We Love Rawfood! - Green Harmony Living Official Blog

Beware of MSG

2012-02-11T18:37:00.000-05:00

Did you ever eat a meal at a restaurant or friend’s house and feel tired or get a headache shortly after or feel terrible the next day? Or maybe you are so used to eating many highly processed foods that you feel lethargic and dull all the time. Very likely the cause could be MSG or Monosodium Glutamate, a cheap food additive meant to add flavor to processed foods. The problem is that MSG may cause overeating, weight gain, addiction, stimulates the pancreas to make insulin, deceives the tongue into thinking a food is highly nutritious and filled with protein, allows food manufacturers to add less real food to a product, and overstimulates the brain.(1) Organs or health conditions that are adversely affected by MSG: allergies, increases blood pressure, blood vessels and headaches, damaging brain cells, digestive system, endocrine system, hearing and ringing in the ears, heart rate and irregular or racing heartbeat, hypoglycemia, hypothalamus and thyroid dysfunction, lungs and asthma, nervous system and multiple sclerosis, pancreas and type 1 and 2 diabetes, and impairs vision.(2)

Some people are more sensitive to MSG than others. People with the following conditions may be more sensitive to MSG ingestion than other people: autism, alcohol use, CoQ10 deficiency, damaged liver, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, Gilbert’s syndrome, hypoglycemia, magnesium deficiency, Parkinson’s disease, allergies, type 1 diabetes, and vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 deficiency.(3)

Many believe that much of the poor health conditions of the US public can be attributed to the daily consumption of MSG. And, drug companies may be pressuring the FDA to not ban MSG since they reap huge profits from people seeking treatment for their poor state of health.(4)

My personal experience has been that when I ate a food with MSG in it I would not feel well afterwards usually experiencing a painful headache for a day or longer. So, I learned to avoid ingesting MSG since I felt much better by doing so. After all, there are plenty of healthy ways of making flavorful foods without using harmful MSG. I avoid Asian restaurants unless they specifically stated no MSG on the menu, I avoid fast food restaurants, and I avoid food products that contain MSG. Unfortunately, avoiding MSG is not as simple as reading an ingredient label and looking for the word MSG since food manufacturers hide MSG under many different names. For an extensive list of what foods to avoid, follow this link: http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm. In general, I avoid eating highly processed foods that have a long ingredient list especially with foods I don’t recognize. I buy fresh produce and make my own foods at home or buy minimally processed foods with only a few whole food ingredients that I recognize, like organic lemon juice and organic kale.

Links:
MSG Truth has extensive info compiled by food scientist, Carol Hoernlein: (1, 2, 3)
http://www.msgtruth.org

Truth in Labeling also has much information and what action one can take: (4)
http:// http://www.truthinlabeling.org/

Click Here to Ask Roland Any Questions You Have!
http://greenharmonyliving.com/ask_roland/

Tasty Rawfood Cake Recipe for Our 2011 Rawfood Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T14:07:00.003-05:00

Naoko and I made two Rawfood cakes for our Thanksgiving dinner. Naoko's cake was the hit of the evening. Everybody loved it! Her cake is very satisfying and this carob cake is just as good as a chocolate cake. Roland made a Apple Cranberry Walnut Cake from a recipe by Elaina Love. This cake was very good too and many of the ingredients are in season in fall and winter, including the apples, cranberries, and walnuts.

Here is the recipe for Naoko's cake.

Naoko's Very Berry Carob Cake:

Pie Crust:
1 Cup of Organic Raw Almonds
1 Cup of Organic Raw Dates

Filling:
3 Bananas
1 cup of Organic Raw Cashews
1/2 Cup of Organic Raw shredded coconut
1/2 Cup of Organic Raw carob
3 Tbsp of Organic Raw Coconut Oil

Blueberries, Raspberries, Persimmon, and Kiwi
Any seasonal fruits

First make the crust by processing the dates and almonds in a food processor until finely ground or it clumps into a ball. Spread into evenly into a pie plate with a spatula covering the bottom and sides. Next, make the filling by processing the bananas, shredded coconut, carob, and coconut oil in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Spoon into the pie plate with the crust and spread evenly until level. Arrange the berries and other fruit toppings on top in any way you wish. Set in the refrigerator so the cake will harden. It's ready to eat when firm.

Here is Naoko's beautiful and very tasty Very Berry Carob Cake. Can you see the orange part in the middle? This is a persimmon from our garden and the kiwi is from our friend's garden. All the ingredients are organic.

Roland made a delicious Apple Cranberry Walnut Cake. Recipe by Elaina Love.

Avoid Products that Switch From Organic to Conventional Labels

2011-12-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

Did you ever start eating an organic product and then sometime later notice that the manufacturer had quietly, with no announcement, removed the organic designation, and switched to using all conventional ingredients? Or even worse, some brands will label their products as “Made with organic ingredients.”

