The Healthy Cooking Coach

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-11-10T13:12:25-08:00

As a child I hated peanut butter. I don’t know why. I avoided peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter on celery or crackers, and peanut butter cookies. I don’t even know when I first tasted peanut butter. My favorite sandwiches growing up included egg salad, tuna salad, cream cheese, bagels with lox and cream cheese, and grilled cheese.

A second chance
In college I finally gave peanut butter another try. I cautiously spread a thin layer across a slice of sprouted whole grain bread. I didn’t mind it. The second try wasn’t bad. By the third try II actually liked it. Fast forward 15 years and my favorite mini-meal was peanut butter slathered on fresh or frozen (over-ripe) bananas.

The cookie test
Recipes for gluten free cookies abound, but recipes for grain-free, starch-free, flourless cookies are far less common. Recently I set out to test a gluten-free, grain-free, flourless peanut butter cookie seven ways. I started with Bette Hagmen’s Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, which I’ve seen published on multiple web sites.

I tried the recipe with almond butter one weekend, peanut butter the next. I tried it with two sugar-free, zero-carb sweeteners (Erythritol and Lakanto), with a low carb, sugar alternative for baking (Nu Naturals More Fiber Baking Blend), with xylitol (40% fewer calories than sugar), and with coconut palm sugar (a low glycemic sweetener with the same calories value as sugar).

Open to experiment
I usually sweeten desserts with stevia, dried fruit, a combination of honey or maple syrup with stevia, or all three of these. Honey I can buy from farmers and stores that support local bee keepers. Pure maple syrup I can buy almost anywhere. Stevia allows me to cut the amount of caloric sweetener I use (honey or maple syrup).

Xylitol, erythritol, and Lakanto are made in a laboratory, although they mimic sweeteners naturally found in vegetables and fruits. You can’t make them or grow them at home. Still, they may help people who want and need to reduce or eliminate sugar and want sweeteners they can use cup for cup to replace sugar in recipes. More Fiber baking blend contains a variety of fibers and too much fiber can be irritating to some people.You'll have to experiment to see how you do with these sweeteners.

Like I said, this was an experiment. I’m not endorsing any of these alternative sweeteners. I think they’re all safe but I’m not sure how much I will use them in my classes and recipes. (Stevia I’m sold on and have used for years with no digestive distress or other ill-effects.) I want to see what more people think of the flavor and texture of recipes made from them and whether many people experience gas, bloating,or loose stools from the indigestible carbohydrates contained in xylitol, erythritol, and Lakanto, and from the fibers in the baking blend.

About xylitol
Xylitol is a low-glycemic sweetener metabolized without insulin. It’s slowly absorbed and does not cause the sharp increase in blood sugar or the insulin response that usually follows consumption of other carbohydrates. It’s safe for diabetics and anyone else who wants to reduce his/her sugar intake. It has been clinically proven to fight tooth decay and other infections in the mouth.

Note: the dried apricot in the recipe on the right was used to mark one of the cookie tray so I would know which batch contained the xylitol when baking against another batch with a similar sweetener.

Xylitol is a naturally-occurring sweetener (scientists classify it as a polyol) found in many fruits and vegetables. It can be produced by the human body during normal glucose metabolism. It tastes as sweet as sucrose and has no after-taste. It has a slightly cooling taste on the tongue. Its safety has been proven in long-term clinical studies worldwide. Nevertheless, as with other polyols, large quantities may have a laxative or gas producing effect. The amount tolerated varies with individual susceptibility and body weight. Most adults can tolerate at least 40 grams per day.

About erythritol
Erythritol a naturally-occurring sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables. It is three fourths as sweet as sucrose, has no after-taste, and is safe for diabetics. It is a zero-glycemic sweetener that does not stimulate an insulin response. It’s safe for diabetics and anyone else seeking a safer alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. The safety of Erythritol has been proven in long-term clinical studies and has been confirmed by all the major regulatory bodies worldwide. Unlike other polyols, it does not produce a laxative effect. I used Nut Naturals Sweet Health brand erythritol for my tests.

About Lakanto
The founder of the Body Ecology Diet, Donna Gates, developed a sugar substitute that tastes a lot like sugar (not 100%) without sugar's adverse health effects. This zero calorie, zero glycemic index sweetener is is made from fermented erythritol and the extract of Luo Han Guo, an antioxidant-rich fruit used in Asian. Where as xylitol and erythritol are white, like sugar, Latanto has a beige color like demurara or castor sugar. The main disadvantage to Lakanto is it’s high price tag. It costs more than any of the alternative sweeteners I tried.

About More Fiber Baking Blend
More Fiber Baking Blend contains NuStevia, Maltodextrin, Dextrin, Oat Fiber, Acacia Gum, Tapioca Flour, Guar Gum & Xanthan Gum. Because the stevia is mixed with fibers and starches you can measure this one for one (tablespoon for tablespoon or cup for cup) to replace sugar in cookies, cakes, and muffins.
NOTE: If you have celiac disease, do not use this product because it contains oat fiber.

About coconut palm sugar
Made from the sweet nectar of the coconut palm tree, coconut palm sugar is a pure and simple low-glycemic cane sugar alternative. that provides the energy and nutrition your body needs for a healthy lifestyle. If the product you buy contains pure palm sugar and is not mixed with sucrose, it contains more potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron as well as trace amounts of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C than other forms of sugar. It contains roughly the same amount of carbohydrates and calories as sugar. I used palm sugar from EnerHealth Botanicals .

Healthy Chocolate
This unusual dark chocolate is organic, sugar-free, lactose-free, sweetened with xylitol, and made with a proprietary blend of herbs, such as Momordica (to help control blood sugar), Bioperin (to increase absorption of nutrients), Noni (an immune system modulator that contains a lot of antioxidants), Febnol (reduces sugar absorptionin the intestines), Green Tea Extract (a strong antioxdiant and antibacterial), and Ellagic acid (an antioxicant, antimicrobial, and liver detoxifier). I received samples of it and wanted to try it in some recipes to see how it performs.

Note: You cannot bake with this xylitol sweetened chocolate because it burns above 108 degrees F. I chopped and added it to some of the cookie dough as chips and they burned. The company confirmed this and suggested using it in sauces (coarsely chopped and melted with other liquids in a recipe) or melted and spooned over baked goods once they have cooled. That turned out great!

My team of tasters
I didn’t want to overdose on cookies, so I made half batches of each recipe variations I wanted to try. I also recruited 10 friends, three children and five adults (ages 2 to 50-something). The kids were great taste testers with no expectations.

My test results
The recipe was easy to assemble. All of the granular sweeteners produced a cookie with the look and texture you’d expect. The cookies made with erythritol, Lakanto, and xylitol had a cooler taste on the tongue and a difficult to describe flavor that’s different from sugar, but not unpleasant. The cookies made with coconut palm sugar had a softer, moister texture and slightly les sweet taste than the other. None of the alternatives produced a cookie that tasted exactly like a sugar-sweetened cookie, but I think you (or I) could get used to the taste of the alternative sweeteners and cookies.

The verdict

My tasters preferred the cookies made with the More Fiber stevia baking blend followed by the erythritol and Lakanto, followed by the batch made with xylitol. The coconut palm sugar batch was rated “ok” but not great. I agreed with them.

Everyone liked the cookies topped with melted xylitol-sweetened sugar, especially the three kids who tried them and asked for seconds. One of my friends, who tried the cookies with and without xylitol and the xylitol-sweetened chocolate on different weekends said he noticed intestinal gas from the xylitol-sweetened cookies and the ones topped with xylitol-sweetened chocolate. I thought I noticed some but I'll have to work with it more to know for sure. We both have sensitive digestion. Some people use xylitol regularly and say they don't notice any negative effects. You be the judge. Let me know if you try the recipe, what sweetener you use, and what you and your family think of the results.

Surprisingly, the peanut butter cookies didn't taste that peanut buttery. I'm not sure why, but the peanut taste was very slight. Ditto for the almond taste in the almond. Of the two, I liked the peanut butter version best and so did most of my taste testers.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking time: 8 to 10 minutes Yield: about 24 cookies

I found several different version of this recipe, originally created by the late Bette Hagman and published in her book, The Gluten Free Gourmet. It has a wonderful cookie texture without any flour or starch. The recipe called for white sugar. I tested it with a variety of alternative sweeteners. You can use any of the granulated sweeteners listed below. NOTE: If you have celiac disease, do not use the Nu Naturals More Fiber Baking Blend because it contains oat fiber.

Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened, non-hydrogenated peanut butter
1 cup xylitol, erythritol, Latanto, Nu Naturals More Fiber Baking Blend, or Palm Sugar
2 medium to large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for ease of clean up.
Cream the peanut butter and sugar alternative in a bowl with a sturdy wooden spoon or the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Mix in the eggs, baking powder, and optional vanilla. Mix until only enough to thoroughly combine.
The dough will be sticky. Place a bowl of water next to you. Scoop the dough out by rounded tablespoons. With moist hands, roll into balls, about 1-inch in size.
Place the dough on prepared pan(s) about 3 inches apart. Flatten each cookie slightly with the tines of a fork pressed first in one direction, then in the other. Dip the fork in water periodically to keep the dough from sticking. Leave about 1/2-inch of space between each cookie.
Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden on the top and bottom. Let cookies cool on the baking tray for at least 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. They will harden as they cool.

