Remember not long ago when I posted about how to avoid GMOs?
Well, it seems harder than ever to avoid corn, and most of the corn out there is genetically modified.
I just read a very interesting article about one woman's experience trying to avoid corn completely. I knew corn was in a lot of things, but even I didn't realize how many non-food products it is in!
Check out the article below:
http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/allergy-to-genetically-modified-corn
The author had a lot of weird symptoms that seemed allergic and autoimmune, but were very hard to pin down. She went to doctor after doctor searching for answers. Finally, one doctor helped her figure it out. Research is still sparse on the condition, but she seems to have an allergy to the GMO corn itself.
The second page of the article lists off a few of the scary
unexpected places we all may still be getting exposed to corn. It can be
found in a lot of wacky places, like tea bags, paper cup linings, the
coating on store bought apples, and additives you wouldn’t expect, like
vitamin E, citric acid, and ascorbic acid! I have found that I am sensitive to corn, so I avoid it both for my digestion's sake and because Roundup isn't a food additive I prefer to consume.
I make almost all my own food
from scratch. But I'm probably getting exposed to corn from places I didn't realize! I eat fruit nearly every day. Most is local, but some of it is from
grocery stores because we don’t grow everything here all year round. Is there corn on my fruit? Every now and then I use tea from a bag rather than loose. Is there corn in my tea? Compostable
plastic bags and utensils are made from corn. Am I consuming corn through the produce I buy in degradable bags? This makes me wonder if
corn’s ubiquity might be part of why even though my symptoms have
managed to improve, they haven’t gone away entirely.
Scary stuff, and very much worth investigating further!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Where have I been all this time?
Hi peeps! This post is long. It's a lot of venting. I apologize in advance.
It's been so long I don't remember how to do one of those breaks where you hide the rest of the text and people only have to read it if they click. Why can't I remember how to do that?
Anyway, here's where I'm at these days. I've got a bunch of injuries, arthritis, and general stuff going on. This weekend, I can't walk particularly well. Earnest is a massage therapist, but we haven't had mutual free time for a massage in about a month. He taped my knee with Kinesiotape last night and I was able to stand up and walk to the market about two blocks away, but the back of my knee was super angry on the walk back. I want nothing more than to go to the gym and lift heavy, and I've been sidelined for absolutely ages. I'm in workout clothes now. I'm going to go and I'm going to see what I can do. I am going to try to be satisfied with what I can do gently, safely, and with good alignment. If that's just a few chest presses, then at least I'm showing up. I'm going to gently work mostly upper body and stretch a lot.
I've had recurrent injuries and problems for a while (most notably, a dislocated knee 20 years ago, and a bike accident causing limited mobility in my neck about 10 years ago.) A year ago, I got heat stroke. Leading up to that, I was working out a lot and restricting pretty hard core. I was almost 100% raw vegan, and eating an average of 1200 - 1300 calories a day. I was taking boxing classes, playing capoeira, doing hot yoga, running, lifting fairly heavy on the machines in the gym (I have SO MANY QUESTIONS about how to get started safely with free weights, but that's a different post for when my knee stabilizes.) Working out almost every day, often twice. If I didn't work out, I usually walked to work to make up for it. That's 4.5 miles each way to one job, and 2.5 miles each way to the other. Yes, really.
I was tracking religiously. Some days I'd eat 800 - 900 calories. Some days I was up around 1400-1500, but most days I was between 1200 and 1300. You guys, that's below my BMR. That's just dumb.
I'd been doing this for nearly two years at this point. The first six months high raw vegan I had felt great and hadn't intentionally restricted calories or macros, and was still eating a little more cooked food. Then serious restriction slowly snuck in. Somehow, I started gaining weight. It fluctuated wildly. I often had swings of 6, 8, or more pounds in the space of 24 hours. There were tons of dramatic swings up after especially long work days, and an overall gaining trend. Also, I was orange. All over. Bright. Orange.
Everything pointed to just a whole lot of chronic inflammation, but I couldn't figure out how to make it stop. After all, I reasoned that a raw vegan diet should be 100% anti-inflammatory, right? I would blame the fact that I tasted some of the foods I cooked for seasoning - even though I would usually spit out the taste. I reasoned that I must have been absorbing some tiny amount from the cooked food, and that must have been triggering inflammation. (Did it occur to me that I needed rest days, and I ought to eat more than a banana to fuel my long workouts? Not usually.)
It was July. It was hot. We had had over a week of 90+ temps, and really high humidity. We had no AC in our 4th floor walk-up apartment. I'm a chef. When I'm not home or at the gym, I'm in a hot hot kitchen. I had not taken a rest day, or taken the time to cool off properly, in ages. I was hot.
I kept up my usual workout routine, despite the heat. In boxing class one night, I realized I was bright red, way overheated, and not sweating. I drank water and kept going, just a lot less intensely. A half hour later, I nearly fainted. Still red, still not sweating. Someone got me more water, and someone else got me a cold wet towel. I didn't go to the hospital because I'm a stubborn moron when I'm sick. When I got home I took electrolyte tablets and more water.
For the next week, the edema was so bad it was painful. My ankles were so wide I couldn't wear socks. I couldn't bend my knees. It was really hard to climb stairs. (Fourth floor walk-up apartment, remember.)
I kept going to work, though. Because I am crazy, and because I have so many bills that a couple of missed days of work will invariably mean that I'm late on student loan or credit card payments. Work means 10 to 14 hours of standing. No, I didn't walk to work that week. I may be crazy, but at least I knew I couldn't do that.
