I Want A Sweet Divorce

Last year I was planning on starting a blog called the "Sweetest Divorce." The blog was going to chronicle my divorce from sugar, but I never got it off the ground. Here is the only post from the blog:

I WANT A DIVORCE!!

We've been together for as long as I can remember (at this point). We've shared both fond and not so fond memories: family gatherings, birthdays, vacations, dinners with friends, foodie expeditions all over the world. There have been times where I honestly felt that I could not survive with you. And even now that I've set out to write about our impending divorce, I feel that I am going to be losing a part of me.

I've had a sweet tooth for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, growing up in the USSR, my most prominent positive food memory involves these lollipops called "Petushki" (translated to Roosters in English). I don't remember what exactly was so great about this candy poultry, but I remember they made me REALLY happy.

Over the years, I developed a fairly heavy sugar addiction. At the peak of my eating disorder, I ate nothing but Brach's Candy, which I got at various Walgreen's around the city when they still had bulk candy bins. I went for the ones with three layers, one of which had powdered coconut, thinking they were healthier because they contained some fat.

Because of my experiences, I've always been interested in literature about sugar addiction and the negative effects of sugar consumption. Recently, I discovered the work of Nancy Appleton, clinical nutritional and anti-sugar advocate. In her first book, Lick the Sugar Habit, she discusses the consequences of sugar consumption and provides self-help techniques to overcome sugar addiction. She also has a section of sugar free recipes, which I love!

Besides all of the great research and examples of how sugar addiction leads to a variety of diseases, my favorite part of the book were the self-help techniques Nancy Appleton provided. I would like to share some of them with you.

Lick the Sugar Habit Self-Techniques

1. Remove Corn from Your Diet
According to Nancy, since most of the sugar we consume especially in processed food is corn based, most of us are now allergic to sugar. Any form of corn can bring up sugar cravings, whether its cornstarch or corn on the cob. Keep an eye out for corn in your baking powder.

2. Taste Sweetness Without Ingesting Sugar
She suggests using fruit-flavored lip gloss and brushing your teeth to give your taste buds a little zing when you are craving sugar

3. Avoid Coffee
Coffee can lower your blood sugar, which will cause hypoglycemic symptoms like light-headedness, dizziness, and perspiration. The blood sugar drop will lead to a sugar craving.

4. Read Labels
Nowadays it's rare to find sugar as an ingredient on a nutrition label. But you will often see it called by other names. Here are some examples: barley malt, beet sugar, brown sugar, buttered syrup, cane-juice crystals, cane sugar, caramel, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, date sugar, dextran, dextrose, diatase, diastatic malt, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, glucose solids, golden sugar, golden syrup, grape sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, raw sugar, refiner's syrup, sorbitol, sorghum syrup, sucrose, turbinado sugar, and probably many more that I have not mentioned.

5. Substitute Carob for Chocolate
I love this one! I found out I was allergic to chocolate 8 years ago, so I often bake with carob. Nancy provides a wonderful recipe for Spicy Carob Brownies that I want to share with you! I've adapted this recipe to be grain free and vegan. The original recipe calls for rice and quinoa flour instead of the almond, coconut, and grapeskin that I used.

 Spicy Carob Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup grapeskin flour (Cabernet or Merlot Variety)
2 tsp baking powder (you can make your own without corn)
1 cup well cooked sweet potatoes or yams
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup water
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp coconut oil

Process:
1. In a small bowl, mix chia seeds and water and let stand for 10 minutes

2. Combine almond flour, carob powder, coconut flour, grapeskin flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl

3. In a blender, mix sweet potatoes, chia seed gel, coconut oil and ginger and blend until smooth

 4. Add wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and using a mixer mix for until smooth
 

5. Put the batter into a baking dish, I'm using a heart shaped silicone dish

 6. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

7. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack

8. Cut into cubes and enjoy!

9. Enjoy!

Shared at: Simply Sugar Free & Gluten Free

Roasted Smoked Paprika Chicken With Rosemary Scented Root Vegetables

Last week, my teacher at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Joshua Rosenthal, gave a lecture where he discussed making cooking good food easy. I love his saying: "Cook Once, Eat Twice." I've always loved one pot meals because of their convenience and often cook a pot of soup for lunches to take to work and a stew to eat at home for dinner. Doing this, makes healthy eating possible and enjoyable for me. While I love to cook, I know that with kids, jobs, and competing responsibilities, it's not always easy. I have already shared a number of my favorite one pot meals with you already: Beef Heart Bourguignon, Tongue Stew, Grain-Free Plov Style Tongue Stew, and Tongue Stew with Garbanzo Beans, but I am aware that not everyone has access to or even enjoys offal and so I have a recipe for a chicken stew that will surely please.

