Summer Doesn't Have to be the PITS!

Summer is almost here and that means those beautiful cherries hit our supermarket shelves!  Our family devours cherries during the summer, so I needed an easy way to pit our mounds of cherries. 

 I am obsessed with the cherry pitter!  

It's one of those gadgets you see in the store

 and think I would never use that. 

 Oh yes, you would, and it makes summer life a little easier.  

  

Cherries juice can stain and splatter everywhere when pitting. For easy clean up pit your cherries in a plastic bag, so pits and juice stay in one place. 

Gloves optional

Hurry cherries are only in season from June - August.  Make sure you remove steams and wash cherries before pitting.  I try to buy organic cherries when available, but they can be quite costly, so if buying conventional make sure to soak in fruit wash before eating.

You can purchase a cherry pitter at most grocery and kitchen stores.

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Swap the traditional Valentine's "treats" for delicious and fun to make dark chocolate dipped strawberries. Conversation hearts are loaded with artificial colors

(FDC Red #3, Red #40, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Blue #1).

 A little box of Russell Stover chocolates (3 very small pieces) have over 27 grams of sugar.  

Reese's peanut butter heart is packed with unhealthy oils and preservatives.

 Your kids will love to help make these juicy delights that are loaded with antioxidants.

Organic Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

 2 ounces of dark chocolate 

 12 organic strawberries, washed and dried well

  1/3 cup of finely chopped nuts (optional) 

1.  Place dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Stir until melted.
2.  Line baking sheet with wax paper. One at a time dip strawberries in the melted dark chocolate, twirling to coat. 
3. At this time, you can sprinkle the chocolate covered portion with your favorite nuts. 
4.  Chill strawberries in fridge for at least 15 minutes to set, but no longer or they will collect moisture drops on the chocolate.

Why Organic Strawberries for Valentine's Day?  

Thanks to People's RX for this great info.

• Conventional strawberries are one of the 12 Dirty Dozen Foods.
• The USDA Pesticide Data Program discovered 39 pesticides in conventionally grown strawberries. 7 are know/probable carcinogens, 18 are suspected hormone disruptors, 11 are neurotoxins & 6 are developmental & reproductive toxicants.
• Rinsing strawberries does NOT eliminate pesticide exposure.

If you don't have the time to make your own chocolate dipped strawberries,  you can always order them from People's RX.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.

  

Immune Boosting Salad Dressing

 We're in the thick of cold and flu season, so I try to pump up the vitamin C in my family's diet.  

This immune boosting recipe is a take off from Dr. Fuhrman's recipe seen on Dr. Oz and in his book Super Immunity....a must read.

Orange Cashew Dressing

Orange Cashew Dressing 

1/4 cup of unhulled sesame seeds

1/4 cup of raw cashews (I always use more to make it creamier) 

1/2 cup of orange juice 

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar 

Use either freshly squeezed OJ or from the carton

Toss the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium - high heat for 3 minutes, shaking the pan almost continuously.   In a blender or Vitamix, add all ingredients and blend until creamy. Pour over some leafy greens and add some cut up kiwis and you have a salad boosting with vitamin C.  So easy our son made the last batch minus toasting the sesame seeds. 

Toast sesame seeds for three minutes or until golden brown.

Blend until creamy

Great for dipping since most kiddos won't eat salads.

Other foods with high vitamin C content:
Kiwi
Spinach
Peppers
Grapefruit
Tomatoes
Guava
Broccoli
Strawberries
Kale
Goji Berries - add to smoothies
Just to name a few........


Other ways to help your kids stay healthy during this  sick season:
frequent hand washing
Elderberry
vitamin D
probiotics
and a prayer

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health. 

Healthy Thanksgiving Appetizers

I am fortunate to not have to slave in a hot kitchen making Thanksgiving dinner.  We always head to my parent's house where everything is prepared and we just bring the extras like some healthy appetizers.  On a recent visit to Houston to see my brother and his family I got some yummy recipes I had to share.  I am always amazed what my sister in law can whip up that's scrumptious and good for you...I love visiting because I come back with some wholesome recipes for my collection. Here are two nutritious appetizers to have or bring to Thanksgiving, so you can save your calories for the pumpkin pie.

