The Holidays are Here!

Greetings! I cannot believe how much time flies between posts. With the holiday season upon us I wanted to give you a couple recipe ideas that are gluten and refined sugar free. When baking consider cutting the sugar amount in half and/or substituting natural sugar products such as maple syrup, brown rice syrup or honey. Stevia, an herb that is 300 times sweeter than sugar, can also be used, just remember that a little goes a long way! Below I have created a chart for substituting natural sugars and stevia in your baking.

These recipes I got from my two friends and business colleagues in Portland, Oregon. The first is from Dr. Raina Lasse and the second is from Dr. Angela Lambert. I have made both and I think they are a yummy.


"Healthy" Crispy Rice Treats

One box 10 oz Erewon crispy brown rice cereal
1 ½ cups almond butter
1 ¼ cup brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation
Grease a 9 inch and 9 inch baking pan. Pour rice cereal into a large bowl. Lightly heat almond butter and brown rice syrup until it is slightly warm and fluid. Add vanilla and salt. Pour almond mixture onto rice cereal. Use you hands (there’s really no other way!) to mix until all the cereal is coated. Press firmly into pan and let sit for several hours (refrigerating will speed the solidifying process). Cup into squares and serve.

Optional topping:
½ cup organic butter
½ cup brown rice syrup
½ cup pure cocoa powder

Melt butter in a pan add the brown rice syrup then add the cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth. Using a spoon drip over rice crispy treats before they harden. Then enjoy!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

Gluten-free Pate Brisee
1 cup white rice flour*
1/2 cup sorghum flour*
1/2 cup potato starch*
3 Tbsp sweet rice flour*
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
8 Tbsp cold organic unsalted butter
1 large free range organic egg
2 Tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ice water, or enough to make the dough stick together

* I substituted the above flours with 2 cups and 3 Tbsp of a gluten free flour mix that I use. It consists of 3 parts brown rice flour, 1 parts potato starch flour and 1/2 part tapioca flour. This is my standard flour mix that is use for all of my baking needs.

In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients. Cut the chilled unsalted butter into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining.

Add egg and vinegar and gently pulse. Drizzle the ice water in a little at time; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (if needed, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not over mix.

Turn out onto a work surface; kneed once or twice, until dough comes together. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least one hour or up to three days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place dough disk on a floured piece of parchment paper. Let the dough come to room temperature. Using knuckles, press edges of dough to help prevent cracking. Roll dough to a 14-inch round. Gently place in a 9 inch pie plate and prick bottom with a fork to prevent puffing or shrinking.

Bake until crust is firm, about 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 1/2 packages (18 ounces total) extra firm tofu
2 cups canned or cooked pumpkin
2/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend tofu in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Pour into prepared pie shell.

Bake for approximately one hour.

Enjoy!!

New Additions

I want to bring your attention to my new blog lists on the sidebar. I have added my good friend Katherine's blog to my blog list as well at the Gluten Free Girl. Katherine is an amazing artist who creates beautifully colored paintings. Her blog often keeps me informed on the goings on in the San Francisco art and dance scene. The Gluten Free Girl is a good resource for anyone trying to kick the gluten habit. I encourage you to check them out.

Summer Fruits are HERE!

With the start of summer fruits entering the the farmer's markets I have been enjoying making the most of it. I wanted to pass on a few ideas for making desserts with healthy substitutions. As I make more things I will post the recipes here.
I wanted to also mention a guideline I follow for purchasing organic. As a rule, I always use organic products as they are available. I especially am diligent about buying organic dairy products such as butter and milk, if you are going drink it. I also only purchase organic eggs.
NOW on to the recipe...

Strawberry Shortcake
2 1-pound baskets strawberries, hulled, halved (or quartered if very large; about 7 cups)
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1 cup chilled organic whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine strawberries and maple syrup in a bowl, toss to coat. Let stand about 1 hour, tossing occasionally.