The dish uses two salts that I am absolutely loving right now: Selena Naturally's Rosemary Celtic Salt and Makai Pure Sea Salt. Celtic Salt is unprocessed and is dried by the sun and the wind, locking in a vast array of vital trace minerals. Paired with rosemary grown on the Northern California Coast, the Rosemary Celtic Sea Salt has a really incredible rosemary flavor that stands out as the vegetable seasoning in this dish. The Makai Pure Sea Salt is also unique and I use this to season the chicken.  This salt is harvested from 2,000 ft underneath the Pacific Ocean floor and has a high mineral content. It has 33% less sodium in comparison to regular table salt and provides 2% of your daily value for calcium and magnesium. I'm grateful to Selina Naturally for sending me these to try, because they really are something special!

 Roasted Smoked Paprika Chicken With Rosemary Scented Root Vegetables
Ingredients:
1 Organic/Pasture Raised Chicken
1 tbsp duck fat/coconut oil/ghee/red palm oil
5 large carrots
2 large parsnips
2 large turnips
2 large onions
2 springs of thyme
1 whole garlic bulb
3 tsp The Spice House Smoked Paprika
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tsp Selena Naturally Rosemary Celtic Sea Salt
2 tsp Selena Naturally Makai Sea Salt

Process:
1. Chop carrots, parsnips, and turnips in to small chunks

2. Cut onions in fourths

3. Insert garlic bulb into chicken cavity

4. Place tbsp of oil at the bottom of a dutch oven

5. Add vegetables and sprinkle with Selena Naturally Rosemary Celtic Sea Salt and mix well to coat vegetables

6. Sprinkle The Spice House Smoked Paprika, pepper and Selena Naturally Makai Sea Salt on top of chicken covering the breasts and thighs

7. Place chicken on top of vegetables

8. Bake at 425 for 90 minutes

9. Enjoy!

 

Shared at: The Polivka Family

Book Review & Giveaway: Practical Paleo

When I started blogging about my 21-Day Detox cleanse in July, I had no idea how much I would learn about diet and nutrition as part of the process of writing about my experiences. I've always been interested in cooking, but recently I have moved towards becoming more educated about the true nutritional value of the food I'm eating. I've been stocking up on cookbooks that are also educational and provide viewpoints on certain ways of eating. Since I have been moving towards becoming completely grain free, I have been very interested in blogs and books that center around the Paleolithic (Paleo) lifestyle. One blogger who I have been following is Diane Sanfilippo, of Balanced Bites and author of the highly informative Practical Paleo.

































I don't often get excited about nutrition and cookbooks, but Practical Paleo is a pretty amazing book. It's not wonder it's been on the New York Times bestseller list for 3 weeks in a row. If you haven't gotten yourself a copy, you are missing out and here are 5 reasons why:

1. It has over 120 easy recipes all that are gluten-,grain-,legume-,dairy- & refined-sugar-free.
The recipes are well organized by meal type: breakfast, sides & salads, treats & sweets, also by protein type. Some delicious recipes include Apple Streusel Egg Muffins, Nori Salmon Handroll, Baked Beets with Fennel, and Nutty Bacon Bark (yes! bacon candy)

2. It has multiple 30-Day Meal Plans to help support recovery from a number of health issues such as autoimmune conditions, digestive health, blood-sugar regulation, thyroid health, cancer recovery, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, fat loss, athletic performance, and general health

Each meal plan has a specific shopping list as well as a list of useful supplements that you could be taking for your condition. Additionally, a symptom checklist allows you to determine which diet is best for you. Finally Practical Paleo provides specific lifestyle suggestions to help you achieve your goals, such as adding more superfoods and avoiding fasting when trying to regulate blood sugar.

3. It has beautiful colorful guides such as: Guide to Paleo Foods, Stocking a Paleo Pantry, and Guide to Food Quality

If you are every confused about what you should be eating, these colorful guides help you on your trip to the grocery store. The Guide to Paleo foods even highlights items that are considered to be nightshades and can aggravate arthritic conditionals such as gout and arthritis. The Guide to Stocking a Paleo Pantry helps you make sure that you have plenty of grab-and-go foods while you are trying to establish your health, reminding you to have canned sardines, coconut milk, and plenty of nuts on hand. Having a well stocked pantry also ensures that if you happen to lose power, like many on the East Coast, you still have plenty nutrient dense foods to enjoy. I have some recipe suggestions here. Finally, the Guide to Food Quality helps explain terms like pastured-raised, cage-free, natural, and naturally raised.

