Health Cafe Journey

Often the complaint about juicers is that the fiber from the veggies and fruit goes to waste. You can put it in your composter to create future soil for your garden, but a better more immediate repurposing would be to turn it into veggie burgers. When making juice I use a minimal amount of fruit. Given all the goodness in the veggie pulp, I decided to come up with a way to make vegan burgers from it. The fact that it has a bit of fruit makes the finished burger that much more tasty. Add organic corn and beans. I used garbanzo beans for the batch above—I usually use black beans. Add quinoa flour to the veggie pulp mixture and combine. Then add hummus, BBQ sauce, tapenade or your choice to add flavor and moisture. Add sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a seasoning combo. I like to use Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. Press the mixture to a desired thickness (<1/2") on a flat surface or in a shallow flat bowl. Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out the burgers. Brown the burg...

Exercise is not just to look and feel good. And it's certainly not the widely accepted wrong reason to exercise—to eat more bad food. The rationale for exercise might not be clear. Here are six straight-forward, simple reasons why you should exercise: #1 Exercise to Feel Good This is not just a suck-it-up and smile type of feel good. This is real. Natural. Body created. Hormone related. Truly feel good—like all day good. Exercise creates endorphins in the body that are like morphine and opiates. Obviously wildly better than those drugs. Endorphins create a euphoric feeling that is healthier than any drug fix. Yes—even better than caffeine. #2 Exercise to Burn Cortisol Cortisol is a stress-induced hormone produced by the body when situations provoke emotions like anger, anxiety and fear. This stress hormone contributes to weight gain by causing the body to hold on to fat and increase cravings for sweets. Not a good combination. Not only does your body not burn fat, but it urge...

Tip: "Living the Veg Life" on Health Perch

I must have more recipes for butternut squash than any other food. I love it cooked in so many different ways. This recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Soup came from a friend who tried it, loved it and passed it on. It's a great soup for a rainy day. But don't wait for a rainy day to try it—it's too good to wait. Besides we seem to be entering another dry spell here in California and you know we need the rain. The Granny Smith apple provides a wonderful sweetness to this soup. While the fresh sage adds a touch of earthiness. Roasted Butternut Squash Soup from Runcrissierun.com yield 4 - 6 servings category Soup cuisine Vegan ingredients 1 butternut squash about 8″ long 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil 1/4 C cashews, soaked 6 sage leaves 3 - 4 vegetable stock 1 Tbsp coconut oil 1 shallot, diced 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed 1 tsp sea salt Pinch of pepper directions 1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. 2. Slice squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and discard. Brush open fac...

If you're resolved to lose weight, get back energy and feel better, there are several things you should know to help you succeed. #1 Don't Count Calories Do yourself a favor and forget the stress of counting calories. It will only make you crazy. Besides not all calories are alike—50 calories of sugar is a whole lot different than 50 calories of veggies. It's not the calories that count— it's the content of the calories . Instead, take a serious look at the food you want to eat and ask, "Is this something that will give my body good health?" You know you shouldn't be eating a candy bar when you're hungry. It's full of artificial and GMO ingredients and sugar (corn syrup most likely). You might be satisfied, but you won't feel good. #2 Don't Skip Breakfast Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. You've been sleeping for 7 - 9 hours (hopefully—otherwise you need to read Sleep—Needed for Optimum Wellness ). Your body needs...

Broken Promises It happens every year. Lengthy lists are made of promises to ourselves that we will  lose weight , save money, join the gym,  eat healthy , learn a new skill, and on and on. Gym managers love it! They get new members who sign up, pay up and show up for a time until things go back to normal with only the die-hard regulars coming in. Purveyors of the latest diet fade love it! They sell diet books, recipe books and special food until the next hot fade comes along. What's wrong with the last one? Didn't lose weight? Too hard? I caught a glimpse of the  Hollywood Cookie Diet ! Are you serious? I don't even want to know how that's supposed to work. Folks, we make it too hard. We look for the quick fix when  what we need is re-education . We have gotten so far off track from what our bodies need to be healthy. Health science continues to identify all these marvelous nutrients that do wonderful things in our body and then they try to bottle it. Where did the ...

A routine followup appointment to the ophthalmologist on New Year's Eve turned into a nightmare. Seems I have the knack for experiencing medical problems during the holidays. In 2012 it was the Christmas Crash  when a urinary tract infection turned bad. This time it should have a been a simple look at my eye to verify all is well. Floaters and Tears It all started early in December when I awakened to a new set of floaters in my left eye. You know... those little blotches and hair-like ghosts that float around in your vision? Those are the result of the eye's vitreous fluid breaking up as we age and are said to be more prevalent in those of us with poor far vision (I'm raising my hand). Floaters are annoying enough, but these were particularly dark and big. Added to the floaters I already had, made the situation that much more bothersome. Going about my day, I soon noticed something new in my left eye—flashes of light at the left edge. The light appeared as a perfectly roun...