GardenCuizine

Italian Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 14:01:00 -0400

Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Amaretti con Pignoli for Easter or Christmas

Gluten-free - Salt-free

Italian pignoli (pinoli) cookies are enjoyed at Christmas and Easter time. They can be made anytime of year and make wonderful homemade gifts. Pignoli cookies are quick and easy to bake. The cookies feature pignoli nuts, which are nutritious and also known as pine nuts.

Pine nut Nutrition: 3 Tablespoons contain: 0g trans fat, 10g polyunsaturated fat, 5g monounsaturated fat, 1g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 1.5 mg (8% DV) iron, 170 mg (4% DV) potassium, and several other micro-nutrients including zinc and manganese.

For this recipe, I first looked online since these cookies are a very popular Italian cookie and baked by millions of people around the world. My mother never mentioned her mother or grandmother making these cookies. Mom's family was from Sicily; these cookies originated there. My first online choice for the recipe inspiration came from a beloved and excellent Italian chef, Chef Lidia Bastianich.

Celebrity Chefs

At a high profile press dinner at The Supper Club in Manhattan, New York back in 2003, is where I met several celebrity chefs including, Chef Lidia. The show was designed to highlight 11 restaurants slated to open at the new Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. I was still in culinary school and will forever remember briefly meeting and greeting Chef Lidia in person.

To be among the few students selected by the Academy of Culinary Arts was an honor. We traveled by limo to the "Borgata, the Event" in New York. It was so exciting to be among so many great chefs like Lidia, Bobby Flay, Susanna Foo, Aaron Sanchez and Wolfgang Puck. I remember bringing my culinary tool box with me and being on stage representing chefs of the future.

Gluten-free Pignoli Cookie Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F
Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or foil. Apply light non-stick spray

Yield will vary depending on your scoop size, your mixing technique, type of sugar used and the amount of egg whites used. Lidia does not use confectioners sugar, but I decided to use it to make the cookies have less spread. I probably over mixed my first batch. Over mixing warms the almond paste dough and the cookies will spread more. Also, like in Lidia's recipe, I did not add any vanilla or almond extract, or salt, as seen in some recipes; the almond paste provides plenty of good flavor.

Sticky dough Yields: 28, 3-inch cookies
Firmer dough Yields: 3 dozen 2-inch cookies

Ingredients

1 lb (454g) container almond paste (I used California Almonds: Mandelin Premium Almond Paste)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
3 large egg whites, room temperature
8 oz (227g) pignoli nuts in a pie plate or large dish (you will have some leftover)

Putting it all together

Add the almond paste to your food processor or mixer. I used our KitchenAid and used the whisk; pulse to break up the almond paste. It is sort of like play dough; you may need to stop the mixer and push the dough back in if it starts to work its way to the top.
Gradually add in both sugars, mix and pulse off and on until well blended. At first it will look like clumps of candied ginger. Mix until it looks more like coarse sand.
Add the egg whites. Mix until well blended and smooth.
If the dough is too sticky to hold, it can be refrigerated to slightly firm.

If your dough is too sticky to hold, use a small scoop, spoon dough onto baking sheet; Top with pignoli nuts; gently spread them around on each cookie.
If your dough is firm enough to hold, pinch off some and form into small 1" ball and roll in pine nuts leaving a spot for the bottom without nuts; place onto baking sheet.
For Easter cookies, sprinkle colorful decorator sugar atop the pine nuts - optional.

Bake about 17 minutes or until golden
Allow to cool before removing from baking sheets

Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar - optional

Enjoy! Happy Easter!

Related Links

Lidia's Pine Nut Cookies recipe

Harvesting Pine Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 13:33:00 -0400

Harvesting Pine Nuts

Using Pignoli nuts, aka Pinoli, Pine Nuts, in recipes such as pesto or Italian cookies got me wondering and asking myself, "Where do pine nuts come from?" Apparently, pine nuts are truly a labor of love. The nutrient dense seeds have fed native Americans, birds and wildlife for centuries.

Pine nuts actually do come from what you think - pine cones. The pine trees are a special variety that yields large seeds and grow in places like America, China, Korea and Russia, with most pine nut imports coming to the US from Mongolia.(1) Pine nuts have a dark brown outer shell that gets removed to yield the tender, cream color, edible seed.

