- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Pine nuts Pine nuts, also called piñon or pignolia, are the edible ivory-colored nut of the evergreen pine tree found inside the female pine cones that are typically ready for harvest in the fall season. Here in the Sierra Nevada California foothills, during this time of year on a windy day, a pine cone laden tree may drop many seed-filled cones or the seeds will commonly fall to the ground themselves after the cones have opened. The actual nut is surrounded by a firm but soft shell which rests on top of the cone scales, usually two per "petal".- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Here's a crone candy recipe designed specifically for women of "the waning moon", the cycle of a female's life called MENOPAUSE.
Certain herbal allies, like american ginseng, dong quai and vitex, can be very supportive to women going through the different stages of menopause. This is a way to consume their tonifying goodness in a delicious and healthy sweet treat. As sesame tahini-based snack, their also full of calcium. Calcium is one of those essential minerals needed more in menopausal years and beyond when females are more susceptible to conditions like osteoporosis.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Zeolite is a generic term used to describe a class of microporous crystalline minerals made from aluminosilicates that offer special qualities as catalysts and adsorbents. Raw clinoptilolite zeolite is one of the most abundant and commercially utilized for its ability to attract positively charged heavy metals, ammonia, toxins and radioactive isotopes. The clinoptilolite mineral rocks themselves are typically a gray-green to beige color with an irregular-edged shape. Under microscopic inspection, however, their fine clay-like powders reveal a unique framework of channels and cavities which can capture smaller molecules within their honeycomb cage-like structures, basically acting as natural filters.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Sprouts consumed from sprouting seeds have received a lot of negative media attention regarding their safety for human consumption. This controversy started way back in the mid to late 1990's when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to the general public not to consume raw sprouts because of reported contamination of pathogenic bacteria, chiefly Salmonella and Escherichia coli. This was a result of a multi-state outbreak of E. coli infections that occurred in the United States from the human intake of alfalfa sprouts. It was later discovered that the actual seeds themselves were the source of contamination and "traced back to one common lot harvested in Idaho."- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Garlic is an Allium vegetable, Allium sativum, in the same family as onions, shallots, leeks and scallions. Frequently referred to as the "stinking rose", the irregular rosette-like layered garlic bulb is known for its unique spicy pungent taste and powerful aroma. Its unmistakable strong zesty flavor has made it one of the most widely utilized spices, virtually present in all kitchen pantry’s and spice racks around the globe. It is often thus a fundamental ingredient in numerous cultural cooking traditions and recipes. Here on this page, we'll discuss the top benefits of garlic and its medicinal sulfur-containing compounds.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Royal Jelly is a creamy pale-yellow substance that is the nourishing food source created by bees to support the development, reproductive maturity and longevity of the queen bee. This is the largest and longest living bee in the entire colony and the mother of most all bees in the honeybee hive. Ever since the 1950's, the benefits of royal jelly have been widely marketed as a dietary supplement as well as used as an added special ingredient in commercial health food products. Is it however as beneficial to humans in the same way it is to the honeybee queen? Here on this page, we will share our current findings plus our personal views about using royal jelly as a supplement to one's diet.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Want to learn how to make carob powder from harvested tree pods? When most carob pods are fresh, they have a soft breakable texture. You can actually bite into them. However, for transforming the pod into a fine flour-like powder you will need to remove the non-edible seeds. Consequently, the most time-consuming part of making carob powder from whole pods is separating these seeds from the pulp material. This is commonly referred to commercially as "kibbling". When doing this by hand, we have experimented with three main approaches.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Bladderwrack is a type of sea vegetable or seaweed that is found most commonly in colder waters along rocky coastal regions in the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes generically referred to as "fucus", there are many shapes, sizes and variations of the Fucus vesiculosus species. Over the years here in Northern California, we've explored lots of majestic and pristine seaweed harvesting locations during low tide especially in the early summer when seaweed growth is at its peak. Often, bladderwrack can be the most dominant shoreline species, along with kelps like feather boa and bull kelp.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Blackberries are an edible fruit that come from the rose family Rosaceae as their thorny vines and prickly green leaves might indicate. Blackberry plants belong to the genus Rubus, a varied assortment of flowering plants the most widely dispersed of which include blackberries, raspberries and dewberries. The fruit is, botanically speaking, not an actual "berry", but is an aggregate species composed of a cluster of tiny round drupelets each which form the entire berry itself.