Hand grown garden

Go Green Day

2010-05-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm sick today! :( I had a tickle in my throat yesterday, and starting last night I've had those shivers you get when you're sick - you know like you feel colder than usual and just generally under the weather?

Luckily I didn't have class today so I could stay home and take care of myself. In the words of Hippocrates, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"!

I started the day with a green juice - I blended cucumber, lettuce, spinach, garlic, lemon juice, and a little bit of water (to get everything to blend easily) and then strained it through my new nut milk bag to get green juice! I can finally make fresh juice without having to clean out my juicer! I'm very happy about this, in case all the exclamation marks didn't tip you off ;)

Sometime mid-morning I had fresh ginger tea (not green, but very soothing). I just put a few chunks of ginger in a pot with 3 cups of water and got the water to a boil. Then I lowered the heat to "simmer" and let the ginger simmer for 20 minutes. I poured it into my cup, added 2 packets of truvia, and enjoyed the soothing ginger yumminess! (sorry no picture, maybe next time...)

Lunch and dinner was a deeeeelicious kale salad which I just couldn't get enough of! I ate about 3 bunches of kale (in one day!) this way:
Dinosaur kale (nicknamed this because its leaves are bumpy like dinosaur skin, the more official term is Lacinato kale)
Cucumber
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar (lemon juice works too)
Salt
Sorry, I don't have measurements because I didn't measure any of the ingredients when I made the salad. I just chopped up the kale and cucumber and mixed them with the olive oil, vinegar, and salt, and "massaged" it with my hands, to get the kale all nice and soft and really drenched in the dressing. It was too good.

Morning Green Smoothie

2010-05-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

I woke up with a stomachache (I suspect my late night treat of psyllium pudding wasn't a good idea) and craving a green smoothie. Unfortunately I'm low on produce and need to go food shopping, but I was able to throw together a pretty good smoothie that really helped soothe my tummy:

1 cucumber
1/2-1 cup nut milk (see previous blog for simple recipe)
1 head romaine lettuce
1 cup frozen mango
2 packets truvia (aka stevia)
1/2-1 cup frozen broccoli, dethawed
1 pinkie-sized piece of ginger

I know the broccoli is unusual, but I wanted some dark green in the smoothie and it was the darkest green I had. I quickly "blanched" the broccoli by running hot water over it before adding the broccoli to the smoothie, so it was already soft. I don't know how well raw broccoli would do in a smoothie. The smoothie is somewhat piece-y in texture, but I'm craving greens so much I don't really care. It's just yummy. And the ginger is a delicious addition (in my opinion).

Do you have any favorite green smoothie recipes?

Got (Nut) Milk?

2010-05-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since my last post, but I'm back! I've also started eating more raw foods lately, and especially enjoying cashew milk. Here's the recipe:

1. Put 1 cup of raw nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc.) in 16oz glass jar. If you don't have a measuring cup, just fill the jar half-way with nuts.

2. Fill the rest of the jar with water.

3. Close the jar and let it sit on your counter overnight.

4. In the morning, drain and rinse the nuts. They should be slightly bigger and softer.

5. Blend the nuts with 2 cups water and a sweetener of your choice. Some good sweetener options are a couple of dates, two tablespoon of agave nectar or honey, or some stevia or truvia. Find the perfect amount of sweetness for you.

6. Strain the nut milk through a nut milk bag (any fine mesh bag or even a large square of cheesecloth would also work), into a glass container. The milk will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. The nut pieces that got strained out can be added to oatmeal, cereal, cookies, and other recipes.

Why soak the nuts? Soaking nuts breaks down the enzyme inhibitors. These enzyme inhibitors prevent breakdown, and are the reason behind nuts' long shelf life. When you eat un-soaked nuts, the enzyme inhibitors make it more difficult for the enzymes in your body to breakdown the nuts in the digestive process. This often leads to constipation and low feelings of energy.

In the soaking process, the enzyme inhibitors are broken down. Soaked nuts have a short self life (2-3 days in the fridge) but this also means that your body can digest them easily and quickly. The nutrients in the nuts can be accessed and used by your body with less water and energy, so there's no side effects of constipation or low energy.

