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Protein Breakfast Bowl
Protein Breakfast Bowl
YIELD: 2 SERVINGS CALORIES:437
Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced
6-8 medium mushrooms, sliced
5 oz grass-fed ground beef
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 small avocado, diced
10-12 pitted black olives, sliced
salt
pepper
Directions
- In a heavy skillet over medium high heat, melt a little bit of coconut oil. When oil is hot, add onions, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Cook for around 2 to 3 minutes, until the vegetables are fragrant and softened.
- Add ground beef and smoked paprika and continue cooking until the beef is no longer pink. Set the beef aside on a plate.
- Add eggs to the skillet and scramble them to your liking.
- Return beef to the pan. Add avocado and sliced olives.
- Continue cooking for about 45 seconds to a minute in order to slightly warm up the avocados and olives.
- Transfer to a bowl and garnish with parsley, if desired.
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Dr J Jaranson
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Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Creamy casseroles are a favorite when the weather gets chilly, but they’re not always Paleo diet friendly. This easy broccoli casserole recipe layers chicken with vegetables for a filling and comforting meal. Crisp bacon and crunchy almonds give it that casserole-like top, without starchy breadcrumbs or cheese.
Ingredients
1/2 head(s) broccoli cut into thin slices
3/4 head(s) cauliflower cut into thin slices
1/2 pound(s) mushrooms sliced
2 piece(s) chicken breast(s), boneless skinless (4-6 oz)
1 cup(s) coconut milk, full fat
1 large egg(s)
1/2 cup(s) chicken broth
1/2 cup(s) almonds sliced
4 slice(s) bacon cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon(s) coconut oil for cooking chicken
1/8 teaspoon(s) sea salt to taste
1/8 teaspoon(s) black pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 1 TB coconut oil or other cooking oil of your choice when hot.
Season chicken breasts with sea salt and pepper if desired and sauté for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice until fully cooked. Chop into bite-size pieces.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Layer the broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and cooked chicken in a (9×13) casserole dish, seasoning with salt and pepper between each layer.
In a bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the coconut milk with the egg and chicken broth until well combined. Pour over the casserole. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle with almonds and bacon. Bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes until almonds are lightly toasted and casserole is bubbly. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
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P Carrothers
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Home Brewing Kombucha
Home Brewing Kombucha
What is all the hype about this funky tea known as Kombucha? Kombucha most likely started in China and spread to Russian over 100 years ago. It is often called mushroom tea because if the scoby that forms on the top, resembling a mushroom. Scoby is actually an acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.
Kombucha contains multiple species of yeast and bacteria along with the organic acids, active enzymes, amino acids, and vitamin C. According to the American Cancer Society “Kombucha tea has been promoted as a cure-all for a wide range of conditions including baldness, insomnia, intestinal disorders, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and cancer. Supporters say that Kombucha tea can boost the immune system and reverse the aging process.” I will caution you however that there is little scientific evidence to support such strong claims.
For us Kombucha is fun to make, and is highly recommended among many of my holistic friends. It is naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, which is helpful for digestive health. I think it smells a little strong, but is actually pleasant tasting.
Instructions for Making Kombucha Tea
Ingredients
- 14 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 tea bags
- 1 cupstarter tea or vinegar
- kombucha culture
Directions
- Combine hot water (14 cups for 1 gallon) and sugar (1 cup) in the glass jar you intend on using to brew the tea. Stir until the sugar dissolves. The water should be hot enough to steep the tea but does not have to be boiling.
- Place the tea or tea bags in the sugar water to steep. Use 8 tea bags for a gallon of tea. I prefer the flavor of green tea, but you can also use black tea. Try to find an organic tea. If you use loose tea leaves use 4 tbsp for a gallon of tea.
- Cool the mixture to room temperature. The tea may be left in the liquid as it cools. Once cooled remove the tea bags.
- Add starter tea from a previous batch to the liquid. If you do not have starter tea, distilled white vinegar may be substituted. If using vinegar use 2 cups for a gallon of tea.
- Add an active kombucha scoby (culture).
- Cover the jar with a towel or coffee filter and secure with a rubber band. Ants can smell sweet tea a mile away.
- Allow the mixture to sit undisturbed at 68-85°F, out of direct sunlight, for 7-30 days, or to taste. The longer the kombucha ferments, the less sweet and more vinegary it will taste.
Keep the scoby and about 1 cup of the liquid from the bottom of the jar to use as starter tea for the next batch. You will have the “mother scoby” that you added and a new “baby scoby” that will have formed on the top. You can reuse your mother scoby, and gift your baby.
