Healthful Joes

These are also known as Sloppy Lentils. Lentils are a great, inexpensive way to add fiber to your diet. And Healthful Joes are a yummy way!!!

3 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed
1 cup chopped onion
3 tb olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz can organic diced tomatoes
6 oz can organic tomato paste
1 Tb chili powder
2 Tb Braggs
3 Tb maple syrup or natural sweetener of choice
1-2 Tb yellow mustard (wet mustard)
1 tsp real salt

Put lentils is a sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While the lentils are simmering cook onions with olive oil in a large skillet until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and minced garlic, cook for about five minutes. Add in the rest of your ingredients, including the lentils, and simmer 5 - 10 minutes.

Serve on whole grain, or sprouted buns.

Add some watermelon and sweet potato fries for a nice summer dinner. Enjoy!

Roasted Potato Salad

6-8 medium Red Potatoes, sliced and chopped to bite size
1 medium Onion, diced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Favorite spices for roasting
Real Salt
1/2 cup Cucumber, finely chopped
2 Tb Green Onion, sliced (about one stalk)
1 Garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup Vegenaise

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl. Spread potato mixture onto a jelly roll like pan (this is when I like to salt the potatoes again), and roast at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. When done and lightly browned on edges remove from oven and cool. Place potato mixture in a bowl and finish the cooling process in the refridgerator.

When completely cooled, add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Serve or chill until ready to serve.

Why flax and what exactly is it anyway?

Here at Simply Healthful we like to add flax to lots of our recipes, but why? What is the purpose and is it worth the extra effort? We think so! So to help you understand what flax is all about I have put together a little Flax 101 article. So here we go.

First off lets start with what is Flax?

Flax comes from a blue flowered plant. This plant provides us with a tiny seed that has been used nutritional for thousands of years. Flax comes in two variates, brown and golden, nutritionally they are equal. To fully extract the flax seeds nutrients it needs to be ground, sprouted or pressed into oil. Once one of these techniques have been done your flax needs to be stored in the refrigerator. Flax has many, many benefits but one down fall is that it can go rancid quickly. Refrigerating it will prolong it's life and nutrients.

Why is Flax known as a true health super food?

Flax is know as a super food because that tiny little seed is packed full of nutrition. Here are some of the rich nutrients in the flax seed...

Omega-3 - Omega-3's are a very important part of a health diet. Flax is nature's richest plant when in comes to Omega-3 fatty acids. This makes Flax a wonderful brain food.

Protein - The Flax seed contains a high quality of protein. Two Tbls of ground flax gives you 3 grams of protein.

Fiber - Flax is a great source of fiber. Two Tbls of ground flax gives you 4 grams of fiber.

Lignans - Lignans are plant estrogen's with powerful antioxidant properties which has been known to fight cancer. Flax contains 100 times more Lignans than most plant foods.

Vitamins and Minerals - Flax seeds contain vitamins B-1, B-2, C, E, and carotene. These seeds also contain iron, zinc, and trace amounts of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium.

What are some health-promoting properties of flax?

To answer this question I turned to Dr. Sears. This is what he has to say about the health-promoting properties of flax...

"Flax oil, flax seeds, and the omega-3 fatty acids they contain are good for your health. Here are some of the ways flax helps your body.

1. Flax promotes cardiovascular health. The ultra-high levels of omega-3 fatty acids lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Fish oils and algae are also good sources of essential fatty acids.

2. Flax promotes colon health. It has anti-cancer properties and, as a natural lubricant and a rich fiber source, it lowers the risk of constipation.

3. Flax supplements can boost immunity. One study showed that school children supplemented with less than a teaspoon of flax oil a day had fewer and less severe respiratory infections than children not supplemented with flax oil.

4. Flax provides fats that are precursors for brain building. This is especially important at the stage of life when a child's brain grows the fastest, in utero and during infancy. A prudent mom should consider supplementing her diet with a daily tablespoon of flax oil during her pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

5. Flax promotes healthy skin. I have used flax oil as a dietary supplement in my patients who seem to have dry skin or eczema, or whose skin is particularly sun-sensitive.

6. Flax may lessen the severity of diabetes by stabilizing blood-sugar levels.

7. Flax fat can be slimming. Fats high in essential fatty acids, such as flax, increase the body's metabolic rate, helping to burn the excess, unhealthy fats in the body. Eating the right kind of fat gives you a better fighting chance of your body storing the right amount of fats. "

So now that you have learned what flax is and why it is so good for you and your family lets discuss ways to use it and how you can add it to your family's diet.

One of the easiest whys to use flax is to ground the seeds into a mill using a coffee grinder or buying it already as a flax mill. Remember to store your flax in the refrigerate or freezer. I store mine in the freezer, which ever way is great. Your ground flax can be used so many ways.

You can add 2-4 Tbls to your morning cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, pancake batter or smoothies. It can be added to salads or pasta, cookies or baked goods. You can add it to your kiddos juice or even sprinkle it onto their ice cream. The possibilities are endless really.

Another great way to use ground flax is as an egg, butter or oil replacement.

1 egg = 1 tbsp Flax plus 3 tbsp water. Mix in a small bowl and let it sit for a couple minutes then add it to your recipe.

