I'm sorry to all my readers that I have not posted lately. My mother that has been fighting cancer passed away last week. I am sad that she is gone, but this is my own selfishness talking. I am happy for her because I know where she has gone and am very comfortable and secure in that. I am happy for her, but I will miss her.
I never imagined that I would be present when she passed.
It was a moment I shared with my husband and also our pastor. Mom was laying on her side in her bed facing me. I had my hand on the top of her head and the other on her hand. My mom's eyes were shut the whole time we were talking to her, but she was responsive and communicated to us. She did hear us and was not drugged up on morphine like so many are at such a time. Before she passed she opened her eyes and looked at me, I told the pastor and he went to get the rest of the family from the other room. She looked up toward the ceiling for a while and I knew she was leaving. She stopped breathing and closed her eyes.
I stayed with her until the hospice nurse came and then I left.
The last couple of days I find myself thinking "I'll have to tell mom about that" or "I should ask mom.."
I will not end this blog, my mom was very proud of me for getting my health turned around and also loosing the weight. She told me to "keep it up girl, you're lookin' good". So, for my mom I'll continue to share.
I do have an upcoming entry on blueberry muffins. Mom wasn't too thrilled with those and enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies more. But I think if I had of added more blueberries she would have liked them more. I will try to post soon.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Lasagna With Tofu Noodles!
Lasagna. Ok, how the heck can you eat Lasagna without using wheat noodles or even "gluten-free" noodles? Wait, back up... no noodles? What is wrong with "gluten-free" noodles you might ask? The short and simple of it is that the vast majority of "gluten-free" products contain various starches to replace the wheat. Such starches (tapioca, potato and etc.) will increase your small particle LDL levels up to 10 days after splurging just on 1 meal on 1 day.
According to Dr. Davis (a preventative cardiologist), in his book Wheat Belly, he states:
"In my personal experience with thousands of patients with heart disease, nearly 90% express the small LDL pattern to at least a moderate, if not severe, degree." He goes on to explain that the big deal isn't really about "high" cholesterol that causes atherosclerotic plaque accumulation and eventually heart attack and stroke. It's all about the particles... the SMALL LDL's to be exact. He goes into a lot of detail and honestly, you should get the book! I've already highlighted the heck out of mine!
So do you get a cholesterol test yearly? I did because my MD had me on a cholesterol med.
According to Dr. Davis that blood test is actually based on an equation and will NOT measure SMALL LDL particles. "The only way for your doctor to truly know where you stand is to actually measure LDL particles in some way, such as LDL particle number (by a lab method called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, NMR, lipoprotein analysis) or apoprotein B particles.
So enough of all that! How can you enjoy Lasagna????? That is really what it boils down to isn't it? What can you eat that tastes good. Here is my first shot at ever making lasagna. Wouldn't you know it would be a non-traditional kind!
I replaced regular lasagna noodles with fresh from the package firm tofu. I did press out the liquid first because it seemed like the thing to do. I then sliced the block with a cheese slicer. Ok.. you have to be careful here because the tofu seemed to have wanted to crumble or crack on me. Somewhere there may already exist tofu lasagna noodles, but I had to make due with what I had. I will find them, oh yes... I will find them!
You will need a 13"x9" baking dish
Preheat oven 350 degrees F
Cook 45 minutes covered with foil, then uncovered for 15 minutes longer or until cheese is brown.
Ricotta/Spinach filling:
2 cups (15oz) ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups chopped fresh spinach or 10 oz. frozen and squeezed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning or dried oregano
Other ingredients:
19 0z. block of firm tofu
4 cups (32 oz.) marinara sauce, divided
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
8 slices deli style Provolone cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) Shredded Parmesan cheese
*Optional ingredients:
Meat, mushrooms or anything you think might be good. (have fun with it!)
I didn't have the required size of baking dish so I used a couple smaller glass ones. they also come with handy lids for storage in the fridge. Also, my bag of frozen spinach was a tad bigger then the 10 oz. that is called for. That is why my filling is so green!
So here is what you do:
Combine Ricotta cheese, eggs, spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg and italian seasoning in small bowl and set aside.
Cook your optional ingredients to use as a layer in the lasagna.
Assemble the lasagna. Here is what I did:
According to Dr. Davis (a preventative cardiologist), in his book Wheat Belly, he states:
"In my personal experience with thousands of patients with heart disease, nearly 90% express the small LDL pattern to at least a moderate, if not severe, degree." He goes on to explain that the big deal isn't really about "high" cholesterol that causes atherosclerotic plaque accumulation and eventually heart attack and stroke. It's all about the particles... the SMALL LDL's to be exact. He goes into a lot of detail and honestly, you should get the book! I've already highlighted the heck out of mine!