The finished kombucha can be flavored, or enjoyed plain. Keep sealed with an airtight lid at room temp for an additional 7 days with added fruit if you like a fizzy drink like soda. Otherwise store in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. These little bottles of “hippy tea” have been popping up all over grocery stores for about $3 a bottle, but you can make it at home for about $1 a gallon. I’m not sure that it’s a cure-all, but at worst you have a delightful and affordable probiotic.
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Dr S. Siewert
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Szechuan Bison Stir Fry
Szechuan Bison Stir Fry
Ingredients:
MEAT & MARINADE
- 1.5 lb. Bison flank or sirloin
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons Mirin, sweet rice wine for cooking
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil
VEGETABLES
- 3 celery stalks, julienned into thin, long strips
- 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
- 3 inch green onions sliced thinly, on a diagonal, into 1/2 pieces
SZECHUAN SAUCE
Mix together:
- 1 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice powder
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1” ginger root (fresh), grated or very finely minced
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoons Rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
Instructions:
- Slice bison, across the grain, into 1/4 inch thick strips and place in a large plastic bag.
- Add mirin and soy sauce and massage into the meat. Add cornstarch, seal the bag and toss/massage to coat the meat.
- Let meat marinate for about 10 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Slice vegetables and set aside.
- Add sesame oil to wok or large sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Add bison to hot pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan – you’ll probably want to do at least 2 batches – and sauté about 2-3 minutes. Remove bison to a plate and cook remaining batches.
- Add sliced vegetables to the hot pan and cook about 1-3 minutes (depending on how tender you want them), stirring often.
- Pour in Szechuan sauce and cook about a minute, until slightly thickened.
- Add cooked bison and turn to coat in the sauce.
- Serve over jasmine rice.
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Dr Anne K Sullivan
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Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza:
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
2 cups freshly grated mozzarella
1/4 cup Spicy Pizza Sauce, recipe follows
Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Salad:
4 cups baby greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan shavings, for topping
Spicy Pizza Sauce:
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
Three 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
For the pizza: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor to a fine snowy powder (you should have about 2 1/2 cups). Transfer the processed cauliflower to a microwave-safe bowl and cover. Microwave until soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a clean, dry kitchen towel and allow to cool.
When cool enough to handle, wrap the cauliflower in the towel and wring out as much moisture as possible, transferring to a second towel if necessary. In a large bowl, stir together the cauliflower, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, egg and 1 cup of the mozzarella until well combined. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and press into a 10-inch round. Bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the crust from the oven and top with the Spicy Pizza Sauce and remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 10 minutes more. Garnish with fresh basil leaves just before serving.
For the salad: Meanwhile, add the greens to a large bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, baslsamic and salt and pepper to taste in a measuring cup. Pour over the greens and toss. Top with Parmesan shavings.
Spicy Pizza Sauce:
Heat a pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil, throw in the garlic and chopped onions and give them a stir. Cook until the onions are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, whisking to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Cook until the liquid reduces by half. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add the brown sugar, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste and stir. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool, then puree the sauce.
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Five Foods That Have More Sodium Than Chips
5 Foods That Have More Sodium Than Chips
Your body needs sodium—but there’s no denying that most of us are getting way too much of it. According to recent stats from the American Heart Association, the average daily sodium intake in this country is 3,600 milligrams—more than double the Association’s recommendation of 1,500 milligrams max. But avoiding clear offenders like salted nuts and potato chips may not be enough to bring you down into the recommended range since there are so many sneaky salt bombs out there. Just look at these seemingly healthful foods—they all contain more than 255 milligrams of sodium, which is the amount you’ll find in a 1 ½-ounce bag of Lays Classic Potato Chips:
1/2 Cup Nonfat Cottage Cheese
This packs a surprising 270 milligrams of sodium—and if you’re not careful, it’s easy to eat more than ½ cup and really overdo it with the salty stuff.
A 6 1/2″ Whole-Wheat Pita
Pitas come with a health halo—especially when they’re whole-wheat—and they can be a good source of fiber. But they also come with a heavy dose of sodium: 284 milligrams in just one pocket.
2 Tbsp Reduced-Fat Italian Salad Dressing
Yup, you can take in more sodium in 2 Tbsp of your salad topper than in an entire bag of chips: This variety is loaded with 260 mg per serving—although plenty of other types of salad dressing pack just as much.
Veggie Burger
While the exact stats will of course vary from brand to brand, the USDA says that one store-bought veggie burger patty tends to come in around 398 milligrams of sodium—and that’s before you even consider all of the salt in the bun (many types of bread are just as salty as pitas, if not more so).
