Come Join Me On March 14th

I'm looking forward to March 14th from 12:00 until 3:00 p.m at Sunflower Market in Murray
at 6284 South State. Tuition is $15.00 and can be paid upon registration.

You'll discover there are Easy Ways to Make Green Foods Part of Your Everyday Diet - and Love Them!

The Green Smoothie
Through various mediums I've shared what I consider to be the easiest/ most yummy green smoothie recipe - Mango & Spinach, so hopefully you're up to speed with what they are? (Brief explanation: A large amount of leafy green vegetables blended with some great-tasting ripe fruit of your choice to a soup or smoothie consistency).

So how do we incorporate them into our diet? Good times of the day for drinking a green smoothie are: first thing for breakfast (start as you mean to go on - if you start your day with this you'll feel set up for the day ahead and plenty full enough until lunch time); as a brunch if you get hungry between breakfast and lunch time; as a liquid lunch if you are pressed for time; as a pre-dinner course, perfect served as a drink or even a soup; as a supper if you're not hungry enough to eat a 'proper' dinner, or if you've come in late from work or a night out and don't want to eat before bed.

Variety is the Spice of Life
We are all guilty of falling into ruts with our eating habits, eating the same things over and over again, but it's important in all diets to eat a wide variety of foods for pleasure and nutrition.

So too is it important to choose a wide variety of greens from the vast range of green leafy vegetables (and herbs) and not just finding one and sticking with it. Here's a starter list of green leafies that you can use as a checklist. Whichever ones you haven't eaten for a while (or ever!) make it your personal project to hunt them down and try them out - starting this week!

Beet greens * Chicory * Chard * Endive * Kale, flat green * Kale, curly * Lamb's lettuce * Lettuce, Batavia * Lettuce, cos * Lettuce, flat * Lettuce, iceberg * Mizuna * Rocket (arugula) * Spinach * Turnip greens * Basil * Chervil * Chickweed * Chive * Comfrey leaves * Coriander * Dandelion * Dillweed * Garlic mustard * Lovage * Mallow * Marjoram * Mint * Nettle * Oregano * Parsley * Peppermint * Purslane * Raspberry leaf * Rosemary * Sage * Salad burnet * Shepherd's purse * Sorrel * Spearmint * Watercress * Wild celery * Wild garlic * Yarrow

Green Soups
Green Soups are similar to green smoothies but are thicker, and obviously are looked on as meals rather than drinks. There are some great green soup recipes around. One of my personal favourites is Green Ginger Soup which is based on a Frederic Patenaude recipe of many years ago. It goes like this: Simply take the following ingredients and blend in your food processor, blender or Vita-Mix until smooth: 1 cup diced tomatoes, ½ cup water, 2 cups spinach, ½ avocado, ½" fresh ginger, juice of ½ lemon, 1Tbsp olive oil. Serves 1. It's truly delicious.


Green Juices
Green juices are of course another great way to get the greens in. The difference between smoothies and juices is fibre - juices have no fibre, whereas smoothies have ALL of the fibre, but if you find smoothies too bulky or you just don't like them, then juicing is a great alternative. The secret of a good green juice is to work with 1-3 strong green leaves such as kale, spinach, watercress, parley, wheatgrass etc, then add cucumber and/or celery for more liquid and extra vitamins and minerals, and if you feel your juice needs sweetening, add a little apple, pear, carrot, red bell pepper, lemon or lime. There's nothing like a green juice for lifting your energy and mind, especially first thing in the morning. Don't forget, to juice greens you need a juicer that is capable of handling them, such as a Samson or Green Star - most centrifugals won't be able to handle them.

Herbs
Herbs are nature's medicine and also one of the chef's best allies. Herbs are so delicious and so fresh tasting that I encourage you to eat fresh herbs at least once per day. Add them to your smoothies, juices, to your salads and your savoury recipes. Line your window sills with them, they look stunning! Fresh herbs really do make all the difference.

Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass is the mother of all greens, really. There are many ways you can take wheatgrass, but obviously freshly juiced is best. For more information about wheatgrass, including the many ways to take it and its benefits, click here.

The Kale & Avocado Salad!
I've published this recipe a number of times but for those who missed it you'll find it again in a moment (or you can watch me demo it in person right here). This salad is something that I rave about constantly. Everyone who tries it seems to adore it AND then goes on to incorporate it into their everyday life, not just now and again but daily! Why? Because it's quick, easy and delicious and very versatile AND it enables you to happily eat tons of dark leafy greens! This is what you do:

Finely chop as much kale as you think you can eat plus a little more (it shrinks). Make the pieces fairly small, say 1-2cm square, and set aside in a bowl. Then pour on some olive oil (flax oil is good too, as are others) and sprinkle on a little good quality salt such as Celtic sea salt or Himalayan Crystal Salt, or Herbamare. Next, massage the oil and salt into the leaves until the kale becomes 'wilted' and glistens.