So do you get a cholesterol test yearly? I did because my MD had me on a cholesterol med.
According to Dr. Davis that blood test is actually based on an equation and will NOT measure SMALL LDL particles. "The only way for your doctor to truly know where you stand is to actually measure LDL particles in some way, such as LDL particle number (by a lab method called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, NMR, lipoprotein analysis) or apoprotein B particles.
So enough of all that! How can you enjoy Lasagna????? That is really what it boils down to isn't it? What can you eat that tastes good. Here is my first shot at ever making lasagna. Wouldn't you know it would be a non-traditional kind!
I replaced regular lasagna noodles with fresh from the package firm tofu. I did press out the liquid first because it seemed like the thing to do. I then sliced the block with a cheese slicer. Ok.. you have to be careful here because the tofu seemed to have wanted to crumble or crack on me. Somewhere there may already exist tofu lasagna noodles, but I had to make due with what I had. I will find them, oh yes... I will find them!
You will need a 13"x9" baking dish
Preheat oven 350 degrees F
Cook 45 minutes covered with foil, then uncovered for 15 minutes longer or until cheese is brown.
Ricotta/Spinach filling:
2 cups (15oz) ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups chopped fresh spinach or 10 oz. frozen and squeezed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning or dried oregano
Other ingredients:
19 0z. block of firm tofu
4 cups (32 oz.) marinara sauce, divided
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
8 slices deli style Provolone cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) Shredded Parmesan cheese
*Optional ingredients:
Meat, mushrooms or anything you think might be good. (have fun with it!)
I didn't have the required size of baking dish so I used a couple smaller glass ones. they also come with handy lids for storage in the fridge. Also, my bag of frozen spinach was a tad bigger then the 10 oz. that is called for. That is why my filling is so green!
So here is what you do:
Combine Ricotta cheese, eggs, spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg and italian seasoning in small bowl and set aside.
Cook your optional ingredients to use as a layer in the lasagna.
Assemble the lasagna. Here is what I did:
I put sauce on the bottom of the pan,
then layered the tofu slices on top, and then added the ricotta mixture.
I added a layer of mozzarella and then another layer of the tofu slices
I topped the tofu slices with more sauce, mozzarella and then slices of provolone cheese
I added Parmesan cheese and then popped it in the oven
This was my second dish to use up the "extra" ingredients since I didn't use a 13x9 dish.
Final Critique:
I thought it was good and so did my hubby. Next time I plan on using less spinach (or more Ricotta) and then a bit of ground turkey or chicken sausage... something like that! I may go for a thicker spaghetti sauce too just to see how that turns out instead of a thinner sauce I used. I love my sauces!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Bargain Hunters International
This post should have been posted prior to the last one!
My friend Jenny took me to a really cool international supermarket here in Indy. WOW! You just don't see that kind of selection at our regular chain stores and markets. I was in heaven and at the same time having a mental overload. I'm not a professional with food, by no means, but I do fancy myself a culinary experimenter. Ok.. that's just fancy talk for: I'll take a recipe and jack with it after I've at least made it once the proper way first.
Standing in that sea of variety of produce I had only heard about in exotic recipes, my mind reeled. I wanted to buy everything in large quantities because I'm a "stocker upper" by nature and did I mention the prices beat the chain stores??? After spending I don't know how long in the produce, we found our way to the meat section. Ok... same situation!
They had fish of all kinds and even squid, octopus and even crawfish and probably some other stuff too. The fish was so fresh that when you told the guy behind the counter what you wanted, he cleaned and gutted it to order. And the meats... wow... chicken (of sorts I never heard of), turkey(smoked), lamb, goat, beef. I'm not into eating organs... but they had a variety of that. Then they had meat that was slaughtered in a special way in order to satisfy certain religious needs. Whoa.. overload all over again.
But I was on a mission to find Shiritaki noodles. Dr. Davis has a recipe in his book Wheat Belly that calls for them. They are a wheat-free noodle, made of tofu and/or mung bean? Upon that visit, somehow I overlooked them completely, but I discovered they had a TON of tofu blocks on sale. 19 oz. blocks of medium firm tofu for less then 60¢ each. So yeah... I got like six of them. I've never used tofu, but I know it is a great protein source! You can't beat that price and you can make them taste like anything you want!