People can harvest the seeds by hand, one-by-one, which is one reason why pine nuts cost so much. However, the most likely reason they cost so much is the limited supply for the growing demand. The food industry has developed pine nut farming and harvesting techniques that speeds up volume production.

Check out these videos to learn more about pine nut, piñón harvest.

Reference

1) The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Pine Nuts Shelled in US. Accessed April, 6, 2026. https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/pine-nuts-shelled/reporter/usa

Pine Nut Picking in Nevada!

The Flour Required for Gluten-free Easter Bread

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 5 Apr 2026 11:15:00 -0400

Easter Flowers by Diana Wind for Trinity Episcopal Church, Moorestown, NJ

Happy Easter!

This Easter morning as we celebrate Easter at home without any company, I was going to experiment and try making my favorite Easter Bread in a gluten-free version. However, the King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour 1-1 is for baking YEAST FREE recipes and not recommended for bread. Oh well... so if you want to try making Gluten-free Easter Bread, you would need to order their King Arthur Gluten-Free BREAD Flour. Watch for GardenCuizine's recipe next year.

Easter Bread Gluten-free Recipe to come in 2027

Ingredients

King Arthur Gluten-free BREAD flour

Putting it all together

Philadelphia Flower Show Photography Second Place!

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:27:00 -0400

ROOTED at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Welcome to GardenCuizine's 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show (PHS) post. I'm proud to announce that my Bee Seated photograph tied for a second place ribbon at this years flower show!

This year's PHS theme celebrated garden history of "Rooted Origins of American Gardening". The many designers and teams put together a stunningly beautiful "magical forest" show entrance and exhibits throughout the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Harry and I both especially loved Temple University's award winning exhibit, which featured urban landscape architecture celebrating the Delaware Valley's rich botanical and cultural heritage.

Terracotta pots overflowed with harvests of sweet potatoes and apples that fit in perfectly with the surrounding native landscape, water streams and blooming plants.

The Temple display also showed canning jars in a cleaver way, creating a wall of glass. Some of the jars were used for dried herbs and corn.

See the link at the bottom of this post for more on the story told in their well-designed exhibit, which also featured a basket of oyster shells. We know oysters are a sustainable food.

Helpful tips were provided on how to repurpose and recycle materials such as plants, lumber and concrete that may be already in your own backyard.

The photography exhibit is another favorite area of ours. The categories were all interesting and well represented.

The category that I entered was Class 197, "Legacy" that featured pollinators. Several photos included bees, two featured hummingbirds, and another showed a grasshopper!

The bee seated on the purple aster is my photo! I took it last September in our front yard with my macro lens. I said on the attached card shown, "Native asters beautify our yard year after year, providing a late season food source to visiting pollinators including bees and butterflies."

As in years past, the timing of the show (March) is perfect, especially this year after the winter that we had. I think we are all ready to get our seeds started and to usher in spring with open arms!

Best wishes for a great gardening season!

Diana Wind

Related Links

Temple at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Rowan Aquaponics Tour

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:12:00 -0400

Rowan Aquaponics Tour

Happy National Nutrition Month®! Today my nutrition class celebrated NNM by learning more about sustainable agriculture for growing herbs, edible flowers and vegetables, namely hydroponic and aquaponic farming.

Special thanks to our guest speaker, Stephen Ordog, for speaking to Rowan's Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class! We learned so much! I especially loved the greenhouse tour of Rowan's operation.

Aquaponics involves a self-contained system that includes fish. Rowan uses separate tanks for Large Mouth Bass and Koi fish. They have several tanks for various size fish in different stages of development. One tank has small young fish, another tank features medium size Koi, and two other big tanks hold larger sized fish. Steve said that they started with 40 fish in 2024 and now have 800 fish!

Automatic time-controlled feeding stations are attached to each fish tank. The fish were super excited when the food shot out from the pipe dispenser positioned over top of their tank. A few splashes of water could be felt from the splashes as the fish bolted towards their food!

This growing method is sustainable because of a scientific Nitrogen cycle. 1) Fish waste produces ammonia. 2) Ammonia gets converted to Nitrite by bacteria (Nitrosomonas) living in the water. Another bacteria turns the Nitrite to a safer Nitrate that fertilizes the plants. 3) The nitrate is absorbed and filtered by the plants before going back into the fish tank resulting in healthy fish and healthy plants.