4. It has really pretty pictures. What's a cookbook without amazing photography? I often spend more time looking at the pictures in cookbook then I do actually cooking the recipes. Practical Paleo has it's share of food p0rn!

5. Finally, Practical Paleo doesn't just provide delicious easy recipes, Diane Sanfillipo explains why "everything we've been taught about good nutrition is wrong."

Practical Paleo dissects all of the recent US Dietary Guidelines such as increasing low-fat dairy intake while limiting full-fat, using oils instead of solid fats, and consuming grains. She explains in layman's terms why these recommendations are causing Americans to not only be overweight but to also be very unhealthy. Diane also provides a science lesson on how our bodies process carbs, proteins, and fats and why the Paleo diet works for not just weight loss but also improved health.

I was really impressed with this book. Not only is it well written and beautifully illustrated, but it provides important, relevant information. I can attest to how much of a difference a paleo-centered diet can make. In the months that I have been grain free, I have never felt better. Practical Paleo will now be my go-to book for easy, simple, and quick Paleo recipes. Practical Paleo is available on Amazon for $23.97! You can go get yourself a copy or you can win a copy in my Practical Paleo Giveaway! 

To be entered in the contest, you must first be a subscriber to my blog. You can subscribe via email on the top right corner. Next follow Rafflecopter's easy instructions!

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One Last Halloween Recipe: Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies

I'm not ready to say goodbye to Halloween just yet. I know, I know, I need to start concentrating on Thanksgiving and even Hanukkah, but I'm just not ready! Superstorm Sandy has put many people's lives on hold and in many areas Halloween has been postponed for the weekend. I wish we postponed Halloween for the weekend so that I had some time to get my act together.

When I'm not cooking and writing for the blog, I actually have a 9-5 job. I work for an Internet retailer of consumer products and Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) is our most busy time. As we head into the depths of our busy season, I'm finding it pretty hard to balance my family, my house, my blog, and my overall responsibilities. Something had to go this year and since my daughter is 3 and doesn't really understand, we kind of skipped Halloween this year.

Growing up, I couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating to collect large grocery bags of candy. One year, in Brooklyn, I filled 2 whole bags of sweet, sour, and even salty confections. Since my first trick-or-treating experience was when I was 6, I'm thinking I can still hide our daughter from this ritual for a couple of more years. I'm glad to get reprieve from figuring out how to allow her to enjoy this important American pastime and how to get her to trade candy for something more healthy.

To trade the "good" stuff for some actual good stuff, I have prepared for her a fun recipe: Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies. These cookies are made with no sugar and no eggs, plus they are gluten and grain free (just a little baking powder). Interesting fact: Sunflower seeds contain acid called chlorogenic acid and, when mixed with baking soda under certain temperatures, it will cause the sunflower seeds to turn green. This is a totally harmless chemical reaction that creates a wonderfully fun looking and tasty Haloween cookie! 

I adapted the recipe from a cookbook I recently bought, Nourishing Meals, by Alissa Segersten & Tom Malterre. Tom gave a talk for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition about the Elimination Diet that I love and they also have a blog, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, that I absolutely love. The book features lots of healthy gluten free recipes including smoothies, entrees, cookies, and pies. The recipe for Coconut Almond Sugar Cookies caught my eye, but I had run out of almond flour and had just soaked and dehydrated sunflower seeds, so I decided to substitute. The result is a delicious nutty sugar free, gluten free, vegan cookie that will satisfy any little monster.


Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup Sunflower Seed Flour (I used this recipe from Empowered Sustenance) 
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder (corn free)
1/8 tsp Bright Earth Foods Himalayan Salt
6 tbsp Bright Earth Foods Vanilla Coconut Oil
6 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp lemon zest
25-30 drops of stevia

Process:
1. Mix all dry ingredients in a food process with an s-blade, pulsing for 90 seconds

2. Add wet ingredients and mix until a lump of dough is formed

3. Remove ball of dough and refrigerate for 1 hour

4. Either roll out dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper to desired thickness or using a small ice cream scoop create walnut sized balls

5. If rolling dough, use a cooking cutter to cut out shapes. If using walnut size balls, then press down until flat on parchment paper

6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

7. Let cool (cookies will turn green once they cool)

8. Enjoy!


Shared at: Too Many Jars in the Kitchen

Grain Free Alternative to A Traditional Rice Dish: Uzbek Plov Style Tongue Stew

Whenever my butcher in San Francisco, Oliver's Butchery has tongue, I buy it. He sources grass-fed and pastured raised meat and his cuts are amazing! He had a tongue drought for a couple weeks, but finally, last week I was able to grab one. As I've mentioned before, I love tongue and grew up eating it often. Lately, I've been enjoying using it in stews because of the rich yet delicate flavor the meat.

