Apple Fritter Flaxcakes—Focus on Wheat-Free

It's a brand new year and great timing to start implementing a wheat & gluten-free diet plan. This morning I fixed a delightful pancake alternative that reminds me a lot of a yummy apple fritter.

 Apple Fritter Flaxcakes

I'll get to this easy recipe in a few minutes, but it looks like I took a six month hiatus—and in fact that's exactly what I did! This summer I went to Florida on vacation where I conveniently decided to let my diet choices have a lot of flexibility. I stuck to whole foods where possible but I allowed wheat and dairy to make a prominent return. In a way I looked at it as an experiment of sorts. Were my dietary choices at the time really making such a difference? I was to find out.

Well, six months and several holiday feasts later, my clothes are fitting very tight! Though I felt stagnant with weight loss last summer, at least I wasn't gaining, and there's something to be said for that. Health wise, I've had great success with supplementation help from my ND in curbing my Atrial Fibrillation attacks. I've had ZERO attacks in six months! I couldn't be happier there, so despite my thicker waistline, I'm wearing my happy face every morning! But, it's time to get geared up and deal with the inflammation issues, again. 

My main focus: WHEAT-FREE

This recipe was one I adapted from a recipe I saw in Nourish & Heal magazine.

Apple Fritter Flaxcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

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Focus: wheat-free A tasty, yet healthier pancake alternative.

Ingredients (6 flaxcakes)

• 2 organic eggs
• 4 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 2 medium apples
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp sucanat (or other dry sweetener)
• coconut oil

Instructions

• Combine eggs, flaxseed, spices and sucanat. Cut apples into small chunks and mix into batter.
• Coat bottom of frying pan with coconut oil and when hot, spoon batter to make three flaxcakes, and flatten and form to shape.
• Cook several minutes over medium heat and when browned flip and cook opposite side 'til lightly browned.

Apples are cut into small chunks and mixed into batter.

 Batter, ready to make flaxcakes.

Top with fruit or maple syrup and enjoy!

Cool It ! Raw Foods vs Inflammation

A Healthy Lunch—

Tossed Greens with Blueberries

The first week of March I attempted to eat a 100% raw foods diet. My plan is to make a habit of doing this the first week of each month.

At this stage of my health goals, I've been aiming for a daily 50% raw food intake, but I have consistently missed the mark and I wanted to boost myself into a higher percentage somehow. A gradual habit change is the best way I know how to do it.

My 100% RAW week was a success whereby I maintained close to 90% raw! So now I know what it looks like and what I need for next time! Additional planning and building a raw recipe base of excellent choices and tasty dishes will go a long way. (Just so you know, I've been at this healthy change thing for years!)

Though I'm an advocate for adding in high quality, nutrient-dense, living raw foods to my daily intake, I'm not a RAW Foodist at this time (anyone who eats more than 75% uncooked food). And though my meat consumption is very low, and there are a number of things I simply avoid (wheat and most dairy) I still believe that high quality natural meats and animal products can be part of a healthy diet. Going all raw may be ideal for some, but not everyone, and though it has a simplicity, it is not easy to adopt to at first. We are all different and need to research and follow what is best for each of us personally.

You may have heard of the Hallelujah Diet which advocates an 85% raw / 15% cooked food ratio. At the end of this post you'll find a link where you can read testimonies of people who have gotten off of medications and have greatly improved their health and even reversed disease processes. I've known a few personally.

For me, eating more raw foods is a means of decreasing inflammation. I want to cool, or severely slow down, the inflammatory processes that have inhabited my body and caused disease. 

Basic Veggie Snack Cracker (Dehydrated) 

with Guacamole

So, let me ask a simple question . . .

What are some benefits of eating more RAW foods?

• A raw food diet contains a higher concentration of nutrients, and it is high in fiber and  lower in calories. You can fill up on delicious food and it'll keep you regular!

• Eating raw alkaline-based foods is a key feature of an anti-cancer diet regimen and a long life. Cooked food = acidity. Raw foods don't disrupt your body's delicate acid/base balance.

• The more whole raw foods you eat, the less processed ones you'll eat—they fill you up. If eating high energy organic foods, you'll naturally be less hungry due to the more nutrient-dense content, and you'll have more energy to do the things that matter most.

• A raw plant-based diet may help prevent and treat chronic illnesses. Uncooked foods retain vitamins and all of the enzymes that aid in proper digestion, and leaves the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates intact.

• Living raw foods are an alternative and sometimes better way to achieve optimal health, when compared to prescription drugs, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

• Eating raw foods can boost your immune system. Chronic inflammation in the body is a sign that the immune system isn't working properly. 

