My new dinner inspiration(s) are coming from my new favorite purchase – Abundant Harvest Organics… Fresh, organic, local produce boxed up and delivered weekly.  Each week I get to enjoy some new and some old favorites both fruits and vegetabales.  This week I received:

Beautiful Greens

I can’t wait to teach Bode about the importance of color on our plates!  How many different colors did you have in your last meal?

Namaste

I love cheese because it tastes good on almost anything but regular cheese made from cow’s milk isn’t the best choice for our diets.  I’ve been reading a lot of articles about how we shouldn’t eat dairy.  Yes, I have a degree in Nutrition but since it is such a new science, new studies come out every day.  This was one of the things I loved about college because I was growing as a student along with the science that I was learning about.  Studies show that about 75% of the population cannot genetically digest dairy (lactose intolerance).  Many people might say, “We need 2-3 servings of dairy in our diet, the USDA recommends it in the food guide pyramid, to help prevent diseases like Osteoporosis”…

My little model with both cheese varieties

However, recent studies have shown that the  truth is, there has been little or no success in preventing osteoporosis by eating dairy products. As Americans, we consume excessively large quantities of calcium, yet the risk of osteoporosis continues to threaten millions of Americans. Most people are not aware that the US already has one of the highest calcium intakes in the world. Calcium deficiency caused by an insufficient amount of calcium is not known to occur in humans, even though most people in the world don’t drink milk after they are babies. In fact, nations with the highest levels of dairy consumption are the same nations with the highest rates of osteoporosis.  So you might say, “why not try soy milk or soy cheese?”  I disagree with that choice as well because soy can cause problems to our hormone levels.  Soy is one of the largest genetically modified foods and has one of the highest percentages contamination by pesticides of any of our foods.  Soy has now been linked to cause cancer, lower libido, cause thyroid problems in babies, and many other side effects.  So I went on a quest to find a good cheese not made from soy or dairy at whole foods I found the following two choices (I made 2 separate quesadillas with whole wheat tortillas):

Sample #1 made from tapioca

tapioca cheese alternative

Brand Name:  Daiya

Flavor:  Mozzarella

Melting consistency: very good and it even stretches like real cheese

Smell: it smells like cheese but in a way that you can tell its not REAL cheese

Taste: yummy, not too strong but a nice flavor

Cost: $5.99 for the package (pre-shredded)

Overall Grade: B+

Sample #2 made from almonds

almond cheese alternative

Brand Name:  The Original Almond Cheese

Flavor:  Monterrey Jack-Jalapeno

Melting consistency: it melts and sticks to the tortilla but isn’t stretchy like real cheese

Smell: no smell except for the Jalapeno flavoring

Taste:  delicious, especially because of the flavoring

Cost:  $3.99 (on Sale) for the package

Overall Taste: B

Overall I would not eat these cheeses by themselves but they each have their own taste and flavor to add to a meal.  I could see baking some yummy casseroles or even trying some homemade pizza with the tapioca cheese alternative.  Although I didn’t grade either cheese with an ‘A’ I think its about changing mindset regarding ‘cheese’ and I think both of these are a hit!

Namaste

Last week I participated in my first Holistic Mom’s Group here in Santa Clarita.  I decided to attend to learn new approaches to parenting.  Most books and websites only guide you towards the mainstream way of parenting.  The topic this week was on raw dairy.  I knew a few people through my husband (who was once a personal trainer) that ate a raw diet and I myself tried it for about a day.  It is really difficult to find enough foods to eat since I like a variety in my diet.  And in the SCV the only place to purchase such foods is at Whole foods which can be very expensive. 
The reason people eat a raw diet is because cooking food kills enzymes. Enzymes help you digest your food. Your body can create enzymes but that process takes a lot of energy. This process makes you feel tired and heavy after a cooked food meal. Further, the enzymes your body makes are not as efficient and effective as the ones that were destroyed in your food. Consequently, your food is not broken down as well and thus harder to digest. Cooking foods also changes the pH of the food and makes food acidic.  Eating acidifying food makes your body a welcome feeding ground for disease.  Cooking foods can also destroy most vitamins.  (to learn m ore go to http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-diet.html)

One of the leaders talked about developing your own raw milk formula, if you decided not to breastfeed your child and also showed us how to make our own raw cheese and butter from raw cream.  It was surprisingly easy and delicious!  I however don’t know if this will fit into my lifestyle now that I am a working mom but it was great to learn about some different options.  My son is currently fed about 1/3 breast milk and 2/3 organic formula (cow’s milk based), and soon enough he’ll be eating solids which I’m looking forward to making his food from scratch.  Back to the Holistic Mom’s Group… I decided I would pay the $45/annual fee to sign up for this group and attend the meetings.  The next topic is regarding cloth diapers, which is another topic that I don’t think applies to me but I’m definitely interested in learning more about!

Namaste