Posts Tagged ‘Whole foods’
SASKATOON CRUMBLE
As you will know by reading my article The Best Berry, Saskatoons are my favorite and I am happy to eat them just as they are. For fun I do enjoy a crumble or pie so here is the yummy crumble recipe. 
SASKATOON BERRY BASE Read the rest of this entry »
Greens Are Good for Us
The very simplest place to start with getting greens into our diet is to eat one big salad each day and make sure it is filled with mostly greens.
Greens are full of vitamins A, K, D, and E which are fat soluble. To absorb these vitamins make sure to add a teaspoon of dietary fat, such as butter, olive or coconut oil, nuts, cheese or salad dressing. This will make sure your body absorbs all of the vitamins in the greens. Vitamin K helps calcium and phosphorus bind onto the bone protein matrix.
MIXED SUMMER GREEN SALAD
Ingredients:
1 handful, spinach
1 handful, arugula
½ head, red leaf lettuce
½ head, green leafy lettuce
1 medium bunch of parsley
3 Celery pieces, chopped
1 medium cucumber, sliced in rounds
¼ cup pine nuts
Directions:
1. Mix greens together in a bowl.
2. Top with celery, cucumber and pine nuts.
3. Serve with Mint salad dressing.
TIP: If you are planning on this lasting for the next day, do not mix the cucumber in. Put it in a bowl on the side and add to each serving of salad. A mix of the basic ingredients without the cucumber will last 3 days in the fridge.
Here is a salad dressing with greens already in it! This is a refreshing tasty dressing with a little mint flavour.
LEMON-MINT SALAD DRESSING
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. fresh mint (or 2 tsp. dried)
Salt to taste
Few drops of stevia
Directions:
1. Blend all ingredients.
2. Add salt to taste and Stevia to taste and re-blend.
Copyright © Diana Herrington You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com or the direct link to this post.
The Man who Tried to Eat Canada Thistle
Randy Does It Again
I have had various experiences with the wild plants in my yard and garden. Some of them are pleasant experiences, and some of them are not. This story falls into the second category.
During our recent set of interviews with Health Tribe Forum, Diana was talking with Stephen Buhner, a world plant expert. He explained that THISTLES are actually quite good for your health. He also explained in the same breath, that Chickweed (or Lamb’s Quarters) is just wild spinach.
It happens that Chickweed and Canada thistle are some of the healthiest plants in my garden. I like eating chick weed so was very interested in the thistle idea. I was intensely curious whether you could actually take away the prickles. I couldn’t imagine how this could happen. Visions of millions of happy Canadians feasting on enormous salad bowls of this prickly plant filled my mind. I wanted to ask about Canada Thistle in particular but didn’t want to interrupt. Perhaps I should have.
I had also heard that you can either cook or blend thistles. Blending is easier so that is what I tried. I pulled out several young plants (because that is what you are supposed to do) and just threw them in water and blended.
Amazing – the prickles were gone. I could not feel them with my fingers in the blender or the few cautious drops in my mouth.
But the SMELL! It started drifting up even when I first started blending and got even stronger as I went along. Imagine blending up someone else’s smelly socks knowing you were going to eat the mixture! How does your body feel as you imagine this? This is how my body feels several hours after I tried this.
The taste was not AS bad. It didn’t have a lot of taste to begin with but the aftertaste closely resembles the smell. BAD! I did not throw up but was well on my way!
OK so I’ve learned I can’t eat Canada thistle like this. But what was Stephen talking about? I will certainly ask him and do some research but perhaps you, as a member of the Health Tribe Forum or Real Food for Life, can help me? Please leave your comments below. (You can even comment on how dumb I have been.)
This is what the Health Tribe Forum is all about – combining our own direct experience and inner intelligence with the knowledge gleaned by mankind over the ages and combining it with modern scientific understanding.
Questions that come up in my mind:
- Does my reaction mean Canada thistle is not good for me, ever?
- Would cooking or blending with something else balance this effect? Maybe if the thistles were fried in butter and onions and a dash of salt!
- Is there some particular compound in Canada thistle which causes this kind of reaction?
What do you think?
Cooking with Beans
I am quite fastidious about the way beans are cooked as I do not like experiencing the common thing we all associate beans with…GAS! So here is what I do:
Cooking Beans & Lentils
Ingredients:
Dried beans or lentils
Water
Directions:
1. Wash beans in cold water and soak overnight in three times the volume of water.
2. Next day, pour off the water.
3. Place beans in a pot and cover with water 1 inch above the level of the beans.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Let simmer with lid ajar.
6. Skim off the foam.
7. Add more water if necessary. Beans should always be covered with water while cooking.
8. Cooking time will vary according to the type, size and age of the bean.
9. Most beans will need approximately 2 hours cooking time.
10. Beans should be soft. This is the stage that you can salt and other seasonings. Do not add salt while cooking as above.
