Excellent Blogs + Spiced Vegan Chai Cocoa

Sorry for the uber long delay here! Thank Cheryl over at Gluten Free Goodness for dragging me out of the blogging closet with her nomination of Cindalou's for an Excellent Blog Award. I begrudgingly (and gratefully, I might add) brushed off our basement office mold and dust to peck yet again at the keyboard. (This time it is not for calculations of the rate of matter spiraling into a black hole or deriving the gauge transformation with the trace reversed metric perturbation ... sorry, that's GR speak polluting my brain from our midterm exam).

This time, however, I can share goodies about Cheryl and her nutrition-packed gluten, dairy, soy, egg, and corn free (whew!) kitchen. Hey, that beats the heck out of ion implantation stuff. How can Neon ions compare with her pesto? Admittedly, I'll need to nut-free that pesto for myself with a heaping pile of extra kalamata olives, but that garlic-y pesto looks deliciously green and appetizing. Alternatively, you may prefer Cheryl's creative Pesto-ed Fish, featuring garlic scapes. If you like healthy allergen free recipes with tons of fresh garden produce, I recommend Cheryl and re-nominate her for an excellent blog award. I don't know if that's possible, but rules are just guidelines anyways ... especially when they come between garlic pesto fish and myself. As an organic gardener and cook, Cheryl makes excellent dishes with seasonal produce. If you have a bumper crop of pears, basil, or veggies, then check out her concoctions for dinner ideas!

Here's the spiel:

The rules that accompany this award are as follows:

“Please find at least 10 more blogs of any kind which you deem to be excellent; but hey if you only come up with 3 or 5 (I chose 8), I don’t mind. Post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post is up, and of course let your 10 award winners know too."

Cindalou's "Excellent Blogs":

Gluten Free For Good: Pumpkin anyone? Beets and Greens? Melissa over at Gluten Free for Good has a fantastic blog (and website) that extends beyond the gluten free community, as she lends her nutritionist expertise to everyone with an ear to hear (eye to read?). Seasonal ingredients (with recipes!) punctuate the health posts and exposes on hot nutrition topics. Melissa also knows how to have a good time, as she often shares her beautiful photos taken while hiking the Colorado wilderness. I can admire those sharp mountain peaks from afar, drool over her Pumpkin Pancakes, and laugh out loud at her humorous rantings on nutritional disasters and the advertising conspiracy. If you haven't seen the high fructose corn syrup commercials yet, read her comments on it and the role of sugar in modern diets versus health. If you have a sweet tooth, don't despair! Even as a bonafide health professional, she makes sweet amends and provides recent Celiac health & nutrition conference updates to the rest of us *unprivileged* non-health pro invitees.

Gluten Free Mommy: Unfortunately Natalie is out of the kitchen blogosphere right now due to her pregnancy (what a great reason, yey!), but GF Mommy is one of my favorite (and NC local) blogs. Her fish stew is reminiscent of one of my favorite quick healthy recipes for cool nights, and her beautiful pictures of gluten free cakes make me pine for dairy and a trip to Raleigh :). Also, if you enjoy Indian food as much as I do, you don't want to miss Natalie's bombay chicken and kung pao chicken. Update: She posted a fantastic Thanksgiving Frozen Pumpkin Pie which looks oh-so-tempting (once dairy-freed, of course).

Book of Yum: Although Sea is already an "E" blog as well, I'm going to jump aboard and give Book of Yum another vote. How could I forget such an expansive multiple-allergen friendly food blogger with a kindred appreciation for turmeric and spinach? I love the exotic Asian-inspired and Indian dishes from Book of Yum, as well as the focus on creative and often vegetarian and/or vegan recipes. Her uncheese nutritional yeast dairy free spinach pie and recent poppy seed goat cheese beet salad are calling my name (darn that goat cheese!). If you are adventurous in the kitchen, check out Sea's creations for great bento (lunch box) and dinner idea. Sea also gives many nondairy (often soy or nut based) "butter" and "cream" recipes for dairy-intolerant individuals like myself.

