Recipes/Info for those who want to be Healthier

[Melody]

With all the information out there, we really have no excuse for falling for the latest diets, or trying to loop hole our way to eating healthier with faux diet foods. 

However, though we have an overwhelming amount of information, it's difficult to know where to begin and to keep taking steps to improve.  It's much easier to feel justified by doing a few things while still indulging in very unhealthy things.  It's also easy to bypass logic and buy into commercial health sensations. 

What I want to do.. is  to be truly healthy to the best I can, and rely on God for the rest.  But I am accountable for what I can do, faith is not taking advantage of grace.  Not with fads or by compromising health for instant gratification that advertises "less" consequences than the competitor.  I also do not want to be a health nut that becomes a vegan and miss vitally important nutrition out of fear.   Balance! This is also hard when with competing information and complacent attitudes all around us try to make us conform to how they live to validate themselves.

Here is a website that has truly healthy recipes.  http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/

This woman has also shared her story of how they went from regular eating Amercians to the healthy habits they have now.  They have a meager income and yet are truly full.  Through changing their diet, they also share how they overcame common sicknesses like eczema on their 1 of 4 boys.

I would like someday to eat all organic food, but until then I'm trying to replace my not so healthy foods with truly healthy ones.  It takes a whole mind change.  To understand that fat is not the enemy, but unbalanced lifestyle and unnatural foods are!  It's actually quite liberating to stop caring about calories and instead look at what you're getting in your food as a whole and balance that.  That REAL butter in moderation is better any and every day than margarine or any other processed imitation no matter how much they add to it to make it seem healthy.

Some of the recipes I post in here will be from there that I have tried and liked.  Some of them I have even tweaked a bit for my family.

[Melody]

Tips for making your salad worth it.

video  http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/sabotage-salad-10076612


MSG-Monosodium Glutamate  http://www.squidoo.com/msg-health
Tons of info and more links on MSG, how it is in so much processed food and linked to alzheimers.

Homemade Ranch:
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/healthy-homemade-salad-dressing-ideas

5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoon parsley flakes
4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.
For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.  (I use buttermilk.)
For dip:  Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.
Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

Wonderful, I've been wanting a Ranch recipe.

[Melody]

Creamy Orange Cooler
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/gratituesday-creamy-orange-cooler

Juice of 3 medium oranges
2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons real maple syrup (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a handful of ice cubes (optional)

Squeeze juice from the oranges and pour into a blender with remaining ingredients.  Blend until smooth (or until ice is crushed if added).

This drink is so easy to whip up.  The buttermilk mixed with the sweet citrus creates an amazingly tangy taste that is SO refreshing!  

I also love that this is a new way to get down some cultured buttermilk!  I have a hard time drinking the raw, cultured buttermilk by itself, but in this mixture...I could just drink it straight from the blender!
(it has active enzymes that are so good for our bodies – especially when our immune systems need a boost. It's the pasteurized, homogenized dead stuff that isn't good for us – ever.)

*I made this yesterday and then we made the rest into orange creamcycles.  I didn't have 3 oranges handy but I did have "Simply Pure" orange juice that is just real juice, not from concentrate.  So I used a tad more juice than buttermilk and a bit more maple syrup.  I don't like buttermilk by itself at all, but this tasted just like orange cream, kids loved it too.  I could easily make this into a smoothie with some oats, wheat germ, or nuts.

[Melody]

Wheat Cheese Crackers.   (tastes like Cheez-its)
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/high-five-recipes-crispy-cheese-crackers

¼  cup butter, softened
¼ t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, room temperature
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ t. baking powder
1 T. cold water

Use beaters or food processor to mix butter and salt until creamy.  Add cheese.  Mix well.  Gradually add flour, baking powder and water, mixing until dough begins to form a ball.  Form dough into a ball with hands.

Roll the dough into 1/8 inch thickness onto a cookie sheet.  (I find that placing the dough between two pieces of parchment paper helps me to roll them out more easily.)  Cut the rolled out dough into 1 ½ inch squares.  Bake 15 minutes at 350° or until lightly browned.  Turn off the oven and leave the crackers inside to crisp up.  Store tightly covered.

*I used more cheese, 2 cups I think.  They are good!  We wiped them out almost instantly.  Letting the crackers crisp in the off oven is the key.  First I made them too thick but they still were great so you can't mess these up.