• Eating raw foods  and a plant-based diet will treat the cause of inflammation, whereas taking medication does not.
• Eating a mostly plant-based diet aids mental clarity.
• Eating raw (non-GMO) foods is the natural way God provided for us to eat. 

Foods that cause inflammation are those high in toxins, artificial ingredients, unhealthy chemicals, poor fats, and undesirable sugars. When cooked foods are eaten, leucocytosis occurs. The white blood count rises (natural immune response). The  standard American diet or a junk food diet leaves our immune system working in overdrive. Trans fatty acids, caramelized carbohydrates, and coagluated amino acids from cooked and poor food choices causes the immune system to treat those substances as foreign invaders. (Heard of leaky gut syndrome or autoimmune disease?)

Tips to adding more raw foods:

Start gradually. Eat something raw with each meal. Or try replacing one meal a day with only raw foods, and work your way up to where you are only eating one cooked meal a day.  Snack on raw foods. Have fun making an awesome raw dessert for your family!

Peruse the Internet. Discover raw food delights you may like and start a recipe collection. There are hundreds of simple recipes you could start with. Green smoothies are a great way to start! Consider purchasing a raw foods recipe book (or two). 

Experiment in the kitchen. Buy a high-powered blender like a Vita-Mix. Ask for a dehydrator for Christmas. Give juicing a try (in a few years from now, I bet a juicer will be a standard kitchen appliance). Treat yourself to the tools that will make a difference for your health.


Keep a check on yourself, and record your body's response. Many arthritis and Fibromyalgia  sufferers see a remarkable improvement pretty quickly. Eating this way will take time getting used to.

Educate yourself. Find out if there is someone in your community giving a raw foods class or if there is a raw foods potluck you can attend. Many health food stores have information on these kind of meetings. I already mentioned the Internet, but it could be helpful to join an on-line raw food, juicing, or green smoothie community like Rawfood Rehab.

The photos featured are of a few simple, thumb's up, 
delicious raw food recipes I made. Click on the links for the recipes.

Raw Cashew Apple Salad

Raw Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal 
(Soak in your blender overnight, and enjoy in the morning)

1 cup raw steel cut oats

1 apple chopped

1 1/2 cup pure water

1 Tbsp. organic raisins

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Add all of the above ingredients into your blender to sit overnight. (Add the water first.) In the morning, blend briefly, just until you get an oatmeal-like consistency. Enjoy as is, or warmed slightly.

Sources and Informational Links:

Fibromyalgia and Why does a diet of raw food decrease inflammation? 

Leaky Gut information and Raw Foods to Avoid in Autoimmunity & Inflammation

Fibromyalgia Syndrome improved using a mostly raw vegetarian diet

Raw vs Cooked (Dr. Joel Fuhrman)

Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid 

Nutrition and the Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle (Dr. Jessica Black) 

Hallelujah Diet Testimonies (85% Raw Plant-based Diet)

 

Linking up with Wellness Wednesdays

 

Starting Tomorrow—ALL RAW—One Week a Month!

Tomorrow's the day! 

I'm kicking off a NEW healthy habit by consuming ALL RAW for the first week of every month. 

Don't tell me I'm crazy or that I can't do it. For me, it's often easier to act on the "all or nothing" principle. Somehow that makes it easier. And I really want to kick-start my metabolism and literally pour in the juicy nutrition to my less-than-healthy self.

I'm excited about this! I think since January I lost some of my momentum so this will kick it up a notch. It'll mean a lot of fresh juicing, some cool fruity (and green)
smoothies, and my usual big salads but none of the no-nos! Fresh fruits and veggies for snacking. Raw nuts, seeds and oils are OK, but only on a minimal basis. I intend to keep it simple. BTW my hubby is going to do it too, but I have the feeling he may need some extras thrown in. I'll be prepared.

In case you are interested, at the end of this post I'll share just a bit of my Healthy Habits Journey thus far. For the rest of my blabbering I'm listing several superfoods (and some of their wonderful benefits) that I'll be focusing on in my raw diet this week.
 
Here's a great juice recipe that will help me avoid migraines:

I LOVE beets and their anti-infammatory response 

and immune system boosting benefits!

I just noticed that part about its being called "nature's Viagra"—well OK, that too!

This is a neat chart that I'll keep in mind.
















Lemon juice is consumed year round on a daily basis in our household. Lemon or lime juice goes in almost all our juice recipes. I adore lemon!

I love the taste of ginger and it's often 

in my juice recipes as well.  

Either tonight or tomorrow I'm making a carrot ginger soup (all raw) with a creamy base of avocado. I'm looking forward to it!

