Eat. Drink. Better.

Do you know what you’re having for dinner today — or “supper” as we say here in Wisconsin? Don’t panic if you don’t know.  You’re not alone.  Up to one third of Americans don’t know what they will be eating for supper on any given day, an underlying cause of relying on prepared food fast high in convenience and packaging and low in nutrients and local food connections.

However we slice it, our busy, chaotic, modern lifestyles generally leave us low on time and quality food options.  I seem to live on either extreme:  either I’m working and writing from my farm, Inn Serendipity, with a freezer full of preserved garden goodies to eat, or I’m in town all day running through a laundry list of errands or taking a road trip into Chicago, undoubtedly skipping a meal and ending up famished.  And crabby.

A little planning goes along way in keeping well fueled on the road.  Here’s three tips for easy green meals to go, and a recipe for Stuffed Roti (pronounced “row-tee”) with Chickpea Filling, a hearty Caribbean-inspired sandwich stuffed with curried veggies, potatoes and chickpeas that can be readily noshed with one hand just about anywhere:

1.  Pack for Portability

The best to-go meals can be eaten anywhere, no silverware needed or overflowing special sauces needed.  With the dough wrapped around the roti filling, this sandwich serves as the industrial sandwich wrap.  These rotis taste good hot or cold – when possible I do like to microwave them piping hot and wrap in foil to keep them warm “to go.” Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, a commenter on my post about giving up cheese mentioned that eggs are a real stumbling block for her. She didn’t specify whether it was eggs in baking or the whole egg that she missed, but either way it’s a topic that bears addressing!

While I can’t promise that there’s a reasonable vegan equivalent for something like deviled eggs, there are lots of options to satisfy your eggy desires without any animal products!
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Help save the planet, the animals and improve your health with your choice of dinner tonight. Join the Meatless Monday movement (if you haven’t already) and start to reap the benefits of a plant-based diet. Try this recipe for Vegan Creamy Aloo Saag tonight.

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Lentils are fantastic little legumes, packed with soluble fiber, folate, and magnesium. In addition to their nutritional qualities, they are also quite inexpensive. Most chain grocery stores should have lentils, and Whole Foods type establishments and your local Organic Co-op have them available in bulk, making them even cheaper and helping to stretch your food dollars.

I usually sneak a handful lentils into a variety of dishes including chili, soups, and casseroles, where they easily blend in with no fanfare. Often lentils serve as a side dish, but in this recipe they’re the main attraction. Assemble the following ingredients and you’re off.

• Carrot chopped
• Small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 14-16 ounces of veggie broth (or chicken broth if you don’t need it to be vegan/veggie)
• 1 Cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

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Goodness gracious, this has been a crazy winter! Things have warmed up a bit around here, but we’re still craving steamy soups and stews to keep us toasty from the inside out.

Often, folks associate a vegan diet with light, salad-based meals. Not that I’m dissing on salad - sometimes there’s nothing better than a big bowl of raw veggies topped with tasty dressing. At this time of year, though, when you can’t feel your toes and fingers, something with a little more substance is in order. Here are some great vegan recipes to get you going!
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Lesson number one about trading urban living for rural Green Acres:  You give up that perpetual buffet of authentic ethnic food options.  While just about half the U.S. population lives in rural areas, most restaurant options reflect a bland line of fast food restaurants and heat-and-serve diners.

But when we moved to our Wisconsin farm over a decade ago from Chicago and opened our B&B, Inn Serendipity, this lack of international booty didn’t qualify as a deterring fork in our road toward sustainable living in the country.  We life gives you a lack of pad Thai, curry or sushi, you simply learn to make your own.

Here’s the good part:  many ethnic specialties root in relatively simple recipes and techniques.  Sometimes centuries old, these culinary traditions lasted both due to three factors:  good taste, use of available, local ingredients and ease of preparation.  A quick Internet search harvests multiple recipe options and information for just about whatever you want to cook up, transforming even our country kitchen on County Road P into an international dining mecca.