I went back 2 days later with the hubby and picked up 6 more blocks and then found the Shiritaki noodles and picked up a couple packages of those as well as another off brand dry tofu noodle. In the next post I'll share what I did with them, I don't want to ramble on too much in one post! (See prior post for Tofu Spaghetti - for some reason that posted prior to this one)
My friend Jenny took me to a really cool international supermarket here in Indy. WOW! You just don't see that kind of selection at our regular chain stores and markets. I was in heaven and at the same time having a mental overload. I'm not a professional with food, by no means, but I do fancy myself a culinary experimenter. Ok.. that's just fancy talk for: I'll take a recipe and jack with it after I've at least made it once the proper way first.
Standing in that sea of variety of produce I had only heard about in exotic recipes, my mind reeled. I wanted to buy everything in large quantities because I'm a "stocker upper" by nature and did I mention the prices beat the chain stores??? After spending I don't know how long in the produce, we found our way to the meat section. Ok... same situation!
They had fish of all kinds and even squid, octopus and even crawfish and probably some other stuff too. The fish was so fresh that when you told the guy behind the counter what you wanted, he cleaned and gutted it to order. And the meats... wow... chicken (of sorts I never heard of), turkey(smoked), lamb, goat, beef. I'm not into eating organs... but they had a variety of that. Then they had meat that was slaughtered in a special way in order to satisfy certain religious needs. Whoa.. overload all over again.
But I was on a mission to find Shiritaki noodles. Dr. Davis has a recipe in his book Wheat Belly that calls for them. They are a wheat-free noodle, made of tofu and/or mung bean? Upon that visit, somehow I overlooked them completely, but I discovered they had a TON of tofu blocks on sale. 19 oz. blocks of medium firm tofu for less then 60¢ each. So yeah... I got like six of them. I've never used tofu, but I know it is a great protein source! You can't beat that price and you can make them taste like anything you want!
I went back 2 days later with the hubby and picked up 6 more blocks and then found the Shiritaki noodles and picked up a couple packages of those as well as another off brand dry tofu noodle. In the next post I'll share what I did with them, I don't want to ramble on too much in one post! (See prior post for Tofu Spaghetti - for some reason that posted prior to this one)
Tofu: Quick and Easy Spaghetti
With 12 blocks of tofu sitting in my fridge with a "sell by" date quickly approaching, I had to do something, but what? I didn't have any recipes, let alone a clue, as to what to do with it!
So, hello internet. I found out that most people prefer the texture change in tofu after it has been frozen... something about it becoming more chewy? Ok.. you can freeze it, awesome. I'm into that! So I followed the instructions I found and pressed out the water and vacuum sealed them individually and threw 10 blocks in the freezer. I saved 2 blocks from the freezing process and plan to turn one, if not two, of them into Tofu Chocolate Mousse. Oh yeah, you knew it had to be something with chocolate first off didn't you! But since I don't have all those ingredients yet, I gotta wait.
As for the Shiritaki noodles and the off-brand tofu noodles I had purchased, I put the off-brand to good use. I also discovered that they are VERY handy when you want something fast and convenient.
So the dry packaged, off-brand tofu noodles got turned into spaghetti with the help of some Prego sauce and my stovetop. It wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked upon cooking them up that first night. Fortune would have it that after marinating in the sauce overnight for leftovers the next day they were "really good" in my hubby's words. The texture was a bit chewier then regular pasta, but that doesn't bother me or my hubby a bit. So I will remember that next time I make this spaghetti, I will try to let them marinate in the sauce before I actually cook them up in order to kick up the flavor a notch or two.
You have no idea how happy this makes me to discover this quick and easy meal idea!!!
I feel so liberated to be able to use my pasta recipes now that I have this great substitute for regular pasta! I also LOVE the fact they are packed with protein and nutrients whereas regular pasta is just empty calories.
So, hello internet. I found out that most people prefer the texture change in tofu after it has been frozen... something about it becoming more chewy? Ok.. you can freeze it, awesome. I'm into that! So I followed the instructions I found and pressed out the water and vacuum sealed them individually and threw 10 blocks in the freezer. I saved 2 blocks from the freezing process and plan to turn one, if not two, of them into Tofu Chocolate Mousse. Oh yeah, you knew it had to be something with chocolate first off didn't you! But since I don't have all those ingredients yet, I gotta wait.
