Want to Feel Better? Go Nuts!

By Mary Langfield, Certified Holistic Health Coach dedicated to increasing awareness to improve your health and outlook on life.

Did you know that all nuts are seeds, but all seeds are not nuts? Even crazier, a nut is actually a fruit, according to Merriam-Webster. Although the nitty-gritty of scientific classification may not be a page turner, the health benefits of these small edibles is definitely worth learning.

Many nuts, such as walnuts, are an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, a type of fat necessary for brain cells and mood-lifting neurotransmitters to function properly, and can even help some people with depression. (Other foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, sardines, flaxseeds, and omega-3 fortified eggs)

Nuts are also high in phytosterols (substances that lower your cholesterol naturally) and contain potassium and magnesium, both of which help lower blood pressure.

And let’s not forget that nuts are delicious, add tons of flavor, are easy to add to dishes, and great for snacking!

Top 5 Seeds and Nuts to Lower Cholesterol:

·         sunflower seeds

·         pistachios

·         pumpkin seeds

·         pine nuts

·         whole flaxseeds, freshly ground

Instead of your typical midafternoon snack, opt for almonds for a great source of protein and calcium that keeps your energy going and lifts your mood.

Looking to add more calcium to your meal without relying on dairy? Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium. Just sprinkle them onto your typical salad or greens to add a health boost to your meal.

Who would’ve thought going nuts could feel so right?!

Do you have a favorite snack or meal involving nuts or seeds? Share your fresh idea!

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"Would you like to learn more about how increasing your awareness of basic diet and lifestyle changes can have tremendous positive effects on health and outlook on life? Check out my website, marylangfield.com, for more resources or to schedule an appointment and learn how health coaching would work for you. Start believing in yourself and seeing results!”

The Dark Secrets of Artificial Sweeteners

By Mary Langfield, Certified Holistic Health Coach dedicated to increasing awareness to improve your health and outlook on life.

Do you use artificial sweeteners in your coffee or tea? Do you enjoy diet drinks and diet foods? Most of us have opted for things labeled “diet” to avoid the typical high-calorie sweeteners in drinks and foods. But what if I told you that you can be addicted to artificial sweeteners and that they might be causing you to eat more food or gain weight?

Cutting back or eventually eliminating your consumption of artificial sweeteners may lighten your mood, remedy some of your health problems, and may even result in weight loss.

In her book The Diet Cure, author Julia Ross, M.A., explains that “more than ten thousand aspartame [common artificial sweetener] users have reported over one hundred adverse symptoms, compiled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They include everything from menstrual changes, weight gain, and headaches to severe depression, insomnia, and anxiety attacks.”

Have your cravings for sweets and fatty foods (and possibly your weight) increased with your aspartame use? Ross explains that the connection between eating more unhealthy foods, gaining weight, and consuming artificial sweeteners has been confirmed through several studies in both animals and humans.

What’s worse, when you consume aspartame, the fake sugar’s ingredients are actually in competition with tryptophan, blocking its conversion into the "fog-clearing and mood-enhancing chemical serotonin.” This means that diet sugars may actually be preventing you from feeling positive and having a clear mind.

Next time you reach for your typical artificial sweetener or diet soda, consider going without the sweetener or replacing your diet soda with hot water and cleansing lemon oil from Young Living Essential Oils instead. You may just find that in time you start to find your mood elevating and your waistline shrinking from these easy diet adjustments.

I’ll leave you with this encouraging quote about Richard Simmons:

“In 1996, Richard Simmons, the diet and fitness guru, announced that he had given up diet sodas after years of addiction and suddenly lost ten pounds.” If that’s not a success story, I don’t know what is!

Are you interested in learning more about healthy living and ready to have more energy and feel better? Schedule a Nutrition Breakthrough with Me Today!

Fresh summer dessert

This summer has been intense. The heat and humidity has been stifling. This summer seems to be trying to rival the crazy winter we had of below freezing temps and ice and snow storms. As the heat has cooled down into the mid-80's the weather has been joyous. This little lull allowed this time to bake a crisp as well as homemade coconut milk ice cream. Both were delicious. Yum!

Stone Fruit Crisp

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp of lemon
• 1/4 cup of Sucanat
• 5 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup Almond flour
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 tsp of himalayan sea salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place fruit in baking dish - Pie plate or other 9 inch pan
3. Place all other ingredients into the Vita-Mix and blend
4. Add the crumbly mix to the top of the fruit - evenly
5. Bake for 25 minutes or longer depending on your oven (my oven runs hot)
6. Eat with Coconut, Almond & Raspberry Ice Cream. Yum!

Coconut, Almond & Raspberry Ice Cream (Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pints of Raspberries
• 3 tbsp of fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 cup of vanilla agave
• 1 cup Almond Milk
• 3 cups Coconut Milk
• 1 tbsp pur vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in the Vita-Mix and blend
2. Scoop out and place in Ice Cream Maker for 20 minutes
3. Scoop out of ice cream maker into freezer friendly container and freeze for a minimum of 1 hour.
4. Enjoy with Fruit Crisp!

I can CAN CAN

Canning is something that has intrigued me for awhile, but I can honestly say I wasn't planning on making jam or preserves or other canned fruit to make it through the long winter.  Simply for the fact that I have issues with consuming too much sugar. If you didn't know it already canned items are typically PACKED with sugar or corn syrup for preservation means. I know I could use a sugar alternative, but what am I gonna spread it on? Bread? Gluten-free bread isn't all that and I want to make something that I am going to love and be able to use in a pinch. Yes, I know that canning isn't all about jams and jellies or salsa, but it is an easy way out when deciding to make an investment of time and money.