(How about if I share with you some of the awesome benefits of ginger when I post the soup recipe in the next few days?)

The Super Foods: Garlic

 

According to Natural News,  consuming garlic on a daily basis may be one of your best defenses against infection and inflammation causing disease.

Garlic is another important food item that is a part of our daily cooking and un-cooking experience. We buy it in bulk and use it in all sorts of ways. 

My husband and sons love it minced raw on popcorn with melted butter. I add a few bulbs to my juice recipes. In winter months when the flu is threatening you may find us eating it raw, sliced fine between two crackers. Lots of it goes in Italian dishes, in stir-frys, and on veggies. Garlic bread and garlic potatoes are two of our family's favorite side dishes. 

Eating it raw is rather spicy (depending on the garlic you have) and cooking it gives it more of a mild flavor. My husband has successfully used it twice to ward off a tooth infection. It's natural antibiotic properties are very effective!

 A New Energizing Focus

I started a new workout with T-Tapp that I'm very excited about. I purchased the DVD which makes the routines easy to follow. Since I'm an "older" lady (but young at heart) its focus on spinal alignment, neurokinetic flow, and lymphatic function working together in a whole-body system sounds just perfect for me. It's rehabilitative nature will be great for my knees, back, and neck, plus more. In just the short time I've been doing some of the exercises I've surely felt the difference as I'm using new muscle systems. It's a whole new concept to me and it makes a lot of sense.

Healthy Habits Update

Since it's the end of February I feel like I should be giving you an update on how I did last month. Here's just a little: 

I'm still food journaling but I'm no longer keeping track of the numbers. I've turned it into a list of items to check off and it works well for me that way.

• Drinking my greens daily plus additional water (still not enough—but improved)

• Enjoying daily Chia Fresca (lemon water)

• Exercising most every day (I missed about four days this week due to a minor injury)

• No weight loss in Feb. Could it be I'm gaining more muscle due to the exercising? (With T-Tapp I will be adding muscle.)

• I felt good overall but a bit tired some days (that's where I "pick myself up and carry on")
• No wheat or chocolate (I cheated—but just a teeny tiny bit!) 
• Snacking? (I'm still eating too often and I had some cravings for wheat, so instead I ate too many other snack foods made from wheat-less grains.) Maybe that's why no weight loss!
• During the whole month I only had one bout of several days with a bad headache. (Improved!)

I love so many things that Charlotte Gerson and the Gerson Institute says about health and disease. If you've never heard of her or her late father's famous Gerson Therapy mindset, you'll be pleased to check it out. There's so much to learn!

Our bodies benefit in a miraculously designed way that is healing to its whole. For example, I can aid my thyroid function, improve my gut issues, and eliminate migraines, arthritis and heart disease all at the same time.

I'm looking forward to the healthy benefits I'll have from my ALL RAW—One Week a Month Experience! Anyone care to join me?

Linking up with Healthy Habits Tuesday

and Wellness Wednesdays

Habits, Health, & Hunchbacks

Habits, Health, & Hunchbacks

A week ago, this was my focus . . . 

• Exercise five times/week 
• Drink my greens daily
• I was thankful for the community and accountability provided, courtesy of the Health Habits Blog Hop at Teachers of Good Things
• Taking baby steps and building upon them = fruitful progress

How did I do?

• I exercised 20-40 minutes with a Jazzercise DVD six times last week. However, I did not practice yoga. I could feel it in my legs, and after one session my side ached pretty bad. I need to be cautious about not overdoing it, since I have not been used to exercising in recent months. My energy level was adequate though. 
• I drank my greens—everyday—a green smoothie or I juiced, or I simply added organic greens powder to my drink. 
• I dropped a few pounds. Pretty good! 

Week 2

Move

Improve posture and reduce stress: I don't want to be the poster mom for the Old Hunchbacks of North Arkansas! Someone's blog last week mentioned posture and I knew it was something I really needed to work on. My posture is important, but especially my sitting posture.

My husband nags me about it when he sees me working at the computer. He's right! My back should be touching the back of my chair and I should not be hunched forward, straining my neck and shoulder muscles. Does my computer screen need to be moved closer? Do I need to change my reading glasses? Do I want to see the chiropractor more often? 

If I can squeeze in yoga 2 times/week that will help posture as well as relieve stress (physical and mental). Specific exercises, stretching my muscles, and working out the kinks at intervals makes sense too. Plus, tomorrow I plan to walk in the mall at noon after work with a lady I work with. Perhaps I can do that at least once a week and meditate on "good posture".

