This is another quick and easy, highly nutritious recipe to enjoy in the morning or as a snack.  In order to begin you will require the following:

Ingredients

1.  30 grams or 2 heaping tablespoons of raw organic if possible chia seed.

2. Enough water to cover chia seeds for soaking overnight, as well as enough water to make smoothie blend.

3. Fruit of choice.

4. Alternate spices, sweeteners, and add-ons of choice.

Tools

1. Bowl

2. Blender

Procedure

1.  Add the dry chia seeds to the bowl and cover with water to about 1 inch depth.  Allow this mixture to sit overnight, preferably in the fridge or leave outside with a cheesecloth cover to avoid contamination from insects.

2. The next morning you will notice that a jello-like consistency has formed due to chia’s mucilage being activated by moisture.  Allow this to sit, as nothing else is required of it.

3. In your blender add the rest of your ingredients.  The most basic possible mixture would include only banana and some water, blend until you obtained the consistency desired some might want it watery others might want it more thick it’s up to you, what will determine the end consistency will be what fruits you use and the fruit-water ration you use.

4.  Add the blended mixture to the bowl with the chia mucilage and mix well, making sure it is all combined together evenly.

NOTES

The recipe above is the most basic one.  Most likely you will not be raving about this one, but it is a good start to an interesting dish.  You can consider the following tips to help you kick this recipe up another notch:

1. Instead of water you can use any other liquid including fresh fruit juice, lemonade, water kefir, raw milk or even homemade yogurt, kefir, or coconut water.

2. You may choose whichever fruits you prefer to include, although in my opinion the sweetness and consistency of bananas are the best for this recipe.  Watery fruits like watermelon, apples, and others do not work as well when blended but you may choose to slice them up and add them at the end.  Frozen or fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, or others can also be added.

3. My favorite part is adding the superfoods or other elements in any presentation you require.  My personal favorite add-on is a blend of lucuma powder and Artisana coconut butter along with dried inca berries, chopped almonds, and cacao nibs.  You can think of your own variation, since chia seeds are relatively bland in taste there are numerous elements that can be added without altering their taste.

That is all, beautiful people!  Now you have another easy recipe with plenty of room for improvisation so let those creative juices flow! Until next time, enjoy life and all of its delicious treats!

There are many traditional foods around the world which have the same status as Kimchi in its respective country, however there is something about Kimchi which resonates with everything I consider to be a whole food and furthermore, to be a true superfood.

I believe sharing is caring, so I decided to let the experts show you how to make Kimchi. If one invsts the proper time and energy, using the right utensils and tools, the task of making Kimchi is not as difficult as one might assume. I believe cooking or doing anything by that matter with time and love gives you a result which is unmatched. Below you will find an excellent video which I received permission to post and share with you all. The video clearly details the ancient art of making Kimchi.

Now Kimchi, like most ancestral traditional foods, has literally thousands of variants, although the Kimchi museum in Seoul only recognizes 187. As time passes and as new crops are introduced and appropriated by the global community, new variations sprung up. Naturally an element of competition arose, with each family trying to be innovative. Never the less, that is what makes Kimchi also so magnificent! If you don´t like a specific veggie or would like to add a veggie of your choice, there is always room for accommodation.

I would like to share a little about the history of Kimchi. References to this superfood have been found dating back to 3000 years ago. Early on, Kimchi was named Jimchi and was made of beef stock and napa or Korean cabbage only. The distinguishable spicy pepper in Kimchi was not introduced until contact was made with Eurpoeans. Now you can find thousands of variants of the dish, yet you will hardly find one without red chili peppers.

Please find below the video, which was permitted for us to post enjoy

NOTES:

1.  I always recommend using sea salt instead of your regular table salt. Sea salt provides micro minerals and a broad range of other trace elements not found in table salt. Also, the taste is superb!

2.  Most of you won´t be able to find napa or Korean cabbage. In this case, use regular European cabbage and proceed to prepare your Kimchi as show in the video . You might need to let sit in the salt water for less time than suggested since the leaves on American cabbage are a bit thinner than on the Korean vegetable.

