More Zucchini

Zucchini Tomato Soup

I found this a couple years ago, and we have really liked it. I made some modifications from the original recipe to our liking. Feel free to do the same.

Ingredients

• 1 pound zucchini, sliced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth (or stock)
  
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (more, to taste)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• Noodles of your choice (We like medium-sized curly noodles. Wheat, rice, or quinoa noodles are options as well)
  

Directions

1. In a large colander, sprinkle salt over zucchini slices. Let stand 30 minutes to drain then pat dry.
2. In a stockpot, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat. Sautee zucchini onion and garlic in the hot oil for about 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Stir in the chicken broth and tomato; simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the broth using a slotted spoon and puree them in a blender or food processor.
3. While you're doing that, boil up your noodles (if you want them), drain and set aside.
   
4. Return the pureed vegetables to the stockpot and stir in the lemon juice, sugar, oregano, basil, parsley and nutmeg. Season with Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add in noodles, and enjoy!
   

Soaking vs. Sprouting

Thanks, Nicole, for your question. This is such a fabulous topic. You asked it just at the right time, because Kimi from The Nourishing Gourmet is doing an in-depth look into soaking grains all this week. I highly recommend her website. It's so great.

Click here to visit her site or just go there from the sidebar.

The very quick answer to Nicole's question about the difference between soaking and sprouting grains is this (as I understand it, and I'm not an expert): soaking can also be called fermenting. Sprouting means you actually get little sprouts going. They can be very little, and often people use the terms interchangeably. It can be rather confusing. But the point is that the foods are being made to be more nutritious and easier to digest.

Pre-industrialized peoples treated their grains this way before eating them, and when white flour came into play we lost a bunch of good knowledge as well as the bulk of the nutrition (and no, enriching and fortifying flours does not make them nutritionally equal to whole grains, to say the least).

Soaked grains are soaked in some sort of acidic solution, like kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice, or vinegar. This releases the phytic acid present in the grains and changes the composition of the sugar molecules so that your body can implement the nutrition better and without digestive woes.

Nuts can also be soaked and the enzyme inhibitors present in them can be released to create a more digestively-kind end product. Here is a post on that. In it, I again reference Kimi (who is referencing Sally Fallon).

In sprouting grains, one must first soak the grain, sprout it, re-dry it, and grind it into flour.

You can also soak/sprout beans for a better end result. Sally Fallon is really the guru on all of this, so if you want to check out her book Nourishing Traditions, do so. If not, go to Kimi's website and do a search. She has probably covered it.

Kara has a lot of great soaked and sprouted recipes and instructions on how to do so. Check her out.
Here are some great recipes to try that implement soaking and/or sprouting: Here. Here. Here.

As I go along, I'll try to do more on this and include some more recipes. But for now, I've got a very busy one-year-old who requires my attention.
Enjoy experimenting and see what changes you notice.

Zucchini

Is anyone else loaded down with zucchini? We have been having zucchini everything lately. I thought I'd share some ideas for those of you who may be feeling as blessed as we are. :) The recipes for today both had their beginnings at allrecipes.com. I often get recipe ideas from there. You can type in the ingredients you have on hand and it will bring up recipes you can make. Very nice.

I have tried two recipes so far for zucchini cakes or patties, which we had previously not tried, but really liked. These were the ones that turned out the best. The recipe could be modified more than I have here to make it healthier, but it's pretty good, especially if you use whole, natural ingredients.

Zucchini Patties

Ingredients

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, eggs, onion, flour, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and salt. Stir well enough to distribute ingredients evenly.
2. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden.

Serve with some of your favorite tomato-based sauce or with a bit of sour cream. My husband thought they'd be great to put on some biscuits for a breakfast sandwich with a slice of tomato. Be creative.


This next one is more than easy. It's SO easy. It's simple, but my guy thought they tasted like fajitas. That's not bad for an all-veggie meal.

Zucchini and Squash Burritos

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 small summer squash, sliced (or a mixture of squash and zucchini or just zucchini)
  
• salt to taste
• 4 (7 inch) whole wheat tortillas (or whatever you prefer)
  
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir the onion in the hot oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the squash in three batches, making sure the first has softened slightly before adding the next. Season with salt.
2. Heat the tortillas in the microwave until warm, about 10 seconds. Spoon the squash mixture into the center of the tortillas; top with the Cheddar cheese and tomato. Roll into a burrito to serve.

More to come.

Food for Thought

Eat Clean
By Leanne Ely, C.N.C.

Dear Friends,

Now more than ever, nutritional nightmares abound on grocery store shelves. Products that are manipulated to hook us into food addictions take us hostage daily. You cannot be passive when it comes to buying your food and throw just any old thing in your cart. If you will implement a few simple rules, you will no longer be victimized by the food industry again: read the food labels of each and every product you buy.

If you see anything with an additive you can't pronounce or
don't know what it is, don't buy it. Watch too, for food dyes.
Did you know that Red No.3 (a dye allowed in foods) is also used as a pesticide for spraying on manure piles to kill maggots? (Source: EPA) Yellow No. 5 I know you've seen before in different foods and drinks. Allergists have reported all kinds of serious physical effects in some of their patients, including hives, asthma and behavioral problems. (Source: Lancet, Journal of Pediatrics). Think about it: why would you want your child drinking an electrolyte replacement drink that looks like toilet cleaner? Do you REALLY want that kind of dangerous junk in your food? These additives, fake colorings and flavorings are the food industry's weapons of mass destruction-true chemical warfare. We need to take a stand for Real Food and say NO to this kind of "food" because it is not food at all!

