BMI, ABSI, WHR, what are they????

Most people have heard of BMI (body mass index), a few months ago Dr Mercola mentioned WHR (waist to hip ratio), and now from this month's Oprah Magazine, page 88, ABSI (a body shape index)

Mercola stated that the WHR is a better indicator than BMI of healthy weight and potential heart disease. He just stated the easiest way is the make sure your waist is less than half your height, but the chart below is helpful.

The Mayo Clinic used the following waist-to-hip ratio designations:

Here is his article
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/14/waist-size-matters.aspx

Below is from Oprah's magazine (thanks Donna for the article from Oprah) Here is a link as well (not the article) http://www.oprah.com/health/ABSI-Body-Shape-Index

"For more than 40 years, scientists have searched for a simple formula for determining who's healthy and who's not.  First there was the body mass index (BMI)... but it doesn't indicate where you carry your weight, an important factor in understanding your overall health.  As a result, doctors began embracing waist circumference (WC)...  But WC, too, can fall short - for failing to fact height into the equation:  A 5'10'' woman with a 35-inch waist may have a very different health profile from a 5'2" woman with the same girth.

Given rising rates of chronic disease associated with obesity, it's no wonder that the medical community has been laboring to come up with a better metric.  Now a father-and-son team - Jesse Krakauer, MD, an endocrinologist, and Nir Krakauer, PhD, an assistant professor at City College of NY have developed A Body Shape Index (ABSI)... This takes into account weight, height, and waist circumference.

In an initial study, team Krauker calculated the ABSI and BMI of more than 14,000 Americans of all shapes and sizes (pregnant women excluded) and found that high ABSI is more accurate than BMI at predicting mortality.  Those with the highest ABSI numbers had more than twice the risk of dying from any cause than those with the lowest."

It's better, "Because ABSI accounts for height, it likely depicts body roundness in a more precise way than waist circumference can."

"Plug your measurements into the calculator the Krakauers have developed at
www-ce.ccny.cuny.edu/nir/sw/absi-calculator.html or http://www.absicalculator.eu/.  The number you want to note is the relative risk from ABSI.  A 1 means you're at average risk of death for your age.  Below 1 means a below-average risk.  above 1 means a greater risk."

pinenut chevre with relish

We served this with dates, and Gluten Free Matzo crackers, and Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Chips.

Ingredients

At a glance

Makes

2 cups cheese, 1 1/2 cups relish, and 8 cups chips

Pine nut chevre:
2 cups pine nuts, soaked for 2 hours and drained
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
2-3 Tbsp filtered water as needed
2 TBS nutritional yeast (added)
1/4 tsp probiotic powder (added)

Relish:
2 cups fresh organic cranberries ( we had dehydrated some from the holidays, re-hydrated to use in this recipe)
1 large organic sweet pear, such as dánjou
zest of one organic lemon, plus 2 Tbsp juice
3 Tbsp raw coconut nectar, raw local honey or maple syrup
a pinch sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Sweet Potato Chips
2 large yams, sliced paper thin
coconut oil, melted to liquid
sea salt

Methods/steps

To make the chevre:
1) Combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth, adding a Tbsp or two of water as needed to create a goat cheese like consistency (do not add too much or it will be too thin.).

2) Place the cheese in 2 layers of cheesecloth, fold it around the cheese and let sit on counter overnight and then refrigerate.

To make the relish:
1) In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until chopped and combined but still chunky.

2) Serve the relish with the chevre.

To make the sweet potato chips:
1) Dehydrate the yam slices for about 12 hours until crispy

2) Toss with a thin layer of coconut oil, and sprinkle with sea salt.

http://www.rawguru.com/raw-food-recipes/pine-nut-chevre-with-cranberry-pear-relish-and-sweet-potato-chips.html.html

Barbecue Sauce with Lentils

We were making Barbecue chicken for my hubby and was curious about something similar for a vegan
This is the barbecue sauce we have made for chicken, especially for wings or shredded BBQ chicken.

Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups of ketchup
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon liquid aminos (Braggs or Coconut)
1 tablespoon paprika
4 cloves minced garlic
1.5 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Combine in a jar and shake.

Searching the internet we found several recipes for brushing a portobella with BBQ sauce and grilling it as one would chicken.
We try to have one serving of legumes each day. This is the recipe we developed.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup rinsed red lentils
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 onion diced
1/2 cup of barbecue sauce
1.5 cups of water

Water sauteed the mushrooms and onions. Added the rinsed lentils and water. Bring it to a boil and simmered until the lentil are soft. Stirred in the BBQ sauce and heat.