I have noticed this occurrence on some products, even raw food products. I think this is a very sad action for a company to make since 1) the consumers may not notice the change, 2) to go from high standards to low standards is shameful, 3) the switch is most often made in order to increase the profit margin, 4) using the organic word in some way on the product label when much of the product is not organic is deceiving and green washing, and 5) consumers health suffers and the value of the product is diminished since there are undoubtedly more toxins in conventional foods.

Companies are in effect taking advantage of human nature. Many consumers will elect to continue eating that particular brand, even if they notice the switch from organic to conventional, since they are familiar with the brand and people don’t like to change too much.

Other consumers like to eat healthy by choosing organic. So, manufacturers will often do the least action necessary to promote their supposed healthy products. So, if they can place the word “organic” or “natural” in some way on the label, the consumer may assume that the entire product is organic, when this may not be so. “Made with organic ingredients” means that at least 70% of the ingredients are organic. “Natural” is simply a marketing term and has no legal implications for the ingredients.

I highly recommend that everyone choose to eat organic foods since the benefits are numerous and far outweigh the slight difference in cost. Organic foods are better for human health, environmental health, animal health, have more nutrition, are sustainable, and taste better.

And, please don’t use the lame excuse that organic is too expensive! Don’t follow the masses of people who claim conventional foods as good enough for them. Conventional foods are full of chemicals from the pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides sprayed on them, and I believe that eating these chemicals for many years will undoubtedly have on effect on one’s health. Why do you think many people are getting the western diseases in our modern times? Well, we know that humankind has only been spraying chemicals on agricultural crops post WWII correlating with the rise of cancer and other western diseases. I choose to eat organic to be as safe as I can be for me and my family. Do I want to risk me and my family’s health unnecessarily? Certainly not! Organic costs just a little bit more in most cases and one will save much money from living healthier and not needing to visit doctors or hospitals as one ages.

So, if your favorite brand of cereal, cookies, nuts, or energy bar suddenly changes from organic to conventional, or if you have been eating a conventional brand for years, make the right choice for you, your family, the planet, and the animals’ health. Forget that brand and instead choose an organic brand of food. There are now many choices of organic foods available! There are many reasons to choose organic and not one reason to not choose organic!

Links:
USDA Organic Labeling and Marketing Information:

Rawfood Thanksgiving 2011 - Raw Lasagna

2011-11-24T16:33:00.046-05:00

Here are photos from our rawfood lasagna we made this year. The recipe is from Elaina Love's book: Elaina's Pure Joy Kitchen Book 2. This lasagna tasted very good. You might want to try dehydrating some of the vegetables in order to intensify the flavor and lessen the moisture level.

If you would like to try this recipe and many others in her book, click on the book link here to purchase it.

Questions About Adya Clarity’s or Black Mica Extract’s Safety

2011-11-12T13:48:00.000-05:00

We were recently made aware of many questions regarding the safety of the product called Adya Clarity, also called Black Mica Extract. The many allegations are very alarming and worthy of investigation by the authorities into the possible toxins contained in this product, namely the purported high concentration of Aluminum sulfate.

In the meantime, we want to reassure our customers that Green Harmony Living is fully committed to only offering truly healthy, high quality products for sale that meet our “12 Points Green & Social Standards Criteria”. We are not your typical online store that is in business to make lots of money, not caring how the products are made or who are making them. Green Harmony Living cares about our customers’ health and well being and therefore we will NOT simply sell anything to make money, even if it is wildly popular, as it was in this case. In fact, it was because Adya Clarity did not meet our #3 “Healthiest Foods”, #9 “Green Supplier Policies”, and #10 “How We Value Companies Values” in our 12 Points Green & Social Standards Criteria, that we stopped selling Adya Clarity about a year ago. This says a lot about our high integrity. As far as we can tell, many if not all of the other raw food, superfood online retailers are/were still selling Adya Clarity when the story broke about its purported toxins recently. Green Harmony Living was the only online retailer to stop selling Adya Clarity a year ago, well before any allegations arose about its safety. Where would you rather shop, at a store that will sell anything that they can sell, or a store that has high environmental, health, social, and animal welfare values?

Links:
NaturalNews issues consumer alert about Adya Clarity, imported as battery acid and sold for internal consumption:

How to Choose a Healthy Nut Butter

2011-11-03T15:55:00.002-04:00

Have you ever shopped at your local food store and had a hard deciding which brand of nut butter to choose from since there were simply too many choices? And how do you know which ones are healthy? I know the feeling. Over the years as my diet has improved, I have had much experience with nut butters. Here is what I have found out:

1) Most brands of nut butters have processed the nuts so much that there is little nutrition left.

2) Most brands add too many extra additives and fillers, like sweeteners, salt, oils, trans fats, etc. that render the nut butter unhealthy.

