Yes, you can definitely freeze your spinach for later use!

First, I recommend that you clean your spinach well. Wash off the grit and remove any unhealthy leaves or sections of leaves.

Second, I suggest that you blanch the spinach for two minutes, no more or no less. What I mean by blanching is simply placing your cleaned spinach leaves in a covered steamer basket on top of a saucepan that contains boiling water. If you blanch your spinach for only a minute, you won't succeed in deactivating the enzymes in the spinach. Deactivation of these enzymes is helpful to prevent further ripening of the spinach in your freezer. Color changes, taste changes, and nutrient loss can still take place in your frozen spinach unless these enzymes are first deactivated. If you blanch your spinach for more than two minutes, you will not only deactivate the enzymes but also cause a significant amount of unnecessary nutrient loss.

Third, I recommend that you chill the spinach in ice water immediately after blanching in order to stop the cooking process. After that, thoroughly drain the cooled spinach leaves. Only after completing this last step should you go ahead and place the spinach leaves in freezer bags or other containers for storage in your freezer.

The above three steps should provide you with a supply of homegrown, frozen spinach that can last you all the way up until your next year's harvest!

whfoods.org

Garlic in oil? No-no-no....

Extreme care must be taken when preparing flavored oils with garlic or when storing garlic in oil. I agree with the following statement made by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of California, Calaveras County:

"Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism toxin (low acidity, no free oxygen in the oil, and warm temperatures). The same hazard exists for roasted garlic stored in oil. At least three outbreaks of botulism associated with garlic-in-oil mixtures have been reported in North America."

According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/), peeled garlic cloves may be submerged in oil and stored in the freezer for several months. Definitely, do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. By law in the United States, commercially prepared garlic-in-oil has been prepared using strict guidelines and must contain citric or phosphoric acid to increase the acidity. Unfortunately, there is no easy or reliable method to acidify garlic in the home. Acidifying garlic in vinegar is a lengthy and highly variable process and therefore carries risks with it; a whole clove of garlic covered with vinegar can take from three days to more than one week to sufficiently acidify. As an alternative, properly dried garlic cloves may be safely added to flavor oils.

Given all of this, I think that you should be safe rather than sorry...not only would I not eat the green garlic, but I'd also discard the entire garlic-in-oil mixture.

whfoods.org

Cauliflower

Did you know that along with its wealth of vitamins and minerals, cauliflower, like the other cruciferous vegetables, contains powerful sulfur compounds that have repeatedly been found to help prevent cancer? Since 1993, the National Cancer Institute has been demonstrating that prevention, rather than cure, is the way to decrease deaths related to cancer. And they have found the way to prevention is eating the proper foods! Research on the prevention of cancer, as well as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, all points strongly to the food we eat as a key factor that has the potential to cut back dramatically on the rates of these chronic diseases. And some of the best foods for disease prevention are the sulfur-containing cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower. These vegetables contain compounds, including sulforaphane and isothyiocyanates, which help the liver to neutralize potentially harmful cancer-causing compounds and to suppress tumor cell growth and the movement of cancer to other parts of the body (metastasis).

whfoods.org

I Will Rise

Sang this in choir this morning.

Something very interesting happened.

For a couple of days I didn't eat very much. I tried eating only if I was very hungry. Problem is, I don't experience strong hunger since my hypothalamus has been reset. So I didn't eat very much. Each day I gained weight. I had read about this happening when I was on the hcg diet. I think what it is is, your body goes into that infamous 'starvation mode' and holds onto the weight. This could screw with my hypothalamus, and possibly un-reset it. That's something I don't what to happen.

So I changed my eating to make sure I partook in small quantities throughout the day. [I try not to eat late in the evening, but that is hard to do for me due to my schedule.] I lost 3/4 lb the first day and .5 lb the second day. That's 1.25 lbs in two days!

So I starve myself and gain weight, and eat more - but balanced - and loose weight.

Amazing!

Simple: 1 grapefruit, pink, plus 2 oranges...um...orange. :P Add some hemp protein powder [not the whole amount shown, but maybe half for my taste], and juice it all up.

