Patty James M.S., C.N.C.

The past few days I have been experimenting with new salad dressings. I tried two recipes which I didn’t create and they weren’t quite right for my taste, but with a few ‘tweaks’ I got them to where I wanted them.

Both these recipes happen to be vegan. I am not a vegan, but I do eat vegan quite a bit. I throw in some poultry and fish and once in a blue moon, I just have to have a hamburger. I also eat a lot of raw food, but I’m not a raw-foodie, as I like cooked food as well. Basically I am a healthy eater and fairly moderate with the exception of vegetables-I eat tons of veggies!

Here are my latest creations:

Sorta’ Caesar Salad Dressing:

1/2 cup veganaisse or regular mayonaisse
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon capers, drained and minced
2 teaspoon water
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together. That’s it. This is enough for a salad for 4 people, depending on how big your salads are!

Dijon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup flax oil
2 tablespoons agave (if you’re not a vegan use honey-I did..)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoon ume plum vinegar
1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

I threw it all in my Vita mix and that was that. Use a whisk and a bowl -even better!

Ume Plums and Ume Plum vinegar are very alkalinizing in your body-something we all need to do is to eat less acidic foods (dairy/meat/alcohol/caffeine) and eat more alkaline foods such as veggies and ume plums!

Whenever I have a lot of writing to do, I find that I also cook a lot more. I also walk my doggie pal Wilma a lot more. My wrists start to get sore (I have an exercise for that) and my brain gets fuzzy, so I unconsciously head to the kitchen.

In the last couple days I have made sourdough bread, a toasted cumin vinaigrette and this morning Chia Seed Pudding!

Here is the recipe for the cumin salad dressing. It’s great on a quinoa (or other grain-Farro would be lovely) salad with lots of chopped summer veggies. You don’t have to toast the cumin, but it does add a nice depth of flavor.

Cumin Dressing

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dry-toasted cumin
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

The sourdough bread took 17 minutes of kneading and an all-day rise and although it was good, it wasn’t great, so I’ll wait until I create a great recipes before I post that recipe.

Here’s the photo of the finished product. My neighbor (A Frenchman who makes bread!) was the recipient of one loaf. He shared his peel with me for my next batch and I’m sharing my sourdough starter with him. Living in a neighborhood is kind of fun-a new thing for me….

Enjoy your day!

(bil-doo ngz-roh-mahn)

It’s a noun. It generally ‘denotes the education, development and maturing of a young protagonist’ or ‘the moral and psychological growth of the main character.’

Today, I was at my computer weaving my time between fundraising for DirectionFive and editing the health programs based on the kid’s comments from the pilot programs when I began to get antsy. I can only sit in one place for so long before I have to cook or bake something, so today the sourdough starter was calling my name. Sourdough bread is rising after kneading for 17 minutes! It will rise the rest of the day and will be my dinner with a nice salad.

Reading someone else’s writing, generally improves my own and today I discovered McSweeney’s after reading about them in the New York Times this morning. It was all I could do to drag myself away from their web site. I love quirky senses of humor and sent the article about the literary terms of a serial killer to my sister Dorothy and daughter Kathryn-other’s who have quirky senses of humor. So now –after learning this word in the aforementioned article-it’s today’s favorite. The second definition is my favorite because we can begin maturing at any age; a fact I know personally.

Health is about the physical– eating well, drinking enough water and exercising– but it’s also about growing and learning. I would not be physically healthy if I remained stagnant for long. My brain has to learn. New people to meet and places to see keep the juices flowing and makes life interesting.

Back to writing only this time the house smells like sourdough. Wonderful.

Doesn’t just the thought of walking down this path make you calmer? It certainly does that for me. I absolutely need my time in nature or I start to get a little stir crazy. Nature time is a necessary part of life for me.

Nature deficit disorder is a term coined by Richard Louv in his fantastic book, ‘Last Child in the Woods.’ His book focused on children and how much they need unstructured play, preferably in nature, to be completely healthy. I believe that adults do as well.

You don’t have to throw on your backpack and head to the mountains, although that sounds fantastic, your back yard will do and if you don’t have a backyard, a roof top where you can see the stars or a local park or vacant lot. Something…almost anything…without a building where you can sit on the dirt and watch the clouds. A park would be wonderful, but since I traveled the country last year and have seen so much, I realize that nature is not easily accessible in ways that most of think about nature.

Often those vacant lots I just referred to could be covered with trash or are not safe. That said, I have seen a lot of vacant lots transformed.

Nature and play time. Not just for kids. We all need to play more. I hope you start soon-your body and mind will thank you.

To your good health!

Patty

Road trip! Those words can bring out the wanderlust in all of us with thoughts of the open road, new sights, new people to meet, new food to try and if you’re not careful, new pounds.

As you travel, do try all of America’s regional fare; BBQ, catfish and hush puppies, biscuits and gravy, gumbo, beignets, Maine lobster and on and on. Regional fare is part of our heritage and a good way to get to know new people and find out about other ways of life. These dishes however, are not to be eaten everyday and need to be balanced with foods with less fat/sodium/calories and more vegetables and fruits.

Here are some tips for you to maintain your health on the road:

• If you’re traveling with another person, share that dish you just have to try, but know it’s less than healthy.
• If you’re traveling in an R.V. or have some other way to prepare your own meals, then only go out for a meal two or three times a week.
• If you are not in a place where you can cook, then eat more raw foods, something we all need more of anyway. Purchase some already washed organic greens, chopped veggies, and a lemon. If you choose, purchase canned beans or perhaps tuna as a protein source. Add your veggies and drained beans and/or tuna along with some dressing, if desired, or simply the juice of a lemon. Shake up the container and eat. Simple and delicious!
• Healthy snacks can be raw nuts and seeds. They’re not messy, are easy to munch on and supply healthy fats and a good source of protein. Dried fruit can be mixed sparingly.
• Sprout seeds!

Sprouting is simple. All you need is a glass jar and a mesh lid or piece of cheesecloth and a rubber band. Place your seeds in the jar, generally a quart size, cover with pure non-chlorinated water to double or triple the height of the seeds, and soak for eight to ten hours or overnight. Place a fine-mesh lid on the jar, or use a piece of cheesecloth (something that will allow the water to drain, but not the seeds) secured with a rubber band, and drain out the water. Keep the jar out of direct sunlight and rinse at least twice a day. The sprouts will increase several times over in volume. If you have children, this can be their fun “gardening” task.

A suggestion is to begin with 2 to 3 tablespoons of seeds to see how you and your family like the various flavors and increase as desired in your future experiments. Keep them in the refrigerator after they have sprouted, for up to five days. Here is a chart with sprouting times for various seeds and beans:

Alfalfa: 3–4 days
Amaranth (do not soak): 2–4 days
Buckwheat: 1–3 days
Clover: 3–4 days
Garbanzo: 3–4 days
Lentil: 2–4 days
Mung: 2–4 days
Radish: 3–5 days
Rye: 2–3 days
Soybean: 3–6 days
Sunflower: 3–5 days
Wheat berry: 2–3 days

Have fun traveling and exploring–good for the soul, while eating (mostly) healthy food–good for the mind!