Black Bean Brownies - An Easy Healthier Alternative

What would life be without chocolate now and then? Simply not as sweet. Not only is dark chocolate good for you, but baked goods can be included in a healthy lifestyle in moderation.  Black bean brownies fit a healthy diet because they are low in fat, high in fiber and protein, and most importantly - chocolate!

The simplest method is to take a brownie mix and substitue a can of black beans for the eggs and oil. First rinse the black beans throroughly, then just cover with water before pureeing well in a blender. Slowly add the black bean puree to your mix and combine. Bake as directed on the package. You can use this method with different types of brownie mixes to see which you like best.

Black beans are almost tasteless once rinsed and pureered, making them easy to slip in other places as well. Try black bean cupcakes or cakes, or you can make a flourless type of vegan brownie torte using black beans, banana, and applesauce.

This method can also be used to making your own vegan brownies from scratch. Most commerical brownie mixes contain white sugar and powdered milk that would make them non-vegan. When making your own be sure to choose dark chocolate chips made without dairy. Cocoa powder is pure cocoa so it’s vegan already.

Leaving out the eggs and oil means you lose several grams of fat and cholesterol. Enjoy savoring the health benefits while you get your chocolate kick at the same time.

Make breakfast organic

A great, easy way to be a little healthier is to look at what you’re having for breakfast. One way to make breakfast healthier is to go organic.

I just had these fabulous toaster pastries that are from Nature’s Path and are vegetarian and certified Organic. They don’t have any frosting on them, but the taste is so superior to Pop Tarts you can only compare them because they’re rectangular and have filling inside and you make them in the toaster.

Beyond that, they’re worlds apart.

The reason they’re vegetarian and not vegan is they’re processed in a plant that has milk products. There are no milk products in the toaster pastries, so depending on just how vegan you are these might work for your dietary needs. They are also produced in a plant that has nuts, so if you have severe food allergies, you’re going to have to avoid this product as well…but if you’re not allergic to milk or nuts, and you don’t mind that your pastries are produced in a plant where milk products live as well…you can eat these on your vegan diet.

With Nature’s Path toaster pastries, I find the flavors really “pop” in your mouth. You can taste the maple and brown sugar like you mixed them together in a bowl to make homemade cookies. This means you don’t need to use as much so your nutrition information doesn’t have the huge numbers on sugar, fat, and calories like Pop Tarts.

Knowing they’re organic means all the products they’re made from (80% anyway) are all organic. No pesticides, no weirdness going into your food. You know you’re eating certified organic, and to me, that makes anything taste a little better.

Spring into Health

The beginning of spring is the best time to rejuvenate your diet.

Fruits are getting fresher, farmers’ markets will be opening soon giving you the ability to pick up really fresh fruits and veggies…if you have been thinking about going vegetarian for a week to see if you can do it, spring is a great time for this.

Our bodies tend to crave fresh fruits and vegetables more starting in the spring, because our internal clock knows these things are available. If you haven’t had any fruit or vegetables in a long time, or you think you hate everything that doesn’t come from a drive through or out of a box from the store…give it a try. You don’t have to buy five pounds of broccoli to give it another try, just grab one stalk. You should always keep trying new things, because you never know when your taste buds will change and you will find that carrots are now much sweeter than you remember them being as a child when you refused to eat them!
Have you been thinking about juicing for health? Spring is a great time to start with the abundance available, and the weather getting warmer, starting your day with a glass of apple & carrot juice instead of coffee will be easier because it’s not so cold out anymore. Plus the vitamins in the apple & carrot juice will give you a much smoother boost than caffeine.  As much as I love coffee, some mornings I just don’t feel like it…but I still need to wake up. This happens a lot more often in spring, and when it does I grab some oranges, apples, a carrot and go to town with the juicer.

I feel awake, alive, and rejuvinated.

Food Recalls - A Bigger Problem Than You May Think

  

Pictured left to right: salmonella, listeria, E. Coli

Consumers are wary of anything containing spinach and everyone has stopped buying and selling it. However as more news comes out, it has become apparent that this is not a surprise to people in the food, drug and health business. These problems have been going on for some time and we the consumers are only just finding out about it. As it stands now, going to the grocery story can actually turn into a game of Russian Roulette because we never know what food might be tainted with bacteria or foreign objects, lets say metal fragments (what in the world?!). Here is a list of recently recalled items that you may or may not know about.

