Essential guidelines to follow on new eating plan

Simplify.  Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time.  Every change you make to improve your diet matters.  Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.”  Think smaller portions.  Listen to your body.  Avoid eating at night.  

1- Drink at least 8 glasses of water (or best, drink water half of your weight.) Thirst often passed off as hunger. Have a sports water bottle with you, sip it throughout the day.

2- AVOID margarine, hydrogenated oils, processed, and fat substitutes. 

3- Eat more fresh foods than frozen/canned products. Buy seasonal and local produce from your local farmers in your area. Save money by buying in bulk seasonally - fruits, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and so forth. 

4- Steer clear of artificial sweeteners like sucrose, surcalose, aspartame, etc.

5- Stick to your recommended foods.

6- Eat a variety of foods every day.

7- Don't skip breakfast. Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day. You can make simple breakfasts- fruit bowls, steer oats w/ berries, juicing, smoothies, etc.  Shakeology is also a fantastic meal replacement shake, the healthiest that your body needs to obtain ABUNDANT nutritions and vitamins. (Ask me for more info on Shakeology.) 

8- Buy in bulk. Cook in bulk. Make a week of meal plans and preparation. A week plan will ease with busy schedule, easy to follow.

9- Practice "consicous eating" - eat slowly and savor every bite. 

10- COMMIT to the full 30 days. 

Homemade Vegan Coconut Deodorant

Save $$$ in long run. Simple and easy to make, make all in under 5 minutes and less than $3!!

This will LAST months and months!! 

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
• ¼ Cup Baking Soda 
• ¼ Cup Cornstarch (if preferred, you can use Arrowroot Powder)

• empty toilet paper rol

• wax paper/aluminum foil 

• rubber bands

• drops of lime juice(optional)

• any essential oils of your preference (optional) - lime e.o., lemon e.o, tangerine e.o., tea tree e.o., 

Directions:

1- Place the coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 20 - 30 seconds or melt in a small pot on stove until the oil is liquefied.

2- In a separate bowl, mix the baking soda and cornstarch

3- Slowly add the liquefied coconut oil to the baking soda and cornstarch. Stir together until well-blended. It should now have the consistency of a thick paste.

4- Add essential oils - optional. Some opt no essential oils as some can irritate skins. (lemon e.o., lime e.o., tea tree e.o., tangerine e.o., lavender e.o. - to your preference)

5- Rubberband the wax/aluminum to bottom of the toilet paper roll. Turn it over. Pour the ingredients in the toilet paper roll. Place it in a glass or container to hold it up straight. Freeze. 

6- When solid, remove the wax paper or aluminum foil, and you have a stick of deodorant! Tear off the cardboard as you use it. Store in fridge.

One stick of deodorant standing up in a glass container. Another bowl of ingredients mixing up and prepare to put in the other toilet paper roll. 

 

Voila! My two sticks of deodorants!! 

Coconut Chia Blueberry Muffins

This recipe is simple yet healthy muffins. Kids/Family-approved. These muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, oil-free...

I doubled up the recipe and using half almond flour and half coconut flour. ENJOY!! 

What you need: 

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Himaylian salt
3/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup applesauce (substitute of oil)
1 cup frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons of chia seed

What you do: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place baking cups in a muffin pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in nondairy milk and applesauce (oil).
3. Pour in blueberries. Mix all well. Pour into baking cups and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Peanut Buttery Hummus (No Tahini)

Planning on whipping up some hummus but don't have any tahini on hand? Let peanut butter come to your rescue!

It happened to me one day few weeks ago. I forgot to get more tahini when I went grocery shopping. Save myself from taking another trip back to the store, I saw my best friend, Google. I searched for the best substitution of tahini - peanut butter. Decided to give it a try. My family never noticed the difference especially saying the flavors I make every time tastes good & delicious. My oldest is NOT a peanut butter person, she dislikes anything that tastes or have peanut butter. She ate hummus wraps, hummus w/ crackers, and few others.. Never noticed the difference! 

I tripled the recipe as I make for family of SIX. Very simple and easy!

ENJOY!!

