Save Yourself Some Time and Don’t Salt That Eggplant
Posted: September 14, 2015 Filed under: In The Kitchen with Millie- How To's | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #savingtime, Paleo Leave a comment
Every eggplant recipe I’ve ever encountered has instructed me to salt the big purple fruit before cooking to “draw out bitter compounds,” but it turns out that’s not really necessary.
According to Epicurious, this thinking is leftover from a time when eggplants were much more bitter than what you’ll find in the store today; the bitterness has been bred out of them.
Full disclosure: I’ve only ever salted eggplant once before I’ve cooked it, the first time I cooked it. I had never tasted a difference between salted and not, but it’s nice to have my sloth validated.
3 Ways to Work Mega-Nutritious Microgreens into Your Diet
Posted: September 14, 2015 Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #microgreens, Paleo Leave a comment
From KnowMoreTV.com
By Jessica DeCostole, RDN
First came the popular trend of baby spinach and kale, and now the world is turning its attention to even younger seeds called microgreens—the first shoots of leafy plants that are less than 14 days old. You may have spotted them at your local farmers market or caught a celebrity chef garnishing a meal with them on the Food Network.
These tiny plants are packed with BIG nutrition. In fact, a recent study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that microgreens from 25 nutritious vegetables (such as cilantro, celery, red cabbage, green basil and arugula) contained higher concentrations of disease-fighting Vitamins E and K and carotenoids than fully mature varieties.
So how do these infant greens develop become so nutrient-dense in such a short period of time? Microgreens are planted in soil and absorb its minerals as they grow which increases their nutritional content (unlike sprouts, for example, which are grown only using water). Here are three easy ways to start working these tiny but mighty greens into your diet. They’ll not only add flavor to your meals, but tons of vitamins too!
Play with garnishes
These greens look beautiful atop a caprese salad of mozzarella and tomatoes, or served with a piece of chicken or fish. It just adds a touch of color as well as a very strong and concentrated taste of the original vegetable. And as the fall approaches, don’t forget to add microgreens to complete a creamy soup like butternut squash.
Make a windowsill garden
While microgreens are starting to be sold in large supermarkets, you may still need to head to your local farmers market to get them—or you can grow your own! Check out this six step how-to guide. Since microgreens are cut as soon as the seeds sprout, you will see the fruits or ‘greens’ of your labor quickly and be able to enjoy what you grow.
Switch up your lunch
While it would be hard to make a whole salad base with microgreens, you can easily mix some in with your baby spinach or romaine lettuce base to add unexpected flavors to your lunch. The tiny leaves and stems also make a great extra topping on all types of sandwiches and add a nice crunch.
Jicama, Red Pepper Salad with Toasted Cumin Dressing
Posted: September 13, 2015 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #salads Leave a comment
Jicama, Red Pepper Salad with Toasted Cumin Dressing
Serving Size : 4
1 large jicama
1 jar roasted red pepper — sliced
1 medium red onion — thin half moons
1 bunch scallion — thin diagonal cut
1/4 cup cilantro — chopped
Dressing:
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin — toasted
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
salt and pepper — to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1) Peel jicama and slice in to medium matchsticks. Cut red peppers into matchsticks.
2) Blend all dressing ingredients in the blender.
3) Combine all ingredients and let stand for about 20 minutes before serving.
Do Microgreens Have More Nutrition?
Posted: September 9, 2015 Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #microgreens, #Primaldiet, Paleo Leave a comment
From NutrionFacts.org
USDA researchers recently published a study assessing the nutrition content of 25 commercially available microgreens, seedlings of vegetables and herbs that have gained popularity in upscale markets and restaurants. Just a few inches tall, they boast intense flavors and vivid colors, but what about their nutritional content? No one knew until this new study came out.
We’ve known that baby spinach, for example, have higher levels of phytonutrients than mature spinach leaves, but what about really baby spinach, just a week or two old?
Microgreens won hands down (leaves down?), possessing significantly higher nutrient densities than mature leaves. For example, red cabbage microgreens have a 6-fold higher vitamin C concentration than mature red cabbage, and 69 times the vitamin K.
Microgreens are definitively more nutrient dense, but are often eaten in small quantities. Even the healthiest garnish isn’t going to make much of a difference to one’s health. And microgreens may go for $30 a pound! But BYOM—birth your own! You can have rotating trays of salad you can snip off with scissors. It’s like gardening for the impatient—fully grown in just 7 to 14 days! If that’s too long, what about sprouting? See my video Antioxidants Sprouting Up.
Homemade sprouts are probably the most nutrition-per-unit-cost we can get for our money. See Biggest Nutrition Bang for Your Buck, where they beat out the previous champ, purple cabbage (Superfood Bargains). Broccoli sprouts are probably the best.