Case in point:  Naan, that Indian flatbread staple.  We needed to add a dash of flavor to the last of our rutabagas in the root cellar, so my husband John started sautéing them into an Indian-style curry.  Bread made a natural accompaniment, with no ethnic markets or Joe, the Trader to be found within an hour’s drive.  Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us know that Vitamin C is needed for a healthy immune system, but did you know that Vitamin C is also required for healthy functioning of over 300 metabolic processes, including a healthy libido? Your body does not naturally produce Vitamin C, so it must be obtained by what you eat. C aides in the production of anti-stress hormones, helps the body fight off toxins and may even reduce your levels of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol). How does Vitamin C directly affect your sexual health? For one, C can help make a man’s little swimmers strong and healthy by protecting sperm from free-radical damage and toxins, thus increasing fertility. C also helps to build and maintain blood vessels through out the body, including the female genitals. Proper blood flow through these vessels is key for female stimulation and healthy lubrication during sex. C is also involved in the synthesis of the sex hormones, estrogen, androgen and progesterone, all of which are involved in sexual function and fertility. C is required for the metabolism of Folic Acid, which is needed during pregnancy to regulate embryonic and fetal nerve cell formation and is vital for normal development. Vitamin C is now being used in many menopause products to help reduce symptoms, as well as in vaginal creams to help eliminate dryness, which can make sex painful. A healthy and de-stressed immune system, strong viable sperm and a lubricated vagina with the ability to get aroused, sounds like it’s time to load up on Vitamin C enriched foods!

Sexy Veggie Food Choices: citrus fruit like lemons and limes, pomegranates, kiwi, guava, pineapple, chili peppers, pumpkin, cabbage, cranberries and cruciferous vegetables like, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts.

Try this simple recipe for Cauliflower Poppers to Feed Your Libido with Vitamin C tonight.
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Choosing a healthy, nutritious and yummy breakfast can be difficult sometimes, but it is one of the best things you can do for your body. Your choice of morning “fuel” can either enhance or hinder your moods, food cravings and your energy levels for the rest of the entire day. If you find yourself regularly rushing out the door to school or work and grabbing some greasy, fried or processed something on your way, or skipping breakfast all together, it is time to set the alarm a few minutes earlier. Waking up earlier may sound like a drag, but eating a healthy breakfast filled with nutrients and fiber can make a huge difference in how you function both mentally and physically throughout the day, not to mention the difference it could make in how much you weigh. If you absolutely cannot give up a minute of your beauty rest, consider throwing together a healthy breakfast for on the go, the night before.

Here are 11 healthier breakfast options that you can cook, prepare the night before and take with you, or look for when eating out at a restaurant.
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Priscilla Magnusen, raw food expert and teacher shares some valuable information with us about going raw.

How does going Raw or adding in more raw food to your diet affect your overall health?
When you eat a raw and living food diet you are feeding your body and your cells the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that cooking destroys. The act of heating food over approximately 112 degrees Fahrenheit destroys enzymes in food.

Our food choices have a cumulative effect on our body, and whether we are conscious of it or not, what we eat affects our mental and emotional health, just as much as our physical health. People who eat raw food invariably experience improved physical health and mental wellbeing, more energy, weight loss, detoxification, and a stronger immune system. I’ve personally witnessed people heal themselves of diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease, IBS, arthritis, allergies, candida, depression, and fibromyalgia.

How is eating Raw good for the planet?
Eating raw naturally lends itself to living in harmony with Mother Earth. You are avoiding packaged or processed foods, so you are not creating any waste or products to be disposed of in landfills. We hardly produce any trash in my home and the leftover food we don’t eat or “drink” goes directly into our compost bin. Those willing to eat organic will be doing even more to support our planet. Conventional produce is grown with pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and other chemicals that are toxic to the environment.

In addition, you’ll likely eat very little, if any, animal products, which have an incredible impact on the planet. A plant-based diet requires 300 gallons of water a day, while a meat filled diet requires over 4,000 gallons per day. Animal feces produced in factory farms is the largest source of airborne methane, which causes global warming. Meat eating also contributes to pollution in lakes and rivers due to run-off from factory farms, and an increase in fossil fuels used to raise animals for food.
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After the rocky economy and related bumps along the way in 2009, everyone is looking for a smoother New Year.  Indulge your guests this evening with a toast with Homemade Irish Cream, a creamy indulgence that makes any worries melt away.  At least, shall we say, for the moment.

I confess, for a celebratory toast I’m always partial to something sweet.  But as I started reading labels of my favorite commercial liquors I realized how much of that sweetness came from high fructose corn syrup and other additives.  With that motivation, I started experimenting with various homespun versions on our B&B guests at Inn Serendipity (didn’t need to twist any arms there), and this Irish Cream (kind of like a Baileys) quickly became the house favorite.

By controlling the ingredients that go in the drink, you can opt for better quality items like organic cream (I use Organic Valley), fair trade cocoa (our B&B orders cocoa from Equal Exchange by the case), and sugar (we buy bulk from Wholesome Sweeteners).  Skimp a little on the whiskey if you need to.  A cheap variety would work just as well as it will be masked by the other flavors.

Here’s the recipe (from our Inn Serendipity B&B cookbook, Edible Earth), with a toast to a smooth 2010! Read the rest of this entry »