Category — Healthy Eating

Here’s what I know about food and epilepsy.  Diet -not drugs- completely cured my niece.

I witnessed the whole thing go down over several years.  My five-year-old niece suffered several devastating seizures which caused my brother and his wife to seek help.  The only remedy doctors prescribed was drugs.  These drugs, they were told, would never cure my niece, they would only control the seizures with the faint hope that the inevitable onset of retardation may not occur.  Luckily, my brother and his wife were informed about the Ketogenic diet.

For anybody out there who is struggling with this issue, I can’t tell you how to do the diet, I can only tell you that the diet works.  But, it’s not easy to follow.  You have to have 100% commitment.  I watched my brother travel around for years with a food scale and a hungry daughter, just hoping and praying that this diet, consisting mostly of fat, would prove the best thing for his beloved daughter.  It did, she is now a perfectly healthy, thriving college student who can eat whatever she wants and remains drug and seizure free.  Another young girl who was diagnosed with epilepsy at the same time as my niece wasn’t so fortunate.  Her parents refused to put her on the diet and instead chose to follow the doctors orders.  She is now in a wheel chair, reduced to becoming a  drooling, mentally ill adult.

Witnessing that experience changed my life.  I’m now inclined to always look beyond the doctors prescription and take matters into my own hands.  I’ve been lucky to have only had minor ailments so far in life, but I have to admit that I have cured them with diet, exercise and life style changes as opposed to medicine.

If you or someone you know has the unpleasant problem of reeking onions and garlic after a meal, Cooking and Blogging is here to help.  I personally love to use both of those bulbs, but I’ve have had to lay off because of the stinking and burping effects it leaves on some of those I’m feeding.  Is there a way to get the same taste with out the nasty side effects?

YES WE CAN.

It comes in the form of an Indian spice called asafoetida (pronounced as-fi-TI-da) powder or hing.  I was first introduced to it when learning some tricks from ayurvedic cooking by my friend John Joseph.  The sage-old, Indian diet is devised for optimum health of people and the planet and is one of the tastier, good-for-you eating philosophies I’ve tried.  That is due to the well-crafted use of spices, and asafoetida is one of the star players.  It is used instead of onions and garlic because it leaves no aftertaste or smell on the palette.  However, it does stink before it’s cooked, but don’t let that alarm you, just keep it tightly sealed when storing.  You can pretty much cook with it the same way as garlic or onion – when you start a sauce or stew you can saute it in a little oil then build your culinary masterpiece from there.  Basically, anytime a recipe calls for chopped onion or garlic use the same amount of the powder, or maybe a little less until you get used to it.

If you can’t find hing at your grocery or health food store you can buy it online.  I got mine from kalyx.  They seemed to be the cheapest at $5.21 per bottle, a small price to pay for a huge improvement in the smell of your breath!

(Asafoetida is the white powder toward the top left of the picture above)

I highlighted this fantastic new bread I found last week when I wrote about making wraps. This week I’d like to mention that this “Mountain Bread” also makes a delicious, light pastry. You can substitute it for almost any recipe that calls for pastry or filo dough. You can even use it in place of pasta in lasagna. It contains no added fat and doesn’t even have yeast in it so you save on a ton of calories and heavy stuff but don’t have to give up on taste. Here’s a recipe for Lamb and Rosemary Hot Pots from their online cookbook which I love. You will need:

• 500 gm lamb (a little over a pound), diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 50 gm (about 1-2 tablespoons) butter
• salt and pepper
• 4 sheets of Mountain BreadTM, cut to fit the ramekin size
• 1 tablespoon parmesan, grated

Coat the lamb in the flour and shake off the excess. Heat a pan, add the butter and once melted add the meat and the onion. Color the meat on all sides as this will give the color of the sauce. Pour in the red wine and stir (the wine will start to thicken). Next add the beef stock and continue to stir until there are no lumps and the sauce thickens. Place in the rosemary and cover with a lid. Cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally on a low heat until meat is tender. If the sauce becomes too thick before the meat is cooked add some liquid. Season to taste. Put a small amount of mixture on the bottom of individual ramekins, then place a ramekin shaped piece of Mountain BreadTM, then more of the mixture. Continue these steps until the ramekins are full, finishing with the Mountain BreadTM on top. Sprinkle with the parmesan and bake for 15-20 minutes on 180c (350 degrees) until golden.

Here’s an easy Halloween recipe that kids love and actually involves real, live fruit!  To make five Caramel Covered Apples you will need:

• 40 caramel cubes
• 5 apples
• 1 tablespoon water
• 5 wooden sticks
• wax paper

Wash and dry the apples.  Remove the stems and insert the wooden sticks in the stem holes until about half the stick is in the apple.  In a small double boiler over medium low, heat the caramel and water until thoroughly smooth, stirring continuously.  Dip the apples into the hot caramel sauce, coating them completely.  Set aside on greased wax paper.  You can store the apples in the frig but allow them to set at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe comes from my hardcore singer friend and screen writing partner, John Joseph. He first made it for me in New York and now that I live on the west coast, I had to call him up for the recipe because I was craving it. It’s that good! It’s vegetarian but don’t let that scare you. It’s the bomb!!! You will need:

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 6 tomatoes
• 4 carrots
• half a head of broccoli
• half a head of cauliflower
• a few handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons asafoetida/hing powder (can substitute with crushed fresh garlic)
• 3 chilies – chopped (optional or can use chili flakes)
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoons tumeric
• 2 tablespoons cumin powder
• salt
• pepper
• 8 oz munster cheese – grated
• 8 oz monteray jack cheese – grated
• parmesean cheese
• 2 cups bread crumbs

Note: all the ingredients are approximate and you can use your good sense on the proportions.

