Consciousness Shift: Yoga meets Corporate World

Nutrition sustains my yoga and corporate endeavors. Here is some insight.

This is an uncut version of a recent interview. Feedback welcome!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dennistardan/2011/11/11/a-conversation-with-clare-nelson

Food Allergies

What causes food allergies? What can you do?

Click on this video:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/health/food-allergies-and-their-symptoms-051111

Recipe #8 – Garlic-Infused Olive Oil

Add sensational zip to raw or steamed vegetables by simply drizzling with this heavenly concoction. Virgin, or extra-virgin, olive oil is produced sans chemicals. Despite marketing claims that state olive oil is a superior food, I’ll take an avocado over olive oil any day. Why? Primarily because avocados are unprocessed, and secondarily because of their nutty, creamy taste. However, when presented with a beautiful, olive oil gift, what does one do?

Ingredients:

1 c extra-virgin, cold pressed olive oil
1 large clove smashed garlic (with press)
1 pinch sea salt
1 dash red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon finely chopped chives


Directions:

Add ingredients to a mixing bowl and blend with a fork. Drizzle over vegetables, rice, or any morsel in need of a flash of flavor.

Store remaining olive oil in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator. As the olive oil is infused with the garlic and spice, it simply gets better with time.

Most olive oil is of poor quality, and you have seen me complain that much of what you buy in the store isn’t even 100% olive oil, as well as rancid. However, I just visited a local olive farm, and tasted their olive oil. What does one do with a $20 bottle of olive oil? Well, the last thing you do is ruin it with heat. That is why I came up with this no-cook idea. I’m still not a big fan of olive oil, but if you receive a gift, or find a local provider, this recipe is a sure bet.

Update #8 – Will Your Family Eat Raw Broccoli?

Broccoli is one of those vegetables people love to steam. When pressed for time, I am reluctant to steam broccoli and then clean up the extra pot and steamer. Plus, steaming turns the water green, and unless I use that water in another dish, I’m discarding some of the most nutritious components.

Eating broccoli raw was never very appealing to me until I started using it as a finely chopped garnish. Buy the freshest, highest quality (organic when available), broccoli. Fresh broccoli is firm, if it is rubbery, pass. Wash the broccoli, then chop very finely. Depending on the length and thickness of the stalks, you may want to peel the tough outer stalk, and then chop.

Add as much as possible, palatable and acceptable to soup, salad, chili, coleslaw, or any inviting dish. If you have picky eaters, this is an easy way to sneak it in, under the radar. Try serving the chopped broccoli in a bowl with a spoon. Tell your family to use it instead of Parmesan cheese, sprinkle it on foods, and allow each person to determine her desired amount.

Google broccoli, and you will see it associated with the defeat of everything from asthma to cancer. It is hard to argue for a more nutritious vegetable.

Recipe #7 – Chickpea Salad

For those of you saintly enough to cook garbanzo beans, I salute you. Here, I must admit that as much as I try to avoid canned or processed foods, my lust for the chickpea keeps me reaching for metal.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
• 5 Roma tomatoes diced
• 2 cups fresh spinach, coarsley chopped
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1/3 c tahini (sesame seed butter)
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

Add tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlice to large mixing bowl, combine. Depending on the consistency of the tahini, you may want to add more lemon juice for a creamy dressing. The dressing is quite rich, it is only intended to coat a small portion of the salad, plus the chopped tomatoes add extra liquid. This is another reason why this salad tastes better on the second day.

Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir. Many of the chickpea salads I’ve tried in the past go overboard with onion, here I leave it out completely.

My Italian grandmother called chickpeas ceci beans, pronounced chee-chee. They are famous for their high protein and fiber content. I’m simply sold on their nutty taste, especially when married with sesame. Enjoy!

Update #7 – Food Impact on Chakras

When I first heard the title of her new book, “Chakra Foods for Optimal Health,” the scientist in me rolled my eyeballs. But, if you use the book to reflect on your eating habits and how best to improve them, then Deanna Minnich PhD has written a book that will give you great insight. For example, if you always eat on the run, and therefore make “bad” or suboptimal choices, what can you do to alter that behavior?

Watch her video:

http://www.foodandspirit.com/chakra-foods-for-optimum-health/

Update #6 – Strawberries, Dirty Dozen or Beauty Queens?

How important is it to buy organic ALL the time? How sweet is agave? Here are some lessons from strawberries.

With all of the hype about acai berries and agave nectar, look to fresh strawberries for a scrumptious, nutritious snack or sweetener. Strawberries are packed with Vitamin C, potassium, folic acid and fiber.

I was still able to purchase fresh strawberries today, although I must admit they are not organic. As a member of the “Dirty Dozen,” strawberries head the “don’t eat unless organic” list due to pesticide content. However, strawberries are my husband’s favorite fruit, and our organic fruit and vegetable intake varies based on availability. I aim to buy organic, but it does not always pan out.

Recent research has railed against organic produce, but just wait another month, and new research will come out to contradict it, and show that organic produce is equally, if not more nutritious. Besides, I’m just looking for lower pesticide levels when I pay higher prices for organic or locally grown fruits of the earth.

Agave nectar is simply another triumph of marketing over science. Most of it is heated, and is therefore not raw. It, is filtered and cooked from a carbohydrate-hunk of agave plant to produce a shelf-stable, enzyme-poor “nectar.” Agave is sweeter than sugar, and will train your taste buds to crave ultra-sweet, processed foods. Try some fresh strawberries instead – on top of cereal, spinach salad, or simple toute seoule.