1/2 large orange
1/2 Cup frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1/4 Cup frozen peaches
2 Tablespoons powdered soy milk (optional)
Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Sweeten with honey, pineapple, or white grape juice as desired.
Food
Food for Life – Caffeine Drinks
Seventy percent of the world’s coffee supply is consumed in the United States. Coffee, tea, and soda are the three greatest contributors of caffeine in the American diet. Within 30 minutes of consumption, caffeine reaches its peak levels in the blood.
Caffeine can have negative effects on our bones. The more regularly a woman drinks coffee, the more calcium is excreted in her urine. The loss adds up to about 65 mg of calcium for every six ounces of coffee or two cans of cola. Caffeine consumption is therefore a contributing factor for osteoporosis.
Caffeine also has detrimental effects on the brain. It undermines the functioning of the frontal lobe by affecting the levels of three important chemicals: acetylcholine, adenosine, and dopamine. Caffeine increases the levels of acetylcholine and dopamine and interferes with the transmission of adenosine. Adenosine slows down many aspects of brain nerve transmission. This function is weakened by caffeine, thus allowing the artificial stimulation that is known to occur with caffeinated beverages. Some psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are due in part to elevated levels of dopamine. There also seems to be a link to decreased frontal lobe function and blood flow that is characteristic of depression.
In order to compensate for the changes that occur with chronic caffeine consumption, the brain actually alters its chemistry and structure. In so doing, the brain chemistry becomes unbalanced and is therefore dependent, or addicted to, the regular consumption of caffeine. Withdrawal symptoms often begin within 19 hours after the last consumption of caffeine and may include headaches, fatigue, sleepiness, laziness, decreased alertness, and decreased activity.
Some effects of caffeine include impaired physical and mental performance, interrupted sleep, and impacted spiritual and social dimensions of our character. It can cause toxicity and even death; it may be a co-carcinogen; it increases risk of low birth weight in infants; it elevates blood pressure and may elevate cholesterol; it can cause palpitations and other dangerous heart rhythms; it stimulates excess stomach acid and heartburn; and it may increase symptoms of PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome).
“When these tea and coffee users meet together for social entertainment, the effects of their pernicious habit are manifest. All partake freely of the favorite beverages, and as the stimulating influence is felt, their tongues are loosened, and they begin the wicked work of talking against others. Their words are not few or well chosen. The tidbits of gossip are passed around, too often the poison of scandal as well. These thoughtless gossipers forget that they have a witness. An unseen Watcher is writing their words in the books of heaven.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 36.
Recipe – Spiced Potato and Lentil Curry
1 Tablespoon oil
1 Spanish onion, diced
1 red chili, deseeded and diced
1 Tablespoon ground coriander
1 Tablespoon ground turmeric
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 medium potatoes, sliced thickly
3 to 4 cups cooked lentils
2 cups vegetable stock
Place a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add onion, chili (optional), garlic, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add ground spices and potatoes and fry for 5 minutes. Add the cooked lentils and vegetable stock, then simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked and stock has evaporated. Serve with a green salad.
Food for Life – The Art of Cooking
We can have a variety of good, wholesome food, cooked in a healthful manner, so that it will be palatable to all. It is of vital importance to know how to cook. Poor cooking produces disease and bad tempers; the system becomes deranged, and heavenly things cannot be discerned. There is more religion in good cooking than you have any idea of.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 157, 158.
“It is a religious duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food in different ways, so that it may be eaten with enjoyment. Mothers should teach their children how to cook. What branch of the education of a young lady can be so important as this? The eating has to do with the life. Scanty, impoverished, ill-cooked food is constantly depraving the blood, by weakening the blood-making organs. It is highly essential that the art of cookery be considered one of the most important branches of education. There are but few good cooks. Young ladies consider that it is stooping to a menial office to become a cook. This is not the case. They do not view the subject from a right stand-point.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 260.
“Food should be thoroughly cooked, nicely prepared, and appetizing. . . . It is much easier to create an unnatural appetite than to correct and reform the taste after it has become second nature.” Spalding and Magan Collection, 46.
