Health for Life Cooking in May

Just in time for your Memorial Day festivities!

Popeye Burgers with trimmings

Popeye new what he was talking about when he raved about the strength building qualities of spinach. What he probably didn't know was that spinach is also one of the most nutrient rich foods on the planet w/ hundreds, if not thousands, of phyto-chemicals that are critcal to excellent health. These burgers not only contain this high nutrient green but also cancer fighters such as mushrooms, onions, and garlic. The base of this burger is high fiber oats and white great northern beans. This is my husbands favorite veggie burger!

Spring Asparagus w/ Tangy Lemon Tahini Sauce
This sauce is a very basic combination of whole sesame seeds, white beans, lemon juice and seasonings. The sesame seeds make this sauce a touch on the bitter side but served drizzled over fresh spring aspargus makes a delicious combination.

Creamy Potato Salad
This is a delicious and healthy version of an old time favorite.
I use red potatoes, which are less starchy than russets and have a little bit better nutritional profile. Kidney beans give this salad some protein without saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein. Raw celery and green onions give it just the right amount of cruch and a delicious dressing made by blending nuts and seeds give it a dreaminess that is rich and devine! Add some fresh dill and it takes it over the top!


Strawberryana Sorbet
With strawberrys in season I wanted to take advantage of this wonderful springtime berry that is so high in anti-oxidants and phyto-chemicals. Just 1 cup gives you 140% of the RDA of vitamin C. They are also high in folate, potasium and of course fiber. They have been shown to lower cholesterol, improve brain function and prevent the formation of pre-cancerous colon lesions. Buy them organic if you can. They have a high level of pesticide contamination. This is a very cool and refreshing low-fat dessert that takes only minutes to make in your food processor or blender. It's the perfect dessert for a hot summer (or spring) day!

And there you have it! Health for Life Cooking in May. Class dates are Wednesday May 2nd and Tuesday May 8th.  Hope to see you in class!

To register, contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com.

Health for Life in March

Immune Boosting Chili

This chili is loaded with greens, onions, mushrooms and beans to keep your immune system in top fighting condition to keep you healthy all year long. This chili will be garnished with avocado to increase the absorption of the phyto-nutrients in the vegetables. No meat, dairy, gluten, sugars or extracted oils.


Green Spanish Rice Stuffed Peppers
This is not your typical Spanish rice served at authentic Mexican restaurants. Traditional Spanish rice is pretty poor nutritionally. A small amount of tomato adds some antioxidants to the nutrient poor white rice that is normally used. My Spanish rice is loaded with....you guest it......greens, onions, mushrooms, and beans. Top it with a cashew/sunflower seed cheeze sauce, and you've got your GOMBS!
Stuffing this into a whole bell pepper makes a beautiful dish and is a meal in and of itself, but since we are having chili as well, I'll be serving it nestled in half of a red bell pepper.

Banana Cream Pie
When I mentioned making some changes to this recipe to my husband he said "I wouldn't change a thing!" My daughter agreed. And she doesn't really like banana cream pie.It contains no processed sugars, extracted oils or dairy. It's sweetened only with dates, which give this pie it's delightful brown hugh. (I'm being sarcastic here ....work with me.) You could cover up the color by adding some cocoa powder for a Chocolate Banana Cream but I think it's perfect as is......brown hugh and all!

And there you have it! Health for Life cooking for March. Class dates are Tuesday March 20th and Wednesday March 28th, 6:00 pm. Hope to see you in class!

Contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com to register.

Health for Life Cooking in February

Egg Plant Roll Ups
All the flavors of lasagna but no noodles. The eggplant is baked to perfect tenderness and rolled up around a delicious mixture of onion, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, tofu and spinach. Topped with a home made spaghetti sauce.





Greens and Grains

This original recipe, called "Pasta with Greens" from Andrew Weil, used a whole grain pasta. This was one of my husbands favorite dishes. In my quest to use only whole, intact grains, I'm using quinoa, which is a very light high protein grain that works perfect in place of pasta. It is mixed with a tasty combination of sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, kale, olives, and capers.



