Wellness
Plum Chutney
Chutney is a sauce in the cuisines of India that can vary from a tomato relish to a ground peanut garnish or a yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip. Chutney that I made with my mom when I was growing up was usually made of a tart fruit such as apples, apricots, mangos or plums. Our homemade recipe differed a bit from the typical Indian chutney recipe. As the Americanized version of chutney was developed, sugar and vinegar were added to the recipe to keep the sweet and sour flavor but to give a longer shelf life so that fall fruit could be preserved for use throughout the year (as are jams, jellies and pickles). Indian chutney uses mustard oil as a pickling agent, but Anglo-Indian style chutney use cider vinegar which produces a milder product.
Ingredients
5 cups cut up plums (you can use apricots, mangos or apples)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
¾ cup vinegar
¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
2-3 big cloves garlic
¼ cup thinly sliced yellow onion
½ cup chopped candied ginger
1 cup white raisins
Mix the sugars and vinegar in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the fruit and all the spices, garlic, onions, ginger and raisins. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently so chutney will not stick as it cooks and thickens. This step may take 1 to 1 ½ hours depending on how juicy your fruit is. When thickened, pour chutney into jelly jars that have been sterilized and seal according to canning directions.
I pour the hot chutney into the 1 cup jars and seal with hot tops. I tighten the tops and turn the jars upside down for 30 minutes. When you flip them right …
Colorful Summer Salad
Today is another beautiful summer day and I am out tending my vegetable garden. In comes another bowl of tomatoes and I decided I wanted to try a summer salad recipe that would be a fun side dish to accompany any BBQ meat or could be eaten as your main meal. I know many of you have made Cowboy Caviar and I love that recipe but my hubby does not like avocado. He does LOVE salsa though so I made this colorful summer salad based on our homemade salsa recipe with a few variations.
Ingredients
8 medium tomatoes (I used 4 different types of heirloom tomatoes)
1 large red onion
2 ears of corn
1 large orange pepper
2 bunches cilantro (1-2 cups)
1 hot jalapeño pepper
1 mild jalapeño pepper
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
½ cup red wine vinegar
⅓ cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic smashed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sesoned pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon Pilarcita’s hot and spicy Mexican spice blend (this blend has chili peppers, salt, garlic, onion, lemon and orange peel as it’s base)
Chop the tomatoes, onion, orange pepper and mix in a bowl. Dice the jalapeño peppers and chop the cilantro fine and add to the bowl. Add the drained and rinsed black beans and stir salad. In a small bowl, mix oil, vinegar, garlic and spices. Mix well and pour over the vegetables. Stir well and refrigerate for an hour or so before serving. This is a great salad to take to a potluck BBQ because it make a large bowlful of a beautiful colorful summer salad. Will store for 4-5 days in a tupperware container. If you want to serve it for your main meal, you can put on a bed of greens and serve …
Read MoreDo Something Today
Back to School season is coming (too early!!) and that is a great time to start great habits!
One area most of us can always improve is our ACTION. Acting on things that need to be done and stop procrastinating.
I admit there are SO many things I save for “tomorrow” or “when I feel like it.” But those things pile up and weigh you down and that isn’t a good feeling. Doesn’t it feel so much better to accomplish things?!
So here’s a thought – Do ONE thing every day to make tomorrow better. Eat a healthy meal, get to bed on time, fold that laundry, clean that spot in the fridge that has been bugging you. You don’t have to do EVERYTHING, but even just one little thing that you accomplish will make for a better tomorrow.
You know what is even better? Consistently doing those little things – eating healthy, exercising, getting enough sleep, cleaning, preparing and packing your own food to save money – will start to have a BIG impact on your life.
And it all starts with ONE thing.
What have you been procrastinating about? What is one thing you can do today for a better tomorrow?
…
Ratatouille-Fresh from the Garden
Do you have a garden full of veggies? My garden is overflowing with an abundance of veggies so this recipe is a wonderful way to utilize them. Here is a delicious dish to prepare and serve in a variety of ways…Most often this is our side dish served with BBQ skewers of chicken or beef, but I sometimes will add white beans or grate some parmesan cheese over the top and serve it as our main dish. You can also eat it cold stuffed in pita bread with hummus…..wrapped in a warm tortilla or naan bread with arugula and goat cheese…or serve cold on a bed of greens with toasted pine nuts and a scoop of quinoa. Enjoy this delicious recipe for a summer favorite.
