Herb Fried Rice

     We all know that brown rice is healthier than white rice.  It contains more fiber, less processed, and contains more nutrients (such as zinc, magnesium, manganese, and vitamin E).  In order to integrate it into my household I actually mix white rice with the brown rice in my rice maker.  I started out with a 2:1 ratio of white rice to brown rice, then a 1:1 ratio, and now I'm at a 1:2 ratio of white rice to brown rice.  Soon we will probably just be eating organic brown rice, but I intend to use up all my white rice first!  This can help with kids or any picky eaters in the house:)  

     Here is my recipe for my herb fried rice.  I have an organic vegetable garden and my basil plant exploded so I had all of these huge, beautiful basil leaves to use.  That was my inspiration!

Ingredients:

(Use organic ingredients if possible)

Cooked Brown rice (or white rice or a combination)

Fresh basil leaves

Fresh chives

Green onions

Grape seed oil

Granulated garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1.)  Cook the rice (I use a rice maker...makes it very easy!).

2.)  Chop up herbs and onions. 

3.) Heat large skillet with grape seed oil in the bottom.  Put a liberal amount (I make sure the entire bottom of the skillet is covered...you don't want dry or burnt rice!).  Sprinkle granulated garlic in the oil and fry until it turns light brown and become aromatic.  Don't let it burn!

4.)  Pour rice into skillet and move it around with wooden spoon.  Make sure all the rice is covered with the oil and garlic mixture.  Add onions and chives.  Continue to stir.

5.)  Add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point I taste the rice and see if I may want to add more garlic too.  After you get your flavors right add the chopped basil leaves, turn off heat, and stir one more time.  Enjoy!

6.)  You can try this recipe with different herbs.  Sometimes I just use onions, garlic, and ginger.  This makes a very yummy, Asian-inspired dish!

Foods that Cause Inflammation...Part ONE!

Part One - Inflammatory Foods  

  I tend to follow the blood type diet by Dr. D'Adamo.  I don't always follow it exactly, but I do use it as a good guideline.  You must also listen to what your body is telling you.  If you eat something and you feel bloated and uncomfortable after you eat it I would try eliminating it from your diet in the future.  You don't want to feed your body things it has a hard time digesting.  Be kind to yourself!  The following five foods tend to cause inflammation in most people and should be avoided.  Everyone has a unique physical make up but when speaking to my herbal consultant these foods are red flags for inflammation for everyone.

1.  GLUTEN

     This was the first thing I eliminated from my diet once I started my healthy make over.  Gluten is found in all wheat products.  The hull of the wheat plant contains over 20 nutrients that are healthy and beneficial to humans.  What tends to happen is that manufacturers process the hull, squeeze out the gluten (which has no health benefits), make white, processed flour from the gluten, and discard the rest of the hull that contains most of the fiber and nutrients.¹  Gluten is a very sticky-stretchy molecule that acts like glue in your gut.  You might think back to kindergarten when you made glue out of flour and water.  If you eat white bread or pasta and drink water to wash it down you are left with the equivalent of kindergarten paste in your intestinal tract.  Talk about hard to digest!  This sticky substances causes inflammation in your GI system. 

     You might be thinking you can't give up bread, pasta, pancakes, biscuits, and bagels.  What kind of monster am I to ask of such a thing! LOL.  Truth is, there are a lot of healthy alternatives out there.  For example, I eat Ezekiel bread.²  This is a company that uses all organic ingredients (no GMOs, yeah!) and sprouts their grain first to ensure easier digestion.  Breads and pastas made from sprouted wheat and grains  are safe to eat as they contain many beneficial nutrients and a lot of fiber.  There is a lot less gluten in these types of food because it isn't the only molecule from that wheat hull being used.  Also, when you soak grains in water for a short time period and "sprout" them, the grain turns into a vegetable which makes it much easier to digest.  You can find sprouted grain bread, tortillas, pizza crusts, pastas, etc. in health food stores or the organic aisle in your grocery store. 

2. SUGAR

    Sugar, for me, was the not-so-fun "food" to cut out of my diet.  I was not as bad as a lot of people who wake up drinking Mountain Dew for breakfast and chomping on candy all day, but I did drink one or two sodas a day and liked sugary juices as well as chocolate cake and brownies.  Unfortunately, sugar is a highly inflammatory food and causes huge spikes in insulin levels, "bad" bacteria growth, and overall inflammation in our bodies.  The American heart association states that men should have 35 or less grams of sugar a day and women should have 20 grams or less a day.³  This is actually still a pretty lenient amount to be honest.  Think about it, there are about four grams of sugar in a teaspoon.  Ladies, we are still allowed to eat 5-6 teaspoons of sugar a day!  I actually think that's not so bad.  There is bad news for soda drinkers...one can of coke has 42 grams of sugar.  So soda is out!  It took me a week and a half to kick my soda habit.  I literally had to wean myself off of it slowly because otherwise I would get these horrible headaches...caffeine headaches, perhaps?  I'm not sure.  There is nothing healthy in soda, though, so please switch to water as soon as you can.  Your body (and pocket book) will thank you!  (I will post more on soda and some other healthy beverages later).

I hope this information was helpful...please stay posted for the other three foods that cause inflammation...=)

Resources

1. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=66

2. http://www.foodforlife.com/

3. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sugars-and-Carbohydrates_UCM_303296_Article.jsp

Welcome!

     Hi, my name is Becky Holm and I created this blog to help people become healthier, more aware individuals.  My journey to become a healthier and happier person started about four months ago.  What pushed me to change things in my life and diet was the fact that I never had energy, I would get sick frequently, and had horrible stomach pains that kept me up during the night.
     I am twenty-eight years old and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was fourteen.  When I was first diagnosed I had been suffering from Crohn's symptoms for almost six months and was down to seventy-eight pounds.  My body was under attack and my intestines were so inflamed that I couldn't absorb any nutrients.  Everything I ate went right through me and left me extremely malnourished and anemic.  Fortunately, I've never had to undergo any surgeries to remove parts of my bowel (thanks goodness, as literature says that eighty percent of Crohn's patients will undergo a Crohn's related surgery in their lifetime).  I have had two colonoscopies though and have been prescribed a myriad of pills since then.  At one point I was taking 18 pills a day!  (I will make a post later discussing all the medication I've been on for Crohn's and discusss side effects as well).
     Needless to say, I wanted a change.  I didn't want my quality of life taken from me.  I didn't want to feel sick and yucky all the time.  I wanted to be able to get a good night's sleep and feel energized during the day.  I wanted my life back.  This may sound dramatic, but when the thought of walking from one room to another in my own home sounded exhausting - I know something needed to change.  So I did some digging and spoke with a certified herbal consultant as well as read many articles about what foods to avoid and what foods benefit our bodies the most.  I also read some books about healthy eating (some religion based, some science based)  and wrote down notes from them.  So this is my journey and I hope you enjoy these helpful tips and that they help you as much as they've helped me.  My life has totally changed.  Since I started the changes in my diet I haven't had a single stomach pain (no joke!),  I've been able to sleep through the night, I have tons more energy, and overall I'm a much happier person.  I no longer take any medication at all, and that can make one feel empowered;)  So happy reading!