Previous diet tips from newsletters.

For additional ideas, read The Junk Food Lover's Step-by-Step Guide to Healthier Eating, by yours truly (Carmie Jones).  Copies are $4.95.  [Quantity prices available]           mail@riversidehealth.com

Transitional eating tip February 2002

    My daughters have such great ideas! J  The latest is from our daughter Barbara.  At the last Video & Snack meeting she brought a delicious treat that had the appeal of a high priced specialty item, yet it was fast and easy to prepare, and oh so delicious!
    What she prepared was almond stuffed dates.  She took dates, cut them in half lengthwise, removed the pit and pressed a raw almond into the inside of each date half.  They looked so pretty and were appetizingly arranged on the tray.
    This triggered my imagination so I decided to try some other combinations.  I found that I really like half of a macadamia nut pressed into a dried apricot half.  Experiment with the dried fruits and nuts that you like.  A variety tray would be nice.  I think your family will enjoy it!  You just may be surprised! J

Transitional eating December 2001

                Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, thanking our Lord for His abundant provision!  And, oh, those holiday food provisions—how we love them, but they don’t love us (after what we do to them, that is!)  There are ways to enjoy those holiday treats without totally destroying God’s perfect foods.  For starters, look through recipe books for raw salads, such as Rhonda Malkmus’ fresh cranberry fruit salad in Recipes For Life.  Make a traditional 7 Layer salad using egg free, dairy free Grapeseed Oil Veganaise instead of mayonnaise.
                For those creamy casseroles use the cashew gravy instead of canned soups.  Use whole grain flours and Sucanat for baking.  Use powdered Egg Replacer or the flaxseed egg mixture.  For the die-hard meat eaters, buy organic free range meats.  Also, don’t cook the vegetables till they are limp.  They should still have some crunch to them.
                 You can find more ideas and the recipes for cashew gravy and flaxseed egg mixture on our website, www.RiversideHealth.com .  Look in the library for all previous Transitional Eating Tips.

Transitional eating: November 2001

    Several newsletters back I shared a recipe for cashew gray (Country Style Gravy) that is very versatile.  One way I love to use it is making "cream" soups such as creamy tomato or cream of broccoli.  This is delicious warm on a chilly autumn day with a piece of crusty bread--AFTER a large veggie salad, of course!  But this soup can also be served RAW for those of us that are trying to eat less cooked food.  By omitting the corn starch in the gravy recipe and adding your favorite raw vegetable, such as tomato (seeded and peeled is best), then blending thoroughly--or leaving small bits for texture--you have a delicious soup.  It can be chilled in the summer or warmed to NO MORE than 105o on a chilly day.  (Above this temperature begins to kill the enzymes and alter the molecular structure of the fiber, fat, protein and nutrients.)
    Here is the gravy recipe again:  [Taken from the Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook, available from us.]  Blend together 2 cups water, 1/2 cup raw cashews, 1 Tbls. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp celtic salt (or sea salt), 3 Tbls. Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce), 1 Tbls. nutritional yeast flakes, and 1 Tbls. cornstarch (omit if not cooking).  Strain, if desired.  Cook till thickened, if desired.

Transitional eating October 2001

                During class four of the Weigh Of Wisdom class we made fruit smoothies.  Mmmm!  These make a delicious snack, thick like a shake or thicker like soft serve ice cream.  By using nuts or seeds or their butters, plus some frozen bananas, we can have them thick and creamy without milk or cream.  By adding dates, figs, or other very sweet fruit we can avoid adding sugar or other sweeteners.  Flavors are limited only by our imagination and what fruit we have on hand fresh or in the freezer.  Just throw it all in a blender with just enough cold water to make it blend—or more if you like it thinner.  Add flavorings such as carob or vanilla or maple.  Experimenting is fun.  Come up with your own concoctions or look for recipes in books such as Rhonda Malmus’s Recipes For Life or Nomi Shannon’s The Raw Gourmet.  (We carry both of these books and the one listed in the article on the other side by Dr. Douglas Graham, as well as his High Energy Recipes book.)  Pineapple, banana, and coconut with raw cashews makes a tasty Pina Colada.  If the pineapple isn’t particularly sweet, add a few dates or a little raw honey to taste.  Soak the dates 20 minutes in water first to help then blend more smoothly, and use their soak water as part of the liquid in the recipe.

