Since being at Bastyr, I have taken more of an interest in liver health and detoxification (or “biotransformation” if you’re fancy). The liver is the largest gland in the body and it is responsible for many, many functions ranging from metabolism of carbohydrates, fat, and protein to storing and activating vitamins and minerals as well as filtering blood from the entire body. Its importance is proven by the fact that it is the only organ that can regenerate itself!
There are many ways people “detox” this vital organ but since I don’t believe in fasting or supplements, one that interests me in particular is sweating. Many naturopaths suggest the sauna as a liver supporting practice, and hot yoga is touted as detoxifying and energizing as well. I’m not sure if it is biotransformation or dehydration, but something definitely happens in that room during the 90 minutes you have sweat dripping down your nose and off your toes. I just joined Bikram Yoga of Redmond and I had my first session this week. The room was about 100 degrees F with lots of fans on the ceiling to keep the air moving. As we made our way through the 26 poses, there were definitely times I felt like I was going to pass out. However, I made my way through the class and didn’t have to stop to kneel down and rest once. I drank Whole Foods electrolyte water and left a sweaty mess but I’m going again next week and I really appreciated the instructor Nadia’s advice as we left that day: “keep doing the best you can, don’t give up, and come back tomorrow to do it again”.
June 17, 2010
June 15, 2010
What do you eat?
So, my friend Abram says:
“All your blog has is weird recipes! I just want to know what to eat.”
While I appreciate the sentiment, I would like everyone to know that it is difficult to tell someone what to eat. I am a nutrition student and we learn a lot about food and eating, but we also take counseling classes, which I feel is more relevant to handling people who want to be told what to eat. Think of it this way; if there was an answer to that question, everyone would know what to eat. Instead, people don’t have a clue about what they need to be eating. The thing is, it’s very hard to tell anyone what to eat. What if I tell someone to eat meat and they don’t believe in it? What if I tell someone to eat organic, but they can’t afford it? What if I tell someone to eat broccoli, but they hate it? Here you go: this is what you should eat
Local, seasonal fruit
Local, seasonal vegetables
Whole grains
Nuts
Plain yogurt
Fish
Beans
Eggs
You should not eat:
Sugar
Fried foods
Anything packaged in a box
Food with pesticides all over it
There seems to be exceptions to every rule when it comes to food so knowing what to eat can be difficult for anyone. However, if you take an interest in what you eat and how you can make your diet better, you’re taking a step in the right direction and you’re moving towards caring about your body and the earth. Good job!
“All your blog has is weird recipes! I just want to know what to eat.”
While I appreciate the sentiment, I would like everyone to know that it is difficult to tell someone what to eat. I am a nutrition student and we learn a lot about food and eating, but we also take counseling classes, which I feel is more relevant to handling people who want to be told what to eat. Think of it this way; if there was an answer to that question, everyone would know what to eat. Instead, people don’t have a clue about what they need to be eating. The thing is, it’s very hard to tell anyone what to eat. What if I tell someone to eat meat and they don’t believe in it? What if I tell someone to eat organic, but they can’t afford it? What if I tell someone to eat broccoli, but they hate it? Here you go: this is what you should eat
Local, seasonal fruit
Local, seasonal vegetables
Whole grains
Nuts
Plain yogurt
Fish
Beans
Eggs
You should not eat:
Sugar
Fried foods
Anything packaged in a box
Food with pesticides all over it
There seems to be exceptions to every rule when it comes to food so knowing what to eat can be difficult for anyone. However, if you take an interest in what you eat and how you can make your diet better, you’re taking a step in the right direction and you’re moving towards caring about your body and the earth. Good job!
June 9, 2010
Rhubarb the Second
Ok, I have to do rhubarb again but just because our Whole Foods Production class presentation went so well today! My group made lentil chili, green salad with citrus-avocado dressing, firecracker cornbread and rhubarb crisp: guess which part I did? Here's the recipe -
Easy Rhubarb Crisp
2 pounds (6 medium sized stalks, trimmed and sliced into diagonal ¾ inch pieces)
½ fresh, organic vanilla bean with seeds scraped
1/2 cup brown sugar
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup maple syrup
½ fresh, organic vanilla bean with seeds scraped
1/2 cup brown sugar
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9-by-9-inch glass baking dish, combine the
rhubarb, sugar, vanilla seeds and 1/4 cup flour; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine remaining 1/2 cup flour and the butter. Pulse until the butter pieces are pea-size. Add maple syrup, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt. Pulse to combine. Sprinkle over rhubarb.
3. Bake until rhubarb is tender and topping is golden, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve warm with my new favorite whipped cream: beat 1 cup of very cold, heavy whipping cream on high for 3 minutes, then stir in 2 ounces of grand mariner liqueur and you will be happy forever!!