3) Many brands of nut butters on the stores’ shelves are actually rancid (when a nut or seed goes bad an tastes awful) and are not really fit for consumption. If the nut butter tastes bad in any way, don’t eat it and return it.

4) Many brands prefer to roast their nut and seed butters so as to prevent or delay the onset of rancidity.

5) Peanut butter is not really that healthy since it is roasted, usually has many additives, and is high in aflatoxins (a fungal toxin for humans and animals).

6) When you see the typical layer of oil on the top of the nut butter it means that the nut butter has been sitting for a long time and possibly oil has been added to the nut butter. Oil is a cheap filler and adding oil is a way of increasing profits. Look for brands with no oil layer.

7) The highest quality nut butters are raw (not heated above 118 degrees), slow, low temperature ground, have no extra ingredients (just the original high quality nuts or seeds), are freshly made, and are found in the refrigerated section of the store.

8) The absolute highest quality, meaning the most nutrition and taste, nut butters are made with sprouted nuts or seeds. Sprouting insures that the nutrition of the nut or seed is released and is easier to digest since the enzyme inhibitors are washed out.

The highest quality nut and seed butter brands are Blue Mountain Organics, Rejuvenative Foods, and Artisana. Blue Mountain Organics is my favorite brand since there 100% organic, raw nut and seed butters are the freshest, with no additives and no oil floating on top, and they have sprouted and unsprouted nut butters. Sprouted nut butters are the best! Unfortunately, there are only a few brands that can be labeled as top quality since most of the other brands employ many of the questionable practices I mentioned above. So, I highly recommend that you try the three above brands to taste and feel the difference that a high quality, truly healthy, nutritionally dense, and tasty nut and seed butter can make!

Links:
Aflatoxins: Occurrence and Health Risks

Jungle Peanuts are low in Aflatoxin:

WIN $25!!! - Take Part in GHL's 1 Min. Survey to Create Abundant Health!!!

2011-10-29T18:38:00.003-04:00

Hello Friend,

We are asking you to help us create more health for everyone by taking part
in our short survey below.

One lucky, randomly selected person who fully answers our survey will win a
$25 gift certificate to our store!

Please email any completed surveys to orders@greenharmonyliving.com.

We thank you kindly!

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1) What online and retail stores do you primarily shop at for food on a
regular basis?

2) What are the main reasons that you choose to shop at each of these online
and retails stores? Please be specific.

3) What foods, features, options, or services would you like to see added at these
stores that they do not currently offer?

4) What are the top 5 or 10 foods or kitchen supplies that you shop for on a
regular basis? Please include any special brands that you love.

5) Have you ever shopped at Green Harmony Living? If yes, what are the pros
and cons of your shopping experience at GHL? How did you first hear about
GHL?

6) What are your favorite 5 websites on the internet and why?

7) If you shop for raw or living foods and supplies, what are your favorite
online or retail stores and why?

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We Love Lydia's Organics Delectable Raw Foods!

2011-10-25T16:45:00.066-04:00

We love "Lydia's Organics" organic, raw foods, especially their Crackers and Kale Krunchies.

They are great savory snacks and sometimes we like to eat everyday as many people eat bread.

We feel that Lydia's Organic raw foods are much healthier than bread since Lydia's Organics raw foods are a raw food with enzymes intact for easier digestion, made with real foods like vegetables, nuts, and seeds, gluten free, minimally processed, and without chemical additives or preservatives.

Of course you can make your own raw food snacks at home, however, this involves too much time for some people and Lydia's Organics has already done all of the work for you!

Lydia's Organic is healthy and affordable, and therefore possible to enjoy daily.

There are a variety of tasty flavors to enjoy. We love them all!

Crackers are available in Luna Nori, Green, Italian, and Ginger Nori flavors.

The Kale Krunchies are available in MegaGreen, Sassy Spice, and Herbs de Provence flavors.

The most important thing to remember is that all of Lydia's Organics foods are ORGANIC, RAW, and the foods' ingredients includes "LOVE". We like companies that share their love in what they do!

And finally, we believe Lydia's Organics are great for the whole family including children, who will love the tasty foods, and you will love the nutritional benefits these foods have. So next time that you think of serving potato chips or pretzels, instead try some of Lydia's Organics tasty raw foods for a healthy fun time!

Hardy Kiwi is Healthy & Easy To Grow at Home!!!

2011-10-20T17:04:00.015-04:00

Here is a delicious fruit that most people would not recognize but that everyone should! This is Hardy Kiwi which is native to eastern Asia and grows well in the temperate climate of the US. Hardy Kiwi grows easily in the home garden, does not have many pests or diseases, and will produce delectable fruit for many years. Hardy Kiwi is a vine so all it needs is a fence, trellis, or arbor to grow on, preferably in full sun.

In contrast, the Hybrid Fuzzy Kiwi that are readily available in supermarkets are mostly grown abroad like in New Zealand, therefore impacting the climate with greater carbon emissions for the long distance transport.

