Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on May 17, 2011
I love tortillas. I love that they come in so many different flavors and ways. Depending upon your nutritional needs and health goals you can pretty much get almost any kind of tortilla you want. There are corn tortillas. They can be white corn, yellow corn, or corn with flavors. There are flour tortillas, wheat, whole wheat, multi grain, or white. There are low carb tortillas, low fat tortillas, spinach tortillas, tomato tortillas, fortified tortillas, high fiber tortillas, gluten-free tortillas, low-sodium tortillas, and the list goes on I am sure.
There are probably as many tortillas as there are ways you can cook with them. I think I have proclaimed my love for them before. Here is one of my favorite ways (why yes, yes I do have MANY favorite ways to eat a tortilla. And this is ONE! 🙂 ) This is a tortilla that I had warmed in the oven, then I put cheese, onions, and grape tomatoes on it. Then I heated up until the cheese was melted. Then I put the spinach on it. Then I put the mushrooms on it that I had cooked.
This is actually what my husband ate. Mine was not as colorful as I did not have the tomatoes or onions. And I cooked my spinach a little so it was wilted and wilted spinach does not make as pretty of a picture was the non-wilted kind.
Love this. Just looking at it I want to go have one. To me this is an easy meal. Put a bit of cheese and load a tortilla with veggies. Have more veggies on the side. Yay. Perfect!
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Cheese, corn tortillas, easy meal, flour tortilas, grape tomatoes on it, health goals, low carb tortillas, low fat tortillas, multi grain, nutritional needs, onions, tortillas, Veggie Topped Tortilla, whole wheat | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 14, 2011
After my Los Gatos Nia Class yesterday I went to the store. I wanted to get some food to take to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life today. I grabbed a bunch of celery for a snack. I think people like celery. I don’t. But I didn’t realize how much I didn’t like it until I started cutting it and washing it. I do not like celery. As I was dealing with it I kept thinking, “What a useless vegetable.” Well, I don’t really think that is true. I mean it has to be good for something besides as a filler in casseroles, salads, and soups. So . . . . to the cloud. Ok not really because I don’t even know what that is, but I definitely decided to look it up. Since I am going to be gone all day today at the walk, I thought I would jot down my celery education as my Saturday blog post. Yay!
As I think back on so many things (soups, salads, and casseroles) that I didn’t like as a child I realize it is because they had celery in them. I realize when I cook these things myself, I love them because I don’t put celery in them. But, as I truly believed, celery is not useless. The stalk, root, leaves, and seeds can all be used.
Celery (the stalk) is a great source of vitamin K and vitamin C. A cup can provide you with 2.04 grams fiber. Do people normally eat a cup of celery when they eat celery?
Celery contains nutrients that have been linked with lowering blood pressure, reducing high cholesterol, and helpful in preventing cancer. The phthalides are the compounds that help with lowering blood pressure. The vitamin C helps with the immune system. I’ve posted before about how chronic inflammation is associated with many diseases, vitamin C help reduce inflammation by helping contain free radicals, so does the coumarins also found in celery.
According to Wiki celery is like peanuts in that people who are allergic to it can have a very bad reaction as people with peanuts do. As with peanuts people who are allergic to celery can get a reaction from something that has been used to process it. Stalks, seeds, and roots all have varying degrees of potency.
As I was cutting the celery, just the smell was bothering me. And it is like an onion, not as strong, but once it gets your hands you can’t wash it off. I probably washed my hands at least 10 times in the course of my preparation of snacks for the walk and it never came off. As I was cutting it I kept thinking, “Peppery.” Not sure why. Since I was getting so disgusted while dealing with it, I thought, “Is it REALLY that bad?” So I cut a small piece off to taste it. I put it in my mouth and bit down. Yup, it IS that bad. I spit it out. I just do not like celery.
I did have celery soup a couple of times and I did like that so I don’t know what that means. Except that I WILL be trying my hand at making the soup but I will not be adding celery to anything I make. Any fans out there? Do you eat it raw? Do you disguise the taste by filling it with cream cheese? Or peanut butter? Do you cook with it?
