Cleasning and a recipe for Detox Soup

This week my friend and I started teaching another class, this time on cleansing and juices, smoothies, and soups for the purpose of cleansing.  Most people hear the word "cleansing" and think you've got to go on some crazy fast.  Not true, the single most important thing you can do to cleanse your body is increase your water intake.  Our bodies are made up of more than 70% water.  Most people live in a chronic state of dehydration causing symptoms like headaches, back pain, skin problems, arthritis, digestive problems and many others.  For more information click here for and excerpt of The Seven Pillars of Health, a resource I highly recommend.

Most health experts recommend doing some type of colon cleanse before doing anything else, the reason is if your digestive system isn't cleaned out you wont be able to handle the toxins released from say a liver cleanse and you could end up feeling very sick.  This is the hand out we gave to our class.  We served water with lemon, made fresh apple juice, a smoothie with greens in it and, soup.  My mission once again is to show people that eating (and drinking) for your health does not have to taste bad :) 

While researching for this class I've come across a number of websites and blogs with great recipes.  Instead of reinventing the wheel and coming up with my own soup recipe I used someone else's for this weeks soup.  You can find the original post here. 

Normally I wouldn't peel any of the vegetables especially if using organic but this time I did.  It came out delicious.  Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante!

Vegan Mulligatawny Detox Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon avocado oil (or olive oil)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons mild organic curry powder or paste
1 teaspoon organic turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less, to taste
1 medium sweet or red onion, peeled, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup cauliflower florets, chopped
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 heaping cups thinly shredded cabbage
1 quart fresh spring water
2 cups organic fresh veggie juice blend (or your fave V8-style juice)
1 14-oz. can organic chick peas, drained
A small pinch of sea salt, to taste
1 14-oz. can coconut milk, stirred
Juice from 1 medium lime, or to taste
1 tsp honey

For garnish:

Thin apple slices or shredded apple
Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Instructions:

 

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a medium size soup pot. Add the garlic, ginger, curry, turmeric and cayenne and briefly stir for to season the oil. Add the onion, carrots, cauliflower, apples, sweet potato and cabbage, and sauté until softened, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the spring water, veggie juice, and chick peas; season with a touch of sea salt, if desired. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, lime juice and honey. Stir well. Taste for seasoning adjustments. Heat through gently; don't boil.

Water and snacks and a Recipe for Cocoa Bites

So, for the first night of our class on healthy living and whole food we're talking about water and snacks.  There's a lot of differing opinions about how much water you should drink each day, 8 glasses for most people is not enough.  I typically drink 5 water bottles a day (23.6 oz) which is almost 120 oz, so that's about an ounce per pound for me.  That's in addition to any tea, coffee, or smoothies that I might have during the day and I still get dehydrated sometimes, especially during the summer.

As for snacks, my friends laugh at me because I always have some kind of a snack in my purse.  I find that most people end up eating something unhealthy or going through a drive through because they're starving and don't have a snack with them.  If I don't have access to a frig my favorite go to's are Kind bars or Larabars.  They're gluten free, have a very short ingredient list and are very convenient.  If you're looking for an easy, home made snack both of these are perfect.  (The picture is of the cocoa bites)

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

1 c oatmeal

2/3 c unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 c almond butter or peanut butter

1/2 c ground flax seeds or wheat germ

1/2 c chocolate chips

1/3 c honey

1 Tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Instructions:

Mix together honey, nut butter, vanilla, and chia seeds.

Add the oatmeal and flax seeds or wheat germ. Roll in coconut or chocolate chips. Enjoy.

Cocao Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup raw seeds or nuts of choice (I used sunflower, flax seeds, and walnuts)

1/4 cup cacao or cocoa powder*

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup medjool dates, pitted and chopped

1-3 tbsp water (I used 3)

1/4 cup cacao nibs or chocolate chips*

cocoa powder, sesame seeds, or shredded coconut, optional for coating

Instructions

Place seeds/nuts in a food processor, and process until finely ground. Pulse in cocoa, vanilla, and salt.

Add in the chopped dates and water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together nicely.

Process until all ingredients are distributed evenly.

Pulse in the cacao nibs or chocolate chips.

Roll pieces of the dough into small, tablespoon-sized balls. Optional: roll them in the cocoa powder, shredded coconut, sesame seeds or any other toppings of choice. Refrigerate or freeze for about 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

*Cacao powder and cacao nibs are vegan and raw

Recipe of the week: Watermelon Lemonade

Most people who know me well, know I don't like watermelon, but I buy it because my family likes it.  I try to buy seeded when it's available because it's not genetically modified.  Sprouts sometimes has it, sometimes I have to go to some place like Cardenas market to get it.  Watermelon is great for rehydrating and this past week the weather has been very hot and very humid.  I'm also very susceptible to heat exhaustion (ever since I was a kid and had it one summer at Mono Lake) so I try to drink lots of water and eat plenty of water rich foods.  So this recipe has been bumbling around in my head for a couple of weeks, I like all sorts of lemonade so why not try watermelon lemonade, it came out pretty good.  Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante!

1 to 2 cups watermelon puree (seeded, chopped and blended)
4-6 lemons depending the the size of your lemons
1 Tbsp raw sugar (you could use Stevia, just reduce the amount)
3 cups of purified water
3 leaves fresh basil (optional)

Cut and seed your watermelon and blend in the blender until you have a nice smooth consistency, it's like juice only thicker.  (About 1/4 to 1/2 of a watermelon depending on the size).  Juice your lemons, making sure there are no seeds and pour into the blender.  Add sugar, water, and basil if desired.  Blend for a couple of minutes and serve.  (Enjoy, you could easily make this a cocktail if you wanted with your choice of alcohol.)