Coconut Oil for Preparing Delicious, Nourishing Foods

In recovery we often start taking better care of ourselves, trying to eat well and get enough rest. We may also begin cooking more for ourselves and our fellows out of a desire to eat and share healthy meals and have fellowship and community.

Olive oil is one popular cooking oil. Organic butter or Kerrygold Irish butter are other options. Or ghee!
For those who are up for something a bit more tropical, coconut butter, which becomes oil when heated, can be a light and tasty choice. Barleans makes it. And they also do a nice flax oil which is an excellent supplement or salad dressing with lemon juice, but must never be heated! Coconut oil, in contrast, can be eaten raw or used for cooking, and has a milder taste. Other popular brands are Matyah’s, Artisana, and Nutiva. Delicious on popcorn!
A recipe you may wish to try for a refreshing dish is combining the coconut oil with quinoa, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and a little sea salt! It also makes a nice coleslaw with shredded cabbage, dash of stevia powder, dry mustard, celery seed, pepper, and vinegar.
Purported to be good for the lungs, thyroid, and hair, coconut oil is generally cooling and nourishing. As well it supports the immune system.
A promising article regarding the antiviral capacity of coconuts can be viewed here http://www.living-foods.com/articles/coconutbenefits.html
Coconut oil can be used topically as well as a natural moisturizer!

Top ten list of superfoods for health, and recovery!

if you are at Trader Joes….
1) 100% blueberry juice- (not mixed with any other juices) great for eyes and memory
2) Larabars- made only of nuts, fruits, and spices like ginger and cinnamon- incredibly delicious treat
3) bag of ‘Southern Greens’- prewashed, prechopped collard, turnip, and mustard greens- easy to make and packed with nourishment

if you are at Costco….
4) large ‘Pomwonderful’ pomegranate juice- an almost 4 pound jug for 10 bucks! may be good for the heart, brain, prostate, and immune system- plus studies in Israel show that pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone
5) dried sour montmorency cherries- a study was conducted at Michigan State University to find out whether traditional claims about these cherries relieving chronic aches and pains, arthritis and gout were true, and researchers discovered that indeed the anthocyanins, natural anti-inflammatory compounds in the pigment of the montmorency cherry, are 10 times more potent than aspirin
6) quinoa- (which is also in the bulk bin at the health food store with red and darker colored varieties) high in protein and minerals- serve with beans, avocado, cheese, veggies, or chicken- don’t overcook as it cooks really quickly (very convenient) and is best still a bit firm

if one is at the health food store….
7) chia seeds- chia is the Mayan word for ‘strength’- better known for their appearance as chia pets! tiny seeds which are powerhouses of energy and endurance
‘barleans’ flax oil- flax is purported to be good for hormonal balance, hair, skin, and nails- just a squirt a day chased with water!
9) dulse- contains high levels of natural iodine which can nourish the thyroid gland- chewy, salty snack

if one is online….
10) www.wholesalepinenuts.com American grown pinenuts in the shell! excellent source of fiber and nutrition

Flying to Paradise a Big Beauty Hazard

Low-level radiation is a silent killer, because we cant see it, feel I, hear it, taste it, or smell it. I am not talking about just nuclear weapons, but rather the low levels of exposure we are continuously exposed to on an every day basis. This post is dedicated to a friend of mine, and was born out of my concern for her, as she flies often.

Hollywood actor Richard Gere is supporting a plan to transform the site of Buddha’s enlightenment into a vegetarian zone to spread the message of peace. Gere hasn’t eaten meat for 30 years. He this week took part in a five-day training session with Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, in the Indian town of Bodhgaya. Photo: AP

An Orchard Garden in the City

If you’re planning a trip to San Francisco, be sure to check out (or into) the Orchard Garden Hotel, one of California’s greenest.

Great Reads for the New Year

I recently heard that for the first time three vegan books are in the top 100 books on Amazon. It made me want to share some of my favorite books with you.

At Al Gore’s book signing in Beverly Hills, it wasn’t the former VP who drew the most attention from onlookers-it was Peta’s sexy Mother Earth who turned heads. The crowd showed Mother Earth all the love she’s not getting from Gore, whose refusal to stop eating meat is getting in the way of his call to go green.

Gore has admitted that going vegan helps save the environment. And the official handbook for Live Earth-the concert series that Gore himself helped organize-states that not eating meat is the “single most effective thing you can do” to curb climate change. So why hasn’t he taken Peta’s effortless Pledge to Be Veg yet? Apparently, the simple, delicious truth is just too inconvenient.

Gandhi’s Regret

My copy of Gandhi’s autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth arrived a few weeks ago and holy cow! I have a new found appreciation for Mahatma. I knew he was a vegetarian (oh, and that in his spare time he liberated India from British rule and single-handedly established the civil disobedience movement) but I had no idea he was the central figure in pioneering the animal rights crusade in India.

A Vow to be Green

A green wedding can be with as much or as little eco-friendliness as one can muster. For some it means saving resources by having the wedding and reception in the same place so that guests arent driving between venues creating smog and using fuel. Kim Carlson investigates…

7 WAYS … TO IMPROVE YOUR DIET

1. Clean out your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards. Read the labels of every product in your home that you deem edible. If you cant pronounce it, or it has more ingredients than words in the bible, chances are your body isnt meant to digest it. Are there foods in your cupboards you feel guilty just looking at? Guilt is the greatest destroyer of emotional energy-therefore you dont need it, or the Snickers bar in your life. Nature provides some of the most delectable treats you could ever imagine. Head to nutritional expert David Wolfes website www.davidwolfe.com, for the low-down on one of natures most incredible gifts: raw cacao. The cacao bean is natures number one weight loss and high-energy food.

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