Today I’m taking a respite from the plastic insanity to bring you this raw food tidbit and low crap recipe.

Have you ever wished there was a way that you could get all the goodness of a big salad everyday without the fuss?

You wish is about to come true!

I’ve been doing some serious lurking in the online raw food movement for almost a year, experimenting on myself to see if eating raw food would make any type of significant difference in my health. The answer to that question is “absolutely”! And I will be blogging more about raw food in the future.

For today I want to tell you how you can ingest a full days worth of raw veggies and fruit in one sitting … without a fork. The way to do that is by making a blended salad, where all the salad ingredients, including the dressing, are blended up and served in a glass.

Sound gross? … only until you try it.

The trick is to put in one sweet fruit such as apple, pineapple, peach, etc and a little bit of something acidic such as lemon, lime or apple cider vinegar, and then go wild with the rest of the ingredients. I also like to include a clove of garlic for its health giving and protective properties.

Making a blended salad is much faster than making a regular salad because you don’t have to chop anything – the blender does all the work. Which also makes clean up a breeze. A quick rinse of the knife, cutting board and blender when your done, throw the produce trimmings in the compost and your good to go! Another great thing about blended salads is you can easily take them with you in a ‘go cup’.

Below are some guidelines for making a blended salad, but don’t be afraid to experiment with what you have on hand.

Ingredients
1-2 handfuls of leafy greens (spinach, beet greens, cilantro, lettuce, kale, chard, etc)
1 tomato
½ – 1 sweet pepper (red, green, or orange)
Cucumber (long English, field, etc)
1 clove garlic
½ – 1 cup sweet fruit (pineapple, apple, peach, mango, etc)
½ lemon or lime OR ½-1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
½ – 1 cup Filtered water (depending on how thick you like your blended salad)
Optional: 1 or 2 pitted dates; ½ tbsp honey or maple syrup; ½ carrot; ½ beet; fresh peas or beans; fennel or celery stalks; other salad ingredients

Directions
1.Place all ingredients in blender
2.Blend until smooth. You may need to use the blender’s plunger.
3.Serve in a wine glass, over ice if you like your salad cold.

Its been five days since I brought home $60 of Low Crap Food, so its time to take an inventory and see what I’ve got left and tell you what I’ve been eating.

On Saturday I hosted a picnic for three friends who were helping with some video research at Thompson Small Farm. (Stay tuned for those posts over the coming weeks.)

For the picnic I prepared Garlic Broccoli Offering, Yogurt Garlic Potatoes, Brown Rice Salad, Nettle/Raspberry/Oat Straw Tea, and hard boiled eggs. I also brought along some goat’s cheese and a fresh tomato for slicing and serving on corn crackers. There was chocolate for dessert thanks to Kerri. We were so busy exchanging ideas that no one thought to snap a picture.

The picnic used up some of the peppers, garlic, and cucumber, a little of the spinach and cilantro, 2 of the broccoli stalks, the limes, most of the eggs and ½ the tub of yogurt.

The oranges, kale, ginger and most of the remaining spinach has been consumed in Orange Green juice, my favourite breakfast and after running juice.

I attended a potluck dinner on Sunday, and used the rest of the broccoli, more of the garlic and had to substitute a lemon (as I was out of limes) in another batch of Garlic Broccoli Offering, which was met with rave reviews.

Half of the onion and another bulb of garlic went into a stew served over brown rice. Other ingredients found in the fridge and thrown into the stew were: half of a sweet potato, 3 carrots, and five bison sausages cut up.

I’ve also gone through a pot of quinoa, which I usually eat cold after adding chopped salad ingredients, olives and feta cheese.

So after five days, I still have about 1/3 of the produce left. That pineapple is just about perfectly ripe and ready to eat. This morning I chopped up the cauliflower, tossed it with  salt, and it is now dehydrating as I write in hopes of becoming a crunchy low crap snack food. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Quick to prepare, this raw dish is perfect for those last minute potluck get-togethers.

