Tonight, CoffeeChino is my inspiration :) I think I might have accidentally gotten the coffee/Teachino ratio closer to 50/50 than usual. Totally feel like superwoman right now. Wait. Now that I think about it, I also just had some homemade raw chocolate (from the Navitas Naturals Organic Superfood Chocolate Kit) with my CoffeeChino. Aha! That explains the energy... Cacao and coffee can be a dangerous combination. I've read about the dangers of caffeine, but I also know that organic coffee and raw cacao are powerful sources of antioxidants. Is it worth the trade-off? I don't think that a splurge now and then can hurt. Even a moderate amount of caffeine on a daily basis, say one cup of coffee (full caffeine) or a couple green teas, shouldn't be enough to hurt a healthy person. An excess of caffeine, however, will overstimulate the adrenals, consequently lowering the immune system and creating a state of chronic adrenal fatigue. In the past I've been guilty of a profound excess (seriously), but these days I try to be nice to my immune system. If you love it, it will love you back. :) My rule of thumb is to avoid the really bad stuff like artificial ingredients, sweeteners, and preservatives, refined sugar and flour containing products, dairy, and to moderate indulgences like caffeine and natural sweeteners. Even with healthy indulgences, it's possible to get carried away. However - that being said, I say live a little. Live a little bit dangerously. If you enjoy your coffee, then savor it. If you love cake, eat it. If you crave steak... well I guess to each his own (lol). Moderation is the key, and there are really so many ways to create foods that taste amazing but are packed full of nutrition and contain none of the really bad stuff. The trick is learning how to re-create old recipes with new, healthier ingredients. I tried a brownie recipe this weekend that was refined sugar-free, grain-free, dairy and egg-free, and I'm telling you my husband said it was the best dessert I ever made. Brett always does an honest review of my experiments, and he really loves a good brownie. That was super encouraging. More to come on the brownie in a future post!
So, I just want to encourage everyone to try substituting ingredients to create healthier versions of your favorite receipes. The outcome might surprise you! Try something new every once in a while. ~And Enjoy it~
Life is a Journey and Food is Medicine. Experimenting with gluten-free, refined sugar free, (mostly) vegan whole foods
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Coming Soon... Superfood of the Month: Hempseed!
Each month I'm going to post some information on one of nature's ultimate superfoods. September's featured superfood is the delicious and versatile hempseed. Since there's a virtual flood of online information in the way of nutritional benefits, varied uses, and recipes, I'm taking my sweet time pulling it all together. I promise I'll get it done before October... jk :) Be on the lookout for something within the next day or two.
Oh, and Happy Monday, everybody. Way to hang in there :p
Oh, and Happy Monday, everybody. Way to hang in there :p
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sweet & Spicy Cultured Coleslaw
Hey, hope everyone is having a great Sunday morning so far :-)
I wanted to post a good raw creamer recipe ASAP (to go with the CoffeeChino). I've got a good cashew coconut creamer recipe but it's still a work in progress. I've come up with some great flavor variations, but I think I need to try straining it through a nut milk bag for optimum consistency. So I'll have to order one from Amazon and keep fine tuning.
So, since my cashew creamer is still in the works, here is a great recipe for cultured vegetables (aka sauerkraut). If you haven't added cultured foods to your diet, I encourage you to consider doing so. Cultured foods contain probiotics (good bacteria) that strengthen the immune system, are vital for good digestion, and protect the lining of the intestines from harmful bacteria and parasites. I highly recommend reading The Body Ecology Diet to learn about the many benefits of supplementing a healthy diet and lifestyle with probiotics and cultured foods. Keep in mind that probiotics aren't just for people with yeast issues, although they are invaluable for combating yeast/candida related problems. Anyone who has ever taken antibiotics and/or birth control, or eaten a standard American diet -high in sugar and processed food, will especially benefit from the good bacteria present in cultured foods such as Kefir, yogurt, live cultured veggies, tempeh, and apple cider vinegar. Since preparing cultured foods can be time consuming, and it can be costly to buy commercially prepared alternatives, I have been trying to come up with ways to do cultured vegetables and Kefir as efficiently as possible. As far as I'm concerned, saving time and money isn't a bonus, it's a vital necessity.
This recipe is my absolute favorite. Think of it as a tangy, spicy twist on coleslaw. Coleslaw that loves you back :-)
Ingredients:
1 head green cabbage
1 head purple cabbage
5 large carrots, peeled
2 organic granny smith apples, cored, peeled, and diced
1 large red onion
2 - 3 large organic bell peppers (I think red works best)
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)
Oh, I almost forgot to add - a little tropical fruit, such as pineapple or mango, is incredible with this. Feel free to experiment.
