Creamy Garden Cucumber Soup - Serve ChilledRaw Vegan, And Gluten Free

Raw almonds make this chilled cucumber soup creamy.

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Busy Week
Sorry it's taken me so long to post this month but we've been busy harvesting 3.7 tons of organic Pinot Noir grapes in our vineyard here in Sebastopol, California. Sudden hot weather caused the sugar in the grapes to quickly spike and we had to scramble to get the grapes harvested. The sugar level dictates the percent alcohol in the wine and since we like our Pinot to be around 14% alcohol or under, we pick our grapes when they are around 24% sugar (Brix) or less. 

Friends, family, and workers came to our rescue and we got it all done in three days. My brother and his wife happened to be visiting (thinking that they were here for a relaxing vacation) only to find themselves out in the field picking grapes. They enjoyed the experience and now have a story to tell back in Charleston, South Carolina.

Check out last year's post on how we make Pinot Noir.

My brother Peter, harvesting grapes.

My sister-in-law Dianne busy at work.

Back to Cucumber Soup
Before we roped Peter and Dianne into harvesting, we did some fun things. It was Sonoma Wine Country Weekend and we took them to a fabulous wine event at Fred MacMurry's Estate that featured 200 wineries and 60 local chefs. 

One of the chefs made a delicious chilled cucumber soup. Since it was creamy I assumed it was made with dairy. (I always have to ask since I'm allergic.) But to my surprise, the cucumbers were blended with almonds (my favorite source of vitamin E). I didn't get the recipe but I have attempted to recreate the dish, especially since my garden is packed with cucumbers right now. My version is a bit thicker and instead of drizzling olive oil over the soup, I use cold-pressed hemp oil since it has more omega-3. 

Cucumbers in my garden

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Creamy Garden Cucumber Soup
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes about 2 1/4 cups - 4 small servings]
Requires a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix 

3 cups diced, peeled cucumbers with large seeds removed
1/4 cups raw almonds, soaked over night
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill plus some for garnish
1 1/4 teaspoon cold-pressed hemp oil

To prepare the cucumbers, peel and quarter lengthwise. If you have large seeds, remove them. Dice and measure 3 cups and place them in a high-speed blender.

Add the soaked almonds, lemon peel, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and dill and blend until smooth. If it's too thick, add a tablespoon of water or non-dairy milk and blend until mixed. Chill until ready to serve. 

To serve, place the soup in 4 small teacups or bowls and drizzle 1/4 teaspoon of hemp or olive oil over each bowl. Take a demitasse spoon or a toothpick and stir the oil into the soup. Garnish with a small piece of dill and serve.

Per serving: 77 calories, 6 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 170 mg omega-3 and 1,749 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 3 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 293 mg sodium.

Tamaki Haiga - White Rice Without The GuiltRice Lovers Must Try This!

Tamaki Haiga is polished but still has the germ.

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Tamaki Haiga
Yesterday my girlfriend brought over a cup of white (actually tan), short-grain Tamaki Haiga rice for me to try. The kernels were small and delicate but nothing out of the ordinary. But was I in for a big surprise!

Haiga means "germ" in Japanese. It turns out that Tamaki Haigi is milled in a very special way that removes the heavy outer coating of the rice but maintains the germ where lots of the good stuff resides. Lets face it, many of us eat brown rice out of guilt because we know it's better for us than white rice. Even Andrew Weil admitted in a conference that he doesn't like brown rice. But to be able to eat something as delicious as white rice and know it still has the germ that provides vitamins B1, B2, B6, vitamin E, fiber, and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) - well that's almost too good to be true! 

It's actually better than white rice because it tastes a little nutty and is a little sticky - just the way I love it. And it cooks much faster than brown rice. I used the white rice setting in my rice maker and it came out perfectly. And your kids will love it too - I know it's a little hard sometimes to get them to eat brown rice. 

Where to Buy
You can find this in most Asian grocery stores. If you don't have an Asian grocery store nearby, you can always get it on Amazon. I just ordered a 5 pound bag for less than $20. 