Hardy Kiwi taste just like Fuzzy Kiwi and are fun to pop in the mouth and eat like berries. They can be used many ways in all kinds of recipes. I think they are best eaten raw, straight off the vine, grown in your own home garden! Everyone can easily plant Hardy Kiwi in their own home garden so as to reap the benefits of harvesting the tasty fruit year after year. Talk about a positive return on investment!

We have had our Hardy Kiwi vines in our garden for many years and they still are producing reliably every year. And they receive no special attention or maintenance of any kind. In fact, they don't seem to require any care. I don't even water them through the long, hot summers we have here in Maryland.

I recommend that you grow your own Hardy Kiwi if you are looking for a tasty, nutritious fruit that you can grow in your home garden!

WAX is Not Necessary for Fruits and Vegetables: Let Them Be in Their Beautiful, Delicious and Healthy State!

2011-10-08T13:49:00.003-04:00

We choose not to buy many fruits and vegetables at supermarkets or even natural food stores. Why? Most fruits and many vegetables sold at these stores are waxed in order to enable the produce to have a longer shelf life and to make them appear shiny and pretty.

However, for our raw family fruits and vegetables are delicious and beautiful fresh from nature, without any additives or wax. If the produce is being waxed, then it could be quite old. Old produce has less nutritional value than fresh produce. So, it’s best to eat fresh produce to get the optimum nutrition.

Also, eating waxed produce means that one is eating wax, and the wax enters into your body. Do you think it is healthy to be eating all of this wax? Waxes can be made from plants, petroleum, or insects. So, if you don’t want to eat the wax from supermarket produce, one must peel the skin before eating. Unfortunately, peeling produce, like apples, pears, or cucumbers results in much less nutrition and flavor since much of the nutrition and flavor is on the skin. Does it make sense to throw away the most important part of the apple?

So, how does a family not buy waxed produce? The answer is shop local. I have found that when produce is shipped a long distance, then it is automatically waxed. However, many times locally sold produce is not waxed. To be sure one will have to ask the vendor. One can find local produce at farmer’s markets, roadside stands, and by visiting the farmer directly. Unfortunately, much of the local produce is not organic. I think by repeatedly asking the local vendors for organic produce that they are getting the message that consumers want organic and will pay for it. The more people that ask for organic, the more the organic message is heard.

In summary, mass produced produce sold at the large supermarkets is often waxed to increase shelf life and improve the appearance. Waxing may decrease the nutritional value and flavor. Wiser consumers know that waxing produce is unnecessary. One can choose unwaxed produce by shopping locally.

Our family chooses to eat organic, unwaxed produce. We love to eat food fresh from our plants in our garden. Homegrown and wildgrown is always best!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Organic Rawfood is Affordable!

2011-10-03T11:10:00.005-04:00

Many people believe that Organic Rawfood is expensive.
Is this really true?

I believe that organic rawfood is not expensive and is really quite affordable.

As an example, I will tell you about my organic, rawfood recipe I made called “Japanese Style Zucchini Pasta”. This recipe was a snap to make. I quickly bought the organic ingredients and made the recipe. The recipe only took about ten minutes to make.

RECIPE (All Organic Ingredients):

1 Zucchini (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
5 stalks Scallions (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
½ package any kind of Mushrooms (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
1 large Tomato (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
2 Avocado (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
6 Olives (from GHL store)
1 sheet Nori (from GHL store)
6 Okra (from our garden)
5 leaves Shiso (from our garden)
1 tbsp Olive Oil (from supermarket or natural marketplace)
1 tbsp Tamari (Gluten Free, Low Sodium) (from supermarket or natural marketplace)

I only paid about $7 total for the organic produce at a local supermarket.
I also used some vegetables growing in our vegetable garden.
This simple, delicious, and healthy meal fed our family of 2 adults and 1 toddler.

In conclusion, by shopping discriminately at the supermarket, that is, buying organic produce that is reasonably priced or buying from distributors, and also growing one’s own nuts, fruits and vegetables, one will save money Also, uncooked meals don’t need any electricity or gas for cooking. And, we do not use a “dishwasher” to wash our dishes since rawfood is easily rinsed off of the dishes with a small amount of water.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of enjoying an organic, rawfood lifestyle is that one will enjoy a healthier life, and this in turn will save one lots of money since one will not depend on the medical establishment and drugs to deal with any health issues that many people contract later in life.

If you start rawfood lifestyle now, your living expense is going to be deceased, and you are going to be healthier.

Thus Organic Rawfood makes you healthy, wealthy and happy!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Eat Wild Berries Even in September!

