“No, I cannot. Unless, that is, Kyle is willing to explore options,” is the best I could offer. While upgrading a toddler’s diet is easy and starts with having good quality food at home, it’s different as children grow and have out-of-house food options.

Your second strategy for supporting healthy eating habits in older children (and even adults) is to engage their curiosity. Help them observe the cause and effect of diet on their emotions, health and appearance. That’s the starting point. When they get the connection between chips and zits, there’s the doorway. Empower them to explore further.

I also urged Jane to find a progressive doctor for Kyle, one who, before prescribing drugs, first suggests diet and lifestyle changes to resolve extreme mood swings. We then went to work on her diet so that she can “keep her footing” in the midst of family turmoil. Let’s trust that her good example will one day inform Kyle and others.

How do we skillfully face difficult times? I recently heard a great answer when I heard HH Dalai Lama speak on “Inspiration for Global Environment” in Portland, Oregon. His response to the question “How do we not become overwhelmed and despondent about crises such as global warming?” is worth paraphrasing:

Analyze the nature of the problem. If you cannot change the situation, don’t worry so much or be overly sad, as that only increases the suffering. But examine the situation. Then find and engage in a positive action that you can undertake, and work on it with confidence.”

While I cannot reverse the 400-ppm carbon dioxide threshold, I can examine my lifestyle and reduce emissions. What other positive action might I—or Jane—accomplish? While we cannot change a neighbor’s carbon emissions or a child’s shoddy diet, we can responsibly care for ourselves and be a positive role model for others.

This recipe makes perfect use of a pasta pot with a strainer insert: It enables cooking in—and removing each vegetable from—the insert. Or cook the vegetables in a large pot and remove them with a slotted spoon or a spider (a wide, shallow wire-mesh basket with a long handle).

Freely substitute or add a variety of other tender fresh produce such as broccolini, baby bok choy, spinach, radishes, carrots, or daikon.

Note: To retain the vibrant colors of the blanched vegetables, use a wide skillet or wok to quickly heat the soup.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unrefined salt
½ pound purple fingerling or new potatoes, cut in chunks
4 baby turnips, trimmed and cut in half
¾ pound asparagus, woody ends discarded (save them for soup stock) and chopped
2 cups snow peas, stem ends removed and cut in half
4 scallions, chopped
3 sprigs fresh tarragon or savory
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unrefined hazelnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan; add 1 tablespoon salt and the potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, or until fork tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes to a large bowl and set aside.

Repeat with the remaining vegetables, separately blanching the turnips, asparagus, and then the snow peas until each is just cooked and adding them to the bowl. Reserve 2 cups of the blanching water.

Place the scallions, 2 tarragon sprigs, and the blanching water in a wide skillet or wok (a wide vessel makes for quicker heating and you retain the vibrant colors of the blanched vegetables).

Add the vegetables and heat just until they’re warmed through. Add the lemon juice and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and season with pepper; simmer for 1 minute. Mince the remaining tarragon.

Divide the stew among bowls, garnish with the minced tarragon, drizzle each bowl with hazelnut oil, and serve hot.

Note: Once you’ve made this soup a time or two, here’s a shortcut: When the potatoes are close to being done, add the turnips, cook briefly, and then add the next ingredient, and so on. You start with the vegetable that requires the most cooking and end with the vegetable that requires the least, and at the end when you drain the whole pot each vegetable each will be cooked just right.
Cooking with the Seasons
This soup is dedicated to spring to make the most of those treasured first vegetables of the season. But the cooking technique—blanching vegetables individually and combining them at the end—works with vegetables from any season: for example, cabbage, fennel, carrots, daikon, bok choy, bean sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Leslie recently promised me that this remedy would stop my flu in its tracks….and it did! She has some other common sense flu quelling guidelines in her blog. Plus this description of why fresh ginger works: It “assist(s) the body in flushing out pathogens that have entered the body from an external source. Dried ginger has a different property than fresh and is more useful in aiding weak digestion.”

Therefore do not substitute powdered or dried  ginger or ginger tea bags in this recipe. Only fresh ginger effectively dispels pathogens.

