Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 141

red quinoa salad

Kind Lifer Diana submitted this yummy looking recipe from the Culinary Institute of America. It originally calls for fish sauce but you can veganize it by using Mam Nem Chay - Vietnamese vegetarian fish sauce - instead. If you can't find any at your local grocer you can improvise with a mix of light soy sauce a splash of pineapple juice a bit of agave and a splash of chili sauce. I haven't tried this but I can't wait to hear what you think!

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Servings: 4

Ingredients 

For Quinoa

2 cups of Cooked red quinoa about 1.5 cups raw
2-3 slices of ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon of sliced scallions
1 tablespoon of torn mint leaves
1/4 cups of winter squash diced into small pieces

For nuoccham sauce

3 tablespoons of vegan fish sauce
1/4 cups of lime juice
2 1/2 tablespoons of vegan brown sugar or 1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/2 Thai chili paper thin sliced use whole chili for some spice
1 1/2 tablespoons of water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss squash with with a bit of olive oil and pinch of curry powder and roast until just done.
Meanwhile bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil. Add a pinch of salt ginger slices and quinoa and cover. Simmer until done about 15 min.
Make nuoc cham sauce by mixing fish sauce lime juice sugar thai chili & water.
Toss quinoa cooked squash scallions cilantro and mint with nuoc cham sauce.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.

What's your favorite quinoa recipe? Share it in the comments below or upload it to your profile with a picture of the completed dish and I'll feature it in the Kind Recipe Gallery.

Related Stories:

Superhero Recipe: Roasted Green Beans with Shallots
Kind Classics: M Cafe's Vegan Benedict Recipe!
Kind Classics: Candied Ginger Pears
Superhero Recipe: Golden Hijiki Tarts

kind orgs: new york coalition for healthy school food

Candle 79 Chefs

My friends Joy and Benay of Candle Café and Candle 79 work very closely with NYCHSF a great organization that is working hard to bring healthy veg food to schools in New York. Their advisory board includes some amazing members like China Study author T. Colin Campbell PhD and Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD among others.

NYCHSF is already in 17 schools in New York City and in all of the elementary schools in Ithaca NY hooray Ithaca! In NYC they have a waiting list of 48 more schools that would like the plant-based entrees and nutrition education NYCHSF offers but they need more resources to be able to expand.

If you'd like to help out you can donate to NYCHSF here.

What healthy school food initiatives are happening in your community?

Related Stories:

My Interview With Rain Tees
Kind Orgs: Invisible Children
Charities In Detroit
A Documentary I Highly Recommend...

my acupuncture nightmare!

Holy moly! Where do I begin? Because acupuncture emphasizes wellness and a holistic philosophy that is missing in so much Western medicine I'm always tempted to talk about how great it is.  But then I have an experience like the one I just had recently and it reminds me why I have very mixed feelings about it overall.

First let me start by saying that in general I don't think acupuncture can do any harm and for some people I do believe it can be very helpful.  But the question I have been asking myself is does it do anything for me that I don't already get through my diet?

Over the past several years I've tried out a bunch of different acupuncture doctors. There was a time when I was kinda loving it although I was always frustrated with how expensive it can be especially when they wanted me to come back multiple times a week and wanted me to buy herbs on top of that.  I mean it feels good when I'm actually lying there with the needles but do I really notice a big change when I walk out the door the way I do when I make a change to my diet?  Not really.  For me it's sorta like a great soothing expensive nap.

Still when two different people raved to me about this acupuncture doctor a few weeks ago I decided to give her a try.  I'd heard that acupuncture can be helpful with some of the nausea and other symptoms during pregnancy so I thought it would be good to have someone I could call on whenever I thought it might help.  I've been to a bunch of different acupuncture doctors over the years some more helpful and effective than others but nothing could have prepared me for what I was in for with this one!

Right off the bat she walks in the room talking a mile a minute  with this crazy spastic unbalanced energy – not calm or relaxing at all.  Then I tell her I'm veggie which looking back maybe I should have kept to myself considering what came next.  She then checks my pulse and starts going on about how I'm super-anemic and my liver is soooo weak.

