The C-Word: Fearless Blondies!

I read somewhere that when you crave chocolate, you are actually craving protein and minerals so this is one solution - a snack that has both dark chocolate (magnesium!) and a highly-digestible protein, mineral, fat and fiber combination that helps in balancing hormones. Look up chickpeas to see how much you need them.

Overwhelmed with a sugar jones - usually because I haven't had enough sleep, am feeling anxious about something, my hormones are out of whack or I have a little candida - these blondies help curb them (or maybe surrender to them).

I bake a bunch and freeze some. They have that wickedly satisfying sweet-salty-chewy crumbly feeling which you can suddenly feel desperate for if you don't eat grains, refined sugar or processed foods. So here's my version of the great recipe from ambitious kitchen (I LOVE her). Mine are slightly lighter and cakier, hers are fudgier (they both have their benefits).

gluten-free, paleo, vegan chickpea blondies! 

Get out the food processor. Sorry to say that big old food processor is really a necessity here. I've done it in the vitamix and it doesn't come out as well. But you can try it.

Stuff you need:

food processor (or powerful blender)
spatula (to scrape it out of the food processor)
8 x 8 baking pan
oven

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas
1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds
4 tablespoons of water or vanilla hemp milk
1/2 cup of vanilla hemp milk
1/2 cup of peanut or almond butter (or sunflower butter if you want it to be nut-free)
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (at the moment, I am into Hawaiian red salt) plus 1/4 to sprinkle on top
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

1 bag of dark chocolate chips (get good ones, it will make a difference - this time we used callebaut - which DO have sugar but not a lot)

1 (more or less) tablespoon of coconut (or ghee or butter if you don't mind it not being vegan) to grease the pan.

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees.

In the food processor, just put everything in there, except for the chocolate chips, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, the grease for the pan, the chia seeds and the hemp milk.

In a teacup, mix the chia seeds with the water or hemp milk to get a gloopy, viscous, eggy mixture. This replaces egg - though you can save time and just drop an egg in there to be more paleo. Add this and the rest of the hemp milk to the food processor.

Pulse, puree, whatever until the entire thing is smooth. Taste for sweetness and saltiness. I don't add sugar, but if you want, you could use whatever sweetener you feel good with - coconut sugar, stevia, lucuma, lankanto - I've heard good things about it, it's made of monk fruit and you can use it for cooking, but I've never done it myself. The chocolate chips are sweet and the nut butters are naturally sweet so just taste what works for you. If you add more flavorings, pulse a little more.

Open the lid of the food processor, dump in half to 3/4 bag of chocolate chips. Stir them around with the spatula - don't turn the machine back on or you will puree them too!

If you want to give them to someone who is not well or needs a little extra love, while you stir them up, think healing and loving thoughts. Imagine that people eating your blondies are immediately healed from whatever is ailing them. Imagine energy coming from your core straight into the batter. You can even say a little prayer and ask your Source to infuse your blondies with healing power. (Note: the person you are sending healing to can be you. We all need it sometimes).

That's how you "reiki" them.

Now grease the pan well with whichever grease you've chosen. I like some raw, sea salty, grassfed butter here but coconut oil tastes buttery too.

Pour the batter into the pan, use the spatula to spread it all out. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top, use the spatula to squish them down a little. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of large-grained sea salt around.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. I've noticed big variations on baking times depending on the oven and the liquidity of the batter. The way to tell if they are ready is that they are slightly brown on the edges and have pulled away from the sides of the pan and the center is set and not jiggley.

Paleo, gluten-free, nut-free chickpea blondies!

Like that.

If they are undercooked, don't kill yourself. All the ingredients are perfectly safe and good raw and they will simply be more fudgey when they cool. If they are overcooked or slightly burned, they will probably still taste delicious - it's all good.

Even really picky kids and my dad will eat them (don't blow it like me and get all overexcited about the ingredients before they put them in their mouths so that they don't even want to try them).

I have been told I am a food fascist...but go out and make your own!