Body Ecology Cultured Vegetable starter, or 1/2 cup of cultured veggies from previous batch
Seasonings to taste: (note - I use Frontier Herbs organic seasonings) Cajun seasoning blend, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, *Trocomare, and a high quality sea salt
Food Processor
4 Quart Size Mason Jars
Directions:
Make sure you are using sanitized utensils and clean surfaces for this process. It's important to ferment the right kind of bacteria, which is not hard to do as long as things are reasonably clean and the jars seal airtight. In a food processor, shred half the vegetables (depending on it's capacity, this will probably have to be done in several batches), and place the shreds in a large mixing bowl. Process the other half of the veggies into a brine (pulpy liquid consistency), then add the BE culture starter -per the instructions that come with the packet- or the 1/2 cup from a previous batch to the brine and mix well. Add the brine to the shredded vegetables and mix everything together. The coleslaw shouldn't be too dry. If it seems that there is not enough brine in proportion to the shredded vegetables, take a few cups out and process them to a liquid consistency and then add them back in. Season the mixture to taste - it's alright to season strongly, the vegetables will marinate in the seasonings and absorb much of the flavor.
Use a spoon or a wide mouth steel funnel to fill the Mason jars. Leave 2 inches between the veggies and the lid. The fermentation creates pressure and if the jars are too full the lids could explode off. I'm speaking from experience. :) Wipe around the mouths of the jars (inside and out) with a clean paper towel, cinch the lids tightly and place them in a room temperature environment where the fermentation process can happen undisturbed. It will take approximately 2-3 days. If the lids start to warp, or juice begins leaking out of the jars, that is a sure sign that the coleslaw is ready. Open each jar to taste test before refrigerating. Be careful when removing the lids, because the coleslaw is under pressure (if all has gone well) and could burst out of the jars. Whatever you do, try not to jostle or shake them. Think of what happens to a soda if it is dropped before being opened - same concept. Not good. So open slowly. If the veggies smell like sauerkraut, have a fizzy quality, and taste tart & tangy, then mission accomplished! Rinse the jars, refrigerate, and enjoy! They are supposed to have an 8 month shelf life, although nothing I make stands a chance of lasting that long (I eat everything in sight) so I can't attest to it from experience. Good luck, and please let me know how this works out for you. :-)
I wanted to post a good raw creamer recipe ASAP (to go with the CoffeeChino). I've got a good cashew coconut creamer recipe but it's still a work in progress. I've come up with some great flavor variations, but I think I need to try straining it through a nut milk bag for optimum consistency. So I'll have to order one from Amazon and keep fine tuning.
So, since my cashew creamer is still in the works, here is a great recipe for cultured vegetables (aka sauerkraut). If you haven't added cultured foods to your diet, I encourage you to consider doing so. Cultured foods contain probiotics (good bacteria) that strengthen the immune system, are vital for good digestion, and protect the lining of the intestines from harmful bacteria and parasites. I highly recommend reading The Body Ecology Diet to learn about the many benefits of supplementing a healthy diet and lifestyle with probiotics and cultured foods. Keep in mind that probiotics aren't just for people with yeast issues, although they are invaluable for combating yeast/candida related problems. Anyone who has ever taken antibiotics and/or birth control, or eaten a standard American diet -high in sugar and processed food, will especially benefit from the good bacteria present in cultured foods such as Kefir, yogurt, live cultured veggies, tempeh, and apple cider vinegar. Since preparing cultured foods can be time consuming, and it can be costly to buy commercially prepared alternatives, I have been trying to come up with ways to do cultured vegetables and Kefir as efficiently as possible. As far as I'm concerned, saving time and money isn't a bonus, it's a vital necessity.
This recipe is my absolute favorite. Think of it as a tangy, spicy twist on coleslaw. Coleslaw that loves you back :-)
Ingredients:
1 head green cabbage
1 head purple cabbage
5 large carrots, peeled
2 organic granny smith apples, cored, peeled, and diced
1 large red onion
2 - 3 large organic bell peppers (I think red works best)
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)
Oh, I almost forgot to add - a little tropical fruit, such as pineapple or mango, is incredible with this. Feel free to experiment.
Body Ecology Cultured Vegetable starter, or 1/2 cup of cultured veggies from previous batch
Seasonings to taste: (note - I use Frontier Herbs organic seasonings) Cajun seasoning blend, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, *Trocomare, and a high quality sea salt
Food Processor
4 Quart Size Mason Jars
Directions:
Make sure you are using sanitized utensils and clean surfaces for this process. It's important to ferment the right kind of bacteria, which is not hard to do as long as things are reasonably clean and the jars seal airtight. In a food processor, shred half the vegetables (depending on it's capacity, this will probably have to be done in several batches), and place the shreds in a large mixing bowl. Process the other half of the veggies into a brine (pulpy liquid consistency), then add the BE culture starter -per the instructions that come with the packet- or the 1/2 cup from a previous batch to the brine and mix well. Add the brine to the shredded vegetables and mix everything together. The coleslaw shouldn't be too dry. If it seems that there is not enough brine in proportion to the shredded vegetables, take a few cups out and process them to a liquid consistency and then add them back in. Season the mixture to taste - it's alright to season strongly, the vegetables will marinate in the seasonings and absorb much of the flavor.
