There a concept you may have read here before called ayurvedic cooking. Its essential definition is intentionally eating for good health. Using fresh herbs is a great way to eat well intentionally for good health. They have healing properties and are packed with vitamins.

For example, a hearty serving of dill, such as you can get from a serving of the Dill Pesto recipe below provides the following percentages of your recommended daily vitamin intake:

18% of vitamin B11

70% of vitamin C

126% of vitamin A

10% of calcium

41% of iron

The benefits of proper vitamin intake include reduced swelling, warding off disease, proper organ function, and much more. Eating the right foods is a great way to keep your body healthy. And when the food tastes good, it’s easy and fun to do.

The following recipe for Dill Pesto is one of many recipes that use fresh herbs which I will be demonstrating at the Barrington Garden Faire on Friday June 21 and Saturday June 22.

Dill Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 cup loosely packed fresh dill
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup Lemon infused Olive Oil  OR  1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/3 cups flour (non-GMO, such as Hodgson Mill)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (I have used vanilla and chocolate almond milk in addition to cow’s milk)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

See our recipes section for frosting ideas, or frost as desired.

Pot Roast Stuffed Potatoes

Thank you so much for your feedback and support on our last post. We got comments from all over the place, not just to the blog post. The consensus to the question of what you want more of from us was: ALL OF THE ABOVE. So we have our work cut out for us in 2013 .

Online cooking classes and instructional videos? I can shoot them, it’s the editing that keeps me up at night. Coming soon on that one….

More great recipes? No problem. It’s the photographs that again, trip me up. But if you’ll forgive the lack of beauty shots, I’ll promise to post more.

Also, as a dinner solution provider, we will be looking to build partnerships and food manufacturer relationships in 2013. If I’m going to share with you topics like the hazards of food coloring, I also want to be able to provide you a cost-effective, healthier alternative to making colorful fun food.

And the one thing you’ve missed the most…. the 30 Days of Dinner posts.  This is not the first time a repeat of this has been requested. I will provide more of these snapshots into my daily dinner. I may not get the full week, but I can promise a few per week at least. Starting… now!

Last night I used leftover pot roast to make Pot Roast-Stuffed Baked Potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pot roast
• 6 roasting potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Toppings of your choice such as:

• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt
• Olives
• Peppers
• Salsa
• Chives/onions

Place potatoes in a baking dish. Cut a slit down the center of each. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drizzle potatoes with oil and salt. Bake, uncovered for 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Press pot roast into the center of each potato. Return to oven, cover with foil, and bake for 25 minutes more. Serve with toppings of your choice.

Earlier in the week, we made Singapore Noodles for both our family dinner, and to send to my 4th grade son’s math teacher as appreciation of the hard work she has done transitioning the kids to learning the Singapore Math method this year. Singapore Noodles are affectionately referred to as “Clean out the fridge noodles”. What this means to you is feel free to make substitutions and be flexible with the recipe. The seasonings and preparation method are important, and the cilantro, in my opinion is a must, but as for whether you use pork in place of the shrimp, any vegetable you choose in place of the ones I suggest, and whatever kind of onion varietal you may have on hand, that is all flexible.

Singapore Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 pound vermicelli, spaghettini or angel hair pasta OR thin rice noodles
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (or two chicken breasts, cut into thin strips)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup cabbage, shredded
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

The following 6 Spices OR 3 tablespoons of a combination Singapore seasoning

• 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
• 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fresh minced cilantro

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan on stove. Stir fry shrimp for 5 minutes (longer if using chicken or pork). Remove meat from pan, add remaining oil and all vegetables and seasonings. Cook 4 minutes until tender. Add broth and soy sauce. Return meat and add noodles to pan. Stir to combine, cooking over medium-low heat until warmed through and combined. Top with cilantro before serving.

Oh, and congratulations to Alicia, the winner of a copy of 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store, and some Vegeta, which is a perfect broth to use for the Singapore Noodle recipe. Here’s an old review of the 70 Meals cookbook we came across today that sums up it’s effectiveness perfectly:

“Kelly, I think you are my new best friend! I’ve had your book for about 3 weeks…and guess what? I. CAN. COOK. It’s unbelievable! And my whole family has liked, if not loved the recipes. Not only that, but I totally second your frugal testimony. I spend about $130/week for the 14 items PLUS all our breakfast/lunch/snack foods–2 adults, 3 kids (8, 6, 2). I spent about $135 on the semi-annual list so that adds an extra $20/month into the grocery budget…and it still cuts it down significantly. If I shop the sales & use coupons, I’m sure that amount can go down. Thank you, sincerely, for publishing your book…and why haven’t we ALL thought to do this before?”

