Blueberry - Kiwi Pie for Summer YUM

SUMMER! July 7, 2011  Spring has finally blossomed out into the warm days of summer here in Vermont- blue skies with lush green canopies fluttering in the gentle breeze. A good time to sit under a tree and feel the warm energy - taking pause to reflect on the bounty this season brings to body, mind and spirit and ways to balance and build our energy for the season ahead.   Chinese Medicine talks about finding balance between Yin and Yang. Yin, the expansive foods of fruit and veggies help balance the Yang or contractive foods of meat, eggs, beans and dairy.    Here is a healthy delicious recipe I learned about from Jesse Alfarone  that will help you balance your summer Yang meals with a Yin YUM Berry Banana nutty desert.

RAW Blueberry/Banana and Date nut Piecrust recipe

CRUST – 2 cups almonds, ½ cup soaked dates – (soak for at least an hour).

Grind almonds in food processor until it looks like cornmeal.  Add chopped soaked dates. Blend until all mixed.  You may need to add a little water from soaked dates.

Put in a pie plate, spread out to all sides.

FILLING – 5 cups blueberries and 2 ripe bananas

Blend 4 cups blueberries and 2 ripe bananas in food processor (add a ¼ cup of your favorite juice or water to help liquefy if needed).  Put 1 cup of berries unblended in piecrust, and then pour the blended berries and bananas on top. Freeze for a couple of hours to set, then slice kiwi’s to go on top. YUM.

Other ingredients to consider:  You can use frozen blueberries, reduce to one banana and add yogurt to blended filling.

Food as Medicine Health Benefits:

Blueberries bursting with antioxidants, nutrients and flavor:

Kiwi – Excellent source of Vitamin C and fiber; Banana – Packed with potassium, an important electrolyte to regulate heart function and fluid balance; Nuts (almonds and Walnuts- best plant source of protein, rich in fiber, phyto-nutrients and antioxidants such as Vitamin E and Selenium and best of all Omega 3’s for the heart and brain.

Marie Frohlich, Certified Health Coach

www.mariefrohlich.com

 

Upcoming Health Events

July 20th -Food as Medicine Coop Tour- making sense of bulk foods and those special foods in the produce section you always wanted to learn more about.  Food demo, tour and handouts.  Hunger Mountain Coop 6-7:30pm.

August 15^th  6-7:30pm Beating the Sugar Blues Marie Frohlich, Health Coach- with Lisa Mase, VCIH Staff  What role does sugar play in our lives? What kinds of substitutes can we choose that is less taxing to our systems and environment? Enjoy cooking demos and recipes to take home at Hunger Mountain Coop, Montpelier, VT.

Brainy Snacks for Your Little Einstein

BRAINY SNACK FUN 

I recently spent two wonderful hours with Ten children ages 5-12 and 6 adults making  6 healthy snacks  while learning about the nourishing brain ingredients of each snack. 

We learned that celery is a vasco-dialater and can help a headache and that iceberg lettuce actually has tryptophan in it and can help relax the hyperactivity some of us feel.  We made cheese balls rolled in nuts, shaved turkey with carrots slices and shredded cheese wrapped with iceberg lettuce, kabobs of fruit and cheese.

Important fiber and protein rich kid-friendly snacks to help feed their focus!  Several recipes were taken from Cabot's popular Healthy Kids Snacks recipe booklet.

We started out playing the Tray Game.  My father used to play that with us every friday night.  He would put 5 or more objects on a tray, give us seconds to view it and then cover it up and see how many items we could remember. We then celebrated with a milkshake .. with brain building raw egg hidden inside.  Egg yolk contains lecithin which enhances memory and concentration because it contains iron.  During our Brainy Snack fun time, we made a blue and green berry fruit smoothie and with blueberries and spinach - everyone wanted seconds.

We all jumped up to finish after tons of tasting to tap  10 parts of our body while naming super foods good for the brain (this helps remember what they are). Can you guess what some of them were?  Blueberries were one for the rich anti-oxidants and salmon and walnuts were some others for increasing the resiliency of brain matter.

Tips for Healthy Snacking

Give your kids a say. Offer comparable choices, such as regular or frozen yogurt, celery or carrots, whole-grain toast or whole grain crackers, apples or oranges. Better yet, recruit your children's help at the grocery store when you're selecting snacks or in the kitchen when you're assembling snacks.

