Posts Tagged ‘olive oil’
Posted by terrepruitt on August 24, 2013
I have mentioned before that I have fantastic Nia students. Well, I also have fabulous students in my gentle yoga class. When I posted about green beans being the only beans I like, except garbanzo beans in a couple of recipes, one of my students commented asking if I liked hummus. Turns out she just made some with sweet potato. I asked if she wanted to guest post or give me the recipe so that I could post it. Just as I say about recipes she used the original recipe as a guide and made it her own. She gave me kinda what she did (pictured). In addition to bringing me the recipe she actually brought me some hummus. In a little baggie! So cute. So sweet of her. It was a perfect addition to our dinner that night because I hadn’t really planned a well-rounded meal since I spent a good portion of the day at the vet’s office with my cat. You know that all medications have side effects and one of hers had a big one so we are now on a different plan on how to handle her issue in order to deal with the issue that came up as a side effect. I had my very first Thursday morning Nia class that will be Thursdays at 8:30 am the same day. So being at the vet for hours then coming home and having to get some stuff done before having to leave for Gentle Yoga didn’t leave me time to think about dinner in detail. So having the sweet potato hummus to serve with a raw bell pepper helped a lot. And it was delicious. I modified it only by roasting the sweet potatoes and adding more water.
Hummus With Sweet Potato:
Ingredients (pictured)
1 cup peeled and chopped up roasted sweet potato* (I measured it AFTER I roasted it)
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup Tahini
7 garlic cloves, roasted (or raw)**
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup water (not pictured)
Peel and chop a sweet potato. Roast it in the oven (at about 450° F with garlic salt and olive oil). Until it is cooked to your liking.***
Put all ingredients in the blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.**** You can start with less water than 1/4 cup and add as you see fit.*****
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Recipe notes
*I measured the sweet potato AFTER I roasted it
**I used roasted garlic
***I roasted the sweet potato less than I would have if I were eating it
****I don’t have a food processor, I used my blender and I had to scrape and pulse quite a lot. I did not drizzle with oil or sprinkle with paprika.
*****I will use the “bean water” next time. (I forgot that I needed water at all otherwise I would have saved the bean water to use.)
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As you can see there are two different colored spreads in the picture. I think we might have used different colored sweet potatoes because I can’t imagine a sprinkle of paprika or her + of cumin would change the color that much. Can you?
Either way they both were delicious. Hers was more sweet. Again not sure if it is because of different potatoes or not. Could be the roasting.
Either way . . . this recipe is just a guide. A place to start. Something to look at to say, “Ok, someone has put sweet potato in a hummus and they thought it was good, now what can I do to make it my own?”
Right? So . . . . go make it and report back! 🙂
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: cat medications, cumin, Garbanzo beans, gentle yoga students, hummus, Nia, Nia class, Nia students, olive oil, paprika, roasted garlic, sick cat, side effects of medication, sweet potato, tahini, Yoga | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 1, 2013
So last Christmas my sister-in-law gave my hubby and I wonderful book. But she gave ME some sugar scrub. It was lemon-mint. I thought that was a great idea. I had always wanted to do that with essential oils. Well, as you might be able to imagine there are a ton of sugar scrub recipes out there and on the internet. So if you are here looking at mine —- THANKS! Some of the scrubs I have had have been a little too oily for me, so I was going for a less oily one. To me the scurb-y part of the sugar is what you want. The essential oil for a little therapy. The oil can be a moisturizer but it doesn’t have to be a lot. So I futzed with a few of the recipes I found on-line. I actually made my first batch months ago and this is when I am getting around to posting about the scrubs. So I don’t remember where I got the recipes that I futzed with and I don’t remember what I did the first time. But here is my latest recipe for a nice sugar scrub.
Sugar Scrub
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
30 drops pure peppermint oil
15 drops Ylang Ylang
20 drops tea tree
juice of half of a lemon
zest from a lemon
Put the sugar in a bowl then pour some of the oil in. Don’t use it all at first. Stir and stir until it is well combined. Then half of the peppermint. Mix well. Then add the remaining drops of peppermint. Mix well. Add more olive oil. Mix well. Add the Ylang Ylang. Mix. Add the tea tree, then mix. Add only as much of the olive oil as you want. You may even want more oil. But add then mix. It tends to LOOK like it is not enough but then as you stir is mixes in and the sugar gets saturated. So pour and mix. When you are done adding all the oil you want, then add the lemon juice. Then add the lemon zest. Mix, mix, mix.
