Recipes - Peach Mango Mini Pies

Ripe, juicy peaches are now in season, and I have been waiting to make little individual fruit pies! So I played around with a recipe I found by Dr. Ritamarie and came up with this version which makes enough for 3 mini 4-inch pies! (But this recipe can easily make 4 mini 4-inch pies with thinner crusts.)

Pie Crusts
3/4 cup pecans, soaked 4 hours
1/4 cup almonds, soaked 6 hours
1/4 cup pitted Medjool dates (3 dates)
1/2 cup dried coconut

• Process nuts and coconut in food processor; add dates and process till it holds together
• Press 1/2 cup of crust mixture into each mini quiche pan
• Place pie crusts in freezer or fridge to set while preparing pie filling
• Recipe makes enough to fill 3 quiche pans (4" x 1.75" with removable bottoms)

Peach Mango Filling

2 large peaches, remove skin and pit
1 large mango, peeled and pitted
1 to 2 Medjool dates
1-1/2 to 2 tsp psyllium powder

• Cut peaches into bite sized pieces and place in a bowl
• Place mangoes, dates and psyllium into a blender; blend until creamy (only adding a little water if needed)
• Add mango mixture to peaches in bowl and stir well to combine
• Divide peach mango filling equally between 3 mini 4" pie crusts
• Sprinkle top with dried coconut, or decorate with fruit
• Place in freezer or fridge to set; best if eaten within 2 days 

Recipes - Green Smoothie

Here is my green smoothie for today. I really enjoyed the wild edibles walk on Aug 15 with Karl Hann of Biota Farm who shared so much information with us about growing food on a bio-dynamic farm. Among the 'wild greens' I brought home was some Chickweed (shown in picture) which grows in abundance, so maybe you already have some growing on your property!

2 cups water
4 kale leaves
1/2 bunch beet greens
1/2 bunch chard
handful of chickweed
1/2" piece ginger
10 small yellow plums
1 cup blueberries/blackberries mix

Health - Green Smoothie Challenge (GSC)

August 10-31, 2010 Held a 3-week trial in Abbotsford to experience the power of Green Smoothies for abundant health, increased energy, regulated weight, and reduced cravings.

• We mixed together organic fruit, dark leafy greens and 2 cups of water in a blender at home (no powders, additives, or supplements needed)
• No need to even change diet (apart from adding Green Smoothies of course)
• Whether a vegan, a steak lover, or a junk food addict, no problem, we drank green smoothies and enjoyed the ride
• It was that easy!

For this challenge we made a blender full of Green Smoothie each morning for 3 weeks in August, drank a glass every few hours, kept in refrigerator, and by the end of the day finished the entire blender!

Participants received an initial email with instructions and recipes, and then a group email at the end of each week of the challenge to help, guide and inspire them along the way (weekly email included answers to all questions received + more recipes).

After the challenge is over we get together to compare the challenges and successes of those taking the GSC - and share the healing benefits experienced by participants! 

• 2008 presented 1^st GSC in BC with 100 participants
• 2009 organized 2nd GSC with 25 participants
• 2010 organized 3^rd GSC with 30 participants

Health - Balance of Omegas in our Diet

In Victoria Boutenko's presentation on August 9th, she was sharing her latest research into Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. In her opinion, the results she found show that many of us are including an unbeneficial imbalance of more Omega-6 than Omega-3 in our diets. Victoria also shared a website on nutritional data for foods http://nutritiondata.self.com where each of us can have a look and do our own investigation.

So I did my own search this morning on a few of the foods that are of interest to me, and here are some of the more positive ratios I found. For a comparison, the numbers on the right begin with (3) for Omega-3 or (6) for Omega-6 showing the amount of (3) or (6) contained in 1 cup of the food.

