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Health food stores are packed with cleansing programs.
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Case:
Talla came to me for a dietary program. She felt she needed to eat healthier but
she did not know where to start, what to change or what to do. She wanted to
lose about twenty pounds, feel more energetic and sleep better at night. She was
sure her present manner of eating had something to do with her odd energy
levels.
I
suggested to Talla something that I suggest to many of my clients - that she
start with a detoxification program to cleanse her body and then ease back into
a healthier way of eating. I started her program with a ten-day detoxification
program of neutral/ non-allergenic foods to give her body a chance to reach a
stressless state and to allow the detoxification herbs I would give her to work
more effectively. The diet she was to eat for the next ten days consisted only
of vegetables of all kinds, fish excluding shellfish and clams, apples, brown
rice, and green herbs such as mint, parsley and coriander. She was also allowed
small amounts of olive oil and salt with her cooking but was not allowed to
drink anything but water, was not allowed any grains other than brown rice and
was not allowed any fruit except apples.
The
detoxification tea I gave Talla was a traditional Spring Cleansing tea that has
been popular since the Renaissance in Europe, the Middle East and America. It is
commonly known as root beer and was traditionally a carbonated, non-alcoholic
beverage made from detoxifying roots grown in the area of consumption. The
modern version contains no herbs, just flavorings and colors. However, attendees
of any renaissance festivals can still enjoy the real thing. Root beer was used
as a yearly cleansing tea because its various ingredients target all the organs
of the body from the liver to the spleen to the circulatory system and cleanse
the entire system intensely and effectively. For the reason of its strength I
usually do not recommend more than a glass or two of real root beer to children
or people taking medications. I also do not advice people who are feeling weak
or underweight to use it. However, Talla was healthy in general despite her
energy level problems and was not taking any medication so I gave her the recipe
for root beer and a mixture of the herbs. I also modified the recipe a bit to
accommodate female needs. Many traditional root beer mixtures are geared towards
a male audience.
Women’s
Root-Beer Cleansing Tea
Also
great for endocrine glands, liver, and hormone production
3
parts sassafras bark
2
parts dandelion root
1
part licorice root
1
part pau d’arco
1
part vitex
1
part wild yam
1
part ginger root
1/2
part cinnamon
1/4
part orange peel
1/4
part dong quai root
To
make the root beer add one teaspoon of herb per cup of water and simmer it for
twenty minutes. Strain and add honey to taste. Do not over simmer, boil or add
too many herbs as it will become bitter. If it is still to strong you may add
some water to weaken the tea.
Talla
was happy with the herbs but was concerned about the detoxification. She told me
that she did not have enough time to cook all those vegetables and that was one
reason why she did not eat healthy to begin with. "I don't have enough time
to eat healthy," she said, "and how will I find time to cook all that
food?" I explained that the concept of healthy eating being difficult was a
concept propagated by advertisers of special programs and publishers of exotic
or prolific vegetarian cookbooks. With all the hype over vegetarian cooking and
the introduction of the gourmet vegetarian restaurant we have come to associate
vegetarian with gourmet and we automatically assume that it will involve a lot
of work. However, eating healthy or eating a lot of vegetables does not have to
be hard work as long as you can plan well and learn to be creatively simple with
your meals.
I
shared with Talla some of my basic formulas for cooking interesting and healthy
vegetable dishes (below) as well as some of the methods I used to keep healthy
food available. She would not be able to use all of my ideas during the detox,
however, she could use many of them afterwards as she tried to ease into a
healthier way of eating. I gave her the following list of kitchen organization
ideas:
1.Use
the bread machine to create healthy breads and rolls for the family. The way
to keep this simple and easy is to experiment to find a recipe that pleases you
and then use the same recipe every time you make bread but just change the
flours for variety. Set the bread machine for dough only. When it is done in an
hour and a half shape the bread into loaves or rolls and bake them. This is
something one can do upon first waking up, before going to the grocery store, or
even at night as long as the recipe is egg-free. Using the bread machine to make
only dough does not require precise measuring so one can vary the flours used
and add anything from buckwheat to spelt to oatmeal. In the end, more flour can
be added if needed. Dough can also be shaped into pita loaves or used as pizza
dough. For a healthy snack dough can be filled or topped with ingredients such
as zatar and oil or cheese and chives.
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Healthy foods can be easy |
2.Buy
a divided tray for quick snacks. A divided tray with a lid is a staple part
of my kitchen. I have eight of them. Each tray has six sections and a lid. One
tray is filled with various dried fruits, one is filled with six kinds of
healthy seeds and nuts including pumkin and melon seeds and one tray is filled
with juice-sweetened jams and homemade nut butters (put some nuts in a
blender with a little olive oil) to spread on breads. In another tray I keep
baby carrots and baby tomatoes (because they do not involved cutting, they
always taste sweet and they last a long time in the tray) as well as cut up
cucumbers, olives, pickles, and some alfalfa sprouts. All of the above mentioned
trays are very easy to prepare and if one really wanted to they could eat only
the food in those trays and be full every day with healthy food. The other two
trays I have take a little more effort but last for up to three days in the
refrigerator and are worth the fifteen minutes of invested time to prepare them.
