Guilty Pleasure… coconut flakes the size of chips
January 22nd, 2010
I love coconut, especially the young white ones. Whenever it’s sweet potato and yam season I stock up. I then steam, mash, add real butter and toss on some shredded coconut. Well… lucky for me, they were out of my usual brand of coconut shreds, so I picked 
up a bag of Coconut Flakes. Not just any coconut flakes! The brand is “LET’S DO ORGANIC.” The ingredients? Organic Coconut (sliced and dehydrated), nada mas! No sweetener, no pasteurization, nothing!
Unless we make foods ourselves, it’s not easy to find a packaged food with one ingredient listed. I am thoroughly impressed, my taste buds are delighted, and my sweet potatoes… I actually forgot to grab some. I was so excited to find organic flakes with nothing else added. The upside to forgetting my yams or sweet potatoes is that I got to eating the flakes alone – I’m hooked!
Young white coconuts are great to eat and drink by themselves, however… one of my favorite smoothies is to blend frozen coconut meat, a peeled orange, and choice of milk. A Tropical Delight!! Raw coconuts are a great snack/small meal in and of themselves.
In Sanskrit, the coconut palm is called kalpa vriksha: “the tree that supplies all that is needed to live.” Brigitte Mars, RAWESOME!
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PREPARATION… A Resolution Solution
January 18th, 2010
Preparation is key for success in most endeavors, so are deadlines. Today is the day before week 3 of my 52 week resolution. Rainy weather here in Southern California already has me craving some hot comfort food. However, there’s an easy solution – broth!
Simply get water boiling (or a healthy broth) and add whatever vegetables you have handy. Once all is tender, blend and drink. I call this liquid vitamins. And… because I drink it while fasting my body happily soaks it up like a sponge. I’ve given it to non-fasters, they not only love it, they feel great after drinking it!
Vegetable ideas to put in “soup.” Broccoli, onion, garlic, cabbage, potatoes (or quinoa), beets, carrots, etc. Anything goes really! I flavor mine with liquid aminos, or kosher salt or himalayan salt, then spice it up with a dash of cayenne, which by the way… is great for circulation and ridding the body of mucus.
A few other cold weather ideas to prepare for a fast… herbal teas, hot water with lemon, room temperature water, master cleanse drink, and/or blended miso soup. These liquid elixirs can be consumed anytime – cold weather, colds or flu are especially good times.
Organic Garden by The Foot?
January 8th, 2010
This is the salad I spoke about in my last post – it is also my first of three raised bed gardens. A fellow volunteer acquaintance of mine lent me his Square Foot Gardening book (author, Mel Bartholomew) to get me started. It has been a delight to learn how to grow more in less space. I have plenty of yard, however the sunlight isn’t the best in many areas. As the tomatoes grow a little more, I am going to have some netting put up via some poles so the tomatoes can grow up and not out. Done correctly, even pumpkins can be grown vertically.
The idea behind square foot gardening is to plant so many of each plant per square foot. Example… 1 broccoli plant is allowed to grow per square foot, spinach and beets can have 9 plants per square foot, while carrots, onions and radishes can each have 16 plants per square. Another benefit to growing this way is you use a lot less seeds.
The benefits to growing your own garden are endless! A huge benefit to growing raised bed and/or square foot is you need less starting soil, so… it is possible to have your garden be organic from the start! No waiting years for yard soil to become healthy enough to be labeled “organic.”
Go green, get clean and stay lean for 2010!
What’s The Best Part of Healthcare Reform?
January 4th, 2010
THE WHITE HOUSE GARDEN!
Kitchen Gardeners (.org) has done an excellent job at highlighting the White House Garden for 2009. By now, the President and First Lady have had plenty of time to experience the wonderful taste of real food and the benefits it can do for ones body and wallet. We can only hope it inspire them to make it a part of the forever talked about Healthcare Reform.
There’s nothing like eating off the land of your own garden, whether in a yard or a raised bed. You don’t need a whole lot of space to grow a season of crop. Many people are even growing vertical gardens. My winter crop consists of a salad… beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, indeterminate tomatoes, and broccoli. I’ve also planted some edible flowers such as Nasturtium and pansy’s. I cannot wait to eat my first homegrown bowl of salad!
I encourage you to look over the site by clicking on the photo – you may be inspired to grow your own, buy local, in season, and/or organic from your local CSA or Farmers’ Market.
May you live long and naturally with REAL food!
New Years Resolution x 52 Weeks…
January 1st, 2010
will be to fast one day each week…
Years ago when I had a really busy schedule on the road as a truck driver… I decided to fast one day a week for an entire year.My body and mind felt great, not to mention lighter! Keeping busy makes fasting quite easy and very doable so long as you pack enough liquids to carry you through the day. A gallon is great amount to strive for – it can come in the form of herbal teas, fresh juice (or diluted bottle juice), plain water or by adding raw apple cider vinegar or chlorophyll to your water. I also I like drinking the “Master Cleanse” drink as part of my one day fast.
Anyone can fast successfully when you wean yourself off food the day (or more before). My goal the day prior to and after my one day fast is to eat as much raw vegan food as possible. By this I don’t mean to stuff myself, what I do mean is in place of cooked heavy foods. Eating raw and vegan is by no means a requirement, it just makes easing into and out of fasting a healthier approach.
I have not made a New Years Resolution in decades, however… what I have done is get people together for what I call a Detox Challenge. This one day of fasting was one way for me to help a friend get back on track with her health. Fasting does wonders for the body, mind, and spirit – it gives me more productive hours one day a week.
Got a health promoting New Year Resolution?
Carmen D Cisneros
Author, Speaker, and Coach helping people look and feel 10 years younger in 12 weeks (or less)! ![View Carmen D Cisneros [LION]'s profile on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/img/webpromo/btn_myprofile_160x33.gif){kind=small}