From The Ground Up

If you haven’t noticed already, I have a bit of a sweet...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:34:00 -0400

If you haven’t noticed already, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. But I am always looking for desserts and snacks to satisfy my cravings that are made without refined sugar.

But even when you think you’re eating a healthy dessert, you might actually be hurting yourself more than helping. Like I’ve said before, most “low calorie” and “low sugar” desserts are often made with artificial sweeteners and sugars. When you’re on the go, the McDonalds Fruit and Yogurt Parfait seems like a good dessert option, right? Let’s take a look at the ingredients first…

Yogurt: Cultured pasteurized Grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, food starch-modified, fructose, whey protein concentrate, corn starch, gelatin, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate.

Granola: Whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, crisp rice (rice flour, barley malt extract, salt), dried high maltose corn syrup, honey, sunflower oil, salt, baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, apple puree concentrate, soy lecithin, cinnamon, crushed oranges, natural flavor.

Those are two long lists of ingredients. The only thing possibly redeeming about their parfait might be the fruit. The yogurt is made with lots of artificial ingredients, and has added fructose (sugar). It’s also made with gelatin, which is an animal byproduct. How many “vegetarians” do you think have unknowingly eaten gelatin without even knowing? And why does it need to be in yogurt? The granola seems fine at first, until they had to include high fructose corn syrup and soy lecithin, which is a GMO soy product.

By making parfaits at home, you not only save money, but have control over the amount of ingredients you use to make them, as well as the quality of ingredients. And don’t skimp and buy pre-made granola. Making your own is so easy and cheap! This granola is made with Maple Syrup, which is an unrefined sugar, and has tons of nutritional benefits. Check out my recipe for these quick and simply Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits.

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

2 cups Organic Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup Organic Cereal (choose a flakey variety)
1 cup Chopped Nuts of your choice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Organic Brown Sugar
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Organic Maple Syrup
Stonyfield Organic Vanilla Yogurt (or organic Soy Yogurt, for you Vegans!)
Fresh Fruit of your choice (I used strawberries)

First begin by making your granola. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Combine the oats, cereal, nuts, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a bowl. Cover the bottom of a large baking pan with parchment paper, and spread mixture evenly inside. Next, drizzle the maple syrup over the granola, and stir with a spatula until it is covered evenly. Bake in five minute intervals, stirring each time, for fifteen minutes. Let the granola cool, then assemble your parfait. It doesn’t matter what order you go in, but I do a layer of granola, then yogurt, then fruit, repeat. Serve chilled and enjoy!

I’ve always had a microwave. It has always been an...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:23:00 -0400

I’ve always had a microwave. It has always been an essential part of my kitchen anywhere I’ve lived. But when we moved into our new apartment, that’s one thing that wasn’t included.

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about living a healthy lifestyle, and have also become more and more skeptical of microwaves. So needless to say, I’ve been living without one for the past six months… and it’s been easy.

Microwaves were introduced in America, in the 1960s. Microwaves heat food by bombarding it with electromagnetic radiation causing polarized molecules in the food to move and build thermal energy in a process called dielectric heating. They make reheating food and beverages very easy, as well as cooking pre-packaged foods.

While microwaves definitely offer a more convenient lifestyle, they also have many negative attributes as well. The most obvious, is that is depletes the nutritional density of your food. Microwaving food changes the chemical structure of food, and takes something that like organic vegetables and makes them a “dead” food that can potentially cause disease. A study by The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli that’s been cooked in a microwave lost up to 97% of its beneficial antioxidants. And steamed broccoli? It only lost about 11% of its nutrients. Also, a Japanese study by Watanabe showed that by microwaving milk for just 6 minutes, it lost 40% of its beneficial B12 vitamin. Studies have also shown that heating breast milk or formula in the microwave as apposed to the stove top depleted the vitamin content as well as converting other beneficial substances to being completely useless.

Microwaves also have a lot of trouble heating food evenly. “Hot Spots” occur when one area of the food being microwaved gets heated more than the others, and can get hot enough to actually cause it to burn, which then causes carcinogenic toxins to be released into the food. The worst culprit of contaminating food is BPA (bis-phenol A), which is an estrogen like compound that’s used in plastic products. When you heat food in this type of container, BPA is released into your food.

Microwaves also use radiation to heat food, and while the radiation leakage is very minimal, it is still present. Standing in front of your microwave while it’s in the process of heating something can expose you to about 400 milliGuass of radiation, and a mere 4 milliGauss has been linked to causing leukemia.

Recent studies have even shown that when our tissue is directly exposed to microwaves, “microwave sickness” can occur. People with this condition experience insomnia, headaches and dizziness, swollen lymph nodes, impaired cognition, depression, nausea and appetite loss, vision and eye problems, and frequent urination.

Aside from all the negative effects on food and our bodies, using a microwave discourages cooking, and preparing healthy meals. Our society has become lazy and obsessed with instant gratification. Why would someone spend an hour making a meal for their family when they could do it in five minutes or less? Cooking homemade meals is something we cannot afford to lose. Recipes, tricks, and methods used to be passed down through the generations, and now people don’t even know how to crack an egg. Now, I’m not suggesting you completely toss your microwave, but consider using it less and spending more time preparing and planning meals. You’ll be not only helping your own health, but bringing your family together over a sacred tradition!

We’ve been told our entire lives to start the day with a...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:49:00 -0400

We’ve been told our entire lives to start the day with a healthy, well balanced breakfast. But in recent years, it’s been harder and harder to find something that fits those qualifications. Whether it’s cereal, waffles, pop-tarts, toaster strudel, yogurt, granola, or oatmeal, they all tend to be full of artificial dyes, sugar, enriched grains, and preservatives. For a meal that is deemed so important, we sure aren’t given many healthy options.

Take, for instance, a typical pancake breakfast. Not too bad, right? Wrong. Standard pancake mix is made with enriched, bleached flour, as well as mysterious ingredients like “sodium aluminum phosphate” and “mono-calcium phosphate”. And the “maple syrup” is far from real maple syrup. Real, organic maple syrup is actually quite nutritious; it is full of antioxidants that help prevent several chronic diseases, settles digestive problems, helps with muscle recovery and contains zinc, iron, calcium, and potassium. But this wimpy excuse for “maple syrup” is made with a dyed form of high fructose corn syrup (for those of you who use IHOP, Aunt Jemima, or other off brand versions of “pancake syrup”, sorry to break the news to you, but you’ve been dealing with a fake).