As a special treat you may make whipped cream. I do not recommend this on a daily or weekly basis but occasionally it is kind of fun. ; )

Beat chilled whipping cream, vanilla extract and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in another large bowl until stiff peaks form. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover separately and chill.)

Cut Buttermilk Biscuits in half. Place each biscuit bottom in shallow bowl. Top each generously with strawberries and whipped cream. Cover fruit and cream with biscuit tops. Dust biscuits with powdered sugar and serve.

Biscuits
2 cups brown rice flour
1 tablespoon organic sugar
2 teaspoons non-aluminum baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted organic butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon chilled soy milk, rice milk or almond milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add soy milk, tossing with fork until large moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide into 4 pieces. Shape each piece into 3-inch round. Transfer to baking sheet, spacing evenly.

Bake biscuits until tester inserted into center comes out dry, about 20 minutes (biscuits will be pale). Transfer biscuits to rack and cool to lukewarm. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cool. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and store at room temperature. Before serving, rewarm in 350°F oven for 5 minutes.)

5/23/08

I want to start today's blog with a moment of silence for those that have had loses during the Santa Cruz mountain fires yesterday and today. Fortunately, as of today, there have been no injuries reported.
Last weekend I attended the Love Awakening festival in Burlingame. This was put on by the Rodan Foundation and my dear friend Jacqueline Pace. They had a myriad of different "Light Workers" offering services including, reiki, massage, tarot card readings, ear readings, and network chiropractic. The afternoon included a short meditation called the "I Love Me" meditation. The idea is to assist humanity in awakening, empowerment and healing. I am finding that with the many changes and challenges that the earth, society and humanity are going through, it is important for me to incorporate a form of meditation or prayer into my life. I believe that if we work together to create change on this level many positive things can occur!

5/13/08

So much has happened since I last wrote in my blog. I went to Portland for a seminar and learned about functional endocrinology. This form of medicine has been defined as "the field of health care which employs assessment and early intervention into the improvement of physiological cognitive/emotional and physical functioning." (J. Bland PhD 1996). This basically boils down using laboratory tests to help determine the cause of the problem. In many cases the cause is not what one might expect. This is where the lab tests and a doctor that practices functional medicine can be of incredible benefit! I have started incorporating this into my practice in addition to my use of homeopathic remedies. One thing that is true in naturopathic and functional medicine, it matters what you put into your body! 

4/15/08

Oh how the time flies between bloggings. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote the last post yet in reality it was one week ago! Today is tax day, hopefully everyone got their federal taxes in so that you will receive the rebate. The word from the president is that it will stimulate the economy but the word I hear on the street is that most people are going to be using their rebate to pay down credit card debt. Regardless of what you use your rebate for a little money is always nice!
I just want to put a shout out to my good friends Katherine Kodama and Mick Ward who came to Santa Cruz this past Friday. Mick ran the Santa Cruz half marathon. I have not heard how he did but he usually places top in his bracket! Katherine is an excellent artist and will be showing at the Artist Project in Chicago later this month. If you are in or near Chicago, I encourage you to go. Supporting the arts is always an excellent way to spend your time.
If you haven't seen my website, please visit! AND while there you can sign up to receive my newsletter which has health and healthy lifestyle information!
Until the next time...

April 8, 2008

Greetings from cool Santa Cruz. Even though spring is here it still feels like there is a winter cold pattern coming through. The sun does continue to shine though, always a good thing! I want to recommend a movie that Craig and I watched last weekend. I usually get my movies at the library so the selection is often dependent on what is available at that time. Fortunately, last week there was a fairly good selection. I happened to pick up a movie called Rudy. At first glance I was not sure that I wanted to watch it because it was about Notre Dame football. The main issue is that I am not a football fan. I am relatively familiar with Notre Dame football because I grew up about 30 minutes from South Bend, IN where the Fighting Irish play. But I did not go to any games. After perusing the other movies that were available I decided to keep Rudy. I am glad that I did. It was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time! The basic message is if you have a dream, follow it. Do whatever it takes to make that dream come true regardless of what your family, friends or teachers say. Believe in yourself and you can make it happen. I will tell you that by the end of the movie Craig and I both had tears of joy in our eyes. We were truly moved. So, for your next weekend family movie I would highly recommend getting Rudy, you will be pleasantly surprised!

