On Cleansing with a Real Foods Diet

Have you noticed how many people around you are on a cleanse right now? I find that almost comical, and yet there is a part of me that feels super energized and excited about the amount of people that are making positive changes in their diet and lifestyle, all at the same time. At first, I thought it was a bit cliche for me to join in the bandwagon, and I could totally manage the extra pounds I gained during the holidays without being on a program. I know how to eat healthy, I've just got to cut the wine and the snacking.

I thought I would try to work out two more days a week, and that would do the trick. Well, at my age, things ain't so easy anymore and I can get a little unmotivated when the results are sloooooowww. While I think it's super positive that I am coming to a place of simply embracing where I am at in life and the kind of body I have, I don't want to just take that as an excuse to not exercise or to have too many cheating days (e.g., eating stuff I'm allergic to, like wheat, or sugar, which makes me cranky).

But then, my friend Missy started this blog on a 28 day challenge she is doing, which involves 6 days a week of barre3 workouts, which is the same kind of workout I do 3-4 times a week, and a diet made of real food, which is how I usually eat anyways. I must say her determination, courage, and hilarious sense of humor convinced me to join the challenge. Heck, if we can all do it together and be accountable, how much easier is that gonna be? And it's not some crazy juice cleanse where you are starving, cranky and peeing all day, it's just a clean diet, for 28 days, with only real, whole foods, plenty of water and low impact but hard core exercise. I'm in! So I'm on day three, and besides my back going out yesterday because I worked out a little too much and those hip flexors have gone super tight, it's felt good to be back on track and treat my body well.

So today, I wanted to share a few links that might be of interest if you are doing a cleanse or plan on doing one, or if you simply have intentions of eating better this year. Eating better doesn't mean eating low fat or sugar free foods. It means eating REAL FOODS.

As you may or may not know, a real food is something that grows and is alive, it's a one ingredient food, or a food made of real foods only (like homemade bread, jam, muffins, soup, etc...), and it's usually something you could imagine your grandmother eating.

Now this doesn't mean that you have to slave in the kitchen and make everything from scratch. There are some processed foods out there that ARE real foods. But they are rare, and you need to know how to read labels. Typically, it shouldn't contain more than five ingredients, shouldn't have anything artificial in it, or colorants, or nitrites or nitrates, MSG, aspartame, and so many other ingredients that are fake and unhealthy (the list is too long).

For a more detailed account on how to read food labels, you should read this article, which is thorough but simple. Another great one on what a whole food is can be found on the barre3 blog, which is also where you will find information on this 28 day challenge my friend  Missy and I (and our friend Christy) are doing.

And if you need a good laugh in the midst of a frustrating cleanse, you should definitely read Missy's blog. It's hilarious, and way more entertaining than mine!

Happy Cleansing :)

where I am at...

I am painfully aware of how silent I have been  here lately... I am painfully aware of how it looks like I am becoming one of those blog writers who didn't stick with it... And I really really don't want that to be the truth about me.
The truth is, I have been busy, I have been disoriented, I have been preoccupied lately. There is no need for me to get into details that don't pertain to this blog, but as I was thinking about what my next post would be, I thought I might want to process out loud some of the food stuff that's been on my mind. Believe me, I have 100 post ideas floating in my brain, some of them long overdue... Most of them requiring either some extensive research (which requires extensive time), or me actually cooking the recipe, so I can take pictures of the process, and/or actually taking the picture (versus forgetting to). Because of the whirlwind in my life currently, it is rare for all three things to align perfectly, and they certainly haven't in the recent past. The other truth is, I have been spending A LOT of time in the kitchen, trying new things, and have been left with not time to document it all.

 I thought I would post gluten free recipes for Thanksgiving, my pomegranate coconut pie, or some poetic prose about my love of Thanksgiving... But Thanksgiving came and went.

 We smoked a turkey on the webber with mesquite charcoal. Yum!

With Christmas approaching, I definitely want to post some festive recipes, and I have one in my drafts...

But for now, let me update you on what I have been learning over the last few months. After the real food symposium in May, I discovered the whole world of raw milk, grass fed/pasture raised meat and raw milk. Quite different from the vegan path I was on. I remain convinced that there is no such thing as one diet for all, and that everybody is different and has different needs. For example, my husband, my neighbor and I, went through a round of elimination diet in October. We all had different reactions to it, and my neighbor, who has several health issues, struggled a lot through it. He stuck with it for about 3 weeks, long enough to get past the detox effect, but didn't really get the benefits of feeling better and more energized. As soon as he reintroduced meat, he felt a million times better. Because of his health issues, he already knew that he does better without grains, and that a lot of cruciferous and green leaf vegetables can be harmful for him.

