Posts Tagged ‘raw food’

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How A Night In Front of the TV Left Me Speechless, thanks to MasterChef Jamie Oliver!

July 27th, 2010

The other night I happened to be watching a TV program called ‘Jamie’s Food Revolution’ by world renowned UK Master Chef Jamie Oliver.

On this program, he states that his mission is to save America’s health by changing the way that they eat, which as you could imagine – is no ordinary feat.

But as I sat there and watched the program, I witnessed something that left me speechless.

Jamie entered a classroom and asked the kids to name the vegetables that he was holding up in his hand. A fairly simple task you would think, but to my utter disbelief the kids had absolutely no idea what a tomato or even a potato looked like.

They had no idea that their French Fries originated from the humble potato.

How could this happen?

And the answer is because most of these kids had never seen, let alone eaten, any of these vegetables before (that is, unless they had been processed into something unrecognizable like Ketchup and French Fries!)

Unbelievable.

So if you are a parent and you care about your kids and their future, then you need to watch the 2 minute video below.

Just like Yuri talks about in his book, Eating for Energy, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is all about educating yourself on food, and when you switch from processed to fresh food, not only will you feel much healthier, but it will add years to your life as well.

Given most of us today lead fairly hectic and busy lives, it’s incredibly easy not to look after ourselves. But if you are a parent it is your duty to look after your health, and that of your children.

So do yourself a favour, watch the 2 minute video below and you will begin to understand why it is SO important to eliminate processed foods from your diet and to eat more raw food – that is food that has not been processed to death!

So kudos to both Jamie Oliver and Yuri for trying to make a difference …

Jamie Oliver\'s Food Revolution Video

Regards,

Audra Starkey
[The Healthy Shift Worker]

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Posted in Client Journeys, Food For Thought

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One step at a time here….

July 14th, 2010

Greetings from Sydney Australia!!!

OK, so here I am venturing into raw foods in a bigger way than ever before.  I have dabbled a bit with it in past – in fact right before my wedding I trimmed down and was looking the best & leanest I had ever done in my life….but that was nearly 8 years ago now….two kids, too much wine, cheese & restuarants it later….

Right now…

I am on week 4 and have done fairly well in sticking to the 80% raw goal. I am to stick to the Eating for Energy snacks pretty much all the time but working on 3 meals a day x 7 leaving me roughly with 4 meals a week that I can ‘play’ with as my free meals (or simply just enjoy those things I still dont think I can live without at this point).  I certainly have found it easier than I thought I would & find I am craving raw foods over non -raw previous craves!

I have even incorporated raw into meals for my family, although I do still find myself cooking most days something for kids and husband. But greens and vegies have always been big winners at my place so at least the transistion to partial raw on the plate has been easy enough.  

Wheres the warm food?

Biggest challlenge I have right now is that it is winter here in Sydney – although not as cold as our northern hemisphere friends it is pretty cold for us right now at 16 / 17 degrees each day….. sometimes I just want something warm to help warm me up….especially for dinner when it dark & colder – I have succumbed to a few bites here and there & roasted vegies with chickpeas on the weekend as one of my ‘free’ 20%  meals (it was soooo yummy)…but the last few days a bowl of cold raw soup has left me wishing it could be warmed up a bit first!

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Sprouting 101

June 26th, 2010

When encountering something new, it is sometimes helpful to go through the five w’s to learn more about the subject. Who. What. When. Where. Why. And while How doesn’t exactly start with a w, it is still a useful question to ask. So when it comes to learning about sprouting, these questions can give you a foothold into a new world of raw food management.

To begin with, you might wonder what exactly sprouting is. Simply put, sprouting is the process by which you soak a certain type of seed or nut until it is ready to grow a new plant. At that point, sprouters drain off the excess liquid and rinse the seedlings regularly, encouraging them to grow tiny shoots of plants, which can then be eaten raw.

Next, you could ask who would go through all of the trouble to sprout their own food. Many raw food enthusiasts enjoy the process of sprouting their own food, as it is much less expensive than purchasing the same sprouts from the store, and means they can grow a variety of sprouts that otherwise might be difficult to find in the open market.

You can also ask when is a good time to do sprouting at home. When done indoors, sprouting can be done any time of the year, provided there is a little sunshine coming in through a nearby window. Depending on the type of sprout you are growing, they can take as little as a few days to grow to the point where they can be harvested and eaten.

You might also wonder where you would go about sprouting within your own space. Sprouting does not take up a great deal of room; many people use a glass canning jar, to make rinsing as easy as possible and take up as little counter space as possible. The amount of space required is limited only by the amounts you wish to produce, and your own creativity in setting up a sprouting station.

Next, why would anyone want to go to such great lengths to grow their own sprouts? The sprouts that you grow can offer you a ton of wonderful health benefits, and tend to be even better for you than the nut or seed that they were grown from. All of the energy that the young plant requires to grow up big and strong are stored in those tiny shoots, and are easily accessible by your body once consumed. The sprouts contain, depending on the variety, a multitude of vitamins, proteins and fatty acids that can be a great healthy addition to any raw food diet.

Of course, the “how” of sprouting is very important. Seeds or nuts are generally allowed to soak overnight to soften their outer parts and allow for the germination process to begin. After soaking, the seeds are drained to prevent rot or moulding, and can be left at room temperature to begin sprouting. After about a day, you should begin to see tiny plants emerging. While they grow, the seedlings will need to be rinsed a minimum of three times a day, to ensure they remain moist but not damp, and rinse away any traces of mould before they can attack the sprouts.

