Green Smoothies/Juicing Class and Organic Farming Talk

Saturday, during potluck, the Reaching Hearts health ministry team worked together to have a juicing and green smoothies class! The class was a success. Many people contributed, bringing fruits, vegetables, recipes, and equipment. I gave the class, but knowing more about smoothies than juicing, I did focus it on smoothies. We made spinach-mango, pineapple-banana-kale, pineapple-mango-raspberry, carrot-apple-grapes, carrot-cucumber, grapes-blueberries-banana. Most people were surprised at the green smoothies flavors. I feel the class accomplished its goals when they walked out of there feeling that they could "do this" - that is, green smoothies. Someone even said they walked over to the pot-luck dessert table and walked away without picking up a dessert! I was so happy to hear that. Maybe they were just full of the sweetness of the smoothie samples... well, whatever it takes to kick the sugar-habit, even for a day.

Green smoothies, the more you drink them, the more you find you crave them! ...as long as you vary your greens. They are rich in amino acids, minerals, and chlorophyll. Did someone say they alkalize the body?

Here is a GREAT READ on Greening Up your life: Ode to the Green Smoothie by Victoria Boutenko.

Ever wonder about the nutrients in your produce and how much you lose from the farm to your table? Here's an excellent read: From Farm To Table and How soon should I expect to experience the effects of dietary supplements? . These article-links were sent to me by Wellness Coach, Sharon Gluck. I first heard about glyconutrients, from my friend Kirsten Balatgek. They have worked for her mother and grandmother. Then, a friend from church, Sharon, mentioned them, too, and how Dr. Ben Carson used them, too. There must be something to them!

Talk on Organic Farming
Later that evening, we listened to a talk on organic farming and learned a lot. Wow! Gus, the farmer, used to be a physician's assistance and changed his career to be a farmer to be home with his family. He farms 5 acres and gave several tips on how to start your farm. We thoroughly enjoyed it. DID YOU KNOW? With gas prices going up, local organic foods are becoming more affordable. One, they are not farmed with petroleum-based fertilizers which means as gas prices go up, the price of petroleum goes up and the price of conventional produce goes up kur-ching. Two, they are local, requiring less gas for shipping, unlike conventional which travels a long way kur-ching.

More Benefits of Local Organic Food
Other non-gas-price-related benefits of organic produce are the nutrients they have. They have more nutrients (depending on their soil) and since they are freshly, locally picked, they have more nutrients! The older a fruit is since it has been picked, the less nutrients it has.

No to Hyrbrids. Yes to Heirlooms
Shockingly, seeds produced by hybrid plants should not be saved and planted the following year because they are crossed with other 'stuff' , which means if you planted a new squash hybrid seed this year... you grow squash the first year... but if you saved its seed and grow it next year, who knows what you may get... it may not be the same type of squash! Heirloom seeds are the real food here!

We learned so much... so much to write about it here, but we would love to tell you about it! Maybe Gus will have another talk sometime soon.

Are you Guilty?

Today at bible study, I learned a couple things from a few people that made me think. I want to share a them with you.

If you were convicted of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

God does not give up on us. The devil does not give up on us. The only person giving up on God is you.

Sugar Blues

I will admit. I love sweets, especially cookies. I have used agave or honey as my sweeteners, but I eat the occasional donut at work and desserts at potlucks and buffets. However, by writing about this, I am hoping to give up sugar... or at least non-organic sugar.

Why? Genetically Engineered (GE) sugar has made its way to the U.S. starting this year - 2008.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12700

Additionally, this may apply to corn & soy.

"Meat" Akron, OH

We stopped by the vegan/raw cafe - The Web of Life - in Cleveland and were disappointed. The reviews we read are all true...well, only because the customer we talked to at The Web of Life said the place was not what it used to be. So we left... but not without a vegan soft serve cone. It was the best vegan soft serve we've ever had.

We headed straight for Vegiterranean vegan-kosher restaurant in Akron, OH which just opened 6 months ago. These pictures are from there. At $23 a dish, the food was delicious. And the tofu dessert was amazing. I had Gardien Chicken with tuscan bean mashed potatoes. Kurt had the Gardien Steak special. Kurt has never had steak before in his life... until today! Is your jaw dropped because you read "Kurt ate steak" or because you think nothing vegan can imitate steak?

We love to sample each other's dishes and being from a state where steak restaurants have their own zip code (okay, slight exaggeration), plus growing up in a meat-eating home, I took a bite of his steak and was certain it was the real thing. The first several chews were reminiscent of steak prepared over the charcoal grill on a July 4th weekend at my aunt and uncle's backyard cookout... until its texture changed, but only slightly. I tell Kurt, "If you haven't had steak before, you just did."

By the way, Gardien is a trademark for GARden grown protIEN.

Chicago's Raw Restaurants - Karyn's and Cousin's

We went to both Karyn’s and Cousin’s. If we had to recommend one, Karyn’s wins!
Karyn’s has everything I would ever want in a raw food store. The store sells many products, from to-go raw food to raw food ingredients to supplements. They even sell gallons of rejuvelac and ice cream! The food we had was all delicious. We had the buffet and tamales. All tasted great. I was impressed with the tamales and the cabbage with walnuts, raisins, and dressing. Plus, we had a mango ice cream. The downside, customer service is not that great… well, when compared to Cousin’s. We ate at the cafe and not the restaurant next door (it was still morning).
Cousin’s has a smaller store, but the restaurant is bigger. Customer service is great, but they were short-staffed (on a Monday) that they didn’t have everything on the menu. That’s okay, it seems to be quite common with several of the raw restaurants we visited. The food was good, but at Karyn’s every bite I took was amazing… not so, at Cousin’s. It was just okay… or good. We had the popular falafel and kebabs… plus their brownie and truffles were great. Oh yeah, and they served ionized water!
Here are pictures from Karyn's:

Here are pictures from Cousin's: