Sunday's Nourishement...

 

"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpiece - just good food from fresh ingredients."

Julia Child

Cooking a meal doesn't have to be hard. And complicated doesn't necessarily mean better tasting. Some of the simplest dishes can offer nourishment and good taste. So when you plan your next meal make something that brings you joy with  fresh ingredients. A simple salad or sandwich can be all you need for a meal.

Saturday "Supper"... Turkey Tetrazzini

     

     http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/budget-recipes/turkey-tetrazzini-2

    Tomorrow my oldest son is coming over ( he usually comes a couple times a month) and I always cook a meal for him to take home. So the first thing I do if I didn't have a meal from the day before that was a double recipe to share, I check my cabinets, refrigarator and freezer to see what I have that I can make.
     What I found today was some frozen turkey and in my cabinet, a box of spaghetti, cream and/broth in my refrigerator, put it altogether and the idea came to me... Turkey Tetrazzini. Next step is to "Google" other peoples recipes and see what ingredients they use.  Traditionally this recipe uses mushrooms and my son is not a fan, so this is when you take a recipe and tailor it to your families likes and dislikes, and what you have around your house. I will probable substitues peas and carrots instead of mushrooms because that's what I have and a lot of the other recipes I saw used that.  Also some of the recipes called for using milk, cream or stock. So I will pick from those choices and use what I have.
       The link above is just one of the many recipes for Turkey Tetrazzini, Don't be afraid to play with your food, some of the best dishes come from experimenting and/or mistakes!

Thursday " Tip "... Seasoning

     I had mentioned in an earlier post on January 7, 2015 http://whole-food-living.blogspot.com/2015/01/wednesday-word-essentials.html about four essential spices to have in your pantry. Another good tip is making your own spice mixes. The ones in the store usually start with salt as the main ingredient, as well as added preservatives. So by making some of your own you can control the amounts and freshness.
      Seasoning salt is a fun one to mix up and put together. You can put on your french fries, sprinkle on your cooked vegetables and chicken, your popcorn and basically anything you would sprinkle salt on. Many considerate this an "all purpose" salt.

Homemade Season Salt

2 Tablespoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon Paprika

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Turmeric

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Other variations to add in:

celery seed

curry powder

dried thyme

dried oregano

dried mustard

cumin

Mix all ingredients and store in container.

*Note- you could put more of each spice to double the batch and leave the salt as is or leave out altogether.

It's your seasoning mix, tweak it to fit your taste, but most of all, have fun doing it!

Wednesday " Word"... Sugar

I came across this article http://www.foodmatters.tv/content/5-more-reasons-to-quit-sugar  and it brought sugar back to my attention. Talking about "Sugar" can not be mentioned enough. It is a very subtle and seductive ingredient in our food. I wrote about it earlier this year http://whole-food-living.blogspot.com/2014/02/thursday-3-tips-to-cut-down-on-sugar.html but I thought it worth mentioning again with the holidays approaching. Sugar is a hard thing to avoid and with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming one month after the next, the choices are difficult.

A good tip to help bring awareness to the sugar that your consuming on a regular bases, is to read the label and just notice the amount of sugar per serving. And maybe go a step further and write down on a piece of paper for one day the amount of sugar and then add it up. This is not meant for a guilt trip, only to bring awareness, because we can't begin to change what we are not aware of.

Here are a few words to look for when reading a food label - looking for sugar:

• white sugar
• brown sugar
• raw sugar
• high fructose corn syrup
• corn syrup
• corn syrup solids
• malt syrup
• maple syrup
• pancake syrup
• fructose sweetener
• liquid fructose
• honey
• molasses
• anhydrous dextrose
• crystal dextrose

~ Look for more tips and ideas in the coming months to help with your  "sugar awareness" 

Company/Product Review...

http://www.abesmarket.com/try/

I came across this company (as most of my finds, through something else I was searching) and I loved the idea that you could try up to three products a day for only $2.00 each with FREE shipping. Each product has a "info" button that allows you to click and see - an overview, the qualities the product has ( non- GMO etc.), ingredients, reviews and meet the seller. They are only looking for your feedback on the product. I love reviewing products!