I started pulling muscles all the time. I had a pulled hamstring for two months. I had knots in my calves all the time. My butt and low back hurt all the time, because my piriformis muscles seized up. My upper back, shoulders, and neck hurt. The muscles wouldn't relax, even with massage. My elbows hurt. I lost grip strength, and couldn't cut straight. The soreness in my toes and hips and shoulder blossomed into serious arthritis. My digestion went from finicky to downright failing. I started eating more cooked foods, a few animal foods, a little more food overall. I became less orange, despite eating a least the same amount of carotenoids, often more. The anxiety and some of the neuromuscular symptoms started to improve as I ate more, but the arthritis slowly started to get worse.
The GI doc found not a whole lot. Primary care found some slightly wacky numbers, but nothing crazy. Finally got the feet looked at, and I have a whole bunch of things going wrong including at least two different forms of arthritis. Then my health insurance paperwork got lost and I'm temporarily not covered because the forms are completely overwhelming. So I haven't seen the rheumatologist in a couple months.
Over that time period, I tried a bunch of fads - I did a Whole30 in January, or was it February? I tried low carb for a little while. I actually gained while eating low carb. How is that even possible? That didn't last long for me, thank goodness, because I felt like shit and I LOVE FRUIT AND SWEET POTATOES! Any diet that says I can't have fruit or sweet potatoes is straight up lame.
I found Intuitive Eating, then Matt Stone, then Go Kaleo, and Eating the Food. Not sure how long I've been ETF, but it is helping a lot. Three months? Longer? The principle is simple: Eat the correct amount of food to support a healthy metabolism, move your body as appropriate for you, and stop all the restrictive dieting. I have a lot of allergies and sensitivities, which is a challenging balance to strike. But not impossible.
At first, I got belly bloat. That's normal, coming out of a restrictive eating disorder, or excessive dieting, or whatever you want to call it. I got that tummy overhang thing everyone talks about. They both went away. The more I eat, the more I can digest. It's amazing. My intestines mostly usually remember how to work again!
I stayed off the scale and the tracking sites for a while, because they just make me crazy. But I finally stepped back on the scale recently, and I've lost several pounds! Like, not just the initial ETF puffiness, but I'm a few pounds lower than my immediately pre-EFT weight! Not as low as I was before the gain started, but I hadn't had my period in six months then so perhaps I was a little too thin. My metabolism is getting back on track. My libido is starting to return. Things in general are improving. I still have joint pain and migraines, but my feet especially are SO much better!
Interestingly, my scale has a function where it measures body fat and muscle. I have not been able to work out often over the last few months, but even so, I'm experiencing a slight recomp in the positive direction. That was a surprise! More carbs, more rest, and more sitting around watching anime have actually led to more lean mass, and a little lower fat percentage. Hooray!
Also interestingly, when I have been able to work out, I'm lifting as heavy as I was when I was dieting and working out consistently. Dieting makes you weak! Eating food makes you strong. Who knew?
I've been getting acupuncture, and that has helped a lot with everything. I have a whole bunch of things going on. In the western terms that I understand, I've got chronic inflammation, autoimmune weirdness, exhaustion, overwork, stress, migraines, fatigue, the works. All those symptoms of starvation (a.k.a. what the internet calls "adrenal fatigue") and then some. According to my acupuncturist, I'm like a tangled ball of yarn and we need to tease out problems in layers. One of the underlying things is what TCM calls spleen qi deficiency. That is roughly equivalent to a depressed metabolism, in western terms. It has a lot of potential root causes/symptoms, but anorexia, too much cold raw food, overwork, and excess stress are pretty common ones. So, basically, my acupuncturist, my experience, and the ETF philosophy are right in line here.
I'm to eat more, especially more carbs from rice and GF oats. I love rice and oats so much! I'm to eat lots and lots of veggies, especially cooked. I'm happy to live almost entirely off veggies, so that's cool. No more living entirely off of salads though, as much as I absolutely adore salads. Raw vegan was convenient for me. I'd cook for others all day, and be so exhausted that green smoothies and salads were all I wanted to make for myself anyway.
There are a few other recommendations too - I don't have to feel obligated to eat all that protein. My acupuncturist recommends less or no meat. Thank goodness. I am allergic to legumes, so I have found I do need to eat some animal foods, but I don't have to feel obligated to meet some kind of protein target like I did on or after Whole30. A little fish or egg is plenty.
I am to avoid dairy, which I've found recently makes me feel slow and gives me acne. I'm to avoid gluten, which I already do because I am seriously intolerant and it makes me feel horrible for days. I'm to avoid very spicy food, which makes me sad, but it's temporary. Also caffeine which I gave up years ago, alcohol which makes me feel tired and shitty lately, and chocolate which I had mysteriously stopped craving anyway.
As much as I am upset and inconvenienced by the knee prohibiting much movement this weekend, things are generally improving. As long as I use eight or twelve months ago as the starting point, when all the fallout from heat stroke and malnutrition were at their peak, I'm definitely improving overall.
Three and a half years ago I was feeling great. I was eating, getting plenty of sunshine, and working only five days a week.
I choose to look at that as more of an inspiration of how I can feel again, not to measure how far I've fallen. Three and a half years ago I ate so much and stayed so slim that my co-worker said I must have a tapeworm. I was thin, strong, not feeling the old injuries so often. I was enjoying movement and food. I was doing a lot of creative work - knitting, sewing, and/or drawing just about every day. I danced, I ate, I walked on the beach because we lived near one then. Life wasn't perfect, certainly, but I was doing OK.
Getting back in balance, resting, and eating are all journeys.