I've been pouring my nut milk on Go Raw's raw granola, having a cup or two as is, or making pudding by just adding a spoonful of psyllium pudding to a small bowl of cashew milk and letting it sit for a few minutes. Yummy! :)

How do you use your nut milk? Do you have any favorite recipes?

Dance

2009-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

I just did some of Anasma's Belly Dance hip-hop fusion dvd, and she is just fabulous! I've studied Belly Dance for about 3-4 years (classes and dvd practice) but I've been feeling like I want to explore other kinds of dance. Hip-hop in particular piqued my interest. I got the dvd on Amazon months ago, and just now decided to do some. I feel like such a beginner! I mean the belly dance moves I can do, but some of the hip hop stuff will take a lot of practice (moonwalk anyone?). Although I am proud of my locking/robotic movements. They are definitely my favorite kind of movements because a) I find them easy to do and b) they have such a cool effect! And they're such a contrast to the fluid snakelike movements of belly dance. Belly dance definitely has locking movements. I just feel that hip-hop lends itself to a more in-depth exploration of robotic movement. Anasma is a FANTASTIC instructor and I'd like to do some of the dvd at least a couple of times a week. So fun! :)

Revival...

2009-07-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

I know I've abandoned this blog for awhile. But I'm bringing it back to life! :)
To start off, here's a health/raw food related post (complete with recipes):

For a month or so now, I've been eating a high-green high-raw diet. I make a lovely green smoothie for breakfast (all measurements are approximations):

20 oz water
juice of 1 lemon
1 avocado
1 small cucumber (chopped)
several handfuls of baby spinach
stevia (to taste)

The avocado makes such a difference in both taste and texture! It makes the smoothie so creammmy and much more satisfying!

I usually drink that while on the BART going to school. Then I have math class, which, thanks to the amazing teacher, I'm doing much better in than I expected. For lunch, I enjoy the salad I brought. It's kind of funny the looks I get as I pull out my mason jar of salad. Although I think the looks I get when I drink my smoothie are funnier.

Salad recipe:
several lettuce leaves (chopped or shredded)
tofu (chopped) or chickpeas or kidney beans
1/2 - 1 cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1/2 tomato (chopped)

and for the dressing, I use a fabulous recipe for "Creamy Cucumber Dill Dressing" from "Low-Carb Vegetarian" by Margo DeMello.:
1 tablespoon soy mayonnaise (I use Wildwood's Garlic Aoli)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh dill, or 2 teaspoons dried dill
1 garlic clove crushed (I chop it up instead of crushing it)
2 tablespoons grated peeled and seeded cucumber (I don't bother to seed or grate it,
I just chop it up into tiny pieces)
salt to taste

Pour all ingredients into a small container. Close and shake to blend. Serve over salad for two. (That's my favorite part. No blending and washing out blender, just shake!)

Dinner always varies. Although I almost always have at least one piece of nori with my dinner. I've been craving it lately.

I try to get at least a half an hour of trampolining done (I have a small trampoline in my room which is currently my favorite exercise equipment) before I go to bed. I don't time myself, I just listen to 10 songs (each song is at least 3 minutes) while I'm jumping. No Doubt, Kelly Clarkson, and Queen Latifah are my favorite artists to trampoline to. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, the trampoline has made such a difference to my body! All my muscles in my legs, abs, and back have really gotten so much stronger! The trampoline was pricey (I think it was about $80), but so worth it!

And as I type this, I notice that I'm getting a zit on my chin. I don't get zits that often, but I swear I get 90% of them on Sundays during the school semester. Why can't I get them on Fridays AFTER school? Why on Sundays? Anywhoo, I put some french green clay on it (a natural healing mud) so it really should be gone within a couple of days.

Thanks for reading!!!!!

Another fabulous music video...

2008-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

Another inspiring piece of art...

2008-05-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

2008-05-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

A gorgeous music video...

2008-03-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Normally I'm not one for music videos but sometimes one special video crosses over that line, from video to art:

Raw food...

2008-02-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

A 2nd generation health-nut, I recognize the many health benefits of a diet rich in whole, raw foods. For the past half-year or so I have been working at increasing the percentage of my diet that consists of raw fruits and veggies. I don't believe that doing so will perfect my life, eradicate my stress, spark up my social/love life, or turn me into a constantly blissful person. It is simply a method I am employing to help support my body. I will probably post some of my favorite recipes soon.

Thanks for reading...
Eden