Quick Tip:  Glass & Glass Storage

You’re probably thinking, What the heck does glass and glass storage have to do with health and wellness?  Unbelievably, one of the first things I learned when I started becoming interested in my health and wellness was, in fact, about food storage and the importance of using glass.  I honestly cannot remember if it was when I attended Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, when I began brewing kombucha tea back in the ’90s or from my travels with Tony Robbins…  All I know is that I am grateful that I did come across this useful piece of information, and I am excited to share it with you.  :0) 

What I did learn is, whenever possible, it is preferable to prepare your food in glass and/or ceramic bowls and to store your food (before and after it is prepared) in glass containers.   

Here’s something to think about… Have you ever made a meal and stored it in a plastic container, only to have part of your meal become part of the plastic container?  It’s important to realize that while your meal can become part of the plastic container, the plastic can leech out of the container and become part of your meal as well.  With all of the evidence coming out with regard to the fact that ingesting plastic can be harmful to your health, it just makes sense to store prepared food in glass.

By storing dried goods in glass containers, e.g., beans, grains, nuts, seeds, nutritional yeast, dried fruit, pasta, etc., you are ensuring an  air-tight seal, so you don’t have to worry about moisture or bugs ruining your food. 

Now you’re probably thinking, Oh, great, now I have to go out and invest a ton of money in purchasing expensive glass containers.  Give me some good news, Laurie…  Well, here is your good news:  You don’t have to go out and purchase a bunch of expensive glass containers!  As you can see from the picture of the glass storage in my kitchen, I save any and all glass containers that I bring into my home, wash them thoroughly (I sometimes soak the label off and sometimes I don’t) and give them a new home on my shelf filled with various dried items. It is a great way to practice reusing an item, saves you money and helps the environment.  

Although the reusable glass containers are a fabulous way to store smaller items, I would definitely recommend purchasing some larger glass containers so that you can bring healthy salads, soups and leftovers with you for homemade meals-on-the-go or for storage in your refrigerator.   These glass containers will last you for years, and the investment is usually under $10 to buy a set for your home. 

An option for storing liquids in glass that is very economical are Ball Mason jars that are used for canning.  I have been utilizing the benefits of this fabulous containers for years!!  One of my favorite things to do with a Ball Mason jar is to use it as a glass for my homemade smoothies, teas or juices.  First of all, they make a great glass, as I can fit a lot of liquid into them.  And, secondly, if I cannot finish my smoothie, tea or juice, I use the handy lid to be able to take my meal/drink with me.  You can purchase them from a hardware store (call before you go, as they usually are in stock in the summer and fall months) and can even find them on Craigslist or eBay.  I recently purchased a case of the Ball Mason Wide Mouth Jars (those are my favorite) for $12.00, which is very reasonable.

It just makes sense to invite glass into your life… Trust me, your health is worth it.  :0)

Have an AMAZING day! 

My Adventures In Cleansing

Most of my friends that know me well know that I am a big fan of cleansing. I did my first monthlong cleanse back in 1999 (I can’t believe it was such a long time ago!), which was an Arise & Shine Cleanse that entailed orally taking herbs, psyllium and hydrated bentonite clay several times a day while eating only alkalizing foods. It was very structured, which was great for me at the time. I loved following directions, and this made things simple for me.  Boy, how things have changed!  All in all, I am happy to report it was a great cleanse for my first cleansing experience and continues to be a great product to this day (in my opinion).

I had just transitioned a year earlier from eating the Standard American Diet to eating a whole-foods based vegan diet, was learning about cleansing and ready for my first one. Once I started to get more in tune to my body (after getting the processed junk and junk foods out of me), I intuitively knew it was time.  I was so enthusiastic and excited to begin!  Of course I couldn’t start slow with a weeklong cleanse — I tend to like to go for it when I commit to doing something.  I dove right in and went for the gusto, what I believed to be the Cadillac of all cleanses, a monthlong one!!  Longer cleansing had to be better, right?  After all, I had been eating an unhealthy, nutritionally-deficient diet for years, so the longer the cleanse, the healthier I would be… Well, we all learn lessons, and I am no exception to that rule.  When it comes to cleansing, I think being conservative and building up to longer cleanses is a must.  That’s how I think today, though, and not back in 1999.  With age comes wisdom, I guess, or maybe I just am fantastic at learning from my experiences.  :0)