Really?  I told her "That's weird because I just had my blood tested for prenatal and it all checked out perfectly.  A blood analyst actually took pictures of my cells as an example of what beautiful healthy blood cells look like.  No other acupuncturist has ever said anything about anemia and -- oh by the way -- I feel great. So what on earth are you talking about?"

It went downhill from there.  She goes into this whole thing about how I need to eat eggs and steak.  So this hyper spastic woman is telling me that meat and eggs are good when everything about her is telling me that this not someone I want to be like.  But then I started thinking "What if I wasn't as educated about health?  What if I wasn't so conscious of my own body?  What would I do with what she's telling me?"

As if she was reading my mind she continued: "I get tons of vegetarians in here all the time. I tell them to eat meat and they feel much better."  Great.  So now all I'm thinking about is how this woman is undoing all the good that I and so many others are trying to do. This is turning into the most un-relaxing acupuncture ever!

It went on like that more of the same and then at the end of the session she wanted me to buy three different herbal pills.  She was adamant and would not stop pushing them on me.  I guess people just nod and do whatever she says because when I started asking questions like why they had chemicals like Red 100 or Yellow 67 in them she became even more insistent and manic repeating over and over that I needed these for my blood.  It was truly amazing to me. I felt like I should be offering HER acupuncture! On top of being spastic she did not look one bit healthy.

So this is what frustrates me… I want to say "Hey go to acupuncture if it helps…"  But it can vary so much from doctor to doctor so just be aware.  The meat-pushers are bad news.  I have met some perfectly lovely acupuncture doctors but my personal experience was that the improvements for my well-being were pretty minor.  I am still convinced that trusting your food is the most noticeable and reliable source of health and feeling good – far more dramatic and lasting than what I've received from acupuncture. 

I wonder if there are other vegan or plant-based advocates reading who also practice Chinese medicine? Speak up if you're out there! I'd love to hear your perspectives!

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural detox. Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:

 

Photo Source: 4bpBlogSpot

Related Stories:

Success Story: Mary Sheds Over 100 Pounds
Nourishing Nishime
Water Quality and Your Health
Marisa Overcomes Her Digestive Struggles

help find koa a loving home

A friend forwarded this to me and I wanted to share it here in case any kind lifers are looking for a new best friend. If you are thinking of adopting Koa might be just what you're looking for so check out his story below:

Koa is an 8-year old Pure Breed Belgian Shepherd. He is a neutered male up to date on his vaccines and in perfect health.  He is brilliant gentle athletic fast as hell loyal protective. This is the breed that the police and FBI use.
 
I adopted Koa at 2 months a rescue. He was fearful cowering and is now prideful and courageous. He grew up with a brother Lab Retriever and a cat but they've been separated by divorce. Koa has separation anxiety so until he is comfortable in his new home he needs to be around people. He is all about attachment which is beautiful. But he's not the kind of dog to be left alone all day and night. He will try to escape to find his guardian. He's not aggressive AT ALL. But I'd say he's perfect with children 5 and up who don't pull ears poke eyes etc. He loves people and is good with dogs and cats.  He is completely trained.
 
This is a prize dog. Anyone would be lucky to have him. I am broken-hearted at having to give him up.
 
Koa sounds like a wonderful dog and a great companion – plus it doesn't hurt that he's trained and good with kids and other animals. If you or anyone you know has a home that's right for Koa shoot an email to peterlandesmanmac.com expressing your interest.

And remember if you're thinking of bringing a pet into your home no breeders no pet stores- adopt and save lives!!

Have a great story about rescuing a pet? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Related Stories:

A Ban on Pet Sales
Action Alert: Kitten Season
Action Alert: Sweet Pit Bulls Need Homes

this dog loves baths and belly rubs

Just wanted to share this adorable video! Do your dogs like baths this much? Mine sure don't!

