Recipe Time

Here is a delicious cookie recipe that I tweaked that is great for kiddos and on the go



Recipe
2 cups soaked sunflower seeds
2 fuji apples
2 bananas
1/2 cup pitted dates / raw honey
1 cup of walnuts
1 cups raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

Put all ingredients in food processor, except the raisins and walnuts. Process ingredients then add walnuts, raisins, cinnamon and vanilla, stir all together. 
Place on dehydrator sheets with a tablespoon or ice cream scoop for 4 to 6 hours, flip them and put back in for another 4 to 6 hours.

enjoy~ and live delectably


Lena

Get yourself Alkaline

Alkaline Foods

Alkaline foods are foods that raise the the amount of oxygen that your blood takes in. The most alkalizing foods are RAW green leafy vegetables, non-sweet fruits and (wheat) grasses. The opposite of alkaline foods are acid foods.
How much oxygen your blood can absorb is measured on a pH scale that ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 0 is most acidic while a pH of 14 is most alkaline.
The Right Acid - Alkaline Balance
Our blood is in balance when we're slightly alkaline: with a pH of 7.365.
In the beginning of the 20th century, very smart scientists and nobel prize winners made a great discovery. If our blood cannot absorb enough oxygen we get sick: cancer, heart issues, arthritis and candida infections, diabetes are the result.
You know that our body tries to maintain a constant temperature 98.5F or 37C. But but do you know that your body tries even harder to maintain the right amount of oxygen in your blood (a pH of 7.365)? When our pH is too high or too low, we don't feel well, we feel tired, gain weight, have poor digestion and get aches and pains.
Most people in the US and Europe are too acidic: they cannot absorb enough oxygen. That's why cancer, heart disease, arthritis,diabetes are epidemic.
Why are we too acidic? The famous four:

• Stress;
• Toxins;
• Parasites; and
• The FOOD we eat.

Acid Foods List
It's too bad that the foods we like most make us most acidic and thus sick. What are these food? You guessed right:

• Junk & Processed foods;
• Sugar;
• Coffee & Tea;
• All animal food (meat, eggs, chicken, fish, lobster, oysters);
• Grains: (white) wheat, rice, pasta, flour, bread etc ;
• Some Fruits;
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, butter);
• Bad fats;
• Peanuts, cashews.

Alkaline Foods List
During most of our lives, the majority of the foods we eat are (highly) acidic. These make us sick and tired. By eating raw alkaline foods and drinks, we can help our body to heal it self from most diseases:

• Vegetables - especially raw green leafy vegetables.
• Fresh Herbs & Spice - parsley, basil, cilantro, cayenne, ginger;
• Fruits - watermelon, avocado, cucumber, young coconuts;
• Wheat grass;
• Sprouts: i.e. alfalfa, mung bean, broccoli etc.

For more details go to the acid alkaline food list.

The best alkaline drinks are alkaline water, vegetable juices and wheatgrass juice. If your very acidic you might need alkaline supplements to get you back in balance quicker.
How Acid Are You?
How do you know your body pH? I love this one, because it's incredibly easy to find out what your alkalinity is. You simply buy some pH test strips (also called litmus paper) at a health store and pee on it. The paper will tell you instantly what your pH is and thus, how alkaline or acid you are.
Here are 8 easy steps for testing your pH.
The Best & Cheapest Alkaline Foods
Would you like to know the best and cheapest alkalizing foods? Edible wild plants. They're highly alkaline, abundant, fresh and free! Just throwing a few of them in your salad will help balancing you.

This article caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you

Forget Your George Foreman: The Raw Food Diet Gains Popularity

by Meredith Roberts
09/18/2007

Sixty three year old Linda Ramirez offers a new, ground breaking cooking technique before an Earth Fare demo on Raw Foods Wednesday, September 12 – “Stick your finger in it,” she says. “If its too hot to put your finger in, its probably been cooked too much.”

Like Ramirez, Foodies across the nation are seizing their thermometers as a relatively new eating and lifestyle trend, the raw food diet, gains popularity. The emerging trend seeks to fill the diet with enzyme-rich, organic foods, with the new magical number at 116 degrees.

Followers of the raw food movement believe that heating food above the coveted 116 degree mark kills enzymes that assist in the absorption and digestion of food. Without these enzymes the body relies on its own metabolic enzymes for digestion, consuming energy and often leaving diners to feel sluggish. Seventy five percent or more of the diet must be made of raw or living food in order to experience the health benefits that leave diners feeling lighter and more energized.

But increasing interest in the raw food diet does not mean chefs nationwide will be laid off the payroll, for there are a number of “cooking” techniques and processes associated with adding variety to the raw foodist’s diet, which go farther than simply grabbing an apple on your way out the door. Methods include sprouting - with ingredients such as seeds, grains and beans – juicing, soaking, blending and dehydrating.

