Spring DIY's with the staff of The Healthy Grocer

Laundry DYI from Nancy, Director of Wellness

Hurrah! Spring has arrived, and we’re finally able to start hanging our laundry out again. Not only does this help conserve energy, but there’s something special about the smell of clothing and linens dried on the line.

Try this Lemon Fresh Linen Wash for soft, bright and sanitized laundry…

2 cups liquid castile soap

½ cup aloe vera juice

½ cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1 Tbsp powdered citric acid

2 tsp grapefruit seed extract

15-20 drops lemon (or lemongrass) essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a plastic container, preferably one with a pour spout. Give the formula a gentle shake to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed before adding it to the washing machine. For an average load, use ¼ cup.

Spring Juice from Susan, General Manager

I love juicing, especially when I can get my hands on new produce to try out. 

Apples are a great source of fiber. Did you know that they are also high in antioxidants?

Kale is a nutritional powerhouse high in Iron, Vitamin A, Calcium, has anti-inflammatory properties, and is great for detox.

Dandelion greens are an amazing detox plant. They also are high in Calcium, Iron, Protein, and also have anti-inflammatory properties. 

Here's my latest juice recipe:

2 Apples (Red Delicious are great for juicing because of the amount of liquid in them. Try your favorite apple. For optimal juice, use apples left out at room temperature vs. refrigerated apples)

Several Kale leaves

Several Dandelion leaves

In a juice extractor, add apples, kale and dandelion. For a less bitter juice, add more one additional apple. 

Feel free to add other greens or fruit and make your own signature blend. I choose to use a juice extractor instead of a mixer like Vitamix or Ninja so that the juice is "pre-digested" without the body doing additional work to get all of the nutrients. 

How to Properly Grill a Steak with The Healthy Deli Cook, Derek

With grilling season finally upon us, I wanted to talk about how to properly grill a steak. While it is a simple procedure, it seems common to go to cookouts and bite into a steak that is overcooked, dry, and flavorless.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  With a few simple tips you can cook a great steak that will make your guests ask where you went to culinary school, or at least wanting more.

• Allow your steaks to reach room temperature to allow for even cooking.
• Brush oil on both sides of the steak for better grill contact, nicer grill marks, and to help the salt and pepper stick.
• Season both sides of the steak with coarse ground salt (I prefer kosher salt) and fresh ground black pepper. 
• The general rule of thumb is that it takes 10 minutes of cooking per inch of steak to achieve a medium doneness.  If you like medium rare (my favorite), aim for 8 minutes or so. 
• Once your grill is hot, find the hottest part and place the steak on it.  After a couple of minutes, rotate the steak about 90 degrees.  This will give you those nice diamond grill marks that improve the presentation.  After a couple more minutes you should flip the steak and do the same on the other side.
• Use the finger test to check if your steak is done. Open your hand and touch the fleshy part between the thumb and the base of your palm, this is what a raw steak feels like.  Now touch your thumb and index finger together and feel the same area, this is how a rare steak feels.  Thumb to middle finger equals medium rare, thumb to ring finger equals medium and thumb to pinky equals well done.
• Once your steak is cooked to your preferred doneness you have to let it rest (about 5 to 10 minutes).  And when I say let it rest, take it off the grill and don’t touch it, don’t even think about it!  This is the biggest mistake I see people make with steaks, and I know it’s tempting.  Resting lets the juices circulate and improve the flavor.
• The last thing you can do before serving to really amp up the flavor and presentation of your steak is to brush it with melted butter.  This is a trick many restaurants use and the reason why a lot of home cooked steaks don’t taste quite the same.

I hope these tips work for you and that your steaks taste delicious.  Have a happy grilling season!

Hemp for a Healthy Future

Hemp refers to a variety of Cannabis plant and its products. Hemp is a tall, slender, fibrous plant that has been cultivated worldwide for over 10,000 years. Industrial Hemp is remarkably beneficial and used in food, fiber, oil, seeds, soaps, lotions, and balms.

Hemp is an easily digestible vegan protein which is gluten free and has no known allergens. Hemp contains all 20 amino acids and all 9 of the essential amino acids that our bodies cannot produce. Hemp seed oil provides the highest plant source of Omega essential fatty acids with almost no saturated fat. It has a perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 Linolenic Acid which is helpful for cardiovascular health and immunity. Hemp is rich in fiber, vitamin E, trace minerals, and phytonutrients.  Phytonutrients help protect your immunity, bloodstream, tissues, cells, skin, organs and mitochondria. Hemp seed doesn’t contain phytic acid which is an anti-nutrient that prevents us from absorbing minerals.

