Simple Lo Mein Dinner

1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken or pork (totally optional)
1 lb bag frozen stir fry veggies
1/2 a 13.5 oz box of whole wheat linguine or spaghetti
1 cup reduced sodium broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp minced garlic from a jar

Get your pasta water going in one pan. Heat a skillet or wok and drizzle with evoo. Saute your chicken until cooked through and then add 1/4 cup water. Add your frozen veggies and cover. Steam for 5 minutes on high. Meanwhile, put your pasta in to cook. Whisk together the broth, juice, soy sauce, flour, and garlic. Pour this over the chicken and veggies and leave uncovered, stirring often until the sauce thickens. Drain your pasta and dump it right into the pan with the chicken, veggies, and sauce.

This serves 2 adults, 3 kids under 10, plus another adult for lunch the next day.

Homemade Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip

Here's another food that I had to stop buying when I read the label. What the heck IS all of that stuff? I found a recipe online and then tweaked it. When I made sandwiches with it, they were declared "the best sandwiches ever" by my 10 year old.

THE MAYONNAISE RECIPE ALONE
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cold pressed, unrefined canola oil (this is tricky to find)

THE PART YOU ADD TO THE MAYO TO MAKE IT LIKE MIRACLE WHIP
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp vinegar

1. Pulse the eggs, salt, honey, and lemon juice in your blender
2. Turn blender on and pour the oil in kinda slowly. It magically becomes mayo. You can stop here if you want. I like the flavor of the rest of the ingredients.
3. Whisk the flour, mustard, paprika, and garlic powder together in an unheated sauce pan. Add the water and vinegar. Whisk until it is all smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. Stir the mayo with the hot mixture and refrigerate.

I honestly don't know the shelf life of this stuff.

Crock pot Great Northern Beans

I wanted to cook a pound of Great Northern Beans because I love the idea of replacing half of the meat in a recipe with beans, and Great Northerns are so mild and versatile that I love to use them for this purpose. However, I usually forget to cook them ahead of time and end up using all the meat the recipe called for anyway. This is what I put in my crockpot at 9:00 last night:

1 lb dry Great Northern Beans
10 cups hot tap water
1/4 cup organic no-salt seasoning blend (Costco)

I turned the crockpot on low and left it until 6:00 this morning, so 9 hours. The beans are perfectly cooked and still had some broth as well. I love the flavor of the no-salt seasoning but you know what is missing? Salt. lol. When I make them again, I'll add a tablespoon of salt. I suspected this might be the result but because of my detox, I'm avoiding salt. I ended up with 6 lbs of beans. Here they are:



CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A CLOSE UP

Crock Pot Pinto beans and stuff you can make with them!

Just look at the sodium content in a can of beans one time and you'll choke. They are pretty high in sodium. I hate when I go to buy a "healthy" food and find that it has been modified this way. Grr... So, I make my own version. I put them in jars for the sake of this blog because stuff looks pretty in jars. Usually, though, I put these in 2 cup portions in ziplock baggies. 2 cups of beans (with yummy juice included) weighs about 14 oz, which is the same size as a can of beans.



8 cups water
3 cups dry pinto beans
1/4 cup homemade taco seasoning (see below)
1 can tomato paste
1 Tbsp Chicken base (I use organic, low sodium, "Better than Boillon"

put in crockpot on low for 8 hours. I don't recommend trying this with other beans. I hear the cooking time can be WAY different so I can only say this works with pintos.

HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING

Storebought taco seasoning is full of junk you don't want. If you want the flavor with NO unknown ingredients and NO sodium, mix 1/2 cup each cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano in a quart jar and use it to flavor just about anything. This is also WAY cheaper than those little packets

MEXICAN HAYSTACKS

2 cups cooked rice
2 cups crockpot pinto beans
cheese
sour cream
lettuce
tomato
black olives
salsa

CHILI SOUP

2 cups crockpot pinto beans
2 cans chili seasoned tomatoes
1 can low sodium beef broth (or homemade broth or broth from beef base)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 lb cooked ground beef, turkey, or elk (optional)
1 cup cooked barley (optional)

simmer for a while and serve with grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, etc.. if desired.

BEAN AND CHEESE ENCHILADAS

2 cups crockpot pinto beans
8 whole wheat tortillas
2 cups grated cheese
1 small can enchilada sauce (check label for a short, clean ingredient list)

warm your tortillas so they are soft. Fill with beans and 1/2 the cheese and place in a baking dish. Cover with enchilada sauce and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (you want your cheese good and bubbly). You can top with lettuce, tomato, black olives, sour cream, etc. if you want but I really like them best with just sour cream, I'm ashamed to admit. I like my veggies on the side for this one.

Easy Chicken Parmesan with Chunky Tomato Sauce

1 slice of whole wheat bread, toasted and crushed into crumbs
4 b/s chicken breasts, sliced into 8 pieces, halved horizontally

3 tbsp olive oil
1 diced onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

6 oz mozzarella cheese

8 oz whole wheat(or whole wheat blend), or other whole grain pasta

Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, set aside. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes and Italian Seasoning and simmer. Spread 2 cups of the sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 pan and keep 2 cups warm for serving over your pasta. Put the remaining 2 cups away and use it for pizza sauce or for a spaghetti lunch. Lay chicken pieces over the sauce. Sprinkle bread and cheese over the chicken. Top with mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, covered. Uncover for the last 10 minutes. Boil pasta during that last 10 minutes of baking.

