Mung Beans

My online, blogging, seed supplier May from Back to the Basics, and Mary's Heirloom Seeds was awesome enough to include some Mung Beans for me to try for FREE, thanks Mary. She knew I was interested in trying them, so when I placed my last order she asked me if I wanted some to try, well heck yeah!!!

When ever I see the word mung, I think mug weird right? But anyway I was excited to receive my beans and screen to do my first sprout. I'm a hands on learner, and  had to watch a couple of videos to totally understand how to sprout. Mary does include sprouting instructions for each of the sprouting seeds she sells, but sorry Mary needed something more. As a matter of fact I waited for days maybe weeks for starting the sprouts because it seemed time consuming, and I fully did not understand just reading Mary's directions.

Two days into sprouting

Finally I watched a couple of videos and was off to sprout. It was soooooo easy, just soak the beans in filtered water for 12 hours, and rinse. I placed my jar on the side with a paper towel at the mouth of the jar in case any water dripped out. It stayed on the kitchen counter, out of the sun, where it would not be disturbed until my beans sprouted. I rinsed the beans twice a day, and by the first day they were already sprouting!!! By the third day I had sprouts!!! I was excited about this new food, and made my self a egg salad sandwich with Mung Bean sprouts on top, yum!

Once the sprouts were ready I poured them on to a plate lined with two paper towels for them to dry. I waited about a half hour, and put them pack into the jar, Mary said you can keep them in the fridge for up to six weeks, but better to eat them as soon as you can. 

It was suggested by one video I watched that you taste your sprouts daily to see how you feel about the taste. Mung Bean sprouts are crunchy, and said to have a nutty taste, personally I really did not taste a nutty flavor. 

Mung Beans sprouts are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and a great source of fiber. If you are trying to lose weight or have, or know someone with diabetes, this is a food to include in your regular diet. This is because Mung Beans have a glycemic level of 31 which means it has slow effect on blood sugar. Also the high fiber allows for a slower release of calories into the blood sugar.

Many Asians use sprouts in their dishes, they are also used in salads, for making bread, smoothies, and more. I also started a new board on Pintrest just for sprouts which includes only 11 pins right now, but will keep adding. What you will find there right now are some great recipes, and also how to grow your own mung beans to use for sprouts.

How do you use your sprouts? Have a favorite sprout?

Quinoa

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 I recently discovered this super food with a name that is hard to say if you are looking at the word, Quinoa pronounced keen wah, really????

One thing I love about Quinoa is its versatility, after my purchase of this food I immediately started searching for recipes. I was in awe seeing that I could use it to make casseroles, salads, meat loaf, bread, pudding and on. While many may say it is a grain my research shows that it is actually a seed, makes sense that is what it looks like.

Quinoa is high in protein, contains eight much needed amino acids, rich in calcium, fiber, cholesterol free, gluten free, and wheat free. It also a great resource for the following: potassium, iron, B6, manganese, niacin, copper, thiamine, riboflavin, tryptophan, and phosphorous, magnesium, and B vitamins. It has also been said that quinoa may help to lower blood pressure, and aid in the relief of migraines.

Before cooking with quinoa be sure to rinse it or it will have a bitter taste. Also note that one cup of cooked quinoa yields three cups, cook one cup of quinoa with two cups of water until it becomes transparent, and you can see what looks like a little tail.

With that said here is the first recipe I made with quinoa.

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Print This Recipe

Chessy Broccoli Quinoa

1 cup cooked quinoa
cooked broccoli chopped up
1 tbsp of the following Turmeric and garlic
1 tsp of the following pepper, salt and ginger
I also added some grated ginseng root
Cheese whatever you prefer I used a Mexican blend

While the quinoa is cooking add all seasonings, I chopped up the broccoli while it was cooking, and added it as I went along stirring it in until I had the desired amount. Once the quinoa became transparent and was done I added the cheese, this I also stirred in until I had the desired amount.

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I never follow a recipe, but if you want the original recipe I used just click on the photo credit. Also while doing my research I found this great site dedicated to cooking quinoa. If you sign up for the newsletter you can get a free quinoa cook book, I got mine. I also have a board on Pintrest just for quinoa.

Shared at Wildcrafting Wednesday and here.

It's Not Organic

They (the government, Monsanto) started messing with our food back in the late 80s and 90s. Now that all of our food is contaminated along comes organic foods. I have been eating what everyone is calling organic for a month now. I'm here to tell you that this food called organic is not organic it is real food. 

Photo credit: It's Your Life

The mayonnaise we are eating now tastes the way it used to before they started messing with our food. Butter called "organic" looks the way I remember it looking. When I got my order of butter I was excited because I knew what I was going to see, look at the picture on the right, which one is GMO junk? that's right the one on the right, how many of you remember when butter used to look like the butter on the left? I do!!!

So, why are we calling real food organic? It is not organic and it is FOOD the way it used to be, yes there are some items that are different such as the Ezekiel sprouted bread I eat, but that is just an up on how to produce a healthier product. We no longer refer to our food as organic instead we say no that is not GMO junk. It's not organic food, it is not GMO junk, it's just food.