California grown Tamaki Haiga
found on Amazon

I'm still a little gun shy about buying too many food products from Japan given the residual contamination after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I still drink green tea from Japan every day so I don't want to push it. This brand of Tamaki Haiga is grown in Northern California's Sacramento valley so I feel good about that. 

I just had to share this with you right away - I hope you get a chance to try it. 

Zucchini Orange Bread Or MuffinsThey Are Great For Breakfast With300 Grams Of Omega-3 Per Serving

Orange zest is the key ingredient in this zucchini recipe.
Each serving provides over 300 mg of omega-3!

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And the Zucchini Keeps Coming
Believe it or not, I'm still enjoying my zucchini. Especially the kind that I'm growing this year. It's an heirloom Italian zucchini with light green ridges. If I pick them when they are 6 to 8 inches long, they are the best I've ever eaten. Unfortunately the plant has enormous leaves that are good at hiding the zucchini until they get way too big. My grandson loves to hunt for veggies and uncovered this one that was successfully hiding.

Matisse, the veggie hunter!

I was about to make banana bread when Matisse reminded me that he was allergic to bananas which are unfortunately one of his favorite foods. But he suggested that we make zucchini bread instead. Then my daughter gave me the idea of adding some grated orange peel to the recipe. The results were wonderful! (By the way, I didn't use the monster zucchini. I used a much smaller one otherwise the zucchini would have been far too watery.)

Omega 3
Because this is a vegan recipe which substitutes flax eggs for chicken eggs, it supplies a nice shot of omega-3 fatty acid. And did you know that zucchini have a higher omega-3 content than omega-6 providing 58 mg of omega-3 and 35 mg of omega-6 in each chopped cup. 

Great for Breakfast
This zucchini bread or muffin recipe is great for breakfast, dessert, or for a nice snack. 

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Zucchini Orange Bread or Muffins
Vegan
[makes 12 servings]
Requires loaf pan or 12 muffin tins
Best with an electric hand beater

Earth Balance to grease pan
2 tablespoons finely ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons water
2 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon powdered stevia extract 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan or muffin tins.

Prepare the flax eggs by mixing the flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Beat well until gooey and set aside. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, powdered stevia, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

Squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini and place in the bowl. Using an electric hand beater, mix the zucchini into the flour mixture.

After grating the zucchini, squeeze the water out of it.

In a smaller bowl, blend the olive oil, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and orange zest. Add the flax egg and blend until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend with the beater until combined. 

Place in the loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake until golden and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the bread and 20 to 25 minutes for the muffins. 

Zucchini Orange Bread

Zucchini Orange Muffins

Cool the bread for 15 minutes (the muffins for 10) and remove from the pan. Serve the muffins warm but let the bread cool a bit so that it is easier to slice. Serve and enjoy!

Per serving: 143 calories, 5.5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 316 mg omega-3 and 661 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g protein, 19.5 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 188 mg sodium.

Don't Be Fooled By Martha Stewart's "Bake It Better" Recipes!

Healthy baking tips in Martha Stewart's
September issue fall way short!

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Forgive my Rant, but....
I ordered a facial product a few months ago and it came with a free 12 month subscription to Martha Stewart Living magazine. I love perusing through magazines to get new ideas on cooking and decorating. But this month's issue just made me mad.

The article starts on the right foot by saying that bake sales, though "often planned with a noble cause in mind- funding a school library, helping fellow congregates who've fallen on hard times.... don't often translate to great nutrition." Well I don't think that anyone would disagree with that. Martha then attempts to take delicious, unhealthy recipes and make them equally delicious and much healthier.

Great concept!!! There are so many things you can do to make baked goods healthier. I write about that all the time in this blog and in my book. It bothers me to no end when someone as famous and loved as Martha Stewart convinces people that a recipe is healthy when it is not.

Let me give you several examples that are in the September Issue of Martha Stewart Living titled "Better (for you) Bake Sale.

