Book Recommendation

Since some of my posts lately have been about juicing, I thought I'd stay with the theme.

The Complete Book of Juicing is a great reference book for juicing. Its layout is clear and to the point. There are easy-to-follow descriptions of combination juices and their health benefits as well as simple info regarding the nutrients of individual fruits and veggies.

It's a helpful guide for newbies or pro juicers. :)

Delicious Summer Juice

Yum! If you aren't sold on juicing yet, give this one a try. Or if you love to juice and it's a hot summer day, you'll love this...

Watermelon, Carrot, Napa Cabbage

1/4 of a small watermelon

3-4 carrots

5 napa cabbage leaves

Health Note:

If you juice the watermelon rind and all, the health benefits increase significantly.

A Yummy Snack

I love nuts and I almost always have them in my kitchen. My favorites are almonds and cashews, but walnuts are also quite good for you.

Here's the breakdown of some of the health benefits of each of these nuts:

Almonds:

Almonds are a great source of calcium and as with all nuts they offer protein and are high in anti-oxidants.

Cashews:

Cashews are good sources of iron, magnesium, which promotes energy and bone growth, and phosphorous, which build bones and teeth.

Walnuts:

Walnuts have high levels of omega-3's which can also be found in fish.

I like to buy my nuts raw from the store and when I'm ready to eat them, I'll heat the oven to 350 and quickly roast some. When they are still warm from roasting, I'll mix them with dried cranberries. Mmmm tasty!

Choosing a Juicer

A friend asked me some good questions about juicing earlier on in my blog so I thought I'd share with you the little bit that I know.

There are a lot of juicers out there and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. When I chose which juicer to purchase I was making a decision between a masticating juicer and a centrifugal.

To masticate means to grind or knead into a pulp and that's basically what these types of juicers do. They chew up the vegetables in a slightly slower more tedious process and end up extracting more of the nutrients and juice from the vegetables.

A centrifugal juicer functions a bit differently and tends to be more common. Centrifugal refers to the spinning of the metal

bed that you push the veggies against and this force separates the juice from the pulp. It doesn't yield as much juice as masticating juicers and some people argue that the heat of the metal bed when spinning destroys some of the nutrients.

I prefer the centrifugal juicer simply because it's more convenient for my lifestyle. I don't have a lot of time to prep or clean up when I juice and masticating juicers tend to be a little more high maintenance in that respect.

I own the L'Equip Mini 110.5 (in the picture above). It's a centrifugal juicer and I LOVE IT! It's so easy for both prep and clean up and hardly takes up any space on my counter.

Here's a juice that I made today:

6 Carrots, 6 Napa Cabbage Leaves, 1/2 Lime

Curried Coconut Sweet Potato

I love coconut milk and as a Southern girl, I'm a sucker for sweet potatoes so, when I found this recipe in Spices of Life, I couldn't wait to try it.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe, but give a try and let me know what you think!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes

2 medium red onions, diced

1 T grapeseed oil

3/4 cup fresh basil, cut into thin shreds

Curry Seasonings:

2 tsp hot pepper flakes

3 inches fresh ginger, peeled

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Sauce:

2 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk

7 T fish sauce

4 T agave nectar (agave nectar is a healthy substitute for sugar)

Peel and cut sweet potato into 1 inch pieces.

Grind curry seasonings together in a food processor until it forms a coarse powder.

Add oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat until hot. Add curry seasonings and red onions. Stir over medium-low heat until onions are somewhat tender. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Add sweet potato and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Turn off the heat, stir in the fresh basil and save some for garnish.

I served my curry with a combination of brown and black rice.

Health Benefits:

Coconut Milk:

Though fatty, coconut fats are the "good" type of saturated fats that your body can process, which means it can be easily metabolized and turned into energy. Coconuts are known to strengthen the immune system, promote healthy cholesterol and cancer prevention.

Sweet Potatoes:

Sweet potatoes are "good" carbs. They are also rich in vitamin A and C. One sweet potato contains five times the daily allowance of vitamin A. Apparently they are also good for stomach ulcers, colon issues, and low blood pressure.

