I’ve created a static page for the prep schedule/index to Team Bronco Girl recipes and added it to the main menu bar so it’s easily accessible to volunteers.

Wheatgrass – 2 fl oz twice a day on an empty stomach

Rejevelac* – 64 fl oz per day, on an empty stomach

Snacks/Food with Medication/Antiemetic  – chia pudding,  flax crackers alone or with pate, gluten-free crackers

Breakfast: chia pudding & green juice or smoothie

Lunch:  OHI plate first** plus optional comfort foods***

Dinner: OHI plate first** plus optional comfort foods***

*Rejevelac is a pro-biotic beverage.  OHI protocol recommends consuming half one’s body weight in fluid ounces per day.  Optimizing digestive flora is essential for supporting elimination.

**an OHI plate mainly consists of salad with sprouts, sprouted seeds, and a non-oil dressing.  The salad takes up the 50-80% of the plate.  The remainder consists of at least 1/4 of living foods fermented veggies, usually sauerkraut or kim-chee.   There will also be 2 Tbsp – 1/4 cup of seed pate or guacamole with either flax crackers or crudites for dipping.  The mantra is “eat the OHI plate first.”  All foods are ok, but we have to ensure optimal nutrition before eating-for-emotions.

***don’t assume we’re 100% raw vegan or even 100% vegetarian.  Comfort foods are totally fine on Milly’s regimen.  Life is about joy.  Any food in moderation, eating with peace and love, does no harm.  The key for healing, is to sate hunger by eating the most nourishing food first.  As time passes, cravings for comfort diminish because the body becomes drawn to the best foods.

Food preparation itself is very simple.  No single action takes a lot of time with living foods, with the exception of juicing.  The very nature of sprouting and fermenting means planning ahead but in action it only takes a few minutes of soaking or rinsing each day.  Juicing can take about 45 min of cutting up veg and running them through the machine & clean-up.

We have team of volunteers helping us with nutrition.  Somebody will come by four days per week – Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.   The basic plan is to focus on juice and salads to begin with.  The team isn’t familiar with the living foods lifestyle so we’ll ease into it with the more accessible aspects.  Everybody knows how to make a salad.  It won’t be a stretch to do an “OHI plate” as Milly and I like to call it.

Next weekend the team will come by for an orientation to the equipment and the organization of our kitchen and pantry.  I plan on writing up the food prep schedule and instructions in a different post (or two or three)

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My blood pressure is too high.  This is a recent phenomena directly attributable to my stress eating since M. was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb.  Now there is no choice – I must lose weight and get my blood pressure under control.  There is stroke and heart disease and diabetes in my family.

This is negative motivation.   Negative motivation can be interpreted in two ways.   It could be construed as negative emotions or behaviors. For example, a coach who motivates by pointing out flaws or belittling.  Negative motivation is also a term which refers to the negative consequences which will result from not changing behavior.   Health problems are this type of motivation.  Negative motivation can be a useful thing.

In this case, it’s certain that I can’t continue doing what I’ve been doing.   I need to eat and exercise in the ways I know will improve my health.

I use the kitchari recipe from Food as Medicine by Dharma Singh Khalsa.  He’s got a basic bean/rice one and a slightly more complicated one with veg and healing spices.  I’ve only made the savory vegetable one, which is what M wants.  I sprout my beans before I cook them, to make them more digestible and to make the nutrients more bio-available.  If you go that route, don’t sprout the beans into full on stir-fry style bean sprouts.  Once the tails start to poke out, they’re done.

Mung Beans & Rice (from Food as Medicine)

• 1 cup mung beans (or 1 cup of mung beans after sprouting)
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 inch piece of kombu seaweed (optional, adds minerals and makes beans more digestible)
• 9 cups of water
• 4-6 cups of assorted vegetables (carrots, celery, zucchini, broccoli, etc.)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• .5 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup ginger root, minced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 heaping teaspoon turmeric
• 1 heaping teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chilies (more or less to taste)
• t tablespoon sweet basil
• seeds of 5 cardamom pods
• sea salt or Braggs Liquid Aminos to taste.

Soak beans overnight.  Wash beans and rinse rice at least 3 times. Bring water to boil.  Add bay leaves and kombu seaweed let boil over medium-high heat.  When the beans have boiled and are soft, about 40-50 minutes, add rice, lower heat to simmer, and let cook for another 20 minutes.

Clean and cut vegetables.  Add vegetables to simmering rice and beans and continue to cook for approximately 15 more minutes.  In the meantime, heat oil in large frying pan.  Add onions, ginger, and garlic.  Saute over medium high heat until brown.  Add turmeric, pepper, garam masala, and red chilies. Add this mixture to the pot with the beans and rice.  You will need to stir often now to prevent scorching.  Add sweet basil, cardamom seeds, and sea salt.  Continue to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often.  You may have to add extra boiling water until the rice and vegetables are completely cooked.  The consistency should be rich, thick, and soup-like — with ingredients barely discernible.

Simpler Mung Beans & Rice (from Food as Medicine)

• .5 cup mung beans
• .5 cup white basmati rice
• 1 inch piece of kombu seaweed (optional)
• 9 cups water
• Sea salt or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos to taste

Soak beans overnight. Wash beans and rice. Bring water to a boil, add beans and kombu seaweed, and let boil over medium high heat for 40-50 minutes until soft.  Add rice and let simmer for another 20-25 minutes until done. Add sea salt to taste.  You can also add 1 tsp of ghee or olive oil per person before serving.

Caveat: I haven’t tried this recipe as written.  I’m a bit suspicious about the bean/rice to water ratio.  It looks to me like it will end up too watery.  Leave me a comment if you try it and let me know how it goes.