2011-09-24T15:40:00.001-04:00

Believe it or not, here in the mid-Atlantic state of Maryland we enjoy eating fresh, raw, wild berries for much of the growing season, April to October. We enjoy wild growing Blueberries, Dewberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries. And wild growing berries are some of the healthiest and tastiest local wild foods that one can find for free. For instance, last weekend my family went bicycling on a local rail trail and there along the trail in one area were many Japanese Silverberry (Elaeagnus umbellata) shrubs. These shrubs are from China and Japan and are naturalized in the US; may be invasive in certain areas. Regardless of their status, I was grateful to see them full of fruit during our bike ride, so we had to stop and eat them. I have eaten them in past years so I know they are edible and quite tasty. The Silverberry berries were tart this time, but they will become sweeter as they mature. The berries are easy to eat as the seed inside is very chewable. The berries grow in clumps which makes them easy to pick; just grab a handful! So, my son and I enjoyed eating the Silverberry berries for about 30 minutes and I packed a bag full of the branches laden with fruit to eat later at home. We like to put some berries into our green smoothie which we make every day.

And there appears to be health benefits of this particular berry too! I think all wild food has health benefits but it may take a while for western science to study these wild foods and detail the actual health benefits. Anyways, according to Wikipedia, the Japanese Silverberry berries “have from 7 to 17 times the amount of the antioxidant lycopene than tomatoes have.” Do you remember all of the reports of how one has to cook tomatoes to get more lycopene? Well, now we know that one can forget that and just enjoy the fine wild berries of Japanese Silverberry found growing in a clearing or field near you. I invite you to go out on a hike or bike ride to find them now. The berries are ripe from September to November. Enjoy!

Links:
Wikipedia Article on Japanese Silverberry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeagnus_umbellata

Click Here to Ask Roland Any Questions You Have!
http://greenharmonyliving.com/ask_roland/

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Healthy Back to School Superfoods for Your Family!!!

2011-09-17T17:58:00.003-04:00

With many children starting school again soon, I thought it is a good idea to write about healthy organic, raw, superfoods that will support increased learning in one's family. I know that personally I have experienced greater mental capacity, clarity, and memory due to following a raw food diet.

So, here are some of my recommended organic, raw, superfoods to facilitate learning and healthy living!

Healthy Drinkable Meals or Snacks:

Sequel Naturals Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizers in flavors of Berry, Chocolate, Natural, and Vanilla Chai

Sequel Naturals Vega Whole Food Shake & GO Smoothies in flavors of Bodacious Berry, Choc-a-lot, Tropical Tango, and Vanilla Almond

Healthy Protein:

Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Protein in flavors Chocolate, Natural, and Vanilla
Warrior Food Raw Vegan Protein in flavors Natural and Vanilla

Healthy Fats:

Antioxidant EFA Oil Blend
Ojio Organic Raw Centrifuged Coconut Oil and Organic Raw Cold Pressed Virgin Coconut Oil
Organic Peruvian Dried Pitted Salted Black Botija Olives
Organic Peruvian Dried Unsalted Black Botija Olives

Healthy Snack Bars:

Earthling Organics Bars in flavors Goji, Matcha, Cacao, Vanilla, and Yogi
Vega Whole Food Energy Bars in flavors Berry, Chocolate, and Natural

Healthy Green Superfoods:

Wildcrafted Chlorella Powder & Tablets
Elixir of the Lake Klamath Blue Green ALgae
Greener Grasses Grass Blend v. 2.0
Wildcrafted Spirulina Tablets

Healthy Seasonings:

Ohsawa Organic Gluten Free Tamari
Tomato Concentrate

Healthy Sweeteners:

Ojio Clear Organic Raw Agave Nectar 1Liter, 500 ml, & 250 ml
Ojio Organic Raw Agave Powder
Organic Evaporated Coconut Palm Sugar
Ojio Organic Raw Lucuma Powder
Ojio Organic Raw Yacon Powder
Organic Yacon Syrup

Healthy Supplements:

Pure Synergy 270 Veg Capsules
Vita Synergy for Men
Vita Synergy for Women

Healthy Reading:

Pure Joy Kitchen Recipe Books 1 & 2
Eye on Green
Vega Healthy Treats
The Perfect Prescription for Your Teeth
Chlorella: The Ultimate Green Food

Healthy Home:

BioBags Biodegradable Dog Waste Bags
One Gallon & Half Gallon Glass Jugs
Humane Mouse Trap
BioBags Biodegradable Lawn & Leaf Bags
Large Nylon Nut Milk Bags
BioBags Biodegradable Tall Kitchen Bags

By eating more healthier organic raw foods in your home, everyone will reap the benefits of superior nutrition, and subsequently, superior intellect!!!

For more information about or to purchase these superior products, please visit www.GreenHarmonyLiving.com/store

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Roland's Super Rawfood Cereal

2011-09-02T16:00:00.001-04:00

I like to experiment with making different breakfasts. I mix various nuts, seeds, dried fruits, grains, fresh fruits, sweeteners, superfood powders (like cacao nibs or powder, maca, mesquite, lucuma), spices (like cinnamon, cardamon), and cereal mixes if I have them. Basically, whatever I have handy in my kitchen or garden I mix together according to what feels appetizing that morning. If it does not sound appetizing then I don't force myself to eat it.