Great Mastications: Orla dishes up some great gf healthy recipes with a serious Canadian appreciation of healthy hemp, as well as teaching all of us a little more common sense about sustainable green living (see her post Green Business for a great "Stop buying crap we don't need" read). Come spring and summertime, I'll be gorging myself with her hemp seed and green onion dip, mmm!

Gluten Free Bay: Fall is brimming with holiday opportunity to try out a few of the Bay's plethora of creative kosher gluten free recipes. I am looking forward to some matzo balls for chicken soup and some low glycemic sweet potato and leek latkes. If you keep kosher and juggle allergies, the Bay is an invaluable resource for recipes and product updates!

Caveman Food: Elizabeth serves up great Paleo meals like the Sam I Am Eggs (told you Mom!) and Lamb Meatballs. For everyone on a low carb or cavemen-esque diet, I highly recommend her site. It's easy to get stuck in a rut on a low carb diet and eat the same ole ho-hum food, but Elizabeth's meals can appetize the low carber and regular diner alike. Who doesn't like (gluten and dairy free!) chicken fingers? Don't forget your vegetables either! Vital to health and the low carb and Paleo lifestyles, Cave(wo)men do eat their veggies! Restricted diets can be hard without further limiting food groups voluntarily, so check her out for gluten free, dairy free, low carb/Paleo meals.

Aprovechar: I know everyone else has given Sally an "E" already, but I must chime in. Sally's recipes are great healthy recipes for anyone looking for allergen free weight loss dinner ideas, but the real sparkle in her blogging comes from her heartfelt discussions regarding her life experience. Sally harbors the genuine glow of someone who has overcome traumatic health problems through an inspiring recovery. I know many people who can fake optimism, but Sally really has a true light shining from her soul. Besides, she makes tempting gluten free vegan Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies featuring flax seed (horrah!) to munch while you ponder enlightenment.

Jeena's Kitchen: Mediterranean cuisine (not all gluten or allergen free) with tons of delicious photographic recipes with everything from lamb and fish to traditional vegetable curries and desserts. The lamb dishes are always some of Jon's favorite objects 'o drool, like her lamb mint meatballs (use gf bread or ground flax).

I'm sure I missed a few excellent gluten free blogs, so my apologies. Other top authors are Cathy Wong and Dr. Ben Kim, both very knowledgeable alternative health authorities and creative cooks. Dr. Ben Kim even has a healthy corn syrup and HFCS free pecan pie recipe stocked full of delicious dates for the holidays! All of these yummy blogs are stirring my appetite for a nice warm mug of cocoa ...

Spiced Vegan Chai Cocoa
[low glycemic to boot]

The onset of brisk cold nights here in NC drags out a plethora of random herbs and unsweetened cocoa powder for a nightly rendevouz with my otherwise shivering hands. I have to make all my own cocoas since commercial AND affordable varieties come complete with a) corn syrup, b) dairy ... and more derivatives of dairy, and c) tons of other crap.

Unsweetened non-dutch processed cocoa is not treated with alkali and is all we use at Cindalou's. Why no dutch processed cocoa? The dutch processing destroys most of the flavonols present in cocoa, as discussed in this Chocolate as a Health Food article. Besides, addition of unnecessary metals to perfectly good cocoa for a milder taste seems .. unnecessary. Curious minds can find a concise description of the sundry varieties of chocolate and cocoa at this Wikipedia site.

All of the cocoa details aside, if you want quick and easy homemade vegan cocoa, gather any combination of the following herbs and ingredients and stir away! (The amounts are approximate, and as such, this is barely a recipe at all. This is an herb-y cocoa based on my old slippery elm tea of healing warmth.)

• 2 T. unsweetened non-dutch cocoa powder
  
  
• 4 drops liquid Stevia (if desired) or agave/honey to taste
  
  
• 1 t. slippery elm - various soothing digestive actions, high in iron and vitamins, helps kidney problems, diarrhea and constipation (similar action to psyllium)
  
  
• 1 t. cayenne pepper - arthritis, pain relief (internal & external), soothes & improves digestion, metabolic booster
  
  
• 2 t. cinnamon - antifungal, antibacterial, improves glucose metabolism (diabetes), anticlotting, helpful for memory
  
  
• dash ground ginger - excellent nausea and digestive aid, antiinfammatory, aids in prevention of cancer, immunity booster
  
  
• 1 t. crushed fennel seeds - very high in Vitamin C, improves immunity, high in folate (a B vitamin) and fiber, helps keep the colon and heart healthy

• dash ground fenugreek - high in fiber and amino acids, lowers cholesterol and regulates blood sugar, helps soothe digestion, loosens mucous, can stimulate the sex drive, and has an interesting folk use for breast enlargement. It also improves milk flow from nursing mothers, may help fight obesity, aids in heart disease, and can ease menstrual pain. It should not be used in high, frequent doses, or by pregnant women
  
  
• 1 t. cardamom (ground) - digestive aid, gas reliever, stimulant, and helps to break up mucous. Add extra cardamom to your tea, soups, stews, curry dishes, or pies if you have a cold or some congestion
  
  
• dash coriander (ground) - helps control blood sugar, useful in diabetes, good source of mucilage, and helps control cholesterol
  
  
• dash cloves (ground) - the active eugenol in cloves aids in inflammation and arthritis, digestive disorders and cancers, detoxification from environmental pollutants, pain relief, and anesthetic. Chew on a clove bud for a toothache and your whole mouth will go numb! It is also high in minerals and contains some Omega 3 fatty acids.

• 2+ cups boiling water or 1 c. boiling water 1 c. hemp milk (or other milk or favorite milk substitute)

Mix all in the mug(s), pour over water and/or warmed [hemp] milk and stir. Dilute and sweeten to preference. Use Stevia or agave for low glycemic (~0 and ~11 glycemic index, respectively), or add honey (~32 a low g.i.) as desired. Honey harbors amazing antimicrobial, antiviral, and antioxidant benefits, so don't fear the honey bee! If you want more health benefits on each ingredient, check out the links above.

Serves: 1-2 (depending on water or "milk" use)

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Tri-pepper Chicken Veggie Chowder

It's getting a little more chilly and rainy here as fall finally dons her hat, so I thought I'd share my excuse for a soup that is really chunky chili stew for the occasion. We made this soup awhile ago actually, but I'm behind on blogging here at Cindalou's due to much excitement and distraction in the "real" world. The bank bailouts and election coverage in the media are more intriguing than pepper stew, but they certainly lack the Vitamins A and C and healing capsaicin that the peppers pack. Capsicum is a collection of compounds found in chili peppers with amazing pain-reducing abilities when taking both internally and externally (with caution). There has been recent hype concerning the age-old capsicum and cayenne, also a source of the compounds, for use in arthritis creams and other topical aches and pains. Other benefits of capsicum include better digestion, ulcer treatment, a slight metabolism boost for weight loss, and some gentle pain relief. Personally, I'd rather eat a spicy stew than take a pill or use an external cream, though Jon swears the stew is what causes his pain ("mouth fire") :)

Late summer brings us the last of the pepper harvest around here, so drag out your slowcooker and stuff it full of some hot peppers and seasonal fall produce, or sit back to watch the fireworks on CNN. Hey, as bad as your lips and tongue sting at the spice (which is actually releasing aspirin-like compounds called salycilates and endorphins inside your body during digestion to relieve the pain), that spice is not as bad as the rhetoric on the economy. (Oh, and the white pepper innards hold the spice, not the seeds, so watch out!) Don't blame me for loving spice: I'm related to the Scovilles, though not the namesake of the Scoville pepper rating scale.

photo courtesy of squidoo hot sauce blog

3 large organic carrots
4 jalapeños, whole
1 habanero, whole (optional)
1 fresh, large, green banana pepper
1 red cherry pepper
1/2 green wax pepper
6 cloves fresh garlic
4 large whole thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs)
2 ears fresh corn, sliced off ear OR 2/3 lb. frozen corn kernels
2-3 sundried tomatoes
1/2 can large black olives, drained
1 28 oz can organic crushed tomatoes
1 large onion
2 c. low sodium gluten free chicken broth (We use Imagine*)
~12 c. water (enough to cover the chicken breasts in your slow cooker, we have a large Crockpot)
~1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
1 7 oz. can fire roasted diced green chilies

Seasonings:
rosemary
garlic powder
sea salt and pepper
dash cayenne pepper (optional but highly recommended for optimal health whallop)
dash crushed red pepper flakes
parsley

Optional add ins (if you have on hand):
1/2 bag (5 oz) of fresh, washed organic baby spinach or other dark greens
2 stalks organic celery, washed

First, wash and pat dry all of the peppers, celery, and greens. I minced about half the garlic and reserved the rest of the whole cloves for the soup. Slice the peppers (wear a glove if you're sensitive to the oil) to your liking and set aside. I finely chopped my jalapeños, but roughly sliced the longer wax and banana peppers and quartered the cherry peppers. The habanero I leave whole in the soup for the "winner" (around here, that's me since Jon's terrified of it). If you do choose to chop up the habanero, be aware that your soup spice level will go through the roof as the oils disperse in the broth. Don't fret about all the different varieties of peppers, substitute ones you like. Note that sweet bell peppers will not have the capasicin-loaded benefits, but they are still excellent sources of Vitamin C (especially eaten raw).

Drizzle the olive oil into the slowercooker and place the washed chicken breasts in the bottom of the slowcooker. I chose to slice the corn off the cob and add the kernels directly to the Crockpot. Chop the carrots and celery and add to the pot as well. If you're adding any heavy greens like mustards or kale, chop and add them now as well. Either add whole sundried tomatoes, or chop them with kitchen shears and add to the pot. Add in all of your seasonings, broth, and water.

If you're using a Crockpot, make sure your's is large enough for all of the liquid. Cook the soup on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-7 hours - whichever timing fits your schedule best. Serve hot with a garnish of avocado wedges and a squeeze of lime. If you have fresh basil available, some chopped basil would be wonderful sprinkled on top right before serving.

* Imagine broths and soups are kosher, gluten and dairy free (depending on type). They are also non-GMO (not genetically modified). I buy the low sodium versions of the vegetable and free-range chicken broths.

A Brief (Incomplete) Synopsis of capsicum benefits:

• pain-reliever for aliments such as arthritis and shingles
• metabolism booster for weight loss
  
• aids indigestion and helps heal the inner mucosal membranes in digestive track
• kills bacteria in the stomach which can cause ulcers
  
• helps lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides
• can help kill cancer: studies show it can induce apoptosis (death) of cancer cells in the prostate, lungs, gastrointestinal track, and leukemic cancers among others
  

A neat summary of peppers on the How
Stuff Works website

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Rockin' [with] the LHC

I'll come right out and say it: this is not at all a gluten, dairy, soy, nut, or anything food related post. Of course, there are no [food] allergens in subatomic particles, now are there? Sometimes I've heard of (and suffered from) a mild allergy to physics [homework], but no allergic responses to particle physics, so here goes!

As many of you know, by day I work in nuclear astrophysics (I love LENA, though our site is very outdated). What many of you (other than my parents who probably don't remember) don't know is that I did a brief stint in particle physics years back. I can't really claim more credit than that in the recent CERN LHC experiments as I spent only an internship at the University of Iowa in particle physics. However, I can proudly state that I came quite close friends with these cool little (very expensive) custom tubes which detect light given off by particle interactions inside a detector. In fact, I dreamed about Hamamatsu photomultiplier tubes (PMT) for a good few months after returning to my neck of the woods in Georgia and the safe haven of nuclear physics. If anyone is wondering how and why we need to characterize the dark current and radiation-exposure response of every single PMT going to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) @ CERN, the European Centre [Organization] for Nuclear Research, then email me. Just don't make me give another speech or seminar on it... please, pretty please?

A pictorial side-slice of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) detector on which a few of the pieces I tested are used. The colors and lines show tracks of various particles (charged particles like protons or electrons) and muons (the long blue line). Credit: CERN

Besides, this short video is much more interesting than my summer of testing equipment and writing computer codes for equipment used in the current experiments at the LHC. Plus, humor is great for your health. Congrats to you, LHC. I know this accelerator runtime is quite a hard-earned victory a long time in the making.

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