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I have canning jars which really make a nice presentation, but they start to rust in the shower/bath. Plus you have the band AND lid to deal with. It is kind of a pain in the shower. So I was looking for a pretty flip top jar, but then I realized that the little hinge would probably rust. So finally I settled on something that is not as pretty, but I think it is much more functional. Just a regular plastic container. One lid to deal with, easy on, easy off. No screwing and unscrewing involved. No metal to rust.
Again, maybe not as pretty, but I think it will be better in the end, because rust isn’t pretty either.
I chose a peppermint essential oil because it has an invigorating effect, so I thought that would be good for morning showers. Ylang ylang is for stress relief, which many people would appreciate. Tea Tree Oil helps stimulate the immune system. It is known to fight bacteria, fungi, and viruses. To me that is perfect in a scrub. Since I teach Nia which is a barefoot cardio dance, I think of scrubs as being primarily for my feet. So a scrub that invigorate, relieves stress, AND fights bacteria and fungi —- is GREAT.
I hope you like it. Of course you can use an essential oil you like. What oil will you use?
Posted in Essential Oils, Misc | Tagged: canning jar, cardio dance, Christmas, essential oil, fight bacteria, fight fungus, fight viruses, lemon juice, lemon zest, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Teacher, olive oil, peppermint oil, shower scrubs, Sugar scrub, tea tree oil, ylang ylang | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 15, 2013
For two weeks we didn’t have a working stove or oven. The oven started beeping one night. We turned off the circuit breaker and it stopped beeping. I used it the following night. But then the day following that it started beeping again. It beeped and displayed a code. The code indicated a part was broken. My husband concluded via internet research and taking the control panel off the appliance that he could order it and replace it himself. Part of the reason it took two weeks to get fixed was that there was a holiday and a weekend in there. The part being shipped was delayed because of the Holiday. By the time we got the part and he was able to put it in, it was the weekend. The part didn’t clear the error. Then there were issues in securing a repairman. For those of you that know how much I love my roasted vegetables you might understand having no oven was really difficult for me. Roasted veggies are not only yummy, but so easy to make. A few minutes prep then in the oven until they are done leaving you time to do other things. That is why I love my oven. During the two weeks we ate take out. We ordered Chinese Food, which for us equates to a few nights of Chinese Food. I also used my toaster oven, my electric skillet, my crock pot, and my Cuisinart Grill. So it was not as if I had no way to cook, it just put a cramp in my cooking a bit. On the nights I have a Nia class I like to put our dinner in the oven and have it turn on about the time that class is over. 
By the time I get home whatever is cooking is either done or on its way to being done. Without that I had to come home and start cooking. But alas I have a stove and oven again. YAY! I missed them. While I was not being able to use my stove and oven I tortured myself by looking at a cooking magazine. As soon as my stove was fixed I decided to try a new recipe.
The recipe is from Bobby Deen. I got it out of the Food Network Magazine. The name of the recipe is Monday-Night Red Beans and Rice and is on the Food Network website.
Not your typical Red Beans and Rice recipe. I made some adjustments, of course! I am posting it here as I did made it. I am calling it something different too!
Sausage, Beans, and Rice
Ingredients:
—Three turns of the pan Olive oil
—3/4 medium onion, finely chopped
—8 turkey sausage patties
—1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
—2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
—1 15 1/2-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
—1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
—1/2 cup chicken broth
—1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
—1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
—1 bay leaf
—Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
—Salt, to taste
—Cooked brown rice
—Chopped scallions, for serving
Directions
Cook the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, chopping it up and separating it as it cooks. Stirring it and moving it around as necessary. Cook until almost cooked through. Add the garlic. Mix the garlic into the onions and meat. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the beans, chicken broth, cumin, thyme, bay leaf, green pepper, salt to taste, and pepper to taste. Stir the ingredients until it is all mixed well. Reduce heat and cover. Let cook about 10 minutes.
Serve the mixture over rice. Top with the scallions.
This was so good. I used my beloved 14 inch pan that I missed for two whole weeks. Once the beans were added my stirring was gentle as I didn’t want to end up with smashed beans, but I also wanted to make sure the spices were distributed and the bay leaf touched a lot of the ingredients. So I stirred a lot, but not vigorously.
