We Love Green Juice!

We Love Green Juice!

We have posted about green juice in the past. Yet, I will share again our love of green juice. My 6 year old son loves green juice and asks for it all the time. I must admit nothing makes me happier than when my kids love and consume healthy organic super powerhouse foods. Here is his favorite recipe--so simple to make.

Taavi Loves Green Juice:

1 head of organic romaine lettuce (any green leaf will do)

2 organic celery stalks

1 granny smith apple

Juice and serve over ice with a fun straw. Guaranteed to instill a smile and a big “yum”.

The Coffee Cake Test by Jenny Rosenstrach

The Coffee Cake Test

I can't remember how it started but when my daughter is out of school with a cold or a fever I always ask her the same two questions when she wakes up in the morning. First: "How are you feeling?" and Second: "Would you like a piece of cinnamon coffee cake?" It's her favorite thing to eat in the world and I know that if she turns down this extremely generous offer, she needs to stay in bed, home from school another day. Usually, just about any cinnamon coffee cake will do for her, but I recently inherited this cake recipe from my neighbor, Lori after sampling (and swooning over) it at her Yom Kippur break-the-fast feast. Last week, after four days in bed, we celebrated my daughters' improved health by baking it together.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

These instructions call for a 13-by-9 baking pan, but you can use a loaf pan like I did (there might be a little batter left over) and just bake it for about 50 minutes to an hour, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly, cover with foil for remaining bake time.

NUT MIXTURE

• 1 cup sugar


• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans


• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

BATTER

• 4 eggs


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 3/4 cup butter melted


• 2 cups sour cream


• 2 cups unsifted all purpose flour


• 2 teaspoon baking powder


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Grease 13-by-9 inch baking pan.

Make nut mixture — in small bowl combine sugar, nuts, cinnamon; mix well. Make batter — in large bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Add melted butter and sour cream; beat until well combined. Sift in flour, baking powder, soda and salt; at low speed, beat until just smooth. Spread half of batter in prepared pan; sprinkle evenly with half of nut mixture.

Top with remaining batter, spreading evenly, then the nut mixture.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Detox & Feel Great: My neighbor Ann gives the details of following a detox

Goop detox journal ~ Ann

Day 1

Today I woke up energetic and ready to start the 5 day GOOP Detox. Went running and began with a shot of aloe and alkaline purified water, along with chlorophyll! Ok, could tolerate the aloe today...but not sure how it will go down on day 5. The chlorophyll combined with water was still very green…bad aftertaste. Surprisingly, I was ok and satisfied till mid-morning when I got my first Doc Broc’s (or as I used, a container of green powder-veggie greens-bought at my local health food store). Horrible! Tasted as lake water smells. In fact, lake water may be better. 20 min later we had our first green juice (Young Love)…where did they come up with these words! Definitely not my love! Not as bad as the green powder/water…but not great. Still excited though…in this for the 5 days. Anxiously waiting lunch for the lemon-lime shake (delicious!) and the Young Alive Green Shake (not so delicious) but I was able to choke it down. Satisfied and feeling a bit bloated, I was content till the afternoon snack (Mellow love green juice). I had a difficult time choking this one down. The parsley puts it over the top. Of course it was also time for another helping of green powder/water. Since I did not make the carrot soup, I substituted 4 baby carrots chewed till they went down smooth….figured it is pretty close to the soup which is supposed to be served raw. After basically juices all day other than a couple carrots, I was very anxious for the salad. Loved it! Just wanted something of substance…chewing never felt so good! Although I am a caffeine addict, I barely suffered from a dull headache for 3 hours today. My energy level was good, but still feel like I need some protein of some sort. Whew! Got thru day one! Going to bed early so I don’t have to think about food anymore!

Day 2

Ok, now I know what I am in for. Not as excited to drink green juice today, but keep reminding myself it will be worth it! My energy level in the morning was a bit low, but still went running. One girl in our group of 4 already dropped out. Definitely is not an easy detox to follow. The foods are very expensive, as well as the extras you need. I was able to drink all the juices today and still looked forward to lunch for the lemon lime shake. I felt a bit hungry this afternoon but not hungry enough to enjoy the afternoon snack juice! Horrible again! Definitely the toughest for me. Anxiously awaiting a salad for dinner! Between all of this was still able to put down over a gallon of purified water. Not in the bathroom yet…what’s up!? Energy is low and my back is aching today. Dull headache, but tolerable. Hope tomorrow I get this boost of energy they talk about.

