Tom’s Too-Thick-To-Drink Fruit Smoothie

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Too Thick to Drink Fruit Smoothie

As the title suggests, this smoothie is chock-full of fruit and added nutrients. The supporting players give the smoothie its body and complement the fruit flavors: you can actually taste the cherries and blueberries and banana separately. We make it so thick we use a spoon. The spoon will slow you down but gives the added benefit of allowing your body more time to absorb the gorgeousness of this anti-oxidant rich meal.

Please note: if a thick smoothie isn’t your thing, just add more (veggie) milk or juice to thin it out- you’ll still get the benefits and the yum body feel.

This smoothie is fantastic after a workout or as breakfast in the hot summer months. The additions are rough suggestions and change with what’s on hand, so feel free to add what you like best to make your own concoction.

 

Yields: 2 servings in 12 oz. glasses

Ingredients:

1 C blueberries (fresh or frozen)                               2 T Green Vibrance

1 C cherries (pitted fresh or frozen)                          2 tsps chia seeds (Mila)

2 bananas, ripened                                                2 tsps milled flax seeds

2 T coconut flakes                                                 2 tsps nutritional yeast

½ C soy, rice, or almond milk                                 2 tsps lecithin

½ C plain Greek yogurt, 0% fat

 

1.Slice bananas into a blender and add the milk liquid; puree until smooth.

2. Add the blueberries and cherries (Costco sells organic both) and puree or liquefy.

3. Add yogurt and all other ingredients and blend until everything is well incorporated.

4. Enjoy

 

Nutritional Notes:

The blueberries and cherries are full of antioxidants.

Green Vibrance is a green-based product made of powdered vegetables, fruit, and herbs- real food- to provide a whole host of nutrients and probiotics.

Chia and flax seeds contain high amounts of both Omega 3 and 6 from a plant source, which makes it more balanced, and trace amounts of minerals.

Nutritional yeast has a high percent of most of the B vitamins, and good amount of magnesium, both of which are highly beneficial to nervous system function.

Lecithin is a fat emulsifier and many claim its health benefits include reducing cholesterol, boosting liver function, fighting heart disease, and improving brain function, but we looked it up and the research to back these claims is inconclusive so far.

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At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted

 

Filed Under: All Things Food, Cooking Basics, Health Tips, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beets, Beet Greens, Orzo, and Feta Salad

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Just the balance of a few ingredients make this salad irresistible

Consuming beets is one way to increase hemoglobin in the blood, and since the hemoglobin molecule transports oxygen throughout the body, and oxygen provides the energy that needed for all metabolic functions, one might say more is better (in this instance). Since I (Carol) am never one to pass up something that serves a dual purpose, eating something that tastes good and is good for you, has resulted in adding this recipe to my repertoire, year-round.

In this beet salad, neither starch nor vegetable is the star. Rather, they each take supporting roles, and the sum is a light, satisfying, cooked salad that can be served as a side, as lunch, or as a snack. It can be served warm, room temperature, or cool. If you like to plan ahead, you can double the recipe and freeze half, for it holds up to defrosting well.

This recipe is derived from one I found on food52; I’ve adapted it because I simply am a lazy cook, and if there’s an easier way to shorthand a recipe, I will find it. That said, it still takes a little extra work to bring it together, but in the end, the blending of flavors and textures will make you forget all about that.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 pounds beets, removed from their stem and scrubbed cleaned and outside skin peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
Beet leaves, rinsed well, center stem removed, and chopped
1 medium onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz orzo pasta
4 oz. feta cheese
2 T Olive oil
¼ cup chopped almonds or walnuts (optional)

1. Place the beets in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook until done (can be pierced with a fork), about ½ hour.

2. Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in a heated, oiled pan until golden, then add the beet greens. Add a dash of water if you need to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. Put in large bowl and cover to keep warm.

3. When the beets are cooked, pluck them out of the water and place into the bowl, and put the orzo in the beet water (this will color them pink). Strain when done, add to the bowl, crumble the feta in, and mix well.

