Milk

Almond Milk - or any other nut milk or seed milk such as macadamia, cashew, sunflower or seasme

In a large mixing bowl combine one cup of almonds and four cups of water. Leave your almonds to soak for a minimum of 8 hours. After they are done you will notice that the almonds appear plump and tender. If you don’t have time to soak it is ok, but will work better and be more nutritious if you do. Drain your almonds, place in blender along with 4 cups of water. Start on a low setting and blend for 30 - 60 seconds. Increase power on blender to high and continue to process until almonds are chopped fine, approximately another 60-90 seconds. After blending, you will need to strain your milk. There are several ways to do this, you can use a milk bag, a sieve, or just a piece of cheesecloth or muslin. Try to squeeze out as much milk as possible. It is very important to properly store your almond milk immediately after use. Most almond milk can be stored safely for up to 3 days in the fridge. ALWAYS REFRIGERATE ALMOND MILK IN A COVERED, PREFERABLY AIR TIGHT, CONTAINER!

Rice Milk

4 cups water

½ cup uncooked brown rice or 1 cup cooked brown rice

1 vanilla bean or ½ tsp vanilla extract

1. Cook rice, vanilla bean or extract and water until very soft.
2. Let cool, remove vanilla bean (if using) and put mixture into blender or food processor.
3. Blend until very smooth.
4. Let stand for at least 45 minutes, then strain through cheese cloth.

Alternatively- Place 1 cup cooked brown rice in a blender with 4 cups water and blend until smooth. May strain if wanted.

Dairy

I have a friend who has a daughter who is really struggling with some hormone issues right now. She is 12 and already on birth control as a means to help with her imbalance. Because of the success that I have had in balancing my hormones my friend asked me if I could help some how. I decided that I would really like to teach her about food and why she should be careful with what she eats. I am such a firm believer that if we feed our bodies right we will not need as much medical intervention in our lives. My life is proof of this, and I want to share that with people. So I have been sharing a bit of our dinner meals with her so that she can try some new foods and see what she likes and doesn't like. So far she has liked everything that I have given her (at least that is what she says) She came over last Thursday and we has a little class with just her and I. It was so fun to have another girl around! I gave her some information and then we made some things and ate them. My first focus for her was to teach her about dairy and how strongly it affects our hormones. I just wanted to post the info that I gave her here in case any body else could use it.

Dairy-

Common dairy products include milk, flavored yogurts, sour cream, cheese, Ice cream and cottage cheese.

Why should we avoid dairy?

1. Dairy (especially milk) contains powerful hormones that increase the estrogen and progesterone levels in your body. There are two reasons that this happens. First, most dairy farmers give their cows artificial growth hormones to help them to produce more milk. Second, and this one is often over looked, is that most cows are milked about 300 days a year and for much of that time the cows are pregnant. When cows are pregnant, their hormone levels are naturally raised, just like in humans, especially their estrogen. Even if you buy milk that says no added hormones, likely the hormones are still higher because the cows may be pregnant. Dairy accounts for 60-80% of estrogen consumed.
2. Dairy contains other things that are not good for our bodies.

· Dieses like Leukemia and Para Tuberculosis are found in cows often. These diseases are supposed to be killed by the pasteurization process, but studies have shown that these diseases are not killed all the way. Many believe that para tuberculosis is the cause for human diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

· Dairy also often contains traces of antibiotics and other drugs that are given to cows to help them combat all the diseases that they get.

How does this affect the hormones in my body?

These added hormones to our bodies affect everybody differently. Some people don’t see much affect and some see a lot. Some of the affects that can be seen are early onset of puberty, acne, irregular menstrual bleeding, PCOS and endometriosis, which are major causes for infertility today.

What about calcium?

There are many sources of calcium out there. Most are better sources of calcium then milk and actually help our body to absorb calcium easier than milk. Here is a small list of good sources of calcium:

· Sesame seeds

· Raw nuts

· Beans (white, kidney, etc)

· Flax seed

· Chia seeds

· Arugula

· Collards

· Parsley

· Kale

· Sunflower Seeds

· Spinach

· Oats

· Swiss Chard

· Lentils

How do I avoid dairy?