Hydroponics, to quote Steve Ordog, "Is a soil-less cultivation of plants". Hydroponics requires less water than conventional growing methods and does not depend on weather since it is indoors. Steve's focus is to grow plants that can absorb nitrogen well, such as leafy greens and herbs like bok choy, chard, lettuce and basil. He is also growing some edible marigolds and is planning to grow nasturtiums.

Below is a video for more information about Rowan's sustainable agriculture program. The produce that grows is harvested, washed and donated to Rowan's food pantry called The Shop.

Related links:

Drop the Beet Farms

Why Sustainable Agriculture Matters

Experts divided over new US Dietary Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:45:00 -0500

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Wed, 7 Jan 2026 23:19:00 -0500

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

Yes, apparently that is the case according to the latest news released today by the USDA on the new dietary guidelines for health in America. Flash back in time for Americans and especially for me to when I had my health food store and restaurant in the 80's.

I find it interesting that Health and Human Services Secretary, RF Kennedy, Jr and the Department of Ag Secretary are back tracking and completely erasing the MyPlate graphic that has been featured in nutrition education for years. It is quite shocking and frankly, insulting to the scientists who provide so much research and study in the development of the DGA, to see the 164 pages of information rolled back to a mere 50-page scientific report and 10-page public guideline. The idea of a very simple guideline for the public is a good one.

The entire Dietary Guidelines for Americans process, public comments and committee (DGAC) were dismissed and replaced with DGA by a new board. The new report states their dislike and therefore dismissal of the former DGAC's use of considerations of health equity in the DGA.

The new info-graphic is very confusing. For example, having butter appearing equal to grapes. Without all the specific details of the science in the report for the professionals, educators may resort to inaccurate teachings and advice. The DGA were always a strong resource for healthcare professionals and educators who take the detailed and specific information and deliver it to the public.

Personally, I do like teaching about whole foods in the five food groups and encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. The majority of the people in the world are lactose intolerant(1), so Harvard's eating plate(2) is more realistic, omitting dairy all together and showing water instead. Overall, I think it is a good idea to limit processed foods and promote eating "real foods". The food groups in the former MyPlate were all "real foods".

It is disturbing to see red meat featured at the top of the new guidelines. Eight out of ten on the newly appointed board have ties to the meat and dairy industry.(3,4) It is no surprise then that cheese and milk and a large images of meat and poultry are at the top of this inverted pyramid. Beans are hardly identifiable, illustrated in an unappetizing glob, over rice, near the bottom with peanuts.

Increasing plant-based foods such as beans and lentils was rejected from the DGAC's science-based recommendation. The environment related to global warming is huge concern for food production. At some point Americans must come to the table on the reality of global warming and that red meat from cattle is not the direction for sustainability of our planet and food resources. More transparency and discussion and education on the topic must be provided to the public and anyone involved in food service and nutrition education.

This will be a very timely topic of discussion in my upcoming Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class at Rowan University.

Real food back at the center of health

Health Equity is out

References

1. Catanzaro R, Sciuto M, Marotta F. Lactose intolerance: An update on its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Nutr Res. 2021;89:23–34. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2021.02.003

2) Harvard Eating Plate. Accessed Jan. 12, 2026. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/healthy-eating-plate/

3) Should USDA and HHS withdraw the new DGA?

4) HHS, USDA. The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Accessed Jan. 7, 2025. https://cdn.realfood.gov/Scientific%20Report_1.8.26.pdf

Watch for updates. Updated 1/12/2026

Diana's 3-cheese, Gluten Free, Sicilian Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 4 Jan 2026 18:02:00 -0500

Gluten Free Lasagna

As you may have seen in previous posts, we always make lasagna for Christmas dinner! Mom started this family tradition ever since I can remember. We continue it to this day. RIP mom! The past few years we started making a gluten free (GF) version, which is good enough for company. In my opinion, you can't taste any difference. If you have a friend or family member who needs GF options, this recipe is a winner!

This year we used Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten free noodles that are made with corn and brown rice flour. The taste was great. The main recipe differences between my regular lasagna and GF lasagna are that no pre-cooking, oven-ready, GF noodles is necessary, oven-ready GF noodles need sauce on both sides of the noodles, and all exposed noodles need to be covered with sauce.