Ginger Tea
2 inches ginger root, thinly sliced (no need to peel the skin)
4 cups boiling water
honey to taste (optional)

Place ginger in boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain into a cup and (optional) sweeten to taste with honey. Drink all the tea in one sitting, one cup after the other, until it is all consumed.

Vive la différence: My friend Georgina once described her routine for fixing dinner. She’d page through her cookbooks and imagine all the wonderful recipes she might make. But then she’d shelf the book and as if by rote, prepare a generic healthy meal of broiled chicken or salmon, rice or quinoa, steamed broccoli or kale and a tossed salad. Boring.

Georgina was also routinely nibbling on snacks because the same old meals, day after day after day, don’t deeply satisfy. This is something we intuitively know. Try mentally comparing a meal you enjoyed with one that you’re weary of. The former is more readily assimilated because it satiates you, sits easier on the tummy and you feel content. Indeed, dining pleasure supports good digestion. And good digestion means better nutrient absorption, which then boosts your overall health and energy. Yes, there’s more to life than steamed broccoli.

Enhance Medicinal and Energetic Properties of Foods: A second reason to opt for variety is that each cooking technique results in subtle differences in a food’s flavor as well as the medicinal energy it imparts to you. Take a moment to imagine a taste test with eight broccoli florets prepared in these eight ways: steamed, parboiled, braised, sautéed, pressure cooked, baked, deep-fried, raw or pickled. Each floret has a different appearance, flavor, texture and thermal property. Each style affords you welcome variety and another reason to look forward to eating your greens.

Yes, it is true that steaming is good for retaining enzymes and heat-soluble vitamins. But one news bite doesn’t tell the whole picture. Steaming does preserve two nutrients (enzymes and heat-soluble vitamins) that may be lost in other techniques; however, the bulk of a food’s important nutrients—its minerals, trace nutrients and fat-soluble vitamins—are not denatured in other cooking styles.

So by all means, when you’re in the mood for steamed broccoli, enjoy steamed broccoli. But also delight in other cooking techniques. Here’s one example: In this Broccoli and Snow Pea Stir-Fry the florets are lightly parboiled to make them tender and more flavorful and to enhance their vibrant color. Then they’re briefly stir-fried. Try broccoli this way and then in your next stir-fry, for the fun of doing it differently, bypass the parboiling and directly sauté some sliced florets for a different texture, color and flavor. Shed food myths and go for diversity.

Here’s why. A 68- year- old acquaintance of mine, I’ll call him David, eats blueberries religiously as cancer prevention. Five years ago, in a Diet Consultation, I showed David how the swelling alongside his nose suggested an enlarged prostate. David concurred and said his doctor was also concerned. Thus, for cancer prevention, he now regularly eats blueberries.

We’re all in agreement that, fresh fruits and vegetables provide important nutrients. But that’s not the whole story. Let’s first find out what’s causing our symptoms, in David’s case, the swelling. Once he has  eliminated the causes, then his body will naturally self- correct. That gluten intolerance was a primary contributing factor to his various symptoms, including an the enlarged prostate, became obvious in our Consultation. I urged him to eliminate gluten from his diet.

Five years and $1800 worth of blueberries later (that’s 8 ounces per week at $15 per pound, 2 pounds per month for 60 months equals $1800) David has significantly cut down on wheat. But he still eats it, especially on social occasions. He’s a “social wheater.”

His incontinence and incontinence and needing to get up in the middle of the night to pee have slowly increased, as has the swelling along side his nose. Of course, we don’t know the other extenuating factors that play into David’s health, such as stress, exercise, and genetics, etc. There’s more to disease than diet.

But from his first hand observations, David now clearly knows that gluten exacerbates his symptoms. For him, it’s a toxin. One crumb of this irritant, even if smothered in one pound of blueberries, compromises his assimilation, engages his immune system and intensifies his prostate problems. Let’s trust that David musters the gumption to go 100% gluten free.

When the price of eating wheat is too high in terms of nasty symptoms, then avoiding wheat becomes an easy choice. So on your next trip to the store, as you’re about to reach for a carton of blueberries, take pause. What else will land in your shopping cart?

Again, when its blueberries that you want, they are indeed a great food. But must you eat them daily? As that sounds like a chore it is the antithesis of true dining.