For instance, in this photo above I mixed Living Intentions Superfood Cereal Cacao Crunch with Hunza Raisins, Angelica's Chocolates Chocolate Spread, fresh fruit of peaches, truly raw cashews.

This rather calorie dense meal will keep me fueled for several hours until lunch or dinner. Of course, one can make this breakfast less sweet by adding no sweeteners and just eating some nuts, seeds, or grains and fresh fruit. For lunch or dinner I always eat lots of greens, as in a green smoothie or salad, to get my minerals and other nutrition. And since these are whole foods that are very little processed, I maintain my same weight and do not gain weight. That is the beauty of eating an organic, vegan, raw food diet, one stays healthy, beautiful, and young looking.

How to Make Raw Banana Ice Cream Recipe Video!!!

2011-08-25T11:01:00.006-04:00

Click to Link Champion Juicer

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Amazingly Tasty, Healthy and Easy to Make Banana Ice Cream!!!!!

2011-08-24T10:31:00.004-04:00

This is the Champion Juicer which I think makes the best banana ice cream since it turns out real smooth and creamy, and it is real fast and easy to use.

Click to See More about Champion Juicer

Here I show how to fit the parts of the Champion Juicer together. I show using the screen plate, but the blank plate actually works better.

Here I slide the central part that does all of the grinding and juicing.

Now I slide the assembly together.

Here is the assembled Champion Juicer with a bowl underneath to catch anything that falls beneath. Here we go!!!!

These are the strawberries that I made into ice cream too. Frozen strawberries work better. I forgot to freeze these strawberries. Luckily, the frozen banana kept the strawberries cold too.

Almonds or other nuts are nice to add in small amounts in between adding the frozen banana. Almonds add a nice flavor and fat to give the banana ice cream a more creamy texture.

Click to See More about Best Almonds

It is best to use really ripe bananas for ice cream since they have more flavor and taste great when made into ice cream.

We peel the bananas and place them into a plastic bag sealed with a tie so no air gets to the bananas. The air makes them turn brown. Here is how the frozen bananas look when brought out fresh from the freezer. It is best to not let them sit for a long time in the freezer, Just a week or two is okay. Fresher bananas are best.

Here I use a knife to pry the bananas apart since when they are frozen they stick together.

Here is the finished banana ice cream with a strawberry on top! You can see that adding strawberries or other fruits like peaches, blueberries, etc. adds a nice color and taste to the ice cream as well.

Here is our son devouring the banana ice cream! He loves it!!! Banana ice cream is wonderful to eat on a hot summer day sitting outside savoring its sweet, delicious flavor!!!

Naoko's Raw Vegan Chocolate Cheese Cake

2011-08-15T09:25:00.001-04:00

I Made a Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake. I usually do not refer recipes when I make rawfood. It is because I really get used to make rawfood as a part of my life.

I think I am really rawfooder!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Sea Vegetables are Some of the Best Food Sources of Minerals

2011-08-10T13:10:00.009-04:00

When I grew up in JAPAN, sea vegetables were always on the menu of our home made meals.
Kombu was always used to make soup stock for miso soup. Wakame was always in miso soup. We ate miso soup every day. Nori was always on the table, and there was a spread made of nori, so we ate nori like western people eat marmalade or jam every day.

After I moved to the US and got married, our family started living a raw food lifestyle. Now, I make a daily raw food dinner with lots of sea vegetables since I believe that we need to consume sea vegetables to get minerals. And getting enough minerals in our diet is very important. Most people are not getting enough minerals in their diet and this lack of minerals causes many health issues.

Here is
LAVER, Sea Vegetable Salad I made. I just cut sea vegetables called LAVER with scissors into the salad bowl. LAVER is a dried sea vegetable, so once it is mixed with fresh vegetables, it absorbs water from the vegetables and it is gets soft enough to chew. Since sea vegetables include salt from sea, you do not have to add any salt or dressing on the salad.

LAVER = Sea Vegetables

We also make dressings with sea vegetables. You do not have to add any salt or other strong flavoring when you make dressing with sea vegetables. We just blend sea vegetables with herbs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, or seeds. There is a huge diversity of flavors one can make!

We eat sea vegetables instead of salt. Sea vegetables include more minerals than salt, and they are healthier than processed salt.

I think one of the reasons for the Japanese people’s increased longevity is because they eat a lot of Sea Vegetables.

Healthy Ice Cream You Can Eat Everyday!

2011-08-04T19:50:00.000-04:00

Did you know that dairy and sugar ice creams are some of the unhealthiest foods around? Diary and sugar ice creams are a processed food high in cholesterol, fat, refined sugar and are implicated in causing heart disease, obesity, and diabetes to name a few.

