PK sent this video over yesterday…sick!!
http://999hi.com/blog/pk/dweb.mov
It’s a larger file, so wait for it to load or download it to you computer.

A month ago my Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream was chosen as the HealthyYum weekly challenge winner.  Well this was “cool” enough in itself, but it became doubly cool when I received a prize!  In my prize box was an adorable little cereal bowl and spoon, and 3-12oz bags of Ruth’s Hemp Foods Chia Goodness.

Chia Goodness comes in 3 varieties:  Original, Cranberry Ginger, and Apple Almond Cinnamon.  I horded kept the Cranberry and Apple for myself and Nathan, and took the bag of Original to my local natural food store so they could try the product as well.  Click here for a full breakdown of Chia Goodness nutrition.  Here is a quick rundown:  Chia Goodness is “quite possibly the most nutritious seed ever.”  It is high in fiber, Omega 3 fats, calcium, and many other minerals and vitamins.  This stuff is really good for you. 

Chia Goodness can be eaten hot or cold.  I tried it cold, and it was good.  But I tried it hot and it was AWESOME.  Since chia absorbs so much water, it puffs a ton when mixed with liquid.  Of course, I mix this into my oat bran and I enjoy the biggest warmest bowl of comfort and health.  I’ve been doing this with plain chia for a while, but I love the Chia Goodness for the extras!  The Cranberry Ginger variety contains cranberries, buckwheat, hemp and pumpkin seeds, and currants.  I love mixing this with my oat bran and some fresh peaches and cranberries.  The Apple Cinnamon contains buckwheat, hemp seeds, dried apples, raisins, and almonds.  Since it is apple season, of course fresh apples have been in my oat bran mix.  Be sure to let the Chia Goodness soak for a long time so it gets really inflated!

Thumbs up for this product!  The Cranberry Ginger is a little skimpy on actual cranberries…it contains more currants.  Other than that minor detail, I would definitely recommend Chia Goodness to anyone.  A chia newbie would love the ease and the diversity of these products.  A chia veteran might enjoy a new way to mix chia. 

I’m impressed with Chia Goodness cereal and I’m interested to try more of Ruth’s Hemp Foods products.  Thanks HealthyYum for this healthy and yummy prize!

Has anyone tried Chia Goodness cereal?  What was your take?    

Selamat datang di Desa Salba, 610 Km sebelah tenggara  Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Disini sekitar 600 an  Siberian Marals (a subspecies of Red-Deer) kehilangan tanduk mereka setiap tahun nya. Foto-foto berikut diambill pada tanggal 15 Juni 2000. Pada sebuah ranch pribadi di Salba, yang menunjukan bagaimana para Marals itu di masukan pada sebuah kandang berpenjepit khusus untuk kemudian dipotong tanduknya dengan menggunakan gergaji tangan.

Tanduk Maral lalu dijual ke pasaran Rusia dan Asia sebagai obat tradisional/holistic medicine.

Photos by REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

via : Drugoi

Colier – salba

- 3 siraguri de perlute argintii

Pret: 100 lei

Colier – salba

Pret: 150lei

Salvia hispanica L.

I read about Salba in a recent issue of deliciousliving magazine.  According to the article “5 things to know about Salba” compiled by Drea Knufken, Salba is a white seed produced by a certain variety of the Salvia hispanica plant, or the Chia Pet and chia seed plant.  Salba is grown exclusively in Peru at this time.  Salba is kind of like the more familiar chia seed, but Salba has 35% more protein and 30% more omega-3s…as well as a higher price tag than chia. 

This all sounded pretty good to me, and since I love my chia seeds in my oat bran every night…I wanted to know more about this “super” Salba seed!  So I googled.  The first two websites on the list, http://www.salba.com/ and http://www.theroadtohealthyliving.com/ had pretty much the same information.  But what started to bug me as I kept researching was that all the positive information about Salba was presented in a totally negative manner! 

Obviously Salba is great!  But only at the expense of all these other great foods not being as good as Salba.  Should we all start to consume a Salba only diet?!  Maybe this could be a new reality show…how does YOUR FOOD stack up to SALBA!  Sigh.  I understand the comparisons but it’s such a strange way to market something, in my opinion.

Either way, I still would like to try Salba.  I couldn’t find any information regarding serving sizes or calorie counts, but I would imagine it is close to the chia seed.  What I’m also wondering now is if Salba is actually just the white chia seed being marketed under a fancy “proper noun” name? 

