Cauliflower Pizza Crust- healthified!

A very smart client/friend once asked me why people eat cauliflower pizza crust thinking it's healthy, when anyone knows that with ALL THAT CHEESE there's no way that junk is "healthy". Well, she's a smart cookie and here is a truly healthy pizza crust, and it's yummy!

Ingredients:
3 heads cauliflower florets
2 eggs
1.5 cup almond meal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 T italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Stick the florets into a food processor until it's totally "riced". Pour the cauliflower rice into a large pot, cover with water, boil, the cover and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, and if you'd like, freeze to cool it off. Otherwise, just use a cheesecloth to strain out all the liquid so that the cauliflower is totally dry. Pour that mixture into big mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix. Press into 2 pizza dishes in whatever shape you'd like, but not thinner than 1/4 inch. Cook for 30 minutes, then top, and cook just to heat the ingredients of your choice, and serve!

The Perfect Pumpkin (Zucchini) Chocolate Chip Bread

My mother-in-law has the most amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. It's so great that my mouth waters every time I think about it. I have been wondering how to make it healthier, as it is totally filled with a load of butter and sugar. I even enlisted the help of my friend Caroline over at Chocolate and Carrots who had some great ideas to healthify the recipe. I scoured the internet for recipes that sounded like they would work, as I don't really have the time to do complete recipe overhauls. I was surprised to find a version of this recipe over at Love.Health.Fitness and it was absolutely perfect! My mother-in-law's recipe also had a chocolate glaze on it, but after tasting this version, it actually doesn't need it at all. So delicious, and so healthy!

1.5 cups flour (I used Pamela's brand GF baking mix)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
big pinches of nutmeg, clove, and ginger
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup shredded zucchini (squeeze dried)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 T coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used flax milk)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients together, then toss in the zucchini and make sure it is coated evenly. Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

Got (non-dairy) Milk?

            Many disagreements exist regarding the health benefits of dairy, as well as the concerns of consuming raw, unpasteurized dairy. Much of the information concerning dairy is conflicting based on who is paying for the research and advertising. The choice of whether or not to consume dairy or what type of milk to consume is best made according to the priorities of the consumer, such as nutritional preferences, risks and benefits, and individual digestive reactions.

            The CDC and FDA post many warnings against consuming raw milk. These organizations claim that there are nothing but harmful bacteria and germs that have caused 79% of dairy related outbreaks between 1998-2011. However, other studies have shown that more illnesses have been recorded due to bacteria in deli meat. They also claim that almost no nutritional values and hardly any enzymes are lost in the pasteurization and homogenization processes. However, studies have shown better growth in children who drink raw human milk as opposed to pasteurized milk. Studies have also shown that enzymes and bacteria in raw milk protect people against asthma and allergies, and the hormones in raw milk strengthen the immune system. Due to the loss of lactobacilli bacteria through pasteurization, people who are lactose intolerant are more likely able to digest raw milk. Raw milk was found to be more digestible in 86% of lactose intolerant people.

            During pasteurization, the process of heating milk to kill bacteria, the milk is heated to 161 degrees for 15 seconds, or ultra-pasteurized, and heated to 280 degrees for a minimum of 2 seconds. The CDC claims that this does not significantly change nutritional value, but admits that some enzymes are inactivated and immunoglobulin are killed. Lactobacilli is killed which helps to digest lactose, and lipase is killed first in order for homogenization to even out the texture of the milk. Among enzymes killed in pasteurization are lipoprotein lipase, which increases the shelf life of milk once killed, plasmin protease, alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme which is the antibacterial, amylase, catalase, lactase, lactoperoxidase, and phosphatase. Milk contains 3.3% total protein, and the biggest cause for denatured proteins is the sensitivity of light of proteases, methionine and cystine. The high temperature of pasteurization causes whey and casein to interact but supposedly does not affect the nutritional value of milk, but only the functionality. After pasteurization, homogenization takes place so that the protein-heavy fat globules are broken down so there is not a cream layer on top and milk is more even throughout. This also makes the separation of whole, low fat, and skim milk easier. Because of the killing of lipase, there are an increased number of allergic reactions to the milk.

