Robyn's Blog

My son is turning two in just a couple weeks. We have moved to the whole foods lifestyle as a family now. I have no problem breaking the rules on occassion, the problem is that my son cannot handle white flour. It consitpates him beyond words, he got that honest from Momma!
So, I am looking for an alternative to the normal birthday cakes. We tried one some time back that was a store box mix, but from Whole Foods and made with whole wheat flour. It was aweful! It was likely rancid, which would account for the really strange taste. We are used to whole grains, but I am sure the less than fluffy cake was a shock to our taste buds.
I was thinking maybe I could even make a whole grain banana bread and figure out some type of frosting to put on it. Would anyone have a recipe that would fit the part? Or any other ideas???
Thanks,
Kari

When I first got the recipes for the 12 steps, I was a little disappointed that the Live Granola contained oatmeal (my wife is gluten sensitive). I know many on this forum avoid gluten, so I thought I’d post the granola recipe we developed, as well as our favorite breakfast. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do! ~Jason (jayroo)

Sprouted Buckwheat Granola (gluten free)

This was inspired by a granola we found at the Ecopolitan, a raw restaurant in Minneapolis, MN. We go through a batch every week.

• 4 c buckwheat groats, rinsed, soaked overnight, rinsed well (or soaked 15 minutes and sprouted 24 hours)
• 2 c raw seeds (e.g. sunflower & pumpkin), soaked overnight, rinsed
• 2-3 c raw nuts (e.g. almonds & pecans), soaked overnight, rinsed
• 3 T cinnamon
• 2-4 T raw honey, softened over medium-low heat
• Optional: 1 T virgin coconut oil
• 2 c dried fruit (e.g. raisins and goji berries)

1. Optional: briefly pulse the larger nuts in a food processor (I leave them whole)
2. In a large bowl, mix buckwheat, seeds, nuts, cinnamon, honey and coconut oil.
3. Spread on dehydrator trays with mesh, teflex, or fruit leather sheets. Dehydrate at your preferred temp for 6-8 hours, mix, continue dehydrating until crunchy. The amount listed fills 4 trays in my Nesco dehydrator.
4. Mix in dry fruit and store in a sealed container at room temp or in the fridge.
5. Yields 10-12 cups

Sprouted Buckwheat Cereal (gluten free)

This was the first gourmet raw meal that my wife actually enjoyed and asked for again. She once told me I could make it for her every day.

• 1 cup buckwheat groats, rinsed, soaked overnight, rinsed well (or soaked 15 minutes and sprouted 24 hours)
• 1 banana, chopped
• dash of maple syrup
• optional: raw pecans or almonds, soaked overnight, rinsed, chopped

Process buckwheat, banana, and maple syrup in a food processor until creamy. Top with nuts. Serves 2.

I have read the China Study and know that we should not consume animal protein or at least keep it at 5% of the daily intake.  I also have read that soy products are not what they seem, so if we should stay away from animal products and soy is not that good, what would be an alternative for milk?

Thanks.

Here’s a fun way (from Ch. 5 of 12 Steps) to use the zucchini coming out of your garden (or your neighbor’s).  Thought I’d share it with you since I’m making it for dinner tonight on top of quinoa that takes 10 mins. to cook.  My kids groan about all the ways I am (over-)using zucchini, though I confess to throwing some baseball-bat-sized ones in the compost pile.  Last night was zucchini fritters (also Ch. 5–my squash haters protest and then say, “Oh, yeah, I forgot–I actually like these” and ask for more.)

Eat dinners like Rainbow Salad Over Quinoa regularly and you won’t feel exhausted at 10 p.m. You’ll be still doing some project you suddenly had the energy for and have to force yourself to go to bed. And then you’ll bounce out of bed in the morning because your body didn’t have to go into overdrive during the night to break down that slab of cow carcass. Oh, did I just say that? I’m so sorry! I mean steak!

Tomorrow I’ll blog photos I just took of my garden and the inside of my freezer–the top two ways I save money eating whole foods!

Rainbow Salad

2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb.), diced

2 large yellow squash (about 1 lb.), diced

6 roma tomatoes, chopped (or 4 regular tomatoes, liquid drained)

1/2 cup Kalamata or green olives, drained and chopped

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (bottled, drained and chopped finely)

½ red onion, chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. dried basil (or ¼ cup fresh, chopped)

1 tsp. oregano

½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 Tbsp. flaxseed, freshly ground

Toss all ingredients well and serve. Optionally, serve this on a bed of cooked quinoa seasoned with a pinch of sea salt.

I was at Brigham Young University ’s Education Week most of this week, with my gorgeous sister and two favorite cousins.  (That’s saying a lot about how cool Rochelle and Quinn are, since I have 48 first cousins and they all rock out loud.) I got to see a few GSG readers here from out of town I’d arranged to meet, or who saw me in classes.  (Lala whipped out her empty green smoothie container from her backpack, and I learned that her dad is one of the authors of Crucial Conversation, one of my all-time favorite books—I was there to attend his lecture. Fun!)

Here’s a photo of us at our last class, my sis next to me and cousins on the outside.  The incredible class we’re sitting in was taught by Kathy Headlee Miner, the founder of Mothers Without Borders, who I am meeting with tomorrow.  GSG readers will be hearing more later about how we are gonna get good nutrition to orphaned children together in third-world countries!

I have lots of comments about things I learned, so this will be a multi-part series.  Education Week has literally hundreds of classes all over the huge campus, about everything from single parenting, to Isaiah in the Bible, to gardening (to give you an idea of some of the things I learned about).

