Breakfast to Go

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Becky Hastings

We all love fast food. Many times we NEED fast food. We have a deadline, a place to be, an important reason to be there, but not enough time for eating our healthy breakfast.

It is time to think differently. What can I make that is fast, nutritious, good for me AND will travel well? Chia porridge to go. I wrote about chia porridge previously, this is an expansion. Choose your favorite flavors and personalize it! The great thing about Chia porridge is that the chia seeds need about 15 minutes of soaking to expand, so it can travel with you and get better on the way! I made this chia porridge to go for my husband to take with him for his early morning appointment:

1/2 Tablespoon chia seeds
water to cover
1/2 Cup or so of homemade kefir
1/4 Cup hemp seeds
1 Tbl raw cacao powder
1 Tbl raw maca powder
nuts, raisins, seeds
1/2 Tbl honey
chopped pear
chopped strawberry

For those who are more hard-core you could add a few veggies (celery, cucumber, kale) and omit some fruit. Others might want to top their chia porridge with homemade granola or add different fruits. The hemp gives you the energy and will sustain you so you don’t feel hungry. The chia is a great source of omega 3s. The maca powder is optional, but gives a great boost. We’re all at different stages of our journey, but I think most people will be able to find some way to modify this concept in a way they can enjoy it. If you decide to have eggs for breakfast, you could always have a bowl of chia porridge for lunch!

Other chia ideas here

and here

Coconut Oil

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Becky Hastings

Here are 13 Evidence Based Medicinal Properties of Coconut Oil to help motivate you to eat it! There are a minimum of 13 scientific studies that show the value of coconut oil, and the reason I encourage those I love to eat raw chocolate with coconut oil!

Sayer Ji from GreenMedInfo has compiled this list with all the references if you are the type of person who likes to read all the background research!

I’d rather go make some more raw chocolate!

Hope in the midst of Cancer

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Becky Hastings

According to current statistics nearly 1 out of every 2 people in the USA will wind up hearing the dreaded words, cancer. Despite all the money contributed to cancer research over the past 50 years, and all the money insurance companies pay for cancer treatments, the rate of cancer and the survival statistics have never been worse.

Every time I see an appeal for help to a cancer patient or help to find the cure, I want to shout – THERE ARE MANY CURES ALREADY! It’s just that they don’t make the headline news. They are happening though – without a doubt. If you, or a loved one, has heard those dreaded words, don’t believe the standard rhetoric. Look for all the cures. Here is one great story by a 26 year old that was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer and decided not to go with his oncologists treatment plan. Today, nearly 10 years later, he is completely cancer free and speaks, coaches and encourages others to pursue healing. I love the fact that he is unashamedly a follower of Jesus Christ.

I also encourage everyone who does not have a cancer diagnosis to watch this 4 minute video in advance. You need to know all the options before you ever hear the dreaded words. If you follow the same health plan outlined by Chris, you need never hear them!

Chocolate Binge

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Becky Hastings

G U I L T F R E E ! ! !

You know the adage, if it sounds too good to be true then it is probably….

But, not in this instance! Truly this chocolate is good for you! It will stem your cravings, it will feed your brain, it will send great messages to your metabolism, it might even help you lose weight! I take no responsibility, but urge you to do your own experimentation!

A lady in front of me at the local grocery store yesterday semi-apologized for hoisting three enormous boxes of a popular beverage aka, canned liquid poison (one of many toxic-liquid-evils widely marketed around the world by those who have a taste for death) onto the check-out conveyor belt. “One of my few vices,” she said. Out of the blue, because I had not tried to offer any health education AT ALL – ask my daughter. I sometimes want to, but in this case I hadn’t even gotten that far. Then, as she was leaving she says in a very friendly way to the cashier, “But you have to watch chocolate because it makes your clothes shrink!” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. It took me awhile, and then I thought out loud “Not raw chocolate! If you eat raw chocolate your clothes get baggy. In fact, you might even need to buy new clothes because you may drop a size or two!” At least, that’s what happened to me!

So here is yet another way to roll up the raw chocolate, courtesy of my client who liked my ideas and then experimented a bit more!

Coconut Oil,
Organic Peanut Butter
Honey
Raw Cacao Powder

Just four ingredients. Each one has a smaller amount. So if you start with 2 huge spoons of coconut oil, add 2 spoons of peanut butter, one spoon of honey. Mix the first three ingredients completely, then add 2 huge spoons of cacao powder, or add the amount to give you the darkness you desire. The ratio will probably be just less cacao powder to the combined amount of coconut oil and peanut butter. Experiment with the ratios until you get it just like you like it! You could even add more ingredients, but I’m trying to keep it really simple!