I, on  the other hand, felt energized and much better after about a week. Quitting coffee felt wonderful, and though I am not on the diet anymore and have reintroduced it, it feels really nice to not need coffee every day. I didn't do so well mood wise though, and wondered if it had anything to do with the amount of grain consumption on that diet. Since you initially can't eat meat, dairy or eggs, you end up eating a lot of grains and beans to get your protein. I had heard that people with chemical and hormonal imbalances can be pretty sensitive to grains and need to eat more protein from animal sources, such as meat and cheese, in order to get enough of certain hormones, which stimulate the production of serotonin in the brain.
I have been reading the book "The Mood Cure" and decided that it was worth a try. So I embarked on an "almost Paleo "venture, increasing my protein intake and eliminating grains and sugar for a few weeks. The first thing I noticed is that I felt less hungry in between meals, and much less bloated. Mood wise, it seemed to help a little bit as well. I am definitely not Paleo (I don't eat meat three times a day and I love my yogurt!) but I am trying to limit grains, because I just feel better.

The other major thing that I have implemented in my diet is cultured foods. In a nutshell, cultured foods are fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, pickled vegetables... They are good for you because they contain healthy bacteria (probiotics) and can help heal the gut lining, which gets damaged by all the toxins we are exposed to, medication and antibiotics. When your gut lining is damaged, it can become permeable and leaky, which prevents the proper absorption of nutrients from the food you eat, and allows the release of toxins from your intestine into your blood, causing inflammation and auto-immune diseases. Restoring your gut is extremely important, and can be done through different foods. One of them is healthy oils, aka cold pressed, organic oils, such as flax seed, coconut, olive, sunflower (always always first cold pressed), as well as fermented foods and bone broth.

 I have been buying raw whole milk and making my own yogurt, with a culture called viili, which doesn't require to cook the milk, thereby preserving all its healthy bacteria and enzymes. It's super easy to make (I just mix two tbsp of mother culture with one cup of raw milk, cover with a cloth and let it sit for 12 hours, and voila!). This is pretty much the only fermented food I can get my kids to eat, so I make it mostly for them.

Prior to trying the yogurt, I have been making sauerkraut, which is also extremely easy to make. I plan on posting the recipe very soon, I just keep forgetting to take pictures when I make it.
I experimented with fermented vegetables, which was a pleasant surprise, and tonight, just made pickled beets, using some of the whey from that homemade raw yogurt. So, so easy to make, once you have the ingredients you need.

A few weeks ago, since I had that whey in my fridge, I realized I could make beet kvass, a fermented drink that doesn't taste very good but is supposed to be very healthy for your digestion. I made a bunch and put a little in my smoothie in the morning.





The newest thing I am trying is kombucha. A dear friend gave me two scobies, which are big mushrooms that you put in the tea that you have just brewed, and that will ferment the drink, adding tons of probiotics to this delightful beverage. I plan on adding some pomegranate juice to it after the 10 day fermentation process, to make it taste like soda for my kids.



On a sour note, things I've learned that have freaked me out a little are as follows:

- Carrageenan, which is in all the coconut milk (in cartons), almond milk and other alternative to dairy and soy, have recently been found to be a major inflammatory ingredients that has been linked to cancer. It is in a lot of yogurt, cream cheese and non dairy milks. It is in the organic horizon chocolate milk you might be buying your kids. Look out for it and try to avoid it. I certainly am, and we have switched to organic regular or raw milk, which we just put in our coffee and turn into yogurt.

- "Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, spinach, radishes, turnips, arugula, bok choy, collard greens, rutabaga, watercress, even pears and peaches all contain substances called goitrogens, which suppress thyroid function. 

Cooking crucifers reduces the goitrogenic substances by about 2/3. Fermentation does not reduce goitrogens, so fermented crucifers such as sauerkraut should be eaten in moderation." (quoted from this article)

Well, that wasn't good news for me, considering that I have been having a green smoothie pretty much daily for the last 2 and a half year. So kale, the superfood most talked about these days, may be good for you, but like everything, in moderation, and cooked. Great! That sucks! Because those green smoothies have changed my life and I am now addicted to them. I feel better, I digest better... But... I am now worried that it might have wrecked other functions of my body and caused hormonal imbalance. I plan on following up with a physical very soon. But since I have been preaching about green smoothies, I thought I needed to inform you all about this. The thing is, I followed the green smoothie advice from well-renowned certified nutritionists who have helped people heal from all sorts of ailment. Hence the confusion and disorientation I was mentioning earlier. Who knows? Maybe in 50 years we will discover that none of this was good for you. 

