Monthly Archives: June 2012

RAW Veggie Chips-Kale

Posted by straighttalk2u in PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, RECIPES and tagged with ,

Overwhelmed and intimidated first month in my new plant based world, I spent hours looking at recipes created by some of the best cooks and chefs. Often thoughts of defeat plagued me; after fifty years of cooking, I was a stranger in my kitchen.

Gradually that changed, one meal at a time, thanks to tenacity, experience, and the wonderful world of cyberspace chefs! I now have a recipe to share with you.

The challenge was every recipe I found for kale chips simply involved trimming kale leaves from stem, placing on dehydrator tray and waiting:  this yielded flaky leaves, but not what I thought of as a chip.

I want chips that look like corn chips. Maryland’s Whole Foods offers small $8 bags of the perfect RAW-well formed chips, not flaky leaves, so why can’t I do it?

Thanks to hubby’s logic and suggestion,
welcome to the debut of

Claudia’s Kale Chips!

1 bunch of elephant kale leaves, washed and broken for blender
1 large onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp. garlic puree
2 peeled lemons
1 cored apple
about 1/8 – 1/4 cup olive oil
about 1 cup filtered water, more as needed
1 tsp paprika

sea salt to taste

Ground Cayenne pepper to taste

Blend water and kale, add oil and other ingredients.  Blend until smooth, adding more water or oil if needed. Mixture should be puree-texture, similar to fruit roll-ups.

Pour and spread on dehydrator sheets, leave edges about 1/4 inch thick. Dehydrate at 145 degrees for about an hour and reduce for 12-18 hours to 115 degrees.

Once crispy, remove, score, and eat!

I plan on adding beets, carrots, nutritional yeast, and other goodies to future recipes, but for now, this is my basic . I think this is also a good foundation for carrot chips, onion chips, beet chips, etc.

I use a Vitamix blender and Excalibur dehydrator; without comparable equipment, this recipe probably cannot be replicated.

Please suggest variations!

To your health,

Claudia

Off track

Posted by straighttalk2u in PERSONAL EXPERIENCES and tagged with ,

Recently experiencing TMD which is what I attribute to de-stresing and detoxing.  Cause listed on http://www.webmd.com are:

What Causes TMD?

The cause of TMD is not clear, but dentists believe that symptoms arise from problems with the muscles of the jaw or with the parts of the joint itself.

Injury to the jaw, temporomandibular joint, or muscles of the head and neck – such as from a heavy blow or whiplash – can cause TMD. Other possible causes include:

  • Grinding or clenching the teeth, which puts a lot of pressure on the TMJ
  • Dislocation of the soft cushion or disc between the ball and socket
  • Presence of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in the TMJ
  • Stress, which can cause a person to tighten facial and jaw muscles or clench the teeth

I am clenching!

Okay.  So I have to take pain killers to get through the day and often the pain shoots through the best beta blockers and pain of a thousand needles pierce my teeth.  In four seconds, it dulls and I am left dreading the next one and wiped out, miserable for being miserable at the best time of my life!

The dentist and MD and specialist all say it is TMD and I need YOGA!  Unfortunately, I am loopy with pain killers (okay, it is just Advil, but I have not taken pills for several months, consequently, my stomach is upset and I am sleepy).  I have a bite guard.   I use warm moist heat.  Still, I am just getting through the day.

So, I am determined to fix this my way!  Food and holistic remedies!  Any ideas out there?

Claudia

Meat Substitutes Truly Tasty – ABC News

Posted by straighttalk2u in ARTICLES and tagged with , ,

Meat Substitutes Truly Tasty – ABC News.

 

Is this a processed food?  GMO?  I have trouble with “fake” or  “processed” anything.  Whole Foods is reputable, so I have some confidence this new product is okay; we often make things taste like meat, cheese, milk, etc., but it is how we make it that counts.

Before we buy, let’s research!

 

Processed chicken