[Melody]

Snickerdoodles
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/snickerdoodle-cookie-recipe-and-red-ape-organic-cinnamon-giveaway


1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sucanat or rapadura
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons sucanat mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Stir together melted butter and sucanat.  Add egg, vanilla, baking soda and cream of tartar, stirring well.  Mix in flour.  Cover bowl and chill dough in refrigerator for one hour.  Roll dough into one inch balls.  Roll balls in the sucanat/cinnamon mixture.  Place balls about two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

*These are 1 of my favorite cookies to make because in moderation they are literally healthy.  Sucanat (sugar cane natural) or Rapadura is raw sugar.  Raw sugar is like fruit, it has natural sugars in it but also vitamins!  It's a bit richer tasting as well. 


White foods are usually useless.  White flour, white rice, white sugar.. you'd get more from tree bark.  Making just these 3 switches will really make a difference!

[Melody]

How to Make Fresh Butter
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/how-to-make-fresh-butter

Fill your food processor 1/3 full of heavy cream.  Be sure not to fill it more than 1/3 full...it will probably not turn into butter if there's too much in the container.
Turn your food processor on high.  The food processor will whip and whip and whip the cream until it turns it into butter.  It should take somewhere between 8-15 minutes.
Once the fat has been "pulled out" of the cream, you can turn off the food processor.
Pull all the solid pieces and squish them together. Place the solids in to a clean bowl.
Run some clean COLD water into it.
Clean the butter with the cold water by squishing it with a wooden spoon until all the liquid comes out of it.  Repace the cold water 2-3 times as you clean it.
Squeeze the excess water out of the butter and shape it with your hands.
You can add salt to the cream if you want salted butter...this will also be a preservative, making the butter last longer.

OR...if you don't have a food processor and want to have a little family fun...put your cream into a jar and shake it like crazy.  Pass the jar around, and take turns shaking it.  (I've tried shaking it all by myself once when no one was around to help...and I thought my head and arms would fall off from shaking the jar so much all by myself.  I don't think I ever got butter out of that jar.)

[iridiscente]

I love that website!

[Melody]

Potato Facts

Analysis of Red and Norkotah potatoes revealed that these spuds' phenolic content rivals that of broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts, and includes flavonoids with protective activity against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers.

UK scientists at the Institute for Food Research have identified blood pressure-lowering compounds called kukoamines in potatoes.

A cup of baked potato contains 21.0% of the daily value of vitamin B6, which is involved in more than 100 enzymatic reactions.

Vitamin B6 plays numerous roles in our nervous system, many of which involve neurological activity.

A single baked potato will also provide you with 11.7% of the daily value for fiber, but remember that the fiber in potatoes is mostly in their skin.

Vitamin B6 is also necessary for the breakdown of glycogen, the form in which sugar is stored in our muscle cells and liver, so this vitamin is a key player in athletic performance and endurance.

Methylation is important to cardiovascular health and the vitamin B6 found in potatoes plays a critical role in this chemical process.

Any type of baked potato has more potassium than a banana.


Cream Scalloped Potatoes
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/high-five-recipes-cream-scalloped-potatoes


4-5 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cups cream
sea salt to taste

Scrub potatoes and cut into very thin slices.  
Spread into a casserole dish.  Sprinkle with salt.  
Pour cream over potatoes.
Bake uncovered at 300° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, pulling dish out and stirring occasionally.  
Serve when potatoes are tender and cream has thickened.



*I added cayenne pepper, garlic, onion, paprika and parsley.  My family loved them!  This is a new favorite, it was very easy. And since I pumped up the flavor of the potatoes so much I served them with a simple savory chicken breast browned in olive oil with cracked pepper & ground mustard.  I should be taking pictures huh?

[Melody]

If no one answers this I'll take it that there's not much interest here.  That's cool, just wanted to post 1 last time, just in case. ☺

We all know that whole wheat flour is healthy but often it is so much heavier and hard to digest.  I've learned a solution to this and it's called "soaking your grains."  I've done it and it does help.  Here's why:

Fermentation/Soaking not only neutralizes phytates (which DO block mineral uptake), but also tannins, enzyme inhibitors, etc, all things very irritating to the digestion.  Also, there is recent research on gluten intolerance, showing that sourdough fermentation makes bread tolerable to those with celiac disease.

www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/more-about-soaking-grains-or-not

This usually consists of just mixing the wet ingredient w/ the ww. flour and letting it sit for hours to overnight, covered, at room temperature. 

