there may be a tie between cortisol levels in women and the accumulation of excess weight in the abdominal area. A study at Yale University in 2000 compared stress reactions among women who had a high waist-to-hip ratio (because their fat tended to be in the belly) with those among women with a low waist-to-hip ratio (indicating more fat storage in the hips than the waist).



After years of chronic stress, our adrenal glands — which govern our stress response, help balance a woman’s blood sugar, and regulate many other of our body’s processes — can become imbalanced. Our adrenal glands are fundamental to our health, and when they are out of balance, the body prepares for disaster the best way it knows how — by storing calories. Genetically, some of us are more predisposed to this than others. But the good news is that if we restore the adrenals to their normal, healthy function by improving our nutrition, stubborn pounds often fall away without too much effort, and our energy returns.

Let’s take a closer look at the adrenal glands, then talk about solutions for healing your stress response — and finally getting rid of that stubborn weight. 

Call  (707)812-0546 for a free 30-minute consultation

Cauliflower in the Garden

The winter garden at Two Crone Farm is doing well so that means cauliflower and cabbage will be abundant shortly.  While searching for new recipes to capture the best possible use for our cruciferous friends I found this at CinnamonandThyme.com 

 

Cabbage & Cauliflower Salad

1/2 head red cabbage (small one)
1 head cauliflower
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 apple
2 tablespoons (1/2 lemon) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
pine nuts
sprouts (alfa alfa)

For the dressing:
cider vinegar
balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
salt
olive oil (approx. 1-2 tablespoon)

Dressing:
combine all the ingredients and set aside.(I used 2:1 ratio of cider vinegar : balsamic vinegar)

Wash the cabbage and slice it very thinly. Cut apple into small pieces and pour lemon juice over the apple slices. Cut the cauliflower into florettes. In a pan heat coconut oil, add cauliflower and roast until browned.

In a large bowl combine red cabbage, apple slices and roasted cauliflower. Toss the salad with the dressing and mix briefly.

Arrange the salad into the serving plates, add sprouts (alfa-alfa) and sprinkle with some pine nuts.

Season with more dressing if needed.

Move Over Guacamole!

Sinfully rich and creamy, avocados are one of my favorite gifts from nature.  Up until now I've primarily kept them in the dip or salad catagory but that ends today.  Another talented classmate, Torie B., brought in Avocado Chocolate Mousse this week and let me tell you, it was fabulous!  Best of all it's one of the easiest raw desserts to make at home. 

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:  (these are not set in stone, taste and add to your personal palate!)
3        avocados
5 T     raw cocoa powder
1 T     cinnamon
3 T     coconut milk (add more  to your desired consistency)
4 T     pure maple syrup, or honey (add more if you like sweet)
3        Dates
1 T     natural vanilla extract

Directions:Remove the seed from the avocado, scoop out the avocado into the food processor     (or blender).

Add the coconut milk, dates, maple syrup, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon and blend.

Add more coconut milk to your desired consistency.
Continue to blend until smooth.
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and serve. You can even freeze it for a cool and     refreshing frozen pudding, or make it thinner for an awesome frosting alternative.
Top with chia seeds, sea salt, nuts, shredded coconut, fresh berries or fruit!
May even add to a nut pie crust !!!

Nutritional Factoids:
Pure grade maple syrup, is a natural sweetener that is filled with minerals.
Raw cocoa is a source of magnesium, sulfur and antioxidant.

Avocados have diverse fats. For a typical avocado:
About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat.

