NATURALLY COLOURED EASTER EGGS

Whether you scramble them, beat them or color them, eggs are actually beneficial for you. They've gotten a bad rap in the past for their bad cholesterol, but eggs also contribute to your bodies good cholesterol.
Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian myself,  I do eat eggs and reap the benefits from them.

Benefits

Eggs are an excellent source of protein.
They contain B vitamins, including vitamin B12 (essential for proper nerve function),
vitamins A and D, zinc and iron.
They are also a source of  the antioxidant lutein (linked to a reduced risk of macular degeneration - leading cause in blindness in older adults)
They contain lecithin which is a good source of choline. Choline helps metabolise fat, is an essential component of cell membranes and nerve tissue.  It helps rid the accumulation of fat in the liver and even helps repair some types of neurological damage. Good for early brain development and memory later in life.

The Cholesterol Issue
A large egg contains about 70 calories.
6 grams of protein
5 grams of fat (less than 2g is saturated fat)
190 mg cholesterol
In most healthy people, it is the total fat that has the most affect on cholesterol levels. These include the saturated fat (found in fatty meat, chicken skin, full fat dairy products, coconut and palm oil) and trans fat (found in processed and snack foods).
Those people who already have high cholesterol levels it is suggested to limit egg yolk consumption to 3-4 a week max.  Only the yolks of the eggs contain the cholesterol.  The egg whites don't need any restriction.  The egg whites can replace a whole egg, with a 2 to 1 ratio.  2 egg whites to 1 whole egg.  These can be used in baked goods and omelets. Egg whites instead of a whole egg can be beaten  to coat fish or meat for breading before frying or baking.

Omega 3 eggs (the ones I eat) come from chickens who are fed a high flax seed diet.  The yolks are rich in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats associated with lower risk of heart disease and stroke. These eggs are a better source of vitamin E than regular eggs.  Great for beautiful glowing skin.

There is a myth in the grocery world stating that brown eggs are more nutritious than white shelled eggs.  This is exactly that, a myth.  The only reason the shells are different colours is that different breeds of chickens lay different coloured eggs, that's it!

Speaking of coloured eggs.  Easter is fast approaching and I would like to share some information I found regarding colouring eggs naturally.  Follow this link         http://chemistry.about.com/od/holidayhowtos/a/eastereggdyes.htm
 and the information is yours.

Add about 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cups of natural liquid dye.  The Paas Easter egg dye kits that  I've been using for years recommends 3 tablespoons of vinegar to 1cup of water/dye.  So I guess depending on how vibrant of a color wanted for your Easter eggs depends on how much vinegar to add.  Also, I wouldn't recommend boiling the eggs and natural dye ingredients together.....

For the perfect hard boiled egg,
The eggs need to be put in a pot and covered by about 1" of cold water.  Bring to a boil.  Turn off heat and put a lid on the pot.  Let stand 15 minutes and then rinse them in cold water.  This will result in the perfect hard boiled egg.  Perfectly soft in texture and a bright yellow yolk, no grey edges around the yolk, and cooked through.

.....Therefore if the dye and eggs are boiled together.  The eggs will either be overcooked from continuous cooking for maximum colour absorption or the partially absorbed dye will be washed off, when the eggs are being cold rinsed.
I recommend boiling the eggs first and then letting them sit in the natural dye in the fridge until desired colour is achieved. Maybe a day or two is possible.
If you are going to attempt the beet colour, I don't recommend boiling the beets with the skin on.  This will result in a dirty pinky red colour.  Not very attractive.  Try boiling skinless beets instead and let the water cool.  Then add the vinegar and boiled eggs and let the colour absorption begin.
Here is another awesome site I found,  http://radmegan.blogspot.ca/2012/03/natural-egg-dye-rainbow-of-options.html

I will be trying some more colours on my own.
I'll keep you posted........

These are the eggs still in the beet dye I tried earlier.  Colour looks pretty here.

Colour on the eggs is not so pretty here. These have been in the dye for about 24 hours or so. Unfortunately turned out more brown than "pink".

By the way,
One more quick tid bit about eggs.
They are considered a "complete protein". Protein is made up of 20 different amino acids.  9 of these acids our body cannot make and need to be obtained from food and so called essential amino acids.  Foods that contain all 9 essential amino acids are called "complete protein" foods.
This is especially important to vegetarians who only get their protein from plant sources and only sometimes eggs.

Eat Well.

