Healthy Cooking Tips
December 22nd, 2008
Here’s a healthy salad that can be a nice alternative. This salad is full of healthy yummy ingredients the whole family will love.
For one bowl of salad, mix the following in a salad bowl:
2 – 3 handfuls of Spring Mix lettuce
1 small handful dried cranberries
4-5 pieces of Tyson grilled chicken strips
1 medium handful of Shredded Monterrey and cheddar cheese
1 medium handful of Sunny Cranberry trail mix (from Archer Farms at Target) or a comparable trail mix that has nuts and berries
½ Apple, diced
Poppy Seed Dressing
Mix well and enjoy. You can also toss in croutons, dried blueberries, and other fruits as desired.
October 12th, 2008
Low fat, inexpensive, and delicious!
It’s October, and we’re starting to feel the crisp bite of fall. Unfortunately, many of us are also feeling a painful bite in our wallets as prices rise. The US Department of Agriculture reported in August that food prices this year will show the biggest annual increase since 1990. And there’s no end in sight.
Struggling to get your food budget under control? Remember the humble pot of soup. It’s a wonderful cold weather meal that’s easy to make, and relatively inexpensive if you start with basic raw ingredients like dried beans.
Here’s one of my favorites: Pinto Bean and Barley Soup. It’s a chewy blend of common kitchen staples that freezes well. Add a salad and warm bread and you have a delicious – yet inexpensive – meal.
Read the rest of this entry
October 5th, 2008
On a trip to Austin, TX this summer, we enjoyed a terrific lunch at the Iron Cactus, a contemporary Mexican restaurant that also sports the label of “one of the ten best tequila bars in the country.”
Nobody in our party tested that last part. It was lunch, after all. But we did savor the restaurant’s other specialty: fresh guacamole mixed table-side and served with tortilla chips. It’s quite a production. The waiter brings a beautifully appointed tray filled with fresh avocados, oranges, chopped jalapenos, onions, and other goodies. As we watched, he concocted the absolute best guacamole we’d ever had. The menu’s claim that “it doesn’t get fresher than this!” was right.
Naturally, this is something I craved after we arrived home. Our homemade Mexican food just wasn’t the same without it, and that store-bought stuff? Yuck. It was a pale imitation of the Iron Cactus guacamole. Since we aren’t moving to Austin anytime soon, the only solution was to create our own recipe.
July 28th, 2008
Looking for ways to keep cool this summer? The Times Herald-Record, a paper in New York State’s Hudson Valley, has this low-tech list of suggestions that includes using a damp bed sheet as a “blanket” at night and practicing a Yoga breathing method to rid the body of heat.
But my favorite tip is this nugget from the West Indies:
“Spicy foods make you perspire more, which cools the body. Spices also help stop foods from spoiling as quickly, and give you an endorphin rush that feels good in any temperature.”
Wow! Who can say no to food that cools you off, tastes great, improves your mood, and also may help you avoid Alzheimer’s?
It’s time to whip up a bowl of fresh, homemade salsa.
July 7th, 2008
or…. what happens when you pick a pound of basil leaves and dry them?
Home-dried herbs are less expensive than the commercial variety and taste better too. Fresh-dried herbs have a more intense flavor, brighter color, and are less likely to have been irradiated.
Most herbs are extremely easy to grow and hard to kill – kind of like weeds. They grow well in the garden or in a group of pots arranged on a sunny windowsill. Delicious fresh, herbs are also easy to dry and store. Homegrown and dried herbs also make great gifts.
Learn the basics of sun-drying or air-drying as we follow an entire pound of fresh basil leaves through the picking, washing, and drying process.
June 27th, 2008
Facts and Recipes on Purslane
Condemned by some as an “unsightly, pervasive weed,” purslane is also a free backyard source of protein, vitamin E, vitamin C, and the best source of Omega 3 fatty acids of any leafy plant. There’s no reason to spend money on fish oil supplements if you have this tasty food source growing in your backyard or vegetable garden.
