Eat. Drink. Better.

As you plan for a season of holiday parties, why not serve eco-conscious cocktails alongside the organic free range turkey and local pumpkin pie? Get started with Organic, Shaken and Stirred. The drink recipe book by Paul Abercrombie will teach you how to make your home bar green and create 100 amazing concoctions using organic liquors, fruits and mixers.

There’s no need to pour guests a glass full of artificial ingredients, synthetic pesticides included. Instead, with eco tricks, you’ll support sustainable farming and products with eco-friendly packaging. And when friends imbibe in an organic cocktail like a Hot Buttered Maple Rum, Acai-Lum Sangria, Kentucky Christmas or Pineapple Caipirinha with Sweet Lime Espuma, you know they’ll be on board!

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Organic baby sweet potatoes, yams, and red onions taste great when sliced thin, drizzled in olive oil, seasoned with a dash of organic cayenne pepper and baked.

Did you know that red onions are rich in flavonoids, sulfur compounds and promote better bones? In fact, if you make them a staple in your dishes they just may help reduce certain types of cancer and the risk of heart disease.

We all know that sweet potatoes and yams improve a meal as they’re very high in vitamin C and A. Now, the healing power of this side dish is fortified when paired with red onion slices.

Here are more facts about the healing ingredients found in this easy side dish. Read the rest of this entry »

This Blog has started with a few pretty simple recipes, however this time around I am going to ramp things up a little by delving into the world of casseroles.  For the beginner chefs out there don’t fret, because what I am going to suggest is only slightly more advanced than before.  If cooked properly, this easy to make mostaccioli casserole results in a big portioned, tasty meal sure to please.

Before you get started, this meal you need a few simple ingredients that you can pick up at just about any grocery story:  1) About a pound of Mostaccioli noodles 2) 2 cans of Diced Tomatoes 3) Roughly 1 can each of Tomato sauce and tomato paste 4)1 pound of mild Italian sausage 5) Fresh mozzarella cheese and some Italian blend shredded (or grated) cheese 6) Crushed Garlic.

Start with the noodles and boil them until they reach al dente style (firm pasta, just slightly undercooked), and then drain and strain.

Then cook up the Italian sausage in the same pan you just used.  Load the sausage with what you like as far as seasonings/ salt and pepper.  While working on the sausage, warm up the tomatos adding crushed garlic to it (the garlic can also be added in the final mix).

(As far as substitutions for Italian sausage, different kinds of meat or sausage, especially spicy can make for a really interesting taste.  If using a substitute, try to find other cheeses that fit well with your meat choice.)

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Cupcakes are still the dessert du jour, but forget chocolate and vanilla — try the green Matcha Meringue Cupcakes instead. Two secret ingredients give them a delicate green hue — finely grated lime peel and matcha green tea powder, a premium powdered green tea that’s used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Use organic ingredients to make the recipe even greener.

Even though these cupcakes are still a sugary, the addition of matcha green tea powder means each one will boast the benefits of green tea including weight loss, lowered blood pressure, decreased stress levels and increased energy. So when you try the Matcha Meringue Cupcakes recipe, you can feel a little less guilty about indulging. Read the rest of this entry »

We all need a little sweetness in our lives sometimes. Every once in a while, you should be able to fully enjoy a sweet, gooey, chocolatey and delicious dessert without any feelings of guilt and remorse. With the holidays around the corner, finding vegan desserts that actually taste good and have some redeeming nutritional qualities can be difficult. Look no further! For all you vegan dessert lovers out there, bring this recipe to your next holiday gathering and even the carnivores will be licking their plates clean.
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As the colder November winds start to blow here on our Wisconsin farm and B&B, Inn Serendipity, I feel a breeze of bittersweet. As I look at the pumpkins, potatoes and other root crops stacked up for the winter, I crave something else:  One last taste of crunchy, flavorful garden fresh.

That’s when these Fall Finale Muffins show up on our breakfast table.  Grab the last of the apples and pair them with shredded carrots for a hearty, healthy muffin packed with a nutritional boost.  Because of the high amounts of fresh carrots and apples, along with dried cranberries and nuts, these muffins take on more of a crunchy produce feel than a typical bread-like muffin.  Fall bounty you can hold in your hand.