The first tray is a tray filled with cut up melons, sectioned oranges,
pineapple, mango, grapes, berries and/or whatever is in season. I keep bananas
and apples in a basket on the counter on a daily basis. The second tray is
filled with cauliflower, broccoli, celery, radishes, and other vegetables that
take some time to peel and prepare. These trays provide the cornerstone for all
meals and snacks. At breakfast the fruit and jam tray are always out. For dinner
and lunch the vegetable trays come out. Rotating the variety in the tray keeps
up the interest level and the maintenance of the trays takes only about ten
minutes a day or a half hour twice a week.
3.Use
a crock-pot. I am surprised how many people do not use a crock-pot. A
crock-pot is basically the electronic version of the traditional pot simmering
over the open fire in a traditional village. One adds the ingredients to the pot
in the morning, lets them simmer unsupervised to exquisite tenderness all day
and then enjoys the meal in the evening. This takes only minimal planning but
the rewards are less time cooking, healthier foods and better and more frequent
home cooked meals. The basic recipe for any crock-pot is simple: add vegetables,
and/or meats, and/or pre-soaked beans until the pot is three-fourths full. Top
these ingredients with a spice mixture and 3-8 cups of water, tomato sauce, or
stock. In 4-8 hours you have dinner or lunch to be served alongside vegetables
and homemade bread. I often make traditional Indian or Middle Eastern dishes in
the crock-pot as well. Bisillah or Fusulia or any number of curries or dhals can
be made in the crock-pot. If too much liquid is in the final dish the crock-pot
can be left to simmer on high with the lid off for an hour or two to finish the
dish.
4.Use
creativity. Sometimes just thinking in a creative and simple way can help
you create simple dishes. My favorite two dishes are hummus wrap-ups and squash
bowls. The recipes are simple and easy and very healthy. Don’t think that to
make a healthy dish you have to use a lot of ingredients. Some of the best
dishes use only two or three ingredients.
Hummus
Wrap-ups
Spread
hummus on a thin piece of wrap-up bread (purchase from the store) or pita bread.
Add
lettuce and tomato and some garlic and roll it up.
Squash
Bowls
Cut
a squash in half and hollow it out.
Poke
holes in it with a fork and put it in the stove for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile
stir-fry some sliced onion, green pepper, garlic, raisins, and pine nuts in
olive oil.
Fill
the squash with the stir-fry mixture.
Talla
was very excited to try the new ideas I gave her. She had a successful
detoxification week and found it much easier to eat healthy food with the ideas
I had given her. Her closing comments to me were, "I never knew it was so
EASY to eat healthy! It's actually easier than all the fast food and prepared
foods I was making before. It's easier than Hamburger Helper!"
Here
are some of the basic formulas I gave Talla:
GENERAL
FORMULA FOR COOKING INTERESTING VEGETABLE DISHES
1.Chop,
slice or julienne any vegetables you have around that seem to go together. This
can be a combination of fresh and frozen.
2.
Chose a cooking method (stir fry, steam, baked or raw)
3.
Chose a spice theme (Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc...)
4.
Chose an oil, sauce, or stock base (this can be olive oil, butter, ghee, tomato
sauce or even vegetable broth)
STIR
FRY
1
tsp. of oil
1/2
tsp. of salt
1
onion and some garlic
Sauté
these in the oil and then add the spice mix for your “national flavor”
Add
vegetables and sauté until cooked but not wilted.
BAKED
VEGETABLE
1
tsp. of oil
1/2
tsp. of salt
onion
and garlic
Sauté
the above
Add
the vegetables and 2-3 cups of vegetable stock and spices
Bake
for 1 hour in a covered dish
When
finished pour off the liquid into a sauce pan
Add
a little cornstarch with cold water to the saucepan to make a thick “gravy”
for the veggies.
STUFFED
VEGGIES
Use
any of the leftovers from the methods above to stuff baked squash, potatoes, or
yams. You can also steam green peppers or tomatoes and stuff those.
INTEREST
You
can add up to 2 TBS. of nuts and/or raisins (sultanas) to your dishes to make
them more interesting.
MY
FAVORITE COMBINATIONS
(You
can and should add chopped greens to any of these if you like)
1.
Broccoli, cauliflower and red pepper with Italian seasoning
2.
Zucchini, tomato, peppers, green beans, eggplant and mushrooms with Italian
seasoning
3.
Zucchini, corn, tomato, mushrooms, pimentos, red peppers, green peppers and
yellow peppers with Mexican seasoning
4.
Baby corn, peas (snow peas if you can find), mushrooms, greens, sprouts,
broccoli, peppers, and carrots with Oriental seasoning
5.
Green peppers, celery, onions, greens, walnuts and raisins stuffed in squash
6.
Peas and carrots in tomato sauce with Middle Eastern seasoning
You
can find many websites and books that publish the ingredients for everything
from Mexican to Middle Eastern seasonings to curries. You do not need to
purchase these prepared. However, I do keep a list of spice recipes near my
spice cupboard.