Thanks, as always, for letting me share. And thanks, in advance, for sharing back. 🙂
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: American Canser Society, casseroles with celery, celery salad, celery seed, celery soup, celery stalk, chronic inflammation, cream cheese, free radicals, Los Gatos Nia, lowering blood pressure, Nia, Nia class, Nia Los Gatos, peanut allergy, preventing cancer, Relay For Life, vitamin C, walk snacks | 18 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 5, 2011
Since I have a few posts about salads, I have a few comments about salad. When my blogger sister mentioned in her comment her favorite salad is a layered salad I asked her to send me the recipe. So she did. I invite anyone to send me salad recipes. I am not necessarily requesting any certain TYPE of salad because we all have different nutritional needs, different likes, and different dislikes. Here is The Water Witch’s Daughter’s favorite salad:
Seven Layer Salad
It is generally topped with a dressing to marinade for about four hours before serving, and then it is topped with crumbled bacon. The typical dressing is one cup of Miracle Whip mixed with a half cup of sour cream and a quarter cup of sugar.
These are the ingredients pictured:
one to two bunches of romaine lettuce, chopped
one yellow pepper, chopped one cucumber, peeled and diced
about two cups carrots, chopped
one container of grape tomatoes, cut in half
one package of thawed frozen peas
one cup of shredded mild cheddar cheese
_________________________________________________
Looks like she started with the lettuce, then put the peppers, then carrots, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, then topped it with the cheese. I guess you can layer it anyway you would like, she didn’t say.
She did say that she did not marinate this one she just used ranch dressing. So it seems like there are dressing options. As with any salads, you can make them with whatever you want, and you can layer them, but I am thinking that the peas and the cheese combine to make a specific type of texture and flavor.
I am not a fan of Miracle Whip, more accurately I don’t like it. The ranch dressing is more my style, but on my salads I tend to just use olive oil and vinegar. But for this I would think a light creamy dressing would be good. With the ingredients state above, what dressing would YOU use? Do you have a favorite? Or can you suggest one that might be less calories? What would really blend well with this salad yet at the same time make it pop? Please share because I am curious as to what to use.
Thank you to my friend SuziCate for sharing her favorite salad! Thanks for the picture too!
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: blog sister, Cheese, layered salad, less calorie, Miracle Whip, ranch dressing, salads, SuziCate, Water Witch's Daughter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 3, 2011
You know that saying, right? “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” I was in the habit of eating an apple about four to five times a week. But then I got out of that habit. This week I had one in my salad and it was very satisfying. It took care of any sweet tooth I had. It was nice.
I forgot that apples might even help with allergy relief. I wrote about it in my Allergy Relief post. Now that I am thinking about it my allergies have been better and I have eaten an apple the last couple of days. Amazing sometimes how I don’t even realize how some foods are helping me. Apples contain quercetin which acts as an antihistamine. As I mention in that post quercetin is also an anti-inflmmatory. I can see how — if apples help with just these two things — they can help keep the doctor away.
The quercetin might also help regulate blood sugar. We all understand high blood sugar is not good, neither is low blood sugar so a simple food, such as an apple, which helps regulate it is awesome. One thing that a regulated blood sugar does is help keep you feeling full. Which alone could help with blood sugar regulation because then I am not eating things that are convenient and maybe not so healthy.
Apples have good fiber, not great fiber, but added to a healthy diet they can certainly give you a good percentage of our daily needed fiber.
With all the good stuff apples have in them they might be considered to help protect against cancer. The dietary fiber helps with the elimination of cancer causing chemicals in the colon, according to “Power Your Diet”. Apples contain antioxidants which have been associated with prevention of some cancers.
As with most fruits and vegetables, raw is better in that it preserves a better portion of the nutrients, but an apple can be eaten so many ways. There is raw plain, or raw with a dip. There is baked or sautéed. They can be added to things. Plus there are so many types. I like hard apples, so I like Galas and Fujis. I am not a fan of Delicious apples, they are too soft. Pippins are really hard, but very tart.
I don’t like cooked apples. I like them raw. What about you? What is your favorite apple? What is your favorite way to eat apples? If your favorite way to eat an apple is in an apple pie, that’s ok, you can admit that here. We won’t judge, I mean, apple pie is American after all.
Posted in Food | Tagged: allergy relief, American as apple pie, An apple a day keeps the doctor away, anti-inflmmatory, antioxidants, apple, apple pie, cancer prevention, fiber, quercetin | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 30, 2011
Sometimes I struggle with what to write. As I was sitting here trying to think of something, going through my Nia posts, thinking about my walk today for the MS Society, thinking about the awesome weather I remembered something my friends and I were talking about and I decided to write about it. Different colored bell peppers. I looked it up. I remember learning a long time ago that they all came from the same “plant”, but today I was thinking, “Hmmm? Is that right?”
Sometimes I learn things then forget them and have to re-learn them. I am surprised to see that botanically a bell pepper is a fruit. I don’t remember ever having learned that. I never understand how something is one thing, but we all call it another. What is up with that? Usually there has to be a reason. The information I’ve seen regarding tomatoes being a vegetable when they are really a fruit is tomatoes were considered vegetables because of taxes. Something to do with the difference between how taxes are applied to fruits and vegetables. This started in 1883.
I don’t know why we consider a bell pepper a vegetable and not a fruit. Also, it is called a pepper when it lacks the ability to produce the chemical that causes “heat”. I do now know that the different color bell peppers are a result of harvesting. The green ones are not fully ripened. Usually the order is green, yellow, orange, then red. Since the yellow, orange, and red ones need to be on the plant longer this is why they are more expensive. I have experienced them to be upwards of five time more expensive than the green ones.
To me I think of them as green, red, yellow, orange, in terms of sweetness. I find that — again, I want to clarify: to me — the orange ones are the sweetest.
So it is confirmed in my mind, the same species of bell pepper plant produces the different colored peppers because they are a factor of ripeness (or not in the case of green bell peppers). They are not different types of plants or different colors due to anything artificial. I would like to try a purple one. I have not even seen one in a long time. Have you ever seen one? The different colors have a different nutritional values. I posted about the green and the red before. Do you like bell peppers? Is there a color you prefer?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: bell peppers, fruit and vegetables, green peppers, hot peppers, MS Society Walk, Nia, Nia posts, nutritional values, orange peppers, red pepper, Tomatoes, yellow peppers | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 26, 2011
Have you ever watched the nature channel? Or Animal Planet? Or a National Geographic special about animals? You might have heard something like, “The monkey’s diet consists primarily of . . . .” “Hummingbirds eat a diet mainly of . . .” “The average diet of cows in the United States is corn.” Do these shows mean that these animals went to a doctor because they wanted to lose weight? Did they buy a book because they wanted to “be buff”? Did they subscribe to a website so they could be ultra tasty? No. For some reason when we talk about what animals eat we get it right, but when we talk about what we eat, we are a little “off”. The first definition of diet is what we eat. Whatever we consume, that is our diet. There are different types of diets. There is the omnivore diet, the carnivore diet, the vegan diet, the vegetarian diet, the Pescetarian diet, the Buddhist diet, the fruitian diet, Kosher diet, Mediterranean diet. . . . I could probably fill an entire page of the different names we have given the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group. There are diets that people “go on”, there are “fad diets”, there are long term diets, there are short term diets, but whatever the case it is what we eat
Whatever we eat it is our diet. Whatever is our habitual nourishment is our diet. But society has gotten into the habit of saying things like, “I’m going ON a diet.” “I am trying the low carb diet.” “I am on a low fat diet for three weeks.” For some reason we have been programmed to think of the word diet as a bad thing. As something that is suffered through in order to get a certain result then go back to the habitual pattern of eating. I wonder when that happened? I wonder how that happened?
This is a list of items to avoid for 14 days on one of the detox diets.
