GREEN TEA COCONUT ZEN POPSICLES

Archives for June 2015

Looking for a cool treat to get you through the dog days of Summer?

I have you covered with this easy recipe that will even boost your mood!

Matcha has a unique flavor but most quickly develop a taste for it. It's not sickeningly sweet and will hit the spot on a Summer afternoon.

These popsicles are loaded with catechins which are some of the most powerful antioxidants you can get your hands on.

Matcha has been used by the Japanese for years for its calming effects produced by the L-Theanine found in the Matcha.

 

Another side-effect of L-Theanine is the production of dopamine and serotonin. These two chemicals serve to enhance mood, improve memory, and promote better concentration – something that can benefit everyone!

 

Ideally, you'll use a popsicle mold but if you don't have one, an ice cube tray or even a small dixie cup will do the trick. Let's get right to making these Zen treats.

 

GREEN TEA COCONUT ZEN

POPSICLES

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 13.5-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
  • About 1/2 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
  • 2-3 teaspoons culinary-quality matcha powder
  • 1/4 cup raw honey

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, whisk coconut milk until smooth.

2. In a small mixing bowl, mix about 1-2 tablespoons almond milk with 2 teaspoons matcha powder until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into coconut milk. Add honey and mix until smooth.

4. Taste and if a stronger matcha taste is desired, mix another teaspoon of matcha in a little almond milk until smooth and add to coconut milk mixture.

5. Add chia seeds if desired.

6. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze at least 5 hours.

Enjoy! 

 

Danette May's Green Tea Coconut Zen Popsicle Recipe

 

These have a unique flavor and Zen feeling that only matcha can provide and are wonderfully healthy. Enjoy!

 

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. I hope you will share this with your friends and I always welcome your comments below.

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Easy Yogurt Berry Protein Popsicles

Healthy Chocolate Popsicles

Rich And Creamy Breakfast Popsicles

 

After my recent trip to Italy, Caprese EVERYTHING has really been on my mind. I love the combination of flavors that fresh basil and mozzarella offers. If you love Caprese salad, you will really love this heartier version.

Portobellos are an excellent source of protein, and riboflavin, a B vitamin that is important for energy, growth and red blood cell production. You can serve it as an appetizer or a meal and it's super easy to make.

 

 

Caprese Style Portobellos

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Large Portobello mushroom caps, gills removed
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Fresh basil
  • Olive oil
  • Dill leaves
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.

3. Brush the caps and rims with olive oil on each mushroom.

4. Slice cherry or grape tomatoes in half, place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, add chopped basil, sea salt, and black pepper.

5. Let sit for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.

6. Place mozzarella cheese in the bottom of the mushroom cap, spoon on tomato basil mixture, and bake until the cheese melts and the mushrooms are cooked but not overcooked. Keep an eye on them.

7. Garnish with dill leaves.

 

Hope you enjoy this healthy taste of Italy knowing that your waistline will love it too!

 

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. If you like this recipe, please share it with your friends and I always welcome your comments below.

 

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HEARTY & HEALTHY BALSAMIC MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS

 

 

If you haven't tried making bliss balls yet, you are really missing out. There's a reason I call these ‘heavenly!'

They are so quick and easy to make and the perfect grab and go snack that satisfies.

Just a couple of these will fill you up and the kids will think they are candy. Coconut is the ideal way to get healthy fats and some good filling fiber to boost energy.

There is no way you will feel deprived after popping a couple of these sweet pick me ups in your mouth.

coconut bliss balls
Enjoy this tasty little treat with no guilt and lots of pleasure.

Yours in health and happiness,

Danette

P.S. Please feel free share this recipe with your friends. And I always love reading your comments below…

 
 

Want to burn more fat, build more muscle, and increase your aerobic capacity in a fraction of the time it takes to run three miles?

You can!

And that barely scratches the surface of the gains you can realize from high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

HIIT Benefits

For the past 20 years, numerous studies reveal the amazing benefits of integrating HIIT workouts into your routine. If it’s fat burning you want, HIIT beats conventional aerobic exercise hands down.

In one study, participants who engaged in HIIT lost six times the amount of fat as those who performed steady-state aerobics.

The beauty of HIIT is that your body continues to burn fat long afterward, while your body is resting.

Of course, when it comes to losing fat, your fork must do the heavy lifting! (Or we should say, lighter lifting.)