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Matchat is a type of powdered green tea that comes from the same plant that produces all black, green and white tea: the Camellia sinensis species. While there are many ornamental flowering varieties in the genus Camellia, this particular species is known to have the highest alkaloid content and used most exclusively for tea production. The traditional preparation of matcha green tea powder is a spiritual activity with deep seated roots in Japanese Zen Buddhism and "Chanoyu", the Japanese Tea Ceremony. This is a meditative and highly focused ritual of preparing, serving and consuming matcha tea that has evolved as a form of ceremonial practice since the 12th century.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Sauerkraut is one of the world's oldest fermented foods that first came about as a way to preserve food before other modern-day methods were utilized. It is made via a naturally occurring lacto-fermentation process that is prepared without heat or pasteurization techniques. The concept of cabbage fermentation is believed to have initially originated in China, but fermented cabbage was further developed into the sauerkraut we know and love today by those in Central European countries, especially Germany where it gets its name sauerkraut (sow-uhr-krowt) or "sour" (sauer) "cabbage" (kraut).- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Coconut-derived products, like coconut oil, coconut flour and coconut water, have become more popular in modern times as people reach for alternative food and drink options. If you've ever experienced living in a tropical location, you have most likely witnessed the abundant amount of coconuts the coconut palm can provide year-round. Although the Cocos nucifera tree has likewise been utilized as a source of natural sugar for centuries by people living in tropical climate zones, the use of coconut palm sugar has only just recently become trendy as an export product.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Walnuts, a type of tree nut, are most commonly domesticated as a food source from the English walnut or Juglans regia species. They also grow wild in many parts of the world typically where hot dry climates seasonally persist. They are an ancient tree nut species that were interestingly not initially cultivated as an agricultural crop but were largely dispersed by humans along Silk Road trade routes to facilitate mobility rather than a sedentary lifestyle.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Sage leaves are one of the top culinary herbs common to most kitchen spice racks around the globe, often found next to other favorites in the same Lamiaceae "mint family", like rosemary, thyme and oregano. The thick dense and fragrant smelling leaves of this perennial herb have been used throughout the ages not only their food flavoring aspects but also for their potent medicinal attributes. The genus name Salvia is derived from the term "salvere" meaning "to be saved or healed." As the old medieval proverb goes: "Why should a man [woman] die whilst sage grows in his [her] garden?"- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
So, you've made your own miso paste, maybe using our black bean miso recipe, and are now ready to look inside the crock after a long waiting period. Congrats, good job! After a full two-years, we finally opened our black bean miso and here we will share the end results after decanting homemade miso, plus more information about koji selection. We opened it a year earlier to taste test and decided to keep on going for one more season. But this year it was ripe and ready and we pleasantly discovered that our patience paid off.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Amla powder comes from a type of fruit called Indian gooseberry, also referred to by its Sanskrit name "amalaki." It is valued as a rejuvenating herb in traditional Indian medicine known as Ayurveda and has a long history of use as an ancient herbal rasayana. The term "amla" literally means "sour." While fresh fruits can be eaten when ripe, they are known to be quite tart and astringent, not like your typical sweet and juicy variety. They also don't have a long shelf life and are therefore often prepared or dried and powdered for use in herbal formulations, but not generally consumed as a fresh fruit.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Ever wondered what the difference is between cacao vs cocoa? Learn more about the Theobroma cacao species, the bean all chocolate comes from as well as why and how it is fermented. We'll discuss more on nutritional value of both cacao and cocoa and our researched findings on their different ratios theobromine and caffeine content.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Celery juice is the liquid extracted from raw celery stalks and consuming a daily glass of this bright green drink has become a very popular worldwide trend, particularly starting in the latter half of 2018. The concept of juicing one particular vegetable variety at a time is occasionally referred to as "mono juicing." Instead of juicing several different types of fruits or vegetables together, like when making the typical green juice, mono juices specifically help to concentrate a fruit or vegetable’s health-enhancing constituents.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Making your own lacto-fermented pickled red onions is a super easy process. All you need are a few basic ingredients: onions, salt, pickling spices and a culture starter. Compared to other fermented food recipes, this one doesn't involve special food-specific cultures but can be made with any probiotic supplement powder. After fermenting them for about a week they will develop a nice soft sweet pickled taste that also takes on whatever spice flavorings you incorporate into the recipe.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Pumpkin seeds are the edible olive-green seeds produced by pumpkins, a type of squash cultivar. Also known by their Spanish name "pepitas", the pumpkin and its seeds have been utilized for centuries by cultures of North and South America as a dietary food source and for their medicinal attributes. The pumpkin is believed to be one of the oldest domesticated squash species which occurred about 10,000 years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico. Evidence suggests that squashes like pumpkin were cultivated even before the two sister crops, maize and beans.