Smoked White Bean Soup

I make this bean soup with turkey bacon (I don’t eat pork) but you can use ham hocks or regular bacon.

3 cup cannellini beans
1 large Vidalia onion- large diced
3 quarts chicken stock
3 whole bay leaves
6 slices turkey bacon
1 Tablespoon rosemary
6 medium carrots- cut in 1 1/2 inch long rounds
1 teaspoon smoked salt
freshly ground pepper

1) Rinse beans well, pick over to make sure there are no small rocks.  Place beans in pot of cold water with one large piece of Kombu seaweed.  (seaweed is optional).  Slowly bring to boil.  Let sit while you are starting other ingredients.

2)  Sauté bacon in butter until cooked but not crisp.  Remove from pan, set aside. Sauté onions in 2 Tablespoons butter over low heat, covered, for 1 hour.

3) Drain beans, add to caramelized onions.  Add stock, carrots, all other ingredients.  Add water as needed to cover plus about 2 inches over beans.

4) Simmer slowly until beans are tender.   Remove 1 cup of beans, blend in blender with some stock, add back to soup.  Adjust seasonings.

Serve with Gluten Free corn bread and sautéed kale with onions.

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

From Nourished Kitchen

MAY 15, 2012 BY JENNY 66 COMMENTS

Preserved lemons enhance the cooking of North Africa with their pronounced saltiness and a sourness that is oddly mellowed, rather than enhanced, through fermentation.  Even with no other ingredients but salt and lemon, preserved lemons take on other unique and complex flavor profiles that can become even mint-like over time and after proper fermentation.

While you can buy them at specialty stores and online for up to $15 for a jar, you can make them yourself with just a little investment in salt, lemons and time.

For FULL post and Recipe CLICK HERE…

Millie’s Gluten Free Granola

The best granola you’ve ever tasted!

Years ago I found Adele Davis’s Granola for sale at Jacksonville’s first health food store (1973), I fell in love. I have never tasted a better granola. Here is my gluten free recipe that started with that inspiration.

Serve with almond milk to keep the carbs lower.

6 cups gluten free oats- Publix carries it here locally or you can find it online from Bob’s Red Mill
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

2) Mix first 7 ingredients together.

3) Make a well in the middle of the granola, add honey. Pour HOT water over it and mix.

4) Spread on two cookie sheets, pat down firmly. You want it to bake together; this will form nice clumps of chewy granola.

5) At the end of an hour, gently stir and turn so that it can brown, being careful to leave it it clumps.

6) Bake until browned evenly, periodically spreading granola in from sides as it tends to brown quicker on the edges.

7) Cool on cookie sheets. When cooled completely store in air-tight containers. Glass canning jars work great!

National Trust – ‘What’s Your Beef?’ Report

A recent report from the UK’s highly respected National Trust has confirmed what Animal Welfare Approved has been advocating for a long time: Feeding cattle on grass throughout their life-cycle is the most environmentally sustainable way to raise beef.

The new report – entitled What’s Your Beef – is an important contribution to the on-going debate about how to increase food security while reducing the environmental impacts of food production.

For FULL ARTICLE…

Chocolate Is a ‘Super Fruit’: Rich Source of Antioxidants

Cocoa pods and chocolate.

From Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Feb. 7, 2011) — It is widely known that fruit contains antioxidants which may be beneficial to health. New research published in the open access journal Chemistry Central Journal demonstrates that chocolate is a rich source of antioxidants and contains more polyphenols and flavanols than fruit juice.

When researchers at the Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition™ compared the antioxidant activity in cocoa powder and fruit powders they found that, gram per gram, there was more antioxidant capacity, and a greater total flavanol content, in the cocoa powder.

Similarly when they compared the amount of antioxidants, per serving, of dark chocolate, cocoa, hot chocolate mix and fruit juices they found that both dark chocolate and cocoa had a greater antioxidant capacity and a greater total flavanol, and polyphenol, content than the fruit juices. However hot chocolate, due to processing (alkalization) of the chocolate, contained little of any.

