Last Weekend Before School Starts!

School starts back up on Monday for the year so, get your kids, nieces, nephews, brother, sisters, or grand kids together for the last days of summer fun before school is back in session!

This weekend let the keiki choose what activity they like, and encourage them to pick an outdoor one because they're going to be stuck sitting in a classroom soon enough! Be sure and remind them of that :-)

Healthy Kine Local Grindz : ) !!!

Food is a part of everyone's life, for better or for worse. In my house we give plenty of aloha to our kaukau before, during and after we enjoy it.

It starts before the gathering takes place, we get a feeling, an inspiration, a kahea to gather a particular thing or another. Gathering is always a happy and joyful experience done with respect and reverence, never to be done greedily, always leaving back what we do not need.

Preparation: transporting, cleaning, preparing, cooking, and presentation are also pleasant and special tasks and much care and attention goes into each step. All throughout the whole process we give thanks and aloha to what the 'aina or others have gifted us, being grateful to be able to receive (and share our gifts).

When the time comes to eat, there is so much affection and love in our food it is almost a shame to eat something so lovely. Many times we take photographs of our food gifts during the different stages of gathering and preparation.

Imma share some photos taken from a bunch of different meals with y'all cuz I know you're wondering what I eat!

Delicious plums fresh picked from Koke'e.

Beautiful 'ulu gifted to my BF after he give kokua to one friend.

More photos after the jump :D !!

Italian Dressing - Fresh 'n' Healthy

Whether you're trying to drop a few pounds, keep your figure or make healthy meal choices you've probably tried eating more salad. But, did you know that salad can be bad for you? It all depends on what kind of dressing you use!

     

Commercial salad dressings (the kine you buy in the store - even the "healthy" kine) are full of unhealthy and fake oils, sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors, flavor enhancers, preservatives and water! In addition to that, the dressings are made with dehydrated ingredients and then pasteurized leaving the end product nothing more than flavor residue with little or no trace of real food.


The solution and the way to eat healthy salads is to make your own dressing (it's easy and I'll show you how!) and only eat salads from restaurants (ask) that make their own dressings from quality ingredients (never canola or vegetable oil!)


Salad dressing is easy once you know the ratio! My general rule of thumb is: 

-1 parts acid for example

• vinegar 
• citrus juice

-3 parts fat  for example:

• cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• other cold pressed unrefined  sesame or flax oil (good used together, but keep the flax chilled and never heat it!)
• tahini
• avocado 
• buttermilk
• cream
• yogurt
• even raw egg if you have a clean and reliable local source - never use dirty or cracked eggs!).    

-1-2 parts seasoning  The amount of seasoning depends on what you want and how thick you want your texture (more seasoning = thicker/chunkier). For example:

• sea salt
• garlic
• herbs
• shoyu
• ginger
• etc.

Ingredients for Italian Dressing (for fill one 16oz. bottle):

1 Handful of Italian herbs (any of the following, the ones I use in the video are italacized):

• Sage
• Basil
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Fennel
• Chives

1tsp Coarse Sea Salt
1 Medium Clove Garlic
1/4 C Onion (diced)
2 Parts Apple Cider Vinegar (Balsamic Vinegar or Fresh Lemon Juice are fine too)
5 Parts Cold-pressed Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1tsp Raw Honey (Buy Local)

Note: if you are going to make enough for several days do not mix in the olive oil or it will harden in the fridge. Just store the vinegar/herb mix in the fridge and add olive oil to the salad first followed by the vinegar mix. When mixing separately you want to add the oil first so it can coat the salad (give it a toss, if you've got the skills - I make a mess unless I just use my hands) then add the vinegar, if you try and add the vinegar before the oil it'll be a lil' gross and make a mess. Unless you add egg to a recipe you should be fine to leave out your dressing for a day or so - just store in a cool dark place.



You can mix your ingredients in a food processor, mortar and pestle or even a blender! The trick is to get the seasoning into a paste or mush before adding any liquids (unless you're using a blender then you'll need liquid to blend).

New Post Coming Tomrrow!!!

