Flax Seeds offer an array of health benefits and contain three highly important-and healthy-elements.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3s are some of the "good fats" people are raving about these days. Just two tablespoons of flaxseeds provide over 146 percent of the daily value, or DV, of omega 3 fatty acids in the form of alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA.
Lignans: These plant based compounds are known for their protective health qualities. flaxseeds, through their lignin content, offer antioxidants and healthy, natural phytochemicals. In fact, flaxseeds contain 75 to 800 times more lignans than other types of plant foods.
Fiber: Most of us don't get enough fiber and its health benefits, but flaxseeds contain both types of fiber we need-soluble and insoluble.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Mom's Zucchini Bread
Posted on my other blog on 11-12-11:
My mother never liked to cook and so I don't have many recipes from her. This is one of only two recipes I have gotten from her. It has sugar and honey in it so it isn't totally healthy but I thought I would include it since we got a bunch of zucchini today at the Food Bank.
Mom's Zucchini Bread
3 eggs (or egg replacere to equal 3 eggs)
1 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup honey
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (or the whole wheat flour, already ground, that we got last week)
3 Tablespoons wheat gluten (only needed with the fresh ground whole wheat flour - it helps it to rise)
2 Cups zucchini --grated
Beat eggs (or reconstituted egg replacer). Add brown sugar, honey, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, whole wheat flour, gluten and zucchini. Mix well. Oil and flour 4 small loaf pans or spray with lecithin spray).
Fill pans with equal amounts of dough. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.
Variations:
1. add one cup walnuts or pecans
2. Add 1 cup dates
3. Add 1 cup raisins
4. Add 1 cup shredded carrots
My mother never liked to cook and so I don't have many recipes from her. This is one of only two recipes I have gotten from her. It has sugar and honey in it so it isn't totally healthy but I thought I would include it since we got a bunch of zucchini today at the Food Bank.
Mom's Zucchini Bread
3 eggs (or egg replacere to equal 3 eggs)
1 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup honey
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (or the whole wheat flour, already ground, that we got last week)
3 Tablespoons wheat gluten (only needed with the fresh ground whole wheat flour - it helps it to rise)
2 Cups zucchini --grated
Beat eggs (or reconstituted egg replacer). Add brown sugar, honey, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, whole wheat flour, gluten and zucchini. Mix well. Oil and flour 4 small loaf pans or spray with lecithin spray).
Fill pans with equal amounts of dough. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.
Variations:
1. add one cup walnuts or pecans
2. Add 1 cup dates
3. Add 1 cup raisins
4. Add 1 cup shredded carrots
Variation on Fried Green Tomatoes
This was posted on 11-13-11 on my other blog:
Yesterday at the Food Bank, we got rice and as many red bell peppers as we wanted. I immediately thought about a variation on the Fried Green Tomatoes recipe.
Just do the recipe but add the bell peppers and then put it over rice! I'm going to make it today.
Yesterday at the Food Bank, we got rice and as many red bell peppers as we wanted. I immediately thought about a variation on the Fried Green Tomatoes recipe.
Just do the recipe but add the bell peppers and then put it over rice! I'm going to make it today.
Fried Green Tomatoes
On 11-5-11, I posted this recipe on my other blog:
Today at the Food Bank, we received green tomatoes. Many people were saying, "what would you do with that?" I knew exactly what to do with it----make Fried Green Tomatoes! Here's my recipe:
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
Green tomatoes - the ones that will never ripen because it's too late in the season --diced
Onions - diced very small
Potatoes - unpeeled and diced
Zucchini - unpeeled and diced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Basil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Be sure to wash the veggies with Fruit and Vegetable Rinse before dicing. Remove the cores of the tomatoes and dice. Dice the onions, potatoes and zucchini. Heat a stainless frying pan and then add olive oil and the diced ingredients. Add basil to taste. Fry all of it up until everything is soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Top with salsa, if desired.
Today at the Food Bank, we received green tomatoes. Many people were saying, "what would you do with that?" I knew exactly what to do with it----make Fried Green Tomatoes! Here's my recipe:
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
Green tomatoes - the ones that will never ripen because it's too late in the season --diced
Onions - diced very small
Potatoes - unpeeled and diced
Zucchini - unpeeled and diced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Basil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Be sure to wash the veggies with Fruit and Vegetable Rinse before dicing. Remove the cores of the tomatoes and dice. Dice the onions, potatoes and zucchini. Heat a stainless frying pan and then add olive oil and the diced ingredients. Add basil to taste. Fry all of it up until everything is soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Top with salsa, if desired.