Besides the cleansing reactions that some people experience while cleansing –headaches, nausea, skin eruptions, emotional highs and lows and some other unmentionables — and at some points wanting to give up, I was losing a pound of weight a day on this particular cleanse, which kind of freaked me out a little bit. After I went from 124 pounds to 115 pounds in nine days, I ended up having to contact the Arise & Shine cleanse representatives and find out what was going on.  I felt a bit panicked, as none of my clothing was fitting me anymore. I looked like a size 4 mannequin draped in a size 10 outfit!  The representatives I spoke with were extremely helpful, and their recommendation was that I consume more calories and good fat during the cleanse, so I ate two avocados every day for the rest of the time on the cleanse, felt better and was able to put a few pounds back on. Whew!  It was definately a learning experience for me that was very valuable.  I also learned about black walnut hull being used to kill parasites during a cleanse, about colon cleansing and coffee enemas, about using cayenne pepper to intensify the effects of the herbs I was taking, how to slow down or speed up a cleanse and, generally, what works for my body and what doesn’t.

Needless to say, although I really like the Arise & Shine products, honestly, that cleanse was tough for me because it was so long and intense. Although I felt great at the end of the month, it did take a lot out of me.  And being the stubbon girl that I can be at times, I did three more monthlong cleanses over the next couple of years (all before 2005)… Two Arise & Shines and one Ejuva Cleanse. Sometimes it can take me a bit to figure out what works for my body… luckily I eventually get it. :0)

Well, I finally got it, and I am happy to report that my days of monthlong cleansing are over (at least for now). It simply takes too much out of my body and is too taxing on my mind.  I have found that doing a weeklong (or shorter) cleanse works great for me, and my body seems to respond well to it.  I tend to only cleanse in the spring, summer and early fall, as the winter is too cold up here in the northeast.  I would much rather eat hardy and building foods, such as soups, root veggies and dark leafy greens, instead of juicing and eating 100% raw during that season.  The thought of cleansing and winter together gives me a chill even thinking about it, and it’s warm outside today!  The last weeklong product cleanse that I did was the Raw Cleanse by Garden of Life, and I really enjoyed doing it.  It was quite different than any other cleansing products I have used.  It was VERY gentle, and I felt fantastic at the end of the week after using it.

For the past couple weeks one of my best girlfriends (who I consider my sister), Nancy, has been going on and on about the delicious juices she has been making for herself, her husband and her two-year-old son, Baby D. Nancy is an exceptional role model for other mothers when it comes to nourishing her child with healthy foods, and I consider myself blessed that she shares some of these recipes that she creates with me! She is always making her little pumpkin healthy smoothies, giving him delicious whole-food snacks and has even incorporated a daily ritual into their schedule of him helping with the preparation of some of the meals! He gets to help his mommy put the vegetables in the juicer in order to make a juice and is very enthusiastic about doing so.  While drinking the masterpieces that he helps to create, he doesn’t come up for air until the end of his cup, and then he always says, “Mmmmmmmmmm!” It’s way too cute for words to even express, and it makes me excited to hear all of her lovely stories about this little sweetheart and his adventures with loving food and healthy eating.

Over the past few weeks, Nancy has expressed to me how delicious one particular juice she has been making is that she got out of David Wolfe’s book Eating For Beauty (one of my FAVORITE books of all time!), which is sooooo good for your skin and overall health. The juice consists of apples, cucumber and celery. She told me that it was refreshing and delicious at the same time…  And since she loves healthy and delicious food as much as I do, this made me EXCITED!

