Friday, March 6, 2009

Local Talent

This neighborhood is filled with artists, musicians, writers. David Blanc is a little bit of everything. Writer, performer, martial arts practitioner, certified personal trainer and health consular, just your average New Yorker.

Grain of the Week: Quinoa by David Blanc

When people ask me to help them with food management, one of the first things I notice is the absence of whole grains in many of their diets. Contrary to popular belief, bread, pasta and potatoes do not count as whole grains. Wheat is the most widely known whole grain but most people have it in its processed form, bread. Those who think harder might mention rice, corn, or oats.

Those are all good foods but it’s been my experience that people are more likely to stay with a new way of eating if they have more choices. Variety is a fundamental need of the human psyche that crosses many sectors of life besides food. Quinoa, buckwheat, polenta, amaranth, teff, millet, and bulgur are just a few varieties of whole grain that many people don’t even know exist let alone have eaten. Let’s look at quinoa.

First off, so you don’t trip over the spelling, the word is pronounced Keen Wa. Quinoa is originally from the Andes, thrives in high, cold, climates, and was the staple food of the Incas. It is higher in protein than any other grain. It has more calcium than milk and is a good source of iron, phosphorous, B vitamins, and vitamin E.

It’s been my experience that this grain doesn’t fill me nearly as well as bread or even rice, but there are other benefits. This is very good for clearing congestion and expanding one’s breathing. This increases body awareness and sensitivity. As an actor, I have at least 1 serving of Quinoa every day for three days before important auditions, shoots, or performances. The enhanced body awareness and sensitivity helps me to access my own emotions and feelings and express them into a camera or audience. Chinese Medicine’s Five Element Theory would say that this is because Quinoa is a grain related to the fire and metal elements and this stimulates the heart and lungs respectively, but that would have to be discussed in another article.

Quinoa can be prepared and served much in the same way as rice. It can be stir fried in a pilaf, mixed with other grains, fried into croquettes, served in salads, soaked until sprouted and served raw, steamed, boiled in a soup(which I recently did to recover from the flu bug that has been going around), and of course ground into flour to make bread, pastries, and cakes. My suggestion to clients would be to just do what you have to, to get Quinoa in your mouth and mouths of your loved ones.

David Blanc is a certified personal trainer under I.F.PA.A. and a certified Health Counselor under Integrative Nutrition and the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.He can be reached at Go Natural.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Open for coffee

We are now serving coffee in the morning. We have organic bagels and muffins to get your day started right.The coffee is Jims Organic and it is a rich full flavored coffee.
We open at seven thirty for all you early risers. Don't be fooled by S.B.'s. That famous Seattle coffee is not organic. Besides having the best prices on the street we also have a lunch special from seven thirty until ten A.M. Buy any sandwich before ten and get a free bottle of water.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Quinoa

Nancys Quinoa Soup

Once every two weeks Nancy cooks up her famous quinoa soup. Its a gentle soup made with quinoa, vegetables and a lot of loving care. The response at the store has been nothing less then phenomenal. One of my favorite people who also doubles as a customer, bought thirteen large soups so that she could freeze them and have them when ever she wanted.

What was a sacred crop to the Incas has been classified as a "super crop" by the United Nations because of its high protein content. It is a complete protein, which means it has all nine essential amino acids. It also contains the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.

While many think of quinoa as a grain, the yellowish pods are actually the seed of a plant called chenopodium quinoa, native to Peru and related to beets, chard and spinach. The plant resembles spinach, but with 3- to 9-foot stalks that take on a magenta hue. The large seed heads make up nearly half the plant and vary in color: red, purple, pink and yellow.

In the Andes Mountains, where they have been growing for more than 5,000 years, quinoa plants have overcome the challenges of high altitude, intense heat, freezing temperatures and little annual rainfall. Peru and Bolivia maintain seed banks with 1,800 types of quinoa. It has been grown in the U.S. since the 1980s, when two farmers began cultivating it in Colorado.

Anyone growing quinoa out there!




Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Hot Stuff

This morning I made my own version of "Brazilian Black Bean" soup. This is a variation of a famous recipe from "The Moosewood Cookbook". Its hot! Not hot enough to chase you away, just enough to warm your soul on a cold winter day.

Brazilian Black Bean

Black beans, carrots, onions, herbs and spices.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Not Chicken

Todays special is a vegi chicken parmesan with spaghetti in a homemade tomatoe sauce. You haven't lived until you've tasted Nancy's tomatoe sauce!
We also have two soups.

Kale and White Bean

Lots and lots of deliciious healthy kale, with white cannellini beans and herbs, cooked with Nancys secret recipe. Half pureed, this soup gives you plenty of nutrients and proteins. A soup thats a meal.

Minestrone

This is Nancys recipe, cooked by Phil.Carrots, onions, squash, tomatoes, beans, assorted greens all flavored with old fashioned love and our best herbs. An Italian favorite, this soup is a dream come true.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Renew Life

This week we will be running a sale on all our Renew Life products. Take 15% off any cleasing product and a special 20% off of Merc Cleanse, a product especially designed to rid your body of mercury.
Symptoms of Mercury poisening typically include sensory impairment (vision, hearing, speech), disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination. The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin, the dose, and the method and duration of exposure.The consumption of fish is by far the most significant source of ingestion-related mercury exposure in humans, although plants and livestock also contain mercury due to bioaccumulation of mercury from soil, water and atmosphere, and due to biomagnification by ingesting other mercury-containing organisms. Exposure to mercury can occur from breathing contaminated air, or from improper use or disposal of mercury and mercury-containing objects, for example, after spills of elemental mercury or improper disposal of fluorescent light bulbs.

MERC-Free Cleanse™ MERC-Free Cleanse is a unique blend of herbs, vitamins, minerals and amino acids formulated specifically to promote the healthy chelation of mercury from the body.‡ (Chelation refers to the binding of a substance with a heavy metal to assist with its removal from the body.) The two-part formula includes added ingredients to promote healthy liver detoxification and provide powerful antioxidant and immune support.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Organic Fresh Baked Bread

This weekend sink your teeth into a loaf of our delicious bread. Baked with love and organic flours by a local baker.

Multi seed rolls
A small multi grained roll covered with fresh seeds
perfect for breakfast.

Cranberry Walnut Pull-aparts
Soft roll, dark grains,delicious.

Fresh Country Roll
Reminds me of sunrise in the country.

Brioche Rolls
Soft and Sweet.

Hero Loaves
Perfect for two for dinner
Try the whole wheat or the multi seed.

Rye Batard
A large oval loaf of fresh dark rye
just bursting with fresh flavor.

Whole Wheat Boule

Classic whole wheat round loaf.
Lasts for days.

French Country Boule
Sunlight and mixed grains.
Round, perfect for dinners.

Cranberry Walnut Raisin Boule
Mixed dark grains with cranberries walnuts and raisons.
Impressive, haelthy round loaf, almost a cake.

Feed someone and find enlightenment...