Everything Goes With Green

Any salt lover would likely say that potato chips are one of the indulgences they can’t resist. Unfortunately as good as potato chips taste, we know the high amounts of fat and sodium that comes along with the chips.

Well fret no more, kale chips are the healthy version of potato chips. If you’ve ever eaten kale, you are probably doubting me right now because it’s a leafy green vegetable thinking how can leafy greens taste like a chip. Trust me. You will love this recipe once you give it a try.

Here are a couple of tried and true recipes, the first is your basic kale chip, the second is a smokey version:

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Smokey Baked Kale Chips (courtesy of gluten free girl)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
3 large handfuls lacinato kale, torn into shreds
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Combine the salt, smoked paprika, and garlic in a small bowl.

Wash the kale. Rinse the kale leaves, then put them in a salad spinner and spin until the green becomes a blur. Round and round, spinning and spinning — let the kale dry. After it comes out, dry it even more with paper towels. Those leaves should be bone dry.

Oiling the kale. Put the kale leaves in a large bowl. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Massage the oil into the leaves. You might need more. Bake the chips. Arrange the kale chips onto the sheet try and slide it into the oven. Bake until the leaves are crisp to the touch but still a dark green. (When they turn brown, they turn bitter.) Check at the 12-minute mark, to be sure.

Remove them from the oven. Sprinkle with the garlic smoked paprika salt.

We all lead busy lives and if you are like me, you want to eat healthy on the run. I always thought a wrap filled with lots of veggies and some sandwich meat for protein makes a great, healthy lunch. Well like most things I write about, I was shocked to learn of the dangers associated with deli meat.

When you walk up to the deli counter in the grocery store, it looks like a plethora of delicious choices like turkey,  roast beef, pastrami etc but here’s what you need to know before you buy.

Processed meats are the majority of what we call cold cuts. About 15% of all meat produced in the U.S. which includes over 200 types. Processed meats include any type of meat that is chopped, seasoned and formed into a symmetrical shape – for example, bologna. There are several meat sources for sausages including beef, pork, mutton, veal, and poultry; meat by-products are also used some times like lips, tripe, pork stomachs and heart. Head cheese is one of the worst culprits, it is made of components from the head of a cow or pig and can include tongues, heart and hooves….all I can say is gross and stay away.

 Here’s where the issue comes in with processed meat. Sodium nitrate and its sister compound is used to prevent the growth of bacteria which leads to botulism in humans as well to keep the color of the meat in bacon, hot dogs, italian meats etc.

During the cooking process, amines naturally present in meat combine with the nitrate to form carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds which have been linked with cancer of the oral cavity, urinary bladder, esophagus, stomach and brain. which . It is also suspected that nitrites can combine with amines in the human stomach to form N-nitroso compounds as well.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported a study from  The Cancer Research Center of Hawaii that reported people who ate the most processed meat (bacon, ham, cold cuts) had a 68% higher risk of pancreatic cancer than those who ate the least. “Most” was defined as at least 0.6 ounce processed meat, 1 ounce beef or 0.3 ounce pork per 1,000 calories consumed. Research in Sweden found that Swedes who ate on average 3 ounces of processed meat each day had a 15 percent greater chance of developing stomach cancer than those who consumed 2 ounces or less.

Now as an alternative to cold cuts made with nitrates you can find deli meat cured with celery juice because celery  has naturally occuring nitrites. This process is touted to be healthy but I couldn’t find any substantial evidence to prove this. Since the debate is still out, the best way to ensure your next sandwich is actually good for you is to make your own sandwich meat. I buy a full turkey or roast that was raised without antibiotics or hormones, bake and and once cooled, slice the roast and freeze the meat in sections. This is a great time saver and you can be confident in knowing what you are eating. Don’t forget to fill it with organic vegetables to reduce your pesticide consumption.

If you are looking to cut meat out completely, I recently had a Caprese Sandwich that was delicious. All you need is tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and pesto and viola…a lip smacking traditional sammy alternative!

So you think those who buy bottled water are frivolous and somewhat paranoid? Well on the surface, it seems like we should have the best world living in a first world country with high safety standards, but when you get right down to it, even if your tap water is devoid of flouride, chlorine is still extremely dangerous.

Firstly, if your tap water has both fluoride and chlorine, stay away. These two substances in water are extremely dangerous and cancer causing. No I’m not paranoid, it’s a known fact but water treatment has added these chemicals for so long that it’s become the norm.