Can you see how the skin on the grapefruit is scored? [It might be hard to see that the 'north and south poles' are scored.] I also do this to oranges that I pack in my lunch. Very easy to peal this way. Sections just pop right off.

Breakfast of..um..artillery specialists? heh

Check this out:
almond milk - BAM!, cacao powder - BAM!, frozen banana - BAM!, frozen blueberries - BAM!, agave - BAM!

How I kept from sipping this before I took the pic, well, I just dunno.......

How do foods affect my sleep?

There's no doubt that there are many of us that have trouble getting a good night's sleep. The statistics here are striking. For example, 42% of all healthy, middle-aged women in the United States report some kind of sleep trouble, including difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, or not feeling refreshed in the morning.

Sleep is a "mind-body" experience

There's no doubt that from a physiological standpoint that sleep is a complicated event and one that's related to many factors that cut across the "mind-body" spectrum. When we can't get to sleep because we're worried and feeling anxious, or depressed and feeling down, or confused and can't figure something out, we obviously aren't going to get to the root of our sleep trouble until we're able to work through the parts of our lives that we're feeling anxious or depressed about. At the same time, however, our nutritional status and the food we eat always influence our sleep. While we can't afford to overlook the psychological aspects, we also need to pay attention to the way we eat.

Patterns and timing make a difference

We've all heard the advice, "don't eat a big meal too close to bedtime." Although this advice sounds simple, it's actually very important and not that easy to follow. On our World's Healthiest Foods website, we've tried to emphasize the sheer joy of eating healthy food. Getting to savor the aroma, taste, and visual beauty of food is a part of what it means to be healthy. Many of us eat a meal late at night-within two hours of bedtime-precisely because we haven't made time during the day to enjoy food.

In fact, we let ourselves get so hungry that we don't really care any more about the joy of eating. We just want something in our stomach! Research shows that the timing and size of our evening meal is closely related to the timing and size of our other meals throughout the day. When we have a cup of coffee in the car on the way to work, grab a sandwich for lunch, or take care of all the household chores before getting around to dinner, we are setting ourselves up for a bad night's sleep.

Sometimes we rationalize and think that a big meal will actually help us get to sleep by exhausting our body as it tries to digest the large meal. It's tempting logic, but research evidence points in the opposite direction. A large meal does the opposite of slowing our body down. It asks our circulatory system to move more blood to our digestive tract. It asks our stomach to secrete more gastric acid. It asks our pancreas to become more active and produce digestive enzymes. It asks the smooth muscles around our intestines to become active. In short, when it comes to our physiology, a large meal does anything but relax us.

In addition, our digestive tracts are set up to work best when we are standing; lying down results in gravity pulling the "wrong way" to help foods digest. Even though the practice of napping after a meal is common, it isn't ideal from the standpoint of digestion. Sitting and resting are fine. For example, enjoying each other's company around the table after a delicious meal is a good idea. But lying down to sleep just doesn't help digestion.

It's also worth thinking about the physiological purpose of eating in regard to late-night meals. Nutrients and energy get released from food after we eat, not before. They help increase our vitality hours after the meal has been eaten; they cannot go back and compensate for a prior day's worth of activity that received no nutritional support. The time to have our largest meal is always before we need the most nutritional support, i.e., before we have the most physically demanding part of our day. Sleep is the least physically demanding part of the day, and the least logical target for release of food energy and nutrients. We tell ourselves we've had a hard day, and we're starved, but at this point, it's too late to repair any nutritional damage done. We need the nourishment before the hard day (and hopefully it will make the day less difficult). I should also mention how important it is not to go to bed actually hungry; this can interfere with sleep, usually by failing to keep the brain supplied with enough glucose (sugar).

whfoods.org

Back from Mom's....