This recipe is different than what is on the Barilla box and very similar to my regular Sicilian Christmas lasagna recipe. We baked the lasagna at 350 deg. F vs 425 deg. F. as suggested on the Barilla package label. Below is my GardenCuizine recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
Set aside a 13 x 9 x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish

Ingredients

1 box Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten-free lasagne

Meat blend

1 lb lean ground beef (Mom used to blend with Italian sausage. For vegetarian, use boca crumbles)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
black pepper
drizzle olive oil

Ricotta blend

1, 32 oz whole milk Ricotta

1 1/2 cups shredded low fat mozzarella

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 large eggs, whisked

1 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley

1/8 tsp. fresh grated or ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

Sauce

1 large jar pasta sauce or your own homemade sauce
3-4 bay leaves (not edible! remove before serving)
1/2 tsp oregano

Topping

1 cup or so shredded mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley (believe it or not we still had some growing in a pot on our front porch!)

Putting it all together

Warm up the sauce in a pot. Stir in bay leaves and oregano. Keep covered on low heat.
In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the onion add garlic; stir; cook until golden; remove from the skillet to a plate or bowl.
In the same skillet, cook the ground meat, season with black pepper. Remove from heat. Drain any grease.
Stir in the cooked aromatics (onion and garlic).
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, whisked eggs, nutmeg, salt, set aside.

Prepare your baking dish with a bottom layer of red sauce.
Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce.
Add a little more sauce on top of the noodles (both sides must have sauce to soften and cook properly).
Scoop small balls of Ricotta, about 3 scoops per noodle. (We use a 2 oz scoop)
Top with a layer of cooked ground meat.

Repeat - sauce - noodles - sauce - ricotta - meat
sauce - noodles - sauce
Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Note: if you have leftover ricotta, which we always do, make another small serving to freeze uncooked and cook at a later date.

Cover with aluminum foil, try not to touch the top of the sauce with the foil. Bake at 350 deg F. about 40 minutes. Remove foil and cook uncovered another 15 min or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito!

Diet Changes Gut Microbiota

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:50:00 -0500

What I liked about this video

This informative video by Dr Pradip Jamnadas showcases the importance of eating wholesome foods vs processed foods to provide our guts with important dietary fiber to fuel the bacteria that impact our health. He made mention of how youth in America are becoming more unhealthy related to poor dietary choices that lead to child obesity, prediabetes and diabetes.

Good intro to gut microbiome.
Good explanation of what gut bacteria is for.
Good to encourage fermented foods.
Good clarification on best sources of dietary fiber.
Good questions and answers at the end.

What I disliked about this video

Dr Jamnadas last sentence that he fired his dietitian was cringe-worthy!

Oh my! That comment was unfortunate as it cast a suggestion that you don't need a dietitian. I am a dietitian who makes a difference in the lives of others. I do not focus on teaching calorie counting, but rather, listen and provide medical nutrition therapy to meet individual needs.

Nutrition educators, such as dietitians, help to promote healthy habits and eating of wholesome foods. Just like doctors, dietitians all have different personalities and ways to provide information and education to their clients. If his RD wasn't a good fit for his practice, he could have replaced her with a different healthcare professional to better meet his and his practice's needs.

Registered dietitians are nutrition experts who are instrumental in helping individuals and family's make improvements to their diets and lifestyles.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend recipe

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 10:33:00 -0500

Make-your-own

Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

You may remember the time saving recipe for make-your-own pumpkin pie spice published on Dave's Garden blog many years ago. The pumpkin spice blend I used was inspired by a fellow DG member, Sally. Here it is again for us, in case DG decides to pull it offline as they have done with some of my other articles. I'm glad my pumpkin article has survived the test of time and is still available to readers (see link below).

You will need one empty spice jar.

Putting it all together

Using a small funnel add the following spices directly to your spice jar, cover and shake to mix thoroughly before using.

Pumpkin Spice Recipe

4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons ground ginger

1 Tablespoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Enjoy this pumpkin spice blend in your favorite pumpkin recipes!

