Additions to this newsletter will be added by date. Just scroll down.
This newsletter is being created to share my healthy lifestyle. My best
friend of 47 years, Whitt, encouraged me to do something to let others
know what I eat, and what I do to keep myself healthy as we approach
our 60th year. She visited with me for 10 days in Alaska in our
"zoomobile", no husbands, just us hanging out like we used to as
teenagers. So she was more or less "trapped" into eating how I eat
(there is really nothing special about it), and seeing what it is I
do. Well, it turns out that she likes the food that I made (it
really is fast, I don't really like cooking or messing in the
kitchen), it is healthy, and helps a body be the best that it can be.
She took some of the recipes home to Hawaii, and has incorporated
them in her eating. So now I am sharing them with whoever happens to
stumble onto this website.
To keep some sort of order to this newsletter, all the additions I make will be by date, and that includes recipes.
I have been interested in learning about health, eating good,
exercise, etc. since I have been in my early 20's. I grew up in PA,
and then found my way to CA after highschool. There was not too much
written on the subject back in the late 60's, but CA was the hotbed
of anything alternative, and I started gathering information there,
in bits and pieces. It was like a hobby to me. And slowly over the
years things evolved and still are and here I am at 59 years young,
with these things that I do that someone might be interested in. My
main goal now is to have a lifestyle that creates a high quality of
life as I age. That is what this all boils down to now. Quality of
life. I figure that my body is a gift, so I take good care of it.
Exercise: Yes, I do it every day. I started jogging 35 years ago,
and I never stopped, when there was no such things as jogging shoes,
remember sneakers? I found what I love to do, I just walk out the
door of wherever we are, (I don't have to drive to a gym) it is
simple. I walk a little to warm up, and then I jog for about 30
minutes. My body moves, my hair moves, the wind is in my face, I'm
breathing fresh air, I love it. So find something that gets you
moving every day, and just do it. In the last 10 years I have also
added 20 minutes of yoga almost daily, for strength and flexibility.
The time I make for exercise is time well invested. I just made the
exercise time a priority through raising 3 kids, school and working.
I made no excuses, I just did it, and learned I could destress too.
My plan is to have this website an ongoing endeavor, that I will add
to it as I think of things. No big deal just recipes and some
things that might be of interest to someone that is maybe looking for
a healthier life style, and how to make the transition, to make
things happen. And maybe on down the "road", (that is a pun since we
live full time in our motorhome, travel a lot with our pets, and we
are sort of not working. I don't like to use the word retired
because that is not me or Glen, we're something else, we are just not
working all the time) Anyway, down the road with a video of things I
do to have a healthy body, on the web site.
Things I eat daily:
1. A serving of beans almost every day, loaded with protein and
fiber. Great for heart health plus tons of other stuff.
2. A clove of raw garlic, chopped on top of beans, salad or
whatever. If you can't stand it raw, chop it up and throw it into
something that you are cooking. You get more of the great properties
of garlic if it is raw.
3. A small handfull of nuts. Like walnuts, pistachio, brazil,
almond, etc. Don't get the oily, salted kind, find the roasted or
raw. It is easy to find them.
4. Sesame seeds are really good for you, so I keep a container on my
counter to remember to put some on salads or beans or whatever you
like.
5. Plain, Non or lowfat Yogurt about 1 1/2 cups daily with berries,
blueberries or blackberries. If you like, real maple syrup, not the
fake stuff.
6. Olive oil. Extra virgin, expeller cold pressed. First pressing
and organic if you can find that. It is there, even in the main
stream stores. I use it on salads or beans or whatever.
7. Drink 8 glasses of water or herb tea daily. I drink reverse
osmosis or bottled water.
8. Green tea 2 -3 cups a day.
9. I have sensitivities to wheat and dairy, as do many people I have
discovered, so I avoid them. Except for yogurt, because of the
processing and the great bacteria in yogurt, I tolerate that just
fine. I use fortified soy milk to substitute for cows milk in
everything. It is easy to get spelt flour bread, or many other kinds
of flours to substitute for baking or bread eating.
10. I try and eat more veggies than fruit, and get a total of 9
servings a day. I start the day with a cup of organic vegetable
juice, 1/2 grapefruit, and fruit on my cereal. So that gets me well
on the way to 9 servings a day, and the day just started. I also
drink a big glass of water when I get up.
11. Salad greens. I buy pre washed organic greens in a bag, easy to
find in any grocery store. Eat a salad every day.