Mix or stir well.

Refrigerate briefly to help it get itself together (depends on the temperature in your kitchen).

Roll out onto a plate (pre-cool the plate in the freezer in warm weather) like a snake, or roll into balls.

Refrigerate or freeze to harden. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer and have a slice when you are craving a treat!

Hide all evidence, or else the next time you have a craving you are going to find your family has completely consumed it! But hey, it’s good for them too! So I guess it’s time to make some more!

More raw chocolate ideas here and here and here… Just for a taste!

I’m on a chocolate journey! Where has your chocolate journey taken you?

Thoughts about Food

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Becky Hastings

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Instead of cooking, how about food preparation?

Instead of rigidly following a recipe, what about having a look at the real food available to you and saying, “how can I combine these foods to make something delicious?”

If you bake so you can have “treats” or snacks, what other foods could you begin to enjoy that would be a treat or snack?

Make a list of all the foods you love that are good for you and figure out creative ways to recombine them!

The possibilities are endless. Share your great ideas with others. Our creativity can be contagious. We need to

get out of the ruts we’ve formed for ourselves.

One client shared a new adaptation of some of my raw chocolate ideas: mix organic peanut butter, raw cacao powder and honey. Roll it into a snake formation (like when we make play dough snakes with our kids). Store it in the fridge and cut off a piece as needed for your super delicious, nutritious snack! My adaptation would be to add come coconut oil to that mixture! Play with it. Make it your own. Be creative. Think differently!

Healthy Snack

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Becky Hastings

We all know that Snack Attack feeling!

My friend shared this great idea with me. Whenever you feel hungry – like you want some sort of a sweet treat, mix together equal parts:

goji berries
cocoa nibs
raisins
Brazilian nuts
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds

in a big glass jar, shake and grab a handful – or two (maximum is two!) And your cravings will be gone!

I’m sure you could try different ingredients, like walnuts (brain food), cashews, almonds, coconut flakes, cranberries, whole cacao beans, etc. But since my friend is such a great researcher, I think she might have specific reasons for each of her selections!

I like to do a mix something like this for my husband to keep in his briefcase so he’s not tempted to have processed food snacks at the office! It’s also great to have a mix like this on long road trips. If I’m driving I always like a constant supply of snacks to help me keep awake and paying attention!

Basic Granola

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Becky Hastings

Easy, delicious, nutritious, must be more economical than buying the best you can buy in the store, but I confess I have not done a cost analysis!

I have made granola for my family for years. With five children it was one of the most obvious healthy economical things I could do. I loved a recipe I got from the Tightwad Gazette. Also, since I never bought cereal for them because of all the yuck ingredients, I had to have something to give them for breakfast! (I confess, before my enlightenment, I went through a long phase where I did buy corn flakes, but only corn flakes. They would have corn flakes with granola on top!)

When my first two boys were small I only purchased fruit flavored yogurts. I had one friend who had a toddler who happily ate plain yogurt and I thought she was a freak! Now I only buy plain yogurt – and have been for years and everyone in the family enjoys combining their own breakfasts with plain yogurt, fresh and dried fruits, nuts, seeds and granola. I am now making my own kefir so soon I can stop buying large factory produced yogurt!

Since entering my current ultra health (aka crazy) phase I have stopped eating wheat and then removed oats and I feel SO MUCH BETTER that I have never wanted to eat them. My family, however, still enjoys granola so I have been buying the best organic brands I could find and wincing with every expensive purchase! I have been contemplating making my own and wondering how to incorporate coconut oil, which is also part of my ultra healthy phase. Recently my friend shared this great simple granola recipe and I admire her a lot, so I was inspired to start making granola again – immediately!! This is what I did, including some slight modifications, because it is impossible for me to follow a recipe!

In a saucepan melt over very low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon:

1/2 Cup coconut oil
1/2 Cup honey

Because I hate wasting ingredients in measuring cups, I just eyeballed the amounts straight into the pan! I weighed the pan first, then weighed it while adding the ingredients to give me an idea if I had it right!

I just melted it until it was able to mix thoroughly, then I added 1 tsp vanilla.