Another food that I grew up eating is Plov. Plov, also know as Pilaf in the US, is a rice dish with spices and vegetables native to Central and Eastern Asia. At my home, Plov was a version of the traditional Uzbek dish made with basmati rice, lamb, raisins, apricots, carrots, and onions and spiced with cumin seeds and barberries. My mom would often make a large pot of Plov and we would enjoy it for the whole week. A couple of years ago, the hubby's grad school roommate, who is from Uzbekistan, taught me how to make the real traditional stuff, omitting the sweet dried fruits my mother always added. After his tutorial, I made a pot of Plov for months.

Since becoming grain free several months ago I've been craving Plov, so I decided to make a stew with a similar flavor profile. You can't make a traditional Plov without cumin seeds. Cumin seeds help stimulate the secretion of pancreatic enzymes which help with nutrient absorption and also help the stimulate the liver to flush out toxins. Cumin seeds are rich in iron and are believed to help alleviate symptoms of the common cold. They add a great spicy zing to the stew. Additionally, because I didn't have barberries, I used Sumac to flavor the dish. Sumac has a wonderful tangy sweet & sour flavor and has anti fungal and antimicrobial properties.

Uzbek Plov Style Tongue Stew

Ingredients
1 Grass-Fed Beef Tongue
2 tbsp ghee/coconut oil/tallow/duck fat
2 Onions
4 Carrots (I used purple carrots from my CSA)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp Spice House Powered Sumac
1 tbsp Bright Earth Foods Himalayan Salt
1/2 cup sprouted lentils
1 bunch of kale

Process
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in dutch oven and add 2 onions (sliced)

2. Add 1/2 tbsp salt and cumin seed, saute for 8 minutes

3. Shred 4 carrots and add to pot

4. Add Sumac and stew for another 5 minutes

5. Add tongue to pot

6. Add 4 cups of water and lentils

7. Bring to boil

8. Let boil for for 5 minutes and then bring down to simmer on low heat

9. Cook overnight or for 8-10 hours (longer is your tongue is more than 1 lb)

10. Once tongue is cooked, remove from pot and peel off skin and cube

11. Put back into pot

12. Cut kale and add to pot

13. Cook for another 8 minutes

14. Enjoy!
 



 

5 Real Food Meals For When You're Stuck Without Electricity

It's a bit hard to focus on writing about healthy eating, health living, and nutrition today. Hurricane Sandy has had my complete attention all day. Most of my family is in the eye of the storm, scattered through out Brooklyn & Staten Island in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. As I'm writing, I haven't talked to my grandparents since 5pm PST, when I found out that they had lost power and their cell phone reception was spotty. Luckily, they should be fine since their house is located in an inland area of Staten Island. Others are not as lucky.

As I watch from my cushy couch 3,000 miles away, I hate that I can not be there to help not only my loved ones, but others who are lost without electricity. Reports of hospitals on fire and failing backup generators have me in a solemn mood as I imagine the many families that will be effected by this vicious storm. Also, I think about no matter how as much we try to control our surroundings, our food, and ourselves, we will never be in control of mother nature. She will always have us under her thumb.

In the spirit of nourishing ourselves in light of mother nature's destruction, I want to share 5 real food recipes you can enjoy without electricity. If you don't have these ingredients at home, I suggest stocking up because you never know when mother nature will strike and you will be stranded at home for a few days.

Mini Real Food Emergency Shopping List
Wild Planet Sardines
Chia Seeds
Bottled Water (preferably in glass, but I think plastic is okay for emergencies)
Nuts (sprouted and dehydrated)
Seeds (Hemp, Sunflower)
Goji Berries
Artisana Nut Butters
Fig Food Co. Organic Pureed Pumpkin
Coconut Oil
Coconut Butter
GoGo Rice Cooked Quinoa
Spices
SeaSnax Raw Unroasted Seaweed


5 Real Food Meals For When You're Stuck Without Electricity

No Electricity Chia Porridge

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 cup & 1 tbsp of water
1 tbsp Goji Berries
1 tbsp Hemp Seeds
1/2 tbsp raisins (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients and let stand for 10 minutes
2. Enjoy!

