This is the lead-in to the next paragraph. This dish is, in fact, amazing. You will NOT find this at House of Pancakes, but it will give you so much more, just not the ambiance.  These are Amaranth/Quinoa/Oatmeal(if allergic to wheat, see below)/Nut/Sunflower Seed/Brewer’s Yeast/Egg Pancakes. The name says it all. But there are certain procedures which must be followed if you are going to have success. I followed none of them and therefore have a lot of cleaning up to do. First, grind the amaranth and quinoa in the coffee grinder (I didn’t. Cooked them whole). Second, grind the nuts and sunflower seeds together (I forgot to put them in). Third, Cook the amaranth/quinoa separately (I cooked them with the oatmeal). Fourth, when cooked, put in the instant or near instant oatmeal and the yeast. (I didn’t wait for this stage whicih is why I have to clean the entire top of the stove, and maybe even under it). Put in the nut paste (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds). salt and mix while cooking a bit longer. Egg it. I only used half an egg. The other half went to the cat (this was her twice a week egg fix day). Put in a small amount of olive oil and enough water, if necessary, to make it pancake pourable. The crispier the pancakes, the better. Keep in mind how healthy these pancakes are for you. Why do I say this? Because it is a slightly different taste from that to which you are accustomed (what you are used to. For the  grammatarians who are slowly coming around because ‘what is this world coming to? in the only way to express it). For those allergic to wheat, see http://www.essortment.com/all/allergiesoatmea_raby.htm  
 

BroccolicarrotMash.

My favorite almond broccoli dish. First time I’ve made it. But that’s the vote from the minister of my interior. I deal in colors when I eat. Orange and green flashed in front of me and so it was to be. The only seasoning was the olive oil used to fry the dish, basil, salt, and the natural taste of the champignon mushrooms, the broccoli, the carrots, and the cut up salted toasted (already) almonds. It was finished cooking when the mushrooms were done which means that the carrots are still crunchy. Don’t like slippery, soft carrots. Plus the fact that you lose less nutrients. Also, unscrapped. Follow your roots. The cave man never scrapped his carrots. Probably because he didn’t have them, but I’m sure that if he had, the scrapping would have been kept for more important things.

I have slowly come to the conclusion that most of our health problems stem from our intake or lack thereof. We know about this, because we often feed out pets better than we feed ourselves.
1. Certainly, food allergies which account for many problems awake us to this fact but our response when we find out what is causing the allergy is avoidance without, in many cases,  adjusting adequately for the nutrient loss engendered by our treatment.

2. We also often deprive our bodies of other nutrients essential to health when we take drugs which are supposed to control a certain feature of our system, we stay away from foods which may effect their level or the beneficial effect on our system. But we do not take into account, through supplementation, the effect on the overall system of the nutrient loss by such avoidance. One case in point is the drug coumadin (wafarin), for which the user is advised to avoid sunshine (vitamin D), and among other things, avoid green leafy vegetables because of vitamin K which acts against the effect of the wafarin (and therefore lose all of the essential nutrients normally provided by  them). The Mayo clinic along with most other well informed sources, have now suggested that instead of avoiding all foods which provide vitamin K, we should avoid excessive amounts and eat foods providing vitamin K in moderation. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/warfarin/AN00455. Before this, people were cutting out a good portion of their overall nutrient intake.

3. Third, it is becoming clearer with all of the research being done, that many problems are caused by the lack of certain nutrients and minerals. However, when we are faced with a problem, we look for solutions in operations and drugs while at the same time ignoring the possible base cause of the condition. In other words, we continue along the same path of not providing our body what it needs.  We attempt to avoid or diminish the symptom, thereby prolonging the ailment and perhaps even making it worse while damping down all the warning signs that we are in trouble.

4. Fourth, often we look for the overt symptoms of a certain lack of some vitamin or mineral while ignoring all of the lead up signs and the general condition of the body. It may be true that in certain advanced cultures and normal conditions, we do not have many of the full blown conditions of a lack of certain nutrients, but the lack due to imbalances in our diet are all around us, and may be producing a long term negative environment within our physical system.
When difficult times come, many people say in essence, I can survive on a lot less food, and then proceed to cut out many foods which are crucial to maintaining health. There are alternatives to every food and we should be looking for those alternatives. They may not be the high end products we would normally buy, but they do provide what we need. We need cookbooks which deal with these alternatives, giving us the recipes which will keep us in good health even in the worst of times. If you do not have health, what do you have?

Another top. I’ve had so many of those recently that I’m starting to get oxygen starved. Either I go to lower levels soon or I pass out. But this one earned it. First, the nuts and seeds. What nuts and seeds? The roasted almonds, walnuts, together with the sunflower seeds which were ground in the coffee grinder and added to the mix. We under rate nuts and seeds. They have nutrients other foods can only dream of. Like omega-3 and manganese (walnuts); vitamin E, B1, manganese, magnesium, copper, tryptophan, selenium, phosphorus, B5, folate (sunflower seeds); manganese, E, magnesium, tryptophan, copper, B2, phosphorus (almonds).  according to whfoods, the following events may indicate a need for foods high in manganese: nausea, vomiting,high blood sugar, skin rash, loss of hair color, excessive bone loss, low cholesterol levels, dizziness, hearing loss, reproductive system difficulties. Let’s just say that my hearing is very good. …. Must have passsed out. Now I can’t remember which dish I was talking about.
 

