Healthy Meals in a Hurry: A 3-Step Guide for Busy People

- by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

“What can I eat that supports my health, tastes great, and is quick and easy to get on the table?”

I get asked this question all the time.  People wonder how I manage to eat so healthfully when I am so busy.  This is an actual comment, taken from a recent consultation form:

“One of my challenges is making food for myself – I would love to have someone else do it. I don’t want to be taking time at lunchtime to do that – so I tend to nibble and then get hungry in the afternoon – then work too late, so I’m really hungry at dinner time – and need to eat right away.”

I have hundreds more just like it!

My friend and colleague, Chef Karen Osborne, is one of the busiest people I know, besides me of course.  As a home schooling Mom, choir member, volunteer at church, personal chef, instructor and Fresh ‘n Fun co-op manager she’s constantly juggling this activity and that. Yet she always manages to eat high green, delicious, nutrient-dense meals.

How does she do it?

She’ll be sharing her secrets in our One Dish Meals raw food class, but I thought I would give you a few hints and tips today to help you put healthy meals on the table in less than the time it takes to order pizza.

Step 1: Stock Your Brain with Purpose

Consistently choosing healthy foods to consume, despite time pressures requires a mindset shift.  It starts by focusing on what’s most important to you–making the connection between what you value most and healthy meal choices. Then, you must simply act from that place of knowing what you value most.

It sounds simple, and it is.  Implementation takes dedication and truly connecting to your core values.  One thing Karen and I have in common is a framework of reference that we get what we most want in life when we feel strong and energetic.  We feel strong and energetic when we eat lots of green foods and avoid the energy zappers like gluten, dairy, sugar and processed foods.

If we’re rushed or out and the food choices don’t support our ultimate goal, we hold true to our values and don’t eat the foods that will tire or weaken us.

Step 2: Stock Your Kitchen with Essentials

The next step is more practical.  Make sure to keep your house stocked with lots of whole foods.  With a little forethought and careful shopping, you can have foods around that you can prepare in a hurry.

Here’s a list of recommended food items to always have around:

• Tomatoes
• Avocados
• Sprouts
• Lemons
• A variety of dried herbs and spices
• Seeds, like sunflower, pumpkin, chia or hemp
• Raw nuts
• Greens
• Sea vegetables
• Powdered sea veggies, like kelp.
• A variety of vegetables like cucumber, celery, carrots, and peppers

Step 3: Stock Your Meals with Creativity

I was in a hurry to get something to eat for dinner tonight, so here’s an example of throwing a healthy meal together in only 5 steps:

1. I went down to the kitchen and found an avocado, a tomato and a jar of sauerkraut.
2. I sliced the tomato in rounds and placed them on a plate.
3. I sliced the avocado and placed the slices on top of the tomato (sometimes instead of avocado, I spoon nut or seed cheese on top).
4. I put a dollop of sauerkraut on each tomato slice.
5. I sprinkled the works with Italian seasoning and kelp powder

I had a delicious meal in less than 5 minutes!

In our One Dish Meals class we’ll be sharing how to whip up a one dish meal using whatever you have around.  Again, the key to quick and easy meals is having an open mind, having the ingredients on hand, and tuning in to your creativity.  Think outside the box.  Learn from people who have been there, done that.

Use your imagination.

Join us for Delicious One Dish Raw Food Meals! It’s guaranteed to be a winner!

Raw Food Recipes:Gluten Free, Dairy Free Chocolate Pie & Cole Slaw

Earlier today, I polished off the last of the decadently delicious gluten free, dairy free and sugar free chocolate pudding pie and no-mayonaisse coleslaw I made Saturday evening for my son Kevin’s baseball party and I’m still smacking my lips.

These recipes are made with all raw food ingredients and are super easy and quick to make.  Enjoy Simply Divine Chocolate Pudding Pie and Quick and Easy Coleslaw, naturally high Omega 3 fats.  It tastes better than the deli style coleslaw I had as a kid.

