Category Archives: kitchen

I Like it RAW: Sun Dried Zucchini Pasta!

by Sean Croxton & Melissa Henig

Who knew zucchini could taste just like spaghetti?

Melissa Henig, The Raw Food Stylist, is back for another non-cooking lesson.

Today, we’re making Raw Spaghetti with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce. The stuff is BOMB! I wouldn’t B.S. you!

Melissa also gives us the scoop on the benefits of raw foods. No, I’m not becoming a die-hard raw foodist. I love me some bacon! But I can appreciate the incorporation of raw fruits and vegetables into the diet.

So, try this one out at home. It’s super fun and the kids will LOVE it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

* Spiralizer or Potato Peeler
* Zucchini
* Sun Dried Tomato (soaked for 20 min)
* 1 Roma Tomato
* 2 Tablespoons Red Onion
* 4 Fresh Basil Leaves
* 2 Dates (soaked and pitted)
* 2 garlic cloves pressed in
* 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
* Dash of Celtic Sea Salt

I’m out! Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow. I’m bringing a friend.

Sean

Posted by UW Sean in kitchen

Juiced: The Green Smoothie!

This was YUMMY!

Today, Melissa Henig aka The Raw Food Stylist stopped by the Underground Wellness kitchen to give me a lesson in juicing.

I must admit that I’m new to juicing. I’ve been meaning to buy a Vitamix for at least a year now, but just haven’t pulled the trigger. Probably because I’m not the biggest fan of veggies. Yes, I eat them. But I’d rather eat a thousand other foods before munching on kale.

After today’s session, I now understand why people are so into it. It actually makes the vegetables taste good! And it’s much easier to get them down the hatch when they’re served in a cup.

Check out today’s video. We filmed three today. Be on the lookout for Melissa’s Sun Dried Tomato Spaghetti and Detox Salad recipes coming up later on this week.

If you’d like to try The Green Smoothie recipe, here’s what you’ll need:

* handful of spinach
* handful of kale
* 1 banana
* 1/2 cup frozen mango
* 1 inch ginger
* 1 piece of lemon
* 1 apple
* 1 cup of ice
* 1 cup of water
* sweetener of choice….dates, figs, honey, maple

See you tomorrow! Gonna blog about cell phones. You’re not gonna believe this!

Sean

Posted by UW Sean in kitchen

How to Make Beef Bone Broth!

I love my life!

If you’ve been reading my blog the past few months, you know that I’m a huge fan of the book Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Foods by Dr. Cate and Luke Shanahan.

I liked it so much that the Shanahans came all the way to San Diego to hang out and show me how to make Brown Beef Stock.

The stock is loaded with glycosaminoglycans, which are phenomenal for healing and building up collagen. If you have aches and pains, you gotta prepare this recipe!

I had Luke send over a list of the ingredients, as well as the instructions. Check them out below and watch the step-by-step video we put together.

Let us know how yours turns out!

Ingredients:

* grass fed soup bones and a joint bone (knee or other joint) w/ some meat on them (2-3 lbs)
* 2 12 oz. cans of tomato puree
* 1 small can tomato puree
* celery, 6 stalks
* onions, 2-3
* carrots, 5 medium-large
* fresh parsley
* bay leaves
* fresh thyme
* black peppercorns
* 2 or 3 cloves
* red wine, nothing labeled “cooking wine,” inexpensive but drinkable
* sea salt
* olive oil
* flour, 1 tbsp
* cold, filtered water, about 3 gal

Posted by UW Sean in kitchen

How To Make Chicken Stock!

I’ve always wanted to do this!

After reading so much about the health benefits of bone broth (a.k.a stock) from books like Deep Nutrition and Nourishing Traditions, I figured it was about time to make it myself.

But I didn’t want to just wing it.

So, I got called on the experts to help me put it all together. Luke and Dr. Cate Shanahan, co-authors of Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Foods, joined me yesterday via Skype to coach me through the process.

I know, you can barely see their faces in the video. My bad! The Ustream link below has a better angle.

If you’re following along from home, here’s what you’ll need:

The Main Ingredients
* 2 chicken carcasses – I had Allyson the Assistant pick up a couple of organic rotisserie chickens from Whole Foods
* clean water – of course!
* some cheap white wine – we got the cheapest
* a big ass pot

The Veggies
* 4-5 medium carrots – peel ’em and cut ’em into 3-4 pieces each
* 3 stalks of celery – also cut into 3-4 pieces
* 2 onions – chop ’em (careful, they’ll make you cry)

The Spices
* thyme
* bay leaves
* pepper corns
* parsley
* seal salt

It’s was simpler than I thought it would be. Here’s how it goes down.

Posted by UW Sean in kitchen

Get Cultured! How to Make Sauerkraut!

Listening to last week’s Great Health Debate, I realized that there is so much stuff that I don’t know. Hearing guys like David Wolfe talk about the benefits of wild foods and herbs like medicinal mushrooms (reishi, shitake, chaga, mitake), nettles, and horsetail was pretty cool and actually quite inspiring. I wanted to get on Amazon right then and start buying books about the healing powers of food. But at the same time, I’m becoming more and more aware of the fact that I have a minor addiction to buying books online. Have you seen my living room?

The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

Anyway, enough about my Amazon.com dependency. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the whole Paleo thing. I agree that we should eat like our ancestors, that our genes are hardwired for specific traditional foods that we have consumed for thousands of generations. But I also wonder why the Paleo crowd makes little, if any, mention of fermented foods, bone broths, and organ meats. Yeah, I understand that my Paleo friends aren’t trying to exactly mimic the diet of caveman and cavewoman. That wouldn’t be practical for most folks. I always say that the best diet to stick to is one that you can stick to.

I’m even guilty of leaving out these highly beneficial foods. My bad.

But that’s about to change RIGHT NOW!

We’re about to Get Cultured.

Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen is in the house today to show us how to make sauerkraut. You know, that stuff that tastes really good on your organic hot dogs. I won’t even begin to act like I know a whole lot about fermentation or sauerkraut. So, we’ll just have to ask the expert. Be sure to check out the video above to get the scoop.