“Cooking is no mean science and it is one of the most essential in practical life. It is a science that all women should learn, and it should be taught in a way to benefit the poorer classes. To make food appetizing and at the same time simple and nourishing, requires skill; but it can be done. Cooks should know how to prepare simple food in a simple and healthful manner, and so that it will be found more palatable, as well as more wholesome, because of its simplicity.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 257.
“We need a genuine education in the art of cooking. . . . Form classes where you may teach the people how to make good bread and how to put together ingredients to make healthful food combinations from the grains and the vegetables. Such an education will assist in creating a desire among our people to move out of the cities, to secure land in the country, where they can raise their own fruit and vegetables.” Medical Ministry, 267.
Recipe – Oatmeal Dinner Rolls
From the kitchen of Teresa Grosboll
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon fructose
1 cup quick oats
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons trans-fat free margarine
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 slightly rounded Tablespoon active dry yeast
1−2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/3 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons gluten flour
1/4 cup fructose and 1 Tablespoon molasses
Unbleached flour to knead
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add oatmeal and margarine; cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; cool to lukewarm. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 Tablespoon fructose. Add the oat mixture, sugars, salt, flax meal, gluten flour, whole wheat flour, and enough unbleached flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Shape into 18 balls. Place into greased 9-inch round baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire racks.
Food for Life – Importance of Quality Bread
“It is a sacred duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food. Many souls are lost as the result of poor cookery. It takes thought and care to make good bread; but there is more religion in a loaf of good bread than many think.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 257.
“It is a religious duty for every Christian girl and woman to learn at once to make good, sweet, light bread from unbolted wheat flour. Mothers should take their daughters into the kitchen with them when very young, and teach them the art of cooking.” Ibid., 316.
“Bread is the real staff of life, and therefore every cook should excel in making it.” Ibid., 315.
“Zwieback, or twice-baked bread, is one of the most easily digested and most palatable of foods.” Ibid., 317.
“The loaves should be small, and so thoroughly baked that, as far as possible, the yeast germs shall be destroyed. When hot, or new, raised bread of any kind is difficult of digestion. It should never appear on the table.” Ibid., 316.
“Bread which is two or three days old is more healthful than new bread. Bread dried in the oven is one of the most wholesome articles of diet.” Ibid., 317.
“For use in breadmaking, the superfine white flour is not the best. Its use is neither healthful nor economical. Fine-flour bread is lacking in nutritive elements to be found in bread made from the whole wheat. It is a frequent cause of constipation and other unhealthful conditions.” Ibid., 320.
“All wheat flour is not best for a continuous diet. A mixture of wheat, oatmeal, and rye would be more nutritious than the wheat with the nutrifying properties separated from it.” Ibid., 321.
Recipe – Mexican Beans
5 cups pinto or black beans
15 cups water
2 large onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 Tablespoons chili powder substitute
2 Tablespoons salt or to taste
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Soak beans in water for 24 hours, changing the water several times. Place in a slow cooker with enough fresh water to cover the beans. Cook on low with all of the ingredients except the salt for 24 hours or until very tender. Add salt in the last 2 to 3 hours of cooking.
Food For Life – Protein and Health: Fact Or Fantasy
Accepted as a nutrient class in 1838, protein, it was discovered, was necessary for all forms of life. This started a fascination with protein and its role in the health and strength of man.
Protein is the building block of every cell of the body and is critical for cell growth and repair. It is essential for energy and is also needed in the manufacture of hormones, antibodies, and enzymes. In addition, it helps maintain the proper acid-alkali balance in the body. Is it any wonder that we are encouraged to eat the protein food source on our plate? The questions, though, are: How much protein do we need? Are there times our protein requirements increase? Is too much protein harmful? What is the best source of protein?