Now I'm heading down to the gym. The knee and hip don't allow pushups or planks when they're acting up, but I just checked, and today I can do a few sloooooow careful squats to just above 90 degrees. Huge improvement over yesterday!
Time to stop typing and start moving!
It's been so long I don't remember how to do one of those breaks where you hide the rest of the text and people only have to read it if they click. Why can't I remember how to do that?
Anyway, here's where I'm at these days. I've got a bunch of injuries, arthritis, and general stuff going on. This weekend, I can't walk particularly well. Earnest is a massage therapist, but we haven't had mutual free time for a massage in about a month. He taped my knee with Kinesiotape last night and I was able to stand up and walk to the market about two blocks away, but the back of my knee was super angry on the walk back. I want nothing more than to go to the gym and lift heavy, and I've been sidelined for absolutely ages. I'm in workout clothes now. I'm going to go and I'm going to see what I can do. I am going to try to be satisfied with what I can do gently, safely, and with good alignment. If that's just a few chest presses, then at least I'm showing up. I'm going to gently work mostly upper body and stretch a lot.
I've had recurrent injuries and problems for a while (most notably, a dislocated knee 20 years ago, and a bike accident causing limited mobility in my neck about 10 years ago.) A year ago, I got heat stroke. Leading up to that, I was working out a lot and restricting pretty hard core. I was almost 100% raw vegan, and eating an average of 1200 - 1300 calories a day. I was taking boxing classes, playing capoeira, doing hot yoga, running, lifting fairly heavy on the machines in the gym (I have SO MANY QUESTIONS about how to get started safely with free weights, but that's a different post for when my knee stabilizes.) Working out almost every day, often twice. If I didn't work out, I usually walked to work to make up for it. That's 4.5 miles each way to one job, and 2.5 miles each way to the other. Yes, really.
I was tracking religiously. Some days I'd eat 800 - 900 calories. Some days I was up around 1400-1500, but most days I was between 1200 and 1300. You guys, that's below my BMR. That's just dumb.
I'd been doing this for nearly two years at this point. The first six months high raw vegan I had felt great and hadn't intentionally restricted calories or macros, and was still eating a little more cooked food. Then serious restriction slowly snuck in. Somehow, I started gaining weight. It fluctuated wildly. I often had swings of 6, 8, or more pounds in the space of 24 hours. There were tons of dramatic swings up after especially long work days, and an overall gaining trend. Also, I was orange. All over. Bright. Orange.
Everything pointed to just a whole lot of chronic inflammation, but I couldn't figure out how to make it stop. After all, I reasoned that a raw vegan diet should be 100% anti-inflammatory, right? I would blame the fact that I tasted some of the foods I cooked for seasoning - even though I would usually spit out the taste. I reasoned that I must have been absorbing some tiny amount from the cooked food, and that must have been triggering inflammation. (Did it occur to me that I needed rest days, and I ought to eat more than a banana to fuel my long workouts? Not usually.)
It was July. It was hot. We had had over a week of 90+ temps, and really high humidity. We had no AC in our 4th floor walk-up apartment. I'm a chef. When I'm not home or at the gym, I'm in a hot hot kitchen. I had not taken a rest day, or taken the time to cool off properly, in ages. I was hot.
I kept up my usual workout routine, despite the heat. In boxing class one night, I realized I was bright red, way overheated, and not sweating. I drank water and kept going, just a lot less intensely. A half hour later, I nearly fainted. Still red, still not sweating. Someone got me more water, and someone else got me a cold wet towel. I didn't go to the hospital because I'm a stubborn moron when I'm sick. When I got home I took electrolyte tablets and more water.
For the next week, the edema was so bad it was painful. My ankles were so wide I couldn't wear socks. I couldn't bend my knees. It was really hard to climb stairs. (Fourth floor walk-up apartment, remember.)
I kept going to work, though. Because I am crazy, and because I have so many bills that a couple of missed days of work will invariably mean that I'm late on student loan or credit card payments. Work means 10 to 14 hours of standing. No, I didn't walk to work that week. I may be crazy, but at least I knew I couldn't do that.
I started pulling muscles all the time. I had a pulled hamstring for two months. I had knots in my calves all the time. My butt and low back hurt all the time, because my piriformis muscles seized up. My upper back, shoulders, and neck hurt. The muscles wouldn't relax, even with massage. My elbows hurt. I lost grip strength, and couldn't cut straight. The soreness in my toes and hips and shoulder blossomed into serious arthritis. My digestion went from finicky to downright failing. I started eating more cooked foods, a few animal foods, a little more food overall. I became less orange, despite eating a least the same amount of carotenoids, often more. The anxiety and some of the neuromuscular symptoms started to improve as I ate more, but the arthritis slowly started to get worse.
The GI doc found not a whole lot. Primary care found some slightly wacky numbers, but nothing crazy. Finally got the feet looked at, and I have a whole bunch of things going wrong including at least two different forms of arthritis. Then my health insurance paperwork got lost and I'm temporarily not covered because the forms are completely overwhelming. So I haven't seen the rheumatologist in a couple months.
Over that time period, I tried a bunch of fads - I did a Whole30 in January, or was it February? I tried low carb for a little while. I actually gained while eating low carb. How is that even possible? That didn't last long for me, thank goodness, because I felt like shit and I LOVE FRUIT AND SWEET POTATOES! Any diet that says I can't have fruit or sweet potatoes is straight up lame.
I found Intuitive Eating, then Matt Stone, then Go Kaleo, and Eating the Food. Not sure how long I've been ETF, but it is helping a lot. Three months? Longer? The principle is simple: Eat the correct amount of food to support a healthy metabolism, move your body as appropriate for you, and stop all the restrictive dieting. I have a lot of allergies and sensitivities, which is a challenging balance to strike. But not impossible.
