Posts Tagged ‘vegan’

What I usually find with date squares is that they are too sweet. So I have made my own version which are less sweet and taste even better. Find it hard to stop at only one.

DATE SQUARES Wheat-Free

Ingredients:
1 large apple finely chopped
2 cups dates, chopped
1 cup water
Juice of ½ lemon
½ cup vegetable fat or butter
1/3 cup rice syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 ¾ cups rolled oats
¼ cup potato flour
¾ cup Brown Rice flour

Directions:
1.   Simmer apple water till soft.
2.   Add dates and simmer till soft.
3.   Mash well.
4.   Add lemon juice and set aside.
5.   In a separate bowl, mix vegetable fat, rice syrup and salt.
6.   First add flour; mix in.
7.   Then add oats, mix well.
8.   Pat 2/3 of the mixture into an 8 X 8 pan.
9.   Spread the date mixture on top of the oat mixture.
10.  Then sprinkle the other 1/3 of oat mixture on top of the dates.
11.  Lightly press down.
12.  Bake in preheated oven at 400º F. for 25 to 35 minutes.

• Oats have lots of manganese, are a very good source of selenium, vitamin B1, dietary fiber, magnesium, protein & phosphorus.
• 1 bowl of oatmeal a day (3 grams of soluble oat fiber) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%.

As I had promised to share this recipe right away I am posting it before I normally would. These have a dryer texture then the ones with wheat in them and I will be fine tuning this recipe. We will post below this one the Wheat Hermits soon.  Both cookies are not overly sweet which is why we like them.
 

Ingredients:
¾ vegetable fat
4 tbsp sucanat
1 tbsp molasses
¼ tsp stevia
4 tbsp soy flour
1 cup water
1 cup white rice flour
¾ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup potato flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves
¾ cup walnuts
¾ cup sultanas

Directions:
1.    Preheat oven to 400 F.
2.    Combine butter, sucanat, stevia, and molasses until creamy.
3.    Stir in soy flour and water
4.    Then mix in other flours, baking powder, salt, and spices.
5.    Mix in fruit and nuts.
6.    Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten with a fork on a greased baking sheet.
7.    Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cinnamon is one of the oldest known spices. The darker the cinnamon the better it is.

Benefits of Cinnamon:
•    In traditional Chinese medicine, cinnamon is used for colds, nausea, diarrhea, and painful menstrual periods.
•    It can improve energy, vitality, and circulation.
•    Recent studies have shown that cinnamon maybe have a beneficial effect on blood sugar.

Would you rather take something healthy to the party?  Here are a few recipes that taste great and are fast to prepare.

HOT MULLED CIDER

Ingredients:
2 liters of apple juice
3 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
Juice of one lemon
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
1.    Put all ingredients in a big pot, preferably stainless steel or pyrex.  Simmer for 15 minutes. 
2.    Do not let it boil or get very hot.
3.    Serve hot. 

CREAMY SUNRIDER CHAI

Ingredients:
4 cups hot water
4 cups almond milk or soya milk or rice milk, warmed
1 bag Calli Cinnamon
1 Fortune Delight – Cinnamon
1 squirt Liqud Stevia* (or to desired sweetness)
Fresh ginger, grated (optional)
¼ tsp ground cardamom or even better cardamom seed crushed.
Pinch of cloves

Directions:
1.    Place Calli bag into hot water and remove bag after steeping approximately 10 minutes.
2.    Add Fortune Delight and Suncare Plus to Calli
3.    Add milk and keep hot.

Great on those cold winter days.

* Suncare from Sunrider is best

Copyright © Diana Herrington  You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com  or the direct link to this post.

This brown rice pudding, and the creamy sauce that goes with it,  is sugar free, dairy free, and egg free…..and tastes great!  It is a favorite desert of mine that has gone through many changes through the years. I often do not even bake it. I just cook it on top of the stove in a pot till it is the consistency I like.

Ingredients:
1 cup short grain brown rice, cooked
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups rice, almond or soya milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. coconut oil or butter
1 tsp. – 2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sultana raisins
½ cup dates, chopped
½ cup unsweetened coconut
½ cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:
•    Cook rice.
•    Mix cooked rice in a glass baking dish with remaining ingredients except for cinnamon.
•    Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
•    Bake at 400º for 40 – 50 minutes.
•    Serve with “Cream Sauce” on top.

CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients:
1¼ cup rice, almond or soya milk
¾ cup apple juice
3 tbsp. arrowroot
2 tbsp. coconut oil or butter
1 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:
•    Mix the first 3 ingredients together.
•    Add the remaining ingredients
•    Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened.
•    Add lemon juice and coconut oil

Serve on top of Brown Rice Pudding.

If you try this recipe out please comment below and let others know how it worked out!

Or…..do you have a favorite healthy recipe that you would like to share?  Please do so below.  We may even use it in our coming recipe book and give you recognition!

Copyright © Diana Herrington  You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com  or the direct link to this post.

I love sweets!   I know that many others do too, as I am frequently hearing about it.

To help with those sugar cravings in a healthy way, we need to prepare nutritious sweets.  I have created lots of sugar free recipes and here is a first one to start a whole series of sugar-free yummies.

Of course it is more nutritious to eat the fruit raw but sometimes we are looking for that comfort food that is sweet and hot. This is a good fruit sauce that does not have any added sugar and it tastes good too. 

APPLE OR PEAR SAUCE with sultanas

Ingredients:
2 cups apples or pears, sliced
½ cup water
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ cup sultanas
 
Directions: 

   1. Core and slice apples or pears.
   2. Place all ingredients in a pot.
   3. Bring to a boil.
   4. Simmer until fruit is soft.

Serve as is or with yogurt on top.

 

Apple Facts: 

I have always loved eating apples; just found out that I am eating a lot of air…25 percent of their volume is air! Did you know that there are more than 7,000 varieties of apples; when I lived in England I tasted some different and delicious ones.

Apples are filled with soluble fibre, that has been shown to reduce intestinal disorders, including diverticulosis, hemorrhoids and possibly some types of cancer. The fibre also helps control insulin levels by releasing sugar slowly into the bloodstream. Apple pectin helps reduce cholesterol levels by lowering insulin secretion.

In two recent studies they found that eating five apples a week lowered the risk for respiratory diseases like asthma.

A raw medium apple has 5 grams of fiber, is a great source of potassium which may promote heart health, help maintain healthy blood pressure. Apples contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, and Vitamin C and A. It is composed of 80-85 percent water, 5 percent protein, 10-15 percent carbohydrates and has only 80 calories. Apples have no fat or sodium!

So there you have it lots of good reasons to Eat an Apple a day.

"Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed." Robert Schuller, Evangelist

Copyright © Diana Herrington  You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com  or the direct link to this post

Learn the Skills and Principles for Achieving Long Term Health and Natural Slenderness.

  Do you ever wonder if your diet is making a difference in your life; whether it is good enough or balanced enough? We hear all the time about a balanced diet  but much of that information is contradictory and confusing.

Are you sure if you are eating the right foods, are getting enough or too much protein, are eating enough fruits and vegetables?    

Who else wants to learn the secrets to eating properly… that will strengthen and energize your body effortlessly?

(Even if you don’t know the first thing about nutrition or health right now.)
 
In this step-by-step complete course you will learn exactly how to evaluate and change your eating habits (completely from scratch) from
two health experts who have helped thousands….

Discover your Real Food Factor…..and Then Increase It!  

Determine how you are doing right now and then apply simple time tested principles…..for Healing, Energy & Weight Loss

Join our new improved Five Week Teleconference Course

• We have updated our last course with some ‘must have’ modules. (see below)
• Included as part of the classes is a one on one half hour Nutrition session with Diana
• We are limiting the number of participants to 20 which means that every week there will be time for you to ask your questions and for us to respond. 

Overall Benefits:

1.  Be part of a supportive interactive group committed to improving their health together over 5 weeks.

2. Take control of your health progress by knowing exactly where you are and what you have to do each day in a simple and easy way.

3. Reach your full potential … by learning some simple things to do to create a vibrant you.  

During our 5 week  Course You Will Discover and Implement:

• How to simplify your orientation to nutrition so you can worry less and enjoy more.
• The 3 key elements you need to put in every meal to make them work like magic.
• When you can save money by not buying organic; when you can’t afford not to.
• The secret to keeping up with an exercise routine. (You know you should)
• How to deal with craving in a gentle yet powerful manner.

             ……and much, much more!  

We just added these bonus modules!

