Dark Cherry Chocolate Smoothie Approved by Dr. Michael Greger

Dark. Cherry. Chocolate. Smoothie.  This morning the news (and my heart) is full of the sadness and fear of all number of disasters: Hurricane Irma and clan, wildfires burning up large chunks of the world, an 8+ rated earthquake in Mexico.  Yesterday we attended a memorial service for our neighbour's 22-year old grandson who died in a car accident across the world in Western Australia.  On our walk this morning we prayed for Facebook friends in Florida, our dear friend's mom who is somewhere between Florida and Boston, and others in distress.  Meanwhile...

in an overcast but mild-weathered, quiet, somber but peaceful Comox Valley tucked away on idyllic Vancouver Island North, on a Sunday morning, we feel grateful and blessed to be spared, at least for now, of the devastation that we see happening livestream.  We have an assortment of fresh harvest foods-- from our garden and elsewhere-- and a supply of frozen organic fruit, etc.  We are experiencing abundance and I do feel a little like this post says "Let them eat cake" by so saying.  I have no doubt that there will be a time when we too will be "without" (food, comfort, relief from extreme disaster).  What can we do now? Pray.  Help out (donate monies through reliable, on-the-ground agencies such as the Red Cross and ADRA Canada).  Be responsive to those in our family and friend circles and community who are suffering and need help and emotional support.  And...
just getting on with life in as healthy a manner as we have at our disposal.  If you have the chance to enjoy a really delicious AND extremely healthy smoothie today, I want to refer you to this one by Dr. Michael Greger: the ingredients are a little pricey, granted, but not out-of-this-world expensive like some supplements and drugs are... I buy dark sweet frozen cherries (organic) at Costco and a bag that costs around $12 makes about a dozen 8-oz. smoothies.  Other ingredients include Fairtrade dark cocoa (organic), frozen organic bananas, flax seed, and water.  Dr. Greger uses date sugar.  I haven't used any sweetener but can see where the date sugar would amp up the whole delight of the experience.  This is a healthy drink for anyone who is experiencing heart problems.  There are no added fats to clog up the arteries, and the cocoa apparently opens them up more.  Find out all about the recipe and about the health benefits of the ingredients HERE  May you be blessed in your day!

The right questions could save your life!

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Blackberry Bliss Kombucha Hack, A Really Refreshing, Revitalizing Drink

My husband has us trying a week-long campaign to see if taking a shot of ACV (apple cider vinegar with the "mother"*) in our water 3X a day will provide us with the health benefits that are "proven" in medical literature:

• Weight Loss
• Lowered Blood Sugar and Insulin Sensitivity after Eating High Carb Meals

Since we are eating a plant-based, whole food, low fat way, it is helpful to see if the diet can be additionally boosted by the addition of Apple Cider Vinegar.

And I want to continue dropping pounds (I weigh in with TOPS weekly) eating the healthy foods that I do.  

We have enjoyed a rather hot summer from mid-July until now, so cold filtered water with ACV (1 teaspoon to start, 3X a day) is a refreshing event.  

A friend of mine had a drink and commented, "Tastes like kombucha."  She said it with a bit of a twinkle since she knew that I really do love the commercial kombucha.  I'm not horrified by the tartness of ACV (and I do know people who gag even smelling it) but I sometimes find it a bit of a sour jolt to my system.  

The comment about kombucha got me thinking, "Aha, I could maybe experiment with some of the fruit and berries that is dropping to the ground all around me" (we grow berries and fruit in our yard and this is definitely harvest time for many prolific varieties, such as our cultivated blackberries).  

But, it seems that I have come late to the table, so to speak.  The Internet is groaning with ACV-laced fruit (and veggie) drinks.  Today I will make a Blackberry Bliss Hack but in days to come I hope to use a number of ideas from Cyberland to make the ACV-drink project even more healthy and a lot tastier~ so, stay tuned!

BLACKBERRY BLISS KOMBUCHA HACK

Ice Cubes, Stevia, The Blender Mix of Fruit and Water (Ingredient Missing from the pic: Apple Cider Vinegar)

Sieve out the Pips... Alas, into the compost this will go! 