Carrot Juice - Botulism

Botuslism is a rare food poisoning that happens in over 200 people a year but is considered very rare. It is mostly found in foods that were canned and preserved mostly at home, such as fruits and vegetables. Some symptoms include: difficulty swallowing, speaking and breathing as well as blurred or double vision. 

Raw Oysters - Vibrio

Vibrio is typically found in saltwater, which is why it was found in those raw oysters. If ingested it causes gastrointestinal illness. If it gets into an open wound it can cause infections. The illness is usually gone in 3 days but those will be an unpleasant 3 days. Symptoms include: watery diarrhea often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting fever and chills.

Ground Beef - E. Coli 

We are specifically talking about E. coli O157:H7 that is usually found in feces (yuck) and can make its way into our food if people are not carefully washing their hands and taking other precautions. It can also be caused by under cooking certain foods such as meat. You can also recieve it by drinking raw milk or swimming and/or drinking water that was contaminated with sewage (another yuck). If infected you can have bloody stool, kidney failure and even death.

Potato Salad - Listeria 

Listeria is a very tricky bacteria. While most bacteria do not grow in cold temperatures, Listeria does. It can be found in and grow in foods at below zero temperatures and can also be found and grown in regular human body temperatures. It can also be found in a variety of foods. From raw and cooked meats, vegetables and dairy products. This bacteria is usually found in soil and vegetation.

Crab Dip - Listeria 

Alfalfa Sprouts - Salmonella 

Some symptoms of salmonella includes: nausea, abdominal cramping, and bloody diarrhea with mucous and also Reiter’s syndrome, a rare but very debilitating form of arthritis. Salmonella is another bacteria that can be found in under cooked food such as poultry and beef. Doctors also urge people to not consume raw eggs as that is another cause of salmonella poisoning.

Beef Products - E. Coli 

Mushrooms - Listeria

Nacho Tortilla chips - Soy 

Soy is an allergen that can be fatal to individuals who are very allergic to it.

Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars are being recalled because they may contain metal fragments. Nice to know you get a little surprise with your food isn’t it?

Monterey Mushrooms of Watsonville, CA is recalling 10,000 cases of fresh sliced white mushrooms and fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms because they might contain Listeria monocytogenes. It has list of consequences that is bad for the young, old, pregnant and anyone in between.

Most people worry about how much the food is going to cost or what food is best for their health and diet. I don’t think that many of us choose food on the basis of will it kill us or not.

What Could Have Caused the E. Coli Outbreak From Spinach?

The cases of people becoming sick has led the FDA to conclude that the culprit is Earthbound Farm’s (Natural Selection Foods) bagged spinach. Traces of E Coli bacteria were found and so far 1 person is dead (a 77 year old woman) and 109 people so far has been diagnosed with the illness tracing to the leafy greens.

The FDA and other officials are asking people not to eat spinach since other companies spinach could also be infected. People also need to watch out for vegetable mixes which usually have many different vegetables that are shredded and mixed together for convenience and they are also warning that some places might have taken the spinach out of the bags and consumers might assume that the leaves came from whole spinach cloves and were not bagged when in fact they were.

Here’s a disgusting fact. Many types of E. Coli come from feces. Ewwwwww. Wash those hands people.

I had watched a story a few months ago, that talked about E. Coli infected lettuce that were making people sick. I don’t believe they finished solving it, but a few things that could have happened also seems likely in the case of infected spinach.

Factor 1. Animals such as cows could have stepped in their feces and then tracked it through the lettuce/spinach fields.

Factor 2. An employee could have not washed their hands and then handled the veggies.

Factor 3. When the food is going to be shredded and bagged that way, most of the farmers remove the core right there in the fields, which could allow viruses and bacteria to get into the food.

Factor 4. Contaminated water could have rolled into the soil and gone into the plant roots, infecting the vegetables. If this happened, then no amount of washing would help, since the bacteria would be inside the leaves themselves.

The good news is that most restaurants and grocery stores have pulled this product. The bad news is that people are still getting sick from spinach they might already have and also I feel bad for both the victims and the company because when you have a business, this is not something that you ever want to see happen and it will probably be a long time before people trust that brand or even have spinach.

One last note. Police are investigating the death of a 23 month old girl who died from E. Coli and they are trying to determine if she has been the second death victim.

Vegan Diet Can Reverse Symptoms of Diabetes

Researchers found that people who ate a more Vegan type diet could reverse the symptoms of Diabetes. Patients who tried this lowered their blood sugar and lost more weight than those who didn’t.

Doctors believe that a diet change should be tried first before patients opt for or are given medication because it could be healthier in the long run.

Salad Recipes For the Vegetarian In You

Many regular salads that are made in average household can be very boring. Here are six delicious chef salads that can be eaten as a side dish or as a full meal if your dieting or you are a vegetarian.

Greek Salad
Mixed Green Salad
Spinach Salad
Warm Potato Salad
Creamy Cucumber Salad
Beet & Carrot Salad

Lunchtime Inspiration

Thanks to Nava Atlas and her wonderful newsletter, I have a new favorite blog (other than the Niner Niner blogs, of course).

It’s called Vegan Lunch Box. Basically, it shows what this great vegan stay-at-home mom made for lunch that day for her “shmoo.” There’s a picture every day and a rating of how he liked whatever he ate.

I want to move into this family, right now. The food looks amazing and delicious (and, of course, incredibly healthy). The bento box lunch boxes are colorful and beautiful, and full of beautiful and delicious looking foods.

Even if you aren’t vegan, this site can provide a lot of inspiration. Just look at some of the pictures and think about if your plate ever looks that colorful (even taking away the colorful boxes the food is placed in). I’m also completely inspired by a mom who has a kid who eats soba noodles, daikon and edamame. Good going!

Vegetables Are Good For You Or Are They?

I just finished watching Dateline NBC who put out another story that’s sure to scare some people away from veggies or at least bagged ones. Apparently in the last few years more than 400 people have gotten sick and 2 have died from eating the pre-cut, bagged vegetables that we find in most grocery stores.

The leafy greens, specifically lettuce has been found to be harboring the bacteria Ecoli. That bacteria is usually found in feces which ups the eww factor. It is puzzling the industry as no one can seem to figure out exactly how the Ecoli is finding it’s way into the bags.

The industry is both being helpful and also staying in denial. They realize that people are getting sick and say they want to do everything to help but are saying it could also be from other things such as the outside of the bag. The bags travel miles and pass through many hands and they say once you open it then the bacteria gets on the food. Riight.

Healthy Food Doesn’t Always Come Cheap

My favorite article today comes from AlterNet, talking about how the average cashier at a Whole Foods Market would not be able to afford to shop there, assuming that person was the sole breadwinner for a family of three.

The fact that wholesome, natural foods often cost more than junk food and lower-quality products is hardly news. But it is interesting to think about the connection between sustainability and offering workers a living wage. I guess I assumed that companies that support good agricultural practices and organic, healthy food that is more accessable would also think to pay their workers enough that they could afford to eat it.

Eating within your means is often a problem for people who want to eat healthier but are afraid they can’t afford it. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your natural foods dollar.

• Buy local. Farmers markets and farm stands have much better prices than the grocery stores, and the food is better quality, too.
• Buy seasonal. Whether shopping at a farm stand or a store, try to stick to the produce that is in season. It will be a lot cheaper and taste better.
• Bulk bins are our friends. Every natural foods store on the planet has a bulk foods section, and it’s a great place to save money because you aren’t paying for packaging. Buy dried beans, grains, spices and cereals here to save big bucks. My local natural foods store (about as far from a chain as you can get) also has bulk peanut butter, trail mix, coffee and more.
• Buy independent. Or at least compare prices if you have more than one option for natural foods. The chain stores have incredible buying power, but, as this story suggests, they may be more interested in profit than they are in keeping food affordable. A co-op might be a better option. You might have to pay a little to join but you’ll make it back in savings.
• Take advantage of sales. Like other stores, natural food stores have sales. Check the website or sign up for the store newsletter, then buy lots of whatever you need that is on sale. Sometimes stores also offer coupons and customer appreciation specials (my co-op has 10 percent off weekends a few times a year).
• Go unprocessed. Just like in the regular store, the more raw, unprocessed things you can buy, the cheaper and healthier your trip will be. Stear clear of the frozen meals, prepared foods, deli items, crackers and chips to save big bucks.

  Yes, natural foods, especially organic foods, tend to be more expensive. But if you can afford it, the expense is worth it for a better eating experience, healthier foods and a healthier planet.

Next Page »