12. I put ground flax seeds on my cereal. I buy the seeds, keep them in the freezer, and grind them up as needed, and I use a coffee grinder, just for flax seeds. I grind up enough for 3 or 4 days and keep it in the refrig. I also use a tablespoon of oat bran when I eat dry cereal for breakfast.
13. It is easy to buy organic dry cereal, low in sugar, at any major food store.
Here we go, I'll start with a few recipes and with some
guidelines for all the food that I eat.
1. I buy as much organic as I can. So that means, since we travel a
lot, I might not be able to get all things organic, so if I can't
find organic red beans, then I will get regular. The same with
veggies and fruits. Some things though, I just simply will not eat
unless they are organic, like strawberries. They are bad news if not
organic, too many nasty chemicals and pesticides. So don't go nuts
about it, get the organic when possible. And that is getting easier
and easier now, most major food stores have an organic section, or
natural food section. Be prepared to pay more, but I look at it as
an "investment" into my health.
2. I like to put together a meal in 5 - 10 minutes. And I really
do, Whitt can attest to that.
3. I like to use the least amount of pots and pans and dishes as
possible. So many of these recipes are one pot or no pot meals.
Easy Beans (use any kind of beans, I like red. I have used, pinto,
adzuki, lentils, lima etc. )
1 cup beans (soak over night) drain
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (buy in boxes or cans, easy to find
organic)
1/4cup molasses
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion diced
3 Tbls miso (find in cooler of natural food store, it is like a
paste, made from soy, pronounced meeso)
add water to cover beans about 2 inches.
cayenne pepper to taste, I put in about 1 teaspoon
I used a pressure cooker, and it takes about 20 minutes on the heat.
I love my pressure cooker, it is super fast, I use very little fuel
(good for the environment and the pocketbook), and it makes great
beans. If you have one follow the directions for beans in your
pressure cooker cookbook.
If you don't have one, my friend Whitt, uses a crock pot and leaves
it on for the day. Or just use a regular pot, and when the beans are
soft (probably 60-90minutes low flame) let it sit, and then it is
done, and you have beans for 2-3 days.
Now when I serve the beans I top with salad greens, carrots, red
pepper, some cheese (I like Percorino Romano, made from goat milk)
All in one bowl!! So easy. Have some healthy kind of crackers with
olive oil, and you have a super healthy meal and hardly any dishes to
wash.
Easy Cornbread
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat or any other flour like spelt, barley, etc.
1/4 c. honey
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. soy or cows milk. (add more if needed)
Combine all ingredients mix well. Pour batter into greased baking
pan. Use Canola oil spray. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20
minutes, or until done. This is a great combo with the beans and
salad.
Oatmeal and Egg
1 egg (free range) mix it
1/3 c oatmeal (organic)
1/3 c soy milk or cows milk
add a little water
Mix it all together
Microwave for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't boil over and
make a mess. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Add fruit for berries or
banana, tablespoon of ground flax seed. Cinnamon and ginger. The
egg is all cooked in the oatmeal.
Super fast meal
1 bunch kale or collard greens or cabbage or brussel sprouts
1 can organic pea soup, or any kind of soup
1 package of tofu or tempe
Cut and steam greens slightly, add soup and tofu or Tempe. Season
with Turmeric. Eat with crackers or bread and olive oil. Tempe is
made from soy, it can be found in the cooler section or sometimes
freezer section of a natural food store, but I have also found it in
regular chain stores too. I just stock up on it and keep it in the
freezer. It is easy to add it to so many dishes.
Egg in bread
1 egg
1 piece of bread
cut square in bread, crack egg and put it in cut out square in bread
on a plate. Microwave for 60 seconds. Add salad greens and carrot
and red pepper, and olive oil. Season with turmeric and pepper. If
you don't want to eat the whole yoke just put in 1/2 of the yoke in
the square. Some people don't want that much cholesterol. I buy
organic free range eggs.
Pancakes
1 egg beaten
1 cup flour (whole wheat, spelt, kamut or whatever)
3/4 c coarse ground corn meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
add soy milk or regular milk and some water
Mix all together well, add 1 tbs olive oil while mixing. Put in enought liquid so the batter is not too thick.
Another Fast Meal
4 small baked potatoes (organic)
Tempe or Tofu, cut in small squares
spinach
1 small box butternut squash soup (organic)
Turmeric and pepper
cut potatoes in big chunks and microwave for about 5 minutes. Heat soup in pot, throw in about 2 full cups of spinach, and along with tempe or Tofu. When potatoes are done throw them in the pot also. Heat until spinish is soft.
