Window Shopping

This weekend I found some great links with good information. I thought I would share them with you here.

This blog has a great comparison of the health of different gluten free flours. It is great to see the fiber and protein content side by side.  "No Gluten, No Problem"

A great recipe for homemade "vapo rub". I am going to try this next time we have colds.!

An article in the LA times about why doctors are rethinking bed rest during pregnancy.

A blogger's perspective on adrenal fatigue. I googled this over the weekend since the naturopath says I have it. She told me to wean off caffeine...I am not looking forward to that, but I knew it was necessary. I love the warm coffee cup in the morning so I will need to find substitutes for a while. She prescribed an herb to help "Support the adrenals" it is called Rhodiola. 

This was a great article on eating "super foods" on the cheap.

Happy reading!

Kangaroo care for babies. Good article.

I am a doctor Mercola fan. This is a great reminder that skin to skin contact with our babies is so important. I had my little one at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. They were fabulous about this! Click Here to see the link.

Roasted Lemon Chicken with Forbidden Rice

 Well, I ran out of propane Wednesday and since Jason has been working so much (the tank is too heavy for me to pick up) we have not filled it yet. So I had to change my plans for our dinners the last few days. It was fun to improvise. For last night I had originally planned on a polenta with skillet prepared chicken dinner. Instead I went with forbidden rice since I could use my rice cooker and oven roasted chicken. I love forbidden or black rice. Legend has it that is was only for the emperors of China's consumption. If you were not an emperor and ate it you were killed. It is supposedly even healthier for you than brown rice but has the texture and sweetness of white sticky rice! It is one of my new favorite foods.

 Prepare the rice as directed on the package.
For Chicken you will need:
4 Organic drumsticks or thighs
1 lemon's juice and zest
2 Tablespoons of Olive oil
2 can's of Eden organic kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons of fresh or dried parsley
3 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a glass pan place chicken. Drizzle with Olive oil, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper

 Roast in oven for approx 20 minutes or until meat temp registers 160 degress. Remove chicken from oven, set to one side. Leave in pan.

 In a seperate bowl mix together beans, parsley, garlic

 Add beans to chicken dish and place back in oven for 10 minutes or until meat registers 175 degrees.
Little Olive occupied herself with a cookie while I was doing all this.

 When meat reaches 175 degrees. Remove from oven. Serve with rice and side salad!

Low on Iron?

So...if you are low on iron...and like chocolate. Did you know Green and Black's Organic Chocolate has 18% of your daily needed intake!? Hmm...seems like a valid excuse to me!

Chocolate Mousse Gluten and Dairy Free

Today I was craving chocolate mousse. Yummy cool, chocolatey mousse. So I opened up my copy of "Living Without" a gluten free magazine looking for a recipe I knew I had seen in it. Yum! Here is the result! ( I altered the recipe)

First occupy baby with a drawer full of things to pull out.

Ingredients:
2 very large very ripe avacados
4 tablespoons of organic unsweetened cocoa powder
3-4 Tablespoons of organic maple syrup (to taste)
1 tablespoon of organic extra virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon of organic pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of freshly grated organic orange zest
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cayenne powder (optional, for my friend this was too spicy)
1/2 cup of organic rice milk

Directions: Scoop out the inside of the avocado and blend in your blender or food processor. Then add all of the remaining ingredients and blend together until smooth. Add more rice milk if you want it thinner. It should be a mousse like consistency.

When throughly blended spoon the mixture into serving dishes. Chill for an hour and serve.

Yummy mommy! My new favorite treat.

The Beans of Life

I used to think beans were for eating with tortillas, or in chili. It wasn't until the accountant and I decided it would be best for us to have me stay home with little Olive that I started experimenting with them. Not only are they inexpensive, they are tasty, easily cooked, easy to store, can be used in so many ways and are packed FULL of nutrition.


So just what is so great about these little things called legumes?
1. They are full of a grand amount of fiber 10 to 15 grams per cup. Fiber is a great fighter of the "belly bulge". A 2010 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study discovered that those who ate the most fiber are slimmer. The recommended daily fiber intake is 25 grams for men and 38 grams for women. Fiber also helps slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream and helps flush cholesterol out of the body. A study by Tulane University showed that people who eat beans four or more times per week are less likely to develop heart disease than those who ate them less than once per week.

Image via Wikipedia

2. Beans are rich in iron which is an essential nutrient for oxygen transport within the body. Low iron levels put you at risk for poor memory, attention deficit and poor mental function. Increase the absorption of the iron in beans by paring it with vitamin C rich food such as salad. So example eat chili with a salad to increase your uptake of iron.

3. Beans are a wonderful source of plant protein. You get a whopping 15 grams per cooked cup of beans. When paired with brown rice, beans give you a "complete" protein.

4. Beans are one of the best source you will find of folate that helps slash cancer risk. Folate aids in normal cell replication (Cancer is by definition abnormal cell replication). A 2009 study found that bean intake was protective against colon, kidney, oral esophagus and stomach cancers. Women who eat beans twice a week have a 24 percent lower risk of beast cancer  than woman who hate them just once a month.

5. Thirty percent of your daily requirements for magnesium can be found in a cup of beans, an essential nutrient in protecting against diabetes. Magnesium assists in helping the body to control blood pressure, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, bone formation and lowers stress hormones.

6. Beans, especially dark beans are full of antioxidants. In fact black beans carry ten times the amount of antioxidants as oranges!

7. Rich in potassium. "A nutrient essential for heart function. Potassium also acts as a deterrent against rising blood pressure by increasing blood levels of nitric oxide, which dilates arteries and prevents them from clogging."

So the little ditty that says "beans beans the magical fruit..." isn't far off the mark. They really are "Magical" in their nutrient packed density.



Resources :
 "Full of Beans" found in Living Without
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=72
http://www.suite101.com/content/beans-nutrition-and-meal-ideas-a143303
Prescription for Nutritional Healing
http://www.essortment.com/all/benefitsofbean_rbdb.htm
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58