This recipe for Vegan Oat Pancakes with Apple Compote is a great alternative to a typically unhealthy breakfast option. The pancakes are made with unbleached flours, oats, flax meal (which is incredibly high in omegas), and any dairy free milk of your choice, making them quite nutritious and much lower in fat. And by using real maple syrup instead of the highly processed “pancake syrup”, you not only gain nutrients, but your body also knows how to process it much better. So give breakfast another chance. It really can be the most nutritious meal of the day!

Vegan Oat Pancakes

1 Cup Organic Unbleached Flour
1 Cup Organic Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Organic Sugar (use maple syrup in the pancakes if you’d like!)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
4 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 Cups Non-Dairy Milk (I used Organic Almond)
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Oats
1/4 Cup Ground Flax Meal

Begin by all of your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the oil and non-dairy milk. Set your batter aside and prepare the Apple Compote…

Apple Compote

1 Large Organic Apple, diced
3 Tbsp Earth Balance Margarine
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp Cloves
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (or more if your a cinnamon nut!)

Begin by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced apple to the melted butter and let the apple begin to cook down. After a few minutes, stir in the brown sugar, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. The brown sugar and butter will create a syrup around the diced apples. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer until apples have become tender. Set the compote to the side and begin preparing your pancakes.

Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle on medium high. Pour batter into 5 inch circles on the hot surface (I typically only do two at a time). When the pancake begins bubbling, it is ready to flip. When both sides are brown, remove the pancake from the heat and continue until all of your batter is gone.

Top pancakes with more Earth Balance Margarine, Apple Compote, and real Maple Syrup, and enjoy!

Sometimes I think I may actually be Hispanic. I cannot get...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:00:13 -0500

Sometimes I think I may actually be Hispanic. I cannot get enough Mexican food. Typically, however, our American-ized Mexican food tends to be greasy and fried, covered in sauce, and high in calories. And the chips… Don’t get me started. They’re so good. But when have you honestly stopped yourself before you’ve eaten a whole bowl? Or two?

But Mexican food doesn’t have to be bad for us. Have Mexican night at home and make your own versions of your favorite dishes! It is very easy to sneak in lots of vegetables and other wholesome ingredients into a recipe when it’s homemade, because you then have control. In my Easy Vegetarian Quesadillas recipe, I’ve added in these three very nutrient dense vegetables to give this standard dish a healthy makeover…

Black Beans: An obvious nutritional fact about beans is their high amount of fiber, which is help keep the digestive track working at a healthy pace. They’re also responsible blood sugar regulation, good cardiovascular and nervous system health, are rich in antioxidants, and help to prevent cancer.

Spinach: As I listed before in my post on pizza, Spinach is a major super food. It is rich in Vitam A and K, as well as fiber, calcium, and antioxidants. Spinach is also used to lower blood pressure, build immunity, and promote healthy skin and bones.

Corn: While corn can be very starchy, it is also full of nutrients such as Vitamins B1, B5, E, C, Folic Acid, Magnesium, and Phosphorus.

Instead of using a typical corn, or flour tortilla, I made these quesadillas with Engine 2 Plant-Strong Tortillas. These are not your everyday store bought tortilla, which are usually made with enriched and bleached flour, as well as lots of preservatives. Plant-Strong tortillas are made of fruits, vegetables. whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. By using these tortillas, you also get an added punch of fiber, as well as nutrients that corn and flour tortillas are lacking. And as far as cheese goes, select an organic variety, that’s free of growth hormones and artifical dyes and ingredients. So give in to your cravings, and indulge in some healthy Mexican food tonight!

Easy Vegetarian Quesadillas

2 Engine 2 Plant-Strong Tortillas (you can find these at Whole Foods!)
Olive oil, just enough to cover the tortillas
1/4 Cup Organic Canned Corn, drained and rinsed
1/4 Cup Organic Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 Cup Chopped Spinach
1/2 Cup Organic Pepper Jack Cheese (if you like a less spicy cheese, go with Moteray Jack or Cheddar)

Begin by heating a non stick skillet over medium heat. Next, using a pastry brush, brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil (this will help the tortilla crisp up, while also providing healthy fats). Place the oiled side down on the hot skillet. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the tortilla. Do the same thing with all the corn, black beans, and spinach. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, and add your other tortilla to complete the quesadilla. When the bottom tortilla has begun to brown, and the cheese is melting, use a spatula to flip the tortilla. When the other side is brown, it is ready to be removed from the heat. Pair with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and enjoy!

I told you it was easy :)

Another essential part of a “snow day” is baking...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:13:00 -0500

Another essential part of a “snow day” is baking cookies. The two just go hand in hand for me. Cuddling up with my puppy, watching movies, and munching on warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies… all day.

I know, however, that having dietary restrictions can make it very difficult to enjoy this classic feel good dessert. A lot of vegan cookie recipes I’ve tried end up being too runny, flavorless, or come out of the oven looking more like pancakes than cookies. It’s also very important to me that even in baked goods I am getting some kind of nutrition. The traditional store-bought cookie dough is full of preservatives, refined sugar, and hydrogenated oil, which are not necessary whatsoever. Along with being processed, by buying cookie dough that’s already made, you give up complete control of the quality of the ingredients that are being used.

Cookies have gotten a bad reputation over the years for being a diet “ruin-er” and completely off limits to anyone trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but they don’t have to be! This recipe for Vegan Dark Chocolate Apricot Cookies have zero refined sugar, are made with whole wheat flour, and flax meal. Because they are vegan, they have absolutely no butter or eggs in them, easily making them lower in fat.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Apricot Cookies

3/4 Cup Oil (you can use canola oil, or softened Earth Balance spread)
1 Mashed Banana
1/2 Cup Organic Maple Syrup
1 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
1 Egg Substitute (1 Tbsp Flax meal, 3 Tbsp hot water, let sit for 5 minutes)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups Organic All-Purpose Flour (plus extra if dough is too runny)
1 1/2 Cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cups Chopped Dark Chocolate (you can use Carob chips as well)
1 Cup Chopped Unsulphured Apricots

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. First things first, mix your egg substitute, since it will need to combine for 5 minutes. Using a small bowl, combine 3 Tbsp of hot water and 1 Tbsp flax meal together. Meanwhile, combine the other first six ingredients listed. After they are mixed, whisk in the egg substitute. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt. Slowly incorporate the dry and the wet ingredients together. If the dough seems too wet, add a little more flour. Mix in the chocolate and apricots. Now your dough is ready to form!

