Pickled carrots

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 3 carrots, peeled,julienned
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup or equivalent sweetener
  
• 6 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Place in a ceramic container or glass jar and cover.
3. Allow to marinade for 1 hour or more.

Alternative: Use 2 carrots and 1 small daikon.

Sweet and sour soy sauce

2 portions of maple syrup
2 portions of water
1 portion of soy sauce
1 portion of lime juice

Combine ingredients and serve.

Winter rolls

These delicious rolls with a sweet taste and crunchy texture are so healthy and easy to make. Dip it in a sweet and sour soy sauce before biting into one.


1 large jicama, peeled, shredded
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon crushed peanuts
2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
1 teaspoon minced ginger
15 rice papers
romaine lettuce
1 cucumber, sliced length wise, cut each slice long enough for a roll
mint leaves

In a hot pan, add the oil, wait for it to get hot, add the ginger, brown it, start adding the jicama in several additions, keep stirring while adding, add the soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Stir fry in high heat until the jicama is dry and soft. Remove from the heat. Let it cool before you can wrap.

To wrap:
You need 2 cutting boards or 2 large plates. Soak a rice paper in warm water, place it on one plate, do the same thing for another rice paper. By doing this, you don't have to wait for the rice paper to get soft. You will always have one ready to roll.

Put a piece of lettuce, 1 slice of cucumber, 3 mint leaves on the rice paper, at the end near you:


Add about 1 tablespoons jicama and sprinkle some crushed peanut on top:

Fold the two sides:

Folder the end near you:


Start rolling it away from you:

Transfer it to a plate, cover it with a wet tower.

Soak another rice paper, switch the plate with the already soaked one earlier. Start rolling another one.

Make about 15 rolls.

Fresh ingredients

JICAMAA sweet, juicy, crunchy vegetable, can be eaten raw or used in many stir fried dishes, also made a flavorful vegetable both.

TAROIs a root, has a texture of a potato, but more flavorful, a meat substitution for many Asian dishes.

Vegetarian Pad Thai

This is a family favorite because of its mild sweet and sour taste.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

16 ounce flat rice noodles

Sauce:
2 tablespoons tamarind pulp, mix with 1/2 cup water, squeeze out the juice, discard the pulp


1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy sauce

Vegetables:
Whatever you have available. I used:
1 king oyster mushroom ( it has a chewy, crunchy texture, similar to that of scallops)

2 celery stalks
1 yellow bell pepper
1 carrot
2 heads of mustard greens


Other ingredients:
1/4 pound bean sprouts
1 tablespoon crushed peanuts
1/4 lime wedge
extra light olive oil or canola oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 chili pepper, minced (optional)


1. Combine ingredients to make sauce and set aside.
2. In a hot wok or frying pan, add 2 tablespoons oil. Add mushrooms, brown on both sides. Add about 2 tablespoons sauce, making the glaze by cooking in medium heat until dry, stirring frequently, remove from pan.
3. In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons oil, add ginger and brown. Add vegetables to the pan one at a time, stir frying in between each for about 1 minute. Pour onto the vegetables about 2 tablespoons sauce. Stir fry until everything is soft. Remove from the pan.
4. In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons oil, pour in half of the remaining sauce and bring to boil. Add half of the noodles, keep stirring in medium heat until soft. Mix in half of the veggies. Remove from the pan.
5. Do the same for the remaining noodles.
6. Top with mushroom, beansprouts, peanuts, hot pepper, and sprinkle with wedge of lime. If you prefer to have the beansprouts less raw and more cooked, combine the sprouts with the nơodles from the pan immediately while they are still hot.

A big fruit salad for a party

Guess which one was a bigger hit?
Surprisingly, it was the fruit salad!

Makes 20 servings

1 honey dew, cubed
1 pineapple, cubed
2 mangoes, cubed
1/4 water melon, cubed
1 1/2 pounds grapes
2 pounds strawberries, sliced
9 ounces blueberries

Gently arrange the honey dew, pineapple, watermelon, mangoes, and grapes in layers in a large bowl. Top with strawberries and blueberries.

An article about cancer

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .


1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.


3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.


4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.


5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.


6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.


7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.


8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.


9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.


11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.


CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar, is a cancer-feeder.

By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt. ( THE WEST MADE US 2 CHANGE FROM SEA 2 WHITE IODISED SALT ).


b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro- intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus.

By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.


c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment.

A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful,especially to people with cancer.


d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.
About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).


e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.

Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water- best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.


12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.


13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Florssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins,minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.


15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.

Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.


16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.


PLEASE READ ON :

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.


Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This info is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as CorningWare, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.

You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.



This is an article that should be sent to all in your life, I am doing so now.

Vegetarian Thai curry

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

10 dry shiitake mushrooms

A.
2 cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 black pepper corns

B.
1 teaspoon minced Thai ginger
2 tablespoons minced lemon grass
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 minced chili pepper (optional)

C.
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 potatoes,peeled and cubed
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 eggplant, cubed
1 package firm tofu, cubed

D.
4 tomatoes, cut into quarters
6 tablespoons sweetener
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 can (200 ml) coconut milk

Steps:

Soak mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes or until soft. Wash well to remove grit and squeeze out water. Trim off the stems and cut into quarters.

Combine spices from A and grind, using a coffee grinder.

Combine ingredients from B and mix well.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, over medium-high. Sauté mushrooms until brown. Add potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers from C. Sauté until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and sauté spices from A until brown and fragrant. Next add the mixture of ingredients from B and sauté until brown.

Add tomatoes, sweetener and salt. Sauté until dry.

Add mushrooms, potatoes and enough water to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil, and cook for 15 minutes. Add eggplant, bell peppers and tofu. Cook fro another 15 minutes, or until vegetables are done.

Add coconut milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and serve.

Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Recipe from The King Author Flour Company, Inc.

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup nonfat dried milk
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mixing: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. (You may also knead this dough in an electric mixer or food processor, or in a bread machine programmed for "dough" or "manual".) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Shaping: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into an 8-inch log. Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the bread to rise for about 30 to 60 minutes, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly.

Baking: Bake the bread in a preheated 350F oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. Test it for doneness by removing it from the pan and thumping it on the bottom (it should sound hollow), or measuring its interior temperature with an instant-read thermometer (it should register 190F at the center of the loaf). Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out of the pan, and cool it on a rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.
Yield: 1 loaf.

Sauteed spinach

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 lb fresh spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices ginger, minced
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar or other sweetener
black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Wash spinach well and scrape the roots clean with a knife. Cut into 2-inch lengths.
2. Heat oil in a wok for 1 minute. Add ginger and stir-fry over 1 minute. Stir in spinach and stir-fry about 2 minutes. Add salt, sugar and mix well. Remove from heat, sprinkle with pepper and serve.

Spinach

From Super Foods Health Style by STEVEN G. PRATT, M.D., and KATHY MATTHEWS

Spinach is an all-star SuperFood

A source of:

• Synergy of multiple nutrients/phytonutrients
• Low calories
• Lutein/zeaxathin
• Beta-carotene
• Plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids
• Glutahione
• Alpha-lipoic acid
• Vitamins C and E
• B vitamins (thiamin, ribflavin, B6, folate)
• Minerals: calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc
• Polyphenols
• Betaine
• Coenzyme Q10

SIDEKICKS: kale, collards, Swiss chard, arugula, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, romaine lettuce, orange bell peppers, seaweed

TRY TO EAT: 1 cup steamed or 2 cups raw most days

Research has demonstrated and inverse relationship between spinach consumption and the following:

• Cardiovascular disease: stroke, coronary artery
  
• Cancer
• Age-related macular degeneration (AMD): age-related vision loss
  
• Cataracts

Spinach may help prevent or delay age-related cognitive decline

Frozen ingredients

Roasted eggplant and bell pepper

Makes 4 servings

1 eggplant, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced

Sauce:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup or equivalent sweetener1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon soy sauce

1. Combine ingredients for sauce and mix well.
2. Rub the sauce on each eggplant and pepper slice.
2. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
3. Turn on broil. Broil for 10 minutes.
4. Turn eggplant and peppers over. Broil for 5 more minutes.
5. Arrange on a plate and serve.

Happy Mother's day

Best wishes to my Mom and all of the Moms in the world.

