Foodie Friday- Halloween!

Foodie Friday                                                   Research all week, then put it into practice this weekend.

Ready, Set, Mmm...

Your Halloween Breakfast...

Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Butter- this is absolutely what your toast has been missing.Head over to The Hungry Belgian for the yummy recipe

Photo: Alpha

Pumpkin Spice Latte. 

 Made all by yourself.

Beforehand...

Pumpkin Spice Syrup (oh the places you could use this.)

Simmer

-1C Sugar

-1C Water

when the sugar has dissolved add

-2T Pumpkin Puree

-1 T Pumpkin Pie Spice

Make you own by mixing ...

-3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon 

-2 teaspoons ground ginger 

-2 teaspoons ground nutmeg 

-1½ teaspoons ground allspice 

-1½ teaspoons ground cloves 

-½ teaspoon ground cardamom

Simmer 10 minutes.  Cool.

If you want to be really cool you could keep your pumpkin spice syrup in a cleaned Roundhouse Pumpkin bottle (since they're only 375ml) Just don't confuse the two!

Draw your espresso as usual.

Add Foamed milk to your liking.

Add 2 ounce syrup.

Enjoy the quiet.  This evening probably won't be.

Plan a dinner of protein and healthy vegetables.

Easy Guacamole with a twist.

Thanks to Amee's Savory Dish.  You're a genius!

Three Bean Chili (Don't worry, it has ground beef too!)

Head over to Whole & Heavenly Oven for the recipe.

Need some ideas for great vegetables to roast up?

Photo: ilovebutter

Roasted Vegetables

Vivid vegetables, like Red Peppers, Tomatoes & Carrots- rich in Carotenoids which reduce risk of heart disease. (Add a small amount of ‘good fats’ to increase absorption of Carotenoids- hey your olive oil!)

Green & Red Vegetables...Protect blood vessels, Help your Vitamin C work better, Prevent inflammation in your body, Help prevent osteoporosis, diabetes and other diseases. 

Cruciferous vegetables; broccoli, cauliflower, kale, watercress, cabbage and bok choy are the cancer warriors of the food world.

My favorite side- or sometimes as a meal itself.

Use any vegetables you want

Cut to approximately the same size

Drop them onto a jelly roll sheet and cover in olive oil & sprinkle with salt.
(and other spices if you like.)

Roast at 450 degrees until they are brown and sweet and crispy
- or until your liking.  

Happy Halloween!

Carotenoids, more than meets the eye.

Photo: Peddhapati

Did your mother bribe you to eat your carrots to protect your eyes?

"Here honey, these mushy canned vegetables are magic!"  Ya right mom.

Here's the lowdown on carotenoids...

They need fat to be absorbed.  Olive oil anyone ;)

Carotenoids simplified = orange vegetables. (Eat the rainbow!)

They have Vitamin A activity and convert to retinol. 1 Cup of pumpkin has 245% of your daily value of Vitamin A.  Wo!

Vitamin A boosts your immune system

They also act as antioxidants

In your eyes carotenoids stop blue and near-ultraviolet light from being absorbed to protect your retina. These lights can also cause cataracts. Dang it my mom was right! The degeneration of the retina is the leading cause of blindness in adults.  Protect those eyes! Don your giant sunglasses and eat those orange vegetables.

Carotenoids help your cells to communicate with each other.  This is especially important because cancerous cells lose this ability.

Carotenoids may protect against Cardiovascular Disease as they are very fat soluble and travel with lipoproteins in your bloodstream.  They have shown some reduction in IMT halting or reversing atherosclerosis. (sorry, big science words...are you still here? whew!)  This seems to indicate an anti-inflammatory effect, which is one of our highest goals to fight our modern diseases.

Eat up!

Eat raw vegetables and gently cooked too.  To absorb all the nutrients you can.

Alpha-Carotene Content of Selected Foods
Food	Serving	Alpha-Carotene (mg)
Pumpkin, canned	1 cup	11.7
Carrot juice, canned	1 cup (8 fl oz)	10.2
Carrots, cooked	1 cup	5.9
Carrots, raw	1 medium	2.1
Mixed vegetables, frozen, cooked	1 cup	1.8
Winter squash, baked	1 cup	1.4
Plantains, raw	1 medium	0.8
Collards, frozen, cooked	1 cup	0.2
Tomatoes, raw	1 medium	0.1
Tangerines, raw	1 medium	0.09
Peas, edible-podded, frozen, cooked	1 cup	0.09

Beta-Carotene Content of Selected Foods
Food	Serving	Beta-Carotene (mg)
Carrot juice, canned	1 cup (8 fl oz)	22.0
Pumpkin, canned	1 cup	17.0
Spinach, frozen, cooked	1 cup	13.8
Sweet potato, baked	1 medium	13.1
Carrots, cooked	1 cup	13.0
Collards, frozen, cooked	1 cup	11.6
Kale, frozen, cooked	1 cup	11.5
Turnip greens, frozen, cooked	1 cup	10.6
Pumpkin pie	1 piece	7.4
Winter squash, cooked	1 cup	5.7
Carrots, raw	1 medium	5.1
Dandelion greens, cooked	1 cup	4.1
Cantaloupe, raw	1 cup	3.2

2.

Now where will we find some orange vegetables around here?

Photo: Liz West

Warnings:

"additional β-carotene from supplements is unlikely to be beneficial and may actually be harmful" 1.

Sources:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2601/2

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotenoid

2. http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/carotenoids/

Tomatoes- How to preserve them and how they preserve you!

Photo: Francesco Bartaloni

There's a chance that you are knee deep in tomatoes right now- in a panic about what to do with all these tomatoes!  It's a love hate relationship.  You hate grocery store tomatoes and so you labor all summer to babysit those crimson globes until you have to drop a half a day to harvest and preserve all those beauties.

