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Healing Sesame Sacred Seed Salad May 21, 2012

Filed under: Catering,Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 9:35 am
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For the Miquon Spring Fair, a request for a grain salad was made to compliment kebobs and other tasty foods and Earth’s Elements delivered. During the final preparation phase, I was convinced by my in-house taste testers, my kids, to make an additional batch for dinner and I couldn’t resist.

Although quinoa is actually a high protein seed, it is oftentimes used as a grain and is a great alternative to rice and couscous. As mentioned in a previous blog, quinoa is an ancient healing food. It is a gluten-free, low fat, high fiber and complete protein addition to any meal. Over the years I have learned to create many simple dishes with quinoa and use a staple of ingredients to create a variety of dishes. It’s a healthy way to conserve and recycle.

A close runner-up to my favorite coconut oil, is sesame seed oil. Sesame seeds are one of the oldest condiments highly valued for their oil, which contains protein, essential omega fatty acids and phytosterols, plant compounds that resemble cholesterol, with highest concentrations found in vegetable oils. Anyone who has eaten Asian food can attest to the light nuttiness of this fragrant oil. As a parent to powerful antioxidants, when added to food, sesame seed oil can reduce cholesterol levels, enhance the immune system, reduce blood pressure and even help combat cancer.  Due to sesame seed oils’ high vitamin E and B content, it is amazing topically for the skin and is used in skin care products, massage as well on gums as a way to reduce gum disease-causing bacteria. It is a anti-viral, anti-inflammatory gift that activates cell growth regulation and duplication. It can feed your skin from the inside out while working its “open sesame” magic. An ancient Buddhist maxim, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear” is first exemplified in the plant kingdom as is the case with sesame seeds whose bursts pods burst open upon maturity. So…as nature is our greatest teacher, “when the fruit is ready, they will announce”.

With a subtle nutty flavor of its own, quinoa soaks in the flavor of sesame seed oil and lime juice and the result is just heavenly. This salad includes a balance of live and cooked foods. Cooked quinoa is fluffy if done right and the addition of lightly blanched string beans and carrots give it texture, variety, and color. The remaining ingredients are free of the flame such as, chopped raw onions, garlic, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice and of course… sesame seed oil. And there you have it… a nutty protein-rich spring salad that will keep you grounded yet flowing freely. Enjoy!

 

Expanding the Heart with Green Foods May 8, 2012

Filed under: Cooking as a Contemplative Practice,Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 1:00 am
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Once we have incorporated root vegetables for grounding, oils and fats for flowing, and carbohydrates for transformation, we spiral up to reach the center of our energy system, our heart chakra. This is where the highest vibration can be found. This is where love emanates through our hand chakras to prepare food with contemplation, to heal and touch the world with our heart. The heart chakra is the scale that thrives on chlorophyll found in plant-based foods and their antioxidants. And what keeps it in balance is foremost, of a GREEN frequency. It can be complex, cruciferous, leafy, sprouted or raw (if you prefer). Some are even bitter, astringent and especially, alkaline. All of which are rejuvenating and invigorating, reminding us to embrace expansiveness and compassion while discouraging dis-ease.

In previous blogs, Cooking with Intention and The Lost Ritual of Eating, I talked about the importance of energy in food and the role it plays in addition to the quantity and quality of foods we eat. The openness of the heart chakra is what allows us to be a conduit of love between the ingredients and those we nourish with our food. Our hands are again, only the extensions of the heart, and what we hold within it, is what is oftentimes reflected in what we create with plant foods.

Salads accompany most, if not all dinners meals, however, for this occasion, I decided to take greening a step up. Here are the ingredients we are working with today:

The end result is a new salad and a new product, a “Super Green Goddess Dressing” added to our line of specialty products, available later in the season at local farmer’s markets. It is made predominantly with live green foods, with the exception of the mighty raw chia seed, raw garlic and apple cider vinegar. It includes, scallions (green onions), pumpkin seeds, expeller pressed olive oil, lime juice, himalayan pink sea salt, cilantro and spirulina.

Which then is generously spread atop a bead of baby spinach, garnished with alfalfa sprouts, green peppers, green olives, green grapes, cucumbers, avocados and cilantro. This salad is loaded with anti-oxidants, protein, omegas, and many other vitamins and minerals. An affair that should be not taken lightly, working with the rhythm of 12 ingredients, chosen intuitively as mirrored in the 12 petals of the heart chakra. It’s an alkaline salad that is oh, so… super H-EARTH-y!