Garlic Broccoli Offering is:
- Medium Alkaline forming
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber
- Raw

Ingredients
2 stalks broccoli
6 garlic cloves (adjust to your preference)
½ tsp sea salt (adjust to your preference)
¼ cup hemp or olive oil
Juice from two limes
Handful of chopped cilantro and/or parsley (optional)

Directions
1. Finely chop broccoli and garlic
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Enjoy with a friend

This afternoon both my fridge and my tummy were feeling a little empty, so I grabbed my shopping bags and walked over to see what I could find to fill both.

What I came home with was two bags bursting with low crap food; food that is unprocessed and self packaged with only a couple of exceptions. The cucumber and cauliflower are both wrapped in plastic; the yogurt is in a plastic tub (one of these days I’ll start making my own); and the eggs are in a cardboard carton.

Not bad!

The plastic yogurt tub will be recycled and the egg carton will be taken to be reused. All the produce trimmings will be fed to the worms, with the exception of the citrus rinds, which will be composted. So the only crap the earth will have to deal with is the plastic covering on the cucumber and cauliflower.

The only the crap my body will have to deal with is … well all I can think of at this point is possible BPA contamination from the plastic and not all of the produce is organic, so a few other chemical residues may be ingested. I will be eating most of this food raw, so the health enhancing benefits will far outweigh the few short comings.

All in all, I’m going to give myself an 8 out of 10 for low crap shopping. I’m taking away 2 points because not everything is organic.

These foods, along with other stores in my fridge, freezer and pantry will keep me going for several days. Stay tuned to find out how I’m enjoying this bounty over the next few days.

Here’s what I bought:
4 sweet peppers (2 red; 1 green; 1 orange)
1 cauliflower head
1 spinach bunch
1 onion
1 celery
9 garlic bulbs
1 medium ginger root
1 cilantro bunch
3 broccoli stalks (organic)
1 kale bunch (organic)
1 long English cucumber
3 large navel oranges
2 limes
1 pear (organic)
2 Fuji apples (organic)
1 pineapple
1 dozen eggs (organic)
1 large tub plain yogurt (organic)

Do you ever really think about how organic fruit begins?

You might have visions of a peaceful serene orchard brimming over with picture perfect produce.

Well I have a treat for you … a rare peak into just how much love really goes into your food.

Take a look at this video of apricot trees being pruned at Abbott Acres in Cawston, British Columbia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzswr8n_ysA

Unfortunately YouTube has censored the music that was playing on the satellite radio that was sitting beside the camera. So you have to imagine Mick Jagger crooning through the first half of the video in the classic version of “Miss You”

“I’ve been holding out so long; I’ve been sleeping all alone; Lord I miss you; I’ve been hanging on the phone; I’ve been sleeping all alone; I want to kiss you … “ 

The second half of the video is another classic, “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads.

“And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack; And you may find yourself in another part of the world; And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile; And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife; And you may ask yourself-well…how did I get here? …”

Who says you have to be a Zen master to be a farmer. This video shows that farming might just be the hippest job around … and I can guarantee that those ‘cots are going to be the grooviest ‘cots you have ever tasted. Yako has promised to keep us updated with juicy shots as those apricots get ready for harvest later this summer.

Sending out a special hi-five to Tammi, Ted and Yako, and all the other organic farmers, for doing what you do.

I’ll be checking in with Tammi and other organic farmers over the summer to help us all get back in touch with low crap food.

Because a low crap diet is as much concerned with what we eat, as with the medicine we take, I thought it timely to repost my article on Dandelions written a couple of years ago. This paper deals only with the root, but Dandelion medicine can also be found in its leaves and flowers. So stop cursing and poisoning this herbal friend, and make Dandelion part of your low crap lifestyle.

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Dandelions are everywhere. And people hate them. Yet hating dandelions is not a natural state. Have you ever had an enthusiastic five year old bring you a bouquet of bright yellow dandelion blossoms? Children who haven’t yet learned to judge, instinctively know the virtues of this innocent plant. Alas, somewhere along life’s path we start to believe that dandelions are an enemy.

But I have a different theory. I believe that the dandelion has a job to do, and we are making it very difficult for dandelion to fulfill its destiny. The dandelion is here to help us heal … and it isn’t about to give up on us. Have you noticed that no matter how much we curse, poison or dig out this plant, it just keeps reappearing … everywhere.