Martha's Half-Moon Cookies
These cookies claim to be healthier because they use some whole wheat flour and berry puree to color the icing instead of harmful food coloring. But these cookies still have 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, 2 whole cups of confectioner's sugar and 4 teaspoons of honey. I don't think a little berry puree is going to make this a recipe you'd feel good about serving your children.

Martha's Muesli Coffee Cake
In this recipe she introduces her readers to white whole-wheat flour. I commend her for this as I've been touting the benefits of white whole-wheat flour for years. In fact, it's the only wheat flour I use for baking or cooking. But her recipe still uses 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 1 3/4 cups of sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 cup of full fat buttermilk and another few tablespoons of honey. The goodness of the whole grain flour pretty much gets cancelled out with the rest of the recipe.

Martha's Lemon-Yogurt Cupcakes
These cupcakes also benefit from the white whole-wheat flour and once again she avoids food coloring by using fresh raspberries but she weighs the recipe down with 3/4 cups of granulated sugar, 2 whole cups of confectioner's sugar and a CUP of butter. This recipe is starting to rival one of Paula Deen's!

Healthy doesn't always mean Healthy
So be careful when some big name chef or celebrity says the word "healthy." Everyone wants to believe that making a tiny change to a recipe that is full of saturated fat and sugar makes it OK. 

But these are good tips. White whole-wheat flour is much better than all-purpose processed white flour. And berries are better than food coloring. But why stop there? You can do other things to improve your baked goods.
Things like:
* Using flax eggs instead of eggs
* Substituting a good bit of the sugar with stevia
* Substituting half or more of the oil with applesauce

For recipes and tips on healthy baking, download my eBook, Health Begins in the Kitchen. I think I'll send a copy to Martha.

Baked Falafels With Lemon Tahini SauceOn A Salad Or In A PitaAn Excellent Source Of Protein

Falafel sandwiches in pita bread make a great lunch!

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Garbanzo Beans as a Protein Source
I love garbanzos. Besides being a versatile bean that can be used in many different dishes, they contain an excellent source of complete protein which means they provide all the essential amino acids in the proper proportions. They are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, and manganese.

Baked Falafel
I love a good falafel but most of them served in restaurants are fried. This recipe uses a small amount of oil and bakes them in the oven. Stuff a few of them in pita bread with chopped lettuce, cucumber, avocado and tomato. Top with some lemon-tahini sauce and you have a great lunch. Or for a lighter gluten-free meal, serve baked falafels on top of salad tossed with lemon-tahini sauce.

For a gluten-free meal, skip the pita and serve on top of salad.

Start with Dried Garbanzo Beans
Did you know that you can make falafels from dried garbanzo beans? Most cooked beans are packed in cans that are lined with BSP (bisphenol) so using dried beans, especially when they are organic, is a healthier way to go. And since you only have to soak and not cook the beans in this recipe, it's not much of a bother.

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Baked Falafels with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 20 (2 inch x 1/2 inch) falafels and 1/2 cup tahini sauce, about 4 to 6 servings]
Requires a food processor, such as a Cusinart

Start soaking the beans the night before.

For the falafels
1 cup dried garbanzo beans
Water to soak beans
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fresh parsley
1 cup chopped onion
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the tahini sauce
1/4 cup tahini (I use raw tahini)
1 clove pressed garlic
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pick through the garbanzo beans and discard any clumps of dirt or rocks. Rinse under cold water. Place in a 1 or 2 quart bowl and cover with several inches of water. Soak overnight.

With the food processor running (I really like the 11-cup Cuisinart), place the garlic through the shoot and process until all the garlic is chopped. 

Rinse the garbanzo beans and place in the food processor along with the cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, black pepper, baking powder and parsley. Pulse until the garbanzos are coarsely chopped. Add the onions and pulse until everything is minced. Scrape down the sides when necessary. Do not over process. The resulting mixture should look like this:

Pulse until the mixture is minced, NOT pureed. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly grease a cooking sheet or shallow baking pan. I like to use Silpat non-stick baking mats. These allow me to bake the falafels with the least amount of oil.

