Meet Your Meat

This posting is something that makes me dizzy with madness and sadness. It will likely gross you out. Please, if you eat meat, watch this. If you buy meat in a store, watch this. If you order meat from a menu, watch this. 

"Oh, I don't want to see something gross," may be what you are thinking. Let me tell you, you need to watch this. For your health, the health of your family, and the health of our planet. 

My mission is education. I want people to have the information and education to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. You have control of what you put in your mouth. I want you to make the best choices based on the information at-hand. 

It is true that my blog primarily focuses on the goodness of eating healthy, that is a positive thing. And that is what the majority of information and education will be about. Goodness. Eating fruits & veggies. Having fun with the food you consume. Fueling your body for great health. Quite to the contrary, this information today focuses on the badness of eating meat raised for the mass market, that is a negative thing.

Imagine for a moment if you switched to a vegan (no animal products) diet. One, how many more people could our planet feed if all the land devoted to animal feed crops were turned into organic farms and orchards? Have you ever thought about land use in that manner? Okay that is only one issue...

I am not going to stay perched on my soap box...just watch the video. And do come back to this blog. My intent isn't to make you feel guilty or that you are doing something wrong, I just want you to be informed. Do you want to make changes and feel better? Do you want to thrive or just survive? 

Did God really intend for us to treat animals this way? Even if you have no inclination to stop eating meat, at least change your purchase habits and buy it from a reputable farm...no antibiotics, no hormones, no tumors, no disease, no madness... Please.

Taste Buds

Food, food, food. We eat it at least 3 times a day, most often times more than that. What are you putting into your body? And the bodies of your children?

My son and I were doing our regular Monday mid-day thing, watching a vegan whole foods cooking pbs show called "Christina Cooks" when we both looked at each other and professed our hunger out loud. Since my husband and I have raised our son as a vegan (see post below for definition!), it didn't surprise me when he requested soup for lunch. 

Can openers and microwaves are not the way we make soup around here. I quickly chopped some sweet potato, red onion, asparagus, and carrots. Tossed them into a pan with olive oil and sauteed for a couple minutes--still with lots of crispness left! Added in some water. And then some rice noodles. I reserved some raw veggies and added those in with the hot soup. In mere minutes, there was homemade, healthy, wonderful soup--pleasing to the 4 1/2-year old taste buds of my kiddo!

Some say "wow" about the variety of veggies he downs with enthusiasm. As a 6-month old starting on "baby food" we took great care in what he ate. And in the order he ate it. 

We made our own baby food...

Initially we mashed up some avocados. Then some bananas. Then some brown rice blended. We slowly introduced veggies and then fruits. Raw and mashed. Sometimes cooked a tad. He ate what we ate... just mushed and mashed. That is the simple way. That is the healthy way.

Recently a friend (Eat Healthy, Be  Happy) and I were talking about "baby food" sold in jars. Gross. Even if it is organic it is still cooked beyond recognition. And people wonder why their tots won't eat veggies with gusto?! Children learn a lot through their mouths...so do adults.

Take the time to teach them well. Feed them right. Build an appreciation for the simple things of life...

Back to lunch, I had leftover salad from dinner last night. I dressed mine with raw food "sour cream" (recipe I made quite by accident a couple months ago), pine nuts, currants, red bell pepper and dill. Yum! 

What are you having for lunch today? 

Yes, simple healthy food looks awesome and tastes even better! You heard it from SIMPLE RAW FOOD MAMMA so it's gotta be true  ;-)

Vegan Pizza

Yesterday for lunch my son and I made 

vegan pizza. 

Before I go any further I must clarify "vegan" for those of you with scrunched up brows. 

Vegan is animal-free...no meat, no dairy, if it had a mamma or was squeezed out of something that once had a mamma...it ain't here!

We did use some vegan "cheese" & "meat" in these masterpieces (although I would say to keep even vegan processed foods to a minimum).

Mainly we loaded them with yummy pizza sauce, black beans, onions, olives (plain olives canned in water, no nasty chemical-laden olives please!), and even some cilantro. 

Viola! Taco pizza!

Have your kid(s) help you create in the kitchen. My son loves it. What you impart to your kids as good and healthy and fun, they will adopt as their own ideals too. Make them part of it. And give them the freedom to be creative. Yes, my son's pizza was soooo thick and it stuck like crazy to the pan, but he ate every scrapity scrap of it!

You may even see him with his own vegan or raw food show someday as he already talks to the people as he prepares a meal!  ;-)

I made a green smoothie for my lunch with mixed salad greens, mustard greens, cilantro, and frozen blueberries. Yum! If you aren't a fan of cilantro, add in some celery instead.

Happy Eating & Drinking!

Let's Go Crazy!

