Avoid Products Made With Peanut Butter (Salmonella Outbreak)
Posted on | January 17, 2009 | No Comments
Salmonella Recall Related to Peanuts
On Saturday, January 16, the U.S. FDA advised consumers to avoid products made with peanut butter. At this time, the scope of the salmonella outbreak is unknown. However, it has sickened over 450 people in 43 states as of yesterday. Ninety people have been hospitalized and six people have died.
The peanut butter sold in jars at your local store is likely okay. At this time, the source appears to be coming from peanut butter and peanut paste that is produced by Peanut Corp. of America and sold directly to manufacturers for the making of their products. Manufacturers that may be affected include Kellogg’s Keebler products, Hy-Vee’s bakeries, Perry’s Ice Cream and probably many others. At this time, the FDA is still investigating and urges consumers to avoid eating peanut butter containing products until further information is available.
For more information:
* FDA Updates (http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html)
* NPR Article
* Kellog’s Recall Press Release (1/16/2009)
* Peanut Corporation of America Press Release (1/16/2009)
* FAQ for Consumers
Z’s Southwestern Quinoa Salad
Posted on | January 4, 2009 | No Comments
This is a dish that I throw together quite often. I don’t have exact amounts for most of it because it just depends on what looks good to me at the time or how much is in the fridge. This is a very flexible recipe, so just add ingredients to suit your taste.
1 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
vegetable broth
creole or Cajun seasoning, optional
1 can of beans (black or kidney beans work well)
1 cucumber
1/4 chopped cilantro, sometimes more
1/2 bunch green onions
3-4 Roma tomatoes
jalapeno, optional
3-4 T lime juice
chili powder
ground cumin
garlic
salt and pepper
vinegar
chipotle powder, optional
1. Toast quinoa seeds over medium heat for a few minutes. The quinoa is ready after it starts popping and looks lightly toasted. Stir continuously, so it doesn’t burn. Rinse VERY well. Quinoa can be bitter if it is not rinsed well enough.
2. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. I use a rice cooker for this and use 1 1/2 c dry quinoa with 2 cups of water or vegetable broth. Usually I add some creole or cajun seasoning to the liquid as well.
3. When the quinoa is done, transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Add in:
- beans, rinsed and drained
- chopped cucumbers (I leave the peeling on.)
- minced cilantro
- chopped green onions (I cut the whole bunch at once with some scissors.)
- chopped jalapeno, if using
4. Toss well to mix everything. Add in the seasonings:
- lime juice
- cumin
- a light amount of garlic
- chili powder
- a drizzle of vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
- chipotle powder, if using
5. Toss well. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Lastly, gently stir in the chopped tomatoes.
6. Chill and serve.
Note: This is also good with couscous or rice, so if you don’t have quinoa, try it with one of those instead. When I take this to potlucks, I leave out the chipotle and jalapeno so they won’t be too spicy. This recipe fills my 2-quart casserole dish and probably serves 8-10 people.
Lychee Dressing (or use as a fruit dip)
Posted on | December 15, 2008 | No Comments
I love lychees, but rarely get them fresh. They aren’t readily available here and many people aren’t familiar with this tasty Asian fruit. When I spotted a can of them while browsing the aisles of a local Asian store, I was thrilled. My track record with canned fruits hasn’t been all that great, so I only bought a single can. Now I wish I’d filled my basket with this treat! I ate a few of them plain and then turned the rest of them into this mildly sweet, delicious dressing.
Lychee Dressing
1 20-ounce can of lychees, drained (reserve the liquid)
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup cashews or pine nuts
1/4 cup lychee juice (or the liquid reserved from your can)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt - optional
1 tsp finely minced ginger
1/2 cup tofu (I used the Firm water packed type)
Blend all ingredients until smooth. If the dressing is too thin, add a few more nuts. If it’s too thick, add some additional lychee juice.
This was great on a bed of romaine topped with garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, orange slices and craisins. The Little One preferred to use it as a fruit dip for her banana which was a great combination also. I think I would thicken the dressing a bit more if it had been intended to be a fruit dip - which it certainly will when we get some more lychees!
Eat For Health - Dr. Fuhrman Video
Posted on | December 12, 2008 | No Comments
Under the favorite authors section of the blog, there is a link to Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s site. I have his Eat To Live book and it really changed the way my family thought about food and health. Now there is a set of two books called Eat For Health available as well. This newer books help you ease into a healthier way of eating by doing it in four stages. Here’s a video from Dr. Fuhrman:
If you would like to order the books or learn more about them, here is a link to the set.