In a bowl, mix the following dry ingredients:

4 Cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 Cup shredded coconut
a few shakes of cinnamon
a few turns of Himalayan crystal salt

Pour mixed coconut oil mixture into dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. I baked it in a roasting pan for 10 minutes on 400 degrees F, then turned the oven off, stirred the granola and put it back into the hot oven for another 10 minutes. after you have achieved the brown color you are looking for, be sure to stir the granola one last time to prevent it from cooling and sticking to the pan! Next time I think I will go for a lower slower cooking. The mixture got a bit too brown, and I remembered it’s always better to cook low and slow!

There was a delicious smell in the house while it was baking and the test taste was great!

I can tell that I might be experimenting often with this recipe! You can eat granola plain as a snack, with yogurt, fruit and nuts, or sprinkle on top of your Chia Porridge! The family is sure to love it! And I may even incorporate a bit of oats into my crazy hectic nutritional plan!

This recipe made 32 ounces of wonderful granola. I’ll try to work out a costing, but I’m pretty sure it is a lot more economical and better than what you can buy! And it is filled with love for those you love!

Super Breakfast

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Becky Hastings

I’m not sure if that picture looks really really appetizing, but it is delicious AND amazingly nutritious! My friend Simela motivated me to experiment even more with

the idea of “Chia Porridge”

I decided to have Chia Porridge for lunch. It is super easy to make. But you and the kids might prefer to have it for breakfast! I’m giving you the quantities for one serving, to make more just use a bit more of everything!

1 Tablespoon chia seeds
water to cover the seeds

Allow the chia seeds to sit for 10-15 minutes and they will soak up the water and become gelatinous! So do that first while you are collecting all the other ingredients and chopping whatever you like. Or, make yourself a cup of tea!

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cacao powder (optional)
1 tsp lucuma powder (optional)
raisins
cacao nibs
honey
yogurt, kefir or nut milk of your choice

I also added cashews, almonds, frozen blueberries, 1 chopped frozen strawberry, 1/2 chopped banana, dried coconut, goji berries, hemp seed and chopped celery (you can never get enough celery and I love crunchy things – and I was having this for lunch, and they do put celery in a Waldorf salad!).

Here is a breakfast version I made for my husband: chia, goji, water, cinnamon, cacao, macs, honey, chopped apple, 2 chopped strawberries, blueberries, coconut, hemp, yogurt, kefir and a tad of homemade granola.

So, get creative and try it! Stock your kitchen with healthy nutritiously dense items and then dream up new ways of combining them! Let me know what you discovery in your experimentation!

Detox for Beginners

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Becky Hastings

One of the easiest things you can do to assist your body in the detox process is to drink a large glass of water immediately upon rising in the morning. It is important to drink the best quality water available. I do not have the definitive answer about which water is best, as I have read about reverse osmosis, alkaline, various filters, spring water, etc. One simple idea that might be the most effective and economical is treating your own water with lemon or wheat grass.

So, begin to make it a habit. Every morning make it easy for yourself to access a large glass of water and drink it down – and then wait at least 20 minutes before eating anything!

Water and food. This is a simple practice which most people are completely unaware of. It becomes critically important for anyone who struggles with chronic heartburn and takes antacids. Try this practice for three weeks and see if you notice any difference. Of course, the quality and quantity of food you ingest will also play a significant role, but this is something easy to start experimenting with. You are a scientist and your body and your intake are your testing ground.

As we get older we need to facilitate our digestion and nutrient absorption in every way possible. One important way to do this is to avoid drinking with meals. Drink water 20 minutes before a meal and wait at least 20 minutes after your meal to quench any thirst you might have.

I realize this is quite counter cultural. In restaurants the first thing they take is your drinks order. When you are invited to a meal at a friend’s house, everyone shares drinks before the meal. Every time I ask for nothing I receive at least two more questions and some strange looks: ‘you’re not going to have anything?’ Now in restaurants it is probably also about the size of the bill and the anticipated tip. Every waitron knows that the drinks portion of the bill can push the total much higher and they look forward to a correspondingly higher tip! For me it’s not about the money, it’s about how to facilitate my digestion and get the most out of my food. My aim is to live vibrantly throughout my whole life! I do not take for granted my current health, but seek to daily invest in my future health!

So sometimes I will ask for a glass of water and enjoy the pre-dinner conversation while my glass remains full!

Detox or Not?

Great Ways to Detoxify