Lo-Carb Sugar Free Granola

Ingredients: 1 cup raw almonds 1 cup raw walnuts 1 cup raw pecans 1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened 1/2 cup sunflower seeds 1/2 cup flax seed meal 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil 1/2 cup sugar-free maple-flavored syrup (I used Vermont Sugar-Free) Preparation: Heat oven to 300 F. Cover baking sheet with sides with a silicon mat or greased parchment paper. Roughly chop the nuts. You can do this in a food processor, but if you do, start with the harder nuts — the almonds in this recipe or filberts (hazelnuts) if you use them. Once they are chopped up a bit you can add the softer nuts (walnuts, pecans). Otherwise the softer ones will become meal before the hard ones are chopped. Melt the butter or coconut oil – you can microwave it in the bowl you’re going to use for mixing (although you can mix right on the baking sheet), if you wish. Mix the syrup and coconut oil or butter together. Combine the nuts, coconut, seeds, and salt. If you’re doing this on the baking sheet, add the water first and mix (hands work best), and then the oil/butter and syrup…

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

These pancakes are to die for! You’ll never guess, but the “flour” for these pancakes is simply ground pecans which you can do in a food processor or blender. Ingredients: 1 cup pecans 2 teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon baking powder pinch salt ¼ cup canned pumpkin 2 tablespoons oil ¼ cup sugar-free ginger ale (or just water and sweetener to taste) Extra sweetener to taste* 2 eggs Preparation: Grind pecans in food processor. Add spices, salt, and baking powder and pulse until well-blended. Transfer these dry ingredients to a medium-sized bowl or quart-sized measuring cup with lip. (Note: do not try to blend the wet ingredients with dry in the food processor – it makes the batter thinner for some reason). Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well (a fork works well). Heat pan or griddle to medium heat and cook pancakes, flipping when brown. You can add sugar-free maple syrup on top, or if you like, add a little extra sweetener to the mix before cooking so that you don’t have to add any other condiments on top.

100 Calorie Egg Recipe

This breakfast is perfect for when I am doing a low calorie day. It is filling and simple to make so breakfast time is a breeze! Ingredients: 3 egg whites (ready made from grocery store or separate your own) Sliced tomatoes Slice of skim Kraft American Cheese Salt and Pepper to taste Whip with a small whisk or fork until frothy then place in pan sprayed with olive oil flavored Pam.  Sprinkle with black pepper or other spice and cook on medium until firm.  Put on sliced tomatoes covered with a slice of skim Kraft American cheese (25 calories) …put under broiler until melted and add some fresh herbs… Yummy and filling for under 100 calories!!

Energy Psychology Techniques

Highly educated author and physician Andrew Weil, MD, said some years back that energy medicine will be the wave of the future.  These techniques are in use now, and they are actually moving more into the mainstream than ever before.  They can be used as an adjunct to the more standard therapies. EMDR is one such technique.  It involves stimulating right and left brain function with either light or eye movement, and it seems to help reduce intensity of traumatic memories.  Many psychiatrists and psychologists and emergency medicine practitioners are using this at scenes of trauma, such as disaster sites. Emotional Freedom Technique was originally formulated by psychologist, Roger Callahan, PhD.  Many others have contributed to this since his rather accidental discovery.  It is based on Chinese medicine, which has a five thousand year history, and seems to work off of the acupuncture system.  A person taps on acupressure points on the body, which are thought to be located at the endpoints of certain meridians, and where it is thought that chi energy is blocked.  Another possible explanation is that endorphins are released by tapping these points.  The idea is to talk about an issue or an emotion  while tapping on these…

Power of Thought

In all things, consider the power of the mind.   The vastness of thought becomes the gateway to the power of creating change in one’s life and in turn, in bettering our world.  I read somewhere that the movie star, Halle Berry, was inspired by her mother, a psychiatric nurse.  At various points in her life and career, her mom would say, “You aren’t here for no reason.  What do you think your purpose is?”   Brilliant.  One should be seeking to discover one’s own answer to this question. Thoughts are things.  If one can change the thoughts in one’s mind, then one can begin to gain some control, over oneself first, then over creating a new reality for self and in turn,  the world.So the first principle is to put good stuff into the mind.  Have you ever heard the term “gigo” ?  I am advised that it arose out of computer programming…  it means, “garbage in, garbage out”….If you put garbage into your computer mind programs, you are going to get garbage back out. We carry in our subconscious minds all thoughts, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, that we got since our birth, and it all goes back beyond that….this reservoir…