 

What do lentils and zucchini have in common? April 15, 2012

Filed under: Catering,Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 10:52 pm
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If you’re looking for a low-fat, low-calorie and high fiber iron and protein meal, then lentils and zucchini have come to the rescue! Lentils are great for preventing and reducing risk of heart disease and provide high levels of folate for protection. The high water content in Zucchini or summer squash is also great for weight loss and the effects are even greater with soup.  Both are cancer preventative, cholesterol regulating and loaded with vitamin C.

There are many ways to enjoy lentils; sprouted, with rice, or in soups. This is a lentil (Dahl) soup prepared with coconut oil, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, potatoes, cumin, cinnamon, cloves and pink sea salt. And of course, lots of water.   Interestingly enough, the people of Okinawa (Japan) are known to have long lifespans and good health. Much of which is attributed to their diet of  soups and other plant-based foods. Being well hydrated is oftentimes visible in the state of our largest organ, the skin and our cells are happier and healthier because of it. This soup is light and creamy and fits this in between season, when winter is latching on and spring is hesitant.

Serve it with grilled vegetable fajita, filled with zucchini, squash, mushrooms, onions and diaya cheese… a tasty soy, gluten and dairy free alternative. It’s simple, time and cost-effective.  A meal that defines the lingering effect of winter and the onset of spring.

Enjoy!

 

Mung Beans… For Balancing the Solar Plexus and Healing the Body March 25, 2012

Filed under: Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 8:45 am
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One of the most digestible, high protein, non-starchy, low-fat, and nutritious beans you can eat are mung beans. Not to mention that they are also gluten-free. Mung beans are helpful in detoxifying the body, treating throat pain, relieving constipation, and promoting the circulation of body fluids. Mung beans are also a great source of a high-energy carbohydrate that fuels our Solar Plexus.

In previous blogs, I talked about chakras, (the root and sacral) the first two of the lower chakras and their complimentary foods. Mung beans initiate us to the 3rd chakra, the Solar Plexus, the last of the lower chakras on the journey upward. The Solar Plexus is the “fire in the belly” so to speak, our power center and is symbolized by the color of the sun- yellow. This energy deals with our connection to self, our perception of self, identifying characteristics, our projection and relation to the external world. Keeping this chakra in check helps to synchronize our internal reality with what we experience in the greater outside.

There are a few simple ways to enjoy mung beans:  combine them with rice for a complete protein meal or if live food is your preference, sprout them for your salad. However, raw foods may cause our solar plexus to work harder. So using this chakra’s element of fire, to transform our food is a good way to go.

Alas, they also come in another tasty form that kids, especially, will love. Noodles!!! You can find them at most grocery stores, like Whole Foods or Fresh Grocer. And best bet you can also find the same product at any Asian market, for less. Mung bean noodles are quick to prepare and boil to the right consistency in less than 5 minutes. You can season them with whatever herbs and spices you have on hand and add veggies for a delicious 10 minute meal. Or you can also add them to soup with carrots, mushrooms, spinach and tofu, as seen here:

Unlike many other beans, mung beans are alkaline in nature, so adding them to our diet is a great way to maintain our body’s PH balance.  Overeating acidic foods, such as, with most processed foods, flour products, coffee, tea, dairy, etc… can cause the body’s internal environment to easily become a breeding ground for dis-ease. Mung beans can help to re-establish homeostasis, clear unwanted debris that disrupts the body’s natural flow and keep our power center in alignment.

 

So what does carrot cake and hazelnut tofu have to do with your Sacral Chakra? March 18, 2012

Filed under: Catering,Healing Foods,Meal Delivery Service,Meal Planning Services — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 10:49 am
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In our natural quest for balance, on our plates and within our bodies, it becomes clear that our food choices and craving are at times unconscious and oftentimes reflects our state of mind and emotions. All of which is governed by our sacral chakra.

A few blogs ago, I talked about root vegetables and the root or base chakra. As we spiral upwards, we arrive at the sacral, the second chakra. The chakra of relationships, with all that is living and that which reflects our emotions and need for creativity expression. It empowers us to go with the flow and be the element that it represents-Water.

