Good for you Dessert

Yes, you read that right.  There are desserts you can enjoy with a clear conscience.

Dr. Tae Yun Kim encourages everyone to eat healthy, organic diets for a long and healthy life.  That does include an occasional dessert, especial one that is known to promote good health!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim, when she grew up, never knew what we now call desserts, nor did she know modern medicine.  People were grateful that they had food to eat, any food, and when people got sick, they used traditional medicines, supplied by nature, and Elderberry was one of those medicines, used for the flu, colds, coughs and other minor illnesses, just like is was and is in America and Europe.  Nowadays we know it may also be able to balance your blood glucose, and is a mild diuretic and mild laxative.

But did you know that the Elderberry flowers are just as good for you?  You can use them in many different ways, such as making syrup or ferment them into a drink, or simply dry the flowers and make them into tea; but here is my most favorite way, as my mom made for us in Austria:

Pick any light batter, a nice pancake or waffle batter, and dunk the flowers in – let drip just slightly and put into hot oil, fry on both sides lightly, quickly pat off oil, and enjoy!

Can you taste the light, fruity flavor?  Feel free to either use powered sugar, powdered stevia, or even a little maple syrup.  

Go ahead and give it a try.  However, use care and be 100% sure you have the right plant!

And as an additional bonus, here is a quote from Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s new book, “Seven Steps to Inner Power – how to break through to awesome!”:

While people and events can shape you, for better or for worse, you do have power over those influences, more power than you realize.  It doesn’t matter how bad your current circumstances may seem.  what I have discovered throughout my life is that how I dealt with circumstances was much more important than the circumstances themselves or the environment in which I was raised. 

(page 7)

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Any time apple smoothie

Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s apple trees have been producing like crazy this year!  They are wonderfully sweet, juicy, crisp apples that stand well on their own, and are fabulous in apple sauce, apple pie, coffee cakes and such.

Now that the nice fall temperatures have been taking a break and scorching heat is upon us once more, Dr. Tae Yun Kim has come up with this new, and most fabulously refreshing drink, that will make you think you are having liquid, chilled apple pie, except better, and all healthy and good for you!

Here is what you do (after you picked the apples):

Into the blender container, put the following:

1/8 – 1/4 cup nuts – we use a good mixture of almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, pine nuts and sometimes peanuts – feel free to use whatever you like, and can tolerate.  We use the same mixture used here.   If you cannot have nuts, we have successfully used all natural, gluten free protein powder

1/2 – 1 cup ice cubes

sprinkle of cinnamon or apple pie spice

2-3 apples, peeled (you can leave the peel on if you prefer)

depending on the sweetness of your apples, add maple syrup to your liking – you can use any sweetener you like, but we love the flavor, and love knowing it is all natural, pretty much straight out of the tree

add chilled water (although coconut milk also works well) – enough to the consistency of your liking – we typically make it more into a cold drink, but enjoy it as smoothie as well

And there you have it!  Enjoy and get energized!

And as an extra bonus, do check out the story of the apple farmers in Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s book, “The Silent Master,” starting on page 127.  You will love it!

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Blueberry and nut power drink – Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s recipe

Sometimes I get really lucky.  A couple of days ago, I got to try Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s her super secret – and now shared – recipe for a very healthy power drink.  You can either have this as a smoothie, or a more liquid drink.  If you prefer a smoothie, make sure your blueberries are frozen, and add some ice cubes.

Here is the original recipe, but feel free to experiment if you have any nut allergies.  The blueberries are there for a reason, as they are helping with antioxidants, fight Alzheimer’s, and do a host of other good things for your body.  But of course, you are welcome to experiment.

Start by assembling the nuts.  To save time, I have made up individual serving baggies that look something like this:

In each bag, there are (approximately) 3 – 4 of each (except more of the pine nuts because they are so small):

Put those in a blender, along with about a cup of blueberries, more or less.  I always use frozen ones.  Add honey according to your sweet tooth, and add enough water to make it your desired thickness.  If you want more of a meal replacement, use any milk instead of water – coconut milk is superb with this.

Blend really really well, and enjoy ice-cold.  If I have this for breakfast, I am not hungry for a long time!

And my quote for the day, by Dr. Tae Yun Kim, doesn’t really have to do with either nuts or berries or even food, but I happened upon it and loved it so much I wanted to share it with you:

“The whole purpose of change, the whole purpose of continuous cycles of yin and yang is to take you higher, to make you grow, to give you more of what will lead you to a truer expression of your Real Self.  Never be afraid of change.  All changes lead you into greater good.  That is the purpose of change and the purpose of life.”  (Seven Steps to Inner Power, page 51)

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There is a season for everything! Blackberry pie

Dr. Tae Yun Kim, has been encouraging all her students to eat organically, eat good foods, balanced diet.  Part of that is eating mostly whatever is in season!

