Tuesday, August 31, 2010

.....the Tofu Chronicles

Well, I finally did it. I finally made a tofu dish. Yes, it's true....as radical as it may sound. I tried a recipe with a ginger sauce. I actually liked the taste, but I have to work out the frying of the tofu part. Some of it burned in the bottom of the pan. I guess I need to do a little more reading on the subject. But overall, I would like to make it again, because the taste was good. (The ginger sauce was soy sauce, sesame seed oil, fresh ginger, garlic, and water.) I had it over rice noodles.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A Partial Disaster

I made two things last night.  The first was more granola, because I went through the first batch.  My conscience was getting to me about using so much honey and putting so much sugar in, so I decided to try making it with more honey but no added sugar.  This is edible with the yogurt but not as enjoyable.  I think next time I'm going to use less honey and some sugar just less than I put in the first time.

The real problem was with the veggie burgers I tried to make.  I saw a recipe (on doctoroz.com!) that used brown rice instead of beans.  So I had two cups of cooked brown rice (I was impressed I just cooked the brown rice.) a can of diced carrots and a small can of cut up mushrooms.  The recipe didn't even say to put egg in as a binder but I did anyway.  I also used minced onions.  The stuff tasted fine, but it did not stick as patties.  I think next time I'll use less rice and less vegetables and see if one egg can get it to stay.  This also made me think about just making some kind of soup with the rice and mushrooms cooking together and forgetting about the patty part.  Any suggestions about this?  I was thinking of getting broth from the store, even though they have a lot of salt.  But what the heck do I care about salt?  Hmmmmmm.....

Carolyn

Monday, August 23, 2010

I tried an apple cider vinegar and water solution to condition my hair. Perhaps it was too much of a change at once. My hair felt totally dry and stiff. I'm thinking 3x a week for the baking soda might be too much.

I must pick me up some of those pears you all keep talking about.

I miss you all terribly...hoping everyone is doing well.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Granola and Yogurt

Horray!!!!  I have come to an even better breakfast arrangement!  The Kashi granola was really expensive to be dumping by the cupful into my regular fat yogurt in the morning (which I went back to yesterday).  So I decided to try making my own.  I looked online and got a recipe.  I actually did it last night and it worked very well.  It tastes good alone and in the yogurt.  Haha, I may be able to get through a 2lb container in a reasonable amount of time after all!  Here is my recipe:
Mix 3 cups oats with brown sugar (the recipe said 3 TB but I didn't measure it, I just poured).  I also added to this first group of ingredients graham flour and barley flour.  Whole grain of course!  And of course, I didn't measure it.  But I think between the two flours it was still less than a cup.  Then add, mixed together, 1/3C honey, 1/4C canola oil and vanilla (again I just poured this in without measuring).
Then bake it at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring after 15.
This came out really well, and I think I might even be able to cut down on the sugar.  I'm also pretty sure I used more than 1/3C of honey.  Anyway, however much I made fit perfectly into one of those round Quaker Oats containers, so that's where I'm storing it.

I'm very excited about this.

Carolyn

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Baking soda: Day 2

I don't usually spend this much time thinking about my hair. But I've been particularly cognisant of oil build up. Today was especially hot and humid and my hair still feels great. I'm glad that the solution is very inexpensive. With regards to the concentration, I used 1 tablespoon for every cup of water. There were no little white bits, but I still shampooed and conditioned after application of baking soda solution. I'm still undecided on frequency of use. Thanks Carly for sharing the baking soda route!
Guys! I went to Whole Foods on my way home from school this afternoon, and I bought a woman's multi-vitamin. I don't know if this is a healthy thing to do, but it seems like it is, so I'm going to try it. I totally forgot to look for the chia seed, but I'll probably go again this weekend and hopefully I'll remember then.

Also, I bought these tiny yellow pear tomatoes - and they are DELICIOUS. I love them.