Transitional eating August 2001

    When I get the munchies in the evening or on the road I like to occasionally grab my homemade Trail Mix.  I make my own because readymade usually have things in them that I don't want.  I prefer all raw, all organic, unsalted nuts, seeds and unsulfured dried fruit, leaving out grain items such as pretzels and rye crisps.  I admit it.  I'm picky.  But, hey, this is my body I'm talking about.  So I'm going to use only the best living cell food I can get my hands on-  and leave out the cell destroying items!

    It's easy to make.  Just dump some of these nuts in a big bowl, some of those, some raisons, minced up dried apricots, a bag of sunflower seeds, or whatever is on hand.  Mix it up and put in a storage container.  Refrigerate.  That's it!  Since these kinds of quality ingredients can sometimes be difficult to find and expensive, here are some sources for bulk quantities for cheaper prices.  You might also ask your local health food store if they will order bulk amounts for you at a cheaper price.

            Buying Club:   Call to see if there is one in your area or get info on how to organize your own.
                                Blooming Prairie Warehouse      www.bpco-op.com       1-800-323-2131
            Mail Order:    Sun Organic Farm, PO Box 2429, Valley Center, CA  92082  1-800-269-9888

 Transitional eating: July 2001

                  From time to time I’d like to share some of my favorite kitchen tools for helping to make food prep easier while transitioning over to a healthier diet.  This month I’m going to share about one of my most used ones—the salad spinner.  With all of the lettuce I have to wash around here, this has been a lifesaver!  I use to use lintless towel after towel, dabbing and rolling dripping greens.  NO MORE!  I drop them in the basket, set the lid in place, give a few quick spins of the knob, and—voila!—dry lettuce.  Yeah!  And unlike soggy towels, I can reuse the spinner again and again, sink load after sink load of greens.

                For such an inexpensive gadget it sure delivers a lot of satisfaction.  Give it a try!

Transitional eating: June 2001
                The family is on the run, they want to stop for a quick bite somewhere.  Ugh!  Are there any healthier options out there?  Yes.  Not perfect, but better than the average junk food choices.  Let me list just a few to get you thinking of ideas for yourself:  Visit places that offer salads.  If they offer Caesar Salad than you know they have romaine lettuce.  Ask for the Garden Salad (you don’t want all the garbage that is put on Caesar Salads) substituting romaine lettuce for the less nutritious iceburg.  Also, ask them to leave off cheese, hard-cooked eggs, etc.  Some places offer baked potatoes.  Avoid all the fatty stuff to go on top—ask for lots of onions or at least some real butter if you need something to moisten it.  Some sub-sandwich places offer veggie subs.  Again, ask them to leave off the cheese and choose the whole wheat roll.  Many of these places, and other restaurants as well, offer Garden Burgers as an alternative to hamburgers.  If going Mexican, ask for your bean burrito to have the cheese substituted with lots of fresh tomatoes (for at least a little live food).  Or ask for your tacos made with the bean paste instead of the meat and cheese.  If going Oriental, ask if the food can be prepared without the MSG.  There are even a few rare places that let you choose brown rice instead of stripped white rice.  No matter where you go, try to get any and all the raw food added that you can—tomatoes, onions, lettuce, etc.
                Try to remember to grab some fresh and/or dried fruit and maybe some raw nuts as you head out the door.  Encourage everyone to snack on these to hold them till you reach your destination—or at least to partly satisfy them so they won’t need as much restaurant food to fill them up.  Bring lots of water to drink as well.  Often, just water alone is all that is required to be satisfied. 

Transitional eating:  May 2001            The warm weather is here—no more excuses about needing something hot to eat when it’s cold!  Now is the time for us all to take advantage of the hot weather—to help us transition over to more raw foods:  more fresh fruit instead of (or at least on) cereal or pancakes, more vegetable salads instead of sandwiches, more blended raw vegetable soups instead of hot soups…

            Complicated recipes that make raw foods look and taste more like the cooked foods we are used to are OK for company and special occasions.  But why not keep it simple the rest of the time?  It’s OK to make a meal of a large cucumber.  Yes, just eat a cucumber like we would a banana.  Sure we’ll be hungry again sooner than if eating a burger and fries.  That means it digested quickly (a good thing)!  We’ll eat more often, but it will be fast and easy this way.  Munching on some raw nuts or seeds or fruit that was dried without heat is nice.  Little creativity is required.  Just look at the vast array of choices coming into the stores now and take advantage of it.  The foods that are on sale everywhere are the ones in season.  Eat lots of those while inexpensive, freezing and drying some for the winter months.  Think RAW!