We served it on a whole grain gluten free bun. We also served it was lemon-garlic roasted asparagus.

Chocomole with Whipping Kream

We love pudding topped with whipped cream. We have made a raw versions using the following ingredients

Whipping Kream
1 cup raw cashews soaked (6-12 hours) 
6 dates soaked (6-12 hours)
a pinch of sea salt
Directions: drain and rinse the soaked cashews. Place in a high speed blender
Save the water from the soaking dates. (The dates can be used for some other purpose, such a raw nut based milks, eaten or added to the blender for the whipping kream to make it sweeter.). 
Add the water from the dates to the high speed blender covering the cashews (~3/4 cup of cold date water)
Blend until smooth

Avocado Chocolate Pudding (aka, Chocomole!)
1 ripe avocado, pitted
6-10 dates (depending on size of dates and desired sweetness – I’m usually happy with 8 medjool dates), soaked if necessary
½ tsp vanilla
4 heaping Tbsp cocoa or 2 Tbsp. carob powder (we used 2 TBSP raw cacao powder)
½ cup water

Directions: Place all ingredients in a food processor (you can use a blender or Vita, but food processors work much better for this recipe) and begin blending.http://www.choosingraw.com/raw-chocolate-avocado-pudding/

To assemble: add the chocomole to the container, top with the whipping kream and a cherry

If one wanted to make a chocolate pie for the crust one could use

Crust:
ingredients
1/4 cup dates, pitted, soaked
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup almonds

in a food processor chop and mix the dates and nuts. press into a pie pan. add the pudding and top with the whipping kream.

Lentil Roasted Red Pepper Chili

We love lentils and chili powder so this is a wonderful recipe for us!!!. We topped it with avocado pieces.

Vegan Lentil Chili with Roasted Red Peppers, Olives, and Green Onion
(Makes 4-6 servings; recipe adapted from Lentil Chili with Cumin and Green Onions in the February 2008 Bon Appetit Magazine.  I could not find the recipe online.)

Ingredients:
2 tsp. olive oil (omitted)
1 medium onion, chopped in small pieces
2 tsp. finely minced garlic
2 T Chili Powder (I used Penzeys Regular Chili Powder, which is quite mild.)
1 T ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
1/8 tsp. dried Chipotle chile pepper (or cayenne; use more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 cup brown lentils
1/4 cup red lentils (or use more brown lentils if you don't have red ones)
3 cans ( 14 oz. can) vegetable broth + 1 can water
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 can (6 oz) black olives, drained and sliced
1 jar (12 oz.) roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
lime slices for serving (optional) 

Instructions:

Use a large dutch oven type pan so you have a big surface area for cooking the vegetables.  Heat olive oil over medium heat, then saute the chopped onion until it's starting to brown.  Add garlic and saute about 1 minute more.  Add the chili powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, and Chipotle or Cayenne powder and saute about 90 seconds more, or until the spices are fragrant.

Add the brown lentils, red lentils, vegetable broth, water, and tomato sauce and heat until the mixture comes to a low boil.  Reduce heat to a low simmer and let the mixture cook until red lentils are mostly dissolved and brown lentils are well-softened.   Cooking time will depend on how fresh the lentils are, but I simmered this for slightly more than an hour, adding more water a couple of times.  (Tomatoes make the lentils cook a bit more slowly, so if you're in a hurry don't add the tomato sauce until lentils are starting to get tender.)

While the mixture cooks, slice the green onions, drain olives and cut into slices, and drain the roasted red pepper and chop into small pieces.  When lentils are cooked, add green onion, olives, and roasted red pepper and let the mixture simmer 15-20 minutes more.  Serve hot, with slices of lime to squeeze into each serving if desired.

This freezes well.  For best results, thaw in refrigerator overnight and then heat in microwave or in a small pan on the stove.

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Vegan-lentil-chili-with-roasted-red-peppers_-olives_-and-green-onion-309276

Raw Carrot Cake

We made Dr Fuhrman's Anit=cancer soup ( http://www.food.com/recipe/dr-fuhrman-rsquo-s-famous-anti-cancer-soup-updated-452149 ) today and had carrot pulp for this Carrot Cake from Fully Raw Kristina. The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLB4H-t4vvk&feature=youtu.be
This is delicious the only future change we would make is add a little pineapple.

ingredients:
cake:
4-6 cup carrot pulp (save the juice)
2-3 cups mulberries
1/2-1 cups raisins
1-2 cups dates
1 tsp ginger
1 T cinnamon
1-2 inches vanilla bean
food processor

frosting:
3-4 cups soaked cashews
3-4 cups young coconut water
1-2 cups dates
2 T lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 inches vanilla bean
1 t rose water (didn't have any)
high speed blender

toppings:
pistachios
shredded coconut

layer in spring form pan (3 layers)
freezer for a few hours
remove from pan, finish frosting and toppings

White Chocolate Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tort

White Chocolate Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tort

-serves 8-

Crust:

• 1 cup almonds
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
  (we added a couple of dates, next time we will add a couple more to help hold it together)

Doesn't this look amazing!!!!