Roll the dough into 1 1/2 - 2 inch size balls, and place on a greased cookie sheet or ungreased pizza stone. Bake for 10-15 minutes, and enjoy! Like I said, these are GREAT for a snow day… so go make them!

I’m just as ready for summer as anyone. I can’t wait...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:38:12 -0500

I’m just as ready for summer as anyone. I can’t wait for all of the home grown veggies and berries, salads, corn on the cob, the fireworks and barbecues. But alas… there are five inches of snow outside and all I can think of is hot cocoa and soup.

Most people who enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, like me, find it very frustrating trying to eat in season during the fall and winter. There just aren’t as many options. So we resort to frozen dinners, eating out, and heating up overly processed cans of soup. Many times canned soup is very high in sodium, artificial colors, preservatives, and let’s face it, pretty flavorless.

Making homemade soup is a lot easier than you think (and cheaper!). This recipe for Winter Vegetable Soup uses a variety vegetables that are actually seasonal in winter, such as kale and potatoes.

Potatoes are extremely high in Vitamins C and B6, as well as Potassium. Although mostly made of carbohydrates, they also offer quite a bit of fiber and protein for those of us who are vegetarians and vegans.

Kale is probably one of the most nutrient dense foods known to man. Kale is rich in Vitamins B6, A, K, Iron, and Beta Carotene. While it is low in calories, it is rich in fiber and sulfur which help detoxify the body. It also cooks down quite nicely, and has a great earthy flavor.

Winter Vegetable Soup

2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 Onion, minced
2 Carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
8 Small Red Potatoes, quartered
3/4 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
Thyme (to taste)
Parsley (to taste)
Rosemary (to taste)
1/2 tsp Sage
2 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Pepper
10 Cups Water
1 Can Organic Kidney Beans, washed and drained
1/2 Cups Cooked Shell Pasta (about 3/4 cup uncooked)

Begin by heating oil in a large 8 quart pot. Sauté garlic and onion in the oil for 2-3 minutes. After the onion has turned a slightly golden color, add mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, and seasonings to the pot. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes on medium high. After the potatoes and carrots are cooked through, add water, beans, and pasta. Let the soup come to a boil for 10 minutes, then simmer over low heat until ready to serve!

One of my favorite memories as a child was getting those big...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:55:26 -0500

One of my favorite memories as a child was getting those big tins of popcorn at Christmas time. We would leisurely sit around the television, watch “The Christmas Story” and munch for hours, unknowingly consuming hundreds and thousands of calories of yummy processed goodness.

We live in a world where microwaved and store bought popcorn is the most popular way to consume this tasty treat. There are so many varieties; low fat, 100 calorie bags, low sodium, movie theater butter, extra butter, salt and pepper, extra cheese, kettle, and my personal favorite, caramel. When trying to pick the most healthy option, it’s obvious why we have such a hard time. But even though a package reads “100 Calories” or “Low Fat” does not mean it’s in anyway healthy. Have you ever taken a chance to look at the nutritional information on a bag of microwaved popcorn? The ingredients may look a little something like this:

Popping Corn, Palm Oil, Salt, Less than 2% of Natural Flavor and Artificial Flavors, Butter, Color Added, Freshness Preserved with TBHQ and Citric Acid.

The popping corn and butter are essential, but what about the others? First of all, Palm Oil has been shown to raise bad cholesterol levels. It’s not only bad for you, but for the environment as well. It is made from trees that orangutan’s have been nesting in for thousands of years. The trees are being cut down to make palm oil, and leaving these animals without a home. An area the size of a football field is being cleared every hour.

Next, artificial flavors and color being added to any food should be a major red flag. By adding these things to our food, we are allowing ourselves to be the FDA’s science expirement. Food needs to be real, whole, and clean. Artificial flavors and dyes are doing absolutely nothing positive for us, but instead causing food addictions, disease, and obesity.

And lastly, TBHQ. Tertiary Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is in most processed foods, and is used as a preservative, and is a form of butane. Consuming high quantities of this harmful additive can cause vomiting, collapse, nausea, and ringing of the ears. In long term studies, it was even shown to cause cancer in rats. Here’s the kicker: TBHQ has been known to cause ADHD symptoms. Think about that for a minute. This is an additive that is in many processed foods (candy, granola bars, brownies, McDonald’s chicken nuggets, etc.), most of which we are feeding to children. So is it just a coincidence that children are hyperactive? Most parents want a quick fix, so they load their kids up with medicine to minimize their symptoms, when all they really had to do was take away that candy bar.

However, popcorn doesn’t have to be unhealthy. Popcorn is naturally very high in fiber and is quite filling. Popping it in a large pot on the stove with a little olive oil and sea salt is a great alternative to a bag of microwaved popcorn. But if you’re like me and favor caramel corn, I have a super easy recipe for Maple Caramel Corn to share with you! By using organic maple syrup, this caramel corn is completely stripped of any refined sugar and artificial ingredients that may be present in another caramel corn recipe. This recipe only contains 5 ingredients and is a healthy way to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Maple Caramel Corn

2-3 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 Cup Popping Corn Kernels
Sea Salt (use as desired)
1/2 Cup Butter (or you can make it Vegan by using Earth Balance!)
1 Cup Organic Maple Syrup

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Next, combine oil, corn kernals, and a dash of salt in a large eight quart pot, and begin popping over medium high heat. When you hear the popping sound slow down, remove from heat, and pour into two parchement lined 9x13 pans. Meanwhile, begin by melting butter in a sauce pan and whisking in the maple syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil, and let boil for 4-5 minutes. After the sauce is done, pour evenly over popcorn. Coat the popcorn evenly with caramel sauce. Bake the popcorn for 10 minutes, then remove and toss popcorn once more. Let cool completely and enjoy (or eat while it’s warm and gooey!)

Lactic acid, sodium phosphate, calcium phosphate, yellow 5,...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:03:00 -0500

Lactic acid, sodium phosphate, calcium phosphate, yellow 5, yellow 6, and enriched macaroni product are just a few of the dangerous ingredients found in a box of commercially made Mac N’ Cheese.

