Warm and Delicious Lentil Soup

As the days get shorter and we approach winter and colder temperatures I always enjoy some warm soups that are quick easy and nutritious. One of my favorites is lentil soup with plenty of vegetables. Lentils are one of the few legumes that are alkaline in nature. With the holidays approaching a sure way to loose a few unwanted pounds or keep them off is to eat as alkaline as possible. This is a delicious and nutritious meal that warms you up and keeps the weight off while delivering plenty of good nutrition to fuel your body.

Hearty Lentil Soup

64 oz organic vegetable broth ( 2 boxes )

1 cup dry lentils

1/2 cup dry black eye peas

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium turnip, cubed

3 stocks celery, chopped

3 medium red potatoes, cubed

1/4 bunch italian parsley, finely chopped

3 roma tomatoes, diced ( optional )

2 medium zucchini, diced

1/2 cup broccoli, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 TBS ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste

Pour the broth into a large pot and then add the lentils and or beans. Start chopping the vegetables and adding them to the pot. The legumes will soak while you chop. When you have everything in the pot, turn the heat to high. Just after the mixture comes to a boil turn the heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to add more salt, cayenne or cumin once it starts cooking. It will be ready in 40-45 minutes. The soup keeps 4 days in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer, so make plenty. Makes about 8 cups.

Why is it important to eat alkaline? What is alkaline and how do I know what to eat? These are the 2 most frequently asked questions I get. First there are 2 kinds of foods when we are speaking about health, acid producing and alkaline ash producing. This simply means that after digestion what is left? I like to think of it in terms of a checking account. It is known that cells thrive in an alkaline environment ( lots of useable minerals ) and die or disorganize in an acidic one. Therefore, you need more alkaline than acid food if you want to thrive and have your body in a state of anabolic activity. In terms of the checking account, if you are always making withdrawls ( eating acid foods ) and rarely making deposits of money ( eating alkaline foods), sooner or later if you keep writing checks ( using energy to function, ie live ) you run out of money. The body is the same. If one eats mainly acid food, that is the regular diet of most people, SAD ( Standard American Diet ), there soon will be a time that your body runs dry of alkaline reserves and starts using bone, bile and other means to secure the minerals it needs to keep the blood at the constant PH of 7.35 - 7.45. This is where disease and degeneration come in. The good news is, just add to the checking account! That means adding more alkaline foods to your diet, and maintaining an alkaline diet of 80-90% alkaline food and 10-20% acid foods.

Our bodies are amazing and wondrous, thank goodness for that. If given a chance they can and will repair most things, especially if you start early. So start NOW, eat alkaline and watch how your body and life blossoms.

How do you know if a food is alkaline or acid? The real test is to burn the food, if in the ash that is left there are more minerals than anything else, it is alkaline. The key to alkaline is MINERALS. By minerals I am speaking and referring to those that come from plants, not dirt or rocks. If humans could digest rocks we would be able to chew them and be regularly eating them. We can not assimilate rocks. David Wolfe just lectured and said that one of the major causes of disease is CALCIFICATION, or hardening of the cells and tissues of the body. This is from over acid eating and incorrect supplementation with synthetic or inorganic minerals. If you are currently taking either of these, please do yourself a favor and STOP immediately. Only ingest real 100% WHOLE FOOD. Several great sources for achieving mineralization are: bee pollen, fulvic acid, marine phytoplankton ( my favorite source ), and sea vegetables. juicing green vegetables is another great source of calcium and other minerals, although not nearly as high as the ones afore mentioned.

What are the alkaline foods? In a nutshell they are: all vegetables, the non sweet fruits, almonds and hazelnuts. Everything else is acid. Fruits are the least of the acids, with the sweeter ones becoming more and more acid. So, sugar is a strong acid, meat, dairy, cheese, nuts, ect. are also all acid. It takes at least 6 parts alkaline to 1 part acid to balance, so you need to eat alot more alkaline than acid to stay healthy. What do you eat to have a strong, energetic, healthy body that radiates beauty and health? VEGETABLES. When you choose to eat a vegan diet ( fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes ) you are choosing health and vitality in your body and world as well as supporting the planet and the children, a win win! Isn't that great? I think so. Give it a try today and see for yourself how wonderful it really is. You won't know what to do with all your extra energy! ( digestion takes 75% of your total body energy, and animal produces take at least that much or more. ) Save energy, go VEGAN. If you want to go all the way and get a turbo boost of energy, go RAW VEGAN. Please what ever you choose, choose ORGANIC and help save the planet before it's too late. Michael Jackson just said there are only 4 years left before it's too late to make a difference. I hope we never find out.

Blessings

World VEGAN Day !!!

Welcome, it's World Vegan Day, and I am going to tell you my story about going vegan. I hope it inspires you to do the same in your life.

The year was 1975, I was 16 years old and had just been diagnosed with a lump in my breast. After surgery and months of treatment I was released and deemed healthy once again, but was I really? I had always considered myself healthy and athletic. I ate mostly fresh home grown or wild fruit and vegetables, I never really liked meat, and my mother didn't either. My father, a totally different story, he ate mostly red meat, and lots of it. I consciously decided to become vegetarian when I was about 8 years old. I did eat dairy and cheese, but never any meat until the death of my father when I was 28. For some reason his sudden passing made me shift into eating meat. Maybe I wanted to try all the things most others ate, just to experience it, part of me wanted to still be close to him, so I started to eat like he had. This phase lasted about 2 years, and I was drawn back to my preferred vegetarian diet, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and dairy. For some reason giving up dairy was very difficult for me, and I figured it wasn't hurting the cows to give up their milk! Then after a beautiful trip to Hawaii in 1998, another breast tumor. This time I knew I would NOT go back to the allopathic doctors for help. They didn't fix it the first time, why would they be able to fix it this time? I began to search and study on my own. I made a pact to eat only ORGANIC and support myself as well as the planet and the future children. Just the change to vegan and organic gave me tons of energy and the drive to go even deeper into my own healing. A few months later I enrolled in college to get my doctorate in Naturopathy. One of the first classes I took had information that immediately put me on a green juice cleanse and then a colon cleanse. I was doing it to cure my tumor, but it turned out to cure my LIFE!! How's that for a big surprise? Within 3 months my tumor was gone, I had boundless energy, a positive attitude and my life really began to change into magnificent. I bought a beautiful home, attracted some wonderful and heart centered friends and for the first time in many years had my JOY back. This is what being a vegan can do for you. If you choose to go a step farther as I did, and eat only RAW, uncooked fruits, vegetables, nut and seeds, that is even better. ( I'll explain my theory on raw food another time ) . The main principles of health vs disease on the physical are in the choice of acid vs alkaline foods you consume. The more alkaline foods you consume, the more vibrant health you will enjoy. It's that simple. Sounds to good to be true? I challenge you to give it a try. You only need to commit to 1 week to FEEL the difference for yourself,( you'll probably lose 5 -10lbs too) it will TOTALLY change your life. OK ready? Now you say, I am ready, what do I eat? The foods that are alkaline are: all vegetables, with the black radish being the most alkaline, fruits are next in line. The higher the sugar content the more ACID they are. Nuts are acid, with the exception of almonds and hazelnuts, those are alkaline. Sticking to fruits like avocados, lemons, limes, and cucumbers and almonds or hazelnuts will give you the best results. If you can juice organic GREEN juice every day and only eat vegetables with the above fruits and nuts for 1 week, I guarantee you will be amazed at what you see and how you feel. The holidays are coming, give it a try NOW and be ready for those holiday parties.

Blessings