Form small balls of the mixture and pat them into 2 inch by 1/2 inch patties. Place on the prepared baking pan. Take a tablespoon of olive oil and using your finger or a brush, rub a little oil over each falafel. 

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes on each side. Remove from the oven.

Make the tahini sauce. Place the tahini in a small bowl with the pressed garlic and lemon juice. Stir until it is a smooth paste. Stir in the water until it reaches the desired consistency. Add the salt to taste and set aside.

Serve the falafels in pita bread with small diced cucumbers, avocado, lettuce, and tomatoes drizzled with the tahini sauce. 

Or place a few falafels over a salad that has been tossed in a thinner tahini sauce (add some more water) with a bit more tahini sauce drizzled over the falafels. 

Per falafel: 48 calories, 1 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 16 mg omega-3 and 335 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, and 101 mg sodium.

Per serving of tahini sauce (about 1 1/3 teaspoons): 18 calories, 1 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 11 mg omega-3 and 620 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, 0 g dietary fiber, and 60 mg sodium.

Enter To Win Pomona CookbookPlus Jelly Jars, Pectin And More!

Win this cookbook, jars, Pomona pectin and more!

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Pomona Pectin
You know how much I LOVE Pomona's Universal Pectin. Every jam recipe in this blog uses it and I even dedicated an entire chapter in my eBook, Health Begins in the Kitchen, to making healthy jam using this wonderful pectin. What makes Pomona's Universal pectin so great is that it allows you to make jelly and jam with little or no sugar! 

Pomona Pectin Giveaway
My friends at Pomona wanted me to tell you all about their exciting giveaway that will run from August 5th through August 13th, 2014. 
All you need to do to win is enter the Giveaway - and everyone gets 2 FREE ENTRIES.

Here's What You'll Win!

Cookbook: Preserving with Pomona's Pectin 
by Allison Carroll Duffy

A Box of Pomona's Pectin

A case of 6 Orchard Road Jelly Jars with lids and bands

A Stainless Steel Funnel

The Cookbook
Preserving with Pomona's Pectin (Fair Winds Press, June 2013) teaches you how to make jam using sugar-free and preservative-free Pomona's Universal Pectin. 

Here are some examples of the wonderful recipes in this book:
* Maple-Vanilla-Peach Jam
* Chocolate-Cherry Preserves
* Margarita Marmalade
* Nana's Favorite Dandelion Jelly
* Savory Blueberry-Ginger Conserve
* All-Fruit Strawberry Jam

This is the perfect book for both beginning and experienced preservers, and everyone in between. The more than 70 recipes are organized by type—jams, jellies, preserves, conserves, and marmalades—and there are simple classics as well as new twists with exciting ingredients. And, most importantly, all of the recipes use low amounts of sugar or alternative sweeteners, such as honey, maple syrup, or fruit juice.

How to Enter
To enter to win, go to the Pomona Website. There will be TWO winners!

And while you're there, check out the recipe from Preserving with Pomona's Pectin for Gingered Lemon Fig Preserve. It looks yummy!

Gingered Lemon Fig Preserve

What To Do With All Those Cherry Tomatoes?Make Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato Salad With Cucumbers, Avocado And Jalapeño

A delicious and simple way to use those cherry tomatoes
and other garden veggies. Only 53 calories per serving!

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My Garden Overfloweth
While my garden zucchini has taken much of my attention, these cute and very prolific yellow pear cherry tomatoes are gathering steam. My cucumbers and jalapeños are also holding there own so what better way to use them all up than in this simple raw salad! 

Raw yellow tomatoes are low in calories and are an excellent source of Vitamin C, niacin, folate, potassium, copper and manganese.

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Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato Salad
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 6 servings]

2 cups halved yellow pear cherry tomatoes
2 cups peeled and diced cucumbers
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 small jalapeño, thinly sliced (seeds optional)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or more
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, red onion, and jalapeño in a bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt, and pepper and toss gently until well coated.