Day 3

With 2 days in, I was anxious to move on to day 3. Not sure what to expect…I heard the energy starts to kick in and you begin feeling alive (and probably turning green by now). Barely slept last night due to major lower back pain…radiating down my legs and overall muscle soreness. Got up at 5am to Google it and see what is going on. Definitely looks to be a symptom from detox according to some. Toxins from the colon being releases….great! After searching more found that caffeine withdrawal also leads to back pain and muscle pain. Guess it could be a bit of both in my case. Either way, hope it is nearing an end. Otherwise today I felt pretty good. Tummy is flat…which was expected after juicing it for 2 days…what’s left. Surprisingly not in the bathroom yet as I expected! Where is all this green juice going??? Waiting…. Glad day 3 is done. Able to get all the juices down and felt satisfied. Most difficult drink by far is the green powder mixed in water. Still horrible. Oh, and cucumbers, use to be a favorite, cannot really stand the smell of them anymore.

Day 4

This morning all I could think of was…only 2 more days. I have to say, I am getting kind of use to this green diet though. Still up half the night, tossing and turning due to low back pain. Is this ever going to go away? Amazed that I am not more tired throughout the day with little sleep compared to my usual seven and a half hours that I must get! Must be all the energy from the green powder (lake water as I refer to it) and the vitamins from all the greens. I am really not hungry, nor do I have any cravings. One of the most difficult things is not eating off my kids plates (as I usually finish their plates or take nibbles as I make it). I have definitely become more aware of every unhealthy bite I put into my mouth here and there throughout the day. Well, one more day…

Day 5

This is it! I could probably do another 2 days of this…seriously! (Ok, getting a bit cocky now) Really, though, it is not that bad. The beginning of the week was definitely harder for me. My stomach has shrunk and I don’t think I could eat normal food right now. I will have to ease back into eating. I slept last night! All night! The back ache has finally left me! I have energy, my tummy has slimmed down and I have lost 6 ½ pounds! My skin is clearing up and I am finally seeing the benefits of all this green juice! This was not an easy detox, but worth it I would say. I would recommend it to anyone looking to jump start themselves. My goal would be to do this detox 2 times per year. My suggestion to all would be to give it a try…but if you do, don’t think for one moment it will be easy. Don’t give in…don’t cheat…be strict…it will pay off! Good Luck!

Greatest Soup Ever!!!

Okay I am going to give up one of the greatest soup recipes of all time. My sister-in-law Connie gave this one to me so I cannot take credit. This with some cornbread on a cold winter day is so fantastic. You should make extra to pop in the freezer.

Sami’s Spicy Squash Soup

1 Butternut Squash 2 Cloves Garlic

1 Carrot 1 Cup Spicy Tomato Juice

1 Onion 2 TBLP Olive Oil

1 Celery stalk 1 Tsp Chili Powder

1 Red Pepper Salt & Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper 2 cups vegetable stock

1/2 Green Pepper Feta or Goat cheese or a vegan variety.

Preheat oven 350. Cut squash in half, scrape seeds, and brush with olive oil season and bake for 45-60 minutes until fork goes in smoothly. Chop up all veggies and onion saute medium until soft. Add tomato juice and simmer for 3 minutes. Let everything cool a bit throw squash (taken out of skin) and all veggies into food processor or Vita Mixer. Transfer to soup pot and add 2 cups vegetable stock and warm-up. Serve and add cheese on top.

My Virtual Life

Busy busy busy goes life with children. I thought I would share some of my favorite extraordinary websites, blogs, and FB pages. They are a go to in my life and am hoping you will check them out. I have cooked meals, done a detox, found great gift ideas, created goals (made progress on them), gotten dish on celebs, shared health issues, and of course read great news articles and blogs written by such a variety of writers. So enjoy they are for everyone and especially all you parents. Here they are in no particular order:

All around great wellness information and a great on-line community:

http://crazysexylife.com//

How to stock your pantry--hit their UTube button and watch Pantry 911:

http://sporkonline.com//

Get your kids to eat better:

http://www.doitdelicious.com//

Again get your kids to eat better and make it easier for yourself:

http://www.dinneralovestory.com//

Set goals and achieve them:

http://giveme10.info//

If you loved Cookie magazine like I did you will love this:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Momfilter/112956725389529