Ingredients

• 1 can (19 ounces) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• 1-2 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (preferably unsweetened, but conventional is fine too)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Himaylian salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts (optional, for serving)
• Pinch of smoked, hot paprika (optional, for serving)
• Parsley, herbs and seasonings for taste 
• 
  

Preparation

1. Put everything except the parsley in a food processor/blender and begin to process; add the chickpea liquid or water as needed to allow the machine to produce a smooth puree.

2. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I often find I like to add much more lemon juice). Serve, drizzled with the olive oil and sprinkled with a bit more cumin or paprika and some parsley.

Eczema - worst enemy! How to care/cure them in natural, holistic approaches.

Blessed and forever thankful for holistic approaches and practices!!

Eczema isn't new to our family. Coconut oil is our lifesaver! Along with clean eating foods & taking the right nutritions.

My husband had severe dry skin, eczema. He have had this for years, years, even way before we started dating. He MUST have moisturizing lotion on daily basis- at home, at work, anywhere we go. Even worse, he must have it applied on his body right after swimming or showering. He would change many various of lotions, like he would used Eucerin, then switch to Aveeno, to Curel, to shea butter, to coconut oil.  

He finally found his solution - coconut oil. He no longer needs any moisturizing lotions or needing anything to apply after swimming or showering.

Our oldest daughter was born, developed with eczema. We weren't using our brains that time to research holistic approaches/practices. We had our daughter's pediatric doctor to prescribe her medication creme for her eczema. I remembered it took days, days and days for her eczema to go away. As she gets older her eczema isn't severe, again coconut oil is her moisturizing lotion.

Our two boys didn't have any eczemas as their father and oldest sister. Until our last, fourth blessing was born, she had same case as her father/my husband. We took her to our children's pediatric doctor. We were given several different medication cremes, even the last one was steroids. Nothing works. It even made worse on her. She wasn't sleeping well, skins irritating her all day. She is a HUGE water lover, loves to swim, etc. Unfortunately swimming made her skin worse, itchy and red. We wouldn't be able to give her baths regularly, she would bath once a week. I hated to see the pains and sufferings she had. I got to the point where I have had enough. I then decided to take action and RESEARCH.

We also went through new changes with our eating habits by eating healthier, eliminating food triggers and others.  Eliminating wheat, eggs and dairy from our diet helped and improved.  A while later, I researched holistic approaches/practices and immediately like what I was seeing and hearing.

I called and scheduled our first holistic doctor appointment. We were impressed with our holistic doctor, the time she spent with us for appointment and how serious she takes on her patient & explain depth throughout with you. We explained what our lifestyle is like, and what we have done. She listened carefully, taking notes then explained options for us with our daughter's eczema.

Paid our visit and the holistic medications & supplies for eczema treatment for our daughter. Pricey, yes but there's no prices on health! We were excited and put our hope and faith in that this will work.

We started our first journey with holistic approaches/practices. Our Day 1 was June 3, 2013. We did before/after and the progress of treatments we did for her eczema to Day 30 on July 3, 2013. Huge, huge difference.

All we did was castor oil treatment, multivitamins, flaxseed oil, eat clean foods (eliminated more) and using coconut oil as moisturizing lotions.

We'd like share our treatments that may benefit others. 

We brought kids' chewable vitamins that are vegan friendly, tooth friendly, no artificial sweeteners/flavors, no fructose nor sucrose. The best purchase we invested for our kids, especially our daughter with eczema. Children's chewable multivitamins was to help replete vitamins that may be deficient (especially vitamin A, vitamin E, and zinc.) We ordered bulks of them through Amazon. If you are prime member of Amazon, this is worth your investment in your children's health!

We also brought Barlean's Fresh Organic Flaxseed Oil from Whole Foods. Take 1 teaspoon daily, gradually now to 3x week. It helps to decrease inflammation. 

Our holistic doctor gave us this castor oil to decrease toxicity and inflammation, help improve liver and lymphatic system that helps for eczema (can purchase castor oil anywhere.). We put castor oil on flannel cloth then placed on right upper abdomen (over her liver), then hot pad over the oil for 10 minutes. We did it every other day, gradually cut down to once a week. Now once a month.