NUTS: Like the egg, they contain everything needed to get a new plant started. Each type has its own nutrients and the nuts and berry pickers of the world are probably among the healthiest. http://whfoods.com/. Boiled the sliced eggplant and halved crimini mushrooms. Added stewed whole tomatoes from a can – actually a jar frozen in the freezer which made it very difficult to get the stewed tomatoes out, tomato paste, and the spices: Coriender, garlic powder, salt, sweet paprika, and basil except I was out. What you see in the photo is only half. I finished off the other half also. Can never be too healthy :-)

Attempt #1. Amaranth and Quinoa Pancakes. First the basics: Amaranth when you say it, follows form, but quinoa is (keen’ wah). As far as my preparation of the dish is concerned, no one is a master on the first attempt, and other such platitudes we always use when we fail. Actually the taste was not bad. But, as you can see, it did not hold together, and stuck to the bottom of the pan. The small quinoa grains were not sufficiently broken up by the coffee grinder if at all. To be continued… I have an idea. In the mean time, just not to leave you high and dry, here are some recipes from someone who already knows (I hope. Have not tried them) http://www.saltspringseeds.com/recipe/powerfoods.htm http://www.allergyblock.com.au/news/amaranth-and-quinoa.pdf
 

Olive oil half-mash. Sometimes there is nothing better than eggplant, mushrooms, corn all fried separately in a great olive oil, and nothing else. With all the olive oil I’m taking in, I’m just sliding my way through this world and on into the next. Read mushroom warning top of blog.

 Brewer’s Yeast Chip Dip. Very good, plus doing you a world of good. Well, I didn’t have any chips and here I had all this great tasting dip. So sliced a roll thin (helps if its frozen) and fried in butter. The dip is at base (the one written on the package of Brewers yeast (one cup of BY, 1/4 cup of oil, 1/4 cup of water, __ cup soy, ) According to the recipe, this makes BY soup after it has been cooled in the frig for a while. Do not cook it. But to make the dip, put just enough water in to make a paste, added hummus, Mrs. Dash or herbs de provence, garlic powder, coriander, sweet paprika and while you are being healthy, a little bit of turmeric. If the yellow does not appeal to you , leave it out. This is good for the skin, If you don’t eat it, apply it directly. Good source of B12. Now B12 is very important for according to WHfoods.com red or sore tongue, tingling or numbness in feet, nervousness, heart palpitations, depression, memory problems. There I was in someone’s kitchen and there was this bottle of B12 so I took one, and there I was in my own home.  And according to http://www.superfoodsnews.com/1216_depression_food.html which adds it to an anti-depression list of foods. Contains B1, B2, B3, and 16 amino acids and 14 minerals. Caution to anyone sensitive to yeast.

Beets. Just ate some beets, which you really can’t do much with, which is why the Russians came up with borscht, and my mother, who is not Russian, served it as salad with mayonnaise. It takes a long time to cook, gets red all over everything but it is great for giving you folate, which  according to http://whfoods.com/ is beneficial against birth defects (not in this lifetime), and in total,  helps “protect against heart disease…and certain cancers, especially colon cancer” (that I may be able to use).  

Vitamin D
Did you get your ten minutes worth of vitamin D today? The skin sees that yellow orb and immediately starts creating D. Do it a favor – every day, give it 10, which is all you need to get the D Vital to your health. 

 Sweet Potato Cabbage Cheese Tofu Mash. This combines vitamin K and C in the cabbage, vitamin A, C, and Manganese in the sweet potato into one package. But without taste, you might as well be taking pills. So does this have a taste? Well, yes, but not much until I put the sweet chili sauce on it. Then the garlic, oregano, and kashkaval cheese taste really came through. That’s if you put only a couple of globs here and there and do not swamp.
 

 Mushroom Corn Burger Mash with Pea and Sunflower salad plus the frozen yogurt and the daily cup of milk in my coffees did not give me all of the Bs for the day but it came very close on most of them. For vegetarians, it is very difficult to get all of the B vitamins needed. See yeast below. I did a detailed chart for myself, and will not bore you with it, but to sum up, I was very deficient in some of the Bs. For B6, I need a supplement, and once every two or three days a B12 supplement. Read mushroom warning top of blog.

 The perfect breakfast except for the coffee which is conveniently off camera. Tempeh is an amazing food. Read it to find out why http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=126 , egg, crimini mushrooms i.e. champignons (powerhouse of nutrients needed which it is sometimes difficult to find in normal diets), orange in easy to use form. All fried in a small amount of olive oil (except for the orange). The amount needs some modulation depending on size of person. This is for the small person in me. Waiting for my 10 minutes of vitamin D. The sun shines between the buildings for just 15 minutes each day. Very important to get it if you do not get out much. Lack of it is implicated in a large number of conditions you don’t want. Best site I have run across. http://whfoods.com/  See http://whfoods.com/foodstoc.php to see their list of different foods and their value for health and what they give. Read mushroom warning top of blog.