• On a 100 g basis, avocados have 35% more potassium (485 mg) than bananas (358 mg). They are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K.^[30]
• Avocados have a high fiber content of 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fiber.^[31]

High avocado intake was shown in one preliminary study to lower blood cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven-day diet rich in avocados, mild hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (harmful cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (helpful cholesterol) levels.^[32] Additionally a Japanese team synthesised the four chiral components, and identified (2R, 4R)-16-heptadecene-1, 2, 4-triol as a natural antibacterial component.^[33]


Due to a combination of specific aliphatic acetogenins, avocado is under preliminary research for potential anti-cancer activity.^[34]Extracts of P. americana have been used in laboratory research to study potential use for treating hypertension or diabetes mellitus.^[35]

 

Kale Is The New Beef

7 Reasons Kale Is the New Beef

Written by Jill Ettinger

Like the saying goes, the only constant is change. We may resist it all we want, but Time and its inevitable evolution of everything in its path is unaffected by our attempts to stop it. The resulting trajectory of humanity's nascent ascent appears to be positioning itself to sweep us into progressive new times, especially where our food choices are concerned, as nearly 7 billion people are now standing on the little scraps of land that we share with some 55 billion rather large animals raised for food each year. (As another famous saying goes: This town ain't big enough for the both of us.) So, beef (and all factory-farmed meat) may be going from rib-eye to relic as we transition to a greener world… literally—as in leafy, green vegetables. Environmentalists cite meat production as one of the biggest contributors to global warming, and the USDA's new food pyramid (MyPlate) suggests the healthiest choice is making vegetables and fruit the biggest part of every meal by reducing consumption of animal proteins. Kale is far more nutritious than other leafy greens, but these seven reasons why it is such an important futurefood may just surprise you. 1. Anti-inflammatory: Inflammation is the number one cause of arthritis, heart disease and a number of autoimmune diseases, and is triggered by the consumption of animal products. Kale is an incredibly effective anti-inflammatory food, potentially preventing and even reversing these illnesses. 2. Iron: Despite the myth that vegetarians are anemic, the number of non-vegetarians with iron-deficiencies is on the rise. Per calorie, kale has more iron than beef. 3. Calcium: Dairy and beef both contain calcium, but the U.S. still has some of the highest rates of bone loss and osteoporosis in the world. Kale contains more calcium per calorie than milk (90 grams per serving) and is also better absorbed by the body than dairy. 4. Fiber: Like protein, fiber is a macronutrient, which means we need it every day. But many Americans don't eat nearly enough and the deficiency is linked to heart disease, digestive disorders and cancer. Protein-rich foods, like meat, contain little to no fiber. One serving of kale not only contains 5 percent of the recommended daily intake of fiber, but it also provides 2 grams of protein. 5. Omega fatty acids: Essential Omega fats play an important role in our health, unlike the saturated fats in meat. A serving of kale contains 121 mg of omega-3 fatty acids and 92.4 mg of omega-6 fatty acids. 6. Immunity: Superbugs and bacteria are a serious risk to our health. Many of these come as a result of factory farm meat, eggs and dairy products. Kale is an incredibly rich source of immune-boosting carotenoid and flavanoid antioxidants including vitamins A and C. 7. Sustainable: Kale grows to maturity in 55 to 60 days versus a cow raised for beef for an average of 18-24 months. Kale can grow in most climates and is relatively easy and low impact to grow at home or on a farm. To raise one pound of beef requires 16 pounds of grain, 11 times as much fossil fuel and more than 2,400 gallons of water.

Discover the Potent Health Benefits of Turmeric

 

          Discover the Potent Health Benefits of Turmeric

                                                                            From an article in "Healthy Juicing"

 

 

There are some fantastic turmeric benefits. It has the power to wake up your skin and make it glow. How awesome is that! It's been used in the healing arts for longer than any synthetic medicine so its benefits are easy to experience.
That great foreign land known as India has been using turmeric for thousands of years in its practice of Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic medicine is the traditional healing art of India.

This potent little herb has been growing for thousands of years as a shrub in India and other tropical parts of Asia. It is used abundantly in Indian cuisine, often to create a hot, yellow spice that gives mustards "punch". In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is a symbol of prosperity and is considered to be a whole-body cleansing herb.

A little way North, Chinese healers also used turmeric to treat a wide variety of medical problems, including liver problems and menstrual pain.

Turmeric draws its power from an active ingredient called curcumin. This compound is what gives turmeric its yellow color, pungent flavor and powerful therapeutic benefits. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, stomach-soothing and loaded with antioxidants.
It's not a common ingredient in juicing, although there is one great recipe on this site you can use it with (see below).