Calories: 380.9
Total Fat: 13.1 g
Cholesterol: 85.7 mg
Sodium: 427.9 mg
Total Carbs: 28.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g
Protein: 39.3 g

(this nutrition information is skewed because it includes the whole recipe for the sauce but you'll really only 2/3 of that)

4 Recipes with "soaked" whole grain flour

Don't make the mistake I did and say "that's weird." Make all 4 of these and then start thinking about your own recipes and how easy it would be to just start them the night before. For the first two, I followed recipes that already included the grain soaking thing. The next two were me experimenting with recipes I already had and loved, and they WORKED!! The first two came from this blog:

http://megdickey.wordpress.com/

RECIPE #1 SOAKED WHOLE WHEAT BREAD


the night before:
Combine 3 cups whole wheat flour with 1 cup warm water + 2 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Knead til smooth. Place in bowl, cover tightly.
(The original recipe said: "I set my bread machine on the dough cycle and let it run til the rising session, then unplug and leave overnight")

the next morning/day:
add 2 tablespoons melted butter (or olive oil, or melted coconut oil)
1-2 tablespoons sweetener honey or sucanat
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
(the original recipe did not say to add more liquid but I added 3 Tbsp warm water with the yeast)

Mix thoroughly, and knead til smooth. Let rise in an oiled bowl til doubled (about an hour in a warm oven..preheat to 170, then TURN OFF). Punch down, shape into a loaf, place in pan and let rise til doubled (about 45 minutes ). Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 200 degrees. (The original recipe said, "I use the whole wheat setting on my bread machine, and just pull it out after the first rising and bake in the oven.")

It also makes fantastic rolls!

RECIPE #2 SOAKED WHOLE WHEAT BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

the night before:
2 1/2 c. of whole wheat pastry flour
8 tablespoons butter
+/- 1 c. buttermilk (although they are EXTRA good if you use cream, although you will need to add 1 T whey or lemon juice as well)

Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, or a knife and fork, until the mixture resembles small crumbs (or do this in your food processor). Add the buttermilk – I’ve found I need to add less depending on the humidity in my home, but it’s always right around 1 cup. Combine until no dry flour is left. Cover tightly and leave on countertop overnight.

see how it doesn't look like "soaking?" It is just a resting dough.

The next morning/day, preheat oven to 375˚
Add:
1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
(the original recipe did not call for extra liquid but I added 2 Tbsp milk)

The mixture should be slightly sticky, but not wet. You should be able to form the dough with your hands into 2 in. balls. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 8-10 biscuits.

here they are before baking. I just rolled and flattened them a bit.

and we ate them with honey-sweetened strawberries and real cream whipped with honey and vanilla

RECIPE #3 SOAKED WHOLE WHEAT GARLIC PIZZA CRUST

the night before:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp vinegar

knead this together and cover. Leave on counter overnight.

when you are about 90 minutes away from wanting pizza, add:
1 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced

knead this and place in an oven that has been preheated to 170 and TURNED OFF. Allow to rise for about an hour then divide into two balls and press or roll onto two 12 inch round pizza pans or stones. Top with sauce, cheese, or whatever and bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Stay tuned for my chicken parmesan with chunky tomato sauce; that sauce is yummy for pizza.

RECIPE #4 BUTTERMILK CORNMEAL PANCAKES

This recipe came from Epicurious.com but I changed it up.

the night before:
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 tbsp melted butter
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

stir these ingredients and cover. Leave on counter overnight.

in the morning:
3 eggs
2 1/2 tbsp honey or sucanat
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

add these ingredients to the soaked grains. Add water or milk to thin as needed. Cook as usual for pancakes. Serve with real maple syrup and/or fruit.

How to get more nutrition out of your whole grains

6 years ago, when I started this whole natural food thing, I read about soaking whole grains to make them easier to digest. I think I tried one recipe. It seemed "too weird" so I stopped doing that. I've revisited it and you know what? It isn't really weird at all. Take any recipe that contains whole grain flour and liquid (so any pancake, muffin, biscuit, bread, cake, etc) and allow the flour to sit in that liquid for 7-24 hours before you finish the recipe. Seriously, that easy. Why did I think that was weird?

Why do this, you ask?? Because whole grains contain phytic acid, which actually blocks the absorbtion of nutrients. If we soak it, ferment it, or sprout it, the phytic acid gets neutralized and the nutrients are more available. In addition, this helps break down the grain a bit and makes it easier to digest (particularly the gluten, which some people have trouble with). This also makes for a lighter, fluffier product than other whole-grain recipes usually produce.

Soaking is easy, as I stated above (and you don't soak and drain it like soaking a stained shirt, you just let it sit and then continue baking). Fermenting is easy too. You can just add a little lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk, or yogurt to the liquid and fermentation occurs. Sprouting is still "too weird" to me. I'll get back to you on that when I get gutsy enough to learn how.

Something else I learned 6 years ago, but forgot, is that freshly ground flour loses 40% of its nutrients within 24 hours of grinding (unless sealed or refrigerated) and 80% is lost in 3 days. So using freshly ground grains, or refrigerating store-bought ones preverves the nutrients.