raw food

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Organic and Raw Food Expensive?

July 18, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Eating organic and going raw can get expensive. Here are some tips.

When we change over to eating raw foods it can be quite expensive. The ultimate is to grow your own garden. If you have a back yard you can grow a pretty decent sized one. Otherwise, get a few planters and grow a couple of tomato plants along the patio wall, and put a couple of eggplants inside the porch door with one large circular planter. Make each vegetable plant its own design with surrounding works of art. I put a little garden here of one type of veggies and then another one on the south side of the yard. The sky is the limit what you can do.

If you can find someone who has an organic garden, offer to help them in exchange for food items. Most people need help, and the larger the garden the more help they will need. You could weed, take care of the greenhouse, monitor customers who need assistance, and prepare plants for reselling. Very few people refuse good honest labor; I know I wouldn’t! Working in a garden all spring, summer and fall is exhausting work; someone to help us would be a blessing.

If you can find sales on organic or fresh vegetables toward the end of the summer seasons, buy them at bulk and either freeze or can your favorite dishes. If you have a large deep freeze you can freeze quite a bit of items. Otherwise, get a dehydrator and dry your food items. These do not need special storage and can be added to soups and stews, casseroles, or just eat by the hands full in the middle of winter as it is snowing outside.

Look around and see what you have in your neighborhood or local city area. There are many, many opportunities that are waiting for your attention and skill, but they won’t come knocking on your door!

Good luck with your new raw food ways!

From FMC food caterer

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Health Foods

July 2, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

There are certain types of foods that are eliminated by the body quicker than others. These are unprocessed foods containing adequate fiber in foods such as fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grains. If these types of food would be consumed more, bodily conditions of diseases, constipation and other bowel complications would be avoided.

When foods types like beans, peas, green vegetables, fresh fruits of all types, whole grain breads, and cereals are eaten, an easily managed mass of residue is easily passed through the intestines. The time frame of 72 hours or less is normal for the remains of the consumed foods to pass through the bowels with elimination of four to six hours for extremely healthy people. This short time span is easier on the gastrointestinal tract than the consumption of white flour and sugar foods that are low fiber residue.

The body becomes more active and alert when the body does not consume food for a period of time. It is believed that three hours or more is adequate between meals before another meal should be eaten. Of course, this varies on the type of meal that is eaten, what types of food, and how much is eaten.

It is also a natural tendency of the human body to rest while it is digesting food: ten minutes before consuming a meal and half-an-hour after consuming the meal is thought to be the most beneficial. The largest meal of the day should be eaten around noon as the body’s physiological capacities are at their peak during this time. This would be a problem in today’s world as after the meal, lying down for about half-an-hour may present a problem. So, many individuals eat their largest meal after work or at the end of the day when they can relax at leisure.

From FMC food catering

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Raw Food for Children?

July 1, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Every mother wants the best for her child. You want your child to look healthy, grow proportionately, feel energized and have a great immune system. So, why do most parents in America feed their children junk food by the time they start eating table food? Why do most restaurants serve French fries or macaroni and cheese for side orders and not steamed broccoli? It is really a sad situation to watch young children who are obese. Even schools offer peanut butter and jelly or ice cream for lunch.

To ensure that your child is eating correctly you must feed them plenty of fruits and vegetables. But the trick is to make it delicious and fun. For instance, for breakfast, arrange a platter of fruit, oranges, grapefruit, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, they will love it! Make faces out of the fruit. Have them drink only water and no sugar 100% fruit juice that you juice yourself. Get them used to eating vegetables that are uncooked. Whenever they get hungry, offer small baby carrots, or celery, they will grow to love the taste just the way it is. You can introduce a new vegetable each week and learn how to hide it into your food. For instance, chop up Portobello mushrooms in a chopper and add it to your pasta sauce and watch them gobble it up, barely noticing the mushrooms. Make blanched broccoli (plain) and eat that for dinner. If they see you eating healthy, they will learn early on to eat that way. Do not let them eat packaged foods, such as macaroni and cheese, or fried chicken fingers, or anything fried for that matter. Make sure that they eat vegetables at every meal and be careful when you go out to eat.