Ramirez and her husband Joe, 67, have spent time experimenting in their Athens home with their juicer – often combining apples and carrots, or sneaking in the occasional piece of broccoli, and drinking it. Ramirez says she has also made a milk substitute out of almonds and poured it over her cereal. When asked if she could tell a difference she laughed, saying, “No, It was kinda watery, just like skim milk.”

Dishes often combine several of these methods in order to create a complete dining experience like those experienced by both vegetarians and meat eaters. Earth Fare’s September 2007 calendar highlighted raw food dishes including almond milk, cream of zucchini soup, zucchini noodles marinara and chocolate mousse.

Typical ingredients found on the recipe cards of raw food dishes include fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, seaweed and dried fruit, though it is important to know how to prepare certain foods: kidney beans and buckwheat are both toxic when raw.

Such natural ingredients lead to higher fiber contents and increased ingestion of health promoting plant chemicals, linking the diet to a reduced risk of diabetes and cancer.

While the diet does have its critics, proponents of the raw food diet list a number of health benefits such as increased energy, weight loss, reduced risk of heart disease and improved skin appearance – benefits that cannot be gained by cruising through the drive through and ordering a Number One with a side of fries. Those first starting the diet may experience detoxification as their body goes through withdraws due to the sudden absence fried foods and trans fats, among other things.

Avoiding the sluggish feeling that often follows heavy meals is exactly why people across the nation, such as the Ramirezes, are investigating the new raw food diet. The Athens couple said they frequently attend lectures for inspiration and admit the raw food diet is a rather large commitment. The couple even drives to Atlanta’s Living Foods Institute during the Institute’s graduation – because where there are graduates of cooking school there is often free food. Delicious, free food. Ramirez’s favorite raw dish so far? Sweet Potato Soufflé. And yes, the finger trick works with this one.

Upcoming Classes

September 14th
 

Saturday, September 19th

Raw Food Cooking for Kids: Back to School

10 - 11 am Community Room $30 per adult; children FREE

Chef Lena Meade will provide some healthy, yet fun alternatives for school lunches and snacks.  Lena is a certified raw food chef who trained under nationally acclaimed raw food chefs such as Jennifer Cornbleet.  Raw food preparation is a great opportunity to discuss with your children our food's origin while encouraging creativity and new life skills.  We will be preparing a smoothie, date nut bites, carrot - raisin snack bars, yummy pudding, almost raw nut butter sandwich, and much more. Experience why living raw foods are so much better than the pasteurized over-processed foods provided to your kids at school.

Irish Moss

I have recently been experimenting with Irish Moss as a thickening property. Here is some of the research I have found. As well I am including a scrumptious recipe and resources to buy Irish Moss :)

(NaturalNews)
Irish moss is not moss at all. It is in fact seaweed that grows along the rocky coast lines of the Atlantic Ocean. It is especially found in Ireland where it has a long history in Irish folklore as a good luck charm to be taken on long journeys, or to be placed under the rug at home to bring money and prosperity to the household. Irish moss was also used as stuffing for mattresses and cattle feed, but in the 19th century the people of Ireland underwent a horrific famine and Irish moss became one of the main sources of food and nutrition. More recently, Irish moss is becoming known as a healing and exciting super food.

Irish moss is now thought to contain 15 of the 18 essential elements that make up the human body. This includes great amounts calcium, iodine, sulphur, and potassium as well as Vitamins A, D, E, F and K. This is why this most amazing seaweed is thought to be able to cure everything from bladder disorders, bronchitis, halitosis (bad breath), intestinal disorders and glandular problems to swollen joints, lung difficulties, thyroid conditions, tuberculosis, tumors, and ulcers. Recent studies have found that Irish moss does in fact have some great anti-viral properties and can help fight the Influenza B and mumps viruses.

Irish Moss And The Skin

Irish moss is also thought to have many cosmetic properties from helping rid the body of varicose veins to reducing the appearance of wrinkles. Irish moss is even added to creams that are becoming known as the new miracles in the anti aging battle. These new creams are thought to be so effective because of the high amounts of Vitamin K found in the moss. Recent studies in to the effects of Vitamin K on the body have linked it to the elasticity of the skin. As you get older your skin begins to wrinkle because it starts to lose some of its elasticity from when you were young. Adding a cream that is packed with Vitamin K can help improve this elasticity, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and things like bags or dark circles that can form around the eyes. These creams are also thought to heal all sorts of skin problems from eczema, psoriasis and even sunburn.
One of the main uses of Irish moss within the health community is to help people recover from debilitating illnesses such as TB and Pneumonia. Its high Vitamin and mineral content make it the perfect food to replenish and revitalize the body after a long battle with disease.
A popular remedy made into a jelly for pulmonary complaints and kidney and bladder affections. Can be mixed with cocoa. The decoction is made by steeping 1/2 OZ. of the Moss in cold water for 15 minutes and then boiling it in 3 pints of milk or water for 10 or 15 minutes, after which it is strained and seasoned with liquorice, lemon or cinnamon and sweetened to taste.