At first, I got belly bloat. That's normal, coming out of a restrictive eating disorder, or excessive dieting, or whatever you want to call it. I got that tummy overhang thing everyone talks about. They both went away. The more I eat, the more I can digest. It's amazing. My intestines mostly usually remember how to work again!
I stayed off the scale and the tracking sites for a while, because they just make me crazy. But I finally stepped back on the scale recently, and I've lost several pounds! Like, not just the initial ETF puffiness, but I'm a few pounds lower than my immediately pre-EFT weight! Not as low as I was before the gain started, but I hadn't had my period in six months then so perhaps I was a little too thin. My metabolism is getting back on track. My libido is starting to return. Things in general are improving. I still have joint pain and migraines, but my feet especially are SO much better!
Interestingly, my scale has a function where it measures body fat and muscle. I have not been able to work out often over the last few months, but even so, I'm experiencing a slight recomp in the positive direction. That was a surprise! More carbs, more rest, and more sitting around watching anime have actually led to more lean mass, and a little lower fat percentage. Hooray!
Also interestingly, when I have been able to work out, I'm lifting as heavy as I was when I was dieting and working out consistently. Dieting makes you weak! Eating food makes you strong. Who knew?
I've been getting acupuncture, and that has helped a lot with everything. I have a whole bunch of things going on. In the western terms that I understand, I've got chronic inflammation, autoimmune weirdness, exhaustion, overwork, stress, migraines, fatigue, the works. All those symptoms of starvation (a.k.a. what the internet calls "adrenal fatigue") and then some. According to my acupuncturist, I'm like a tangled ball of yarn and we need to tease out problems in layers. One of the underlying things is what TCM calls spleen qi deficiency. That is roughly equivalent to a depressed metabolism, in western terms. It has a lot of potential root causes/symptoms, but anorexia, too much cold raw food, overwork, and excess stress are pretty common ones. So, basically, my acupuncturist, my experience, and the ETF philosophy are right in line here.
I'm to eat more, especially more carbs from rice and GF oats. I love rice and oats so much! I'm to eat lots and lots of veggies, especially cooked. I'm happy to live almost entirely off veggies, so that's cool. No more living entirely off of salads though, as much as I absolutely adore salads. Raw vegan was convenient for me. I'd cook for others all day, and be so exhausted that green smoothies and salads were all I wanted to make for myself anyway.
There are a few other recommendations too - I don't have to feel obligated to eat all that protein. My acupuncturist recommends less or no meat. Thank goodness. I am allergic to legumes, so I have found I do need to eat some animal foods, but I don't have to feel obligated to meet some kind of protein target like I did on or after Whole30. A little fish or egg is plenty.
I am to avoid dairy, which I've found recently makes me feel slow and gives me acne. I'm to avoid gluten, which I already do because I am seriously intolerant and it makes me feel horrible for days. I'm to avoid very spicy food, which makes me sad, but it's temporary. Also caffeine which I gave up years ago, alcohol which makes me feel tired and shitty lately, and chocolate which I had mysteriously stopped craving anyway.
As much as I am upset and inconvenienced by the knee prohibiting much movement this weekend, things are generally improving. As long as I use eight or twelve months ago as the starting point, when all the fallout from heat stroke and malnutrition were at their peak, I'm definitely improving overall.
Three and a half years ago I was feeling great. I was eating, getting plenty of sunshine, and working only five days a week.
I choose to look at that as more of an inspiration of how I can feel again, not to measure how far I've fallen. Three and a half years ago I ate so much and stayed so slim that my co-worker said I must have a tapeworm. I was thin, strong, not feeling the old injuries so often. I was enjoying movement and food. I was doing a lot of creative work - knitting, sewing, and/or drawing just about every day. I danced, I ate, I walked on the beach because we lived near one then. Life wasn't perfect, certainly, but I was doing OK.
Getting back in balance, resting, and eating are all journeys.
Now I'm heading down to the gym. The knee and hip don't allow pushups or planks when they're acting up, but I just checked, and today I can do a few sloooooow careful squats to just above 90 degrees. Huge improvement over yesterday!
Time to stop typing and start moving!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Delicious Cherry Smoothie for Joint Support, Immune Support, and Arthritis
Good morning!
Time to yawn, stretch, and prepare for the day.
But what if that morning stretch is hard? What if arthritis means your morning is full of achy soreness, stiffness, and pain?
There are many ways to approach arthritis and other kinds of body pain. Yoga, meditation, and other mindfulness practices can help a lot. Moderate exercise has been shown to help manage the stiffness. I can't currently do some of the things I used to, but I hope to do them all again soon. Even on really tough days, I try to do at least a half hour of yoga. There's a lot of creaking, but it helps.
Acupuntcure is helpful for a lot of people. There are herbs and other supplements you can take to help keep your body moving. There are lots of foods that help. Many people find NSAIDs and steroids helpful, but there are potential side effects to consider, especially with long term use.
I'm not your doctor. I'm not here to judge the combination of treatments you choose. What I do have is a delicious recipe to start your day off well. The ingredients in this smoothie work together to support your joint health, and they're delicious!
CHERRY SMOOTHIE
Cashew milk or other milk or yogurt of choice
Lemon, peeled with a knife or juiced
Cherries, pitted (frozen or fresh)
Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
Ripe banana (frozen or fresh) or a spoonful or raw, local honey to taste
Romaine or spinach
Water
First, make your cashew milk. It's easy - blend cashews with a little water until smooth. That's it! Save some in a jar for other uses if you like. Using only a tiny bit of water makes a thick creme. More water makes a thin milk. You don't have to strain cashew milk; just blend and go.