Children beg their parents to make this old favorite night after night, and even as adults, there is something so comforting in a big bowl of noodles covered in cheese sauce. But when you buy a processed, boxed version you’re also buying and consuming a long list of preservatives, artificial colors, processed dairy from unhealthy cows, and bleached, enriched noodles. There is little to no nutrition found in a box of this delectable side dish, and one of the biggest reasons would be the quality of the cheese.

Like I talked about in my milk post, because the cows are raised in such harsh conditions, fed grain, and treated with growth hormones, your body really isn’t getting any of the calcium the makers advertise the product being so high in.

Along with the bad conditions our cows are being raised in, the milk is also ultra- pastuerized. Wait, I thought that pasteurization removed harmful bacteria from the cow’s milk? It does, but it also removes all of the beneficial bacteria. Most consumers don’t really know what pasteurization even is. Pasteurization is the heating of milk to a very high temperature (usually around 180 degrees farenheight) for a short period of time. What we also don’t understand, is that the pastuerization of commercially sold milk is crucial, because the cows are so sick that the milk would probably kill us if it weren’t pasteurized. So here’s what I’m saying… Milk from cows living on factory farms must unfortunately be treated with chemicals and pasteurized to be safe for human consumption, because the cow’s producing the milk are sick and carry deadly diseases. Milk from healthy, grass fed cows does not need to be pasteurized to be safe for human consumtion. In fact, it is much better for you when it’s not pasteurized and Raw, or at least Vat-Pasteurized (meaning it was heated to a much lower temperature, so the milk maintains many of it’s health benefits, and is legal to sell in all states). And you’d better believe that the dairy found in a box of Mac N’ Cheese is definitely not a good quality product.

Now, there are some healthier, organic options if you don’t have time to make your own homemade mac. However, making your own is simple and the taste is incomparable to anything pre-packaged. This recipe for Smoked Gouda and Spinach Mac N’ Cheese that I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe is an incredible alternative to the every day macaroni recipe. By using real cheese, organic butter, and vat-pasteurized milk, you are getting beneficial bacteria that’s only found in organic and clean dairy products. You are also able to control the quality of the pasta by buying an organic variety, and gaining a lot of Vitamin A & K by incorporating chopped fresh spinach.

Smoked Gouda and Spinach Mac N’ Cheese

1 Slice of Whole Grain Bread
2 tbsp Organic Butter
1/2 Yellow Onion, Chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
2 tbsp Organic All-Purpose Flour
2 Cups Organic or Vat-Pasteurized Milk (Kalona variety is widely available)
1-2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
3/4 Cup Shredded Smoked Gouda Cheese
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
5 Cups Chopped Spinach
4 Cups Hot Cooked Organic Pasta (2-2 1/2 cups uncooked, you choose the type of noodle!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place piece of bread in a food processor, and pulse until the bread is turned into fine bread crumbs.

Boil water in a large pot, and cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add flour, and cook for an additional minute, stirring constantly. Slowly add in milk, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thick. Add cheeses, and stir until melted.

Add spinach and drained noodles to the cheese sauce, and stir until combined. Pour mixture into a greased 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and bake for 15 minutes, and enjoy!

We buy into fad diets everyday. Take this pill, cut this food...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:41:00 -0500

We buy into fad diets everyday. Take this pill, cut this food out, only eat radishes, no carbs, low fat, low calorie, eat laying down, eat only purple food, blah blah blah. Now I know some of those were exaggerated and probably don’t exist, but we really will do just about anything to lose weight. But could you really see yourself on one of those diets forever? Or do you find yourself hungry all the time? Those are two questions you have to ask yourself, and if the answer is yes, then you should probably change diets. Or not diet at all.

One of my biggest issues with diets is that there is no room for “cheating”. If you deprive yourselves of all the foods you love, you are destined to fail. Now I’m not saying go out and eat a whole piece of fried chicken, or an entire pint of ice cream, but I do think we can be smarter about the junk food we do eat. By completely cutting out the unhealthy snacks you love, you will find yourself craving them all them all the time. And when you decide to give in to temptation, you’re liable to binge eat.

For many, brownies are a huge no-no. But they don’t have to be. This recipe for Fudge-y Vegan Brownies is anything but unhealthy. Typical homemade non-vegan brownies would be made with butter, eggs, white table sugar, and bleached enriched flour. And that’s not even the worst. For instance, store bought, pre-packaged brownies contain hydrogenated oils, preservatives, soy, artificial colors and flavors. I know I say this a lot, but by making your own junk food, you can control the quality of the ingredients much better.

I am a firm believer that you can make an “unhealthy” food “healthy” in some way, shape or form. This recipe uses all natural cocoa powder, which is incredibly high in nutrients. Cocoa decreases blood pressure, lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. It is also high in polyphenolic flavonoids, which fight heart disease. These brownies also have flax meal in them, which widely known as a superfood, and is high in antioxidants, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids. Flax is high in nutrients as well, such as most B vitamins, magnesium, and manganese.

So, without further adieu…

Fudge-y Vegan Brownies

1 Cup Organic All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Organic Wheat Flour
2 Cups Organic Sugar
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 tbsp Flax Meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup Strong Coffee
3/4 Cup Hot Water
1 Cup Oil
1 tsp Vanilla

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, then gradually add in the wet and stir together. Spread evenly in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. And enjoy!

*For less fat, you could even try replacing the oil with mashed banana, or applesauce. You could also stir in some toasted almonds or walnuts.

Xylitol, Dextrose, Maltose, Maltitol, Glucose, Glycerol,...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:50:24 -0500

Xylitol, Dextrose, Maltose, Maltitol, Glucose, Glycerol, Sorbitol, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Spenda, Sacchrin, Aspartame, and Sucralose. What do all of these things have in common? They are all refined sugars that are extremely dangerous to our health.

Refined sugar is in nearly everything. From salad dressing, to bread, milk, bologna, pretzels, chips, yogurt, cereal, and much more. It is almost impossible to avoid. What exactly is refined sugar though? Refined sugar is when natural, raw sugar goes through the refining process which takes out any of the beneficial nutrients, and adds lime and carbon dioxide to make it a more appealing color (for instance, table sugar is white, and goes through a bleaching process). White table sugar, Splenda, Aunt Jemima “Maple Syrup” (which isn’t maple syrup at all), any kind of corn syrup, and powdered sugar are just a few examples of the refined sugars most of us use on a daily basis. And if you think you aren’t consuming them, but you eat processed foods, brand names, fast food, frozen dinners, or anything that comes in a box, you certainly are.