Related links

Diana's Dave's Garden blog post

Wiggle, Bounce, and Shake! 💥 | Dance Compilation | Danny Go! Songs for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sat, 8 Nov 2025 09:29:00 -0500

Our October Garden

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 5 Oct 2025 15:22:00 -0400

Our October Garden

Heavenly Blue morning glory's are blooming! Not exactly an heirloom or the color of Fall, but these blues are among my favorite blooms. Note their swirling buds; just beautiful. Other blooming plants in our October NJ garden include: fushia pink phlox along with pink clerodendrum and some yellow native goldenrod blooms, asters and other miscellaneous native plants and weeds.

Yesterday, I picked a final batch of Chocolate Cherry and Petite Moineau heirloom tomatoes. I sacrificed a few tomatoes to get seeds from to plant next year. I also harvested a few more peppers.

We also have a batch of hot peppers from Pineland's Produce owner, Ms Diane, who sells at the Burlington County Farmers Market. We froze some. I plan to use a bunch of the hot peppers to make hot pepper jelly tomorrow.

As for our black-eyed peas, well yours truly did not pick them in time and blew it with the black-eyed peas!! A few weeks ago the seeds all burst out of their dry shells and disappeared into the ground. I was able to salvage a few beans for planting again next year.

Below is a brief video clip of yesterday in the garden. If it does not load, check back, I will post it on YouTube.

All the best for Good Health and Happiness!

Diana

Today in Our NJ Garden

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 11:02:00 -0400

August Monarch - photo by Diana Wind

Today in Our Garden

August 17, 2025

Hello, so sorry for the GardenCuizine blog posting delay! I still love this blog and hope to add more posts soon including a fun snack energy ball recipe that I just made for kids in Vineland. Today's post will focus on what's growing in our garden.

This August has been the best for milkweed and Monarch butterflies! This season has been the worst for us in growing heirloom tomatoes. The main reason why we're struggling with growing vegetables is clearly lack of sunshine. Vegetables need lots of sun. A nearby Kwanzan Cherry tree, that I planted, has grown so big and tall that it is casting too much shade upon the garden. Sigh... even arugula and catmint didn't grow; hopefully, we can have the tree trimmed back at some point.

What is growing well in our backyard garden? Well we do have enough sun to grow a few basil plants, jalapeno peppers, garlic chives, black-eyed peas and Petite Moineau tomatoes. I think our tomatillos are a bust (sorry Leslie!); I must have saved hybrid seeds thinking they were heirlooms. Hybrid seeds can NOT be saved and planted; they will grow, but unfortunately, will not yield any fruit. In my opinion growing heirloom plants are the best - that way you can save free seeds for the next growing season.

Bright yellow, cheery, daily-like blooms surround our huge, bending over cup plants. The patch has grown taller and wider and choked out the sunchokes. Interesting how mother nature works.

We have lots of hummingbird activity now too. The hummers love tubular shaped blooms such as cannas, salvias, Florida shrub and trumpet vine (albeit invasive).

Happy Gardening!

Diana

Black Bean Veggie Patties - Jersey Fresh recipe

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 11:39:00 -0400

Ingredients:

Canned black beans
Green pepper
Onion
Garlic cloves
Egg
Chili powder
Bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe link: https://findjerseyfresh.com/JerseyFresh/recipes/black-bean-veggie-patties

For gluten-free, simply use GF breadcrumbs! Enjoy!

Highlights from the Philadelphia Flower Show 2025

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 15:30:00 -0400

Gardens of Tomorrow

Philadelphia Flower Show 2025

Harry and I enjoyed our visit to the largest flower show in the world - the Philadelphia Flower Show at the Philadelphia Convention Center! The show's theme highlighted hopes for the future, Gardens of Tomorrow. As always, there was so much to see and do; we only experienced a part of the beautiful floral arrangements, exhibits, landscapes and garden designs. Ideally, one would need to attend at least two or more days to get a chance to see everything. For example, I can't believe I missed the aquaponics display by Philadelphia Lankenau school students!

The entrance, Futura Florentia, was bright pink and colorful with hanging glass balls filled with red roses under rainfall. Special effects blue and purple lighting highlighted blooming Okami cheery trees. All the walkways were wide to accommodate the large crowds of people.

Below are a few more of my pictures from the show. We saw lots of orchids and roses!

PHS Color Pop

PHS Rose Rain - Futura Florentia


PHS Orchid Rain

One of our favorite parts of the show has become the photography exhibit! We didn't get in this year, but admired all those who did. The photographs were terrific! This year I especially loved the still life category, and classes: 193 (Rooted - portrait of a tree - winner photo shown below), 195 (Eternal - portrait of a bird - winner photo shown below), and 197 (Contemplate - photo of a reflection in water).