Dr Debra Miller, the senior author of the paper, says that, "Cacao seeds are a "Super Fruit" providing nutritive value beyond that of their macronutrient composition." Which is great news for chocolate lovers.

Beyond Apples: A Serving a Day of Dark Chocolate Might Keep the Doctor Away

From Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2012) — Chocolate, considered by some to be the "food of the gods," has been part of the human diet for at least 4,000 years; its origin thought to be in the region surrounding the Amazon basin. Introduced to the Western world by Christopher Columbus after his fourth voyage to the New World in 1502, chocolate is now enjoyed worldwide. Researchers estimate that the typical American consumes over 10 pounds of chocolate annually, with those living on the west coast eating the most. Wouldn’t it be great if only chocolate were considered healthy?

In fact, chocolate is a great source of myriad substances that scientists think might impart important health benefits. For instance, it contains compounds called "flavanols" that appear to play a variety of bodily roles including those related to their potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. Many large-scale human studies have documented a statistical correlation between flavanol intake and risk for cardiovascular disease. And animal studies suggest that this relationship may be due to the physiologic effects that flavanols have on chronic inflammation, blood vessel health, and circulating lipid levels. However, few controlled human intervention studies have been conducted to test the direct effect of chocolate consumption on these variables.

For FULL ARTICLE….

Goma Ae

As far as condiments go, this is my all time favorite to put on spinach, kale or asparagus. You can buy this already made, but the flavor is not as good.  It is a great source of calcium and  iron, nutrients most people do not get enough of if you do not eat meat or make bone stocks.

1 cup sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon salt
a black iron frying pan

Get your pan medium hot, add sesame seeds….keep stirring until they start popping.  They will start popping like popcorn.   Careful, watch closely as they will burn fast.

Let them cool, add them with the alt to a blender, pulse until ground fine but be careful as over processing will turn in into tahini!

Keep in a jar and use as a condiment.   You can also add water and use as a sauce, adding a little Tamari if you want.

Asian Sesame Asparagus

1 bunch of thin asparagus
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
toasted black sesame seeds
Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s or Tamari

1)  Heat Dutch Oven or deep black iron skillet medium hot.

2)  Slice each asparagus spear in half lengthwise. When pan is very hot, add sesame oil.  When it begins to smoke add asparagus.  Toss them in oil and then spread them out so that as many as possible are touching the bottom of the pan.  Then leave them alone, do not stir…for about 4 or 5 minutes.  They will begin browning on the edges. 

3)  Toss them again, place lid on pan and let them cook about 3 or 4 more minutes; you want them al dente and still bright green.

4)  Splash in Bragg’s or Tamari and stir quickly.  Remove from heat, stir in sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Study in Rats Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory

ScienceDaily (May 15, 2012) — Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid.

A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. "Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage."

While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.

FULL ARTICLE….

More Empty Recommendations on Junk Food Marketing to Children

Treehugger published this article outlining why money wins every time when we try to get legislation passed to limit. or at least improve content, in  marketing to children.  They summed up the article by saying;  As Jeff McIntyre, policy director for the advocacy group Children Now told Reuters: “We just got beat. Money wins.” That’s why it’s irrelevant how many more recommendations or deadlines come from the Institute of Medicine or any other panel of experts on how to “accelerate” progress. The only thing getting accelerated is lobbying dollars into politicians’ pockets. And kids’ poor health.

Read the whole article HERE….

BUT, aren’t we looking at this bass akwards?   WHO is in control here?

My recommendation is to put the power back in the hands of people who SHOULD be in charge!   PARENTS!    Yes, turn off the TV, and stock your house with healthy foods, set an example, eat right, get outdoors with your kids…

Unless your kids have jobs and cars…YOU are in charge.

It doesn’t matter WHAT they legislate.