How-To: Make Perfect Rice Every Time

Happy Sunday!
The weekend is always great for cooking work-week meals ahead of time. I am healthiest (and happiest) when Monday rolls around and my lunch is already ready to go. Since I eat a lot of veggies, I am often cooking grains to go with them. I don't have a rice cooker, but I don't find that I need one! This rice recipe works perfectly every time:

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Perfect No-Cooker Brown Rice:
Cook Time: 50 min (mostly inactive)

• 1 cup organic medium grain brown rice (tho it will work for any kind, really!)
• 8 cups water (I use filtered)
• dash of salt (optional, recommended)
• a fine mesh strainer

There are 3 secrets to perfect rice:

1. Rinse & Strain:   Before cooking your rice, rinse it and strain the water through the mesh strainer. That way you wont loose any tiny grains. 
2. Add Water:  You need a large water-to-rice ratio for great rice. Measure out 8 cups of water per 1 cup rice. I use a soup pot. Granted, I only make about 1/2 cup of rice for 2 days worth of meals, because I keep my plate mostly veggies, but if you need to cook a lot at once you may need a bigger pot. Add the salt and rinsed rice to the water, and once it is boiling reduce heat to a medium boil and partially cover the pot. I leave the lid on halfway, balanced on the pot handles. Set a timer for 30 minutes. This is a great time to go cook your veggies!
3. Steam:  After the 30 minutes is up, remove the pot from heat. Once again use the strainer to pour out all the water and return the rice to the pot. You could technically eat it now, but for truly perfect rice, cover with the lid and let it sit for another 20 minutes. Fluff and serve and enjoy the perfection!

Simple 2 Ingredient Juices, Part 1: Cancer Fighters

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Energizing Ratio: 2 carrots to 1/2 cup fresh parsley. Push the parsley through your juicer with a carrot. It's wicked delicious.

Why carrots? Everyone's heard the expression about an apple a day, but did you know a carrot a day would cut the rate of lung cancer in half???* Or that our beloved orange carrots are a cultivated mutation, and were originally almost exclusively purple or black in color?  
Tip: When juicing carrots, avoid the greens, which can lead to rash or heighten chances of sunburn.

Why parsley? Parsley is dismissed as a garnish when it is actually a nutrient powerhouse. Eating or juicing parsley after ingesting fried foods inhibits their dangerous cancer-causing properties, so instead of ignoring that sprig on your plate, ask for more! You'll be doing your health a huge favor. Parsley is a natural nerve stimulant and a great source of energy, so much so that many people use the recipes like the one above to replace coffee.
Tip: Revive wilting parsley in some cold H20.

Next!

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Delicious Ratio: 2 oranges per 1/2 grapefruit. Do peel your citrus, but leave as much of the white spongy part as possible.

Why grapefruit? This has been a long-time weight-loss favorite, as it is low cal while also lowering cholesterol and demonstrating anti-cancer effects. A cool and kind of magical thing about grapefruit is that it normalizes your hematocrit levels (the volume of red blood cells): too low hematocrit = anemia, while too high = heart disease. Grapefruit balances both of these, depending on what your body requires.
Tip: Avoid grapefruit that feels too soft or has green-colored skin.

Why oranges? Well, the memo on oranges containing Vitamin C probably won't surprise anyone. But it's actually the combination of Vitamin C with an orange's abundant flavonoids that really strengthen immunity and support connective tissue in the body. Oranges are another winner in preventing and fighting cancer.
Tip: Many people like to prove the prowess of their juicer by chucking in the whole orange, peel and all. Please don't! Even though citrus peels contain beneficial oils, those same oils will antagonize bodily functions and even inhibit the uptake of the fruits' other precious nutrients.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Simple 2 Ingredient Juices!"

*Much of the information in this post comes from the book The Complete Book of Juicing, which I own and love, and highly recommend for anyone interested in the recipes, health benefits, and nutritional information of juices. Here's the Amazon link:
The Complete Book of Juicing
I am in no way compensated for recommending this book, or anything else I post.