The ratio of ingredients is important to yield a salad that does not overwhelm with one flavor over the others. Two pounds of beets to ½ pound of orzo and 4 ounces of feta, which can be halved to 1: ¼: 2 is easy to remember once you’ve done this once or twice.

Beet, Beet Greens, Orzo, and Feta Salad

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At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: All Things Food, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Pizza: When You Want an Easy-Breezy Dinner

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last night’s pizza

Last night was a late work-night, when the prospect of making anything elaborate was out of the question. So we made pizza!

We have found home-made pizza has the benefits of being a substantial but light meal, and it’s healthy when loaded with the right ingredients. And, so far we’ve never had a flop- it’s that easy to do.

The main trick is using a pizza stone, good dough, and pre-heating the oven to 500 degrees for an hour. When the oven is that hot, the pizza stays in for only 10 minutes, essentially flash-roasting it, including uncooked meat such as sliced chicken sausage, and creating a crispy-crunchy crust.

We’re not purists enough to make our own dough but prefer a local pizza place’s dough to frozen store-bought. The toppings are chosen based on ingredients we have on hand. Please note: we are pedestrian in our tastes, but there’s no limit to topping combinations more sophisticated palates concoct.

We recommend the Gourmet Pizza Made Easy pizza kit because it has everything you need to get started: a pizza stone, a foldable bamboo paddle, a rolling cutter, and a how-to instruction book with recipes to get you started, and the price- about $35- makes it a steal. Here’s their site, where you can buy directly, or you can pick one up at Barnes & Noble or Borders.

Everything we learned about making pizza we learned from the Gourmet Pizza Made Easy people: how to work with the dough to maximize it’s flavor and make it easy to transfer from prep to oven and out when done, plus different toppings combinations.

And there’s more on their site we yet to try. But really, once you get the knack- and the learning curve is short- you have another malleable go-to recipe for busy weekends or late nights.

For last night’s pizza, the ingredients were, all in small handful portions:
leftover homemade tomato sauce
string beans
cherry tomatoes
garlic
onions
mushrooms
chili peppers
olives

We have learned, through trial-and-error, that a little goes a long way on a pizza for two. To keep it light and to limit dairy, most of the time we use a shredded soy or rice-based substitute for cheese. The same goes for sausage: a spicy soy-based sausage provides the kick without the heavier meat correlate.

The dough is hand-pressed into its shape (which comes out differently, each time), not over-handling, as the directions recommend. It is HIGHLY recommended to use parchment paper- that kitchen-god’s gift to mankind- under the dough, and use that to transfer the uncooked pizza onto the stone. You can put a little olive oil on the dough and/or some tomato sauce (jarred is perfectly fine), add your toppings, aiming for evenly-spaced but no need for perfection here, then put in the oven, setting the timer for 10 minutes.

Pour a glass of wine to get started, use the paddle to take the pizza out of the oven, and let it “sit” a few minutes before slicing, then enjoy!

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/q-whats-for-dinner-a-pizza

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At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: All Things Food, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Inflammatory and Immune Response Systems, Part 1: Inflammation in a Nutshell

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courtesy of digital thermal imaging, showing back pain originating from inflammation in the (R) kidney

Large or small, inside or outside, wherever injury occurs the body’s defenses set off a cascade of players to deal with the tissue damage (inflammation system) and keep strangers out (immune system). Whether you bump your elbow, get a splinter, or have an autoimmune disorder, the same sequence unfolds, aimed to restore order and heal you, naturally.

This series will cover the major components present where injury to tissue occurs. It’s a fascinating, complex process, with a lot of moving parts in a rapid sequence of events. We begin with a discussion of inflammation, and move on to immunity, inflammatory conditions, health tips, and related topics in future posts.

Inflammation is characterized by four cardinal signs:
Redness
Pain
Heat
Swelling

The inflammatory response serves to stop bleeding and wall off the injured area to prevent further damage to the local tissue. This unfolds as a natural process beginning with acute-phase and transitioning into chronic-phase responses.