Keep it simple: eat easily identifiable real food. Skip the icky mixes that you constitute with water, partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils, and all that garbage. You know what food looks like. You'll find it in the produce section, the meat counter, and some fairly inexpensive dried beans, whole grains and breads on your grocer's shelves. Read the labels, strap on a whole new mindset of awareness and get rid of the junk. The results will astound you. You will see your children's behavior improve, your own moods even out and your grocery bill decrease- junk food is expensive.

We need to be reminded that we are feeding souls here-not filling holes. Your children's tummies can't be filled like a hole in the plaster. They need honest nutrition that will help them grow, learn and become all that God intends them to be. They can't do that on junk. Think about your car. You'd NEVER intentionally put less than decent fuel in it or you might damage the engine. Why would you do that to yourself or your family? You can always replace your car, but those faces across the dinner table are irreplaceable.

Real Food Rookie?

If you're a rookie at all of this "real food" stuff and you're interested in some classes, here's an option. There are also other classes from other real food bloggers, and there is a link to one set of classes on the side bar. Kitchen Stewardship also has good classes on things like sourdoughs and such.



Eat real food=feel real good.

Lunch for Kim

My friend asked me the other day to do a post on healthy lunches ( i.e. what healthful foods I feed my little guy), so here I go.

#1 lunch option: Leftovers. I know, I use my leftovers to feed my hubby lunch the next day too, but if you make a bunch for dinner while you're already cooking, it can feed the whole fam twice with one meal prep. Nice.

#2: When leftovers aren't an option, I like to have some cooked grains all ready in my fridge most of the time. When you have a whole grain or two already done, all you need to do is add some fresh or frozen veggies, a little butter, salt and pepper (or go all out and add some cheese!), heat, and serve. That's one of my favorite options. Yes, I got the idea to have cooked grains on hand from Kara. Love that lady. Check out this post.

Today, actually, I didn't have anything else ready, so I pulled out some broccoli, boiled it a bit, added some already-cooked quinoa, butter, s&p, and it was great. Plus, you can eat a bunch of broccoli and not feel bad about it one bit. Yum.

#3: Fresh seasonal fruit is, of course, a fabulous snack and starter for lunch. Fresh, raw veggies and fruits can make up most of a lunch. Try the muffin tin method, which is this:

1.Get muffin tin.
2.Put some dips in some of the holes, such as a yogurt dip, hummus, guacamole, real peanut butter, ranch, etc.
3.Put fruits and veggies in the remaining holes, and dip away.

This picture is thanks to my bff, Shayla. I hope she doesn't mind. :)

Here's a video on teaching kids to eat right, and she does the muffin tin thing at the end. She also gives ideas for great, healthful dips.

They say it's for kids, but who doesn't like some finger foods now and then?

#4: I have no problem with real food pb&j's now and again. If you don't want to or can't currently make your own bread, get some actual whole wheat bread (read the ingredients list. If there are names you don't recognize, try another loaf.), some whole fruit jam and some real nut butter of your choice--or peanut butter and honey, yum! Pair that with some carrots, celery, whatever your kids like, and take it to the park for a picnic!

#5: How about keeping some other sandwich makings in the fridge? Egg salad, tuna, or, for a treat, grilled cheese sandwiches are great, and you can add some veggies and even grains in to some of those.
For ideas with tuna, see this post.
For grilled cheese, you can add in pureed yams or squash in there with some shredded cheese, and it's fabulous.

#6: Some kids will eat salads, you know. Give it a try. Make sure to have some cool textures (like some nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and veggies chopped in different ways) and a good dressing. If they don't eat it, have a treat for yourself, Mom.

With all meals, try to incorporate a lot of variety and color. Color is a good indicator of nutrients (if it's God-made food, that is) and antioxidants. Stuck in an apple rut? Try some blueberries or something.

Here are some fun finger foods and dips that kids love:
Sweet Potato Fries
Incredible Edible Veggie Bowls
Hummus (I hope to have my friend post her recipe for hummus as well, because it is fabulous.)
Ranch Dressing


Anybody have some other ideas? Please share, as always.

A New Book Recommendation

This book is an easy read with some good ideas and a bunch of recipes. I think it's a great starter book, and it's easy to carry around in your purse and pull out when you have a minute to read some. You can read a quick bit and put it down easily, and then pick right back up again.

Clever title, eh?

Real Food Has Curves, a new book written by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, offers a 7-step plan for weaning yourself off processed foods:

1. Seek true satisfaction. Enjoy genuine flavors, rather than fat, sugar, and salt added to mask the metallic taste of chemical additives.
2. Read labels wisely. You can find food with "real" ingredients in the supermarket if you read labels carefully.
3. Relish what's on your plate. Devote time solely to enjoying the pleasures of eating.
4. Wean yourself off excess salt, fat, and sugar. You can also cook with smaller amounts of these ingredients by using natural substitutes like strong spices.
5. Give your palate time to change. You'll gradually lose your taste for excessively sweet and salty foods.
6. Go for high-quality foods. Look for products that contain the least amount of processed ingredients.
7. Treat yourself well by not skipping meals. Try eating three meals a day at fairly regular times, plus a mid-afternoon snack.

Again, not a perfect source, but a great step up for the average eater, and great recipe ideas for beginners and established real-fooders.
Go grab a copy at your local library, and eat up.