Blend your fruits with your cashew milk. Add a little water as necessary. Add greens and blend until completely smooth. If you're not feeling the greens this morning, it's actually okay to skip them. There are no smoothie police to make sure every single one is green. Yes, the leafy veggies are oh-so-good for you, but even without greens, this smoothie will be super nourishing.
Optional but recommended: stir in a spoonful of fish oil, or take some on the side. Alternatively, you may choose to take a vitamin D supplement, preferably D3 suspended in olive oil.
So why these ingredients? Well, cashews are super creamy and delicious, and lend body and good fat to help you absorb all the other good stuff in the smoothie. Cashews make it taste a little more like cherry cheesecake, but you can use coconut milk or a bit of avocado instead if you prefer. Cherries and blueberries are both rich in phytochemicals that decrease inflammation. Blueberries are incredibly rich in antioxidants. Cherries have been shown to help with many kinds of arthritis and pain, especially gouty arthritis. Lemon boosts the smoothie's vitamin C content even higher. Vitamin C supports the health of connective tissue in and around joints, as well as the fascia surrounding muscles. It also helps you absorb the iron and other minerals in the greens.
Spinach and romaine are both excellent greens for overall health, especially for decreasing inflammation. Bananas are delicious and sweeten up your smoothie, countering the tartness of the berries and the bitterness of the greens. They're also rich in vitamins and minerals. Raw local honey is great for immune support, allergies, and inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D in fish oil have been shown to support joint health and overall health. And again, that little dose of good fat will help you absorb all the goodness that's locked away in the fruits and veggies.
So sip that smoothie, relax, and enjoy. Then go for a walk in the sunshine, take a yoga class, and stretch it out! It may be hard to get started, but your body will thank you afterward.
Time to yawn, stretch, and prepare for the day.
But what if that morning stretch is hard? What if arthritis means your morning is full of achy soreness, stiffness, and pain?
There are many ways to approach arthritis and other kinds of body pain. Yoga, meditation, and other mindfulness practices can help a lot. Moderate exercise has been shown to help manage the stiffness. I can't currently do some of the things I used to, but I hope to do them all again soon. Even on really tough days, I try to do at least a half hour of yoga. There's a lot of creaking, but it helps.
Acupuntcure is helpful for a lot of people. There are herbs and other supplements you can take to help keep your body moving. There are lots of foods that help. Many people find NSAIDs and steroids helpful, but there are potential side effects to consider, especially with long term use.
I'm not your doctor. I'm not here to judge the combination of treatments you choose. What I do have is a delicious recipe to start your day off well. The ingredients in this smoothie work together to support your joint health, and they're delicious!
CHERRY SMOOTHIE
Cashew milk or other milk or yogurt of choice
Lemon, peeled with a knife or juiced
Cherries, pitted (frozen or fresh)
Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
Ripe banana (frozen or fresh) or a spoonful or raw, local honey to taste
Romaine or spinach
Water
First, make your cashew milk. It's easy - blend cashews with a little water until smooth. That's it! Save some in a jar for other uses if you like. Using only a tiny bit of water makes a thick creme. More water makes a thin milk. You don't have to strain cashew milk; just blend and go.
Blend your fruits with your cashew milk. Add a little water as necessary. Add greens and blend until completely smooth. If you're not feeling the greens this morning, it's actually okay to skip them. There are no smoothie police to make sure every single one is green. Yes, the leafy veggies are oh-so-good for you, but even without greens, this smoothie will be super nourishing.
Optional but recommended: stir in a spoonful of fish oil, or take some on the side. Alternatively, you may choose to take a vitamin D supplement, preferably D3 suspended in olive oil.
So why these ingredients? Well, cashews are super creamy and delicious, and lend body and good fat to help you absorb all the other good stuff in the smoothie. Cashews make it taste a little more like cherry cheesecake, but you can use coconut milk or a bit of avocado instead if you prefer. Cherries and blueberries are both rich in phytochemicals that decrease inflammation. Blueberries are incredibly rich in antioxidants. Cherries have been shown to help with many kinds of arthritis and pain, especially gouty arthritis. Lemon boosts the smoothie's vitamin C content even higher. Vitamin C supports the health of connective tissue in and around joints, as well as the fascia surrounding muscles. It also helps you absorb the iron and other minerals in the greens.
Spinach and romaine are both excellent greens for overall health, especially for decreasing inflammation. Bananas are delicious and sweeten up your smoothie, countering the tartness of the berries and the bitterness of the greens. They're also rich in vitamins and minerals. Raw local honey is great for immune support, allergies, and inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D in fish oil have been shown to support joint health and overall health. And again, that little dose of good fat will help you absorb all the goodness that's locked away in the fruits and veggies.
So sip that smoothie, relax, and enjoy. Then go for a walk in the sunshine, take a yoga class, and stretch it out! It may be hard to get started, but your body will thank you afterward.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Simple mustard and honey sauce
Happy May, everyone!
Very soon, I will post an awesome recipe for a grain free carrot cake that is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack. I finally got some pictures today before it was completely devoured! But first, a super simple dressing, dip, or sauce. Tonight I had this on gorgeous baby greens as a salad and it made me so happy! Feel free to dress or sauce up anything you like, from salads to wraps to noodles. Would also pair as well with meat as it does with veggies, if that's how you roll.
INGREDIENTS:
Raw honey
Dijon-style mustard (grainy or smooth, both will be delicious)
Sunflower seed butter (or other seed or nut butter)
METHOD:
Put as much as you like of the three ingredients in a bowl. Play with proportions - I used about equal quantities of honey and mustard, and more of the sunflower seed butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Season to taste - depending on your mustard, you may want more vinegar, more salt, or any other seasoning you desire - ginger or turmeric would be great, as would coconut aminos, or chopped chilis.
Now dip, dress, and enjoy!
Very soon, I will post an awesome recipe for a grain free carrot cake that is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack. I finally got some pictures today before it was completely devoured! But first, a super simple dressing, dip, or sauce. Tonight I had this on gorgeous baby greens as a salad and it made me so happy! Feel free to dress or sauce up anything you like, from salads to wraps to noodles. Would also pair as well with meat as it does with veggies, if that's how you roll.
INGREDIENTS:
Raw honey
Dijon-style mustard (grainy or smooth, both will be delicious)
Sunflower seed butter (or other seed or nut butter)
METHOD:
Put as much as you like of the three ingredients in a bowl. Play with proportions - I used about equal quantities of honey and mustard, and more of the sunflower seed butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Season to taste - depending on your mustard, you may want more vinegar, more salt, or any other seasoning you desire - ginger or turmeric would be great, as would coconut aminos, or chopped chilis.
Now dip, dress, and enjoy!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
How to Avoid GMOs in Your Food
There has been a lot of press lately about GMOs (genetically modified organisms.) There is also a lot of confusion about what they are, and how and why you might want to avoid them.
Here's what they are: Genetically modified organisms have had their genes spliced with those of other species. The term GMO does not apply to selective breeding, natural or artificial selection, or any other practice or genetic combination that Mother Nature might have come up with on her own. The term refers only to organisms that have been subjected to gene splicing. Whether this practice is safe or beneficial is not actually what I'm going to talk about today. That is way too big and complex a question for one little blog post!
I'm going to talk about why you should think twice about the GMO crops that are already in the food chain. It's not because of the crops themselves - it's because of how they're grown.
Monsanto, the world's biggest producer of pesticides and herbicides, takes genes from organisms that resist their toxic products and splices genes from them into food crops. Those GMO food crops are grown with an extra huge dose of toxic chemicals.
Most of Monsanto's seed is called "Roundup Ready" - that means that the crops won't die from being sprayed with hefty doses of Monsanto's herbicide called Roundup. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been linked to kidney damage, liver damage, infertility, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Monsanto has blocked in-depth study of the effects of its products.
Those Roundup Ready, heavily sprayed crops are used as animal feed and wind up in most of your food.
There has been a lot of controversy about labeling GMOs, and a picture of an apple is often used as an illustration. That is confusing, because there are no GMO apples on the market - yet. You can bet they're in the pipeline, but they are not yet in stores.
Most veggies and fruits are not currently GMO. If it is not local or certified organic, you can bet it is heavily sprayed with pesticides and other potentially dangerous, unstudied chemicals. But with the exception of some zucchini, papaya, and most corn, the produce isn't GMO.
If
you eat animal products, be extremely careful about where your meat,
dairy, and eggs come from. The animals themselves are not GMO, but most
of their feed is. I'll say that again: There are not yet GMO animal products on the market (though there will likely be GMO salmon in stores very soon.) But a huge portion of the GMO corn and soy grown in the U.S. goes into animal feed.
If you want to avoid GMOs, avoid soy, corn, and canola unless it is certified organic. That means pretty much all processed food, and almost anything that comes in a package. The word "natural" on a label is meaningless unless it also says Certified Organic. The word natural is not regulated, and manufacturers are allowed to write it on anything they want.
Avoid non-organic canola and soy oil. Both are sometimes called vegetable oil. Avoid soy protein, vegetable protein, tofu, fake meats, and all other soy products unless they are marked as certified organic. Avoid corn meal, corn flour, corn starch, corn syrup, and popcorn unless it is labelled as certified organic. Avoid processed foods including cereals and baked goods that contain any corn or soy ingredients. Doing that, you will eliminate the majority of the GMOs in your diet.
There are also Roundup-ready GMO sugar beets. Avoid non-organic sugar, or choose sugar that is labelled specifically as cane sugar, to be safe. Sugar beets are not the beets sold as veggies; they're a specific variety that is processed for sugar. You don't have to be concerned yet about the beets you buy as vegetables.
Also avoid meat and other products from animals fed GMOs - that is ALL so-called conventionally raised beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy. The animals themselves are not genetically modified, but their food is. Most of the corn and soy raised in the U.S. actually goes into animal feed.
Animals on so-called conventional farms are fed genetically modified corn and soy that is sprayed with all sorts of toxic chemicals, including a toxic herbicide called Roundup. The animals eat the chemically sprayed food. The chemicals concentrate in the animals' fat tissue. You eat the animal, and now you are full of those chemicals.
To avoid GMOs, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Buy as much as you can from local farmers you trust at farmers markets. What you can't get locally, get the cleanest you can. Be even more choosy about your meat and other animal products than you are about produce. For beef and lamb, grass fed is best. Pasturing animals is important for their health and yours.
If you want to avoid GMOs, avoid soy, corn, and canola unless it is certified organic. That means pretty much all processed food, and almost anything that comes in a package. The word "natural" on a label is meaningless unless it also says Certified Organic. The word natural is not regulated, and manufacturers are allowed to write it on anything they want.
