Powered By Plants

Plant Power for 2016

Aloha from Hawaii. It's resolution time and all my cooking classes always bust at the seams in attendance during January. Yesterday in Honolulu, was no exception. Many students talked about having a healthier year and are hopeful to make changes towards a plant based Livet ( I like this word over Diet). This always makes me happy, and I am more than happy to help people along their journey to become Powered By Plants!
Something to put into perspective is that choosing wisely is our key to success. Many have made the change to a vegan Livet and still battle with weight and sickness due to unwise choices. You can still be "vegan" and eat junk food (candy, soda, fried foods).
Eating a wide variety whole plant Livet is optimum. When we choose a wide range of beans, legumes, fruits and veggies, we increase the variety of our nutritional intake.
Getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals is easy when we do this. I'm frequently asked where I get my protein. I get it from plants of course, all plants have protein and I should be getting 43-45 grams a day. When I eat a variety of whole plant goodness, I can do this easily. Shucks, lentils alone have 17 grams in 1 cup. 1 cup of kale has 4 grams, and throughout my day I get plenty.
Another thing to remember is that each day is a brand new start, your slate is clean every new morning. So if you struggled the day before with tempting foods, don't beat yourself up, make wise choices today.
Here are some tips to help you overcome temptations and to have a successful plant based year:

• Plan weekly menus. ( I like to make a big pot of beans on Sunday and plan meals for week around using them in a variety of ways)
• Shop weekly at farmers market for fresh, local and organic produce or join CSA farm program and receive weekly produce and plan menu around what's in season. 
• Make meals and eat at home. ( eating out can not only be expensive, but also may not be organic, and also contain GMOs. It can also be unhealthy if fried and full of sugar. When we make food at home, we control what's on our plate and in our bodies, no surprises.
• Don't bring junk food home. ( don't buy it- keep it out of the house).
• Drink water! Water helps fight cravings and is a shower for our insides. Would you shower in juice or soda? Our insides need showers too. I shoot daily to drink water in ounces equivalent to my weight.
• Fast food is fruit and veggies! Banana and apples are my most favorite fast foods.
• B12 is needed when going vegan. Take a supplement, eat moringa and blue green algae ( I put these in my morning smoothie). 
• Organic! Be Organic, choose Organic! Pesticides break down our immune system and eventually cause dis- ease in our bodies. This inevitably leads to various diseases. 
• Choose Raw fruits and veggies- beware you will acquire hidden super powers that you did not know lived inside you when you eat raw! Raw fruits and vegetables contain all vital nutrients with out having been cooked out. I always say, "Salads save lives". Eat a salad a day and watch how your life changes for the better.

Here is how I focus my day whether raw or eating cooked:

• Morning Green smoothie.
• Fruit snack before lunch
• Large.. Very large salad for lunch.
• Green juice before dinner.
• Whole pant cooked dinner or raw when raw.

This year I'll post recipes for this daily paradigm I like to follow. It's simple and satisfying. 

I hope to help and encourage you on your journey to a healthier 2016. Please let me know how I may assist you. You can email me privately at ItalKitchen808@gmail.com I would be honored to be of service. 

️Sending love to you wherever you are. I strongly believe that we are one family! Love you all!

Love,

Mama T

Vegan Stewed Collard Greens

Aloha Family,

I pray you are well this lovely Fall season. I'm just starting to play with making videos. I'll be sharing them with you and ask for your patience while I learn.
This recipe you'll need to add 2 cups water... I said said 1 cup in video.
I will also keep 1/2 of the vegan bacon out and leave crispy to top before serving next time. In the video I put it all in stew and will not do that again. It was good, but I will add crispy texture next time. Toasted pine nuts would be good sprinkled on top before serving too.

Hope you try it! I would love to hear from you if you do.
Hope you have a blessed day.
Love you,
Mama T

Fall Scented Playdough

Aloha Sweet Family,

I pray you are well and surrounded by love.
Yesterday I had a lovely day at home full of crafting and cooking.
My little one helped with all he fun and especially loved making the Fall Scented Playdough.
The recipe is so easy and provides fun for hours with little ones.
Here is what you will need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1cup salt
2 tsp Cream of Tarter
Vegetable oil-1Tbsp for each divided bowl of dry ingredients
Just boiled water- about a cup and a 1/2 that will also be divided
Food coloring- I make red, orange, and purple for Fall colors
Spices: ground clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon
1. Mix dry ingredients and divide into 3 bowls.
2. Add each spice to separate bowls.
3. Add oil to each bowl
4. One at a time slowly add just boiled water a tablespoon at a time with food coloring of choice and mix, adding more water until you get a Playdough consistency.
5. Knead dough until color is evenly distributed.
6. You can add more spice at end to make smell stronger.
7. Enjoy and have tons a fun!!!

