Holiday Spice Berry Green Smoothie

Royal purple is one of my favorite colors, so at first I almost called this smoothie the 'Purple People Eater.' Then I thought the youngins' would not get the reference, and they would assume the name had something to do with the unsettling modern craze for zombie everything. With a smoothie name like that, it would have been a better post for Halloween. Instead since I have always been a purple person, I named this spicy berry smoothie for those of us who love all shades of purple. Although sometimes sports teams ruin it for me, since the color purple should not have giant numbers and names pasted all over it. No. Imagine the royal color on gorgeous Renaissance brocades, silks, and velvety fabrics... or upon purple mountains majesty.... in sparkling giant geodes of amethyst... waving in huge fields of french lavender... or in a tall delicious spicy berry smoothie. Yes the Queen is positively passionate about Royal Purple people!

I also love how purple and rust go together. That gorgeous color combo even works with antioxidant rich healthy smoothie foods... such as blackberries, blueberries, and the earthy colors of these spices! Did you know that some of the healthiest of spices are already in your holiday kitchen? True. No sense in letting that allspice and cloves sit on the pantry shelf most of the year when they could be fighting inflammation in your body dear purple people! That is why I wanted to highlight adding these tasty scented spices to your smoothies at any time of the year. If you got it... use it baby!




Check out how in the video above and the links provided how consuming spices like turmeric, cloves, allspice, and ginger, can affect your health. (Although you must keep in mind to never add more than a pinch of nutmeg to your foods. It can be toxic when over used.) It's so simple to get more antioxidant goodness in your everyday foods by adding in even a small amount of familiar spices! Got to love that!

Let's get to today's smoothie! As always you can use what organic produce you have on hand. Just make sure your smoothie contains some potent greens. When using organic fruit there is never any need to ever add any sweeteners. It will be naturally sweet enough!

A Spicy 'Purple People' Smoothie

6 oz. Coconut Water

2 tsp Hemp seeds

2 tsp Chia

2 Tbs Ground Flax Seed

2 tsp Sesame seeds

1/8 tsp Allspice

1/4 tsp Ginger

1/8 tsp Cloves

1/2 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon only

1/4 tsp Turmeric

Small handful Pea Sprouts

1 Cucumber

Handful Lettuce Greens or Romaine

1/2 cup Blackberries (organic frozen okay)

1/2 cup Blueberries (wild organic frozen okay)

1 Banana

1 Kiwi

1 Pear

Optional

Dr. Fuhrman Vitamin D3 drops

Dr. Fuhrman DHA/EPA drops

2 tsp Green Magma powder
1 Tb Gogi berries

As always most ingredients should be organic. Place these healthy ingredients into your VitaMix or high speed blender. Blend per your machine's instructions. Be sure to let everything blend a minute or two longer than your usual smoothie making time to help break down some of those blackberry seeds. This also makes your smoothie a bit creamier anyway especially if you have a VitaMix. If you prefer to use grated ginger or turmeric root that is good too! If you have the supplement drops add them into your glass after you pour your smoothie, and then top off with a bit more smoothie. Mmmm a liquid purple salad for breakfast! Smells good. Looks beautiful! Tastes great! Get your spoons out and dig in, my playful purple people!

Be happy. Be healthy. Be peace.

Best Moist Goji Berries: Heaven Mountain And Ron Teeguarden's Dragon Herbs

Goji berries... we hear about them often in our healthy foodie world. Just like other colorful berries they contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, phytochemicals, trace minerals, and are a high-ORAC antioxidant rich food. Being the super awesome person that you are, you want the best when you make your healthy choices... right? Since I always feel that you need to know where your food comes from, especially when it is from China, and especially if it does not say organic, I did some research on the company whose goji berries taste the best in all the land. That would be the Dragon Herbs company, and Ron Teeguarden, the person behind 'Heaven Mountain Goji Berries.'  (I will compare them to other goji products later in this post).

"You should never settle for less than the best," states Ron Teeguarden, a master herbalist known world wide for his peerless herbal tonics. On the quality control page of his website Ron acknowledges that he likes "organic" products and practices as well, and he does not sell items with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, food coloring, or GMO's, as that would not be best 'Di Tao' practice. We have to understand that most herbs come from the remote places in the world that do not have the same organic system as the United States. Dragon Herbs standards are the highest in the world, and they only are interested in best practices possible wherever they cultivate or find wild herbs. As a note of organic interest, Ron was one of the seminal founders of one of the first organic food companies, 'Eden Foods' in 1969. He also co-authored a natural foods cookbook in 1971, and worked on organic farms. His products are considered supreme by the owners and executives of other herbal companies, who buy their personal herbs for themselves and their family from Dragon Herbs.