My typical spices consist of garlic and onions. I didn’t even have cumin. I had to buy it with the sausage and onion. Yeah, I was out of onion. I have a stock of kidney beans and garbanzo bean. I have them both for the bean salad I like. Plus I love to roast the garbanzos.
I actually DID put pepper in this while I was cooking it. For those of you that know me (either in person or through my blog) you know I don’t like pepper/spicy hot, but the pepper my friend gave me (SMOKED PEPPER) I can handle a little bit of. So I put a little in the pan while I was cooking. When I served it to my husband I put a lot of pepper on his. While he was eating it he kept saying he was surprised I could eat it. He thought it was too hot for me. I had him taste mine . . . . which had NO extra pepper and he said the flavor was a little different. So maybe the pepper brings out a different flavor.
Either way, we both loved it and I can see this becoming one of those meals I cook often. I can see experiments with different sausages and no meat at all.
I can also see me cooking more with cumin.
Do you like red kidney beans? Do you like garbanzo beans? Doesn’t this sound tasty?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: and Rice, bay leaf, beans, Bobby Deen, chickpeas, Cuisinart Grill, cumin, electric skillet, Food Network Magazine, Food Network website, Garbanzo beans, Monday-Night Red Beans and Rice, my crockpot, Nia, Nia class, olive oil, Red Beans and Rice, red kidney beans, roasted vegetables, Sausage, thyme | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 20, 2012
Ha, ha, ha, ha. So I received another new thing in the organic produce box I have delivered, Delicata squash. It was delivered on the day before I was going to go to a week long (53 hours) training for Nia Blue Belt. The box came Friday morning and I had a lot to do so I put the veggies in the fridge. I was hoping that I would get to cooking it during the week, but I didn’t really count on it. The training was an hour away from 8:00 am to 6:00 or 7:00 pm. 
I think I had seen the squash on the list that comes with the delivery and I was thinking comparable to a zucchini. I didn’t get around to cooking with it until the week after it was delivered. It was the Sunday of the following week. Since I was thinking zucchini like consistency and cooking time, I was going to bread it and cook it in the oven. When I cut it I laughed because it was HARD. It was like a pumpkin. I didn’t know if I could roast it. I didn’t think it would cook in the time I had alloted. And even after I cut the ends off I didn’t think about it being seedy like a pumpkin. It was. So switching gears, I didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to slice it in half and roast it with olive oil and salt —- big surprise, huh? Me ROASTING a vegetable. I was going to FILL it with cheese and just bake it. Well, I cooked it a bit then decided to taste it. It was really good without the cheese. It was also sweeter than I had thought it would be so I didn’t think the cheese I was going to use was the flavor combination I was after. So I switched cheese and decided to just put a little bit of cheese on it instead of filling it. Instead of a lot of parmesan, I used a little cheddar and gouda.
I had also peeled it. I didn’t know if the outside would become edible during cooking. In my quest to cut it up I had started cutting it in slices so I had ended up with one slice with the skin/outside. I cooked it to see if the skin would be edible. It was. I was disappointed that I had peeled the rest of it.
Well, this turned out to be one of those surprise vegetables that was just delicious. As I said it was very good without the cheese. So I would definitely cook this squash up with just a salt, a little pepper, and olive oil. Adding anything to it is not necessary but could end up being great. Just like the cheese. I am glad that I tasted it before just piling on the cheese on it because it had a delicate flavor and so I used a lot less cheese and didn’t add any other seasoning.
I am not sure that I have seen these in the store or anywhere before. I probably have but didn’t know what they were so I didn’t pay attention. Now I will purposeful look for them. (I have been looking and I cannot find them.)
According to Wiki, this type of squash is a winter squash also know as the Bohemian, squash, peanut squash or the sweet potato squash. Further info states it belongs to the same species as the zucchini.
The World’s Healthy Food lumps winter squash together, their site states that it has the following percentages of the RDA of the nutrients listed:
vitamin A 214.1%
vitamin C 32.8%
fiber 22.9% (5.74 grams)
manganese 19%
vitamin B6 16.5%
potassium 14.1%
vitamin K 11.2%
folate 10.2%, in just a cup of baked squash. I think it is a great addition to a healthy diet. It is really delicious. And this is one of the reasons why I decided to get an organic produce box. I never would have thought to buy this!
