Sprouting & Anti - Inflammatory Charts

I wanted to share 2 charts I came across in the last week that are really helpful

summaries of healthful eating. 

The first one deals with Anti-Inflammatory Dieting.

Courtesy of Dr. Weil, this chart really defines how we should choose our food.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet

I've used this diet guideline for the past 2 years and it REALLY does help with joint pain.

Last week I recommitted myself to sticking with this food parameter again as part

of my Getting Back On Track efforts this month.

I'm using Vega smoothies daily for the next few months to take off 20 lbs.
They work perfectly with Anti Inflammatory Dieting.

The second chart is goes hand in hand with Dr. Weil's Diet guidelines.

SPOUTING!!

I fell in love with spouting foods last spring and this chart is wonderful at organizing

techniques and general information.

When I saw it on Anna's Facebook page, I knew I had to save it for a reference.

Do any of you sprout your food?

Any good ideas for keeping the sprouts fresh longer, or what your favorite tastes are?

Great references here.  Thanks Anna, thanks Dr. Weil!

Chewy Dandelion Root Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

Can you believe I'm keeping "On Track" with these gorgeous squares of chocolaty goodness?

Dandelion root is God's perfect detoxifier for liver / blood. 

The root powder is especially effective for removing toxins. 

Readily available today at health food stores or on line.

A few years ago, I really got obsessed for a few months with growing my own dandelions

to have a clean source of root, flower etc.  It proved to be an extensive project.

Not worth the time when you can get quality Dandelion products from health food stores

these days or on-line.

 Dandelion Root is one of those wonderfully nutritionally packed ingredients that can hide in your baked goods or hot drinks and really give a vitamin and mineral boost to your food.

More information on Dandelion Root: http://www.livestrong.com/article/343007-the-advantages-of-dandelion-root/

Nut Butter (Peanut in this case) Swirls through the Cocoa Brownie
See this post for Nut Butter recipe:  http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/2012/06/raw-vegan-caramels-with-chocolate-nut.html

 Full pan of brownies shot below shows the Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirled through the batter.

Chewy Dandelion Root Brownies w/ Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

Gluten Free and Very Low Sugar

Combine Wet Ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until a smooth batter is formed:

1 Cup filtered Water

3 Eggs (or egg substitute)

1 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia + 1 tsp. Plain Liquid Stevia

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

15 Whole Pitted Dates

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Melted Coconut Butter

Combine Dry Ingredients in a bowl and sift together to fully incorporate:

1/2 Cup Dandelion Root Powder

1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 Cup Ground Flax Seed

1 Cup Spelt Flour or other Gluten Free Flour

1/2 Cup Coconut Flour

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, stir well and form a wet, thick batter. 

Pour batter into a well greased, 9 X 9 pan and bake at 250 for about 45 minutes.

Check for doneness.  Do not over bake, they will be moist until the cool some.

Makes 12 good sized brownies.  Store covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week.

These brownies turned out surprisingly 'normal' tasting considering the vast array of ingredients.  Lots of substitutions could be made if you don't have certain items.  But if you do, I'd recommend these 'as is' for a healthy, gluten free, Very low sugar snack or dessert.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl makes them fudgie and sweet.

Nut Butter recipe is here: http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/2012/06/raw-vegan-caramels-with-chocolate-nut.html

Another great Dandelion recipe from Canned Time check out:  Dandelion Greens Strawberry Salad!

Enjoy!

Nutella Flax Seed Coco Butter Bars

I needed something to munch on this holiday weekend with all my time at home and these bars are perfect.  A little sweet, a lot healthy and freezer convenient as well.  They took less than 10 minutes to mix up and get chilled ready to eat.  The Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread is low sugar, the ground flax seed works well as a binder instead of white flour,
and the Coco Butter helps keeps the shape.

Nutella is running a Sweepstakes right now to win a case of Nutella!

Now that would be awesome!  Check it out here: http://www.nutellausa.com/giveaway.htm

Any bar with Chocolate, Hazelnuts, Coco Butter and Shredded Coconut can't be half bad right?

Just don't tell anyone they're held together with Flax Seed and they'll be a new favorite to snack on.

The recipe for these lovely little bits couldn't be easier:

Line a container with wrap to make cutting the bars easier or spay w/ vegetable spray

Cover the batter with shredded coconut and push down into batter

Be sure and check out the great Cookbook giveaway going on now through Monday at
"Averie Cooks"

Vegan Creme Brulee

HEALTHY DECADENCE

Grapefruit Brulee

 

Inspired by Alton Brown, thanks Alton, this one is a keeper!!

Raw Sunflower Sesame Seed Crackers

These are slightly spicy but go well with a sweeter spread like peanut butter shown here or something cheesy or even meat.

Pear Butter Walnut Cookies - GF, Vegan

I picked up this Kime's Pear Butter Spread   this week at a wonderful local heath food store here: Mom's Organic Market, and wanted to incorporate it into a healthy cookie.

 I made this one to be dehydrated for RAW readers, but also because my oven isn't working right now.  They're pretty good and also allowed me to try out the Palm Sugar I got last week from iHerbs.  (6 packs only $20!)  The cookies are soft and mildly sweet.  The walnuts add a nice crunch.  If you wanted to bake them I'm sure they could be adapted but I would keep the temperature lower than most and cook them slowly like the dehydrator dose, maybe 300 deg. for 45 minutes?  I don't know since I can't try with my oven right now.  The dehydrator works well though, that I know.