This recipe is packed full of Essential Fatty Acids which are necessary for proper brain function, cellular fluidity, healthy skin, energy production, immune function, and hormone balance.  This Nut Brittle really surprised me! It's like a dessert but much healthier.

NUT BRITTLE WITH SEEDS

Servings: 12

2 cups Sunflower Seeds

1 cup Cashews

1 cup Almonds  (slivered almonds work well)

½ cup Sesame Seeds

½ cup Flax Seeds

1 T. Fennel Seeds

1 T. Anise Seeds

1/3 cup Maple Syrup

(You may need to add a tablespoon more of maple syrup…every piece should have a thin coat for sticking together after syrup hardens.)

NOTE: All nuts and seeds should be raw.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Put half the syrup in a big mixing bowl.

Add sunflower seeds. Mix until well coated.

Add remaining nuts. Fold and mix well.

Add remainder of maple syrup and coat thoroughly.

Spread mixture on the cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes and if the nuts are toasted and hardened in the center (not soft and sticky) pull it out of the oven.

Let cool. Break apart. Enjoy!

Check out the latest episode of Dishin Nutrition to meet my special guest and mentor, Laura Knoff! Together we make a delicious fish dish that supports healthy metabolism! You'll even discover the secret to avoiding that fish aroma in your kitchen!

Spring is here and many of us are struggling with seasonal allergies. Here are some great natural remedies!!

Quercetin is a flavonoid that is thought to control the body's release of histamines and other chemicals that have an effect on the body's immune response to allergens. Specifically, it has been shown to reduce sinus pain and congestion caused by allergies. When combined with Vitamin C and grapeseed extract, the ability to reduce pollen allergy symptoms also increases significantly.

Foods with Quercetin:
Fruits and vegetables -- particularly citrus fruits, apples, onions, parsley, tea, and red wine -- are the primary dietary sources of quercetin. Olive oil, grapes, dark cherries, and dark berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, rose hips, and bilberries are also high in flavonoids including quercetin.


Nettle (Urtica dioica): Many people swear by nettle for relieving hay fever, including Dr. Weil, who uses the herb himself. In 1990, the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, conducted a double-blind study of the efficacy of a freeze-dried preparation of stinging nettle on allergic rhinitis. The group treated with the nettle preparation fared moderately better than their placebo-treated counterparts. A decoction made of the leaves or roots is said to ease bronchial constriction.

Here's a great recipe for allergies (full of quercetin and Vit C!!) from Laura Knoff's VEGGIE WOMAN'S GUIDE TO HEALTH, cookbook. Laura will be appearing on Dishin Nutrition within the next few weeks!!
Check out her book at http://www.labryshealthcarecircle.com/

Rose Hip Spread
1 cup dried rose hips (purchase dried, cut, de-seeded rose hips from the bulk herbal section of your local health food store or you can find them online at herbal stores).
Pure Water
A Wide Mouth Pint Jar

Sort through the rose hips to remove any residual seeds and stems. Half fill the jar with these cleaned rose hips and cover them with enough pure water to fill the jar. Cover and shake gently to wet the hips. Place the covered jar in the refrigerator for at least 3 hrs. When ready to eat, the hips are moist and soft, not crunchy. To make a smooth sauce, blend this thoroughly in a blender. Enjoy the slightly tart taste as a substitute for jam or jelly. You can add stevia to sweeten or cinnamon and ginger to spice it up! Eat with green apple for extra quercetin!!

My favorite supplement for allergies is D-Hist. It contains nettle and quercetin, along with other co-factors!!! Check it out. There is even a product for kids! Works great!

http://astore.amazon.com/mintnutrition-20/detail/B000UBEKO6
http://astore.amazon.com/mintnutrition-20/detail/B000UBKCCA

A series of detoxes can also do wonders for your allergies. Check out this blog post i wrote about DETOXES!!!

http://www.localbizblogs.com/dietmakeover/2008/04/27/spring-cleaning-nature-s-detox

Read Food Labels!

You will be surprised just how much is in your food once you start reading food labels! There are over 14,000 man-made chemicals added to our food supply today. The more foreign ingredients (which names you can not pronounce) in your food, the more likely that it is bad for you. Stick to whole foods and minimize your amount of processed foods. When purchasing packaged, processed foods, read labels and avoid added sugar, MSG, artificial flavorings, preservatives, and food colorings. These harmful food additives are hard for your body to process and often are stored in fat cells, MAKING YOU TOXIC!!! Toxic terrain often leads to disease, possibly even cancer.  A good rule of thumb: the less ingredients the better. 

Think about it, if it can sit on the store shelf for years at a time, it can be stored in your body just as long!

Start with avoiding the most dangerous additives that are often found in many processed foods with low nutritional value.  Here's a list of just a few….

MSG:  Monosodium glutamate is a chemical additive used to enhance flavor.  It's a neurotoxin, excitatory to the neurological system.  Long-term consumption of MSG can lead to MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, brain lesions, and obesity. 