Offer natural desserts that you have made at home, such as homemade sorbet, or fruit smoothie, or peach cobbler pie (all natural). Stay away from cakes, cookies, etc that have preservatives and other unnatural flavorings. Make it yourself and offer it occasionally. You will find that they watch you and what you eat and if you incorporate a much healthier menu, so will they.

The best part of raising your children to learn to love fruits and vegetables is that you will notice that they will turn down junk food when you are not around. At that point you will know that you have done your part in raising healthy adults.

Brought to you by: FMC catering services

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Raw Food and Detoxification

June 28, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Cleaning is an every day part of our lives. If we’re not cleaning the house, we’re doing laundry, cleaning the car, cleaning out the garage or attic, or clearing our desk of the never-ending piles of bills, junk mail, and coupons we accumulate. For the computer-savvy, cleaning is even an every day process in order to maintain an optimally-running, reliable and safe system. We even clean the outside of our bodies in some form or fashion on a daily basis, from showering to teeth brushing. So, if cleaning is such a healthy part of our every day lives, logic would dictate we should do the same for the inside of our body as well.
Detoxification and tissue cleansing is the process of purging environmental and chemical toxins from your body. Such toxins can disrupt every system in your body. If our body is polluted with such toxins, its own detoxification system – namely the liver, lungs, skin, kidneys and lymphatic system – cannot work properly, and these unruly poisons set up shop in every cell of our body, and soon begin to wreak havoc with our physical, mental and emotional well-being. These contaminants can create such problems as lethargy, foggy thinking, unhealthy skin, decreased vision, mood swings, and digestive disorders.


However, by adopting a lifestyle including eating healthy raw foods, our body can conduct its own ‘spring cleaning.’ And contrary to what most might think, raw foods are actually more easily digestible than cooked foods are. It also enables the digestive system to ‘clean house’ and begin the process of purging the dangerous environmental and chemical toxins from the cells of the body, thereby restoring the systems to their optimal states. In addition, since raw foods are so nutrient-dense, they also simultaneously provide the body with much-needed and missed nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs in order to continually perform on an ongoing basis.

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Is Eating Raw Food a Diet

June 27, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Our busy lives can sometimes make it difficult to stick to our dieting plans when we’re trying to lose weight. We’re either keeping track of our fat intake, our sugar intake, our carbohydrate intake, or our caloric intake. With all that counting, it’s no wonder most of us become discouraged and ‘fall off the dieting wagon.’ Add to that the surplus of convenient diet foods that are out there that are chock-full of preservatives and additives that we choose when we’re tired from a busy day and don’t have the energy or time to prepare a nutritious meal, and we’re headed down a wrong-way street trying to navigate our way through our weight-loss journey.

Enter the raw foods lifestyle. Not only are raw foods full of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals our bodies need to perform optimally, they provide enzymes for proper digestion, and will also result in the purging of toxins and the cleansing of your body systems. The best part? You can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you like….and you will lose weight.

In addition, the natural high fiber content of most raw foods will help you feel fuller, thereby reducing your food intake. They’ll assist in turning up the thermostat in your body, helping to melt away that excess weight and nourishing your body’s cells to continue with the fat-burning process. Most raw foods are naturally low in calories, and obviously much lower in calories, fats, sugars, and carbohydrates than the dieting convenience foods we’d been reaching for in the past. The added bonus of increased energy, regulated blood sugar and blood pressure levels, sharper vision and improved mental functionality, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t become a ‘raw foodie’ earlier in the weight loss and dieting game. And, once you reach your weight loss goals, you’ll realize how healthy you’ve become in the process, and the raw food lifestyle will then be your way of life.

By: FMC food catering

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Raw Food Recipes

June 26, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Since you’ve been eating raw foods and changing your lifestyle, you’re feeling better, finding you have more energy, and are purging the toxins from your system. You’re also rediscovering the wonderful flavors that raw foods possess, as well as learning about the benefits the raw enzymes have on your health. And summer provides the perfect opportunity to expand your taste buds and try all sorts of wonderful new produce options you’d never dared explore before.