Green Smoothies- What Does the Science Say
Posted: September 8, 2015 Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health, In The Kitchen with Millie- How To's | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #greensmoothies, #jacksonville, #smoothies Leave a comment
I’ve posted before about green smoothies and the fact that it is far better to put your greens in a smoothie than in juices.
I found this great article on NutritionFacts.com;
Transcript: Green Smoothies: What Does the Science Say?
As I’ve explored previously, drinking sugar water is bad for you. If you have people drink a glass of water with three tablespoons of table sugar in it, which is like a can of soda, this is the big spike in blood sugar they get within the first hour. The body freaks out, and releases so much insulin we actually overshoot, and by the second hour we’re relatively hypoglycemic, dropping our blood sugar below where it was when we started fasting. In response, our body dumps fat into our blood stream as if we’re starving, because our blood sugars just dropped so suddenly. And the same thing happens after drinking apple juice.
Here’s what happens to your blood sugar in the three hours after eating four and a half cups of apple slices: it goes up and comes down. But if you eat the same amount of sugar in apple juice form, about two cups, your body overreacts, releasing too much insulin, and you end up dipping below where you started. The removal of fiber in the production of fruit juice can enhance the insulin response and result in this “rebound hypoglycemia.” What would happen though, if you stuck those four and a half cups of sliced apples in a blender with some water and pureed them into an apple smoothie? It would still have all it’s fiber, yet still cause that hypoglycemic dip. The rebound fall in blood sugars, which occurred during the second and third hours after juice and puree, was in striking contrast to the practically steady level after apples. This finding not only indicates how important the presence of fiber is, but also, perhaps whether or not the fiber is physically disrupted, as happens in the blender.
Let’s play devil’s advocate, though. Eating four and a half cups of apples took 17 minutes, but to drink four and a half cups of apples in smoothie form only took about six minutes, and you can down two cups of juice in like 90 seconds. So maybe these dramatic differences have more to do with how fast the fruit entered in our system rather than the physical form. If it’s just the speed we could just sip the smoothie over 17 minutes and the result would be the same, so they put it to the test. Fast juice was drinking it in 90 seconds, but what if you instead sipped the juice over 17 minutes? Same problem—so it wasn’t the speed, it was the lack of fiber. What if you disrupt that fiber with blending, but sip it as slowly as the apple eating? A little better, but not as good as just eating the apple. So eating apples is better than drinking apple smoothies, but who drinks apple smoothies? What about bananas, mangoes, or berries?
There was a study that compared whole bananas to blended bananas and didn’t see any difference, but they only looked for an hour, and it was while they were exercising. Bananas in general though may actually improve blood sugars over time. The same thing with mangoes—and this was with powdered mango—can’t get any more fiber disrupted than that. It may be due to a phytonutrient called mangiferin, which may slow sugar absorption through the intestinal wall.
Berries help control blood sugar so well they can counter the effects of sugar water even when they’re pureed in a blender. Add blended berries in addition to the sugar water, and you don’t get the hypoglycemic dip; you don’t get that burst of fat in the blood. Drinking blended berries isn’t just neutral, but improves blood sugar control. Again, thought to be due to special phytonutrients that may slow sugar uptake into the bloodstream. Indeed, six weeks of blueberry smoothie consumption may actually improve whole body insulin sensitivity.
So while apple smoothies may be questionable, a recipe like Mayo’s basic green smoothie recipe, packed with berries and greens, would be expected to deliver the best of both worlds, maximum nutrient absorption without risking overly rapid sugar absorption.
Gut Health
Posted: August 18, 2015 Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health, Going Green; How and Why..., In The Kitchen with Millie- How To's, Products | Tags: #Beyond-Paleo, #BeyondPaleo, #Kombucha, Paleo Leave a comment
Most Americans have a compromised Immune System. Most also have leaky gut. If you have allergies, get frequent colds, ear infections, are overweight, have arthritis..you have leaky gut.
Healing a leaky gut means following a nutritional protocol to enable it to heal. Replenishing gut bacteria is crucial; to heal the lining of the stomach, to properly digest foods so that you can actually absorb the nutrients…in order to repair the immune system and enjoy optimal health.
One way to do this is to take probiotics, but they are very pricy and do not really survive the stomach acids to get into the colon where they will do you the most good.
So what should you do?
Eat fermented foods! Sauerkraut, wine, pickles, coconut milk yogurt (you should avoid dairy in all forms for optimal health), and Kombucha tea are great ways to do this.
I began fermenting Kombucha tea about a year ago, it is easy and fun to make…and is very inexpensive. I also now make my own organic Apple Cider Vinegar.