Pizza Song and Recipe!
This was posted on my other blog some time ago:
This song is to the tune of "Loch Lohman" and it's about the ingredients I received (and those donated by a friend) yesterday at the Food Bank. My friend is out raking leaves while I'm inside making the pizza from our combined ingredients.
Song: You bring the tomato paste
You bring the tomato paste and I'll bring the pizza crust
And, we'll make a pizza together.
Chorus:
Together we'll share our food bank bounty, and we will make a pizza together!
You bring the soy cheese and I'll bring the pineapples
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
You bring the Gimme Lean and I'll bring the olives
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
You bring the cherry juice and I'll bring the bell peppers
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
Pizza Recipe: (fairly freely adapted from the 1960 Betty Crocker Cookbook)
2 Pizza crusts received from Food Bank
1 1lb can tomatoes, drained (reserving at least 1/2 cup liquid) and then diced
1 6oz can of tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs crushed oregano
1 Tbs basil
1/4 cup soy cheese, grated (actually, it doesn't grate very well, so I cut it into small squares)
Gimme Lean non-meat sausage (cooked)
Fresh pineapple (cut into small squares)
1 small can sliced olives
1 can artichoke hearts
1 Bell pepper (whatever color they are giving out at the Food Bank) sliced very thin
Place pizza crust on cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Heat a frying pan and, when hot, add a little olive oil.
Break Gimme Lean into little pieces and brown in a frying pan. If necessary, add a bit more oil to make it not stick.
Drain tomatoes, reserving 1/2 cup juice.
Dice tomatoes and place on crusts; sprinkle with with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with the cheese and drizzle with olive oil (only 1 TBS per crust).
Sprinkle with non-meat sausage, pineapple, olives, bell peppers.
Combine tomato paste, reserved tomato juice, garlic, and herbs.
Spread over sausage, tomato, pineapple, olive mixture.
Drizzle with olive oil (only 1 TBS per crust).
Scatter more soy cheese on top.
Bake in very hot oven (450) for 20 minutes or until crust is done and veggies are soft.
This song is to the tune of "Loch Lohman" and it's about the ingredients I received (and those donated by a friend) yesterday at the Food Bank. My friend is out raking leaves while I'm inside making the pizza from our combined ingredients.
Song: You bring the tomato paste
You bring the tomato paste and I'll bring the pizza crust
And, we'll make a pizza together.
Chorus:
Together we'll share our food bank bounty, and we will make a pizza together!
You bring the soy cheese and I'll bring the pineapples
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
You bring the Gimme Lean and I'll bring the olives
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
You bring the cherry juice and I'll bring the bell peppers
And we'll make a pizza together.
(Chorus)
Pizza Recipe: (fairly freely adapted from the 1960 Betty Crocker Cookbook)
2 Pizza crusts received from Food Bank
1 1lb can tomatoes, drained (reserving at least 1/2 cup liquid) and then diced
1 6oz can of tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs crushed oregano
1 Tbs basil
1/4 cup soy cheese, grated (actually, it doesn't grate very well, so I cut it into small squares)
Gimme Lean non-meat sausage (cooked)
Fresh pineapple (cut into small squares)
1 small can sliced olives
1 can artichoke hearts
1 Bell pepper (whatever color they are giving out at the Food Bank) sliced very thin
Place pizza crust on cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Heat a frying pan and, when hot, add a little olive oil.
Break Gimme Lean into little pieces and brown in a frying pan. If necessary, add a bit more oil to make it not stick.
Drain tomatoes, reserving 1/2 cup juice.
Dice tomatoes and place on crusts; sprinkle with with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with the cheese and drizzle with olive oil (only 1 TBS per crust).
Sprinkle with non-meat sausage, pineapple, olives, bell peppers.
Combine tomato paste, reserved tomato juice, garlic, and herbs.
Spread over sausage, tomato, pineapple, olive mixture.
Drizzle with olive oil (only 1 TBS per crust).
Scatter more soy cheese on top.
Bake in very hot oven (450) for 20 minutes or until crust is done and veggies are soft.
Great Comfort Food!