PINA COLADA MOCK ICE CREAM

What?  Did I read that right?  Pina Colada Ice Cream?
Yup, you sure did!
The only ingredient missing is the rum!  Oh well, it's really tasty anyway.
I created this recipe trying to use up the last bit of coconut milk I had leftover in the fridge. I suppose the proper term for this 'ice cream' should really be 'frozen yogurt', but ice cream makes it sound much more decadent.

I asked three grown, beer drinkin' men (including my husband) to be my Guinea pigs, to try my mock ice cream and tell me what they thought about it.
The response was unanimous.  They all said it was really good.  One of the guys even had to "TRY" it three more times until he said that he liked it.  Ha, ha.
No milk is used in this recipe and it's super easy. This ice cream is gluten free and  vegetarian.  Soy yogurt can be replaced with the Greek yogurt to make a vegan variation.  Try putting a little thawed mock ice cream in a blender with protein powder and banana for a pina colada smoothie.

PINA COLADA MOCK ICE CREAM


INGREDIENTS


4 cups frozen cubed pineapple (buy in freezer section of grocery store or purchase fresh pineapple, cube and freeze yourself)
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 can coconut milk (put in fridge to get cold)
1 tsp. or so of grated nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla sugar

INSTRUCTIONS


Process the frozen pineapple in a food processor until broken down into pea sized bits.

Add in rest of the ingredients.

 Process until the consistency of ice cream.
 You may need to scrape down the sides a few times as needed.

Scrape into a freezer friendly bowl or dish. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and freeze until ready to eat.

 Or have a treat now if you wish, the consistancy will be like soft ice cream.  The mock ice cream won't take long to be ready, the frozen pineapple speeds up the process.  So yummy ice cream sooner.  Yeah!  Enjoy.

Eat Well.

BAKING ALTERNATIVES

Mmmmm,
I love the smell of cookies and cakes baking in the oven. I especially love the aroma of chocolate anything baking in the oven.
Even though the traditional methods of baking are delicious, they are however not the healthiest.  With all of the saturated fat from the butters/margarine, the non nutritious white flours and fattening refined sugars, no wonder the obese popularity has grown to new levels.  It's like a heart attack in a cookie, cake or pie or brownie, or...yum????

Well, the YUM! factor is still possible, with a few little twists and turns.  Here's a brownie recipe that's EASY, gluten free, moist and delicious. And best of all they're actually good for you.  They're made with black beans for fibre, to keep you regular and full for longer, so a little of the yummy bites goes a long way, chocolate for its antioxidant properties and eggs for protein. When I tried these for the first time I could hardly wait to share them with my husband and son and in laws(who live right around the corner).  They all agreed that these chocolaty squares ARE moist and delicious, and passed the YUM test, even though they are made with black beans!!!  Best part of all, you can't even taste the black beans amongst all of the chocolate.
You can easily make these into a vegan treat.  Just omit the eggs and replace with an equal measure of silken tofu. Or you can add in a little grated zucchini and sneak in some veggies. The kids will never know!  I love this recipe and make it often, maybe for this years Easter celebrations.  Easter's all about CHOCOLATE anyways.....right!!!

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES


INGREDIENTS

cooking spray
1oz. organic dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

1 - 398ml can black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 eggs
1 egg white
heaping 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
heaping 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup local honey

optional
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or grated zucchini or for a triple chocolate treat, add in some semi sweet chocolate or carob chips.


INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350degrees F. Spray an 8" baking pan with cooking spray.
Melt dark chocolate in saucepan with 1 Tablespoon of water on low heat.

In food processor, add melted chocolate and all of the remaining ingredients.

Process until smooth.

At this point stir in nuts or zucchini if you choose to do so.
Pour into baking pan.

 Bake for 30 minutes until top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool slightly and serve warm. Or cool completely, these can be served both warm or cold and will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. If they last that long.
Makes approx. 9 - 2" squares.


BAKING ALTERNATIVES


Some of these alternatives are not limited to baking only but can be used in everyday cooking as well. For example the vegetable oil can be substituted with a healthier oil like a cold pressed extra virgin olive oil.

BAD INGREDIENT                          GOOD SUBSTITUTE

vegetable oil                                        unsweetened applesauce, mashed banana,
                                                           nut butters, coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil

whole eggs                                          egg whites ( use 2 whites for 1 whole egg)

eggs and oil                                         silken tofu (see future post for a recipe)

refined white sugar                               honey, maple syrup, agave ( be careful of
                                                           the liquid substitutions as they may alter
                                                           your recipe by making it too runny), sucanat,

white flour                                            whole wheat flour, oat flour, spelt flour,
                                                            corn flour, brown rice flour
                                                            soy flour, kamut flour

white rice                                              brown rice

cow's milk                                             coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk, or my
                                                             favourite almond milk, flax milk, nut milks

EASTER

Cadbury Cream eggs, solid chocolate Easter bunnies, marshmallow chicks, oh my!!!
Easter is a diet disaster waiting to happen.
All that chocolate and sugar. Turkey and all the trimmings.
Well there is a bright side to all of this Easter overindulgence.

