Organic Living

Vegan Diet Lowers Cholesterol (video)

2010-07-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

posted by Cris Popenoe Jul 10, 2010 8:00 am

Dr. Neal Barnard, author of Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes, tells us how soy products such as tofu and soy milk will lower your cholesterol and maybe help you cut down on the pills you take.

Photo credit: Yomi955

More on Cholesterol (12 articles available)
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10 Rock Star Vegetarians

2010-07-11T10:28:00.001-07:00

posted by Jake Richardson Jul 10, 2010 7:03 am

Below are ten of the various vegetarian musicians and singers. There are many more. Note that several of the videos don’t reference vegetarianism, but were chosen because they at least provide a sense of who the individuals are.
Paul McCartney
He has been vegetarian for years, and started a vegetarian food company with his late wife Linda. Care2 has his recipe for vegan enchiladas.

Thom Yorke
Some accounts say Thom was partly inspired to stop eating meat due to the The Smiths album “Meat is Murder”.

Morrissey
Has been vegetarian since the age of eleven. His mother was also.

Prince
He was PETA’s sexiest vegetarian in the world in 2006.

George Harrison
After traveling to India he became a vegetarian.

Alanis Morrisette
She began a vegan diet in 2009, and lost about 20 pounds. In her younger years she actually suffered from an eating disorder.

Eddie Vedder
In addition to being vegetarian, he is concerned about animal abuse.

Joan Jett
She said eating meating was difficult when she was touring because meat-based meals were too heavy late at night after a show. So she started becoming vegetarian and liked it.

Weird Al Yankovic
Became a vegetarian in 1992, after reading the book Diet for a New America.

Joss Stone
Has been a vegetarian since birth. Her parents raised her that way.

Image Credit: Nimble Photography

More on Conscious Consumer (185 articles available)
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Organic "Home Grown" Spinach & Serrano Chili's

2010-05-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. Geronimo Rubio back with you again. Today I want to show you whats growing in my garden. I use only Organic potting soil when I grow my flowers, vegetables and so on.

So today I want to show you the progress of my Organic grown Spinach & Serrano Chili's. So here are the pictures of the vegetables I am growing now:

I am so looking forward to when they are ready for eating. I want to give you today some great, easy and all organic recipes for your "Home Grown Spinach and Serrano Chili's. So just continue to read below and pleae, for your health and a much better "Quality of Life" living, go green and stay Organic. Peace my friends.

Risotto with Spinach, Green Onions and Chives

Prep time15 Minutes

Total Time 1 Hours

Servings 6-8

Ingredients

5-6 cup organic chicken stock
2 tablespoons Organic Valley Cultured Butter
¹⁄₄ cup shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 ¹⁄₂ cups arborio rice
²⁄₃ cup dry white wine
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, cut into strips

¹⁄₄ cup green onions, chopped
1 cup Organic Valley Shredded Parmesan, divided
¹⁄₄ cup chopped fresh chives, divided
2 tablespoons Organic Valley Cultured Butter, cut into small pieces and softened to room temperature
salt and pepper

A bowl of creamy, steamy risotto is welcome most any time of year, but it’s particularly soothing on a rain-chilled day in spring. This one features fresh, first-crop spinach and blood-revitalizing onions and herbs. The secret to its deep savor is the addition of organic cultured butter, swirled in at the end of the cooking time. Come in from the storm and be nourished.

Directions

1. Bring stock to a simmer in saucepan.

2. Heat butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium flame. When the butter begins to foam, add the shallots; reduce hit a bit and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are cooked, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and rice and stir 2-3 minutes to completely coat the rice with fat. Add the wine; stir and cook, stirring frequently, until nearly all the wine has evaporated, about 2 minutes.

3. Add two ladlefuls of hot stock (enough to barely cover the rice); stir almost continuously until most of the stock is absorbed. Continue to add the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stir it almost constantly (or at least very frequently) until each ladleful is absorbed before adding the next. The rice is done when it’s creamy-tender, which will take 25-35 minutes. (Adjust heat if rice is absorbing liquid too quickly.) Stir in the spinach and green onions a few minutes before the risotto is done.

4. When rice is done, fold in half the cheese, most of the chives and the softened butter bits. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, sprinkling each serving with more cheese and a few chives.