You may be thinking, “Well, the FDA says that all sugars are the same, and my body won’t know the difference.” I’m sorry, but that is a lie. Again, if we aren’t sick, the Federal Drug Administration cannot make any money by selling us over the counter medications. Refined sugar is not healthy, and consuming it in mass amounts (which is what most American’s are doing) will only lead to disease, and eventaully death. Let’s just talk about some of the negative effects refined sugar has on our body…

It is completely void of any nutritional value and is very hard for the body to process
Sugar thickens blood and inhibits blood flow
Causes tooth decay and cavities
Causes Diabetes
Hypoglycemia happens when the pancrease has to react to large amounts of sugar, and then releases too much insulin, causing a “tired” feeling
Causes gallstones
Increased anxiety and irritability
Increased PMS symptoms
Chronic fatigue
Has the same effects on the brain that cocaine does, and can cause mental problems. It is even known as a “narcotic” to some
Lowered white blood cell count, which means you’re more prone to disease.
White sugar is bleached with chlorine, which combined with organic compounds produces a deadly chemical known as dioxin
Your liver processes High Fructose Corn syrup the same way it processes alcohol, and is known to cause impaired judgement, slow response time, and impaired motor function
Higher cholesterol levels
Drinking fructose causes a rise in uric acid, which causes high blood pressure
Artificial sweeters (Aspartame, Sacchrin, Splenda, etc.) are neurotoxins, and even more poisonous

It’s nearly impossible to cut it out of your diet completely, I get that. There are small changes you can make, however, that will help you limit the amount you are consuming. Raw honey, real maple syrup, organic stevia, organic cane sugar, organic brown sugar, unsulphured molasses, sucanat, and sorghum are all examples of unrefined sugars. You will find that they are very rich tasting, and are all high in various nutrients! Give them a try and make the change from refined to unrefined!

I love a good veggie burger. But what I don’t love is all...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:27:00 -0500

I love a good veggie burger. But what I don’t love is all the unnecessary ingredients in the standard store-bought meat alternatives. Boca and Morning Star give the appearance of being rather healthy; the bright green boxes, covered in vegetables and pictures of delicious looking products. But the problem with most meat alternatives is that they are filled with highly processed soy proteins made with hexane. They are also usually frozen, loaded with preservatives, and cancer causing artificial dyes. If that wasn’t the worst part, both of these seemingly “healthy” products are owned by much larger corporations who definitely don’t care one bit about your health.

But it’s not only the patty that becomes a problem when eating a veggie burger. First of all, like any store-bought bread, the buns are made with enriched, bleached flour. Even when you buy a “whole wheat” bun, they are still full of processed ingredients and preservatives. Secondly, the condiments. Conventional ketchup is made with, you guessed it, high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, as well as any other processed sauces.

Knowing all of that, the only option is to make a homemade variation (c’mon, you knew I was going to say that)! Making a homemade veggie patty is really quite easy. And by making your own, you can ensure that it is made with only whole, clean ingredients. When it comes to the bun, you could go to Whole Foods and pick up a delicious package of organic hamburger buns, but I think these Whole Wheat Yeast Buns are to die for and add so much flavor to the burger. Let’s start there…

Homemade Whole Wheat Yeast Buns

2 Packages of Dry Active Yeast
1 Cup Hot Water
1/3 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Organic Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cups Organic Flour
1 1/2 Cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour (a little more, if needed)

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Then combine yeast and water in a large bowl and set sit for about 5 minutes. Next, add sugar and oil, and let sit for another five minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and form into a ball of dough. Separate the dough into 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Place on greased cooking sheet (I used a pizza stone). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Each ball of dough makes one whole bun.

If you’re making these Vegan, try using an egg replacer or using 1 tbsp of flax meal and 3 tbsp hot water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes and use in place of the egg.

1 Can Black Beans, rinsed
1 Large Sweet Potato
2 tbsp Tahini Paste
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Seasoning of Your Choice (I used cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper)
1/4 Cup Organic Flour
1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs, or more if needed

First, start by placing the sweet potato in boiling water, and boil until the potato is soft. While potato is boiling, rinse the black beans in cool water. When potato is done cooking, peel it and place in a large bowl with the rinsed black beans and mash together. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir together. Next, lay out a sheet of parchment paper and scoop and form patties, making them as large or as small as you would like. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook them (you can also freeze the patties if you intend on making them on a later date, just pull as needed). Patties should be cooked in an oiled skillet until golden brown on both sides.

Serve the patties on top of a Whole Wheat Yeast bun and use condiments of your choice (try the Coffee Barbecue Sauce from my previous post!). Avocado, spinach, organic cheese, lettuce, and other organic condiments are all good choices. Serve and enjoy!

People have been barbecuing for years. No one is quite sure...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:18:19 -0500

People have been barbecuing for years. No one is quite sure where it originated, but sometime in the 19th century it became a well known technique when preparing meat. Now, for me, making my own barbecue sauce was a brave feat. People tend to be very picky about their barbecue. It’s like a religion. So for someone who doesn’t even eat meat to attempt to make a delicious homemade barbecue sauce, I was pretty intimidated.

But, my feelings of frustration towards our food industry are much stronger than my being intimidated. Most conventional barbecue sauces are highly processed. In fact, usually the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Now, I know about these commercials that have been played recently saying, “High fructose corn syrup is just like any other kind of sugar. Your body doesn’t know the difference!”. And that is a complete lie. Chemically, it’s identical to table sugar. But ever since it’s been introduced into our food system, obesity, cancer rates, and illness have sky rocketed. Don’t think there is some kind of correlation there? Any kind of refined sugar is toxic to your body and creates very negative side effects. Another very dangerous ingredient found in store bought barbecue sauce is caramel color. But this caramel color isn’t made by boiling sugar on the stove. It’s a toxic carcinogen that produces a brown color (caramel color) and has been linked to causing 15,000 cases of cancer per year. Caramel coloring is also located in EVERY Coke or Pepsi soda (people drink soda every day, so is it just a coincidence that cancer rates are at an all time high?). Our bodies were not made to process chemicals and preservatives. So why do we keep buying products that contain them?