Kelly's Roasted Pecans

These heavenly pecans take no time to make!


Recipe
1 pound of raw pecans
or any nuts
(I like pecans the best)
2 teaspoons of canola oil
sea salt to taste

preheat oven to 450 degrees
mix pecans with oil and salt
place one even layer on a baking sheet
 bake for 3 to 4 minutes or less
and then turn pecans and cook for a couple more minutes
(keep an eye on the nuts while cooking...they burn easily)

take out of oven and let sit until completely cool
add sea salt to taste

Mix pecans, oil and sea salt

Spread even layer of pecans on a baking sheet

Cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then turn pecans on baking sheet and cook for  3 more minutes or until brown

Take out of oven and let pecans cool completely.  Optional - add more sea salt to taste


Tomato Basil Bisque 
This delicious bisque is divine and a family favorite.  When using this soup as  a festive Thanksgiving appetizer I would put in small glasses like shot glasses so no spoon is needed.
I like to add a fun garnish too.  

Tomato Basil Bisque Recipe 

2 to 2 1/2 lbs of ripe tomatoes (the riper the better)

2 white or yellow onions sliced

5 cloves of peeled garlic left whole 

1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil 

2 big handfuls of fresh basil 

sea salt and pepper to taste 

optional: 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast**

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Slice tomatoes in halves or fourths, slice onions, wrap garlic in foil and place these ingredients on a baking sheet.  

Drizzle with olive oil 

Generously season with salt and pepper

Roast for 30 to 35 minutes

Transfer roasted vegetables to large pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. 

Transfer soup to blender and add basil (you may have to do this in small batches)  and blend. You can use a hand immersion blender if you prefer (I like this method the best). Puree until very smooth.  Return soup to the pot and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

**Nutritional yeast is 

rich in vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins. An excellent source of folic acid, which is important for formation, growth, and reproduction of red blood cells. We like to use the brand Red Star. This is optional and it does slightly change the taste.

I like using lots of basil, but it does make the bisque a greener color

Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup  of olive oil or drizzle the oil over sliced tomatoes and onions

The roasted veggies can be made way ahead of time and can sit  until ready to make bisque.
  Great for a busy school night.

My preferred method of blending soups and bisques is a hand immersion blender 

My sweet niece, Lucy, enjoying the bisque!

Can you believe it's that time again for jolly correspondence with Santa?  This is something I do every year and it not only benefits a worthy cause it makes our son very happy.

 Please visit www.miraclebaby.org

to place a personalized order for correspondence from the Jolliest one of all!

Order deadline is December 12th

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.  

Massive peanut recall! Check your foods!

This is too important not to pass along especially with Halloween upon us....be especially careful of treats containing peanuts and peanut butter.....scary!

This post is from a blog called Vegansaurus!

Massive peanut recall! Check your foods!  

Right now might be the only time ever that folks with peanut allergies are looking at the rest of us thinking, “Haha, suckers!” If you haven’t heard, there’s a massive peanut recall afoot, and it affects a lot of fancy vegan peanut products.

A whole bunch of products made in by Sunland, Inc between March 2010 and Sept. 24, 2012, might be infected with salmonella! So far 35 people in 19 states have gotten sick, and the FDA and CDC are all over it. TWO YEARS worth of products?

The full list of recalled products is on the FDA’s website, but here are some that vegans are likely to have bought! If you’ve got these in your cupboard, either just chuck them or go to the FDA site for more details if that seems wasteful! The good news is unless you’re a tiny child (nice work reading the blog!) or real old or have a compromised immune system, salmonella isn’t too serious.

• Trader Joe’s, Arrowhead Mills, Cadia, Kirkland, Natural Value, Naturally More, Sprout’s, & Sun Harvest peanut butter
• Sprout’s tahini & almond butter
• Justin’s Nut Butters—anything with peanuts!
• Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor
• Peanut Butter Newman-O’s (yes, they’re vegan)
• Earth Balance Natural Almond Butter and Flaxseed
• Anything with the Sunland name on it
• AND SO MUCH MORE!!