First have your mind set on eating healthy.   If only unhealthy options like deep fried cheese filled jalapeno appetisers, mashed potatoes made with cream and butter, fat dripping filled gravy, white rolls, etc. are available, choose the best you can.
There are always options. You can choose the pumpernickel bread and mayo based dip or you can munch from the veggie sticks platter.  If you are asked to bring something. Make it a healthy option.  So what if everyone else brought that fattening, calorie dense dip, you can always fall back and load up with your healthy veggie sticks, right!
Decide to choose wisely. Again, there are always options!


If you are hosting, choose a smaller dinner plate to set your table, if possible.  Most companies like to make their dishes at a whopping 11" in diameter. That's 2" more than what they were years ago.  And that's  2" more on your waistline.  Ugh!  You and your guests will thank you later. If a larger plate is the only option than fill your plate only 3/4 full.  And that's not loading it up and piling it high to the height of that solid chocolate bunny's ears.
 Eat until you are comfortably full. You don't want to overeat, that just causes unwanted bloating, gas and the "I don't feel good" feeling we've all felt one time or another.  Besides no one wants to be rolling their guests out their door.  If the weather is nice outside, go for a walk before the dessert course.  Hey, every little bit helps.  And walking helps digestion too.

Choose a fruit option for dessert rather than the high calorie cheesecake and pies.  If these are all that's available, you can choose NOT to have a piece of cheesecake or you can have a SMALL piece. If you choose to indulge, fine, eat it but eat it alone.  Don't start to load that small piece of cheesecake with processed fruit topping and whipped cream and chocolate shavings.... remember all those little extras are just that, extra calories on your waistline.    There's a little saying about that for us ladies.. "Once on the lips forever on the hips". Oh, how true!

But don't fret.  If you do overindulge a little or even a lot, make tomorrow a better day. Make the next week a better week.   Drink lots of water and eat lighter meals.  Your body will need the break anyway.  Eat plenty of fresh fruit and veggies.  Have a yogurt parfait for breakfast, a salad for lunch and lots of veggies and a smaller portion of lean meat (maybe leftover turkey) or fish for dinner.  Have fresh fruit for a snack and a few nuts and dried fruit. And by the end of the day your body will thank you and you will feel much better about your choices and much better than the day before. Maybe even a small piece of that dark chocolate bunny will cure any leftover sweet Easter cravings you may still have.  You did good today, you deserve it.

Happy Easter,

Eat Well.

TROPICAL INSPIRATION

This morning the sun wasn't as bright as it had been for the last couple of weeks. Clouds have moved in and the sky was grey. I wanted to continue the feelings of sunshine and happiness so I checked my fridge for some inspiration for breakfast and found some leftover coconut milk and some papaya.  I created a tropical smoothie to keep the momentum going with all of the warm summer weather we've been having lately. The temperature was 24 degrees Celsius yesterday.  Yes, if you check the date this was posted it is actually still March. It is very unheard of to have such warm weather here in Southern Ontario this early in the year.
Anyways, try this smoothie, its full of vitamin rich fruit, protein from the coconut milk and omegas 3, 6 and 9 from the flax seed oil, which helps for healthy and glowing skin. Any protein powder can easily be added for that extra boost of protein.  The banana is not pictured in the ingredients but had already been added to blender.

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE



INGREDIENTS

1 banana
1 handful frozen chopped mango
1 large handful or more of fresh papaya, seeded, peeled and chopped.
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp organic flax seed oil
2 ice cubes

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all ingredients in a blender and whir until smooth.                                                                                                            

Pour into tall glass. Insert straw.  Enjoy some tropical sunshine.
Serves 1.

SPRING

The first day of Spring has finally arrived. So much to look forward to....
New blossoms budding on the trees from their long winters nap.
Placing my grapevine wreath covered with bright yellow silk forsythia on my front door.
Fresh green grass that fills all of the yards throughout my neighbourhood and beyond.
Colourful tulip and freesia bouquets at every local grocery store and farmers market.