Ron created the video shown below so we can see the pollution free, pristine, very remote region of the world where the Heaven Mountain range rests. Dragon Herbs goji are grown on farms at the base of the mountain, where the water comes from melted snow and glacial runoff. It is not coming from an industrial polluted river, or even near any cities. Personally I love seeing the frolicking mountain goats (maybe because I am a Capricorn), rushing water, and the tents of the Mongolian people along the road in the video. Since Ron has spent many years living and working with herbalists in China, always searching for the best of herbs, I feel I can trust this product even without the organic certification on the bag. 

What I found even more admirable when researching Ron Teeguarden, is that he is a man with a passionate commitment to herbs, and the path of radiant health. When he is sharing his love and wonder at the power of nature's herbs, there is a true sense of his Spirit connection within his chosen work. A higher purpose with a reverence for the Earth... whoa, I am loving this man! Plus I dig anyone who listens to Alan Watts! Being a good soul in service to the world, Ron Teeguarden shares his own book '30 Tips' for life here for free, which you can also download as a PDF if you wish. If you prefer it in book form you can purchase for $14.95 here. The information is excellent, heartfelt, and the graphics are beautiful. Peaceful, calm, and intelligent, Ron is someone I would love to spend time with chatting about darn near anything. In the meantime... there are informative YouTube videos of Ron speaking about herbs to view, and his website pages to read. Together along with his wife and partner Yanlin Teeguarden, they run their successful herb business. She is responsible for running the entire overseas operation, including the look of their stores, and products. You can learn more about Ron and his wife on this page, and this page, as it turns out they are the perfect pair to be running a world wide herb company!

Now you go on ahead, and enjoy a rare exotic trip to Heaven Mountain in Xinjiang, China, in the video below! Afterwards you will feel so good about 'Dragon Herbs Heaven Mountain Goji Berries.'  Bless those sweet ladies who are in the field hand picking your perfect ripe berries whenever you open your own bag! 



"Snack grade delicious and herb grade serious" is the saying on the 'Heaven Mountain Goji Berries' package. These goji are dried in the sun the old fashioned way as you may have seen in the film above. After trying many dried brands of goji berries, I think you would agree that you would much rather eat the sweet, juicy, moist, plump, bursting with flavor Goji, that is 'Ron Teeguarden Dragon Herbs Heaven Mountain Goji' than something dry and hard. Let's look at the difference between 'Heaven Mountain' and the other goji berries found in the food market. 

Below are the soft raisin like 'Heaven Mountain' goji berries. So moist that they stick together in clumps. Hey clumpy is good in this situation! The package is compressed since the air must be sucked out during processing. Just separate them, that is okay, it's part of Ron's fresher system. I read someplace that he spent a year perfecting the packaging. You might also notice that the color is more intense than other brands too. The result? More flavor and potency in these exceptionally tasty goji berries.

My first goji berries experience came from this package shown in the photo below. Even though it states that it is raw and organic, the goji were very hard, dry, and difficult to chew. I really did not enjoy them at all. I then wondered, "What's so great about this goji berry thing?"

I am not going to talk about that brand specifically, since all the brands I have tried except 'Heaven Mountain,' are very hard leather-like goji berries. Just look at them below... like little rocks. If you throw some hard goji brands in hot tea, or liquid, you could plump them up again. 

So now that you can visually see the difference, imagine the difference in taste and texture when rolling around in your mouth. See the Heaven Mountain goji berries below.... soft and moist. If the dried out goji brands are all you can get where you live, I guess it's better than no goji. From my experience it is more fun to be able to put your hand right in the pouch, and immediately get some yummy goji berries! No soaking needed. Heck yes, I highly recommend Ron Teeguarden's Heaven Mountain Goji Berries. They are simply the best you can buy, grown in the same place, at the very source that is famous for this berry! 