This is our daughter's recommendation list. We did everything except HMF Natogen as it's not vegan friendly (our holistic dr stated without it can be effective however with HMF Natogen is highly effective.)

The next couple pictures attachment you will see are foods recommendations for healthy foods and help replete vitamins that may be deficient especially vitamin A, vitamin E and zinc, and help for healthy skin & help eczema. 

This is our daughter's Day 1 and Day 30 progress. From June 3, 2013 to July 3, 2013.

As of July 16, 2014, I'm proud to say my daughter's eczema is 100% gone. We still do flaxseed oil (3x week), multivitamins, and coconut oil as moisturizing lotions. She is much HAPPIER! She's happy girl when it comes to swimming! No problems afterwards, no skin irritations or inflammations. She loves bathing and would take baths almost everyday. 

There is NO price on our healths! It's TIME to take charge and take care of your body. You can lead a healthy lifestyle.  

Do we get enough Calcium?

We get asked often, "Do you get enough Calcium?", "Do Vegans have enough Calcium?" and many questions like these.... 


A friend of mine shared the facts, I wholeheartedly agree and wanted to share the FACTS with you all.  Calcium seems to be a concern for many and a question I get often when I say that my family does not consume any dairy. So let's talk the facts.

Here is a list of calcium milligrams comparing these foods in 3 1/2 ounce edible portions. The seaweeds would be dried samples.
Hijiki - 1,400
Wakame - 1,300
Kelp - 1,099
Kombu -  800
Wheat/Barley Grass - 514
Nori - 260
Almonds - 233
Amaranth Grain - 222
Parsley - 203
Sunflower seeds - 174
Watercress - 151
Garbanzo Beans - 150
Quinoa - 141
Black beans - 135
Pinto Beans - 135
Kale - 134
Spirulina - 131
YOGURT - 121
MILK (yes Milk) - 119

So I clearly don't see the need to consume yogurt or milk when my family has daily black beans, kale, quinoa, wheat grass, nori and parsley. We have many others on this list from time to time.

Calcium Inhibitors:

1- coffee & soft drinks
2- excess protein (especially meat)
3- refined sugar or too much sweet flavored food
4- alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes
5- too little or too much exercise
6- excess salt

It's well documented that vegans have stronger bones & fewer calcium deficiencies in general. Here are a few reasons that meat blocks calcium absorption:

-The digestion of meat results in acids which must be neutralized by calcium & other alkaline minerals.
- Flesh proteins increase phosphorus/calcium ratio (Americans are 4 times greater than desirable ratio). Phosphorus is essential but too much depletes calcium.
- Sulphur (concentrated in meats) limits calcium absorption.
- Meat is rich in saturated fats, which combine with calcium to form a soap-like compound that is eliminated by the body.

Vegan Protein Bar

  INGREDIENTS

DRY:
3  cups Organic Oats
1  cup Organic Shredded Coconut
1/2  cup Organic Raisins (or date chunks, cranberries, craisins, any dry fruits)
1  cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
1/2  cup almonds, chopped (OPTIONAL or any nuts)
4  tablespoons flax seeds
4  tablespoons chia seeds
3  teaspoons cinnamon
6  scoops of Vegan protein powder (use Sunwarrior protein powder)

WET:
2  Ripe Organic Banana (mashed)
1  cup Organic Maple Syrup (or agave, yacon syrup)
1  cup Organic Coconut Peanut Butter (or any nut butter, i.e. almond, pecan, cashew, etc.)

1  teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract

     DIRECTIONS

Combine all DRY ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mash ripe banana, and add all wet ingredients.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix well.

Spread mixture into 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish or cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Press until flat.

Place dish in freezer for a few hours, or until firm. Remove from dish and carefully cut into 18 bars. For easy grab-and-go snacks, wrap bars individually in plastic wrap.

Store in fridge or freezer for up to a month. These bars soften quickly at room temperature.

Makes 18 protein/granola bars.  ENJOY!!