Eating on the Run: Gluten Free, Dairy Free Healthy Fast Food

You can indeed eat healthy foods on the run.  In our class Healthy Fast Foods, we demonstrate how to make quick and easy meals using 100% fresh whole, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free  whole fresh foods.   That’s for when you’re in a hurry and at home.

Sometimes you’re on the road and you just don’t have the tools or foods to whip up a quick meal.  That’s when having handy- dandy convenience packages of super foods comes in handy.  On today’s video you’ll see a show and tell form my trip to the health food store in search of high nutrient density fast food.

Take a peek:

Question for YOU! What are your favorite on the run healthy fast foods?

Comment Below.

Love, Health and Joy To You,

Dr. Ritamarie

Raw Foods Recipe for Bone Building Sesame Ginger Coleslaw

I love creating new  delicious health enhancing gluten free recipes, raw food recipes and recipes loaded with nutrients that support various organs and glands.   Today I’m going to tell you about Sesame Ginger Cole Slaw, a dish that is not only  raw and  gluten free, but also is very good for your bones.  Since osteoporosis is becoming an epidemic among women over 40, the more you can do on a daily basis to support bone health, the better.

In April 2011 we hosted a class  “Eating for Bone Health”, that is now available as a video. (http://www.drritamarie.com/rawfoodsuniversity).  In that course material we provided detailed lists of bone building nutrients and gluten free dishes that supports healthy bones, along with other gluten free recipes and videos of both information presentation and preparation of the recipes.   Since then, I’ve been experimenting with adding bone fortification to all my recipes. Today I would like to share a delicious summer picnic recipe for bone building Cole slaw.

In addition to supporting healthy and strong bone development, it’s loaded with antioxidants that fight cancer and contribute to hormone balance.

Sesame Ginger Cole Slaw

Ingredients

• 1 small red and 1 small green  green cabbage
• 4-5 carrots
• ½ – 1 bunch of dark greens, like kale, collards, bok choy, chard or spinach.
• Sprinkle of whole, unrefined salt
• ½ cup sesame tahini
• 1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, depending on how much you like ginger
• juice of 1-2 lemons or limes, depending on size
• 5-10 pitted prunes, depending on how sweet you like it
• ½ teaspoon kelp powder, or more to taste
• ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
• ¼ cup of unpasteurized vinegar. I used coconut vinegar, and apple cider works well too.

Directions

1. Finely shred cabbage and carrots and place in a large bowl.
2. Finely chop greens  and place in bowl with cabbage and carrots. Shredded broccoli stems are a nice addition too.
3. Sprinkle with whole, unrefined salt and massage well to break down the cell walls and tenderize the vegetables. If you are on a salt restricted diet, rinse to remove the extra salt.
4. Blend tahini, ginger, lemon or lime juice, prunes, kelp powder, salt (optional) and  vinegar.
5. Pour sauce over vegetables and adjust seasonings to your preferences. If you like it sweeter, blend a couple more prunes or some dates with a small amount of water to a smooth paste and add to slaw. If desired, add a handful of sesame seeds for garnish and extra calcium.

This yummy dish and is good for your bones, is loaded with cancer fighting sulforaphanes and hormone balancing indole-3-carbinol and iodine to feed your thyroid. Enjoy it and share it with your friends using the Facebook and twitter links below.

Please use the comment field below to let me know what your favorite bone building foods are. To submit your recipes for inclusion on a blog post or in my newsletter, visit

http://www.drritamarie.com/newslettercontributions/

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Gluten Free Diet and Behavior Problems

I spend my days teaching people how to achieve vibrant health, reverse disease, balance their hormones, sharpen their minds  and raise healthy kids on a nutrient dense, whole, unprocessed fresh organic food…preferably gluten-free diet.  I’ve raised my kids on whole foods since birth and as a result they have experienced amazing health and strength.

You can imagine my shock and horror at the news I heard about my younger son,  soon to be 13 years old.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been getting calls and emails from several of his teachers about his behavior.  It seems that he’s been having trouble focusing and has been goofing around with a couple of buddies.  We’ve talked to him, tried to figure out if there’s something upsetting him, blamed puberty and hormones and suspected a gluten exposure.

Yesterday his teacher called again and I asked if she’d seen him eating anything he wasn’t supposed to have, like gluten, dairy or sugar.  She seemed surprised that we kept him away from those foods.  I was surprised that she was surprised because we’d met with the cafeteria and alerted those in charge of his dietary restrictions.

What a shock to get a call from him today saying that his teacher saw him with pizza on his cafeteria tray and told him to throw it away and call home!

In further investigating with the cafeteria, we were informed that he’s been buying chips, cookies and pizza  for over a month…in spite of the fact that we’d had them register his dietary restrictions in their computer program…and they have perfectly acceptable vegan alternatives…beans, brown rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, veggie burgers!

It’s frustrating and embarrassing!

The good news is the time frame during which he’ been eating pizza almost exactly lines up with the time frame for the behavior problems!  Even his older bother has been complaining about his behavior over the last month!

Before we put him on a  gluten free diet, Kevin was what I would call oppositional.  Very defiant.  Hard to get him to sit still and listen to what we needed him to do.  After removing gluten, he became noticeably calmer and more present – more mature.

So now he’s taking the stand “It’s my body.  I can do what I want.”  SO NOW what?

We told him when he’s out on his own and paying his own bills, that’s true, but our money goes towards good healthy foods not junk food pizza!  Plus we need to help him be successful at school and food is a big part of it!

Our older son, now 17, was always such a dream about food…still is…so we never even imagined we’d have a challenge with Kevin!

I guess he’s going to have to be a student in our June “Kids in the Kitchen Class” and meet other kids his age working on a whole foods diet.