- Resa

As we work on restructuring our efforts, and put some new features in the works, we want to know what you want from us that will help you get more of a hot healthy homemade dinner on the table:

Online cooking classes?

Groceries needed to make 70 meals dinners delivered to your door?

More cookbooks?

More online recipes and blog posts?

All of the above?

Other?

Please give us your answer by replying to this blog post to be entered to win. AND include your email address so we can contact you after our random drawing on Wednesday, March 20, 2013.

We will be giving away one copy of 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store, and one cannister of Vegeta broth powder to the lucky winner!

Rueben Pizza Recipe

Ingredients

•               1 prebaked pizza crust

•               ¾ cup sauerkraut

•               1/4 pound thin sliced deli corned beef, broken into pieces

•               4 slices Swiss cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

•               2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

•               1 teaspoon Caraway seeds

•               ½ teaspoon Parsley

Spread mustard on pizza crust. Top with sauerkraut, beef and then cheese. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and parsley. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Mini Ruebens — aka Rueben Sliders Recipe

Ingredients

•               1 lb. corned beef

•               ½ pound Swiss Cheese

•               2 sleeves mini rye toasts

•               One bottle Thousand Island dressing

•               10 oz. sauerkraut

•               butter

Slice corned beef into 2 inch square pieces or smaller. Split cheese into four equal squares. Load corned beef, one teaspoon sauerkraut, 1 teaspoon dressing and one slice of cheese onto a rye toast. Top with another rye toast to make sandwiches. Either grill sandwiches in lightly buttered pan, flipping once, or bake in oven on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Serve immediately, or individually wrap sandwiches in foil if transporting or to keep warm. Once in foil, sandwiches can be kept warm in warm oven.

Corned Beef Cream Cheese Dip Recipe

Ingredients

•               ½ pound deli corned beef

•               1 – 8 ounce package of cream cheese

•               ¼ cup Green onions, diced

•               4 slices Swiss cheese

•               Rye toasts or pita or tortilla chips

Dice corned beef into ½ inch squares. Mix beef together with cream cheese and onions. Spread in glass baking dish and top with Swiss Cheese. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes until cheese is golden. Serve on rye toasts or with pita or tortilla chips for dipping.

Mini Potato Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

•               3 to 4 medium potatoes

•               ¾ cup bread crumbs

•               3 tablespoons diced green onion

•               1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

•               1/2 teaspoon salt

•              oil for frying

Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, cool, and remove skins. In a large bowl, loosely mash potatoes. Add bread crumbs, onions, lemon juice, and salt and mix well. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Form into 1/2 inch thick patties. Add oil to a deep, medium-sized skillet, and heat over medium-high heat. Fry pancakes 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside on absorbent paper while frying the remaining pancakes.

Serve with sour cream and applesauce for dipping.

© Hhltdave5 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

Well, with St. Patrick’s Day quickly approaching, there are several items that are going to be in high demand for the Corned Beef  feast, which will therefore be selling at wonderfully-low prices. One of these is cabbage. Cabbage is typically priced over $1/head. In the next few weeks you will find it for half that price, if not less, at certain stores. In addition to serving it with your corned beef, here are some ways to make your money go a long way, and provide your family healthy, delicious side dishes at half their usual price. And this doesn’t mean you’ll be eating cabbage every day (though that would be good for you) as one of these recipes has a long shelf life, and the other can be frozen for future use.