Original Recipe by Ginger Donald June 2010
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9-by-9-inch glass baking dish, combine the
rhubarb, sugar, vanilla seeds and 1/4 cup flour; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine remaining 1/2 cup flour and the butter. Pulse until the butter pieces are pea-size. Add maple syrup, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt. Pulse to combine. Sprinkle over rhubarb.
3. Bake until rhubarb is tender and topping is golden, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve warm with my new favorite whipped cream: beat 1 cup of very cold, heavy whipping cream on high for 3 minutes, then stir in 2 ounces of grand mariner liqueur and you will be happy forever!!
Original Recipe by Ginger Donald June 2010
June 4, 2010
When life hands you rhubarb...make cookies!
As you may have realized by now, I’m not a gourmet cook. That’s an understatement, as well. So, today I attempted to execute a very difficult Rustic Rhubarb Tart that looked amazing online but was probably over my head as a relatively new cook. I invested time (about 2 1/2 hours) and money (lets just say I had to buy special flour, milk, and organic vanilla bean pods as well as $10 worth of rhubarb at Whole Foods). However, when push came to shove, the dough just wasn’t going to stick together and the rhubarb mixture tasted a little funny. I made them anyway, and they were….interesting; not really edible and definitely not fit for the class presentation I had in mind for them. So, I was in a bad mood and I had about two cups left over of beautiful cooked rhubarb with vanilla bean seeds that I had hand scraped into them. I went online and searched for a recipe that called for cooked rhubarb and I found: Rhubarb Cookies. What? There is actually a site dedicated to rhubarb called “Rhubarb Compendium”. I followed the recipe loosely but made a lot of changes depending on what I had in the house. I was extremely skeptical, but when I pulled them out the oven, they were AMAZING! They were super cute, moist, delicious, spicy and wonderful. I would make them again and I am happy now because my challenge turned into a delight.
Vanilla Nut Rhubarb Cookies
1 stick butter (softened)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c cooked rhubarb
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 c walnuts or almonds, chopped
1. To cook rhubarb: Wash and trim stalks. Cut lengthwise down the middle and then cut ¾ inch pieces on the diagonal. Heat the rhubarb covered on mid-low for 15 minutes with ½ cup of honey and a half-pod of fresh vanilla if you have it. This will release some of the water from the stalks. Then, heat a little higher (mid to mid-high) for another 15 minutes until the rhubarb is super soft and bubbly. Transfer it to a bowl and stick it in the fridge until it’s cool-ish.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg then stir in the rhubarb. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together then stir the dry ingredients into the rhubarb mixture until the two are blended. Roll dough balls in your hands and place them on baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 10-12 minutes, until they puff up and get slightly brown on top.
This is now an original recipe by me! Happy rhubarb season!!
Vanilla Nut Rhubarb Cookies
1 stick butter (softened)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c cooked rhubarb
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 c walnuts or almonds, chopped
1. To cook rhubarb: Wash and trim stalks. Cut lengthwise down the middle and then cut ¾ inch pieces on the diagonal. Heat the rhubarb covered on mid-low for 15 minutes with ½ cup of honey and a half-pod of fresh vanilla if you have it. This will release some of the water from the stalks. Then, heat a little higher (mid to mid-high) for another 15 minutes until the rhubarb is super soft and bubbly. Transfer it to a bowl and stick it in the fridge until it’s cool-ish.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg then stir in the rhubarb. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together then stir the dry ingredients into the rhubarb mixture until the two are blended. Roll dough balls in your hands and place them on baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 10-12 minutes, until they puff up and get slightly brown on top.
This is now an original recipe by me! Happy rhubarb season!!
June 1, 2010
Home-made lettuce
We had dinner at my best friend Julia’s parent’s house (the Cook residence) on Sunday night and it was a perfect example of delicious, healthy, whole foods cooking. Having grown up eating at their home, I realize now that I have always taken for granted the love and effort Craig Cook puts into his menus. Five of us sat down Sunday night, wine glasses in hand, to an entrée of fresh wild salmon grilled simply and sprinkled with fresh herbs and chives. We had mashed potatoes and giant, firm, fragrant asparagus – but one of my favorite parts of the whole meal was the salad. Craig and Kathy grow lettuce in their back yard and it was superb. I don’t often (ever) have access to lettuce this fresh and it was a real treat. Kathy whipped up some quick home-made dressing while we were all chatting that was similar to the one I recently learned to make. It had olive oil, vinegar, and Dijon mustard and was a perfectly light accompaniment to a huge bowl full of delicately moist, forest green lettuce with sliced tomato and cucumber tossed in the mix. Now that I’m focused on eating whole foods, I realize the commitment, effort, and reward of throwing a preservative free dinner party. I thank them for the delicious dinner, great conversation, and inspiration to cook more for my own friends and family!
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