Nori, Rice and Salmon
1 sheet Nori (Nori is a sheet of seaweed, it comes in a package of 10 sheets or so. You can find this usually in the Oriental foods section. I use Emerald Cove Organic Pacific Sushi Nori, found in a natural food store)
brown rice (use brown rice, white rice is not as nutritious)
salmon (quick meal is canned salmon, get red salmon, all canned salmon is wild caught from Alaska, do not get farmed salmon)
salad greens
garlic chopped
Liquid Aminos (it tastes something like soy sauce, but this is really good for you, buy it at a natural food store. The brand name is Bragg Liquid Aminos)
Place Nori sheet on plate, add rice, salmon, salad greens, chopped garlic, and any other vegetable you like, add Liquid Aminos.
7/6/06
A cool day in Seward, AK. This is a day off for me, I work parttime at a day cruise company, that offers trips into the Kenai Fjords National Park. A beautiful area for wildlife and glacier viewing. You might want to check out the website and see how beautiful it is in Seward www.majormarine.com There is a web cam on the website where you can view the harbor and surrounding mountains in real time. In fact, I can go out on the dock and wave to you!
I mentioned about my best friend Whitt, and how she is working on changing her lifestyle, and incorporating some of my recipes in her food. Here is a great example of changing old shopping habits, and making lifestyle changes. Upon returning to Hawaii after her vacation with me, she started searching for the products that I use, or at least organic. And she took the time and she was successful, in Safeway (a mainstream store), she found a new line of organic products call "O", and she switched to soy milk, and she is now shopping at this place. She is buying organic produce, and making the bean recipe work for her in the crockpot. Hoooray for Whitt!!
Here is a list of fruits and veggies that you really want to buy organic. If you can't get it organic don't buy it at all. The reason being the chemicals and pesticides they use in the conventional growing methods really get into the produce, it cannot be washed off or pealed off. Our liver has to process all that stuff and work overtime. Why put chemicals in your body?
strawberries
apples
nectarines
cherries
grapes
pears
red or green peppers
celery
potatoes
New Recipe
Green beans and Lentils
big bunch of organic green beans cut
1 can of organic lentils
potatoes organic
cilantro
cheese
Braggs Liquid Amino
turmeric and pepper to taste
Steam green beans for a short time. Microwave potatoes for 5 minutes or so, cut in large chunks, melt cheese on top of potatoes the last 30 seconds. Add lentils to green beans. Put potatoes on a plate, top with the lentil mixture. Add Braggs Amino and spices and cilantro. Add a fast salad with the prewashed organic greens, and there is your meal in 10 minutes or so.
Books
"Healthy Aging" Andrew Weil, MD
"Natural Health, Natural Medicine" Andrew Weil, MD
"The wisdom of Menopause" Christiane Northrup, MD
"What your doctor may not tell you about Menopause" John R. Lee, MD
"No More Knee Pain" Dr. George J. Kessler
CD's
"Heal yourself with Medical Hypnosis" Andrew Weil, MD & Steven Gurgevich, Ph.D. - This works with all kinds of chronic disorders, and if nothing else wonderful for relaxation.
7/8/06
This is a great day. I just finished my jog with my dog. I think he feels good too, he is 13 and in great shape. He has been jogging with me since the age of 6 months. Before we retired from work 5 years ago, we were living in Oklahoma, where I worked at a counseling agency. I am a licensed marriage and family counselor. Rewarding work, but very stressful and jogging and yoga as well as massage helped me to manage the stress. Body work is good for the mind and the body. The CD mentioned above is great for relaxation, and relieve chronic problems, and find peace of mind.
Remember as you are making things like beans, rice, potatoes, veggies, whatever, make enough for 2 or 3 days, and this will speed up your preparation time.
Always squeeze a little lemon juice on your salad greens. This helps your body to absorb the calcium the greens contain, and they are loaded with calcium. I try and get most of my calcium and magnesium intake from my food. Salad greens, kale and collard greens have lots of calcium.
So you don't like sardines? Or you think you don't? It is time to give them a try, they are loaded with all kinds of good things for you. I even got Whitt to try them, and she ate them all! and so does my husband, Glen.
Sardines and Greens
bunch of salad greens
1/2 can of sardines in olive oil (find them next to canned tuna)
chopped onion
Braggs Liquid Aminos
sesame seeds
crackers
Turmeric and pepper
Use the prewashed organic salad greens, and make a bed on the plate. Add sardines, onion, sprinkle sesame seeds, and Braggs Aminos, and spices. The Braggs Aminos cut any fishy taste, if that is what bothers you about sardines. If you don't like that they really look like a fish in the can, then just smash them up a bit. Just get them in your diet, you will be happy that you did.
|