Are you familiar with the Delicata Squash? How do you cook it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Blue Belt, Delicata squash, fiber, Nia Blue Belt, Nia training, olive oil, organic produce box, peanut squash, pumpkin, RDA, roasted squash, roasted veggies, training for Nia, vitamin a, vitamin B6, vitamin C, Wiki, winter squash, World's Healthy Foods | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 20, 2012
You might have read in my blog I am having an organic box of produce delivered to us. I love it. It is so nice to have produce and not have to go to the store. It is nice to have organic produce. So far I really like this. You might also know that part of the reason I decided to have a box of fruits and vegetables delivered is because I was hoping I would be “forced” to use produce that I normally wouldn’t buy. The last box I received had figs in it. Turns out I am ok with figs. I so enjoyed the salad with figs I had made, I tried to order the next box that had figs but I waited too long. I only have delivery every other week. Farm Fresh To You posts what will be delivered in a week the week before so I had known for a whole week, but I waited until the day before to decide that I actually wanted an additional delivery. It was not enough time for them to do it. So I missed out on another delivery of figs. But . . . in addition to the figs you might have noticed in the picture I posted on the first fig post that I had beets delivered. Now, I KNOW I don’t like beets. I have tried them, and I don’t like them. They taste like dirt. For those of you that don’t know what dirt tastes like, eat a beet and then you will know. So here I was with dirt to deal with. I was wondering, “WHAT DO I DO WITH A BEET?”
In the same conversations I had with people about figs I had asked about beets. One person said to boil them, peel them (the skin will come right off), and then put them in a salad. I think she said she cooks them then uses them as she needs them (within a reasonable amount of time. A couple of days or so.). Another person said she didn’t like beets, so she had no suggestions. Again, I was faced with a salad. That was the only thing I found that sounded remotely appealing. I was thinking I would boil the beets and then put them on a salad with goat cheese. Goat cheese seemed to be what I was finding as the cheese of choice with beets.
But you might have read that I was thinking about making a salad with figs. The recipes I was finding for figs in salads called for feta. But for me, I was thinking that the goat cheese would go better with the figs as it is creamy and mild — almost flavorless. And the feta — which to me is firm and much more flavorful — would go better with the beets. I was thinking the beets needed a strong flavor to help drown out the “dirt” taste.
One recipe I spotted said to roast the beets. Well, heck, why didn’t I think of that? Perhaps you know roasting is my prefered method! Geez, can’t understand why I didn’t think of that. Especially since I mentioned roasting beets in Borscht is Beets! Well, just as I did with the figs I didn’t read the recipes because I thought I could figure it out. I skimmed them and I saw some say, roast on a pan without foil and some say use foil. One recipe said the skin will come right off. Well, it didn’t so much for me, but it turned out ok.
I roasted them until they felt somewhat soft. I think it was at least 50 minutes, but I am not sure because I just kept resetting the timer and would run off to do whatever it was I was doing.
I had roasted the beets with olive oil and salt and a little garlic salt and I have to admit that even though while I was cutting them they smelled like dirt, they didn’t taste overwhelmingly like dirt.
Salad with beets:
mixed greens
pecans
beets (roasted with olive oil, salt, garlic salt — 375 degrees F for about 50 minutes)
feta cheese
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
Yay! Another produce item that I had not eaten before and I NEVER would have bought at a store or farmer’s market.
How about you? Do you like beets?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic vinegar, beet salad, beets, boiled beets, Farmers Market, feta cheese, figs, fresh figs, goat cheese, olive oil, organic produce, roasted beets, Salad with beets | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2012
You know I started this blog to share things with you. I wanted to share about Nia, exercises, things I think are healthy, and stuff I learn. I don’t think I had thought about posting recipes, but I probably didn’t think I would limit myself from doing so. It is funny that food posts get the most views and even more fun spark the most conversations. (I love the bloggey conversations.) We love our food, huh? It is universal. Everyone eats. Not everyone works out, not everyone dances, not everyone goes to exercise classes, and not everyone does Nia, but everyone eats. Even though we all eat different things it is still something that we all have in common.
As you might have noticed, when I try a new recipe, or just try making something I sometimes like to share. Even if the recipe still needs some adjustments I have to start somewhere. I like to post my recipes because I find myself using my blog when I am going to make something. I can even be at the store and get the idea that I want to make a certain recipe then I think, “Shoot I don’t know what it is in . . . . ahhhh, but I posted it on my blog!” So I use my blog at the store to grocery shop sometimes. Here is a recipe of something that I made that I need to work on.