Ratatouille is a stewed vegetable dish from the French Provencal traditional menu, originating in Nice.The French word touiller means to toss around. In most recipes, the key ingredients are the same but the process of cooking the dish vary between each chef’s preference. Some sauté all the vegetables together and simmer on the stove top, some sauté the vegetables separately and layer and bake. Our family favorite (recipe below) is as delicious as any I ever tasted when traveling in France and is the easiest recipe of them all!! Ratatouille was a family favorite of ours way before the Pixar animated “RATATOUILLE” movie was released in 2007. The movie brought awareness to the delicious French dish but many were put off by the lengthy steps to prepare the recipe. You no longer need to be intimidated because you can try our family favorite Ratatouille and wow all your friends. Most often this is our side dish served with BBQ skewers of chicken or beef, but I sometimes will add white beans or grate some …
Read MoreZucchini Soup
Our summer days are hot and the nights are a bit cooler. I love this zucchini soup recipe because it uses up my abundant zucchini crop. This soup is a light and scrumptious meal to serve on a summer night with a piece of crunchy sourdough bread or on a cooler fall evening with a grilled panini or quesadilla. You can actually serve this soup hot or cold. You can easily double the batch for a crowd. One summer when I was young, I was left in chafe of our family garden while my mom was traveling in Europe. I made at least 10 batches of this soup. We served it for company, gave it to friends, and froze a few batches so we could enjoy it all fall. When you freeze the leftover soup and defrost it for later use it tastes just a delicious as the day you made it.
Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion chopped fine
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 zucchini cut into cubes
6 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon vinegar
4 Tablespoon arrowroot
1-2 teaspoon dill weed (fresh is best)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup plain yogurt
Saute onion in oil in a large soup pot. Add zucchini and broth. Bring to a boil and turn to medium and cook until zucchini is soft. Take a bit of the broth out of the pot and pour into a 1 cup measure. Add the vinegar and arrowroot and stir until dissolved. Add the vinegar, arrowroot, broth mixture to the soup pot and stir until blended and the soup starts to thicken. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend in food processor or Vitamix adding yogurt and seasonings. You can serve this soup cold or hot.
Zucchini Bread-Healthy Style
Healthy Zucchini Bread
This summer, I planted a large garden filled with all of our favorite vegetables. The zucchini plants have gone crazy and are producing daily a crop of delicious and nutritious zucchini. I have baked, stir-fried, barbequed and added them into omelets, pizza and frittatas. The following is a conventional recipe for zucchini bread with healthy adaptations.
ENJOY!!!
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
3 eggs
3 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup mini chocolate chips and/or 1 cup chopped raisins
Grate the zucchini (one large one from the garden or three medium) into a colander and sprinkle salt on it and let it sit for a few minutes and then squeeze out excess moisture. In a medium bowl combine sugar and applesauce and oil and stir. Add the eggs and stir until mixed well. In a small bowl measure out the flour (you can use a combination of white and whole wheat or experiment with different varieties of gluten free, oat flour, rice flour and feel free to add wheat germ or flax seed as long as it measures a total of 3 cups). Next, add other dry ingredients and stir. Add wet and dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Add the vanilla, the zucchini and the nuts and stir lightly until combined. For a fun little treat try adding ½-1 cup of mini chocolate chips or 1 cup raisins. Pour into a well greased bread loaf pan and bake at 350˚ for 60-70 minutes.
If you want to make smaller loaves or muffins adjust time for baking accordingly-40 minutes for small loaves
Oatmeal Lactation Bars
Researching how to improve a mommy’s milk supply has been interesting. There are many great websites out there that have done extensive research and I found so much good information. I liked the blog called Very Well, with articles written by Donna Murray, RN, BSN and reviewed by a board certified physician. Remember to always consult your doctor and/or lactation consultant before taking any herbal supplements.
Here is another recipe that Bekah and I tried. (We adapted the recipe from a blog called Mary Makes Good.) It tastes a bit like a yummy oatmeal muffin in a bar form. Although the recipe calls for chocolate chips, we both decided it would be extra tasty if you added a cup of raisins. Check out yesterday’s post for great information on Brewer’s Yeast and other herbs that can stimulate milk production for nursing moms.
Oatmeal Lactation Bars
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour/meal
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts (hulled)
- 4 tablespoons brewer’s yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup raisins
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine the flax seeds and water in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat until fluffy.
- Add the soaked flax seeds, eggs, molasses, and vanilla and mix until well blended.
- Whisk together the whole wheat flour, almond flour, hemp hearts, brewer’s yeast, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients in two parts while mixing continuously on a slow speed. Mix until just combined.