I invite you to take a journey with me to discover just how simple it is to cooperate with the dandelion and help it do its job. So grab a pitch fork and find yourself a dandelion patch in a chemical free bit of ground, preferably away from roads and highways. If you are unsure how to identify the dandelion plant, do a Google Image Search for ‘Taraxacum officinale’, dandelion’s botanical name.

Dandelion is one of those plants that has a very long tap root that is able to push its way down past the topsoil and into the hardpan, accessing minerals and nutrients otherwise unavailable to us. This strong tap root is also part of what makes dandelion’s personality a little challenging for the impatient … its not easy to dig out a complete dandelion root.

For medicinal purposes, we want the roots that have some meat to them. Two year old roots are ideal. But don’t worry; you don’t have to keep track of what plants are last years, and what belong to the year before. Dandelion is generous in its offerings … its unlikely you will run out of plants to dig.

I find that a pitch fork works best as it’s less likely to break the root. But a shovel will do the job just as well. Dig down as far as you can until the soil is loosened around the root, then gently tug until it lets go of its cozy home.

When you start to get bored with the digging process, you have probably gathered enough roots for today. There will be always be more dandelions patiently waiting their turn to be able to serve you with their health enriching goodness, so don’t feel you have to harvest them all at once.

Next step is to remove the tops and wash off the soil. Use a bucket of water to wash  the soil off the roots, then dump the muddy water onto the compost. A final rinse with the hose and then you can step back and admire these beauties.

Those shiny, fresh, vital roots represent improved digestive health, nourishment for ‘good’ intestinal bacteria, gentle liver and kidney support, antioxidants, soluble fiber and a source of micro nutrients.

All that without any capsules, pills, or plastic bottles!

For today’s project, we’re going to prepare the roots for use as a beverage. So, the next step is to cut the roots into small pieces so they can dry more evenly. First slice each root lengthwise, then dice into bits.

As you are working at this task, nibble on a small piece of root. Taste the subtle sweet and bitter flavour. Savour the fresh juicy crunch. Connect with the vital earth energy that the root brought with it from its home below the surface. This is the food of our ancestors.

Once they are all sliced up, place on a cookie sheet and put into a low temperature (150F) oven for a few hours. Turn the roots once or twice to ensure they are drying evenly. You will know they are ready when there is a gentle sweet smell in the kitchen and the root pieces snap easily. Let the roots cool, then use a clean coffee grinder or blender to reduce the roasted roots into a powder. Don’t worry if you can’t get the pieces ground into a really fine  powder, small chunks will work as well.

To enjoy dandelion’s offering, put 1 teaspoon of the ground, roasted roots into a coffee cup and fill with boiling water. Find a quiet spot to sit and drink this nurishing liquid. And when you are done, remember to use a spoon to get at the solid bits at the bottom of your cup. After all you wouldn’t leave vegetables at the bottom of your soup bowl; so don’t leave dandelion goodness at the bottom of your cup.

Limit yourself to one cup of dandelion root tea per day. That’s all you need year round to benefit from dandelion’s enhealthing properties.

Getting to the root of dandelion’s existence wasn’t so hard. All it takes is an open mind, a pitch fork and a willingness to accept enhealthment from the abundance of nature.

Now that you know dandelion’s secret, you’ll notice those sunny flowers winking at you; and you will feel compelled to respond with a nod of thanks for its perseverance in trying to get our attention.
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The information contained in this paper is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to be of a diagnostic nature and does not replace the advice of a qualified health care practitioner. Please seek medical attention as required.

Orange Juice with a Fresh Green Twist

Do know where orange juice comes from?

Ok that’s a bit of a smart-ass question … but to make a point I thought I would ask.

Of course orange juice comes from oranges. But most of the orange juice for sale in supermarkets has been pasteurized and hot packed in plastic bottles. So you are buying an inferior product in non-degradable packaging. Sure it’s inexpensive and convenient, but at what cost to our health and our environment?

Why not make your own orange juice with your blender. (A VitaMix is ideal for this task.)

And while your at it, throw in some fresh greens and you’ve got a high fiber super drink at a fraction of the cost of purchasing powdered green super food, which by the way, is also a processed food housed in a pesky plastic tub.

