Meat Substitutes

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beyond-meat

Humanity needs us to become vegetarian or vegan soon.

Some people are reticent to move towards a plant-based diet, because they enjoy eating meats, whether it be a hot dog or hamburger, cold cuts, spaghetti and meat sauce, on a pizza, or bacon for breakfast.

You should know that there are now many good meat substitutes, both natural and made in the laboratory, that may end up on your plate, and taste pretty good. Here are some:

  1. Beans—beans have lots of protein. Enjoy bean burgers, bean salads, hummus and much more
  2. Soy—tofu, tempeh, and TVP are making a lot of vegetarians very happy. Try to avoid GMO.
  3. Mushrooms—great recipes with very healthy mushrooms, and micoprotein is used by leading brands
  4. Grains—once you try seitan cutlets, you will never need pork or veal again
  5. Beyond Meat®—not everyone loves this chicken substitute, but this brilliant technology is catching on

 

Great Soup In :20

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miso-soup2

We are coming into prime season for soup eating!

Watch out for unhealthy soups such as:

  • Tomato Soup
  • Clam Chowder
  • Chili
  • French Onion
  • Cheese & [anything]

The keys to good soup are:

  1. Good water, seaweed (kombu, wakame etc.) and miso (barley, chick pea, white, etc.) or shoyu (tamari)
  2. Vegetables for flavor such as mushrooms, scallions, leeks, onions, celery, parsnips, squash, turnip, etc.
  3. Light use of sodium (most canned soups are in the 400-1,000 mg area, same with restaurants)
  4. Little or no animal products (a bit of white fish once per week maybe)

Here is a plug for the best stock I have ever used. It’s called More Than Gourmet. Great taste, last a long time, and very low in sodium.

Picture 13

Check out my recipes and hopefully I’ll be adding a few soon.

Pimples, Toenail Fungus, Body Odor, Dandruff & More

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Are you healthy? Everyone who is not a walking (or not) calamity answers yes to this, even when they are managing one or more chronic health problems. Truth is, more than half of us are not. Pitiful!

Imagine, having no allergies, no sick days, no bad back or knees or shoulder, no acne or depression or ADD, and having tons of energy upon waking and late into the evening. It can be done, even if you are now downing six cups of coffee and lots of pain pills to get through the day.

If you want to be healthy into your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond, there are certain secrets you will learn

  1. Eat less
  2. Eat mostly vegetarian
  3. Eat Organic
  4. Exercise
  5. Get enough sleep
  6. Avoid dangerous chemicals in your home and workplace
  7. Enjoy family and social life, as well as work and hobbies
  8. Be generous, and spiritual
  9. Enjoy the outdoors, and bring the outdoors inside with houseplants, etc.
  10. Forgive yourself and everyone else

Not bad, less than half of those pertain to food. If you do all the other seven, you may do quite well. But eating less, mostly vegetarian, and mostly organic is not as hard as you think, and it brings a lot of great bonus results, such as saving the environment, reducing animal suffering, keeping you at work more and suffering less, and maybe even saving money. And yes, flavor and enjoyment can be FANTASTIC.

If you don’t believe me, do one of three things:

  1. Try it
  2. Call me
  3. Get off my web site

The Boston Globe Is Converted

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GiveBloodNewLg

Folks, it’s really time to wake up to vegan living. The most obvious reasons may be animals, peace, the environment, and karma, but in case those don’t reach you…here’s another reason to go veg…

This week The Boston Globe published a great article in G called EAT LESS MEAT!

The article cited statistics showing that every step towards being vegan is helpful to prevent obesity, diabetes, cancer and hypertension.

My favorite line is by Mark Bittman, who was with Rodale Press way back when I worked at Men’s Health in 1989. He said: “When Chipotle is doing a vegan burrito with tofu, when TCBY is doing almond frozen yogurt—this is becoming mainstream.”

Let is also be known that Burger King has a very good veggie burger, and sweet potato fries to boot!

Where are you at:

  • Meat Eater
  • Chicken, Fish, Less Meat
  • Fish
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan

Please send an email to david@kagan.co with your comments.

Healing Dinner Tonight

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Time to get the excess water (yin) out from summer sugar, alcohol, fruit, raw salads, etc…

  • Millet w/ Winter Squash
  • Pressed Salad w/ Cabbage, Carrots, Radish & Ginger Dressing
  • Steamed Cauliflower w/ Tekka & Sautéed Onions
  • Barley-Pea Stew
  • Home-made Pickles

Healing is easy if you know how…and you have support.

Want to learn to cook like this? Drop me a line at david@kagan.co

Boiled Millet Recipe For Late Summer Issues

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Summer Foods(1)

It’s been an outstanding summer, with plenty of sun, but not too much heat in these parts. Hope you have been enjoying it.

Now it’s late summer, which means we need to dial down the expanding (yin) foods that we enjoy in hot weather, such as raw fruit, tropical foods, ice cream and other sweets, alcohol and sweet drinks, as well as raw salads.

If we do not, we may have problems keeping warm in the winter, and we may find ourselves with problems such as excessive nighttime urination and ear wax, ear infections, headaches, wet ear, colds and difficulty hearing.