Transitional eating:  April 2001

            Last month I shared my experiment using soaked dried apples to make a raw Apple unCrisp.  My friend Miriam called to tell me that she tried it using thawed frozen apples.  She reported that the apples weren’t as soft but it was still good.  I’m going to continue experimenting with other dried and frozen fruits.  I hope you are being brave and trying new ideas!

            Since this month’s video is about avoiding sugar, I’ll share a few more ideas using dried fruits—as sweeteners.  Soak dried figs, dates, raisons, bananas, and/or other sweet fruits in water or fruit juice.  Put in a blender with its soak liquid and blend till smooth.  Use as little or as much liquid as needed to get it the desired consistency.  Use in nut milks, smoothies, baking, over pancakes, ice “cream”, or spread on your delicious whole grain bread.  Again, I encourage you to experiment —and then share your ideas with the rest of us!

Transitional eating:  March 2001

                 Don’t be afraid to experiment!  Sure there will be recipes that bomb.  But other times you’ll hit on a great new addition to your recipe collection.  The other day I wanted to make a healthier version Apple Crisp but didn’t have enough apples on hand.  So I soaked some dried apple rings in water (those thick slices).  Once soaked, I cut them into chunks, and like any normal cook I popped a piece in my mouth.  The soaked apple chunks were soft like a cooked apple!  I decided to leave them UNcooked.  I spread them in my baking dish but didn’t bake them.  I thought I’d just spread the topping on a baking sheet, bake it, then sprinkle it on the apple chunks.  Before baking, I decided to taste the raw topping.  It was good just like that.  So I didn’t bake it either—just sprinkled it over the apples.  We, and the folks we shared it with, thought it tasted good just as it was.  Another successful experiment J.  Next time, I may take some apple juice and thicken it on the stove with corn starch and some cinnamon, let it cool, then pour over the raw, soaked apple pieces so it’s more “saucy” like a traditional crisp or pie.

Transitional Eating, February 2001

Looking for some alternatives to meat? Let me make some transitional suggestions--ideas to wean you off the meat, but you don’t want to stay with them for ever. I’ll start by saying that “fake meat” products such as hot dogs and burgers are OK in the beginning. But they are usually very processed, high in salt and sugar and other ingredients we are trying to cut back on. So eventually leave them out of the diet.

Mushrooms, especially portabellas, have a meaty texture and taste. Chunk them fresh in salads and add to soups, stews and stir frys, stuff and bake them, or brush them with some oil, Bragg Liquid Aminos and some onion powder, then grill or lightly sauté them. Remember that they are a fungus, so eventually just leave them out altogether.

Tofu is an old stand-by. Chunk it into soups and stir frys, grate it for eggless salad, etc. Tofu is soy, so go easy on it to avoid allergies. The same goes for soy beans that can be partly (then wholly) substituted in ground meat recipes, as can garbanzo, pinto (in Mexican dishes), etc. By nature, beans are a poorly combined food--they are both a protein and a starch. Make them a small part of a vegetable rich meal. If they are sprouted and eaten raw such as in salads, then they are much more digestible and nutritious! Soak beans 6 hours or more before cooking. If you also include some uncooked brown rice (soaked with the beans) or some fennel seeds, you won’t have to throw away the mineral rich soak water to prevent flatulence!

Transitional Eating:  January 2001

OK, so maybe you didn't stay perfectly true to your goals of better eating during the holidays.  Don't beat yourself up over it.  Pick yourself up off that slippery path and get moving in the right direction again.  A good way to begin is to do a bit of "house cleaning."  As long as that trash is in your system you are going to be more susceptible to the various viruses floating around this time of year.  And for those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, you may get some real relief.