For Vegan Chili recipe: http://realfoodforlife.com/veganchili/
For Aduzuki Bean Stew recipe: http://realfoodforlife.com/adzuki-bean-stew/
Copyright © Diana Herrington You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com or the direct link to this post.
Lentil Soup/Stew
Lentil soup has all the benefits of the mighty powerfood lentils 
plus much more. And it tastes great.
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
3-6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 pieces celery, chopped
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup green whole lentils, cooked in 3 cups of water
1 piece Kombu*
2 carrots, diced
2 cups fresh (or tinned tomatoes, but fresh is best)**
3-5 tsp salt
1 tsp each of thyme and basil
3 tsp marjoram
Fresh parsley
Directions:
1. Sauté onion, garlic and celery in oil.
2. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Simmer for 45 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
4. Remove Kombu and chop; return to soup.
5. Serve in bowls garnished sprigs of fresh parsley.
* Kombu makes beans more digestible but you could easily leave it out.
** I tend not to make this soup with tomatoes anymore, which transforms it into a stew.
Copyright © Diana Herrington You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com or the direct link to this post.
Squash – Powerfood For All Seasons
Squash is a member of one of the oldest vegetable families in the world. It is a very versatile vegetable that can be used in soups, stews, purees, desserts and pies. There are also many kinds which are just decorative.
There are 2 Categories of Squash:
Summer Squash, which have bush vines, tender skin and are eaten when small and immature.
Winter Squash which are hard skinned and good for storage. Summer squash is a tasty offering savoured by people from around the world. Its nutty flavour and moist texture enrich a vast array of dishes, ranging from dumplings to salads.
Summer squash
Summer squash has an abundance of manganese and vitamin C, and also magnesium, vitamin A, fibre, potassium, folate, copper, riboflavin, and phosphorus. It also has omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, calcium, zinc, niacin, and protein. So you see it is a very healthy food.
Zucchini: still dominates as the best known summer squash. It has thin skin that is usually green but can be yellow or striped or speckled. Being tender it cooks fast and it has edible flowers are often used cooking.
Other Summer squashes are:
Crookneck and Straightneck Squash: usually have a yellow skin and sometimes a green skin. Crookneck squash is partially straight with a swan-like neck. It was genetically altered to produce its straightneck cousin that is shaped as its name implies.
Pattypan Squash: a small saucer shaped squash with skin of either pale green or golden yellow. Its flesh is more dense and a little sweeter than the zucchini.
Winter Squash
Winter squash has a high amount of Vitamin A (beta-carotene), with vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese. It also has folate, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, copper, vitamin B6, niacin-vitamin B3 and pantothenic acid.
Butternut squash: Tan colour with small seed cavity. This squash stores well and has a good flavour. Fairly dense golden flesh, makes an excellent puree.
Pumpkin: Good in sweet and savoury recipes. 
Acorn squash: A deep black-green colour with a rich orange thick flesh – Delicious! Good for baking in the skin.
Doody or white pumpkin: Has pale greenish-white flesh and a delicate flavour.
Buttercup: Dark green colour with a deep orange flesh. This extra dry squash has a sweet flavour.
Delicatta: A creamy colour with green stripes. This squash is like a Sweet potato squash.
Spaghetti: Creamy colour with an oblong shape. The Flesh resembles spaghetti when cooked. Top with your favourite sauce!
Small Wonder: Light orange colour vegetable spaghetti looks like a soft ball in shape. It has more flavour than spaghetti squash. Great with salt, pepper, and butter.
White Acorn: A creamy white on the outside, pale yellow on the inside. It has a delicate nutty flavour.
Kabocha: A pumpkin shaped winter squash. It has a rich, sweet flavour and when cooked its texture resembles that of a tender potato. Kabocha squash weighs an average of three pounds and has spotted or blotchy dark green skin. It can be baked, steamed, stuffed or pureed. Works well as a substitution in recipes that call for pumpkin or sweet potatoes. Kabocha is generally available all year round. (this is obvioiusly my favourite!)
When selecting a winter squash, do not select those that are soft or show pitting. Also, check that the stem is intact and looks fresh. Store up 1 – 3 months in a cool dry location that has good air circulation.
Here are a few squash recipies:
In upcoming posts we will be posting more RECIPES of squash! Don't miss it by opting into our newsletter
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Copyright © Diana Herrington You are welcome to share this article with anyone who you think may benefit from this information as long as you give credit to Real Food for Life by including the link to the home page www.RealFoodforLife.com or the direct link to this post.
A Revolutionary Simple Approach To Healthy Eating