- Add the oats, chocolate chips
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Lactation Cookies
Bekah was doing some research for improving breast milk supply and found some awesome recipes for Lactation Cookies. We decided to try a few and wanted to share two of our favorite ones with you. This first recipe has been adapted from one we found on a blog called Simplistically Living. There are many recipes out there and the common ingredient in the cookie recipes we looked at was brewer’s yeast. You cannot substitute the brewer’s yeast for anything else. (We bought ours at Sprouts.) This is a prime ingredient for this recipe and is one of the recommended ingredients that increases your milk supply so make sure to include it.
Brewer’s yeast is used to make beer, and people have taken it as a dietary supplement for many years. Brewer’s yeast is made from a fungus, and it is highly nutritious. It contains iron, protein, and B vitamins, as well as chromium, selenium and other trace minerals. Brewer’s yeast is also believed to be a galactogogue, used by nursing mothers to help make more breast milk. A galactagogue (pronounced gah-lak´tah-gog) is an action, herb, food, or medication that can jump start your production of breast milk or increase the amount of breast milk that you make. The word itself is a combination of the Greek terms “galact-” meaning milk, and “-ogogue” meaning leading to or promoting. (A galactagogue is also called a galactogogue, lactagogue or a lactogenic.) Some of the foods used as galactagogues include oatmeal, barley, green leafy vegetables, garlic, brewer’s yeast, and brown rice. When added to a healthy well-balance diet, these milk making foods are believed to promote a healthy amount of breast milk.
If you are interested in reading about other herbs that have been researched and shown to help …
Read MoreSweet & Savory “Surfer” Chili
My mom and I adapted the BEST recipe for dinner tonight from my favorite app: Mealime. YOU GUYS, put this on your meal plan IMMEDIATELY. It’s THAT good.
The idea started when I wanted to make twice baked sweet potatoes, then quickly realized there was NO WAY I was going to bake something in the oven in this heat. So I looked through the ingredients I already had and picked a recipe that we could work with and use the sweet potatoes. And so became our Sweet & Savory Surfer Chili. “Surfer,” because it will make your taste buds say “ALOHA!”
Sweet & Savory Surfer Chili
(Adapted from Mealime)
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2-4 large sweet potatoes, 4-6 small sweet potatoes
2 avocados
5 oz baby spinach
1 zucchini
4 cloves garlic
1 red onion
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 large can diced pineapple
1lb ground beef or turkey
1/2TBS paprika
1/2TBS turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
optional sides and toppings: rice, greek yogurt, chips, cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Wash and dry produce. Cook the rice if using for a side dish.
- Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Place in a bowl of water and bring to a boil. Boil until soft enough to easily poke with a fork. (About 10 minutes)
- Peel and dice onion. Add to a small bowl.
- Mince garlic. Add to the onion bowl.
- Heat saucepan to medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, and ground beef to the sauce pan. Cook until meat is browned and the onion is tender, 3-5 minutes.
- Add the spices, stir to mix.
- Drain and add pineapple.
- Add the diced tomatoes and stir to combine.
- Increase the heat to bring the chili to a bowl. Once boiling, reduce heat to
Shredded Barbecue Chicken in a Crockpot
Ever had one of those busy weeks….a busy month…..tons of fun things planned and a big gang of family and friends coming for dinner during a “hot spell”? This BBQ shredded chicken recipe is made in the crockpot…so no hot kitchen, no messing with the BBQ outside (although I absolutely love bbq chicken-this is a close second). You can serve it up on toasted ciabatta rolls with melted cheese, a side of succotash and a side salad or mound a big pile of this delicious shredded chicken on top of a bed of lettuce, add some chopped cucumbers, fresh tomatoes and a spoonful of succotash for a delicious summer salad.
Ingredients
8 large chicken breasts (skinless and boneless)
2 cups catsup (check labels so you have a no high fructose corn syrup brand)
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup light soy sauce (I used Bragg’s liquid aminos)
4 large garlic cloves crushed
2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
2-3 Tablespoons fresh ginger root grated
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
8 ciabatta rolls
sliced cheese
lettuce
cucumbers
tomatoes
Succotash
Place the chicken breasts in a 5 or 6 quart Crockpot. Mix all remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until well blended. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover crockpot and turn onto LOW for 8 hours. At hour 6 or 7 when the chicken is thoroughly cooked take chicken breasts out of crockpot and place in a large bowl and shred with two forks until meat is in small bite sized shreds. Place chicken back into crockpot so it absorbs more sauce and let it cook for the remaining few hours. Cook up a batch of succotash or make a big bowl of coleslaw. When ready for dinner slice open your ciabatta rolls and toast with cheese on one …
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