Munch

Take steps to continue with the anti-inflammation diet: Inflammation is part of a healthy immune system, but when it goes into over-drive on a consistent basis from long term exposure to irritants like a high-fat and calorie-laden processed diet (Standard American Diet), lack of exercise, or perhaps smoking—disease is the result. 

I've been working on this diet change for months but I haven't arrived with the whole caboodle just yet. Munching more raw veggies is a given, but there are other factors involved like making a *wheat-free lifestyle change—all part of reducing inflammation.  *Small amounts of spelt flour is allowed.


I'd recommend that everyone read Wheat Belly by cardiologist, William Davis, to get the whole-grain gutsy facts. For help with my diet lifestyle change I'm using Jessica Black's The Anti-inflammation Diet & Recipe Book. Though it's not a raw breakfast, here's a post on my Living & Learning @ Home blog with the yummy recipe for Grain-free Banana Blueberry Pancakes which I made last week.

Colorful Rainbow Chard

 

Motivation

God's design for us. The study of the human body and healthy living fascinates me. We were designed to heal ourselves. I watched a DVD a friend loaned me this past week . . .

Double Blind What Science Can’t See, a DVD by Lorraine Day M.D. 

Her main focus was how science has become the god of our civilization, and how we've turned away from God and His answers for us. It's worth a look if not only for a glimpse of her amazing personal testimony of healing from breast cancer. She refused many of her doctors recommendations, and ate a natural vegan diet as only part of the healing journey that she claims can assist us also, to reverse and prevent most diseases. 

I was compelled to rethink all the supplements I take (which are many) and to question the quality of what I buy and consume, avoiding synthetics. (They may contain heavy metals and/or artificial chemicals.) Organic fruits, grains, and vegetables should provide the significant amount of vitamins and minerals our body needs. I don't believe that's entirely possible for most people in our society, so I supplement. In the book More Anti-Inflammation Diet Tips and Recipes by Jessica Black ND, she recommends that we rotate our pills, not just pop the same stuff every day. She used this example: Take calcium for two weeks and then vitamin C and E for two weeks. Hmmm. 

Who do we trust—science and doctors or God? Who should we trust? Who is the healer? Are we in control of our health or do we relinquish it in blind faith to others? If interested in more about Dr. Day check out her website and 10 Natural Laws for Health.

Mindset

Moot Eating: Deliberate about what I put into my mouth before I eat it! 

Emotional eating and cravings are problems for me. I've read books before that expound on this, but I did not stick with a plan very long and I have not found a solution that works all the time (and I probably won't). Rather than go through a several minute ritual before eating a bite, I can consciously take 15-30 seconds to reflect on the nature of the food I have chosen to devour and decide on its health (or unhealthy) benefits. Whatever I then decide, I will enjoy whatever it is I am eating and thank the Lord for His bounty! 

Concerning cravings, I've experienced that when I'm eating healthiest (less sugar, less carbs) the cravings are less as well.

How are you doing with improving your health habits? What are you learning? What motivates you?

Linking up with Teachers of Good Things

Inflammation & Drinking My Greens: Apple-Spinach Delight

Apple-Spinach Delight

I've had a good week as far as feeling good—until last night and this morning. Another headache . . . but it wasn't a migraine and it's just about gone now. Some days I can just feel the inflammation in my body and I feel sick like I'm getting the flu, but it fluctuates. So I downed an extra CuraMed (potent antioxidant) and made sure I was well hydrated, and decided to do some juicing after I did my Jazzercise, (that I'm sure got my lymphatics flowing). 

I'll mention more about what I've learned about inflammation and its relationship to disease in a later posting, but it was neat that I picked up the Sam's Club Healthy Living Made Simple magazine that came in the mail and saw this article: How does inflammation affect cardiovascular health? 

Here's a quote: 

Many scientists now believe that inflammation, not cholesterol or saturated fat, may be the critical underlying cause of heart disease, which kills nearly 600,000 Americans each year.

 Exchanging an inflammatory lifestyle (that keeps the immune system on high alert) for an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, seems to make sense for everyone! The main causes of chronic inflammation listed in the article are: 

Cigarette smoking. 

Periodontal disease. 

A diet high in sugars. 

Lack of exercise. 

Stress. 

Obesity.

I don't smoke, but to a certain extent the rest do apply to me. That's additional motivation for me to "drink my greens"!

My efforts so far this week at drinking my greens have been fruitful! Here's what I made in the juicer this morning since I had an abundance of spinach:

Juice the following ingredients:

Big bunch of spinach

4 large Fuji apples 

4 large stalks of celery with leaves

1 lb organic carrots

Squirt of lime juice 

It's delicious! I don't bother to filter the foam off the top—as far as I can tell it's all good!