Grains are my-go-to staple food – they’re mild in flavor, inexpensive, and keep well. My pantry is stocked with brown basmati rice, whole-wheat pasta, couscous and my most favorite grain – quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).

While quinoa is considered a grain, it is actually the seed of a plant that is related to beets, chard and spinach. honestly, I don’t care how it’s classified because if you’ve never tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing!

This ancient grain native to South America was considered “the gold of Incas” because they recognized this superfood’s value in increasing the stamina of its warriors. in fact, quinoa is quite the nutritional powerhouse:

• High in protein, it is one of the few non-meat foods that provide all eight of the essential amino acids that our bodies need to repair themselves.
• High in fiber, low in gluten and a great source of healthy carbohydrates.
• Great source of lysine which plays a critical role in tissue growth and repair.
• Loaded with vitamins and minerals (such as iron, magnesium and potassium); its magnesium, copper and phosphorous content means that quinoa is especially good for those that have migraine headaches, atherosclerosis and diabetes; its potassium content can help beat bloat.

Best of all, one cup of cooked quinoa has just 220 calories and keeps you satiated! So if you’re trying to eat healthy or shed a few pounds or fueling up for exercise, make quinoa a part of your meal plan.

Look for quinoa in your local supermarket or in natural foods stores. Some of the price clubs also carry quinoa; I got a 4 lb. container for $10! Make sure you store quinoa in an airtight container. it will keep for a longer period of time, approximately three to six months, if stored in the refrigerator.

Prepare quinoa by placing it in a fine-meshed strainer and rinse under cold water. Cook according to the package directions. by the way before I cook, I shallow-fry the quinoa in a skillet over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes – stirring constantly until the raw smell disappears.

It takes only about 15 minutes to cook, making it a great time saver for busy cooks. When cooked, it has an airy rice-like and slightly crunchy texture, and a somewhat nutty flavor. Quinoa is so versatile, the perfect accompaniment for vegetables, beans, or tofu.

If you have recipes that call for couscous or rice, just substitute quinoa instead. When I’m short on time, it makes for a great one-pot meal and I jazz it up with spices!

Here’s one of my favorite recipes:

This nutrient-rich packed dish loads up on veggies, mixed with quinoa and just a hint of garam masala. Simply yummy – great for brunch, lunch, dinner or snack!

Prep Time: 15 minutesCooking Time: 25-30 minutesMakes 4 servings

• 1 cup quinoa, dry roasted
• 1 ½ tsp. extra light olive oil
• 1 red onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
• 1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• 3 baby portabella mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1 jalapeno (optional), stemmed and diced
• ¼ tsp. garam masala
• 2 cups of water
• Salt to taste

Garnish: ¼ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms and jalapeno for 6 minutes. Add the garam masala and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water, cover and bring to boil. Add quinoa. Cover and return to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro.

*Variation of this dish: try other vegetables like eggplant or zucchini. or add baby shrimp in place of the mushrooms.

About the Author

Author of Spice Up Your Life, Bindu Grandhi is passionate about healthy and flavourful cooking, especially when it’s flexitarian. she shares her health knowledge with the world by providing practical, healthy and tasty recipes as The Flex Cook.

Quinoa rocks my world! Here’s another quinoa recipe from the Live Lighter archives for you to try. how much do you love quinoa?

Shed Weight with this ‘Golden’ Grain

“Are you practicing Neo Feng Shui?” my sister asked me. “Am I doing WHAT?” I asked. My sister came by for a visit and had noticed the MAJOR clean up – purging, rearranging furniture, repainting, etc… I was in the middle of a serious spring cleaning.

Before Neo Feng Shui

I was at the end of my maternity leave and had spend a lot of time caring for my baby but also thinking about what was important in my life, how I wanted to live it and felt it was time for a change. for some reason that had naturally led me to work more consciously with my physical space and take action!

My sister provided me with a book on Neo Feng Shui which was the beginning of a completely new and wonderful chapter of my life.

You don’t have to get to that point of no return before creating a physical space that supports you in your life rather than not, just like you don’t to wait for a health issue before you start looking after your eating and exercise habits.

Neo Feng Shui is a brand new way of working with Feng Shui. It was created for modern people and is based on common sense and individuality. Neo Feng Shui offers simple guidelines that do not involve any particular beliefs or rules. Neo Feng Shui brings you a perspective of how your surroundings affect your lifestyle and how you easily can make changes that will greatly improve your life.

Neo Feng Shui is about becom®ing aware of all the things that make us struggle in our daily lives. It is a simple guide to learning how your surroundings affect you and the way you live. It provides you with greater understanding of how you are affected by your environment. It is also a powerful tool for personal growth and understanding.