Food, fashion, and much more:

http://goop.com

Get your celeb green dish here:

http://www.ecorazzi.com//

Blog about all things compassion-- great recipes too

http://www.thekindlife.com//

News, blogs, and everything else-- forwards to my sister originate from here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com//

Oh and of course our awesome website--soon to be relaunched

http://www.littlesttumorfoundation.com//

Give Me 10! Find Balance and Reach Your Goals.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to write on your blog. Your blog does all that is best about the internet -- unifying a far-reaching audience and creating a community. While I am not affected by NF, I will pass along a little about what I do, in the hopes that it is useful for you. I started a blog called Give Me 10! The 10-minute solution to find balance and reach your goals. The point of it is that we all have very busy days, pulled in countless directions, giving to so many. But there are ways to sneak in a little personal time into the brief (and all too infrequent!) free moments of the day.

In the midst of stressful times, it's easy to put personal time on the back burner. But we all deserve at least 10-minute for our own well-being -- 10 minutes isn't long enough to feel guilty, it's too short to feel frustrated, and it fits into the nooks and crannies of the day -- you don't miss a beat attending to the other obligations.

Too often, we feel guilty taking time for ourselves -- taking a bath, reading a book, laying down for a few minutes. But knowing that you're giving yourself a time limit makes it feel less like an indulgence. The same goes for the less savory tasks that are important to us but overwhelming -- cleaning the garage, getting our finances in order. We delay even taking these on because we know we feel like we need a whole weekend to handle them (and when do we have that?) and we don't know where to start. But if we wade into the job for just a few minutes, we realize it's not as bad as it seemed, and we can chip away at the project little by little.

The point of Give Me 10! is to simply "advance the ball" on our own personal goals just a little bit every day. Just getting out of our day-to-day for just a little while can really inspire calm, confidence, perspective. Somehow it soften the edges a bit on the rest of life.

If you want to get started, here's what I'd suggest...

- Pick a goal or two (think right brain/left brain; mind/body/spirit; think of the times you've said, "One day I'd like to..." or "I wish I had learned to..."; or tackle an item that's been on the to-do list forever)

- Write a mission statement for your goals (this is not meant to be work! It's just meant to help you clarify what you would like to happen -- it can and will change as you get into the work.)

- Think of what you'll do for 10 minutes on the goal today and tomorrow (this will help build momentum; and by the way, it doesn't have to be a big "to do" -- it can be "find the file" or "set up the card table" -- sometimes just finding the materials and creating the space is the hardest part)

I give some suggestions of ways to find the time for your goals on my website: http://www.GiveMe10.info/, and readers share their tips and tricks, too. I'd love to hear if you try it and how it works for you! Be well..."

Green Juice, Dharma Talks & California Beaches

This summer our family took a different approach to NF. The 6 months prior to the summer vacation were filled with PET scans, MRIs, surgery, pathology reports and needless to say STRESS. Stress on our NF child and his two siblings aged 5 & 9. So we rearranged some doctor appointments and took off for a month for CA beaches, Dharma talks and ultimately green juices. Packed tightly in the car we drove from the midwest to CA-- hitting Colorado mountain air with alpine slides and rock walls, Utah red rock hikes, and then SOCA beaches and the best thing cousins! We then headed to a family retreat at a Monastery in Escondido CA. There are no electronics, all vegan food, and some silence. This is a place where children blossom and parents get to connect ( I believe every parent on some level believes they are messing up). You get to listen to monks and nuns talk about the practice of compassion. Children sing, craft, nature hike and learn too about compassion. Panels of lay persons round out the dharma talks. You eat, clean and share with other families. We always leave with knowledge, calm and better prepared. In my case better prepared for the upcoming MRI. Tumors and MRIs tend to throw me into what feels like a tidal wave of worry that feels so gripping it is hard to breath. So I hope with my pack of dharma knowledge I will breath through the next one. Upon return to the Midwest I had a consult with none other than the ultimate positive healing junkie Kris Carr. I had to fess up our diet for a week. This was after a weekend in WI Dells land of hotdogs and french fries. We had a long discussion on tumor growth and nutritional therapies. She herself has stopped Stage 4 cancer from progressing for the past 7 years through a highly alkaline diet. She and a slew of others advocate upping alkaline foods to slow tumor growth and diminish inflammation. Stress being a big part of inflammation she too spoke of meditation as our monks in CA. So now I just need to put it all into practice this idea of creating balance while living with NF. MRI in two days small tidal wave-- a start. Oh and we drink our green juices (some of the time).