Variations:

Replace peanut butter with roasted almond, cashew, or cashew macacamia nut butter above.
Sugar Dipped Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies: Before flattening each ball of dough, roll it in a bowl of xylitol, erythritol, Lakanto, or coconut palm sugar, then flatten and bake as directed above.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips: Add 1/2 to 1 cup of bittersweet dark chocolate or chocolate chips to the cookie dough before shaping and baking. For a sugar-free chip alternative, try cocoa nibs. They’re not sweet, so you may need additional sweetener in the recipe.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate: Coarsely chop 2 to 4 ounces of xylitol sweetened Healthy Chocolate from The Healthy Chocolate Company using a serrated knife. Melt in a double boiler or in a saucepan over very low heat. When cookies have cooled, spoon melted chocolate over each one and spread with the back of a spoon. Allow to cool at room temp or refrigerate to harden the chocolate more quickly.

Economical Eggs

2009-11-02T15:00:36-08:00

If you want to improve the nutritional value of your diet and economize at the same time, consider eating more eggs. They’re super nutritious, delicious, versatile, and relatively inexpensive. Eggs contain a protein of such high value that its the standard against which all other proteins are measured.

Eggs are rich in potassium, phosphorus, folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin B12, biotin, thiamine, niacin, the fat soluble vitamins A, D and E, the amino acid methionine, and, in some cases, omega-3 essential fatty acids (EPA and DHA) if the chickens receive the raw materials to make them.

How often can you safely consume eggs?
As often as you like. Three, four, five, or six times a week, although I like more variety so I don't eat them every day. I do eat them several (about three to five) times a week and I never toss out the yolks (the most nutrient-dense part!) You can read more about the benefits of eggs and egg yolks in my book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet and Cookbook.

While it is commonly, but erroneously, believed that eating cholesterol rich foods will elevate serum cholesterol, numerous studies have shown this belief to be false. The famous Framingham Heart Study found that dietary cholesterol has no influence on serum cholesterol. In fact, in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1992, the director of that study, Dr. William Castelli wrote “In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol....”

Cholesterol is essential for your brain, eyes, nervous system, and many other organs and systems in your body. A healthy brain contains generous amounts of cholesterol. If don’t eat enough of it, your body will manufacture it or try go without and then be unable to make the hormones it requires, as sometimes happens to people who follow vegan diets.

Although many organizations caution against eating more than three eggs per week, there is absolutely no scientific justification for such restriction. Researchers have noted an inverse relationship between egg consumption and death from heart disease. A 1996 analysis of world wide of egg consumption found that France, Spain, and Japan all have a high per capita consumption of eggs the lowest rates of death from heart disease! For more about egg and cholesterol myths, check out Thincs (The Internatitional Association of Cholesterol Skeptics) and the Cholesterol and Health Blog, which counters the misinformation we've been fed about cholesterol and health.

Banish the bars
Protein bars have become increasingly popular over the past 10 years. People use them to replace meals and snacks. However, you pay a lot of money for the concentrated calories they provide and you miss out on the benefits of eating real, fresh, whole foods. Even if pass on the bars that contain fructose, high fructose corn syrup, refined white sugar, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, artificial colorings and flavorings, and chemical names and numbers, you’ll be paying a lot for the packaged product. Many of the health food store versions still contain highly processed ingredients and have a composition more like a candy bar than a wholesome meal. The bars made from dried fruits pack a hefty dose of concentrated carbohydrates.

Better alternatives
You’d be better off nutritionally and financially choosing unrefined whole foods for snacks and mini meals. For the cost of one protein bar, you could buy a dozen eggs. For the cost of two protein bars, you could buy a dozen pasture-raised or organic, free-range eggs and some fresh fruit, which would provide more snacks or mini-meals than a processed, packaged meal replacement bar. Whole foods require more chewing, increasing your feeling of satiety and reducing the likelihood of overeating. How long does a glorified candy bar really satisfy anyone?

What can you do with the eggs?
Hard boil them and turn them into Deviled Eggs ( I call Angeled Eggs, since the other name makes them sound so evil!) or egg salad, or slice and add them to a salad with fish, chicken, or meat. The eggs go well with sliced celery, jicama, leftover blanched vegetables, or wrapped in lettuce leaves and secured with a toothpick. Hard boiled eggs also taste delicious dipped into herbed sea salt or sea vegetable flakes or topped with hot sauce or salsa, accompanied by celery, jicama sticks, or cherry or grape tomatoes.

For a more substantial sit down meal, consider an omelet, scrambled, fried, or poached eggs. Of these, scrambled eggs and omelets travel best. I’ve packed them for breakfast with sautéed, blanched, or stir fried vegetables from the night before and a piece of fruit and enjoyed them served at room temperature when I’ve had to eat breakfast away from home.

Plan ahead
If you hard boil a dozen or more eggs on the weekend, you can set yourself and your family members up for several easy meals or healthy snacks.

I figure 3 to 4 eggs per person for a main meal (eating 2 or 3 times a day). If you eat 3 times a day and include something starchy in the meal, 2 eggs per person might be enough. If you’re physically active and eat only twice a day, you’ll need some additional protein source, such as meat or sausage, to go with your eggs. I figure 1 to 3 eggs per person for a snack, depending upon what you plan to serve them. Sometimes I serve eggs along with another protein (bacon, sausage, leftover chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, or fish).

Easy assembly
Last Friday, I had a few ounces of leftover steak tartare for dinner with a a couple of Angeled Eggs, a crisp green salad (the veggies were washed in advance), and a fresh, ripe pear with some toasted pecans. I had the meal ready in mere minutes. I didn’t have to cook a thing because I’d boiled a dozen eggs several days before.

This morning I turned 4 hard boiled eggs into a curried egg salad garnished with raw bell pepper and served them with leftover steamed carrots and broccoli, Chebe (manioc/cassava-based, gluten-free, grain-free) Bread Sticks, and applesauce I made last week, all served with a cup of Teecchino (roasted chicory root coffee alternative) with coconut milk and stevia.

This meal was easy to assemble, delicious, and satisfying. While the frozen Chebe dough baked in the toaster oven, the veggies and eggs came to room temp. I seasoned ground chicken for tonight's Kafta Kabobs to go with leftover roasted Brussels sprouts and Poached Pears with Raisins, Turkish Dried Apricots and toasted pecans).

Do you really know how to boil an egg?
You may think that anyone can boil an egg; however, my experience has been that most people overcook the eggs, which creates a greenish hue around the outside of the yolk, making them more difficult to digest and more likely to cause sulfurous smelling flatulence. Eggs cooked more lightly retain more of their essential fatty acids (such as EPA and DHA found in pasture raised eggs, free range eggs from chickens that run around in a garden, yard or on a farm and have access to bugs, worms, and grubs, and commercial eggs labeld EPA-or DHA-rich eggs from chickens fed a special diet).

How perfectly boil eggs
When I was growing up I used to hard boil eggs….for 30 minutes. I had no idea that I could have accomplished what I wanted cooking the eggs for 1/20th to 1/60th of the time. Now I know that the eggs only need to boil for 30 to 60 seconds. Try this method. I think you’ll be amazed at the difference.

Perfectly Hard-Boiled Eggs
Prep: 5 minutes/ Cooking: 1 minute (plus 25 minutes to rest)/ Yield: 12 eggs

Most people boil eggs far too long, resulting in dry, greenish tinged, difficult-to-digest yolks. This recipe is easy, only the instructions are long. You’ll learn it by heart after a few tries. Consider preparing 1 dozen or even two dozen eggs on the weekend to set you up for easy meals and snacks during the week.

Ingredients:

Filtered water
12 medium to large free-range chicken or duck eggs, rinsed
4 to 6 ice cubes
Ground black pepper, lemon pepper or hot sauce, optional

Arrange eggs in a 2-quart saucepan. Cover with 1 to 1 1/2 inches of cold water. Cover pot and bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Cook 30 to 60 seconds. (That’s right, SECONDS!) Remove from heat, and allow eggs to rest in covered pot for 15 minutes.
Drain, and cover eggs with ice water for 10 minutes, then drain and refrigerate them in the shell. Or, tap lightly and peel, or roll eggs between your palms to free shells and skin.
Refrigerate peeled eggs in tightly covered container. A wide mouth Mason jar or Pyrex container works well. Use peeled eggs within 1 week, unpeeled eggs within 10 days.

2 medium chicken eggs: 128 calories,12 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 44 mg calcium, 110 mg sodium
2 large chicken eggs: 146 calories, 12 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate,10 g fat, 50 mg calcium, 126 mg sodium

Angeled Eggs/Deviled Eggs

Prep: 20 minutes/ Cooking: 20 to 30 minutes/ Yield: 6 delicious eggs Serves: 2-3

Angled....deviled, what’s the difference? Deviled sounds so much less inviting and puts the eggs in such an unfavorable light. There’s nothing evil about these eggs, especially if you’re using locally grown pasture-raised or at least EPA/DHA-rich eggs from a health food store and mayonnaise that doesn’t contain refined vegetable oils (soy, safflower, sunflower, canola, or generice vegetable oil) or hydrogenated oils. For the richest, smokiest flavor, use bittersweet (not hot) smoked paprika.