Today, we have great ideas to quickly save them all and nutrition notes so that you're motivated to do it all again next year!

How to save tomatoes...

The easy way...

-Bring a very large pot to a rolling boil.  
-Place a large bowl of iced water next to it.
-Drop in whole tomatoes (as many fit in a single layer.)
-Boil for 1 minute then drop into ice water while you refill your boiling water.
-Pull tomatoes from ice.
-Squeeze tomatoes gently to remove skin and remove most of the water.
-Pull tops off and drop into gallon ziplock bags.
-Freeze flat.


Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis
The yummy way...

-Cut tomatoes in half and line a jelly roll pan.
-Drizzle with olive oil and salt.
-Roast at 425 degrees until sweet. ~ 20-40 minutes (depending on size)
-Eat lots and freeze the rest flat in bags.

The aren't I sustainable way...

Canning Tomatoes

This opens up a lot of options once you've learned it because it doesn't require a freezer and thus no thawing. Which is great because I forever forget to thaw things I need for dinner.

Head over to Pretty Prudent for great directions with pretty pictures to help.

Tomato nutritional benefits...

Now the motivation to do it all over. Or to go buy a bunch of in season tomatoes and heal yourself while you pretend you grew them.  'The yummy way' of cooking tomatoes (above) works all winter long, with all states of crappy tomatoes. fyi.

Tomatoes are full of vitamins A and C and folic acid.

They are high in antioxidants- which protect and heal your cells. Learn all about them here.

They are high in carotene- a "flavonoid compound, beta carotene has powerful antioxidant functions, helps the body scavenge free radicals, thereby limiting the damage to cell membranes, DNA and protein structures in the cell."1.

They pack a cancer fightin' Lycopene punch. Especially protective against prostate cancer.

They contain alpha-lipoic acid can aid in blood glucose control, improve vasodilation and protect against retinopathy in diabetic patients and may even help preserve brain and nerve tissue.2

Tomatoes are high in fiber which helps both heart disease and diabetes.

Alright, enough reading.  Those tomatoes are waiting.  You're burning daylight!

sources: 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/273031.php
1. http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/beta-carotene.html
2. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/alphalipoic-acid

Red Red Wine

Photo: Isante

What's better way to soothe your conscience on a  Monday morning than a post about how great red wine is for you?!

We've got you covered.

Red wine 

Is red wine good for you? In moderation (1-2 glasses per day)

Red Wine Health Benefits...

· Increases cardiovascular function- Reduces heart attack risks

· Reduces heart disease risk by 25-40% (1 glass per day women, 2 for men)

· Raises HDL (good cholesterol)

· High in antioxidants

· Contains Resveratrol- which appears to stop arteries from getting blocked by fat deposits

Foodie Friday- Tapas!

Foodie Friday                                                   Research all week, then put it into practice this weekend.

Ready, Set, Mmm...

Our new favorite thing- Tapas!

Platters of fightin' foods you can grab and wander with.

Smoked Paprika Almonds

head over to Devour to get the recipe

· High in poly & mono-unsaturated fats which sweep LDL into liver when they replace saturated fats.

Artichoke hearts are the ultimate tapas item.

Head over to Kitchen to Nirvana for the recipe

high in  fiber and anti-oxidants

cynarin and sesquiterpene-lactones...inhibit cholesterol synthesis & lower overall cholesterol.

folic acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, rich source of minerals 

Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Bruschetta
Head Over to My Baking Addiction for a recipe

Garlic-
Several compounds in garlic stop carcinogens from becoming active and flush them from your system- maybe you should add a lot of garlic to your bruschetta. 
Allicin (an antioxidant) can protect and heal your heart,
Quercitin: A flavonoid or antioxidant fights inflammation

Olive Oil-
Contains oleocanthal which relieves pain.
Darker oils have more blood clot fighting polyphenol. Go find that pretty green!
Olive oil helps regulate blood pressure.
It reduces chance of breast cancer.

Tomatoes-

High intakes of total carotenoids = a significantly lower risk of developing lung cancer 1.
Lycopene reduces Prostate Cancer risk.
Vitamins A and C and Folic Acid
Alpha-lipoic acid helps the body to convert glucose into energy

Dolmades
Head over to My Greek Dish for the recipe

Grape Leaves
High in fat-soluble vitamins A and K. Vitamin A helps your cells develop
high in calcium and iron
high in fiber

Grilled Shrimp

Head over to Closet Cooking for the recipe


unusually concentrated source of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrient called astaxanthin 2.
High in selenium. (selenium deficiency has been shown to be a risk factor for heart failure and cardiovascular disease. 2.)

Hummus & Warm Pita triangles.

Head over to Inspired Taste to learn to make your own hummus.

Olive Oil-
Contains oleocanthal which relieves pain.
Darker oils have more blood clot fighting polyphenol. Go find that pretty green!
Olive oil helps regulate blood pressure.
It reduces chance of breast cancer.

Garbanzo Beans or Chickpeas
High in protein, fiber, folate, iron, zinc and B1.

Garlic-
Several compounds in garlic stop carcinogens from becoming active and flush them from your system.
Allicin (an antioxidant) can protect and heal your heart,
Quercitin: A flavonoid or antioxidant fights inflammation

Tahini
Very high in fiber
rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. 3.
High in calcium
vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. 
easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content 3.

Other great tapas ideas-

• Really good marinated olives. (Not those ones on your grocers shelf)
• Salted Edamame
• Those yummy garbanzo beans from last Friday's post make great tapas too!

Now go have a fightin food cocktail hour!

sources:

1.http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/carotenoids/
2.http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=107
3.http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6997/10-Reasons-to-Eat-Tahini.html