Foiled by Chemistry and Yeast, but I got Pancakes!

I was going to write about my successful attempt at yeasted gluten-free bread but I was not successful. I hadn’t been making anything in my kitchen for weeks since I have been eating raw. I had spent a good portion of a frigidly cold day out and about, and a slice of warm buttered bread sounded like the perfect antidote even if I had to wait 4 hours to bite into it. The yeast didn’t rise, an addition of baking powder didn’t coax the dough to rise, and an oversized, undercooked dumpling emerged from the oven. And, that didn’t prevent me from taking a bite. I could only stomach one. So when the outside temperature rises above freezing and I have a little more time, and the apartment temperature rises above 58 degrees, I will try again.

The next morning I wanted pancakes. I wasn’t interested in leaving the house to enjoy Saturday breakfast alone or to walk to the grocery store to purchase berries and syrup. I whipped up a few gluten-free pancakes at home. I didn’t have any milk so I heated up water with a few cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick and a slice of dried orange. I could enjoy a flavorful pancake without soymilk!

Saturday Morning Pancakes
makes 5 or 6

1 egg
1 Tbs oil
1 cup liquid

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder

For flour, I used 1/3 cup each sorghum, oats, and hazelnut. You can use any that you want rice, quinoa and almond; millet, coconut and tapioca – you choose.
Combine wet and dry separately, then incorporate. Spoon ¼ to 1/3 cup of batter into greased and heated pan. Let first side bubble, then flip.
I’ve added homemade granola to the pancakes just before the flip. It’s good stuff.

I bake up large batches of granola, so feel free to cut this recipe down. This is sort of my tried and true, oldest recipe. More recently I have added chunky almond butter and ground flax meal. Most of the goodies for this one you add after the oats have cooled.

Granola
2 cups mixed dried berries and fruit
1 cup raw or toasted chopped almonds
1 cup pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds)
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 T each cinnamon and nutmeg
1 cup agave
½ cup oil
5 cups oats

Measure oats into large mixing bowl. Combine oil and agave and spices and mix thoroughly with oats. If oats don’t seem completely coated, you can add more agave and oil or sometimes I add a little apple cider.
Spoon and evenly spread coated oats into baking sheets with edged sides. Don’t overload each sheet. You will be mixing oats on the sheets during baking; the sides/lip prevents spillage. A moderate amount on each sheet will allow for even heating. Bake at 350 for 30 to 50 min. Every 5 minutes or so, mix to prevent burning. Remove from oven. Let cool, add all other ingredients and store in sealed container.

Biking

If you didn't get the email or the newsletter with the update, I am riding this June to support MS research. I'm riding a bike, a hopefully new bike, with the Moon and Stars team 175 miles in 2 days. I'm absolutely excited. It is the first event that has resonated with me in years.

A dear friend was diagnosed over 10 years ago and it is for her that I am riding. I also have clients who live with MS who, along with my friend, have strength, endurance, tenacity and humor that I can only hope to have. They are my inspiration for this ride.

Here's my webpage for the ride if you would like to support my efforts.

Detoxification

Entering the New Year or a new season inspires some to clean up not just their closets, but their bodies as well. Detox isn’t a set protocol. What one visualizes as a cleanse is very different than what someone else is doing. There are simple ways that aren’t time-intensive or life-changing.
You can add packaged detox teas consisting of a few mild herbs to support and move the liver and colon.
Nutritional supplements involving lots of greens or sea vegetables can be a cleanse.
Removing sugars, animal products or yeasted carbs can be another approach.
Increasing intake of fruits and vegetables,
or just drinking lemon water,
or doing a master cleanse,
or drinking the smoothie approach
are all possibilities.

The more involved approach could be a whole lifestyle shift of diet, exercise, supplements, and body therapies and manual cleanses. One can detox by colon cleanse, liver cleanse, gallbladder cleanse, or probably cleanse whatever one wants.

What would I recommend?
Well, if you are prone to seasonal allergies I would get started now supporting your Liver energy. Spring relates to the Liver or Wood energy and once we move into that season, the familiar allergy and cold symptoms arise. The liver processes everything that we put into our bodies – physical and environmental, mental and emotional - food, chemicals in food and medication, stress and emotions. It loves a good fight and will take what you give it and ask for more.

Give it a little love by drinking dandelion tea, or adding dandelion leaves to a salad or sauté, or drinking red clover or nettles tea, or taking a milk thistle supplement. Many of these you can find in the bulk herb/spice section at natural food stores or you can order them online or some tea companies make it easy and package them now. I have in the past used the mild approach of adding Traditional Medicinals Everyday Detox tea two daily and one bag of dandelion tea through another company. To save time, I brew a gallon of tea so I can drink it on the go. You can eat a couple granny smith apples daily for a couple weeks – it helps cleanse the gallbladder. An old standby is castor oil packs! I love them. Just apply a warm towel of castor oil over the area of your liver (half under and half below your right ribcage). You can seal it in with a cover of plastic wrap. Well, I have put a modern twist on mine. I apply warm packs with Wood Elemental Oil or a custom blend of herbs and essential oils over the Liver area during an acupuncture treatment or at home.

