Inside HBC

Blueberry Lavender Scones

• 1 cup GWF Baking Mix (sweet, salty)
• 1 cup rolled oats (generous) (sweet)
• 6 TBS chilled salted butter, cut into squares (sweet)
• 1 beaten egg (sweet)
• 1/3 cup cream, buttermilk or soy milk (sweet)
• 3/4 cup dried blueberris (sweet, sour)
• 1 TBS edible lavender flowers (pungent, bitter)
• About 1/8 cup oat flour for kneading (sweet)
• Greek yogurt (optional) (sour)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the GWF baking mix and oats in a large bowl.  Cut in 6 TBS butter (an electric mixer makes it easy, but a fork works fine as well).  The lumps should be about pea-sized.
3. Combine the milk and the beaten egg, and then add to the flour mixture along with the blueberries and lavender flowers.  Mix until combined.
4. Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently until the dough is a bit stiff, but not crumbly.  Cut dough into 4 sections and form into 4 balls.  Cut those into 4 pieces, and retain shape (a little wedge).  Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Transfer to a cooling rack, but do enjoy them warm with a dab of butter or Greek yogurt.  Yummy!

GWF Baking Mix is available at the Heavenly Bodies Clinic and through our online store.

Tags: breakfast, dessert, GWF Baking Mix, sweet

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

All you Garrison Keillor fans out there have heard his commercial about Rhubarb Pie. You can hum along as you make this one. Its delicious and sour and sweet, and a perfect summertime dessert.

• 3 cups of sliced strawberries (sweet, sour)
• 3 cups of sliced rhubarb (sour, sweet)
• 2 TBS powdered stevia (sweet)
• 2 TBS of arrowroot powder
• Almond Flour Pie Crust (sweet, bitter, pungent)
  
• Whipping cream (sweet)
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla (sweet)

1. Combine all ingredients except the pie crust in a saucepan and cook until heated through. Pour into the pie crust and bake in a 375 degree oven for 40 – 45 minutes.
2. Top with fresh whipped cream sweetened with vanilla and enjoy!

Tags: dessert, sour, summer, sweet

Coconut Rum Ice Cream

This ice cream will cool you off and awaken your taste buds.

• 2 very fresh eggs (sweet)
• 5 tsps stevia powder or up to 3 droppers of stevia liquid (flavored if you have it, to taste) (sweet)
• 1 can of coconut cream (no sugar) (sweet)
• 2 cups heavy cream (sweet)
• 2 TBS rum (sweet)
• 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger (pungent)
• Toasted coconut flakes and slivered almonds (optional) (sweet)

1. Whisk the eggs in a bowl for 2 minutes until frothy. Add stevia and whisk until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Whisk in the cream and coconut cream. Add rum and stir.
2. Chop the candied ginger into very small pieces.
3. Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instruction, adding candied ginger approximately 3/4 of the way through (or when advised by makers instructions).
4. Homemade ice cream is best served immediately, but if not possible, transfer to covered container and freeze until firm. You may need to let it sit out for a few minutes to soften up before serving. Top with toasted coconut or toasted slivered almonds.

Tags: dessert, sweet

Hot, Cold, Warm, Cool… foods?

Traditional Chinese Medicine often includes dietary changes to affect disease or discomfort. What you eat can affect your body’s reactions and can either make you feel better, or make you feel worse. If you have a migraine, cooling foods like cucumbers and most leafy greens and lettuces will help lower the temperature of you body and ease the pain. If you are feeling lethargic, warming spicy/pungent foods like ginger, peppers, and garlic will bring up your energy. If you swap those around, those foods will intensify your dis-ease.

Take a look at this article, and then let us know if you’d like more information on how you might eat to improve your health.

Greek Salad for a summer day

Summer started here in Virginia a few weeks ago, with temperatures soaring into the 90s and plenty of humidity. If you are outside for part of your day, you know by now that staying hydrated is really important. Now that summer is officially here, try adding more foods that hydrate and keep you cool, vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, and green peppers in this simple Greek salad. It calls for dried oregano, but if you have fresh, so much the better. Your taste buds will be delighted with  the 5-Flavors, and your body will thank you.