Zucchini & Asparagus Kitchari (VegNews, Mar/Apr 2009)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 cups yellow split mung beans
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 8 cups water divided
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups zucchini, diced
• 1 cup asparagus, sliced into 1 inch pieces

In a large pot, heat oil and saute cumin, coriander, fennel, and turmeric for 1 minute.  Add mung beans and salt, saute for another 2 minutes.  Add 7 cups of water and bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Add rice, zucchini, and asparagus.  Add remaining 1 cup of water, stir, bring back to a boil, and then simmer for another 20 minutes or until rice is fully cooked.

Caveat: I haven’t made this one either but I’ve been meaning to try it. I’ve have the torn magazine page as a bookmark in Food as Medicine for over two years now.

The best basic green juice recipe in my opinion belongs to Cherie Soria.  I’ve touted Green Giant Juice before. It is a staple one can return to time and again. Especially if one varies the greens.  Rotation is important to prevent food sensitivities.  I love my juiced kale but also like spinach, chard, bok choy, romaine.

At Optimum Health Institute, I didn’t do any fruit juices since I was doing the “hypo” diet (as in hypoglycemic) to keep my blood sugars low. They recommend the hypo diet for anybody with a “health opportunity” (their euphemism for illness). Green juices sans fruit are bland IMHO and I remember using lots of kelp and garlic powder and/or ginger powder to give those juices some oomph.

If you are doing fruit juices, use a straw, drink them within 20 minutes, and rinse your mouth out well with water afterwards.  Otherwise the acids in the fruits can damage your teeth enamel.

Here are some of my favorite combinations

• Watermelon with lime or lemon  (always do melons on an empty stomach and wait 20 minutes before consuming anything else)
• Orange, carrot, ginger, spinach (looks like mud but tastes good. Put it in an opaque cup and keep the haters quiet)
• Orange, parsley, kale, carrot
• Pineapple, cilantro, romaine
• Pineapple, dandelion green, zucchini or cucumber or romaine (go easy on the dandelion, it’s STRONG tasting and is a laxative)
• Just plain cantaloupe blended in high speed blender without straining.  Yummy smoothie!!
• Cucumber, celery, apple, mint
• Cucumber, zucchini, celery, spinach, lemon
• Cucumber, kale, apple
• Celery, apple, mint
• Cucumber, fennel

Some tips:

• Keep the greens on the low end (like 1 or 2 leaves) to start with.  They really are an acquired taste.  Gradually you can increase the amount
• Go easy with celery – it tastes salty, especially if you haven’t been eating salt, and can overwhelm a juice
• Citrus cuts the “green” taste if you add too much green or just don’t like it.
• Dinosaur (aka Lacinto) kale is less “green” tasting than the common curly variety
• You can always add ginger, mint, pineapple mint, or other herbs for a different flavor twist.
• Powders can also help with flavor: kelp, dulse, garlic, onion are quite useful especially if you’re not using fruit
• Save the pulp!! There are myriad uses for veggie and fruit pulps.  Enough to merit its own blog post.  Until I get around to it, Google it. Much has been written about it on other blogs.  If you can’t use the pulp right away, put it in a labeled zip lock in the freezer.  Otherwise, composting is always a great option.

Before planting

The brou-ha-ha about the Dervaes family trademarking the phrase urban homestead/er/ing. I won’t repeat the various links. I’m sure you’re all capable of putting in a web search to find the details if you’re not already familiar.

I, like thousands of others, am shocked and dismayed about the situation. I have faith, however, in the huge swell of protest. This wouldn’t be the first time that righteous outrage has closed a web site or changed a situation for the better. The people who have received the cease & desist letters are working with the EFF to rectify things. The trademark is bunk. I’m sure that there will be petitions to the USPTO to get it rescinded.

Milly and I are proto-urban homesteaders as you can see from the picture. It takes years and tons of sweat equity to get to the level the misguided would-be trade-markers have achieved with their urban homestead. The great thing about the movement is that it’s not an all-or-nothing endeavor. You do what you can and little by little you get more self sufficient. We’re currently in the process of removing our lawn and growing an edible landscape. When we moved here there was nothing on the lawn except Bermuda grass. Nothing. No plants, no landscaping. Just grass and concrete. Milly has added 20 fruit trees already. And we’re looking forward to increasing the amount of home grown fresh produce in our lives.

Today is “Green Monday” where bloggers are discussing their urban homesteading to protest the selfish and short-sighted actions of the self-proclaimed founders of the movement (which, btw, began decades if not hundreds of years ago). I’m not very fond of the term “urban homestead.” Homesteading has lots of racist and genocidal connotations so I prefer not to use it myself. I’m still virulently opposed to anybody who tries to take common English language phrases and make them inaccessible to the community which brought the terms into common usage.

Shame on them. I believe that truth and goodness will prevail.

Feasting on Raw Foods

I found this book while out walking with my lovely wife. We happened upon a neighborhood sidewalk sale and there is was, just waiting for me to pick it up for $3.00.

It was published in 1980.  Decades before the modern raw foods movement blossomed.  It has a few chapters about the health reasons for going raw.  It quotes the Viktoras Kulvinskas, the grandfather of raw foods (he worked with Ann Wigmore). Unfortunately it also contains recipes for raw meat and dairy.  Not really this vegetarian’s cup of tea.  Ok, maybe the dairy a little bit. I’m still working on that.

It’s a cool little curiosity piece. I doubt I’ll use it very much. It does show the long history of the raw foods movement and I got a kick out of it.