Resources for buying irish moss http://www.therawfoodworld.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=irish&x=0&y=0&gclid=CO_P55mH5pwCFc5L5QodBzSSGQ

Yummy Recipe

Raw Coconut Cream Pie Recipe

Crust:
2 and ½ cups dry coconut flakes
1 vanilla bean seeds scooped out
½ cup well packed finely chopped dates
1 tablespoon coconut butter or oil (optional)
Put everything except the dates in the food processor with the S-blade on and add the dates slowly until the crust sticks together. Press crust into a coconut butter greased, 9 inch pie pan.
Filling
2 cups young coconut meat (about 4 young coconuts)
1 cup young coconut water
3 tablespoons non gmo soy lecithin granules
¼ cup Artisana Coconut Butter
¼ cup coconut oil (I like Nutiva Brand)
1 tablespoon soaked and chopped Irish moss (optional)
1 vanilla bean seeds scooped out
1 cup dates soaked
Blend the Irish moss with the coconut water in the blender until smooth. Then add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into the pie crust and let set in the fridge or freezer for at least one hour.

Optional Garnish

  Strawberry Lime Sauce
Blend a dozen strawberries in the blender with juice from ½ lime and pour on top of the pie
and or
¾ cup dry coconut flakes to sprinkle on top of the pie 

you can use any type of fruit for this sauce as well

An interesting article about buying organic on a budget

5 Ways to Buy Organic on a Budget

by DrGreene

When the economy hits hard, some families cut back on grocery bills by cutting out the fruits and vegetables and going for cheaper items that are frequently high in sugar and saturated fats. A recent article cited statistics that link income level to obesity, such as a study in California that showed a 10 percent rise in poverty may mean a 6 percent increase in obesity among adults.
We’re all facing tough choices in this challenging economy, but I caution my patients strongly against cutting back on the best nutritional choices. Fruits and vegetables these days don’t contain the same level of nutrients as they did when we were small because of farming techniques and overall degradation of the nutrients in the soil. In my opinion, choosing organic foods is the best way to make sure your children get the maximum amount of nutrition out of their meals.
When I made the decision to begin my Organic Journey, we took a look at our food choices to do what we could to keep the budget under control. Here are five techniques I’ve learned to help keep costs down and nutritive value up.

1. Choose the organic foods that make sense for your family.
   I put together Dr. Greene’s Organic Prescription to help you prioritize the organic choices that your family should make. The list is progressive, so once you make the switch to organic milk (the MOST important choice), move on to organic potatoes (choice #2), then organic peanut butter… and so on.
2. Use the Organic Essentials pocket guide for reducing pesticide dietary exposure to make decisions about your fruits and vegetables.
   The pocket guide presents lists of conventional fruits and vegetables that the Organic Center has determined pose the most significant pesticide-related risks and, therefore, are the most critical produce items for consumers to purchase as organic.
3. Our family didn’t eat much meat anyway, but I found when we filled our plates with vegetarian dishes with soy and legumes instead of meat and chicken entrees, our grocery bills went down. If you’re used to eating meat at every meal, try a couple of meatless entrees a week. You’ll see a difference.
4. Grow produce at home.
   We’re lucky that we live in California and can cultivate a nice-sized garden. We save on our grocery bills by growing our own tomatoes, peppers, squash, watermelon…. All the yummy favorites we love to eat. Even if you are limited to a smaller container garden, growing your own food is a great learning experience for your children and can be a cost-saver for you. And, most importantly, you get to monitor what goes into your food!
5. Make your own organic drinks.
   Specialty sodas, gourmet coffees, flavored vitamin waters…. These products are pricey! When you’re looking to cut corners, use organic ingredients to create your own healthy and nutrient-rich drinks. We keep a jar of water infused with anything that catches our fancy - sliced cucumbers from the garden, crushed mint leaves, organic lemons and oranges. The healthy beverage on the counter always reminds us to stay hydrated, and the flavors keep us coming back for more all day long. We also brew our coffee at home, a special blend from Caffe Sonora which uses a special process to keep the antioxidants in the coffee! Put the money you save by creating your own flavorful drinks toward more wonderful organic choices for your family.