The C-Word: Bouncing, Body-Brushing and Your Lymphatic System

If you have cancer - or almost any chronic illness - you owe it to yourself to try body-brushing. It's a cheap, simple way to make your skin and lymph nodes more effective at eliminating toxins and producing vitamin d3. Your skin is your body's largest organ and, when working properly, eliminates 25% of the toxins in your body every day. In natural medicine, your skin is called your "second kidney" for its importance in clearing fluids and wastes from your body.

If you are simply a healthy person, it also strengthens your immune system, increases circulation, reduces cellulite, gets rid of ingrown hairs and blocked pores and exfoliates for the softest, smoothest skin you ever felt. The other benefit is that many people find the process meditative, restorative and energizing, all in one.

dry brushing or body brushing can smooth away orange peel skin and help heal cancer

Think of it this way, any dead or dry skin cells on the surface of the skin block the healthy ones from light and oxygen so it's harder for your skin to produce the vitamin d it needs to keep you healthy. Also, by stimulating the skin, you stimulate the lymph system which is a highly-sensitive series of tiny tubes that lie just beneath the surface, transporting waste from your tissues to your blood for elimination. When your lymph system is inflamed or blocked, you are more likely to develop disease.

So here's how you start - you go to your local health food store or bath and body place or online amazon or thrive market - and a buy a natural fiber body brush. Mine tend to cost between $6 and $12 and last about a year. It is should be firm and a bit scratchy-feeling, though NOT TOO STIFF because the idea is not to rub yourself raw. For your first body brush, I'd suggest one that is slightly softer so you ease into it. This is the one I started with.

In the morning, before your shower, you strip down and start brushing at your feet. Remember this is DRY brushing. You do it before you are wet. Don't use any oils or products on your skin, it's just you and the brush. The idea is to always brush towards your heart, from bottom to top. Brush each foot, top and bottom, from the toe to the top of the foot and up your leg to your thigh. Stop there and brush the other leg.

Drybrushing for the lymphatic system

A simple map for drybrushing

You then brush the abdomen, personally, I follow the direction of the colon to also help with my digestion. If you do a search online, you'll see amazing before and after pictures of loose or puffy tummy skin being tightened up with regular brushing. Brush briskly so that your skin feels stimulated but not irritated. You can get a long-handled brush for your back.

Some people suggest brushing in small circles around your joints to loosen the fascia and release tension and toxins there.

If you have bad acne, I've read suggestions of a soft brush for the face - and seen incredible before and after images, but I have never tried it. You would need to wash your brush with soap and water regularly to avoid spreading bacteria.

Take a shower after the brushing and massage your skin with sweet almond oil as that helps soothe and heal the skin. Then apply any body lotion or product you like (but try to stay away from the junk, no matter how good it smells). You've just strengthened the moisture barrier on your skin so you're pretty protected now.

So what about the bounce?

If you are getting chemotherapy or radiation - your skin may be too sensitive for much brushing. I know mine felt thin and irritated all the time. Chinese medicine practitioners suggest using a rebounder - or a simple mini-trampoline - to keep the lymphatic drainage going.

daily rebounding can also be useful for cancer patients

This is equally easy and simple. You get on it once or twice a day and bounce gently for 10 minutes, more if you feel like it. You don't need to get really vigorous, it's not gymnastics. If your balance is off or you feel shaky, you can put the rebounder next to the sofa or a heavy piece of furniture to hold on to, or buy one with a handle. Shift your weight from one leg to the other and you will also help increase your bone density and improve your balance.

The motion of your body also helps stimulate the lymphatic system. I've read account of people with lymphoma who incorporate rebounding along with juicing and avoiding sugar animal products who have lumps and tumors resolve themselves with no other intervention. It's worth a try.

If you want to get fancy, try a powerplate. Just standing on one of these vibrating platforms for 2 to 4 minutes, twice a day, not only stimulates the lymph, it strengthens your muscles and increases your bone density which is very useful when aging, chemotherapy or radiation can make your bones porous.