Shopping for Mayo: The best tasting brand I’ve found with the simplest ingredients is Follow Your Heart Grapeseed Oil Veganaise. It contains trace amounts of soy protein, which I usually avoid, but this one doesn’t taste beany, doesn’t cause disgestive distress, and contains better ingredients than the other bottled mayos I’ve seed in natural foods stores that are made from refined, polyunsatured oils. If you avoid even trace amounts of soy protein, look for Omega 3 Mayo in natural foods stores or make your own.

Note: If you want to make your own mayo, use extra virgin avocado oil with or without a little flax oil for a more mild flavor than you’d get using olive oil. You can also find recipes on line for making mayo from bacon fat or rendered (preferably grass-fed) beef tallow. I haven’t tried them yet, but I plan to soon. Double this recipe if desired, particularly if cooking for two or more people.

Ingredients:

6 Hard-Boiled Eggs (see previous recipes for special tips)
1 to 1 1 teaspoons prepared mustard (white or yellow mustard) or 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, optional (antioxidant)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or ground chipotlé (smoked dried jalapeno)
1 tablespoon finely minced (thoroughly washed) fresh chives, parsley, tarragon or chervil or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled herbs
1/4 cup minced sweet white onion or scallion or 2 teaspoons minced shallots, optional
2 teaspoons lemon juice, seasoned rice vinegar or organic apple cider vinegar, optional
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise or Homemade Mayonnaise*
Paprika or bittersweet smoked paprika, to dust egg halves

Peel eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Add yolks to a medium bowl with remaining ingredients (except paprika). Mix and mash into a coarse cream with a fork or potato masher.
Portion and spoon heaping teaspoon-size balls of yolk mixture into the egg white halves, then evenly divide any remaining mixture. Dust with paprika.
Cover in a glass or Pyrex container and refrigerate. Use within 3 days.

Variations:

For wet mustard substitute 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard. For a spicy kick, double the pepper.
Egg Salad (serves 2): Mash whites with yolks and seasonings. Serve on toasted gluten-free bread or breadsticks (such as Chebe Bread) with lettuce or baby greens, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, and grated carrot or whatever colorful veggies you have on hand. For roll-ups, wrap tablespoon sized portions of egg salad in lettuce leaves and secure with toothpicks. Or serve egg salad stuffed into cored cherry or roma tomatoe.

The Everlasting Salad

2009-10-28T15:57:18-07:00

I know the weather’s getting chillier and some of you may be swearing off salads in favor of more cooked vegetables. Still many of you will probably keep consuming salads throughout the winter, paired with warm soups, stews, roasts, or grilled meats. I didn’t want to miss the chance to share a cool salad recipe and time-saving technique with you.

Healthy eating just got easier
Are you looking for a way to make it more convenient to get vegetables into your daily diet? Do you rush out the door in the morning with a pack lunch that’s missing vegetables? Do you come home at night and want to get dinner on the table more quickly? Great leftovers are the key to packing great lunches and assembling low maintenance dinners.

Cook ahead
If you’ve read my cookbook, The Garden of Eating, or attended my cooking classes you know I encourage people to Shop Ahead, Chop Ahead, and Cook Ahead. I’m a fan of the “cook once, eat twice,” or “cook once, eat thrice,” motto. I almost always cook with two or three meals or days in mind. I cook extra portions of fish, poultry, or meat, hard boil extra eggs. I roast, bake, grill, or blanch vegetables and make soups with multiple meals in mind. Those planned-overs made it easy for me to assemble breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in a dash.

What about green salads? Have you ever made a salad, dressed it, then stashed the leftovers in a covered bowl and found it wilted, watery, and unappealing the next day? They don’t always work, particularly if your dressing contains salt or vinegar.

Salad keeping secret
Would you like to make a green salad today and have it look and taste just as delicious tomorrow and the next day? This summer I discovered a way to make green salads that last for several days and still look and taste great. Actually, my dear friend, Don, hit on this idea with no prompting from me. He shared his secret with me and let me taste some of the salads he concocted using his new technique.

Olives and raisins
If you’ve never added olives and raisins to the same salad try it. It’s really delicious. You can experiment with different dried fruits, different salad veggies, and combinations of ingredients. If you add grated carrots, try using the super tiny hole on a standard box grater for an entirely different effect (more tender bites of carrot that spread throughout the salad). You can add a sprinkle of toasted nuts or seeds if you like and/or some crumbled goat or sheep milk feta if you tolerate dairy products.

Spice it up
If you want to spice up the salad at the table, you can peel, finely grate and squeeze fresh ginger juice or add a few drops of hot sauce to your portion of salad (not the whole salad) at the table.

So don’t be shy, give the recipe and variations a try and let me know what you think.

The Everlasting Salad

Prep: 15 minutes/ Cooking: 0 / Yield: 4 to 6 servings

I don’t consider a bowl of lettuce or baby greens a salad. It’s a start, but it needs color and texture. My friend Don shared this cool tip with me for making a green salad that will keep well for three days in the fridge. It’s super convenient and easy to make and goes with just about any kind of meat, fish, poultry, or bean dish. I like to add a root, tuber, squash, or fruit dish to the meal as well.

The trick is to coat the veggies with olive or avocado oil and to avoid adding vinegar, lemon juice, or salt to the salad. You can salt and other things at the table if you like. All measurements are approximate. You can vary the type of lettuce (romaine’s the most durable) and the colorful mix-ins. I like to start with a 4 quart bowl. I figure about 2 cups of salad per person per meal/day.

Ingredients:
6 to 8 cups lettuce, washed well, spun dry, and cut or torn into bite-size pieces:
romaine, red leaf, green leaf, oak leaf, Boston, buttercrunch, bib, lollo rosso lettuce, or some combination of 2 or more mild lettuces
1/2 small or medium red onion or 1 bunch scallions (green onions), sliced paper thin
1/2 cup red radish, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced or 3 stalks sliced celery, optional
1 or 2 medium carrot, peeled and grated very, very finely, optional
1/2 cup pitted black olives, thinly sliced into rounds or strips, optional
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins, optional
2 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil (essential!)

Optional additions at the table
2 to 4 ounces goat or sheep milk feta, crumbled
2 to 4 tablespoons soaked and dehydrated (see Crispy Nuts) or toasted nuts or seeds:
almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, or pistachios,left whole or coarsely chopped

Layer vegetables in a 3- or 4-quart bowl. Toss gently with olive oil to coat. Cover and refrigerate whatever you don’t plan to use right away.
When ready to eat, you can lightly season your portion with sea salt, pepper, or lemon juice as you like. Add a dash more oil if the salad seems dry or you need more calories and/or toss with goat or sheep milk feta or chopped or whole toasted almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Use within about 3 days.

Variations:

Experiment with different vegetables and combinations of ingredients.

Cool Coconut Products

2009-10-24T17:04:54-07:00

I enjoy everything, or most things, coconut¬¬––the meat, the milk, the water, the oil, the butter, and the flour made from it. Besides the flavor, I like coconut products for their nutritional and medicinal benefits.

Coconut fat contains monolaurin, a fatty acid found in human mother’s milk that has proven an antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties that can support your immune system.

Coconut oil is more stable in cooking, baking, and at room temp than vegetables oils, making a great alternative to vegetable oil, margarine, and butter (for those who are sensitive to even trace amounts of casein or lactose).

Coconut oil
I use coconut oil for sautéing vegetables, scrambling eggs, searing chicken breasts or tenders, roasting vegetables, and have used it in muffins, brownies, bars, and other baked goods. I’ve used it to remove eye make up and to moisturize my skin.

Coconut flakes
I sprinkle unsweetened coconut flakes over fruit salads, make coconut macaroons, and roll my Chocolate Dipped Date Nut Truffles in it.

Coconut milk
I add coconut milk to my favorite coffee alternative, Teeccinio. I use it to make creamy soups without cream, add it to sweet and savory sauces, Pumpkin Pudding Pie, and the non dairy frozen dessert recipes I developed for my most recent cookbook (see The Ice Dream Cookbook).

Coconut butter
I love drizzling coconut butter over sliced berries, peaches, melon, or my recipe for Poached Pears sweetened with raisins and Turkish dried apricots.

Coconut water
I’ve enjoyed drinking coconut water. If you’re currently drinking Gatorade or giving it to your kids, aseptic cartons of unsweetened coconut water would make a healthier alternative, providing important minerals without artificial additives or refined sugar.

Coconut flour
This past winter I cracked the coconut flour code and, after many trials, turned out some fantastic recipes using coconut flour. I’ll post some of them after my article on the topic appears in an upcoming issue of Living Without Magazine.

Coconut body care
Besides eating coconut products, I’ve recently enjoyed wearing them and using them around the house. I’ve used natural skin care products, personal care products, and biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products for more than 20 years. The best products have the simplest and fewest ingredients, thing you can pronounce. In the case of body care products, the best ones contain ingredients whose names you can recognize and pronounce, many of them edible, such as honey, olive oil, coconut oil, and herbs.

I recently sampled some personal care, cleaning, and laundry products from one of my favorite coconut oil companies, Tropical Traditions. Many of their household products are made from or at least include coconut oil as a key ingredient. Here’s what I’ve tried so far. I liked all of the products.