Goji has been cultivated for over a thousand years in the Heaven Mountain area of China. That is the meaning of the 'Di Tao' stamp on the bag. You need to read Ron's blog post about the importance of the 'Earth Tao' source for plants and herbs. This will explain in depth his commitment to purity, clean technology, and the genuine authentic best source for all of his Dragon Herbs products. There is a large section in his post just on the 'Di Tao of the Goji Berries' if you scroll down the page. You will learn exactly why 'Heaven Mountain' goji is sweet, and not bitter like other goji brands. Goji bushes in this region are replaced every 6-7 years for potency. Old wild tree goji are not to be consumed. Ron also talks about "organic," practices in China, other companies practices, and their claims.

Also known as Lycium Berries, Wolfberries, Lycium barbarum, or Gou Qi Zi, these little beauties are well worth the high price. The 8 oz. pouch comes with the sell by date stamped right on the front, and has been formulated to keep those berries soft and tasty. Oh and let me tell you that these babies won't last more than a couple of weeks in your house, since they are so good! I eat only 1-2 teaspoons a day when we have a bag in the pantry. Be sure to chew your food well and squeeze every drop of goodness out of these little wonders! They make a great snack and are a healthy addition to any trail mix. Heaven Mountain Goji also make a nice colorful sprinkle on cereals, chia puddings, salads, and breakfast quinoa since they have the texture of soft raisins. Use them in baking just as you would raisins too, such as muffins, and cookies. In the winter throw some goji berries into hot tea for a nice little fruity surprise. Actually it is said that by placing gogi berries in warm tea or blending them into a smoothie makes the lycopene more readily available to your body.

Some say Goji berries may interact with drugs such as warfarin (a blood thinner), diabetes drugs, or blood pressure drugs. Although as a former diabetic person who was previously on blood pressure meds, I never experienced any problem with goji berries during that time. Some people who are sensitive to nightshades and eat too many goji may experience stomach cramps or diarrhea. Moderation and variety in your whole foods is always the way to go, do not over use any one food. That would be silly.

I stumbled upon 'Heaven Mountain Goji Berries' when we were visiting a natural foods store in a different town, and I am so grateful that I did! For quite some time I was unable to find 'Heaven Mountain' for sale in our area, so I purchased them online at Amazon. Now our local co-op sells them right along side of that other brand. I am such a happy glamper! Goji is also known as the happy fruit... so I guess that could be true! As Ron Teeguarden says about Goji berries, "An ounce a day keeps you smiling away!"  

I just saw a video here about the effect that goji may have on sleep due to its melatonin levels. So perhaps I should have a teaspoon of goji and a shot of tart cherry juice at night to help me get to sleep! Ah menopause... I am going to research the Dragon Herbs website for any info they may have on hot flashes. After six years of every 30 minutes, I am so over the hot flashes interrupting my life! Geesh!

I have included the link below to buy 'Dragon Herbs Heaven Mountain Goji Berries' online if you find you are in a Goji desert! When transitioning to healthier choices in our food lifestyle, you gotta love snack foods like 'Heaven Mountain Goji Berries!' 

Be happy, be healthy, be peace.

Asian Hoisin Quinoa With Persimmon Salad

It's whats for dinner! I wanted to share a simple tasty sauce that I have been making lately. A really big hit in our house for all manner of vegetables and greens! You will need a couple of store bought products to keep on hand in your fridge. More about those below.

To set the scene at our castle: I am usually creating promo graphics for my husband's business when he comes in from work at night. Then it's 'oops' got to go make the dinner! So in those moments the quickest meal made of our fresh ingredients with a bit of pizzazz are the lifesavers in the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes honey!" So I scurry out to the kitchen and look over the organic greens in the refrigerator. Sometimes I plan the night before... and well sometimes I am just as they say.. "In the moment!" Then I get to chopping!!! Actually if I need help chopping or with anything at all, my wonderful husband always offers to help... or even do the dishes! Lately he has been making the green juice while I prepare the meal. How awesome is that!? He truly is the King!


Back to this quick Asian meal solution! If you luvvvvvvvvvv Asian take out flavor then this sauce combo is wowza! You need these three organic products in your fridge arsenal. Premier Japan Hoisin from Edwards and Sons, Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos, and DeNigris Balsamic Vinegar Glaze. Love this magic trio! 

All of our ingredients are organic and you can use any saute greens and veggies you have on hand. This is one of those dishes where we don't really measure anything. Just chop the veggies, water saute, shake, and drizzle. Chop, saute, shake, and drizzle.... chop, saute, shake, and drizzle...