At this point the kale suddenly appears extremely appetizing and you can start to see the potential! Next add half to one avocado and massage that in to the leaves as well. Now you have coated kale. Next, give a good squeeze of lemon juice and mix it all in by hand. Taste test.

Add more lemon if you want/ need to. Finally, add in your favourite ingredients. For me this means sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, occasionally spring onions (scallions), and sometimes I'll sprinkle on some garlic or onion powder, or even curry powder! Whatever takes your fancy. And sometimes I dress it with a cup of macadamias blended with ½ cup water and onion powder added. When you have all your ingredients well mixed in, sample a little and add anything that you think might be missing (highly unlikely!) and then sit down, exhale and enjoy!

The Superfood Smoothie
Superfood smoothies are never going to be as good as real live fresh green smoothies, but when your fridge is bare then turn to your cupboards and pull out your Nature's Living Superfood (Vita Mineral Greens/ Nature's First Food in USA) or other favourite green superfood powder and whip up a smoothie with it and other chosen ingredients.

This recipe is a classic and a good few years old now; I have been teaching it at my one day classes for years, and although at first glance people were a bit put-off by it's "swamp-like" appearance, there was never one single person who didn't go "Mmmm!" when they actually tried it...

Ingredients:
* Fresh, ripe bananas (1-2 large per person) and/or frozen for cooler creamier drink
* 1 Tablespoon of Nature's Living Superfood (also known as Nature's First Food or Vita Mineral Green in the US)
* Dates (soaked if dried) - Medjool or honey dates are the best
* Pure water (to desired consistency)

Directions
1) Pop all ingredients in a blender. Add a cup or two of water and blend.
2) If you are happy with the consistency then taste-test. If it's too thick, add more water and blend again, then taste-test.
3) If it's too green for you add more bananas. If it's not green enough add more superfood. If it's not sweet enough add more dates. If it's perfect, drink!

Living Food Philosphy

Live foods are plant-foods that have not been heated, cooked, processed, or refined in any way. Live foods (or raw foods) include uncooked, organic vegetables and fruits, raw nuts and seeds, and sprouted grains and seeds of all kinds (alfalfa, sunflower, lentil, etc).

Instead of being cooked, they are eaten whole or are merely chopped, diced, shredded, juiced, or blended. These foods are loaded with nutrients and healing properties and should ideally comprise about 70% if not 100% of your diet.

As regards quantities, it's important to note that every body has different needs and there are NO rules with this way of living - you must listen to your body and see how you feel.

The generally ideal percentages seem to be:
65% fruit (including tomato, cucumber avocado, red and yellow peppers, green beans - if it has seeds then technically, it's a fruit)
25% green leafy vegetables and root vegetables
10% nuts and seeds, oils, avocados

The nutritional ratios you want to aim for (again, feel what's best for YOUR body) but as a guideline

80% CARBS (Fruit and vegetables)
10% PROTEIN (Found within most fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds)
10% FATS (nuts, seeds, avocado, oils)

Ample protein can be found in most raw foods - it is a myth that protein comes only from meat and dairy.

But every individual is unique and you can see which ratio's suit you best. Be careful of having too many nuts and seeds in the transition phase as we try to satiate that addiction for the denseness of cooked food. You won't get the best benefits of fruit and vegetables if they are coated in fat. Nuts and oils are fats.

Most important is to try and source the freshest organically grown produce you can find, or better yet - grow your own. There is nothing quite like picking your own greens and eating them right away - the freshest most nutritious choice!

Live, raw foods have a high degree of life force or energy . Life force, also known as prana (in India ), or chi (in China ), is the most basic and primary nutrient on which our bodies thrive. The substances that increase our life force energy, include oxygen, sunlight, and live foods. You can actually see the life force energy of a particular food through a technology called Kirlian Photography. You can see from the pictures that a fresh, raw food has a large life force field, yet when cooked, the life force field is diminished.

Raw Tomato	Slightly cooked Tomato

From www.superfoods.co.za

It is also interesting to note that people who have degenerative health conditions have been shown, through this same method, to have small life force fields, and those who are healthy have much larger life force fields. Different cooking methods affect the life force field of foods dramatically differently. Fried foods, processed and sugar-laden foods, and red meat, for instance have little to no life force energy. Lightly steamed vegetables, legumes, or grains have a far greater vitality than deep fried foods or cooked meat.

Live foods, including uncooked, organic vegetables and fruits, and raw or sprouted seeds, nuts, grains, and grasses, have the highest life force energy of any foods.

