Natural Family Recipes Blog

There are so many diets being touted as the best for optimal health it is hard to keep it all straight. One thing is for sure…the Standard American Diet (SAD) and the food pyramid are flawed to say the least. Kids today are not getting adequate nutrition and they are suffering as a result. Children are being diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, asthma, allergies, autism, diabetes, and afflictions that used to be found in adults only. Children as young as two years old have been found to have plaque in their arteries already. Something important is missing…but what is it? 

Think about how humans were designed. What did we eat for years before the advent of modern convenience foods? What is it that we are eating or rather NOT eating that is causing human health to decline with every passing year? Why are our bodies and our children’s bodies wearing out so fast and getting so sick?

As a species we have gotten away from the foods we are supposed to eat, living raw foods. The living foods or raw foods diet generally includes vegetarian/vegan foods but goes a step beyond and also eliminates cooked and processed foods. Raw diet enthusiasts know that living foods have life giving enzymes that are destroyed during processing and cooking, rendering those foods indigestible unless our body raids its own finite enzyme stores. Without those enzymes we can’t digest our food or extract the components that keep us alive and healthy. Cooking and processing also kills 50-75% of the nutrients in food as well so when we cook food we are rendering it half as healthy as it once was.

So what do raw food proponents eat? A typical raw food diet consists mainly of uncooked and unprocessed grains, vegetables, nuts, sprouts, fresh and dried fruits, seeds, beans, and seaweed. Raw diets also usually include a lot fresh juices and water. In simple terms…eating raw food means eating food in its purest form…the way nature made it. If you throw a cheese puff on the ground and water it, nothing will grow. It has no life inside it. If you throw a dehydrated flax seed cracker on the ground and water it, you may very well end up with flax plants.

Those who follow raw foods diets believe that this way of eating reduces risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes and greatly improves their energy levels, skin appearance, digestive processes, and weight loss efforts. Many amazing raw food healing stories abound.

Many people neglect the importance of raw foods and cook everything. In the long run you are risking serious health problems. Cooked foods are not the healthiest option. The body cannot properly digest foods that have been fried, pasteurized, barbecued, dried or other over-processed and over cooked foods. Eating a wide variety for raw foods is very important. A daily diet should consist of at least 50% raw foods for a proper functioning body. Are your kids eating 50% of their total diet it is purest, raw form? 

If not you can start doing something about it now. The Recipes for Raw Kids un-cookbook has 80+ pages of raw food info and recipes for kids. This recipe book goes beyond carrot sticks and trail-mix with divine recipes kids will love, like Lemon Cookies and sweet Chickpea Crunchies. If you are ready to give your kids the power of raw, living foods, make sure to check it out.

Share This

The last thing we want to do in the hot summer is heat up the kitchen cooking dinner. Thankfully there are plenty of ways to feed your family and still beat the heat. Breakfast is fairly easy since fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, cereals and smoothies are delicious in the A.M. any time of year. Dinnertime is a little more challenging. Here are some ideas:  

Sandwich Night 
Every family should adopt a weekly sandwich night, if for no other reason than to give Mom a break! But another great reason to have sandwich night is to avoid turning on the oven. Just gather up all of your family’s favorite sandwich fixings and let them go to town. If plain old sandwiches get boring, try using tortillas and creating wraps or make open faced sandwiches or panini.  

Main Dish Salads 
What’s nicer on a hot day than a cool, crisp, crunchy salad? In the summertime your body needs the additional water so give it what it’s craving by making a main dish salad. To make a meal out of a salad, add cooked and cooled chicken, shrimp, tuna, beans, cheese and hardboiled eggs for additional protein.  

Take It Outside 
To the grill, that is. Cook your meat and veggies outside on the grill and keep the heat out of your kitchen. Then serve a nice cold fruit salad for dessert. Refreshing! 

Use Smaller Appliances
If you just have to have a hot meal, use a smaller appliance. Your toaster oven or slow cooker create less heat than your stove and oven do. You can also make meals that cook quickly like omelets, quesadillas and stir fries. 

Eat it Cold
Some dishes are meant to be served cool or at room temperature. Some ideas: sushi, gazpacho,  chips and dips, and hummus with pita and veggies. These are excellent for lunch or dinner.  

Go Raw 
Summertime is a wonderful time to experiment with eating more raw fruits and veggies. Even if you don’t want to commit to a raw foods diet long term, pick up a raw food “cookbook” and experiment with some of the recipes.

This The 365 Salad Recipe Collection is made up of just salad recipes, one for every day of the year.

Share This

Cooking With Healthy Nuts

Nuts are found in cookies, candy bars, baked goods, side dishes, appetizers, and entrees, providing a flavorful addition to any recipe, but also uplifting the nutritional content as well. To take advantage of the many positives associated with nuts, consider incorporating the following selections in your next meal.

Walnuts

The walnut possesses a high amount of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which helps elevate heart health, as well as battle the inflammatory symptoms associated with asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. Walnuts contain an antioxidant compound called ellagic acid, which is proven to fight against cancer, as well as provide a boost in the immune system. Patients given walnuts as part of their treatment have seen the levels of their total cholesterol and ‘bad” cholesterol significantly decrease. The hardening of the arteries (also known as atherosclerosis) was also reduced. To incorporate walnuts when cooking, seek out recipes, such Walnut Salad, Spiced Walnut Apple Pie, and Beef and Walnut Stew.