            The fat content in milk is another highly debated topic. Several decades ago, people only drank whole milk. Just a couple of decades ago, low fat milk was introduced to households and to school lunches by the FDA in attempt to make children healthier. However, whole milk is linked to lower body fat while low fat milk is linked to faster weight gain in children. The belief is that low fat foods makes one hungrier, and especially for carbohydrates. Not only does skim milk possibly cause a faster weight gain, but also with the absence of B vitamins combined with a person’s attempted metabolism of cow milk protein, homeocysteine is caused to buildup and that is a cocktail for heart disease. Also, in order to make milk appealing to children, flavored milks such as strawberry and chocolate are given to them that are filled with sugar, which negates any possible nutritional benefit of consuming milk, regardless of fat content.

            An array of health problems exists that are linked to dairy. Dairy is considered an inflammatory food that can cause arthritis flare-ups, as well as Rosacea and IBS. Alzheimer’s is also closely linked, as milk tainted with bovine tuberculosis is directly found in Alzheimer’s patients. 20-40% of dairy herds are infected with bovine tuberculosis. Also, Casein kinase 1 is found in the brains of patients, which builds up amyloid beta and notch cleavage.  As for Chron’s Disease, mycobacteria in cattle stops white blood cells from killing E. Coli by releasing the molecule mannose, and triggers the antibody protein ASCA. Infant ear infections are very likely caused by dairy, as there is 300% more casein in cow’s milk than human milk, and casein is very mucous forming. As for Osteoperosis and milk companies’ advertising that milk builds strong bones, the intake of milk has shown no effect on reducing the instance of fractures. This may possibly be due to increased urinary excretion of calcium when dairy is consumed. Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis could be caused by dairy as people have the same abnormal autoimmune response to milk. Diabetes may be caused by cows’ milk when children are given cows’ milk formula before 3 months of age. Autism is famously linked to dairy, as diets that eliminate diary, most importantly eliminating casein, get rid of the gastrointestinal problems that are thought to worsen behavioral problems in autistic people. As our immune system is such a large part of our digestive system, casein irritates the respiratory system and causes allergies. Prostate and breast cancer are also shown through studies to be caused by dairy, most specifically IGF-1, which is increased with the injection of rBGH in cows. The hormone oestrogen secreted in cow’s milk is thought to cause breast cancer. 

            Among all of the concerns with drinking dairy, there is the treatment of cows, as well as the results of what cows are treated with. Cows are given rBGH, bovine growth hormone, in order to increase their milk production. These cows then have diarrhea, and with the proximity of the utters to the excretion, the utters and milk are contaminated with the bacteria in the diarrhea. Farmers admit that about 90% of dairy products in grocery stores have fecal matter. These cows also suffer from mastitis, and with mastitis, they have somatic cells in their milk. There is an estimated 1,120,000 somatic cells in each spoonful of milk. This means there is approximately 1 drop of pus in every cup. This is not a huge serving of pus, but it just depends on how much pus the consumer is okay with consuming.

            The drinking of milk is thought to have begun 7500 years ago between the Central Balkans and Central Europe. Europeans seem to have the highest rate of lactase persistence and are the only people who can continue to digest milk without issues. Cultures who tend to be lactose intolerant are African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, and Asian Americans. These cultures have lactase deficiency, which causes lactose malabsorption. At 3 years old, the age by which children normally wean, they stop producing lactase and rennin that helps them to digest milk.

            For all the controversy over whether dairy milk actually does a body good, there are several other milk sources that are beneficial to our health, and have good sources of vitamins and protein, among other nutrients. Whole milk has 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 35 mg of cholesterol, 8 grams of protein, 12 grams of sugar, and 120 milligrams of sodium per cup. All other sources have fewer calories, fat, cholesterol and carbohydrates (with the exception of rice and oat milk). Soy milk has between 70-130 calories, 2-4 grams of fat, 7-9 grams of protein, and 4-5 grams of carbohydrates. Almond milk has 30-50 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, and 1-5 grams of carbohydrates. Hemp milk, which is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, has 70 calories, 6 grams of fat, 8-20 grams of protein, and 1 gram of carbohydrates. Oat milk has 110-130 calories, 1.5-2.5 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein, and 24 grams of carbohydrates. Coconut milk has 50 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, and 1 gram of carbohydrates. According to the numbers, coconut milk is a great milk source if fat is a nutrient preference, whereas hemp milk is a great alternative if one needs protein. Also available are goat milk, which is high in fat, sheep milk which is high in protein, and buffalo milk which is very high in fat. Most of these alternative milks are fortified with calcium; a nutrient for which dairy milk is widely drunk. However, the calcium in dairy milk is not easily absorbed. One must have Vitamin D in order to absorb calcium. The only natural source of vitamin D is sunlight, although vitamin D is added to dairy milk. As a matter of fact, the combination of retinol and saturated fat in dairy milk can actually weaken bones. Instead of drinking milk, calcium can be found in better sources such as leafy green vegetables, beans, and supplements.