Per serving: 53 calories, 4 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 29 mg omega-3 and 441 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 207 mg sodium.

Marrow Beans With Lemon And RosemaryFast Cooking And Creamy!

Marrow beans are so creamy and they cook very quickly.

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Marrow Beans
My friend Margarite loves beans. Actually, I'd have to say she is obsessed with them. Just last week she bought 80 pounds of various beans from Purcell Mountain Farms (a great internet shop that offers exotic beans). 

She's always introducing me to new foods. Last week she came over and presented me with a little bag of dried marrow beans that she picked up at Tierra Vegetables farm stand in Santa Rosa. I had never heard of them before but was excited to try a new bean!

These plump white beans look a lot like cannellinis but they are softer, creamier and cook faster. In fact, they cook so quickly you have to really watch them so that they don't get too soft. That's good news for those of us who don't have hours and hours to cook dried beans. 

Some say marrow beans have a bacon-like flavor but I didn't detect that. Perhaps that's because I haven't eaten a piece of bacon over 30 years! 

Why Dried Beans are Superior
Having a quick cooking dried bean is a wonderful thing. Although it's very convenient to pick up a can of beans, it's hard to find one that isn't lined with bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is an industrial chemical that can be an endocrine disruptor, interfere with the bodies hormones, and is linked to an increased risk of infertility, obesity, breast and reproductive system cancer, and more. Cooking your own beans from scratch avoids this issue. It's also a lot cheaper! 

Buy marrow beans online at Purcell Mountain Farms or on Amazon.

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Marrow Beans with Lemon and Rosemary
Vegan, Gluten Free
[Eight servings]

2 cups dried marrow beans
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 packed tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pick over beans and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

Two methods to soak beans: 
Place the beans in a bowl of fresh water and soak, covered, for 3 to 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse well. 
Or, place the beans in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and soak for 1 1/2 hours, drain and rinse well.

Heat the oil in a medium pan (I use my 5-quart Dutch oven) and cook the onion, rosemary, garlic, and carrot for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the soaked and rinsed beans, bay leaf, and 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beans are cooked to the desired texture, 30 to 45 minutes. Add more water if needed. 

After about 35 minutes of cooking

Remove the bay leaf and add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

Serve over rice, quinoa, or pasta or by serve by itself as a stew.

Per serving: 165 calories, 2 g total fat, 0.3 g saturated fat, 82 mg omega-3 and 263 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 9 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, 6 g dietary fiber, and 303 mg sodium.

How My Morning Smoothie Became A Chemistry Experiment

Just have fun when making a smoothie!

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is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Summer Smoothies
Now that it's warm, I generally start every morning with a raw smoothie. I rarely use a recipe and quite often they become a chemistry experiment. Yesterday's chemistry experiment was awful and today's was wonderful. But it's always fun to see what happens. I encourage you to do the same.

This morning I started out with kale. Besides it being a superfood, its volume in my garden is only surpassed by zucchini. So we eat some kale at just about every meal.

Next I added a heaping tablespoon of chia seeds that I soaked in Tempt's new Coconut Hempmilk. (A yummy new product .) This made it thick and full of omega-3.

A few stalks of celery made it in there so that I didn't feel too guilty about using so much fruit.

I sliced up a big pear because they have tons of fiber (6 grams per medium pear.)

And then there was that peach that needed to be eaten. A bit too ripe to bite into but still yummy enough for a smoothie.

Of course what would a smoothie be without frozen blueberries. Their colorful anthocyanins make the smoothie a more pleasant color. I'd much rather sip a thick purple drink than one that looks like it was scooped out of a pond. 

I added a few figs that I froze from my neighbors crop from last year because this year's crop is already coming in and I need to finish them up. Oh yes, I had to use that ripe banana. 

I finally stopped adding things because I ran out of room in the blender and there was only two of us here to drink it. I put in a few cups of cold water and blended until smooth and creamy. 

I finally ran out of room!

