Avocado Hummus with Crispy Pita Chips

This is a wonderful new recipe I tried from Giada on the Food Network channel.  My family loves this.  We all love hummus and we really love avocados so this was pretty much a no brainer.  I knew we would love it.

1-15 ounce cannellini beans, drained and rinse
2 medium avacodes, peeled and coarsley chopped
1/2 cup packed arugula
1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
1 clove garlic, the recipe calls for one but I used 3 small cloves, we love garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients except olive oil to a food processor.  Pulse until mixture is coarsley chopped.  Gradually add in olive oil until mixture is creamy.  Taste to see if you need more salt and pepper.

Pita Chips

1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon chili or dried chipotle powder
zest of two limes, optional
2 whole wheat pitas, split in half horizontally
salt and pepper

In small bowl, whisk together olive oil, chili powder and lime zest.  Brush mixture on both sides of bread with pastry brush.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cut each bread half into 8 wedges. Place single layer on baking sheet.  Bake until crispy and golden.  350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.

P.S.  The second time I made this I didn't have any cannellini beans so I used garbanzo beans and they tasted great too.  The pita chips are wonderful but we have eaten this a lot with cut fresh vegetables.

I think you will love this!

Old Fashion Chicken Soup

This is another chicken soup recipe.   It is the chicken soup recipe from the Sears and Roebuck Coffee Shop.  I got this recipe years ago when I worked at Sears while in high school and college.  The recipe I will share with you today is a little different from the original.  Over the years, I have made a few changes and I think, perfected it some.

1 whole chicken, boiled and removed from bone, cut in chunks
1 packed of egg noodles
2 carrots, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced (and I use the leafy part also)
2-3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1-2 chicken bouillon cubes
1-2 cans of chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 pint to 1 1/2 pints half and half

I always wash my chicken really well, inside and out. Put chicken in a large soup pot and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and bouillon cubes cover with lid and cook chicken for about an hour on medium heat.  When chicken is tender, remove from pot and cool.  While the chicken is cooling cut up onion, celery and carrots and saute in butter.  When vegetables are tender sprinkle with flour and stir and cook over low heat until veggies are covered well with flour.  At this time, check chicken broth for season. If it needs more salt of pepper now is the time to add.  Also, if you don't have enough broth add one or both cans of broth.  If you are going to add half and half only add one can of broth.  Now, add your sauted vegetables and stir until this is mixed well.  Add your noodles at this time and let them cook on a low-medium heat until tender then add your chicken.  At this time, if you want half and half add it now. Let the soup warm thoroughly and your ready to eat.

This recipe is really good with just chicken broth or with the half and half.  Sometimes I will use a pint of half and half and sometimes I will add an extra half pint to it.

Good Old Fashion Fruit Salad

I think we all forget about how good fruit salad is, I know I do.  I am always thinking of some decadent dessert I can make instead of a simple nutritious fruit salad. 

My mom always made the best fruit salad and didn't use a lot of fancy fruits.  It was apples, oranges, bananas, pears, red grapes and pecans with a dollop of whipped cream.  My dad always would get the big box of fruit from his employer at Christmas and to use up some of the fruit before it ruined she always made a big fruit salad.  It was so good.

I recently had a dear friend down for lunch and was trying to think of something good for dessert that was half way healthy and I remember the fruit salad.  It was good and I just wanted to remind you to remember fruit salad when you are wanting a good dessert.

This day I used apples, oranges, pears, bananas, kiwi, pineapple and pecans.  I put one tablespoon of sugar over the fruit to get the natural juices going and also squeezed the juice of one orange over the fruit.

Fast and Easy Breakfast

This is about a 20 minute breakfast. I know it's still not as fast as driving thru your local fast food window and picking up breakfast but it really is as good if not better. I use whole wheat English muffins, 3 slices of bacon-crispy, 2 poached eggs, 2 slices of American cheese. Toast the muffins in oven. When they are golden I remove them and sometimes I put a little butter on each side and sometimes I don't. But at this time, I lay a piece of cheese on one side of the muffin. I fry my bacon in the oven on a sheet pan lined with foil. Clean up is fast and easy. Drain bacon on paper towel when finished cooking. Then I put one whole piece cut in half and one half of another piece of bacon on top of the cheese. While this has been taking place, I have an egg poacher and my eggs are finished by this time and I place the egg on the bacon and put the other side of the muffin on top. You're done! You can actually get by with one piece of bacon but Gary likes a little more bacon. He loves these and would eat them every morning if I would make them. They really are very tasty and with a little of my tomato relish.....oh my! Oh, don't forget fresh grapefruit and orange juice compliment it very well.

Shrimp Cocktail

This is one of our favorite dinners. It's light and we love it. Yes, yes I know that shrimp are scavengers and I try not to think of what ocean they came from because of the pollutants. We don't do this very often but it sure is tasty. I used to always boil my shrimp in beer and put in some other seasonings but after I saw Ina Garten cook her shrimp I've never went back to that method. Her method of cooking is the best and the shrimp taste wonderful. It's so easy! Whenever I serve shrimp cocktail, whether at my home or on a catering job I'm always asked, "how did you cook this shrimp, it's wonderful." Here's what you do. Take the shell off of the shrimp and wash it well. Dry with a paper towel and put on a baking sheet. Salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil. Toss with hands and make sure it is lying flat on the baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until it turns pink about 15 minutes. I do make a great cocktail sauce and this recipe is from my husband. Cocktail Sauce 1 bottle of Chili Sauce juice of 1/2 lemon several shakes of Worchestershire sauce 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish (not creamed) Mix together and chill until ready to serve. Our cocktail sauce is pretty spicy and hot. You may want to start with a couple of teaspoons of horseradish, taste and see where you want to go from there. When we have this as a meal, my salad is cucumber, purple onion, purple cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, red or green leaf lettuce. A light dressing, like Italian.

Little Sayings

As you can tell, I love Mary Engelbreit's art. I purchased a daily flip calendar for this year and I am really enjoying the pictures and little sayings. From time to time I'll be sharing them with you and I hope you enjoy them too.

New Laws Regarding Natural Supplements

I am currently readying a book called The Healing Code and in this book it talks about a new law called "CODEX" promoted by the World Health Organization, that will limit concentrations of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential oils to levels that would fall short of the healing effects that we have experienced for years. Anything above these levels will have to be prescribed by a physician and be purchased at a substantially higher price. This is not a future event, the government has ratified this agreement. Then, over the weekend I was reading an article in a health magazine entitled, Keep a Watchful Eye on NDI. NDI stands for New Dietary Ingredient. The FDA submitted NDI guidelines and there was a tremendous public outcry that generated more than 150,000 written protests against the guidelines. There were also complaints from 14 members of Congress. The FDA announces that it would withdraw its proposed guidance on NDI's. However, we're not of the woods yet there is a revision underway and should be revealed at some point this year. The article states, "that their guidelines could be potentially catastrophic to the nutritional supplement industry and the health freedom on consumers everywhere." Anyone who wishes to continue taking nutritional supplements should closely monitor any NDI developments this year. From my post earlier on Dr. Burzynski we should be very wary of the FDA. From this article, we can see that making our voices heard makes a difference. To keep updated on the latest developments visit Nutritional Health Alliance at www.nha2013.com. Senators Orrin Hatch (202-224-6331) and Tom Harkin (202-224-9369)are two senators instrumental in fighting off the FDA. The article suggests calling or sending a fax to thank them for their help.

Displaying Orchids

Our oldest daughter really likes orchids and I recently bought her one. About a week later, I found this presentation in a magazine on the different ways you could display orchids and I loved the ideas.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday!

My Mom's Silver

I mentioned in another post about using my mom's silverware. I polished it all yesterday and found a place in my kitchen for it. It is so pretty, I love it. I am really going to enjoy using it. I posted the pictures because I love the shape of the soup spoons and the teaspoons and also I love how pointy the teaspoons are. The silverware they have today is just not shaped that pretty (just my personal opinion). This is more on the formal side but why not use it instead of letting it set in it's silver chest.

Chicken, Bacon and Cheddar Submarines

 

 

 

 

I made these sandwiches last night for dinner.  We really loved them and this will be something I know my family will love too.  Here's what you do:

 

This recipe will serve 8 people

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder on each breast

salt and pepper to taste

1 red onion cut in 1/2 inch slices

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of coarse ground mustard

individual baguette style French rolls

9 slices of crisp-cooked bacon

8 slices of cheddar cheese

 

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and garlic. You can grill the chicken and onions together in a grill pan but I dip mine in flour and fried the breast on both sides to create a crust and then finished them off in the oven at 400 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes or until tender. When tender remove from oven and cool sligthly then thinly slice. I put a little butter in a cast iron skillet and sauted them until they were tender and a little brown on the edges. Fry the bacon and set it aside.  Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together. Halve the bread loaves and spread the mayo mixture on both sides of the bun then layer first the chicken then bacon then onions and top with cheddar cheese. Press top down firmly and tightly wrap sandwich in foil.  If you like you can chill this up to 24 hours. Bake wrapped sandwiches in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted.  I baked mine at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. You can cut the sandwiches into thirds and stick with a toothpick or just eat them whole.  These would also make great heavy appetizers