Here is the Recipe for Blackberry Bliss Kombucha Hack

• 2 C. juicy fresh Blackberries, cultivated or wild
• 2 C. filtered or distilled Water (or add "sparkling" water after sieving crushed berries)
• 1 tsp. to 1 T. for individual glasses, of ACV (Braggs or other unrefined ACV with "the mother")
• Stevia (1 small packet or 1/4 teaspoon)
• Ice cubes

METHOD

1. Blenderize Blackberries and Water
2. Pour the blend through a fine sieve or a Juicer Bag into a bowl or large measuring cup
3. Agitate/stir with a wooden spoon to get as much fluid through, leaving behind a mound of pips
4. Let the mix sit for a while so that more fluid separates (or you can pour once more through a sieve to remove some of the 'foam')
5. Add ice cubes (optional) to the bottom of a glass or jar and pour in the Juice.
6. |Add 1 tsp. - 1 T. of ACV to each container of juice
7. Add 1 small packet of Stevia (or other sweetener, to taste)
8. Add more filtered/distilled water if desired

OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

Blackberry-Orange-Avo Chia Pudding

How To Make Chia Gel and How To Use It

  

Mango Black and Blue Berry Vegan Non-Churn Ice Cream   

Blackberry, Pineapple, Banana Smoothie with 1 tsp. ACV (yum)

If You Got a Cancer Diagnosis, What Would You Do?

A cancer diagnosis can be a little too much to swallow at the moment it is delivered.

So, you go to the doctor to get something like a mole checked out-- you think maybe you will have it frozen off, like your friend Bea suggested.  The next minute you hear: 

“Hmm... this doesn't look good.  I'd like to schedule an appointment for a biopsy.”

And next, your well-intentioned doctor begins blasting you with descriptions of treatments and protocols (whatever protocols are?) that you must listen carefully to, and do right away.  Your head feels like it might explode.

How you proceed can mean the difference between life and death...

Chris Wark understands this all too well.

In December 2003 (just two days before Christmas!), when he was just 26 years old, he was diagnosed with advanced cancer.

It was definitely NOT the Christmas present Chris was expecting, and he was immediately rushed into the cancer treatment system, but a decision he made a few weeks later changed everything and saved his life. 

And he states that one decision was absolutely the hardest decision he’s ever made…

So what was his hardest decision?

Let Chris tell you in his own words, right here.  Watch the video; Click Here.

Discover Chris’s powerful journey back to health and learn about how you can start your own healing journey with his amazing free online course; Click Here.  It could, quite literally, save your life.

Instant Pot and Aquafaba, Two of My Recent Pleasure Journeys....

I haven't posted for a while so this post will be a bit of a catch-up.  

The Dessert Table at our Neighbourhood ECLIPSE PARTY on Monday August 21st.                                                         Note the 3-legged guest in shorts... I think this eclipsed the Eclipse (non-Totality) for our neighbourhood.

We had a long visit with our charming granddaughters this summer-- almost a month!  They are home again and waiting to go to school and start all those Fall activities that kids look forward to.

Yanks ago (maybe 5 or 6 years ago) I purchased an electric pressure cooker called an Instant Pot.  Well, I have used it a few times, but not with the results I envisioned, and it lived for a long time in a back room off the pantry.  By and by, I had read enough stories about the amazing things that people have been cooking at the speed of love, mostly through Jill McKeever's facebook page Plant-Based Lifestyle Support  , and I actually took the time from there to read and watch videos that show how to properly use the Instant Pot to support our desire to eat an organic and nutritious Low Fat Plant-Based diet.  As the Fall-Winter unfolds, I fully intend to post many of the delicious recipes on this site, so stay connected, okay?

And I discovered the beauties of Bean Brine, otherwise known as Aquafaba!  More to come... (HINT: it's a Vegan Cook's Latest Miracle Find for Subbing an Animal Food)

 I joined TOPS a few months ago (June) and have also been incorporating their tips into my new healthier lifestyle.  I have lost about 15 pounds eating a the low-fat vegan way.  I really appreciate that I am not compelled to (1)subscribe to a particular way of eating that I do not agree with and (2)am not compelled to buy pricey brand-name packaged foods at the weigh-in meetings (Tuesdays, 11am PDT, 4660 Headquarters Road, Courtenay, BC).  We have a teeny group at this point, but that allows for small group encouragement and friendship-building, key components for overcoming blocks and fears that prevent changes from happening.  Our facilitator, Carole Tilley, is awesome.

Below is a meme I made up to demo the simplicity of cooking perfect brown rice in my Instant Pot.

The perfect recipe for cooking brown rice to fast and easy perfection with the perfect electric pressure cooker http://amzn.to/2uakIUT 

Read like a CEO

 I hope to develop a number of these 'I-pot meme recipes' to tweet at /healthiacynthia.  Join me there!