Stability Ball for the Abs

 

One of my favorite work out toys is my stability ball. However, it was not always that way, when I first got it I could not stay on. I was frustrated at first, the woman on the video made it look so easy. I didn't give up, I would lay on the ball and roll forward and backward, sometimes holding in a plank position. After a while of doing this I reverted back to the DVD and yeah me!! I was doing it. What makes the stability ball so wonderful is that you need to use your whole body, so you are working multiple muscles all the time. If you have never used a stability ball or are just beginning here is what you can do with it. It is great for abdominal work with various exercises, you can use a dumb bell or weight ball to add to the intensity. Lay on your side to work your oblique muscles add a resistance band for more intensity. You can also use it to work your chest and triceps, than get down on the floor to work your abs some more or work your gluts. There are a lot of different exercises for the stability ball, but I use it just for my ab work outs. 

Some of my favorite ab exercises with the ball are ball exchange, basic stomach crunch, oblique work, roll outs and wood chops. Because I want those who have never done these exercises or used a stability ball at all to get a full understanding of each of the exercises I mentioned I have added videos for each one.Okay every time I add a new video the previous video is being deleted, so I am going to just add the links instead which will open in a new window. 

Ball Exchange

Basic Stomach Crunch this one is kind of long, but she does a good job of explaining proper technique along with variations.

Obliques this was the closest video I could find for what I do. I do not use the wall and the arm she has on the ball I put further on the ball and put my hand on my side like in the picture below. 


                                                                   





Roll Outs in the example she goes out pretty far, only go out as far as you can, also for those just starting out you can start with your forearms on the ball like the image below. This is a great exercise for the core, just remember to breath on the way out, and contract those abs!!

 

Wood Chops there are a different variety of these, so finding a video for this exercise was a little challenging. You will also notice the video has different name for wood chops, Swiss ball torso twist.

Speaking of Swiss ball, this is another name for the stability ball so if you see it know that it is the same thing. It may also be called a fitness ball or some other names, but all in all it's a big big ball and the same.


Do you use the stability ball?

Shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday and here.

  

Got Real Food?

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Okay just need to vent here a little. I am so sick of seeing blogs, web sites etc telling people how they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight, or avoid these foods for flatter abs, love this one no diet, no exercise, eat what you want just take this product. REALLY!!!!!! Food allergies, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and more are all linked to the foods we eat.

Now I don't do everything I should to be healthy, but one thing I have done is switch to organic food. Okay now this gets me too, organic food is real food, shouldn't the artificial garbage in the grocery stores change their name. Instead of food they could called it mutant food, or death sentence because that is what it is.

I'm also sick of hearing others complain that they can't lose weight. Well duh not as long as you are eating mutant food you won't, GET SOME REAL FOOD! Nothing is going to change as long as you keep doing the same thing, For a month the majority of my food is just that food, and I have lost 3 pounds however, I also work out on a regular basis, but even that didn't matter until I changed my food.

Until you change your food you will not see any changes, alright let's hear I can't afford to eat real food. No, you can't afford not to, and if you have kids what about them? Don't they deserve to eat real food that won't make them obese and sick? I have found two online resources for buying real food that I want to share with you.

Green Polka Dot Box, I know silly name, I just joined this site for an annual membership of $50 dollars, but I get discounts up to 60%, save gas, and if I order $75 worth of items I get free shipping, if you order under they have a flat rate of $9.95. They have cold foods such as cheese, and hot dogs, regular foods like pasta, and beans, personal care, home care, baby, pet, supplements, and natural remedies. However there is an additional cost for ordering cold foods, and if your order is over 65 pounds, as mine was.  For $10 you can give it try, but the free shipping does not apply which stinks because if you want someone to join, and give them a trail for $10 I think it should come with free shipping. Also note that while the site mentions vegetables and fruits, at this time there is no fresh produce.

Abe's Market is another online store I just purchased from, there is no membership fee, but all orders over $49 ship for free. They have a huge selection of natural products for kids and babies, I mean anything you need they have, and you can create a registry as well.  Abe has everything you need to be healthy from food, to cleaning, clothes, and more.

I also placed an order with Nature's Path because I wanted the bigger bags of cereal, and heck free shipping on order over $39. We got the shipment very quick, and the boys love the toaster pastries. If you have kids/teens in the house this is a great site for cereal, granola bars, toaster pastries, pancake mix, basically breakfast items.

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Another area to consider is to Google organic food co ops in your area, sadly there are none in my area, but when I Googled it for a friend back in Chicago a bunch came up. So I'm thinking those in the city have a better chance. Also Google organic farms in your area, these can be a great resource for local natural meats, eggs, cheese, vegetables, and more. Not only do you benefit from fresh foods, but you help to keep a local farmer up and running.

If you decide to go with a local farmer ask to visit the farm so you can see how the animals are being raised. Ask them to tell you about how they tend to their animals naturally. Same with vegetables and fruits how are they grown? Do they use any chemicals? However if you find them on the internet using the key words organic farmers in ______ most likely everything is fine but I want to hear it from them so I ask.

Okay so this wasn't just a rant hopefully this information will be useful to others, have a blessed weekend.

Do have a great resource for purchasing food, please share I am especially interested in fish and meats.


This blog was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday and here.