One last note, you might consider wild blueberries, Vaccinium angustifolium. Berries harvested from the wild, contain more of the powerful antioxidant anthocyanin than do cultivated blueberries. According to the USDA, the ORAC value of wild blueberries is 2,400, the highest of 20 common fruits rated. My favorite wild blueberry supplier is Eden Foods.

If you have cut gluten from your diet but still have health complaints, then I have important news for you. Here are three likely reasons that you are still suffering from the various symptoms that eating gluten-containing foods can trigger.

1. For 100% results you must give up gluten 100%. The odds are that while you may have done a great job of passing on pasta, perhaps there’s still an occasional indulgence. Yes, even two pretzels yesterday and one nibble of a cookie today means you’re not gluten free.

If you have an allergic reaction to gluten and are eating a little now and then, that’s enough to keep your symptoms—as well as your cravings for wheat—going strong. When gluten is toxic for you, then eating even one speck of it causes your body to synthesize immunoglobulins to combat the toxic-to-you substance (antigen). During the immunoglobulin’s three-week lifespan your various symptoms will be troubling you. While bloating is a common symptom, others may include headaches, autism, weight problems, bowel problems, acid indigestion, arthritis, digestive irregularities, skin problems and more.

2. Perhaps gluten is a hidden ingredient in a favorite food. To successfully go gluten free you simply must read the ingredients label of every food, supplement and beverage that you consume. Check online for comprehensive lists of gluten-containing products.

3. Perhaps you have additional sensitivities.  If you’ve rigorously accomplished the above and are still not feeling yourself, the odds are that you are consuming an additional allergen.

If you strongly crave any food, it may be an allergen. Especially if you eat it often and have chronic health complaints. For example, in India where chickpeas are a staple, they are a more common allergen there than in the West. In addition to gluten, our common allergens include:

• Dairy
• Eggs
• Nuts (including coconut)
• Seeds (including their butters and oils: flax, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower)
• Grains: corn, rice, quinoa, oats, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, tef and wild rice
• Fish

If one of these less common allergens, like quinoa, for example, is something you rarely eat and don’t strongly crave, it’s unlikely to be a problem food for you. But, for example, if corn is a staple, if you really love it and if you suffer from allergic symptoms, then corn is suspect. To identify—and in some cases resolve—food sensitivities, see my e-book Clean and Free.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood

Most traditional meatball recipes contain both wheat, in the form of breadcrumbs, and dairy, often Parmesan cheese. I’m happy to report that neither is essential to a great meatball: They aren’t needed to hold the meatballs together, and without them there are no fillers or binders getting between you and the meat.

This simple meatball, seasoned with a blend of herbs and spices, is simmered in a soup base featuring the Thai trinity of fish sauce, lime juice, and chiles, all of which I recommend keeping on hand at all times. The fish sauce and chile-garlic sauce are available in Asian groceries.

Feel free to double the quantity of the meatballs and freeze them for up to two months. Simply drop them into a pot of simmering stock to cook through as a quick meal solution when you find there’s “nothing in the house.” You can make the meatballs with chicken, beef, or pork in place of the turkey if you like.

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a meal

Meatballs
1 pound ground turkey
¼ medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
¼ cup minced fresh mint
1 small green chile, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt

Soup base
6 cups Meaty Restorative Stock
1 tablespoon chile-garlic sauce, plus more for serving
¼ cup fish sauce, plus more for serving
¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 bundle (about 4 ounces total) bean thread noodles, soaked and cut into pieces
Chopped fresh cilantro and mint

Make the turkey meatballs: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients; wearing disposable gloves or using clean hands, mix very well to incorporate all the ingredients. Form the mixture into about twenty 1 ½-inch balls. Place on a plate and set aside.

Make the soup base: Heat the stock in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the chile-garlic sauce. Using a slotted spoon, carefully add the meatballs to the stock. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for ¬15 minutes.

Add the noodles and cook just for about 30 seconds, until cooked through, then add the fish sauce and lime juice. Spoon into bowls and top each bowl with basil and mint. Pass the fish sauce and lime juice at the table.