© Supertrooper | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

1. One Step at a Time. This approach is so important. Unless you have complete control over your schedule, budget, and access to fresh foods, you must not feel the pressure to dive in head first to eating for health. If you do it, and it works for you, that’s great. But we would rather you not go the way of New Year’s resolutions and set yourself up with grand expectations that may eventually fail.
2. Educate Yourself. Why are GMO foods bad for your body? There is a lot of great information out there if you do a google search or speak to a holistic health practitioner. In summary, our bodies don’t recognize genetically modified foods. Our intestines react by plasticizing, our stomachs bloat, and we don’t absorb any nutrients from the food. What benefits do we really get from eating healthy? A ridiculous amount. Less health problems, less money spent on prescriptions, less time at the doctor’s office, longer life, better skin, weight loss. This video from Food Matters is a powerful testament to the link between eating poorly and pharmaceutical consumption:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss
3. Motivate from Within. Healthy eating advocates can tell you time after time how much better it is for you to eat vegetables rather than fried foods, but your taste buds often have a different — and much stronger — opinion. Win out over your taste buds by doing what you know is best for you.
4. Cooking as Sport. As with any sport, practice makes you better, and having the right tools and equipment help you win. Play on the offensive not the defensive. Many people are defensive players with food. “Hmm, I”m hungry but there’s nothing to eat. I’ll order takeout.” Well, guess what? Eating happens every day, just like brushing your teeth and going to the bathroom. We always make sure we have tp and toothpaste at home, why not healthy food options?
5. Do it Your Way. It’s good to hear what others are eating, and doing to be healthier, but that doesn’t mean that has to be what you do. There are a lot of great things you can eat to be healthier, choose the ones that work for you and your family. If your family loathes kale, but considers cauliflower a treat, it’s certainly much easier to “treat” them to cauliflower to start a healthier eating regimen than to throw in the towel due to some strong kale resistance.
6. Challenge Yourself. Take the task head-on. Put it on your schedule, your calendar, your grocery list and your goals for the year. Can you think of anything better you can do for you and your family? Consider it a gift from yourself.
7. You Are What You Eat. ‘Nuf said. “A lifestyle change can reverse chronic disease. It’s cheap, it’s easy and it’s effective.” – Food Matters
8. “If you Build it, They Will Come.” Because we consider cooking a sport, sports references work great for becoming a better player in the kitchen. What we mean by this Field of Dreams baseball reference is more literally, if you cut up fresh fruits and vegetables, or prepare healthy foods and present them for your family, chances improve that they will eat it. Picture a veggie tray at a party and just how easily guests grab and snack on the juicy-lookig cut up cucumbers, cauliflower and peppers. Veggie trays aren’t just for parties. Cut up a beautiful piece of produce for a mealtime appetizer and when hungry mouths come into the kitchen pleading “When is dinner?” they can snack on pure health as they wait.
9. Constantly reassess. As with any other sport, you have to keep your head in the game. If you show up to play once a year and think you’re going to hit one out of the park, chances are slim, If you hone your skills a little every day, your chances are great. It can be so easy to grab a granola bar for breakfast, a meat-based sandwich for lunch, and sit down to a chicken dinner, wihout thinking that you aren’t eating healthy. This combination certainly can be healthy, but missing may be the greens, reds, oranges, etc. of plant foods and whole grains and fiber that can round out a meal and give your daily intake perfect health. A quick assessment, and an addition of some plentiful vitamins can be just a thought away.
10. Habits happen. While the first few days might seem painful, tastebuds form habits. Persist through the painful parts and it will get easier as your body adjusts and even starts to crave healthy foods.

As part of my healthy eating and unprocessed research, I interviewed the health and wellness expert at Heinen’s grocery store in Barrington, IL. One question I had for her is why are health foods so trendy? “I remember the days of flax this and flax that, but now see flax takes a far backseat to Chia seeds, coconut everything, kale and quinoa? What’s your take on that?” I asked her. She replied that she thinks it’s great. “Let people learn one new healthy food item at a time, go with the trend to incorporate them into their diet, and then move on to learn about the next best thing.” she said.  I had to agree that with her logic, that eating healthier one step at a time is the way to go.

Shortly thereafter, I bought a large bag of dried quinoa from Trader Joe’s, and with spinach on recall and kale looking so perfect, have been bulking up my grocery cart with kale. And now, I can’t get enough of either. I’m the picture of today’s health food trendiness, minus the Chia seeds.

I have been making the quinoa in place of rice or paste to complement our dinners such as last night’s stir fry, and making it nearly every day for the salad recipe below that also includes kale. I have been using the kale to make breakfast smoothies with parsley, fruit and orange juice, which I find is a great way to start the day, as it gives me so much natural energy.

The quinoa from Trader Joe’s is about the easiest, foolproof grain I’ve ever prepared, combining twice the water as grain, and simmering for about 1/3 of the time it takes to make rice. It is also loaded with protein, and has great amounts of fiber and iron. If you don’t have access to Trader Joe’s or a good brand of quinoa, email me and I will shop and ship you some from Trader Joe’s.

I encourage you to follow the trend, and add one new healthy ingredient to your diet at a time. What’s your latest and greatest?

Kale Quinoa and Blueberry Salad

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped kale
• ½ cup blueberries
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• 4 tablespoons chopped or slivered almonds
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sweet vinegar, such as Blueberry Balsamic from the Olive Tap
• dash of salt, dash of pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve or chill.

I agree with the Tasty Tuesday program that we should all try to get our families to eat more grapefruit. Grapefruit has a reputation for being bitter, and I agree if you get a bite with too much of the abundant pith, which is what surrounds and separates the segments. Here is a way to cut the fruit that eliminates the majority of the pith, and allows you to easily eat or carve out just the juicy pulp.

Start by slicing off the two blossom ends of the fruit.

Stand the fruit on one of the flat sides you have created, and slice it down the middle.

Nest, slice out the pith in the center by cutting diagonally toward the center from each side of the pith.

Then remove the center.

Slice into 5 wedges.

Either eat as-is off the rind, or remove pulp.