Asian Hoisin Quinoa

1 cup rainbow quinoa

any greens chopped - we used kale

any vegetables of choice chopped  - we used the following

sliced onions

sliced mushrooms

sliced carrots

sliced almonds

Hoisin sauce

Raw Coconut Aminos

Balsamic Vinegar Glaze

spring water

Optional: fruit, cashews, raisins

Chop all veggies while your quinoa is cooking. Our standard rainbow quinoa measurement is one cup quinoa to two cups of water in small saucepan for ten minutes. When the water is gone and you see those quinoa ringlets it's done. Just remove from heat and fluff.

In a saute pan place vegetables and small amount of water. Lightly saute and cover. Stir and add more water as needed. Veg should be cooked in a few minutes. Do not over cook. We like to keep our greens and vegetables full of goodness and flavor. Plus this is a quick dinner throw down.



Add in sliced almonds, raisins, or raw cashews at this point. Then shake and drizzle in the Hoisin, coconut aminos, and balsamic vinegar. Stir and taste. You can add a bit more water, or any of the 3 bottled liquids to your taste preferences. Create as much sauce you need to glaze vegetables and quinoa. So so good! If you are a "hottie" and require some heat added to this dish just go for it! Don't let my 'mild taste-buds' hold you back!



Now scoop a portion of quinoa on your plate from the sauce pan. Top Quinoa with your delicious vegetable and sauce mixture.

Tada! Easy quick Asian style meal in about fifteen minutes! Since we have salad everyday in addition to our entree, I like adding a new item every week from the exotic fruit section of the store. Fabulous food fun! Persimmons made a colorful addition to our usual dinner salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, avocados, onions, nuts, and seeds below. They are the orange and golden chunks. You can read more about persimmons on this post. 



I hope your can purchase these 3 items in the organic section of your food market and then have this versatile sweet tangy sauce on your meals real soon! I will post some Amazon links below if you cannot get them in your store. This Asian sauce also works well on gluten free pad thai noodles. Heck it would probably be good on that salad up there too! Although I did put the balsamic vinegar glaze on my salad. Yummmmm!

Now doesn't that look mouthwatering? Super tasty my friends! Okay honey... dinner is served in the living room tonight, and we are ready to watch Downton Abbey. Be happy, be healthy, be peace! Chop, saute, shake, and drizzle cha cha cha....

Asian Style Pilaf - Mung Bean Sprouts With Mushroom Veggie Quinoa

Quinoa! Food of the Gods! Truly it is! We love quinoa (pronounced Keen-Wah) because it accepts any flavor combination from sweet to savory, making it one of the most adaptable foods on the planet. This valuable gluten-free source of protein is a nutty delight and a popular wonder food for good reason. Indeed it's chock full of nutritious B vitamins such as folate, thiamin, riboflavin, and a B6 source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, and zinc. It's goodness goes beyond flavor.

Quinoa is a seed and not a grain, and is prepared similar to rice. One cup of Quinoa to two cups of water, makes 3 cups of cooked fluffy Quinoa. Mix it with a sauce, and various veggies. So easy! Just check out my other quinoa posts: Quinoa cold veggie salad, Sweet Breakfast Quinoa, and Quinoa veggie bean burgers to view how versatile this food is to have in your pantry. Say it again...Keen-Wah...Keen-Wah...Keen-Wah! 

The seeds come in cream, black, and red colors, which you can mix together to make your own rainbow Quinoa. To get the most out of the more expensive colored quinoa, just place a variety of the quinoa colors into a mason jar, then add in more of the cheaper cream colored Quinoa. Ta-da! Rainbow quinoa! Using a mason jar funnel keeps those tiny seeds from running all over your kitchen counter hiding under things! Then I usually take 1/2 cup of rainbow quinoa from my mason jar mix, add that into a measuring cup of 1/2 cup cream colored quinoa... stretching out that rainbow mix even more! 

Be sure to place your quinoa seeds into a mesh strainer and rinse before cooking to remove the mildly bitter saponines. Sometimes I forget, although I can say that the quinoa never tasted bad to me either way. So don't feel bad if you forget too. Some brands of quinoa come pre-washed and may save you the step. Use organic and fair trade quinoa if possible. All of our ingredients are organic. Do the best that you can.