11 Turmeric Benefits

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1. Disinfect cuts. Being a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, you can use turmeric to disinfect any cuts and burns that make their way onto your body.
2. Natural facelift. Turmeric is perfect for our skin. It reduces pigmentation and evens out skin tone. Try it yourself at home: Mix a little turmeric with lemon juice and apply the mixture to your face. If you make a habit of it, you'll notice a soft glow begins to radiate from your face.
3. Ease arthritis pain. With its anti-inflammatory properties, one of the fantastic turmeric benefits is that it lowers histamine levels. It may also stimulate the adrenal glands and cause them to produce a hormone that minimizes inflammation.
4. Avoid stretch marks. After pregnancy, many women are dismayed at the appearance of stretch marks around their abdomen. To avoid these suckers, mix turmeric with yoghurt and apply to the abdomen for five minutes. Do this regularly and it will promote elasticity in your skin. With any luck, stretch marks won't affect you.
5. Kill prostate cancer. Studies have shown that if you combine turmeric with cauliflower, it has the ability to prevent prostate cancer or stop it if it's already growing.
6. Fix your gums. If a gum infection is disrupting your day, mix turmeric with a little rock salt and mustard oil. Apply to the infected area two or three times a day, following with a thorough mouth-rinsing with water.
7. Avoid cancer. The big C word can be prevented with turmeric, as curcumin (the active ingredient) is known to destroy cancer cells.
8. Boost liver health. One of the turmeric benefits is preventing liver damage and minimizing the negative effects of toxins, including alcohol. Add to that the fact that it has been used for thousands of years in curing liver ailments.
9. Kill digestive problems. Turmeric helps with digestion by stimulating the flow of bile.
10. Forget about heart attacks. Turmeric harbors antiplatelet activity, which means that it reduces the ability of the blood to form clots. Without clots, your circulation improves and you end up at a much lower risk heart attacks and also strokes.
11. Slow your beard growth. Hair on your face growing too fast? Sick of shaving every day? Wash your face with turmeric regularly and you'll find the rate of facial hair growth slows significantly.

Uses for Turmeric

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• Juicing. You can get a hit of turmeric benefits by using it in a juice. Try this beet juice recipe. It is a fantastic liver cleanser.
• Cooking. Use it in cooking to spice up the food and give it a "punch".
• Supplements. If you love taking supplements and you want to try turmeric, get down to your health store and grab a bottle.

Who shouldn't take turmeric?

---

• If you have gallstones or a bile obstruction, do not consume turmeric but consult your doctor.
• Pregnant women should avoid it as it can act as a uterine stimulant.
• People with a heart disorder that remains unidentified should not use it.

*Anyone with a serious medical condition must have a conversation with a doctor before using turmeric as a supplement or health tonic.

Sharing Healthy Snacks - Anti Candida, Gluten Free!!

It is my good fortune to be in school again (at this late date!).  Attending the course in Holistic Nutrition at Bauman College is a real inspirational experience.  Not only are the classes loaded with lots of critical information but the teachers and my classmates are all amazing people with plenty of great recipe ideas to share. 

Every snack we've had so far has been focused on being nutritionally dense, meaning it packs a high dose of delish and nutrish :))  We're in the Therapeutics stage of the course and one of the most common concerns we all have are food allergies.  Gluten intolerance in particular affects nearly all of us in the room.  But more on food allergies/intolerance in another post!

With each 3 hour class lecture you know we get hungry so it's important to feed our brains with wholesome and creative snacks to stay alert.  Best of all we get to sample recipes from around the world because we have students from all over!

Here's what we had yesterday courtesy of Angela D.