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Another show favorite experience for us was was buying garden seeds at the end in the retail marketplace! We selected lots of flowers and also some heirloom tomatoes and peppers from Hudson Valley Seed Co. This is a great time to start your seeds indoors, which is just what I plan to do this weekend here in New Jersey.

Happy Gardening!

Lentils, Beans and Peas in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 16:51:00 -0500

Legumes - Plant-based Protein

The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are underway! Nutrition experts on the DGA Advisory Board have been busy over the past few years with researching the updates that aim to promote better health to prevent disease. The DGA gets updated every five years by the US government's Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture. Public comments have already been received. In fact, they received the most comments ever so far in DGA history with greater than 9,900 comments to date. Another public comment period is still open until February 10, 2025.

At the DGA last recorded meeting in 2024, the nutrition team were discussing considerations for reclassification of beans, lentils and peas from the vegetable subgroup to either their own category or perhaps to the protein food group. Personally, I think the shift to the protein food group in MyPlate would be good because it will highlight plant-based protein options.

Legumes like beans, lentils and peas are full of vitamins and minerals, especially iron, zinc, potassium, folate and dietary fiber. Legumes are also known to be sustainable foods, which is helpful for the environment; a win for public health and a win for the planet!

Below is a video about the many varieties of lentils that can add nutrition to your meals.

#haveaplant

How to Cook Lentils

Nutrition benefits of Peas

Power Packed Proteins all about Beans

Diet Fiction | Exposing Popular Diet Misconceptions | Health & Wellness ...

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 16:30:00 -0500

Diana's Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie Crust

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 20:29:00 -0500

Diana's Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie Crust

Ingredients

1 cup Corn Flour
1 cup Buckwheat Flour
2 tblsp Tapioca Flour
1 tblsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tblsp Butter, unsalted
1 tblsp Smart Balance
1/2 cup cold water

Putting it all together

We used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flours. Sift together all of the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to mixer. Slowly mix with paddle until it is blended (cut) into the flour but visible chunks remain. Gradually add in cold water, mixing until the dough comes together. Stop mixing, form into a ball with hands, flatten into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap in clear wrap. Save and refrigerate until ready to use. You will notice that the dough is darker in color due to the buckwheat flour.

When ready to use, roll out like you would with regular pie dough. I roll the dough out between layers of plastic wrap. Then flip it onto a lightly sprayed (non-stick spray, we use Pam) pie plate; crimp the edges as desired. Fill with your strained pumpkin pie custard; bake as directed in Diana's pumpkin pie recipe. Allow to cool before serving. Enjoy!

Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

Today in Our Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Mon, 2 Sep 2024 11:55:00 -0400

Today in Our Garden

2024

This post was a long time in coming...I am proud to announce that I have completed my graduate coursework and now have a Master's in Applied Nutrition! What better a way to celebrate than to walk around outdoors with my camera!

Hummingbirds are still in NJ visiting our feeders and their favorite blooms, including cannas and salvias.
The best fruits we grew this year were two varieties of figs and Petit Moineau heirloom tomatoes.

It was great to discover a robust and healthy monarch caterpillar in Harry's meadow!! This was the first one we've seen all season. My guess is the reduction in insects could be from people's use of systemic pesticides and insect spraying. Some insect reduction could be from our hungry Mt Laurel lizards! Lizzy's like bugs but wouldn't eat monarch larva, since monarchs are poisonous.

The incredible passion vines have taken over our vegetable garden! Fruits looking like limes are now dangling all over the place.

We missed the veggie market on Saturday, but enjoyed a walk around the Burlington County Agricultural Center's community garden plots. The above pollinator photo was taken in their herb garden located near their farmhouse where they do the cooking demos.

Hopefully, my next post will be sooner rather than later!

Best for good health and happiness,

Diana

Prevent Youth Type 2 Diabetes

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 10:05:00 -0400

An Updated Systematic Review with Implications for the School Nurse and Registered Dietitian

15-minute presentation

by Diana Wind, MS, RDN

South Jersey is Beautiful

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 13:13:00 -0400

Barnegat Lighthouse

Those of you who knew Junetta, may remember that one of Mom's favorite places was Long Beach Island (LBI); especially, Barnegat Lighthouse. We had not gone since we took her there on her birthday a long time ago (before Covid) when she was still with us. Mom has been gone 4 years already. RIP mom...We always think of her when we see 'ol Barney!