1. Food combining for better digestion, more energy, healing and weight loss.

2.  Figuring  out your Real Food Factor.  Know your daily score!      

Examples:  

Zero = would not be reading this (dead)                      

Three = you probably got the flu that’s going around                     

Seven = Feeling GOOD                          

Ten = WOW! You really need to be helping others. Come help teach this course.

3. Talking with Plants (yes this does sound unusual but the basis to this is AND to getting very healthy is in listening to your body in specific ways that you will learn)

4. Balanced Daily Routine for a balanced life.  

First Call is FREE: 

Date: Thursday, Oct 29

Time: 7:00 p.m. MST  

To get the Dial In Number:  We will mail out the phone number and code, to everyone on our mailing list. 

If you are not on the mailing list fill in your name and email below  for our free newsletter.  The opt in box  also in the upper right of this site.  

Registration to the course will be open to the first 20 who apply that day.  Don’t delay.

  

Blueberries have more antioxidants than any other popular fruit which helps prevent cancer, diabetes, age-related memory loss and are anti-inflammatory.  They are also rich in potassium, fibre, and vitamins A & C.

"Inflammation is a key driver of all chronic diseases, so blueberries have a host of benefits," says Ann Kulze, MD, of Charleston, S.C.

Interesting Fact: The paint the Shakers used for the wood work on their houses was made from sage blossoms, indigo, blueberry skins & mixed in milk.

 

 

BERRY BASE

Ingredients:
1 – 2 apples
2 cups berries (blue berries, blackberries, Saskatoons, currants or strawberries)
Stevia – light liquid (Sunny Dew is best)

Directions:
1. Core and slice apples.
2. Simmer apples with a few spoons of water in a covered pot.
3. Mix in berries and simmer a few minutes.
4. Sweeten to taste with stevia.
5. Place berry/apple mixture in a baking dish

CRUMBLE TOPPING

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups rice flour or whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp Stevia – light liquid (Sunny Dew is best)

Directions:
1. Mix dry ingredients together
2. Mix oil, stevia and honey and add to dry ingredients.
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Sprinkle on top of fruit
5. Bake at 350º F. oven for approximately 40 minutes.

Oatmeal Nutrition:

• Oats have lots of manganese, are a very good source of selenium, vitamin B1, dietary fiber, magnesium, protein & phosphorus.
• 1 bowl of oatmeal a day (3 grams of soluble oat fiber) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%.
   

It's hard to believe.  I would have thought it was just an exaggerated interpretation within the heath food industry if it hadn't been published in Scientific American.   What their February issue reveals is the tremendous environmental costs of meat production. I was reminded of this because I have just returned from a health convention in Los Angeles. The convention was great but to get around you have to drive on a seemingly endless horizon of freeways and concrete – one freeway merging into the next – sometimes stacking two or three levels. When you think of all those vehicles – constantly pounding the earth and belching exhaust into the atmosphere throughout the world – its easy to see how this could be ruining our environment and contributing to global warming. Oddly enough though, all the scientific evidence to date shows that the hamburger in your kitchen right now (the beef industry) is actually having a greater impact. How is this possible?  Hint – it's NOT because of their farts – as has been joked at in the media! This great effect is possible mostly because cattle displace useful plants.  Trees, grasses and other year round plants are what absorb C02 and capture carbon on this planet but they are displaced for specific crops to house and feed cattle. For decades the Amazon rain forests – with their world saving ecosystems have been methodically destroyed so that consumers  could eat a Whopper or a Big Mac for a nickel less. This kind of process is happening all around the world. If plant displacement is the largest creator of green house gasses from beef – the second is greenhouse gas emissions from cattle and their wastes. Yes – this is where the cow fart jokes are relevant but the consideration of wastes from meat production is no laughing matter.  Rearing animals for meat contributes significantly to water pollution, with animal waste, antibiotics and hormones entering the water cycle alongside chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. This subject of water usage from beef production is a whole other story, perhaps as critical as greenhouse gasses. Raising cattle for food is incredibly inefficient in terms of water. Meat production is very different in different parts of the world but even the more efficient systems use 1500 Gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef. The less efficient systems use TWELVE THOUSAND GALLONS FOR A SINGLE POUND OF BEEF. Water is becoming one of the most valuable commodities on the planet right now – particularly with global warming (from greenhouse gas emissions). Most of us will see significant changes in our day to day living in the coming years due to water shortages.  Many economists predict that in the coming years wars will be fought over water because there simply will not be enough for water for everyone to live. With the water used to produce a single hamburger, you could take a luxurious shower every day for two and a half weeks. I apologize if I am being hard on hamburgers but our food choices really do affect the environment and unless we start making different choices we may all suffer. Even substituting chicken for beef is 13 times less damaging in terms of CO2 emissions so that would be a much better choice. Substituting potatoes for beef is 57 times less damaging. As we have said in our Radiant Energy and Health Slimness Course – we are not saying that you shouldn't eat meat – but for health reasons – and it turns out some critical environmental reasons – most of us could eat  LESS. PS. Just like last week – the enclosed picture above is still not me (Randy) I'll let you know when it is! PSS. Feel free to share this post with anyone you feel may benefit from this.  Please send the link to this page. Question: What is the single biggest question or responce you have to this article?  Put your reply in the comments below. For more information on this topic follow this link  US Livestock Production of Greenhouse Gas