Basic Spinach Salad with a Citrus Balsamic Vinegarette
(Not pictured)


Nutty Chocolate Cookies

Chunkey chewey and delicious! Rich in omega 3 fatty acids from flax seed, anti-oxidant rich cocoa powder and sweetened exclusively with fruit.
Dairy free and gluten free.

Health for Life Cooking to Start the New Year

Happy New Year! What a great time to recommit to excellent health! Commit to high nutrient plant based meals that will add health to your life. Let Health for Life cooking teach you how.

The menu for January classes will include:

Chick Pea Noodle Soup

A delicious alternative to traditional Chicken Noodle Soup that is loaded with fiber and micro-nutrients from chick peas and a lot of veggies. It is also gluten free because the noodles are made from zucchini! I'm really excited about his one! The strips of zucchini , when cooked just right, take on a soft texture that make perfect noodles. The broth is flavored with a chicken style seasoning that gives it a chicken noodle soup flavor. It's hot and satisfying on a cold winter night.

Chick Pea Rice & Broccoli Casserole

One of my favorite dishes as a kid was my grandma's chicken and rice casserole. If you can make chicken noodle soup with chick peas, why couldn't you make chicken and rice casserole with chick peas? Well, you can! I was very excited when this dish came together quite nicely and my husband announced, "I like this stuff!" That's pretty good coming from him without me even asking "What do you think?" With a creamy white sauce that is dairy, soy and gluten free, this dish is at the top of my comfort food list. It's also high in nutrients with GOMBS: greens, onions, mushrooms, beans, and seeds. GOMBS are Dr. Furhmans top 5 super foods. He says that they "fight cancer with every bite!" If you get all of them in one meal, I consider it a 5 star meal.

Purple Power Smoothie

One of the best ways to get a lot of nutrients from green vegetables into a quick and easy meal is with a green smoothie. In other words, a fruit smoothie that includes green leafy vegetables.

Blending greens, as oppose to eating a salad, breaks down the plant fibers so small that you dramatically increase the amount of nutrients that get absorbed into your cells. When I started drinking daily smoothies in 2006, my nails and teeth got stronger, my hair didn't come out as much, and they just tasted and felt so good to me. It felt lke my cells were soaking up thousands of powerful disease protective nutrients. Green smoothies are also a great way to help clean out the holiday gunk!

And there you have it! Health for Life cooking to start the new year. Class dates are Tuesday January 10 and Wednesday January 18. Hope to see you in class!

To register, contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com.

My Holiday Challenge - Be Sugar Free!

There is just something about the sight of a tin of chocolates or a plate of home baked cookies during the holidays that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. They look so appealing and taste so delicious! But unfortunately, after I've eaten 5 or 6 (or even just one for that matter) I don't feel so well. A head ache quickly comes on, and if I've eaten too many, my back starts to ache. Oh yes, and the instant sugar buzz! Then the voices in my head start saying "you really shouldn't have eaten that." I begin to think about what all that sugar is doing to my body including weakened immune system, calcium depletion, increased acid, and oh my poor pancreas has to work over time to get that sugar out of my blood stream and into the cells which eventually give me too much energy.....and it's usually at 2 am. Funny how all those things didn't matter BEFORE I partook of the forbidden goodies!

So is all of that really worth the 30 seconds of pleasure? Absolutely not! That is why this year I'm committing to staying processed sugar free through out the holidays, until 2012! I'm also including all so-called "healthy" sugars including agave, maple syrup, honey, and any type of granulated sugar. Click here to find out why.

As the years have gone by and my diet has gotten healthier, I've lost the desire for sugary foods for the most part. It's just this time of year, when well meaning neighbors bring treats and the front desk at work is cluttered with an assortment of cookies and chocolates, that I feel this little tug and a voice inside me that says "It's the holidays! Have a little fun!" Well, I have plenty of fun through out the holidays eating great food, feeling great and enjoying some of my healthy whole food date/nut candies and cookies that don't make me feel horrible and keep me up all night.