Harry and I went to the shore, with our cameras, in search of seals that were reported in the news to be all along the NJ coastline. There have been more sightings early this year due to the warmer weather. Young seal pups migrate to warmer waters from New England.

Well, we did not see any seals. It didn't matter. The weather was so nice; it felt so good to get outdoors! A LBI resident told us that they only had one seal sighting on the island. I'm thinking that it may be the one that was found entangled in plastic in Beach Haven. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center rescued the sickly pup last month. The problem of plastic is another story. If we had seen any seals of course, we would have kept a respectable distance of at least 100 feet per NOAA recommendations.

Having similar color tones as in seals, we watched other shore life that at first we thought were ducks. We're not bird experts, but they look like Brant - small sized geese that breed in Canada and overwinter along the New Jersey and New York coastlines. As with many species, they are in decline. Caring for the environment and our waterways has never been more important.

We watched the vegetarian Brant feeding on sea grasses and greens along the moss-covered rocks.

Brant

Related Links

Atlantic Brant Research

Audubon Bird Guide - Brant

Seal and Sea Lion Week

Barnegat Bay Partnership

RD Approved Grazing Board! @eatrightpro @eatrightnj #haveaplant #gardencuizine

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Tue, 2 Jan 2024 16:36:00 -0500

Best Wishes for a

Healthy and Happy New Year 2024!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm proud to be featured in a recent Every Day Health article (link below) with my take on an RD approved Grazing Board. Grazing boards are spin offs of charcuterie appetizer boards.

Grazing boards (also called graze boards) feature a selection of nibbles that can be served to your family or guests before the main course. They can also be served after a main course for visiting family or friends.

This New Years, RD approved, grazing board features sustainable, protein-packed, legumes, namely black-eyed peas - called Hoppin' John. Black-eyed peas bring good health, joy, good luck and peace, which we all sure need more of in this world.

Ingredients for Diana Wind's dietitian approved - healthy grazing board:

Hoppin' John: black-eyed peas (also known as pulses or legumes) - precooked and ready to heat and serve
Fruit cups (we used strawberries, blueberries with plain Greek yogurt)
Yogurt or whipped cream for the fruit dip (Cinnamon Bionico sauce is always a winner too! Recipe included below)
Basket or bowl of whole fruits: bananas, apples, clementines, grapes (and/or other favorite fruits)
Carrot sticks
Celery sticks (and/or any other veggies you want to use; including, but not limited to: red bell pepper strips, cucumbers, radishes and cherry tomatoes)
Hummus dip for the veggies (we used store bought)
Cheddar cheese (or any of your favorite cheese, with some cut into star shapes)
Jalapeno Pepper Jack cheese (cut into star shapes)
Wholegrain crackers
Spanikopita (spinach & feta) wedges - store bought; ready to heat and serve
Pistachios (or any of your favorite nuts)

Putting it all together

This is another GardenCuizine freestyle recipe, meaning that you control the portions based on how many people you plan to serve. Simple and easy!

Start with selecting a large serving board, such as a large cutting board, mirror, or tray. We happened to have a big blue plastic tray that worked perfectly.

Fancy martini or sangria glasses and short decorative glasses make good serving containers for your vitamin-rich fruits and veggies! A twisted star party necklace on the tray adds to the design.

A side fruit bowl or basket filled with bananas, apples and clementines adds even more nutrition for you and your guests. No need for junk foods at this party!

Keep leftover Hoppin' John in your refrigerator so that you will have plenty to enjoy as a meal another time over quinoa or brown rice.

Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Related Links

RD Approved Grazing Boards - Check out #8

GardenCuizine Hoppin' John recipe

GardenCuizine Cinnamon Bionico Sauce recipe

Looking Differently at Charcuterie

How Beans Contribute to Sustainable Nutrition

Sweet 'n Spicy Maple Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 10:33:00 -0500

What's for Dinner Tonight?