3.  Using the rice flour to thicken the paste might not be necessary if you are not willing to do it or have an allergy to the flour. In this case, feel free to use another thickening agent. Manioc, quinoa, amaranth, and mesquite flours all work great and provide a distinct taste. You know what they say, however, “if in doubt don´t do anything”. If you doubt using other flours for thickening the paste, simply don´t add anything. Your paste will be more watery but tasty none the less.

4.  You might want to start by following this recipe as much as possible. When you have succeeded on your first couple of trials, then you may consider playing around with different flours, etc.

5.  You may not succeed on your first try, although this is unlikely if you follow the instructions. Don´t trow in the towel! Try again you will succeed eventually.

6.  Now you might ask, “How do I know when I have succeeded?” Remember this is a fermented food, so the longer you let it ferment, the better. You also want to keep it at a temperature of 70-80F. You will know you’ve succeeded because the taste will be as strong as it is pleasant. Also, smell and color are your indicators of when success is achieved; the smell should be pungent, apple-cidery, yet with a distinctive sweet sent. Dark mold, fuzzy hairs, dark spots and a obvious rotten smell is a good sign things went south. It is vital to maintain a constant temperature, otherwise your chances for failure will be high.

7.   For those of you who can´t stand, dislike or can´t consume spicy foods, you can always skip this.

8.  Once you feel comfortable with making the Kimchi, feel free to really pack it in and bring it up another notch. I like to add sea veggies and Chia seed to add another aspect of nutrition to this already nutrient packed food.

9. Being a fermented food it smells, personally I don´t mind it but most people do. However if you use a good size glass container and place it in the fridge usually this retards the continuous fermentation and gives off less of a smell. Never the less be assure you are going to get some funny faces when you open it or serve it, however if this turns you off, there are variations and other traditional fermented foods which I will try to post soon. Never the less ALL fermented foods give off a smell and you can´t neutralize it completely, if smelling ¨good¨ is more important to you, while your insides are severely compromised due to an imbalance gut flora and not receiving all the blessings from the cultured media. So be it, the choice is yours!

Nutrition-wise Kimchi is like a super tonic and a super food all in one. I remember while working in Malibu, we served a wellness shot, which was ginger juice with garlic and other goodies. Kimchi reminds me a lot of the same shooter, only eaten. When eating a fermented food, you obtain a wide range of newly created metabolic byproduct which the friendly bacteria create during the fermentation process. The elements used in the creation of the Kimchi are now more easily digested and you introduce prebiotics and probiotics in to your gut. More interesting, hardly any friendly flora provider offers a mouth/esophagus/stomach friendly variant. Most are encapsulated to be released in the small intestine, leaving these three aforementioned body parts lacking the benefit of the friendly flora. Eating Kimchi resolves this issue. Hope you enjoy preparing and eating Kimchi. Until next time…

References

^ (Korean) The origin of the etymology on Kimchi from Kimchi Expo 2003 website,

Materials

Tools

• Non- Stick pan
• Spatula
• Bowl
• Fork or any other whisking utensil

Raw Materials

• Mesquite or Algarroba Meal (If you don´t like the rich coffee/cacao like taste exchange for other meals that   suits you best) 1 tablespoon full
• Wheat Germ (if you are gluten intolerant, allergic, celiac, substitute with more mesquite meal, quinoa, amaranth meal or such) 1 tablespoon full
• Soaked rolled oats 1 tablespoon full ( I make a big emphasis on soaked due to the high natural phytates, which can lead to blocking mineral uptake in the body.  Soaking though won´t eliminate completely it will remove moderate to high amounts.  For better result try to lacto-fermentate your oats in a high quality yogurt or kefir over night)
• Soaked nuts or seeds (I personally like Flax, Chia or Canary Seed for chia and flax 4-6 hours or as little as 2 are fine, this also serves the basis for an omega-cake read further below.  Harder nuts and seeds like Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans etc,  take from 12-24 hours) 1-2 tablespoon full
• Egg 1large or small depends on requirements or condition (Alternative for vegetarian 1 tablespoon of black strap molasses, if you are using egg do a little investigation and try to get the highest quality one those free range chickens are the best)
• Whole butter (Vegans can substitute with coconut oil) 1 teaspoon
• Sea salt just a pinch (If you are hypertensive, or suffer from another condition where you should limit or eliminate salt all together skip this, if you can´t get good sea salt use kelp)
• Cinnamon ½ teaspoon (You can skip this or substitute for ginger, or other)
• baking soda, sodium bicarbonate or such Just a pinch
• Water ½ cup. Milk (animal source or vegetable your choice, I personally use clean water)

Preparation

Ok let´s have some fun….