            As for infants, human milk is higher in carbohydrates and amino acids cystine and tryptophan, which make it much better for infants to digest. Milk consumption in childhood, especially before the age of 3 months is linked to type 1 diabetes. Milk allergies are also the leading cause of ear infections in children. Milk also causes behavioral problems and asthma. Although enzymes and chemicals are added to infant formula in order to help them to digest the cow milk protein, more information should be provided to parents to inform them against using formula if the ability to feed their children breast milk if available. Giving children cow’s milk after weaning is also unnecessary and parents should be informed of milk alternatives and their benefits versus the use of dairy.

            Heard often, each argument depends on who is paying for the research. Each individual should weigh the benefits of dairy consumption. However, more information needs to be made more widely available to people in order to make informed decisions. Most importantly, people should have proper information so they can make good decisions for the sake of their children, as their decision can impact whether their children will get diabetes, asthma, allergies, eczema, issues with autism, bacterial infections, and even cancer. With all of the alternatives available, dairy milk is not the only option, or even the best option for all the benefits its consumption supposedly has.

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Interpretations." Weston A Price. N.p., 26 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 July 2014.

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Web. 20 July 2014.

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2012. Web. 20 July 2014.

"How Bacteria In Cows' Milk May Cause Crohn's Disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily,

13 Dec. 2007. Web. 20 July 2014.

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Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 July 2014. Web. 25 July 2014.

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Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 July 2014. Web. 25 July 2014.

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National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 20 July 2014.

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Can Pose a Serious Health Risk. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.

Paleo breakfast pudding

I've been on a vegan kick lately, and really enjoyed my new meals. However, my doctor was concerned that although my weight gain is on track for this pregnancy, I tend to gain my weight at the end. I also have a big boy in there apparently, and since I'm going for a much-needed VBAC and I'm a small person, I should focus on the baby gaining the weight necessary for him to be healthy, and not in excess of that. Therefore, I need to slow down and try to cut out all carbs other than fruits and vegetables. I don't have an issue with sugar, since I just put honey in my tea and that's about the extent of my sugar intake. My problem is rice and quinoa pasta. So, paleo it is for the rest of this pregnancy. I'm still keeping it at plant-based and all of my meat and eggs will be organic/grass-fed/free range. I'm not sure why people think paleo is all about meat.... or who came up with that bogus chart with meat on the bottom of the pyramid. You can be Vegan and Paleo if you wanted, it would simply cut out a ton of food groups and wouldn't be incredibly healthy. So anyway, here's to a Paleo rest of my pregnancy!

This is delicious. I actually meant to go a particular store to get coconut yogurt, because it's the only one that carries it. However, I got lazy. As I was making my delicious pineapple smoothie with coconut milk, I saw a recipe on the back of the carton for pudding. I modified it quite a bit, but the end result turned out great! I decided to use this instead of yogurt, and I'm glad I did.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch (next time I'm using coconut flour to make this truly Paleo)
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups coconut milk (you could also use 5x protein almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup ground flax seeds

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar, starch and salt together. Add in the milk slowly and whisk constantly until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and continue to whisk until the pudding thickens. Stir in vanilla and flax seeds and cool. Store, then top with berries or fruit of your choice (I chose berries and walnuts) when ready to serve.

Vegan Black Bean and Microgreen wrap

This was the most delicious lunch I have ever thrown together in my life. Well, make that the most delicious, easiest lunch I've ever thrown together. You don't even need the wrap, but I'm trying to get some calories into my life so that's why I ate it this way. You have got to try this!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
pinch garlic powder
black pepper
pinch cumin
salt
cayenne
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
pinch chili powder
rice (brown is the best option)
microgreens
I used gluten free Fiesta Wraps made with sorghum flour
cilantro would be a great addition

Sautee the beans and the rest of the ingredients before rice is listed for about 8 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. On a wrap, layer the rice, then beans, then microgreens and fold. So perfect!