Make an extra batch as these freeze surprisingly well.  Here’s the recipe: Read the rest of this entry »

Fall salads are as bright and colorful as the falling leaves outside now. I hope you’ll try this easy fresh beet, apple and yam salad with cranberry dressing.

The recipe is simple. First boil and roast the beets and yams. Then let cool, slice some organic apples and the golden beets together with the yams or sweet potatoes. Cranberry vinaigrette adds a delightful tang to this side dish. Read the rest of this entry »

For today’s edition of my can’t cook blog, I have something really simple and delicious to take a try at.  It is honestly one of the easiest meals you can possibly make, but still fantastic nonetheless–Spaghetti with Garlic/Cheese Bread.

If you are thinking, well that is just too easy meal, don’t give up on me yet.  I am going to show you how if you spend just a little more time with the preparation or variation, this can be a really great meal.

First off, cook up some spaghetti.  Even for a beginners cooking Blog, this pretty easy–Boil some water, toss noodles in the pan and cook until they reach al dente, or firm but not solid (just a hair under fully cooked).

Right here is where I would like to improve this dish.  First off, try whole wheat pasta instead of regular enriched flour pasta.  It is much better for you, and the taste difference in negligible.

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Zinc is an essential mineral that carries out numerous functions in your body, including promoting a healthy immune system, protecting the liver from damage and it even helps you to heal from wounds. Find yourself deficient in this mineral and your libido will be screaming out to be fed. Zinc is vital for testosterone production, which affects sexual desire, vigor and stamina in both men and women. Zinc deficiencies in men can cause sexual performance problems, which can be embarrassing and uncomfortable for everyone involved. Zinc also helps to prevent PMS symptoms in women and plays an important role in the function of the prostate gland in men. Semen also contains zinc; not enough zinc in your diet and those little guys may be too weak to get to where they need to go. On the other hand, in Chinese Medicine it is believed that excessive ejaculation can reduce the amount of zinc in your body, leading to a loss of sexual desire. It’s a vicious cycle isn’t it? Zinc also allows acuity of smell and taste and a deficiency could lead to a loss of those senses. What a bummer it would be if you couldn’t smell and taste all the sexy food you have been working so hard on.

So how do you know if you are deficient? Some common signs of a possible major deficiency in zinc are acne, fatigue, white spots on your fingernails, hair loss, high cholesterol, prostate trouble, irregular periods, impotence and infertility. However, even a minor deficiency can affect your sexual desire and function, so taking the time to make sure you are getting enough of this mineral during the day can have a positive outcome on your romantic evenings. If you are concerned, there is an oral test that can be done at a doctors’ office, as well as a blood test to determine if you are zinc deficient. Vegetarians and vegans need about 50% more zinc in their diet then meat eaters. Since there is an array of plant-based zinc sources, there is no need to panic and since most Americans are believed to be deficient in this vital mineral, it’s time to eat up people!

Sexy Veggie Food Choices: tempeh, beans including lentil, adzuki beans, chickpeas and lima beans, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, nuts including cashews, pecans, pine nuts, almonds and Brazil nuts, honey, tahini, flax seeds, flax oil, peas, blackberries, kiwi, peas, summer squash, corn and sweet potato, oats and seaweeds including kelp and dulse.

Try this recipe for my “Just Can’t Get Enough Granola” to start boosting your zinc today.
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For this post I am going to express one of my favorite simple recipes, and a very healthy one at that–Grilled Chicken Salad.

Now your probably thinking, this is probably too simple to be expressed on a Blog.  Well I disagree.  If a little extra time is spent with preparation, this can be one of those great easy meals, that you can remake again and again.  This meal is such a staple that in our house, we designate one night a week as Grilled Chicken Salad Night.

In order to make up this meal, you need to grab some boneless chicken fillets from your local grocer’s freezer.  Simply grill up the chicken over a charcoal or propane grill until the chicken is cooked through and crisp, but not burned. While cooking, cover the chicken with basic seasoning to improve taste. For my super delicious chicken salad, usually a little well done on the chicken makes for a tastier meal.

If you lack the potential to grill, chicken actually bakes well in the oven under steady supervision of flipping the chicken to ensure the chicken is baked all the way through.  To bake it use the same formula as you did for grilling, but just expect a little more production time.  In either case, slicing open the raw chicken at various parts will help cook the bird and let the seasoning soak in more.

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