Lately it seems we have been inundated in our home by disease. We have been touched by family and friends and church-family suffering from various states of disease from 4 different forms of cancer to cardiovascular disease to many other states of ill-health. Of course we are saddened, we pray, and we reach out to these people, our family and our friends.

What makes me so sad, and I'll admit it, even a little mad, is that most of these conditions could have been prevented, the symptoms minimized, and/or the causative factor obliterated. Folks, do this, think about every single thing that goes into your mouth. Does it have the potential to heal or to harm? Is it life-giving or life-taking?

We spend more time worrying about the brand of fuel we put into our cars and trucks than we do worrying about the fuel we put into our bodies! That is crazy. 

We groan and moan about the rising cost of gasoline and diesel, but we empty our wallets at the pharmacy counter for yet another pill to mask a symptom, or worse yet, cause a side-effect that needs another pill! That is crazy.

We take our autos in for oil changes and tune-ups, yet we ignore the red lights and warning signs flashing on the driver! That is crazy.

Please, reconsider your dietary intake and realize its importance in your very life. You need to take control of what you put into your mouth. Spend as much (or more!) time reading the label of a product before you buy it as you do reading the price boards at gas stations.

Join me in getting crazy for good, wholesome, fresh food. Join me in doing the "let's get crazy dance" in the produce isle. Join me in getting crazy dirty in the garden growing your own fruits & veggies. Let's go crazy for something worthwhile, something awesome, something God created--YOU!

And while you're at it, please go check out the blog 

"Eat Healthy, Be Happy" I have linked over there 

to the right side of the page. 

Elena has beautiful photos, scrumptious recipes, 

wonderful insight, a kind heart, 

and a she shares my quest 

for increasing the health & vitality of God's children!  ;-)

Green, Living Foods

Howdy! Despite the rain today, everything is green, green, green here in western Oregon. A great reminder to drink green smoothies! This morning I made a concoction that reflected the beautiful green medley of the grass, leaves, ferns, trees, and new growth.

1 handful spinach

1 handful mixed baby green

1/2 fresh mango

1 pear

1 cup water

As usual, blend the water and greens first. Add the rest and blend away. Yum!

Here are some more notes from the hand-outs I passed out Saturday at the healthy eating class and demonstration of green smoothies. It was an awesome day. Thank you to PR for inviting me to speak. And thank you to all who attended, listened, ate "chocolate cake" &  "almond cookies" and slurped some green smoothies!  ;-) 

This is the continuation of an INTRODUCTION TO RAW/LIVING FOODS...

Benefits

Ø    Simplicity—raw food is the best “fast food”

Ø    Increased energy—when you eat processed/dead foods your body diverts energy and resources (i.e. enzymes) for proper digestion & assimilation. By consuming living foods, you are making a living investment in your living body!

Ø    Weight loss—when the majority of your calories are from fresh fruits & veggies and you consume less calories & have more energy (for exercise); your ideal body shape and weight will be revealed. Eating a processed diet forces water to hang out with all the sugars and salts in our tissues, creating that “puffy and fattish” look.

Ø    Other side effects include an overall sense of well-being. You need less sleep, you have more energy, your emotions get more stable, and you experience things more fully—as if you are more alive!

 

How do I start?

Ø    You will need to want to experience health benefits.

Ø    Fill your fridge with fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds—you are what you eat & you eat what you buy.

Ø    Breakfast: replace standard cereal with raw fruit, nuts, and “mylk” (non-dairy alternative)

Ø    Lunch & Dinner: eat a lovely, large salad as your main course and have some whole grain pasta or brown rice as a side dish.

Ø    Add juicing and green smoothies to your eating plan.

Ø    Try a new raw/living food recipe once a week!

Ø    Read books, magazines, blogs, websites, and talk to others with the same interest.

All of the green I see today reflects life. So as you feed yourself and those around you today, ponder this... Are you adding to a life so that it can thrive or just survive? Are you eating living foods for a living body?

Upcoming Event

I am preparing for an open house at a pilates studio this Saturday where I will be discussing healthy eating, with a focus on the raw food diet and green smoothies. So, instead of writing new stuff for the blog today, I am including part of the notes from my hand-outs...

Enjoy! Stay tuned for some more notes in upcoming postings. 

What is a raw/living food?

Ø    Raw/living foods are any fruits, greens, vegetables, nuts, or seeds that have not been heated/cooked at temps exceeding 117 degrees—the enzymes are still alive, available, and ready for work!

Ø    Basically, a fresh food right “off the vine” is the most divine!

What is a raw/living food diet?

Ø    Eating a wide selection of raw/living foods in their natural state such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and/or seeds.

Ø    Some say if you eat 75% or more of your food in the raw/living form, you are eating a raw food diet.