Before Neo Feng Shui 2

Neo Feng Shui teaches you to ‘read’ your surroundings and also learn more about yourself, so that the unconscious becomes conscious. When the knowledge is applied, you will be able to take important steps in your life.

Sagar Bohnstad and Bodil Sukul developed Neo Feng Shui in Denmark in 2000 after intensive studies of the classic feng shui. They wanted to address a loss of potential in the ancient wisdom.

Neo Feng Shui excludes the superstition, Chinese beliefs and religious additions placed on Feng Shui over thousands of years and returns to the basic interpretations of physical space, flow, colour psychology, lighting and material. It is influencing people both personally and professionally all over the world.

Tips on Neo Feng Shui to get you started:

1. Stand outside your home as if it was the first time to you are about to enter it. how are you ‘greeted’? do you have to pass by the garbage bin? Is it easy to come up to the front door? what does the space inside your door look like? do you have to step over boots, bags, etc. to get in? Is it crowded and disorganized?
2. Start cleaning up and make your entrance way nice and welcoming to you and anyone else entering your space. take an observant tour of you home. Enter each space in your home as it was the first time and observe the effect it has on you. This way you find out which areas in your home need attention first.
3. Imagine that you emptied your home of everything. Then only take the things you really love and want to have back into your home. Not the things you have because of guilt or that you store for others. Give away or sell what you don’t want.
4. Pay attention to every room and space in your home. If you have storage areas, closets, allies, basements, et. make sure they are organized and that it is easy to find what you need. Remember all clutter effects your subconscious.
5. Apply things like fresh flowers, plants, pictures or items that make you feel good and happy inside, places where you can easily see them.
6. When you are lying in bed, what is on the wall you are looking at? It is the last thing you see before going to sleep and the first thing you see when waking up and should be something that inspires you and makes you feel good?

More information and free video tips or e-courses in English about using Neo Feng Shui in your home can be found on the Sagar Bohnstadt website.

About the Author

Mette Keating helps companies bring joy into the workplace with Neo Feng Shui® design. find more on her website, InDeVision. If you are interested in applying Neo Feng Shui to your work environment in North America, please contact Mette Keating at

‘Spring Clean’ Your Home with Neo Feng Shui

I was once unemployed, and I know the debilitating depression and the feelings of frustration and helplessness that can come with that. I’ve been stuck in a job I hate, and I felt imprisoned, trapped doing work that bored me while following orders of others and helping them achieve their goals.

Those times were … less than ideal. In fact, those were some of the worst periods in the story of my life.

Luckily I rose above those traps, but I have to admit it wasn’t easy. The solution has been one of the most liberating, empowering, joyous things in my life.

I wanted to share that little secret with those of you who are having a hard time finding a job, or who feel trapped in a job you hate:

Create your own dream job. Don’t wait for someone to hand it to you. Don’t hope that you’ll win the lottery. Don’t give up and consign yourself to a fate of misery and (worse) dullness.

Create your job! it might sound far-fetched for some of you (while others have already done it) but it’s very possible. not easy, mind you: it takes hard work and smarts and passion and a crap-ton of learning and a willingness to take risks and make mistakes. if that sounds like you, read on. if not, stop reading.

Your Big Idea

You might already know this but if you haven’t given it much thought, start to consider: what do you truly love doing? what are you passionate about? if you’re lucky you’ll have multiple answers. if you have no answers, it’s time to start finding things to be passionate about. Read more: The Short But Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion.

If you have multiple answers, just choose one. Or find ways to combine two of them (if you love sewing and Star Wars, sew Star Wars costumes and put them on Etsy). Don’t be paralyzed by this choice: if it turns out this isn’t what you want then you can always start another business later. You learn by doing and making mistakes, not by analyzing every possible outcome and factor.

This passion will become your dream job.

This is how I did it. I love writing and I love taking steps to change my habits and my life. I started Zen Habits just for fun and it turned into my dream job.

How to Find Funding

You need a lot of money to get started, right? No. I explicitly reject the idea that “you have to spend money to make money”. sure, that can work, or it can lead to a mountain of debt and monthly expenses that greatly exceed your income and possibly failure before you’ve had the chance to succeed.

I started my business with nothing. Zero dollars. In fact I had less than nothing: I was highly in debt and broke. I started with free online services (there are plenty — I used Blogger.com and Google Adsense and Google Analytics, but those are just a few examples). I refused to even buy my own domain until I made more money from my business than the cost of that purchase. I refused to pay for my site design or to use a paid host until I was making much more money than those purchases required.