Eat For Health (2 book set)
a 2-book set by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
Basic Reduced Fat Hummus
Posted on | December 9, 2008 | No Comments
I love hummus, but have avoided it in restaurants because of the amount of olive oil used. While it’s true that olive oil is considered a “good fat”, I still don’t want excessive fat in my diet. When I made hummus at home, although it tasted great, I never got the same smooth consistency that the restaurants offered. Now, I am getting that extra smooth hummus by using beans cooked from scratch and making the hummus in the Vitamix instead of in my food processor. I cook the beans longer than the suggested time, so they are softer than I might otherwise want for most recipes.
This makes a great dip for carrots, celery, cucumber sticks, pita wedges or tortilla chips. It’s also great spread on a pita or other sandwich. One of my favorites is toasted whole wheat bread spread with hummus and topped with cucumbers, tomatoes and some sprouts or a thin slice of avocado. Here’s my basic hummus recipe, but the ingredients are very flexible, so try whatever variations sound good.
Basic Reduced Fat Hummus
15 ounce can of garbanzo beans
OR 280 grams of garbanzo beans cooked from dried beans
2 T tahini
4 T lemon juice
1 T minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp pepper
Blend all ingredients until smooth. This should keep well in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days, but ours doesn’t usually last that long.
Z’s Almond Milk
Posted on | December 5, 2008 | No Comments
In an attempt to make an almond milk that my family liked and that didn’t have some of the additives we were seeing the the store bought varieties, we came up with this. If you don’t have a vitamix blender, you might have to use more nuts or less water. With the vitamix and soaking the nuts, we get a nice, thick milk using less than most recipes call for.
Z’s Almond Milk
1/2 c raw or blanched almonds
2-3 brazil nuts or a small handful of pine nuts
1-2 medjool dates, depending on how sweet you like it
a few drops of vanilla extract (optional)
dash of salt
* Soak all ingredients for at least 2 hours. I usually leave them soaking for 8 hours or even overnight in the fridge.
* Put everything in the blender container (including the soak water) and add water up to the 1 liter mark.
* Start blender on low, quickly ramp up speed and switch to high. Run on high for 60-90 seconds.
* (optional) Pour through a strainer and it’s done. I set out a large bowl and place a metal colander type of strainer over it. Line the metal strainer with the muslin and pour milk through it. Gather up the sides and squeeze any remaining liquid through the strainer. What’s left will be almost a play dough consistency of almond bits. This can be composted or added to muffins or smoothies.
This recipe makes slightly over a quart and is good for 4-5 days when kept in the fridge.
Almond note: If you use blanched almonds, you’ll get a whiter milk since they don’t have the skins. Another option, although time consuming, is to squeeze the almond slightly, in order to slide off the skin. I did this once in an attempt to see if it made a difference in flavor or color. The flavor was almost the same and the color was lighter than my usual creation.
Strainer notes: My first strainer was a cotton/muslin blend that came in as a tofu making kit. I used it for years until it started to develop holes. Now I am using some muslin bought from the fabric store. If you choose this method and find that your fabric store has different thread-counts of muslin available, you’ll probably want the lower thread count. We use about an 18″ square size. Another option is to purchase a nut milk bag. I have one, but prefer the end result of the muslin.
Rice Cooker Pasta
Posted on | December 2, 2008 | No Comments
Sometimes I need a quick lunch for just two people. If I don’t have much time in the kitchen, this meal can be made with less than 5 minutes of prep. I use a 5.5 cup, fuzzy logic rice cooker and the following amounts are perfect for it. Other sized cookers might require differing amounts of liquid.
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Rice Cooker Pasta
2 cups whole grain pasta
2 cups water
1 cup sauce
Add ingredients to the rice cooker. If desired, add some seasonings or a 1/2 cup of veggies.
Start the rice cooker on the regular setting. Check before it turns off as it may be finished a little early.
If needed, the sauce can be thickened with flour or a sprinkling of mochiko.
NOTE: I usually use rotini or penne pasta, but other types should work as well. For the sauce, try one of the following ideas or make up your own.
* White Mushroom Sauce - Use some ranch of Caesar dressing (I use a homemade Vegan Caesar), some sweet and sour sauce, garlic, water and a 4 ounce can of mushrooms, pureed.