I got Quinn and Roch (12 Steppers) addicted to Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie, since they stayed at my house.  Roch told the others that she dreamed about it at night.  Just sixty seconds ago, she wrote me an email about how she made it for her family and they were mocking her because it was disgusting.  Then she said, “I forgot the strawberries!”  She would like me to write you a “testimonial” that says this: “Don’t forget the strawberries.”

If you’ve tried it and don’t like it, you made it wrong.  LOL!  If you can’t find fresh young Thai coconuts (by the case in Asian markets), never fear.  You can buy coconut water/liquid (not milk, high in fat) in cans.  I get them $1.19 by the case, and one can has about 2.5 cups in it, so it’s no more expensive than fresh.  It doesn’t have live enzymes because it’s not raw when it’s canned, but it’ll do in a pinch and has many other health benefits fairly intact.

The recipe is in Ch. 10 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods.  Even though it’s really yummy and virtually all raw, it has beets and carrots in it. Anyone, please tell me a breakfast containing those ingredients that you’ll enjoy as much.

Anyway, tomorrow I’ll tell you a couple of REALLY interesting things I learned before I go off about modern dietetics based on a nutrition class I attended.  Watch out: I’m fired up and both barrels are loaded.

I am kind of interested in knowing if any of the people that frequent this site are in my area. It would be nice to meet someone local to see about doing things jointly with… such as an almond purchase. Is anyone intersted in listing name, city/state and maybe email for orders not local to Utah. I really want some almonds but have not found anyone interested in sharing an order as my friends all think my eating habits are nuts.

By the way, I found and made a flourless brownie recipe yesterday and it was very good. Even my husband, who can eat regular brownies said they were as good as any he has had.  It is as follows….

Flourless Brownies

Makes 16

No one will ever guess that black beans are the secret ingredient in this recipe!

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed (I cook and use my own as I always have some on hand)

3 large eggs ( I used egg substitute)

1/3 cup melted butter, more for the baking dish ( I used raw coconut oil)

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cane sugar ( I use raw cane sugar)

1/2 cup gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Oil an 8-inch baking pan. Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter/oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and sugar in the

bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Remove the blade and stir in the chocolate chips and

walnuts. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set in the center.

Cool before cutting into squares.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 brownie/about 2oz/60g-wt.): 160 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 50mg

cholesterol, 35mg sodium, 17g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 4g protein

Tags:

Wheat Free, Low Sodium, Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Bon Apetit!

Hi,

I am new to the site and new to green smoothies and of course have one big question. So here it is:

I have been doing green smoothies for 2 weeks but I am sure if I am using the right combination of ingredients :

3.5 onces of spinach or/and kale

2 handfuls of almonds or walnuts

2 tbsp of flax seed ground or coconut oil

2 cups of water or fresh coconut water

2 scoops for whey protein or yogurt

2 scoops of acai powder

2 cup of berries or other fruit like mango or papaya, etc

1 banana

The blender jar will be full when I am done and I drink half of it for breakfast and give my mom the other half for breakfast too.

Is it to heavy for breakfast?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you

I can’t remember where I saw it, but I recall reading that almonds were a more perfect nut than cashews for a number of reasons, so my question is:  why are there cashews in the Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie?  should we replace them with almonds??

Dear Robin,

I have a few health related questions I wanted to ask you regarding starting a raw food diet. I consider myself a beginner raw fooder, I have taught myself how to drink green smoothies, learned how to eat cabbage and other greens.

Here is my question. I have a history of having a sensitive stomach. I’ve had 6 pregnancies where I’ve thrown up (sorry) for months on end. It’s been horrible. I’ve also had a lifetime of debilitating carsickness. I’m in my 40′s now, and I think I am just prone to having my head/stomach upset easily. As far as the raw food issue, there are times when I just feel down and out nauseous, at those times, how do I incorporate a raw diet ? For me, soothing stomach foods can be high fat/high sugar/high carb – easy processed from a box things. I cant think of a single raw recipe that I’ve had that would help me during these icky times. And my second question. What about the stomach flu? My diet this year has been better than ever (much better than the average American, though not raw) yet we just had a 10 day intestinal bug go through our family, and there was no way during that time that I could stomach ANYTHING that needed major digestive juices! I have searched the web for answers to these question, but have come up empty so far. I’m sorry to take up your time here, I know you are a busy mom. Please take your time in responding if you feel you can! Thank you, Robin

This is something I like for dinner, and you can make it yellow or green depending on whether you use green split peas or yellow lentils.  It’s quick and easy to make.  I usually rinse the peas and rice and then soak overnight, then simmer them in two saucepans the next morning to eat that night.  It has both a grain and a legume–a “perfect protein.”  I explain why, in Ch. 6, you don’t need to worry about that like vegetarians did in the 1980′s and some still do.  (If you have OLD vegetarian cookbooks, you can see lots of obsessing about this.)  In a nutshell, your body has amino acids in a free-floating pool to draw upon for 24 hours, so you don’t have to put them all together in any given meal, for your body to assemble protein.  That said, some people feel that having grains/legumes together makes a more filling meal.

Enjoy!

Indian Green or Yellow Dahl

2 cups split peas or yellow lentils

1 1/2 cups brown rice

water

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp. ground coriander

2 tsp. kelp granules (optional)

1 tsp. salt (for rice)

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt (for peas/lentils)

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. cumin

1 cup chopped cilantro

In separate saucepans, rinse split peas and brown rice well.  Cover each with fresh water and allow to soak several hours.  Drain well.  Add 3 cups water and 1 tsp. salt to the rice, and 4 cups water to the split peas, bring each to a boil, and reduce heat for 45 mins.  Add all seasonings except cilantro to peas/lentils, and mash with a spoon.  Serve dahl over brown rice and sprinkle liberally with cilantro.