Since I try to use the word diet to mean whatever it is we are eating, I try to qualify the statement if I mean a diet for a specific period of time. I say “try” because sometimes I fall back into the mainstream pattern of saying, “Oh are you on a diet?” I am not a fan of “Fad diets” that promise quick results. And sometimes I am talking about a specific “diet” –whether it is a “fad” or not, there are “diets” out there that are used for a specific time frame, as in the Grapefruit Diet or a detox/elimination diet. I don’t think anyone could survive long just eating grapefruits and the detox/elimination diet could result in a change in your diet as it is used to see what effect certain food have on the body. Once you determine any issues then the food that is causing unwanted issues could be eliminated from one’s REGULAR diet. I know people that have “been on” the Atkins Diet and I know people who follow the Atkins way of eating as their diet, their habitual nourishment.
I keep thinking of trying the detox/elimination diet to see what foods affect me in negative ways, but I have not yet. I feel my diet/my regular consumption of food could use an overhaul or at least an adjustment, but the overhaul/adjustment will be for the long haul.
Basically when I say “diet” I mean what you eat. That is a diet. A nutritional plan. A way of life. What we eat. Whether you are “on one”, “trying one”, “restricting” yours, or “blowing” it, it is really just the food you eat, so I guess we are all “on” a diet.
Posted in Food | Tagged: Animal Planet, Atkins diet, Buddhist diet, carnivore diet, detox, diet, elimination diet, fad diet, fruitian diet, grapefruit diet, habitual nourishment, Kosher diet, Mediterranean diet, National Geographic, nutrition plan, omnivore diet, the Pescetarian diet, vegan diet, vegetarian diet | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 23, 2011
You know that the body being in a constant state of inflammation is not good, right? Research and studies are relating this state of being to many diseases. You know there are foods that have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Do you know that there are foods that cause an inflammatory response in the body?
It is thought that foods that cause an allergic reaction are related to inflammation. Since inflammation is an immune response. One of the food groups to be avoided when on a nutrition plan to reduce inflammation in the body is dairy. Dairy is a big allergy culprit so milk, cheese, and yogurt would not be included in this type of diet. Although I love dairy this seems like one of the easiest things to avoid.
Another allergy food is peanuts. This food is definitely not on the list of “can eat” if following an anti-inflammatory eating plan. This food seems like it might be a little bit more difficult to avoid. I would imagine if it is just being avoided with the idea to reduce inflammation it would not be so imperative to avoid things that are made in plants with peanuts as one has to do if they are highly allergic.
This diet also excludes caffeine and alcohol. Strict adherence would entail no fried foods, no processed foods, and no corn. I think the really difficult allergen to avoid is gluten. It seems to be in so many things. Things I wouldn’t have even thought of. Since so many people are participating in gluten-free diets I have since learned a few of the things, but still. It is in so many things it seems difficult to avoid. Just like the items on my list*. It is difficult to avoid them. I keep wondering what there is so eat on a diet like this.
This diet is thought to help so many health issues. Again from what I have seen it is thought that a constant state of inflammation is bad for the body. It is thought that this state is a state in which diseases can infiltrate the body and its systems. So if there are health issues I can see following this if it help relieve some of the symptoms of a particular disease. But this type of diet is also used as a detox and to see if any of these foods cause a reaction in the body. The plan is to not eat these foods for about two weeks then introduce them back into the diet and to check the reactions of the body.
I want to try this detox/elimination diet to see if there are some food that I should definitely cut out of my diet. I can live without all of this for two weeks, but the gluten. It is in so many things. Well, I am going to research it further. I am sure I will be posting more about this in the future, but I wanted to see what you think.
I know some of you follow gluten-free diets? So if you follow a gluten-free diet, why? And what do you notice, what differences in your body? And what do you eat instead of bread? Are they any of you that follow an anti-inflammation diet? Please share.
*Currently my list of ingredients to avoid: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) or Corn sugar, partially hydrogenated oils, and Canola Oil
Posted in Food | Tagged: allergen, allergic reaction, allergy, and Canola Oil, Anti-Inflammation Diet, anti-inflammatory, Cheese, corn sugar, dairy, detox, elimination diet, gluten, gluten-free diet, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, immune response, Inflammation, milk, nutrition plan, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, reduce inflammation, state of inflammation, yogurt | 11 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 21, 2011
What do you think of when you hear “salad”? When I was young when I heard salad I thought of lettuce with a few veggies in it. I don’t eat potato salad and egg salad so I never thought of them, but they are salads. There are so many other types of salads too. Wiki says:
“Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes including: vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.”