1/2 Cup Canned Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce has its virtues—it contains lycopene, for example, a carotenoid that research has linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. But you have to eat it in moderation since each ½-cup serving packs a shocking 642 milligrams of sodium.
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The Cure Is In The Kitchen
The Cure Is In The Kitchen
There are a lot of reasons why people visit the Mayo Clinic, most of which have something to do with heart surgery or various other medical emergencies. I traveled there recently to learn how to cook barley risotto.
Barley has many good features: It’s full of fiber and rich in niacin (vitamin B3) and minerals such as manganese and selenium. It also has a nice, nutty flavor that lends itself to a wide variety of pleasant dishes you might enjoy at the end of a long day. Plus, it’s really easy to cook.
I could have learned to make barley risotto in five minutes by reading a recipe, but I went to the Mayo Clinic to learn about it because I wanted to hear from doctors there who are convinced that the greatest public-health advances will come not from gee-whiz medical technology but by teaching Americans how to cook healthy meals.
That’s how I happened to sit down with internist Deborah Rhodes, MD, over barley risotto. At one point, our conversation turned to that classic scene from TV cop dramas: A drug dealer, riddled with gunshot wounds, is rushed into the emergency room on a hospital gurney. The valiant crew of surgeons and nurses race to save him, cracking jokes about how one of the bullets hit the exact same place where he was wounded the last time he was in the ER. It will, they quip, reduce the amount of scarring.
It’s tempting to look at that cliché and see a tragic example of someone who made dangerous choices that overtax our medical system while destroying lives. But do we ever stop to think about the everyday choices we make that lead to similarly awful outcomes?
Rhodes told me she sees patients all the time who suffer an obesity-related medical emergency — say a heart attack — and return years later with other serious complications of obesity because they were unable to address the underlying causes. The statistics are alarming:
Women who have survived one of the most common types of breast cancer and are obese have a 30 percent higher chance of recurrence and a nearly 50 percent higher chance of dying from the cancer, compared with healthy-weight survivors.
Some 120,000 cancer cases in the United States each year are directly associated with obesity, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Weight issues may account for as many as 14 percent of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women 50 and older, according to a 2003 study by the American Cancer Society.
More than 16 percent of strokes are associated with obesity.
Middle-age men who are obese have a 60 percent greater chance of dying from a heart attack than their counterparts with a healthy weight.
Obesity, of course, has many causes, but for most of us it’s all about priorities — especially balancing the demands of work against the time and energy required to develop and practice healthy habits. We often feel it’s good to spend an extra three hours at the office, but bad to take a little time off to attend yoga class. Or we believe it’s OK to be so selfless at work that we skip lunch, work through dinner, and hit the drive-through on the way home, but it’s selfish to insist on making time for family meals.
Part of the solution, according to Rhodes and her Mayo Clinic colleagues, is to teach people how to cook. Mayo’s new “participation kitchen” can help people emerging from a medical crisis who are ready to use that difficult moment in their lives as a pivot point. Learning to prepare healthy meals can aid the transition from their current lifestyle to one that may keep them out of the emergency room in the future.
Mayo also offers life coaching and Pilates classes, as well as health assessments, to help patients get back on the fitness track. If this doesn’t sound like our notions of a hospital, that’s because Mayo and other medical centers are beginning to figure out that the future of health is about preventing, rather than treating, chronic disease. And eating well is a central part of the strategy.
That’s easier said than done, of course, and it always has been. Hippocrates, who lived some 2,500 years ago, offered one of our better-known life lessons when he said, “Let food be thy medicine.” But, as Plato pointed out, not everyone was listening. “We have made of ourselves living cesspools and driven doctors to invent names for our diseases,” the philosopher wrote.
People in Hippocrates’s time ate what we would today call an organic, whole-foods diet, and they probably got a fair amount of exercise, as there were no cars or escalators. But they still found a way to eat poorly. It’s just something that people do — we’re all too human, all too frail. I like to think of a poor diet not as a personal failure, but as a weakness that has vexed humans since at least the time of Hippocrates.
How can we work with that human frailty and nudge ourselves in the direction of better health? We might start by cooking barley for risotto. Load it up with sautéed red peppers and Swiss chard, throw on some sautéed chicken, lamb sausage, or salmon, and you have a thoroughly healthy and satisfying meal.