Whether you eat it raw in salads, stir-fried, or added to soups and sauces, purslane is a delicious addition to many recipes. It’s easy to grow, tastes great, and – best of all to anyone struggling with rising food prices – it’s free.
June 16th, 2008
How to make, use, and freeze fresh pesto
Basil pesto is delicious, but the price of prepared pesto is alarming: expect to pay $5 or more for as little as half a cup! It’s amazing how something so expensive is so easy to make.
Fresh basil is easy to grow in the garden or on your windowsill. Take a pile of leaves, add some garlic, olive oil, and turn a cup of homemade pesto into three delicious meals – some left over to freeze for later. If you grow your own basil, ingredients for all three meals won’t cost much more than that measly little jar of pesto from the supermarket.
Read the rest of this entry
April 29th, 2008
Use Herbs and Spices to Get a Smoky Taste Without Smoked Meat
Southern cooking, also called “country cooking” or “soul food,” often describes foods loaded with fat, salt, and pork – sometimes all three in the same dish! Traditional dishes include fried chicken, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, and fried squash. See a pattern? Fried, fried, fried. What’s not fried is likely to be cooked with bacon or a chunk of fatback as “seasoning.”
That “seasoned” taste is so common that many people can’t imagine cooking beans without side meat. As Scarlett O’Hara notes in Gone With the Wind: “Black-eyed peas are no good without bacon. There’s no strength to them.”
Here, as in so many areas, Scarlett was wrong.
Read the rest of this entry
April 1st, 2008
A Vegetarian Passover Seder Is Easier Than You Think!
During Passover, just buying kosher food isn’t enough. The food must also be “kosher for Passover,” which means it doesn’t include any leavening agents. Also, its storage and preparation must be closely monitored and certified by rabbinic authorities. From that basic requirement, things quickly get more complicated.
Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern, Greek, Yemenite, or Spanish heritage omit any foods with leavening or grain products, but eat rice and beans during Passover. Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern European heritage don’t eat rice, corn, or beans (called kitniyot) because 13th century Jewish authorities ruled that those products could be ground into flour and used like bread products. There was also the danger of contamination since those products were often stored in bags that had held wheat or flour.
October 28th, 2007
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be doing something as simple as adding vegetables or fruits to an existing recipe. For example, my husband and I like to make our own lasagna. Almost all the lasagna recipes we saw had meat in them. When we stated thinking about eating healthier and eating lower on the food chain, we took a lasagna recipe we liked and experimented with replacing the meat with different vegetables.
Spinach, minced carrots, zucchini were some of the vegetables we tried. We decided we liked them all and we didn’t miss the meat. Now vegetables are standard ingredients in our lasagna recipe and our family loves it.
Want ideas on eating more healthy? Here are some things we do in our home.
September 4th, 2007
A little home cooking helps beat the “Freshman 15″
College students and their families expect large expenses like tuition, books, lab fees, and housing. But what family factors in the cost of a new wardrobe when calculating college costs? Most should. Studies show that college weight gain is so common that it has a catchy name: the “Freshman 15.”
On their own for the first time, college students are suddenly free to eat as much as they please. Mom may try some long-distance nagging about nutrition, but who’s paying attention? Drunk on freedom (or other substances), many college students develop bad habits that lead to extra pounds.
March 27th, 2007
Mark your calendars! April is officially “Soyfoods Month.” According to the Soyfoods Association of North America (SANA) April is the eleventh annual “Soyfoods Month” celebration. Activities for the official Soyfoods Month 2007 will focus on educating consumers about “how easy soy foods are to find, prepare and incorporate into a healthy lifestyle and haute cuisine”.
“Today, the average American is becoming more aware of the effects of diet on overall health, especially in light of recent studies about the obesity epidemic,” says Nancy Chapman, RD, MPH, Executive Director of SANA. “Soy foods are perfect to manage weight and boost health for children, teenagers, and adults. Soy foods are low in saturated fat, cholesterol-free, and packed with essential nutrients. Of all the beans found in nature, soy is the only one that has high quality protein equal to animal protein, a vital part of the nutrition equation and possibly weight control.” Read the rest of this entry
