A Healthier You, One Step at a Time

Category: Recipes

  • How to cook your own chickpeas!

    How to cook your own chickpeas!: IMG 8776
    Soaking overnight

    Have been wanting to cook chickpeas instead of using canned for some time,  They taste fresher and it saves you $$  Finally I decided to soak overnight, started with 1 c chickpeas:3 c water, no salt

    This forced me to cook them in my instapot the next day, it was so easy.  I don’t know why I procrastinated.  I rinsed them, put them in the instapot with the same water ratio and pressure cooked for 20 minutes.

     

     

    How to cook your own chickpeas!: IMG 8781
    Cooke in Instapot for 20 minutes

    Don’t they look great!  And they smelled so yummy, I snacked on some right there!   I thought that I had cooked way too much but didn’t realize that I would use them up so quickly!

    Have wanted to make roasted chickpeas as a healthy snack for some time.  Found the perfect recipe:  2 cups chickpeas, 2 T vinegar, 1 T olive oil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, supposed to have 1 pinch salt, I made mine unsalted.  Placed in a pre-heated 400 F degree oven on a cookie sheet, no greasing.  The recipe suggests baking for 1 hr, tossing them every 10 min.  I was far too impatient for this and tossed them every 15 min but by 30 min, they looked roasted and I took them out.

     

    How to cook your own chickpeas!: IMG 8784
    Roasted Chickpeas

    They tasted great, but some of them were not crisp and slightly soft so I put them in the oven for longer, next time I would check them more often and take the browned chickpeas out as they cook unevenly in my oven.. Was very pleased with the flavour and  will do this again.

    I was on a roll  and proceeded to make a chicken chili  adding 2 cups chickpeas, fortunately that was exactly the amount I had left over..  So I was able to cook an entree with the remaining chickpeas depriving myself of the opportunity to refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze in 2 cup portions.

     

    How to cook your own chickpeas!: IMG 8787
    Chicken Chili with chickpeas

    I won’t tell you the recipe because it became a truly signature dish using my favourite allium vegetables.  Perhaps it was a bit spicy; for my partner but just perfect for me.  Here’s a photo of that meal!

    So don’t hesitate, save yourself some $$ and cook your own chickpeas!

     

  • Flavour your food!

    https://www.leighmerotto.com/blog/healthy-ways-to-flavour-meals-at-home

    Doesn’t this look yummy, this is a great Dietitian site with five creative ways how to flavour your meals at home and deal with Covid19!! Useful for any time, actually.  Enjoy.Flavour your food!: Flavour our meals at home

  • Red Cabbage Coleslaw

    Make your own salads!

    2 c shredded red cabbage, 1 grated carrot, 1 grated apple, 1/4 c raisins, 1/3 c walnuts, 1/4 c low fat mayo, 1/4 c low fat plain greek yogurt, 1/2 tsp maple syrup, juice of 1/3 orange- mix altogether.

    8 svg, 93 kcal, 2 g protein, 4.5 g fat, 13g carbohydrate, 2 g fibre per servingRed Cabbage Coleslaw: coleslaw1

  • Is coconut healthy? A dietitian non-bias breakdown

    https://www.theloop.ca/is-coconut-really-the-best-oil-to-cook-with

    Is coconut healthy? A dietitian non-bias breakdown: coconut
    Coconut – a non-bias report by a dietitian

    As a dietitian, most of my clients are concerned about their cholesterol and heart disease, and are advised to avoid foods high in saturated fat, as per St. Paul’s healthy heart clinic.  Coconut is very high in saturated fat albeit short chain, the literature has yet to support the benefits of coconut for heart disease. Coconut is very flavourful and can be included in your diet, this video will help guide you as to the best sources.

     

    Nishta Saxena, RD has presented a non-bias view of the merits of coconut.  Click on the link above to watch her videa on the morning show with CTV.

  • Turkey Bone Broth

    What to do with the turkey carcass after Christmas Day?

    A recent webinar “Ancient Medicine meets new research” by Pamela Schoendeld emphasized the importance of collagen in our diets for improving strength, of bones and joint cartilage, gut health, also helps to reduce inflammation and possibly bone breakdown and muscle loss with aging.  Probably one of the best sources is from bone broth, a gummy gelatin, can cook with vegetables, onions and herbs!

    Will try this yummy bone broth that I made in my instapot over 3 hours, I plan to freeze it and incorporate it into my soups, rice or chicken dishes!

    Turkey Bone Broth: 29A4D39D E0D6 4401 88F7 306287007A4C

  • Portion size for desserts

    This Christmas, it was my sister-in-law that reminded me about portion size, particularly with desserts!  Usually we serve our trifle, this year was sugar free, in china (250ml) but she brought out the crystal and custard cups ( 125ml) and it was a perfect portion.  My brother-in-laws blood glucose was under 6mmol/l 2 hrs after!!!

    Portion size for desserts: image 1

     

  • Gluten Free Apple Mincemeat Pie

    Gluten Free Apple Mincemeat Pie: 4F311CC0 86F7 46B8 AF9A F918634F73E6
    Thanksgiving dinner
    My son was coming to visit, he has celiac disease and I wanted to make something special so I found my favourite gluten free pastry recipe, filled the pie with sliced Fuji apples and my own mincemeat made from spartan home grown apples and green tomatoes!
    My daughters boyfriend who is vegetarian rated it 10/10. I was very pleased with the results, maybe not be best choice if you have diabetes but using local ingredients mad me proud.

  • Gluten Free Soups

    On the coast, it’s a great idea to make your own soups from scratch, choose the ingredients that are added, and adjust the salt with a variety of vegetables and herbs.
    I’m looking for a soup that is dehydrated, easy to prepare, high in salt to maintain sodium levels for an athlete who is competing in the upcoming Tougher Mudder, an 8 hour overnight, 50 mile race in Los Angeles
    He wanted a gluten free chicken noodle soup. Haven’t been able to come up with this… but there are a few alternatives, only the chicken bouillon cubes are available dehydrated, so far in my search.
    Not that anyone else on the coast is crazy enough to do this race but see the best choices that I found:
    GoBIO Organic Chicken Bouillon Cubes with 451 mg sodium per cup
    Gluten Free Soups: IMG 1443 e1519065209471
    and Campbells Herb Chicken & Rice with 770mg sodium per cup!
    Gluten Free Soups: IMG 1441 e1519065119136

    Please note I’m attempting to find high sodium (salt) soups!

  • The Japanese Culture and Food may be a recipe for Longevity!

    The Japanese Culture and Food may be a recipe for Longevity!: frank mckenna 150516 1
    My dream

    Japanese culture and diet
    The is a wonderful commentary about the Japanese culture and food guide, have to admire Andy the RD!

  • Sugar Free Gluten Free Trifle

    Sugar Free Gluten Free Trifle

    For those of you that complain about not enjoying your favourite foods because you have diabetes or are celiac, I prove you wrong. My challenge for this christmas was to make a gluten free sponge cake and a sugar free trifle. Yes I cheated a bit and forgot to substitute the sugar with truvia, my favourite stevia based sugar substitite, in the gluten free sponge (the cake actually didn’t look great, fell after baking but this didn’t affect the flavour of the trifle), but was a purist for the rest of the recipe, choosing sugar free raspberry jello, homegrown blackberries, birds eye custard made with truvia and whipping cream with a bit of truvia in it. It was decorated with home grown kiwi fruit, that are ripening fast. Oh, forgot to mention the sherry, yes I added a small amount.
    It really was the best trifle that I’ve ever made, and this our traditional dessert for Christmas. It was not low in calories but we had a large group to fed so portion size made up for this. Just want to make this clear, you can still enjoy some of your favourite foods without too much difficulty and they can still taste delicious! Don’t ask me to post the calories-the yield for this recipe was 12 servings.