Omelet with Fresh Spinach, Feta and Olives

Servings 4

Ingredients

12-16 ounce fresh organic spinach
2 tablespoons Greek dressing ( or homemade vinaigrette flavored with oregano)
¹⁄₂ cup black Greek olives, coarsely chopped (or kalamata olives)
8-12 Organic Valley large eggs
1-2 tablespoon olive oil, divided

4 ounces Organic Valley Feta cheese, crumbled
pepper, freshly ground

In this Greek-style omelet, an oregano-seasoning salad dressing is used to both saute and flavor the filling. For an easy topping, consider chopped fresh tomatoes or additional crumbled feta.

Directions

1. Clean spinach, remove stems, and coarsely chop the leaves. Heat Greek dressing in a very large skillet, add chopped spinach, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until wilted. Raise heat to high and cook until nearly all the liquid as evaporated. Turn off heat and stir in black olives. Keep warm.

2. Make omelets one at a time in a small, non-stick (8-inch) skillet with sloping sides. For each omelet, beat two or three eggs in a bowl. Heat a little olive oil over high heat in the skillet. Pour in eggs; they will immediately begin to set on the bottom. With a spatula, pull egg from outer edges of pan towards the center; the uncooked egg will spread and cook. Keep doing this until most of the egg is set-- this will only take a moment--then spread any remaining uncooked egg across surface of omelet. Reduce heat to low. The egg will continue to cook as you distribute some of the crumbled feta, spinach filling and pepper over the surface. Holding a plate close to the pan with one hand and shaking the pan slightly with your other hand, slip omelet onto a plate, rolling it into either a cigar shape or folding it over into a half-moon. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200-degree oven while you prepare additional omelets.

Home Made Organic Salsa

Ingredients for Best Home Made Salsa Recipe

6 large seeded chopped Organic peeled tomatoes
2 cups seeded chopped Organic green peppers
3 seeded Organic Serrano pepper, chopped
3/4 cup chopped Organic onion
1 1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
2 cloves minced Organic garlic
1 1/2 cups cider or wine vinegar

Directions for Best Salsa Recipe

Combine tomatoes, peppers, onions, sea salt, garlic, and vinegar in a large pot.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Pour into hot jars leaving 1/4 teaspoon head space an adjust the caps
Process for 30 minutes in boiling water bath.
Yields: 6 half pints or make fresh and store in refrigerator.

Delicious Organic Recipes

2010-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Living an Organic complete life can be hard and seem like it has "No Flavor". But let me just give you a few recipes here that we have tried ourselves and I am sure your going to love them as well. I, Geronimo Rubio & my fiance Madeline Vicky live this way everyday and I guarantee your health and life will have "Just as much Flavor" as before and increase your life for many years to come my friends. Read below for a few great Delicious Organic Recipes made with Organic Food:

Spinach and Raw Cheddar Turnovers

Prep time-60-80

Total Time-90-120

Servings-16 large or 24-30 small pastries

Ingredients

1 pound fresh spinach
10-12 ounce Organic Valley Raw Cheddar (mild or sharp)
2 large Organic Valley eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper

8 ounces Organic Valley European Style Cultured Butter
1 pound phyllo dough, thawed 24 hours in the refrigerator

In this recipe, butter-brushed layers of paper-thin phyllo pastry are filled with spinach and cheese, then baked until the turnovers are shatteringly crisp and the cheese oozes inside.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

If you haven’t worked with phyllo dough before, know this: It dries out very, very quickly. To keep it supple, thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator and don’t open the package until just before you’re ready to work with it. Use a damp, wrung-out towel to keep it covered while you are preparing the pastries.

Directions

1. Make the filling: Cook the spinach with a little water in a big, covered pot, just until the spinach wilts. Drain it, rinse lightly and let it cool. Use your hands to squeeze out nearly all the liquid. Chop the spinach and put it in a bowl. Grate the cheddar on the large holes of a hand-held grater or in a food processor. Add cheddar, eggs, dill and pepper to the spinach and mix well.

2. Get equipment and ingredients ready: Melt butter. Assemble the following: pastry brush; sharp knife; a dampened, wrung-out cotton towel; one or two baking sheets (can be lined with parchment paper or not); the filling; melted butter; and phyllo dough.

3. Prepare the turnovers: Open the box of phyllo dough and carefully unfold the roll of dough onto a large work surface. You’ll be working in batches of 4 or 5 sheets of dough at a time; each batch will form four turnovers. The sheets are very delicate and may rip, but don’t be concerned—you are creating layers that will be folded up and the rips will be hidden. It’s good to work quickly, as the dough dries out very quickly, but you can also buy time by placing the wrung-out towel over the exposed stack of dough while you fold up each batch.