Daffodils and crocus start to show their bright yellows and purples in flower beds everywhere.
I've even seen magnolia trees in bloom today.
This has surely been a stellar year so far with warm weather.  St. Catharines and the surrounding area has been blessed with temperature in the high teens and low 20's for a couple of weeks now.  And I'm loving every warm sun shining day.

Oh, and of course Spring cleaning.  But not only our homes need a good cleaning,  so do our bodies. A detox if you will.  Try going on one of  Dr. Gillian McKeith's detoxes, I bought her book  "You Are What You Eat"    at Chapters book store. I tried her step by step detox day, and being that I feel I am pretty healthy already, all I really did was urinate a lot that day because the detox included drinking a lot of fresh juices, tea and water. I didn't get any of the upset feeling or after effects that may come from a detox diet. You can also try a juice cleanse or the Master Cleanse, aka the lemonade diet ( the book for this cleanse can be purchased at White Meadow Maple Farm, or on the net at http://www.amazon.ca/) or just eat raw fruit and vegetables for a day or two, try any detox formula's on the market, but I do recommend to check with your doctor to make sure the product is right for you.  any of these detox ideas will give your digestive system a well deserved break.

One more thing that comes with Spring are fresh herbs in the garden making their way out of the ground. Fiddleheads with their spiral heads, fresh bright green peas and asparagus peeking their pointy heads up toward the sun.
Asparagus was my total inspiration for this soup recipe.
During my visit with my mom during the March Break, reminiscing and looking through some of her cookbooks, I came across an asparagus soup recipe.  I used this recipe as a guide for my own version of this delicious asparagus soup. Even my very skeptical dad and picky non asparagus eating teenage son enjoyed this Spring Asparagus Soup.

Dice up 1 onion  and saute in a soup pot on medium/high heat in  about 2Tblsp butter and 2Tblsp. olive oil, and brown lightly. Add about 4Tblsp. flour  to make a roux.  Stir together flour and onion for a few minutes on medium heat to cook the flour a bit.  Add 2 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes breaking them up with your fingers as you drop them into the pot, and 4 cups of water.  Stir.  Add in a bunch of asparagus(washed , trimmed and cut into bite size pieces).  Turn down heat to med/low and let the asparagus simmer until tender crisp, about 5-10 minutes.  (Do not add the tips, they will be added in the end)
Squeeze in 1/4 of a lemon ( about 1Tblsp or so) and 1 tsp. ground coriander. Simmer for a few minutes while flavours combine.  Meanwhile steam asparagus tips in a small saucepan with a little water on med/high heat until tender. Using a hand blender, mix up soup breaking up the asparagus. Now stir in 1/2 cup milk and cooked asparagus tips.
 That's it your done.
 Enjoy.
Serves 4 to 6.

NATURALLY HEALTHY FROM START TO PRESENT

Welcome to my blog to EAT WELL NATURALLY

Even before my teenage years I have always focused on body image, weight loss and healthy eating.

I began my 'natural' life journey by first cutting out pop.  I only drank commercially bought fruit and vegetable beverages.  I made most lunches as healthy as possible by incorporating all four food groups according to Canada's Food Guide and on Friday's, the end of the school week, I would "treat" myself to a cafeteria lunch. If only I knew then what I was actually eating.  Yikes!

Along the way, I tried several diets, (Atkins, weight watchers) pills, (hoodia, shape)  protein shakes and meal plans.  The weight would come and go. No diet plan ever seemed to work, and stick. As time went on I ate less and less meat. Slowly but surely making my way to today. Healthy, I exercise, keep my weight under control and I've become a huge FOODIE. I am mostly vegetarian, (much to the dismay of my father) part vegan, and part raw foodist.   I have actually eaten the pepperoni on a piece of pizza when I was very hungry. And of course I have to take a bite of each of the sausage making contestants creations during our annual Figliomeni Family FIG FEST, sausage making competition.

The more I read and researched the more I became aware of what food should be.  Real, unprocessed and full of nutrients. I had taken two general interest nutrition courses and that was the last draw to eating non-organic meat.  Watching the videos of animals walking and living and eating amongst their own feces and farmers who spray poisonous chemicals on their crops did it for me.
No antibiotics, pesticides and other man made chemicals in my body.
I eat as much organic as possible, cut out white rice, flour, sugar and pasta and find healthier alternatives as much as I can.
 As  a mom (who loves to cook) to a picky eater of a teenage son and wife to a meat loving butcher,  healthy food is always on my mind, and so is my mission to be sure my family and I stay healthy and EAT WELL NATURALLY.

Thanks for visiting my Blog,
Eat Well,
DORIS:)