Tropical Traditions Natural Liquid Soaps
Most liquid soaps, even the ones sold in natural foods stores, have added ingredients, fillers, that give them a thick consistency. When have you seen a liquid hand and body soap with only one ingredient? These liquid Soaps are made from 100% organic Virgin Coconut Oil, and nothing else. Scented varieties have organic essential oils added (lavender or tea tree oil).

These 100% Pure soaps are packaged in a special foam pump dispenser that adds air to the soap, which makes rich lather of foam come out. It looks like shaving cream and you could actually use it for that if you like. A little bit of this concentrated soap goes a long way.

I would get this product again. Not only does it work well, but it’s fun to use. You don’t have to toss out the container when your pump dispensers are empty; you can buy a 32-ounce refill to fill several pumps if you like.

Tropical Traditions Organic Moisturizing Lotions
Unlike most companies that use refined coconut and palm oils in their skincare products, Tropical traditions uses virgin oils that contain higher level of antioxidants, so they don’t have to add back synthetic or isolated nutrients. This 100% pure lotion is made from purified water, organic virgin coconut oil, organic jojoba, emulsifying wax (plant based, no soy), grapefruit seed extract, and virgin palm oil. Scented varieties contain organic essential oils.

You can choose from six scents (lavender, citrus, arnica, peppermint, unscented, and baby silk). I tried the baby silk. It had a smooth, silky texture and a soothing fragrance. It softened my skin without leaving a greasy residue. I was so disappointed when I got to the bottom of the bottle! I want to buy this by the gallon! My skin felt so smooth after I put it on. It’s great for massage as well as daily moisturizing.

Tropical Traditions Lavender Deoderant Roll On
I liked this product for its simple (and short) ingredient list: purified water, organic virgin coconut oil, organic jojoba, plant based emulsifying wax, grapefruit seed extract, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and the following organic essential oils. It comes in three scents. I tried the Lavender. No chemical additives, no aluminum compounds, no parabens or propylene glycol.

This is not an antiperspirant. It’s not healthy stop perspiration. It’s one of the many ways your body gets rid of toxins and cools off. You may need to experiment to find the deoderant that works best for your body and has the fragrance that most suits you.

Tropical Traditions Dish Soap made from coconut oil
This product is free of fragrances, dyes, petroleum solvents, and respiratory and skin irritants. It was developed by and for people with allergies, asthma and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

I thought it lathered well, even in hard water. Because it’s so concentrated, it lasts a long time. It cleaned my dishes without stripping my hands the way commercial dish soaps do. I’ve used non-toxic, chemical free dish soaps for years and I really notice the difference when I go somewhere and have to use conventional soaps that dehydrate my hands. I like this product and the convenience of being able to buy it in a 1 gallon jug so I don’t have to shop as often.

Oxygen Bleach, Non-Chlorine Destainer & Deoderizer
I used this on my laundry and for cleaning the toilet. Tropical Traditions Oxygen Bleach is a safe and effective alternative to chlorine based products. It can be used in around the home. It is based on sodium percarbonate, which uses oxygen for destaining and deodorizing. It doesn’t produces no harmful by-products the way chlorine bleaches do.

I thought this worked well on my laundry and for cleaning the toilet. The instructions include tips for heavily soiled laundry and general household cleaning.

Powdered Laundry Detergent
Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent is non-toxic, environmentally safe and contains no phosphates. Powdered Laundry Detergent cleans and safely bleaches your clothes. It also contains some of their Oxygen Bleach Destainer and Deodorizer. I thought it worked well. I would order it again. The instructions include tips for heavily soiled laundry.

More stuff
Tropical Traditions makes and markets an extensive live of safe, non-toxic personal care and household cleaning products that I want to try more of. I’ve used their virgin coconut oil, flaked coconut, coconut cream, palm shortening, coconut cream, and coconut flour at home, in my cooking classes, cooking demos, and for recipe development for magazine articles. I haven’t tried their red palm oil yet. These products taste great and I like that I can buy them in large containers to stock up and re-use the large gallon and 5-gallon buckets that many of their products come in.

SPECIAL OFFER
If you want to order any of these or other Tropical Traditions products, here’s how you can receive a a free copy of the book Virgin Coconut Oil: How it has changed people's lives and how it can change yours by Brian and Marianita Shilhavy with your first order online.

Go to: www.tropicaltraditions.com and click on 'products' found at the bottom of the menu list on the left side of the home page.
You'll be directed to the ordering form at the Tropical Traditions/Healthy Buyers Club website. (You do not have to be a member or purchase a membership. Membership allows you to purchase in bulk amount if you choose to join.) All regular orders for Tropical Traditions products can be placed at this website without a membership fee.
Select items you want to purchase from the online order form.
When ready to check out, click the “Check Cart'' link.
Review your order, then click the "Check Out" button from your shopping cart.
Fill in your account information as directed. In the box: “How did you hear of us?'' you must select: “Referred by a friend’’ on the drop down arrow. When you make this selection a box for your sponsor’s User ID number should appear if you are a first time customer.
Enter the number 50549
To complete your order click "Save and Proceed to Checkout" at the bottom of this page and follow the instructions through the checkout process. You will receive an email with order number when you have successfully placed your order online.

Do you know of great coconut products with simple and pure ingredients? If so, email me to let me know about your favorite edible, personal care, or household cleaning products made from coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut butter, coconut flour, or unsweetened flaked coconut.

Raw, Fermented Salad Dressing

2009-10-17T18:34:38-07:00

Looking for a good salad dressing? It’s difficult to find a store bought brand that doesn’t contain refined vegetable oils ( corn, safflower, sunflower, canola, cottonseed, partially hydrogenated oil, or generic vegetable oil), fructose or high fructose corn syrup. Many supermarket brands includes those hazardous ingredients along with artificial colorings, flavorings, chemical preservatives, and sometimes MSG.

Very few companies are willing to pay what it costs to make dressings with pure, extra virgin olive oil. They use cheap vegetable oils that are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids that promote inflammation, suppress your immune system, and increase your risk for developing cancer and other degenerative diseases. Photo Zukay Foods

When I heard about Zukay’s Raw Fermented Salad Dressings on the Cheeseslave blog, I thought, “I’d like to try them.” So I contacted the company, told them what I do for a living, and asked them to send me a sample pack to test, which they did.

Cultured salad dressing?
These unique dressings are modeled on the practice of fermenting vegetables, fruits, and condiments practiced by traditional people around the world. If you look at the cuisines of China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Germany, and many others you will find picked or fermented foods. This practice was used to extend the shelf life and season of vegetables, to add flavor, add beneficial cultures (good bacteria) to the diet, aid digestion, and support health.

Very few people make cultured foods nowadays. It’s a lost art. I did it years ago when I was into macrobiotics, but I don’t do it now and haven't for many years. Who pickles garlic, onions, radishes, peppers, or cauliflower? Who makes sauerkraut, sushi ginger pickles, or natural dill pickles? Bottled version of these foods in stores are usually pasteurized, which destroys the live cultures these foods used to contain when people made them for local consumption, and many contain vinegar where salt and time were used the sour them in the past. Many more contain artificial flavorings and colorings.

Now you don’t have to make these probiotic products even if you want to enjoy the flavor of old fashioned fermented foods free of additives. Zukay Live Foods is located in rural, eastern Pennsylvania (luscious farming country; I think they have more farmers’ markets per capita than anywhere else in the U.S). The founders of the company, who have been conscientious natural foods shoppers and eaters for years, get their ingredients from as close to home as possible. They support family farms in their state and region. They use simple ingredients without chemical names and numbers to make products you could reproduce in your own kitchen–––if you had the time and inclination to do it.

What no oil?
Not only are these dressings made without refined vegetable oils, chemical preservatives, refined sugars, or additives, they’re also fat-free and oil-free. But this isn’t your typical fat-free salad dressing. These dressings are made to be mixed or served with other wholesome foods.

If you’re like me–––and you don’t follow a fat-free diet¬¬¬–––you can add extra virgin olive or avocado oil to the dressing in whatever ratio you like or you could serve the dressings over a salad tossed with sliced avocado, chopped olives, soaked and dehydrated or toasted nuts, or bacon. You can use the traditional 1 part acid (vinegar or lemon juice) plus 3 parts oil ratio (although I found that too dilute with these products) or mix Zukay salad dressings with 1 or 2 parts oil, which I thought came out just right.

Salt-free salad dressing
Since they’re made without added salt, you can add that to taste or leave it out. Try unrefined mineral rich sea salt (I like Celtic Sea Salt or Redmond Real Salt) or wheat-free tamari soy sauce (Eden or San J brand) or add some sea vegetable flakes to your favorite foods at the table.

Low carb dressing
Since these dressings don’t contain sugar or other sweeteners, you can use them even if you’re following a low carb diet. They contain only 1 or 2 grams of carbohydrate per serving (2 tablespoons), which amounts to only 4 to 8 calories before you add your favorite fat or oil source.

Six flavors to choose from
Carrot Ginger
Tomato Provencal
Cucumber Mint
Sweet Onion Basil
Red Pepper Cilantro
Tomato Pepper Pesto

I’m not sure which one I like best. This week I’ve been into Tomato Provencal. Last week I was keen on Cucumber Mint. The week before I preferred Sweet Onion Basil. Rather than add oil to each bottle, I have mixed a portion of a dressing with oil in a smaller bottle or poured the oil-free mixture over a salad and added avocado to my serving. I haven’t tried them as a marinade for chicken, but might try that next week. Not just for raw salads, I’ve used them over parboiled vegetables. Check out previous posts to learn this technique.