Every week we usually have some type of quinoa pilaf mixed with whatever veggies are in the kitchen. So this recipe is an example of one of those evening meals with an asian twist. You can add or subtract whatever items you have at your home because quinoa is so forgiving and adaptable to all flavor combinations. You can make extra quinoa just for the leftovers, and then use it in your next day's breakfast, or dinner salad. Here's what to mix together to re-live your old days of Chinese take-out food:

Asian Style Pilaf - Mung Bean Sprouts 
With Mushroom Veggie Quinoa

1 cup rainbow or plain Quinoa

spring water

box vegetable broth

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms of choice 

1/2 green pepper
1/2 purple pepper 

1/3 sliced onion 

1/2 cup chopped spinach

2-3 chopped leaves Swiss chard

2 tbs balsamic glaze

3 tbs coconut aminos

1 tbs coconut palm sugar

chopped tomato

1/2 chopped red sweet pepper

handful mung bean sprouts

pecans

sliced almonds

raisins

Optional: 
Mandarin orange slices
Pineapple chunks

Add 1 cup of rinsed quinoa to 2 cups boiling water or vegetable broth. I usually use water first and then add the broth to the mixture in the saute pan later, as you will see in directions below. Although if you prefer, you can use the vegetable broth in both instances for more intense flavor. Bring the quinoa to rapid boil, turn down, simmer covered for 10 minutes, or until water evaporates. Do not let burn.  

When cooked quinoa is fluffed with a fork it should look like the rainbow quinoa in the photo above. Notice the little white ringlets that have busted out of the seeds. Remove pan from burner. Set aside covered. 

While quinoa is cooking mix the coconut aminos, balsamic glaze, and coconut palm sugar into a small bowl. Then saute onions, sliced mushrooms, purple and green peppers, with a small bit of water in a saute pan for a few minutes. Add in Swiss chard leaves, plus fresh or frozen spinach. If you only have one or the other of the greens or the peppers that is fine. Stir a few times till the greens are wilted. 



Add in the cooked quinoa and stir together. Add enough vegetable broth into pan to soak into the quinoa. Then pour in the coconut aminos and the balsamic glaze mixture. Toss in a handful of almonds, pecans and organic raisins. Stir all lightly again. That's it folks!

Plate the cooked quinoa pilaf mixture. Top with fresh tomatoes, sweet red peppers, and then garnish generously with the fresh mung bean sprouts. If you have any mandarin orange slices or pineapple chunks they would go well with these flavors too. Try to avoid using old fashioned soy sauce on your Asian style pilaf as it is full of salt and MSG. Use instead the bottles of sweet balsamic glaze sauce and the coconut aminos, to flavor your individual pilaf serving according to your own taste preference. 

I think you will love the combination of warm broth flavored quinoa and greens, the cold crispness of the sprouts and sweet red peppers, the savory fresh tomatoes, the sweet chewy raisins, and the crunchy nuts. If you have orange slices or pineapple chunks they would add extra sweetness too. Go ahead and add that glorious generous drizzle of coconut aminos and balsamic glaze to your bowl. Oh My! A very healthy substitute for "Chinese take-out" cravings. Yes you can feel great about eating this Asian quinoa pilaf! 

Warning: You will want seconds... And that is okay!!!! Keen-Wah! Yeah baby!

I hope those of you new to cooking quinoa will try this simple Asian style pilaf, so that you can at a moment's notice quickly make a delicious quinoa dish for your family! Be sure to serve with a fresh side salad too. 

Be Happy. Be Healthy. Be Peace. Much love!

Radicchio: A Cancer Fighting Superfood

Who knew? Radicchio...a super food? I had never even bought a radicchio until a month ago. After I learned about its powerful effect on fighting free radicals, that cute little ball of radicchio was finally on my radar! Since then I have been purchasing colorful radicchio every week, and adding it to our nightly salads. We regularly hear about the powerful effects of spinach, berries, broccoli, onions, red cabbage, and the families of veggies related to those power foods as being the most healthy. Although I have never heard radicchio specifically mentioned at all. I never considered radicchio in that super healthy food way, until I watched the video below. Yes, I knew that romaine was probably one of the best choices within the lettuce family. Yet I had no idea that Radicchio was even better. I wanted to share this radical radicchio information, so that you will add radicchio to your evening or afternoon salads everyday too. It's that good!

A member of the chicory family, radicchio comes from Italy, although it is also believed it may have come from Asia to them. It is now grown widely in California, and I would try to do your best to find an organic variety in your local market. You can also grow your own organic radicchio from seeds. Radicchio can come in varieties that are the shape of a softball or look like red Belgian endive. Just look at the many beautiful radicchio varieties available at Johnny's Seeds. Most find that radicchio lasts at least a week in the fridge. I use Debbie Meyer Green Bags  for my veggies, and my radicchio has lasted up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

I absolutely love the bright color in salads, and that is exactly where its power emanates. Color! Like most purple or blue varieties of veggies, it's those deep dark colors that create the nutritional and cancer suppression goodness known as anthocyanidins. They are a type of powerful antioxidant, and radicchio actually has more of them than spinach and blueberries. Since veggies and fruits are made of many different nutrients and vitamins it is important to eat a variety to cover all our bases, although the ones with antioxidants are the ones that have a very strong effect on cancer cells. Anthocyanidins are found to have fifty times the antioxidant activity of both vitamin E and vitamin C. These are said to positively impact heart disease, skin, arthritis, wounds, cancer, and varicose veins. Seems Radicchio is a winner when creating that healthy rainbow of a salad! Red cabbage has a new rival!

Radicchio is commonly found added to warm or cold salads, though it is also able to be roasted, grilled, sauteed, added to risotto, rice, zucchini, soups, and pasta dishes. Plus great news... Radicchio can also be added to your juice and smoothie recipes! I will have to expand my preparation of this versatile vegetable! Below is a video of how to create a wilted radicchio pizza based on a quick recipe from The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet by Alicia Silverstone.



Some people describe the flavor of this red leaf as full and mildly bitter. I actually find radicchio sweet, and not very overwhelming in taste at all. If your radicchio tastes slightly bitter to you, just soak your chopped pieces in a bowl of ice cold water for 30 minutes. Then add to your salad. With that gorgeous color I am certainly going to add it to my favorite yummy sandwiches which are filled with avocado and tomato too.

I may have been a bit slow on the Radicchio bandwagon, but at least I am now on board! Hey, even Pliny The Elder (23-79 AD) praised the medicinal uses of Radicchio, so really how slow am I ??? Ha! If you are like me and have not been a regular consumer of radicchio it is time to get started adding that sensational color to your meals! And those of you who have been eating this powerhouse, just eat more! 

Be happy! Be healthy! Be peace!

Fresh Flax Powder: Only 2 Tablespoons A Day Will Cut Cardio Risk In Half!

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, and Dr. Michael Greger, flax powder adds the needed DHA EPA Omega 3's your body needs to reduce your cardio risk by half! Heart disease is one of those ailments that is mostly preventative. So if you do only one thing to improve your healthy lifestyle this year, adding 2 TBS. of fresh ground flax seeds is just the thing to do! My doctor Joel Fuhrman MD made sure to emphasize the importance of taking two tablespoons a day for my breast cancer health issues when we spoke last year because flax powder is a huge source of lignans. Essential Omega 3 fatty acids are something our bodies cannot make, and must come from food or supplements. 

Flax powder is fast to create and can be easily added to smoothies, salads, cereals, and baking. One to two tablespoons a day does the trick, and equals one to two fatty fish meals a week without the toxic mercury or chemical dangers. One tablespoon of ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons of water equals an egg substitute in baking. Flax powder can be substituted for 1/4 of the flour used in recipes, and it works as a great thickener too. Good news is that you can bake with powdered flax and not lose the nutritional value. (Although you should never cook with flax oil.)

Seriously these tiny seeds are the best form of EPA DHA and lignans that you can get on the planet. Even better than salmon. Plus you do not get the mercury risk of eating fish which sadly is a concern in our modern polluted industrial world. Flax seeds come in golden and dark brown colors and the nutrition is said to be the same. At some point I heard the golden was slightly better, but let's not split hairs. We need the flax powder mojo in either color. The shell is unable to be broken down by your body, so the flax seed must be fresh ground to release those powerful Omega 3's and lignans locked inside! If you eat whole flax seed crackers, just know they go through you without adding any nutrition. These seeds are tough and you need to grind into powder to get the benefits.

Ground flax seeds must be kept in the refrigerator once you grind them open, because the oils released will go rancid. Which is why I grind mine in small batches once or twice a week. Ground in the fridge it will last 3 months. Although you should be using it much faster than that my friends. You could grind the hard little seeds the old fashioned way shown above, and that looks like it could take forever. Yeesh! So I recommend you get a spice grinder, coffee grinder, food processor, or a high speed blender to do the task. Then in a flash you will have fresh powerful Omega 3 flax powder to add to your food. 