Halloween Candy.....Very Scary!

The not so sweet taste of Halloween candy.  I love decorating and celebrating Halloween, but I don't like the trickery that companies use to market Halloween candy to our precious little ones.  Halloween candy can be loaded with trans fats, food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, sugar and empty calories.  Here are some articles that I found very interesting and some better choices for Halloween goodies

.

From Organic Authority........

It was difficult to come up with just the “top 5” list of health offenders, because so many name brand candy options are loaded with sugar, additives and artificial ingredients. But to simplify things, we chose those candies that are highest in overall sugar content and also contain trans fats—two strong factors making these candy choices a double-whammy for health destroyers.

1.    Skittles. These sweet-tart chewy candies have one of the highest rates of sugar content out there. Each serving contains a whopping 47 grams of sugar—that’s around 10 teaspoons of pure sugar. And they also contain partially hydrogenated oils, which give the candies their chewy, slippery feel.

2.     3 Muskateers. Right behind Skittles in high sugar content, 3 Muskateers clock in at 40 grams of sugar, around 8 teaspoons worth. Like most other Mars brand chocolates, these candy bars contain trans fats.

3.    Starburst. These individually-wrapped, fruity candies are loaded in both sugar and trans fats (sadly, making them quite delicious). A serving runs 33 grams of sugar, or about 7 teaspoons.

4.    Milky Way. Another Mars candy bar, Milky Way has 35 grams of sugar, about 7 teaspoons, and contains trans fats.

5.     REESE’S Fast Break. At 30 grams of sugar per serving (or about 6 teaspoons), and containing trans fats, you might do better to have a bit of pure milk or dark chocolate over this overly-processed chocolate snack.

 

Wanted to add one more....Candy Corn, it's almost pure   high fructose corn syrup and is calorie - intensive.

Food Dyes Can Be Scarier Than a Haunted House

...this is by Pamela Reinsel Cotter

Food dyes have been the focus of many studies throughout the years, some of the latest report children's behavior problems can result, along with problems caused by certain other additives found in candy.

"If your children act up after eating lots of Halloween candy, you might be tempted to blame the sugar, but the most likely culprits are petroleum-based food dyes," said Jane Hersey, national director of the nonprofit Feingold Association, a charity that helps special-needs children.

A Food and Drug Administration panel recently concluded that synthetic food dyes can have a detrimental effect on some children's behavior but narrowly rejected requiring warning labels on foods containing these additives.

Parents are cautioned to watch out for "harmful dyes" such as Blue #1, Blue #2, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #3, Red #40, Green #3 and Orange B, and they should also help children avoid candies containing artificial flavorings and the preservatives BHA, BHT and TBHQ.

Go to www.feingold.org for more information.

Healthier Alternatives to Halloween Candy 

Pass out a better treat

No dyes, no high fructose corn syrup, no hydrogenated oils,

 no artificial flavors, and no trans fats!

Organic Granola Bars  - good source of fiber

A healthier "rice crispy" bar that's gluten free

YummyEarth Organics makes allergy free  treats  with 100% natural colors, real fruit extracts , natural flavors  and are Kosher

The YummyEarth lollipops come in fun flavors like  Googly Grape,  Strawberry Smash, TooBerry Blueberry, Mango Tango and Wet Face Watermelon

Mini packets of nut butters - Justin's makes  almond, peanut and hazelnut butters with honey, vanilla and chocolate....if nut allergies are an issue try the seed butter below.

SunButter - sunflower seed butter  is high is Vitamin E

Mini Bags of Pretzels

Endangered Species Bite Size Chocolates - ethically- sourced, all natural ingredients with a 72% cacao content.
10% of net purchases goes to support species, habitats, and humanity  - another reason to pass out these treats!  

Going to a Halloween Party?  Or want a sweet treat for the neighborhood kiddos on Halloween Night?
Make your own popcorn and add some special treats like healthy M&M's, Sundrops, nuts and raisins. 

Happy Halloween!!!

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.