Photo right courtesy Zukay Live Foods.

If you’re not in the habit of eating cultured (naturally fermented foods) on a daily basis, it might take a few days or a week or two to get into the flavor. Your taste buds might need some time to adjust. Adding some unrefined sea salt can help. Once they do, I think you’ll really enjoy the dressings. I found that after a few weeks I liked the dressings even more than on the first or second try.

Where to get these dressings
Zukay is a start up company. Right now their products are sold in limited areas. If you don’t find them in natural foods stores in your town or city, you can order them directly from Zukay online. You can also ask your local health foods stores to stock their products! They also sell fermented salsa and relishes. I haven’t tried them yet.

If you try these dressings, tell me how you like them.

Chebe Pizza

2009-10-08T08:32:00-07:00

Wow! Last week I had a fantastic grain-free, gluten free pizza. I didn’t go out to eat. I made the pizza from frozen dough and baked it in my toaster oven. My friend Heather came over for lunch and helped me assemble and eat the two single-serving pizzas.

Skepticism aside
We started with Chebe (pronounced chee-bee) oven-ready frozen pizza dough. I’ll admit that I was skeptical about frozen, ready to bake dough. It’s been decades since I’ve eaten any ready-to-bake and eat bread products. For years I made bread from scratch using baker’s years or a traditional sourdough starter and for many years I rarely ever ate bread.

Chebe Frozen Dough for Pizza Crust On-The Go
Now I wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere, but I was hungry for lunch after an 18 hour fast. The simplicity of this product appealed to me and to Heather. The 11-ounce package contained two 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 by 1/4-inch rectangles of dough made from manioc flour, milk, cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), egg (with citric acid), modified manioc starch (100% manioc), canola oil, iodine-free salt, dried oregano, onion, and garlic.

Caveats
Canola is not my favorite oil! In fact, I don’t buy it or cook with it and I rarely consume it. Similarly I would not buy iodine-free salt. I presume they chose this salt to meet the needs of people who are sensitive to iodine. And the cheese? Well, it’s not something I eat on a daily basis, but I do eat it as a treat, which is what I considered this pizza meal.

What is Chebe? (pronounced chee-bee)
In case you didn’t read my blog post about Chebe bread a few weeks ago. Here’s the scoop: Baked Chebe looks like white bread and has a crispy crust and a chewy interior. It’s grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, yeast-free, potato-free, and also free of peanuts and tree nuts. If you’re following a paleo or primal diets or simply looking for a less inflammatory bread-like treat, try Chebe.

Chebe comes from a root vegetable (aka cassava, manioc, tapioca) used extensively for thousands of years around the globe, cultivated about 10,000 years ago. Read more about cassava on Wikipedia.

Safety concerns about cassava?
A couple of my readers emailed me with questions about the safety of manioc root (aka cassava or tapioca). They'd read on-line that cassava root contains a toxic compound that has to be processed to neutralize these substances and prevent problems. Since tapioca is a common food used in dozens of commercial products, I figured the companies that process it know about this issue and how to properly prepare it, just as native people did.

The company that makes and markets Chebe bread mixes buys the tapioca flour and tapioca starch from a company that supplies dozens of other companies. Here's that they say: "Proper processing, water soaking (making a slurry) and heating will eliminate the cyanide out of the cassava. These steps are historically well known processing steps in Asia and Africa. "It [I assume they mean the testing] is a control point during the processing step of tapioca starch. No raised levels were ever found in the EU, so no regulations are made for tapioca starch."

Is it dairy-free? What about eggs?
Some of the Chebe mixes and frozen ready-to-bake breads contain milk, cheese, and eggs, so if you are allergic or intolerant to any of these, you’ll want to focus on the five lactose free, casein free bread mixes they offer. The instructions call for eggs because they help the dough hold together and rise, but you could try making the mixes without eggs; I haven’t done that yet. All of their products are produced by a 100% gluten-free manufacturer in a dedicated gluten free facility, so they’re celiac-safe.

Baking the dough
The package instructions said to preheat the oven to 375˚F and place the frozen pizza crusts on a non-greased baking pan, keeping 1/2-inch of space between each crust. We had a little bit of sticking, but not a lot. Next time I would oil it.

Baked Chebe crust right>>>

I used a 10x12-inch toaster oven tray and my trusty Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven, which is very energy efficient. I can’t see turning on a full size oven for a small tray of food. To keep the baking time close to what was listed in the instructions I used regular rather than convection mode. You could use any toaster oven, although I'm partial to Cuisinart because I've found their products so reliable and durable.

I inadvertently left the dough on the baking tray for 20 to 25 minutes before popping it in the toaster oven. I actually think thawing the dough before baking gave it more loft and a crispier crust, which I like. I don't like it to be very dough inside. After baking for the allotted 20 minutes, until lightly browned, I removed the pan of pizza from the oven and we added our toppings.

We spread a thin layer of sun dried tomato pesto on one pizza then a generous layer of caramelized red onions that Heather made the night before, then slices of herbed goat cheese from Trader Joe’s.

We topped the second pizza with a traditional basil-based pesto (store bought), strips of roasted red bell peppers that Heather also made, pine nuts, and slices of soft herbed goat cheese. We popped the tray back in the toaster oven and baked it for another 5 to 7 minutes to warm the toppings.

Photo right by Rachel Albert Matesz, 2009

The verdict?
Fabulous. We cut each of the pizzas in half so we could each have a serving of each of the two pizzas served with a colorful green salad with a little bit of leftover baked salmon bellies. We loved the flavor and texture of the crust---slightly crunchy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside, a nice cross between thick and thin-crusted pizza. The lightness of the toppings allowed us to really taste the crust.

Photo right by Rachel Albert Matesz, 2009>>>

Would we make it again?
Absolutely! Both Heather and I agreed that this was worth making again. If you live alone, you could thaw a single crust for a single meal. If you’re cooking for two, you can make the whole package. You might need to figure 2 crusts per person if you’re serving an athlete or someone with a big appetite (remember each crust measures 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 by 1/4-inchesm which doubles in thickness as it bakes).

My tips
Defrost the dough for 20 to 30 minutes before baking even though the instructions don’t say to do that. Oil the baking pan or at least the bottom of the baking pan, or at least the place where the dough sits. I would use ghee, clarified butter, olive, avocado, palm, or coconut oil.

Keep checking back!
I plan to test and review more Chebe products. Let me know if you try them and what you think.

Where to find Chebe products
If you live in Phoenix, Arizona, you can buy Chebe bread mixes at Gluten Free Creations Bakery, 2940 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016-8035. Or look for Chebe products in natural foods stores, such as Whole Foods Market. I'm not sure if Whole Foods sells the frozen Chebe Pizza Dough. I got mine directly from the company.

If you can’t find Chebe at a local store local retailer, you can order it on line from Amazon by clicking here or the links below or directly from the company, or ask the manager or grocery buyer of your favorite store to stock the product.

Chebe web letter
You can sign up for the Chebe Webletter, an email newsletter the company sends out about once a month. It contains news & announcements, online coupons, and spotlights a recipe using Chebe Bread Products. To view past webletters, or to subscribe, click here and then click the Webletter drop down menu.

Healthy Edible Gifts for the Holidays

2009-10-05T13:08:52-07:00

Delight everyone on your gift list with homemade sweet and savory treats that are both delicious and healthy. It's not too early to start thinking about holiday gift giving.

Love the holidays but not the gluttony of shopping,over-spending, over-eating and waste? You can avoid the malls by making mouth-watering consumables from simple, wholesome ingredients. Photo credit right unknown>>>

Great gift ideas for the holidays
Each year, I make a selection of offerings from my Favorite’s List (list below). This year, I’m publishing my list here, so you can start thinking about and planning what to make. The recipes can be found in both of my cookbooks, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook and my dessert book, The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces. Some can be found on this blog using the category links on the left.

These recipes are budget-friendly, allergy-friendly, and diet-friendly, so they can satisfy a wide range of tastes, preferences, and dietary needs.

No returns or exchanges!
Those who receive my gifts never ask how to return or exchange them. They don’t add to the landfills or complain about gaining unwanted weight. Many feel relieved not to receive another gadget, knick-knack, or gooey tray of fudge. They appreciate the healthfulness, uniqueness, and thought that went into the gift and many re-use the containers. Photo right Chef Rachel ©2009

What else can you do to be thrifty?
Save and re-use ribbons, gift bags, and wrapping paper. Create collage-cards from photographs, pictures clipped from magazines, and cards from previous holidays. You will you save paperr and have fun making custom cards. Best of all, everyone will appreciate the thought that went into their one-of-a-kind creations.

Planning tips
You can make some items weeks or months ahead. Fruit roll-ups, beef or bison jerky, and dried apple chips keep for more than a year at room temperature, longer in the freezer. Mixtures of whole spice seeds keep for months; freshly powdered spice rubs taste best made within two to four weeks gift giving. (They’ll stay fresh longer if vacuum sealed.)

You can prepare these perishable ahead: homemade cookies, breads, muffins, peanut sauce, applesauce, barbecue sauce, chutney, and nut butter-based dips ––if you properly pack and freeze them to retain freshness and flavor.