Anyone tried Salba or know much more about it?

… and promptly chased me with her camera.

With goji berries, raw pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, shredded raw coconut and a little bittersweet chocolate. Yum.

It has been another great weekend despite the weather being a bit on the rainy side. I dedicated part of the time in planning my menu for the week and look for new recipes to try. I really want to to re-dedicate my cooking practices to a more “clean eating” approach. I wanted to start with my breakfast selections, as it seems that getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder as the school year comes to an end. I went right to a great source for a lot of clean eating recipes The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno. This cookbook has over 150 clean eating recipes for the whole family to enjoy. It includes many color pictures of the recipes which in my opinion makes a great cookbook. I was immediately drawn to the Carrot Bread Recipe on page 314. I wanted to share this with you, as I know a lot of you are looking for healthy recipes.

Carrot Bread

Ingredients

1 lb (454 gms) carrots, peeled and grated
1 1/4 C (300 mL) whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C (300 mL) cornmeal
1/4 C (60 mL) flaxseed meal
1 1/2 tsp (8mL) baking powder
pinch of sea salt
3 egg whites
1 egg yolk
2 TBSP (30 mL) canola oil
1/2 C (125 mL) organic honey
3/4 C (180 mL) fat free organic milk or Low Fat Soy Milk
1/4 C (60 mL) raisins
1/4 C (60 mL) dried cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a small saucepan place carrots and enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool.

In a medium mixing bowl place dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, flaxseed meal, baking powder, salt).

Instead of Flaxseed meal, I used a new product that I found recently, Salba (as seen in above measuring cup). Salba is is a whole grain high in vital nutrients and minerals. Grown under strict growing conditions by one family of growers in Peru, Salba is nutritionally consistent from crop to crop.

What are some of the nutritional benefits of Salba?

• higher in Omega-3 than flax or salmon
• higher ORAC score (antioxidants) than blueberries or pomegranates.
• improves CVD risk factors in Type 2 Diabetes
• higher in fiber than All Bran
• higher in iron than spinach
• higher in calcium than milk

Ideas for Salba for Baking (whole or ground):

• Replace the 1/6 flour in any recipe with ground Salba
• Add whole grain to any recipe
• 1T Whole grain Salba + ¼ cup of water = 1 egg (stir Salba to prevent clumping, blend gel for best results)

Enhance your muffins, breads, cookies, meatloaf, pie crusts, etc. with Salba! I decided to enhance this bread with Salba because I wanted it to be a powerhouse of nutritious goodness.

In another bowl, whip egg whites until stiff.
In a small bowl put egg yolk, honey, and milk. Mix well.

Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add whipped egg whites and fold until just combined. Add dried fruit, nuts, and cooked carrots and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix or loaf will be tough.

Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

The nutritional data per recipe in the book:
calories 288, calories from fat 53, protein 6 g, carbs 53 g, dietary fiber 6 g, sugars 23 g, fat 5 g, sodium 67 mg
Number of Servings: 10

The verdict:

I had to sample a tiny piece because it smelled delicious. It was moist and tasty. This will make a great breakfast for the morning.

Sorry for the delay of announcing the winners of Friday’s contest. And the winners of the Tyson Meal Coupon are……

1. Michelle at Lucky Taste Buds

2. Heather from A Healthier Me

3. Zara from Crazy Mom

4. Amanda from Fake Ginger

5. Carol from Uncovering Food

Please send me an email at smmuconn@gmail.com to redeem your prize Congrats to the winners. Hope your weekend was great! More Clean Eating recipes this week and a Cinco de Mayo Celebration Mom on the Run Style.

]]> http://applecrumbles.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/too-much-laughter-and-other-stuff/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:40:57 +0000 applec http://applecrumbles.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/too-much-laughter-and-other-stuff/

Before I get into this post, make sure (even if you skip the part about Salba) that you check out the blog recommended below. If you want to laugh hysterically, and you’re a woman, it’s a must see. 

Do you remember my post about Salba?  Check here as a reminder.

I received a letter in reference to a great article “Salba the Seed of Wellness” An Ancient Grain that is Chasing Diabetes”. But don’t go away yet… just because you don’t have diabetes.  “Salba was referred to by the ancient Aztecs as the “Running Food” because it  was a main source of energy.  It is one of the highest whole food sources for dietary fiber and omega-3 fatty acids in addition to possessing a rich micronutrient content, high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and antioxidant capacity comparable to some berries.”