Beginning next week I will begin selling Kombucha tea with my other Culinary Items. I make a mild, very slightly sweet Raspberry Kombucha. It will be on the menu each week.
Berries with Orange Sabayon
Posted: July 31, 2015 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #healthy desserts, #jacksonville, #MillieBarnes, #Primaldiet Leave a comment
Berries with Orange Sabayon
Serving Size : 4
Mixed berries- I use blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.
3 tablespoons sugar
7 whole egg yolks
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons orange liqueur — such as Grand Marnier OR a few drops of orange extract
Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a large metal mixing bowl until frothy. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water (to create a double-boiler) and whisk until the yolks become pale yellow in color.
Continue to whisk over low to medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Add the juices and zests and continue to whisk so the sauce thickens back up again. Add the liqueur and whisk until incorporated and the sabayon is light, fluffy and has good volume, 2 minutes longer.
Caribbean Tenderloin With Mango Salsa
Posted: July 13, 2015 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #CaribbeanCooking, #cleaneating, #pork, Paleo Leave a comment
Caribbean Tenderloin With Mango Salsa
Serving Size : 4
1 large mango — chopped
2 whole scallions — chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Heat broiler. In a medium bowl, combine the mango, scallions, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, thyme, 1 tablespoon butter, lime juice, crushed red pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Rub the pork with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil. Season with the coriander and cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Bake the tenderloin, turning occasionally, until cooked internal temp reaches 145.
Serve the pork with the salsa.
Burger with Portobello Bun and Grilled Onion with Salsa
Posted: July 13, 2015 Filed under: Recipes | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #eatclean, #Portobello bun burger w/ roasted Caramelized onions, sautéed leeks & salsa Leave a comment
Serving Size : 4
2 pounds bison
2 1/2 large Vidalia onion — halved
4 large Portobello mushroom
2 large tomato
1 teaspoon garlic — minced
2 stalks celery
1 teaspoon basil
1) Form patties and push hole in the middle (this keeps the burgers from swelling up into that football shape. Salt and pepper burgers (I like to used smoked salt on burgers)
2) Brush portabellas, onion halves, celery with butter. Grill until done. At the same time grill the burgers.
3) Dice celery and 1/2 of onions, combine with garlic, basil, salt and pepper.
The Strange Link Between Junk Food and Depression
Posted: June 30, 2015 Filed under: Food and it's Impact on Our Health | Tags: #BeyondPaleo, #sugar, Paleo Leave a comment
Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME
From Time Magazine
Some—but not all—sugars were associated with depressive disorders
Of our many modern diseases, one of the biggest burdens on society is an unexpected one: depression,according to the World Health Organization. And what we eat may be contributing, finds a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
James E. Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University in the department of psychiatry, wanted to find out whether foods with a higher glycemic index (GI)—a scale that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by how much they raise your blood sugar—would be associated with greater odds of depression. “When I was a kid, I was almost like a candy junkie,” Gangwisch says. “I noticed for myself, if I eat a lot of sugar, it makes me feel down the next day.” Gangwisch says he stopped eating added sugar years ago but remained curious about whether a junk food diet could make people depressed.
He and a team of researchers looked at data from food questionnaires and a scale that measures symptoms of depressive disorders from postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. The data came from roughly 70,000 women, none of whom suffered from depression at the study’s start, who had baseline measurements taken between 1994 and 1998, and then again after a three-year follow-up.
Diets higher on the glycemic index, including those rich in refined grains and added sugar, were associated with greater odds of depression, the researchers found. But some aspects of diet had protective effects against developing depression, including fiber, whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables and lactose, a sugar that comes from dairy products and milk that sits low on the glycemic index.
Added sugars—but not total sugars or total carbohydrates—were strongly associated with depression.
Though the authors couldn’t pinpoint a mechanism from this study—it was associative—they note that one possibility is that the overconsumption of sugars and refined starches is a risk factor for inflammation and cardiovascular disease, both of which have been linked to the development of depression.This kind of diet could also lead insulin resistance, which has been linked to cognitive deficits similar to those found in people with major depression.
Further research is needed, Gangwisch says, and it’s not yet known whether the results would translate to a broader group of people, including men and younger women. But even now, diet may be worth discussing with people who suffer from depression, Gangwisch says—even though doing so may be difficult. “It’s hard enough to get the general public to avoid those kinds of foods, but it’s even harder to get someone who suffers from depression to avoid them and give them up,” he says. “You don’t want people to feel guilty either…to say, ‘Your diet’s bad and you should change it,’ would take kind of a soft sell approach.” Still, he believes the effort is worth it. “I think it’s important and I think it has a big effect on your mood and how you feel and your energy level,” he says. “If it’s something that people can change, they really would benefit from it.”
Meal Delivery Service by Millie Barnes 