Use a spoon or a wide mouth steel funnel to fill the Mason jars. Leave 2 inches between the veggies and the lid. The fermentation creates pressure and if the jars are too full the lids could explode off. I'm speaking from experience. :) Wipe around the mouths of the jars (inside and out) with a clean paper towel, cinch the lids tightly and place them in a room temperature environment where the fermentation process can happen undisturbed. It will take approximately 2-3 days. If the lids start to warp, or juice begins leaking out of the jars, that is a sure sign that the coleslaw is ready. Open each jar to taste test before refrigerating. Be careful when removing the lids, because the coleslaw is under pressure (if all has gone well) and could burst out of the jars. Whatever you do, try not to jostle or shake them. Think of what happens to a soda if it is dropped before being opened - same concept. Not good. So open slowly. If the veggies smell like sauerkraut, have a fizzy quality, and taste tart & tangy, then mission accomplished! Rinse the jars, refrigerate, and enjoy! They are supposed to have an 8 month shelf life, although nothing I make stands a chance of lasting that long (I eat everything in sight) so I can't attest to it from experience. Good luck, and please let me know how this works out for you. :-)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Welcome to lil barista's
Hi all & welcome to lil barista's. I had a huge craving for coffee when I named this blog. I know, shocker. Well anyway the good news is that coffee and tea are gluten-free (lol). I was on the Spunky Coconut website (http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/search/label/Muffins), drooling over a muffin recipe, when I saw a coffee cup with exactly that phrase on it in an add. Now the rhyme is stuck in my head so I had to share :-)
My favorite way to make coffee is in the french press. It comes out richer, smoother, more body. Absolutely smokes normal coffee. Actually, I make "CoffeeChino" in the french press, which is a blend of 1/4 coffee, 3/4 Teachino. Teachino, if you haven't heard of it, is an herbal coffee blend of chicory, dates, nuts, and figs that comes in some cool flavors (like vanilla nut, mocha, and almond amaretto) and tastes a lot like coffee, but has zero caffeine and is actually alkaline. So you get a rich tasting hot coffee with less caffeine and acidity. Personally I prefer the smoother taste of the lower acid coffees. The one I usually buy to mix with my Teachino is PurRoast low acid coffee in house blend. PurRoast uses a process that gives their coffee about 50% lower acidity than regular coffees, even the organic kinds. They have full-caf, half-caf, and decaf coffees in varying flavors and sizes, ground or whole bean. Occasionally I find it in Publix or Sunseed (local health food store), but you can also order from their website http://www.puroast.com/. I highly recommend.
Well I guess that's all for now. Have a great day all. Oh, and I meant to say that for all you hardcore coffee drinkers, you can do a 50/50 CoffeeChino blend and it tastes AMAZING. :-) More kick too. And if you don't want caffeine or the acidity but still need something hot and creamy, try the Teachino all by itself. I think it's great.
My favorite way to make coffee is in the french press. It comes out richer, smoother, more body. Absolutely smokes normal coffee. Actually, I make "CoffeeChino" in the french press, which is a blend of 1/4 coffee, 3/4 Teachino. Teachino, if you haven't heard of it, is an herbal coffee blend of chicory, dates, nuts, and figs that comes in some cool flavors (like vanilla nut, mocha, and almond amaretto) and tastes a lot like coffee, but has zero caffeine and is actually alkaline. So you get a rich tasting hot coffee with less caffeine and acidity. Personally I prefer the smoother taste of the lower acid coffees. The one I usually buy to mix with my Teachino is PurRoast low acid coffee in house blend. PurRoast uses a process that gives their coffee about 50% lower acidity than regular coffees, even the organic kinds. They have full-caf, half-caf, and decaf coffees in varying flavors and sizes, ground or whole bean. Occasionally I find it in Publix or Sunseed (local health food store), but you can also order from their website http://www.puroast.com/. I highly recommend.
Well I guess that's all for now. Have a great day all. Oh, and I meant to say that for all you hardcore coffee drinkers, you can do a 50/50 CoffeeChino blend and it tastes AMAZING. :-) More kick too. And if you don't want caffeine or the acidity but still need something hot and creamy, try the Teachino all by itself. I think it's great.
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