Vitamin D

Our bodies need vitamin D for so many things. such as absorption and metabolism of minerals such as calcium; it aids with our immune system; it reduces our risk of MS, asthma, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and heart disease; it improves cognitive function; and helps maintain a healthy body weight.
Here is one article on the benifits of vitamin D  http://www.naturalnews.com/042371_vitamin_D_arterial_clots_macrophage_adhesion.html

Over the years we have come to realize that our son's apnea and cyanosis issues have been due largely to food allergies, mostly animal products. We don't know if it is the high protein intake or something else in animals. We do know that keeping his protein level around 1 gram of protein per kilogram of weight. The RDA recommendation of protein intake is 0.8 grams per kilogram of healthy body weight, not exactly the Standard American Diet intake of ~ 2 grams of protein per kilogram of healthy body weight. This link is a wonderful sight to check one's dietary intake  https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/default.aspx

On our son's recent allergy test he was allergic to all seafood tested (fish, oils, crustaceans,...) When we removed carrageenan (red seaweed) from his diet, we saw new gains and even less apnea (stop breathing) and cyanosis (blue lips, ear lobes and finger tips).

We have noticed that every fall his apnea and cyanosis increases for an unknown reason. Was is daylight length, less raw food,...? We had no idea UNTIL NOW.

We take 2000 units of vitamin D3 daily beginning October 1 (unless there is quite a bit of rain between the time the pool closes and October 1) until mid-March.

Were you aware that most vitamin D supplements are made from fish oil or sheep skin? Neither are listed on the bottle.

With our son having the allergic reaction of apnea and cyanosis to all sea products (fish, oils, crustaceans, and even seaweed) this is a problem.

Within 2 days of stopping the Vitamin D3 supplement his apnea and cyanosis have virtually stopped.

This must be a problem for others because Kirkman Labs have made a vitamin D supplement from mushrooms. Who knew mushrooms were such a good natural source of vitamin D?
Is this another reason Dr Fuhrman recommends mushrooms as part of his G-BOMBS?

Here is Kirkman's Labs link.
http://kirkmanlabs.com/SiteSearchResult.aspx?strSiteSearch=vegan%20vitamin%20d

After using this for a couple of days, he is talking again, and for the first time his pH is 7. When we started alkalizing, he was below 5. It took us several years to get and keep him around 6.5. This means his autoimmune system is no longer in constant fight mode.

December potluck

For our December potluck we served so many delicious dishes. I can't believe this is the third Christmas we have celebrated together.

We had a Mexican Quinoa Salad. The recipe is

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 cups vegetable broth

2 - 3 cups fresh or frozen corn

1 red pepper, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

Garlic, if desired

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

cherry/grape tomatoes split.

2 TBLS chopped cilantro

Mexican Dressing

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder (to taste)

Juice of 3 limes

8 TBLS extra virgin olive oil

Ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and add the drained quinoa. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minutes, letting the water evaporate. Stir in 2 cups vegetable broth. Bring to a rolling boil.

Lower heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and remove the pot from the burner. Let stand for 5 minutes, covered. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa gently with a fork.

Dry-toast the corn in a non-stick frying pan until it turns golden. If using frozen corn, defrost and dry completely on paper towels. Remove from heat and cool.

Place the quinoa, corn, red pepper, onions, beans and cilantro in a bowl and mix well.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Toss well and serve.

One dish was a mock tabouli  salad  made from cauliflower, marinated mushrooms, dill, carrots, vinaigrette (lemon, cumin, curry, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar), tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, scallions, and red pepper. So delicious!!! There are several recipes on the internet for this, find one with the ingredients you like similar to this http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2013/01/raw-cauliflower-couscous/  (google raw cauliflower salad)

One was a spicy squash and yam pasta dish from http://www.rawguru.com/raw-food-recipes/raw-spicy-squash-and-yam-pasta.html.html . Chives were used instead of scallions because they were available.

There was a buttersquash salad. Raisins were added so it would be more like a carrot and raisin salad. The link is http://www.food.com/recipe/butternut-salad-116800

We had raw Nutnog, using 3/4 cup of hazelnuts, 3 cups of water. 1 cup of pitted dates, 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg, and 1 cup of canned coconut milk. Use a high speed blender until smooth. No alcohol was added to this batch. If one is wanting to add rum, add a shot, blend and repeat until it is the desired alcohol content.