How to bag it
You can pack your treasures in half-pint, pint and quart canning jars, redecorated salad dressing bottles, plant-based cellulose bags with silver or gold twist ties, or gift boxes lined with foil and parchment paper. Use plastic bags for bread and anything else that must be kept airtight but won’t easily fit in jars. Make fun and pretty gift and instruction cards that include credit for the book and author whose recipe you use, then attach them with festive ribbons.

When you pack cookies or breads in zippered bags, separate each layer with pieces of unbleached parchment paper and place a piece of unbleached paper towel inside the top and bottom of the bag to absorb moisture. Insert the end of a straw two or three inches into the bag; zip the bag closed to meet the straw; exhale the air from your lungs, then inhale deeply through the straw to suck the air out of the bag. Pinch the straw shut, then pull it out and zip the bag closed to prevent freezer burn. Now you can stash it in the freezer.

No bag deal: Just jar it!
Stash perishable liquid items in wide-mouth canning jars even if you don’t can. Use a wide-mouth funnel to fill the jars. Do not fill beyond the lip in the jar and leave 1 1/2-inchs of headroom for expansion in freezing. Allow warm items to cool slightly, uncovered, at room temp, then refrigerate. When food reaches refrigerator temperature, cover tightly (vacuum seal if desired), and freeze.

A Tilia Food Saver® with accessory attachments allow you to seal food in canning jars. It removes air from containers and seals in freshness, flavor, fragrances, and nutrients, prevents freezer burn and keeps food fresh up to five times longer than conventional containers or plastic wrap. Look for them in my Amazon store or use the links above.

Decorate jars with ribbons and pretty fabric cut into circles with pinking shears (make the fabric cut outs 2-inches wider than jar tops). Place pieces of fabric on top of vacuum sealed jars before screwing on the metal bands.

SPECIAL NOTE: Vacuum sealing does not replace refrigeration, freezing, or canning. Food can still spoil. Let your gift recipients know which gifts need to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Five tips to keep your food in ship shape

Tightly seal jars and containers. Vacuum seal if possible. Slip jars into zip-locking bags, leaving air in the bag for cushioning. Wrap each jar with bubble wrap.
Choose a sturdy box. Cushion jars with wadded up newspaper, cornstarch or styrofoaf peanuts, popcorn, or more bubble wrap.
When shipping multiple items, place heavy stuff in the bottom of the box and allow plenty of space and cushioning between the objects.
To prevent shifting, shake the box down, then add more stuffing as needed.
To reduce shipping costs, ship refrigerated or frozen items in separate boxes from non-perishables.

How to ship perishables
Buy dry ice in supermarkets in 5-pound plastic bags. One bag will keep the contents of an 18-cube box (18x18x18) cold for 24 hours. Take it to your local UPS store with refrigerated or frozen food gifts and have them pack it properly and ship it next day air.

Labeling tips
Use waterproof markers and large, bold print for ship to and return address labels on the outside of your boxes. Secure labels with clear shipping tape. Label “PERISHABLE” and ship the fastest method possible.

Cookbooks make great gifts
If you’ve enjoyed my cookbooks, cooking classes, cooking demos, and blog post, consider buying copies of The Garden of Eating and The Ice Dream Cookbook to give to your health-conscious family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Incidentally, people who don’t have food allergies or intolerances have thoroughly enjoyed these cookbooks and the recipes made from them.

Healthy Edible Gift Ideas from The Garden of Eating
Spicy Peanut Sauce
Cashew-Dill or Cashew Macadamia Dill Dip
Poppy Seed Pineapple Drizzle
Moroccan BBQ Spice Mix
Moroccan BBQ Sauce
Better Barbecue Sauce (doubles as red sauce for anything)
My Favorite Macaroons
Better Than Store-bought Apple Sauce
Fruit Roll Ups
Cranberry-Apple Compote
Dark Chocolate Dipped Date Nut Truffles
Apple-Apricot Compote
Homemade Beef & Bison Jerky
Dried Apple Chips

Healthy Edible Gift Ideas from The Ice Dream Cookbook
Sesame Seed & Pumpkin Seed Pralines
Cashew, Almond & Pecan Pralines
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Blondies
Gluten-Free Better Brownies
Dark Chocolate Dipped Date Nut Truffles
Better Than Store-bought Apple Sauce
Gluten-Free Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
Gluten-Free Graham Crackers
Cranberry-Apple Compote
Apple-Apricot Compote
Karly’s Carob Sauce & Karly’s Chocolate Sauce

Pomegranate Dressing

2009-10-01T16:49:56-07:00

Judicious Use of juice
I’m not a big fan of fruit juice. It’s all too easy for people to drink the concentrated essence of the many pieces of fruit, taking in far too much fruit and sugar in a single serving. This can elevate insulin levels and also contribute a lot of empty calories to your diet or your child’s diet. However, I think fruit juice can safely be used in cooking. You can use it to replace sugar in some recipes, such as salad dressing, where it provides a sweet taste with added antioxidants you wouldn’t get if you used sugar, honey, agave nectar, or other sweeteners. The key: use 100% real fruit juice.

Photo credit: Pom Wonderful

One of my favorite ways to use fruit juice in cooking is to boil it down, making what’s know as a reduction, then thicken it with arrowroot, allow it to cool, and add a mild tasting oil such as flax oil, unrefined avocado, almond, or hemp seed oil.

I usually use pineapple or orange juice for this, although I’ve also combined cranberry and white grape juice. Sometimes I add poppy seeds and dried, rubbed sage. I always add mustard, ground black or white pepper. Sea salt is optional, but does punch up the flavor of the other ingredients. This week I tried something different: Pomegranate juice.

Ancient fruit
Botanists believe that pomegranates were among the earliest cultivated foods, planted sometime between 4000 and 3000 B.C. The fruit has been revered as a symbol of health, fertility, and rebirth.

Try Pom Wonderful Pomegranate juice
I received samples of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. The name comes from the “Wonderful” variety of pomegranate used exclusively in this brand of juice. Like apples, grapes, and pears, there are many varieties of pomegranate and each one contains differing levels of antioxidants and vitamins. The Wonderful variety is revered for its combination and concentrations of powerful antioxidants, its delicious taste, and its deep crimson color.

Photo credit: Pom Wonderful

Know the Source
POM juice is grown, picked, juiced (using a proprietary technology), and manufactured by a single company located in the San Joaquin Valley. They even manufacture the bottles they use, which are made of harder, and thus more stable, plastic. Because they don’t buy their juice from other companies, they know what goes into their product and what doesn’t. They don’t add sugar, preservatives, colors, or cheap fillers to their juice the way some companies do and they never use imported juice. When buying fruit juices, read labels carefully some companies mix expensive juices, such as pomegranate, with cheaper juices, such as apple or white grape, to reduce their costs.

Health benefits of pomegranate
You’ve probably heard that pomegranates promote heart health, prostate health, and circulation. The research on that was done with Pom Wonderful Pomegranate juice.
POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice is the only pomegranate juice backed by $25 million in medical research. Actually, they’re the only pomegranate juice backed by any medical research at all.

Photo credit: Pom Wonderful

Wine vs. pomegranate jJuice
Go for the juice! According to the company that manufactures Pom Wonderful Pomegrante Juice, tests showed that ounce for ounce, pomegranate juice contains 17% more polyphenol antioxidants than red wine. (6.1 mM vs. 5.2mM) and that 100% pomegranate juice neutralized 54% more free radicals than the same size serving of red wine (71% vs. 46% neutralization).

Best of all, you won’t get pulled over for drinking pomegranate juice. If you are going to drink it, I suggest mixing 1 part pomegranate juice with 1, 2 or 3 parts sparkling mineral water (preferably water you've filtered at home using a Multi Pure Home Drinking Water Filtration System and carbonated using a Soda Stream Soda Maker) for a delicious, festive looking, low sugar mocktail.

Pomegranate juice vs. other beverages
Hundreds of scientific tests have shown that POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice contains more and stronger antioxidants than concord grape juice, blueberry juice, cranberry juice, orange juice, apple juice, acai juice, black cherry juice, and green tea.

Click here to view research on POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice for cardiovascular health, atherosclerosis, prostate, health, and more.

Photo credit: Pom Wonderful

Cooking with Pomegranate juice
I love the tangy and slightly sweet flavor pomegranate juice adds to the salad dressing recipe below. You can also use it as the liquid for brining a turkey, poaching fish, marinating pork, making a glaze for chicken breasts, game hens, or leg of lamb, and more.

You can add whole pomegranate seeds to so many dishes for a festive look and interesting texture. I look forward to making pomegranate syrup as an Ice Dream topping and even pomegranate ice dream and many other recipes this fall.

For more recipes and gorgeous pictures using pomegranate juice and whole pomegranate fruit, click here

Pomegranate Drizzle and Poppy Seed Pomegranate Drizzle

Prep: 15 minutes/ Cooking: 45 minutes/ Yield: 2 3/4 cups; 11 servings

This sweet and tangy dressing revals store bought salad dressings! It has a silky smooth texture and great taste and it’s better for your health. It’s free of high fructose corn syrup, soy, safflower, canola, and cottonseed oil, and chemical names or numbers. It also contains less fat and calories than most bottled dressings. The sweetness it does contain provides powerful antioxidants.

