How I Got Started: A Personal Experiment

Breakfast. I decided to start with breakfast. If I could change my bagel/decaf routine and start off the day with something high in enzyme content which would alkalize my body, what would it be?

So I bought a $99.99 juicer from Bed Bath & Beyond and shoved 1 pound of carrots and an apple through it. (The recipe for what I lovingly now refer to as "weenie juice" is at the bottom of the blog.) It was good. I went to work and had a huge bottle of water. In fact, as the morning went along I felt just fine, wide awake, clean and light. I was a little hungry but definitely felt good.

After reading Recipes for Life by Rhonda Malkmus, I decided to add other vegetables to my morning juice. I had always been borderline anemic and beets are considered a whole food source of iron but I have never been a beet lover. So I added one whole cucumber to 1 pound of carrots before putting two small finger sized portions of red beet into the juice. I couldn't believe it - not only was it good but it was incredibly sweet. My mother (age 70) calls it beet sugar and says they used to use beet sugar instead of sugar cane to cut cost.

I highly recommend Carrot/Beet/Cucumber juice for another reason: you can measure your metabolism with it. I will try to put this delicately. The juice comes out of not only the juicer a deep red color, but also exits your body the same color. If you drink or eat beets you can measure your metabolism by noticing how many hours or days it takes for it to exit your body - you'll know by the color. Same day exit, good metabolism. 3 day exit, need to drink more beets!

And that's how it began: my experiment with nutritional information and whole food cooking which became my own nutritional healing.

Here are my favorite condiments for use in juicing, cooking and steaming vegetables, grains, beans and legumes. They make eating to FEED MY BODY a burst of flavor as well as energy.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - "extra virgin" is not a reference to the olive's morals. It's the olive way of saying raw.
Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar - or any organic vinegar with "the mother"
Bragg's Liquid Aminos - pure protein! A remarkable product that can be used anywhere you need salt or soy sauce taste.
Flax Seed Oil
Grade B Maple Syrup - my kids use it on toast, cereal, anyplace they want the taste of sugar
Raw local honey - once again, a hit with the kids.
Raw almond butter
Raw nuts including pinenuts, walnuts and pecans
Raw seeds including pumpkin seeds and poppy
Balsamic Vinegar
Raw minced garlic in water
White pepper, cayenne
Sea Salt, kelp
Udo's Blend Oil
Organic dried fruits: raisins, figs, prunes, cranberries