It is definitely berry season here in Northern California, and right at the moment, black berries are prime time!  They are delicious right as they are, but if your family got a ton of them – what’s the best option?  For us, that would be pie!

Now, I had in mind, to show you each step how I make the pie, but somehow the pie ended up in the oven and had completely forgotten to take pictures.  Sigh.  Maybe I needed to make another pie?

As so often happens, a quote right out of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s book “Seven Steps to Inner Power” came to mind:

“The key to creating harmony in all your life is to live only in the present moment.  Do you do that?  don’t be surprised if you find that an examination of your thought habits reveals that you never or hardly ever live in the present moment.  When it is now, how often are you mentally somewhere else, thinking or worrying about what just happened or what’s going to happen?  Is your mental video recorder constantly playing pictures of the past and concerns for the future?  If so, you are giving up your creative power in the present moment.” (Seven Steps to Inner Power, page 53,54)

Yes, guilty as charged!  As I was putting together the pie, my mind was elsewhere, and it was obvious.  I was far away from the present moment, and I forgot to take pictures of what I was making.  Luckily, I did measure out everything right, and the pie was smashing success!

Normally, I use this pie crust recipe from Shirley.  It is very simple, and easy, and most importantly, it tastes like pie crust is meant to taste – good!  Not some cardboard imitations of a pie crust!  Some pies, I love crustless.  But some pies must have a good, old-fashioned crust, and this is one of them.

For the filling, I do a standard 5-6 cups of blackberries mixed with a little cinnamon and approximately 3 -4 TSP of either arrowroot, or tapioca starch, or corn starch if I don’t have anything else.  I use coconut sugar to taste, it depends on how sweet the berries are.  I have also found that honey works very well!

Sometimes I mix in cinnamon, sometimes vanilla, sometimes even almond extract.  Once in a while I sprinkle some lemon juice – I don’t really measure too much for the filling other than perhaps the amount of starch.  Oh, confession time – sometimes I let the berries soak in some brandy – also very very good!

As you can see from the pictures, this time I did something I normally don’t do – I used a ready-made gluten-free pie crust. This came from Whole Foods Store. I had just gotten my cast removed and can move now, but at the same time – this moving is also a lot more painful – therefore the shortcut on the crust.

For the topping, I used this recipe  – delicious and gluten free!

So, here is the finished beauty – I did not forget to take pictures of the baked pie!

Additional note:  This pie was made with all gluten free ingredients.  The oatmeal/oat flour was certified gluten free, and the rest of the items were naturally gluten free.

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Healthy Almond Snack

So, a while ago, I learned there is such a thing as National Almond day. It was February 16th.

And while I didn’t post it on that day, I did make these great almond snacks, totally healthy and very delicious!

Dr.  Tae Yun Kim wants all her students to live a healthy life, and eat the best healthy foods, and will give advice to those that seek it.

In today’s world, it’s hard to find good, healthy, gluten-free snacks.  Not that they aren’t easily available – far from it!  But it’s just that there is so much else out there that is competing with the healthy and wholesome items!  So, to make it easy, here is a very simple recipe for outstanding almonds.  We all know that nuts, especially almonds, are good for us – they contain the good kind of fats and lots of minerals, so, here we go!

Do give these a try – they are one of  Dr.  Tae Yun Kim s favorite snacks!

First, get some whole almonds.  If you can get them already blanched, great. But if you want to go the extra mile, get almonds with the skin still on, and soak them in cool water until the skin comes lose.  (Yes, it’s a lot easier if you pour hot water on the almonds and peel immediately. However, it alters the consistency of the almonds and they turn mealy rather than light, crunchy, yet almost fruity if you take the time to soak them in cool water.

Once peeled, dry them and put them in a pan with hot olive oil.  Lightly sprinkle with Himalayan Salt, or any salt you like, and garlic powder.  (Fresh is ok too, but tends to burn too easily).  Add finely chopped fresh rosemary, or dried rosemary to your liking, and roast thoroughly.  At this point, feel free to experiment with other spices, but this is my original recipe.

Arrange them nicely, offer them, and watch them disappear in a hurry!  Now, it’s time to feel good about a naturally gluten-free, very healthy, and most delicious snack!

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