Collard Green Spring Rolls

 

These rolls will hold together well so you can virtually stuff it with what ever you like. These are the things I chose to put in:

Spring rolls: (makes 12)

6 collards greens
1/2 red pepper, julienned
2 scallions, julienned
1 cucumber, peeled, julienned
1 avocado, sliced into strips
1/2 packet of tempeh (4oz)
2 Tbs minced fresh basil
2 Tbs fresh cilantro
Vermicelli rice noodles, boiled and cooled.

Boil a deep pot of water. Dip the collard leaves into the pot for 1 minute. Immediately rinse the collards with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Pat each leaf dry with a towel. Remove the stem by slicing the leaf into two equal sized "wrappers."
At this point you should have all your fillings of choice prepared.
Place the filling close to the end of a wrapper, leaving some space between the filling and the edge of the leaf. Fold the bottom corner over the filling and then begin to roll the wrap up (it's like rolling a burrito.)

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup almond butter
1.5 Tbs Braggs Amino Acid (or Soy sauce)
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
3 Tbs water

Whisk all ingredients together.

The Benefits of Juicing

Fresh Juice! I love juicing. I feel like every cell in my body says thanks when I take the first sip.

Juice is  yet another controversial topic in the world of nutrition. Nutrition brings controversy because nature encourages diversity. Amen to that!

Juicing can be extremely healing; especially for those of us who forget that when eating, chewing precedes swallowing (hey there fast eaters!). The juicing process makes the nutrients of the vegetables and fruits readily available for absorption. Juicing (and blending) saves the body digestive energy, allowing more energy to be put towards healing and detoxification.

Especially with juicing greens, the separation of chlorophyll from its fibers will allow for easy assimilation of this green sunlight energy. Chlorophyll is the Fast Track to our main sources of life: oxygen and liquid sunlight.

Most store bought juices (unless otherwise noted) have been pasteurized and no longer contain the nutritional benefits of fresh juice. Almost all contain more sugar than nutrients.

We have to be careful with juicing to not have too much sugar. When juicing fruits and vegetables, all the fiber is removed. Nature is perfect; she packages the perfect ratio of fiber to sugar in our fruits and vegetables to keep our blood sugar levels somewhat stable. However removing the fiber (which is there to keep us full) can easily flood our system with too much sugar.  Beware breakfast orange juice drinker… You could be setting yourself up for a crash with sugar or caffeine cravings later in the day.

While we will benefit from juice’s high levels of readily available nutrients, eating solid foods is what will keep the digestive system strong as these nutrients  move more slowly through the digestive track. Eating fibrous vegetables gives the body time to break down and absorb the nutrients it might miss in the quick assimilation of juice.

It is also recommended to “chew” your juice when drinking in order to create some saliva, an important component to digestion.

The most important thing to be aware of when juicing is that you do not juice too much fruit or sweet root vegetables. I recommend fruit or sweet roots (like carrots) be no more than a third of your juice. This can be difficult because, admittedly, carrot juice is really delicious! Eventually you will use even less than a third, as you get more adventurous (you can juice most anything.) The sweet juices are great as a treat, but minimizing the sugar content will prove to be the healthiest way in the long run.
The greens are miracle workers but can sometimes be bitter. Lemons are great to add to every juice; the citric will neutralize the bitterness (not to mention the vitamin C!).

There are many juicers our there for purchase. If you are new to  juicing, cheaper juicers work quite well. Keep in mind that most basic juicers require you to drink your juice right after juicing. Not to worry- juicing and clean up takes me a total of 5(ish) minutes.

Or you could try juicing the old fashioned way… chimpanzees often chew fibrous foods to remove the juice before discarding the fiber, and gorillas juice by filling their mouths with leaves and fruit, using the mass of leaves to press the juice out of the fruit, then discarding the fiber. Personally, I’ll keep using the juicer.

Juice Bars Around Boston

Boston is not yet abundant in health food restaurants but there are unpasteurized juices in various locations:

JOOS: delivers juice to a depot near your home after you order it online. The product is organic and of very high quality, juiced fresh before delivery.