Put simply, our chakras reflect the rainbow in reverse color order and this particular chakra vibrates to the color orange. Water, Fats & Oils, especially found in nuts and seeds as well as orange-colored foods all help with our own fluidity.

In addition to the vitamins A, C, and E that carrots provide, our carrot cake is made with a balanced ratio of whole grain flour and carrots, sunflower seed oil, flax seeds and walnuts (rich sources of omegas). A majority of ingredients that help support and keep the sacral in the flow.

Our tofu, dipped in flax seeds and breaded with hazelnuts, which is rich in mono-saturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, protein, folate, vitamin E and packed with B-complex vitamins, is baked in pure sesame seed oil. All of which are not only nourishing for the sacral, but also keeps the root chakra in alignment and stabilizes the ascending flow to reach the sacral.

 

 

The lower chakras are the gateway to the higher ones, and nourishing them with foods that are energetically compatible can help us to feed our cravings, heal ourselves, flow and spiral upward.

 

The Lost Ritual of Eating February 27, 2012

Filed under: Cooking as a Contemplative Practice,Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 1:34 am
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Eating, along with cooking, is a sacred ritual worthy of the highest priority on our list of to do’s.  The energy surrounding the food and infused into the food, takes precedence to the actual food itself. Moving past the notion that food is only a means to satisfy an immediate physical need, we can admit that we, at some point,  developed an unhealthy relationship with even the healthiest of foods.

We have been conditioned to abuse it and ourselves by eating the wrong foods as prescribed by others, rejecting the rights one, and over-thinking and over-analyzing what to eat. To some extend we have become more caught up in nutritional content, diets and trends. And it’s all certainly pointing towards an extended root of our problem.

We have become overly-intellectual in our relationship with food, to the point of extremity. And now we are desperate to find our way back to a level of simplicity, connection and understanding of our food. We had it all along. This not some new age idea, the ancients knew, showed us, but somehow we became too mental about it. We then, minimized and complicated it some with nutritional science, changeable food pyramids (that are not a one size fit all kind of paradigm to live and die by) and far too many choices. The paradox is, in gaining much we have lost more.

Who we are and what food is, is not purely scientific. Yet, the scale is tipping more in one direction. We have forgotten how to use our hearts and intuitive minds in the food selection and preparation process. The good news is… that it’s reversible.

Courtesy of Erich Smith

Considering the how, what and how much you eat… here are a few ways to get the most nutrition from your food:

 1.    Know thyself…(outside of the mind scape)

An ancient maxim, still relevant today and a simple way to approach it within this context, is to adopt a more intuitive approach to choosing foods by listening to your own common sense and body talk. Listening to your body and trusting that it has intelligence that must be cultivated in the process of giving it what it needs. Desires, while are physical are also connected to our other bodies of being, our spiritual and emotional selves. Thus, our attraction or inclination towards a particular food may reflect more than a physical need, it is also stimulated and connected to the needs of our spiritual and emotional bodies. There is no one diet fits all, and our dietary needs are unique to ourselves. Getting quiet and tuning in helps.

 2.    Know thy food…

One of the first ways to become one or more in tune with your food, is to talk to it, get to know it, appreciate where it comes from, what it can offer and try to understand why you are drawn to it. To make a friend of it, “ you must realize that food has its own form of life and that its vibrations are not always in tune with ours. So we have to magnetize it, communicate some of our own particles to it so as to change the rhythm of its particles and ensure its friendship. Only then will it open up and pour out its riches for us” (Aivanhov, 103). Just as we take the time and care to develop relationships with people, and understand that over time, a kind of osmosis happens and we begin to vibrate in unison, the same can be expected in our dynamic with food. Furthermore, given the process of farm to table, as Aivanhov once said, food is “a total stranger. But if you take a fruit, hold it with respect and look at it lovingly, it will become your friend and vibrate quite differently” (104). Plants, as the lovely, living beings they are also need to feel a sense of connection in order to fully express themselves and allow you to create from their beauty, beautiful food.

Courtesy of Erich Smith

3.    Energize with Positive Thought Vibrations…

This is yet another ancient tradition with millenary origins still applicable today. Contemplating while cooking raises the vibration of the food, as does the simple act of blessing your food. “The words and gestures of the blessing wrap the food in emanations and fluids which prepare it to vibrate in harmony with you who are going to eat it, and an adaptation takes place in your subtle bodies which enables you to receive and benefit from all the properties contained in the food” (Aivanhov, 102). Show gratitude for what you have been given by taking a moment to bless your bounty.