My rule: spend much less than you make. it works for personal finances too.

Actually I didn’t start with nothing. while I had no money, I had some pretty big assets: my mind and talents and hard work and life experience. those translated into a strong business, it turned out.

How can you start your business with nothing? I won’t create an exhaustive list but here are some examples:

• Someone I know wanted to start a marketing business. she didn’t need an office and staff and stationary — all she needed was her laptop (she had one), her skills (she had the experience), her contacts (she had a lot of them), and for people to know she was out there. and for that last bit, it just takes some … marketing skills. Hit businesses up and offer her services. Network online and gain clients that way. if she has expenses for a job she can charge those to the client.
• My sister wanted to start a ballet school. I suggested instead of building a studio and being hugely in debt, she start by going to private schools and offering to create an after-school ballet program at the schools. Parents would love it, the schools would benefit because parents want services like that, and she has practically no expenses.
• My other sister wanted to become a personal trainer. I encouraged her to start in her home, with minimal equipment, or go to her clients’ homes and businesses, or do outdoor bootcamps. she did and is amazing at it.
• Love to play video games? start a site where you show people how to become elite players. Offer coaching.
• Start an online store where you sell stuff you make.
• Teach people how to do whatever you’re good at. They’ll pay you.
• Want to be a chef? Host dinner parties with gourmet cuisine, and charge $50 a head. Sell tickets in advance and use some of that money to buy the food and some dishes.

Again, these are just a few ideas. sure, there are some businesses that require an initial investment but I suggest you find ones that don’t. start free or cheap, borrow space from friends if necessary, and get started.

Get Good

If you want to make a living at what you love doing, you need to get good at it. Some of you are already good at what you love — you’ve been doing it for years, either on the job or as a personal passion. Others are just starting out, but that’s not a barrier — you just have to put in more time and effort.

I was already an experienced writer when I started Zen Habits (I’d been a journalist for about 18 years), but I didn’t know a thing about blogging or teaching people to simplify, improve their lives, change their habits. I knew about how to do that myself (though I was still learning) but I’d never taught anyone. so I learned: I read other blogs, read personal development sites and books, read blogs about blogging, studied the best, figured out what they did that made them successful. it takes a lot of study, a lot of analysis, a lot of trying and doing and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

I made a ton of mistakes. That’s a good thing. You can’t get good at anything without making a huge amount of mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes — they’re stepping stones to greatness. Try everything, see what works, see what doesn’t. Stick with the things that work.

Put in a lot of hours of practice and doing. The more, the better. Reflect on what you’ve done and what you’ve learned, write it down. Put it in your blog so you can help others learn, but more importantly you’ll force yourself to learn from your own experience.

Get good. Others will gladly pay you if you’re good.

Build an Audience

Any business, big or small, benefits from an audience. That’s different than a customer base — an audience is a group of people who you help and who love you. they might not pay you. Some will want to pay you for more of what you offer, but many will just love you, and that’s a great thing.

Building an audience is tough. it takes time, it takes a lot of giving, it takes a willingness to wither criticism and to learn from that criticism (though ignore the idiots).

I highly recommend you check out Traffic School by my friend Corbett Barr. He’s built an amazing online business and has helped others do the same. This new course will show you how to grow an online audience, attract more visitors and increase sales. It’s very effective, and I’ve contributed to the course myself. Read more: Traffic School (this is an affiliate link that will help support Zen Habits).

Build Income

OK, you’re pursuing your passion, you’ve developed your skills, you’ve built an audience. Now what? How does that pay your bills?

You build income streams. there are many, many ways to do that, including:

Which of these should you do? Try one, see how that works, then try another, then another. see what works best and be willing to build multiple income streams.

The Empowerment of Creating Your Own Job

I’ve only given you a rough outline but if I gave away every step that would be taking away all the fun. The fun is learning how to do it yourself!

There is something incredibly empowering about seizing control of your life and creating the job you want, rather than waiting for it to happen or waiting for someone to give it to you. You are no longer a passive viewer of the world, but someone actively changing it. You become your own boss, pursuing your own goals. That’s incredible.

If you’re out of a job or stuck in a lousy job, I feel for you. But look at your horrible situation as a wonderful opportunity to change your life and do something great. it could be the best thing you’ve ever done.—Twitter.

Can’t Find a Dream Job? Create Your Own

There are many detoxing and cleansing approaches out there, from simply eliminating something from your life (like cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, etc.) to more hardcore methods like a commercial colon cleanse, fasting for 3 days or changing to a vegan diet for a short period of time. (For tips: read Cleansing Made Easy.)

