Tagged with 'honey'

Here's how to use non-toxic kitchen ingredients to nourish your skin and hair and avoid xenoestrogens.

The best way to eat honey: In The Raw!

Most commercially produced honey is pasteurized and filtered to prevent it from crystallizing, but that process markedly decreases some key nutrients, including probiotics and antioxidants. Raw, unfiltered honey also has a more complex and robust flavor than the processed variety. In a no-bake recipe like this fruit-and-nut-filled dessert, all of those qualities shine.

Kiwi Coconut Squares with Raw Honey Drizzle

Get out the food processor and...

COMBINE...

2 cups chopped medjool dates and 1½ cups raw walnuts

Process until a small amount holds together when pinched.

Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of a parchment-lined 9-by-9 inch pan.

Clean out the food processor and...

ADD ingredients...

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight and drained

1 cup coconut cream

1/3 cup raw honey

¼ cup melted coconut oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Process until smooth.

instructions:

Fold in 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut and spread evenly on top of crust. Beautifully arrange thin slices of 2 peeled kiwi fruit on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, drizzle with 1 tablespoon raw honey and slice into squares.

Makes 24 squares

Per 1 square: 240 cals, 14 g fat, 31 g carbs, 26 g sugar, 25 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein

Recipe courtesy of Women’s Health Mag

Let ashwagandha shuttle you to dreamland. This root is a common ingredient in moon milk and is used by chefs all around the globe.

It's Raw. It's Vegan. It's bursting with health-promoting properties. Most of all, it's Delicious! This refreshing, chocolat-ey dessert contains ashwagandha, maca, raw chocolate and other healthy ingredients. 

I love DIY bath and body products! There’s something rewarding about creating your own from ingredients you select and purchase yourself, and there are so many fabulous benefits packed inside this creamy homemade mask! 

This mask is great because the citrus scent can fire up your mood, and the chilled aloe will help reduce puffiness. And let’s not forget about the probiotics in the Greek yogurt. Probiotics have been touted for years as the key to a healthy digestive system. Through recent studies, the American Academy of Dermatology has found topical application also decreases skin sensitivity and redness, and can result in a reduced appearance of fine lines. Applying probiotics topically might also fight rosacea and acne bacteria too!

Citrus-Aloe Mask

3 Tbsp Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp chilled Aloe Vera

1 Tbsp Honey

1 to 2 drops Lemon Essential Oil

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Apply to dry skin. Let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse off.

Cheers to porcelain skin!

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

Recipe courtesy of Dr. Oz The Good Life

Most Americans happily consume several pounds (at a minimum) of processed sugars and sweeteners each year, but honey – we average a measly pound of the stuff. That's too bad, because honey, especially raw honey, is not only the superior sweetener, but it's also far more healthful than white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.

Honey is one of nature's true miracles. To make a pound of honey, a hive of bees will have to visit almost two million flowers and travel almost 50,000 miles – that's the equivalent of over two round trips around the world.

Raw honey – honey that is unpasteurized and has not been heated above 116 degrees Fahrenheit – is high in natural sugars glucose and fructose. While a tablespoon of honey clocks in at approximately 64 calories, it has a glycemic load equivalent to that of a banana, meaning it won't cause sugar spikes and crashes like other sweeteners. Compared to white sugar, at 15 calories per tablespoon, honey is a far superior energy source. If you want to sweeten up a smoothie, you can't do better than raw honey. 

Unlike other sweeteners, raw honey is rich in antioxidants, enzymes, and nutrients, including several B vitamins and vitamin C, selenium, zinc, iron, calcium, and phosphorous. Raw honey also contains nutritious bee pollen and propolis. Bee pollen is rich in proteins, vitamins, and amino acids, and propolis, which bees use to build and repair beehives, is a potent antibacterial and antimicrobial agent.

Once honey undergoes pasteurization, many of these healthful components are lost. Processed honey is still better than white sugar, but nowhere near as much as the raw stuff.

Honey comes in many different varieties, depending on the flowers they visited. Unlike white sugar, which pretty much comes in just one flavor, honeys made from clover, buckwheat, orange blossom, and alfalfa, to name a scant few, are prized by honey aficionados. During the summer months, most farmer's markets will have many different flavors of honey you can try.

Honey can also be used to treat cuts, burns, and abrasions, something the ancient Egyptians figured out. Honey is mostly sugars, and sugar is a hydroscopic agent, which means it loves water. Can't get enough of it, which is why its categorized as a “wet” ingredient in baking. It'll suck the water out of anything it comes into contact with – which includes bacteria. Rub a little honey on an open wound, put a bandage over it, and the odds of an infection drop to almost zero. It is also very effective at providing an airtight seal of minor burns as well. Manuka honey from New Zealand is especially prized for its antiseptic properties.

Please note that while raw honey is very healthful, it should never be given to infants due to a small chance of contracting infant botulism, a gastrointestinal disorder that can be potentially life-threatening. As Good Eats host Alton Brown once said, “until the kid is one, honey there shall be none.”

Next time you're reaching for the sugar bowl to sweeten something up, consider going for the honey pot, instead. Raw honey isn't just good, it's good for you.

Dave Meddish, Live Superfoods

Sources

OrganicFacts.net, “Health Benefits of Honey” found here.

Natural News, “The Benefits of Raw Honey” found here.

Draxe.com, “The Many Health Benefits of Raw Honey” found here.

Blend up this delicious, low-cal, dairy-free dessert in about 3 minutes. Everyone, grab a spoon!

Ingredients for Easy Ice Dream

• 4 peeled, frozen bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• 1 cup almond milk (or water)

Ingredients for Quick Chocolate Sauce

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon water

Directions

1. To make the ice cream: cut the frozen bananas into 1-inch chunks. Put in a high-speed blender with the vanilla and almond milk (or water). Blend until it becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream. It may not seem like it will get to this stage, but it happens quickly and then all of a sudden your blender is full of a creamy, thick, white ice cream! Scoop this into a bowl.

2. To make the drizzle: stir the ingredients together until smooth, it will take a second for the cacao to combine with the liquid. Drizzle on your ice cream and enjoy! Add whatever else you like: berries, almond butter, cinnamon, cacao nibs, chia seeds, hemp seeds, coconut...

On hand substitutions:

- No cacao? Try carob powder or cocoa powder

- There's cashew milk in the fridge but no almond milk? Go ahead, use it. Or rice milk, brazil nut milk, etc.

- Not a maple fan? Try coconut nectar/syrup, agave nectar, honey, yacon syrup...

- Out of vanilla bean powder? 1st, go and order some right away, then substitute vanilla extract

Recipe and notes courtesy of MindBodyGreen.com, found here: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18174/banana-vanilla-soft-serve-with-dark-chocolate-drizzle.html