Most people think that if they want to lose more fat, they have to exercise longer and harder. But excessive aerobic exercise can cause muscle loss, decline in testosterone, weaken the immune system, and increase cortisol levels.

By contrast, HIIT has the opposite effect on all those systems.

Another great benefit of HIIT is that you can turn almost any exercise into a HIIT workout. We’ll show you how below.

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Perhaps the most amazing benefit of HIIT is that it requires considerably less time than a normal cardio workout and is performed less frequently. A routine aerobic workout may consist of 30-45 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week.

High Intensity Interval Training can be accomplished in as few as 4 minutes, no more than 2 times per week.

The 3 crucial components of HIIT include:

1. All-out! This is the high-intensity part of the workout. It’s sprinting instead of jogging; or performing whatever activity you choose with enough intensity so as to make it anaerobic, or to get you breathless. The magic of HIIT is to create a short-term oxygen deficit.

2. Short intervals! Due to the high intensity component, it stands to reason that you cannot maintain that level of intensity for long. The type of activity itself will help determine how long those intervals should be, but they may be as short as 20 seconds.

The higher the intensity, the shorter the interval. Part of your HIIT routine will include short rest periods between intervals as well. In fact, don’t extend your whole HIIT workout longer than 30 minutes.

3. Less frequent workouts! The intense nature of this training demands a minimum 48-hour rest period before repeating. Just two HIIT workouts per week may be a great place to land. High-Intensity Interval Training doesn’t replace your normal cardio workout, but enhances it.

Aerobic exercise still offers a great workout, but complementing it with HIIT makes it even better! Use common sense, however. If you’re unaccustomed to regular exercise, consult your physician before embarking on a HIIT regimen.

running_woman_high_intensity

A 20-minute HIIT workout running in a park might look like this:

1. Five minutes of stretching and warm-up.

2. Two minutes of running at a moderate pace.

3. 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as you can.

4. Two minutes of running at a moderate pace.

5. 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as you can.

6. Two minutes of running at a moderate pace.

7. 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as you can.

8. Two minutes of running at a moderate pace.

9. 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as you can.

10. Five minutes of cool-down and stretching.

High-intensity interval training can burn more fat and provide a better workout in less time than conventional aerobic training.

If you’re running, biking, or walking briskly five days per week, by just replacing two of those workouts per week with HIIT, you’ll experience some amazing results!

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. Please share this with your friends and I always enjoy reading your comments below.

I know what you're thinking…yogurt is supposed to be one of the healthy choices, right?

Yogurt is rich in calcium, high in protein, relatively low in calories, and comes in convenient packaging for on-the-go meals and snacks.

One of the greatest benefits of yogurt is its live, active probiotics. “As the health of your gut goes, so goes the health of your body.”

Probiotics provide your gut with the flora necessary to keep your intestinal tract running well and your immune system robust.

But alas . . . not all yogurts are created equal! In fact, you may be eating more than you bargained for in your favorite brand of yogurt.

In reviewing the top five selling yogurt brands in the US, we found some not-so-healthy ingredients stirred in with all those other good things.

These extra components cheat you of the very health you seek when you grab a yogurt.

Unhealthy ingredients

1. Sugar is at the top of the list, not only because it’s the most common additive, but also because it usually shows up in second or third place in a yogurt’s list of ingredients. Sometimes, the sugar is camouflaged as “evaporated cane juice.”One six-ounce brand of yogurt contains 25 grams of sugar—equivalent to 6.25 teaspoons of sugar! Yikes!

2. Artificial sweeteners also abound in some yogurts. Yoplait recently dumped aspartame for sucralose (aka Splenda). But many people experience severe intestinal distress from sucralose and other artificial sweeteners as well. These sweeteners are not healthy! They are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and, contrary to popular belief, they raise blood sugar and make people fat.

3. Fructose and high fructose corn syrup are other forms of sweeteners found in many yogurts. Fructose is processed by the liver and converted to fat in the body. Also, these corn products in the US are GMO.

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4. Artificial and “natural” flavors find their way into many brands of yogurt. These terms cloak the 50 to 100 ingredients that they may contain. Beware, the word “natural” is not a regulated term.

5. Food dyes including red # 40, blue # 1 are added to color your yogurt. These dyes especially affect some children detrimentally.

6. Other assorted chemicals, additives, and fillers are often added to speed up or replace natural processes. Some of these ingredients include: modified corn starch, modified food starch, gelatin, locust bean gum, malic acid, potassium sorbate, sodium citrate, and others.