For each batch, pull off two sheets of the dough and place them with the long edges facing you on the work surface. Lightly brush the surface all over with butter (you don’t need to cover every inch, however). Pull off a third sheet, place over the others and brush again with butter. Do this once or twice more, for a total of four to five sheets.

Cut the brushed layers vertically into four wide, equal-sized strips. Place 2 or so heaping tablespoons of filling near the bottom of each strip. Now fold up each strip like a flag: starting at the bottom near the filling, fold the dough over the filling to form a triangle and continue to fold the triangle back and forth up the strip to end up with a filled turnover. Brush each turnover very lightly with butter and transfer it to a baking sheet.

Continue this process until all the filling is used up. At this point, they can be baked immediately, covered tightly and refrigerated, or frozen.

4. To bake: Heat oven to 375 degrees. If turnovers have been frozen, thaw them partially before baking. Bake turnovers until they are golden brown, 20-30 minutes.
Organic Valley Organic 1% Lowfat Single Serve Milk, 8-Ounce Aseptic Cartons (Pack of 24)
Organic Valley Organic Whole Milk, 33.8 Ounce Asceptic Carton (Pack of 12)
Vanilla vanille Patchouli scented Shea Butter Provence soap 3.5 oz 100 gr

Organic Soy-free Omega 3 Eggs (4 dozen)
MT OLIVE FRESH KOSHER DILLS
Simply Organic Pepper, Black Medium Grind Certified Organic, 2.31 Ounce Containers (Pack of 3)

Butter-Roasted Asparagus

Prep time-10 Minutes
Total Time-20-25
Servings-3-4

Ingredients

1 pound fresh organic asparagus, tough ends trimmed off
1-2 tablespoon Organic Valley Cultured Butter, melted ((or olive oil))
¹⁄₂ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
salt and freshly ground pepper
¹⁄₄ to ¹⁄₃ cup Organic Valley Shredded Parmesan (or feta or blue cheese crumbles)

Asparagus is special almost any way you serve it—raw, steamed, sautéed, grilled—but if I could only have it one way, it would be roasted. Its natural sweetness is enhanced when you slick it with organic butter, sprinkle it with sea salt and pepper, and roast in the oven it at high, even heat. It makes a wonderful side dish just like that, or can be showered with the likes of good cheese and chopped tomatoes. Add Organic Prairie hardwood smoked ham or Organic Valley sunny-side-up eggs, and call it lunch or dinner.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Use your hands to spread the asparagus spears with melted butter or olive oil. Spread spears out on the baking sheet (try to avoid letting them touch each other). Sprinkle with quartered cherry tomatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper.

2. Roast until asparagus is barely tender—this could take as little as 6-8 minutes if the spears are thin, or twice as long if they are thick. (Go ahead and taste one to be sure.) Transfer the spears to a platter, sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately. (Alternatively, you can sprinkle the cheese on the spears while they’re still on the baking sheet, and then return them to the oven for a couple more minutes.)
Organic Valley Organic Buttermilk Blend, Powder Cultured, 12-Ounce Bags (Pack of 4)
Organic Valley Organic 1% Lowfat Single Serve Milk, 8-Ounce Aseptic Cartons (Pack of 24)
Organic Valley Organic Whole Milk, 33.8 Ounce Asceptic Carton (Pack of 12)
Vanilla vanille Patchouli scented Shea Butter Provence soap 3.5 oz 100 gr
Native Forest Green Asparagus Spears 15 oz. (Pack of 18)
Just Tomatoes Organic Just Cherries, 8 Ounce Tub
Organic Parmigiano Reggiano (300 gram) by igourmet.com
BLACK PEPPER GROUND FRESHLY PACKED IN LARGE JARS, spices, herbs, seasonings

Gluten-Free Carrot Orange Muffins

Prep time-30 Minutes
Total Time-45 Minutes
Servings-10-12

Ingredients

4 tablespoons Organic Valley unsalted butter
2 cups gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (Bob’s Red Mill\'s brand)
¹⁄₄ cup brown sugar
2 ¹⁄₄ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons xanthan gum
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground ginger
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
1 cup Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise gluten-free cereal

1 cup carrots, coarsely grated (about 1 large carrot)
³⁄₄ cup Organic Valley lowfat milk ( or unsweetened Organic Valley Soy milk)
2 Organic Valley large eggs
1 blood orange, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¹⁄₂ Cream Cheese Frosting recipe (optional)

Many grocery stores and food cooperatives now carry a wide variety of wheat- and gluten-free products, including the all-purpose baking flour and the cereal flakes that give substance and savor to this recipe. Xanthan gum is also called for here; it’s a powdery gluten replacer that helps develop texture.