Cancer especially seems to affect the lymph system - whether it's lymphoma, breast cancer or thyroid cancer - so any or all of these are worth adding to your healing or protective arsenal.

Raw Ramadan or Fearless Fasting

Raw Ramadan! Polarity salad. Photo Cred: Sasha Douglas-Nares

One of the things they say in the healing world is "Hunger: It makes you younger." Fasting is known to re-boot the immune system, help with diabetes and insulin resistance, and help cells all over the body regenerate. Surprisingly, fasting can also help protect your body during chemotherapy, so people with cancer might discuss it with their doctors.


Ramadan 2015. 30 long, hot summer days - each one where one can only eat and drink before sunrise and after sunset - are a 16-hour marathon in NYC and even longer in other parts of the world.

Lots of people find it alarming and are even more shocked that I can't drink water. "That must be dangerous!" First, I am lucky that I work inside. My work doesn't require extreme physical exertion and I can take a rest if I need one. But second, I do keep working and swimming and, when I do energy work, I find I can channel Source much more powerfully. And last, people all over the world and of many different faiths have been fasting this way for at least a century or so.

As an experiment, I tried one fast day drinking water. After the 2nd or 3rd day of Ramadan, I am not hungry. It's as if my entire system is in sleep mode. But the moment I drank water, all the hunger and thirst came rushing back. It was as if I had flipped the switch on the boiler. I could feel my organs all humming back into operation.

My experience has been that if, during the evenings, I hydrate well but eat lightly, the fast wears more lightly on me. 

Thus I started my raw Ramadans. Since it's summer, it's easier to eat raw meals or almost entirely raw meals during the month. I find my body is energized and cool, no matter the temperature outside. The raw food gives me the enzymes to digest easily despite the rest time and is also filling and means one is not in a hot, sweaty kitchen. I choose foods that are hydrating and energizing as well as immune-supportive so that you don't feel weak the next day (or during late-night tarawih).

Also, since you are fasting, make sure that everything you use is organic and has no preservatives. Your body has been resting so you don't want to throw off the balance.

So here is my favorite iftar menu - variations on which I like to make for iftar at my Sufi mosque in Tribeca.

Raw Ramadan: Avocado Gazpacho Photo Cred: Sasha Douglas-Nares

Avocado Gazpacho

(serves 6)

3 large avocados chopped

2 cups cubed cucumber (1 hothouse cucumber)

1 cup of fresh cilantro/coriander or cilantro sprouts

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves of fresh garlic

½ green chili (jalapeno or Serrano, depends on your sensitivity)

juice of 2 limes (1/4 cup)

1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1-2 large beefsteak tomatoes

¾ cup of filtered water to thin out

Garnish:

1 bell pepper diced

1 jalapeno diced

Place all ingredients except garnish into your blender and puree until smooth. Add salt, chilies and/or more lime to taste. Chill for at least an hour before serving so the flavors become more complicated than guacamole.

To serve, pour into small bowls or shot glasses and add the garnish. You can even garnish with tortilla chips (ideally organic and homemade). Yum!

My professional chef friend, James Akins, mastering the tabbouleh

Fearless Food Class with Ameena Meer and James Akins

Quinoa Tabbouleh

(Serves 6)

Salad

1 cup uncooked, sprouted quinoa
4-5 green onions, chopped (3/4 cup)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 cups)
1 1/2 to 2 cups minced parsley (1 large bunch)
1/2 cup minced mint (1 small bunch)

Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus extra to taste
salt and pepper
8 ounces feta or avocado

Rinse the quinoa under cool water, then combine with 2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan.  If you are committed to staying raw, rinse, salt and then soak the quinoa overnight in a large bowl.  When you are ready to use, drain the quinoa and toss the water. (There may be some use for it, but I just don't know about it yet!)

If you are cooking, bring to a rapid simmer, then turn down the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the quinoa is fluffy and chewy, about 20 minutes. Then empty it into a large bowl and allow it to cool almost to room temperature. The quinoa should feel just barely warm to the touch. 