Think outside the box. Offer something new, such as fresh pineapple, cranberries, red or yellow peppers, or roasted soy nuts. Slice a whole-wheat pita and serve with hummus.

Mix and Match. Serve baby carrots or other raw veggies with fat-free ranch dressing. Dip graham cracker sticks or fresh fruit in fat-free yogurt. Top celery, apples or bananas with peanut butter.

Have fun. Use a cookie cutter to make shapes out of low-fat cheese slices, whole-grain bread or tortillas. Eat diced fruit with chopsticks. give snacks funny names. try the classic "ants on a log" celery topped with peanut butter and raisins or make up your own.

 

Drinks count too. Offer your children plenty of water between meals. Liven it up with shaped ice cubes, a crazy straw or a squirt of lemon, cranberry or other fruit juice.

Find more tips at Mayo Clinic

 

The Healing power of Cilantro

What do Camel's and This Cilantro Smoothie have in Common?

 

Cilantro Smoothie

Not much really but my addlepated brain conjuring up this concoction while jet-lagged and dumbfounded by the sheer odessy of climate change within a 24 hour period.. dry hot sandy desert to cool wet still snowy here on the hill.  Great and grateful to be home in Vermont - soon to be green again..which spring is all about inside and out.

Cilantro... "incredibly refreshing" and "hard to believe adding this in a smoothie could make it taste so good" - comments from my spring fling workshop with the central Vermont chapter of WBON-Women's Owner's Business Network.  Cilantro is medicine, a healing food- it will pull out the heavy metals from your system and has anti-inflammatory powers among many others - two teaspoons a day is all you need. Check out the benefits below, play with the recipe.. add different fruit or use yogurt instead of almond milk..get your green on..explore and discover yum and tell me what you think!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk or yogurt
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 cup banana
• 1 cup cilantro
• 1 cup Frozen Blueberries
• 4 dates

HOW TO MAKE ALMOND MILK?
You can make almond milk by soaking 1 cup of almonds for a few hours. When finished
soaking, strain them and blend them with 3 cups of filtered water. Strain the resulting mixture through a nut milk bag. You can add sweetener or vanilla for additional flavor. To store, place in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. You can also buy almond milk in a health food store, but it will not be raw.

Put everything until smooth. Dr. Yoshiaki Omura discovered that mercury levels in the urine increased after an individual ate Vietnamese soup, which contains cilantro. Dr. Omura’s further research discovered that the herb cilantro could accelerate the excretion of mercury, lead, and aluminum from the body.
Contributed by:
Rhio (www.RawfoodInfo.com)

Benefits of Cilantro

The known benefits of organic cilantro are extensive, and researchers are discovering more every day. Currently, there are several well-known, well-documented benefits of organic cilantro, including:

• Powerful anti-inflammatory capacities that may help symptoms of arthritis
• Protective agents against bacterial infection from Salmonella in food products
• Acts to increase HDL cholesterol (the good kind), and reduces LDL cholesterol (the bad kind)
• Relief for stomach gas, prevention of flatulence and an overall digestive aid
• Wards off urinary tract infections
• Helps reduce feelings of nausea
• Eases hormonal mood swings associated with menstruation
• Has been shown to reduce menstrual cramping.
• Adds fiber to the digestive tract
• A source of iron, magnesium, and is helpful in fighting anemia
• Gives relief for diarrhea, especially if caused by microbial or fungal infections
• Helps promote healthy liver function.
• Reduces minor swelling
• Strong general anti-oxidant properties
• Disinfects and helps detoxify the body
• Stimulates the endocrine glands
• Helps with insulin secretion and lowers blood sugar
• Acts as a natural anti-septic and anti-fungal agent for skin disorders like fungal infections and eczema
• Contains immune-boosting properties
• Acts as an expectorant
• Helps ease conjunctivitis, as well as eye-aging, macular degeneration, and other stressors on the eyes.

James A. Duke, Ph.D., a former botanist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and author of The CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, states that cilantro has been shown to settle the stomach. He recommends drinking a cup of the tea made from a handful of the leaves, when experiencing any form of stomach discomfort.<sup>4

Could one conversation change your life?  Find out how at my website: MarieFrohlich.com</sup>