Sprouted foods are particularly powerful, and are referred to as biogenic foods. They contain the secret of life itself, the germ, which contains the reproductive power of the plant. When seeds, nuts, and grains are sprouted, many of the nutrients are increased and they become easier to digest. When nuts and seeds are soaked and sprouted, digestive enzyme inhibitors contained in the nuts and seeds are destroyed, and the carbohydrates, fats and proteins become predigested into simple carbohydrates, free fatty acids, and free amino acids, allowing the body to absorb them more readily.

The more we include these high-energy foods in our diet, the more we enhance our own energy and health. If you want more energy, eat more live, raw foods.

Live foods have live enzymes which aid digestion when we eat them. If food is cooked, then these enzymes are de-activated and we have to draw on our own body's stores of enzymes to break down the food. The more we age and the more we eat processed, over-cooked foods, the more we deplete our enzyme reserves. Enzymes are essential for life (they are called often referred to as "the stuff of life"), and are integral in so many functions in our bodies from metabolism to fighting disease. The fewer enzymes we have, the quicker we age. So, by eating live, raw foods, we can actually start reversing this process.

Live (raw) foods contain loads of minerals, vitamins, and phyto-nutrients in their undestroyed state that boost immunity, increase energy, and help cleanse (detoxify) rather than clog the body, helping prevent diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Live foods enhance and maximize the electrical potential in cells and between cells, which gives cells the power to rid themselves of toxins and absorb nutrients and oxygen. Every time we eat over-cooked and processed foods, our immune system is stimulated to produce white blood cells, which stresses our immune system and eventually depletes it.

Live (raw) foods are alkalinizing to the body's fluids. This is important because acid build-up in the body from over-eating meat, sugar, and processed, refined carbohydrates suppresses the body's energy production and immunity. Keep in mind that cancer can only thrive in an acidic environment. And, acid leads to arterial clogging and heart disease. The more alkaline foods we eat, the better our health and energy, and the greater our resistance to disease.

Live (raw) foods are high in water content and fibre. Just think about it... Your body is 75% water. Your brain is 80% water. Doesn't it make sense that we would want to eat high water-content foods to feed our bodies the water it needs. Water is necessary for transporting nutrients into your cells, and toxins out of your cells. Water and fibre are essential for proper elimination of toxins from the body. Often when we experience hunger, we are really experiencing thirst. Eating high water content food helps to eliminate cravings and hunger. Water and fibre also help to stabilize blood sugar.

Farnworth Apple Farms is a great place.

Thought I'd give you the heads up on the best organic apple cider. Farnworth Apple Farms will be pressing cider again today, March 2nd and, as always, you are welcome to come and watch. They will be pressing every Monday through the end of March. March 30th will be our last pressing day of the season. They will continue to have cider available throughout the summer - see below for details.

All of our apples are on sale for $.75 a pound. All apples by the bushel are $.60 a pound. they have Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji, Cameo and Braeburn apples and also Anjou pears. They carry a variety of Lehi Roller Mills mixes and a large variety of jams, salsas and jalapeno jellies.

Farnworth Apple Farms has submitted a video to the Discovery Channel Dirty Jobs show, and have made it through the first level of cuts and the executive producers are looking at it right now. to view it go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPl73oj8mxg and you can see how we make our apple cider from start to finish. You will also get an idea of what apples they DON'T let get into our cider.

Farnworth Apple Farms 11228 So 700 E Sandy, UT 571- 0858

SHARI LEITERMAN Raw Meals on the Go!

Raw Lasagna

This can be made so many ways; you can change and add layers as you like:

1.Finely sliced zucchini,- enough to cover and layer on the bottom of any pan, dish this is your noodle layer

2. Nut layer: soaked brazil or almonds and dehydrated use 2 cups use more if making alot

3.Add 1 tsp onion powder & 2TB lemon juice & 1 handful of parsley blend and put aside for 1 hour or so

4.Sauce: take 1-2 cups sundried tomatoes, 3-4 fresh tomatoes, 1-2 tsp of oregano, cilantro, Italian herbs (fresh is best but used dried non-irradiated if no fresh available)
5.Add 1-2 cloves garlic, 1 TB lemon juice, fresh onion if you choose blend and put aside

6.Meat layer: 2 cups soaked and dried walnuts, ½ cup flax-meal or flax seeds ground up blend up and put aside. Taste if needs more flavor add your favorite herbs add a little olive oil if to dry or water to make it somewhat of a paste but not very moist

7.Green layer: 4 cups spinach, 3 cups mushrooms use the whole shrooms, 2 cloves garlic, 2 TB lemon juice, 1TB olive oil, 3 cups fresh basil, and any other herb you wish to add

8.Layer each one on top of the other, and keep adding if you wish.

9.Like I said this can be made different each time serve immediately or put in the fridge for a few hours and then serve. It cuts so nicely and is so flavor full. You can spinkle with fresh herbs and cut tomatoes and onions on the top.! enjoy