Vegan Pesto

This simple quick recipe makes use of nutritional yeast to replace the Parmesan cheese in traditional pesto.  The yeast supplies protein, B-vitamins and is a galactoglogue (supports milk production in breastfeeding moms).  If you’re not familiar with this product, it comes in dry yellow flakes available at most health-food stores and has a pleasant nutty-cheesy flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups basil leaves or similar arromatic herb (ie parsley, lemon balm, etc)

1/3 c nutritional yeast

1/2 c toasted walnuts or pine nuts

1/2 c cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Rough chop leaves, nuts, and garlic. Combine all ingredients and pulse with hand blender or food processor until it forms a chunky paste. (Alternatively, you can chop everything very fine by hand and then add olive oil, salt and yeast, but then it wouldn’t be quite so fast:-))

Enjoy over pasta, spread on bread with tomatoes for a great sandwich, or combine with a cooked whole grains like millet for a satifying meal.

Hemorrhoids

Okay, I know this is not anyone’s favorite topic. But, if you have them, you definitely want to get rid of them, and if you don’t have them, you should know anyways, in case you ever do.

Unfortunately, they are often a result of pregnancy and child birth. Despite the fact that I went my whole pregnancy without them and that I did hypnobirthing, and learned how to have a pain-free drug-free labor and give birth without pushing (which is totally unnessecary in the birth proccess and actually hinders it), but at the very end the midwife just could not stop telling me to push and, I (impatient as I was to meet this little critter after more than 24 hours of labor and 9+ months of her inhabiting my body) was thinking “Isn’t she all the way out yet? How long is this child?” So I pushed, and she was born, along with OUCH!!! the hemorrhoids. Which are, hands down, the most incredibly painful thing I’ve ever experienced. They feel remarkably like sitting on a million tiny pins, sometimes even when you’re not sitting, and they make going to the bathroom the absolute most excruciating experience in life. They are, of course, slightly embarassing. So nobody ever talks about them. But I know there are more of you out there because my doctor said mine were “not too bad, really” (they sure didn’t feel ‘not too bad’ to me!) and told me there was nothing to be done and they were just a result of childbirth, “a battle scar,” and I could get some ointment and treat them but they’d never really go away. So, sorry, but I was stuck with them for life. Well, enough of my little rant.

Rest assured that there are alternative therapies for hemorrhoids. Here are the ones I found helpful.

1.) Billberry.

My doula, who is also an herbalist, recommended this. bilberry is good for microcirculation and hemorrhoids are basically varicose veins. It really works.

The dosage was 2 pills with 80 mg billberry extract 3 times a day and within 2 days they had vanished. They occasionally returned and then I would take it again. They didn’t disappear for good until i learned to:

2.) Relaaaax!

Overexertion is one of the main culprits in causing hemorrhoids. Often this is easier said than done, but over time anyone can build relaxation into their daily schedule.

3.) Witch Hazel.

Great for emergency temporary relief. Apply directly with a cotton ball.

4.) Daily baths or sitz baths with a few drops of lavender essential oil.

5.) Pranayam.

Breathing exercises that help with relaxation. See a qualified yoga instructor for recommendations. Or look for a future post about pranayam here.

A Lemon a Day…

Most people are aware that lemons deliver a great dose of vitamin C (100% USRDA per half cup of lemon juice), but did you know that fresh lemons are also a great source of potassium, calcium, folate, vitamin B-6, and contain important trace minerals like copper, selenium and zinc?

A glass of water with lemon first thing in the morning is a gentle but effective liver cleanser -especially good for clearing up pesky skin blemishes!

But after squeezing out your juice, don’t throw away the peel!

Lemon peel is very high in vitamin C as well (13% USRDA per Tablespoon). It has a distinctive flavor that can be used in a variety of recipes, and unlike the sour fruit, has its own delicate sweetness. When cooked with vegetables or potatoes lemon peel reduces the amount of salt needed in a recipe. It also add great flavor to baked goods, like one of my favorites, lemon peel molasses cookies. A quick way to get the benefits of the vitamins and minerals is to make lemon peel tea. It is delicious and refreshing hot or cold, and since the lemon peel is naturally sweet, no honey or sugar is needed.