Related Stories:

Just Sending You All Some Love...
I'm Hatin' It
Perfect Place to Take A Nap
Dog & Cat Nap Together

success story: mary sheds over 100 pounds

Kind Lifer Mary recently shared how she shed weight by cutting out processed foods and amping up her fruit and veggie intake. Check it out:

"Hi there! I read about Jaki and her awesome success breaking her sugar addiction! I can definitely relate. A little less than two years ago on Valentine's Day I read Food Inc. and decided I could no longer eat the foods I had spent my life thinking were 'okay.' I gave up processed foods started eating more raw fruits and veggies and adopted a vegetarian lifestyle. Combined with exercise I lost 105 pounds in a year! I applaud Jaki and people like her for making big changes that can drastically change their lives! Thanks for posting such great stories!"

Mary congrats! So happy for you!

If any of you kind lifers have a success story to share private message me or upload your story to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on the homepage of The Kind Life!

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural detox. Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:

Related Stories:

Marisa Overcomes Her Digestive Struggles
Success Story: Karly's Eye-Opening Research Paper
Success Story: Jaki Overcomes Sugar Addiction
Success Story: Kasey Improves Her Hearing Impairment

guest starring missi pyle!

My lovely and hilarious friend Missi Pyle continues her vegan adventure! As she shared in her two previous guest blogs she's recently adopted a vegan diet. Here is her third blog about her kind journey…she wrote it while she was staying at my house during my Gods Behaving Badly shoot in New York.
 
Enjoy!
 

Day 2 or 3 or 4. Possibly 5. Aka. Cheater cheater pumpkin eater... Costarring TV's Megan Park!
 

Listen. Blogging is hard to keep up with. Especially when you have to drink red wine while watching back to back episodes of Dexter or are laying in bed playing Angry Birds and  have to wait a full hour for the falcon to come back and get you out of a tricky level on your iPhone.
 
Or if only on day 3 or 4 of being a vegan you wake up in the middle of the night and while standing in front of Alicia's open refrigerator in your underwear you find yourself with a fork digging into the non-vegan chocolate pie your sister evilly brought home last night and put on the middle shelf which is eye level with no cover and homemade non-vegan whipped creme dolloped lovingly on the top.
 
Oh the shame.
 
I caved. I didn't mean to. It all happened so fast. I almost thought it was a dream until I woke up the next day with crusty chocolate on the pillow where my mouth had gently pressed during the night. I felt guilty. The wallowy kind. I mean what kind of an example am I to you? My devoted fans?
 
But listen I am an actor and the one thing I have learned as an actor is you can't wallow. I am constantly being rejected for the "greatest job of my life" and sit moping around all day in my underwear. But the thing I learned about the "greatest job in your life" is there will always be another one that comes along with shiny opportunity to make you believe again and go put your clothes back on and go out and audition. With the hope that this time you can stay out of your underwear for good... I mean in pants over your underwear...

It was in this hope that I woke yesterday morning anddecided to make the greatest funnest most delicious recipe in Alicia's vegan book The Kind Diet. One that would be so yummy I would never cheat again. I found it on page 207: Cheesy Oozy Guacamole bean Dip.
 
As Frank would say Yum. Or I'm a beagle or both.
 
The recipe starts with you mashing up 3 ripe avocados while wearing a long flowy dress in Alicia Silverstone's kitchen.
 

Then you have Meredith who was non-apologetic about her pie because she had gotten it from the people at the Leno Show squeeze the juice of one whole lime on the top.

Then you spread a layer of refried beans on the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish. You spread the avocado lime concoction over the top of the beans. Then you stir together two 8oz containers of non-dairy sour cream with a packet of cruelty free taco seasoning and spread over the avocado.
 
We only had one container of sour cream because I don't believe in writing down actual quantities while making a grocery list. Oh well in the end it wasn't a problem.
 
Then we sprinkled a can of diced green mild chiles drained over the sour cream and layered on top of that 1/2 cup of sliced black olives.  Then we added 3 chopped tomatoes. 1 big ass yellow one from Alicia'sgarden and 2 normal sized red ones from a pack we got at trader joe's.
 