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Kefirs are cultured drinks produced by lacto-fermenting certain liquids for a short 1-3 day period of time. Among the list of fermented foods, they are one of the easiest to make from scratch, requiring only a few ingredients and minimal skill level. When it comes to water kefir vs milk kefir, both can be health-enhancing drinks to consume for most people. However, each variety of kefir is made somewhat differently, utilizing unique cultures that provide slightly different end results.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Hello RSS feed subscribers! :) Very soon (March 14, 2018) we will be transitioning over to a new website domain name (same site just new URL) and our blog feed URL will therefore be changing as well. If you'd like to continue receiving our Superfoods Blog feeds, you may need to resubscribe using the following URL: https://www.superfoodevolution.com/superfoods.xml
- Our feed address, https://feeds.feedburner.com/SuperfoodsBlog, however, will remain the same.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Benefits of a Common Culinary Vegetable
The onion and its many different cultivars are one of the most popular species of Allium vegetables, coming close to garlic for its flavorful taste that blends well into numerous savory dishes and cultural recipes. There is in fact no other single food that is used by so many different nationalities around the globe then that of the familiar-looking and humble onion bulb. Eaten raw, sautéed, grilled, simmered and even pickled, onions and their many selections seem to have made a permanent place in the pantries of most kitchens worldwide.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Difference Between Green and Black
Olives are another one of those ancient fruits second only to grapes that were valued for their pressed juices as well as a food source. Because of its naturally bitter taste and crunchy texture, the raw olive was in fact first utilized for its "olive oil" rather than something you would actually eat ripe off the tree. Eventually curing methods were implemented to make the pulp edible, essentially transforming a hard non-palatable fruit into a rich fatty and flavorful delicacy that is enjoyed by many olive-producing countries or as an imported product.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Energy Tonic And Immune Adaptogen
Largely popular in the Western world for its profound benefits to immune functions, astragalus is also recognized as one of the most potent Chi (Qi) tonic herbs available and has been utilized for centuries in Chinese herbalism for its protective, restorative and enlivening influence. What is a Chi tonic herb? Essentially, Chi tonics are natural “energy builders” and astragalus is top on the list of "major tonic herbs" for such purposes. Frequently used as a decocted tea, tincture as well as a powdered or encapsulated extract, the roots need to be hot water or alcohol processed to release their valued properties.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Grow Your Own From Scratch
Want to learn how to make a kombucha scoby from scratch so you can make your own homemade kombucha? If so, you will need a scoby, also referred to as a "kombucha mushroom" or "kombucha mother culture." We've literally been making our own since the late 80's, so we do have quite a bit of experience with this procedure. Back then, kombucha was not found in stores like it is today, nor were scoby cultures available for sale. You had to basically get a "mother" and liquid starter from a friend (or friend of a friend of a friend in some cases). It was more of a community affair.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Comparing Common Varieties
Ever want a nuts and seeds list with nutritional data all on one place, well here it is! We've compiled these break downs for you to refer back to when you want a quick glance at specific nutrient levels. The charts below list the top most common seed and nut varieties to help you evaluate which ones you might want to include more or less of according to your own personal health objectives. This info may come in handy if you're adhering to a precise dietary protocol in which more details might be helpful.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Its Controversial Use as a Healthier Choice
Agave sweetener, also referred to as agave syrup or nectar, is the processed sap or juice commercially extracted when ripe from the core of the plant "pina." Today, most agave sweeteners are primarily produced from the same blue Agave tequilana species used to make the popular distilled alcoholic beverage known as tequila. Here on this page, we'll discuss agave sweetener's commercial production and its controversial use and marketing as a "natural" sweetener. And... Is it comparable to high fructose corn syrup?- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Cinnamon Bark (Rou Gui) or Twig (Gui Zhi)
Most people are familiar with cinnamon as a culinary spice or natural flavoring, but a variety that is less familiar here in the West is the one known as Chinese cinnamon. This is the specific type of cinnamon referred to as "Chinese" cinnamon or Rou Gui in Chinese herbalism. It is commonly found in thick pieces rather than the typical "cinnamon stick" or rolled up quill. The other variety is called cinnamon twig or Gui Zhi, which is derived from the branches as opposed to the trunk itself.- Details
- Category: Raw kitchen tools and equipment
Is It a Miracle Curative?
Black seed oil, also called black cumin seed oil, is the oil derived by pressing or cold extracting the seeds from the Nigella sativa species. This variety is not related to the Cuminum cyminum species known as cumin, nor the cumin-related species Bunium bulbocastanum, also referred to as "black cumin." The herbaceous N. sativa seed plant is common to Mediterranean locations as well as southwestern Asian countries like India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They don't taste anything like "regular cumin" but have a pungent flavor that is usually combined with other spices.