This was posted on my other blog some times ago:
Last night, I had steamed potatoes and carrots for dinner (we received lots of carrots and potatoes at the food bank), . I just love them and they are very easy to make if you have a steamer. My favorite steamer is Black & Decker Handy Steamer/Rice Cooker. I use it for both veggies and for rice. There's not really a recipe but I'll put down what I did.
Wash potatoes and carrots with fruit and vegetable rinse. Cut them into smallish pieces and put into steamer basket (not the rice cooker part). Put water into bottom of steamer and put the drip pan on top and then the steamer basket on top of that.
Put the timer onto 45 minutes and plug it into the socket.
When the potatoes and carrots are soft, take them out of the steamer basket and put them onto a plate. My favorite margerine is Earth Balance and I put that on top and salt and pepper them.
Yum! Great comfort food!
Last night, I had steamed potatoes and carrots for dinner (we received lots of carrots and potatoes at the food bank), . I just love them and they are very easy to make if you have a steamer. My favorite steamer is Black & Decker Handy Steamer/Rice Cooker. I use it for both veggies and for rice. There's not really a recipe but I'll put down what I did.
Wash potatoes and carrots with fruit and vegetable rinse. Cut them into smallish pieces and put into steamer basket (not the rice cooker part). Put water into bottom of steamer and put the drip pan on top and then the steamer basket on top of that.
Put the timer onto 45 minutes and plug it into the socket.
When the potatoes and carrots are soft, take them out of the steamer basket and put them onto a plate. My favorite margerine is Earth Balance and I put that on top and salt and pepper them.
Yum! Great comfort food!
Do You Have the Protein Monster in Your Head?
I know some of you were cringing as you read yesterday's recipe (steamed potatoes and carrots)! You were saying, "Yikes! Where's the Meat!" I have responded to that below:
When I owned my vegetarian school, one of the first questions I got from prospective clients was: "Well, then how will my child get his/her protein if s/he eats vegetarian?" I, too, wondered about this before reading nearly 300 boooks for my Masters' Thesis. I, too, had the "protein monster" in my head and thought if I didn't eat meat I had to at least eat lots of dairy products! These attitudes came as a result of my "nutritional education" in the public schools. But, the reality is just the opposite! Actually, because of the extensive advertising (that same "nutritional education" mentioned above), Americans are suffereing a myriad of illnesses caused by the over-proteining of America.
An article by Debra Blake Weisenthal entitled "Shattering the Myth of Protein" states: "If you are getting enough calories, just about no matter what you're eating, you're also getting sufficient protein." So, our worry about getting enough protein is not only not necessary but is actually detrimental to our health.
In "Fat Burning Foods", the authors state: "The trouble is, most people consume too much meat and cheese and not enough potatoes and break. You need only about an ounce of protein for every 18 pounds of ideal body weight. In other words, a 126 pound woman needs only about 7 ounces a day."
Dr. Pritikin, famed expert on nutrition, agrees and says: "Vegetarians always ask about getting enough protein. But I don't know any nutrition expert that can plan a diet of natural foods resulting in a protein deficiency, so long as you're not deficient in calories. You need only 6% of total calories in protein....and it's practically impossible to get below 9% in ordinary diets."
John Robbins, in Diet for a New America, wrote about research that actually lowers that percentage to between 3% and 5%. And, he adds, "a potato has 13% protein"!
Another issue for many people is that of "combining foods" to get a "complete" protein. This is a myth which came about because of some studies done on rats in the 1940's. Rats, which differ from humans in many ways, also have different nutritional needs. Not surprisingly, once research was conducted on people, the results were quite different and they resulted in a change in the way proteins are rated. The current standard for humans is known as the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). Using the PDCAAS scale, soy protein receives a top rating. Unfortunately, the Meat and Dairy Council still sites the old, inaccurate studies when convincing the public that get "protein" is very hard as a vegetarian but very easy with their products.
In Francis Moore Lappe's 20 year anniversary edition of "Diet for a Small Planet", she bemoans the way most people have accepted the 1940's study over the more recent studies. Her original book, with the incorrect study in it, is what made the "combining" strategy so popular. There's certainly nothing wrong with combing beans with a grain (almost every culture has some variation of beans and rice) but it's not really necessary!
So, relax! And have some comfort food for dinner once in a while without feeling guilty. I did....and it was yummy!