I haven’t always liked hummus, but once I started eating it. I really liked it. There is a brand that my husband found that is really good. It is smooth and creamy. We used to eat it often. But it has Canola Oil in it. I prefer not to eat Canola oil. I have always wanted to make my own hummus so I thought not eating our favorite brand would inspire me. It did not. My issue was tahini. I don’t think of tahini. So when I go to the store I am not thinking, “Oh yeah, I need tahini.” I know you can make hummus without it. I believe my friend makes hummus all the time and she never used tahini. I haven’t tasted her hummus that I can remember so I don’t know if it is good without tahini or not.
The other day I was online and I actually bought tahini. I decided on wanted to finally make some hummus. There are a lot of recipes out there for hummus so I took some ideas from several of them. I need to work on it.
I used:
2 cups canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 teaspoons liquid from the beans
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon garlic flavored olive oil
I put everything in the blender and blended until smooth.
I prefer my hummus a little more smooth and actually creamy, but the blender was making odd noises so I didn’t want to push it too far.
First of all I think it is too salty. Next time I am going to use less salt and less tahini. I am also going to use less lemon juice. I am also going to use fresh garlic. I used some we have from a jar.
Not too bad for my first try, but not so great. But sometimes I just need to get in there and do it — make the recipe — so I can see it is easy to do so then I can play with it and make adjustments.
Do you like hummus? Do you make your own?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Canola Oil, chickpeas, creamy hummus, dance exercise, dance exercise class, Garbanzo beans, garlic oil, healthy recipes, hummus, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia workout, olive oil, tahini | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 13, 2011
I saw a recipe for roasted chickpeas and I thought it would be good. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I know that I wanted to do it. Then I was reminded of them when I saw it mentioned on ONMYWAYTOHEALTH. She has a link to another blog with the recipe with step by step pictures. All the recipes I have seen are basically the same.
A can of chickpeas
between 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
garlic powder*
While the oven is preheating to 450F, drain the can of chickpeas, also know as garbanzo beans.
Rinse the beans off. I heard the better you rinse beans the less they might cause heartburn and/or gas. So rinse them well.
Then most recipes say to dry the beans off, the instructions suggest using paper towel.
In a bowl mix the beans, oil, salt, and garlic. Then spread the beans on a baking sheet and cook for about 40 minutes. Most recipes say to watch them so they don’t burn.
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Well, ok, so are you ready for my version or at least what happened when I did it? TWO cans of chickpeas. I used two 12 ounce cans because one can is not that many. I didn’t dry them off very well, which might explain the way they cooked, but first, I think that drying them off is to help them roast and I figured they would get dry in the oven. So I drained and rinsed and sort of dried. I put them on the pan then sprayed olive oil on them. I don’t think it is really necessary to use a bowl, but that is personal preference. I used garlic salt, garlic powder, and season salt.
*I have seen so many recipes for them so basically use what you want. Use what spices you like. You can make them hot and spicy, or just really flavorful. You can add herbs. You can make them sweet. They can be flavored with whatever you’d like so go hog wild. I am going to try all different types of spices.
I would advise you to check on them while they are cooking because mine popped. Some of them popped off the pan onto the bottom of the oven. A couple landed near the element and I don’t know if it would have started a fire, but it sure start to stink. It was not a nice smell so I opened up the oven door to see what was going on and one popped off the pan. I was kind of afraid they were going to continue to do that. I didn’t see anything about that in any recipe.
Also . . . now this is where the drying might really be key, I don’t know because my oven does not cook evenly, but some of them cooked perfect and some did not. All the recipes I saw warned against burning so I was a little paranoid so when I saw the ones on the edge getting really crispy I figured they were all done since it had been 40 minutes. Well, the crispy ones are really good. My husband kept saying, “CornNuts!” And I kept saying, “Yeah, good comparison. Awesome. I love CornNuts.” He would say, “CornNuts.” And then I would say, “I know, right? Cool.” He finally said he is not really a CornNuts fan. Ha, ha. I am. So the crunchy ones are really, really good and they do taste somewhat like CornNuts. But the ones that aren’t crunchy are kind of odd. They are kind of like a stale cracker or something. Not quiet soft, but not crunchy. I obviously need to work on the cooking of them. I had them in as long as the recipe said to cook them, but that was not enough for some of them. Increase the time because of two cans? I might just have to scoop off the ones on the edge.