Quick and Easy Cole Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1 bag organic broccoli slaw mix (or you can shred 1 broccoli stem, ½ small cabbage and 1 carrot
• ¼ cup hemp seeds
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• ½ cup water
• 2 pitted medjool dates
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4  teaspoon garlic granules
• 1 inch piece of ginger (optional)

Directions:

1. Put the shredded slaw mix in a bowl.
2. In a blender, combine the remaining ingredients until smooth.

Notes: Add a little extra water if necessary to help it blend.

Additional picnic recipes are available in our class Picnic Foods and Barbecue for Gluten Free and Living Foods Diets

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1/2 cup dried shredded coconut
• ½ cup raisins
• 1/2 cup pecans
• ½ cup hazelnuts

Filling

• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted
• 1/2  teaspoon ground vanilla beans or vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• ¼ cup coconut cream or coconut butter
• ¼ cup macadamia nuts or additional ¼ cup coconut cream
• 1/3 cup raw organic cacao powder

Directions:

1.    Make crust: Process the coconut, raisins, pecans and hazel nuts in a food processor until well combined, nuts coarsely ground and it begins to hold together.   Be careful not to over process to nut butter.

2.    Remove from processor and press into an 8 inch tart pan or pie pan.

3.    Put the remaining ingredients in a high speed blender.

4.    Blend until smooth, adding extra water if needed until it’s thick and creamy like pudding.

5.    Pour the filling into the crust.

6.    Refrigerate or freeze to allow it to become firm.

Additional Dessert Recipes are in the book Dessert:  Making it Rich Without Oil

Be sure to comment below and answer my question for today:  Which is more important to you, how the food tastes or how nutritious it is for your body?

Raw Food Recipes for Mother’s Day: Yogurt, Zucchini Spaghetti and Not Meat Balls

I promised I would post my Mother’s day recipes later in the day.  Well, it’s a lot later!  My Mother’s day turned out to be a relaxing and fun day at home, with my kids, husband and on the phone with siblings and friends.  It was indeed a treat! I actually never made it back to the computer until 10pm, after my almost 13 year old Kevin went to bed.

I mentioned on my previous post Mother’s Day Memories that I’d asked for breakfast in bed.  What I realized this morning is that I’m not a “breakfast in bed”  kind of gal …at least not on a sunny summer day.

I prefer to get up and out so what we decided instead was that after my run, we’d have Mother’s day brunch by the pool.  One thing lead to another and by the time I actually got to eat my brunch it was 4PM!

Here’s a photo of the beautiful brunch my husband Scott made me.   In the glass is fresh coconut water.  On the platter was mango, pineapple, papaya, coconut, strawberries and honeydew.

The green smoothie he made was not on the platter but it was yummy.

After my run, I snacked on some home made coconut pineapple yogurt I made the day before mixed with fresh blueberries.  That was a treat and the recipe is below.

We had a delicious dinner a few hours later. Scott even made me a “cheese cake” dessert.    I actually haven’t tried it yet, as I got full from dinner and by the time I had room, it was too late to eat.  I’ll see if I can get him to post the recipe tomorrow.

For dinner Scott made a beautiful salad and I managed to whip up a zucchini noodle with marinara sauce and “meatballs”  made from soaked walnuts, Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds with some veggies.  All the recipes are below.

I felt pampered and appreciated and I managed to eat delicious food that took very little time to make and was health enhancing.  The best news is there are leftovers for tomorrow!!

The yogurt recipe was an improv and turned out great.  You can pretty much make a favorite nut or seed cream and add probiotics and let it culture.

Pineapple Coconut Yogurt

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup Artisana Coconut Butter (whole, raw organic coconut that’s been pureed into a peanut butter-like consistency)
• 1 teaspoon ground vanilla beans
• 1 1/2 – 2  cups water
• handful of dates
• 10 prunes (As taught in Eating for Bone Health, this quantity of prunes has been shown in studies to reverse bone loss)
• 1 teaspoon Blue Bonnet Probiotics, containing 44 billion live organisms (choose your favorite brand)

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients except the probiotics until smooth.
2. Add probiotics and blend briefly, just to combine.
3. Adjust water if too thick.
4. Place in glass jars and set to ferment in a warm place.  I put it in a yogurt maker.  A dehydrator set on lowest setting works well, too.    It needs to be in the range of 90 to 100 degrees for 12 – 18 hours.   if you turn on your oven to low then turn it off and let the temperature drop you can try in there.The longer you leave it, the more sour it becomes.  It can turn if left too long.
5. Serve plain or over fresh fruit.