Here's some recipes:

"Mom is Great"  Breakfast Cake

1 cup butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole rolled oats
¾ cup honey
2 eggs
1 t. sea salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1 cup raisins, chocolate chips or other dried fruit

Stir together butter, buttermilk, flour and oats in a glass bowl.  Cover with a cloth and allow the grains to soak on your counter overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Stir in honey, eggs, salt, baking soda and vanilla.  Fold in raisins, chocolate chips or dried fruit.   Pour into a buttered 9×9 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.



Whole Wheat Sourdough Biscuits3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup cultured buttermilk (more if needed)
½ cup butter
1 t. sea salt
2 t. baking powder

Mix together flour and buttermilk.
Cover with a cloth and allow to sit on countertop overnight or for at least 4 hours (12 hours is best).

Sprinkle baking powder and salt over soaked flour.
Pour melted butter over the top.
Stir to work the ingredients in.
Add a little more flour if necessary.
Knead the ingredients into the dough on a floured surface.
Roll dough to a ¾ inch thickness.
and cut circles with a glass or biscuit cutter.
Bake on a glass baking pan or on a cooking stone in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

Sounds good.  When I didn't work, I had more time for stuff like this.  I wish Dina had more time to be on, she really enjoys things like this.  I wish you two could meet, I think you'd really hit it off.

[iridiscente]

That's good to know because I have a friend here in Guatemala whose cousin is a baker and gave them some whole wheat recently. They found it hard to use, but I think with soaking it might help. I'm going to send her the instructions.

[Melody]

What kind of flour do Guatemalans usually use?  It would be my assumption that there are less processed foods affordable? 

[iridiscente]

There are less processed foods affordable, yes. The majority don't use flour at all. They use corn, cook it, grind it and make into whatever carbohydrate that is desired- usually tortillas, but sometimes pupusas, tamales or tostadas.  If you would like to see the step by step process, we took pictures and put them with instructions here: http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/how-to-make-masa.html

The rich and middle class have options in the store for the same brands of flour found in the U.S. My friend lives in a suburb outside of the capital, where it is harder to find stores carrying things like flour. There, they have a mill where they grind flour for bakeries. The person in charge is related which is how she obtained the whole wheat. For the most part, people go to bakeries (which are on every street corner) for their baked goods and don't usually have any reason to purchase wheat flour. I love to bake, though, so I am always using the whole wheat Gold brand found at the store. I haven't found a wheat mill in the capital, though corn ones are plentiful.

[Melody]

That's pretty neat, if corn had more nutritional value I would try using it.  I want to learn to make pumpernickle bread this year like they have in restaurants.

I have a friend that moved this summer to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to principal.  Sounds much of the same w/ her as there.  She's learning how to make tamales, Honduran style, tonight w/ friends. 

Sourdough is very versitile and simple for the novice or busy person.

The original way to make sourdough, no matter what flour you use is to add 1 cup of flour to 1 cup of water, stir, cover and let sit 24 hours. Do this for 7 days, each day pouring off the sour liquid on top and transfering to a clean glass/ceramic container to add the additional water/flour for the day.  On the 7th day, after draining, adding and mixing, just add a pinch of salt, (and a pinch of sugar if you'd like, even a bit of oil or butter) knead and form to make loaves/rolls/buns.  Let rise and bake like usual bread.  The air naturally has yeast in it that will cause the bread to expand each day.  Plus, if you use wheat flour, it breaks it down allowing it to be a softer bread.  70-80* is the perfect temperature for this, over 100* will kill it though.

This can also be used as a "starter" for any number of things like pancakes, muffins.  Store it in the fridge for future uses, it's pretty handy!

Also, if you/they like artisan bread (we do, and love to dip it in seasoned oils) that can be done so quick and easy.

3.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 to 2 tsp. Salt
1 Packet Dry Active Yeast
1 cup Mixed Unsalted Seeds (any kind, any combination)
Additional 1/2 cup Seeds

http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/artisan-bread-recipes.html

It's been a little while since I've made it but I don't think I even waited an hour for it to rise, just made and baked.  Possibly because I soaked my flour though.