For deciding on what's for dinner, start with choosing the protein. Last night we selected fish, salmon. We keep our fish frozen. Once we decided on having salmon, we pulled it out of the freezer to thaw. After a short period on the counter, for food safety, we put it on a plate and into the refrigerator while we decided on the rest of the dinner side dishes.

As you can see in the picture, we served the baked sweet 'n spicy maple glazed salmon with a starch and a vegetable to balance the meal. The frozen green beans took less than 5 minutes to saute with fresh garlic and butter, and the rice pilaf was leftover, so we just had to heat and serve.

Our oven's broiler is not working right so we decided to bake the salmon. Your next decision after deciding on the cooking method is how to season the salmon. I decided on using hot pepper jelly. We had pepper jelly in jars made from this summer. Hot pepper jelly isn't really that hot; it adds just the right amount of sweet 'n spicy flavor to just about any food from corn bread to fish!

This is a GardenCuizine freestyle recipe, meaning that you don't really need to measure the ingredients. You can use any amount desired of the ingredients to your liking.

Preheat oven to 350 deg F

You'll need a baking dish with a cover

Ingredients

Farm raised Salmon fillet (thawed)
1/3 cup, or less, hot pepper jelly (preferably homemade)
1 Tblsp pure maple syrup
pinch Fresh ground black pepper
pinch Salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
chopped fresh or dried parsley
1/3 cup or less water

Putting it all together

Combine pepper jelly and seasonings
Place salmon in baking dish; spread pepper jelly spice blend over salmon
Add water to bottom of baking dish (do not cover the fish in water)
Bake 15 minutes covered
uncover and bake another 15 min or until done
Serve with a starch and a vegetable, such as brown rice and green beans.

Enjoy!

GardenCuizine Nutrition data 3 oz Salmon: Calories 175, Carbs 0, Fiber 0, Protein 19g, Vitamin B12 2.4 mcg (99% DV), Healthy Omega-3 fatty acids 2.2g (Wow! 201% DV)

FDA Investigation of Lead in Cinnamon Apple Sauce Continues

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 14:15:00 -0500

Lead poisoning can happen in adults and children. Eating lead can make you or your kids sick. Symptoms include headaches, belly pain, vomiting, anemia and more.

Don't let anyone eat these three brands of Cinnamon Applesauce pouches:

WanaBana Apple Cinnamon Fruit Purée. The pouches were distributed nationwide online and at retail stores.
Schnucks brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack
Weis brand cinnamon applesauce pouches

If you see any of these products in a store >>> Snap a photo of it and notify the FDA. If your child ate some or is sick, consult your Pediatrician.

Note: I am no longer posting on Twitter since it became X. You can find me on Instagram, which is a family friendly, safer site for the public and healthcare professionals.

Related Links

FDA Investigation

Ask Your Doctor About a Child Lead Test

Testing Children for Lead Poisoning

Whitesbog Blueberry History

noreply@blogger.com (GardenCuizine.com) — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 15:27:00 -0400

Historic Whitesbog

We both recently had the pleasure of going on a photography outing to support the New Jersey Pinelands with Richard Lewis, a fine art landscape photographer. After spending a day with him on a fun group photography tour at one of our favorite parts of the NJ Pinelands, Franklin Parker Preserves, I started following Richard on social media.

Soon after, Richard posted some amazing autumn photographs of sunrise and a red rainbow at a place called Whitesbog. How is it that we've lived in South Jersey all our lives and never visited Whitesbog? Thanks to Richard's post we found our way to Whitesbog with our cameras. The historic 1857 farm and village is located in Browns Mills NJ. Whitesbog is in part of the Brendan T. Byrne state forest.

It was here at Whitesbog that Ms Elizabeth Coleman White showed the world that blueberries could be cultivated. Ms White's very interesting skill set included nursing, agricultural research and hands on experience in both cranberry and blueberry farming.

I was saddened, but not surprised, to read that when Ms White's Father died, in his will, he did not make her President of his company even though she contributed so much to expand the business for their family. The Whitesbog plantation grew from 600 to 3,000 acres.

The legacy of this special area is cared for by the Whitesbog Preservation Trust who is open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset. You can find more information and maps to several walking trails on their website (link below). The landscape is very peaceful and beautiful as you can see from my photos shown. We look forward to visiting again soon!

References and Related Links

Whitesbog

NJ Women's History

History of Blueberries

Fall at Whitesbog in the NJ Pine Barrens