Clove Oil

A little historical information that I thought was interesting regarding cloves: The people on the island of Ternate were free from epidemics until the 16th century, when Dutch conquerors destroyed the clove trees that flourished on the islands. Many of the islanders died from the epidemics that followed. Cloves were reputed to be part of the "Four Thieves Vinegar" used by grave robbing bandits to protect themselves during the 15th century plague. I wrote about this in my post on Thieves oil. Healers in China and India have used clove buds since ancient times as part of their treatments. Eugenol, clove's principal constituent, was used in the dental industry for years to numb gums. Medical Properties: Anti-aging, antitumoral, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, analgesic/anesthetic, antioxidant, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, stomach protectant (ulcers), antiparasitic (worms), anticonvulsant. It uses: Cardiovascular disease, arthritis/rheumatism, hepatitis, intestinal parasites/infections, anti-aging, for numbing all types of pain, throat/sinus/lung infections, cataracts, ulcers, lice, toothace, acne. For a tickling cough, put a drop on back of tongue. CAUTION: Anticoagulant properities can be enhanced when combined with Warfarin, aspirin, etc. This can be taken internally, apply topically or diffused. Personal testimony - I haven't had my cholesterol checked in years but a friend was telling me that she had used lemongrass and clove oil to lower her cholesterol levels. I thought well to be on the safe side I will just do this for a month. And I did, put four drops of lemongrass and four drops of clove oil in a capsule (you can buy empty capsules at the health food store) and I would take one capsule in the morning and one before bedtime. This may be too much information for you but I feel like we need to be aware of these things, after about three weeks I started seeing worm casings on tissue paper and worms in my poop. I wasn't aware of the antiparasitic uses of the clove oil. Also, my husband was having some problems with a tooth and he was using the clove oil on his tooth. Dabbing one to two drops a day on his tooth and he experienced the same thing. After taking these two oils for a month, I really had a feeling in my body of just feeling cleansed. That's the best way I can explain it. I know the thought of worms in our bodies is sickening but almost everyone has parasites. For the most part, they go entirely unnoticed until they begin to cause unwellness. After that happened to me, I did some research on parasitic cleanses and essential oils have some of the strongest antiparasitic properties known. That's pretty evident after what happened to me. So next week I'm starting a parasitic cleanse. It will take several months to do it. Because you take oils for seven days and then off for seven days and you do this for 3 weeks and you repeat this cycle seven times. The regimen is : Choose three to four oils that have parasitic properities (there are a good list of oils to choose from). Put 4 drops of each oil in a capsule and take 3 to 6 capsules a day for 7 days. Then rest for 7 days and do this for 3 weeks. Repeat this 3 week cycle seven times. My plan for this year is to do a good cleansing for each organ. I'm starting with the parasitic cleanse. I'm thinking it will probably take most of the year to work through all of the body. After the holidays, I'm ready to get back to eating healthy. I didn't do too bad through the holidays but I sure feel better when I eat fresh food. Sorry, when I posted this it didn't break it up into paragraphs. Don't know what happened.

Farmer's Salad

This is the salad we had for dinner tonight. It was delicious. The salad's basic ingredients are cucumber, red leaf lettuce, spinach, tomatoes,homemade croutons and I added baked chicken strips (cut in chunks) carmalized onion relish (that I canned from the summer) roasted sliced potatoes and homemade ranch dressing. Ok, the first part of the salad is simple and needs no explanation. The homemade croutons I made several weeks ago and put into an air tight container. When our wheat bread is starting to get old, I make garlic butter and put on the top of a bread slice then cut the slice of bread into tiny cubes. Cutting across bread diagionally four times then hortizionally four times.Then bake in the ovenat 450 degrees turning occasionally until the chunks of bread are toasted. Next, the chicken, I baked some chicken strips tonight but grilled chicken would have a better flavor. The roasted potatoes were 3 medium potatoes peeled then sliced about 1/4 in thickness. Put on a greased cookie sheet put salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, then about 1/2 teaspoon of thyme and rosemary. Drizzle with some olive oil and toss. Then bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Turning once. In place of the carmalized onion relish just grill some onions in a pan with a little butter. Grill until they are tender and a little brown. The onion relish gave our salads a wonderful flavor. But grilled onions will do the same. You can use any salad dressing you like. I already had ranch so that is what I used. I didn't add this but a couple of pieces of crispy bacon crumbled over the top would also be yummy.

Get your Vitamin C - The natural way

Got a big box of oranges and grapefruits the middle of December.  They are both wonderful ,very juicy and sweet.  For what it's worth, my best advice is get your vitamin C naturally through oranges and grapefruits.  This is their season and they are so good this time of the year.  Also, go outside and take in the sun for about 15 minutes and get your vitamin D.  I read that Vitamin D soaked in from the sun does good things to your arteries that you do not get from a pill.

I pictured our Bosch and Champion juicer.  These were big investments years ago and still are but they are so worth the expense.  I've never had any problems and they sit on my counter and are used almost every day. The citrus juicer sitting on my Bosch is what I use to juice the oranges and grapefruits.

Welcoming the New Year