Www.mbschachter.com/dangers_of_fluoride_and_fluorida.htm states that according to the handbook, Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, fluoride is more poisonous than lead and just slightly less poisonous than arsenic. It is a cumulative poison that accumulates in bone over the years. According to the Physicians Desk Reference, “in hypersensitive individuals, fluorides occasionally cause skin eruptions such as atopic dermatitis, eczema, or urticaria. Gastric distress, headache, and weakness have also been reported. These hypersensitive reactions usually disappear promptly after discontinuation of the fluoride.”

From 1990 to 1992, the Journal of the American Medical Association published three separate articles linking increased hip fracture rates to fluoride in the water. In the March 22, 1990 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that fluoride treatment of osteoporosis increased hip fracture rate and bone fragility.

A study by Procter and Gamble showed that as little as half the amount of fluoride used to fluoridate public water supplies resulted in a sizable and significant increase in genetic damage. Epidemiology research in the mid-1970′s by the late Dr. Dean Burk, head of the cytochemistry division of the National Cancer Institute, indicated that 10,000 or more fluoridation-linked cancer deaths occur yearly in the United States. In 1989, the ability of fluoride to transform normal cells into cancer cells was confirmed by Argonne National Laboratories. Results released in 1989 of studies carried out at the prestigious Batelle Research Institute showed that fluoride was linked to a rare form of liver cancer in mice, oral tumors and cancers in rats, and bone cancer in male rats. Since 1991, the New Jersey Department of Health found that the incidence of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, was far higher in young men exposed to fluoridated water as compared to those who were not.

In addition to the well documented toxic effects of fluoride, fluoride even at dosages of 1 part per million, found in artificially fluoridated water, can inhibit enzyme systems, damage the immune system, contribute to calcification of soft tissues, worsen arthritis and, of course, cause dental fluorosis in children. These are unsightly white, yellow or brown spots that are found in teeth exposed to fluoride during childhood. In 1993, the Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride of the National Research Council admitted that 8% to 51% and sometimes up to 80% of the children living in fluoridated areas have dental fluorosis. Malnourished people, particularly children, usually targeted for fluoridation, are at greater risks to experience fluoride’s harmful effects.

Surprisingly, the most recent studies do not even show that water fluoridation is effective in reducing tooth decay. In the largest U.S. study of fluoridation and tooth decay, United States Public Health Service dental records of over 39,000 school children, ages 5-17, from 84 areas around the United States showed that the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth per child was virtually the same in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. Dr. John Colquhoun, former Chief Dental Officer of the Department of Health for Auckland, New Zealand, investigated tooth decay statistics from about 60,000 12 to 13 year old children and showed that fluoridation had no significant effect on tooth decay rate.

Given all of this scientific information, what is behind this push for universal fluoridation? Prior to 1945, fluoride was properly regarded as an environmental pollutant. It was responsible for many lawsuits against industries, such as the aluminum industry and the phosphate fertilizer industry, whose waste products contain large quantities of fluoride. This fluoride destroyed crops and animals, leading to the lawsuits. The limited public view was that fluoride was an environmental pollutant that needed to be reduced or eliminated from the environment.

As a result of clever public relations campaigns, fluoride was transformed from an environmental pollutant to an essential nutrient necessary for producing healthy teeth. The science was poor, but the P.R. campaign was great. Being against fluoride was like being against motherhood or apple pie. Industries not only made millions from selling this environmental pollutant to water companies and toothpaste companies, but more importantly, it saved billions of dollars that would be required to clean up this environmental pollutant.

You’re thinking, well I live in a city that just removed flouride so I’m good. Think again. Chloride is equally dangerous to drink and shower in. Chlorine will scratch your arteries and causes LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) to attach to the artery  wall and cause plaque damage. Even more concerning though is showering in chlorinated water, tests show that your body can absorb more chlorine as a result of a 10 minute shower than if you drank eight glasses of the same water because a warm shower opens up your pores causing your skin to act like a sponge.

In terms of cumulative damage to your health, showering in chlorinated water could be one of the greatest risks you take every day. In the short term, chlorinated shower water irritates your eyes, your sinuses, your throat, your skin, and your lungs. Long-term risks include excessive free-radical formation (which makes you age faster!), higher vulnerability to genetic mutations, difficulty metabolizing cholesterol, and hardened arteries.

Showering in chlorine-treated water is a serious risk-but it’s also one of the very few risks you can erase, immediately. And it’s up to you to protect yourself. The good news is, it’s cheap and easy to get a filter at your local hardware store that removes chlorine. Filters range from a chunk of carbon filters to high end filters that clip onto your shower head or kitchen sink. These filters are vital to ensuring that you are removing a large amount of toxins from your daily life including both drinking water and showering.  Filters range from $10 and up and are vital to ensuring you are removing all kinds of dangerous toxins from your life.