As for the Shiritaki noodles and the off-brand tofu noodles I had purchased, I put the off-brand to good use. I also discovered that they are VERY handy when you want something fast and convenient.
So the dry packaged, off-brand tofu noodles got turned into spaghetti with the help of some Prego sauce and my stovetop. It wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked upon cooking them up that first night. Fortune would have it that after marinating in the sauce overnight for leftovers the next day they were "really good" in my hubby's words. The texture was a bit chewier then regular pasta, but that doesn't bother me or my hubby a bit. So I will remember that next time I make this spaghetti, I will try to let them marinate in the sauce before I actually cook them up in order to kick up the flavor a notch or two.
You have no idea how happy this makes me to discover this quick and easy meal idea!!!
I feel so liberated to be able to use my pasta recipes now that I have this great substitute for regular pasta! I also LOVE the fact they are packed with protein and nutrients whereas regular pasta is just empty calories.
Confessions of a Cocoa Freak
So I have now lost 25 lbs since going wheat and gluten free. It would seem that I have stalled in the weight loss department at the moment, but the good news is that I have not gained any. I sort of fell off the "sugar wagon" for a bit. Oh yeah... I'm trying to avoid refined sugar and if I make anything that calls for it, I use Truvia.
I had purchased a large bag of 60% cocoa morsels from Sam's Club, so you know it was a big bag! I would have preferred more pure chocolate and less sugar, but that is the highest they had. I had planned on making up some wheat-free chocolate cookies and freezing them so I would have them in a pinch to satisfy an urge or to slip into my hubby's lunch as a treat. I ran low on Almonds after making up some Focaccia "bread" and freezing it and didn't get to the cookies.
I eventually found myself nibbling at the bag of morsels, yeah yeah... I'm a chocolate freak at times! I can honestly say that I didn't hit that chocolate like my past self would have because if I did... I would have put on a bit of weight. To end my little daily raids I had to take a stand! I decided to vacuum seal up the morsels into an assortment of 1 & 2 cup packets that now reside safely in the cabinet awaiting to be made into healthy little cookies free of added sugar. I know I will not waste a vacuum sealed bag to open and nibble on it's contents because I wouldn't be able to reseal it. So I call that a little victory.
Sorry I don't have any recipes in this post.
But I will be sharing a bunch of stuff I have discovered that may interest you in my next few posts. Forgive me for missing in action for a bit, we have been dealing with some issues of serious illness in both our families and needless to say it can take somewhat of an emotional toll at times. A few days last week, I found myself watching episode after episode of a TV drama I found on the internet that I had never seen before. It was a way to keep my mind turned off from those things I didn't want to think about for a while. Luckily, this food thing helped to bring me out of it and I started researching recipes and cooking again.
See you soon!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Focaccia Breadsticks
One thing I love is the smell of bread cooking, especially if it has wonderful things like sun dried tomatoes, garlic, oregano and etc in it. The is Olfactory Heaven! I just baked up Dr. Davis' (author of Wheat Belly) Focaccia Bread recipe. Wow... I love that smell. I made it flat and cut it into breadsticks. For lunch, I plan on having one with some multi-colored bell peppers and Tuscan Herb Hummus I picked up at Sam's Club last night.
I can totally see eating this with soups, salads and Shiritaki noodles with pasta sauce. I have yet to track down Shiritaki noodles to try them. When I do, I'll let you know what I think! Dr. Davis suggests making bread slices from this recipe and using it for sandwiches!
Sorry but I didn't get shots of it in progress. I only remembered my camera at the end!
I got a little distracted when I started having issues unlocking my food processor bowl to dump out the almond meal. Weird... took me 30 minutes and then when it did become unlocked, I honestly don't know how it happened! I must have a kitchen elf hiding somewhere! I also tried separating eggs with my hands like the chefs do on tv... yeah... not a pretty site for the first timer. Needless to say I was a gooey mess. So I just decided to shuck the yellow back and forth from one half of the shell to the other until the egg whites separated completely. After that... I was just ready to get on with it and totally forgot to take pictures.
Focaccia Bread Sticks
2 cups almond meal
1 cup shredded mozzarella or other cheese
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, finely sliced
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food chopper or processor, pulse cheese until reduced to a small granule size consistency, similar to couscous.
In a medium bowl, combine almond meal, cheese, xanthan gum, baking soda, sea salt, rosemary, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder and sundried tomatoes and mix together. Set aside.
Whip egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer until stiff. Blend in egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of olive oil at low speed. Pour egg mixture into almond meal mixture and mix together.