So you can see where I'm going with this. Smoothies are fun to experiment with. As long as you start with fresh or frozen organic fruit and veggies, you can't really go wrong. And if you do, try something else tomorrow!

How Dry Skin Brushing Can Reduce Cellulite, Tighten Your Skin, And Help You Detox!

Dry skin brushing has many benefits!

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is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Add This to your Daily Routine
You brush your teeth and your hair every day but do you brush your skin? That sounded a bit crazy to me too at first but it turns out that doing this has amazing benefits!

Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body? And it's pretty complex too, made up of glands, nerves, and other important cells. So it's worth a few minutes a day brushing away dead cells and stimulating your skin so that it can do a better job. 

Benefits
Besides being invigorating, dry brushing your skin has many important benefits. Here are a few:

* Stimulates your lymphatic system which allows you to get rid of cellular waste products. Promoting lymphatic drainage is, perhaps, the most important benefit of all. When waste and toxins build up, inflammation and disease occur so dry skin brushing is an effective way to help your body detox. 

* Improves kidney function.  When the lymphatic system is contributing more to detoxification, it takes some of the burden from the kidneys. 

* Reduces cellulite by softening and redistributing the subcutaneous fat deposits under the skin where toxins get trapped and lead to the formation of cellulite. 

* Promotes tighter and smoother skin by increasing blood flow and cell renewal.

* Unclogs your pores by clearing away dead skin and accumulated toxins, allowing your skin to breathe. 

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How to Get Started!

Buy a good brush. Find a brush with bristles made from natural fibers. Make sure that it has a long handle so that you can reach your back. 

Bernard Jensen Products makes a good brush. 
I have an Yerba Prima Tampico Skin Brush which has served me well. 

This brush is made from tampico fiber,
the unbleached stem of the agave plant.

How to Brush
* Brush every day. You can do it twice a day but, hey, who we kidding? We're lucky if we can squeeze this in once!

* Always brush your skin when it is absolutely dry. Make sure the brush is absolutely dry.

 * It's best to do this before you shower so that you can bathe away all the dead skin and impurities resulting from brushing.

* Always brush towards your heart with long, sweeping strokes. I generally start with my legs, then my arms - always towards my chest. Then up from my lower back (stop at the heart) and down from my neck (again, stopping at the heart.)

* Don't brush too hard. These brushes are pretty stiff so it takes some getting used to. You want to stimulate your skin, not leave bruises. 

Brushing your skin is one more thing you can do to improve your health. This along with a plant-rich diet, plenty of exercise, and happy thoughts will go a long way to a long and healthy life!

Warm And Delicious Venezuelan-Style ArepasEasy-To-Make Gluten-Free Vegan Corn Cakes

Low-fat, gluten-free arepas are delicious at any meal!

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Arepas
My friends introduced me to arepas - petite guten-free corn cakes made from pre-cooked corn flour. They are a staple in Venezuela and Colombia. I prefer the smaller, thicker, Venezuelan-style arepas that are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick. In Colombia they make them larger and thinner. They are made from a precooked corn flour called masarepa or masa al instante. I like using the white maize meal, harina de maiz blanco. If you can't find it at a local Latino grocery store, you can find it on Amazon.

Precooked white maize meal.

You won't believe how easy these are to make!

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Venezuelan-Style Arepas
Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 8 arepas]

1 cup arepa flour (pre-cooked cornmeal)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil plus some for pan

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.

Mix the oil and water. Pour into the flour and mix until well combined.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll into balls. Shape each ball into a disk 2 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

Place the arepas in a heated, greased, non-stick frying pan. Place the arepas in the pan, flattening them with a spatula, and cook until slightly brown on each side, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the pan and place on a cookie sheet or foil-lined, shallow roasting pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve them hot with any meal for a gluten-free bread substitute. They are great with vegan cream cheese or Earth Balance buttery spread. My favorite way to serve them is as an appetizer covered with guacamole dip.

Per arepa: 78 calories, 0.4 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 1 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 145 mg sodium.