Obviously avoid all the products that you know are dairy (items listed above) You will also need to look at labels to be certain no dairy is in it. Law says that dairy must be labeled very clearly on all products. If it is in an ingredient that is in the product that ingredient must be labeled that it has it in parenthesis. Example: (milk)

What are some good alternatives?

Milk- Nut milks (macadamia. Almond, cashew, etc), Rice milk, Seed milk (sesame, sunflower, hemp)

Yogurt- Homemade yogurt made with goats milk, or hormone free cows milk can be ok on occasion. It has good bacteria in it that will help it to digest easier.

Sour Cream- Sauerkraut is a great alternative for the sour flavor of sour cream. We often put it on tacos and baked potatoes. Nut sour creams are also a good alternative for using in baking or on top of things.

Cheese- Nut cheeses and nut cheese sauces.

Ice cream- Homemade ice creams made with nut milks or coconut milk are great. You can also by some ice creams that are non-dairy. Just make sure to check the ingredients to make sure they are good.

After we talked a little we made these recipes:

Almond Milk

Macadamia Nut Sour Cream

Cheezy Sauce

Ranch Dressing

Then after we made them, we had some nachos with the stuff we made, (except for the almond milk, we saved that for the ice cream that we made next). They were yummy!

These are the ice cream recipes that we made. Because of time we just made them in the blender so they weren't super solid, but they sure were good.

Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream

Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream

It was a fun day. Check back with me next week so see what we learn about next!

Fancy Oatmeal

I am not sure where I got this recipe from, but it was fabulous! Enjoy!

Fancy Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
4 cups water
1 large apple, cored and sliced
3/4 cup raisins or craisins
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients (except apple) in a 2 quart casserole dish.
Arrange apple slices to top of the other ingredients.
Bake for 1 hour.

Frittata

I know, I know, Frittata is made of eggs! So, let me just say that we don't hardly eat eggs. I will occasionally use them in my baking, but mostly I use flax seed or chia seed ground up and mixed with water so that it will form a mucus. Our bodies do not process animal protein very well and yes, that includes eggs. Dr. Colin Campbell (The China Study) recommends about 5% of our daily calories be from animal proteins. It is a fabulous book! I recommend it to everyone!
Let me just say that when I do use eggs I use cage free organic eggs, that have no hormones or antibiotics. Costco sells some now that I buy. They are 5.99 for two dozen eggs. Not bad for good healthy eggs! We don't have this recipe often, but sometimes I make it to satisfy my husband who really likes eggs. It is better then making him a plate full of scrambled eggs because it really is just one egg that we are each eating and there is so much other good stuff in it that fills us up. It really is a good transition recipe to help you move forward in your quest to eating healthier! I am guessing that you could use an egg replacer like this one in this recipe, but I have never tried it, so I am not certain.

Frittata

3 cups chopped potatoes (chopped into small bit sized pieces, like country style hash browns)
1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/2 pound fresh asparagus spears, or fresh broccoli cut into one inch pieces
or a large handful of baby spinach
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 eggs beaten (or you could do one per person in your family up to 8 eggs)
2 small roma tomatoes, sliced

Place potatoes, bell pepper, onion and garlic (you will also want to add the asparagus or the broccoli now if you are using that option) into a large skillet with a little olive oil. Cook on medium heat with very little stiring until potatoes are tender, but not mushy. Reduce heat to low. Add salt, pepper, and eggs to potato mixture (If you are using spinach add now also). Cover with lid and cook for about 15 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle. Place sliced tomatoes on top and cover again. Let sit for about 3 min to allow the tomatoes to soften a bit.

Again, sorry there is no picture! I am working on getting a new camera.

Amish Baked Oatmeal

I got this recipe from my friend Ceri. My kids LOVE it! Sorry I don't have a picture. Every time I make it, it gets eaten before I remember to take one. I will try to post one next time I make it.

Amish Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled old fashioned oats
1 cup sucanat ( I used about 2/3 cup and it was still sweet enough)
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk (rice, coconut, almond) or water. I used water and it turned out great
2 eggs or 2 Tbls ground flax in 6 Tbls water
1/2 cups melted coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup dried cranberries, or other fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything but fruit. Stir in fruit. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes. You can use any kind of fruit; frozen blueberries, peaches, raisins, etc. When using frozen fruit do a layer of fruit and put te oatmeal mixture on top. You can also top it with chopped nuts, dried coconut, ground flax seed or chia seed.