I wanted to find a recipe that was completely clean and at the same time very different from any other barbecue sauces. This recipe uses real ingredients, fresh vegetables and a very secret ingredient… coffee! And it’s from St. Louis’s very own Kaldi’s Coffee (where I work). It’s sweet, smokey, and a little spicy, and definitely going to your new favorite barbecue sauce after one try!

Coffee Barbecue Sauce

3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
4 tbsp Organic Brown Sugar
4 tbsp Molasses
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 cup Diced Tomatoes
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 Cup Strong Black Coffee
1/2 Cup Water

Begin by heating oil in a large saucepan on high heat. Add in onion, and sauté for 1 minute. Then add the garlic, sauté for 2 minutes. Next add the brown sugar, and let cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. After brown sugar has coated the onions and garlic thoroughly, add all ingredients except coffee and water. After you’ve added the ingredients in, either transfer to a blender or use an emersion blender to puree the mixture. Then stir in the coffee and water, and let simmer over low heat for thirty-fourty minutes, or until thick.

If you haven’t noticed already, I am a sucker for baked...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:35:00 -0500

If you haven’t noticed already, I am a sucker for baked goods. I am actually a baker at a local coffee shop in St. Louis, and hope to one day open my own sustainable and organic bakery/cafe. Anyway… back to the Scones.

We’ve all been there; the church meeting, the office breakfast, the family get together, where we’re bombarded with store bought pastries. They’re all so bright and plastic looking, aren’t they? Glaze and icing that looks like it’s been sitting out for days, and the generic cookies that no one will touch.

We can do better.

As life has developed a faster pace, we seem to have forgotten how to bake anything homemade. Most people think slicing up a log of cookie dough is baking homemade cookies. However, think of how much time we spend in front of our computers, or the television. Couldn’t that time be devoted to cooking an organic, clean, homemade meal? Or maybe, instead of grabbing some junk food at the store, why not make your own homemade baked goods?

Scones are revered as a treat around our home, and shouldn’t be consumed in excess. They are a flakey pastry that is meant to be lightly sweetened and consumed with tea or coffee (very different from our American version of this tasty treat). I’ve had all kinds of scones, but I’ve found that I like this recipe the best. It’s not too sweet, and compliments a warm beverage on a cold winter morning quite well. By using all organic ingredients, we completely wipe out any preservatives and chemicals that may be present in a conventional store bought baked good. This recipe makes for a much cleaner and wholesome scone that not only tastes wonderful, but one that you can feel good about as well!

Homemade Scones

2 Cups Unbleached Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/3 Cup Organic Sugar
6 Tablespoons Butter, cubed
3/4 Cup Organic Milk
1 Egg
Mix Ins

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and butter. Let it blend for about a minute. The mixture should resemble corn meal. Next, pour the mixture into a bowl and add in milk and egg. After stirring, a very tacky dough will form. Be creative on this next step, and add your own mix ins! Any kind of berry or dried fruit will work, or even chocolate chips. For instance, if you use a diced apple, sprinkle in about 1 tsp of cinnamon and make Apple Cinnamon Scones. Bake until golden brown and enjoy!

When I was a little girl I absolutely hated carrots. I would eat...

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:14:00 -0500

When I was a little girl I absolutely hated carrots. I would eat anything but carrots. Gross. At dinner I would slowly push them around my plate to make it look like I had eaten a few, when really I had eaten none.

As an adult, I’ve grown to like carrots quite a lot actually! Like most other vegetables, carrots are extremely good for you. Carrots have numerous health benefits, some of which being improved vision, cancer prevention, healthy skin, and cleansing your body, just to name a few. Carrots are also high in Vitamin A, C, and K.

Usually people have a love/hate relationship with vegetables. We know that we need them, but we really just hate the taste. Can’t I just eat fruit? The problem with only eating fruit is that fruit is loaded with sugar. Yes, it’s natural sugar, but even natural sugar shouldn’t be eaten in excess. Eating too much fruit and not enough vegetables can cause weight gain, decaying teeth, headaches, dizziness, numbness in legs, and thyroid problems. Vegetables are absolutely necessary for good health, and really, we should be having at least 3-5 servings of them a day.

If you’re trying to get more Carrots in your diet but don’t really enjoy the taste, my Vegan Apricot Carrot Muffins are a great way to sneak them in. By replacing the oil with a mashed banana, the muffins turn out very moist and lower in fat, unlike other Vegan muffins or cupcakes that have a tendency to be very dense. I’ve also replaced eggs with flax seed for added nutrition. These muffins are an easy way to sneak in some added nutrition to your diet!

Vegan Apricot Carrot Muffins

1 Mashed Banana
1/2 Cup Non-Dairy Milk (I used Organic Almond)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/3 Cup Hot Water
1 tbsp Flax Seed Meal
1 1/2 Cups Grated Carrot
1/2 Cup Chopped Unsulphered Dried Apricots
1/4 Cup Chopped Nuts (I used Pecans)
1 3/4 Organic Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Organic Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by combining hot water with flax meal in a small bowl; let sit for 5 minutes until it becomes more like a whisked egg consistency. White waiting, in a separate bowl, combine all other wet ingredients. Fold in flax seed mixture, along with carrots, apricots, and nuts. In another separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet. After combined, scoop into a greased muffin pan. Top with a little brown sugar before baking if you’d like. Bake until the muffins bounce back when touched and are golden brown. Enjoy!

Makes six jumbo muffins, and twelve regular sized muffins.

Got Milk? The USDA’s Food Pyramid recommends that each of...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:09:31 -0500

Got Milk?

The USDA’s Food Pyramid recommends that each of us consume about three glasses of milk a day. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever drank a whole glass of milk, let alone three.

Did you know that over 40 million American’s are lactose intolerant, and that nearly 75% percent of adults have trouble digesting dairy? That makes sense when you stop and remember that humans are the only mammals that drink another mammal’s milk. As babies, we produce more lactace, which enables us to digest our mothers milk. It is nourishment, and we need it for proper early development. But lactace begins to decrease around the age of three, and digesting dairy becomes harder and harder. Now, depending on where your ancestors are from could also determine how well you digest dairy products. For instance, if you are of African, Native American, Jewish, Asian, or Mexican decent, you will have a harder time digesting it because your ancestors did not have as much dairy accessible to them. Lactose Intolerance or sensitivity can produce a number of symptoms, such as sinus problems, gas, upset stomach, headaches, and all sorts of other ailments.