The products (see my post linked above) taste great and the grain is believed to offer cardio protective benefits by reducing the risk of heart disease.  It is currently being researched for its weight loss properties.   If you haven’t bothered to check out Salba, do it now. It’s a healthy choice for the whole family and they won’t even know it.

Thurday Night Activities…

It’s a cake night tonight.  This early Mother’s Day cake is a chocolate 9″ round, double layer with cannoli filling.  The cannoli filling is sandwiched between a thin layer of homemade fudge icing and frosted in chocolate.

Now about that post mentioned in the beginning.  It is from LifeJustKeepsGettingWeirder blog spot.  Click on it and see what all the laughing is about.  Then please COME ON BACK and let me know your thoughts.  Did we laugh at the same thing?

On a mission this morning to exchange the DVD and grocery shop. In the middle of the hub-bub before leaving the house (I’ll get to that in a minute), the ingredients for Thursdays CEimB night was missed.  I decided to stop at Barnes and Noble to take a peak at the recipe, since the book had to be there.  During my stop, I found a true treasure:

Being a cook book collector, this one couldn’t be passed up.  “Joey’s Italian. Favorite Recipes from Central New York’s Celebrated Restaurant”.    Look what was detailed on page 76…

Utica Greens by Joey DeCuffa

In the beginning of the book, Joey tells his story.  He talks about growing up and working in Utica at another famous area restaurant, Grimaldi’s.   It is a wonderful summary of his life and how he grew to love cooking and finally owning one of the most popular restaurants in Syracuse, New York.   All the local recipes we Central New Yorkers love.  What a treasure!

As for the hub bub… well, Ted discovered the upstairs freezer wasn’t working.  He proceeded to move it and check out the electrical connection. 

Groceries were on hold until we found out if it was a permanent failure or a simple “pause in the action”.  Turned out the circuit breaker had been tripped.  We were working again. Phew!

Then there was the muffin hold up.  Had to wait for muffins to bake.  These were made with SALBA whole grain, which is why you see the sesame seed type texture at the top.  They are just okay in my opinion so I won’t offer any recipe.  My mistake?  Too much salba, not enough fat and not enough flour.  As for healthy, you can’t beat them because they have all the vitamins, minerals, protein… everything a good healthy muffin should have.

Upon cleaning up after muffin making, I studied the sponge wondering if it had seen better days.. WARNING! This is gross so if you have a weak stomach, don’t look at the next shot…

sponge grunge

I  decided to use a new sponge and to heak with microwaving the old one to kill bacteria.  They really smell nasty if you microwave them. Peee-Yew!

How long do you keep your sponges? Do you do anything to try to extend their life, like microwaving them?

A wrap

I’m off. Tonights dinner post just might be something special and deserving of it’s own page. We will see.

Have a super Saturday night!

As usual on a Saturday, a dinner review is offered from the Friday evening meal at a choice Utica restaurant. Last nights dining experience was at Daniel’s Valley View. Superb!  But first, this mornings glorious run.

At 5:15, I woke up and wandered into the bathroom followed by a German Shepherd that decided I shouldn’t go in there alone.  Looking at the clock, it really was too early for a weekend run but Shane didn’t think so.  Outside we went. Then we couldn’t stop. It was a perfect morning for a run down the Parkway, up Oneida, turning in at the Cemetery and up to Valley View.  We could smell the Zoo when running down the Parkway. It wasn’t unpleasant. It reminded me of the smell of the horse barns at the shows, early in the morning, when the grooms were up cleaning stalls and feeding. Ah…the wonderful memories.   It’s times like that, getting lost in the memories, that makes a run perfect.  We completed 7 + miles today.

The morning omelet:  1 piece of Brown Rice Toast. 3/4 cup Egg Beaters. Asparagus, spinach, left over meatless greens and feta.

We did go to the Munson Williams Mixer last night, but arrived too late for munchies as Ted got caught up in a slow golf game Friday afternoon. We had time to chit chat with our friends before they left to watch the movie presentation. As for Ted and I, we needed to eat.

Dinner at Daniels..