1. Acute-phase response has active two stages, the vascular stage and the cellular stage.

a. During the vascular stage, the blood vessels first respond by constricting, then rapidly dilate (enlarge). The blood vessels that supply the area also dilate to allow fluid and plasma proteins to move out of the vessels and into the surrounding (interstitial) spaces, causing the swelling, heat, pain, and redness associated with acute-phase inflammation.

b. During the cellular phase, the capillaries become permeable for the delivery of immune factors, nutrients, and blood-clotting factors.

Chemical mediators produce the signs and symptoms of inflammation at both the vascular and cellular stages. These mediators perform an array of functions that keep the intricate process moving forward step-by-step, with the ultimate purpose of stopping the damage and returning the system to homeostasis. We will cover some of these in future posts.

2. Chronic-phase responses can become long-lasting if not treated. Some chronic-phase injuries are local (shoulder pain) and some are systemic (autoimmune disease). Foreign substances, both living (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites) and non-living (example: splinters) can also underlie chronic inflammation.

Chronic-phase responses put an additional demand on the body’s resources, hence the reason why we stress the importance of quality nutrition that supplies the raw material for all the body’s functions.

The Inflammatory and Immune Response Systems, Part 1: Inflammation in a Nutshell

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At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: All Things Exercise, All Things Food, Conditions Treated, Health Tips, Nourishing You, Stress Busters, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Nuts and Bolts of Carbohydrates

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complex carbs: grains, seeds, nuts, and vegetables

complex carbs: grains, seeds, nuts, and vegetables

Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy and dietary fiber. Carbohydrates are also intrinsically involved in many biologic processes.

It’s no accident that when we are hungry, we reach for carbohydrates, for carbohydrates are the form of energy our bodies prefer and digest first:

-Our cells prefer using carbohydrates to enter into the KREBS cycle, a complicated metabolic process that yields THE energy molecule, ATP

-Our bodies prefer carbohydrates as the energy source because those calories are structurally easier to get to than fats or protein

-Amylase is the enzyme in saliva that begins the breakdown process of carbohydrates into its usable units as sugars

In the context of nutrition, carbohydrates are referred to as simple or complex
-Simple carbohydrates
—monosaccharides = 1 sugar molecule; glucose and fructose are monosaccharides
—disaccharides = 2 sugar molecules = 1 glucose and 1 fructose; lactose and sucrose are disaccharides

-Complex carbohydrates
—polysaccharides = many monosaccharides joined by chemical bonds into chains and branches
—oligosaccharides = 2-10 monosaccharides joined by chemical bonds into chains and branches

Complex carbohydrates provide a higher quality source of energy with a longer breakdown process, which slows the onset of hunger and stabilizes blood sugar levels.

The plant sources of complex carbohydrates provide dietary fiber:
-The cellulose in the plant wall has polysaccharides and oligosaccharides
—The polysaccharides portion is made of insoluble fibers, and because humans lack the enzyme to digest cellulose, this material passes through the digestive tract nearly intact, helping to eliminate other toxins from the body with it

—The oligosaccharides can break down; they are the food source for the micro- flora in our digestive tract

-Compounds from plants are used in our cellular functioning and systemically
— Lower cholesterol, anti-cancer, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral; bind to specific hormones that are in excess to clear the body of them and eliminate with solid waste; reduce hunger cravings
-Compounds from plants are commonly used in industry
—As thickening and binding agents for a multitude of products, from ice cream to pharmaceutical gels

Carbohydrate Digestion, Assimilation, and Synthesis
The storage carbohydrate in animals is glycogen. When not utilized by the body, carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the liver and in the muscles. Leftover leftovers are stored as fat.

Recommended Amounts
Age, gender, general constitution, and activity levels vary from person to person, so recommending the proportions of protein, fat, and carbohydrate in the diet isn’t possible.

For every gram of carbohydrate you consume, you get 4 calories of energy- this is true for any type of carbohydrate. Here’s a link that gives you a general guideline of amounts for you, including vitamins and minerals for you, based on age, gender, and activity level.

At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we will review of your diet to figure out what your dietary needs are, and offer feedback and suggestions after assessing your condition, health history, and general constitution.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-carbohydrates

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At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: All Things Food, Health Tips, Integrative Medicine, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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