If this seems like a bit of a chore to you, I encourage you to look at it as I encourage people to look at most cooking activities… on the offensive. You have to engage in the sport if you want to do it well. And a perfect sports reference about this topic is the quote from Field of Dreams “If you build it, they will come.” If you cut it like this, they’ll eat it. Or, in the cooler section of most grocery produce aisles, you can find cut-up grapefruit in juices packaged for individual snacks. In addition to buying whole grapefruits, I buy these for my kids by the dozen, and I have to beg them not to eat them all that night so we have enough to send in lunches at least the following day.

My other favorite way to enjoy grapefruit is in salads. I pair it with Salmon in the Teriyaki Salmon Citrus Salad in my 30 Spectacular Salads cookbook, and use it in my latest favorite side dish, a superfood Quinoa, Spinach, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad.

As with all of my favorite salads, the ingredients, not the dressing do the talking for this dish. In fact, you don’t even need to top these ingredients as they taste great and fresh as is. But if you are, and want to get some of the Grapefruit vinegar mentioned in the recipe, you can buy online at theolivetap.com.

Quinoa, Spinach, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 1 grapefruit, meat only, diced
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 avocado diced
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• few shakes black pepper
• One splash, or 1 tablespoon Ruby Red Grapefruit vinegar (or other sweet balsamic, champagne or citrus vinegar)
• One splash or one tablespoon olive oil

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Cool completely. Combine all ingredients and serve or chill.

Last month’s Tasty Tuesday ingredient was Black Beans. Some of my black bean recipes were featured in the Barrington Courier. If you missed it, you can read the article here: http://elmwoodpark.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=16856284. I have been getting great feedback on the black bean brownies.

We hope you take a taste of some grapefruit or black beans this month, and help your family take one step at a time toward eating healthier and unprocessed. We’d love to hear from you about the results.

Much of the talk on the food scene this month has been about super foods, and I think they are a great place to start. A super food is one with high amounts of nutrients and notable healing attributes.  Just by eating them, you give yourself better health and immune defenses.  We are used to hearing about Acai berries as being super, but another great and more readily-available option in the “super” category is raspberries.

Raspberries are low in calories and saturated fats but are a rich source of antioxidants and dietary fiber. 100 g of berries contain just 52 calories but provide 6.5 g of fiber (16% of daily recommended intake).  They are an excellent source of vitamins C, A, E, B, K, niacin, riboflavin, and folic acid. The health benefits of this conglomerate include fighting infection plus reversing aging and various diseases. They also contain a good amount of minerals, which help blood flow and
pressure.

Photographed by Anthony Tortoriello at the Barrington Farmers Market

Now that is a SUPER list of health nutrients for a little serving of berries.  But there’s another aspect to raspberries that has scientists all abuzz of late.  It’s raspberry ketone. Raspberry ketone is gaining a reputation as the key ingredient to losing those “last 5 pounds” of body fat, and in general as a fat burning agent.  Ketones are an all-natural phenolic compound, or enzyme, that helps prevent weight gain by naturally stimulating the body’s digestive process to breakdown fats and foods, while helping the body cleanse and detoxify.

I don’t know about you, but adding a handful of raspberries to my daily diet is my kind of detox plan. It’s a treat, rather than a painful-sounding regimen. Raspberries are one of those foods that don’t need to be hidden or mixed with anything for a great treat. They are delicious just as-is. But if you need some encouragement or inspiration for how to sneak some raspberry ketone into your diet, here are some of my favorite ways.

Raspberries are a favorite ingredient for my family in a breakfast yogurt parfait. I’ll layer raspberries, Greek yogurt and granola in a bowl, or sometimes even with a to-go cup and spoon for my daughter to eat on the way to the bus.

I use raspberries in salads and in salad dressings. My favorite salad combination is raspberries, fresh spinach and avocados with optional additions of goats cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, sesame seeds, almonds or walnuts.

Following is my favorite recipe for raspberry dressing. It’s even better if you use the Raspberry vinegar from the Olive Tap stores in place of red wine vinegar.

Raspberry Dressing

Ingredients:
1/3 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon spicy dry mustard or prepared Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
splash of lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil

Combine ingredients in a blender and serve.

And if you’re looking for a sweet treat, it’s well known that raspberries are a delicious pairing with dark chocolate.  Try the rich brownie recipes on my website for either Espresso Brownies or, for an added super food boost, Black Bean Brownies, substituting dark chocolate chips for the chocolate chips. Top with some raspberries and a dusting of powdered sugar, and you will get a rich elegant dessert with a super food twist.

Follow my blog at Organizingdinner.com for many ways to incorporate healthy eating and unprocessed foods into your daily routine, and best wishes for all your resolutions in 2013.