A perfect dining experience at one of our favorite, close to home restaurants,  Daniels at Valley View. It is 1 mile up the Parkway from our home and on a warm summer evening, a wonderful walk.  We arrive there and are treated like family from staff and guests alike.  Everyone was in a fine mood last night.  Could it have been that we arrived at the end of Happy Hour?  Could it have been the beautiful weather ? Utica had perfect weather throughout the day Friday.  Whatever the reason, we had fun. 

The wine and beer… we JUST caught the tail end of Happy Hour and were offered 2 fer’s, as marked by the shot glasses…

The bread and pizza…. mouth watering

We had the meatless greens and a crisp, fresh salad.  We plunged our forks in almost before the waitress set the food on the table. We were HUNGRY!   

Dinner. My favorite… Fruitti Di Mar… Seafood Stew. No pasta, over vegetables, light on the sauce. Perfecto!

The sauce was light and complimented the seafood in a way that could only be bettered if they were still swimming in their natural environment.  There were clams, shrimp, calamari, mussels (don’t like), scallops.  Did I eat it all? PLEASE!   By the time my belly said to brain…”AH…Are you going to stop any time soon because it’s getting a little crowded in here?!!! “(Darn that belly!),  it only looked as if 1/2 the dish had been eaten. So much. So good. So little stomach space.

Of course the perfect meal is followed by a perfect Cup-a-Joe. 

Forgot to tell you…..Movie review 

Now I have to back track a couple of nights because I forgot to mention our unprofessional opinion of the movie “The Reader”.

We really enjoyed it.  The only disappointment was the ending. It was slow moving but the story held our interest right through the end. No one nodded off. That alone says a lot.

Recommended you watch it, but NOT with the kids around. There is nudity and … well, you know.

I’m off to bake with SALBA , grocery shop, yard work before it rains.   Love Saturday! Have a great one.

La légendaire marque Californienne ressort quelques modèles “de l’époque”qui feront plaisir aux plus anciens d’entre vous.

Et pour les autres regardez d’abord la “Street On Fire” et on en reparle!

De gauche à droite Rob Roskopp, Corey O’Brien, Jeff Kendall & Salba.

Went out to the new Fontana Skatepark grand opening on Saturday to shoot a couple pics. This park is pretty sick if you are into skating bowls. It has a flow section with what I believe is Socal’s only cradle, a big and fast peanut bowl and a roman/amoeba hybrid with stairs and a deathbox. Both bowls have a new pool coping that takes a little getting used to. It doesn’t make any noise when you grind it and is super fast. The street section has your typical ledges, manny pad, hubba, a 8 stair rail, euro gap, etc. The park is super fun and definitely worth checking out.

Cradle/flow section

Julie Kindstrand

Art Miranda

Salba

Check out www.socalskateparks.com and www.actionparkalliance.com for more park info.

M145 Colier lucrat manual din dantela crem deschis si panglica inflorata 10 Ron

I never liked marshmallows but I certainly do miss rice krispie squares.  Just like the commercials, I remember mixing up many batches of those tasty squares with my mother and my older brother.  I have such fond memories of sitting and staring through the microwave door watching the butter/marshmallow mixture melt down in yummy gooey goodness.  But those days are over and all I can think about is my disgust towards gelatin and how incredibly painful the effects of preservatives and sugar are on my body. Perhaps that is why I have so many health problems now. *sigh*.  

So you can imagine my surprise and absolute joy when I was leaving Bulk Barn with my bag of cornmeal and found these by the cash….

These rice krispie squares are vegan and gluten free!  I couldn’t wait to come home and devour these even though I knew it could mean a potential headache (there is some cane sugar in the ingredient list).  

After devouring a couple without hardly any attention paid, I slowed down and really absorbed the flavour.

If you are looking for rice krispie squares, these are definitely not spot on, however, they come close.  They are very, very sweet (and this is coming from someone with a  major sweet tooth), and they have this delightful nutty flavour that kicks in halfway through.  They are also nice and crisp so you won’t miss that aspect of the old fashioned squares.  My only complaint would have to be the price ($5.49 CAN per box which contains 8 squares) and the lack of “buttery-ness”.  For that perfect rice krispie square I suggest making your own vegan marshmallows and from there, making your own squares, however this certainly is a quick and sweet treat!

Of,of mai mai..ati ramas fara vin mai baieti si v-ati gandit s-o luati in gura sa mancati niste struguri?Buna idee dar cu poza cum ramane?Iar se tine paparatei astia dupe voi?