 4.    Eat your meal with a level of moderation & mindfulness…

Too much of anything can cause harm and eating in moderation is a sure way to maintain a level of balance. Providing yourself  a few choices at mealtime is one way to achieve this and not over-indulge on any one particular food. Mindfulness encompasses a non-judgmental attentiveness, presence, an acknowledgement and respect for your own internal compass as you move through the stages of choosing, preparing and partaking in the ritual of eating quality foods.

5. Take time to enjoy your food in good company.

Eat slowly and whether you choose silence or lively positive dialogue is up to you. There’s nothing like sharing a meal with family and/or friends. Good digestion, absorption and assimilation benefits from all of the above.

©2012 by Elizabette’ Andrade/Earth’s Elements Foods & Products Inc.

 

Food is Love February 14, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 6:42 am

Although Valentine’s Day is really not my holiday of choice, I can respect it and know many who do engage and enjoy it. Here are a few thoughts on spreading the love, from a food perspective…

As we all know, one of the best ways to show our love is through food!

So today for that special someone in your life, consider cooking a meal from the heart. “The greatest nourishment we can ever take in is that of love. Love infuses every morsel of food we ingest. Without it, we starve our hearts, and ultimately, our soul” (Minich, 121).

Our  hands are known to be extensions of our heart chakra and all that comes in contact with our hands are in fact, being caressed by it. Our hands are the antennas whereby  we are touched by the world and vise versa. This is the chakra of balance, represented by the number four, as it is located at the midway point between all the others. It is the chakra of love and where true healing comes from. One of the best examples can be taken from our earth mother, and how she cradles us in her greenery.  Let it be our way to nurture the ones we love with green foods that balance this chakra.

The list of green foods is far too extensive for this go round, so I’ll focus on one of my favorites, SPINACH!

Along with balancing your heart chakra, spinach is a great source of iron, fiber, vitamins A, K, and the antioxidant powers of vitamins C and E. And there are a variety of ways to prepare it and feel nourished:

Spinach Salad with mung bean sprouts, onions, almonds and dates.

As a side dish, you can sauté it in coconut oil with onions, garlic and pumpkin seeds as in this West African rendition of Spinach and Agusi. So simple, but oh… so good!

Courtesy of Khafren Smith

Or better yet as an appetizer, you can have it as a spread with olives, or artichokes, and really green your snack.

Raw Spinach & Artichoke Spread

Most importantly, meal preparation is a good time to incorporate a contemplative practice such as, mindfulness; get in touch with your intuitive mind and reach for ingredients that will reflect your thought pattern; be “open-hearted” and share the love!

 

Cape Verde Island’s National Dish…Catchupa January 22, 2012

Filed under: Catering — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 10:24 pm
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Catchupa or Munchup, is the National Dish of Cape Verde Islands.

There’s no better time of the year for catchupa.  It’s creamy, warm and comforting. It’s a complete meal in one, more than deserving of it’s rightful place in my pantry of staples. This one pot wonder is a perfect example of alchemy at work, with its reliance on lots of water, fire, earth (grain & legume) and air, as it’s released each time the lid is lifted and the stirring begins and ends.  From here, it’s quite simple to let nature takes its course, while stirring occasionally.

In many cultures and particularly in the Cape Verde Islands, dinner would be prepared before or alongside breakfast because most dishes are slow cooking foods like grains, legumes, or meat. Catcupa, being the slow food that it is, can take anywhere from 4-6 hours to cook, depending on your preference of texture. For the best results and more of a stew effect, the longer the better. My love for authentic ethnic foods started at home but because most Cape Verdean dishes are meat based for the most part, I’ve shied away from the possibility of preparing it without the flesh, until now.