What to do with left over spring roll pastries

1. Use the scissors to cut each pastry into 4 square pieces
2. Line them in a mini muffin pan
3. Toast until brown
4. Store in a tight container
5. Fill the pastries with your favorite filling
6. Serve immediately
   

Fresh ginger

GINGER

GALANGA OR THAI GINGER

Ginger is good for the lung, aids in digestion, improves blood circulation...A must to have in a vegetarian kitchen.

Avocado

According to the SuperFoods Health Style book by STEVEN G. PRATT, M.D., and KATHY MATTHEWS, avocado is a SuperFood.

A source of:

• Monounsaturated fatty acids: lower cholesterol
• Fiber
• Magnesium: healthy bones, cardiovascular system, prevention of migraines and type II diabetes
• Folate: reduce risk of cardiovascular disease
• Vitamin E
• Carotenoids
• Glutathione
• Beta-sitosterol
• Chlorophyll
• Pholyphenols: lower cholesterol, reduce risk of cancer, improve the body's ability to obsorb nutrients
• Lutein

SIDEKICKS: asparagus, artichokes, extra virgin olive oil

TRY TO EAT: 1/3 to 1/2 of an avocado multiple times weekly

Haas Avocado has more healthy monounsaturated fat than Florida Avocado

Ready to eat when it is soft to the touch or it can be ripen on the counter top in a few days

Oranges

From Super Foods Health Style by STEVEN G. PRATT, M.D., and KATHY MATTHEWS

Oranges are SuperFoods: support heart health, prevent cancer, stroke, diabetes, a host of chronic ailments

A source of:

• Vitamin C
• Fiber
• Folate
• Limonene
• Potassium
• Polyphenols
• Pectin

SIDEKICKS: lemons, white and pink grapefruit, kumquats, tangerines, limes

TRY TO EAT: 1 serving daily

Fresh fruits

1 orange

1 mango

1 lb strawberries

Dry ingredients

SHREDED BLACK EAR MUSHROOM

BEAN THREAD or MUNG BEAN VERMICELLI

Spices

CORIANDER SEEDS

CLOVES

STAR ANISE
TSAOKOS

Toasted vegetarian spring rolls

From my mom, I revised it to a baked version.

Makes about 50 rolls

10 oz baby portabella mushrooms, shreded
2 oz dry shiitake mushrooms, soak in warm water, shreded
2 oz dry shreded black ear mushrooms, soaked in warm water
2 oz dry bean thread, soaked in warm water
1 lb carrots, shreded
1 lb cabbage, shreded
1 package (12oz) firm tofu, boiled, crushed, drained well
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 packages (50 sheets) of frozen spring roll pastry to wrap

1. Stir fry mushrooms in high heat with 2 tbsp of hot oil, 1/2 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce until brown
2. Stir fry carrots in high heat with 1 tbsp of hot oil, 1/4 tbsp ginger, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tbsp salt, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce until soft and dry
3. Do the same thing for cabbage as #2
4. While the stir fried cabbage is still hot, add in bean thread, mix well
5. Mix everything (except for the pastries) together.
6. Wrap
7. Since everything is cooked, you can toast the spring rolls in the toaster oven until golden brown. I toast about 7 rolls at a time, turn the toaster to top brown, toast 2 times, turn the rolls over, toast 2-3 more times
8. Toast again when ready to serve

Help with uploading images to blog

05/07/2008: Still having the problem:

I downloaded Mozilla Firefox browser, worked much better, didn't have to sign on to picasa web either

05/06/2008: Still having the problem:

1. Upload only 2 images at a time
2. Have to go to Tools, Internet Options, Delete..., Delete files, cookies, forms, passwords after each load

05/04/2008:

All of the images you try to upload to blog will go to the Picasa Web Album, so make sure you have the control installed on your machine.

1. Sign out of your blog
2. Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/home
3. Sign on with your id and password from your blog
4. Create an album
5. Upload an image to the album
6. If you don't have the Picasa Web Albums Upload Control installed yet, the site will walk you through the install
7. After the install, try to upload an image to the album from picasaweb. It should work, if not then there is something wrong with the install
8. Stay signing on to picasaweb
9. Sign in to your blog
10. Now try to upload an image to your blog, it should work.