Don’t let your new-found inspiration and energy get lost once you set foot in the kitchen because you’ve run out of new and exciting raw food meal options. Try some of these fresh ideas to and some zing back to your mealtime and continue down the raw food path to improved health, energy and happiness.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup water
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, pressed
¾ tsp onion powder
¾ tsp salt

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth. If consistency is too thick, you can simply add a bit more water. (Adding a bit more lemon juice will give it an added zing.) Garlic and onion powder can be increased for your taste preferences.

Portobello Sandwich

1 Portobello mushroom, sliced about ½ inch thick
1 cup vegetable broth
Dijon mustard
2 slices sprouted multi-grain bread
1 Holland Tomato, sliced
¼ avocado, sliced
¼ cup baby lettuce

Cook the sliced mushrooms in the vegetable broth until they are semi soft and cooked through. Place the desired amount of mustard on 1 slice of bread. Layer the tomato slices, mushrooms, avocado, and lettuce. Top with the mushrooms and the other slice of bread. Cut in half and enjoy! See some raw foods are barely cooked.

Raw Curry Cantaloupe Soup

1 cantaloupe
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon curry powder

Combine and blend all ingredients until smooth. Serve well chilled.

So hit your local farmer’s markets, visit those roadside produce stands, or maybe even enjoy the fruits of your own hard labors and raid the garden and spice up the summer with some cool new twists on some of your favorite produce.

From FMC catering services

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Raw Food and FMC Catering

June 24, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

A diet is considered a raw food diet if it consists of at least 75% raw, uncooked fruits, vegetables, sprouts, etc. Raw and living foods are believed to contain essential food enzymes (living foods contain a higher enzyme content than cooked foods). The cooking process (i.e., heating foods above 116°F) is thought to destroy food enzymes.
People who follow the raw diet use particular techniques to prepare foods. These include sprouting seeds, grains and beans; soaking nuts and dried fruits; and juicing fruits and vegetables. The only cooking that is allowed is via a dehydrator. This piece of equipment blows hot air through the food but never reaches a temperature higher than 116°F.
Do you have to follow the regimen that strictly? Of course not. But it’s certainly worth it to incorporate some of these techniques and ideas into your diet. If you tend to snack at work, try taking in carrots or apple slices. Many of the bigger grocery stores now offer packaged vegetables or fruits that make it easier to pack them and take them to work. We’re a nation of convenience, and much of the resistance to healthier eating is that it does generally take a little more effort and time to buy and slice fruits and vegetables. Food retailers have been catching on, slowly, and it’s much easier now to get bags of sliced carrots, celery, apples, nuts and raisins.
Of course these aren’t necessarily organic foods, and organic is the better way to go, but we think anything raw is infinitely better than cooked, processed food. If you have the time, do buy organic and slice them yourself. But if you’re in a hurry, and nowhere near a natural food store, then don’t beat yourself up or sabotage your efforts because you can’t do this 100% all the time. That’s not realistic. Anything from the fruit and vegetable aisle is going to be better for you than a potato chip, or worse yet, a french fry!

From FMC catering

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Raw Food and Vegetarian

June 23, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

Is there a difference between vegetarian and raw food diets? A raw foodist is a vegetarian, but one who generally is not going to cook his vegetables or fruits. A vegetarian is someone who simply doesn’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but only consumes vegetables, pasta, and rice. A vegetarian might eat meatless spaghetti sauce or order onion rings in a restaurant. (Not the healthiest choice, but sometimes it’s hard to find something to eat in a restaurant if you’re vegetarian – even harder if you’re a raw foodist.)

There are different categories of vegetarians, like vegans, or fruitarians, and raw foodist is a category of vegetarianism. We haven’t seen anything about sushi being considered a raw food, but it is. Raw food, though, generally means eating raw, uncooked fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc.