That's why I am more and more convinced that moderation and balance are key. As well as listening to your body, and not just the latest trend in diet and nutrition.

I know this article is a bit dismantled, and I am not going into anything in depth. If you would like me to address one of these things in a posts, let me know. Do you want to learn how to make yogurt and where to buy the culture? Kombucha? sauerkraut? Do you want to find out more about probiotics and their importance? Please post your comments and let me know what interests you. That will motivate me :)

And last but not least, I have been making lots of Master Tonic, a natural remedy to use as prevention or cure during the cold and flu season. I am now selling it out of my own kitchen for the price of $6, $10 or $20, depending on which size you choose. I am not shipping, but if you are local and are interested, contact me!

chicken bone broth to heal your gut, and that nasty cold...

One thing I have learnt about at the Real Food Symposium, and which I have definitely started to implement, along with fermented vegetables, is bone broth. I had occasionally made a soup with leftover bones from a chicken or from that Thanksgiving turkey, and they always turned out delicious, but there I learnt a whole new level of bone broth making, and discovered the health benefits of our grandmothers' traditional recipe.

If you haven't heard of the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet yet, and you suffer from low immunity, asthma, allergies, arthritis, ADHD, Autism, MS, Chronic Fatigue and Arthritis, among other conditions, you might want to take a look at it. The whole focus of this diet is to heal and seal the gut lining, so that you can better absorb nutrients and allow them to heal and nourish your body. Bone broth is a crucial part of the diet and plays a soothing role on the gut.

- When made properly, bone broth contains a gelatin which assists digestion by attracting digestive juices to itself and preventing gastrointestinal bugs from attaching themselves to the gut wall and wreaking havoc.

- It is loaded with minerals (calcium, silicon, sulphur, magnesium, phosphorus and trace minerals). All these minerals present in bones are macro-minerals which are essential for proper nutrition. Minerals are important, not only for our bones, but also for other functions in the body. The body with draw those minerals from our bones and tissues if it isn't fed enough of them, to maintain steady levels of minerals in the blood and other fluids, which can then cause other issues (deficiencies) such as inflammation, camps, muscle spasms, delusions, depression, insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, anxiety, palpitations, hypertension, allergies, periodontal and dental disease, osteoporosis, etc, etc...

- bone broth is helpful in treating digestive disorders

- the gelatin in the broth tonifies blood and helps with anemia and other blood disorders. It also helps neutralizing any intestinal poison present during an intestinal bug or flu.

- in bone broth, we use cartilaginous parts of animals, like chicken feet or necks, which have a high concentration of glycosaminoglycans and help with conditions such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, decreased immune system states and malnutrition

- Collagen, which is another word for gelatin (which is in broth), along with minerals are needed for the creation and healing of bone. It is also integral to cartilage formation and repair.

- broth also contains, Chondroitin Sulfate, a jellylike substance, used as a supplement for joint pain due to osteoarthritis. It functions to support and provide adhesiveness. It lines blood vessels and plays a role in lowering atherosclerosis, cholesterol and heart attacks.

- broth can be thought of as a protein supplement, and a calcium supplement. The chemical ingredients extracted from broth are glycine and proline (collagen/gelatin), calcium and phosphorus (minerals), hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate (GAGs), and other minerals, amino acids and GAGs in smaller amounts.

If I haven't convinced you yet, or if I have bored you with all these details, just go back to the roots: didn't your mother or grandmother always suggest chicken soup when you had a cold? And since it is cold season, I figured it might be a good time to share the recipe, even though I have been making it all summer and have bags of frozen broth in my freezer.

You will need:

A whole organic free range chicken

2 or more chicken feet (read below to see where to find that)

and/or 2 chicken necks

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

an onion

a bunch of carrots

a bunch of celeri (or one gallon of chopped vegetables and/or scraps)

a bunch of parsley

2-3 bay leaves

1 tbsp peppercorns

filtered water

Place your chicken in a large chicken pot, with the feet and necks, and cover with iced water. Add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and let it rest for 30 minutes, with the lid on. The vinegar helps to draw the mineral salts out of the bone. 

After 30 minutes, bring to a boil and skim off the scum or foam that appears at the surface once it starts boiling. Add the onion, vegetables, bay leaves and peppercorns. Reduce flame on low and let it cook for an hour. 