OK, so maybe I went a little overboard with my 'Dandelion Madness', ….not with last week’s article – but with eating dandelions themselves!  It happened because I was out at the farm where the plants are so much bigger and there are SO many of them.  Instead of spending 5 minutes digging up a few young plants– I can go out with a knife and in 10 seconds gather a shopping cart of mature leaves.  After throwing a large bunch into the blender, and forgetting my article advise to just make the dandelions a small addition, I drank my supercharged mixture.

No I didn’t collapse, or even throw up. In fact I finished the whole thing.  Those last few mouthfuls were getting very very strong though. I normally clean out the last few drops from the blender (Did I mention I was thrifty?) but this time I was glad to wash it down the sink.

I wanted therefore, to EMPHASIZE the part about moderation and add a few other smoothie hints and facts.  They are as follows:

1.  Keep the taste agreeable. This is not just an obvious statement that only madmen (like myself) might ignore but touches on a safely concern that some hard core raw food enthusiasts take seriously (see Below).  If your body loses its attraction for a particular food that you have been eating a lot of,  just ease off.  You don’t know specifically what your body is telling you but it’s a good thing to follow anyway.  This is one of the main principles of regeneration – to keep in touch with your body.

2.  Apples are IN, Mangoes are OUT. This could be an entirely subjective preference but again there is some logic behind this choice.  I’ve seen many people demonstrate green smoothes with mangoes and sometime bemoaned the fact that its hard to find good mangoes in Canada.  Recently the mango season was ON in Edmonton so I got a chance to try out some really good ones but they just don’t work that well with greens in my opinion; Mangos seem just too sweet.

3.  Salty Smoothie Soup. Trish Holder doesn’t like any kind of fruit so she substitutes apples with raw ONIONS  and sometimes a clove of GARLIC.  Since this is the ingredients for vegetable soup she then adds a tablespoon of salty MISO plus celery.  She also makes sure her soup is warm enough by using quite warm water.  I can’t testify to the taste of this mixture because I can’t handle raw onions or garlic but Trish is one smart lady who has helped a lot of people with her knowledge of food. 4.  Add some Zing with Ginger. At Real Food for Life we have promoted the benefits of ginger many times.  Here’s a chance to add some zing to your smoothie and beef up your digestion at the same time. Even one tablespoon of raw ginger is plenty.

When are greens TOO much?

Leafy green vegetables contain along with their abundance of minerals the possibility of traces of organic substances called alkaloids.  There are many different kinds of plant alkaloids but the famous ones are nicotine, cocaine, morphine, and caffeine. As you might notice these compounds have STRONG effects on the body and because of this they tend to give this class of compounds a bad reputation. Used properly alkaloids can have good effects but most people would rather not take chances.  Different plants produce different kinds of alkaloids. Therefore if you are eating a LOT of greens (as in ONE TO TWO POUNDS A DAY  as some raw foodists do) you are recommended to ROTATE your greens so you don’t get too much of any particular alkaloid.  Those large tubs of spinach are just one pound so you only have to concern yourself with this if you are going through at least one of those a day …which would be 4-8 smoothies.   Rather than concern yourself with all these small risk factors you can easily stay safe JUST by noticing your bodies reaction,  and as we stated above, IF you start not wanting a particular food than back off.

Share YOUR favorite smoothie!

I'm sure you have your own unique ingredients with smoothies.  Feel free to share them below in the comment section.  Also, feel free to share this article with anyone you feel might enjoy it!