1. Mix in your bowl, the pinch of salt, egg (substitute) and whisk well if you have a mixer and prefer this better, but don´t be lazy give your arm a work out
2. On a separate larger bowl mix all the dry ingredients (Meals, nuts/seeds, baking soda, etc.)
3. Mix 1-2 together in a bowl/mixer and mix well until homogenized
4. Get your non-stick pan ready and pre heat, if you don´t have one get your best quality one out spray with some non-stick solution or do it the old way and get some butter on that bad boy (vegan or don´t like the effects of heat on lipids, use coconut oil it tolerates eat much better and taste good!)
5. Pour the mixture on to the pan, here it´s up to you if you want to make one big one or couple small ones, I like do add all of the mixture in.
6. Wait 4-5 min and with your spatula flip over to cook well
7. All done

Now serve and enjoy, you can top it off with what ever you like, maple syrup, honey, jam, nut butters, etc.  I personally use a small teaspoon full of wild crafted honey I don´t like it too sweet and also it defeats the purpose, it´s pretty well balanced in it self too sweet tends to make it harder to digest.  Hope you enjoy

Another fun and nutrient rich variation is what I call the Omega-Cake

this variation calls for no eggs, rather to use as a binding agent, we rely on soaked Chia and Flax seed.  As we might already know when soaked they produce a sticky mucilage this acts great as a binding agent, if you are worried about the protein lost due to the lack of egg you can add nuts and seeds of choice to increase the protein content.  You can add a full teaspoon of each of the seeds to really increase the omega-3 content in your pancake, naturally we rather not cook or expose to heat the seeds due to the chemical change occuring on the fatty acid constituents, so we try to make it fast by exposing the least time possible.

NOTE the amounts presented are what I use, you can add more or less, you can customize to your needs and requirements.  If you are a body builder or pretending to be one or just want more bulk add some almonds, walnuts, and powdered protein of choice.  If you are watching your waste line or are diabetic, heart patient, or terminally ill use less and verify what works for you.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

This is a rough estimate of the nutritional value in this pancake, given most won´t make exactly the same pancake with the exact same amount of each ingredient.  Here is some basic nutritional brake down on 100 grams of raw material of each ingredient.

100g of Mesquite Meal

Nutrition
Protein 16 g
Fat 3.4 g
Calories 380
Fibre 36 g

100g of Wheat Germ

Calories 360

Calories from fat 81

Fat 10g (1.79g Sat. 1.4g Mono. 6.0g Poly) 7-1 Omega 6-3

Protein 23g

Total Carbs. 52g (Fiber 13g)

Sodium 12mg

Calcium 12%

Iron 34%

Thiamin 1.9mg

OATS

Calories 389

Calories from Fat 59 (1.2g. Sat. 2.2g Mono. 2.5 Poly.) 21-1 Omega 6-3

Sodium 2mg

Protein 17g

Total carbohydrates 66g. (Dietary Fiber 11g.)

Egg 1 large

Calories 102

Calories from fat 67 (2.2g Sat. 2.9g Mono. 1.3Poly.) 16-1 Omega 6-3

Total fat 7g

Total Carbs 1g

Protein 7g

Sodium 171mg

For further information on nutritional brake down please visit www.nutritiondata.com

enter individual raw materials and you will get a rough idea of the nutritional content.  I make emphasis on the word ¨rough idea¨ given that this page seems to not take in to consideration ecologically grown products.  Eggs for example would have a much better omega 6-3 ration, higher protein, mineral, vitamin content as would the rest of the products.  Also don´t forget about our ¨unknown friends¨ those polyphenols, plant active molescules which we are just beggining to understand.  Have fun!