We Can't Reform Health Care without Reforming Food

As a fitness professional in & out of the health industry for 30 years or more, this issue has been, and is, at the top of my soapbox. If Americans aren’t educated on how to eat healthy, given the resources that enables them to eat healthy, and given access to afforable organic food.... then all the health care reform in the world, will be worthless.


Americans will continue to get sick from all the diseases (cancer, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, & auto-immune disease,) caused by eating “crap.” (i.e. fast food, fried foods, processed foods, artifical sweeteners, etc.)


I might also add in the 3rd facet of this dilemena, that of regular routine exercise. Eating healthy and access to an afforable, well thought out health care plan, will not build quality bone growth, will not strengthen muscles, will not keep your heart healthy, and will not improve your balance, coordination and flexibility.


We deserve to be healthy, to be fit and to live long, disease free lives! Americans should not only demand access to afforable health care; but also, we should demand access to afforable organic foods, and demand incentives from our work places, from our insurance companies and from the medical industry to work out, get healthy and stay healthy.


Charlie Lindahl brought this to my attention from the Huffington Post. Thanks Charlie.
Here is an exerpt from the Huffington Post article. To read the entire, entriguing story click here.



If and when health care reform finally passes, we will have successfully ameliorated only half of the crisis. The treatment half. The next step has to be focused upon doing something about the poisoned filth we've collectively nicknamed "food." Without any real changes in how our food is produced, the health care system will continue to bloat and fall apart. Not unlike the insides of an average American body.


The consequence for you and me, of course, is that the food is becoming increasingly toxic, both in terms of what goes into our bodies, and in terms of how deregulation and deception is hurting the economy. What good is health care reform if we're still being fed poison? What good is an economic recovery if big business is still gaming the system?






Bless the Beasts, Bless our children, and Bless this Earth

Halloween Morning Goodies

Halloween morning can be a fun time to make a special breakfast for the family. This time of year, it's all about the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown... (and yes, I did watch that program for the billionth time. Even at my age, I still love that Charlie Brown!)

A good bud of mine, John Borden (head of Edible Aggieland & speaker at our next meeting on the 3rd of November) was talking it up about pumpkin muffins the other day. Got me in the mood to make up some Halloween goodies for breakfast!

Here's a few yummy-licious ideas for your Halloween morning. What makes it so great this year, is Halloween is on Saturday, so you have some time to spend with the family.... hopefully...before the chaos starts! LOL!!

Ok, so we have steamy hot pumpkin pancakes with a heated applesauce-raisin-cinnamon "syrup." Then how about a delicious Apple Pineapple Raisin Breakfast Cobbler! YUM-O! And to go with all this goodness.... a steamy cup of Hot chocolate! YIKES.. mouth is watering now!!

And I must admit, a couple of the pics are not mine as my camera battery pooped out, so I had to borrow. But they look just like the real thing.

This is one breakfast that everyone will enjoy!

Let's get this party started!!!

As always, I DO Organic as much as possible

PERFECT VEGAN PUMPKIN PANCAKES

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup canned Unsweetened pumpkin or pumpkin puree (This is a great way to make puree & very easy, I've done it for years!)

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add pumpkin, nectar and milk. Stir just until combined and few lumps remain.

Over medium-high heat, preheat heavy skillet. Baste with coconut oil if skillet is non stick. Using a 1/3 cup measure, make three pancakes (or a 1/4 cup measure to make 4 pancakes), pancakes are about 1/2-inch thick. Cook 2-3 minutes on the first side, gently flip and cook another 2-3 minutes on the reverse. You will know when to flip when the bottom is a nice light golden brown. If they brown too quickly, lower the heat. (Note: Bubbles will not appear in this batter)

Keep pancakes in warming oven until all batter is made.

APPLESAUCE-RAISIN CINNAMON TOPPING

2 cups unsweetened apple sauce or homemade applesauce (core and peel 3 to 4 apples, chop and place in food processor and blend till apple sauce consistency.... that’s easy, huh?)
¼ cup Agave Nectar
1 T organic Mexican cinnamon

Place all ingredients in heavy pot and heat on low to medium till bubbly. THIS WILL BURN!

Top pancakes with heated applesauce-raisin-cinnamon topping and sprinkle chopped raw walnuts

APPLE PINEAPPLE RAISIN BREAKFAST COBBLER

In a large bowl, mix together:
4 to 6 apples, cored, pealed & sliced (use delicious and fuji apples)
Raisins ( your preference as to how many, I use a lot)
1 small can pineapple chunks..canned in their own juice (save the juice) OR Fresh pineapple
1 T. Organic Mexican Cinnamon
Pour 1/2 cup of black strap molasses, mixed with the pineapple juice or mixed with 1/2c Unsweet apple cider
Mix together.
Pour into large baking dish and spread evenly

In a separate bowl, mix together:
1 to 2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of grape nuts
1 cup of roasted pecans and walnuts (place these in a cookie sheet in a single layer and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes.)
1 T. Organic Mexican Cinnamon

Spoon this mixture evenly over the top of the apple mixture. 1 cup UNsweet apple cider over the top. Add more if needed. This should be moderately juicy

Bake at 350 to 400 degree oven for around 45 minutes. It should be bubbly hot.