Form dough into desired shape or shapes with your hand.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and brush with remaining olive oil and sprinkle the top with some sea salt. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes.
I can totally see eating this with soups, salads and Shiritaki noodles with pasta sauce. I have yet to track down Shiritaki noodles to try them. When I do, I'll let you know what I think! Dr. Davis suggests making bread slices from this recipe and using it for sandwiches!
Sorry but I didn't get shots of it in progress. I only remembered my camera at the end!
I got a little distracted when I started having issues unlocking my food processor bowl to dump out the almond meal. Weird... took me 30 minutes and then when it did become unlocked, I honestly don't know how it happened! I must have a kitchen elf hiding somewhere! I also tried separating eggs with my hands like the chefs do on tv... yeah... not a pretty site for the first timer. Needless to say I was a gooey mess. So I just decided to shuck the yellow back and forth from one half of the shell to the other until the egg whites separated completely. After that... I was just ready to get on with it and totally forgot to take pictures.
Focaccia Bread Sticks
2 cups almond meal
1 cup shredded mozzarella or other cheese
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, finely sliced
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food chopper or processor, pulse cheese until reduced to a small granule size consistency, similar to couscous.
In a medium bowl, combine almond meal, cheese, xanthan gum, baking soda, sea salt, rosemary, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder and sundried tomatoes and mix together. Set aside.
Whip egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer until stiff. Blend in egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of olive oil at low speed. Pour egg mixture into almond meal mixture and mix together.
Form dough into desired shape or shapes with your hand.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and brush with remaining olive oil and sprinkle the top with some sea salt. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes.
(Ok... the sea salt I had was kind of big and turned out to be kind of pointless so I scraped it off. I'll be getting a smaller granule size of sea salt soon because it will taste more awesome with it on top.)
Below I cut my bread into breadstick. They have a nice outer crunch to them, perhaps because of the use of a baking stone... not sure, but never-the-less. They make GREAT breadsticks!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Bacon Crusted Veggie Quiche
This recipe got two thumbs up from me and my hubby. We no longer eat pork so I substituted the bacon for turkey bacon. Turkey bacon didn't really keep it's crunch after I baked this quiche, so if it is crunch you are looking for.... you might want to go with the pork.
The fun of recipes are tweeking them to make them your own! I will be
Bacon Crusted Veggie Quiche
16 strips (1 lb) of bacon cooked through but not too crisp. (I subbed turkey bacon)
1 cup Swiss Cheese
1 cup Sour Cream
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion ( I had 1 heaping cup already diced and just used that)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
Line a 9 or 10-inch pie dish with bacon strips while still hot. Cut off any excess bacon that hangs over. Chop the excess and set aside. (I didn't have 16 strips to use so I just lined the bottom with no excess to trim)
In a medium bowl combine eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper until well mixed but not foamy. Add zucchini, onions, mushrooms, chopped bacon, and Swiss cheese. (At the last minute I realized I only had 1 mushroom, so I added Red Bell Pepper)
Pour slowly into pie plate over bacon.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, roughly 24-30 minutes.
Remove from heat. Top with sliced tomatoes and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place under broiler until golden brown. (I skipped this step because I ran out of Parmesan cheese and as for the tomatoes, I served a big salad with them on the side)
Serve warm. I served mine with a big side salad.
SORRY the picture is on it's side. I don't know how to flip it using this blogsite software. I'll make sure I don't take vertical pictures again!
The fun of recipes are tweeking them to make them your own! I will be
Bacon Crusted Veggie Quiche
16 strips (1 lb) of bacon cooked through but not too crisp. (I subbed turkey bacon)
1 cup Swiss Cheese
1 cup Sour Cream
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion ( I had 1 heaping cup already diced and just used that)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
Line a 9 or 10-inch pie dish with bacon strips while still hot. Cut off any excess bacon that hangs over. Chop the excess and set aside. (I didn't have 16 strips to use so I just lined the bottom with no excess to trim)
In a medium bowl combine eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper until well mixed but not foamy. Add zucchini, onions, mushrooms, chopped bacon, and Swiss cheese. (At the last minute I realized I only had 1 mushroom, so I added Red Bell Pepper)
Pour slowly into pie plate over bacon.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, roughly 24-30 minutes.
Remove from heat. Top with sliced tomatoes and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place under broiler until golden brown. (I skipped this step because I ran out of Parmesan cheese and as for the tomatoes, I served a big salad with them on the side)
Serve warm. I served mine with a big side salad.
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