Years ago I use to belong to a natural/organic food coop and we would order and divide items up so we could sample and try different things we wouldn't ordinarily purchase. It was so much fun and this company brought back some of that excitement. There are so many products on the market and it's nice to try with minimal commitment. And I thought they did a nice job with the packaging, I found it very appealing!

Here are the two things I picked to try:

I picked this because I thought the combination was really intriguing - cashew, cumin, cauliflower, coconut. And Indian flavor ~savory, not sweet. 

The full list of ingredients:

Cashews, brown rice syrup, tapioca syrup, cauliflower, lentils, coconut, coconut oil, potatoes, peas, mangoes, tomato powder, vegetable glycerine, sea salt, turmeric, onion, chili pepper, ginger, cumin seed

The first thing I tasted was the turmeric combined with broken up cashews and a slight sweet stickiness from the brown rice syrup and a nice soft texture. Other then that I couldn't really taste anything else. The turmeric has a strong presence which is not necessarily bad, but I think because it is so strong you lose some of the other flavors. I would have liked for the mango and ginger to be a bit more prevalent. 

Over all ~ I love the creative combination and uniqueness!

I picked this because I loved the way chocolate chip + macaroons sounded. Plus it was gluten and dairy free which is always a "plus" in my world!

The full list of ingredients:

organic coconut, organic raw agave, almond flour, non-gmo dark chocolate chips, ( unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar), organic extra virgin coconut oil, natural fair-trade vanilla flavor ( alcohol-free), organic vanilla bean, himalayan crystal salt and love!

( the last ingredient was my favorite!!!)

These were very good. My daughter and I had them gone in a matter of minutes. I personally would have liked a few more chips in each cookie and they were just a wee bit oily feeling (from the coconut oil) but it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying them!

Over all ~I would eat them again.

It was fun to try different things ~ 

Is is Natural?

Drying Vanilla Beans

As your reading labels, you often come across these two confusing words ~ Natural Flavors and Natural Flavoring, and what is the difference between the two? Here is some information that might help when trying to decide which is which in the food your eating. Because when were informed we can make different choices.

The term natural flavors is often used interchangeably with the term extract. A natural flavor or extract is generally made from a natural ingredient; for example, natural lemon flavor or lemon extract is made from lemon oil, and natural vanilla flavor or pure vanilla extract is made from real vanilla beans. the term natural flavoring refers to substances that are made in a laboratory that have the same or similar chemical formulas and flavors as a natural food, but are not derived from real foods as extracts are. They cannot contain any substances that are also contained in artificial flavorings.

* Excerpt From the book: The Science of Skinny-start understanding your body's chemistry- and stop dieting forever  Author: Dee McCaffrey CDC

If you would like help reading labels, shopping and/or making meal planning easy contact me at http://www.wholefood-living.com/contact.html

Pick and Choose

        A good start to the new year is learning to "pick and choose" what products and foods will benefit you the most and lead you to a successful year of better health.

       I picked up this certified Gluten Free/ Dairy Free crust ( two pack) from Earthfare for $5.99 ( making each crust roughly $3.00 each). For me, I don't make a lot of desserts for the obvious reason - I would eat them ( as well as trying to cut down on consuming too much sugar). So rather then make a homemade crust I "picked and chose" to pay for the convenience and save my energy for meals that I cook on a daily basis.

        This crust worked great for the pumpkin pie I made  http://www.whole-food-living.blogspot.com/index.html.  It was a bit tough when eaten right out of the oven ( couldn't wait to try it ) but the next day the moisture from the filling gave the crust a nice softness. Crusts made without gluten are not going to be as tender or as flaky but I felt overall the product delivered just what I was looking for, which was convenience and a good taste and texture to compliment the pie filling. And I love that I have another crust waiting for me in the freezer ~ time well saved!

The Ingredients in the Pie Crust:

Brown Rice Flour

Water

Non-Hydrogenated Palm Fruit shortening

Organic Evaporated Cane Juice

Tapioca Starch

Potato Starch

Sea Salt

Aluminum Free Baking Soda

Xanthan Gum

If you want to learn more about Gluten free/ Dairy Free pie crusts, the different ingredients, as well as the many food ideas that pie crust can be used for - Visit me this January 2014 on facebook https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoodLiving?ref=hl . And as always, you can find help with your nutritional needs by visiting me at :http://www.wholefood-living.com.