Awareness during a cleanse is a good idea. I have spent much time contemplating emotional shifts and underlying issues when I choose to cleanse. I could write another entry just on the ideas of you are what you eat and you feel what you eat and the end product of all food is a feeling. So I will just say here that there will be emotional shifts that arise and they are related to the release of toxins from the energy related to food and all else stored in the body or liver. Journaling, prayer, meditation is ideal. At least physically, not mentally, jot down something you can ponder later. So make certain you have or are able to make some time to address feelings or situations which arise.

As the liver begins to slough off excess it enters the lymphatic system; you will need to keep lymph flowing with a lot of water, some exercise, maybe dry sauna. Sweating it out is key. I noticed lots of muscular aches and pains if I slacked on drinking water (drink half your weight in ounces), or didn’t get a good daily brisk walk in. Skin, our largest organ, is part of the detox as well. You should dry brush, which activates the circulation, your skin to slough off dead skin and anything else that surfaces during the process.

You may hit a healing crisis which could result in a cold, respiratory infection, allergies, alteration in bowel movements, sweating, possible skin eruptions or emotional shifts. I can attest to the emotional shifts. Others I know can attest to the skin eruptions or respiratory infections. Take a break, ease up, and gently resume the process if you are fully recovered. If skin eruptions are severe or you feel tenderness in the lymph glands, consult with a doctor or practitioner who can assist you in the process or direct you to someone who can. The gentler you are in your approach, the more likely you will fortify your body and less likely you will shock your system.

I am offering detoxification workshops Tuesday, February 12 and Sunday, February 24 at Allyu Spa. I have packaged spa services of acupuncture, nutritional consultation, infrared sauna, reflexology, massage, and supplements to assist with a seasonal detoxification. I will also co-participate in a meditation series which is also offered at Allyu Spa during the Sundays of February 17 thru March 9.

Raw Food and Me

I don’t know what to think. When I take a look at what I eat, what I like to eat, what I crave from time to time, what I eat when stressed I eat pretty well. Despite having participated in a nearly 3 week cleanse, of which I don’t know what the benefits would be because I received the supplements by second person, I’ve noticed nothing other than a heightened sensitivity to espresso (sacrilege) and yellow eye flecks are gone and my eyes are super green. So I guess there’s been some cleansing of my liver. My only other physical malady still exists so I guess a cleanse doesn’t affect it. One of the supplements was not continued because it did not have a cleansing effect. Ahem.

Anyhoo, I stayed off sugar except for one night of a handful of peanut m&ms and a cookie. Ok fine I had a cookie a week later too. No wheat, yeast, potatoes, caffeine, beans, and whatever else I was to avoid. I didn’t lose any weight either. Huh.

Now I am one week into three months of raw food. I don’t eat much differently than the raw food way – less sauerkraut, a little bit of meat, and some warm veggies. Still to my shock, I haven’t lost an ounce. I would like to say this is not my ultimate goal but I have a dual interest in losing a good portion of what accumulated the last couple years and increasing my vibration.

Everything has a vibration - food, rocks, people, etc. Higher vibration foods are plant based vegetables and fruits and sea veggies. Lower vibration foods are grains, carbs, root vegetables, and meat.

Even in Chinese Medicine theory the Earth element – Spleen and Stomach – relates to Sweet flavor (which is grains, gluten and, in modern day, sugar). When one is more of an Earth person, he or she is grounded. A balanced grounded is a good thing; if the element is blocked or overpowering, then the vibration is low low low and that’s not a good thing. So when we eat veggies only and drink only water we are resonating with that high vibration. We resonate with the vibration of what we eat. I know I have said it before and you’ve heard it before – we are what we eat. So I am trying to raise my vibration by eating raw whole foods and drinking loads of water.

So far, I’m tired earlier in the evening than usual, not so great at multitasking, and mildly craving sweet flavor now and then. I know this could be the dying off of bad bacteria in the body and it’s not as severe as when I was on the candida diet. Then I felt like an addict, attempting to satiate my craving with unsweetened almond milk and raw carob or cocoa powder. I wouldn’t allow myself to eat fruit, dried fruit or agave nectar. It worked and soon I could care less about pizza and sugar.

The only other thing I notice is I really want something warm. Though Chicago has experienced unseasonable warmth this last week, I am still spending my nights with a mug of tea and looking forward to a cup of hot miso soup. Raw food isn’t the way of life for me, but I want to see what it will do in the short term. If I like the results I can always become a raw chef and incorporate that into my usual way of eating.

This way of eating, so I have been told and I have witnessed it in others, will benefit me in clarity and working in my field as I hone my knowledge of energy and vibration. Stay tuned.

FYI
I get my raw meals right now from Cousins Incredible Vitality. They offer monthly packages of meals and occasionally have specials. I split my plan with a friend because it was a significant amount of food and money. After trying everything I received, it is completely worth the price and more.

I froze my truffles

In solidarity, five women and one man, we froze our truffles.

In the company of intelligent friends with eclectic senses of humor, a bit tiredness, and a few of us filled with chocolatey sugarness and accompanied by a loud sound system of 70’s 80’s and today muzak words are misheard and other snippets become knee slappers. Should becomes shizzel or sh*t and an excerpt from recalling deep frying truffle-filled beignets becomes one line for the evening.

I froze my truffles.

Thanks (to my fellow four women and one man and ethel), you know who you are.