Authorities differ on how much protein is needed for the average adult. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that an individual needs 56 grams of protein a day. The United States National Research Council recommends a protein intake of one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. The World Health Organization recommends 0.45 to 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight. Using these figures and an ideal weight of 150 pounds, between 31 and 55 grams of protein per day would be recommended. (It should be noted that both agencies have been adjusting the requirements for protein downward despite objections from the meat and dairy industries.) The average American is ingesting two to four times as much protein as is recommended.
There are clearly times when the protein intake needs to be increased, such as during times of growth in infancy, childhood, and pregnancy; during times of injury when the body needs to repair cells; and during times of extreme exercise when muscle cells are being built. However, many studies on health and disease have linked too much protein, especially animal-based protein, to numerous health problems.
The standard American diet provides too much protein. One of the primary reasons for this is the large consumption of meat and animal products. Many diseases are greatly reduced when the protein source is plant based. Plant-based proteins are better for the body; most are a good source of fiber and protein, and plant-based proteins are much more economical to produce. Likewise, plant-based proteins do not contain the growth hormones that are so typical in animals sold for consumption. Plant-based proteins can provide all of the essential amino acids needed by man. Even the person on a totally vegetarian diet tends to get more protein than is needed for health.
If you have not already replaced animal proteins with the more healthful plant proteins, you need to consider doing so now. The recipe below can be used alone or in combination with brown rice as the main protein source for many dishes, including tostados, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, Chimichangas, tortilla casserole, chili, and many others.
Recipe – Baked Onion Blossom
Ingredients
- 2-4 medium red or sweet onions
- 2-4 Tbsp. coconut oil
- dash salt
- herbs/spices: dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic granules or fresh minced, etc.
Process
- Slice onion ends; peel. Using a knife, make 4 vertical cuts in each onion; cut each quarter two more times, leaving root end intact. Gently pull onion “petals” down, separating segments.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Arrange onions root end down.
- Drizzle oil into and around onion petals. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with herbs/spices.
- Bake at 400˚ F for about 30-40 minutes or until onions are tender and edges are crispy.
- Delectable served as a side dish with a green salad.
Food – Onions
Onions may make you cry, but they certainly don’t give you any reason to be sad. On the contrary, onions offer a bounty of health benefits along with the tears.
A member of the allium family—like garlic, leeks, and chives—the onion has been appreciated for thousands of years. Egyptian slaves building the pyramids were fed a diet that included onions, and onions were a prized food of the well-to-do in ancient China.
During the Civil War, Union general Ulysses S. Grant showed how essential onions were by sending a message to Washington that read, “I will not move my armies without onions.” He got the onions—and his side won the war.
Coincidence? Maybe not. Thanks to the powerful flavonoid quercetin and a host of sulfur compounds, onions can make anyone a winner. Onions, which also have some potassium, vitamin C, and B vitamins, kill germs, help your heart, and fight cancer. Plus, they add great flavor and a pleasant aroma to almost any dish.
Even when applied to the skin, onions have healing powers. Onions have been used to kill funguses, yeasts, and parasites, soothe the sting of insect bites, and even to ward off infection from stingray wounds.
Why the tears? Crushing the cells of an onion releases a sulfur compound. When this compound reacts with the moisture in the eyes, it turns into sulfuric acid which irritates the eyes. The eyes then produce tears to flush the sulfuric acid out.
When you think of the onion’s delicious taste and mighty health powers, the only tears you’ll cry will be tears of joy.
Eat and Heal, © 2001, 266–269.
Baked Onion Blossom
Ingredients
- 2-4 medium red or sweet onions
- 2-4 Tbsp. coconut oil
- dash salt
- herbs/spices: dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic granules or fresh minced, etc.
Process
- Slice onion ends; peel. Using a knife, make 4 vertical cuts in each onion; cut each quarter two more times, leaving root end intact. Gently pull onion “petals” down, separating segments.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Arrange onions root end down.
- Drizzle oil into and around onion petals. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with herbs/spices.
- Bake at 400˚ F for about 30-40 minutes or until onions are tender and edges are crispy.
- Delectable served as a side dish with a green salad.