If you use a small coffee bean/spice grinder as I do it only takes a few pulses, and you're finished. A fluffy lightly nutty powder is the result. Easy. I fill the grinder three times per batch. You are now ready to sprinkle on foods and be healthier.

I use a small glass mason jar to store my flax powder. I love using this funnel made for the wide mouth opening of the jars, since you can pour items cleanly be they nuts or seeds without side spillage.

Once your seeds are ground just pour the fresh flax powder through your funnel and into the mason jar. Tighten down the lid, and keep the fresh flax powder in the refrigerator or freezer. 

Make a fresh batch of flax powder once or twice a week. 

For super organization keep your jar of flax powder in the fridge storage container I talked about in this blog post here seen above. I pull that baby out everyday and it makes my smoothie life so much easier. Oh look at those yummy green smoothies below!

Add the flax powder powerhouse of good health to your morning smoothie, cereals, and salads everyday. Vegetarians, vegans, and meat eaters need the prevention qualities of flax daily to prevent heart attacks. Yes, flax powder is one of those must have super food supplements that everybody needs no matter where you are in reclaiming your health or maintaining an already healthy situation. The heart problem comes from ingestion of too many saturated fats and poly unsaturated Omega 6 items in a modern person's diet. These are from animal fats, coconut oils, palm kernel oils, cottonseed oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil. We need the help of DHA EPA Omega fatty acid foods to decrease the inflammation on our heart. This is the same reason doctors prescribe aspirin for people with heart problems. It is a way to reduce inflammation. Lucky for us flax powder is a natural, healthy, cheap, and easy to make solution without the risk of using pharmaceuticals. Lives could be saved if everyone adopted this habit of adding one to two tablespoons of fresh flax powder daily to their foods. Many other degenerative diseases begin with inflammation besides heart disease, such as diabetic issues, some cancers, arthritis, depression, and Crohn disease to name a few that can be improved as well. Other good forms of Omega 3's to have everyday are hemp seeds, dark leafy greens, walnuts, and flax seed oil. Flax powder reigns supreme, and should be part of your daily healthy protocol for the rest of your life.

If you want to make the big changes to protect your heart health, and affect other diseases including various cancers, add the most powerful EPA DHA Omega 3 and lignan producer... Flax powder! Find the best sources of flax seeds in your local health food store refrigerator section, or in the flour aisle. Keep the seeds in a dark place until you grind them into the flax powder, then refrigerate or keep in the freezer. I hope you get your daily two tablespoons of flax powder for life and thrive! Be happy, be healthy, be peace.

Links:
University of Maryland on Flax Benefits
Web MD Flax Benefits
Flax Seed Meal Benefits Livestrong
Multiple Videos about flax seeds and disease improvement
Video: 40 Year Vegan Dies Of Heart Attack

Vegan Quinoa Veggie Bean Burger, No egg, No meat! Seedtastic! Yes Please!

We have transitioned to eating meatless dairy free veggie bean burgers. We love them! Summertime is in full swing, and it's time we enjoy my "Seedlicious" Quinoa Veggie Bean Burgers for a healthier alternative to the charred meat patty we grew up eating this time of year. These really are fantastic tasting, and they do not have the cancer causing barbecue bits on them either! I loaded them up with all manner of super food nutrition and zippy spices, although If you need to add the hot stuff go right ahead, that is not our thing. These quinoa veggie bean burgers would be considered vegan and vegetarian, and so would be perfect for transitional meatless Monday... or any day of the week! The family will love them.

Just like the burgers of your youth, you can freeze what you do not use, to save for those days when you don't feel like preparing dinner. Yes I have those days... A lot. Although today I want to make some veggie burgers right now. Please note most of my ingredients are organic. Do the best you can, and try to make sure the corn (especially so important that it's non-GMO), veggies, and beans are organic. So let's get to it! Cause' these healthy veggie burgers are good any time of the year!