This trip to mom's is the reason I made sure that I had achieved phase 4 by then. I've never eaten so much meat. And - get this - all the while reading The China Study! Uber blech! I felt like I gained a ton. So on the flight back I fasted until 5 pm. I weighed in this morning and had gained 1.25 lbs. I'm actually quite pleased with that. I would not have been surprised if I had gained over 5 lbs! I'm sure, had I not fasted yesterday, that the weigh-in would have been higher. Seriously; ice cream, cake, whipped cream desserts, meat, meat, meat, sugared cereal, bread, bread, bread, etc. It's a miracle! LOL

Now I start back to working out. My next goal: loose 5 more lbs.

Oh, and I froze some mung sprouts before I left. I'll let you know how successful that was soon. :D

Ooo, I almost forgot. Of all days, today I tried on some shorts I had in a drawer for a few years that I could not fit in anymore. And they fit! I think what's more amazing about loosing the weight on this diet, is loosing the inches!

R1P3D21

Today is the last day of phase 3 for me. Whoohoo!
Tomorrow I begin phase 4, and slowly introduce sugar and starch back into my diet. Phase 4 is the rest of my life.

I weighed in at .75 lb less than my first weigh-in at the beginning of phase 3. So kewl beans there. You can see on the chart [only shows phase 3] just how much my weight bounced around. But the trend [green line] stayed pretty level and that is the main goal in this phase. So apparently my hypothalamus is all set. I still will weigh in every morning to stay on track.

My cravings are gone. I don't care if a miss a meal. My hunger signals are barely a whisper. No shakes from low blood sugar. If I skip a meal to bring my weight back in check, I get immediate results the next morning when I weigh in. I get to jump back into fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds. [The last three of these are starches, and I have not had any since the very beginning of this diet.]

And yes, I have sprouts already matured: mung sprouts. Yum. And the dehydrated flax crackers are almost ready.

Sigh. Life is good! :D

How kewl it this?

http://www.greenbang.com/virtually-waterless-washer-could-hit-market-in-2010_10276.html

Spinach!

Popeye had it half right; spinach is a great food, but not from a can puleez!

Did you know that spinach is not only a rich source of vitamins and minerals, but researchers have identified carotenoids and at least 13 different flavonoid phytonutrients in spinach that act as powerful antioxidants? Antioxidants combat the free radicals that cause oxidative damage to our cells, including their DNA. When the researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University tested various fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capabilities, spinach ranked second only to kale among the vegetables tested. The various flavonoids in spinach have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic properties, while its carotenoids, such as zeaxanthin and lutein, help fight prostate cancer and protect against eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Since carotenoids are fat-soluble, they are not well absorbed unless consumed with a little fat — one more good reason to add extra flavor and nutrition to spinach by dressing it with antioxidant and phenol-rich extra virgin olive oil.

R1P3D14

Okay, it's two weeks into phase 3, and I've simplified this a bit. I stopped counting calories. I pretty much eat how I was taught in phase 2. Counting calories to be sure I was right at 1500 cal/day was a real hassle. Now I gauge what I eat by the scale. The scale keeps bouncing around, but pretty much stays within a 1 lb. variance. When I go up a bit, the next day I skip a fruit or eat more veggies. The next day the scale goes down. I love how what I eat during the day now has an immediate effect on the next morning's weigh-in.

As of today, I am going back to more juicing, and almost no meats. Water is the key to keeping the weight lower, so I try to drink/gulp it as often as I can remember to.

It is still amazing to me that my hunger now is minimal at best; slight tummy growls are the only clues I get. I eat A LOT less food now. I don't think of getting something to eat near as much as I used to. That is really amazing to me. Because I am an emotional eater. Not anymore. It's as if a switch has been turned off.

You Go Hypothalamus! :D

Does cold smoked salmon have the same nutrient value as fresh or frozen salmon?

No, smoked salmon does not have the same nutrient value as fresh or frozen salmon. There are several reasons that smoked salmon is less healthy than salmon that has been cooked using methods that help to retain the maximum amounts of its nutrients.

Perhaps the most important reason involves omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been associated with the reduction of inflammation and protection against many different types of degenerative diseases.

