This summer, I’ve started on a mission to eat more fruits and vegetables each day. Here’s one way to meet that goal. This recipe features cottage cheese — which was a staple in our meals when I was growing up — and pairs it with fresh summer vegetables. I’d forgotten how tasty this combination was –cottage cheese and garden vegetables. It is one way to meet my goal.
Here’s a recipe for Summer Spaghetti with a surprise and a twist. It’s from an old Family Circle magazine; I keep all my treasured recipes safe on one shelf in my kitchen. This recipe is unique because cold tomato sauce is ladled over hot pasta. And as I took a second glance at the magazine spread for “best pasta dishes,” I realized that it was ahead of the times — the recipes fit into the guidelines for the heart healthy Mediterranean Diet. So enjoy a delicious pasta recipe that’s healthy, too!
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Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup is soothing to the soul and body. My soup is healthy, too, full of aromatic root vegetables—carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga and onions–available in autumn. I’m taking the easy route to making the home-cooked broth by using rotisserie chickens; these will make a flavorful stock which is essential to good soup.
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When my kids were young, their orthodontist insisted on appointments during school hours. As we left his office and rounded the corner, we drove past a Smoothie King franchise store. “We’re hungry,” the kids would chime. I thought, least a smoothie is a healthy replacement for the school lunch. Don’t have a Smoothie King close to you? It is easy to make your own drinks.
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I attended a convention two years ago; the Monsanto Company handed out sample vegetable seed packets as a vendor. I planted the carrots this February and they grew! For a recipe, I made Glazed Carrots. At the convention, Monsanto researchers participated in a workshop on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crops.
A perfect glass of iced tea should be soothing, slightly sweet, chilled and with none of the bitter tannin taste of the tea leaves. We drink lots of tea the year around at our house and I have a pretty good recipe for making iced tea. Tea in general has some very interesting potential health benefits as I learned at the FNCE conference.
Lentil soup is easy to make, tasty and quite healthy. I recently received a flyer from “Dried Bean Quarterly” discussing the nutritional value of lentils. It made we wonder why I’m not cooking with lentils more often.
Every five years, “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” is revised by the US government. The report gives guidelines for a living a healthy lifestyle including a nutrient-rich diet. Eat more vegetables fits into this, so my recipe this week is for Chinese Carrot Relish.
We’ve all heard it–eat your vegetables. One of the recommendations for a healthy diet is that half of your plate should be vegetables and fruit–that’s alot! Fruit and vegetable juices do count, but still this is more servings than probably most people eat daily. Cauliflower is a cool season vegetable; it is reasonably priced and there are blemish-free heads of caulifower in stores. Now is a good time to cook with this vegetable. Indian-Inspired Spicy Cauliflower brings out the best in this vegetable. The end of this blog post contains a little nutrition trivia related to why we should eat more vegetables and fruits.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” The old adage may actually have some truth to it. Although apples don’t have much Vitamin C, they have other health benefits. A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to Michigan where I lived for several years. I loved Michigan autumns with its burst of color; and remember apple orchards, fresh apple cider and varieties of apples that you don’t find here.