I decided to give it a whirl this past Sunday morning, and it was, in fact, DELICIOUS! I am happy to say that my honey loved it, too. :0)

After being INSPIRED by Nancy and Baby D, thoroughly enjoying this sensational juice and realizing that I am wanting to cleanse (I can feel myself being pulled in that direction), I decided that it is time for me to do a spring juice feast!  (I have heard juice fasting referred to as juice feasting, and I like the term “feast”, as I associate the term “fast” with lack and “feast” with abundance!).  I love the idea of doing a mini juice feast for four days. This is definitely a managable amount of time for me to cleanse, and it makes me excited to think of how much more energy I will have in only four short days! 

Over the past few years I have been working on simplifying my life… So why wouldn’t that pertain to cleansing, too?  When I really thought about it, I came to realize that cleansing CAN be really simple (doing a juice feast or eating 100% raw) and doesn’t have to entail purchasing any “products” in order to do a cleanse, unless buying a product and following the directions works for you.  It also doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process unless you choose for it to be.  Setting the stage for your body to go into cleansing mode and letting it do what it’s designed to do by juicing fresh, organic raw vegetables or eating lightly steamed ones, using cleansing products or not, together with rest and meditation, can make a world of difference in your overall health.  It definitely has for me.  :0)

As an added note… if you are considering doing ANY form of a cleanse, I recommend doing your research first… There are countless numbers of books to read or websites to visit on this subject.  It is best to know what might go on in your body during a cleanse BEFORE you cleanse.  If you smoke, drink excessive alcohol, eat lots of processed foods and/or the Standard American Diet, are taking prescription drugs or recreational drugs, you should consult a health care professional before you do ANY type of cleansing, as the cleansing reactions you could experience might be severe and harmful to your body.

With that said, Happy Cleansing!  :0)

No Kale Left Behind Salad

Have you ever tried kale?  Eaten raw, it can be tough and a litte bit bitter.  If you learn how to prepare it correctly, surprisingly, it is super delicious and is unbelievably good for you!  I’ve made this recipe a couple of times (when I have time constraints) for my raw food Meetup group.  You can quickly prepare it in the morning, and when you come home from work at the end of the day, it’s ready.  I’m happy to report, I rarely bring home a bowl with any No Kale Left Behind Salad in it from my Meetup group… :0)

This salad is easy, healthy and packed full of taste and nutrition. It can be prepared in under 10 minutes.  :0)

Delicious Ingredients:

2 head of curly kale

1 cup of green onion

2 tomatoes

½ medium red onion

3″ piece of daikon radish

1 avocado

2 cloves of garlic

Slightly over ½ cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of nama shoyu or tamari

1 pinch of Celtic sea salt

Handful of raw pumpkin seeds

***USE ORGANIC INGREDIENTS WHEN AVAILABLE***

Easy preparation:

1. Take the hard stalks off of the leafy part of the kale. You can do this by hand and do not need a knife. Save the stalks for juicing, add them to smoothies, use them in soups or cut them up in little pieces and add to a salad for extra nutrition and crunch.

2. Tear the kale (by hand) into little pieces and place in a large bowl (glass is best).

3. Dice the green onion, tomatoes, red onion and avocado.  Shred the daikon radish.   Place in bowl with the kale.

4. Add the olive oil, nama shoyu and Celtic sea salt.  You can add more olive oil if, in Step 5, you find that it is not coating all of the kale.

5. Now it’s time to get very up close and personal with your salad… Get your hands in there and mix the ingredients together, making sure that the kale is coated with the olive oil/nama shoyu mixture. This is what will break down the kale, which makes it taste so delicious!

6. Leave the salad to marinate for a minimum of three hours. The longer you let it marinate, the softer the kale will be.  If you are home, you can stir the salad periodically to ensure that the leaves are covered with the olive oil/nama shoyu mixture.

7. When it has reached its desired tenderness (taste it and see if it agrees with your palate), garnish with raw pumpkin seeds, and ENJOY!!

Be creative and try new vegetables, nuts or seeds as substitutes for the ones that I have chosen. For example, besides being extremely high in calcium, raw sesame seeds would probably be delicious on this salad or you may want to substitute a red pepper for the daikon radish. The possibilities are endless!! Get your creative juices flowing and experiment… You may invent a masterpiece!!

