The Juicing/Smoothie COLOR CHALLENGE - GREEN

Hi Folks! This week is all about GREEN smoothies and juices!  Orange week went well.  The crew had some great recipes to share.  Click here to join the fun! Since some of the team members thought GREEN week would be easy we've asked everyone to expand their green vocabulary by using different/unique ingredients.  All shades are welcome! :)

Cilantro

I've used cilantro in all of my drinks this week.  Not only is it high in chlorophyll, but it can help remove heavy metals from your body.  Check out what I've been drinking this week:

Kale pear juice: kale, cilantro, apple, pears (bosc and cactus), savoy cabbage

Prep for green green juice (see next picture)

Green green juice: Kale, apples, ginger, cilantro, green cabbage, lemon

More greens full of goodness: parsley, chard, dandelion, dill and lacinto kale

Stay tuned for next week's color challenge: PURPLE

Peace and love,
Z

Seeds: The Undercover Super Food!

Hi Folks!  Seeds are the building blocks of all plants and powerful foods that we should include in our diets!  In my first guest post on My Faith and Fitness blog written by Minister Crystal Cochren  I provide 7 reasons why seeds should have the SUPER FOOD title.  Click the link below to check out how you can incorporate them into your life! 

Seeds: The Undercover Super Food - Article

Are you eating seeds?

Peace and blessings!

Caleb's Corner: Green Plantain Porridge

Caleb, the King of Banana Land is getting weary of his morning staple: Chia porridge.  He has been making requests for me to NOT add it to his bananas in the morning. Instead he wants puffed rice cereal. I don't mind the puffed rice, but I don't want him eating it everyday.  It's not as nutrient dense as chia.   So I began to search for a good breakfast alternative.  I spoke to another mother about our breakfast dilemma and she suggested making green plaintain porridge.  Sounded good to me, so off I went!

Here is how I did it:

Green Plantain Porridge:
1 green plantain
3 TBS of honey
1 cup of hemp seed milk (or any other milk you want to use)
1/4 cup of coconut butter/manna
dash of salt
cinnamon (to taste)
Optional: garnish with pumpkin seeds and dates

Step 1 - gather all ingredients

 

Step 2 - Make hemp seed milk

Step 3 - Add hemp seed milk and coconut butter to pot.  Let heat up and stir often.

Step 4 - Peel and grate up the green plantain and add it to the warm milk mixture

 

Step 5 - Stir, Stir, Stir with a wisk.  Let it cook until creamy.

 

Step 6 - Add salt, honey and cinnamon



Step 7 - Since I wanted a smoother consistency, I removed 1/2 of mixture from pot, blended it until smooth and returned it back to pot.

Step 8 - Serve and enjoy! One bowl for me....garnished with pumpkin seeds and dates

and one for Caleb....garnished with chopped up dates

 

Caleb said he liked it...and called it "oatmeal".   But he did not finish his bowl.  We will be making this again! A great alternative!

This is a great alternative for children who cannot eat oatmeal (like Caleb).  You can add any other fruit or nuts you want.  We are a nut free home (97% of the time).  Try it and tell me what you think.  You can get plantains (green and yellow) at most local  ethnic grocery stores - - especially if you live in the North East.

Peace and love!

The Food Journey: Raw and Delicious!

I ate some really delicious RAW food that I want to tell you about.  I attended a dinner at Original Herbal Remedies this past weekend and it was superb! If you are in the NYC area and are interested in exploring raw cuisine please stop by.
 I forgot to take pictures of the appetizer, but see below for the menu and pictures of this scrumptious meal.

Appetizer
Kale and cabbage salad with kale crackers and nut cheese
Mango salad

Entrée:
Cauliflower rice with spicy cheese topping
Stuffed tomatoes with cashew sour cream
Brazil nut sunflower meatballs in tomato sauce
Bulgur cabbage on abed of power greens with avocado

Desert:
Raw carrot cake
Orange and chocolate ice cream
Coconut chocolate macaroons

If it sounds like a lot of food....it was!! :)  I was stuffed to the brim! 