Salads could be considered the perfect food. At least in my opinion. As mentioned in wiki there are “vegetable salads” and “pasta salads”. When you put veggies and meat in a pasta salad you can have a pretty balanced MEAL. It also depends the ingredients you use when talking meal. Like my last post, the quinoa has a good amount of protein so mixing it with veggies makes a great meal.
There are salads that are a meal and salads that are a side. When I make a green salad I add cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, sometimes tomatoes, sometimes broccoli, sometimes nuts, sometimes cheese, sometimes seeds. For a long time we were using baby spinach as our “lettuce” but then I switched to a mix of lettuces. We buy spinach every once in a while. Either way I like the green for a salad. I don’t use iceberg.
Salads are fascinating.
I mean we even call jello with fruit in it salad. And they are really fun because they are usually prepared in a jello MOLD so you have a salad in a fun shape. And oh, fruit salad. When I was young we called one salad fruit salad and one ambrosia. Fruit salad was all different kinds of fresh fruit cut up and put tossed together and served in a bowl. Ambrosia was the same thing but with cool whip mixed in with all the fruit.
Ha . . . I should have checked my past posts before I posted because I already have a posted about salad, pretty much the same thing. But I can tell you a bit about the salad I posted about. It is clear to me that some of us have ideas in our mind about what a salad is because there was a time when my hubby (yes, Dear, I am dragging you into my post again!) wouldn’t eat a “salad” that didn’t have lettuce in it. He would claim it was not a salad, even though his family is a “jello salad family”. But after we visited Europe and they would often serve a “salad” without lettuce I was able to do the same thing when we got home. Ahh . . . travel is awesome. (I think I’ve said this before in a post too! The part about my hubby.)
One of the comments on my one of my previous posts about salad talked about the dressing on a Greek Salad. The commenter said she didn’t like the dressing. But that is one of the great things about a salad if you make it yourself you can put whatever dressing you want on it!
I have yet to make the tomato and watermelon salad that my friend mention in the comments of my “salad” post. I am putting that in my calendar in June. So I remember.
Usually I check my blog to see if I have posted about a subject before, but it was late (really late) and I didn’t check and now that I am looking I have several posts on salad*. As I said and as is now totally obvious, salads are fascinating.
*Here’s a few of the “salad” posts:
Quinoa Salad
Bean Salad
Awesome Salad
Summer Salad
So? I’ve said a whole lot about salad. What do you have to say? Have a recipe? Like one thing over another? Have you tried any of the salads on my blog or the suggestions people have posted? Do tell? Salad is awesome!
(I think I need to make a “Salad” Category.)
Posted in Food | Tagged: ambrosia, Awesome Salad, bean salad, chicken salad, cool whip, cucumber and mango salad, egg salad, fruit salad, Greek Salad, Green Salad, jello salad, legumes, mixed salads, pasta salad, Quinoa Salad, salad, salad recipe, spinach salad, Summer Salad, tomato and watermelon salad, vegetable salads | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 19, 2011
I heard about quinoa awhile ago, but I never actually went ahead and bought some to prepare. I had never had it. Today I went to lunch at a friend’s house where she made a beautiful and yummy quinoa salad. I had heard that this grain-like food was GREAT because it had so much protein. I’ve heard some people use it in place of rice, pasta, or couscous and I was thinking of doing the same thing. The way my friend prepared it was awesome. She cooked it, sautéed some vegetables, made a dressing with cilantro, and tossed it all together. We also added thinly sliced almonds and dried cranberries. We ate it warm, but it can be served hot, room temperature, cold . . . . however you like it. It was very good. I am happy to have finally tried quinoa.
I don’t understand how they categorize things, but quinoa is more closely related to greens such as spinach than it is to a grain. We tend to treat it like a grain in the way we cook it and think of it nutritiously, but its scientific classification is, as I said related to spinach and we eat the seed.