Consider making a double batch to share with family and friends. It would make a great gift during the holidays. Chef Jeff McKahon of Toledo Ohio’s Rohr Fish & Seafood inspired this recipe, originally made with orange juice.

Note: For a sweeter taste, add xylitol after powdering it in a spice-dedicated coffee grinder or 1 cup at a time in a Vita-Mix so it resembles powdered sugar. This will help it dissolve and eliminate any gritty texture.

Ingredients:

1 quart (4 cups) 100% pure pomegranate juice (I used POM Wonderful Juice)
1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt (Celtic or Redmond Real Salt; links below), optional
3 tablespoons poppy seeds, optional (tastes great with and without)
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper or white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder dissolved in 3 tablespoons cool or cold filtered water
1/2 to 3/4 cup Barleen’s flax seed oil, extra firgin avocado oil, Eden® unrefined, untoasted sesame oil or Nutiva hempseed oil (see links below)
3 drops vitamin-E oil (from a dropper bottle or capsule)
2 teaspoons Now® Apple Fiber Powder for thickness, optional (see link below)
1 to 2 tablespoons Dijon, yellow, or Creamy White Mustard (see link below)
1 to 3 tablespoons powdered xylitol (see notes above) or 1 to 2 tablespoons honey, optional

Bring the pomegranate juice and optional salt to a rolling boil in a wide and shallow 2- or 3-quart pot. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until reduced to 2 cups (check volume by pouring the juice intao a heat-proof Pyrex measuring container).
Add optional poppy seeds, pepper, and dissolved arrowroot. Stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, turns clear, and coats the back of a spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.
Cool the pot in an ice-bath or at room temperature or refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Add the oil, vitamin-E oil, optional apple fiber, and mustard and whisk or process in a blender or with an immersion blender. If you prefer a sweeter taste, add powdered xylitol or erythritol 1 tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition.
Pour into one or more glass jars, label, and refrigerate until cold, and then freeze what you don’t plan to consume within a month, leaving 1-inch of head-space in the top of each wide-mouth jar.

Figures not available using pomegranate juice in the recipe above

1/4 cup serving w/pineapple juice: 160 calories, 1 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate (1/2 g fiber), 11 g fat, 50 mg calcium

1/4 cup serving w/orange juice: 145 calories, 1 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat, 43 mg calcium

Source: Recipe modified from The Garden of Eating: A Produce—Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz & Don Matesz

Move Over Olive Oil, Make Way for Avocado Oil

2009-09-29T08:30:00-07:00

Are you concerned about your health? Who isn’t? If so, you’ll want to avoid polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, soy, canola, and generic “vegetable” oils. They're found in the majority of canned, bottled, boxed, frozen, packaged, and processed foods sold in supermarkets and natural foods stores. To avoid them you'll need to read labels on everything. Making more of your family's food at home will help you avoid these insidious oils.

What’s wrong with vegetable oils?
Polyunsaturated oils are highly susceptible to rancidity from exposure to heat, light, and oxygen. In the industrial processes used to extract vegetable oils for sale in supermarkets, oils are exposed to enough heat, light, and oxygen to produce peroxides. These give the oils a bad taste and smell so they are bleached and deodorized before being put on the market or used to make synthetic fats (margarine and shortening).

Even if the oils were to survive industrial processing undamaged, they are typically packaged in clear bottles and stored in brightly lit groceries at room temperature. They are more or less rancid by the time someone takes them home. Then people at home usually store them at room temperature (why not, that’s what they do in the stores), and often use them for cooking.

Want to see vegetable oil turn to plastic/ Brush a baking pan with safflower oil, then bake it at 350˚ F––you’ll have trouble getting the glue off the pan with any solvent. That's what's happening inside your body when you eat a diet rich in vegetable oils as most Americans do.

Even if you get cold-pressed oils packaged in dark bottles and keep them refrigerated, as soon as you eat them conditions are correct for converting them to the pesky peroxides. Remember, your innards are always hot (98.6˚ F), and loaded with oxygen. What happens when peroxides get loose in your blood? Damage to arterial tissue and plaque!

What’s a cook to use?
For cooking and baking, your best bets are real butter, ghee (clarified butter), lard, beef tallow, palm oil, non-hydrogenated palm shortening, and coconut oil. Yes, those are all healthy, traditional fats that your body knows how to deal with.

I know, for years doctors and dietitians have been blaming animal fats for heart disease and cancer, and recommending people eat vegetable oils instead. But they were (and still are wrong!), history and research implicate vegetable oils as the real culprits. For more than 2 million years before the industrial revolution, vegetable oils were rare and fake fats made from those oils, such as margarine and shortening, were unknown.

Photo right: Goat Cheesecake topped with Karyl's Carob or Chocolate Sauce and homemade Caramel Sauce by Rachel Albert Matesz ©

We've been duped
In America during the past 100 years animal fat intake has remained virtually constant, while consumption of processed unsaturated vegetable oil products has increased more than four-fold, parallel with rates of major degenerative diseases––obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. So naturally saturated fats and oils can't be to blame. How can they when people are eating less of them (less butter, lard, and tallow) and downing vegetable oils in amounts previously never seen in history?

What about olive oil?
Extra-virgin olive oil is great for salad dressing and moderate to low heat cooking (best below 350 or 400˚F and medium or medium low heat, not high!), but in some recipes, such as homemade mayonnaise, sweet salad dressings, and dessert sauces, its strong herbaceous flavor can over power other ingredients. Enter unrefined avocado oil. Not only is it good for these applications, but you can also use it for sautéing, pan frying, and roasting vegetables.

What about coconut oil?
From a health standpoint, coconut oils is an excellent addition to the diet and a great substitute for less healthful oils. However, in some applications it doesn’t work, either because it becomes too hard when refrigerated (in a salad dressing or mayo for example), because its flavor can be too strong (in sweet salad dressings or mayo), or because its smoke points is too low.

Coconut oil is heat stable, but it doesn’t have a particularly high smoke point (its smoke point is generally listed as approximately 350°F). This limits its use for some types of cooking (see examples below).

Ode to avocado oil
Avocado oil has a fatty acid profile similar to olive oil. It is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids. Compared to olive oil, it has a very high smoke point, over 500°F, which makes it ideal for baking, roasting, and pan frying.While you can use it for deep frying, I don't frying on a frequent basis and if you do it, a more saturated fat would be safer (think palm oil, palm shortening, rendered beef tallow, or lard).

Avocado photo right: Mid-American Marketing Corporation >>>

When used for salad dressings, avocado oil won’t interfere with the other flavors. It also makes an excellent mayonnaise! Almost all commercial mayonnaise is made from soybean, safflower, sunflower, or canola oil, the oils you need to avoid. You can make mayonnaise with olive oil but it doesn’t have the look or the traditional flavor people expect.

How does it taste?
If you like avocados, you’ll like avocado oil. It has a mild flavor and blends well with both sweet and savory ingredients. It’s not my main source of fat or oil by any means, but it’s a great alternative to have on hand for some of the applications listed above. Sometimes I make sweet salad dressings using a reduction of fruit juice (try the Poppy Seed Pineapple, Orange, or Cherry Drizzle recipe found in The Garden of Eating). I used to use flax oil for this, but over time I've virtually eliminated this oil from my diet because it contains a lot of polyunsaturates, it’s inferior to fish oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, and you can’t use flax oil for cooking.

Using avocado oil
I've made the sauce recipe (below) for a couple of dozen classes and events, including a recent Arizona Herb Association meeting, People love the flavor and texture of it. Avocado oil provides the healthy fat required to give body and texture to this recipe, balancing the sweetness of the syrup. It keeps the sauce pourable, so you don’t have to heat it to be able to pour it over fresh berries, fresh or frozen bananas, homemade ice cream or Ice Dream (from my latest book, The Ice Dream Cookbook). Avocado oil's mild flavor slips seamlessly into this and other recipes. By using it avocado oil in recipes where olive or coconut oil don't work, you can avoid the hazards of both refined vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils.

My recent taste test
I recently tried Avocado Oil Supreme® from Mid American Marketing Company at www.coconutoil-online.com. I think it tastes great. I’ve tried it in heated and uncooked applications. The only thing I would change if I were consulting with the company is that I would package it in glass rather than plastic containers. If you buy this oil, I suggest you transfer it to glass bottles (dark ones if possible) upon arrival and remember to store it in the refrigerator. They also sell exceptionally good virgin pressed coconut oil and other coconut products. I tried avocado oil from Whole Foods Market, which I also liked. The latter is packaged in glass bottles, making it safer for health and the environment. I am not sure how the two compare price-wise.

Karly’s Carob Sauce

Hands-On: 20 minutes/ Cooking: 0 / Yield: 1 3/4 to 2 cups; 14 to 16 servings

One of my cooking students, Karlene Blair, shared this recipe with me. She got it from raw foods chef Becky Johnson. You can use carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder. For a less sweet taste use only maple syrup in the recipe below.

Some of my recipe testers thought the chocolate version tasted like Hershey’s Syrup®. It’s easy to prepare, and remains pourable right from the refrigerator, where it will keep for months.

Notes: If you have celiac disease, use unsweetened cocoa powder rather than carob powder. Most brands of carob powder are made on equipment shared with wheat, which can cross contaminate the carob. If you follow a moderate to low-carb diet, consider this a special treat, not daily fare.

