The Beautiful Truth. A documentary.

"Bring the power of plants to your body"

-Jay Kordich


This is a quote from the documentary that I just watched, The Beautiful Truth, and what this documentary portrays it is truly a beautiful truth. It came out in 2008 and portrays the vital importance of eating natural foods and taking care of your health. It claims that using the Gerson therapy may help prevent and miraculously cure cancer. After doing more research on this Gerson therapy, however, I am not so sure that it cures cancer as successfully as it seems to portray in the documentary. Of course, most documentaries one-sided, as information is left out and bias is an influencing factor. I do know, however, that eating a plant based diet IS great for your health and eating processed food does contribute to the many health problems in the world.


Here is a synopsis: "This documentary follows the journey of Garrett Kroschel, an animal-loving teenager raised in Alaska who, after reading a book by Dr. Max Gerson, is inspired to investigate its premise that diet can cure cancer and other diseases. Garrett travels across the country, visiting with physicians, scientists and cancer survivors to discuss Gerson Therapy -- and Gerson's claim that the medical industry has suppressed natural cancer cures for years."
-Netflix

I highly recommend watching the documentary. I certainly know that I will be changing my health habits and become even more conscious of what I am putting into and onto my body.

Various Recipes

Over the past couple weeks, I have been experimenting with various recipes. While at school, I became vegetarian, for various reasons - personal, humanitarian, environmental, and health. I also discovered that I am gluten intolerant after experimenting with a gluten free diet. Upon changing my diet, I have noticed changes in the way I feel after I eat. I have also noticed a change in my energy level; I have more energy since switching my diet. So, I am discovering and modifying recipes that fit my diet - both vegetarian and gluten-free. Upon walking through the door to my home after being away at school, the first thing I noticed on the table were two large, bright orange pumpkins, which were organically grown in my family's very own backyard. Immediately I got excited. Back at Whitman, my friends cooked a pumpkin left over from Halloween and made a great stir-fry. The possibilities are just endless. So, many of these recipes will be dedicated to, of course, pumpkin!

First, I will tell you how to cook a fresh pumpkin.

Baking a Fresh Pumpkin
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Take the pumpkin and cut it in half. Put it face down into a dish with about 1 inch ofwater to keep it from drying out. Put it in the oven for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, depending on how soft you want the pumpkin to be. If you can stick a fork into the skin easily, it is ready. The pumpkin is better for puree if cooked longer. However, if you want it for stir-fry, do not cook as long. Once it is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Then you may either cut it into cubes, while taking off the skin (for stir-fry) or scoop it out with a spoon and put it into a blender to make puree.

Pumpkin Stir-fry

vegan, gluten-free

Ingredients

4 c. of cubed pumpkin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 diced sweet onion

1 tsp. curry powder

a dash of cayenne pepper

1 tbs. ginger (fresh or ground)

1 c. peas (fresh or frozen)

1 tbs. olive oil

Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan. Use about a medium heat. Cook the onions and the peas until the onions are slightly browned. About 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin and cook about another 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring for about another 5 minutes. Let cool, and it is ready to serve! It is good served with rice or noodles. Makes about 5-7 servings.

Pumpkin Soup

vegan, gluten-free

Ingredients

1 sweet onion, diced

16 0z. (2 cups) of pumpkin puree

1 1/3 c. vegetable broth (gluten-free) OR 1 cube gluten-free vegetable bouillon mixed with 1 1/3 c. of hot water

3 cups of soymilk

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. sugar

3 tbs. potato starch for thickening

dash of salt

dash of pepper

Cook the onion in 1 tbs. of olive oil in a medium-sized pot until the onions are clear/ slightly browned and tender. About 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Add potato starch last. Cook for another 10-15 minutes at medium heat. Serves about 4-5 people.

Pumpkin-Potato Quiche/Pie

vegetarian, gluten-free

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 c. of gluten-free flour

3/4 c. of olive oil

2 tbs. soy milk

2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix until doughy. Spread on an 8" x 8" dish. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Filling

1 large russet potato, peeled and halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise

4-oz. of sliced mushrooms

3 green onions, chopped

2 handfuls of spinach

1/2 diced sweet onion

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 c. sour cream

salt and pepper

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

15 oz. of pumpkin puree

1 tbs. olive oil

In a pot, put the potato in enough salted water to cover the potatoes by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. About 8 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a bowl.

In the same pot, pour in the olive oil at about medium heat. Add the mushrooms, spinach, and onions. Cook until mushrooms are soft and onions are clear/slightly browned. About 10-15 minutes. Stir the potato in. Stir in the pumpkin puree, eggs, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Once mixed, pour into the pie crust. Top the dish with the walnuts and bake until set, about 20-30 minutes.

Butterscotch Brownies

vegetarian, gluten-free (vegan if substitute butterscotch chips with vegan chocolate chips)

Ingredients

1 2/3 c. butterscotch chips (11 oz.)

2 ½ c. gluten-free flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. Salt

1 c. pumpkin puree (or apple sauce, or other fruit puree)

¼ c. vegetable oil

2 tbs. Vanilla

1 ¾ c. brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add the pumpkin puree and the brown sugar and mix. Add the remaining ingredients. Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes.

Optional: Drizzle with Kahlua. Also good with milk.