[iridiscente]

Sounds good.  When I didn't work, I had more time for stuff like this.  I wish Dina had more time to be on, she really enjoys things like this.  I wish you two could meet, I think you'd really hit it off.

Me too! Come to Guatemala for any reason, and you can stay in our extra room!

[iridiscente]

Snickerdoodles
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/snickerdoodle-cookie-recipe-and-red-ape-organic-cinnamon-giveaway

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sucanat or rapadura
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons sucanat mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Stir together melted butter and sucanat.  Add egg, vanilla, baking soda and cream of tartar, stirring well.  Mix in flour.  Cover bowl and chill dough in refrigerator for one hour.  Roll dough into one inch balls.  Roll balls in the sucanat/cinnamon mixture.  Place balls about two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

*These are 1 of my favorite cookies to make because in moderation they are literally healthy.  Sucanat (sugar cane natural) or Rapadura is raw sugar.  Raw sugar is like fruit, it has natural sugars in it but also vitamins!  It's a bit richer tasting as well. 


White foods are usually useless.  White flour, white rice, white sugar.. you'd get more from tree bark.  Making just these 3 switches will really make a difference!

Making these today... Rapadura is found all over the place here! I didn't know what it was at first, but now we use it sort of like brown sugar.

[Melody]

how'd you like the snickerdoodles?  I make them kinda big so they are softer in the middle.  I enjoy this recipe because I can make double or triple batches and simply keep the cookie dough in the fridge for future cookie cravings. ☺

I learned a cool trick last week from a friend.  They said to cook my pasta (which is whole grain but works for white too) in milk rather than water, it leaves a bit of creaminess and you can simply just season it or add cheese.  No straining! I used enough milk to little more than cover the noodles.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

You boil it in the milk? Interesting. 

I cook mine in the chicken broth when I'm making chicken spaghetti to give it more flavor.

[iridiscente]

The cookies disappeared very quickly...

I am going to try the noodles boiled in milk! Makes sense!

[Melody]

Ok, this isn't a food recipe but I'm so excited to share it!

I recently learned about castile soap and how to use it as a shampoo.  Specifically Dr.Bronners which you can find at health stores and Target here.  Greatly diluted, it is amazing and natural.  Following it with a rinse of very diluted vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar) conditions it.  There is no vinegar smell but oh my! My hair is so soft and manageable, I am trying to tell everyone I know!  Because it lasts SO long, I'm guessing that the 1 32oz bottle of castile soap can make 15 family size bottles of shampoo.  Putting the cost @ $1/bottle.  The vinegar is too little to even mention.  It lathers great too even diluted. 

I just wanted to share!



http://www.target.com/Bronners-Lavender-Pure-Castile-Soap/dp/B0036F533K/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=bronners_castile_soaps&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-7&qid=1293766309&rh&searchRank=target104545&id=Bronners+Lavender+Pure+Castile+Soap&node=1038576%7C1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

[Ashlee]

They have that soap at a local health food store.  I told my sister about it because she is very sensitive to smells and her skin is sensitive.  I'm thinking she might be able to use it, because she can tolerate a lavender scent.

[Melody]

I want to try the baby one next but at this rate I won't need shampoo for a year.

[Melody]

Over the holidays I discovered that I am, at least temporarily, gluten intolerant.  Months ago, I swelled up from my tummy to my feet for 4 days!  From what my Dr. believes was a digestive infection. 

Anyway, I've been having to be more creative when it comes to gluten (anything w/ flour, gluten is the protein that gives it it's elasticity) free foods.  If anyone else is also this, say so and I'll share the recipes. Otherwise, if I weren't this way, I would have to no reason to go out my way, and would just eat BREAD.  Lovely bread, cakes, cookies, fried chicken, pancakes, noodles, pie...

[Lynx]

I cook mine in the chicken broth when I'm making chicken spaghetti to give it more flavor.

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one.  I thought I was weird.  Well, I know I'm weird... just not for this reason. 

About soap, I just use Dawn dishwashing liquid.  Goes farther than shampoo, and with my oily hair it works well.  Okay so the main reason I use it for shampoo is I'm a tightwad, there, I said it.