Finally you sprinkle 2 cups of shredded vegan cheddar cheese on top. Then you preheat the oven to 350. Actually you should have done that sooner. Oh well.
 
While we waited for the oven to heat my friend Megan Park came over to sample our hopefully extremely tasty vegan dish. Megan is a ridiculously talented actress who played my daughter in A Cinderella Story Once Upon A Song my opus and who plays a virginal 16 year old on ABC family's "Secret Life of the American Teenager". She also happens to be my writing partner. We are writing the world's greatest funniest raunchiest most heart felt female comedy of all time

She got here just in time to put the dish in the oven and open up some wine. She's not really 16. I hope. I wasn't sure what flavor of wine goes well with vegan bean dip so just to be safe I opened both a red and a white.
 
After 30 minutes we took out our bean dip and sat down to eat with a bag of organic corn chips. We were just about to dig in when Megan who is severely lactose intolerant asked if there was milk protein in the soy cheese. I said slightly condescendingly "Uh no way Megan its SOY cheese." But she told me in a very non-condescending tone because she is really the adult in our relationship apparently just because it says it's soy cheese doesn't mean they don't get all sneaky and put in casein.
 
WHAT???? Who would do something like that?????
 
I guess you have to read the labels.


This soy cheese has Casein in it! IE NOT VEGAN!!

This vegan Daiya cheese does not! IE TOTALLY VEGAN!!
 
So we just pulled back the not so fake fake mozzerella for Megan and she ate the yummy goodness below.

 

It was a truly awesome dish. We were going to make an entrée but we got too full on the chips we ate with the bean dip and the  ass load of chips we ate before while the bean dip was in the oven.
 
In conclusion I say this is a great recipe for anyone who is a cheater like me and wants to make something delicious to redeem  themselves.
 
I give it two "yums" up.
 
And will try to hold steadfast and not let you my best friends down ever again.
 
i am not ALWAYS in my underwear. just USUALLY.
watch the video from blog 2. The beagle comment will make more sense
Meredith is assisting a very fancy actress named Octavia Spencer who was in The Help and was on "Late Night with Jay Leno" the other night. She made a pie made of poop in the Help so they gave her a pie not made of poop for being on the show. Meredith took one home because it was from Jay Leno. He doesn't like it when you turn him down. Or so I've heard....
other than Bridesmaids. sigh.

Thank you Missi! Stay tuned for Missi's next installment soon! What's your favorite dish to make when you want to indulge kind-style?

Related Stories:

Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Quest - Day 1
Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Adventure
Lea Michele's Guilty Pleasure...
Facts About Flouride

squaring off against wasteful bathroom habits

There are so many tiny ways we can make a difference that it can be easy to go through daily life without ever noticing some.  Several years ago I was appearing on a radio show and the host was getting all worked up because there was this story going around the Internet about Sheryl Crow encouraging people to only use one square of toilet paper.  I later learned that she made the comment in a joking light-hearted way but I defended her at the time saying that I'm sure she was just encouraging people to think in new ways about how much paper they use.  Sure enough if you see what she said in context that's exactly what it turned out to be.  She obviously wasn't being literal but it got me wondering… And I have to admit I've thought about it either consciously or subconsciously nearly every day since. 

Now of course I buy the eco-friendly recycled kind of toilet paper but if I'm not paying attention my instinct is almost always to grab a fistful more than I need.  It's so easy to forget!  It's like a reflex I haven't fully broken.  I'll always have the urge to grab about six squares if I'm not thinking.  Really?  Is that necessary for a little pee?

All it takes is a bit of mindfulness to refrain from grabbing a huge handful.  I'm trying to get better at this myself so I invite us all to try and use less.  Instead of yanking off a whole wad let's try just three squares – like in that "Seinfeld" episode.  OK four if you really must!

What do you think?  Is it do-able?  Do you think we can really change our bathroom habits after all it's been a while since most of us have potty trained?  I'm game to try if you are!