Filtering your water is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do for your longterm health. If you want to go one step further, pour your bottled water into a Santevia Water Flask to make it alkaline (see alkaline water).

So before you say get mad and say how dare I diss extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), let me preface and say that olive oil has some great benefits and I cook with it all of the time, but recently I have switched over to avocado oil after doing some research on it and am loving it.

Firstly, avocado oil has the highest smoke point of all of the oils.  For those of you culinary challenged, an oil’s smoke point is exactly that, when it starts to smoke and burn. This is important because of two reasons: one is that a food will brown easier when it’s cooked at a higher temperature. Second is that an when an oil burns, it actually becomes rancid and toxic to your body releasing free radicals and reversing the benefits of why you are eating it in the first place. Because of its high smoke point, the oil is not releasing harmful free radicals in your food. When you see any oil start to smoke, it is releasing harmful carcinogenic properties and vapors into your food and kitchen environment.

In addition to the smoke point, avocado oil has a light, delicate and buttery texture which will bring out the flavors in your food instead of masking it. In terms of health benefits, avocado oil is considered to be one of the healthiest oils on the market. It is rich in monounsaturated fats, omega 3’s, beta-sitosterol and antioxidants.

Avocado oil can be used as a replacement to cooking with olive oil because of it’s versatility. It can be used directly on salads because it will not make your salad oily like EVOO and will bring out the flavors of your salad if left to sit for a while. I read one article where the author used avocado oil to make grilled cheese instead of butter and he said it turned out fabulous and almost had the same taste as if the sandwich was cooked in butter.  I have yet to try, but will next time I am hankering for a grilled cheese….mmmmmm.

In addition, avocado oil is used widely for skin care. It is great for  dry or mature skins, or people suffering from eczema or psoriasis, and is very useful when treating sun or climate damaged skin  because it helps with regenerating the skin and softening the tissue. Heck you can even use it on your hair to condition and help treat split ends, though I recommend having one bottle for cooking and one for your hair.

Go on, swap it in for your beloved EVOO and let me know what you think.

Ever heard of the Green Monster?  It’s not what you think. The Green Monster is a cute name for the popular green drink movement. If you’re a newbie and haven’t heard about or tried a green drink, well you need to know there are two kinds. One made using fresh vegetables, the other using a powder comprised of dried greens.  The reason it’s important to drink a green drink in the morning is because this is one of the quickest way to ensure your body is alkaline (check out Alkaline Diet).

The first option, which is the traditional green drink is to use organic fresh green like spinach or kale.  Here are a couple of my favorite recipes from http://greenmonstermovement.com/?page_id=39

Virgin Green Monster

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk (yo ur ch oice of soy, hemp, almond, or rice milk, stay away from diary)
• 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
• 1 banana
• ice

Directions

Are you a Green Monster first-timer? Have no fear! This recipe is fool proof. Even the       biggest skeptic will love this one. Place the ingredients into the blender in the following order: 1) Flax, 2) spinach, 3) banana, 4) milk. The reason for this order is so the heavier ingredients weigh down the flax and spinach and keep it from flying up around the blender and sticking to the side. Blend everything on the highest setting for 1 minute or so. Finally, add ice and blend on the ice setting. Pour into a large, fancy glass. Sit back, gulp it down, and be prepared to have endless energy!

Blueberry-Banana Green Monster

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups organic spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
• 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• ice

Directions:

Place the ingredients into the blender and blend like a mad person! Pour into a fancy glass and gulp down the delicious antioxidants. There’s no better way to start your day!

‘Amazing’ Cantaloupe-Banana Green Monster

Ingredients:

• 3 cups organic spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
• 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup juicy cantaloupe
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Wheat Grass
• ice

Directions:

Place the ingredients into the blender and blend for 1-2 minutes. Add ice for a margarita effect. Who needs Air Conditioning, anyways? Now lace those sneakers up and hit the pavement with boundless energy!

No Milk, No Problem! Iced Pineapple  Green Monster

Ingredients:

• 3 cups spinach
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 package Vega Smoothie Infusion
• 3 cubes ice

Directions:

Are you ready for a tropical, icy dream? If you need an instant cool-down, this green monster is for you! Place all ingredients except ice into the blender and blend for 1-2 minutes. Add ice and blend on ice setting. Be prepared to blow your mind with intense pineapple flavour!

Super Chia Detox Green Monster

• 1.25 cup PC low-fat soy milk
• 1/4 cup water (or a bit more to thin out)
• 2 cubes ice
• 1 T chia seeds
• 3 organic kale leaves (or use spinach)
• 1 squirt Kyolic Liquid Garlic extract
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Wheat Grass

Directions: Are you looking to cleanse and energize? This superfood green monster is just what the doctor ordered. It is filled with superfoods like garlic, chia seed, cinnamon, pumpkin and more. You won’t know what to do with all your energy! Add all ingredients into the blender except ice and blend your little heart away. Add ice last and crush on ice setting. Pour into a huge fancy glass and enjoy the dextoifying powers!

‘Peppy’ Carob Green Monster

• 3 cups steamed spinach
• 1 cup your choice of milk
• 3 cubes ice
• 1/2 t pure peppermint extract (or 3-4 fresh mint leaves)
• 1-2 heaping T of carob powder (adjust amount to your taste)
• 1/2 banana
• 1 T chia seeds (or flax)
• Kyolic garlic extract

Directions: Do you feel draggy in the mornings? Do you want to awake with a fresh peppermint zing? I know I sure do! This chocolate-y peppermint green monster is so delicious and minty, you will be hooked in no time. Feeling scandalous? Try adding a bit of Bailey’s for a delightful night cap.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bomb Green Monster

• 1/2 serving PC extra-firm organic tofu
• 3 cups steamed spinach (I made a big batch yesterday and put it in a glass pyrex dish)
• 1 T PC Just Peanuts Peanut Butter
• 1 T cocoa powder
• 1/2 T carob powder
• 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate infusion powder
• 1 cup PC low-fat soy milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 cubes ice
• 1/2 T coconut oil
• 1 T chia seeds
• 1 small banana

Directions: Are you looking for a super creamy, decadent, smooth, yet super healthy green monster? Then, this one is for you! Tofu, peanut butter, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and banana come together to create one of the creamiest green monster’s Angela has ever made.

The Second Type of green drink is to use a powdered green drink like Greens Plus by Genuine Health. This is great if you are someone on the run, the only downfall is you don’t get the enzymes from living raw food like you would by making your own drink. That being said, I notice a huge difference if I don’t take my Greens Plus everyday. My favorite flavor is watermelon. Mix the powder with some alkaline water and you have a green drink for the road!

Powdered Green Drink 

Hi Loyal Readers

I wanted to say sorry for my blog being down the last 10 days and let you know that I am up and running now and should never have this problem again. Let’s just say I know enough about websites to get myself into trouble. I was switching hosting sites and clearly encountered many issues and was stressing out but am back now and have lots of information to share so stay tuned for my posts.

xoxoxoxoxo

Pam

Cooked Quinoa Side Dish

When I make dinner, quinoa is a staple in my diet, but often when I talk about quinoa I get blank looks. So what is quinoa and why should you eat it?

Quinoa (pronouced keenwa), is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It is a recently rediscovered ancient grain and was considered ‘the mother of all grains

Quinoa contains twice the protein of regular cereal grains, contains less carbohydrates, more healthy fats, fiber, phosphorus, calcium and is high in iron.The protein found in quinoa is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids.In addition to protein, quinoa features a host of other health-building nutrients. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this “grain” may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Also quinoa is gluten free so it’s the perfect alternative for those with gluten intolerances who are sick of rice products and it will leave you feeling full because of the way your body slowly digests the grain.

So if I go buy quinoa, how the heck do I prepare it?

Well cooking quinoa is way easier than rice. If you have a rice cooker, I put in put in 1 cup of quinoa to either 1.5 cups of water or chicken broth. I like broth because it gives the grain a much more delicious flavor, with water I find the taste to be bland. Turn on your rice cooker and 15 minutes later you have fluffy, delicious quinoa which can be eaten as a side dish or mixed into salads, soups, casseroles and even desserts and pancakes.

For more recipes check out http://www.cookingquinoa.net/category/quinoa-recipes/quinoa-main-dishes/. And if you are looking for a cheaper alternative than the $8 bags of quinoa in a grocery store that only make 2 meals, go to Costco who carries a 4 pd bag of Tru Roots Quinoa for only $7.99, best deal around!

Sick of the same old thing for breakfast? Between sugary cereals and carb loaded muffins and croissants, these foods leave you with an insulin spike and sugar crash as well won’t sustain you to lunch. Think about trying steel cut oats.