Let’s face it, reading labels can be confusing enough and even more so when manufacturers get tricky or even deceptive in their descriptions.

What’s the solution? Plain and simple – Greek yogurt!

My favorite is Fage Greek yogurt.

Here are the ingredients in Fage Total: milk and cream with live active cultures. That’s it! No sugar added, no HFC, no food dye, chemicals, fillers, or other unknowns. This is real yogurt, high in protein and low in carbs!

fruit-smoothies-fage

With plain Greek yogurt you’re getting bona fide cultured yogurt to which you can add real fruit and sweeten with honey, or stevia if you like. You know exactly what you’re eating, pure, simple and healthy!

Yours In Health,

Danette

P.S. Please share this important information with your friends and I welcome your comments below.

For thousands of years, the Chinese have known this herb  increases energy, cognitive ability, mood, and  even sex drive. And Native Americans gathered this herb for untold centuries to obtain similar results.

The herb is ginseng. Although it grows wild in the Northern hemisphere, many countries including the US have chosen to cultivate this valuable herb. Today, ginseng is one of the most popular herbal remedies the world over.

Oddly, Americans seem to prefer Asian or Korean ginseng, while 95% of American ginseng is exported to China!

Most ginseng supplements are made from its bulbous root that is dried and ground to a powder. But the leaves and berries may be processed as well.

herbs

As with most herbal supplements, there are few clinical studies in the US on the health benefits of ginseng. This is because most pharmaceutical research is funded by the large drug companies who stand to gain from their research. Since herbal remedies cannot be patented, studying herbs does not attract their dollars.

The scientific name for ginseng is Panax, which comes from the Greek word panacea, meaning “all- healing.”

While many take ginseng for a wide variety of reasons, the most common include:

♦ Boosts energy and stamina. Athletes as well as cancer patients and those recovering from other illnesses or injuries find that ginseng enhances their energy and helps them overcome fatigue.

♦ Increases cognitive function. Many take ginseng to improve their concentration, clarity of thought and ability to learn new things.

♦ Improves libido and helps with erectile dysfunction. Over and above all its other benefits, more people supplement with ginseng to improve sexual function than for any other reason. 

♦ Promotes anti-aging. Due to its generous supply of anti-oxidants and its ability to improve blood circulation and support the immune system, ginseng packs some real restorative power! 

How to supplement with ginseng

Typical of herbal supplements, you may need to take ginseng for a few weeks or months before you notice its full benefits.

Also, more is not better. Often, people who experience negative side-effects such as headaches or upset stomach can alleviate them by taking a lesser dose.

You may wish to start with one or two capsules of ginseng (200 mg) per day and see whether you obtain the desired benefits.

Also, as with other herbal supplements, after you’ve been supplementing with ginseng for a while, it’s a good idea to occasionally stop taking it for a week and then start up again. This actually helps maintain peak effectiveness of the herb in your system.

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Also, because ginseng is a stimulant, it’s best to take it in the morning rather than before bedtime. Remember too that everyone is different, so what works well for you may not work well for others and vice-versa.

Finally, as with all herbal medicines, check with your doctor before you begin supplementing with ginseng.

How about you? Are you looking for a boost in energy, libido, or mental clarity? Try supplementing with ginseng and see what the Chinese have been raving about for 5,000 years.

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. I hope you will share this information with your friends and I welcome your comments below.

For millions of years, ALL over the world, in one form or another, bread has symbolized life-giving sustenance…until now.

All around us, people report intestinal issues and other problems due to gluten intolerance from wheat, barley and rye found in breads, pasta, and pastries.

Even though only about 1% of the US population suffers from celiac disease, this represents a four-fold increase in the past half-century.  And over the same period of time, gluten intolerance has increased a shocking 19-fold!

Some of the possible reasons for this radical rise in gluten intolerance include:

♦The use of sulfur and nitrogen fertilizers that may change the proteins in wheat

♦ The super-hybridization and chemical and radiological mutation of wheat

♦The way we bake bread

This last reason for the rising intolerance to gluten grabs my attention, because you and I can do something about it today.

Tribine-Windy-Day-In-Field

Until the 1940s, nearly all breads were made using a process called lacto-fermentation, more commonly known as sour-dough.

Then, as we began looking for ways to make everything faster and cheaper, speedy bread-making processes using yeast replaced the more lengthy process of lacto-fermentation. Unwittingly, we sacrificed our health for convenience.