I've made large quantities of applesauce and green soups before, but instead of canning I've frozen these lovely items and stored them in a large freezer. The problem with this method is that the power could go out. So there is a real possibility that you could lose all that food and hard work if that happens, however unlikely. I never grew up canning or even knowing people who canned, until recently. My family is from the east coast so there was no family farm to inspire me. However, in the last few years I have been thinking more about canning.  As a health coach you'd think that this would be right up my alley. Yet, I am a city girl at heart and I want to make things as easy and simple as possible (like making homemade bread in the bread machine). I love good healthy food, but convenience still trumps most things in my life as well as my clients' lives. 

The main obstacles for me were 1. figuring out what to can (soup, meats, veggies) and 2. whose gonna join me? Canning is a social activity and I am always looking for ways to spend more time with my family and friends. 

Last year I was sent a lovely book called "The Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning and Preserving" by Ana Micka. This quick read came with a little DVD and I watched it with interest after about 8 months of procrastination of course. The DVD was somewhat helpful, but I think that watching videos online for specific steps in the process would be just as useful. In fact, I only care about the nuts and bolts of things and so I would say the DVD could have done a better job with just showing the process versus all the little chit chat. However, I did learn from it and I was happy to review it. It is an adorable book and I have found it useful as a total canning novice. Plus, I'd even watched my housemate can this past year and she makes it look simple and easy, but she has been doing this for years.

I gathered a few of my friends together for this first adventure into canning. We had a pre-planning date and reviewed books and purchased jars.

And in the end we decided to keep it simple and just can applesauce. We purchased 36 lbs of apples.

We luckily had access to this Vitorio Strainer which removes the peels for you after you cook up the apples. Great gadget!

 Then we went to town making applesauce and rocking out to 80/90's music while we worked (this is probably my favorite thing about canning though not required).

In the end there was 21 jars of sauce. Which was great because it was an even split between the 3 of us. You can see from the picture its pink. The mixture of 5 different apples gave us this pretty color.

We have another date set on the calendar and we have already decided to can chutney and pickles. So as you can imagine it was fun.  As a bonus our menfolk grilled up dinner and so on the whole it was an awesome day!

Is there a thing as Reader's block?

I think we all know about writer's block. I do not consider myself a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but it is something I am trying to cultivate. I am trying to gain some confidence around words, sentences and the expression of ideas on paper.

However, I am an avid reader and I jumped at the chance to read a novel that incorporates food into the mix. I think its great to read a book that inspires you to get back into the kitchen and enjoy the preparation and excitement of food.

The novel sent to me was "Georgia's Kitchen" by Jenny Nelson. I can say that this was a quick read. I did not particularly feel inspired by it, but it wasn't a complete let down. It was sort of an "eat, Pray, Love sort of book. I'd love to have a quote or maybe a page in the novel bookmarked, but it did not inspire or provoke thought. It was a simple chic lit book that was easy to read. If you enjoy chic lit books this might be a nice summer read for you up at the cabin or on a rainy day. If you want something a bit more meaty for a book club - this might not be it. In fact, a lot of the books I have read this year have been so-so.

However, I did read "The Last Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones. I must say I absolutely loved this book. Yes, it had the romance and sex component as well as a whole lot of Asia (deep sigh). I have this "thing" for Asia, Asians and Asian cuisine. Actually, the reason I wanted to pick this book up is because although I love Asia and much of the food; Korea, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai - you name it. Chinese food has always been a struggle for me, even when I traveled to Beijing. I want to love it, but I am almost always disappointed. The dishes are slimy and too oily and usually salty. So the goal with reading this book was to see if the novel could teach me about what I had so clearly been looking for with Chinese cuisine - the Art of it, the Tradition and the Respect that food and meals have on the people. Something that we Americans' loose sight of much of the time.

This novel did not disappoint. Nicole Mones is an outstanding writer. It doesn't hurt that she has spent years working and traveling through China either. She writes beautifully and does a wonderful job at creating real characters that you can relate to and believe in within an exotic, but familiar world. Not only are the characters endearing - the novel is inspirational. At least I thought so and it wasn't just about the food, but how food in China brings people together, its expressive nature and how cooking teaches life lessons.

"The most important thing is to preserve civilization. As men we are the sum of our forebears, the great thinkers, great masters, great chefs. We who know the secrets of food must pass them on, for our attainment in food is not less than our attainment in philosophy, or art; indeed, the three things cannot be separated. These are the things that make us Chinese."

.......

"He was wiser than any alchemist. His dishes brought him all the glory under heaven. And he did it just as easily from coarse simple food as from rare delicacies. He often said that the best food was simple and homey; it reminded us of when we were young, or felt loved, or were lit up with believing in something."

.......

"In this humble book I have tried to give the facts about the cuisine of the Chinese imperial palace. It was a place of tragic beauty. Of everything I learned there, one thing stands out. Food was always to be shared. When my master sent out his untouched dishes...he would only send them as complete meals for eight people in stacked lacquerware. Never any other way. The high point of every meal was never the food itself, he taught us, but always the act of sharing it."

This novel makes you want to try your hand at Chinese cuisine or at the very least share a simple meal with others. It certainly did for me. In fact - I dragged (ha he loves it!) my husband down the Rainbow Restaurant on Eat Street in Minneapolis. I chose Rainbow because I know that they have a gluten-free menu and it makes the choices a lot easier for me. Also, the whole dining experience is less stressful if I do not have to ask a ton of questions or make lots of dietary requests. Try it sometime and let me know what you order.

Although, the "The Last Chinese Chef" was wonderful. I've been looking for more books to quench my desire. Do you have any recommendations? Help get me out of this dry spell.