Related Stories:

The Battle Against Plastic Bags Continues!
Easy Ways to Conserve Water!
Simple Ways to Reduce Waste!
Beware of Plastic Water Bottles!

nourishing nishime

I just fell in love again with the nishime ni-shee-may recipe from my book- well I never really fell out of love with it except when I was pregnant. It's a traditional macrobiotic vegetable dish and though I couldn't eat one bite of it during my entire pregnancy just a few weeks ago I started finding it delicious again!  I'm just so happy with how it tastes – it makes me feel so balanced and nourished- sooo good for winter.

If you haven't tried nishime it's on page 273 of The Kind Diet. It's especially nourishing to the stomach spleen and pancreas. It's so so good for you and very superhero - but also it's just yum!

Eat it often!

What's your favorite superhero comfort food?

Related Stories:

Superhero Recipe: Roasted Green Beans With Shallots
8 Days of Recipes: Chocolate & Cinnamon Rugelach
Superhero Recipe: Golden Hijiki Tarts
Pumpkin Bread

marisa overcomes her digestive struggles

[image error] video platform video management video solutions video player

Macrobiotic chef Marisa Marinelli recently shared how switching her diet cured her years-long struggle with Crohn's Disease and Ulcertive Colitis. Check out her inspiring story:

Halfway through class I begin to struggle. I walk away from the ballet barre and sit down in the corner no longer able to ignore the unease and discomfort in my stomach. My Advanced Ballet III professor approaches me after class concerned about my behavior. "This might sound weird" I say to him "but I feel like I can't feel my stomach like it's numb." With a look of skepticism and obvious condescendence he replies with minimal sensitivity. "Well I just think you have a weak center."

That memory has always stuck with me; my professor even with his hint of arrogance was correct about my weak center. I was a 19-year-old college student training to become a professional dancer when I was diagnosed with an Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I wasn't aware of it at the time but the numbness I had been feeling was the beginnings of severe inflammation of the colon.

I have actually been told I'm lucky. It only took two colonoscopies for my doctor to say "Good news! You don't have Crohn's Disease it's only Ulcerative Colitis." If that's "luck" I wonder what winning the lottery is like. Having never heard of either disease at that time I couldn't understand how my life would never be the same.

It's been a seven-year journey ofstruggles and success but today I finally understand that my health was not a matter of "luck"- it was a matter of choice. I was fortunate enough to have learned about macrobiotics; to have the option to choose an alternative healing path I chose to heal.

After my diagnosis I suffered immensely for several years. Flare-ups would come and go monthly and I'd find myself in the hospital for weeks at a time. Severe diarrhea and vomiting caused me to loose so much weight and muscle mass. I had difficulty walking let alone dancing. I never knew what to eat and I was always in pain. My doctors would treat me with powerful harsh anti-inflammatory drugs to ease my bouts of illness.

I wouldn't offer a dose of prednisone to even my worst enemy. The side effects are torturous. I sacrificed whatever healthy organs I had left to prednisone. One year after my diagnosis I learned in addition to the ulcerative colitis I was one the 5 of all IBD patients in the world to develop a secondary reaction to the disease called Pyoderma Gangrenosum. In this rare instance inflammation is no longer contained in the colon; it is systemic.

Ulcers can begin to develop on my limbs. If ulceration grows into the bones the doctors would have no choice but to amputate that limb. Being that my case was so rare my doctor had never treated or met a patient with these conditions. Confused he believed that I was the worst case of ulcerative colitis he had ever seen.

Extreme high dosages of prednisone seemed to be necessary to put me into a temporary remission. Because I had a strong dancer's body I survived the first huge flare with all my limbs and no surgery. However a few months after I was off the drug I would relapse into the same cycle and find myself back in the hospital.

I feared that this drug-dependent life was the only choice I had. 