Baking Soda, facial cleanser, and jam

I was looking around my apt for an empty bottle for my baking soda solution and realized I could transform one of my MCV water bottles into a baking soda one. It works really well, and I can squirt it onto my hair. I was a little skeptical about the solution. Having used it last night, my hair feels much better than it usually would and my scalp isn't feeling gross. I think I'm a baking soda convert! =) I won't use the solution everyday...maybe 2-3 times a week?

Any advice on facial cleanser?

O! I made my own jam today. It was easier than I thought it would be. Granted, I didn't go all out with the jamming/jarring process, but it's good enough. From what I hear, the process is relatively similar for all fruits. But here's how my friend and I jammed figs:

1) Dice figs
2) Add diced figs to large sauce pan
3) Add sugar and lemon juice (and spices or honey if you want)
4) Set stove to med high until boiling
5) Reduce heat to simmer ~ 45 minutes
6) Add jam to jars, cover, cool, put in fridge.

Totally easy and preservative free. Jam should last a few months, especially if it's fridged.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Ok, I guess I'm a little behind on reading all of this, but what is this chia seed stuff? I read the website Carolyn linked, and it sounds interesting. I might get some at Whole Foods the next time I go (there is one right down the street from me!). Do you eat it everyday? What exactly do you do with it?

Adjusting to life here in New Orleans has been a challenge food-wise. I've been eating Three Sisters cereal, but it ran out this morning, so I think I'm back to Kashi. School has been feeding us, but tomorrow is our first real day and I need to pack my own food. I think that I will bring an apple and almond butter with a salad and some Kashi crackers. I'm trying really hard to not eat a lot of processed stuff, but I have yet to make it to the farmer's market here (and produce is SO expensive in the stores). Before the move, I was using SparkPeople to track my eating habits because it gives really good nutrient information. I'm going to try to start that again tomorrow.

I'm also trying to eat more seafood since it's so readily available here (they sell shrimp with the head on just sitting on ice, you pick them up yourself, in the middle of the grocery store). More seafood, more non-meat protein, that's the plan :)

Shampoo has been a real issue for me here. There has got to be something going on with my water because I didn't have this problem the two nights I stayed in the hotel. It just feels like my hair never gets clean; like there are tons of oils left after I wash it.

I miss you guys!!
Megan

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Really bad nutrition day

All I can say is CiCi's pizza. Have you ever been there? This was my first time. I went with my family. Bad mistake. Bad, very bad. A pizza buffet and hungry me cannot make a good combination. The good news is that there is always tomorrow. As soon as I get myself to Whole Foods....I don't know when that will be...I'll get some chia seeds. Where is Ocean State (Job Lot) when you need it? Ooy! I haven't eaten since early afternoon. I am still full. This is bad. lol

Good Stuff I've Eaten Since Monday

Well, I did in fact buy some plain yogurt with all the fat in it.  I've been eating it with my chocolate granola in the morning.  I've grown to basically like it.  My problem is that it only came in a 2lb container and I cannot eat that much in 5 days - which is how long I think I can leave the container open in the fridge for.  What do you guys think?  5 days or more?  Anyway, it occurred to me that my granola has lots of fat in it, so next time I'm going to see if I can get a smaller container of plain yogurt but fat free.  That seems like it would have more size options.  I'll see.

Also, I made red bean burgers!  We had a can of black beans and a can of red beans but the black beans didn't have an expiration date on them.  My mom said that meant they were really old because now everything has an expiration date.  Of course, I didn't throw them out, I just didn't use them.  I didn't measure anything in the burgers, but they came out well.  I put cheese on them, that might have helped.  They were bland though, so next time I'm not going to be shy with the chili powder.  I even brought two to work the next day and ate them cold and they were fine.  Thank you, Sharon!