I pray you have a beautiful day today and throughout the Fall season. May you be blessed and loved.
I love you all!

Love,
Mama T

Raw Beet Sashimi

Aloha Everyone,

Today was a beautiful day. I got to create this beautiful dish with beets. There are things that I do miss that I used to eat, flavors, not animals, so making plant based versions of those favorites is always exciting..especially when the flavor is on point. Hope you enjoy this recipe. I had a woman in my class tell me tonight that I was responsible for her now loving  beets. Cheeehooooo

               Raw Beet Sashimi

🌱3 medium beets, sliced thin using a mandolin 

🌱Lemon zest of 1 lemon

🌱Juice of 1 lemon

🌱1 tablespoon of grated ginger 

🌱3 tablespoons tamari 

🌱3 tablespoons sesame oil

🌱1-2 tablespoons agave

🌱3 tablespoons Life Foods Furikake

🌱1/4 cup diced green onions

Place all ingredients into a bowl and throughly coats beets. They soften as they marinate. Let marinate for 1 hour in fridge. Garnish with green onions. Serve and enjoy with loved ones.

Love in the form of: Double Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

Hi and Happy Day. Hope this day brings joy and yummy healthy food. So most who know me, know that baking has never been my gift. I admire bakers so much, but the mastery of precise measurements and science has not been my style of cooking, ever. But I love to make treats for my loves and so I am making a concerted effort to improve this. So far I have had great success in making breads, banana chocolate chip muffins and cinnamon rolls. But cakes...oh cakes have always been the thorn in my side. On Saturday I attempted to make a double decker for my friends daughters birthday party. It was a complete and utter disaster that ended with me buying a cake to bring #sadface. But I was determined to try again on Sunday, which happened to be my husband and I's anniversary of 11 years of being in love. He suggested that we have a small spontaneous dinner party ( so unlike him- but made me happy because I love gatherings). So anyway, I decided I was going to try again, this time making a chocolate cake and I was going to make some chocolate covered strawberries to go with it. Then I had the idea of combing the two ideas and making a chocolate covered strawberry- chocolate cake. Well it was huge hit! The beauty of this decadence is that although it looks crazy sweet, it's actually quite subtle and the fresh fruit pairs perfectly with moist cake and melted vegan chocolate chips. This cake is organic and vegan- my favorite combination. Hope you enjoy!

•  1 1/2 cups coconut milk 
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar- combine in bowl with coconut milk- let sit 5 minutes to acitvate 
•  1 1/2 tablespoons egg replacer with 1/4 cup water- in separate bowl
•  2/3 cup coconut oil- melted 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• Dry-separate bowl- Sift togther- I use a colander to sift 
• 2 cups organic all purpose unbleached flour 
• 1 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar 
• 1 cup cacao powder 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
•  1 to 1 1/2 packages of vegan chocolate chips- double boiled to melt 
•  2-3 cups fresh berries or fruit of choice- sliced- 

1.  Heat oven to 350*
2.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan 
3. Combine all wet ingredients, once coconut milk and Apple Cider Vinegar has activated. 
4. Sift in dry ingredients into wet.
5.  Use hand held mixer to mix until no lumps are present.
6.  Pour into baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool- at least 30minutes 
7. While cake is baking melt chocolate chips.   
8. Once cake cooled, carefully turn upside down on flat platter- I used a cutting board.
9. Top with fruit. Using a spatula, evenly sprinkle chocolate sauce all over and coat sides as well. 
10. Place in fridge until chocolate hardens. Serve to loved ones and Fulljoy! 

 I love you all and pray that today is filled with love, joy and laughter.