The Entrée



 

Dessert - chocolate and orange ice cream, coconut macaroon and carrot cake

 

What I love most about eating raw food is that it's alive!  All of the nutrients the food has to offer is being added to my body system. None of the nutrients have been degraded by heat making the food more nourishing.  A few months ago I wrote a piece on raw foods after taking my first raw food preparation class.  Here is an excerpt I want to share again (with slight modifications):

1. RAW FOOD = LIVING FOOD
2. When we cook food, the nutrients  are degraded and in some cases totally destroyed.  Leaving the food we eat on a daily basis with little nutrition.  Most of us supplement with vitamins we take orally.  If we eat well we can get all the nutrients we need solely from our food.
3. Raw food is SO FLAVORFUL (if prepared right)! Oftentimes we think of raw, vegan food as gross, cardboard-ish and boring. 
4. Raw food is very FILLING!
5. Start slow.  Pick a recipe and perfect it before moving on to more complicated dishes.
6. You can adapt cooked recipes to a raw version. 
7. Our taste buds are dead and traumatized by all the processed food we eat.  We can revive them by eating better wholesome foods...and when you do , it will be hard to go back.
8. If cooking using conventional means add oils and pepper last.  Oils and peppers can degrade while cooking and interrupt digestion.

After the  30-Day Raw Food Challenge I conquered this summer I felt like a new person.  I believe in raw foods and enjoy making and eating them.  If you've eaten a vegetable or fruit salad then you've had raw food! :)   Explore the concept a little further to really see what raw foodism entails.  I don't think I will ever be 100% raw, but I love the cuisine and encourage you all to eat one full raw meal very soon!

 Peace and blessings!

Caleb's Corner: Got Hemp Milk?

A few weeks ago a mother of a 12 month old who was recently diagnosed with dairy and nut allergies asked me about milk alternatives.   Caleb is allergic to dairy, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, wheat, rye and barley (The Alternative Child).  When he was six months old after consuming my breast milk, soy and dairy formulas, we found out that his little body didn't like any of it!

Most infants consume milk as their main source of nutrition.  To find out that your baby cannot have the "normal" fare is overwhelming.  We began to investigate and almond milk wasn't even an option.  Some allergists say that if a person has an allergy or intolerance to nuts they may also have adverse reactions if seeds are consumed.  For Caleb, thankfully this was not the case.  Seeds in general are packed with nutrition and are great additions to any diet.  Hemp seed milk in particular, is a staple in our home.  I sometimes make pumpkin seed milk and have supplemented the hemp seed milk with coconut products for a caloric boost.

Hemp seeds

If you or your child has allergies to nuts, soy and dairy try seed milk.  They are rich in nutrients and can be used in all sorts of dishes just like you would dairy milk.

How we use hemp seed milk:
1. To make macaroni and cheese (the vegan version)
2. To make mashed potatoes
3. In smoothies
4. For chia pudding
5. I personally like to add it to my chai and nettle tea
6. With cold cereal

How do you make seed milk:
1. add seeds to blender
2. add water
3. blend until smooth
Note: you can add any other ingredient you wish such as dates, honey or vanilla

Fresh glass of hemp seed milk

Whole Dairy Milk vs Seed Milk: 
The table below shows a comparison between whole milk and hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut milk.  You can see that the negative nutrients (saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium are higher in whole milk).  The positive nutrients are in abundance in the seed alternatives which makes them a great alternative.

Although the caloric content for most seeds are high,  once diluted with water and other seeds you can get a very balanced nutritional profile. Plus...I like to say...it's the good calories.  I'd rather consume healthy nutrient dense high calorie foods than empty calories like potato chips cookies and sweet pastries.

 

 

Nutritional Comparison of Whole Milk vs.  plant based milk
Nutritional Data	Whole Milk	Hemp Seeds	Pumpkin/Squash Seeds	Coconut Milk
Calories	146	174	747	552
Total Fat (g)	8	14	63	57
Saturated Fat (g)	5	1	12	51
Cholesterol (g)	24	0	0	0
Sodium (mg)	98	0	25	36
Total Carbs (g)	13	2	25	13
Dietary Fiber (g)	0	1	5	5
Sugar (g)	13	0	1	0
Protein (g)	8	11	34	5
Vitamin A (%)	0	0	10	0
Vitamin C (%)	0	0	4	11
Calcium (%)	28	0	6	4
Iron (%)	8	16	115	22
Resource: NutritionData.com