* Simple Red - Just use a cup of spaghetti sauce. If desired, add some mushrooms, diced onions and/or bell pepper.
* Pizza Pasta - Use a scant cup of pizza sauce mixed with some of your favorite pizza toppings.
Pumpkin Oatmeal
Posted on | November 24, 2008 | No Comments
I’ve been making things with pumpkin lately and we had some leftover that needed to be used. Our daily oatmeal breakfast would be boring if we weren’t always playing with the ingredients. Mix those and you end up with pumpkin oatmeal.
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c vanilla soy milk
1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of cardamom
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 T agave syrup
Toppings (choose from pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, almond butter, peanut butter or raisins)
Blend everything but the toppings and oats into a puree. The Magic Bullet made quick work of this. Put the oats in a microwave safe bowl, stir in the mix you just blended up. Microwave until done, stirring every 30 seconds so the oats don’t overflow. This usually takes 60 seconds in my microwave.
Top with some pumpkin seeds and craisins or maybe 1/2 T of almond butter and some raisins.
Chipotle Pumpkin Soup
Posted on | November 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
It’s autumn and it’s cold out. I enjoy seasonal recipes and wanted to try something new, so pumpkin came to mind. When I thought of pumpkin, the first thing to pop into my head was pumpkin pie, followed by pumpkin scones, followed by pumpkin cookies. It seems that we’re pretty good at turning pumpkin into dessert, but then it’s probably not quite so healthy for me, right? I decided to try a savory, spicy pumpkin soup instead.
Why pumpkin? Well, like I said, it’s autumn. Pumpkin is also quite nutritious. A half cup serving only has 40 calories and half a gram of fat, yet it is loaded Vitamin A, has 5 grams of fiber, no cholesterol and next to no sodium. One serving provides more than a days worth of Vitamin A, most of it in the form of the carotenoid, “beta-carotene”, an antioxidant. Vitamin A is good for your vision, helping to prevent night blindness, and necessary for cell growth and maintenance of skin tissue. It also promotes bone and tooth development.
Chipotle Pumpkin Soup
This recipe for a warm, spicy, low-fat soup is tasty, nutritious and quick to make.4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T chili powder (start with less and adjust to your taste at the end of cooking)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 to 1/4 tsp chipotle powder (use less to start and adjust to your taste at the end of cooking)
15 ounces pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked
1 cup frozen corn kernels
3/4 cup salsa1. In a 2-quart pan, saute the garlic and onion for 3-5 minutes in about 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth. Stir often.
2. Add the seasonings and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Slowly add and mix together, the broth and pumpkin puree.
4. Add the beans, corn and salsa. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Serve with bread or rice. Rice could be added directly to the bowl.
Cooking notes: If you don’t have vegetable broth, use 4 cups of water and 2 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cubes. Go light on the seasonings at first and add more at the end of cooking if you want it to be spicier. If you don’t have fresh pumpkin puree, use a 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree, but be sure that the only ingredient is pumpkin. Using the type with the pumpkin pie spices would give you some strange tasting soup! This was great with only 1/4 c chipotle salsa and the addition of 1/2 c diced tomatoes with green chiles.
More info:
Tags: autumn, beta-carotene, chipotle, Nutrition, pumpkin, recipe, soup, vegan, vitamin A
Millet Cheese Spread
Posted on | November 17, 2008 | No Comments
This is a great spread to use in place of dairy cheese spreads on crackers. Compared to dairy cheese spreads, it is lower in fat, has no cholesterol whatsoever, contains some fiber, is high in B vitamins and is lower in calories. We really like this one on whole wheat Ritz crackers or Triscuits.
Millet Cheese Spread
1 cup cooked millet
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup water
1 T lemon juice
2 T nutritional yeast flakes
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Let set in refridgerator to thicken.
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Notes: I use just over 1/2 tsp of salt and add in the smoked paprika or sometimes some chili powder. I made this with 1 tsp of salt the first time and it was a little bit too salty for my tastes, but then I’m not used to a lot of salt in things and rarely use it for cooking at all.
If you’re not familiar with nutritional yeast, make sure you don’t get it mixed up with Brewer’s yeast. At some health food stores, I have been told they are the same thing and they are NOT!! Ewwwww! We use Red Star Nutritional Yeast which you can read about at http://www.bulkfoods.com/yeast.htm.
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