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (sweet)
• 1½ tablespoons lemon juice (sour)
• 1 clove garlic—minced (pungent)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano (bitter, pungent)
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt (salty)
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and extra for garnish (bitter, pungent)
• 3 tomatoes—cut into wedges (sweet, sour)
• ¼ red onion—sliced into rings (sweet, pungent)
• ½ cucumber—sliced into thick half-moons (sweet)
• ½ green pepper (capsicum)—julienned (sweet, pungent)
• 4 oz (120g) feta cheese—cut into small cubes (pungent, salty)
• 16 kalamata olives (salty, sweet)

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a large salad bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently to cover. Garnish with fresh ground pepper.

Tags: bitter, lunch, Main dish, pungent, salty, sour, summer, sweet

Blueberry Muffins

My Grandmother had several blueberry bushes in her backyard, along with mulberries, rhubarb, strawberries, and a huge vegetable garden with corn, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and everything else you can imagine. When we would visit, she would send us out with big bowls and tell us to fill them up. My favorite was the blueberries. Grandma would make blueberry pancakes, muffins and pies and we would go home with blue lips and a belly full of goodness.

• 2 cups of baking mix (sweet, salty)
• 2 eggs (sweet)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (sour)
• 1/2 cup melted butter, cooled; or light oil (sweet)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (sour)
• Whipping Cream (optional) (sweet)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg gently in large bowl. Add yogurt and combine. While stirring, slowly add melted butter. Mix well.
2. Add 2 cups of baking mix, stirring just until combined. Fold in berries.
3. Fill lightly oiled or papered cupcake tins with batter.  Place in oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the center of a muffin springs back when touched lightly.
4. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.
5. If desired, serve with whipped cream, sweetened with stevia and/or vanilla.

Tags: breakfast, dessert, GWF Baking Mix, summer, sweet

How to eat your soup: learning the 5 Flavors

A week of practicing the 5 Flavors will bring up your awareness of how you eat and how you feel after you eat.  Sometimes just learning the flavors can bring this awareness and allow us to focus on foods that make us well. Here is a plan you can follow that will train your taste buds to easily identify the flavors of food on your own.

The batch of soup you make is enough for 3 meals for 7 days; some days you will eat other meals as well, so your soup portion may vary.  If its easier for you, you can portion it out at the beginning of the week into small containers, one for each day, or one for each meal.

Day 1: Add one or all of the following to your soup

1. Roasted or sautéed garlic
2. Thyme
3. Tumeric

Three snacks of SOUR with SWEET flavors

• For all: dark berries (blueberries, blackberris, strawberries)
• If you have heat symptoms (hot flashes, skin rash, spontaneous sweating): watermelon
• If you have abdominal bloating, gas, or pain: grapefruit

Day 2: Add one or all of the following to your soup

1. Italian herb mix
2. Fenugreek seed

Three side serving dishes with BITTER flavors

• For all: dark leafy greens such as dandelion, kale, collards, spinach, broccoli, and watercress

Day 3: Add one or all of the following flavors to your soup

1. Sour cream
2. Balsamic vinegar

Three servings (1/2 cup each) of SOUR flavors

• For all: unsweetened yogurt with chopped pistachios (sweeten your yogurt with Stevia, if you must)

Day 4: Season your soup however you wish today, and focus on a BALANCE OF OILS: Omega 3 and Omega 6

• For all: salmon prepared with lemons; or any oily fish; or any fish

Day 5: Add one or all of the following to your soup

1. Peanut butter
2. Coconut milk

Three snack-sized servings of SWEET flavors, prepared with dark leafy greens for the vegetable

• Chicken
• Beef
• Soy (all protein is sweet by nature)

Day 6: Add one or all of the following to your soup

1. Tamari
2. Shoyu

Three 1/2 to 1 cup servings of SALTY flavors

• Almonds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds
• Celery
• If you have a diagnosis to avoid salt, eat unsalted nuts and celery

Day 7: Add one or all of the following to your soup

1. Curry
2. Hot sauce

Three snack-sized servings of PUNGENT/HOT flavors

• For all, prepare a curry dinner, or other spicy meal of your choice, and portion it
• If you have a heat condition, have your hot meal in temperature only (not in hot spices). You most likely have also been heating your soup, so this counts for “hot” as well

Tags: detox soup

Flatbread with Leeks, Capers, and Asiago Cheese

In the springtime, add leafy greens, onions, leeks, and other early vegetables to your meals. Looking at Food as Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine (and maybe just by common sense?) eating seasonal foods is the way to go! The foods that arrive in the spring, tender green vegetables and herbs, provide energy as directly from the sun as possible and support us as we become more active and the days get longer.