1 tbsp butter or oil = 3 tbsp Flax

Another way to add Flax to your diet is to buy Flax seed oil. When picking out your oil make sure to purchase flax oil stored in a dark container. Store your flax oil in the refrigerator also. Flax oil is not meant to be cooked with. Doing so can turn your healthy oil in to a harmful one.

Flax oil can be added to salad dressings, sprinkled on foods or you can just simply take a tbls a day on a spoon.

One more way it to sprout it. When sprouted, flax has a slightly spicy taste to it. It would be wonderful added to a salad or sandwich. To learn how to sprout flax go here.

Add don't forget to try one of our recipes containing flax...

Breakfast Flax Muffins
Almond Butter Balls
Nut Cereal
Carrot Cake Bliss
Simple Berry Salad

These are just a handful of recipes we have containing flax. Feel free to search our recipes to find some more.

Well I hope this was helpful to you in learning more about flax and why it should be a part of our daily diet. We would also love to hear what you know about flax. So let us know!

Nourishing the Body

With recent concerns of illness, I felt it would be appropriate to discuss ways to nourish and build the body. Often times we hear of "fighting" a cold or flu, which seems to imply opposition and struggle. Rather, I find it helpful to think of nourishing and building our bodies; feeding ourselves the proper nutrients to strengthen our body's ability to heal itself.

Of course a healthy diet is important, as well as proper rest. Many times we can incorporate simple things into our diets that are nourishing and help our body's to build and strengthen. Here are a few of my favorite nourishing herbs we use regularly.

Garlic
According to The Little Herb Encyclopedia, by Jack Ritchason
"when the plagues ravaged europe, the populace ate garlic daily as a protection against the disease. Garlic is known as a natural anti-biotic, without the deleterious effects of the drugs that kill all life within the body...Because it is a natural anti-biotic, it helps to control fevers and combat viruses...Garlic is one of the many Super foods that some consider to be one of the most potent healing herbs in the world."

If you want to test the potentcy of garlic, try rubbing a clove on the bottoms of your feet. Within minutes you will notice garlic breath! That is how quickly it travels through the body.

How to use Garlic
There are countless ways to incorporate garlic in the diet. Here are few of my favorites in addition to cooking with it regularly.

1) Garlic Lemonade
To make, simply slice 4-5 cloves of garlic (do not press as I find it to be too overpowering). Then simply place in a quart jar and cover 3/4 of the way with boiling water. Place the lid on and let sit at least a half an hour or so. Then add enough lemon and honey to taste. I usually add the juice of 2 lemons or so, and enough honey to sweeten. This drink is pleasant and nourishing and my children actually love it! I offer them 1-2 cups a day when I am working on helping them nourish and build.

2)Garlic Shooters
This recipe comes from The International Garlic Festival, by Caryl Simpson

Freshly squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into a cup. Add 1-2 T of water and then add a fresh, crushed or pressed garlic clove. Immediately swirl the cup to achieve a circling motion and drink in one gulp.
The 'shooter' experience is reportedly followed by an immediate feeling of rejuventaion called the 'shooter rush'.

Note: Once the garlic is added you will want to drink this quickly as the garlic tends to "heat" quickly once in contact with the liquid. It is surprisingly pleasant to drink and even my 4 year old enjoys them. The quicker you drink them the easier they are to get down and the less likely you are to even taste the garlic.

Rose Hips
What are they and what is their history?
Rose hips are the small berry-sized, reddish seed balls, that are left on the tips of the stems of roses. They are amazing sources of vitamin C. During WWII, there was a shortage of citrus fruit in England due to a German submarine blockade to the British Isles. The government organized the country to harvest all the Rose Hips to be made into a Vitamin C Syrup for the people to prevent scurvey.
"It seems that one of the richest sources of Vitamin C today is Rose Hips. It reportedly has 60 times more Vitamin C than citrus fruit... Large quantities of Vitamin C can be most useful for a great many of the comon diseases we have today to include the common cold, flu, pneumonia and many other common complaints. Another good use of Vitamin C can be as a cleansing, so as to avoid a disease problem before it happens by using it on a daily basis." The Little Herb Encyclopedia

How to use Rose Hips
Rosemary Gladstar's Rose Hips Jam
Dried seedless rose hips make a delicious and easy to prepare jam. Simply cover them with fresh apple juice and let them soak overnight. The next day the jam is ready to eat. Cinnamon and other spices can be added for more flavor if desired. I also like to add a small amount of honey to sweeten it slightly, although that is optional as well. Serve a tsp or so on morning toast or any other way you like!

I purchase my dried Rose Hips Here, although many health food stores may have them as well. They can even be harvested from your own rose bushes, but take care to never harvest from a bush that has been sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.

There are many, many other nourishing herbs that could easily be added to this list. These are just a couple of family friendly suggestions that my family uses on a regular basis. They are simple and easy and pretty easy to keep on hand. Louis Pasteur was quoted on his deathbed as saing, "it's not the microbes, it's the environment." Remember that if we keep the environment of our body healthy, nourished and strong, then it will be its own best defense against any microbe that comes it's way. Try adding some of these nourishing herbs to your family's diet!

The Feel Good Cookbook Winner is...

number 11 - Jena Demarco

who said...

I totally have been looking for a cookbook like this. I hope I'm the lucky winner this time!

Well you sure were the lucky winner this time, congratulations Jena!

Your new cookbook will be on it's way soon.

And thanks again to Jonell for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway!