If I say I’m eating healthy then the immediate vision some people seem to get is of some poor S.O.B. sitting down and eating the most horrendous food you can imagine. I blame this on doctors and parents. That’s right, you read correctly. How many of us remember having to swallow that teaspoon of cod liver oil or that awful tasting Buckley’s cough syrup and being told it was good for you. As a result some of us tended to associate anything healthy with something that tastes yucky and to be avoided wherever possible. To be fair if it tasted good we’d probably take it at the drop of a hat and become cough syrup addicts or something. All meandering aside, we could clarify to kids that while this might taste bad not everything that is healthy tastes bad.
I did a weekend of healthy eating and not only did I feel better but my taste buds thanked me. I started off with nothing but real fruit juices and water for the weekend. On Saturday one of my meals included a healthy serving of liver. I like using liver to replenish my iron rather than the pills. I go natural as much as possible. My meals included veggies like carrots and broccoli for their vitamin content. On Sunday it was mostly fruit raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple and mango) with a salad (avocado, scallops, broccoli, carrots, red peppers and walnuts with a homemade Dijon balsamic vinaigrette dressing). On Monday I practically bounced into work and people commented on how healthy I looked.
Will’s Chicken Liver with Wild Rice
I can already hear the teasing from this recipe. One of my friends was snickering when I told him the recipe over the phone. I figure if it takes you a laugh to eat right, so be it. There are actually only two ways I really enjoy eating liver (this is not counting moose or caribou liver, but we’re not allowed those these days because livers concentrate toxins absorbed from a polluted environment) and this is one of them. It also answers the age-old question of what to do with the celery tops. I just tossed them in one day with the rest of the stuff and voila! a new taste experience.
1 cup wild rice (washed)
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt pinch of thyme 1/2 bay leaf 6 sprigs parsley chopped
2 sprigs or so celery leaves chopped 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 medium onion 1 pound chicken livers Parmesan cheese
1. Boil water in a pot and then take all ingredients except butter, onion, cheese and livers and toss in and mix.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 50-60 minutes stirring every now and then.
3. In a frying pan, using half of the butter, sauté the onions until they are a light brown and then add the chicken livers.
4. Brown the livers all over and cook for a further five minutes.
5. Toss the contents of the frying pan into the pot of wild rice and mix.
6. Take remaining butter and butter up a casserole dish. Put everything into it and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese
Will’s Carrot Delight
Almost anyone will tell you I can go through a five-pound bag like nothing. What can I say is that they are healthy for you and have an anti-cancer property. The old wives’ tale that they’ll help you see better is only partially true. Carrots will help you see better in the dark. Don’t eat too many though or you can turn a carroty colour. I can attest to the truth of this. Anyhow there’s supposed to be a recipe with this. I discovered this one while trying to spice up another recipe and then going overboard so to speak. I was doing a fish thing and had the half lemon left over and the paprika was one hand and this little baby this was born. It turned out quite nice.
2 or more cups carrots
3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar (I use brown though others have used white)
1. Cut carrots into long strips and toss into a pot of boiling water.
2. When the carrots are tender, drain.
3. Throw rest of the ingredients into a frying pan and when they are mixed add carrots. Sauté them for ten minutes and they’re ready.
Sage and Onion Bannock
This recipe is from the Cooking with the Wolfman show on APTN. The Wolfman is David Wolfman and he is in his third television season. Is he a good cook? Well, in 1992, David captained the first Aboriginal team to compete in the IKAHOGA Culinary Olympics, winning seven gold medals for Canada. His website is: www.cookingwiththewolfman.com and features weekly mouth-watering recipes.
4 cups flour
1 cup vegetable shortening 1 tbsp baking powder 1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups warm water 1 tsp sage
1 tbsp chopped onion
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Carefully mix all ingredients and form into a ball.
3. Dust with flour, form into portions and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
This is a simple and tasty to make-at-home salad dressing and not only is this good on salad, but you can marinate broccoli-slaw in it and comes out tasting better and healthier than mayonnaise slaw.
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash of sugar (yes, you may use fruit sugar)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Combine all ingredients in ajar and shake. Toss on salad or coleslaw or on a cold pasta salad.
Cinnamon Apple Jelly
This is one that all diabetic people can feel safe using. It is from the Canadian Diabetes Association. It is a great place to go to find recipes for people with diabetes.
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 2/3 cups unsweetened apple juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick 1 inch long
1 drop each yellow and red food coloring
Artificial sweetener equivalent to 4 tsp sugar
1. Soften gelatin in 1/4 cup apple juice.
2. Combine remaining apple juice, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and food coloring, if desired, in a saucepan. Boil about 7 minutes to reduce by 1/3.
3. Remove from heat. Stir in sweetener and softened gelatin until it dissolves.
4. Discard cinnamon stick.
5. Pour into a sterilized jar. Cover tightly. Store in refrigerator.
Toucher Uppers
These tips are something you can do to spice up a regular meal.
Chopped walnuts, pecans or roasted almond are a great addition to cream of chicken or celery soup.
Chop up and add raw celery, green peppers or scallops to almost any soup just before serving. It gives it a crispy feel and added taste.
Toss in some sesame seeds or almonds into the next stir fry.
A few health tips
Remember when I talked about vile-tasting medicine and how you can traumatize your child into thinking healthy leaves a bad taste in your mouth? You can put an ice cube on the tongue for a moment. This will paralyze the taste buds temporarily. Follow-up the medicine with toothpaste.
Another ice cube trick is when you want to remove a splinter and the person is being sensitive about it. Put the ice cube on the area, being careful not to push in the splinter, and this will desensitize the area for a few moments. Work fast but carefully with the tweezers.
If you burn yourself, take vanilla and apply it to the burn. It will alleviate the pain. Another way is to make a paste of baking soda and water and put it on the burn. If it is a bad burn see the doctor as soon as possible.
A piece of onion to a bee sting will stop the pain and swelling. Note: this does not apply to people who are allergic to bee stings. Get them to the clinic or hospital.
Your sick child is having problems eating? Try feeding him or her from a muffin tin. A small amount of food (of different types) in each cup will allow them to have an eight course meal and will be easier for them to eat than a large helping of three items.
If someone in the family is sick and can’t sit up easily, they’ll have an easier time drinking from a teapot spout.
Use a Gravol suppository if your kid is having a problem holding food or liquids down.
Canada’s Food Guide recommends five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Enjoy a variety!