A few fun facts about the delicious ingredients:

Kale is high in Vitamin K, which regulates normal blood clotting and improves the health of your bones;

Green onions contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and fiber;

Tomatoes are actually fruit that are a good source of calcium and iron;

Red onions are a good source of quercetin, which is a power antioxidant, is a natural anti-histamine and is anti-inflammatory;

Daikon radish is low in calories, contains Vitamin C and is milder in taste than its red radish cousins;

Avocados contain 20 essential nutrients; for example, fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B vitamins and folic acid;

Garlic was used by the Egyptians to treat infections, tumors and intestinal parasites;

Raw pumpkin seeds are very high in magnesium, B vitamins and folic acid;

Nama shoyu is raw unpasteurized soy sauce that contains enzymes and lactobacillus.  If you are allergic to wheat or have a gluten intolerance, you can use wheat-free tamari as a substitute for the nama shoyu.  You can find both of these in the natural section of your grocery store or at your local health food market;

Celtic sea salt contains 80 minerals, tastes and looks the same as its toxic counterpart  (regular table salt), yet, is actually good for you. This is the only salt that I use in preparing any foods. You can get Celtic sea salt online or at your local health food market.

 Dinner With The Sproutman

On a friend’s recommendation, I joined Meetup.com back in 2008.  I was looking to make new friends and have some fun trying new things.  In 2009 I attended my raw food Meetup group’s monthly potluck and was absolutely hooked!  Even though I am a living foods chef and have been eating mostly raw since 2002, I was totally blown away by the diversity of recipes that my wonderful new friends brought to the table.  So many of us get stuck in our ways and don’t break out of our comfort zone.  This goes for cooking as well as anything else that we get comfortable in doing.  After years of preparing live foods, I was amazing at making my “favorite” recipes, yet I did not venture out and discover new recipes that might possibly taste delicious.  My eyes were opened at that first Meetup!!  Not only was I able to have the experience of making some new phenomenal like-minded friends, the wheels of creativity were turning in my head.  New recipes were being born inside of me from that moment forward…

When I started becoming really interested in health and wellness back in the ’90s, one of the first cookbooks I bought was called The Sproutmans Kitchen Garden Cookbook authored by Steve Meyerowitz, The Sproutman.  Knowing how fantastic living food, and especially sprouts, are for me, I devoured this book — I was hungry for information –  learning more about sprouts and making some delicious recipes in the process. Imagine my delight and surprise when my friend, who hosts the Meetup, told me that the Sproutman was coming to give a talk at our meeting…  I was elated!  I was going to meet a man that was a big influence on how I feed my body to this day.  Along with sharing details about his journey to health and wellness with us, he spoke about the high nutrient content in sprouts, how easy they are to grow in your kitchen, how economical it is to grow organic sprouts, as well as about the health benefits of eating these little live packets of nutrients.  He even provided samples for everyone in our group to try while he was speaking, and they were delicious!!  His talk was very down to earth and inspirational at the same time! 

A few fun facts that he shared with us about sprouts are:   

1. Sprouts are baby plants that will eventually grown into mature vegetables and are packed with high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and protein;
2. Unless you’re buying locally-grown vegetables (organic is best), fresh vegetables can take up to a week or more to make it to your dinner table.  During this transit time, valuable nutrients are lost.  That piece of lettuce that you’re eating probably doesn’t contain the nutrient content that you think it does. 
3. Broccoli sprouts can be used for treating cancer.  John’s Hopkins University scientists found a highly concentrated source of sulforaphane (compound that helps mobilize our body’s natural cancer-fighting resources), which reduces the risk of developing cancer;
4. When you grow fresh sprouts at home, you save money (pound for pound sprouts are very ecomonimcal), have a higher nutrient content in your diet (which helps in keeping YOU healthy), and you get to enjoy truly fresh and delicious-tasting food for you and your family.

You can learn more about sprouting right on the Internet, by buying a book on sprouting, or you can check out the Sproutman’s website, which is listed below and in my healthy shopping section.