Whatever your approach, cleansing highlights restrictions and makes it challenging to prepare food that’s not only made from ingredients you’re allowed but tastes good, too. So for your pleasure, here’s a veritable smorgasbord of cleansing recipes that will certainly have something you can safely enjoy:

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert ideas for those cleansing or detoxing (depending on your program, of course).

Froozie Recipes (smoothies without dairy)

Some of the following recipes use milk alternatives, such as rice, almond or soy beverage.

Smoothie Recipes (with dairy)

These recipes do not use cow’s milk but they do include yogurt.

Personally, I don’t have a juicer but I’ve tried all of these in my blender.

The recipes below without nuts can also be juiced, but you take out the fiber.

The following drinks will assist you on your cleanse/detox for various reasons, for example, the liver flush helps draw out toxins and aloe helps heal the colon.

1. Thanksgiving Day Tonic (liver flush)
2. The 17 most Detoxifying Drinks
3. POM-Aloe Cleansing Drink
4. Honey, Lemon, Ginger Tea

Allergy-Free Recipes (mains, sides, sauces, salads, snacks & desserts)

There are tests to determine food sensitivities (food allergies have more severe symptoms and easier to identify), including what is referred to as the “elimination diet”. This is basically a cleansing diet that “allows” foods that are generally easy-to-digest and “avoids” foods that are known to act as allergens for some people.

There are different elimination diets out there (my elimination diet restrictions). The following recipes are based on my particular diet so you’ll have to double check to see if the ingredients are on your own “allow” list. please feel free to substitute ingredients were you must:

Have you tried any of these recipes? which ones were your favs? do you have any cleansing recipes to share with us?

119 Cleansing Recipes

Cancer tops the list when it comes to hyperbolic claims about “secret healing techniques” that “mainstream doctors don’t want you to know about”. This type of verbiage is almost always a tip-off that you’re hearing a sales pitch and not in the midst of a serious medical discussion. Fortunately, there are serious scientists examining the viability of using natural substances in the fight against cancer. they don’t promise miracles, but they do offer glimpses of hope via improved treatment outcomes and reduced side effects.

Dr. Abulkalam Shamsuddin of the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been a pioneer in the field of integrative oncology for the past several decades. his current area of expertise is the study of a natural compound known as IP6 or inositol hexaphosphate. This may sound like some sort of chemical produced deep in the recesses of a pharmaceutical laboratory. In reality, IP6 is a naturally occurring component of many plant-based foods including rice bran. An impressive amount of preclinical research conducted by Dr. Shamsuddin and others has revealed some very promising data about the anti-cancer potential of a combination of IP6 and the B-vitamin, inositol. In February 2010, a little known trial marked the first occasion when this natural combination was put to the test in human subjects. a total of 14 women with invasive breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive either IP6 + inositol (6 grams/day) or a placebo over the course of 6 months. All of the study participants had just undergone cancer surgery and took part in six cycles of FEC polychemotherapy during the trial period. the primary differences between the two treatment groups is that those receiving IP6 did not experience an expected drop in blood cell count, leukocytes (white blood cells) or platelets. In addition, a “significantly better quality of life and functional status” was reported in the IP6 users, along with a greater ability to perform daily tasks. however, there are other details about the trial that require mention: a) red blood cell counts and tumor markers were not notably different between the two groups; b) the placebo used in the study was Vitamin C. the latter point is relevant because high-dosage Vitamin C may influence the progression of cancer and, therefore, isn’t a very good candidate for a placebo. (1,2,3,4,5,6,7)

The mere mention of the word “chemotherapy” causes many natural health proponents to recoil. This is completely understandable. my own personal view about this controversial treatment is that it should always be considered. That’s right, always. If the statistics aren’t very impressive for the type of cancer you’re dealing with, you can always decide on another treatment approach. but there’s no sense in summarily disregarding a treatment that may have value in select malignancies – especially when it’s judiciously combined with nutritional components.

Researchers from the University of Alberta, Edmonton in Canada have discovered that the addition of fish oil to “first-line chemotherapy” can dramatically improve the response rate in patients being treated for advanced lung cancer. the study in question enrolled 46 participants into two groups. a segment received the typical “standard of care” (SOC) therapy. the remainder combined 2.5 grams/day of DHA + EPA (fish oil) with the chemotherapeutic agents: carboplatin, gemcitabine and vinorelbine. Clinical exams and imaging techniques were employed to evaluate the respective efficacy of the two treatment protocols. the results revealed that the chemo + fish oil patients demonstrated a response rate of 60% vs. 25.8% in the SOC group. What’s more, the one-year survival rates figured in at 60% for the fish oil users and 38.7% in the standard of care patients. Previous inquiries using DHA, a fatty acid found in fish oil, have likewise reported favorable outcomes. the mechanisms by which fish oil supports chemotherapy may include “enhanced drug activation”, an “increase in drug uptake” and the promotion of tumor cell damage. Thus far, the beneficial effects of this integrative approach have not come at the price of added side effects or toxicity. (8,9,10)