Then remove the chicken, which should be cooked by now, and remove the flesh off the bones. You can use the meat for different dishes. Replace the bones in the stock pot, and let it cook on low for at least 5-6 hours, up to twenty hours. At this point, if you are not going to be home for that long, you can transfer everything into your crockpot and let it cook in there for as long as you want. The longer you cook it, the more minerals you are going to get from it. 

One hour before the end of cooking, add the parsley. When you are done cooking the broth, you can let it cool a bit, or you can sift the liquid and toss the bones and veggies right away and THEN let it cool or drink right away. I sometimes grab a few of the veggies, making sure there are no bones left in the mix, and use some of the broth to make a soup right there and then.

I then let the rest of the broth cool and when it is relatively cold, I pour some in ice cube trays for freezing, or in muffin pans or other containers. You can use your broth to cook any meat or veggies, to make gravy, to cook your rice or quinoa in, or as is. The possibilities are endless. I use it mostly to make soups, which I love this time of year.

It is a pretty greasy broth, because the chicken skin gives out a lot of fat too. If you don't like how greasy it is, you could also just use bones.

You are probably wondering where to find chicken feet and necks (and yes, that is a chicken foot sticking out of that broth :)... If you go to your local Farmer's market, find the stall where they sell meat. Make sure it is grass fed/cage free and organic, and ask for those items. Dey Dey, who you will find at different markets in the LA area, namely Pasadena and South Pasadena, sells them frozen by the bag. I bought two bags 6 months ago, kept them in my freezer, and just finished them this week. I have made several batches of broth in 6 months.

So stay healthy this winter, and all year round, with that good old-fashioned chicken broth your grandma raved about :)

GMO's, the poison in your food

Source: docakilah.wordpress.com via Hafsah on Pinterest

Some of you might have heard me rant about GMOs on Facebook, or in conversations. If so, you might have picked up on my frustration and anger about the whole issue, and you might even have been annoyed and bored with my public display of indignation. I have been meaning and wanting to write a blurb about this for a long time. In fact, this is a major factor in why I decided to start blogging on food. Posts like this need some thoughtful consideration, preparation, and presentation, which is why it's taken me this long, but here I am.

This is my attempt at reaching a few more people in the awareness of what they are ingesting and how it is affecting their body in a negative way.

So what are GMOs, and what's all this noise about? GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms, and they are made by forcing genes from one species, such as bacteria, viruses, animals, or humans, into the DNA of a food crop or animal to introduce a new trait. The result is foodlike substances that our body didn't evolve to recognize or metabolize. The reason for creating GMO crops was to increase production and create a more resistant crop. A crop that would resist the powerful pesticides and herbicides that are being sprayed over them and killing bugs and weeds. But what it really does, is that it produces a pesticide in the cell of the plant, and that plant itself becomes a living pesticide. So guess what happens to you, when you eat that plant? You are eating pesticide that continues to live inside of you and that binds to the nutrients in your body, depriving you of these essential nutrients. The genetic material inserted into GM foods transfers into bacteria living in your gut and continues to function, even long after you stop eating GM foods. The GM proteins of those foods continue to get produced inside us. Scary, right?

Source: drfranklipman.com via Angie Iverson on Pinterest

What are the health implications of this process? Unfortunately, only one study has been conducted on human beings and the impact of GMOs. However, many animal studies have led to alarming results. Quoting from this website, here are a few examples:

• Thousands of sheep, buffalo, and goats in India died after grazing on Bt cotton plants
• Mice eating GM corn for the long term had fewer, and smaller, babies
• More than half the babies of mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks, and were smaller
• Testicle cells of mice and rats on a GM soy change significantly
• By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies
• Rodents fed GM corn and soy showed immune system responses and signs of toxicity
• Cooked GM soy contains as much as 7-times the amount of a known soy allergen
• Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced
• The stomach lining of rats fed GM potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may lead to cancer.
• Studies showed organ lesions, altered liver and pancreas cells, changed enzyme levels, etc.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has reported that “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. 
Before the FDA allowed GMOs into food, several FDS scientists had warned that GM foods can create unpredictable health issues including allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. The long-term safety studies they recommended were ignored.

Not to mention all the environmental side effects and dangers that GMOs are presenting, which I won't get into here, but they are huge, and they are scary. The powerful pesticides and herbicides are creating what we call super weeds, and super bugs, that are becoming resistant to those powerful chemicals.

GMOs are practically impossible to avoid in America, because the FDA has not yet approved a campaign to label the GMOs in our food. According to justlabelit.org, studies show that 90% of Americans support mandatory labeling of Genetically Engineered foods. Unlike most other developed countries – such as 15 nations in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and even China – the U.S. has no laws requiring labeling of genetically engineered foods. Infuriating, right? As a European, and as a mom, let me tell you that this issue has me very passionate. The thought that if I was raising my kids in Europe, they would be exposed to more than 50% less toxic crap in their food is nauseating enough that I am willing to spend hours researching, sharing resources and cooking whole organic real foods in my kitchen, even though it is time consuming and sometimes exhausting.

You may have heard of Monsanto, which is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed in the Roundup brand, and in other brands. Monsanto is also the second largest producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it provides the technology in 49% of the genetically engineered seeds used in the US market. They are very powerful and have a lot of money. They are slowly defeating numerous local organic farmers who are being forced to bankruptcy because they simply cannot compete with Monsanto.

Enough technicalities though. If you are interested in learning more about what GMOs really do to your intestinal tract, and what the long term side effects could be, check out the links and resources at the end of this post, or post a comment on this blog, letting me know you'd like to know more, or asking specific questions.
But for now, what you really need to know, is how to avoid them when you shop. GMOs are everywhere, in every kind of processed food you can think of. It's in your blueberry muffin and caramel macchiato latte at Starbucks, it's probably in that turkey roll you bought at Vons for your lunch, it's in your salad dressing, and in most of the foods that you buy at restaurants.

Source: miasdomain.com via Virginia on Pinterest

The best way to avoid GMO's is to only eat and cook organic whole foods. Real food. But that's not always realistic, possible or affordable. However, I urge you to look at the labels, and absolutely avoid buying and consuming high risk ingredients.

The NonGMOproject.org came up with a little flyer that I picked up at one of my favorite coffee shops, that is really helpful. I will share from that, and you can check their website and download their Non GMO Shopping Guide for more info.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

- The 8 GM food crops are corn, soybeans, canola (oil), cottonseed, sugar beets, hawaiian papaya (most) and a small amount of zucchini and yellow squash.
So for these ingredients, make sure you ALWAYS buy organic. If that box of crackers says it contains canola oil and sugar, there is 90% chance those two ingredients are from GM crops. Also note that corn, soybean, canola and cottonseed oils are vegetable oils. Watch out for that in the labels!
- If a non-organic product made in North America lists "sugar" as an ingredient (and NOT pure cane sugar), then it is almost certainly a combination of sugar from both sugar cane and GM sugar beets.
- Dairy products may be from cows injected with GM bovine growth hormone. Look for labels stating No rBGH, rBST, or artificial homrones, or check brand listings at NonGMOShoppingGuide.com
- When you buy fruits and vegetables, look at those stickers on the produce, with numbers on them. Ever wondered what those mean? Here is the breakdown:

•  4 digit numbers starting with 4 mean it's a conventionally grown produce 
• Numbers starting with 8 mean it's a GMO
• 5 digit numbers starting with 9 mean it's organic

Here is a little trick to remember these numbers: 4 is a bore, 8 I hate, 9 is fine.
You might notice certain numbers starting with 3 or 5. I was told that 3 is organic, and 5 as well, but that was just in an online discussion and not from an official source. So basically, stay away from even numbers and prefer the odd numbers!

Just to give you an idea of how infested with GM ingredients our food is, here is a sample of them which may be made from GM crops or GM micro-organisms:
Aspartame, baking powder, caramel color, citric acid, condensed milk, dextrin, erythritol, glutamate, glycerin, hdrolyzed begetable protein, isoflavones, lactic acid, malt, maltodextrin, modified starch, shoyu, tamari, tempeh, teriyaki marinade, tocopherols, whey powder, xanthan gum...

For those of you who are desperate for time, hate cooking or can't stay away from processed food, shop at Trader Joe's. Supposedly, anything that carries their label is guaranteed to be made with non-GMO ingredients. I asked a store manager if this was true and he said yes. But I also thought this was the case for Whole Foods, and a recent short documentary showed me that I was wrong. I went back to Trader Joe's with new eyes and realized that any processed foods, unless it's fully organic, is a risk. Sigh! I know, quite a headache for the busy working mom!