Smoking salmon has been found to substantially reduce its omega-3 content. For example, three ounces of baked Chinook salmon contain about two grams of omega-3 fatty acids. This same three-ounce portion of Chinook salmon, when smoked, contains less than one-half gram of omega-3s. This reduction in total omega-3 fatty acids is even greater when we look at one particularly important omega-3-EPA, or eicosapentaenoic acid. Smoked salmon contains about 20% as much EPA as non-smoked salmon on an ounce-for-ounce basis.

George Mateljan

R1P3D7

This is the end of my first week in phase 3, and boy does the scale bounce around on this.

The idea is to NEVER gain or lose more than 2 lbs from what you weighed on the last morning of phase 2. If you do go over or under 2 lbs, even if it's only in ounces, you have to do a 'steak day', which is eat nothing until dinner - a huge steak plus either a tomato or an apple. The next day you should drop 1 to 4 lbs, from what I read. [This most likely depends on how much you went overboard in eating the day before.]

I have dropped .25 lbs from my last weigh-in on phase 2, and got within a 1/2 lb from being over. My graph reads, up-down-over-down-up-down....LOL. But it is pretty easy to bring my weight down a bit when I need to. As a matter of fact, there most definitely is something to your hypothalamus being reset, because I hardly feel hungry at all any more! I can't wait for phase 4 - eat whatever - so that I can work on losing the few extra pounds left.

R1P3D1

Translated: Round one, phase three, day one. :>

Yesterday was my last VLCD. I achieved 93% of my goal, approximate my inches lost as six, and averaged .47 lbs/day over the 32 days I have been in phases 1 and 2. I expected not to completely meet my goal since I am being careful to ween myself off of phase 3 prior to a planned trip out of town, where I will be in NO control over my food intake. Yes, for those who know me, I am heading up to mom's. :> So....I am right on target. I'm fitting into clothes that have been hanging in my closet unworn, and buttoning and zipping where there was no hope before. :D

After doing a bit of research on this third phase, I've come to understand that this is, by far, the most important part of this protocol. I have to keep my weight at no higher, and not less than, two pounds of my last weigh-in on the last day of phase 2. During this phase, my body no longer contains hcg, which enables me to pull calories, etc. from my abnormal fats. I have to maintain at least 1500 cal/day or I may throw my body into a 'survival' state where it will begin to gain gain gain. It may be on this phase that my scale will bounce up and down. This is normal, I understand, as my hypothalamus is leveling out. I must continue to weigh myself each morning, or I risk not realizing that I am gaining weigh. I will not notice my clothes getting tighter, as I would have prior to starting this protocol, because my body will distribute the weight gain evenly over my entire body.

During the next three weeks, my hypothalamus is resetting itself to where I will no longer have food cravings, I will be full with less food, and one day of eating poorly will not mean more weight when I step on the scale. [That would be ONE day of eating poorly, ladies and gentlemen.] I cannot eat ANY starches, or sugars during this phase. So I must avoid carrots, oranges, real sugar, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. I should eat six times a day, i.e. breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.

So here it goes....

VLCD 29

My current mixture of hcg will run out after today. Orignially I planned to mix half the dosage for an additional week. Then I remembered the hcg is in a ampule, and it is in powder form. I don't have a sensitve enough scale to split it in half, and also I would be left with the problem of how to store the remaining half. I cannot mix up a whole batch since that would be for 15 days, and would mess with my timeline of being back to eating ANY foods by the end of May.

So this means that beginning tomorrow I will continue the 500 cal/day for three days. It takes that long for the hcg to clear your system. Then I will begin Phase 3, which is eat anything that does not contain sugar and starch. Yay, back to juicing and raw foods and exnay the meats! This will continue for three weeks while my hyperthalmus is continuing to reset itself. It it still very important that I stay strickly within the protocol, or I can risk gaining heavily. And yes [for those of you who have been following since the beginning], broccoli sprouts in are in the sprouter! Yeah baby. Should be readhy in about four or five days.

I will continue to weigh myself each morning and log it and what I eat each day. It will be interesting to see if I can manage to continue losing since I am not at my goal yet. I have a month to see what I can do. Bets anyone? :>