Zucchini Spaghetti with Not Meat Balls

Cut the ends off the zucchini and process through a spiral slicer.  There are several options to choose from.  These are handy kitchen gadgets that allow you to turn vegetables into noodles.

Place zucchini noodles in a bowl and allow to sit while you make the rest of the ingredients.  If you prefer them softer, add a sprinkle of salt and gently massage it in.  Drain off excess water when ready to add the sauce.

Not Meat Balls

• 1 cup raw walnuts, soaked, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts, soaked, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds either soaked and dehydrated or dry
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 small onion
• handful arugula
• sprinkle of kelp powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon whole unrefined sea salt

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until the mixture holds together and is almost smooth.  Form into meat balls.  These can be used as is or dehydrated for 8 -12 hours .

Simple Marinara Sauce

• 3 zucchini
• 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked for 1-2 hours in room temperature water or 10 minutes in hot water, to soften
• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon sale
• 1/2 teaspoon kelp powder

Put all ingredients in food processor and process until close to smooth, but still a bit chunky.  Add soak water from dried tomatoes if it’s too thick.  Adjust salt and seasonings to taste.

Set sauce aside.

Optional:  marinated mushrooms.  The night before I had sliced baby bella mushrooms and sprinkled with a little salt, massaged lightly then added lemon juice an set in a salad press.  This is a device that presses the excess liquid out and enhances the vegetables and softens them.  These too are available on Amazon

To assemble, place the noodles in a large bowl.  Top with sauce and mushrooms.  Toss to combine.  Serve with Not Meatballs.

Enjoy the recipes and comment below about how you spent your Mother’s day!

Love, Health and Joy to you,

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

Raw Food Gluten-Free Diet Classes: Mouth Watering Tamales

I love Mexican food, but getting wholesome, gluten and dairy free Mexican food can be a challenge.  Sure, I can go to a Mexican restaurant and get guacamole and salad, but what about  tamales, stuffed chiles, enchiladas…..my mouth waters just thinking about it.

Turns out, making delicious authentic Mexican food is a skill you can master at home.  That’s right.

We’ve perfected the grain-free, dairy-free, living version of tamales and we’re about to unveil our secrets to the public.

I’m thrilled to announce that we will be teaching a class called “A Taste of Internal Mexico”. All the recipes we demonstrate in class are amazing raw-food versions of real authentic Mexican recipes, bursting with flavor and nutrition.   You can attend the class in person or online and get videos.

During this class, we will demonstrate how to make “Meat” Tamales, “Bean and Cheese” Tamales, Dessert Tamales, Stuffed Poblano Peppers, and a variety of toppings and fillings you can use to make any number of delicious Mexican dishes.

There will be samples for everyone to try, a recipe packet and a high quality video, indexed by recipe so you can watch over and over.

How many times have you been to a class, taken good notes, only to go home and be a bit confused?  This doesn’t happen with our classes.  You get a permanent reminder in living color.   You can watch the video at home and follow it step by step as you try out these beautiful recipes on your own in your home kitchen!

A Taste of Mexico – Class Registration

Our Raw Food University and Gluten Free Academy schedule for the year is starting to shape up.  We offer special 3 and 5 class packages as well as add a friend discounts.

We’re very excited to be offering A Taste of Mexico & Other Upcoming Classes to empower you to take charge of your diet and create the health and energy you desire and deserve.

With all the evidence and research linking serious health conditions to dairy products, heated and low quality oils, refined and processed grains, gluten, sugar and commercial meat, you’ll be delighted to learn that you can make delicious meals with all the flavor and spice of their traditional counterparts yet leave you feeling light, energized and comforted by the knowledge that you’re feeding yourself and your family nutrient- rich, disease- protective and satisfying meals.

I can’t wait to share  these fun and flavorful recipes with you.  I hope to see you there!

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie