Saturday, June 28, 2014

Greek Yogurt Potato Salad with Artichokes recipe





A light and creamy potato salad.  Perfect for cookouts or summer meals.

Ingredients
2 lbs. Red Potatoes
1 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
5.3 oz. Greek Yogurt
½ cup sour cream
3 scallions – use both green and white parts
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. fresh dill chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme chopped
½ tsp. garlic powder
14 oz. can of quartered artichokes (not in oil)
2 ribs of celery
Salt
Black Pepper
3 tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped


Instructions
  1. Slice potatoes into one-inch cubes and place in large pot. Cover with water and salt with 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to boil and cook 10- 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and place in bowl for cooling. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and place in refrigerator.
  2. In large bowl combine Greek yogurt, sour cream, scallions, Dijon mustard, dill, thyme, and garlic powder. Stir and salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Stir in celery and artichokes into Greek yogurt mixture.
  4. When potatoes are cool, stir in gently until potatoes are coated with Greek yogurt mixture. Garnish with cilantro and chill until ready to serve.
  5. (Potatoes can be grilled instead of boiled as well.)

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Friday, January 17, 2014

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich


Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich… 

perfect for Summer Afternoon Tea

avocado egg salad sandwich 039

Like the more I dine out, the more I learn and the more aware I am of new flavors.
So healthy....

Friday, January 10, 2014

Source:  http://www.care2.com/
My friend’s husband, Henry, recently bought a huge box of Yogos, confident that these “yogurty-covered, fruit-flavored bits” were a healthy choice for his kids.
“Not exactly,” his wife, a nutritionist, said when he presented her with the box. Sure, Yogos are fortified with 100 percent of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C and some calcium. But the ingredient list begins with sugar and partially hydrogenated oils, and a small pouch (just shy of an ounce) of the pea-sized candies supplies 90 calories, two-thirds of which come from sugars. In fact, Yogos contain very little yogurt or fruit. How did this smart man get fooled into thinking this was health food?

No doubt Henry was deceived by what Brian Wansink, Ph.D., executive director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and an EatingWell Advisory Board member, calls the “health halo” effect. Words like “yogurt” and “fruit” positively glow with such halos, since we consider these foods healthy in their natural state.
In his “McSubway” studies, reported last October in the Journal of Consumer Research, Wansink showed how we let our general impressions of foods mislead us. He asked people who had finished eating at McDonald’s or Subway to estimate the calories in their meals, then compared their guesses to the actual counts. Participants estimated that a Subway meal contained 21 percent fewer calories than a McDonald’s meal with the same calories. Wansink concluded that Subway’s “healthier than fast food” image was biasing customers’ calorie estimations. Today, his advice is, “Take your best estimate of how many calories you think the food contains, and double it!”
Don’t be fooled by health halos. Some of the worst offenders:
ENERGY BARS
Energy bars usually contain protein and fiber—nutrients that help you feel full—but also may be loaded with calories. That’s fine if you occasionally make one a meal, but most of us eat them as snacks. You might as well enjoy a Snickers, which at 280 calories is in the same range as many energy bars.
Lesson learned: If you need something to tide you over until dinner, look for a calorie-controlled bar with about 5 grams of protein (e.g., Balance 100-calorie bar, Promax 70-calorie bar).
GRANOLA
Granola sounds healthy. But it’s often high in fat, sugar and calories. Don’t be fooled by a seemingly reasonable calorie count; portion sizes are usually a skimpy 1/4 or 1/2 cup. Low-fat versions often just swap sugar for fat and pack as many calories as regular versions.
Lesson learned: Read granola labels carefully and stick with recommended portion sizes (which are teeny), perhaps as a topping on fruit or yogurt.
SALADS
“Salads trip up many of my clients,” says my friend Anne Daly, R.D., director of nutrition and diabetes education at the Springfield Diabetes & Endocrine Center in Springfield, Illinois. Most of us could use more vegetables—so what’s not to love? In a word, toppings. The pecans and Gorgonzola cheese on Panera Bread’s Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (580 calories, 30 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat) propel it into double-cheeseburger territory. A McDonald’s double cheeseburger has 440 calories, 23 grams fat, 11 grams saturated fat.
Lesson learned: Before ordering a salad, check its nutrition information plus that of the dressing and all add-ons (often, they’re listed separately).
SMOOTHIES
Smoothies may seem like a tasty way to help get your recommended fruit servings—but studies show that beverages are less filling per calorie than solid foods. And added sugars can make some the equivalent of drinking fruit pie filling: the smallest (16-ounce) serving of Jamba Juice’s Orange Dream Machine weighs in at 340 calories, with 69 grams of sugars that don’t all come from orange juice. You’re better off with fresh-squeezed juices; orange juice has 110 calories per cup.
Lesson learned: Some smoothies pack as many calories as a milkshake. Look for those made with whole fruit, low-fat yogurt and no added sugars.
YOGURTS
Yogurt is a great way to meet your calcium needs, but not all are created equally. Some premium whole-milk yogurts can give you a hefty dose of saturated fat. Shop around: many low-fat versions of these products are every bit as creamy. Enjoy a fruit-flavored low-fat yogurt, but understand that the “fruit” is really jam (i.e., mostly sugar). Or opt for low-fat plain and stir in fresh fruit or other sweetener to suit your taste; you’ll probably use less. My favorite, a tablespoon of Vermont maple syrup (52 calories), provides all the sweetness I need.
Lesson learned: Although they are still good sources of calcium, some yogurts can be closer to dessert than to a healthy snack. Don’t let fat and added sugars spoil a good thing.
SUSHI ROLLS
Sushi is big in my family. There is a wide variety of sushi rolls out there and in some the fried tidbits and mayonnaise can really tuck in the calories. The Southern Tsunami sushi bar company, which supplies sushi to supermarkets and restaurants, reports its 12-piece Dragon Roll (eel, crunchy cucumbers, avocado and “special eel sauce”) has almost 500 calories and 16 grams of fat (4 grams saturated).
Lesson learned: Signature sushi rolls often come with a creamy “special sauce”; you should ask what’s in it. Or just order something simple: for example, a 12-piece California roll (imitation crabmeat, avocado and cucumber) or a vegetarian roll with cucumbers, carrots and avocado supplies around 350 calories and 6 or 7 grams of fat, and most of it is the heart-healthy mono unsaturated type.
Despite these precautions, I’m not trying to be a nutrition nanny. In truth, most of these foods can fit into a healthy diet if you know your limits. But do a reality check and read labels first. After all, as my friend told Henry, even if the Yogos package screams yogurt- covered fruit, the ingredients list proves it’s still candy.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Eggplant Pasta Pie recipe

My favorites together in 1 dish:  Eggplant and Pasta!  Enjoy!


Baked Pasta with Eggplant
serves 6

  • 3 eggplants 
  • sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 14 oz. chopped tomatoes (or 2 cups)
  • 14 oz. rigatoni, or penne rigate
  • 2 oz. caciocavallo, or pecorino cheese, grated
Thinly slice the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain in a colander for at least 2 hours.  Squeeze lightly to get rid of excess liquid.
Preheat oven to 180C / 350F .

Grease a round cake tin with the unsalted butter; we used one that was 10 inches (23cm) wide and 2 inches (3.5cm) deep. put in 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and shake and turn the dish so that that they stick to the butter and line the dish.

Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan and sauté the aubergine slices in batches until lightly colored. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Using about three quarters of the eggplant, cover the base and sides of the breadcrumbed tin. Make sure that you overlap the slices so that there are no gaps.
 
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and cook the onion and garlic over a medium heat until soft, but not coloured. Add the tin of tomatoes and season with salt. Cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.

While this is cooking bring a pan of water to the boil, salt well and cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the packet instructions, so that it is still al dente. Reserve some cooking water and then drain the pasta.
Spoon a layer of the pasta into the aubergine lined tin followed by tomato sauce, a layer of the aubergine and a layer of grated cheese. Repeat with the remaining pasta, tomato sauce, and a final layer of aubergine. Finish with the remaining breadcrumbs to form a coating on the top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes and until golden.


Let stand for about 10 minutes. This will allow the dish to firm up.
Put a plate over the top of the tin and holding both the plate and dish firmly, turn both over together so that the Timballo turns out onto the plate. Serve in wedges.
 
(recipe from Georgio Locatelli: Made in Sicily, Fourth Estate, 2011.)

Monday, December 2, 2013

Licking Your Wounds is Beneficial to your Health

"Langue de chien, langue de médecin," the French say: "A dog's tongue is a doctor's tongue."



It is instinctive to put a paper-cut finger in your mouth.  And dogs do the same with their wounds. 

Dog saliva  is relatively clean and full of enzymes, which promote healing.  The first few licks  help to clean away the debris that might be in the wound, and licking cleans  infectious matter from the outside world.  The bacteria in their mouths isn’t too bad, in fact many of them are  actually helpful.  Licking also stimulates blood flow and some other  healing effects.

Cats, sheep, and other animals also lick their wounds.  If you didn’t have hands- you might do the same!

The benefits of moderate wound licking:
The enzymes in dog saliva help destroy the cell walls of dangerous  bacteria.  Lactoferrin and other antibacterial and anti-viral compounds  can also be found in saliva.

Licking a wound delivers protease inhibitors, and growth factors, which promote wound healing.  Opiorphin is a pain reliever.
Finally, when meeting the skin, nitrate compounds in saliva break  down into Nitric Oxide, inhibiting bacterial growth and promoting  healing.

Too much licking:
A good amount of licking can be helpful for small wounds- but never  after surgery, especially if there have been stitches, dogs are likely  to bite and pull them out. 

Conclusion:  for minor wounds licking helps.  There can be minor risks is the creature licking is sick, but for the most part licking is an instinct that assists.


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Vegan Sugar-Free Thanksgiving Pies

All of these recipes are Vegan, Sugar-Free pies.  Healthy and tasty. Sugar is not good for us, for our immune systems.  Make it a healthy Thanksgiving!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe:



Pecan Pie 
 Pecan Pie Recipe:


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Pumpkin PIe with Maple whipped Cram
Pumpkin with Maple Whipped Cream Recipe:


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Garlic is a "broad spectrum" Antibiotic

Garlic has been proven in scientific tests to kill a wide variety of bacteria and viruses.   So we can call garlic a Broad Spectrum Antibioltic.  Best to use garlic to prevent getting sick.  Raw garlic cloves are the best, but all types garlic help.

By the way, here is electron microscope photo of the flu virus.  Wow, so complex and beautiful in a way and so awful when it attacks.  Creepy.