LEMON PEEL TEA

INGREDIENTS:

Peel of half a lemon

(use organic to avoid ingesting harmful pesticides and herbicides)

6 cups filtered water

Chop the peel into strips and place in a tea ball or tea strainer. Pour the water into a stainless steel or enamel pot with a fitted lid. Place over stove top on high heat and add the tea ball with the lemon peel (hint: if you don’t have a tea ball handy you can juts add the peel and strain the tea when you pour it). When the water comes to a boi, turn the heat to medium and let it simmer for seven minutes. Turn off heat and let the mixture sit for five minutes. Pour. Sip. Relax.

Letting Kids Play with Food

The other day, while I was cleaning the kitchen, my housemate handed my four-month-old a piece of raw broccoli.   Gabi, who had been crying, immediately calmed down as she explored the broccoli, turning it over and over in her hands, licking it, and smelling it.   She was so taken with it that she protested when I took it from her to go to bed.   The following morning, while I was cleaning potatoes for a soup, I handed her one that had just been scrubbed.   She immediately dropped her plastic crab rattle and grabbed the potato, turning the lumpy brown thing over and over in her hands and staring at it intensely.

With all the battery-operated gadgets out there with flashing lights, moving parts, and farm animal noises, who would have thought that raw vegetables could be such an engaging toy?

Yesterday, I attended a talk by Lowell Monke, Professor of Education at Wittenburg University, about how media influences children’s relationships to the world.   As he pointed out, the experiences our children’s generation will have in their lifetime are increasingly symbolic: They will hear recorded conversations or telephones more often then live voices, feel more connected to online communities than to their geographical neighbors, view nature on television more than they will experience the great outdoors.   These are pretty shocking facts and don’t leave a whole lot of room to experience the real world of people and physical objects!

Admittedly, it would be impossible and not desireable to forever keep kids from participating in the technical-virtual world that is becoming increasingly important.  But if they do not have a solid foundation of real-world experience before they are exposed to it, they will have no reference for the symbols they experience. Then, the symbols themselves become thier only reality, as they form a conception of the world filtered by the media they view it through.  

This increased sterility and remoteness of experience starts with how we care for babies from birth.   Most modern babies are constantly confined to car seats, playpens, and cribs.   When they do go outside, they see the world from the carefully wrapped and insulated confines of a stroller. Their toys are contrived plastic objects, often with only a very abstract relationship to anything they will ever be able to make practical use of.

My daughter has a vast collection of playthings representing everything from a caterpillar to a monkey to a freight train, in all shades of vibrant colors and made of everything from plastic to wood to organic cotton. ( I’ve never bought her a single toy but they come in in an unending stream from family members, friends, and acquaintances from all corners of the world.)  Yet, she prefers to play with a brown raw potato.   Could it be that she instinctively knows what kind of experience she really needs?

Quinoa Vegetarian Stew

This stew makes a great one-dish meal. Quinoa is an Andean grain that has great nutritional value, with as much protein per serving as milk. Brazil nuts are high in selenium.

1 med potato

2 med carrots

2-3 celery stalks

10 brazil nuts

2 onions

1 tsp fennel seed

pinch cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp chili powder

2 tbs olive oil

2 tomatoes

1 c dry quinoa

 

 

Cook quinoa according to package directions.

Cut Brazil nuts in half and cook under broiler until slightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Wash and chop potato, carrots, and celery into half inch pieces. Peel and chop onion into half inch pieces. Put olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add all spices and onion to the pan. Cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add carrots, celery, and potato. Cook about ten minutes until potato is soft, reducing heat slightly. Slice tomato and add to pot. Add cooked quinoa to vegetables, stir, and serve.

Serves 6.

Molasses Ginger Cake

This is a delicious, high-iron snack. One tablespoon of molasses provides 20% RDA of iron.  For a great variation substitute raisins with dried unsweetened cranberries, or add 1/2 cup unsweetened grated coconut.

2 c cornucopia baking mix, (see below) may substitute with 2 c spelt flour, 1 tbs baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda

1 c spelt flour

¾ c raisins (soaked, see below)

2 tbs coconut oil or ghee

2 ½ tbs unsulphured blackstrap molasses

2 tbs tahini or cashew butter

1 egg

¾ c whole organic milk

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground coriander

About 1 tbs shaved ginger root (see below)

2 tbs maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350, and grease two eight inch round baking dishes with butter or coconut oil. Melt coconut oil under low heat. Mix molasses, tahini or cashew butter, syrup, egg, milk, and coconut oil. (all ingredients should be at room temperature, or coconut oil will solidify) sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Combine flour mixture with wet ingredients, mix until all the flour is incorporated, add in raisins and ginger. Bake about 40 minutes.

cornucopia baking mix (and lots of other delicious goodies!) available at: http://www.cornucopiabakingco.com/

shaved ginger: peel the skin off a piece of ginger with a carrot peeler, then shave into very thin slices on the side of a box grater or with the carrot peeler

soaked raisins: cover raisins with water and let them sit until they plump up, about 15 minutes

Tahini Squash Spread

This spread  is great on  whole grain bread, drizzled over steamed vegetables and cooked  brown rice for a hearty vegetarian meal, and can be eaten on its own as a quick snack or side dish.

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 acorn or small butternut squash

3 tbs tahini

1 1/2  tbs cashew butter

1/3 cup raisins soaked in 3/4 cup water  

1 tsp fennel

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

3/4 tbs grade b maple syrup

1 tbs apple cider vinegar 

 

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds, and puncture with a fork or knife. Bake cut side down for about 45 minutes. Set raisins in a bowl with water and let them soak about 20 minutes. Let squash cool about 10-20 minutes, scoop out flesh and place in a medium sized saucepan. Add all other ingredients except vinegar and molasses and cook mixture over medium heat until it begins to bubble. (note: mixture should be fairly liquid in consistancy.  If it is too thick, add water one tablespoon at a time until desred consistancy is reached)  Turn off heat and add vinegar and molasses or maple syrup. 

 

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION FOR INGREDIENTS

1 tbs of tahini provides 5-7% USRDA of iron and 3-6% USRDA of calcium 

1 tbs of cashew butter provides 5% iron, 2% folate, 1% calcium 

 1 cup of raisins provides 17% of iron, 8% calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and vitamin K 

Besides providing another 11% of your RDA of iron, the squash is a great source of dietary fiber, providing more than 1/3 RDA per cup, 18% of vitamin A, 9% calcium, 37% RDA  of vitamin C

GingerMint Tea for Cold and Flu

In holistic medicine, Ginger is somewhat of a panacea. It is a powerful spicy root that supports the body’s immune system and helps burn away toxins in the body. Drinking this (all four cups) at the first sign of a cold and every day until you feel better will help treat the symptoms, rebalance your body, and restore health.

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 inches of fresh ginger root

organic peppermint or spearmint tea (1 bag or equivalent loose tea)

2 quarts filtered water

Juice of 1 fresh organic lemon, or about 1/4 cup organic lemon juice

1 tsp. honey (optional, do not use honey if symptoms of inflammation or Candida are present)

PREPARATION: Take about 1.5 inches of ginger root and peel off flaky skin with a serrated knife. Break up the ginger by either chopping it into pieces no more than 1/4 inch square or by grating it on a box grater. Put ginger and water in an enamel or stainless steel pot with a lid. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer 7 minutes. Add tea and cover. Let stand 5 minutes. Add lemon juice, and honey if desired. Serve hot. Makes about four cups.