About the shampoo, I tried the Aubrey's.  I did notice that it lathered less than Burt's Bees.  I used it right after I got home, but not last night after I swam.  I'm not quite confident enough in it to use it to get out chlorine yet.  But when I didn't swim I thought it cleaned my hair enough.  Sharon, have you tried the baking soda yet?  I think I'm going to trim my hair in a few weeks and I'm going to baking soda again after that.  Remember, it just takes a little bit :)

I almost forgot about the tomatoes!  I got a package of Wasa flatbread crackers before I left this summer and I really liked them.  On the Wasa website it had suggestions for what to eat with them and one was to put humus on them and put sliced tomatoes on that.  At the time, I thought I would never eat a tomato.   Thanks to the daily salads, though, now I like them.  So I got some "roma plum" tomatoes, sliced them and put them on the crackers with the humus.  It was wonderful!  I highly recommend it!  That's all I can think of for now.  I'm going to try to make the burgers again soon and I think I'll need to look at the Wasa site for more ideas about other healthy things to try.

Carolyn

Friday, August 13, 2010

Cake

Is chocolate chip pound cake healthy? Please don't answer that. Well, too bad. I ate a huge piece on the way home from Trinita. It helped me, I think. On another note, I need to purchase some chia seed. This came after a lengthy discussion with Carolyn. I don't want to do the fish pill thing. This seems like a reasonable alternative. I can put it on my cereal in the morning....to make it even more unusual. I have been putting Goji berries on my cereal too. They are definitely easier to deal with in my cereal. Everyone that has tried the Goji berries so far, has given it the thumbs down. Once the bag is done, it is done. They were an impulse item. I'm not sure what possessed me to buy them. I think I bought them because they looked cute. lol

Well, what else do I have say. Well, I am nearly ready to buy a new shampoo. I will be taking myself to Whole Foods for that purchase! Hooray for Whole Foods! Any suggestions out there? I have to admit, it will probably be Aubrey's again. I'll have to wait to see what they have.

I think I am missing the variety of health food stores in CT. I was really digging the Back to Earth store. I didn't really have time to explore it thoroughly. Anyway, I could babble more, but I will try to control myself.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

In the beginning...

Finally, a place where I can get all of my "chemical" woes out! Shall we start with shampoo? This is really a big problem. If I was willing to pay more, I would buy a truly organic brand. I just can't seem to get myself to do it. I'm waiting for a big organic shampoo sale! If anyone sees one, let me know! I want to try some of Bubble and Bee's products, someday!! Right now, I continue to use Burt's Bee's (which is highly suspect) and Aubrey's Camomille.

I just bought a bag of Goji berries. At first I really liked them, but now I'm not sure that I would buy more. I think I need to eat them in very small quantities. It says Himalayan superfruit. Maybe it is too super for me.

Thanks Carolyn for starting this blog!!!!

To Begin

Welcome to our blog!  Sharon, Pat and I (Carolyn) knew that we would have to keep supporting each other in our natural care/dietary needs after the summer program ended, so we have created this blog.  All Trinita Health Crazies are invited to share their stories, formulas for homemade products or recipes. 

At this time, I would like to comment on my shampoo.  I have been using Burt's Bees Super Shiny shampoo for several years.  It works.  Although before I came to Trinita this summer I did give my hair a very diluted baking powder rinse to get rid of the residue.  I followed this up directly with the shampoo.  This worked well.  I have to use shampoo after the baking powder because no matter how diluted I make the rinse, I still get white stuff in my hair afterwards if I try to rinse it out with just water.  I like this system.  I'm going to try the rinse again later in August or in September.  I'm also trying to switch to Aubrey's.  I've used their shampoo before, and I don't really remember why I stopped.  I wasn't unhappy with it.  Maybe I couldn't find any in my area.  But I got a bottle at THE BAILEY'S last week and I'm going to start using it when I get home.  Comments to come.

I've also been eating a chia seed/water mixture most days for the last few weeks.  It's supposed to have a lot of omega-3 fats so when I get home and am monitoring the amount I eat each day more carefully, I'm going to stop with the fish oil.  Good riddance!  I have other food plans for when I get home, but I'll write about that stuff when it really happens. 

More personal care stuff: I've been using Tom's calendula bar soap, which I'm very happy with, and also their new liquid roll-on deodorant.  I really like the deodorant, even better than their stick.  The roll-on stuff feels better and I haven't noticed that I smell bad.  However, I have not worked out in this stuff yet, so I'll have to update this when I get home and see how it works after a run or a trip to the gym.

This is all.