In a recent study, researchers made two batches of bread from the same wheat: one using lacto- fermentation and the other with yeast. After baking, the yeast bread measured gluten levels of 75,000 parts per million (ppm), while the sourdough bread had gluten levels of only 12 ppm!

Anything under 20ppm is considered gluten-free.  The difference is astounding!

Make a Sour-Dough Starter

Baking your own bread via the lacto-fermentation process is easy and requires less kneading than conventional yeast breads. To begin, you must create a sour-dough starter:

Ham-Bone-Beans_14_flour-and-cold-water

1. The starter consists of equal parts of flour and water (4 oz. weight of each). Place these ingredients in a large glass or ceramic bowl or jar, mix thoroughly with a whisk and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

2. Set this container somewhere at room temperature in a non-drafty location.

3. Almost like caring for a pet, you must “feed” your starter each day. For the first five days after putting your starter together, stir in another 4 oz. (weight) each of water and flour with a whisk. Cover the starter as before and leave at room temperature.

feeding-sour-dough-starter

4. Follow this procedure feeding your starter each day for five days. Your starter should begin to ferment, noticeable by a slightly sour smell and foam forming on top. Natural bacteria in the air are doing their work and literally feast on the gluten.

5. On day six, feed your starter again with 4 oz. each of water and flour and mix in with a whisk. Then, follow your favorite sour-dough recipe for bread, pancakes, waffles, or English muffins, using the amount of starter each recipe calls for.

6. After you use some of the starter for your recipe, discard all but 4 oz. of the remaining starter and feed it again right away. From now on, as long as you keep feeding your starter, it’s ready for use.

The only reason you discard extra sour-dough starter is because it will continue to multiply beyond the amount you can use.

rising-dough

Since lacto-fermented bread using store-bought wheat classifies as “gluten-free” many people who are gluten intolerant are able to tolerate real sour-dough bread just fine.

Now consider using organic, ancient farro wheat like: einkorn, emmer or spelt that have less gluten to begin with and no pesticides or super-hybridization!

Lacto-fermented bread is a wonderful way to enjoy real bread again!

Julias-white-bread-1

And I almost forgot the best part . .once you taste homemade, lacto-fermented bread you’ll never be satisfied with anything less!

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. Please share this with your friends and I always enjoy reading your comments below.

This salad is almost too beautiful to eat …almost! It brightens up any table with it's colorful fresh ingredients.

The dressing is homemade and is nice and light for a hot day.

This beauty is full of fiber and protein and its a perfect way to combine Summer's bounty of fresh fruit.

Plus this delicious salad is loaded with antioxidant rich ingredients like blueberries, spinach and garlic that kill free radicals.

 

 

Quinoa Fruit Salad

 

Yields: 4 – 6 servings

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Salad

  • One 10 ounce package organic spinach
  • 2 cups sliced, fresh organic strawberries, washed and hulled
  • 1 cup fresh organic blueberries
  • 1 cup organic mandarin orange slices
  • 1 cup sliced organic peaches
  • 1/4 cup sliced organic green onion
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa, following package directions

 

Dressing

 

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 balsamic vinegar
  • 3 – 4 teaspoons raw organic honey
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • Himalayan salt, black pepper and garlic salt, to taste

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Salad

1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients.

 

Dressing

1. In a medium bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk together well.

2. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste.

3. Right before serving add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat evenly.

 

Note: If you would like to marry the flavors in the dressing prepare one hour in advance and store in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator.

 

Shake well before adding to salad.

 

I just love the combination of sweet and savory flavors in this filling salad too!

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. Please share this recipe with your friends and I welcome your comments below.

 

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Red, White and Blue Fruit Salad

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Move over red velvet cake- Many don't know this simple trick but a fresh juicy watermelon makes THE best cake you will ever taste!

This is always a huge hit at any Summer party and is SO simple.

Before you start, you want to be sure you've refrigerated the coconut milk for at least 6 hours to give the fat time to separate but it will make the yummiest frosting ever! The frosting is optional and this makes a beautiful, delicious cake even without it. I like to sprinkle it with fresh coconut or toasted almonds if I don't have time to make the frosting.

You can top it with any fresh fruit you have on hand and prep takes about 10 minutes. Here's the basic how-to:

Watermelon Cake Recipe

This is such a fun, healthy way to celebrate any occasion….like Tuesday. Hope you love it as much as I do!

Yours in Health,

Danette