                For the truly dedicated and hearty ones that are generally in good health, you might consider a total cleansing fast.  For more details, give me a call.  For the rest of you, be sure to drink a LOT more clean water each day.  (Coffee, tea, pop, juice, etc. are not pure water!)  Be sure to get back into the daily routine of drinking your freshly made vegetable juices or using your Garden Trio.  Even if you don't usually eat only raw foods till dinner, you might consider doing it for a few weeks - or at least a few days.  Start the day with veggie juice, eat fresh fruit throughout the morning, have a greens or other veggie salad for lunch, more veggie juice in the afternoon, maybe some raw nuts or seeds or dried fruit to snack.  Then eat a sensible dinner.  As much as possible, eat organically grown foods.

Transitional eating: December 2000

Mmmm. This cooler weather sure makes my mouth water for a warm bowl of hearty soup, stew, or chili with some hot crusty bread to dip in it! Preceded by a big live salad, it makes a great lunch or dinner J. I especially enjoy creamy soups – cream of potato or broccoli or whatever. I used to replace the milk in the recipes with rice, soy or almond milk. These were fine but I now love using a recipe from the Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook as my base for all creamy foods – gravy, soup, “cheese” sauce, dessert topping, etc. It’s made from cashews – raw unsalted cashews preferred. And it freezes great!

The basic recipe includes blending ½ cup cashews and 2 cups of water. You also blend with it seasonings, thickener, etc. per how you will be using it. For a basic gravy, add vegetable bouillon powder to taste (or a cube) or 1 Tbls. onion powder plus ¼ tsp. garlic powder, ¼ tsp. sea salt (optional), 3 Tbls. Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy or tamari sauce), 1 Tbls. nutritional yeast flakes, and 1 Tbls. cornstarch. Blend all till smooth. Strain and simmer and stir till thickened. This makes a delicious gravy or cream soup base.

For a live dessert topping, use cashews and dates (for sweetness). Use just enough water to get the desired thickness. May add flavor extracts or fresh fruit or other sweeteners. A recipe for ice cream is in the cookbook mentioned above, as well as many other fantastic vegan recipes. To get your own copy, contact Medlen Health Products:  www.MedlenHealth.com

Transitional eating:   November 2000

            "Yikes!  The holidays are upon us.  There go our waistlines.  And what of our desires to eat healthier?"  Don't despair.  There is hope!  Let's make up our minds to follow a few basic rules.  I mostly fill up first on the healthier choices such as the fruit salad, vegetable salads, the veggies and dip tray and the raw nuts.  That way I'm satisfied to just have a sampling of the other tempting goodies, not feeling deprived.  When asked to bring a dish, I prepare something special from healthier ingredients such as recommended in my book so I know there will be at least one tasty dish that I can eat with less or no guilt. I limit my intake of these "deadly" holiday treats by only having them at other places.  I don't keep any in my own house.  I stick to the healthier stuff day-to-day.  Then after enjoying just a bit when out, I have extra water and vegetable juice the next day plus more or all raw fruit and vegetables for the day.  This helps to cleanse my body.  I also remember to take my digestive enzymes (AIM's PrepZymes) when eating cooked foods, improperly combined foods and just plain junk!

Transitional eating:  October 2000

            Need some healthier ideas for "brown bagging it?"  Hopefully, you are training everyone to eat their fruit first, not last.  (Start with the fastest digesting foods, then progress to the longer digesting foods.)  Make it as easy to eat as possible so they will eat it!  If it needs to be peeled and/or cut up, you might consider doing it for them.  Fruit salads are tasty J.  Vary the raw veggies.  Provide "sticks" and dip one day, greens salad another, cole slaw the next, etc. Put any dressings in a separate container.

            For sandwich fillings, consider Eggless Salad*, Garbanzo Spread*, Meatless Loaf (see vegetarian recipe books), raw nut butter and raw honey or allfruit spread, hummus or fresh veggies filled pitas.  (*Recipes in my book)  When preparing soups, stews, chilies, casseroles, etc. for dinners, make extra to freeze in individual meal size "freeze and reheat" containers.  Put frozen into the lunch box.  It will keep itself and the other food in the lunch box chilled.  (Obviously, if there is no way to heat it, it will need to go hot into a thermos.)  For snacks, include raw nuts and seeds, dried fruit, and any of these covered with melted carob chips. 

            If they fill up before they've finished all that you put in, aren't you glad they ate the most nutritious foods first?