Aspartame:  This sugar substitute is also a neurotoxin that causes chemical disruptions in the brain.  Aspartame not only can make you fat, but it can cause headaches, memory loss, depression, anxiety attacks, brain tumors, and MS. The same dangers can be said for Splenda (sucralose) and saccharin.

Sodium Nitrite:  Often found in preserved, processed meats, nitrites are potent carcinogens!  Consumption of nitrites has been linked to cancer of the esophagus, stomach, large intestine, bladder, and lungs.

Artificial Colorings:  Consumption of artificial colors has been proven to be carcinogenic.  They are also known to cause excitability and behavior issues such as ADD and ADHD in children.  Be sure to avoid the following:

Oranges: D&C Orange 17
Blues:      FD&C Blue 1
Reds:       FD&C Red 3
FD&C Red 9
D&C Red 19
D&C Red 33
FD&C Red 4
FD&C Red 40
Greens:   D&C Green 5
FD&C Green 3
Yellow:    FD&C Yellow 5
FD&C Yellow 6


A simple general rule:  AVOID PROCESSED FOOD! Eat whole foods!  Less is more!

For more info on additives to avoid in your food and body products, check out my favorite book, What's in Your Food?


There is also great info at http://www.truthinlabeling.org

Check my favorite smoothie recipe that includes healing probiotics. When I had my parasite and battle with Candida, this recipe really helped me rebuild my strength and cure my digestive problems.

Here's a little more info on probiotics and how to chose them.

The Benefits of Probiotics

Intestinal flora is good bacteria that lives in your gut and improves your overall health. The supplement form is called probiotics, meaning “healthful to life.” This good flora helps maintain the intestinal tract helping to relieve the leaky gut response of large food particles passing through the mucosa and causing an allergic response.

It also prevents the overgrowth of harmful pathogens like Candida, parasites, E. coli, H. pylori, and salmonella. It can also ease the symptoms of food poisoning by supporting the intestines.

This good bacteria also aids digestion of foods such as dairy. They manufacture short-chained fatty acids that are essential to your health. They help produce B-complex vitamins while improving nutrient absorption. All of this promotes a healthy metabolism and boosts the immune system.

Shopping for a Probiotic

1. Chose a probiotic with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidum.

2. Look for probiotics at your local health food store or natural vitamin shop.

3. Many probiotics are refrigerated to extend the life of the living bacteria. Check the date to ensure maximum potency.

4. Chose a probiotic with 8 billion to 50 billion organisms. It is possible that you probiotic will not even have that many living organisms after transport to the store and purchase.

5. Freeze dried probiotics suspend the flora's feeding and growth, keeping them dormant until they enter your body. These products are typically shelf stable and are good for traveling.

6. Them more strains of beneficial bacteria, the better. Read the label and chose a product with a diverse amount of bacteria.

7. Try a product with FOS, inulin, or other prebiotics. This if food for the good bacteria and can help them multiple quicker.

8. Take probiotics on an empty stomach, preferably before bedtime.

This yummy recipe is so easy to make. The nuts and seeds provide energizing protein and calming healthy fats. The fruit provides protective anti-oxidants. These raw granola bars are truly nature's fast food!

RAW GRANOLA BARS

2 cups raw seeds (organic of coarse!)

• you can use whatever you have on hand: flax, hemp, sesame, sunflower
  

1 cup raw nuts (organic)

• soak nuts for 8 hrs for optimal digestion.

1/2 cup dried fruit (organic)

• soak fruit in water for 2 hrs (or you can soak in warm water to shorten the time)
• reserve soak water
• I love to use goji berries for their powerful health benefits, but raisins or figs are great too!
  

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1/4 cup coconut oil (liquid state)

Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

Using a food processor, rough chop nuts, seeds, and dried fruit together. Then add the soaked fruit, and 3 Tbs of the reserved soak water. Add vanilla, coconut oil, and cinnamon, and nutmeg and pulse until combined.

Using your hands, make 2 inch squares. Place on a Teflex sheets and place in the dehydrator at 115 degrees for 7hrs. (If you don't have a dehydrator you can put them in your oven at the lowest setting for a few hours. Just be sure to keep checking for the desired chewy texture).

Enjoy!

Recipe for Potato Latkes (Allergen Free!)

Sweet Potato Pancakes:

*organic ingredients are preferable

1 Large Sweet Potato Shredded

1/4 onion diced

1 1/2 TBS Brown Rice Flower

1 egg or 1tsp EngerG egg replacer in 2TBS warm water

1/4 cup apple sauce

2 TBS Sunflower seed Butter (other nut butters are fine too)

1/8 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

coconut oil (perfect for high heat. less oxidization!)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Heat coconut oil in a skillet. Fry on each side until crisp and golden, about 8 to 10 min. total. Drain and cool on a paper towel or in a colander. Keep warm in 200 degree oven until ready to eat.

Serve with apple sauce and raisins.

These are so delicious! They are a perfect alternative to dessert. The sunbutter provides protein, Vit E, and healthy anti-inflammatory fats. The sweet potatoes contain cancer fighting anitoxidants, Vit C, Vit B6, manganese, and fiber! So eat up!

-Shannon