Cook the rice. Wash all the veggies. Chop the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower into small bite sized pieces and steam until tender (don’t overcook). Cut the tomatoes into eighths. Heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add all the spices, then the tomatoes and cook over medium until the tomatoes soften and become juicy. Stir in the chopped spinach until it becomes cooked by the tomatoe mixture. In a big pot mix the rice, veggies, tomato mixture, cheese and most of the bread crumbs and salt and pepper to taste. Put in a baking pan and bake at 325 for 50 minutes. Put the extra bread crumbs and grated parmesean cheese on top and put bake in the oven until brown.

Sick of the ‘ol sandwich and chips?  Here’s a healthy idea to change up your kids lunch, and yours too if you want.  Try a wrap.  It’s just as tasty and fun but has way less calories.  I found these wraps at Whole Foods and I highly recommend them.  Besides being whole wheat, they contain no fat, sugar or yeast.  Stuff them with healthy ingredients and they’ll leave you and you’re children feeling satisfied yet light after lunch so you can concentrate on afternoon work.

You don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to make a good wrap.  You can even use PB & J if you want.  I made my lunch with left over roast chicken, avocado, mayo, alfalfa sprouts, salt and pepper.  It was delicious!  My only recommendation is they are quite thin so they may tear if you fill them up too full.  My suggestion is to make a lighter wraps and have a couple of them.  They are so low in calories you can afford to have more than one.

The most typical excess in any summer garden is zucchini. At this time of year, you should be able to get your hands on some fresh, home grown zucchini for very little or even for free if you have nice neighbors. Here’s a recipe for how to use up that extra goodness in a delicious, unusual way. You can make this as a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan if you prefer. You will need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini – takes about three medium-sized zucchinis
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup currants

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour muffin tins or cake pan. Wash the zucchini, cut off the stems and grate in a food processor.

In a medium size bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl beat eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini, walnuts and currants. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. If fork comes out clean when poked in the center, take out to cool. If not, keep baking. Could take up to an hour to bake thoroughly if made in a 9 x 13 pan.

Feel free to experiment with this recipe. You could add coconut, cranberries or raisins or even try it with fresh fruit like blueberries. You also may try a topping like coffee cake crumble or icing. I tried it with a lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting which was good but my husband prefered it without saying it was “like taking a beautiful country road and putting a McDonald’s on it.” Simple sometimes is better and I plan to have my next muffin with a cup of Earl Grey and maybe the slightest bit of butter.

There are tons of ways you can cool off during the summer, but there’s nothing better than relaxing in the shade with a bowl of healthy homemade ice cream. It’s very easy once you know the steps and if done right, you would never notice the difference. One of my favorite ice cream flavors is strawberry, so here is an easy recipe.
First, you will need:

• A quart of fresh strawberries (hulled)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• ½ cup of half & half
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla paste
• ¾ cup of white sugar
• 3 egg yolks

After you have these items, you begin by placing 1/3 of the strawberries into a blender (or a food processor), and blend them until the contents are completely smooth. You then add the remaining strawberries to the mix and turn on the blender for just a little while. Then pour the strawberry mix into a large bowl.

Next you will need to mix the heavy cream with the half & half you bought. Take a saucepan and pour in only 1 ¼ cup of the cream you mixed and heat it on medium; stop when it begins to bubble around the edges of the saucepan. Now, take a large bowl and put in the egg yolks, sugar, corn syrup and the remaining contents of the cream mixture. Stir it up as you slowly pour in the heated cream from the saucepan. Add the vanilla, then pour everything into the saucepan and heat until the sauce becomes thick (you will know this when the mixture is able to coat the back of your metal mixing spoon), which usually takes about five minutes. The mixture shouldn’t come to a boil this time around.

You can then squeeze strained (use a sieve) custard into the berry mix in your blender, mix it up and then place in the fridge until it has chilled. Use an ice cream maker to place the cream mixture in and freeze it (follow the instructions of the manufacturer).

Once frozen, you can pour on the strawberry toppings and enjoy!

Reusing cooking oil is an age-old strategy, but if not done correctly it could get pretty nasty. One of the biggest issues with reusing oil is allowing old fat to accumulate and become rotten. It is important to strain the leftover fat before reusing, so that your food won’t have a bad aftertaste and no one gets food poisoning. To ensure the oil you’re using is safe you should strain it with a few layers of cheesecloth; make sure the oil is cooled off first. It isn’t a good idea to mix different types of oils and you should store the oil you intend to reuse in a cool dark place; this can be in glass jars. Iron pots and copper pots are known for making oil go bad quicker, so avoid using them for your recycled cooking oil.

The best oils to cook with are those that don’t begin to smoke until higher temperatures are reached. The most common used is olive oil, which smokes at 190 degrees Celsius and at the top of the list are safflower and sunflower oil with smoking points of 265 degrees Celsius and 246 degrees Celsius.

If you’re feeling like a taste of Asia but you’re vegetarian (which would be the only reason you didn’t try my superb cashew chicken recipe) try this goody inspired by Thai cuisine.  It’s simple, healthy, cheap and flavorful.  The recipe serves two so double it if you’re cooking for a family or you want to have some yummy leftovers.  Serve with rice.  You will need:

• 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (optional or could use sweet chili sauce if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons fresh, grated ginger root
• 3 tablespoons flaked coconut
• sesame seeds

Slice tofu longways through the middle then cut into 3/4 inch cubes.  Set aside on paper towels to soak out excess water.  Heat both oils together in a skillet or wok over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and cook green onions for one minute.  Add tofu and continue cooking for about five minutes, sprinkling with the sauces and carrots halfway through and turning carefully so it heats thoroughly.  Gently stir in peanut butter and ginger, being careful not to break the tofu, until well incorporated.

Remove from heat and toss in coconut.  Serve over rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.