There are even easier steps, though. Keep a bag of almonds or protein bars at the office. They’ll keep you from resorting to the vending machine for sustenance when those last-minute meetings force you to skip lunch. Make a batch of hard-boiled eggs on the weekend so you can grab a quick, protein-rich breakfast when you’re running late for work. Swap out sugary beverages for drinks that you actually love just as much but don’t consider very often — perhaps chilled peppermint tea?
None of these things is as complicated as heart surgery. But taken together, they might just keep you out of the emergency room and off the operating table.
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Healthy Chicken Fried Rice
Healthy Chicken Fried Rice
Craving takeout? You can have this healthy fried brown rice with chicken and asparagus on the dinner table in 30 minutes, about the same amount of time you’d wait for delivery. This recipe swaps fiber-rich brown rice for white rice, which helps keep you full and keeps blood sugar steady.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 pound chicken breast, chopped into bite sized pieces
½ yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, trimmed and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 cups chopped asparagus, from approximately a 1-pound bunch
⅓ cup water
2 cups cooked white or brown rice, chilled
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
¾ cup frozen green peas
Preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until golden on all sides and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside in a bowl.
Wipe skillet clean. Add remaining tablespoon oil to the skillet and heat on medium-high. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and ginger. Saute 2 to 3 minutes until onion is translucent. Stir in asparagus and ⅓ cup water, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom. Cook until asparagus is tender but still bright green and water has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Stir in rice and soy sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly crispy and warmed through, about 5 minutes total. Stir in peas and cook an additional minute to warm through.
Ingredient Variations and Substitutions
If you’re usually not a fan of the heavier flavor of brown rice, you may be surprised to find you like it in this dish. The nutty flavor of brown rice is brought out by a quick stir fry in peanut oil. However, if you’re still not sold, you could try a mix of white and brown rice or make this with white rice.
Think of this quick and easy recipe as a template for making grain and vegetable stir fries. Look beyond rice and try different whole grains. Quinoa is packed with protein and has the same fluffy texture. Millet has a mild flavor that many people who do not enjoy brown rice will find pleasant. You could even make this with other whole grains like farro or spelt grains, which lend a nutty flavor and chewy texture from their larger grains.
To make this dish vegan, swap cubes of tofu for the chicken. You may want to marinate it first or toss with a seasoning spice, like lemon pepper seasoning. Tofu by itself is pretty bland. You could also make this with chunks of pork tenderloin or lean ham.
For gluten-free fried rice, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
Tamari is a soy sauce made from only soybeans rather than a blend of soy and wheat. If you are allergic to soy, look for coconut aminos, which has a similar umami flavor.
Feel free to use any combination of vegetables you or your family enjoy! I’ve made this with zucchini, green beans, broccoli, and peppers—whatever is on sale or seasonal at the grocery store.
For those with peanut allergies, make this with sesame oil, which adds a similar nutty flavor, or your favorite neutral flavored oil, like canola or avocado oil. Avoid olive oil, which is too strongly flavored for this dish.
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Thyroid Boosting Smoothie
Thyroid Boosting Green Smoothie
Everyone over the age of 40 has thyroid issues. 99% of the population!
This is a smoothie that you can have everyday. Most smoothies with fruit and fruit juices, are not meant to have on a daily basis.
This smoothie is filled with three basic ingredients that help regulate thyroid hormones: tyrosine to boost the thyroid hormone, greens to activate the thyroid hormone, and antioxidants to reduce inflammation in the body. Now you can create your own customized thyroid smoothie, all with the click of a blender!
Ingredients
1 tbsp tyrosine (sunflower seeds or flax seeds)
1 cup greens (kale, watercress, or spinach)
1/2 cup antioxidants (frozen raspberries or blueberries)
1 cup water
Directions
- Place preferred tyrosine base, green base, and antioxidant base into blender.
- Add water and blend until desired texture is reached.
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Sweet Potato Pie, Paleo Style
Sweet Potato Pie Paleo Style
Ingredients
(Makes 1 x 9″ pie)
1lb 3oz sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
½ c coconut cream (taken from the top of a can of coconut milk placed in the fridge overnight)
½ c applesauce
½ – ¾ coconut palm sugar, to taste
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
5 egg yolks
salt
1x 9” Pie Crust, for your needs
1 c chopped pecans
1 Tbsp maple syrup
Method:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Steam sweet potatoes until tender, 15-20 min. Remove the sweet potatoes from the steamer and mash.
Combine all ingredients except maple syrup and pecans in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix until completely combined and well incorporated. Pour filling into prepared crust. Sprinkle pecans evenly over the pie. Drizzle with maple syrup. Bake 50-55 min. Allow the pie to cool completely before serving. Store pie in the refrigerator.
Healthy Eating!
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