Almonds

Almonds contain a high amount of magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, as well as helpful antioxidants, such as vitamin E and selenium. Calcium is also contained in a handful of almonds, which in fact rivals the amount of calcium contained in ¼ cup of milk. To boost the health of the colon, almonds are a winner, as the high fiber content helps sustain regularity. When it comes to lowering cholesterol, almonds are considered one of the best nuts for getting the job done. Almonds are also known to clear the arteries. A few recipes to look forward with almonds include Pine Nut Macaroons, Honey Almond Chicken, and Hot Chicken Casserole.

Cashews

Since cashews are lower in fat than most nuts, they make perfect additions to recipes when one is looking to cut back on the calories. In addition, cashews are filled with copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin. To get your daily fill, try preparing recipes, such as Cashew Chicken, and Cashew Avocado Chicken Salad.

Pecans

The first thing many think of when they hear the word, ‘pecan,’ is the pie it so famously creates. The last thing is probably the fact that there are more than 19 vitamins and minerals provided by this characteristic nut, including vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Some of the benefits associated with using the pecan while cooking includes lowering blood cholesterol and clearing up the arteries. A few recipes containing pecans include Pecan Breaded Chicken Breasts, and Coconut Pecan Frosting.

Share This

Herbs are a great way to flavor almost any food dish, but buying them at the store can be expensive.  A more cost effective option that adds money to your pocket and flavor to your meals is to grow and dry your own herbs.  It can also be tons of fun, especially if you have children who can help. 

Fresh herbs have a benefit over the dried ones you buy in the store. If you have a sunny spot and some good soil, you can grow your own herbs at home. Choose the ones that you use most to season food and grow them in small planters.

When growing herbs, treat them like any other plant. Pruning and cutting back the leaves brings even more leaves. As you cut and use fresh basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, they will continue to grow. In fact, the herbs may grow faster than you can use them, so share some with friends and neighbors.

Another alternative to letting the extra go to waste is to dry your fresh herbs. Dried fresh herbs lose their moisture, but still retain the entire flavor of a fresh plant. You’ll now have herbs to last for months to come and you can pass them on to others once they are dried as well.

Begin with your equipment. You’ll need a place to dry them. You can use wooden or wire racks. That cooling rack you use in the kitchen for cookies and cakes would be perfect for drying herbs. Gather together a colander, some cheesecloth, paper towels, and some string.

All herbs to be dried should be washed and rinsed in cold water. A colander is perfect because the water can drain out the bottom. Use paper towels to pat each leaf and stalk until dry of any visible moisture.

Herbs can be dried in many ways. If you only want the leaves, remove the stalk and lay the leaves on a drying rack. Depending on the size of the leaves, you may need a wire rack for them as opposed to a cooling rack from the kitchen.

Herbs can also be dried in bunches. Tie them with string at the stalks and hang them upside down on a nail to air dry. This can be accomplished outside or indoors, but should be done in an area that is ventilated with no humidity. Humidity will help your herbs to retain their moisture and prevent drying. Use cheesecloth to cover herbs on a cooling rack if you plan on letting them dry outside.

Use the oven for faster drying. The temperature should remain low (around 120 degrees). Gently touch the leaves every half hour to test for dryness. The microwave oven is an alternative, but you will have to be careful not to shrivel them up.

Dried herbs will keep for a six months. After that, the flavor begins to wane. Herbs should be stored in Mason jars or plastic containers, just be sure to label them so you know which herb is which. In order to keep the herbs dry and avoid molding during storage, seal the containers air tight.

Herbs season food in many unique and yummy ways. Drying herbs allows you to savor the flavor while saving money and having fun all at once.

Share This

You are what you eat, so eat well. A stupendous insight of civilizations past
has now been confirmed by today’s investigative, nutritional sciences. They
have shown that what was once called ‘The Doctrine of Signatures’ was
astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern
that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern
acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is
just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines
look just like the human eye…and science shows that carrots greatly
enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four
chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and
blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks
like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also
profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper
cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut
just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3
dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they
look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods
specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods
are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet the body
pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the
skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb
and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research
shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones,
sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how
profound is this? …. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from
blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical
constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has
only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the
motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to
overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic
index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary
glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the
movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today’s research shows that onions help clear
waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which
wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

- anonymous

Share This

Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed or processed as little as possible. They are foods that are wholly unspoiled. Organic whole foods would indicate that no fertilizers or pesticides were used in the raising or growing of the product. Below are some advantages of whole foods versus the more conventional processed foods.

Once advantage of eating whole foods is that they are higher in fiber. Lack of fiber can lead to colon cancer, digestive problems, and numerous other health complications. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a cleansing effect on the colon. The fiber content helps get rid of waste matter from the colon and prevent toxins from building up. Processed foods may lack that all important fiber. As a result, a diet consisting of processed foods often leads to health conditions such as diverticulitis, constipation and blood toxicity among many others. 