More links and resources:

Resourceful websites:
www.justlabelit.org
www.responsibletechnology.org
NonGMOproject.org
NonGMOShoppingGuide.com

Jeffrey Smith is the author of "Seeds of deception". He is the expert in that matter and while I own his book but haven't read it yet, I highly recommend listening to some of his talks on youtube. Here is the one I listened to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWt0BdMsu0A&feature=related

If you don't have time to listen to the whole thing, go here for a 13 min presentation on the dangers of GMO

For additional info on the effect of GMO on farmers, the environment and our health, check out these movies: 
http://covvha.net/scientists-under-aattck-full-length/#.T9Lu7uJYs-C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Rml_k005tsU#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgrOFjhzdg&feature=share

Stay healthy! Do it for you, for your kids, and spread the word. Don't get overwhelmed. I didn't change my diet overnight. I didn't learn all of this overnight. It's a process. Take it one step at a time, and share the results around you. Thanks for reading me and letting me share and make my little difference in the world :)

If you too, would like to take action, go here and follow the steps to make a difference and let your voice be heard. And go voting on this issue in November. 

Update: Here is a link to an article that talks about the future of GMOs and what else is in the process of being created as a GM crop. Stay informed and make sure you know the source of these foods: http://wakeup-world.com/2012/03/29/twenty-genetically-modified-foods-coming-to-your-plate.

For more interesting post on diverse food issues, as well as awesome recipes from other food renegades, click here.

An afternoon at the farm

Remember that post about fresh organic local produce from the farm that I wrote a couple of weeks ago? Well yesterday, I had the opportunity to go visit one of the farms that contributes to the box of fresh produce we get through farm fresh to you.
I was solo with my little one for the weekend, so I had to think of fun things to do with him. I brought a friend alone, and off with drove, for about an hour, up the 210, then the 5, down the 126, and into the orchards on the side of the 126. Thankfully, I had a GPS to guide me, or I would have never found the place. Nestled in the foothills of a beautiful valley filled with thousands of orange trees, this little orchard we went to felt like a stop in time, a little slice of heaven, an afternoon at my grandfather's farm in Switzerland, where all there is to do is chase butterflies, pick fruits from the tree and eat them.

The event was small, the weather was perfect, sunny with a light breeze, the oranges were juicy and delicious and the kids had a blast. We missed the farm talk because we got there too late, but a band was playing when we arrived (guitar, banjo and cello), giving it a country ambience, and upon paying the $5 entrance fee for adults (kids under 12 are free), we were given a big plastic bag and were told to go fill it up with as many oranges as we could fit it. A GREAT deal for a huge bag of organic oranges!

We brought our picnic and sat under the trees, then the kids made bubbles with giant wands and a big bucket or soapy water, and enjoyed making arts and crafts at the crafts table. They came home with their own bird feeder made out of an orange peel.

My friend bought some produce from the farm on our way out, and the kids said they had a great time.

Farm Fresh To You organizes such an event every three weeks, all the way through october. I strongly encourage you to check their website for the calendar of event, and to subscribe to their services and get delicious fresh produce from the farm.

If you use my promotional code and mention my name as your referral source, you get a $10 discount of your first box.

So go ahead, say it: referred by Alexine Thompson, promo code 6164.

See you at the farm this summer?

Healthiest ways to cook your food

Last week, I listened to a bunch of podcasts on the food revolution symposium online. I learned some interesting things about nutrition, and found out throughout the week, that most of the speakers were speaking from a vegetarian or vegan perspective. Then I attended in person the Real Food Symposium in Pasadena on Sunday, and found myself in the midst of grass fed beef eaters and raw milk drinkers, and cultured veggie makers. Needless to say, that was quite disorienting and confusing.  There is sooooo much controversy, so many contradictions out there, about which foods are good for you and which are not.


I come away from this week with a lot of questions and only a few solid conclusions:
- Whatever you eat, make sure it is real, natural, unaltered, the way God and nature made it, preferably organic
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, raw and cooked, but make sure you do eat raw green vegetables
- Apparently, cultured vegetables (such as sauerkraut) contain a lot of good bacteria for your gut, so I think I am pretty convinced about that one and will start making my own (that's a later post).
- Eat nuts and seeds, preferably soaked to release the enzymes and ease the digestion of its nutrients
- If you eat grains and beans, soak them before cooking, for the same reason
- Limit or eliminate your consumption of sugar and caffeine
- Use good fats in your diet, always cold pressed unrefined oils, in dark bottles


The rest, whether meat, dairy, grains and legumes are good for you... I'm still trying to figure it out. Once I have sat on all that info for a while and done some more research, I plan on sharing more about all that I learned. Those posts are a lot more demanding than sharing recipes and I feel a sense of responsibility to share accurate info, so my promised posts on healthy oils, GMOs and other things brewing in my mind and in my drafts will be more sporadic and take more time to be birthed.