I believe we are challenged with what we most need to learn.  Perhaps I am on the verge of breakthrough strategies for motivating kids to eat healthy food.

Sad part about this whole thing is I make the BEST pizza and all the kids I’ve fed it to love it!  Why not my kid?  Hopefully he’s satisfied his curiosity and when he gets back on his regular diet, he’ll notice such a profound difference he’ll be hooked!  A mom can only hope!

We’ve canceled his lunch account and he’ll be bringing his lunch again.  Kids his age hate that, yet it seems the only way.  He lost the privilege.

I’d love to hear stories from other moms  and am also open to advice!!!!  Teach the teacher!

Please comment below.

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Boning up on Bone Health

How strong are your bones?  If you’re like most people, you probably have no idea.

Women are often offered a bone density test as a part of an annual exam once they hit menopause, so if you’re “of that age”  your bone strength may have already been tested.   If you’re over the age of 50 you have a high probability of having osteoporosis.  According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 55% of people over 50 have osteoporosis and 80% of them are women. And a whopping  75% of people over  age 70 have osteoporosis.

If you would like to beat the odds, you need to start NOW, regardless of your age.  The younger you are the better chance you have of avoiding osteoporosis if you’re taking care to strengthen your bones.

On Thursday April 28, I’ll be doing a Blog Talk Radio show about your bones.  On it, I’ll share the details of a test most people don’t know about that will let you know if you’re losing bone or building bone.  It’s a simple urine test you can do at home.

I’ll also tell you about some of the foods you can include in your diet regularly to promote stronger bones and let you know which ones to avoid.

Tune in at Dr. Ritamarie Radio to listen live or on replay.  There are two parts to the broadcast.  Part one is on the causes of osteoporosis and Part 2 covers natural approaches to strong bones.

Our “Eating for Bone Health” class is designed to empower you even further to healthy bones.  The videos will eb avaialble in case you miss the live class on  Sunday May 1 at 12PM PDT, 1PM MDT, 2PM CDT and 3PM EDT.  You can attend live in Austin, TX or online.  If you have a time conflict, you can register for the webclass and get access to the digital videos, organized by topic and recipe for your viewing convenience.

http://www.drritamarie.com/glutenfreeclasses/bonehealth2011-04

If you attend live, you’ll also get access to the videos, so you can watch as a refresher anytime.  Plus you’ll  get a beautiful recipe guide and checklists of foods that promote bone health that you can hang on your refrigerator.

In this one of a kind class you’ll get practical information and get to watch us make bone building foods right before your very eyes, including:

Strengthen My Bones Green Smoothie

Skeleton Supporting Savory Sesame Sauce

Bones Don’t Crack Crackers

Creamy Italian Bone Boosting Soup

Bone Building Super Salad

Bone Building Brownies

Don’t wait to be one of the millions that don’t even know they have osteoporosis until a bone breaks. Even if you’re a man or young women, this information can save your quality of life and even your life itself.

Love, Health and joy to you and your bones,

Dr. Ritamarie

Raw Food Recipes: New Vegan “Egg” Salad and Chocolate Easter Eggs

I made changes to a couple of my gluten-free raw foods recipes on Easter and I thought I would share the recipes and the results.  The changes resulted from using the ingredients I had on hand then realizing I needed to double it mid way through.  The “No Egg”  Salad upgrade was a big hit with my son and at a party I brought it to.   The Fudge Brownie recipe I converted to Chocolate Easter Eggs wowed some of the more health conscious party-goers, especially when I told them the “secret”  ingredient was kale!

Here are the updates.  My 17 year old son will be having a “No-Egg”  Salad Sandwich for his after school snack today.  If I had some raw bread already made, I’d offer it to him on that.  Instead, he’ll have it on sprouted whole grain or gluten-free millet bread, piled high with lettuce and cucumbers.

Ingredients

• ½  cup dry sunflower seeds (I used the Go Raw brand Sprouted and salted ones)
• 1/2 cup dry Brazil nuts
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• salt to taste (the sunflower seeds are already salted)
• ¼  teaspoon powdered kelp
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ½  cup filtered water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons dried dill
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced

Directions

1. Place all ingredients except diced celery (note add the first 2 stalks celery to the blend)
2. Process until smooth but not creamy.
3. Stir in diced celery

Macadamia Mayonnaise (optional – it tasted great either way.  The mayonnaise made it creamier)

• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water

Colorful Chocolate Fudge  Easter Eggs

Adapted from the recipe for Superfood Brownies from Dessert, Making it Rich without Oil by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo and Chef Karen Osborne

Ingredients

• 3 cups de-stemmed Kale, lightly packed
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1 cup almonds, soaked and dehydrated
• 1 tablespoon ground vanilla beans
• 1  cup pitted dates
• 1/3 cup carob powder
• 1/3 cup raw chocolate powder
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup finely ground dried coconut
• Extra coconut and chocolate powder for decoration
• a few drops beet or carrot juice or natural food coloring to color coconut for topping (optional)

Directions

1. Process the kale and salt in a food processor until chopped
2. Remove the kale to a bowl and set aside.
3. Process the walnuts, almonds and vanilla until finely ground being careful not to over process into a nut butter.
4. Add the dates and kale and process until the mixture begins to stick together.
5. Add the carob and cacao powder and process until it is incorporated.
6. Add coconut and process until dough begins to hold together
7. Shape with hands into Easter eggs of desired size.
8. Roll in coconut flakes that have been colored by a few drops of various colored vegetable juices.  Freeze dried berries can be ground into a powder and mixed with coconut for color.
9. Chill until ready to eat.

We have leftovers that I plan to savor over the next couple of days!

For additional free gluten free whole foods recipes, visit Green Food Magic

For additional gluten0free, oil free, sugar free dairy free raw desserts, check out Dessert:  Making it Rich without Oil

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie