Delicious Raw Pasta Recipes

Eating raw is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body, but in the winter we find ourselves craving heavy carbs, especially pasta.  Here are some recipes for some vegan pastas where vegan carbs replace the starch of pasta noodles and that still have the mouth-feel and fullness factor of pastas made from grain. 

Remember too that eating raw means exactly that so you won't be boiling water, frying or broiling a thing to make any of these delicious raw pasta dishes.

Cinnamon Beet Pasta

Serves 4-6

10 cherry tomatoes

1 large red beet
5 red stems of Swiss chard, chopped
1 handful of cilantro
1 handful basil, shredded
Sprig of fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 large zucchinis

Cut zucchinis into pasta using a vegetable pasta-making machine called a spirolizeror a mandolin so that they resemble long noodles.  Place the zucchinis into a drainer to drain.

Blend the other ingredients until smooth. Put the pasta in the bowl and pour it over the pasta and serve.

Calories: 1284   Fat: 79g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 373 mg Carb: 26g Dietary Fiber: 7g Sugars: 22g Protein: 8g.


Mock Mac N' Cheese

Serves 4

Noodles:

Orange Cauliflower

3 organic zucchini, julienned into noodles

Sauce:

2-cup cashews

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup spring water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 teaspoon shallots, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon apple cider or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon cracked black paper

Preheat oven to 115 F. Julienne the zucchini into long strips so they resemble noodles.

Blend with the rest of the ingredients until creamy.  Toss with the noodles in a shallow dish.

Dry out the raw dish for 1 hour. It will still be raw but with less water in it which gives the dish its texture.

Calories 510   Fat: 10g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 18 mg  Carb: 357g  Dietary Fiber: 4g  Sugars: 9g  Protein: 8g.


Mushroom Walnut Pasta

Makes 4 servings

Sauce:

6 sundried tomatoes, plumped in water

5 black olives, chopped
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoon pine nuts
1 tablespoon walnut oil or olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 garlic cloves, chopped
several fresh basil leaves

dash of sea salt

Pasta:

1 medium zucchini, spiralized or julienned into thin noodles

8mushrooms, sliced

Walnut topping:

1/4 cup walnuts, soaked and dehydrated
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 garlic clove, minced
a pinch sea salt
fresh cracked ground black pepper

Combine sauce ingredients in a food processor.  Toss with mushrooms and zucchini.  Process walnuts, yeast, garlic and sea salt until you have a crumble.  Sprinkle over pasta and sauce and serve.

Calories: 974   Fat: 62g Cholesterol: 0g Sodium: 1192 mg Carb: 37g Dietary Fiber: 13g Sugars: 30g  Protein: 21g.

For more information or to book a consultation about anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health 

16 Quick Tips to Help Keep Lost Weight Off for Good

At the Pinewood Health Institute we offer several different programs to help you lose weight including diets that include HCG injections combined calorie-restricted diets. Once you have gone through this type of program, it should then becomes your goal to keep that weight off for good by maintaining some healthy habits.

Here are sixteen quick tips for helping maintain your hard-won weight loss.

1. Drink at least eight ounces of water for every ten pounds you weight every single day to make sure that your body remains in state of perpetual cleansing and well hydrated.
2. Look for hidden sodium on food labels and try to choose foods with less than 5 mg of sodium in them for best results.
3. If you can eat it raw, then do not bother cooking it. Raw foods take more calories to digest and therefore help you keep the pounds off.
4. Eat foods that are high in protein with just a few foods with carbohydrates to enhance your weight loss potential.
5. To save yourself from just grabbing any snack when you are hungry be sure to keep plenty of freshly cut-up vegetables and healthy dips like salsa or chick pea to satisfy any cravings you gee between meals.
6. Brush your teeth with strongly scented toothpaste in order to help control food cravings. The strong taste of fennel or mint in your mouth helps deter you from eating for a while.
7. Substitute green tea for that morning cup of coffee. Some types, such as matcha and gunpowder green tea contain just as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It is also diuretic that can help you get rid of fat.
8. Eating two small squares of dark chocolate before a meal helps curb your appetite so you do not eat as much.
9. When you do eat, practice portion control and be aware of how easy it is to add calories to your body by heaping foods on your plate.
10. Cut down on alcoholic beverages completely. Stick to having half a glass of red wine a day. If you absolutely must drink then make it a vodka and club soda and keep it to less than three drinks a week.
11. Drink a shot of apple cider vinegar (1 ounce) to help immediately make your system more alkaline.
12. Stay away from butter and margarine and use as little oil as possible when you cook; add healthy oils like olive oil to salads.
13. Bake instead of fry and if at all possible, forget cooking the food at all and serve it raw.
14. Stay away from any carbonated drink including club soda, diet drinks and carbonated waters.
15. Be mindful about snacking and avoid thoughtless snacking in front of the television set or while working
16. Instead of snacking take up a hobby that occupies your hand such as knitting or crocheting so you are less likely to want to snack while watching television.

Just by doing these few simple things, you can help distract yourself from indulging in the bad habits that might have been allowing the pounds to subtly start creeping back on your frame.

For more information or to book a consultation about our restorative diet and weight loss programs  visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.

Are You In A State of Acidosis?

You know you are in a state of acidosis when it seems like your entire life has become toxic.  The ill health that results from eating foods and indulging in activities that create acidic conditions in our bodies, such as smoking cigarettes and other substances, drinking alcohol and eating refined foods, affects other areas of our lives as well. Our mental and emotional capacities can be compromised and in turn also affect our working and personal relationships.

A state of acidosis leads to problems such as mucous congestion, inflammation, and eventually degenerative changes in the body that is the basis of most chronic disease. Correcting this acidic condition halts the progress of disease and aging.

Acidosis Might Be A Result of Self-Neglect

Illness is a call to us from our bodies.  The message is, “It’s time to change.”

If you are searching for naturopathic services, it is possible that you are feeling unwell enough to try and make a big change. Often people come to us when other types of treatments, such a prescription medications, have not worked. Many people who visit a naturopath simply feel a bit “burnt out” and like they have been “letting things go” health wise.

It is time to pay attention to the little nagging red flags about your health such as high blood pressure, weight gain or fatigue and do something about it. Most of these symptoms are the result of your body living in a state of acidosis. Sometimes it is the treatments for disease that can cause acidosis. A good example would be the individual who has undergone general anaesthesia and needs to detoxify or the person who is recovering from the effects of cancer treatments.

Correcting Acidosis By Eating Alkaline

In order to correct this condition you need to eat foods that are less acidic. Vegetables, raw foods, vegan foods and unrefined foods are the best. Eating alkaline foods allows you to slowly but surely bring your body, and often your life, back into balance.

Many people who switch to alkaline food or even subtly start incorporating them into the diet will experience some sort of detoxification process. Usually these symptoms are mild and there are some people do not suffer from any symptoms of detoxification at all. Usually the symptoms are mild and include headache, nausea and feeling foggy. 

Detoxification starts with depriving our bodies of their usual intake of poisons from water, air and food and replacing those toxins with fresh juices and raw foods.  Switching over from an unhealthy diet full of acidic is not easy for some people but doing so is absolutely necessary if you want to feel better.

This alkalizing/detoxification process can seem a bit daunting at first because for many people it means getting rid of some questionable lifestyle habits.  Yet, this becomes easier if you think of one step at a time. Here at Pinewood we are here to help you take those first steps towards recovering your health.  Then you will not feel overwhelmed. Even with a few baby steps taken in the right direction, you will begin to feel revitalized!

For more information or to book a consultation about our restorative diet and weight loss programs ,visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.