Spoon up in compote dishes and pour ¼ cup of heated Unsweet almond milk over each serving.

VEGAN HOT COCOA

In a heavy pan, add:
1 cup of UNsweet Almond Milk (you can make your own by adding raw almonds to food processor with filtered water. Mix till texture is very smooth. Pour thru cheese cloth.)
1 to 2 T of UNsweet cocoa powder, sifted (this may be too much chocolate for most folks...)
1 to 2 T of Agave Nectar

Stir constantly, heat on low heat till bubbly. (this can scorch!)

Serve hot with a cinnamon stick



Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

1World 1 Vision

Cheryl Anne Chandler is a quiet young teen with knowledge and acute awareness beyond her 15 years. She is the most hard core of the Vegan lifestyles, known as a raw-foodie. And she is the daughter of Tonya Chandler.

I first met Cheryl Anne via email when she contacted me about our first VISION VOICE VEG*N’z for the Brazos Valley meet up. I could tell just by the email what a delightful and spunky young teen she was. She is very clever and entertaining in her writing and I am thrilled to have “C.C” and her mom as part of our group.

I want to share this video project with all of you that C.C. wrote, produced, & directed, along with her friend Jojo Kingston titled 1World 1Vision.

Four years ago the BISD started a unique contest called 1Vision showcase. It is a community project put together by the Bryan schools. This allows the middle schools an opportunity to work with technology AND to create an educational podcast or digital video. These projects have the opportunity to become PSA’s. The requirement for these projects is they must educate the audience about “something.”

250 to 300 projects were entered this year. The showcase and expo was held at Davilla Middle School; open to the public to view all the projects and the winner was announced and awarded.

Cheryl Anne and Jojo won the Grand Prize for this event. And once you watch and listen to this brilliantly made video, you will understand why.

BIG CONGRATS Cheryl Anne! Well done!

Bless the Beasts, Bless the Children and Bless this Earth

Dr. Theron G. Randolph

Here's a post request sent from Charlie Lindahl on one of the most knowledgeable and brilliant minds in medicine. Dr. Theron G. Randolph is one of the first doctors that realized the undeniable connection between inflammation caused from foods (allergies) and the health of our immune systems.


Check it out...... (thanks Charlie!)


Theron G. Randolph, (1906-1995), was an early allergy specialist and one of the founders of the Clinical Ecology movement.


Randolph graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1933, where he remained, first as a Resident and then as an Instructor in internal medicine, until 1937. From 1937-1939 Randolph worked with Dr. Francis Minot Rackemann as a Research Fellow in Allergy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. After his fellowship he returned to the Midwest, founding and then running the Allergy Clinic at Milwaukee Children's Hospital for three years, before returning to the University of Michigan Medical School as Chief of the Allergy Clinic (1942-1944)


In 1944 Randolph moved to Chicago to establish his private practice, and became an Instructor in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University Medical School, and a staff member at Wesley Memorial Hospital. Randolph became sub-certified in Allergy in 1945. While at Northwestern, Randolph's medical focus continued to emphasize individual allergic response and diverged from the mass-applicable allergic diagnostics by means of IgE response that became mainstream allergy. His research interest was in food allergy, especially targeting allergies to common foods such as corn which were not widely thought to be allergenic.

Randolph's research in food allergies led him to be regarded as a specialist in this area. In 1949 he testified before the FDA advocating detailed ingredients listings for prepared foods (the "Bread Hearings"). In 1950 Randolph's appointment at Northwestern was not renewed. He went on to publish Food Allergy, co-written with Herbert J. Rinkel and Michael Zeller in 1951. By the early 1950s Randolph had become interested in chemical susceptibility, but his findings were not well received, particularly within the Chicago medical community. One of the primary areas of disagreement centered on the definition of allergy as immunologically mediated, whereas chemical susceptibility is not. No longer a part of the medical research community at Northwestern, Randolph was cut off from research funds. The Rockwell M. Kempton Medical Fund (renamed the Human Ecology Research Foundation in 1960) was established to help provide funds for Randolph's research.

In 1954 Randolph married for a second time, to Janet Mitchell (Tudy), who had been one of his early chemically susceptible patients. (Editorial: The founder of the field of allergy,Pirquet, defined the term as "a changed or altered response from the Greek, "allos"meaning other, and ergon, meaning work. The link to the immune system was, just that, a "belief." So?) In 1956 Randolph set up the first Comprehensive Environmental Control Unit (CECU) at the St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL, though it would move several times before finally closing in 1984 due to increasing difficulties with insurance coverage. In 1962 the synthesis of Randolph's work to date was published in book form, as Human Ecology and Susceptibility to the Chemical Environment.