I really love CornNuts, but they have ingredients in them that I am avoiding so I don’t buy them. This is a great alternative. And just like CornNuts they can be made with any flavor. I can’t wait to make more. So what should I do next? What about you? What will you do? Try it, they are a great snack. Beans are good for you!
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beans, easy snack, easy snack recipe, fiber snack, olive oil, popping chickpeas, protein snack, quick snack, roasted chickpeas, roasted garbanzo beans | 16 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 1, 2011
I have mentioned Omega 3 before, but I haven’t said a lot about it. I thought sharing a few things about it would be nice. Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid required by the body. “Essential” means that our body must have it but can’t make it so we need to obtain the nutrient from our diet. Since our cell membranes are made up of fatty acids it makes sense that our body needs fatty acids to function properly. The key is making sure our bodies have the right kind of fat. Omega 3 contains three fatty acids, a-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and is considered a polyunsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated fat, unlike saturated fat, does not harden at room temperature. Wanting a fat that makes up cell membranes that does not harden is another thing that makes sense, right? Nutrients and waste have an easier time passing in and out of a cell membrane with a liquid consistency than one that is solid.
Research has been done in regards to Omega 3 on diseases and ailments with varied results. Studies continue to reveal Omega 3 helps reduce heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Omega 3 helps reduce inflammation. We know chronic inflammation is not good because it is linked with or even thought to be the cause of many diseases. Omega 3 could help with autoimmune diseases of which inflammation is present such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes. With many diseases there is often multiple issues so it makes sense that if something helps with one thing it might help with another if it is a symptom or a result of a disease. For instance, many people with diabetes have high cholesterol so, if Omega 3 helps lower the LDL and raise the HDL, that would be of assistance to someone with diabetes. Science is continuing to discover things about Omega 3 and how each fatty acid has different effects on the body.
Omega 3 is interesting in that one of the three ALA is actually not used by the body until it is converted to the other two. Some foods contain ALA, some contain EPA, and others contain DHA or a combination of them. So as always recommended it is good to eat a variety of foods. Eating a variety of foods containing Omega 3 will help ensure you get what you need. Some of the food Omega 3 can be found in is cold water fish, flax seed, walnuts, and what some are calling “Omega 3 eggs”. At present there is not a Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Omega 3, but the consensus is that Americans should be eating more.
According to a the World’s Healthiest Foods website: “the National Institutes of Health recommended that people consume at least 2% of their total daily calories as omega-3 fats.”
You might have heard the claim that Canola Oil is a good source of Omega 3, but then you might have also heard the processing the rapeseed plant goes through and the way the oil is made actually burns off the Omega 3 and becomes transfat. This is one of those things you might want to research and decide for yourself. It is your health.
Other foods containing Omega 3: beans, olive oil, hemp seeds, kale, collard greens, spinach, soybeans, cloves, oregano, green beans — yay, not just fish! I am not a fan of fish although, the Omega 3 in fish is hard to beat, so I probably should start eating it.
Like so many nutrients being discovered as being necessary almost everyday it seems as if the best way to get what the body needs is to eat a variety of foods. The less we eat of over-processes and packaged foods the better. Finding a balance is also important. It just really sounds as if, from all the information I have read, Americans consume less Omega 3 than we should, so — to me — it sounds good to add more to my diet. What about you? Are there ways you can add more healthy foods that contain Omega 3 into your diet?
Posted in Food | Tagged: ALA, asthma, autoimmune disease, balanced diet, Canola Oil, chronic inflammation, DHA, diabetes, EPA, essential fatty acid, flax seeds, healthy diet, heart disease risk factors, hemp seeds, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, olive oil, Omega 3, polyunsaturated fat, rapeseed, RDA, reduce inflammation, required nutrient, rheumatoid arthritis, saturated fat | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 4, 2011
Often I hear people say they would like to cook eggplant but they don’t know how. I also hear a lot of people say you have to get the water out of eggplant before you cook it. Well, I would like to try cooking it another way because the only way I know how is to roast it, of course. Recently I bought some eggplant specifically to cube it and sautee it to see how that would be. But when I started thinking about how yummy it is roasted, I opted for roasting it. I have used Japanese eggplant, which it nice because it has less seeds. It is also nice because it is more evenly shaped so all the slices come out basically the same size so they cook at a more even rate. I typically use the large pear-ish shaped eggplant. The last time I bought it, the store clerk said she had always wanted to try it but didn’t know how to cook it (see, I told you people tell me that). So I decided to share my way of cooking it. You know I love to roast veggies. Roasting veggies is so easy because you can put them on and work on cooking the rest of dinner. I was so busy cooking the rest of dinner I forgot to take pictures of the roasted eggplant. I remembered to take pictures of it as I sliced it, but I forgot to do it after it was cooked.