Stir the onions, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and garlic into the warm quinoa. Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Pour this over the salad and stir to combine. If using, crumble the feta or chopped avocado over the salad and stir it in. Taste a spoonful of the salad and add more salt or pepper to taste. Serve room temperature or cold. This salad is even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to mingle.

Raw Ramadan - Polarity Salad Re-Mixed Photo Cred: Sasha Douglas-Nares

Polarity Salad (Asian-Inspired Slaw)

(Serves 10)

Salad

½ head of cabbage

4-6 carrots, grated (I like multicolored ones)

1 beet, grated

3-4 scallions, chopped

2 cups of mung bean, adzuki bean or other sprouts

1 cup cilantro/coriander sprouts
1 cup basil sprouts

Dressing

½ cup chopped basil

½ cup chopped mint

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of olive oil

½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Fish sauce and/or coconut aminos (to taste)

1 chopped Serrano or jalapeno pepper (to taste)

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and all salad ingredients in a bowl big enough to toss them around. Once the dressing is combined into a tangy, complex mixture, pour it over the salad. Wash your hands well with soap and water and then toss the entire salad mixture.

As cabbage is quite a hardy leaf, it will hold up to the dressing so you can put the salad in the fridge and eat it for a couple of days. It's useful to have in there when you are too tired to prepare anything early in the morning. It is increasingly delicious as the flavors of the herbs and the garlic mix and deepen.

Zucchini “Pasta” with Pesto

(Serves 6)

Pasta:

6 zucchini, ends trimmed

Pesto:

3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

½ cup pine nuts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Garnish:

1 package of cherry or grape tomatoes

 

1. Use a spiralizer to slice the zucchini into noodles. Set aside.

2. Combine the basil and garlic in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the lemon juice and Parmesan cheese. Pulse until blended. Season with salt and pepper.
If you are pressed for time, buy some freshly-made pesto from the store! Just make sure the ingredients are organic and there are no preservatives – your body doesn’t need them when you are fasting.
3. Toss until zucchini noodles with the pesto until they are well coated. Top with tomatoes, if using. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Note-if you want to cook the zucchini noodles, you can. Just add the zucchini pesto noodles to a skillet and sauté them up over medium heat. It only takes a few minutes.

 

Happy Birthday! Raw Lemon Cheesecake! Photo Cred: Sasha Douglas-Nares

Raw Lemon Cheesecake

(Serves 6)

Crust:

1/2 cup dates

1 1/2 cups nuts (I used pecans, you can use almost any kind, even better if you soak them first, overnight)

2 teaspoons of sea salt

In the food processor, pulse the dates and nuts together until you get a rough, sticky mixture that you can pat down with your hands into the bottom of a glass pie or baking pan (only because it looks prettier in glass, otherwise any pan will do). For this cooking class, we doubled the recipe and used a glass 11 x 9 baking pan. If it’s not sticking well, add a little coconut oil, that will make it taste a little more buttery anyway. Put in fridge.

Cheesecake:

3 cups cashews (preferably soaked for 3-4 hours)

3/4 cup lemon juice

2/3 cup honey/agave/maple syrup/coconut sugar

3/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 teaspoons dried lavender  (if you want, I found I couldn't taste it when it was cold and set)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract/seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Taste the mixture. If you've never had raw food, you will be overcome with pleasure. Pour onto crust in cake pan and set in the freezer or fridge until it has the hardness you want (probably 3-5 hours or overnight).  I decorated it with some organic, local blueberries I bought upstate so it still tasted of the country.

Slice and enjoy! Even if it’s not hard enough, it will taste delicious!

For Suhoor (the before sunrise meal to prepare for your fast):

Hydrating Drink

(Serves 2)

1 liter of coconut water

4 tablespoons of chia seeds

Pour the coconut water into any sort of jug. Add 4 to 6 tablespoons of chia seeds (black or white).  Let sit for several hours until the chia seeds are saturated and have sunk to the bottom of the jug. Stir and drink as your last meal before starting your fast or any time you need to be hydrated for long periods of time.

Peaceful Ramadan. Photo Cred: Sasha Douglas Nares