Steel Cut Oats - A Delicious Breakfast Alternative

What makes these oats different from regular oatmeal? Well Steel cut oats are the whole grain oats which contain the inner portion of the oat kernel unlike rolled oats. 

These essential grains are inherently full of nutritional value and are high in B-vitamins, calcium, protein and fiber while low in salt and unsaturated fat. One cup of steel-cut oatmeal contains 8 g of insoluble fiber.

Steel-cut oats are the whole oat kernel, which is cut into two or three pieces using steel discs. They are a better source of fiber than rolled oats, but take longer to cook.

Rolled oats have the bran mostly removed and are rolled flat to make them easier to cook. With the         bran removed, they have less fiber than steel-cut oats.

Taste – Steel cut oats have a sort of “nutty” flavor that rolled oats lack. You’ll know it when you try them. But the big difference is with texture…

Texture – Steel cut oats are definitely chewier – it takes a while to chew each bite. “Chewy” sums up the steel cut oat texture quite well.

Whether the texture of steel cut is “better” is a matter of personal opinion. But I definitely do enjoy the heartier texture of steel cut or rolled oats over instant oats.

Amount of Processing – If there is one area where steel cut oats have a real health edge, it’s the lack of processing. Both types of oats are cut, but the rolled oats are steamed (which cuts down cooking time later.)

One downfall to steel cut oats is the amount of time it takes to cook, up to 30 minutes, which if you are like me you are running around your house in a panic to find your keys let alone taking 30 minutes to cook breakfast. To avoid this I have found a great recipe for crock pot steel cut oats where I make them overnight and make enough for 3 or 4 mornings.

Crock Pot Steel Cut Oats

1 cup steel-cut oats
1 cup raisins, cranberries, or dried fruit of choice
4 cups water
½ cup milk, 2 tablespoons of cinnamon or pumpkin spice
2 tablespoons of maple syrup

In a crock pot, combine all ingredients. Cook on low heat (covered) for 7-9 hours. Stir and serve. * I substitute the maple syrup for stevia and use almond milk instead of regular milk to make the recipe dairy free. As well somedays to change it up I throw in a banana.

Best part is, steel cut oats usually don’t affect celiacs. I am celiac and have no problem so I rely on steel cut oats to get my carb component at breakfast and I am full right through until lunch. I used to buy a 780 gram bag for $6.00 at the grocery store but on the weekend I found a 5 kilogram box at Costco for $7.99. This will last me for months instead of one week! 

Give them a shot and let me know what you think!

Courtesy of The Huntsville Times

Natural egg dyes are a popular trend this Easter season. With endless online tutorials and magazine features, this technique seems easy enough. You simply boil down different foods to extract the color, let cool to room temperature and dunk the eggs.

This dye took me by surprise as well. I wouldn’t have expected the thin, almost translucent peels to make bright orange. Some tutorials say to boil the eggs with the dye, but I didn’t find that to be necessary. Ingredients: Peels from about 6-8 yellow onions with 4 cups of water, boiled for 30 minutes. Turmeric This spice makes a pretty yellow but takes more time to stain. Since I didn’t have any turmeric on hand, I first tried boiling down the skins of five yellow apples. That didn’t work at all – I ended up with a pot of clear water that smelled like apples. Not to worry: Turmeric is fairly inexpensive and is easily found with other spices. Ingredients: A few shakes of turmeric into a jar of tap water. Raspberry This made a bright red dye, but I was disappointed in how the egg turned out. It took a long time to get any result and I was left with only a brownish color that easily rubbed off. I was determined to get a pink or red egg, so I tried straight beet juice, cherry juice and cranberry juice – all either had no effect or left the egg gray. Next time, I might try red onion peels, given how well the yellow worked to make orange. Good luck! Ingredients: 1/2 bag or raspberries with 4 cups water, boiled for 30 minutes. Spinach The color of this dye had me skeptical from the beginning. I made the first batch with fresh spinach, which simply did not work. On the second attempt, I used a block of frozen spinach. Finally, I rubbed the egg with some of the spinach leaves, which left it with a weak grass stain look. Ingredients: 2 cups of chopped spinach with 4 cups of water, boiled for 30 minutes or juice from 1 block of frozen spinach. Green tea Another attempt to get a light green color. The tea had little effect, if any. The light brown color was not very pretty and kept rubbing off. Black tea makes a brown egg, but still not very attractive among the other colorful eggs. The bright side? I added water and ice to what wouldn’t fit into the jar and made a nice pitcher of green iced tea. Ingredients: 5 tea bags in 4 cups of water.

Have Fun!

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