A second advantage of a whole foods diet is a higher mineral and vitamin content. Processing strips foods of their minerals and vitamins. As a result, a person on a processed diet may experience malnutrition in spite of eating regularly. Furthermore, processed foods contain artificial chemicals used as preservatives. The reasoning behind this is that the chemicals used are in such small amounts that they don’t cause any harm. However, if you consume a processed diet all or most of time, these small amounts of chemicals add up in your body. When you add to that the lack of fiber, you have a body full of toxins and a breeding ground for bacteria and disease. A whole foods diet eliminates all these disease-causing factors.

Thirdly, organic whole foods are higher in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are essential for proper cell production and eliminating pathogens (microorganisms that can cause disease).  Examples of high anti-oxidant foods are all kinds of berries, dark green vegetables, apples, and beans. Processed foods loose most if not all their anti-oxidant properties.  It’s important to keep the body free of toxins as much as possible. If you’re fighting an illness, you don’t want to add more toxins to your body. It needs to concentrate on healing instead of protecting itself from added chemicals. Organic whole foods take this added stress away from your body. 

It’s important to understand that whole foods and organic foods are not the same. Whole foods are unprocessed but not necessarily organic. To obtain the maximum benefit, make sure you’re buying organic, whole foods.

In conclusion, if you want to provide your body with the adequate fiber, vitamins and minerals, and the necessary anti-oxidants, organic whole foods is the best option. You will spend more but will save in the end, as you will avoid unnecessary trips to the doctor. Best of all, a whole foods diet will help you feel your best and enjoy life with those you love.

Be sure to check out Nourishing Traditions.

Technorati Tags: whole foods, organic, processed, health, colon cancer, fiber

Share This

A diet high in fiber can benefit your health in many ways.  Fiber keeps your digestive system working smoothly, helps move elimination and waste from the body and fiber is rich in vitamins and nutrients. An increased amount of fiber can also help you feel fuller longer, which is important if you’re watching your weight.

A study conducted at the Harvard School of Medicine found that men who consumed 12 grams of fiber a day were twice as likely to develop precancerous colon changes as men whose daily fiber intake was 30 grams or higher.  Scientist are not exactly sure why fiber can help reduce the risks of colon cancer but it is thought that insoluble fiber adds bulk to stools, which helps speed their transit through the intestines, leaving less time for carcinogenic changes.

Other studies have shown that adequate levels of fiber can also help against breast cancer, heart disease, digestive disorders, diabetes and obesity.  If you suffer from constipation, increasing your fiber content should help.  It also helps to drink adequate amounts of water daily to help the fiber through your system.

An easy way to start the day with an adequate amount of fiber is to have a fiber-rich breakfast cereal and some fruit.  Vegetables, beans and fruits are high in fiber and also many other important nutrients. Eating lots of fruit, vegetable and whole grain based salads will give you the fiber you need.

Now that you know all the benefits of adding fiber to your diet, here is an easy way to help you increase your fiber intake: 365 Salad Recipes!

Share This

You’ve probably heard a lot about antioxidants in recent years.  Don’t let this sudden interest fool you into thinking they’re just a fad or not important.  Antioxidants are a vital part of staying young and healthy.  Why?

First of all, we need to know what an antioxidant is.  During normal body processes, molecules called free radicals are produced in the body.  These are basically unstable atoms or molecules that desperately want to become stable.  They do this by stealing electrons from healthy cells, making them unstable and less healthy.  Antioxidants reverse this reaction, helping to keep the cells of our body healthy and functioning properly.

One of the most talked about effects of antioxidants is their anti aging properties.  As we age, we constantly copy our cells to replace them when they die.  Errors in copying occur and build up to form the aging process.  Free radicals can also interfere and have been shown to promote wrinkles, memory problems, weakness of the immune system, and reduced elasticity of tissue; all of which are associated with the aging process.  We can’t completely stop aging, but proper amounts of antioxidants can slow the process considerably.

Damage caused by these free radicals is also considered to be a cause of certain cancers.  Getting more antioxidants can reduce our risk for certain types of cancer, including cancer of the: stomach, prostate, colon, breast, bladder esophagus, pancreas, and possibly many more.  Besides cancer, antioxidants have been shown to help prevent other serious problems, such as: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and vision problems. It is likely that antioxidants can help prevent other diseases and disorders, but their full effects simply haven’t been studied yet.

Antioxidants prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol. When this type of cholesterol oxidizes, it can attach to the walls of blood vessels causing heart disease.  This increases the risk for heart attack and stroke.  Oxidized cholesterol also contributes to the hardening of blood vessel walls increasing the risk of high blood pressure.  Antioxidants can help keep your heart and the rest of your circulatory system healthy. 

Another great benefit of antioxidants is that they help boost the immune system.  If you get sufficient levels of antioxidants, you’re not only less likely to get sick; it’s also easier for you to fight off diseases you may get.  Along these lines, antioxidants can also help you heal faster when you have an injury; large or small.

So what are you waiting for?  Today is the best day to start eating more fruits and veggies to get your antioxidants. Make it easy and simple with the 365 Salad Recipe Book!

Share This