According to WHFoods, quinoa is a great source of magnesium which helps loosen the blood vessels so it is a good food for migraine suffers to add to their diet. Even it is actually a seed, as I said they compare it to a grain when it comes to nutrition so it is thought to have all of the health benefits of a whole grain. Quinoa is gluten free.
A cup of quinoa has 222 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 cholesterol, 13 mgs of Sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of dietary fiber, and 8 grams of protein. Since it has all nine essential amino acids it is a complete protein.
Even though quinoa has almost twice as much protein and a lot more fiber than white rice, and more than brown rice and couscous, it has much more fat. A significant amount more. Here’s some numbers for comparison.
1 Cup of cooked white rice: calories: 203 fat: 0.4 carbs: 44.1 protein: 4.2 dietary fiber: LESS THAN 1 gram
1 Cup of cooked brown rice: calories: 216 fat: 0.4 carbs: 48.1 protein: 5 dietary fiber: 3.5
1 Cup of cooked couscous: calories: 176 fat: 0.3 carbs: 36.5 protein: 6 dietary fiber: 2.2
I believe it can be a nice substitute for a rice or couscous every once in a while, but I would not consider it as a replacement. I would like to try it as a breakfast treat with honey and maybe nuts. I think that would be a good way to start the day. Good protein, fiber, and whole grains. Quinoa sounds very versatile. I’ll have to remember to thank my friend again for introducing me to yet another great food.
What about you? Do you eat quinoa? How do you prepare it? How do you eat it?
Posted in Food | Tagged: brown rice, carborhydrates, carbs, couscous, dietary fiber, GF, GF food, gluten free, high protein food, Magnesium, protein, quinoa, white rice, Whole grain | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 12, 2011
I was going off the “recipe” for Green Garlic and Spinach Soup, but I was not measuring and making it up as I went along so the measurements are not exact.
When I served it I put some mozzarella in it. For hubby I put some raw onions and mozzarella. But I made him taste it BEFORE I added anything and he thought is was good without the added onions and cheese. I would imagine if you like pepper it would be a GREAT addition to this soup. I was going to serve it with hot sauce to my hubby because originally I thought it was going to be rather flavorless, but it turned out not to be flavorless and he liked it.
Keep in mind that I made this up, never having made a soup like this and never having used the immersion blender. So you might want to read my “Experimental Soup” post so that you know some of the issues if you haven’t done something like this before. Basically keep an eye on things because this post is not a step by step, “turn stove on, turn stove off” kind of recipe.
Baby Bok Choy and Spinach Soup
–olive oil
–1/2 (ish) of a medium sized onion chopped
–some chopped onion (for garnish)
–2 bundles of baby bok choy
(chopped, bottom portion separate from leafy portion)
–2 or 3 tsp of minced garlic
–garlic powder
–garlic salt
–48 oz of chicken broth
–some beer
–shake or two of teriyaki
–1 6-oz bag of spinach
–1.5 (ish) wooden spoonful of cream cheese
–mozzarella
Sautee onions in the olive oil. When the onions look tender add in the chopped bottom portion of the bok choy. Let it cook a minute, then add the garlic. While the bok choy is cooking, add garlic powder and garlic salt to help the veggies sweat. Sautee until tender. Then pour in the broth. Added some beer and teriyaki.
Stir it as you feel necessary throughout the entire process.
Bring to boil. Add the cream cheese if you are going to use it. Add leafy portion of the bok choy and bag of spinach. Gently boil for a few minutes or until the veggies are wilted.
Once the veggies looked wilted use the blender to mix it all up.
Ok, so if you try this let me know. If you make changes let me know. Sometimes I just stick to what I have tried because I don’t wanna ruin a good thing so you can do the experimenting for me and let me know what you’ve done that works! 😉
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: baby bok choy, Baby Bok Choy and Spinach Soup, beer, bok choy, chicken broth, cream cheese, emulsion blender, Experimental Soup, garlic powder, garlic salt, green garlic, green garlic and spinach soup, immersion blender, spinach | 11 Comments »
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