Prana Cafe: in Newton/ Watertown

Red Lentil: Watertown

Life Alive: Cambridge

Blue Shirt Cafe: Somerville

570 Market: South End

Trident Bookstore and Cafe: Boston

(Please share with the community if you know any other juice bars around Boston by commenting on this post.)

Juice Recipes From The Film 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead'

Apple-Pear
1 Apple
2 Pears
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Carrot-Kale Combo
1 Green Apple
3 Handfuls spinach
6-8 Kale Leaves
4 Large Carrots
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Green Lemonade
1 Green Apple
3 Handfuls Spinach
6-8 Kale Leaves
½ Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon

All Green
Use as much greens as needed
Romaine Hearts
Kale or Collards
Spinach
2 Handfuls Parsley
2-3 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)

Apple-Beet-Carrot
1 Apple
2 Beets
3 Large Carrots
1 Piece Ginger (thumb sized)
Spinach / Kale – (optional)

Spinach-Fennel-Cucumber
1 Fennel Bulb
1 Cucumber
2-3 Celery Stalks
Loads of Spinach

Mean Green
1 Bulk of kale
4 Stalks of celery
1 Cucumber
2 granny smith apples
½ lemon
Ginger root (thumb sized)

Drink Your Greens

1 banana

2 dates

2 cups kale 

2 Tbl almond butter

3/4 cup water

Blend.

No kitty, it's my smoothie!

The Excitement of Being Toxic

Excitotoxins have an exciting effect on brain cells (sounds exciting!) … while causing a pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed (not so fun.)

In today’s food industry, harmful amounts of excitotoxins are found in up to 80% of all processed food. MSG (one of many glutamates found in foods,) hydrolyzed proteins, and other similar substances are all too common ingredients.

When scientists want to make mice fat ASAP (for the purpose studying obesity,) they feed them MSG. Regardless, the food industry has engineered chemically created flavors such as this one that keep us coming back for more. Are we addicted? Just as tobacco companies knowingly added more nicotine to cigarettes to make them addictive, we’re now in an invisible food trap that has also imprisoned us.

With a chemical formula that makes us feel instantly fulfilled, we are actually  providing ourselves with little to no nutrients. Most of us, who may have been encouraged by our doctors to lose weight, are in truth starving to death on a cellular level.

We struggle with hunger and blame our bodies and ourselves for being weak. Meanwhile our body is doing its best to keep us healthy! It calls in search of the nutrients it needs to function correctly.
Advertisements tell us that if we eat these chemically altered foods; we will be slim and happy. However most of these foods cause weight gain and disease. Many of these chemicals both inhibit our metabolism as well as increase the production of fat (as part of the defense mechanism to isolate the chemicals).

Diet soda alone is suspected of  being a major contributor to the impairment of brain function, neurological function, vision, and increased chances of seizures (especially when regularly consumed instead of a meal.) While it advertises freedom, most independent studies show that it hooks us on even stronger sugar cravings (due to our taste buds’ reaction to the extreme sweetness.)

The FDA does not carry out independent studies to test a food before it is marketed. Instead it relies on studies funded by the same company producing the product. The heart association puts its stamp of approval on foods loaded with trans fats because the product meets the sodium requirements. Classy.

In our industrialized version of better living, we have created over 75,000 synthetic chemicals since 1940. These days over 200 chemicals can been found in some newborn’s umbilical cords. Most are either food-born, environmental, or beauty product derived (“your makeup looks killer!”)

It is time to relearn better living that is in harmony with the organic compounds of our bodies and our planet.  We need to recover. It’s no joke when our neurological system has been affected.

Spring is an excellent time for a reboot as the body is naturally designed to excel in its detoxification process. Eat dark leafy greens every day (kale, parsley and cilantro are highly recommended!) as well as gelatinous fibers (chia seeds rock!) Water and vegetables are your BFFs (consume more vegetables than fruits.)

