Alkaline Diet Recipes and Reaction

When it comes to diet, I have never been on the veggies and protein only wagon.

That being said, I always monitor my health and weight, something the alkaline diet is designed to do by balancing the body’s pH levels.

The pH levels affect numerous processes in a human body – a highly acidic pH actually increases the chance of cancer, and diminishes mental clarity, physical health and stamina.

When I first heard this I thought it was a fairy tale – how could pH levels affect so much? Yet, it was said to help diabetes, which all my grandparents have, and after my Pappy’s cancer diagnosis, we were looking for any way to benefit his and our family’s health.

So I did some searching. The Wolfe Clinic, as well as numerous other doctors, swears by the process of checking your pH daily to increase health. They recommend eating highly “alkaline” foods to balance out the body’s natural acidic tendency. The nice thing about this diet plan is it allows you to eat the “acidic” – wheat, sugar, beans, alcohol and red meat – in smaller amounts. The ideal amount is 75 % alkaline food and 25 % acidic.

So my cooking in alkaline foods began.

The list of alkaline foods is limited when you think of a traditional American diet. While I could easily eat many things individually – carrot, celery, yogurt, chicken, apple, broccoli were the easiest to handle – cooking them all into a varying amount of meals became the challenge without potatoes, rice, noodles, cheese or beans.

Asparagus became a newfound vegetable love. Soups were the first of the discoveries as well, since they mainly entailed a bunch of things cooked together in a pot. Then, I started getting fancy – experimenting with making quiches, and noodles from spinach, making different whole veggie salads – but still I craved the sweets of cakes and cookies.

Then I had a break through – I made a batch of almond-apple, gluten-free cookies, and they were AMAZING. Even my grandfather, picky from chemotherapy, ate two of them. They are rather calorie dense, but if made smaller, they would be the perfect snack.

Below are some of the alkaline recipes I found/created. The nice part about these recipes is they are cancer-patient healthy, and easy for family to enjoy as well.

As for the health and weight loss benefits – I swear by this. I felt so much clarity and focus when I have an alkaline day. I began to notice what a drag coffee had on my body. My limbs seemed to become less puffy, and I had more endurance at the gym. This diet is not necessarily easy – but if a 20-something female living on a college budget can make it on this, then I feel anyone can.

Enjoy the recipes!

Yogurt-Lemon Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

1 red apple

1 green apple

¼ - ½ cup chopped walnuts (depends on taste)

½ cup raisins

½ cup halved grapes (optional)

1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt

1 lemon

Directions: Take lemon, cut in half, and squeeze half the lemon into the yogurt. Stir well. Wash then quarter and core apples. Chop up apples into bite sized pieces, skin still on, and put into the yogurt-lemon mix. Coat all apple pieces well. Stir in walnuts, raisins and grapes – if craving sweetness, add ½ cup mini marshmallows (acidic). Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken and Asparagus

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 chicken breasts

1 bunch (1 cup) asparagus

1 lemon

2 tablespoons garlic (3 cloves)

Olive oil

1 onion

Sea salt and pepper

Directions:

For chicken: Put a skillet on medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Clean chicken and coat in garlic, salt and pepper. Dice the onion – set half aside. When pan is hot, place onion in and cook until slightly translucent. Place chicken in. Sear on one side for 2 minutes then flip and cover. Cut lemon in half, and squeeze one half of juice into pan. Take zester and zest some lemon skin into pan if desire more of a lemon taste. Cover until nearly cooked, then remove lid for last 5 minutes, flipping halfway through to brown.

For asparagus: Heat oven to 450 degrees. Now clean asparagus and cut stalks in half. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Arrange asparagus stalks on sheet – sprinkle olive oil over stalks then toss lightly to coat. Take half a diced onion and a tablespoon of garlic and toss over asparagus. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut lemon in half and lightly squeeze juice over pan. Place in oven and cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until stalks are a darker green and tips begin to turn brown. Remove from oven and serve.

Apple-Almond Cookies *Gluten Free!

Ingredients:

1 apple

1 cup ground almonds/almond flour

½ tablespoon cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 ½ tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice, core and clean apple, leaving skin on. Place slices into a blender. Add egg and honey; blend until apple is smooth. Stir almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder into a bowl together. Add apple-honey mix. Stir until forms dough. Place spoon full drops onto a greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until begins to brown. Will be moist and dense in the center.

Cottage Cheese-Spinach Frittata

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup spinach chopped (fresh or frozen)

2 egg

2 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup or half an onion diced

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs into cottage cheese, adding garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Stir in spinach. Place in small casserole dish – place in oven and bake until top begins turns golden brown or 45 minutes.

Veggie Medley Roast

Ingredients: (pick any vegetables in any quantity you love – below is my mix selection)

1 quart cherry tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 green pepper, 1 head broccoli, 1 cup baby carrots, 1 bunch asparagus

Olive oil, Garlic (to taste), Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions: Turn oven on to 450 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Layer veggies on top, and sprinkle with enough olive oil to lightly coat. Toss in oil. Add garlic then sprinke with salt and pepper. Put in oven for 10 - 15 minutes – for large batches of veggies, may take longer. Take out when see brown start to form or when tomatoes begin to shrivel up.