Mouthwatering Munchies for Teens at Camas Public Library

I had a blast today at the Camas Public Library hosting Mouthwatering Munchies for teens. It's always a good time showing them how simple and fun cooking can be. I have the coolest "job" ever!

We whipped up delicious snacks using whole foods:

- Blueberry Kale Banana Smoothies
- Oat Energy Bars
- Brown Bag Popcorn

This event was part of the 2014 Summer Reading Program at the Camas Public Library. Now, that's super duper cool!

Test Kitchen: Oatcakes

The best part of writing a cookbook -- testing the recipes!

My upcoming cookbook will focus on the use  of fresh, whole foods to create "Outside of the Box" meals.  We all get a sweet tooth now and again and I don't want us to be deprived. So, I've been browsing recipes to find dessert items that use whole food ingredients. I found an appealing Oatcake recipe from Heidi Swanson that fits the bill. Yesterday, I opened the test kitchen and put my spin on Heidi's recipe.

Ingredients

Rolled oats
Whole wheat pastry flour 
Aluminum-free baking powder
Sea salt
Flax seeds
Chopped walnuts
Dried apricots
Dried cherries
Coconut oil
Unsalted butter
Pure maple syrup
Demerara sugar
Eggs



Score card:

Level: Moderate

+ : Biting into oats, nuts, seeds just made me feel good. Lightly sweetened and dense.
-: Oops, I over-toasted the walnuts. 

Comments: While I liked the crumbly, drier texture I'm not sure that others would appreciate it -- they were more like a scone. Retest.

Grade: C

Shop, Cook, Eat: Outside the Box...
Coming Fall '12

Annual cleanse

I'm feeling mighty fine! Yesterday, I completed a 14-day Supreme Cleanse. Since I've been on a mission to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle cleansing my body of toxins and pollutants with the use of a cleanse has become an annual affair  Not only does cleansing remove toxins and pollutants, but I personally like cleansing because of the suggested dietary changes (no dairy, wheat, chocolate, beef, etc.). It's just really a nice clean way of eating and the body sure seems to appreciate it. I guess, it's like a little vacay for the body.

This year, I purchased my cleanse kit from Whole Foods: Gaia Herbs Supreme Cleanse. The products were gentle yet effective -- my skin is a glow and I feel great.

Grocery Shopping No-Nos

eArrrrrrrrrrgh. This blog post has been in me for a while, but Saturday it all came to a head. I was at the grocery store restocking on produce -- low and behold I spotted some major shopping offenses. The cart was being pushed by a young boy about ten years old and was full of processed crap: Totino's pizza, Noodle-A-Roni, Bar-S sausage, ice cream, etc, etc. There was no sign of REAL food in the cart. You know food that has not been genetically engineered. The boy's father was gleefully catching up to him with a bag of Cheetos in his hand, (apparently he had forgotten them and HAD to go back). Heavy sigh. What's even more disheartening the two were not native to America. So I guess it's like when in Rome do what the Romans do? SMH. 


I shop at a variety of stores because certain stores have better bargains and some just have better quality. Sometimes I shop at Winco, but that's usually for things like bulk raw almonds, nuts, brown rice, whole grain pasta, broths, beans, and canned tomatoes. I NEVER buy meat there - not quite sure where it comes from - no thanks. Anyhoo, I frequent Fred Meyer's because they are very close and I like the one stop shopping. I also am regular at Chuck's Produce for local, organic, specialty goods, meat and fish. When I shop at Chuck's the level of shopping changes and so do the customers which I guess would make sense. This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity it's an economic issue. While in these stores you don't see grocery cart no-nos. Heck, they don't even carry Cheetos. Again, it has to do with socio-economics, class, education. It's expensive to shop at these stores -- let me tell you. Fortunately, I'm only feeding myself and my daughter otherwise I probably would have to make some adjustments to how and where I shop. 


It is not my intention to come off as some food snob or act like I've never touched processed food. No doubt  I use to fill my cart with no-nos too, but I've since found my way and I want to raise awareness about the issue of  processed food. For me returning to the basics of cooking fresh meals has been KEY to my success. I prepare 99 percent of my meals at home. Foods such as pastured, grass fed meats, eggs and poultry, fresh organic vegetables and fruit, wild caught seafood, tropical oils, clean, and raw diary products are better for your overall health. Sure, shopping at Chuck's and stores like that may be a little too rich for some people's blood but at least consider shopping for less processed food and more healthy raw food when shopping at the other stores. This is a pretty big topic and I haven't even touched the surface rather than continue on. I will do another post on this later. See the links below for more information and stay tuned for more...


The Benefits of Healthy Whole Foods
The World's Healthiest Foods
4 Most Harmful Ingredients in Packaged Foods
What are the problems with processed foods?
Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 steps