No worries! Simply skip the unhealthy ice cream and delight in healthy organic, raw, vegan, diary free ice cream! Yes, there is actually an ice cream that you can eat everyday and improve your health. And it is real simple to make at home. To start, all you do is freeze peeled bananas in plastic bags. When you want to eat homemade ice cream, simply run the bananas through a Champion Juicer with the blank plate on. That's it! Of course you can add various ingredients for different flavors and colors. Frozen raspberries, blueberries, peaches, are all good, as well as nuts like almonds. You can add extra sweeteners like honey or agave nectar, too. Add a dollop of Angelica's Chocolate Spread for that extra special treat! The possibilities are endless!

Sometimes, "You can have your cake and eat it too!" Raw Banana Ice Cream will help to keep you cool on those hot summer days! Enjoy!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Hungry for Hazelnuts!

2011-08-03T12:55:00.003-04:00

We have two Hazelnut trees in our garden that have been producing nuts dutifully every summer for many years. I highly recommend growing Hazelnut trees if you live in the right climate, which is a more northern latitude since they need it relatively cool. They produce lots of nuts and don;t need any care. Unlike other nuts trees that get large, I don't have to do any pruning of our Hazelnut trees since they stay a nice compact size. Our are about 10 to 15 feet tall and wide. You will need at least two trees planted close together for cross pollination to produce nuts.

There is only one problem with Hazelnuts. Squirrels love to eat the nuts. So, if have squirrels you will need to place a net covering the whole tree. If you don;t have any squirrels in your area, then you will be able to harvest the hazelnuts easily. Just let them ripen on the tree and fall to ground or pick when they are loose in their husk.

Hazelnuts are great in many recipes. For inspiration look at recipes from European countries as they are more popular in Europe. My all time favorite food with Hazelnuts in them is Nutella. Nutella is very popular in Europe. It is a chocolate and Hazelnut spread that is used like butter or jam on bread, and is often eaten for breakfast. Of course, chocolate makes almost anything taste butter, and Nutella is a really divine creation. Alas, it is not a raw or vegan food so it is not something I will eat anymore. One can certainly make a homemade version of Nutella.

What recipes do you like to make with Hazelnuts? Let us know! Any way you slice it, fresh, organic, homegrown Hazelnuts are a wonderful treat and very healthy for you! Enjoy!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Get Your Fresh Grapes Before the Birds!

2011-08-01T14:00:00.001-04:00

Our Grape vines are producing some of their first ripe grapes this season. I ate a few of the ripe grapes that were turning a reddish color. Even though the grapes were not fully ripe, I knew I had to pick them right away since last year they disappeared in a flash, eaten by the birds. So juicy, so sweet like nectar, a truly amazing fruit to eat! These grapes were super delicious! I think there is no comparison between freshly picked, homegrown grapes to store bought grapes. Fresh grapes always taste better!

I recommend everyone grow their own grapes. Grape vines are easy to grow. They simply need full sun, good drainage, and a sturdy trellis to cling to. After growing a few years they will start to produce grapes. If the birds eat too many, a mesh covering the plants will keep them out.

When choosing grapes to plant, I recommend choosing old or heirloom grapes with seeds. Fruits that are highly hybridized to have no seeds are viewed by many as not being healthy to eat, since this is simply not natural. All fruits found in nature produce seeds. I even chew on the whole grape including the seeds, which I chew or simply swallow whole or spit out. Have you noticed how grape seed oil is in the news for being really healthy. Well, you can skip the expensive grape seed oil and chew on grape seeds instead to get the real deal. After all, its only natural. Concord Grape is a popular heirloom grape that has seeds and tastes delicious.

I invite to grow your own grapes. Every year grapes will grow beautiful, delicious fruit for you!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Super Easy Raw Dessert Recipe - Chocolate and Tahini

2011-07-27T16:57:00.012-04:00

Naoko often asks, What's for dessert?" I have a sweet tooth too, and so I have become adept at creating sweet desserts rather quickly since I often don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

Recently, I came up with one of the simplest desserts that one can make. You can make this recipe in ten seconds! Simply put a spoonful of tahini (black or natural) and chocolate spread in a bowl and mix together. That's it! You could make it even faster by simply grabbing a spoonful of tahini and a spoonful of chocolate spread and eating right off the spoon. However, my wife does not like it when I eat out of the jar, so I have learned not to do this. If you don't have chocolate spread, you eat tahini with honey.

Tahini combined with honey and/or chocolate is a simple recipe for that middle eastern dessert called halvah. I think my homemade version is very tasty and satisfying. I like using Blue Mountain Organic's Angelica's Chocolate Spread since it tastes great and is already mixed and ready to eat. I also prefer Blue Mountain Organic's Tahini since it is the highest quality nut butter I have seen. It is rather dry in texture and will stay on the spoon, which is convenient. You can also use Sunflower Seed Butter or almost any nut butter to make a similar recipe. Tahini (Sesame Seed Butter) works the best since it has the perfect flavor. Indonesian Jungle Honey is a real tasty and nutritious honey that goes great with the tahini.