One great tip is to eat boiled millet often, perhaps twice per week, for the next few weeks. It’s available at Whole Foods in the bulk aisle. To prepare, simply boil two cups water and add a pinch of sea salt, then add rinsed millet and simmer covered for :20. Don’t let it dry out, you can add a bit more water or perhaps water with some More-Than Gourmet vegetable broth and/or a bit of smart balance for flavor.

Picture 13

Another great recipe is to add one cup of butternut squash (small cubes) to the 2.5 cups boiling water first, and simmer for :10, then add the millet and cook for an additional :20. Creamy and delicious!

You can also do lots more with millet, even make desserts like blueberry cake in a pot.

Dangerous Amounts of Sodium In Baked Goods

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Dangers-of-Excessive-Salt-Intake

Went to Stop & Shop this evening for cucumbers and corn, and looked at some bakery items. Could not believe the amounts of sodium per serving. 150, 230, 330, 400mg per serving in angel food cake baked by Stop & Shop themselves. I presented it to the manager and asked her to take it off the shelf. Of course she urged me to go online to complain, which I will do soon.

Sodium is hard on the body. It can cause high blood pressure (hypertension), and damage to the adrenals, the pancreas, kidneys, liver and more. It also can cause anger and increase your appetite. Unfortunately, a lot of the sodium we get in foods comes from additives, either for flavor or to increase shelf life. Choose foods with sea salt also, that come not just with sodium, but also with minerals that make it easier for the body to process that sodium.

Please do not buy any ready-to-eat food, whether it be chips, soup, hot dog (even meatless), desert or baked item, with over 200 mg of sodium per serving. The daily limit for sodium should be no more than 2,000 mg., and you don’t want to blow 25% on one sitting of dessert, when an Italian Sub has 1,200 mg of sodium at lunch, and then you still have to deal with breakfast and dinner. And if you are going to have a nice salad, be careful of the dressing.

Most importantly, cook your own meals at home, and chew well. If you liked this post, and have not yet subscribed, do so here. 


 

How to Improve Your Mood

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I believe my number one health detractor is occasional bad moods or stress that causes me to eat late, stay up late, smoke a cigarette or snack on sweets or nuts or chips etc.

I suspect others might agree. We know what is good for us, and what holds us back. Most of the time we are good, but occasionally we are not. So I guess even more important than learning about health foods, or poisons, is the idea of avoiding bad moods or getting ourselves out of them.

Here are some ways to improve your mood:

  1. Take a long walk in a beautiful place (woods, the beach, Newbury Street, etc.)
  2. Do a body rub and take a shower
  3. Go for a swim or bike ride, play tennis or even a board game
  4. Watch comedy on television or YouTube, or log into Vine etc.
  5. Have some nice hot apple juice, hot carrot juice, hot sake or a beer
  6. Get a hug or a back rub from a family member
  7. Get something done on my to do list (return a book, paint the fence, clean the kitchen, etc.)
  8. Listening to music or playing music (Rush, Triumph, Boston, April Wine, Jazz or Disco works)
  9. Calling an old friend
  10. Meditating or chanting with sincere gratefulness, and satisfaction with life

What works for you?

 

 

Avoid Most Restaurants If You Want To Live Past 60

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People are dropping like flies. True, Nelson Mandela is hanging on at 94, and Betty White is feeling just fine thank you very much.

But for each one of these, there are ten like Dennis Farina, James Gandolfini, Bonnie Franklin, and many more that died from drugs, alcohol, violence or suicide. These are people that can afford the very best, still they apparently are not careful about the way they live.

Sure, life is hard and fame is harder. These people may live by the rule of ”It’s the life in one’s years, not the years in one’s life.” But it doesn’t make it any easier on the families, friends and fans.

One sure way to live longer is to avoid eating in restaurants. Why? Because restaurants add all kinds of garbage ON PURPOSE, so you will enjoy the food, and to keep you coming back. They also make mistakes, either dropping food on the floor before serving it, or keeping it too long before serving it, or not preparing it with proper precaution, or by sharing the germs of an employee. This is well documented.

I know you can go crazy worrying about every little thing, and who wants to cook every day? But I’m going to go out on a limb and say if you go out to eat more than three meals per week, not counting vegan, macrobiotic, or Japanese, thai or vietnamese, you are putting yourself at risk for an early grave, and much expense and suffering.

Please use the Internet (and our site!) to learn how to cook more healthful meals at home. Or come to my house!!

Thinking BBQ For Dinner On This Hot Summer Night? Think Again

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News Flash—

If your body is craving burned meat in the middle of summer, there’s something very wrong with you.

What your body needs is some raw, and some lightly cooked, with very little sodium, plant-based foods, such as long grain brown rice, beans, and vegetables.

If you are looking for more flavor, and need recipes, I hear you. Please use our pages and the entire web, as well as friends, families, Whole Foods and vegetarian restaurants such as Masao’s Kitchen, Big Fresh, Fresh City and Asian (not Chinese) eateries.

As far as dessert, eat whole fruit, especially apples, pears, cherries, grapes, watermelon, peaches, plums, apples and lemons. A few oranges and grapefruits are okay, as are very few tropical fruits. Avoid baked goods with eggs, watch for high sodium and fake sweeteners.