FYI: Store avocado oil and almond oil in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

1 cup pure maple syrup or combination of raw honey and maple syrup (agave nectar for vegans)
1/3 to 1/2 cup unrefined almond oil or avocado oil
1/2 cup raw or roasted carob powder, sifted if lumpy (see variation below for chocolate)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt (e.g. Celtic Sea Salt or Redmond Real Salt)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or alcohol-free vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract or alcohol-free almond flavoring

Sift the carob or cocoa powder if lumpy. Spoon it into the measuring cup and level the top with a butter knife. Combine all ingredients in a blender, Vita-Mix, or food processor or in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or immersion blender. Blend until smooth.
Scrape the mixture into custard cups or wide mouth jars, then cover, and refrigerate.
If you wish to thin the sauce before serving, run the jar under warm water or allow it to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Alternatveily add a few tablespoons of warm water to the portion you plan to serve right away. Don’t add water to the entire batch as this can cause premature spoilage.

2 tablespoons (carob): 122 calories, 0.2 grams protein, 18.6 grams carbohydrate, 5.3 grams fat, 18 milligrams sodium

2 tablespoons (chocolate): 121 calories, 0.5 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrate, 5.7 grams fat, 18 milligrams sodium

Variations:

* Karly’s Cocoa Sauce: Replace carob powder with unsweetened cocoa powder.

Source for recipe above: The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Dream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes and Sauces by Rachel Albert-Matesz (Planetary Press, October, 2008)
© Copyright 2008

Money Saving Tips for Your Food Budget

2009-09-26T08:30:00-07:00

When it comes to buying and cooking chicken, there are so many ways to save money.

Good, better, and best
Although pasture-raised chickens are the best bet nutritionally and ecologically, not everyone can afford to buy it or to eat this kind of poultry exclusively. I consider certified organic or local, antibiotic-free, free range the next best bet in my book (The Garden of Eating), but again, this may not be in your budget now or as a weekly expenditure.

That's dark meat chicken there: a meaty chicken back and a small thigh. The back from a cut up fryer has a fair amount of meat on it. It's not to be wasted.

I’m all for local, organic, and grass-fed and I’m also practical. If you don’t have the income to eat that way or do it it 100%, then you make the best choices within the confines of your current economical situation. I think it’s more important to eat a protein- and produce-rich diet, even if it’s not 50% or even 100% organic, local, or pasture-raised. So, with that in mind, check out the tips below. If you have tips I haven’t thought of, let me know by posting your comments below.

1) Stock up on your favorite cuts or parts when they go on sale
Check out the weekly ad specials that show up in your mail box. Here in Phoenix, AZ, Sprouts Market, Sunflower Market, Frys, Safeway, and Food City offer weekly specials on so many food. You can find poultry, meat, fresh vegetables, and fruits at prices even people on very limited budgets can afford.

2) Buy more dark meat poultry
For the cost of boneless skinless chicken breasts, you can usually buy two to four times as much dark meat chicken. Yes, it’s higher in fat, but fat’s not bad. We need fat in our diets. It increases satiety at meals, makes the meat more moist, and means you don’t have to add oil to it in cooking. Besides, dark meat poultry (thighs and drumsticks) contains more iron and zinc than breast meat so it gives you a nutritional boost for your buck that you don’t get from white meat chicken.

3) Buy more bone-in poultry
I know a lot of people like buying boneless, skinless chicken. I’ll admit that I buy it sometimes (usually when it’s on a sale or I need it for a particular recipe), but I don’t buy it all the time. Bone in poultry costs less than boneless. Sure the boneless breast halves and strips are easy to handle, but it’s not that much harder or more time consuming to cook bone pieces. Baked, roasted, or grilled chicken thighs or drumsticks take very little hands-on prep and yield delicious meals.

4) Make bone broth
Buying chicken on the bone provides the main ingredient you need for making Bone Building Broth (recipe below), a more nutritious alternative to those cartons of preservative-free chicken broth sold in natural foods stores and the health food aisle of supermarkets. You can cook the bones all day or overnight in a slow cooker (aka Crock Pot®) Strain it, cool it, bottle it (I use wide mouth quart and pint canning jars), label it, refrigerate it, then freeze it once it’s cold. If you go through a quart of this broth (technically stock) every week and use home made, you can save $150 to $200 a year.

To learn about the Benefits of homemade Bone Broth click here and here.

You don’t have to make bone broth every week. I make it about once a month. In the meantime, you can stash the bones in bags in the freezer (I use leftover, meaning previously used and rinsed, zip-top bags for this). Take the bones out and cook them when you want, when it fits your schedule. It takes less than 10 minutes to assemble and get the pot cooking. You can make it big batches in a large stock pot or slow cooker. Figure about 30 minutes total for assembling, straining, pouring into jars, labeling, and sealing the pine and quart jars with screw on lids. I like to vacuum seal the broth in wide mouth canning jars using a Tilia Food Saver, but you don’t absolutely have to vacuum seal. Remember to leave an inch of space below the lip in the jar.

5) Cook a chicken or two
Serve the chicken the first night, as is with whatever seasonings you put on it before cooking whatever or condiments you like. Cook two or three chickens at a time if you have a big family so you’re sure to have leftovers. You can chill then freeze some of the meat after stripping it off the bones.

If you don’t like eating the same meal the next day, transform the chicken into a new dish the next day. After cooking the meat, freeze what you don’t plan to consume within three days. That's curried chicken salad in process>>>

You can turn a single roast chicken into multiple meals with different seasonings and condiments, particularly if you make the chicken fairly plain the first time around. Think curried chicken salad, chicken waldorf, Cobb Salad, chicken over green salad with vinaigrette or avocado and salsa, Shredded chicken in chili, chicken in lettuce wraps with Thai flavored condiments, stir fried veggies with chicken and peanut sauce added at the last minute, chicken, chicken tacos, chicken burritos or enchiladas (if you eat tortillas) and so on. Note: These same strategies apply to cooking chicken breast meat, whether you bake, roast, grill, or poach it.

6) Cook ahead and in quantity
Whatever chicken parts you cook, cook with multiple meals in mind. This is the key to having great food on hand when hunger strikes. Leftover chicken provide the perfect addition to pack lunches, easy to assemble dinners, even breakfast. Serve it as is or slice, dice, shred, or chop it. Dress it up, sauce it, toss it, and season it with different condiments or accentuate it with different side dishes to add variety to your meals.

There are so many ways to make tradeoffs that pay off. Let me know if this posts gives you new ideas to save time and money.

Basic Bone-Building Broth

Total hands-on: 20 to 30 minutes/ Cooking: 10 to 20 hours /Yield: 4 quarts

I save all the bones from boning and cooking chicken, turkey, beef, bison, venison, and pork––even if we’ve nibbled on them. I separate meat bones from poultry bones in recycled bags in the freezer. When I have enough, I make a thick, milky, gelatinous, mineral-rich broth. I read that a cup of bone stock/broth may contain as much calcium as a glass of milk. Because I make mine so thick, it probably contains more. I use it to make sautéed greens, Better Brussels Sprouts, Better Barbecue Sauce, Lean & Creamy Dressings, stir-fried vegetables, gravy, soup, and stews (see index for recipes).

Note: Sea vegetables add trace minerals, including iodine and chelate heavy metals (including mercury) and radioactive isotopes from your body. I start cooking this in the morning or after lunch or supper, and let it to cook all day or night. If you’re only cooking bones from breast parts, the broth won’t turn milky, but it will still be delicious.

Ingredients (for a large batch):
3 to 4 pounds poultry raw or cooked bones, from whole carcasses, fryer parts, backs, necks, or wings of chicken, turkey, duck, guinea fowl, game hens, etc.
3 tablespoons lemon juice, organic red wine vinegar or raw apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves and/or 2 to 3 (5-inch) pieces kelp, kombu or alaria sea vegetable
12 peppercorns, optional
1 teaspoon each dried rosemary and thyme, optional
1 large onion, quartered
1 large carrot, quartered, optional
5 to 6 quarts filtered water, or slightly more as needed to amply cover bones

Combine ingredients in 8-quart stockpot. Add water to cover bones. Cover and bring to full rolling boil over medium heat. Reduce to medium-low to keep broth gently bubbling. Skim off foam that rises to surface during first 30 minutes.
Simmer 10 to 14 hours, or until broth appears milky. Add more water if needed to keep bones covered. To add more nutrients, mash with potato masher after 8 hours.
Uncover and simmer 1 hour longer, or until reduced to 4 quarts. Remove bones with large slotted spoon or pour through colander over extra-large bowl. Return broth to pot and place in sink filled with several inches of ice water. Cool for 30 minutes.
Strain and ladle into 1-quart Mason jars or freezer containers allowing 1 inch of head space in each container. Label, date, and refrigerate. Broth will thicken as it cools.
Skim off and discard fat layer before using or freezing broth. You can freeze some of the broth in ice cube trays and transfer to larger freezer containers. Use refrigerated broth within 10 days. Use frozen broth within 9 months.

Nutrition breakdown not available

Variations:

* Slow Cooker Version: Combine all ingredients, except water, in 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add water to within 1 inch of top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours, if possible, then reduce heat to LOW and continue to cook for 8 to 10 hours.