In general, think more about what healthy stuff you can  add  to your diet rather than freaking out about what you need to eliminate. The more nutrients your body receives and assimilates, the more you’ll naturally begin to eliminate what no longer serves you.  Exercising and a clean diet need each other. Tomorrow is never better than today to do something proactive.

Spring Forward Lightly

Spring Awakening

Just as the life in the seeds can’t help but erupt into the glory of the first spring flowers, in our bodies, potential is finding its way to the surface.

Our natural surroundings provide a reflection of what is going on inside. Just as in the winter time we had to wear layers of clothing to keep us warm, the body had to coat its tissues and cells with insulation. Now, as we peal off our winter coats, our inner body is trying to do the same. Sticking to a diet that is rich in fats, animal protein, dairy, and other heavily mucus forming foods, is as unnatural as making ourselves wear our thermal underwear on a warm spring day!

Spring is a time of budding what lays beneath the surface. On an emotional level, seeds of optimism may grow and we may find the power to shine bright. On the other hand, if we have avoided the introspective season of winter and kept our internal struggles repressed, they may now surface with full force, demanding to be addressed.

Waking up isn’t always easy, but vital for our survival as spiritual beings.

Whether you are experiencing pain or pleasure, feeling “good” or “bad” is not the point. The awakening is has more to do with how we relate to what we are feeling rather than to the feeling itself.

As the weather warms, it is common for a new sense of urgency around appearance and body image to arise. In the example of weight loss, your body may be awakening to its need of shedding winter layers. An urgency to lose weight in order to look good in the eyes of others is not an awakening. An awakening is when the desire to lose weight comes from the inner directed natural rhythm of your body.
While the weight loss methods may be the same in both cases, the internal process is entirely different. Fighting the weight through stress and self criticism is war. When we learn to let go internally as well as shed the physical layers, we learn Love. When you learn to love it all you have awakened; the good, the bad, the journey, and the destination,

No matter what cross road you are on, invite spirit into it.

Feeling tired?
During spring allot of energy is being drawn out of the earth by the trees, allowing them to bloom. When we spend most of our day walking in shoes on concrete floors, we are not receiving much earth energy for ourselves. Lean your back on the trunk of a tree for a few minutes each day or spend some time walking barefoot on the grass. There is a lot of energy on the surface of the ground, soak it up!

Sprouts

Sprouts represent new beginnings, containing a youthful vibrancy of potential growth.
As with any living organism in stages of infancy, we can feel the full potential of life. When eating sprouts you are providing your body life and vitality. Sprouts contain the vitamins, enzymes, amino acids and simple sugars. They are high in antioxidants, phytochemicals and significant amounts of vitamins A, C and D. Since sprouts are very easy to digest, our bodies are able to metabolize all these wonderful nutrients.
In their raw form, sprouts have a cooling effect on the body, and therefore are best consumed in warm weather or by robust, warm body types. Those who tend to feel cool can try steaming spouts or adding them to warm dishes such as stir-fries and soups, to reduce the cooling effect. There is a wide variety of edible and delicious sprouts, each with a different texture and flavor: alfalfa, mung bean, lentil, radish, clover, sunflower, broccoli, garbanzo and adzuki.

Here are some great ways to serve up sprouts:

* Add to salads
* Combine with other vegetables in wraps, roll-ups or stir-fries
* Use as garnish on top of soups, stews, omelets or scrambled eggs
* Add to rice or whole grain dishes
* Use in sandwiches instead of lettuce.

Prepare a salad using the following ingredients:

* Mixed greens (use dark green or red lettuces, a spring mix, arugula, or baby spinach.)

* Dandelion greens

* Alfalfa sprouts (or other sprouts; see examples mentioned above)

* Spring onions

* Dikon radish (delicious when shredded or julienned)

* Regular radishes

* Carrots (shredded or julienned)

* Raw beet (shredded or julienned)

All the vegetables above are seasonal to spring. You can then add you other favorites such as tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, cucumber, etc.

For The Dressing:

mix lemon juice (a spring cleanser), olive oil, garlic (another spring cleanser), salt and pepper. You can optionally add a teaspoon of mustard to the mix.