Another Foodie Site

So, these are photos from this site that a friend recommended to me the other day. Doesn't that look amazing?!?!

The site is: http://www.worldfoodieguide.com/

Juice: Carrot, Cucumber, Cabbage and Ginger

So here's a juice that i had today...

3 carrots

1 persian cucumber

1/3 head green cabbage

1 inch of fresh ginger

I love to juice!!! There's nothing quite like it.

Freshly juiced veggies give a sustained energy that coffee and sugars don't.

Apparently it's recommended to have 1 pound of raw vegetables per 50 pounds of body weight per day! Juicing is a great way to be able to consume a larger amount of vegetables in a tasty and practical way.

What's a FOODIE?

What's a foodie? As defined by the dictionary: someone who as an ardent or defined interest in food. According to that definition, I definitely qualify!

Here are a couple foodie sites that are worth a visit:

http://www.marriedtoanonfoodie.com

http://www.tofurobotics.blogspot.com/

Spices of Life

This cookbook is FANTASTIC!

It's not strictly vegan, so you carnivores might enjoy it. Last I checked, it's available for $6 on Amazon's website.

Here's a family favorite from the book, though I've made a couple changes. We've made a tradition of eating this whenever our family gets together.

Garlicky Seafood Cioppino

6-8 servings

Seafood Marinade:

1/2 cup sake

6 slices fresh ginger

1 pound firm fleshed fish fillets

3/4 sea scallops

3/4 pound medium shrimp (peeled)

3 1/2 Tbs olive oil

Seasonings:

1 1/2 Tbs minced garlic

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger

1 heaping tsp hot chile paste

2 1/2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

Remaining Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

1 Tbs tomato paste

2 2/3 cups clam juice

1 cup sake

2 Tbs chopped fresh basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine shrimp and scallops into a bowl and place fish in a separate bowl. Pour 1/3 of the marinade into the fish bowl and the rest into the scallops and shrimp. Toss lightly and let sit for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a dutch oven, add seasonings and saute 6-7 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients (except seafood) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 12-15 minutes.

Add fish with the marinade, partially cover and continue to cook for 7 minutes or until fish is almost cooked. Add the shrimp and scallops with the marinade, stir gently, partially cover and cook for about 4 minutes or until the seafood is cooked.

Taste for seasoning and serve!

What exactly do you eat?

As a vegan, I often get the question, what exactly do you eat? So in this blog, I'll share some staple items that are always in my kitchen. For today, I'd like to highlight berries. Yum!

Frozen berries are a cheaper way to be able to enjoy the nutritious punch that berries have to offer. I often garnish my morning cereal with these berries. Stir the cereal for a minute before eating other-wise the berries will be too icy or put them in a strainer and run warm water over them. They're also great in smoothies, breads, muffins and pies.

Health benefits:

Blueberries

Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants that help protect against free radicals in the body that are associated with diseases related to the aging process.

Raspberries

Raspberries are full of cancer-fighting antioxidants and rich in vitamin C, folate, iron and potassium. Also, cooking doesn't eliminate these compounds so raspberry jam may also be beneficial.

Summer Spinach

So here's a pic of a salad that I munched on today. It was pleasantly refreshing.

Summer Spinach:

1 cucumber

1 cup of dried garbanzo beans

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

1/3 head of green or red cabbage

4 cups spinach

3 teaspoons chia seeds

Soak the garbanzo beans over-night and cook at a hearty simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until done.

Chop cabbage into thin pieces.

Chop cucumber into 1/2 inch size pieces.

Mix together all ingredients into a large serving bowl.

Health Benefits:

The Garbanzo Bean

Working on lowering your cholesterol? Garbanzo beans are a great source of cholesterol-lowering fiber.

Garbanzo beans are also a fat-free high quality protein. So if you are looking to up your protein intake without adding fat, these are a tasty way to do it!

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds have been used as a high energy endurance food as far back as ancient Aztecs. Apparently, Aztec warriors subsisted on the chia seed during conquests. These little seeds are great for mixing into salads and have a very mild flavor.