Avoid non-organic canola and soy oil. Both are sometimes called vegetable oil. Avoid soy protein, vegetable protein, tofu, fake meats, and all other soy products unless they are marked as certified organic. Avoid corn meal, corn flour, corn starch, corn syrup, and popcorn unless it is labelled as certified organic. Avoid processed foods including cereals and baked goods that contain any corn or soy ingredients. Doing that, you will eliminate the majority of the GMOs in your diet.
There are also Roundup-ready GMO sugar beets. Avoid non-organic sugar, or choose sugar that is labelled specifically as cane sugar, to be safe. Sugar beets are not the beets sold as veggies; they're a specific variety that is processed for sugar. You don't have to be concerned yet about the beets you buy as vegetables.
Also avoid meat and other products from animals fed GMOs - that is ALL so-called conventionally raised beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy. The animals themselves are not genetically modified, but their food is. Most of the corn and soy raised in the U.S. actually goes into animal feed.
Animals on so-called conventional farms are fed genetically modified corn and soy that is sprayed with all sorts of toxic chemicals, including a toxic herbicide called Roundup. The animals eat the chemically sprayed food. The chemicals concentrate in the animals' fat tissue. You eat the animal, and now you are full of those chemicals.
To avoid GMOs, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Buy as much as you can from local farmers you trust at farmers markets. What you can't get locally, get the cleanest you can. Be even more choosy about your meat and other animal products than you are about produce. For beef and lamb, grass fed is best. Pasturing animals is important for their health and yours.
 | |
| This is not where you want your food to come from |
If you can't afford organic/grass fed/pastured for
everything (and who can,) be most selective about animal products. For produce, follow the Environmental Working Group's
recommendations to buy organic for the most highly sprayed produce, and
get conventional for the rest. Buy organic or local apples, celery,
peppers, and lettuce. Buy strawberries in season from local farmers who don't use toxic sprays. You know the ones from California don't taste like anything by the time they get here anyway! It's okay to buy conventional avocados, mangos,
and other produce that is not sprayed as much.
The current guide can be found here:
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
The current guide can be found here:
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Monday, March 18, 2013
Simple grain-free waffles!
Good morning!
These waffles got gobbled up completely before I got a picture. Oh noes! Next time I will remember to take out the camera.
But right now, I have to share this with you!
I've been working on this recipe for a little while, and now it is perfect! It's based on the 2 ingredient pancakes you've probably seen floating around the last few years. (No? The basic proportions out there are volumetrically approximately equal amounts of ripe banana and egg - about 1 large banana to 2 eggs, or about 1/2 cup each. There are lots of potential additions and variations out there, and huge flexibility. Directions: Blend egg and banana together. Add optional flavorings and add-ins. Heat and oil griddle. Make pancakes.)
Since we reintroduced eggs into our diet, I've wanted to make this recipe into waffles. Why? Because I have a waffle iron, and I like waffles!
I tried with just banana and egg (plus cinnamon, vanilla, and a pinch of salt). Delicious, but I wanted them to hold together a little better. I tried adding cocoa powder. I tried adding baking powder. I tried adding almond flour. I tried adding arrowroot starch. I tried separating the eggs, and I tried not separating the eggs.
The verdict? Almond flour and arrowroot starch are both excellent additions. Separating the eggs is unnecessary, and maybe even makes the waffles a little dry. Baking powder is unnecessary, at least in a non-Belgian-style waffle iron. Cocoa powder tastes great in the raw batter, but loses something when baked - needs a little more experimentation. I haven't tried arrowroot and cocoa together; that might work really well.
I loved the flavor and light texture with almond flour. They held together better than without it, but they still didn't hold together as well as I'd like. This morning's arrowroot experiment was perfect! Delicious, light, sturdier than the other variations. You guys, the finished waffle even has some stretch to it. Stretch! It comes out of the iron easily, even when lightly baked. It's a win.
Next time, I might try a little almond flour and a little arrowroot starch. Yum! That might be getting a little too far away from the simplicity of the original, though. Still, worth trying.
INGREDIENTS:
1 banana
3 eggs
pinch sea salt
Optional: good shake of cinnamon, splash of vanilla, some pumpkin pie spice, whatever spices you like
1-2 T arrowroot starch, a.k.a. arrowroot powder a.k.a. arrowroot flour (if you don't tolerate starches or you're avoiding them at the moment, try almond flour)
refined coconut oil for your iron
Optional toppings: great plain, or with virgin coconut oil, dark chocolate chips, almond butter, homemade rawtella, fruit, whipped cream, whipped coconut cream, whatever you like! They're slightly sweet, and don't need syrup; but if you love maple, I am not stopping you!
Directions: Oil and preheat your iron. Put banana, egg, and seasonings in food processor. Mix thoroughly, till smooth and light. Add arrowroot starch, and mix again. If you don't have a food processor, whisk eggs thoroughly, until light and fluffy. Separately, mash bananas thoroughly with seasonings. Add bananas and starch or flour to eggs and mix completely.
Bake waffles in iron to desired level of doneness. Re-oil between batches. Enjoy with desired toppings.
That's it!
I encourage playing with the recipe. The only part that I think is not optional is keeping the iron properly oiled. When I went more than two waffles between re-oiling, they stuck and split.
My waffle iron is not Belgian-style, but rather the less-tall sort. I want a Belgian-style iron, and someday when I get one I will try these in it! If you try these in a Belgian-style iron, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. Did you need to add a pinch of baking soda, or did you separate your eggs?
This recipe is ovo-vegetarian, gluten free, grain free, healthy, real food, paleo, high protein, moderate carb, filling, and delicious!
All the ingredients in this recipe are Whole30 compliant, but if waffles and other baked-style breakfast items are a trigger food for you, then waffles in general are not Whole30.