Photo courtesy of Erich Smith

Catchupa’s main ingredient is hominy, Cape Verdeans simply call it, m’ndju (corn), a good source of vitamin A, fiber, amongst other nutrients. Despite the destruction of corn and the genetic modification factor, corn, in its organic state and with a contemplative practice, (a concept I touched on in a previous blog), is still man’s ancient grain with many health benefits and worth having once in a while. Hominy, or “harmony” is corn without the germ, hull, and bran and is also known in other forms as grits and samp. Hominy with lima beans gives you a complete low-fat protein meal, with the added benefits of fiber, iron, and manganese for the anti-oxidant protection that lima beans offer. With these two main ingredients, all else is optional and you can get as creative as you want. Adding greens and any other source of protein, gives you more calcium, iodine, vitamin A and other numerous vitamins and minerals. Catchupa will be an offering on our winter menu and if you are in the 19144 area and want a taste of the Cape Verde Islands, with an American twist, don’t hesitate to give us a call.


 

How Knowing Our Roots Keeps Us Grounded… January 15, 2012

Filed under: Catering,Healing Foods — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 3:03 pm
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Photo courtesy of Erich Smith

Aside of  being a part of the same family, our roots share genetic qualities that make them similar, yet distinctive, hard, yet soft, dark, yet light. I have to say I love the way mother nature reflects balance in her bounty. One of the most important attributes of most cruciferous vegetables, whether tubers, rhizomes, bulbs, or corms, are their grounding and healing effect. An ideal food for nurturing the root chakra, particularly for those who eat mainly a plant-based diet. While plant-based foods have an “enlightening” effect, it is also necessary to be rooted.  Root vegetables, tenaciously burrowed in the depth of the earth graciously transmits this strength vibration to us so that we can benefit from its very nature, for our own stability. If there is an imbalance in the root chakra, the flow of energy to the higher chakras can be disrupted and even stagnated, so adding roots to your diet is an easy and effective way to help balance your energy body, flow upward and stand firm – a mirror reflection of a root vegetable. It is energy that the physical body needs and food is the vehicle by which we can deliver to it, what it needs to perform for us in ways that we can achieve greater health, on all levels.  While some are anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, mucus busting, blood building and nourishing for organs, most, if not all roots are low in fat, high in fiber, and a great source of Calcium and Vitamin C, among other vitamins and minerals.  They include: radishes, daikon, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, yucca (mandioca), taro, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets, burdock, sunchoke, wasabi, jicama, lotus root, chicory, ginger, galangal, and turmeric.

Photo courtesy of Erich Smith

An ideal time for soup, this past week I prepared a ROOT SOUP, with daikon, turnips, carrots, onions, garlic, fennel, parsnips, rutabaga, yucca, sweet potatoes and added ancient millet for additional protein.

This week I used the very same root vegetables, with the addition of  beets, as a side dish, oven roasted with garlic and onions in expeller-pressed coconut oil. I couldn’t stop there, and was inspired to create a Smoked Paprika Wasabi Dip for my roots. YUM!

Photo courtesy of Erich Smith

So whether you soup it up, slaw it up, roasted it up, anyway you choose to prepare it, you’ll be rooted and ready to sprout!

 

New Years Eve Spread: Seven Vegetables January 2, 2012

Filed under: Catering — Earth' s Elements Healing Foods & Products @ 11:46 am
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I have not met too many people who don’t like Ethiopian Food, in fact, most who I know, love it! I fell in love with Ethiopian food when I lived in Washington, DC, among a vibrant Ethiopian Community.  When I was with my first child, it was my craving and that’s when a dear friend and Ethiopian native, Saba, introduced me to authentic Ethiopian food and I have been preparing it now for 12 years with an intuitive sense and a contemplative practice. I realize after 12 years, that I do not have the recipe written down anywhere and precision is a matter of heart, hand and eye. I have eaten at several Ethiopian restaurants, many in DC, a few in Phili and one in Cali and I have meshed the experiences and composed a symphony not replicated anywhere else. The staple of Ethiopian Food, from a plant based perspective has not changed much, however, I have added beets and mushrooms (Cali influence) to the mix and omitted the shiro and fit-fit. Earth’s Elements rendition includes 7 vegetables:

*split peas

*spicy red lentils

*collard greens (with flaxmeal)

*tomato salad (center)

*beets

*mushrooms

*a medley of cabbage, string beans, carrots & potatoes

I am fortunate to live in close enough proximity to buy fresh injera so I have never had a need to learn how to make it (at least not yet). Injera is made with teff (a grain native to Ethiopia) flour, a great alternative to other flours, because it is a gluten free food, high in carbs, low in fat and a good source of protein.

Ethiopian Food has been our once a year, start to the New Year for the last 7 years, a healthy way to start every new year!

 

 
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