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

One handful of hemp seed per day will supply adequate protein and essential oils for an adult. The light, nutty flavor of hemp seeds make them a perfect raw ingredient for breads, cereals, waffles, nut butters, protein powders, nutritional oils, non-dairy milk, and ice cream.

Hemp is cost effective, earth friendly, and grows well almost everywhere.  Hemp can be grown organic, without pesticides or fertilizer chemicals. Hemp is an environmentally sustainable solution because it has deep roots, which is good for the soil, and when the leaves drop off the plant, minerals and nitrogen are returned to the soil and it requires less water that other crops.  Therefore, it has been grown on the same soil for twenty years in a row without any noticeable depletion of the soil, making it a preferred rotation crop.

Agricultural considerations may make hemp the food crop of the future because it resists UV-B light, which is a kind of sunlight blocked by the ozone layer. Soy beans do not take UV-B light very well. If the ozone layer were to deplete by the predicted 16%, soy production would fall by 25-30%, while hemp would not. Hemp has been used to provide food in many instances of famine. 

Hemp is grown legally in just about every industrialized country except the USA. Hemp seeds do not contain any marijuana and they do not get you “high”.  To grow marijuana you have to have special seed that grows a plant high in THC, the property responsible for the drug response. Commercial hemp seed contains very low amounts of THC, plus they contain a substance that counteracts THC.

Hemp Seeds and Oils blend into smoothies well. You can stir into juices, add to cereal, yogurt, and batter mixes. 

Mark your calendars for the 5th Annual Hemp History Week – June 2-8, 2014. It's Time to get involved and celebrate. Every day, more and more Americans discover the benefits of hemp. Here’s a healthy recipe to get you started.

Hemp Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Hempseeds

2 tbsp Nutiva Protein Shake

1 banana

A dash of vanilla

1 cup water or almond milk

Directions:  Blend the hemp seeds and 1-2 oz water into a thick cream and pour into the blender.  Add the cream, ice, and remaining ingredients into the blender. Mix well.

Lose Weight with Yacon Syrup

Yacon is a large root that looks similar to the Yucca root. It has been a staple food in South America for the Andean Indian populations for centuries. Fresh yacon has the taste of  watermelon with the texture of an apple. It can be eaten alone or in a fruit mixture. The plant can be stir-fried, roasted or baked as a vegetable. The leaves can be used a wrap or made into tea.

The yacon root is now available in health food stores in syrup form. Yacon syrup tastes similar to caramelized sugar, raisins, figs or molasses.

Yacon syrup is high in prebiotics, such as inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). FOS is a sugar found naturally in many plants. This natural sugar can not be broken down by the enzymes that are present in our digestive systems. This means that these sugars are sent out of our body instead of being digested. Inulin acts as a soluble fiber that helps improve bowl movements and constipation.

You should use yacon syrup that contains 50% Fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Yacon syrup should be extracted directly from the yacon root, not the leaf or seed. The yacon syrup must have no fillers, binders or any artificial ingredients. The recommended serving is 1 teaspoon, 2 to 3 times a day.

Studies have shown health benefits from yacon, including weight loss. One 2009 study published in Clinical Nutrition* followed 55 obese Argentine women who took about 3-4 teaspoons of yacon syrup per day. The women were instructed to slightly reduce their caloric intake and to walk for 45 minutes twice a week. Over 120 days, the women who did not take yacon syrup did not experience significant changes, while the women who did use yacon lost an average of 33 pounds and 4 inches of waist circumference. They also experienced improved insulin levels, lower cholesterol, and less constipation.

If you want to try yacon syrup for weight loss, take one teaspoon of 100% pure yacon syrup before or with each meal or you can use it as a sugar substitute in drinks like coffee or tea.

Yacon syrup has a glycemic index of 1. This is one of the lowest glycemic indexes among sweeteners and is excellent for diabetics. Yacon syrup has about 20 calories per tablespoon with a sweetness index of 0.5.

Yacon is such a complete plant with so many benefits. I always find it interesting that one region in the world has used a plant like this for over a thousand years, yet in many parts of the world no one has even heard of it.
Whenever a recipe calls for brown sugar or molasses, you could substitute yacon. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Yacon

Ingredients

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour

½ teaspoon celtic sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup grapeseed oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ cup yacon syrup

1 cup chocolate chunks

Directions:  Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and combine wet ingredients in smaller bowl. Then mix wet ingredients into dry.  Form ½ “ balls and press onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes.  Cool and serve.

Yacon Salad Dressing

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

3-4 tbsp yacon syrup

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp ginger

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

*http://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(09)00030-2/abstract