But what about calcium? We need it for bone health, right? Wrong. Vivian Goldschmidt nailed it on the head when she said, “Like all animal protein, milk acidifies the body pH which in turn triggers a biological correction. You see, calcium is an excellent acid neutralizer and the biggest storage of calcium in the body is – you guessed it… in the bones. So the very same calcium that our bones need to stay strong is utilized to neutralize the acidifying effect of milk. Once calcium is pulled out of the bones, it leaves the body via the urine, so that the surprising net result after this is an actual calcium deficit.” Cow’s milk really does nothing for us calcium wise. The most cases of Osteoporosis are found in countries where cow’s milk is widely consumed, and the least amount of cases are found in countries where cow’s milk isn’t consumed at all. But why would the FDA and USDA lie to us about milk? The sad truth is that they want us to be sick. If American’s were heathly, we wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on health care and prescription drugs, thus creating more of a financial problem for our country. It’s as simple as that.

Just like a mother’s breast milk is designed for infants, a cow’s milk is designed for a calf. I don’t mean to be harsh, but you wouldn’t drink breast milk as an adult right? No. Just like a grown cow has no need for cow’s milk.

And, to me, the worst part about the cow’s milk of today, is that it is highly processed. The milk our grandparent’s drank was far different from the milk we consume today. It was raw and generally unpasteurized. I’m not sure why we still cling to the image of one cow in the middle of a beautiful pastuer, being milked by Farmber Bob, because that’s simply not the truth anymore. The demand for milk is so high that cows are now placed in factory farms (I’m talking about thousands of cows, huddled together, standing in their own poop, and very sick), where they are injected with growth hormones and anti-biotics so they grow faster and produce more milk. Not only that, but have you ever stopped to think about what makes a cow is produce milk? Because it’s pregnant. But these cows never get a break from being pregnant, because of course, we want more milk. Needless to say, each time we drink a glass of the off brand, conventional gallon of milk, we’re also drinking a glass of pus, growth hormones, anti-biotics and bacteria.

I love cheese and I love to bake, so using real butter is very important to me in certain recipes. But I also know that I don’t need dairy everyday, and that it should be thought of as a treat. We usually have one very small serving of organic dairy a day, or every other day. But because I am lactose sensitive, I’ve been trying to use Goat Cheese when possible (it’s easier to digest, refer to my previous blog on Pizza). When it comes to dairy, less is always more. And if getting enough calcium is a problem for you, consider taking a supplement, or eating dark leafy greens and vegetables, tahini, chia seeds, molasses, dried fruit, and non-dairy fortified milk.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you. It’s a hard subject to talk about because dairy is not only delicious, but it’s part of our culture. If you are serious about decreasing your milk intake and making the change to organic, raw, hormone free milk, find a dairy farm in your community and begin supporting them!

The average American will eat around 46 slices of pizza a year,...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:11:51 -0500

The average American will eat around 46 slices of pizza a year, and the majority of us will eat pizza at least once a month. But sadly, most of us aren’t thinking about the “nutritional value” of that ooey-gooey cheese pizza, or the proper serving size of meat when we’re devouring it.

Pizza has strayed far from its orgins of being a fairly clean, and nutritious meal. Typically, it is covered in grease, and very large portions of meat and cheese. And be honest, how often are you checking the nutriton labels on the back of that frozen pizza box or asking your waiter if the beef on your pizza was grass fed?

Now I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t have time to make homemade pizza!” or, “Where would I even start?” Well, I’m here to tell you, making pizza at home is not hard at all! We’ll start with the crust. Just like any other storebought crust, bread, or dough, storebought pizza dough is going to contain all those unneccessary ingredients and preservatives. But my recipe is simple and real.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp Organic Sugar
3/4 tsp Sea Salt
1 Package of Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Tbsp Olive Oil, and extra for oiling the bowl

To begin, combine flour, sea salt, and yeast in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and oil, and whisk together. Incorporate the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, using your hands. When dough begins to form a ball, place on top of a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough with the palms of your hands. When the dough comes together completely, roll into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm area (I put mine inside my oven, with the oven off). Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size (1-2 hours). At this point, you are ready to roll out your dough onto a lightly floured pan or pizza stone. You can use a rolling pin, or just use your hands to spread it to the desired size. Using a fork, poke holes across the dough to allow air flow throughout the pizza. Set aside, until you are ready add toppings.

Toppings can make or break your pizza health wise. Just because your crust was homemade doesn’t mean you should add just anything to your pizza. For mine, I chose five very simple ingredients…

Olive Oil: Olive Oil, unlike other oils, is extremely healthy when consumed in the proper amount. It is high in both polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fatty acids, which are proven to fight heart disease, benefit insulin levels, and help with blood clotting.

Garlic: Galrlic is a natural immune booster, antibiotic, and is often given to sick people to fight illnesses. It also is known for reducing cholesterol.

Spinach: Spinach is by far one of the best things you can eat. It’s extremely high in Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Folate, Manganese and Magnesium. Spinach is also very high in anti-oxidants and has been shown to prevent, slow down, and even help in curing cancer. Like many other dark leafy greens, it improves brain function and protects against aging. And for all that it does, it’s very low in calories! Need I say more?

Tomatoes: Raw Food Diets are the latest fad in the diet world, and it’s true, raw vegetables do have much higher nutrient counts than most cooked vegetables. But that’s not the case for tomatoes. When cooked, tomatoes have a much higher percentage of lycopene, which fights cancer. Tomatoes are also very high in Vitamin C and A, and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Goat Cheese: Does dairy upset your stomach? The truth is, most of us are lactose intolerent, at least to some degree (we’ll tackle that on another blog post). When it comes to adding dairy to your pizza, Goat Cheese is the best option. Not only is it delcious, but it’s much easier to digest than cows milk, because it has much shorter fat molecules. It is lower in calories, higher in protein, and also high in phosphorus, riboflavin, B12, B6, potassium, and calcium!

The order of ingredients, or what ingredients you use, is up to you. But here’s how I prepared my pizza!

Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Roasted Tomato Pizza

4 oz Goat Cheese
2 Cups Organic Spinach (NOT frozen)
1 1/2 Cups Cherry Tomatoes
3 Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Herbs of your choice (I used Basil)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While your oven is heating up, go ahead and chop your spinach. It’s up to you how finely you chop it, either way, it won’t affect the flavor. Next, combine tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil (just enough to coat the tomatoes) in a pan and roast in your oven for 10-12 minutes. While tomatoes are roasting, drizzle olive oil over the top of your pizza dough. Spread spinach evenly across the top of the pizza dough, as well as the tomatoes and garlic mixture. Crumble the goat cheese evenly across pizza, and top with salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice (Pizza is about being creative, so have fun with it!). Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crust appears golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Questions?

