celery

Victoria Day BBQ Recipes

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Victoria Day BBQ Recipes

It’s that time of year! Summer Barbecue season is here and it’s time to fire up the grill!! But with so many choices of what to cook, it’s easy to get stuck in a hot dogs and hamburgers rut that don’t offer many nutrients.

Here are some taste-bud blowing recipes that will make your mouth water, but are also packed with nutrients to fuel your body for summer fun!

Zucchini halves stuffed with minced meat and vegetable

Zucchini Boats

Find the largest zucchinis that you can. Slice longways down the middle and scoop out the largest seeds.

Cook hamburger meat in skillet.

Cook onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms in another skillet and add 2 handfuls of spinach when it’s almost done cooking. Add hamburger meat to skillet once it is cooked and mix together.

Fill zucchini boats with mixture and barbecue until the zucchinis are softened. Top with your favourite herbs and spices.

Chicken Kabobs

Chicken Kabobs

Slice free range, organic (if possible) chicken breast into chunks fit for a kabob skewer. Keep them fairly small so they don’t take a lot longer to cook than the vegetables also on the grill. Slide the chunks onto the skewer and sprinkle with pepper.

To other skewers, add a mixture of fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, chunks of pepper, celery, zucchini, onion and pineapple. Add a very light brushing of extra virgin olive oil before they go on the grill to help them get a bit crispy.

(I like to keep the meat and veggie skewers separate due to raw meat juice contamination, and they tend to cook at different speeds).

Grill and Enjoy!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Grilled Corn on the Cob

There are two ways to do this, so experiment and see what you like best…

#1 – Grill with the husk on – just throw it on the barbecue and turn it often. The result is more of a steamed corn and just a little grilled-ness. Should be cooked in 10-15 minutes, or when you feel that a knife easily pierces the kernels.

#2 – Husk the Corn and then grill it. This creates a much more grilled effect, where the kernels become darkened and absorb more of the grilled flavour. Turn them often, and they are cooked in about 10 minutes.

You can drizzle with a little bit of garlic butter and salt for added flavour. Or lime and hot sauce. Or your favourite topping!

Refreshing LemonadeRefreshing Lemonade

Grab your high speed blender and fill with 1 L of water.

Cut the rind off of a lemon, leaving the white pith. Put the whole lemon into the blender and blend until smooth.

Strain the lemon-water mixture with tiny mesh strainer into a pitcher. This will catch the small pieces of seeds, etc that didn’t break down in the blender.

You don’t need to add anything to sweeten it, it is not sour, just pure flavour! Serve over ice and enjoy! 

Don’t Pull Out That Weed! All About The Cancer Fighting Medicine That’s Growing in Your Yard

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Dandelions fight cancer

There is an old shaman’s tale that when you are in the Amazon jungle, and you are bitten by a bug, or a snake or some other equally scary incident, the antidote is always within arm’s reach.

Nature provides the healing remedy at the very location you need it most.

This may be a fair ideal when you are in such a densely populated area of herbs, plants and insects as the Amazon jungle, but what if the principle can be applied elsewhere?

What if you looked out into your backyard and realized that the very dandelions that you spend so much time trying to rid from your yard actually provide immense healing properties!

If this is true, maybe Mother Nature is onto something – she provides abundant sources of healing if only we know what to look for.

The Truth About Cancer website is an authority on all things cancer-related, most especially known for natural healing remedies and prevention principles.

They are reporting that dandelions are actually a potent cancer fighting medicine that is loaded with vitamins and minerals.

There are reports of people pulling out the dandelions, drying the roots and grinding it into an edible powder that boosts the immune system to help fight off cancer.

Currently, clinical trials are underway to study how dandelion root extract can help to treat blood-related cancers including lymphoma and leukemia.

Additionally, researchers from Windsor Regional Cancer Centre in Ontario are also in the midst of a study on dandelion root extract on a group of 30 patients with end-stage blood related cancers. So their findings will be very interesting to learn about.

How Can You Incorporate More Dandelions Into Your Diet?

For starters, you can pick dandelion leaves from your yard and add them to salads or juice them with other greens. Be sure you are picking leaves that have not been sprayed with pesticides or that you dogs may have been near. Or you can purchase dandelion greens at your local grocery store!

You can also make dandelion tea by pouring hot water over the greens and flowers and steeping for 10 minutes. And you can incorporate dandelion greens and flowers into your regular salads.

My favourite way to use dandelion greens? Juicing!!

I found huge dandelion greens at the grocery store this week (literally 18 inches tall) and added them to our weekly green juice regimen.

Dandelion Green Juice: (use as many organic options as you can)

2 English Cucumbers
4 zucchini
1 head celery
1 large bunch Bok Choy
1 large bunch Dandelion Greens
3 lemons (Just peel and put the whole lemon with pith through the juicer!)
3 Granny Smith Apples (sliced in half and cored)

Enjoy!

With Sources From:

https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/cancer-fighting-medicine-in-your-yard/

How To Read Labels Like a Pro and Cut Grocery Shopping Time In Half

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How To Read Labels Like a Pro and Cut Grocery Shopping Time In Half

Are you confident in your ability to read food labels?