Transitional eating: September 2000

            This month we are focusing on being heart healthy.  So let's consider the egg.  What are our options?  For those of us that are eliminating animal products from our diets for many different reasons, the egg had to go.  For those of you that wish to continue eating them, please switch over to organic free range eggs.  Not only are they free of added hormones, antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides, etc., but they are lower in saturated fat and higher in lecithin (which dissolves fat and lowers cholesterol).

            There are alternatives to eggs in recipes. For instance, you can use grated tofu to make eggless salad (see the recipe in my book).  Grated tofu can also be used in other dishes where grated eggs are used.

            In baking, you can use a powdered product called Egg Replacer from ENER G, available at health food stores.  Or make your own "eggs" for baking from flaxseed - a seed that is very heart healthy!  It's easy to make.  In a blender, blend 1/2 cup flaxseeds 1 minute.  Add 2 cups good water, blend 2 more minutes.  1/4 cup = 1 egg.  Keeps 2-3 days in the refrigerator or freeze in an ice tray in 1/4 cup measures (my ice tray = 2 cubes per 1/4 cup = 1 egg).  Transfer frozen cubes to a freezer bag.  Thaw as many cubes as needed per recipe.

Transitional eating: August 2000

            Summer fruit - aaaaah!  Cherries, melons, berries, peaches, plums...they're wonderful!  I hope you are eating your fill of them J.  They are in season for such a short time that we need to enjoy them while we can - while they are the freshest and the least expensive!  Eating fruit in season also means we will be rotating it, rather than taxing our systems with the same food day after day after day, causing allergies.  I'm not even going to look at fall and winter fruit until I have to.  Their turn is coming again soon enough.  (Apples, pears, citrus, bananas, etc.)

            Rotate your fruit on a daily basis, as well, for more variety and allergy prevention.  Have a variety of berries one day, melons the next, then pitted fruits, tropical fruits, etc.  Eat them separately or mix them in fruit salads.  It's poor food combining, but for the occasional treat you could add raw unsalted nuts or unsweetened coconut.

            Mmmmmm...talking about all that sweet, juicy fruit is making my mouth water!  Excuse me while I head to the kitchen!!

Transitional eating: July 2000

            Tired of the same old lettuce salad day after day?  Don't want to pull out the recipe books and cards for new ideas just to find out you don't have some of the ingredients?  Try this. Don't use all of your favorite veggies all of the time.  Use just a few - some today, others tomorrow.  And you don't always have to make a lettuce salad.  Mix and match different veggies with different bottled or homemade dressings without lettuce.   How about some slices of onion, tomatoes and cucumbers with some Italian dressing?  Or cauliflower, broccoli, onion and baby peas with a bit of mayo?   Enjoy some carrot/raison salad or cole slaw.  Just use what you have on hand and experiment.  You don't need to follow recipes!  You can do this!!  And don't forget to add little bits of a new vegetable from time to time.  Try corn cut right from the uncooked cob. Grate up some raw sweet potato or jicama into the salad.  Finely slice a raw Brussels sprout.  Don't like the taste of them cooked?  You'll be surprised at the difference in the flavor of raw veggies.  Give some new ones a try J. 

Transitional eating: June 2000

            Does this warm weather make you thirsty?  Looking for something to drink other than caffeine and sugar loaded beverages?  Want to avoid the phosphoric acid of soda pop?  Try some of these ideas.  For starters, how about a big glass of good old fashioned water?  You might actually like it!  Instead of regular iced tea and sugar, how about some iced herbal teas such as raspberry or lemon zinger, sweetened with fruit juice or raw honey?  Don't like honey yet?  Try granulated raw cane juice such as Sucanat or turbinado sugar from the health food store.  Chilled fruit juice is good, but has too much sugar, even if it is fruit sugar.  It's OK for those just starting to break the soda habit, but gradually over time, begin diluting it more and more with water until it's half water and half juice.  Make smoothies by putting chunks of frozen fruit into the blender with a little water and pure maple syrup.  Or use fresh fruit and ice cubes.  For shakes, use milk instead of water or ice.  Almond milk is great for this!  See my book for a tasty lemonade recipe.

For additional ideas, read The Junk Food Lover's Step-by-Step Guide to Healthier Eating, by yours truly (Carmie Jones).  Copies are $4.95.  [Quantity prices available]           mail@riversidehealth.com

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