CJ's Roasted Off the Cob Corn

Fresh corn is such a blessing every summer. Who doesn't love a cob of corn fresh off the grill, dipped in a lot of butter? My son, CJ shucked this corn, buttered it up and just used simple seasonings, heavy on the pepper for a kick!

This is the same corn but it is off the cob.

Enjoy!


CJ's Roasted Off the Cob Corn

8 ears of corn
water
4 Tbsp. butter or casein free vegan margarine
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Soak the corn in a large stockpot at least 8 hours, we soaked it overnight. Remove from water and grill over medium heat turning every 3-5 minutes
grilling for a total of 15-20 minutes.
Remove husks, shuck the corn and combine in a bowl with butter or margarine. Season with salt and a lot of fresh ground pepper.

Summer Calls!

Farm Fresh Vegetables call us!


Now that the sun is out, birds are singing and flowers are blooming, it is time to get outside and get your vitamin D. The sun makes plants grow and helps us to get vitamin D. Vitamin D comes from the sun to you within 15 minutes of exposure. This will give you about 10,000-15,000 IU of vitamin D3. Calcitrol, a hormone that comes from vitamin D3 is needed to prevent heart disease, cancer, helps to form bone, assists in cell growth and hormone balance. If you have had difficulty with gluten and/or casein intolerance you may have inflammation in your digestive tract and need to supplement with vitamin D3 to facilitate healing as well as maintaining a gluten and casein free diet.

If you can't or don't want to get sun exposure, you can supplement vitamin D3 (natural form) by taking supplemental D3, consume fish, or take cod liver oil. I encourage you to get a baseline serum (blood) test of your vitamin D level, 25-hydroxyvitamin D level. The optimal level is 50 so if you below that, please work with your health care provider to take supplemental vitamin D3 until you reach that level. If you have any difficulty with seasonal depression (affective disorder), you might find supplemental vitamin D helpful during the wintertime.


Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

1 whole orange, I used Cara Cara orange, peeled using a paring knife
1 TBS. dried onion
3/4 c. ketchup, either without any sugar or high fructose corn syrup (Whole Foods 365 Brand has cane sugar)
1 TBS. Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1/4 c. Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. Chipotle powder
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. red cayenne pepper (use more if you desire more heat)
3 TBS. Light Agave Nectar

Place orange in food processor or blender and blend until pureed. Place pureed orange in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Use this sauce on any type of meat or even fish you would like to barbecue. Grill and baste with sauce frequently during cooking.

Or...

I used it on 6 organic chicken legs. I seasoned the legs with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Placed them on a foil lined, oiled baking sheet. I basted the legs with the sauce and baked them at 375F for 30 minutes, increased the heat to 400F and basted them again, after 10 minutes I reduced the heat to 375F and added the last layer of sauce baking for another 10-15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes after removing from oven and serve.

Tamari Potatoes

4 organic potatoes of choice, cleaned, scrubbed and diced
2 TBS. dried onions
4 TBS. Tamari
2 TBS. extra virgin olive oil

Combine the onions, Tamari and oil in a bowl. Mix well and add potatoes. Toss to coat potatoes and bake at 350F for 30 minutes until fork tender.

Summer Salad

1 1/2 c. cut green beans, defrosted or fresh (steam for 5 minutes first)
1 c. kidney beans
1/ c. navy beans
2 ears of white corn shucked (soak for two hours prior to using)
1/4 c. diced red onion
1/2 red pepper diced
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. Agave nectar
3 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar (not distilled, Bragg's)

Combine beans to red pepper. Over low heat in a saucepan, add the water, oil, nectar and simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add vinegar. Pour over the salad and toss well. Better if refrigerated overnight as flavors have time to meld.

We all scream for ice cream!

Who doesn't love ice cream? Unfortunately, for some people ice cream does not love them. Some people cannot tolerate casein, a protein found in animal dairy products. There are children and adults with autism spectrum disorders will be asked to abstain to institute a gluten and casein free diet.

Autism spectrum disorders are typically characterized by difficulty engaging in social interaction, marked psychological dysfunction with some developmental delay. There are many different aspects of this disorder.

People are becoming increasingly allergic to dairy products whether lactose (milk sugar) intolerant (can’t digest milk sugar) or casein intolerant. Many people who have celiac disease or gluten intolerance will also have difficulty digesting casein. This may occur because the intestinal lining has been damaged from the inability to breakdown gluten (protein found in wheat/barley/rye/spelt or triticale grains) causes an inability to digest casein as well. These two will sometimes be joined hand in hand. Other reasons may include inflammation from long term undiagnosed food intolerances, lack of enzymes to break down these proteins and/or the processing of food (in case of milk, pasteurization which kills vital enzymes that enable our systems to metabolize the dairy products).

If you have an autistic child who is utilizing biomedical approach (utilizing nutritional and nutriceutical interventions with detoxification of heavy metals) treating their autism then you know how hard it is for a child to give up the simple pleasures of eating certain foods. It isn’t any easier for adults either.