Blood oranges, like their name implies, have deep-red flesh and flavor, and lend a real citrus spark to these muffins. (You can use a regular orange, if you like. And if you’re out of oranges altogether, substitute 1/2 teaspoon orange extract for the grated peel and 1/4 cup Organic Valley orange juice for the freshly squeezed juice.)

Flecked with grated carrots and not too sweet, the muffins can be eaten as is or frosted with a cream cheese icing.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter muffin tins or line them with unbleached paper liners. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.

2. Place flour, brown sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Use one of your hands to crush the cereal flakes into coarse bits; stir the crushed flakes into the flour mixture.

3. Combine carrots, milk, egg, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla in a second, larger bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture.

4. Fill muffin cups nearly full. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 15-18 minutes. Let cool on wire racks 3-5 minutes, then remove muffins from pans. Serve warm. May also be cooled to room temperature and frosted with cream cheese icing.
Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)
The Gluten-Free Pantry All-Purpose Flour, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)
Multi Blend Gluten-Free Flour
Brown Sugar GINGER GROUND FRESHLY PACKED IN LARGE JARS, spices, herbs, seasonings
NUTMEG GROUND FRESHLY PACKED IN LARGE JARS, spices, herbs, seasonings
Organic Valley Organic 1% Lowfat Single Serve Milk, 8-Ounce Aseptic Cartons (Pack of 24)

Simply Organic Vanilla Extract Certified Organic, 2.0 Ounce Containers (Pack of 3)
Betty Crocker Ready-to-Serve Soft Whipped Frosting, Cream Cheese, 12-Ounce Canister (Pack of 8)
Organic Soy-free Omega 3 Eggs (4 dozen)
Melissa's Fresh Blood Oranges (4 lbs.)

Did you catch Food Inc on PBS’s POV

2010-04-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

You have to see this film Food Inc. two thumbs up from me (Geronimo Rubio). It is a must see. It premiered on PBS’s POV April 21st! But if you did miss it you can stil watch it in it's entire length tell April 29th, 2010 @ http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/photo_gallery_watch.php. It will explain how the food industry operates and how it went bad for all us healthy eaters in the world..

An Awesome Academy Award nominated film that will show everyone a powerful eye opening truth behind America’s food supply. It brings up lots of "Red Flags" on whether America’s Industrial, Corperate Controled food system produces Healthy, Nutritious, Life-Embracing substance we so carelessly call food. Just take one look at America’s radical Health Care Crisis going on right now and see if you feel the same way and have asked yourself the same questions.

Food Inc., lights up the documentary with fascinating poignant interviews that give "Fair Warning" to us about the Nutritional Value of America’s Food Supply and questions whether or not the crap we are eating (our food products, including processed foods, fresh meat and produce) are without a doubt a scary, mind boggling threat to public health and safety. Some of these interviews include Eric Schlosser (A writer for Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (an American author, journalist, activist)(The Omnivore’s Dilemma) (two food movement heroes), sustainable, organic farmer Joel Salatin of Swoope Virginia’s Polyface Farms (Family Owned & Run) and mother, Barbara Kowalcyk (http://www.ecoliblog.com/2007/05/articles/e-coli-watch/food-safety-advocate-barbara-kowalcyk/). Kowalcyk’s 2 1/2 year old son died 12 days after eating a hamburger contaminated with E. coli.

The documentary continues to on to bring up some very serious facts and issues about ethical business practices of food giants like Monsanto, Tyson, Perdue and Smithfield companies. And upon asking Millionaire Giants these to tell their side of the story to filmmakers, they refused to even give a simple statement and declined to comment.

Just within the past week California Public Health Officials issued yet another recall on tons ground beef products sold at WinCo food stores in 6, yup I said 6 western states, claiming the possibility of it being contaminated with E. coli.

Take a look at the film Food Inc and the issues it tackles. This film is driven by visionaries of alternative businesses and activists who are trying to help the food movement to delicious, healthy, safe food for America.

Organic Living

Vegan Diet Lowers Cholesterol (video)

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10 Rock Star Vegetarians

Organic "Home Grown" Spinach & Serrano Chili's

Risotto with Spinach, Green Onions and Chives

Ingredients

Directions

Omelet with Fresh Spinach, Feta and Olives

Ingredients

Directions

Home Made Organic Salsa

Delicious Organic Recipes

Spinach and Raw Cheddar Turnovers

Ingredients

Directions

Butter-Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Gluten-Free Carrot Orange Muffins

Ingredients

Directions

Did you catch Food Inc on PBS’s POV