Vegan Eggplant Lasagna

It's not beautiful, but it's delicious and healthy! I posted a recipe a while back for vegetarian lasagna, which was great, but here is the vegan-ified version. I loved it, and my son was all over it, so it's a winner!

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, sliced length-wise

salt

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

black pepper

1 teaspoon parsley

28 oz. can tomatoes

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more as needed

salt

1 tablespoon capers

12 ounces GF lasagna noodles, cooked

1 pound soft tofu, drained

2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend tomatoes, onion and garlic in a food processor until smooth, then simmer in a small pot on medium heat. After about 15 minutes, add in bay leaf, red pepper, capers, and parsley, and simmer until you are ready to use the sauce. 
With eggplant spread out on a baking sheet or plate, sprinkle with salt on both sides (not generously). In a pan with olive oil heated over medium heat, layer in the eggplant and cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Blend the tofu, salt and black pepper until it resembles ricotta cheese. Set aside.

In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer the sauce, then noodles, then tofu, then eggplant then repeat. Finish with the sauce on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Enjoy!

Vegan Tomato and Kale Soup

On an incredibly cold day, tomato soup is just perfect. I'm not a fan of tomato soup with chunks of veggies normally, but this was delicious.

Ingredients:
28 oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 1/4 cups rice, cooked (you could also use quinoa)
1 cup frozen pea + sliced carrot blend, organic
2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
1 heaping tbsp chili powder
pepper/salt to taste 
1 tsp garlic powder 

pinch cayenne pepper

Blend tomatoes in a processor until smooth, then pour into a large pot. Add vegetable broth and cook on medium-high until boiling. Add spices, bay leaves, and peas and carrots until vegetables are cooked through. Add rice and kale and serve!

Vegan Garlic "butter" Pasta

This dish is incredibly simple. So simple, I made it the night we got back from flying all day instead of ordering take-out. I always have quinoa pasta in the pantry, and the spinach was still fresh, surprisingly. I always say that if you load anything with garlic and hot pepper, it'll be delicious!

Ingredients:
1 pkg quinoa pasta
heaping bunch of spinach, washed and drained
1 T Earth Balance vegan butter spread (soy free)
1/4 cup olive oil (you could get away with less, but I like good fats)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Boil pasta according to package directions. Melt buttery spread with olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir for about 1 minute, then add spinach and stir until wilted. Once pasta is done, scoop noodles into pan with the spinach and add the spices to taste. So fast and so yummy!

Korean-style cold and spicy noodles

This dish is very similar to the Korean dish called Nangmyon. However, I use different noodles. Instead of buckwheat, because they are typically not gluten free, I use sweet potato glass noodles which are normally used to make Jjapchae. I am always craving this, and whip it up at say... 9 PM when I should be thinking about sleeping but get too excited about traveling and I work up an appetite packing.

Ingredients:
1 T vegetable bouillon (not necessary)
2 servings of sweet potato noodles, or whatever you prefer
1 heaping T Korean hot paste (sunchang is normally gluten free)
1 T soy sauce
2 tsp white distilled vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp pureed pear, or sugar
1 T sesame seeds

Boil the bouillon in several cups of water in a large pot. Boil the noodles until tender, then drain and rinse in cold water. Reserve the liquid from pot in order to modify flavor of your noodles. While the noodles are cooking, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Once noodles are rinsed, add to the bowl with the spicy mixture, and mix well. If you need to dilute your noodles due to spice, add the bouillon water from boiling your noodles. I usually ice this water before adding to noodles.

Some add cucumbers and fried egg to this. Well, most do. However, at 9 PM, this is what I'm giving myself!

Miso like you've never had it!

I love good miso soup. This soup was fantastic! I've seriously never had miso that tasted this good, and it was my first attempt at home-made miso. There's a little twist, since my mother-in-law made it this way once and I just love it. I didn't have tofu, so I didn't add it, but it would be a great addition to make this more of a meal!

Ingredients:
4 cups water
2 T sweet white miso paste (I find this in the refrigerated section at the local health food store)
1 T vegetable bouillon
1 jalapeño, sliced
handful chopped cilantro

Bring the water to a boil, add the miso paste and bouillon. Stir until dissolved, then add jalapeno and cilantro. Now go try it and love it!