Surgery was never an option for me. Call me superficial but I wasn't willing to part with any of my body parts. Drugs were not the answer; they would only weaken my immune system and that's not something I'm willing to sacrifice. And who wants to take 20 pills a day for the rest of their life? Doctors could not offer me any other hope so I began to look for alternative options. Macrobiotics was my answer.

I became friends with a young girl who also suffered with ulcerative colitis.  She gave me a book to read called Controlling Crohn's Disease The Natural Way. The book is written by Virginia Harper a woman who healed her Crohn's disease through a macrobiotic-based diet and lifestyle. I read the book cover to cover in 2days. "This makes sense" I thought. "I have nothing left to loose so I might as well give it a try." I never imagined my body being "off balance." Can sea vegetables and brown rice really make a difference to my body? I found Virginia's Web site and contacted her for a consultation as soon as possible. Macrobiotics provided a new hope for me and a new life.

Nobody says change is easy.

Being from a first-generation Italian family food is a huge part of our culture. We love it and can't get enough of it. Pasta cheese and tomato sauce were my main food groups. If you didn't lick your plate clean Nonna or "grandmother" in Italian would chase you around the kitchen with that last bite on her spoon. I never thought about how food affected my body because I was always very thin and fit. When I told my family I was changing my diet drastically they had no idea how big of a change I intended.

With family and friends I suddenly became the "weird girl" who didn't eat meat or dairy. I'll never forget the time I went to the beach and a friend jokingly asked if " I was going to eat the seaweed for lunch?"  For someone who didn't want to change her diet in the first place it was very difficult to find motivation to keep on this path. Not only were the comments and sometimes jokes hurtful; I didn't know how to cook! The first time I had to make brown rice I asked my mom "How does it cook?" I couldn't pronounce any of the foreign foods or find them at my local supermarket. An ume-what plum? But the biggest boost of confidence and motivation was that IT WORKED!

Within the first month of committing to whole grain beans and vegetables my symptoms were gone. After a few more months on a macrobiotic approach I saw a huge difference in myself; more energy calmer moods better sleep and I was happy! I was able to return to dance and enjoy it more than ever.

My story doesn't end there.

Making the change to a macrobiotic diet and lifestyle was and still is one of the hardest things I've done in my life. Even after seven years there are continuous ups and downs. Thankfully however it gets easier. The great news is I have the rest of my life ahead of me to live fully. There was a time of my life when I thought life wasn't worth living if you couldn't enjoy some macaroni and cheese; I was wrong. Honestly today I can say I don't miss it.

The rewards of eating good food push me through the hardest of times. Don't forget your support group. People come into and leave your life for a reason. I have learned to take every experience for what it is and then let go. Stay close to those that are truly supportive. Family is forever but it's okay to disagree when it comes to what's best for you.

It's during the most challenging parts of life that a person needs to be the strongest and make the wisest and often most difficult of choices. I chose to be thankful for my disease. I wanted to heal myself: mind body and soul. I made the decision to do whatever it took to find a way to heal myself because I was NOT going to spend any more of my life being ill. I was and still am a young adult with lots of ambition and dreams. My body was weak; my will power was not.

I've witnessed many people faced with a serious health issues turn away from hope. "This isn't an option for me" or "It's too hard." We all have a choice in our life to create our own destiny and it's up to us to decide what we want that to be.

I've made the choice to heal and hope to inspire others to do the same. I've chosen food and life over doctors drugs and surgeries. I've learned at a young age that if you don't have your health you really don't have anything at all.

To those who are lucky enough to come across my story please know for life and health you always have a choice.

Thank you for sharing your inspiring story Marisa! To learn more about Marisa's journey check out her website or watch her today Thursday January 19 on the season premiere of the Veria Network's The Incurables.

If any of you kind lifers have a success story you'd like to share private message me or post a note to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on the homepage of The Kind Life.

Related Stories:

Success Story: Karly's Eye-Opening Research Paper
Sucess Story: Jaki Overcomes Sugar Addiction
Success Story: Paloma Brings The Kind To Argentina
Success Story: Carly Overcomes Emotional Instability