Any way you eat it, tahini with something sweet sure is satisfying!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Raw Wild Food Foraging Hike

2011-07-22T19:16:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday our meetup group organized a Raw Wild Food Foraging Hike at a local park. This park is in the piedmont region of the eastern US. Roland found Blackberries, Dewberries aka Wineberries, Sassafras leaves, and Black Cherry. Roland identified Poison Ivy for the group since most people can not identify it and this plant does have serious consequences when you touch it. Yes, it creates a nasty skin rash.

Most of the Dewberries had been previously picked by others. It seems people are learning about wild foods. There were a lot of Blackberries to be found and we even found one Blackberry plant that was untouched and full of large Blackberries. As the saying goes, "If you look long enough, you will find it."

In our area of central Maryland, there are wild foods to be found throughout the growing season. I think June and July are the best months since that is when the plentiful Dewberries and Blackberries ripen. I prefer to forage for raw wild foods that you just pick and eat. I don't believe so much in foraging for wild foods that need to be processed to render edible by cooking and other means. If I were to choose wild foods that need more work, I would only choose ones that can be eaten raw and need minimal work like digging roots, rinsing with water, sun drying, making into a powder, and the like.

To learn more about foraging for wild foods in your area there are several good books including field guide books that are helpful to identifying the plants when hiking. There are also classes in many places. I think eating wild foods is certainly worthwhile sine wild foods are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet. And foraging for wild foods is a great reason to get outside in the fresh air and go on a hike at your local park. This is great for your health!

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Tahini Lemon Fig Dressing Recipe

2011-07-18T12:17:00.001-04:00

Naoko recently created a fantastic savory summery raw food dressing she calls "Tahini Lemon Fig Dressing" using some homegrown purple figs from my mom's garden. With the ginger and garlic standing out, this recipe is more savory than sweet. You can certainly tweak it to make it sweeter if you like, by using less ginger and garlic and more figs or raisins. This Tahini Lemon Fig Dressing is great to use on virtually any dish: salads, raw sprouted rice or other grains, raw pasta with zucchini, and so on. Here it is:

1 cup spring water
3 fresh figs or 1/2 cup raisins soaked
1/2 lemon
3 pieces sundried tomato
3 tbsp. tahini (sesame seed butter, black or natural)
1 tbsp. or 3 strips sea vegetable (dulse, nori, laver, or alaria)
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany

Homegrown Figs are Delicious and Easy to Grow!!!

2011-07-16T16:59:00.004-04:00

We recently started harvesting the ripe figs at my mom’s house. Eating homegrown fresh figs is an amazing experience and one of our main delights of summer that we eagerly look forward to during the long winter! Fresh figs are too expensive in stores and there really is no reason to buy in a store when you can easily grow them in your garden. They are certainly in my top ten fruiting plants to grow in the home garden since they are delicious to eat, easy to grow, and very prolific fruiters.

From my experience, it’s best to plant a fig tree near a west, south, or east facing wall of your house. In this way, the figs are protected from the cold winter winds that usually come from the northwest. Also, in the summer they will grow more from the intense heat reflected off the house. They love the heat as long as the ground is moist enough. Just let them grow and every year they will get bigger and bigger. You want them to get as big as possible since they will produce more fruit the larger they are and they can better withstand the cold winters.

Figs produce different colored skin on their fruit: brown, green, purple, and yellow. And the inside part is different colors too; from yellow to red. They are sweet, delicious, and slightly juicy when fully ripe. I love to eat them right off the tree. Figs are wonderful in many recipes. Our 2 year old son loves to eat them too!

Figs are very nutritious since they are good sources of Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin K, Omega 6 Fatty Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Copper, and Manganese.

Fig trees are beautiful tropical looking plants, produce delectable fruit that is very nutritious, are easy to grow in the home garden, and will add beauty to your landscape. Grow it today!

Links:
California Rare Fruit Growers - Fig: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

Self Nutrition Data - Figs: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1889/2

Blue Mountain Organic – Organic Raw Whole Dried Turkish Figs: http://www.greenharmonyliving.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9_134&sort=20a&page=2

Click Here to Ask Roland Any Questions You Have!
http://greenharmonyliving.com/ask_roland/

Thank You and Make Today a Wonderful Day!
Roland and Naoko’s Websites:
Green Harmony Living – Planet friendly website
Green Harmony Living Store – Raw, Vegan, & Organic Foods & Products
Green Harmony Design – Beautiful, Edible, & Sustainable Gardens
Green Harmony Tours – Sustainable Ecotours to Germany