OGJ is:
- Neutral Alkaline forming when made with spinach
- Medium Alkaline forming when made with Kale
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber 
- Raw

OGJ is best enjoyed fresh and it will keep in fridge for up to 12 hours.

Ingredients
1 orange peeled
1-2 handfuls of any leafy greens such as spinach and kale
¼ lime peeled
¼ – ½ inch fresh ginger (optional)
2 cups water
Ice (optional)

Directions
1. Wash all ingredients under running water.
2. Place all ingredients in blender (put leafy greens in last)
3. Add 2 cups filtered water
4. Blend until all ingredients are well pulverized (30-45 seconds in a VitaMix) and the OGJ is a frothy bright green
5. Serve over ice

Quick. Simple. Enhealthing.

This is an excellent soup to keep on hand in the fridge. It tastes just as good cold as it does hot. I like to make this soup when I’m feeling a little run down and in danger of succumbing to a cold or flu. The energizing and warming properties of ginger nicely complement the flu fighting properties of garlic and onion. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene and selenium, two strong anti-oxidants. This soup will keep for several days in the fridge and can be reheated or frozen for later use.

Carrot Ginger Garlic Soup is gluten free and low alkaline forming.

Diabetics should be aware that cooked carrots may trigger insulin.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion roughly chopped
4 cups roughly chopped carrots
4 cups water
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Lightly sauté onion in olive oil until onion turns translucent
2. Add carrots, water, garlic, ginger and salt
3. Simmer until carrots are very tender, approximately 15 minutes
4. Remove from heat and use a hand blender to blend into a smooth, thick soup. (If you don’t have a hand blender, you can puree in a regular blender, or use a potato masher.)
5. Serve hot or cold, seasoned with fresh ground pepper.

Here’s a sweet treat no-crap recipe that you will enjoy hot from the oven or as cold left overs. You can make them for after school, late night nibbles, or as a take along snack for tomorrow. Don’t even think about peeling the fiber rich skin off.

Sweet Potatoes are high alkaline forming, gluten free and safe for diabetics.

Ingredients
One fist size organic sweet potato per person
Olive Oil
Sea Salt or powdered Kelp
Optional Dry Herbs (such as Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, etc)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400F
2. Wash well and cut into approximate 1/2 inch thick sticks. (Don’t cut too thin or they will burn.)
3. Put into a large bowl and lightly toss with olive oil.
4. If using dry herbs, use a half tablespoon of dry herb for each sweet potato. Rub the dry herb between the palms of your hands to energize. Let the energized herbs fall into the bowl.
5. Use your hands to mix everything together.
6. Place on cookie sheet.
7. Lightly sprinkle with a little sea salt or powdered kelp.
8. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, turning once about half way through the cooking time.
9. The Bakes are done when you can pierce them with a fork.

Enjoy hot from the oven or as a cold snack. Will keep in the fridge for several days.

The Sweet Potato is a no-crap food that is sweet fiber for your bowel. When you eat sweet potatoes, peel and all, a perfect breeding ground for good bacteria is created. Good bacteria in the bowel means increased absorption of nutrients as well as timely elimination of the unnecessary bits.

A quick Google search for sweet potato recipes returns several thousand hits and the majority of those recipes contain added sugar. I say why break a low-crap diet by adding sugar to a food that is already naturally sweet?

Baked, boiled or mashed sweet potatoes stand beautifully on their own as good solid no-crap high-fiber food. Added to soups and stews, they provide comfort, energy and empowering nutrition.

One afternoon a couple of years ago I discovered “Sweet Potato Fries” at a local pub. I enjoyed that dish so much that I set out to create a healthier home made version that doesn’t require deep fat frying. What I came up with is less crispy then the pub grub, but no one seems to mind.

Sweet Potatoes can be cut up and baked in less then an hour and they make a nutritious snack for the after school crowd … a low crap alternative to denatured frozen French fries.

I often take this dish as my contribution to potluck gatherings and its always a hit. I find it is just as tasty cold the next day as it is hot, fresh from the oven.  I have posted my recipe for Sweet Potato Bakes in a separate post.

Sweet Potatoes are high alkaline forming, gluten free and safe for diabetics.