But to be a raw food purist means raw broccoli, not steamed. To a vegetarian, someone committed to not eat meat or fish or animal products, steamed vegetables are just as good, although everyone would agree that steaming can take out nutrients from foods, rendering them less nutritious. A vegetarian might consume dairy or egg products; however a vegan will not consume any animal products at all. And a raw foodist is a vegan who consumes only uncooked, unprocessed raw foods.
Proponents of the raw diet believe that enzymes are the life force of a food and that every food contains its own perfect mix. These enzymes help us digest foods completely, without relying on our body to produce its own cocktail of digestive enzymes.
It is also thought that the cooking process destroys vitamins and minerals and that cooked foods not only take longer to digest, but they also allow partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates to clog up our gut and arteries.
Followers of a raw diet cite numerous health benefits, including:
• increased energy levels
• improved appearance of skin
• improved digestion
• weight loss
• reduced risk of heart disease

From FMC food catering services in Cebu Philippines

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Raw Foods and Water Thirst

June 22, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

When you start eating more raw foods, you may find you’re not as thirsty or don’t need as much water or other beverages as you normally do. There are several reasons for this.
First of all, raw foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables have a higher volume of water in them, so your body is getting the hydration it needs from foods.

This doesn’t mean you should stop drinking water or juices. You don’t want to adopt some of the more radical elements of the raw food trend. First and foremost, listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs. If you’re overweight, sluggish, tired, depressed, your body might be telling you to make some dietary changes, and raw foods might be one way to alleviate some physical disorders.

But if you’re overweight and have symptoms of Type II diabetes, overwhelming thirst can be one symptom. When you start consuming more raw foods, with a higher fiber and moisture content, you may start to lose weight, and that can go a long way to reducing your blood sugars.

If you’re not overweight, or don’t have Type II diabetes, you still might find you’re not as thirsty as you normally are. First of all, if you’re drinking water and juices, you’re not consuming caffeine, which is so dehydrating and makes you thirstier. And by not consuming as much in the way of cooked foods or especially highly processed foods, which have astronomical sodium counts, you won’t be as thirsty either.

By consuming more raw, uncooked food, and pure water and fruit juices, you’re putting your body into balance. Keeping sodium to normal levels found in foods means you’ll start to require a more balanced amount of water. Don’t think of this as changing or taking away. Think of it as adding balance, and it will make the process of eating healthier much easier.

From FMC food catering

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Raw Food benefits

June 20, 2009 in Catering by WebAdmin | No comments

So, now that you know what a raw food diet is all about, you need to decide, is it right for you? Well you do not need to incorporate raw food 100% of the time. You can just eat more fruits and vegetables and no processed foods. Try drinking fruit juices until lunch time and then eating a healthy veggie sandwich. For dinner, eat some blanched vegetables with a cooked meal with no meats. When you gradually detoxify your body, you will see dramatic results. First, you will go through the detoxify process, where you will feel tired, have headaches, skin eruptions, etc. Once you are over this tough time, you will feel light, not dragged down, energetic, vitality, and conscious, among other things. You will have more mental clarity and therefore be more productive. Your body will feel cleansed, you will be able to treat disease and prevent new ones from forming. You will see a dramatic weight loss, for instance five pounds a week. You will also notice that you do not seem weighed down with colds or sicknesses because your immune system is much stronger. You will be saving money because you can either grow your vegetables or buy them at a farmers market. Buying organic food will save the earth and provide agricultural support, which is much needed. You will also save time and money because you will not be in the kitchen cooking up a storm. You will not be eating animals, because these animals have been pumped with high hormones and that wouldn’t benefit you anyway, but instead toxify you. This in turn, puts an end to the torture in animal farming. You will not be plagued with depression, pms, or acne. In fact, your skin will be absolutely glowing, you will feel rejuvenated. This type of eating also slows the aging process. Your senses will be enhanced; you will be more flexible and fertile. You will be more creative, motivated, and also relaxed. You will focus more on relationships and be more environmentally attuned and inwardly attuned. What you will notice is an amazing spiritual awakening that you have never experienced before because you have changed your vibrations to a higher level capable of clearer thought patterns.

From FMC catering

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