In the mean time, I am going to try and have a balanced diet with a little bit of everything, except for veggies and fruits, which I am going to have A LOT of. I feel 100 times better since I have been eating that way, and that is one thing that across diets, lifestyles and nutritional recommendations, is recognized as beneficial and healing. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of "Eat to Live", says that "as the amount of raw fruits and vegetables are increased in a person's diet, weight loss and blood pressure are lowered effortlessly". He explains that "raw foods contain enzymes, some of which can survive the digestive process in the stomach and pass into the small intestines", offering significant nutritional advantages to protect against disease. Unfortunately, most foods loose a significant amount of their nutritive value when cooked and/or processed.

Consequently, the way you cook your food not only has an impact on the food itself, but it also has an impact on your health. While eating a lot of raw fruits and vegetables is good for you, it is not always possible, or at least very hard, to eat everything raw.

Cooking food was an advantage for our ancestors when they discovered this option, as it destroys some of the toxins and bacterias that might have affected it. But the downside of cooking is that it modifies the internal structure of what you eat:
- at 120 degrees, enzymes are destroyed
- at 150 degrees, vitamin C disappears
- at 230 degrees, minerals collapse
- at 250 degrees, other vitamins are destroyed
- at 270 degrees, fats are modified, transformed, which leads to the formation of acrolein, a carcinogenic substance.


French fries anyone?


When you heat up a food that contains proteins and carbs, new molecules appear that are not present in the food at its natural state. These molecules have been proven toxic on animals. You can find them in fried or grilled potatoes for example, or very crusty bread, as well as grilled meat.


When you eat cooked foods, your body reacts by increasing its level of white blood cells, depending on the food ingested and the temperature at which it was cooked. This reaction can be limited by starting each meal with a raw food, such as a salad.


So what does that tell us about which foods are bad for us and how we should cook.


In light of this information, here are some of the worst foods for you:


- chips
- french fries or any fried foods
- roasted potatoes
- most things cooked in the oven, in oil, at high temperatures. And yes, that includes your homemade granola :( (but stay tuned for an amazing breakfast recipe using raw cereals)
- barbecued and grilled meat and fish


These are especially bad because of the carcinogenic substance that develops in them when you heat oil.


So what is the best way to cook food? Let's look at the different options you have, with its pros and cons:


1) Steam cooking: probably the best cooking method. It preserves minerals, and taste. the pesticides fall off the food, evaporating into the water below the steaming basket. Fat from meat melts off and falls into the water as well. Do not consume the water.


2) Pressure cooker: if you use it at a low temperature, it will destroy less nutrients. The fact that it is a fast method allows preservation of most vitamins.

3) Dehydrator: Ideal for baking, the highest temperature in a dehydrator is usually 140. I usually vacillate between 95 and 115, which allows the preservation of food properties. The downside is that instead of taking 20 minutes for cookies, it can take 6 to 8 hours. But knowing I am eating raw foods that are full of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients is worth it!

4) Cooking in paper allows you to not use oils. The food cooks in its own juices. However, if you cook this way, favor parchment paper over foil, which is harmful to the nervous system


5) Boiling: you will loose a lot of minerals and vitamins by cooking this way. It's important not to cook for a long time, and to drink the broth or use it for soups.


6) Stir-fry in a wok or frying pan: this preserves the vitamins and minerals, but you need oil, and that's the downside. Always use the bare minimum of oil, which you can spread with a brush, and then add water or cover with a lid. Keep it on a low flame, and keep it short. You may have also heard that teflon contains toxic substances, so it is always better to use a cast iron pan.


7) Crockpot or slow cooker: with such a lengthy cooking process, you will loose a lot of the minerals and vitamins. On the upside, you end up eating the broth of what you make in the crockpot, and I have to say it's a better option to throw a meal in it in the morning, and come home to a homemade dinner, rather than running to the fast food or cooking premade frozen meals, which are loaded in sodium and artificial ingredients.


8) Oven: mostly used for baking or casserole dishes as well as big pieces of meat or fish, it is usually at high temperatures, leading to a modification of the natural food properties, especially fatty foods. Try to limit it to baking, and/or try cooking meat and fish at lower temperatures, and without added fats. In order to prevent dehydration, you may place a cup of water inside your oven to bring humidity and keep the food moist.


9) Grilling and barbecuing: this method is basically carcinogenic. Use in moderation, and if you have a vertical grill (but who does, really?), it's better because the grease doesn't fall on the coals. By burning, it produces carcinogenic (again?) fumes.