This past week I committed to both my Health for Life class and my Bosch class and now I'm telling the world! I would love to have some company! Feel free to post your commitment. To help you out, I've posted a great recipes for Christmas Truffles here.

Happy Holidays and best of health to all in 2012!

April

Health for Life Holiday Treats

Christmas without yummy treats would be like Christmas without Santa Clause. Luckily you don't have to gain 10 pounds over the holidays because of these sinful pleasures. There are tasty alternatives!

For the third year in a row, I am offering Health for Life Holiday Treat Class on Wednesday December 7, at 6:00 pm.

The treats that I will be demonstrating are:

Simple Date Sugar Cookies, Christmas Truffles, "They taste like Christmas" Nut Balls, Sprouted Cinnamon Almonds, and Raw Sesame Carob Fudge.

Those attending will get samples in class and then will go home with a decorative Christmas tin full of these tasty treats!

This is the tastiest class of the year! Space is unlimited! Must pre-register by contacting April at health4life07@yahoo.com.

Hope to see you in class!

April

Health for Life Cooking for the Holidays

Holiday Lentil Loaf w/ Mushroom Gravy

This lentil loaf is the perfect replacement for the traditional turkey or ham that most always adorns the holiday table.
Lentils and mushrooms not only provide great nutrition but also provide an earthy rich flavor along with the wonderful holiday herbs of sage, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme. Topped with a mushroom gravy, this loaf is delicious and very filling!


Creamy Cashew Kale
Please remember that the worst looking dishes are sometimes the best! My mouth waters when I think about this dish. The original recipe comes from Dr.Fuhrman but I have tweaked it just a bit to lower the fat content. It's one of the favorites in his archive of recipes. The cashew sauce makes it rich and creamy and so delicious! I'm not sure if you'll get your kids to even try this but
once they do, they will be hooked.

Cranapple Relish Salad
I loved traditional canned cranberry sauce as a kid but these days it would make my head spin from all the sugar! This Cranapple Relish Salad is sweetened completely with apples and dates. It's so delicious I start making it and eating it for breakfast as soon as cranberries are available. Cranberries are high in anti-oxidants so are great for warding off the winter cold.

Pumpkin Pie w/ Non-Dairy Cream
I've made this pumpkin pie for years from canned pumpkin and I'm finally venturing out and using home cooked pumpkin. Sweetened 100% with dates, this pie is wholesome, low fat and delicious!

And there you have it! Health for Life Cooking for the holidays! November classes are Wednesday November 2 and Tuesday November 8. Hope to see you in class! April

Health For Life Cooking in October

Fabulous Fall Favorites

The menu for October classes will include:

Butternut and White Bean Stew

This is a rich and creamy comfort stew that is so delicious and nutritious! The butternut squash gives it this beautiful yellow color which adds important carotenoids, powerful anti-oxidants found primarily in winter squash. White beans and kale are also added to make this stew very satisfying and delicious!

Sweet Basmati Rice w/ Slivered Almonds and Kale
Basmati rice is wonderfully aromatic and smells like popcorn when you cook it. It has a mild sweetness that goes perfect with toasted almonds, shredded carrots, and plump raisins. And believe it or not, kale is a great addition to this dish as well.

Demonstrated with this meal will also be Dijon Pecan Dressing which will be served with a mixed green salad.

Chunky Monkey Pumpkin Cookies

"These are the best cookies I've had" was the comment from one of my taste testers! They also got my 5 year old grandsons approval!

These cookies are loaded with pecans, coconut, raisins, oats, dates, and a small amount of simi-sweet non dairy chocolate chips just to take them over the top!
These contain NO wheat, dairy, or extracted oils. Chocolate chips contain processed sugars.

And there you have it! Health for Life cooking classes in October. Class dates are Wednesday October 5 and Tuesday October 18.

Hope to see you in class.
April

For more information, contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com.