Our surprise dessert was peanut butter chocolate cheezecake. Believe it or not, this tasted better than it looks and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!
The crust contained dates, dried cranberries, chocolate, and almonds.
The banana layer was bananas, cashew, vanilla, 1/4 cup coconut oil, and cinnamon It was divided and half of it had cocoa powder added to it for the chocolate layer.

The topping was chocolate almonds with a touch of maple syrup ground.
The peanut butter drizzle was natural peanut butter, dates, cinnamon, soaked cashew, 1 TBS maple syrup, and coconut oil. The recipe is similar to this http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/2012/07/chocolate-peanut-butter-cream-pie.html#.UufMNBAo7IU

Christmas cookie #10: maple cinnamon walnut cookies

Here is our tenth Christmas cookie recipe: maple cinnamon walnut cookies
This recipe made 4 dozen cookies. We used walnuts instead of pecans due to allergies. We also used maple syrup instead of agave in the topping. Why use agave in maple syrup cookies? The maple syrup and cinnamon is such a great combination!!! The recipe is from
http://www.rawmazing.com/maple-cinnamon-pecan-cookies/

Christmas Cookie #9: raw thumbprint cookies

Here is our ninth Christmas cookie recipe: raw thumbprint cookies
We doubled this recipe because it stated it only made 7. We were able to make 15 cookies per batch. We also used Enjoy Life chips instead of carob chips because we haven't been able to find malt free (gluten-free) carob chips. I would like these better a little crisp. Next time i would dehydrate them prior to adding the melted chocolate, but they are good this way as well.
http://www.holistichelp.net/blog/easy-no-bake-grain-free-sugar-free-and-raw-almond-thumbprint-cookie-recipe/

Raw Nut based Granola

We have made raw granola using sprouted buckwheat for several years now. This week, looking through The Complete Book of Raw Food i found a nut based granola recipe.
It is 2 cups of almonds soaked for 24 hours, 1 cup of sunflower seeds soaked for 8 hours, pumpkin seeds soaked for 8 hours. The nuts are drained and processed in the food processor. Then 2 apples are processed with a tablespoon of cinnamon. This mixture is dehydrated. for 24 hours. After dehydrating, 1 cup of raisins were added as were 1 cup of ground flax and dried (fresh, no sugar added) cranberries. This can store for up to 3 months.
BUT so many people don't have a dehydrator, so how could someone wanting a raw healthy protein, plant-based breakfast make this?
This is what i suggested my mom do.

She processed 2 cups of almonds, 1 cup of sunflower seeds, 1 cup of pumpkin seeds in the food processor. This mixture is stored in the refrigerator. For breakfast she takes a 1/2=3/4 cup of the nut mix, adding a 1/2 apple chopped, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground flax seed, and 1 tablespoon raisins. She then adds the milk of her choice.
I realize that the benefits of the enzymes from the nuts and seeds soaking/sprouting aren't there but compared to a typical breakfast, this is pretty beneficial for most people. My mom told me this is easy, filling, and helping stabilize her sugar.

Food Matters

This is a very informative video, well worth the time. It is free through December 9, 2013.
http://www.foodmatters.tv/free
I think the the study that struck me the most was the one about 51% of cooked food per meal is seen by the body as an enemy while 51% of raw food is seen as a friend.

Mexican Lentil Stew

We are trying to eat one serving of lentils or beans each day. Our son is interested in cooking, a first for him, and is so enjoying helping prepare this meal. He would grab the spatula after we added each item, so he could stir it. The recipe has so many health beneficial foods - fiber, capsicum, turmeric, cilantro (plus all the others from the cilantro pesto), vitamin C from the tomatoes and limes, and licopene PLUS just about everything in it has anti-inflammatory properties: the lentils, tomatoes, limes, spices, onions, and celery. This is such a winner of a recipe!!!

We used this recipe with a few modifications
 http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Mexican-red-lentil-stew-with-lime-and-cilantro-309454

We used a cilantro pesto instead of just cilantro The link is  http://ybertaud9.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/cilantro-pesto-removes-heavy-metals-health-benefits/  We didn't add the dulse due to our son's seaweed allergies.
We also used home canned tomatoes instead of roasted ones. we also reduced the amount of liquid to 3 cups. We didn't add any Tabasco/hot sauce. Our son doesn't appreciate spicy food.