Maybe you haven’t really taken the time to ever read a label properly before, or you are so overwhelmed by the information presented on the label that you just don’t bother.

It is time to get on the label reading train so you can be properly educated on what you are feeding your family and you can get in and out of the grocery store in half the time. No more staring at a label for 5 minutes trying to decipher if you should put it in your cart or not.

First off, it is critical to note that you won’t find a label on anything in the produce section of the grocery store – and this is where the majority of your food should be found!

The reason for that is that those foods haven’t been processed. The focus of your grocery shopping trip should be concentrated to the produce department, filling your cart full of wonderfully nutrient rich fruits and vegetables. It is important to be mindful on what produce should be purchased organically if funds and availability allow for it.

Leafy greens, strawberries, grapes, celery, and apples are some of the most highly sprayed crops and therefore should be purchased organically if possible.

As you move into the packaged food section of the grocery store, you will want to focus on the following tips to ensure you are reading labels properly.

1. Check the serving size first, and consider what a realistic serving size is for your family. In the case of most packaged products, the serving size is an unrealistic estimate of what a typical person would eat and therefore causes the caloric values, fat and sugar content to appear more acceptable.

2. Most people only focus on the top half of the label where you will find the caloric content and nutritional breakdown. While this information is important to know, the list of ingredients will be more helpful in determining just what additives might be present. Remember that the ingredients are listed in descending order based on their volume, so if a harmful item is listed as one of the first five ingredients then you may want to reconsider what you are buying.

3. Choose products with the fewest number of ingredients. But, also make sure that you know and feel comfortable eating what all the ingredients are.

4. Purchase frozen vegetables and fruit instead of canned to eliminate exposure to preservatives that are used in the canning process.

5. Beware of endorsements on products and clever marketing campaigns that make any special product claims. Just because a label claims it is sugar-free, diet, all natural or trans fat free doesn’t mean that it is healthy. 

6. Finally, avoid ingredients like monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial sweeteners (Splenda or aspartame), sodium nitrate, food dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, refined grains, and any other items on the label that are almost impossible to pronounce.

By following these tips, a trip to the grocery store should be a lot less confusing and time consuming. Remember that life isn’t perfect, and neither will your grocery shopping experience be. 

Select products that are as close to natural as you can and always keep your eyes open for higher quality alternatives.

Stop Throwing Away Juice Pulp! Do This Instead

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Stop Throwing Away Juice Pulp! Do This Instead

If you are anything like me when it comes to making homemade juices, it absolutely kills me to fill up my green bin and throw away the pulp leftover from juicing. It feels like I’m throwing away vegetables or fruit that still have nutritional potential, not to mention hard earned money.

The reason we want to take the pulp out of the vegetables when we are juicing is to give the digestive system a break from having to do any work, while the nutrients in the juice are absorbed directly into the bloodstream and go to work feeding our cells.

But the pulp is by no means devoid of nutritional value simply by removing the liquid from it. It has a ton of fibre and other nutrients that are not extracted during the juicing process. Use the following ideas in your own kitchen to get the full benefit of your fruits and vegetables.

Top 7 Ways to Use Juice Pulp and the Best Fruits/Vegetables to Use for Each

  1. Freeze It – Pulp can be stored in freezer bags or glass containers in the fridge or freezer for use later in any of the below ideas. If you don’t have plans of using the pulp within 48 hours then it is best to freeze it immediately.
  2. Crackers – The best pulps to use for crackers are the naturally drier pulps like celery, zucchini, carrot, and sweet potato. Crackers can be made in a dehydrator or in a low temperature oven.  Simply mix the pulp with ground flax seeds and spices and dehydrate until crackers are crunchy and dry.
  3. Soups/Stews – Pulp is great to add to soups and stews as a thickening agent and to give your meal extra fibre. The best options are carrots, celery, parsley, kale or spinach, zucchini, and sweet potatoes.
  4. Homemade burgers/veggie burgers/falafels – This might be my favourite option, because the pulp can be so easily hidden in these patties. It also adds a binding factor to keep the burgers intact as they are cooked. Try using carrot, zucchini, and celery pulp.
  5. Add to muffins – Zucchini or carrot pulp can easily be added to traditional zucchini muffins or carrot cake recipes. For healthier baking look for recipes that are lower in refined sugar, flour and lower in saturated fats.
  6. Smoothies for extra fibre – Fruit or vegetable pulp can easily be hidden in your favourite smoothie recipe. My favourites are zucchini, pineapple, apple and cucumber pulp due to their mild flavours and textures.
  7. Homemade vegetable broth – Just like you would use leftover carrots or celery and onion to make a homemade vegetable broth, do the same with leftover juice pulp. Add a variety of herbs and spices to add an extra kick of flavour to your broth and simmer on low heat. Once cool, strain broth for use. Extra broth can be frozen for use later.

So, before you throw your next batch of juice pulp in the green bin or compost pile, consider the above options to get the full benefit of your produce.