When I owned my vegetarian school, one of the first questions I got from prospective clients was: "Well, then how will my child get his/her protein if s/he eats vegetarian?" I, too, wondered about this before reading nearly 300 boooks for my Masters' Thesis. I, too, had the "protein monster" in my head and thought if I didn't eat meat I had to at least eat lots of dairy products! These attitudes came as a result of my "nutritional education" in the public schools. But, the reality is just the opposite! Actually, because of the extensive advertising (that same "nutritional education" mentioned above), Americans are suffereing a myriad of illnesses caused by the over-proteining of America.
An article by Debra Blake Weisenthal entitled "Shattering the Myth of Protein" states: "If you are getting enough calories, just about no matter what you're eating, you're also getting sufficient protein." So, our worry about getting enough protein is not only not necessary but is actually detrimental to our health.
In "Fat Burning Foods", the authors state: "The trouble is, most people consume too much meat and cheese and not enough potatoes and break. You need only about an ounce of protein for every 18 pounds of ideal body weight. In other words, a 126 pound woman needs only about 7 ounces a day."
Dr. Pritikin, famed expert on nutrition, agrees and says: "Vegetarians always ask about getting enough protein. But I don't know any nutrition expert that can plan a diet of natural foods resulting in a protein deficiency, so long as you're not deficient in calories. You need only 6% of total calories in protein....and it's practically impossible to get below 9% in ordinary diets."
John Robbins, in Diet for a New America, wrote about research that actually lowers that percentage to between 3% and 5%. And, he adds, "a potato has 13% protein"!
Another issue for many people is that of "combining foods" to get a "complete" protein. This is a myth which came about because of some studies done on rats in the 1940's. Rats, which differ from humans in many ways, also have different nutritional needs. Not surprisingly, once research was conducted on people, the results were quite different and they resulted in a change in the way proteins are rated. The current standard for humans is known as the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). Using the PDCAAS scale, soy protein receives a top rating. Unfortunately, the Meat and Dairy Council still sites the old, inaccurate studies when convincing the public that get "protein" is very hard as a vegetarian but very easy with their products.
In Francis Moore Lappe's 20 year anniversary edition of "Diet for a Small Planet", she bemoans the way most people have accepted the 1940's study over the more recent studies. Her original book, with the incorrect study in it, is what made the "combining" strategy so popular. There's certainly nothing wrong with combing beans with a grain (almost every culture has some variation of beans and rice) but it's not really necessary!
So, relax! And have some comfort food for dinner once in a while without feeling guilty. I did....and it was yummy!
Red Bell Peppers, Celery, Onions, Zucchini Over Rice
Brown Rice
Put distilled water into base of rice steamer (I use Black & Decker's Handy Steamer). I use distilled water because it doesn't leave a residue in the steamer base.
Put two cups brown rice into bowl of the rice steamer and put it into the larger bowl with the catch bowl underneath.
Add 4 cups of distilled water (I use distilled because it's the purest)
Steam for at least 1 hour and check to see if the rice is soft. If not, you will probably need to add more water to the base.
Red Bell Peppers
Celery
Onions
Zucchini
Lawry's seasoned salt
Basil
Parsley
Olive Oil
Chop up the veggies and put into a stainless baking pan. Sprinkle basil, Lawry's and Parsley over top. Drizzle oil over top. Put into a 450 oven and bake until the veggies are soft, gently turning occasionally.
Put the veggies over the rice. Add Tamari sauce or Soy sauce or any oriental sauce that you like.
Put distilled water into base of rice steamer (I use Black & Decker's Handy Steamer). I use distilled water because it doesn't leave a residue in the steamer base.
Put two cups brown rice into bowl of the rice steamer and put it into the larger bowl with the catch bowl underneath.
Add 4 cups of distilled water (I use distilled because it's the purest)
Steam for at least 1 hour and check to see if the rice is soft. If not, you will probably need to add more water to the base.
Red Bell Peppers
Celery
Onions
Zucchini
Lawry's seasoned salt
Basil
Parsley
Olive Oil
Chop up the veggies and put into a stainless baking pan. Sprinkle basil, Lawry's and Parsley over top. Drizzle oil over top. Put into a 450 oven and bake until the veggies are soft, gently turning occasionally.
Put the veggies over the rice. Add Tamari sauce or Soy sauce or any oriental sauce that you like.
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