Love,
Mama T

Glysophate and Your Health

Are you RoundUp Ready? Monsanto seems to think so. RoundUp aka Glysophate is the pesticide that was created specifically for GMO crops so that they would be resistant to any harm when sprayed but all the weeds attacking plant would be killed. Perhaps you've seen it at Costco, Kmart, Walmart stacked high ready to be sold by the dozens, and believe me it sells like crazy. Because it has been dubbed as "harmless", everyone sprays it. Probably, even your next door neighbor sprays it. I know that it is sprayed all over in large sums at Kapiolani Park and parks and recs around Oahu. I once saw someone spraying in Kapiolani Park and asked what it was,I was told it was RoundUp and it was sprayed throughout the park. This week I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a Professor at MIT speak on her findings that Glysophate is actually the cause of an alarming number of illnesses that we are seeing on the rise today. First of all, Glysophate has immunity to any studies that would prove a link to it causing any harm to people and the environment. Many years ago when it was first introduced commercially the test limits were set very low that determined Glysophate harmless. The truth is that they have now raised the allowable limits so high because crops now require so much more due to super weeds and super bugs, but still claim it is safe with out testing the effects of higher usage- because the status of "safe", at low limits, made it "untouchable". Dr. Seneff uses computer science to map out the parallel exponential growth of Glysophate and Autisim and other diseases. http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ Above is a link to Dr. Seneff's site and studies. Dr. Seneff says always eat organic. She has many testimonies of people who were sick and switched to 100% organic and healed themselves. I hadn't realized that all wheat- unless organic, is sprayed with Glysophate when harvested in order to be less resiny when processed. It makes for a cleaner process. Many people who are jumping on the bandwagon for Gluten Free diets could actually be having a reaction to the Glysophate which attacks the gut killing all the good microbes and bacteria. I learned that bloody noses are one of the symptoms of Glysophate poisoning. This is alarming to me because my daughter began getting them when she started Kindergarten. She had never had them before and then would get them frequently. Oahu Park and Recs are sprayed,her school is attached to a park. After lengthy conversations with Dr. Seneff, I asked how can we begin to heal? I want to be a part of that process. She said, Glysophate causes a Sulphide deficiency. We can start eating more cabbage and fermented foods. But most importantly she stresses eating organic. She said I should read "Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth" By Judith Schwartz. I am inspired so much by what I learned from Dr. Seneff. Although I am very conscious about what I eat, I know I can do better. I want to be 100% organic. I slip sometime when I justify that it is NonGMO Project verified or vegan, but most importantly it should be organic. Dr. Seneff said when she is home she is 100%, but when she travels it is hard. Here in Hawaii this can be very easy if we make connections with organic farmers, make our own food and grow our own food. The bottom line is these Chemical Cartels will keep selling their product as long as people keep buying it. Please stop buying it, urge your neighbor to stop...urge your local stores that sell it to stop. If the demand disappears so will Glysophate. We are not RoundUp Ready and neither is our planet. All this toxic, chemical dumping pollutes our soil, water, air, animals and us. Enough already, it's time to heal. Please join me in this healing. Organic is the way to a sustainable future for our planet, and future generations. If we all start choosing organic with our buying power then the scales will tip and the increased demand will lower the prices and drive out the chemicals. Let's do it! The time is now. I love you all. #GoOrganic

Bone Health

Aloha All. I pray you are having a beautiful day.

This week I was blessed to go to a bone health lecture with dr. Howayeck a podiatrist from Cali. It's was so informative and he also gave ultrasound bone density tests for the participants. Here are some of the amazing facts that I learned:

Not surprising the highest ranking things that are bad for you are in order of severity:


1. Caffeine- he said soda is the absolute worst thing you can consume.
2. Alcohol
3. Sodium - bleached table salt.
4. Meat - very acidic
5. Sugar

Basically anything that causes acid in your body links to all degenerative diseases and is not surprising that it is related to bone health too.

Now the things that promote good bone health.

1. Calcium- All green leafy vegetables- Collards are #1 vegetable with highest calcium, highest fruit are prunes. You can also get calcium from liquid bentonite. This is what they give the Astronauts. Sesame seeds are profoundly high in calcium so eat up that tahini dressing!
2. Exercise that causes foot to pavement contact. Swimming not good for bone health but good for muscles. Dancing and walking are excellent.
3. Getting enough vitamin D. The sun won't do this because we need to get it directly perpendicular to our skin for absorption. You can get it through Chlorella. He recccommends Sun Chlorella
supplement daily.

We want our bones to be strong and carry us through a happy healthy life. We have power and control  to nourish them so that they are firm and not brittle. Plant based "livet" will promote healthy bones to optimum strength. Choose wisely what you put in your body. Alkalize and disease cannot thrive.

In life there are so many things we cannot control. But those things that we do, we must seize power and do our best, so we can feel our best. Dr. Howayeck has a book called Bone Health Made Easy, I highly recommend it. So here's to wishing a day and life full of health. Choose wisely what you decide to put in you, it has the power to heal or make you sick. You have a choice. Love you all, Mama