Bean Thread Noodles
Also called glass noodles or cellophane noodles, these noodles are made from mung bean starch and are popular in Asian cuisine. You’ll find them in Asian markets and some supermarkets and natural food stores. They are packaged in bundles; to use the bundles, soak them in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain them and cut them into pieces with kitchen scissors and cook briefly until tender. (Uncooked noodles are virtually impossible to break.) For a while I was avoiding not just wheat but all grains—pretty challenging. If you ever go grain-free, be kind to yourself—and stock up on bean thread noodles!

Cooking with the Seasons
We tend to think of noodle soup as cold-weather fare, a go-to food for cold and flu season, but in Asian countries steamy meat-based brothy soups are enjoyed regardless of the temperature outside. To make the soup more summery, try doubling up on the mint or in the winter omitting it. An extra chile or two makes it extra-warming for the winter, as would the addition of hearty winter greens such as kale or collards.

Here’s the secret for transforming this great everyday carrot classic into a dairy free dish: blend a small amount of white rice with the soup. This provides the thickness and creaminess we’re after in a cream-based soup (a clever trick to employ with any soup that needs thickening). The garlic chips add an element of crunch plus flavor.

Serves 4 to 6

Soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons white rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon paprika
1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
1 pound carrots, sliced
6 cups soup stock, or water
1½ teaspoons unrefined salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (optional)

Garlic Chips

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the rice and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cumin, chili powder, and cayenne and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the carrots, stock, and salt. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the garlic chips: Heat the oil with the garlic slices in a single layer in a small skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until the garlic is golden and slightly crisp. Remove the garlic from the oil using a slotted spoon and drain it on a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve the oil for finishing the soup.

Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan, adjust the seasonings, and stir in the lime juice.

Spoon into bowls and serve, sprinkled with parsley, if using, and topped with the Garlic Chips and a swirl of the garlic-flavored oil.

You’ll find details for those to favor at Quality Sweetener Guidelines. Armed with the information below about the “bad” sugars, you can now ignore various marketing claims for “natural” cane sugars and all sugar substitutes. Then how comforting to know that it’s a quality ingredient that sweetens your tea!

1. Artificial sugar substitutes include Canderel, Equal, Nectresse, NutraSweet, Splenda, Sunette, Sweet & Safe, Sweet One, Sweet’N Low and Sweet Twin. These artificially synthesized compounds act as neurotoxins, contributing to ADD, ADHD, and weight gain due to metabolic damage. Avoid all products containing these harsh-tasting, intense sweeteners.

Enjoy honey and other natural sweeteners.

2.  Synthetic sugar alcohols like malitol and xylitol, which are produced from by-products of the plywood industry and cornstalks. They are difficult to digest and cause gas and bloating in many people. Xylitol is dangerous—even life threatening—for pets, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. While data correlates xylitol with the reduction of dental caries, there are many less toxic ways of preventing tooth decay.

3. Refined sweeteners high in fructose include agave nectar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and refined beet, corn and cane sugar. These highly refined, empty calorie sweeteners contain no minerals. The numerous health problems associated with consumption of concentrated fructose include obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and liver cirrhosis.

While quality natural sweeteners also contain fructose, the difference is that they’re real foods with fiber, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants as well as viable energetic and medicinal properties. In moderation you may healthfully enjoy: honey, maple syrup, Whole Cane Sugar (rapadura), Sucanat and fruit juice as per our Quality Sweetener Guidelines.

In comparison to the complex and smooth taste of Whole Cane Sugar and Sucanat, other cane products taste harsh, one dimensional and overly sweet. Their lower mineral composition (see representative comparisons below) aptly indicates that they’re more refined. These not recommended sugars include: brown sugar, cane crystals, demerarra sugar, dehydrated cane juice, granulated cane juice, invert sugar, milled cane sugar, muscavodo sugar, powdered sugar, raw sugar, turbinado sugar, unbleached sugarcane and yellow D sugar.

Whole Cane Sugar,100 mg
600 -1,000 potassium
40 – 1000 mg magnesium
50 – 100 mg phosphorus.

Muscavodo Sugar, 100 mg
100 mg potassium,
23 mg. magnesium
3.9 mg phosphorus.

Brown Sugar, 100 mg
100 mg potassium,
23 mg. magnesium
3.9 mg phosphorus

Granulated White Sugar, 100 mg
0.1 mg potassium,
0.0 mg. magnesium
0.0 mg phosphorus