Harissa Sardines & Quinoa "Couscous"

Ingredients:
1 package of Wild Planet Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp of The Spice House Harissa Spread
1 Package of GoGo Rice Organic Quinoa

1. Mix all ingredients together
2. Enjoy!


Seaweed & Nut Butter Rolls

Ingredients:
1 Package of SeaSnax
2 packages of Artisana Nut Butters

1. Spread Nut Butter on Nori Sheet
2. Roll
3. Enjoy!

Coco-Nutty Date Sammies

Ingredients:
4 Dates
8 Almonds
2 tsp of Coconut Butter

1. Remove Pit from Dates
2. Insert 2 Almond
3. Spread a little bit of Coconut Butter on Date
4. Enjoy!


It's Kind of Like Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
1/2 package of Fig Food Co Organic Pumpkin
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice

1. Mix all ingredients and mix well for 5 minutes or until coconut oil is melted
2. Enjoy!

How to Cure Respiratory Infections Without Antibiotics

I'm finally almost done fighting a nasty cold which had me down for the count for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I actually wasn't able to be down because of my business work schedule. The cold migrated south and turned into a respiratory infection and then progressed to a sinus infection and finally settled in my ears to have a party there.

I was determined to fight the infection off without using antibiotics. I enlisted the help of my acupuncturist, Vincent Kan. After my first session with Vincent, I felt significantly better, but I still had a pretty rotten cough. I stopped by a local Co-op, Other Avenues, and there I stumbled upon Serious Cough Soother from Wishgarden Herbs. I'm a true believer in the power of herbs. Last year, we were able to find alternative treatment for my daughter's adenoid/tonsil using Kan Herbs formulas. I'm always  on the lookout for new herbs to add to my medicine cabinet.

Wishgarden Herbs is a woman-owned, family run business in Boulder, Colorado that makes herbs tinctures, salves, oils, and teas. Their tinctures are made with gluten free alcohol, which is great for me! I wasn't familiar with them until I tried the tincture but I was immediately impressed with them. At the time that I took the Serious Cough Soother, I had become completely hoarse and I had a horrible dry cough that was extremely painful. I started taking two droppers full every couple of hours Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning my voice was back and my cough was significantly better.

Serious Cough Soother is a mix of the following herbs:

Licorice root: anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, steroidal action. It clears heat (which causes burning in the throat) and moistens the lungs

Mullein flower: Expectorant, anti-inflammatory, soothes throat inflammation and expectorant for dry chronic coughs

Wild Cherry bark:  antibacterial, anticonstrictive for the bronchial tubes, helps to stop coughing and relax the bronchial tubes

photo credit: Bulk Herb Store

Coltsfoot leaf: cough dispeller

Goldenseal root: anti-microbal

Pleurisy root: anti-inflammatory, expectorant, helps to mitigate pain and difficulty breathing

Grindelia herb: helps expel mucus that is hard to get rid of


Marshmallow root: expectorant, eases inflammation of mucous membranes

Lobelia aerials: removes toxins, eases bronchial conditions

I was so impressed with the herbs that I called Wishgarden and asked if they would be willing to send me some others to try and review. They were kind enough to oblige. The following are all the herbs I tried, their ingredients and my results:

Emotional Ally: Helps to center, ground and deal with stress. I took this after spending half a day stressing out because my mother, who left to Europe hadn't called when she landed. About 30 minutes after I took the herbs, I was much calmer and able to think straight. I didn't hear from my mother until about 3 hours after I took the herbs, but those three hours were much more manageable.


Digestive Ease: This is the best alternative to Pepto-Bismol! It's supposed to help with heartburn, indigestion, bloating, gas, motion sickness, and queasiness. I took it after a large meal and about 30 minutes after I took the herbs, I began to feel that my digestion was improving. I've been keeping this one in my purse just in case I need it, but since I've gone grain-free I don't have many gastrointestinal symptoms.


Genius Juice: Study & Creative Process aid that supports optimal neural messaging. I've been taking this one at night if I have a hard time concentrating on my blog posts. I've definitely felt a difference in my ability to concentrate when I take it vs. when I don't


Sleepy Nights: Sleep aid without Valerian or Kava root. We've been giving the kids' version of this to our daughter at bedtime and she's been sleeping significantly better. The first night we gave it to her, she slept through the night and she hasn't slept through the night in months. I'm not even kidding!


Wishgarden Herbs has an extensive collection of herbs and teas for pregnancy and for nursing that I wish I knew about when I needed them. Their website is also easy to navigate that allows you to find the herb you need for your particular ailment. Go check them out and grab some herbs for the winter season, based on my experience, I know you won't be disappointed.