NATURALNEWS.
One of the most informative health newsletters I have run across. All the news on health, nutrition, what the FDA and other organizations are or are not doing. I won’t attempt to describe it. See for yourself. http://www.naturalnews.com/

zinc
http://ods.od.nih.gov/FactSheets/Zinc.asp
Age                           Male   Female Pregnant Lactating
Birth to 6 months        2 mg* 2 mg*    
7 months to 3 years    3 mg  3 mg    
4 to 8 years                5 mg  5 mg    
9 to 13 years              8 mg  8 mg    
14 to 18 years           11 mg  9 mg     13 mg     14 mg
19+ years                  11 mg  8 mg     11 mg     12 mg
 

Zinc Plate or so I told myself. Very important to get enough zinc. Well, let’s see how I did on this. My zinc requirement for the day = 11mg (I’m male and over 19 years of age). Apparently, zinc is important for reading genetic instructions. Well, without sufficient zinc, mine just started watching television. It is also crucial for maintenance of blood sugar levels, energy regulation, and immune responses. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=115 So, I was interested in how I was doing. If you are not a vegetarian, you are probably getting enough without thinking about it unless you eat only meat and potatoes, in which case, you have additional problems. But I have to think. In my dishes for the day, mushrooms were the highest giving about 1.36 mg, peas were next at 1.07, with cheese next (a really rich cheese sauce gives 3.06). Since I was using much less than in a rich cheese sauce, it ate into the total. Interestingly, as an aside, swiss cheese has only half of other cheeses (perhaps because of the holes). The next highest was Brewer’s yeast (not baker’s yeast) at 0.80 mg, sunflower seeds at 0.75 mg, tofu at 0.67 mg. Everything else was varying mgs below that. Olive oil has zero (unless it comes in a zinc container). Butter is only slightly better at 0.01 (whether it’s salted or not). In desperation, I took a multivitamin and then read the label which said it gave only 0.09 of MDR (so much for multivitamin supplements at least when it comes to zinc).  Added all together plus the other meals and I come up deficient. My digestive system is in there sorting through the nutrients coming down. “He said he was sending down zinc and we get this?”. It’s Just good I’m not pregnant or lactating. If you want the amount of zinc in everything: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21w309.pdf (pages and pages) listed by amount of zinc. If you want it alphabetically, or the same thing for other nutrients http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=17477
 

 Depression Salad. When you are down to the last shreds of everything which seems to be the situation around here lately, art is the most important thing in life. That, and someone to share whatever you have left. Wilted lettuce, half orange, sunflower seeds in mayonnaise with cardamon powder, garlic powder, salt, coriander, hot paprika (out of sweet). The art of it did wonders.

Power Muffins. No wheat, no dairy, amaranth and quinoa muffins. Decided to take the plunge. As the saying goes, if you don’t get wet, how are you going to learn to swim. Put equal amounts of A and Q, or Q and A, through the grinder separately. Added liberal amounts of almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds which have also traversed the grinder (together), and about a tsp of olive oil (I put too much and was in there scooping with the laddle), 1 egg, 4 tsp of brown sugar, 1-2 tsp baking powder, stirred, and put into cupcake cups in an oven pan. Put the apricot pieces on and baked at 230 for about 15 minutes. They started to rise, so my intuition to put them only half way up the cups was a stroke of luck (never done this before). Really excellent taste. The slightly burned ones, are on the bottom. Did it in two batches. The first was too close to the heating element at the top of the toaster oven. See amaranth elsewhere in this blog.
 

High Protein Breakfast. 1 egg omelet with mushroom sauce with tofu, plus Amaranth/Quinoa Muffin, and Fruit. Protein? Egg (of course), Tofu (of course), amaranth (the highest full protein grain on the planet). And what are the brown specks in the mushroom (powdered soup) sauce?. Wish I could say that they were some exotic spice, but its the kashkaval cheese which stuck to the bottom of the hot pan and overheated before the milk and mushroom powder were added. You do not see any fruit? The piece of baked apricot on the top of the muffin. I’m not big on fruit.

Brewer’s Yeast. (not baker’s yeast or leavening agent) Talk about getting your B vitamins and copper along with some protein, this is it. Even tastes good. 2 tablespoons per day. Will really fill in the gaps. Why didn’t I find out about this sooner? Actually, I had heard about it many times but YEAST? yuck! Nobody had sat me down and told me the facts of life. Of course, when I was carnivoring it, the Bs and protein were not a problem. As a vegetarian, I have been depriving myself severely. And here is at least part of the answer. Just to see what brewer’s yeast will give you: http://www.vitacost.com/Lewis-Labs-Brewers-Yeast

 Wing noodles in tomato sauce with soy burger, and beans for extra… – all the things beans give. Very important against certain cancers and heart problems. There is absolutely no taste here until you add the spices. The beans were soaked overnight and pre cooked and mashed before adding to the sauce.