Here’s an easy recipe for flatbread that can be adjusted to use your favorite seasonal toppings all year long.

• 2 cups GWF Baking Mix (sweet, salty)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil (sweet)
• 1 medium leek, white and light green parts, cut into long thin strips (pungent)
• 3 oz cheese, shredded or cut into 1/4 cubes (sour, salty)
• 2 TBS capers (salty)
• Freshly ground pepper (bitter)
• Olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place 2 cups of GWF Baking Mix in a large bowl and add water and oil.  Mix well.
3. Press dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet to about 1/4 in thick.  Drizzle about 1 tsp olive oil over top of dough and spread leeks evenly over the top. Generously spread cheese and capers over the leeks.  Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, and drizzle again with olive oil.
4. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.  Remove, slice and enjoy!

Tags: food as medicine, GWF Baking Mix, Main dish, pungent, salty, spring

Irish Soda Bread

Saint Patrick’s Day always included Irish Soda bread when I was growing up. Sometimes my sister even made it green with a few drops of food coloring.  Here’s an adaptation that even the greenest leprechaun in your house will love, and it will love him right back with plenty of protein but without the sugar and wheat flour.

• 1 cup *GWF Baking Mix (sweet, salty)
• 1 cup rolled oats (sweet)
• 6 TBS chilled salted butter, cut into squares (sweet)
• 1 beaten egg (sweet)
• 1/3 cup cream, buttermilk or soy milk (sweet)
• 1/2 cup dried currants (sweet)
• 1 TBS caraway seeds (bitter, pungent)
• About 1/8 cup oat flour for kneading

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the GWF baking mix and oats in a large bowl.  Cut in 6 TBS butter (an electric mixer makes it easy, but a fork or fingers work fine as well).  The lumps should be about pea-sized.
3. Combine the milk and the beaten egg, and then add to the flour mixture along with the dried currants and caraway seeds.  Mix only until combined.
4. Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently until the dough is a bit stiff, but not crumbly.  Cut dough into 4 sections and form into 4 balls.  Cut those into 4 pieces, and retain shape (a little wedge).  Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 20 – 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

*GWF baking mix is available at the Heavenly Bodies Clinic, and our online store!

Tags: GWF Baking Mix

Learning the 5 Flavors

Our weight loss club participants are learning how to use the 5 Flavors to satisfy their appetites.  Using the 5 Flavors in your meal planning will also help to keep your body healthy.  As you learn to identify these flavors, and identify your cravings, you may also learn to put attention on areas that are deficient.  Your attention cues your body to send healing energy to those areas.  (And needles sure do help, too.)  As always, work with the Doctor on diagnosis and a healing plan.

The 5 Flavors are Sweet, Salty, Sour, Pungent, and Bitter.

Here are some foods that will help you learn the 5 Flavors (pages refer to recipes in the HBC Recipe Book).

• candied ginger (pungent/sweet)
• dark chocolate–70% if you can find it (bitter/sweet)
• roasted almonds (salty/sweet)
• grape tomatoes (sour/sweet)
• kosher pickles (sour/sweet)
• Mediterranean olives (sour/sweet)
• slices of cucumber with curried yogurt dip [pg 5] (sour/sweet/pungent)
• celery with peanut butter or goat cheese/ground pepper (salty/sweet)
• pistachio nuts (ALL 5 FLAVORS!!)
• protein shake [pg 15, pg 16]  (sweet)
• green drink (sweet/sour/bitter)
• spoonful of peanut butter (the natural, no sugar kind) (sweet)
• guacamole [pg 8]  (sweet, sour, pungent, salty)

All of the recipes in the HBC Recipe Book list the flavors of each ingredient to make it easier for you to do your menu planning.

Gillian will be in the clinic select Saturday mornings (watch our Facebook page) with GWF Baking Mix goodies and to answer your questions about 5 Flavor Eating and the Weight Loss Club.

Tags: bitter, pungent, salty, sour, sweet