These waffles got gobbled up completely before I got a picture. Oh noes! Next time I will remember to take out the camera.
But right now, I have to share this with you!
I've been working on this recipe for a little while, and now it is perfect! It's based on the 2 ingredient pancakes you've probably seen floating around the last few years. (No? The basic proportions out there are volumetrically approximately equal amounts of ripe banana and egg - about 1 large banana to 2 eggs, or about 1/2 cup each. There are lots of potential additions and variations out there, and huge flexibility. Directions: Blend egg and banana together. Add optional flavorings and add-ins. Heat and oil griddle. Make pancakes.)
Since we reintroduced eggs into our diet, I've wanted to make this recipe into waffles. Why? Because I have a waffle iron, and I like waffles!
I tried with just banana and egg (plus cinnamon, vanilla, and a pinch of salt). Delicious, but I wanted them to hold together a little better. I tried adding cocoa powder. I tried adding baking powder. I tried adding almond flour. I tried adding arrowroot starch. I tried separating the eggs, and I tried not separating the eggs.
The verdict? Almond flour and arrowroot starch are both excellent additions. Separating the eggs is unnecessary, and maybe even makes the waffles a little dry. Baking powder is unnecessary, at least in a non-Belgian-style waffle iron. Cocoa powder tastes great in the raw batter, but loses something when baked - needs a little more experimentation. I haven't tried arrowroot and cocoa together; that might work really well.
I loved the flavor and light texture with almond flour. They held together better than without it, but they still didn't hold together as well as I'd like. This morning's arrowroot experiment was perfect! Delicious, light, sturdier than the other variations. You guys, the finished waffle even has some stretch to it. Stretch! It comes out of the iron easily, even when lightly baked. It's a win.
Next time, I might try a little almond flour and a little arrowroot starch. Yum! That might be getting a little too far away from the simplicity of the original, though. Still, worth trying.
INGREDIENTS:
1 banana
3 eggs
pinch sea salt
Optional: good shake of cinnamon, splash of vanilla, some pumpkin pie spice, whatever spices you like
1-2 T arrowroot starch, a.k.a. arrowroot powder a.k.a. arrowroot flour (if you don't tolerate starches or you're avoiding them at the moment, try almond flour)
refined coconut oil for your iron
Optional toppings: great plain, or with virgin coconut oil, dark chocolate chips, almond butter, homemade rawtella, fruit, whipped cream, whipped coconut cream, whatever you like! They're slightly sweet, and don't need syrup; but if you love maple, I am not stopping you!
Directions: Oil and preheat your iron. Put banana, egg, and seasonings in food processor. Mix thoroughly, till smooth and light. Add arrowroot starch, and mix again. If you don't have a food processor, whisk eggs thoroughly, until light and fluffy. Separately, mash bananas thoroughly with seasonings. Add bananas and starch or flour to eggs and mix completely.
Bake waffles in iron to desired level of doneness. Re-oil between batches. Enjoy with desired toppings.
That's it!
I encourage playing with the recipe. The only part that I think is not optional is keeping the iron properly oiled. When I went more than two waffles between re-oiling, they stuck and split.
My waffle iron is not Belgian-style, but rather the less-tall sort. I want a Belgian-style iron, and someday when I get one I will try these in it! If you try these in a Belgian-style iron, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. Did you need to add a pinch of baking soda, or did you separate your eggs?
This recipe is ovo-vegetarian, gluten free, grain free, healthy, real food, paleo, high protein, moderate carb, filling, and delicious!
All the ingredients in this recipe are Whole30 compliant, but if waffles and other baked-style breakfast items are a trigger food for you, then waffles in general are not Whole30.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Holiday Treats! Pi Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Passover are all upon us!
But first, Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day! NOW IS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT ORDERING FOR PI DAY AND ST. PADDY'S DAY! What? Ordering? Yup, I'm reviving orders and deliveries for the holidays, because I love cooking for you and I miss you! Plus I'm always happy to come cook for you and your family for a fantastic holiday or anytime! (I'm already booked for the first night of Passover and for Good Friday, but I have some other dates free. Please email me if you are interested in any menu for any date at all, and we'll talk!)
I'll be doing plenty of gluten free, real food, delicious, homemade awesome food for all those holidays. Most items will be vegan, and others will be non-vegan. All will be made with care and attention to your family's specific needs. As always, I avoid all gluten ingredients, all soy, peanut, GMOs, and weird stuff. Keeping your food delicious and safe is the top priority!
 |
| A Vegan Cottage Pie Begins |
 | |
| Gluten Free, Vegan Pot Pie |
 | |
| Sweet Potato and Local Beef Cottage Pie |
I will also do some sweet pies, of course! Last year's gluten free vegan pecan pie was amazing, and I'll definitely reprise that. I've also been working on a raw vegan avocado lime pie that I'm pretty excited about, and a banana cream pie with coconut custard. Yum!
 | |
| This is the best pecan pie ever. Ever! |
For St. Patrick's Day, which is next Sunday the 17th, I will make you delicious gluten free, vegan Irish soda bread. Remember how yummy that was last year? I miss it, and I want to make it for you again. It was so darn good. I'll also make colcannon: mashed potatoes with kale and general yumminess (can be made vegan with olive oil, or with dairy butter) AND I'll do a cabbage side - with or without bacon. If there's enough interest, I might do corned beef brisket too. If you're interested, please email me soon so we can plan! Write to me any time at rathercraftymary@gmail.com
Looking forward to cooking for you all soon!
Much love,
Chef Mary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)