Cleanse with Your Friends - Day 12

Onion Spread

I'm meeting with the group of women shortly for our 3rd night of Cleanse with Your Friends. We've been cleansing around 12 days so far. I hope everyone is still doing well!

Here is a recipe for a dip I've made to bring to class tonight. It's from a book that is no longer in print called "CCNM's Simply Healthy Cookbook." This book was put together by students and staff from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2002. It's a great resource at home for me and I'm sorry that it's no longer in print. I will share some recipes from time to time to share the wisdom of my peers.

Cold Onion Spread

4 large onions, diced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
water
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dill weed
salt

- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook and stir for 1 minute.
- Add enough water to cover the onions
- Add the bay leaf, dill weed and salt according to taste
- Cover the pan and cook at medium-low for 35 minutes, or until onions are cooked.
- When onion is tender, uncover and increase temperature to medium-high. Allow onions to cook until they turn a golden-brown (mine didn't turn colour but I cooked it until a lot of the water evaporated
- Remove bay leaf
- At this point I decided to blend it with my hand blender.

Eat hot as a side dist or cold as a spread on rice crackers or cucumbers and carrots.

Going Green tip #3

Ditch your ride. Start walking or cycling or carpooling.

This is perfect for the beautiful Spring weather we've been experiencing lately. I know it might not be possible for everyone to do it everyday but leaving the car at home for even 1 day a week will help make a difference...not only for the environment but for your health as well! We all know regular exercise is key to help maintain a healthy body weight and healthy cardiovascular system. Not to mention the improvement in your mood once those "feel good" endorphins start being produced.

Happy "greening" whichever way you choose!

Yours in health,
The Healing Oasis team :)

Going Green tip #2

For a natural and environmentally friendly alternative to cleaning your teeth, skip your regular toothpaste and avoid the packaging waste. Instead try making your own.
Here's a recipe I found on http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Toothpaste: Mix 3 parts baking soda with 1 part salt. Add 3 teaspoons of glycerin. Add 10 to 20 drops of flavoring (peppermint, wintergreen, anise, or cinnamon) and enough water to make a paste. Spoon into a small, refillable squeeze bottle.

Going Green...

It's something everyone can do to help make a difference for our environment. Every little bit counts - even if it's a simple task like picking up a piece of trash on your walk.

In January I went to do my annual daily planner shopping and bought a recycled one that has little tips on how to make a "green" difference each week. I thought I would share them with you each week to possibly make a much larger impact in our community.

So enjoy the tips each week and if it inspires you to incorporate one or two into your life then we know we've made a difference together!

Yours in health (and the health of our environment),
Lee Anne
& The Healing Oasis Team


Tip #1 - Get your programmable thermostat now, if you haven't already. Programmable thermostats can save up to 1800 pounds of CO2 emissions every year.

Day 6 - Cleanse with Your Friends

Tea at a bar??

Yes, that's correct. I drank green tea at the bar portion of the Urban Dish this evening. I met up with some fellow young professionals (http://www.scypa.ca/) and since it's a restaurant I ordered a tea and stood my ground. Better to order tea then stand around and drink free water. I watched the delicious food pass by me, smelled the aromas and admired the beautiful presentation. Perhaps I will head there for lunch.....after the cleanse ;)

Brown Rice Cereal Breakfast:

Here is my breakfast from a few days ago. It's a brown rice porridge type breakfast. It is really quick to make. Boil 3 parts water, add 1 part of the cereal and turn to low. It cooks in about 4-7 minutes after that. I've added some grapes, sliced almonds and a sprinkle of stevia. I also poured a bit of unsweeted almond milk over top too. You can find brown rice cereals at your local health food stores or health food section of bigger grocery stores.

Snack time turned pasta sauce:

I made a black bean dip the other day.

1 can black beans rinsed well

juice from 1/2 to 1 full lemon

2 garlic cloves

Blend well then add chopped fresh cilantro

This is a great dip you can dip veggie sticks in and also brown rice crackers.

I then used the left-over dip and added it along with some hot water and a bit of olive oil to my rice pasta and steamed veggies. Mixed it well and I liked it. Give it a try and let me know.

The last thing about Cleansing is supporting your body with bodywork. Try out some lymphatic massage, aromatherapy massage or massage in general. The Healing Oasis offers all of these services.

Call us for tips on Cleansing and our Cleanse Program 705-722-1004

Happy Cleansing!!

Whitney

Day 3 - Cleanse with Your Friends

Days 1 and 2 went fairly well. My first challenge was going over to my friend, Nicole's house to watch a movie. Movies usually mean popcorn and this is a huge thing for me not to have popcorn. It's my one true love...besides Steve and Daisy.

So, I brought my own homemade guacomole and some brown rice cakes for a snack. We had tea (no wine) and she was very supportive:)

Last night I made a huge pot of Red Lentil Soup, which will be part of my lunches this week. I got the recipe from a fabulous whole foods book titled "Nourishing Traditions" By Sally Fallon. I will share a modified version of her Roman Lentil Soup. I used the chicken stock I made in my crockpot a few days ago with the bones from a whole chicken.

3 medium onions, peeled and sliced

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 tbsp of olive oil

8 cups of chicken stock or combination of stock and water

2 cups red lentils

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried green peppercorns

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

In a large stainless steell pot, cook onions and carrots in oil until tender (about 20-30 min). Add stock and lentils and bring to a boil. Skim off foam produced by the lentils. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Puree the soup with a handheld blender

Add lemon juice and enjoy!

Stay tuned for the continued saga of the cleanse and more recipes:)

Whitney Young, ND

Cleanse with Your Friends begins!

I have begun instructing a great group of women with The City of Barrie program - Cleanse with Your Friends.
We are all starting our cleanse within the next few days. I'm gearing up to start tomorrow and came up with a new snack:)

Black bean avocado dip
- 1 can black beans, rinsed well
- 1 avocado
- 2 cloves of garlic
- juice of half a lemon

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. The colour is kind of greyish afterwards but it tastes great! Eat with carrot and celery sticks, cucumber and some brown rice crackers. Mmmm!

Day 1 for me starts tomorrow!!

- Whitney Young, ND

Cauliflower and Green Cabbage Salad

(It's better than it might sound!)

I love going to the Saturday farmer's market here in Barrie. I know a few of the vendors now and I love when Ontario fresh produces starts to pop up. This week I picked up a green cabbage. I also had some cauliflower at home. So, I wanted to find a gluten and dairy free recipe that included both.

Google is your best friend.

I googled cauliflower and green cabbage salad and the first site was the perfect salad to try. It came from http://www.glutenfreegreenmommy.com/ I tweaked the recipe a bit and here's what I came up with. Even Steve, my boyfriend, loved it. He has a limited vegetable repetoire so this is impressive!

1 cup cauliflower, broken up into small flowerets

1/6 of a green cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 cup of brown lentils (boiled or rinsed from a can)

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp of honey or pure maple syrup

dash of cumin

Dressing: in a small food processor mix garlic, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup and cumin. Pour over cauliflower, cabbage and lentils. Season with pepper and sea salt to taste. Mix well and serve immediately.

To have later, store the dressing in a small glass jar to add just before eating.