Health for Life Cooking in September

September, Labor Day, starting another school year all reminds me of end of summer family get-to-gathers in the park or at my grandparents which always included good food. And many times it included burgers, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and peach cobbler. So this month we are celebrating the end of summer.... as if there is something to celebrate when summer comes to an end. Oh yes, I remember, cooler days and more hiking and getting outdoors. Yes!! Just what I need!

"Better then a Big Mac" Burger

I have wanted to create a veggie patty that looks like a "regular" burger and had the mouth feel and taste of one. Well, this one may look the part but without all the fat, it's hard to have that greasy mouth feel. Besides that, do we really want it? As for taste.....well, I'm not so sure I want it to taste like a "real" hamburger either. So this is a burger that just tastes gosh darn good!! Way better than a Big Mac! This patty is lentil and oat based and seasoned just right. It will be served with all the trimmings on sprouted sesame seed bread.

Colorful Kohlrabi Cole Slaw
Kohlrabi is a new vegetable (new to me that is) that has adorned my refrigerator lately, and I thought it would be fun to include it in the menu this month. I have been buying it local and have found it to be a nice addition to coleslaw. It's a cruciferous vegetable and reminds me of cabbage but has a bit of a turnip taste. Mixed in with some green and purple cabbage, shredded carrot, just a little bit on onion and dressed with a light creamy dressing, this salad is a nice addition to any meal.

Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
(sorry no picture yet)
A simple salad of just what is says. Corn, vine ripe tomatoes, and diced avocado with a little red onion and a zesty lemon and lime dressing.

Raw Peach Crumble

My grandma made the best peach cobbler ever!! I remember her taking it out of the oven and setting it out on the back patio to cool. I couldn't wait to dig in! Needless to say, peach cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. However, in my study of nutrition, I have come to firmly believe that fruit is best eaten raw. So I wanted to come up with a raw version of this most delicious dessert. And this is it! Fresh, in season peaches, dates to sweeten just a bit, and a oat, nut crumble on top. I set this out in the sun for an hour or so and it's warm and juicy! Almost as good as grandmas! This is one of those desserts that is so healthy, you can eat it for breakfast!

And there you have it! Health for Life cooking in September. Class dates are Tuesday September 6 and Wednesday September 14. Additonal class may be added on request.

*Burger and cobbler will be demonstrated at my Bosch Kitchen Center class on Thursday September 8th. See "At The Bosch" page for details.

Health for Life cooking in August

The heat is in full force so we are going to keep it cool for August with a cool summer salad, oven baked chips and bean dip and then we'll cool it way down with some delicious non-dairy ice cream.

Mexicali Rice and Black Bean Salad

A cool, spicy Mexican style salad with black beans, corn, brown rice, vine ripe tomatoes, peppers, onion, avocoado and seasonings.

Best of the Boarder Bean Dip w/ Tofu Sour Cream
A blend of 3 kinds of beans, onions, chilis, and tomatoes, layered with Tofu Sour Cream (will be demonstrated) and freshly made Simple Guacamole, topped with vine ripe tomatoes and olives. This will be served with Home Baked Seasoned Corn Chips. I've served this at many "SAD" family function and is always very well received.

Maple Pecan Ice Cream
Most kids LOVE ice cream! Unfortunately, traditional ice cream is loaded with saturated fat, cholesterol, processed sugars, oils, and often artificial colors and flavors. It's not a very good choice for growing kids.
This Maple Pecan Ice Cream is a nut based ice cream sweetened mostly with dates, which is the healthiest sweetener to use. It has pecans for their unique flavor and a touch of maple syrup to give it that special touch. Nothing artificial here! This is so far my kids and grandkids favorite home made, nut based ice cream.

And there you have it! Health for Life cooking in August. Class dates are Wednesday August 3rd and Tuesday August 9th. I hope to see you in class. *

April

Contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com

*I will be demonstrating the Mexicali Rice and Black Bean Salad at my Bosch class on Thursday August 11, along with No-Key Lime Pie.