Got another video in the mill ready to drop Wednesday July 21!! Look for it..

Action!!

Lucky you live HI!  It's summer time and the plums are going off mauka!

Second weekend of plum season I went with my brothers to Koke'e and found plenty plums and even scored some blackberries - blackberries being the most healthy of the two and they stay choke all up in Koke'e!

Get out and go hiking and gather some ono, FREE, and healthy snacks.

Connect with the 'aina and your 'ohana!!

Hele mauka!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Avocado? In pudding?! Wha? 

I know, I know, I know! Trust me it's ooono! 

The avocado give the chocolate pudding an oh-so-ono fattyness that you gotta taste. You can make a simple basic chocolate pudding for a couple bucks and some change or less! 

Not all fat is gonna make you fat. Actually, the right kinds of fat will actually help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight and help you prevent all kine of diseases. (I'll be covering more on this issue on other posts on this blog).

In the video I show you what and how to make a basic version and a next-level version with some ono additions that are great for you! This pudding is totally guilt free! (Unless you eat the whole thing by yourself and don't share! - I always feel a lil guilty when I do that.. hahaahah:-D)


Basic Ingredients:  

• avocado
• banana
• cacao powder 
• water/fresh coconut water
• sea salt

Optional Ingredients:

• coconut butter 
• shredded coconut
• chia seeds
• hemp seed nuts  

About the ingredients:

• Avocado is a superstar nutritious good for everyone - is loaded with good fats that your body needs. Great for anyone with any kine heart problems like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The fat also will help your body absorb other nutrients too. Cost about $1-3 at farm market depending on time of year and size. Always a chance you can gather or receive these for free if you are lucky!
• Banana stay good for the heart too an supposed to soothe ulcers. 
• Coconut water is similar to our bodies chemistry and is easliy absorbed which makes it good for stay hydrated, removing toxins, and even for pass kidney stones. Hoy!
• Cacao (whole chocolate) is pretty much a miracle food with more reasons to eat it than I can even list! Besides from being full of the feel-good-love chemical PEA and being an aphrodisiac is good for the heart, bones, and full of antioxidants (which protect your cells/body against "rust"/damage). Just be aware it is a mild stimulant, for those of you who don't consume caffeine try not to eat too much at night (unless you are planning on stayin' up ;-). (BTW the kine chocolate you find at the checkout in the supermarket or gas station stay choke with sugar which cancels out any good chocolate effects. So go for the primo kine).
• Coconut get good fats which actually can help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight and provide long lasting energy. Good for soo much check out the link. Plus, if you live HI get plenty coconuts around for free! Au'rai
• Chia Seeds are full of good fats and don't go bad like some other seeds. Also, they hold moisture and help keep you hydrated as well as slowing down the release of sugar into your bloodstream (which is good for diabetics - don't mean you should use that as an excuse to eat more sweets!). They gel when wet and help keep things gently moving through your digestive system.
• Hemp Seeds are mild tasting lil buggahs that get plenty more good fats that your body needs and are not gonna make you fat and a complex protein mix = good!
  

The coconut water, banana and avocado get plenty potassium which is good for the heart and for help with muscle cramping. The hemp and chia seeds provide some protien and the avocado, coconut, hemp and chia seeds provide a good dose of fats making this pudding one good snack for eat after one work out! Yesss!

What You Know about Plastic?

Some kine plastics can "leach" or off gas bad chemicals and nasty stuff into your food, beverages, personal products and so forth.

There are lots of reasons to ditch the plastic bottles and switch to glass (or another safe alternative like stainless steel or something with an enamel or ceramic coating):

• Things taste better when they come out of a glass!
• You save $$$ not buying bottled water or other drinks.
• Some plastics are hard to recycle.
• If you throw them away they end up in landfills or as litter!
• There's already a LOT of plastic and it never goes away it just gets smaller and can end up being eaten by wildlife (including the kine we eat!) or killing the wildlife.
• Plastics are dangerous for you! 
• It's easy!

So stop making excuses and make the switch! Find a bottle you like and get started!