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Eating for Energy Recipe of the Week: Alkalizing Cucumber Soup

May 26th, 2010

Hello beautiful people! This week’s Eating for Energy recipe of the week is Alkalizing Cucumber Soup. I decided to start with a soup recipe because I’ve never tried a raw soup before. I’ve always suspected that I wouldn’t like them, and I finally had a reason to test that theory. Plus, I had all the ingredients on hand, and it looked pretty easy.

Ingredients:

  • Avocado
  • Cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • Chopped fresh dill
  • Lemon juice
  • Dulse flakes

(For recommended amounts see Eating for Energy page 234. Sorry, but I can’t divulge all of Yuri’s secrets!)

Makes two servings.

The directions say to throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. I had my doubts about how well avocado would do in my blender, but I figured I’d just follow the directions to start with and adjust if needed. So, I threw everything into the blender and turned it on low. Sure enough, the blades created a vertical tunnel. All the ingredients got pushed to the sides and just sat there.

So, I transferred everything to my mini food processor. This worked better, but not great. It took longer than expected and left the cucumbers chunky.

Using the amounts of ingredients recommended in the book, I ended up with a goo closer to the consistency of a dip than a soup, so I added more lemon juice, altogether about twice as much lemon juice as recommended.

The end result was a delightful minty green colored soup with dark purple flecks. Very pretty. (I would have taken a picture, but that’s not my forte, and it probably would have done more harm than good.)

Taste Test

Now, comes the most important part: the taste test!

In a word: pleasant.

I didn’t have very high hopes for this recipe after it took so much longer to make than I expected. I thought it would take about 10 minutes to just throw it all into a blender and blend it up, but it took more like 50 minutes. I originally thought it would be not great but good enough to make when I needed something quick, and since it wasn’t so quick …

However, I was pleasantly surprised. It has a very light, refreshing taste and goes down easy. I thought the dill would overpower the cucumber, but no. My daughter Ali liked it even more than I did, which is surprising since she doesn’t like cucumbers. The aftertaste is the best part. After I got done with it, I didn’t drink any water for quite some time because I didn’t want to wash the lingering taste away.

My 8-year-old son Michael said, “Yuck! … but it goes away quickly.” Meaning, he didn’t like it, but that was easy to deal with because it didn’t stick around in his mouth for a long time.

Lessons Learned

Changes I will make next time:

  • Use a mini food processor, not a blender.
  • Mash avocado up by hand.
  • Process cucumber by itself first. Then, add all other ingredients.
  • Use more dulse flakes to make it a little saltier.
  • Maybe add a bit of water to thin it out just a little more.

Conclusions

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I will definitely make this again, and with these changes, I expect it will take only 10 minutes to make.

Next week, Blueberry Morning. See you next week!

– Terri

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3 Raw Food Recipes for the Summer

May 16th, 2010

23_popsic_lgWith the return of beautiful summer weather, many of us begin to put away the last remaining items that we use regularly during the winter.

The big bulky sweaters return to the back of the closet; the winter tires come off the family car; the mittens and scarves are stored away and replaced with light hats to keep the sun off our heads. One other area of de-winterization, even for non raw food enthusiasts, tends to be in their diet.

During those cold winter months, we crave those hot foods to fill our bellies and warm our insides. Big, thick and steaming soups, hot meat pies straight from the oven, and mugs of hot chocolate are all the rage as the weather rages below freezing outside. But in the summer months, we tend to put away those hot foods in favor of cool salads, iced teas and other cold items intended to chill us out as the mercury climbs. We do this without any thought towards using more raw food recipes.

One of the most obvious summer foods is one that you can use for any number of easy raw food recipes – the watermelon. This enormous fruit may be mostly water, but the juicy flavors are synonymous with sunshine and picnics.

And while the temptation may be there to simply split the fruit open and feast on it by the slice, there is much more than can be done with watermelon in the summer. One great dish for raw food enthusiasts and those simply seeking an apres-sun dish is the delicious watermelon soup.

Served chilled, this dish is great for the evenings, just before the sun goes down. All you have to do is combine the flesh of a good sized melon in a food processor with a small amount of ginger to taste, the juice of a medium lime, and a few leaves of mint. Blend until smooth, adding cold water as needed, depending on the consistency you desire. Strain if you like, or serve as is, garnished with an extra mint leaf.

Another great summer raw treat comes from the huge selection of green smoothie recipes that can be found online. Green smoothies give you all of the energy you need, in a cool refreshing drink. For optimum results, process a handful of spinach or kale with a medium orange, a touch of lemon zest, a bit of raw honey, a glass of cold water, a half cup of ice and half of a cucumber. This delicious drink will serve you well as a breakfast, or a patio sipper on a scorching hot day.

Another summer favorite is the simple popsicle, but many of the store-bought options are loaded with processed sugars and artificial colors. For a healthier raw version, try mixing together your favorite smoothie – maybe a delicious banana-strawberry smoothie – and freezing your own treats on a stick.

This way, you will know exactly what wonderful foods you are eating, know that you are not resorting to sugars to provide flavors, and you can customize your frozen desserts and have a different flavor every single day!

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