IP6 + Inositol may Reduce Chemotherapy-Related side Effects

Source: Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2010, 29:12 (a)

The topic of antioxidants and cancer prevention is controversial in-and-of-itself. taking antioxidant supplements while undergoing cancer treatment is even more so. Of late, several groups of researchers have shown professional courage in scientifically assessing the value of using specific antioxidants concurrently with allopathic breast cancer care. a study published in the March 2011 issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention examined the supplement-taking habits of 4,877 women with invasive breast cancer., the incidence of cancer recurrence and mortality were documented over the course of about 4 years. according to the researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, women who used antioxidant supplements (multivitamins, Vitamin C & E) experienced a lower mortality rate (-18%) and reduced recurrence risk (-22%). the authors go on to explain that “the inverse association was found regardless of whether vitamin use was concurrent or nonconcurrent with chemotherapy, but was present only among patients who did not receive radiotherapy”. Two recently published studies from India have similarly reported advantages to administering Vitamins C and/or Vitamin E during chemotherapy or tamoxifen treatment for breast cancer. (11,12,13)

The above emerging data is only part of the story. what I hope that you’ll notice is that I haven’t made any exaggerated claims about the healing power of antioxidants, fish oil or IP6. Instead, I focused on the facts. This is what I think you should look for when examining treatment options. but there’s something else you can personally do to improve the quality of natural health information that makes the rounds on the Internet and elsewhere. Support authors and researchers who are working hard to present solid information that can practically inform important health care decisions. These are the good guys who rarely get the same amount of attention as those making irresponsible but provocative claims about unrealistic cures. We should all strive to have hope when facing any serious health challenge. but combining hope with reliable research is far more powerful than hope without a solid foundation.

Be well!

Related Posts:

Alternative Cancer News

One of the newest diet books in the making is “The Drunk Diet” by Luc Carl.

Who is Luc Carl, you may ask? well, he’s Lady Gaga’s boyfriend and he lost 40 pounds while binge drinking every night of the week. he hopes his book will be like the holy grail to all of the obese alcoholics out there.

Here’s a sneak peek at the contents of the book.”The Drunk Diet is Lüc’s groundbreaking memoir about how he was able to drop the weight, fine-tune his body, and still party every single night of the week … The Drunk Diet is much more than a lame series of ‘do this, don’t do that’ tips–it’s an awe-inspiring tale of an ordinary rock ‘n roll guy who managed to transform a lifestyle based around whiskey and 5:00 AM cheeseburgers into a wildly successful fitness regime.”

Really? does the world really need such a book in existence? he better stick with Gaga because without her fame, I don’t see “The Drunk Diet” being a New York Time’s best seller.

What do you think? Participate in the poll and comments below.

Source: MediaBistro.com

Will The Drunk Diet cause more harm than good?

Poll: The Drunk Diet

The causes of acne can be many like puberty, bad lifestyle, oily and junk food, not having appropriate quantity of water or poor hygiene. At times acne is hereditary also. It’s very important to understand and acknowledge the reason for the cause of acne prior to treating it with medication.

Acne medication depends largely upon what kind of acne you are suffering from and with what severity you have been affected by acne. Mild acne does not require much of medication while moderate and severe acne may require heavy acne medication.

Acne medication is of two types:

•Oral medication

•Topical medication

Oral medication includes tablets and antibiotics that can be taken orally. While topical medication involves medicated gels, ointments and creams to be applied on the affected area on face, back or chest.

During mild acne, one may use any of the two treatments. But while treating moderate and severe acne, doctors generally prescribe a combination of the two. Some of the frequently advised medicines by doctors are:

•Adapalene

•Azelaic Acid

•Benozyl Peroxide

•Clindamycin

•Erythromycin

•Isotretinoin

•Oral antibiotics that include Tetracycline, Doxycycline,  Minocycline

•Sodium Sulfacetamide

•Oral Contraceptives

•Tretinoin

•Spironolactone

These acne medications work very well. At times acne is hormonal or in genetics also. In such cases, the treatment acne medication again changes. Self medication is the worst thing to do. Consult a doctor as he may be able to tell you the best option you may go for. He may also prescribe you retinoids and hormonal agents or may be a combination in order to free you from acne.