Chipotle Quinoa

I have honestly never liked chipotle. I love every pepper in the world it seems, with this exception. I found this recipe as well in the the Food Matters Cookbook and decided to give it a try. I was blown away, both by the great flavor of the dish and the heat of the chipotle... a great thing! If you don't like spice, don't add any of the adobo sauce and just use one pepper.

Ingredients:

3 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 T minced garlic
2 canned chipotle chiles, minced with some sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 cup quinoa
salt and black pepper
1 cup cooked or canned black beans, drained
1/2 cup corn
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
lime wedges

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until onion is clear. Add peppers and adobo, and oregano. Turn heat up to medium-high, add quinoa, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir frequently for a few minutes. Add beans, corn, stock and boil. Stir, reduce heat to low and cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.

Ma-Po Tofu without the fluff!

When I lived in China, I was always all over Ma-Po Tofu. It's normally stir-fried with pork, but I'm obviously cooking without pork these days. I modified this recipe from an incredible cookbook I picked up a while back, called The Food Matters Cookbook. It's got all kinds of great plant-based recipes, with meat included as well, just not the star of the dishes. This dish surprised both my husband and I in that it was so good! He's a meat-lover by all standards, and thoroughly enjoyed this. I swear, it was danged-delicious!

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1/2 tsp chile flakes, to taste
1/2 cup chopped scallions
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable stock
14 oz firm tofu, cut into cubes
2 T soy sauce
salt
black pepper
1 drizzle sesame oil

Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic, ginger and chile flakes until they sizzle. Add scallions, tomatoes, and stock. Cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant, then add tofu. Stir occasionally until heated through. Stir in soy sauce, salt, black pepper, and sesame oil. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Roasting Seaweed

I've posted a while back about how great of a snack seaweed is. I love it with a bit of rice. In some households, kids eat chicken fingers all day. Well in mine growing up, my brother and I were all over seaweed and rice. I guess we both still are! You can buy little packets of it in the store, but it's incredibly expensive, especially when it takes all of 5 minutes to do in your own kitchen and it tastes so much more fresh.

This is all you need:
A package of seaweed... as much of it as you like.
A brush for food
sea salt
sesame oil
large pan... my mom just used her stove top

Lay out each piece of seaweed, paint on thin coat of sesame oil, then sprinkle with the amount of salt to your preference. I love salt so I throw it on very generously. You may want to hold back and just sprinkle a very light amount. With the pan heated on high, use your fingers or a tong to lay a piece of seaweed in there for about 3 seconds (until it starts to crinkle a little) then flip for a couple of seconds and continue until all seaweed is done. You can chop it into fourths, which is what I prefer since I like a mouth full of seaweed, or into sixths which is what is normal. Serve it alone or with a teaspoon of rice per piece of seaweed for a light lunch or snack.

Edamame and vegetable pasta

Has anyone read The China Study? I have had many reasons to stop eating dairy in the past, but after reading this book, I'm sold. No more dairy, very little (if any) meat, and I'm sticking with my veggies!

It's not that I'm so easily sold by reading a book by a former farmer who did a huge study to prove and directly link dairy and meat to cancer, Alzheimer's and chronic disease. It's more that I was wanting a good reason to stop eating meat. I'm not a fan of it in the first place, and I hate the way dairy makes me feel. I used to go to bed at night feeling guilty if I didn't eat a piece of animal protein at every meal. Yes, I'm free now! If you haven't read the book, go get it!

Anyway, this is my first night of yummy plant-based eating. I made a delicious pasta with my favorite vegetables, and here's the recipe.

1 package brown rice pasta
2 T sesame oil, divided
1 cup steamed and shelled edamame
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced (I love garlic, but if you don't, just put 2 cloves)
heaping handful of spinach
1/4 cup soy sauce, or liquid aminos, reduced sodium preferred
pinch black pepper
pinch of crushed Korean red pepper (or just red pepper if that's what you have)

Boil pasta according to package directions then drain. In a large pan or wok, heat 1 T sesame oil. Once hot, add the garlic and onion until onion is wilted. Toss in the spinach and edamame and stir. Turn the heat down to medium-low, then add the pasta and remaining ingredients. So easy and so yummy! You can add whatever vegetables you want. Mushrooms would be a great addition to this!