• Arugula, raw                    (3) 3.4  -  (6) 2.6 mg
• Snap green beans            (3) 39.6  -  (6) 25.3 mg
• Broccoli flower, raw          (3) 91.6  -  (6) 27.0 mg
• Broccoli stalk, raw            (3) 147  -  (6) 43.3 mg
• Brussel sprouts ,raw         (3) 87.1  -  (6) 39.6 mg
• Chinese cabbage, raw       (3) 43.3  -  (6) 11.4 mg
• Cabbage red ,raw             (3) 40.0  -  (6) 30.3 mg
• Cauliflower, raw               (3) 37.0  -  (6) 11.0 mg
• Collards, raw                    (3) 38.9  -  (6) 29.5 mg
• Kale, raw                         (3) 121  -  (6) 92.4 mg
• Seaweed,Irish Moss           (3) 4.7  -  (6) 0.2 mg **
• Seaweed,Wakame             (3) 18.8  -  (6) 1.0 mg **
• Spinach, raw                    (3) 41.4  -  (6) 7.8 mg

Foods from the list above followed by asterisks (**), indicate a ratio high in Omega-3 and low in Omega-6 (5% or less).

Events - Wild Edibles Nature Walk

Lambsquarters

Join us for a guided walk on a Bio-Dynamic farm in Abbotsford. Learn what weeds or wild greens are edible and good for you to pick. Karl Hann of Biota Farm will lead us on a walk through his farm and share his extensive knowledge about bio-dynamics with us.

• Sunday August 15, 5 - 7 pm
• $20 per person
• Includes 1 bunch of greens you pick yourself
• Email 

Goodbye to my friend Harley

On August 6, a very good friend of mine passed over - his name was HARLEY - and I would like to take a moment here to honour him for enriching my life and bringing me joy!

In these three pictures you can see Harley on the left (whippet, coyote, brown dog mix) and my Emily on the right (golden retriever). For many years Harley and his mom Moneca have been wonderful friends to Emily and me. You see, Harley and Emily were buddies! They loved to run on the path ahead of me as we hiked the trails in Vernon. They seemed to run in synch, side by side with their bodies almost touching - a beautiful memory. Harls ran swift and silent, just like the wind.

Harley was always quick to smile, play and make everyone laugh at his crazy antics and he really loved his family (mom Moneca and kitties Pumpkin and Peaches). I am really missing Harley, but feel comforted in knowing that Emily (who has also passed over) and Harley are running together again!

Recipes - Green Smoothie

Since Kale is growing in such abundance right now, I used it in my green smoothie today! Here is the recipe if you want to try it for yourself. Did you know that one pound of kale is loaded with nutrients, vitamins, minerals and has more protein than the daily recommendation by the USDA?

2 cups water

1 large, ripe mango

1 banana

1/2" piece ginger

8-10 small yellow plums

1/3 bunch organic parsley

1 bunch organic kale

Health - Balancing Hormones

Here are 7 simple strategies for restoring hormone balance from Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo:

1. Consume at least 32 ounces of green drink daily, made from at least a pound of green leafy vegetables. This may sound like a lot but the greens are so important and drinking them rather than just eating them helps increase the quality you consume. You can make delicious smoothies, juices or soups. Greens are filled with antioxidants, minerals and the B vitamin folate, which is very important for hormone balance. Be sure to include sprouts and cruciferous vegetables as they're especially potent hormone balancers.
2. Break a sweat every day, even if just for 30 second bursts. Exercising to exhaustion for 30 seconds at a time, for a total of 4 to 8 minutes is an amazing way to increase testosterone levels, balance adrenal hormones and the hormone insulin, support your thyroid hormone production and overall strengthen your immune system.
3. Get outside for at least 20 minutes, preferably in the middle of the day, for fresh air and sunshine. This supports your body in making Vitamin D and excreting the chemicals you breathe from indoor air.
4. Open your windows, even if just a crack, for at least 15 minutes every day. This brings fresh air in to replace the build up of hormone disrupting chemicals found in indoor air.
5. Dump the sugar for whole fresh fruits. Sugar disrupts your B vitamins which are essential for hormone regulation. It also affects the balance between estrogen receptors that are protective and those that promote growth; when these receptors get out of balance your risk of hormonally induced cancer increases.
6. Drink pure water from glass containers, rather than plastic. Hydration is vital to production and circulation of hormones, and chemicals in the plastic have been shown to be hormone disruptors.
7. Take time each day to appreciate your gifts and the people you love. Appreciation has profound effects on your immune system, the level of stress hormones in your system, and your ability to cleanse and detoxify the toxic exposures that disrupt hormone balance.