The remainder of Randolph's career was spent applying the ideas it contained clinically, and publicizing them through professional organizations and teaching at various CME courses. He retired from practice in 1993 and died in 1995.


You can read more about his research in Randolph, Theron G. Papers, 1929-1998: Finding Aid.

To learn more about this incredible physician, click here.






Bless the Beasts, Bless the Children and Bless this Earth

Locavore Lunch at The Village Café on October 24th to Raise Awareness for Climate Action

Hey! Looking for something really great to do this Saturday? Want some really delicious food to eat? Want to be involved with a fantastic group of folks and raise awareness regarding the poor quality of our air and climate and what we can do to improve it?

Well.. then.... THE VILLAGE CAFE is the place to be, this Saturday, October the 24th from noon to 3pm. They are serving up some special items just for this event. If you have questions or want to know more about this endeavor, just contact THE VILLAGE CAFE! (979) 703-8514.

Thanks Kellie for the info!!

And now here’s the rest of the scoop:

Locavore Lunch at The Village Café on October 24th to Raise Awareness for Climate Action

On October 24th, the Village Café is joining over 2,000 communities and venues across the world in an event to raise awareness for Climate Action. A special lunch menu will be served from 12:00 to 3:00 which will consist entirely of food grown in the Brazos Valley. Limiting the miles that food travels from farm to table is a great way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time supporting local farmers and consuming fresher and healthier food. Additionally, most of the dishes served will be vegetarian or vegan, which is another good way to reduce the environmental impacts of the food we consume.

This global event is sponsored by a group called 350.org, which was founded by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben. 350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. Its supporters include leading scientists, the governments of 92 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health, development and religious NGOs. All agree that current atmospheric levels of CO2—390 parts per million—are causing damage to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth’s carbon level swiftly down to 350 ppm.

As part of this event, there will be a photo booth set up at the Village Café so that people can have pictures taken of themselves to put on a collage that we’ll be making to represent all the members of our community to support action on climate change. Even if you don’t want to eat lunch, just come by and have your picture taken or sign your name to the collage. You can be a part of sending a strong message to our representatives that residents in the Brazos Valley do care about climate change and want strong action taken now!

The Village Café is located in Downtown Bryan on 26th Street, across from Mr. G’s Pizza.

We hope to see you there!

Bless the Beasts, Bless the Children and Bless this Earth

Here's a couple of events I am involved in..... check 'em out!

http://www.humblevegan.blogspot.com/

Wise Beyond Years

A member of Vision Voice Veg*n'z for the Brazos Valley, Cheryl Anne Chandler is one of the most amazing young teens that I think I have had the pleasure of knowing. She is years beyond her age in wisdom, awareness, respect, & knowledge when we talk the state of the environment and our Earth; when we talk the conditions of the world and the health of its populations; and when we talk nutrition and the devastating effects that our standard American diet (SAD) has not only on our bodies; but also, on this planet. I am proud to post this blog she emailed to me in response to What Does Bike Safety have to do with "Being Vegan?"I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you, C.C., once again for contributing to our blogsite!!! And now in her own words:

I'm sure you've already noticed this, but i really like to write. Especially when it comes to things i'm passionate about. For me, as i told Kelin, being vegan and a raw foodist is a package deal. It IS a lifestyle. There's a spiritual aspect, an emotional aspect, an environmental aspect, and a health aspect. They are all very important to me.

What TuXeDo wrote in response to your blog was beautiful. I mean, what can I say after that? It came straight from his soul. He's really living a 'natural', vegan lifestyle compared to most of the people (even most of the vegans) in this country. Which is amazing. He chooses not to drive a car, even though if he did, things would probably be a lot easier for him. He sets a great example for me.

I'll be 16 in a year. My mom wants me to drive. My peers are expecting me to drive. Everyone is expecting me to drive a car. I don't want to. For one thing, it kinda scares me. But mostly, i don't want to drive a car because i know that it would be better for my health and the health of my earth, my future and the future of my earth, if i didn't. It's gonna be really hard for me to stand up, put my foot down, and make that decision when the time comes. It's gonna be really hard for me to deal with the reprecussions of that decision long after i make it.

So why would i do it? Because i know that i can't be held back from standing up for what i believe in, and doing something that i know in my heart is right, just because it's hard. "The road less traveled is not always the easiest one." In fact, it's probably never gonna be.

But you know... i must be the luckiest girl in the world to have the loving support of my mom, TuXeDo, and this wonderful group. Thank you all for believing in me. Peace and LOVE. ~MC

Bless the Beasts, Bless the Children and Bless this Earth