1. Pulse almonds in food processor until finely chopped.

2. Add melted coconut oil and cacao. Pulse until well blended.

3. Pat into the bottom of an 8-inch tart pan (I used this one: 8-inch Tart Pan)

Filling:

• 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup raw agave or liquid sweetener of choice
• 1/2 cup raw cacao butter, melted
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 vanilla bean (scrape the insides)
• 2 pints raspberries

1. Blend cashews, agave, cacao butter, coconut oil and vanilla in high-speed blender until smooth.

2. Spread 1/2 the cacao mixture over the crust. Place a layer of raspberries and top with the remaining cacao mixture.

Ganache

• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/2 cup agave or liquid sweetener of choice
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1. Whisk all ingredients together and pour over white cacao layer.

2. Chill until firm (at least 3 hours).
a note from our experience: the ganache gets soft if not frozen
http://www.rawmazing.com/white-chocolate-dark-chocolate-raspberry-tort/

Fully raw chili

We love chili and have tried several raw chili recipes. We followed Fully raw Kristina's raw chili recipe including our alterations, plus we serve it with Raw Corn Bread from Raw Foods for Dummies. Fully Raw Kristina's youtube is at the bottom.
Ingredients:
3-4 cups tomato
2-3 soaked dried tomato (we added 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid)
food processor base

Dice:
3 cup cherry tomato
1 cup corn (we didn't add)
1 cup celery
1 cup bell pepper
1 cup zucchini
1/2 cup carrot
1/2 cup green onion
1-2 cup  mushrooms
1 red onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 jap pepper (we didn't add)
1 clove of garlic
chili powder (2 heaping teaspoons)
sage (we didn't add)
thyme (we didn't add)
cumin (1 teaspoon)
paprika (1 teaspoon)
basil leaf (we didn't add)
we added 1 /2 teaspoon of dried oregano
we added the juice of half a large lime

prior to dehydrating

We then put it in the dehydrator at 105 for 6 hours because we like it warm.
we added the avocado when we served it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gopVrZVMofU

Is Roundup the Cause of 'Gluten Intolerance'?

Mother Earth News reported on a journal article from the Journal of Interdisciplinary Toxicology 
Feb. 25, 2014 http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/gluten-intolerance-from-roundup-herbicide-zw0z1402zkin.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=HE%20eNews&utm_campaign=03.10.14%20HE
Increased use of Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide (trade name Roundup) could be the cause of the epidemic of  “gluten intolerance”, according to a compelling new peer-reviewed report from two U.S. scientists. Farmers are now using glyphosate not only to control weeds but also to dry down wheat, rice, sugarcane and other crops just before harvest, resulting in higher residues in the foods we eat. The abstract from the paper "Glyphosate, Pathways to Modern Diseases II: Celiac Sprue and Gluten Intolerance" is below.  You can read the full report here and view graphs in the Slideshow connecting increased use of glyphosate with growing rates of celiac incidence, deaths from intestinal infections, acute kidney disease and deaths due to Parkinson’s.
The journal article is  
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/~/media/2C6428C5A5254BAFB484C6E43E4ADCF9.ashx

March 2014 Raw Potluck

Each month i think this is the best food we have had and this month it truly was.
For appetizers we had zucchini hummus with bell peppers. We had a "stir fry" cabbage dish made with sesame oil, cumin, cabbage, romaine,carrots, and other veggies. We had the Mediterranean raw salad made with spiralize zucchini, cucumbers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, cherry tomatoes, rawamesan cheeze, and other veggies. We had sliced apples and a tossed salad. We compared the two raw lasagnas. Everyone felt that a combination of these would be best. For dessert we had raw brownies made with walnuts, dates, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla and cocoa powder. The recipe is similar to this one http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-brownie-recipe. These were the best!!!

raw Caesar dressing

We saw this raw Caesar Dressing at rawguru.com The link is at the bottom.

Ingredients

At a glance

Salads & Salsas

Dressings & Sauces

1/2 heaping cup raw pine nuts (73 g)
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon raw agave (don't omit, this balances out the acidity of the lemon juice we used 1 date)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Methods/steps

1) Add all of the ingredients to your blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and creamy. I used my Vitamix, but I'm sure any blender or even a food processor would work since pine nuts are a soft nut.

2) Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. It will be perfect for salads then as it gets well chilled and thickens up some.

I used an Italian salad blend and added some broccoli, pine nuts, extra black pepper and nutritional yeast on top. However, feel free to use whatever greens you like.

*Raw, vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free

*Nutrition per serving: 65.6 calories, 2.25 g protein, 5.75 g fat, 2.2 carbs

http://www.rawguru.com/raw-food-recipes/raw-vegan-caesar-dressing.html.html

Comparing Raw Lasagna recipes

We wanted to compare the living lasagna and fully raw Kristina's lasagna. Kristina's has less fat, because no oil and about  1/4 of the nuts are used. It has no sodium from the liquid aminos/raw soy. It is easier because there are fewer steps but does it taste as good as the Living Lasagna from Rawguru?

Here is Fully Raw Kristina video of lasagna at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ixX1Cix7ks&feature=em-subs_digest

The ingredients are as follows:
5-7 zucchini (noodles)

food process
1-2 cups parsley
3 cups arugula
1 bunch of cilantro
1-2 green  onions
1 bunch spinach
3-4 swiss chard leaves de-stem

sauce:
3-4 cups (we only added 3 cups because we added the sun dried tomatoes) cherry tomatoes
stems of swiss chard
oregano, thyme, dill, basil...
(we added:
2 cups of sun dried tomatoes soaked for 6 hours because we know how much flavor they add to the sauce
1 clove of garlic
and 3 pitted dates)
blend

(in the future, we may use the living lasagna's tomato sauce instead because it TASTES SO GOOD!
Tomato Sauce
2 cups sun dried tomatoes soaked for 6 hrs. 
7 roma tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. red or yellow onion
3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. dried basil
1-2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbs. agave nectar or 3 pitted dates)

pine nut cream
1-2 zucchini
1/2-1 cup pine nut
1 clove of garlic
food processor
(this cheeze is so much easier and tastes wonderful. I did peel the zucchini first so it wasn't a green cheeze)

Living Lasagna IS delicious but difficult to make. When we do make it we make a double recipe and freeze it.

http://www.rawguru.com/recipe13.html

The verdict is combine these two recipes. The next time we make it we will use the fully raw cheeze and green mix, with the living lasagna sauce and marinaded peppers, mushrooms, and onions.

Salted Chocolate

We changed the original recipe a little because i don't really like coconut.
Ingredients:
1/4-1/3 cup organic raw cacao butter
1/2 cup organic cocoa powder
1/4 cup raw, local honey
1/2 tsp. natural vanilla extract
Generous pinch of organic maple sugar
Himalayan  of sea salt on top just before it went into the refrigerator

Instructions: Melt raw cacao butter in sauce pan over low heat. Add honey and cocoa powder, blend well. Stir in a pinch of maple sugar. Remove from heat. Line a shallow baking dish with parchment paper. Pour chocolate mix onto paper lined dish. Refrigerate until chocolate solidifies. Cut into squares or break into bite sized pieces. Store in refrigerator. -

The original recipe is from:
http://villagegreennetwork.com/sinfully-delicious-salted-dark-chocolate/

'Eatmore' Fudge

This 'Eatmore' Fudge looks amazing and our friend made it to confirm it is.

We made our own almond butter for this using the Blendtec Twist jar and 1.5 cups of almonds in 40 seconds at step up 7 twisting the lid as it blended. This is so much easier than using the food processor for 10 minutes.

‘Eatmore’ Fudge Squares

(Serves: 16)

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup almonds, unsalted
• 1/4 cup walnuts, unsalted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  Put dates in a bowl with warm water, allow dates to soak for 30 minutes, then drain (we save this water to sweeten our tea instead of using honey or sugar - http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-healthiest-sweetener/ ). Mix together dates, almonds, walnuts, and 1/4 cup cocoa powder in a food processor until well blended. Spread mixture in a 9×5 baking pan (we used a 9x9 pan) until evenly distributed, and press down gently with a spoon.
• 2 ripe bananas (we used ripe bananas we had frozen)
• 4 tbsp natural almond butter
• 1/4 cup more unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tbsp unpasteurized honey (K note: strict vegans can use agave)
  Mix together bananas, almond butter, honey, and other 1/4 cup cocoa powder in the food processor until well blended. Spread mixture over bottom layer until evenly distributed. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. Cut into 16 squares. Re-freeze whatever you don’t eat, and enjoy at another time! 

These do need to stay frozen.
This is the link for this recipe http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/02/15/healthy-eatmore-fudge-chocolate-bars/