Many people find that removing these two proteins will help improve the symptoms of autism. It is theorized that in autistic individuals that casein and gluten are metabolized into peptides that will fit into the opioid receptors (this is where pain medications, narcotics and illicit drugs such as heroin attach inside of the brain) of the brain, causing dysfunction. Other causes may be brain inflammation from the digestive system's inability to metabolize these proteins effectively resulting in intestinal inflammation and the ‘leaking’ of intestinal contents into the blood stream. The body must then deal with continual inflammation from the over use of the immune system.

Many people who suffer from autoimmune conditions such as myself, must find what foods have adverse effects on our health. I have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and dairy causes increased joint pain. This is true of many who have RA. I do on occasion eat raw milk cheese or eat goat cheese without ill effect. When you have a chronic condition, it takes some time to find out what foods aggravate your condition.


Here is an ice cream that you can easily make for your child that is delicious, gluten and casein free that the entire family will enjoy. This ice cream recipe is easy and is great for those who are not following a special diet. It is low in sugar, has no gluten or casein. It brings quick satisfaction!


Banana Ice Cream

6 ripe bananas peeled and frozen solid
1/4 c. Agave nectar (optional)
1 can of coconut milk, not lite
1 TBS. gluten free vanilla

Remove the bananas from the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Process in a blender or food processor until slightly chunky. Add the Agave, coconut milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place in a container and chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve immediately. If you can't serve it when it is done freeze it and then take it out 15 minutes prior to serving so it can thaw slightly making scooping easier. Makes 6-8 single scoops.


Resources:

Biomedical/integrative medical practitioner
www.acam.org

Biomedical medical practitioner to treat autism spectrum disorders
www.defeatautismnow.org

Tea and Jam

Last year, I read a fascinating book, "Child 44" by Tom Robb Smith. It was a historical fiction account of a Soviet police officer coming to terms with the corruption within the communist system that he had been raised to worship as he pursues a serial killer. It was a captivating book. Mr. Smith did an excellent job of revealing the history of post World War II Russia and the daily life of the people and party members.

The reason I bring up this book is that I had mistakenly assumed Russians loved vodka more than any other drink. This is not true. Russia has a long history of drinking tea. The book by Mr. Smith emphasized that Russians enjoyed putting jam in their tea. My son and I found this interesting and tried it. Tea is very tasty with strawberry jam especially if you make it yourself.

Since the story was based during the 1940's, a time when many around the world were financially struggling, I thought that maybe this necessitated the need to use jam, as sugar was not an option. That was not the case. Russians have enjoyed tea since 1618 and have routinely served tea with honey, sugar and/or jam. Tea is the national drink. Russians enjoy their tea strong. Tea is taken after meals and during breaks in the afternoon.

Russians enjoy Zavarka-a concentrated, strong tea that uses more tea than water, it is like espresso but in tea form. Samovar is a tea making device that uses loose leaf teas and makes Zavarka.

Tea has multiple health benefits. Green, oolong and black tea have antioxidants called polyphenols, meaning they prevent free radical damage. These polyphenols protect us from cancer, stroke and heart disease.

Strawberries contain phyonutrients that act as antioxidants as well. Strawberries contain many vitamins including vitamin C and manganese. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant. Strawberries may also contribute to decreasing cancer risk as well as easing polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis by reducing inflammation.

Strawberries are abundant this time of year and annually we enjoy making homemade freezer jam that I will give as gifts to our friends. We also save some for ourselves! I like freezer jam because it tastes just like fresh, crushed berries even weeks later. Most of the freezer jam recipes contained a ton of sugar. In light of wanting to reduce sugar consumption and lower blood sugar levels, which in turn will lower insulin levels, I remade the typical freezer jam recipe by substituting Agave nectar. The taste is wonderful.

Tip--I did find that using the Agave nectar means that you must stir the berries. The crushed berries tend to float to the top. Jam made with white sugar does not have this issue, but sugar has detrimental effects on a person's health. Sugar causes inflammation and aging.
Canning jars can be found at thrift stores for 25 cents a piece and you can buy a box of lids at the grocery store.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

6 small or 4 medium-large glass jars with canning lids, cleaned and dried

4 pints of fresh, ripe strawberries, cleaned, hulled, sliced

1 1/2 c. Agave Nectar

3/4 c. warm water

1 box Sure-Jell Pectin for low sugar or no sugar recipes (read label and make sure Splenda or other artificial sweetener(s) have not been added)

Place berries in large bowl and using a potato masher and crush the berries. Add Agave nectar to strawberries and stir well.

In small saucepan over high heat, mix pectin and water. Stir until mixture comes to a boil and continue stirring for 1 minutes. Add to fruit mixture and stir constantly for 3 minutes. Ladle into clean canning jars leaving 1 1/2 inches from the top as the mixture will expand in the freezer. Place lids on the jars and freeze up to 6 months. Will keep in refrigerator approximately 3-4 weeks.

Tea

Using a coffee press, place 1 tsp of loose leaf tea in the press for each 6 oz cup of tea you would like to make. Add 6oz of boiling water over the tea leaves for each 1 tsp of tea you have added. Stir and place top of press over the mouth of the press. Don't press down yet. Let the tea brew for at least 3-4 minutes. Then press down and you will be able to strain the leaves and pour your tea.

If you want Zavorka, double the amount of tea to 2 tsp. for every 6 oz of hot water.

Serve with 1 tsp. of your fresh strawberry jam.

Enjoy!