Ø    Of course others strive for 100% raw food consumption.

Ø    You make it what you want. Go for fancy or stick to simple. I prefer simple with a little fancy thrown in.

Beet Smoothie

Recently we had some warm weather so extra time was had outside in flower beds and soon-to-be-garden areas...less time for computers and blogs.

This morning I made a beauty of a green smoothie. This one was the most brilliant raspberry-ish color...no raspberries in it though.

1 cup of water

5 large collard green leafs

1/2 peeled beet (cut into 4 pieces or so)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

3 dates (pits removed)

Blend the water and collards first. Then add the other stuff. Blend again and again. Those beet chunks like to bump around for a while in the blender.

Yum-yum-yum. This one will help to detox you too with the beets. By the way, children should only have about 1/2 a beet a day as they could be too harsh on their little selves. 

Do you look at the lid of your blender when you are done? It always displays a pretty picture of the living nutrients involved in making a green smoothie... Do like me, look at it and then lick it clean. We don't want any of that raw food goodness going down the drain!  ;-)

Make sure to save the greens of your beets to use in a smoothie. Actually mine are the first green to go in the fridge. They are so packed with nutrients. Look at some of these comparisons for the beet itself and the beet greens--per 100 grams...

calcium............beet-16mg........beet greens-117mg

vit A..................beet-33IU.........beet greens-6326IU

vitK...................beet-0.20mcg....beet greens-400mcg

~ info from p. 33 of  "Green for Life" by Victoria Boutenko

Beets roots are higher across the board in the B-vitamins and of course in calories. 

Just go ahead and use the whole plant in your healthy eating!

Healing Crisis

Howdy All! No, I haven't fallen into a big ole vat of a green smoothie or moved off-the-grid with no internet connection. We have had some excitement around our place with the birth of a new foal. And to tell you the truth, I have been experiencing some symptoms of a "healing crisis." It is a much better term than "detox," don't you think?

Anyway, in our pursuit of health and vitality, we will all experience some unpleasant symptoms every now and then. This is a good thing! It means our bodies are healing and getting stronger. I imagine the way I recently felt was the "normal" way most people feel on a daily basis. I had been so used to my high energy, illness-free, and ready-set-go body, that going through this healing crisis knocked the wind outta my sails. It was a struggle to keep up with my regular go-go-do-do-do-it-all routine. 

Now, after some encouragement from another raw foodist, I feel like I am not losing my mind or my health. I just need to hang in there, pray, and listen to my body. If I am not hungry, I should not eat just because the clock says it is breakfast time or dinner time. Sometimes our bodies need a period fasting (drinking water and/or fresh juice) so that energies can go to healing, not digesting. 

We all have some sort of health issue now or have suffered from some ailment or another, right? It is amazing these bodies we have. God made us so great. As improvements are made in our eating and in-turn our health, our body wants to get rid of the stuff sickness left behind. Hence a headache or aches and pains or low energy or sometimes even flu-like symptoms occur as we purge junk from our systems.

Yes, even healthy-eating raw foodists have yucky stuff lingering in their bodies and are exposed to toxins in the environment, home, workplace, or even food. No one is exempt from this. My theory is that when your body is functioning at the high end of the scale, you notice all the wibbles and wobbles in your health. But if your body is at the low end of the scale (meaning your not feeding it enough "living" foods and are exposed to environmental toxins) then you don't necessarily feel it when you detox for a day or even a week. You are just used to feeling kinda sluggish all of the time. 

I know that the latter was true for me. Each time I made an adjustment to my diet, I did feel better. I went from SAD (Standard American Diet) to vegetarian to dairy-free vegetarian to vegan (all animal product-free) to partial raw foodist to complete raw foodist. At each step I felt a noticeable increase in energy and vitality. And at each step I could feel it when my body was ridding itself of the nasties. 

* I would like to say that I am not promoting leaving your medical advice or prescribed medication out of your health regime! I am an insulin-dependent diabetic and although I have seen a decrease in my insulin needs, I still need medication to live. And some of you may be taking prescriptions that also enable you to function and survive. In addition, do take into consideration food. We put so much of it into our bodies, shouldn't we do it to the best of our ability? *

So, if you are making a step or a leap into great eating, be ready to catch the vitality! But when you have a healing crisis, know that it shall pass and you will come out on the other side feeling even better. And able to do even more!

I have to share with you another green smoothie recipe I did this morning.

1+ cup cold water

spinach in the blender to the 3-cup mark

1 small apple or pear (cored)

1 handful frozen mango

~ if you like it sweet, add 1/2-1 frozen banana

Blend the water and the spinach. Add in the rest of the fruit and blend away. It is awesome and the most lovely spring green color you have seen. Please use organic produce folks.

Drink up and cheers to good health and vitality!