Greetings!
Time really seems to zip along when May arrives. Everyone has
some form of spring fever and it feels like summer is just around
the corner.
The warmer weather this month inspires us to eat
healthier, fresher foods and play outside in the sunshine. These
simple things work to build your immunity which can help you to
resist things like swine flu. Instead of cursing the darkness (all
the stressful news around us), let's "light a candle" and focus on
the positive: good food, sunshine and the simple things in life.
Here's wishes for a happy, healthy and marvelous May! Susan
:)
My hands are clean, now what? |
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Purell hand sanitizer is sold out across the country as
the CDC has gone hog wild with their recommendations for
handwashing. It seems to me that there are other smart things
we can do to really make a difference besides just washing our
hands. Here are 3 simple concepts from my Building Immunity
course that I teach each fall.
Consider sleep a vital nutrient. Adequate sleep
helps you to recharge and heal. It's as important as veggies
in my book!
Think of refined sugar as an anti-nutrient which
pulls many important vitamins and minerals out of your system.
Seriously consider cutting back or eliminating refined sugar
consumption to help optimize your body's resistance to
disease.
Build immunity on the gut level: enjoy a daily bowl of
homemade miso soup. Miso contains beneficial bacteria that
support optimum gut function. It's easy to make and can be
created in endless variations.
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I'm off to Camp! |
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This summer, I will be embarking on a great adventure
at the
Ballibay Camp for the Arts.. The amazing opportunity came
to me from friend and colleague Chef
Ellen Thomas who I met in Berkeley when she was working
with Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann
Cooper. Ellen will be transforming the food at Ballibay
Camps from processed typical camp food into health supportive
food made from scratch from local sources. I'm thrilled to be
working with her and Sous
Chef Allison Wiener who trained at the Natural
Gourmet School
Camp
owner John Jannone is a professor at Brooklyn College and
a dedictated foodie who is prepared to put his money where his
mouth is by investing in food, veggie gardens and more. I'm
thrilled to be working with these innovative thinkers and my
youngest daughter is even more thrilled to be going to such a
cool arts camp!
It's not too late to consider this camp for your child this
summer, spaces are still available. I can personally promise
you that the food will be fabulous! Gluten free is an option
too. To learn more about the camp, click here: Ballibay
Camp Tell them Susan sent you!
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May Recipe: Chickpea And Spinach
Stew |
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I've been listening to a segment on National Public
Radio entitled "How Low Can You Go?" It's a family supper
challenge, some of the nation's best cooks have each agreed to
come up with a budget-conscious meal for a family of four
that's healthy, easy and delicious. The hitch? The meal must
cost less than $10 - and the cheaper the better.
This recipe by Chef Jose Andres, made my mouth water
while listening! Click
here to enjoy the story and get hungry yourself! Here's
his recipe:
Ingredients: 9 ounces dried garbanzos
(chickpeas) Pinch bicarbonate of soda 6 garlic cloves,
peeled and whole 1/4 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive
oil 2 ounces white sliced bread, with the crusts
removed 2 tablespoons pimenton (Spanish sweet paprika) 1
pinch Spanish saffron 2 tablespoons Spanish sherry
vinegar 1/2 pound spinach, washed and cleaned 1 teaspoon
ground cumin Salt and white pepper to taste
Instruction: The day before you cook, soak the
chickpeas in cold water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
The next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas.
In a big
saucepan, combine the chickpeas with 2 1/2 quarts of water.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for two
hours, until the chickpeas are tender. Every 10 minutes or so,
add 1/2 cup of cold water to slow down the simmering. By the
end, the water should have reduced so it is barely covering
the chickpeas. Turn off the heat and let sit.
In a
small saute pan over medium to low heat, brown the garlic in
1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the garlic is browned, after
about 3 minutes, remove from the pan and set aside. Add the
bread and brown on both sides, about one minute each side.
Remove the bread and set aside.
Remove the pan from the
heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add the pimenton and
saffron to the saute pan, and the sherry vinegar immediately
afterward to prevent the pimenton from burning.
In a
mortar, smash the reserved garlic and the browned bread to
make a very thick paste.
Bring the chickpeas back to a
low boil and add the spinach. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the
pimenton mixture along with the garlic and bread paste, to
create a thick, stewy sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve
immediately.
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E-Book: Support for Parents of Picky
Eaters |
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Calling all parents plagued by picky eaters! My
downloadable E-booklet on picky eaters can help you
recover your sanity and make mealtimes more fun and
delicious. You can win the picky eater war without being
sneaky or deceptive as other books might suggest.
To learn more about my e-books contact me at
drsusanrubin@gmail.com. My website shopping cart
is undergoing a makeover.
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E-Book: Dump Your Diet! |
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Do you diet, lose weight and
re-gain allthe weight you lost again and again and
again? Perhaps it's time to Dump
Your Diet! Learn more with my E- book on how to let
go of unnecessary weight by letting go of diets that
make us unhappy and unhealthy.
To learn more about my e-books contact me at
drsusanrubin@gmail.com. My website shopping cart
is undergoing a makeover.
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E-Book: Teens, Tweens & Junk |
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Would you like your kids to eat less junk and more
real food? Check out my E-book, Winning
the Junk Food Wars for great ideas that will help
you to incorporate more real food into your kid's lives.
To learn more about my e-books contact me at
drsusanrubin@gmail.com. My website shopping cart
is undergoing a makeover.
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My cholesterol book is turning into a fat
book! |
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I know that many of you have been waiting for my
Cholesterol Friend or Foe booklet for a while now. My
computer meltdown caused much of my writing to vanish
into thin air. So it's been back to square one. To
combat this setback, I've decided that my little
cholesterol book is going to shift it's focus to the
bigger picture of FAT! What fats are the good guys which
ones are bad news? Why do we fear fat? Cholesterol will
be in the mix too.
I trust that this booklet will be ready when it's
ready to be ready. I've learned that it's taken on a
life of it's own!
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Connecting the dots between our food system and our
health |
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This week while writing my
newsletter, the swine flu epidemic continues to grow. Catch my
blog to learn more about what I'm calling The
Year of the Pig
An article in the food blogCivil
Eats, talks about the connection to giant factory farms
and diseases such as
MRSA and
Swine Flu.
Clearly it's time to re-think
the way we grow our food and make the switch from giant
industrial sources to more local, diverse and regional food
producers. Eat
Wild has a directory of local and regional pasture based
farms. Local
Harvest is another resource to help you find food
nearby.
The bottom line? What you eat
really does matter. We must consider the impact of our food
choices not just in our own bodies but on a bigger scale: the
whole wide world. Do you know where your food comes from? It's
time to shorten the connection between the farm and your
fork! |
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