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 10:59:04 -0500

If you have any questions about a recipe I’ve posted or about food, nutrition, and wellness, email me at livingfromthegroundup@gmail :)

Bread. We all love it. The smell, the taste, the texture....

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:08:00 -0500

Bread. We all love it. The smell, the taste, the texture. Everything about bread seems to entice us.

But when was the last time you took a look at the nutrition label on the back of your bread? A typical white sandwich loaf is going to begin something like this… “Enriched Bleached Flour-“

STOP! That’s the first sign you’re buying the wrong kind of bread. White enriched flour is produced by removing all traces of the husk and bran off the grain. It is then bleached at a very high temperature with chemicals that contain chlorine, thus killing any nutrient that was possibly present. After the bleaching process, vitamins and minerals are added back in. Don’t get my wrong, Niacin, Iron, and Riboflavin are very good for you. But it’s like the FDA is assuming I’m not getting those nutrients elsewhere, so they had to add them in for me, and take out the natural benefits of the bread.

Most store bought bread also has added sugar. Once bread enters the digestive system and starts to break down, a lot of it is naturally turned into sugar, so adding more of it definitely isn’t doing us any good. And after the sugar, there are a whole bunch of preservatives to keep the bread from going bad. But honestly, if your bread isn’t going bad, chances are your bread isn’t all that good for you.

On a cold winter’s night, soup and bread seems to be the only combination I crave. Instead of running by the store and picking up a loaf, why don’t you bake your own instead? I promise, a crusty bread is one of the easiest things to make even when you’re in a hurry. With a very short list of ingredients and steps, my Sea Salt & Rosemary Dinner Bread is going to be one of your new favorites!

Here’s what you’ll need…

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Cups Unbleached Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 Cup Water
1/3 Cup Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Rosemary

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk water and oil together. Slowly incorporate the wet mixture to the dry mixture, until completely combined. Coat your hands with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Once the dough is formed in a ball, place on a clean baking sheet (I used a stone to make sure it wouldn’t stick). Coat the dough with olive oil, and then sprinkle sea salt and rosemary over the top. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown, and enjoy!

If you want a stronger rosemary flavor, just add a 1/2 tsp to the dough before baking, as well as on top.

New Years Resolution...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:08:00 -0500

We all make them. Whether you like to admit it, or go public with yours, we all have small changes we’d like to make at the start of a new year. But, as the months pass, as the days get busier, we tend to forget about those promises we made to ourselves. This year, I challenge all of you to eat cleaner. It doesn’t mean everyday, or being perfect, but just making a conscious effort to make healthier choices each day.

You may be a fad dieter, a weight watcher, or calorie counter, but have you ever wondered why those are all so hard to stick to? Do you find yourself going to bed hungry each night, and counting the days to the next holiday where you can binge eat? Your body needs a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Low calorie foods appear to be nutritious and healthy, but all they’ve done is take out something and replace it with something artificial, which in the end could cause disease and weight gain. Dieting does nothing but make you angry at food and yourself… so why not try something different this year?

1. Eat foods in their natural form. Don’t buy canned fruit, buy a fresh peach. Stop buying frozen pizza, make your own with lots of real, organic vegetables. Instead of eating a sugary cereal, eat steel cut oats with almond milk for breakfast. Don’t eat any animal product that has been tampered with or isn’t from grass-fed, free range livestock.

2. Avoid eating processed foods. Say no to fast food, frozen meals, or anything that has a long list of ingredients. Always go for the Organic option if there is one.

3. Eliminate as much refined sugar as you can. Some examples would be white table sugar, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners (Spenda, aspartame, sacchrin), etc.

4. Eat smaller, more frequent meals.

5. COOK! Stop eating out so much. When you eat out, you may know the calorie counts on items, but do you know whats in them? Cooking at home saves money and gives you the power to control what’s in your food.

These small changes will dramatically effect your life. Do you want to live longer, be disease free, and feel better? Follow these rules, and watch your life transform!

Okay… One last dessert post before we kick our butts back...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:37:00 -0500

Okay… One last dessert post before we kick our butts back in shape! It’s New Years though, and we all deserve a little something for getting through another year.

I’m not much of a drinker, but I love the rich taste bourbon gives to some baked goods. This recipe is super simple, and delicious. It may be a lot easier to run into your local grocer and pick up an already prepared dessert, but when you make your own you can control the quality of ingredients much better. A typical pecan pie recipe will call for corn syrup, but by using a cane sugar syrup, you get a less refined sugar that your body will digest a lot easier. Also, by making your own pie crust you can avoid using bleached flour, and low quality butter (which let’s face it, most people are comsuming when they use store bought pie crusts). I promise that by making a homeade pie you will not only get a better and healthier product, but feel accomplished as well!

Let’s first tackle the most intimidating part about making homeade pie… the crust. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 1/4 Cups Unbleached Organic Flour (plus a little extra for rolling out the dough)
1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick, cold, and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
4-5 Tablespoons of Ice Water

There are a lot of ways to prepare a pie crust, but I’ve found this to be the easiest and quickest way. Combine your flour, cubed butter, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Then, with the food processor running, add each tablespoon of ice water one at a time. You may not even need the full five tablespoons. Blend until your pie crust forms a ball of dough. Place the ball of dough on a floured countertop (this will ensure that your pie crust doesn’t stick). Using a rolling pin (also covered in flour), begin to roll out your dough. You will want it fairly thin, and big enough to sit in your pie pan. After you have greased your pie pan with butter, gently move your pie crust into the pan. Press into the pan, and cut off the excess edges. Place in your refrigerator until you’re ready to bake… That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Okay, now for the exciting part… PIE!

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Cane Sugar Syrup
1/2 Cup Butter
4 Organic Eggs, beaten
1/4 Cup Bourbon
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Salt
6 Oz Dark Chocolate, chopped
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cane sugar syrup, and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter and sugar are combined and sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Pour sugar mixture into your egg mixture. Whisking continuously. Then stir in chocolate and pecans, and pour into pie shell.

Bake for an hour or until golden brown, and serve!