Seedtastic! Quinoa Veggie Bean Burger

1 small can kidney or black beans

2 shredded carrots

1 small minced onion

1 medium green sweet pepper

1 -2 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup organic corn

1 TB rice vinegar

1 TB coconut aminos 

1 TB garbanzo bean miso
spring water

SEEDS N' NUTS

1 cup of cooked quinoa

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup almonds

2 TBS sunflower seeds

2 TBS pumpkin seeds

2 TBS ground sesame seeds

2 TB ground flax powder

2 Tb hemp seeds

2 TB chia gelled

1 TB mustard

1 TB ketchup

1 TB nutritional yeast

1 TB dulse flakes

SPICE

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp curry

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

First soak a half cup of walnuts in one cup of water, for thirty minutes, let this sit while you prepare the other burger ingredients. Then drain off the water.  

Be sure to rinse 1/2 cup of quinoa in a mesh strainer before cooking, to remove the sapolines. Cook the rinsed quinoa seeds in covered saucepan in 1 cup of spring water. Bring water to a boil then simmer quinoa approximately 10 -15 minutes until tender, water is absorbed, and the little ringlets appear. I used the light quinoa which is usually the cheapest. I have not tasted any difference in flavor between quinoa colors. The rainbow quinoa mixes just look prettier, and that's cool.

If you have decided to cook up extra quinoa while doing this recipe, or you have any leftover quinoa after making these burgers, you can either make this wonderful sweet hearty breakfast quinoa, or this savory cold quinoa veggie salad! (You can learn more about cooking quinoa here. Quinoa is a 2:1 ratio just like rice. It may create more quinoa than you think! That's a good thing, as you can do much with versatile leftover quinoa!)

While quinoa is cooking, rinse your canned beans in strainer. Shred carrots by hand, or use food processor. Mince onion, garlic, and green pepper. Grind sesame seeds. Place 2 TB chia in small dish and cover with water to create gel.

Set aside 1/4 cup shredded carrot, 1/4 cup minced onion, 1/4 cup minced green peppers, and 1/4 cup frozen organic corn, into large mixing bowl. Place the rest of the shredded carrot, minced onions, minced garlic, minced green peppers, and beans, into a pan to saute with a bit of spring water, rice vinegar, coconut aminos, and miso. Cook down 5-8 minutes, adding water when needed so not to stick. Set aside mixture to cool. You can see I was out of the green peppers this time, and I also opted for the kidney beans. As with many of these vegan dishes you can change up many ingredients, and be creative.

In food processor place flax, walnuts, almonds, 1/2 cup quinoa, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, mustard, ketchup, nutritional yeast, dulse flakes, chia gel, and spices. Pulse these items together to mix into a rough grainy consistency, without making it into a powder. Now add the cooled bean, sauteed carrot, onion, garlic, pepper, mixture. Pulse into a rough looking meaty mixture. See below.

It certainly does look meaty. I think the kidney beans and carrots are causing the color effect, then the nuts and quinoa give it the meat-like texture. (That's a close up of quinoa in the saucepan below.) 

Add the meaty food processor mixture into the large bowl that you set aside earlier with the carrot, corn, minced pepper, and onions. Add in the other 1/2 cup of quinoa to the large bowl too. Hand mix everything together. These reserved veggies add more texture, color, and flavor to the burgers. Cover the bowl and sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up. Since it is not really meat you actually can stick your finger in and taste it! Should be yummy even at this stage!

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place a few drops of cooking oil in your hands to rub over the surface of parchment paper. Form patties from the cooled mixture in large bowl. Handle lightly and quickly. You can see by the photo below that I am not about perfect circles. So crazy that it looks like old fashioned meat patties.

Place patties on oiled parchment cookie sheet, and cook 15 minutes on each side till brown. Finish them by cooking 400 degrees for 10 minutes to brown up more. Oven temps vary so you be the judge if your patties need to cook more. When perfectly done these veggie bean burgers are light and moist inside.  

Serve your quinoa veggie bean burger open face on lettuce, upon a roll, or between two slices of a hearty bread. Then add your garnish of sprouts, lettuce, tomato and ketchup. I used Wegmans organic bakery bread called 'Marathon" which is filled with seeds too. I was not kidding about the "seedtastic-ness!" 

I think a side of awesome homemade organic potato salad would be perfect. A darn delish dish! 

Freeze veggie burger extras between parchment paper in freezer bags, or reserve a few of the burgers in a glass container in the refrigerator for the next day's lunch or dinner. You can reheat the burgers in toaster oven. Oh boy! Do I love great leftovers! Enjoy this taste of summer! Be happy! Be healthy! Be peace!