On another note, I want to put some shout outs to my fellow blogger friends. Katherine Kodama is a long-time friend and has an amazing talent for art. She also has a blog and website, please check it out! She is going to be showing her work in Chicago by special invitation. Go Katherine. Katherine is also an expert blogger. She was kind enough to share her knowledge of blogging.

I also want to put a shout out to my new friend Nicole Gaitan. She is an awesome personal trainer and sports nutritionist in Santa Cruz. She too has a blog and a website! She is full of energy and has great ideas for helping you get in shape.

April 2, 2008 - Benefits of coconut oil

The discussion of coconuts prompted Carol to delve into the world or curries! She just emailed me today to tell me about a tofu coconut curry she made. Coconut, in my opinion, is an acquired taste. When I was young I always disliked the coconut flakes. They were too sweet and too flakey. I guess growing up in Indiana doesn't allow for exposure to the topical fruits as much as living in Santa Cruz or Mexico. I have gradually grown to really enjoy the many flavors and aspects of coconuts. I guess it first started with having Thai food. The curries and quite popular and really provided a wonderful way to try the coconut milk. On one of my trips to Thailand I was then exposed to fresh young coconut. Delicious! As a Naturopathic doctor I have learned about the benefits of coconut oil. It has an anti-viral and anti-bacterial action and helps to regulate the lipids in the body, just to name a few. I like to recommend it to my patients for their cooking needs. It is a great alternative to olive oil and has a nutty flavor. You do need to be careful not to heat it to the point of smoking which is an indication of the oil breaking down. In the body, this will result in oxidizing rather than having beneficial effects. Another good option is to use coconut oil in place of butter. Melted over steamed vegetables is delicious. Therapeutic doses have been determined to be 3.5 tablespoons per day. One final thing about coconut oil. To really reap the benefits, it is important to purchase the unrefined, virgin and preferably organic brands. to learn more about coconut oil visit this website: http://www.coconutoil.com/mary_enig.htm
I hope this has prompted some of you to look into the benefits of coconut oil.

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. I have been a little slow to get there but now realize that it can be a useful tool for my patients as well as a great way to connect with friends and family. My goal is to give you a glimpse into what is going on in my life as well as supply some recipes, ideas for staying healthy and many other things that are important in my life.

My good friend Carol and her daughter Francesca were visiting me in Santa Cruz yesterday. Francesca is on her spring break this week so they decided to come over the hill. We had a great day including cruising around on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, going to Natural Bridges State Park by the beach and buying a young coconut because Francesca has been wanting to taste one for over a year. Francesca had a great time but was not too impressed with the coconut, did not taste like she thought it would. I remember the first time I had fresh coconut juice, it was not something I wanted to have again anytime soon!

During their visit I introduced them to Coconut Bliss, an amazing frozen coconut milk dessert that is like ice cream without the dairy! Great for those with dairy allergies or if you are following the anti-inflammatory diet. In their visit, Carol also asked me for the gluten-free flour mix that I use for baking, so here it is...


Gluten-free flour mix (from the Gluten-free Gourmet)
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour

This can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour in recipes.
When using the gluten-free mix I use approximately 1 tsp of xanthum gum per cup of flour. This acts as the binding agent (or gluten) for the flours.
I also will substitute flours in for the potato starch. I have used amaranth and garbanzo flours in the same proportion as the potato starch.

The mix is great for making any baked good, it is also awesome for Belgian waffles! One of my favorite special weekend meals!