I slice at about 3/8 of an inch. I put olive oil on the pan (I use a cookie sheet), then place the slices on the pan in rows, then I drizzle a little olive oil on the slices. I sprinkle garlic powder on each slice. Then I sprinkle salt on each slice. The salt will help release the water. Pretty much the same way as sweating the vegetables, but the water will evaporate in the oven. I usually cook them for about 15 or twenty minutes at 400 degrees. Then I flip them over. I usually add more seasoning. It depend on how much salt I put on before. I might add more or not. I put them back in the oven. How long depends on how they look. Often times they don’t cook evenly so some will be done where others will not. So I take the done ones off the pan, then I set the timer for the time I guess that the next ones will be done. When that time is up I take the done ones off the cookie sheet and put the pan back in the oven. Depending on how they are cooking, I might flip them. It is a process. You have to watch them a bit. That is why it is good to have other stuff to be cooking in the kitchen. You also have to decide HOW cooked you like them. You can cook them just a little until they are still really soft and doughy or you can cook them until they are crispy–almost like potato chips. I like mine crispy.
A friend on FB said she puts cheese on the slices. That would be excellent. I haven’t tried that. I am sure it is really good.
I don’t squeeze out the water before cooking and I don’t take out the seeds. I also do not cook it for a set amount of time. I start with 15 minutes and go from there. It is best to decide as you go along.
I did not realize that eggplant is a fruit, a berry in fact. I don’t think in terms of botany. I just think in terms of eating and cooking. The information I saw said eggplant is a fruit that is used in cooking like a vegetable. So yeah, I think of it as a vegetable.
So that is how I cook eggplant 🙂 pretty much how I cook all my vegetables. What about you? Do you cook eggplant? How? I really would like to try it other ways, but I don’t know how to cook it aside from roasting it. Did you know it is a fruit? Did you know it is a berry?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: aubergine, cheesy vegetables, easy veggie, eggplant, Facebook, olive oil, oven roasted, potato chips, roasted eggplant, roasted vegetables | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 5, 2011
Last week one of my friends posted something on her Facebook page about green garlic. I meant to ask her about it when I talked to her but I forgot. Then she visited my blog and made a comment that included green garlic. She said she had posted a recipe of green garlic and spinach soup. She has many things that she makes that I want to try and I told her I put that on my list, well, I can cross it off. She had me over to lunch and she made green garlic soup.
First of call green garlic is somewhat what it sounds like. It is not GREEN so much as it is “new’ or not yet read to be mature garlic garlic. It looks like a scallion, but it is the garlic before it starts changing into cloves and a bulb.
I was able to witness this being made and she made it look so easy. Much easier than the recipe looked. She made a creamy soup without any cream. It is awesome. I need to find my immersion blender and start using it and I too will be able to make creamy soups and sauces without cream.
She cut up the green garlic. Sautéed it in olive oil. She used a little bit of butter, maybe a teaspoon or two. She cooked it until it was tender. Then she poured in a box of stock. I spotted the recipe and it called for vegetable stock, but as we were dining she said she used chicken. So I am going to use whichever one I can find without Canola Oil. 🙂 Then she put in a huge bunch of spinach. It wilted quickly then she blended it all in the pot.
It was gorgeous. It was delicious. It has to be nutritious because it was garlic, olive oil, spinach, and low sodium chicken stock. Oh, she did add crème fraîche to the bottom of our bowls, but that could be left out.
I can’t wait to find my blender’s directions so I can change the blade and get to making soups. I sure it will happen just in time as the weather changes.
If my friend happens to read this and wants to correct, add, or change anything in my notes on her recipe please do. Also, if you are here . . . . thank you so much. Thank you for visiting and thank you for having me over for your yummy soup and closet shopping!
Soup? Do you make your own soup? What is your favorite recipe?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: blender, chicken stock, closet shopping, emulsion, emulsion blender, Facebook, Facebook page, favorite soup recipe, green garlic, green garlic and spinach soup, green garlic soup, immersion blender, olive oil, spinach, vegatable stock | 10 Comments »
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