                                                 Millet Autumn Bake

Ingredients
1 cup millet
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 Tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1 - 2 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock or even just water)

Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Sage

Pumpkin Seeds

Instructions
Soak millet for at least 7 hours in water and apple cider vinegar (about 2 T.), drain and rinse
Heat 2 T. olive oil in pan and toss millet until golden (3 mins or so), season with salt & pepper

Spread squash cubes and cranberries in bottom of oiled baking dish, season with salt & pepper
Spoon millet mixture on top and sprinkle with chopped sage
Drizzle with maple syrup/honey and pour warmed stock over the whole thing
Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes
Taste to see if millet is done (it should be soft and fluffy), if still crunchy add a little more stock and bake some more (about 10 mins)
Uncover the foil, turn oven up to 400 and return dish to oven, bake until it is brown on top (about 10 more minutes)
Best served hot, but also yummy at room temperature.

(Courtesy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, with adaptations)

Using EFT To Support Your Healing Journey

Emotions seem to play a crucial part in the genesis and healing of serious disease such as cancer and other illness (and literally, laughter seems to be one type of medicine). Any kind of unexpected shock, for instance (and this includes a cancer diagnosis!), can have a devastating effect on health and/or the immune system - until it is resolved and healed in any of a number of ways. A similar mechanism seems to be true for living in fear and panic, so one of the first tasks at hand in a successful healing journey may be working at reestablishing the greatest possible measure of inner peace and confidence.

Scientists say they have found that one of the body's "good mood chemicals" forces some cancer cells to commit suicide. They say that when serotonin is placed in a test tube alongside tumor cells of Burkitt's lymphoma the cancer kills itself. The scientists from the University of Birmingham add that when the chemical is produced by the body it prevents depression. Quote: "An exciting property of serotonin is that it can tell some cells to self-destruct. We have found serotonin can get inside the lymphoma cells and instruct them to commit suicide." (excerpted from article previously published at: ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_552940.html)

“The Daily Guru” observes: “Many of us are carrying repressed memories of unhealed emotional wounds or traumas from childhood and sometimes from past lives. As long as these things are repressed within you, they will be activated from time to time, pulling you out of Presence or simply preventing you from being present. The ego will be constantly on alert to protect you against a recurrence of these painful experiences. And if the ego is on alert, it will keep you in the world of the mind. These emotions and memories need to be allowed to surface into the light of consciousness for healing and release. When this occurs, we can say that the past is released from you and you are released from the past. This allows you to deepen and settle into the present moment.”

A couple of years ago I went thru a very painful divorce.  While not as critical as a life threatening condition, I knew that I had to find a way to deal with the loss so I could begin my healing journey.  I met with a hynosis practitioner who taught me how to work thru my emotional dis-ease and begin the healing process.  Using a method called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is one of the tools she gave me.  Since that time I have continued to study and use the technique for a variety of issues with amazing success. 

I encourage you to take a look at a video from Gary Craig, the founder of EFT, to learn how you can use the method to address all kinds of issues, be they limiting beliefs that cause us so much grief or healing from the inside out.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Staring at an abundance of fresh pumpkins, I've been searching the internet for new recipes that look as good as they taste.  This GF recipe from a 2007 Sunset Magazine fits the bill perfectly!

This dessert is a rich, moist cross between a pumpkin cake and a pumpkin pie. Try it on a windy day like today with a warm cup of tea.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Upside Down Cake
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
½ cup agave nectar2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
*
3 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
*
¼ cup grapeseed oil
½ cup agave nectar
3 eggs
2 cups fresh baked pumpkin (learn how to roast pumpkin in 10 easy steps!)

1. Line an 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish with a piece of parchment paper (use scissors to cut to size)
2. In a medium bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts, agave and grapeseed oil
3. Pour cranberry mixture into lined baking dish
4. In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
5. In a Vitamix, combine oil, agave, eggs and cooked pumpkin; blend on high speed for 30 seconds or until smooth like pudding
6. Stir wet ingredients into dry
7. Pour batter evenly over cranberry mixture
8. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes
10. Run a knife around the edge of the baking dish, then place a large plate over the cake and invert cake and plate together
11. Remove the baking dish from the cake and then peel off the parchment paper
12. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve

Serves 24