10) Microwave: NO! Try not to cook with your microwave. Really. Not only does it transform the molecular structure of your food, but it can actually create new properties, which can be toxic, and which our bodies are not equipped to process. It also produces radiations that you shouldn't be around, let alone your children. I heard this week on the food revolution symposium, that you should be at least 50 yards away from your microwave when it is working, and that may not even be enough.


11) Deep frying: TERRIBLE! for obvious reasons. It's cooked in fat, which is heated, which becomes transfat, therefore toxic and carcinogenic. Avoid at all cost!




While there is a semi order to this list, going from best to worst cooking method, it is ok to use any of these methods once in a while. I certainly do, but I try to keep in mind that on most days, I want to eat food that has preserved its natural properties and that is free of carcinogenic agents.


In a nutshell:


- Eat a raw food before your meal, preferably a vegetable. It will prepare your digestive system for the hot meal and help you digest better
- Steam cook as much as you can
- Bake in your dehydrator or at lower temperatures
- Avoid using oil when you cook, as much as possible. It's better to drizzle your food with cold pressed oil after it is cooked, than cooking it in oil
- Keep a balanced diet and make sure you do eat raw as much as you can. Smoothies and juicing are great ways to do that, as well as eating lots of salads.

Fresh Seasonal, Local and Organic Farm Produce

Where do you shop for Organic produce? Trader Joe's? Whole Foods? Vons? While these all carry organic produce, these fruits and veggies sometimes come from other countries, where the regulations around pesticides and toxins are different. Getting these produce also means that they had to travel, which means that they were picked before being ripe, and that a lot of gas was used to drive these foods into your plate.


All that to say, buying local means that you are being better to the environment, supporting local farmers, and eating foods that actually give your body what it needs for the season. You can buy local at your Farmer's Market, which is a great option, but not always a practical one if you have little kids in tow or your schedule doesn't match the Market's schedule.


We have been using the services of some of the local farms, who for a fee, either deliver a box of produce to your house, or have you pick it up at a certain location. It is an economical way of getting authentic organic, local food, and also eating things that you might not otherwise pick up.


For those of you living in LA, here are a couple of options:

 South Central Farmers:
This organization offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes. Each box is the same size, big enough to feed a family of four for a week (and we usually have leftovers!), but they ask you to pay the price you think is fair for your income, starting at $20, to $40 or more. This is the biggest box of produce I have ever gotten. 


- In terms of frequency, you can sign up for one time, monthly or seasonal subscription. I usually keep it to one time, and order a box whenever I want to supplement what I bought from the other services or from the market.


- You can choose the location where you will pick up your box. Each location has a specific delivery day.


- You get an email a few days before you need to sign up for your box, telling you what will be in the box, and giving you a few links for recipes


- I find that I usually get a lot of leafy greens from that box, and sometimes items that I do not use or like, such as 15 chilies or a huge watermelon, which won't even be open in our house until the next box comes, which contains another huge watermelon. However, if you are watching your budget and can't usually afford organic produce, this is DEFINITELY worth it and the best deal in town.


Farm Fresh To You: 
I love this service, because they deliver right on my door step and I have a lot of options to choose from. 


- First, you can choose between the home or office delivery options. 


- If you'd like to turn your office into a healthy environment, you can order a box of fruit and nuts in snack packs, in mini, small, medium or larges sizes ranging in prize from $45 to $110. 


- If you choose the home delivery option, you have a choice of mixed fruit and veggie, veggie only, fruit only, and easy to prepare services (no cooking required). Within those options, you can choose the size of your box (small, regular, more, monster, valley box, more valley box). For a mixed box, which is what we get, prices range from $25 to $44.  We usually get the regular size for 31.50, every other week, and it lasts us for about 5 days.


- Though you don't know ahead of time what you will get in your box, you have the option, when you sign up for the service, to opt out of certain produce. So for example, if you don't like mustard greens or eggplant, you can cross that out, and they will make sure to never ever put that in your box. 


- With each box delivered to your house, you get a sheet with two recipes, using the ingredients that are in the box.


- You can choose the frequency at which you receive the box, and you can cancel at any time.


Equitable Roots:
This service contracts with schools and healthy living communities. They require a minimum of 30 weekly subscribers, and they give back $4 per box to the organization. Each box is $21 and contains a mix of fruits and veggies. It usually lasts us about 4-5 days. We get an email a few days before, telling us what's in the box, with a couple of recipes. This is a great way to raise money for your school or your organization while eating healthy!