healthy

Teff Flour Cornbread

by ladypbwiggins

First of all what in the world is Teff Flour? Growing up in the southern United States the only flour you are usually familiar with is all purpose white flour. Unless you are from another country and it is common to your culture, you may not even realize there is another kind of flour. I discovered Teff flour when I was looking for a recipe for a gluten-free loaf of bread. That outcome is another post. Back to the cornbread.

I had made a Quinoa-lentil soup and I decided I needed cornbread to complete the meal. I looked in my pantry and discovered the types of flours I had purchased didn’t inspire me.  I checked my vegan and gluten free cookbooks for a four blend that would be satisfying. I was missing some ingredient. On my way home from church I had the thought use psyllium husk and Teff flour. The words of my friend Morgan came creeping into my thoughts. Write down your experiments and write your own cookbook. I don’t know about the cookbook but I tried my first true experiment: Teff Flour Cornbread

1 c Teff Flour

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Before Cooking
1 c Cornmeal

1 tbl psyllium husk

1 tbl baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbl coconut oil

1 – 2 tbl olive oil

2 eggs

nondairy milk as needed for desired consistency

Let sit for about 5 minutes so the psyllium husk can do its thing. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes

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After Cooking
It didn’t rise as high as I had hoped but it tasted good. The texture was true to cornbread and it was great with the soup. I call my first true experiment, my recipe a success. I will try more psyllium husk or baking powder next time. You are welcome to try it and modify. Let me know your results.

Teff Flour Cornbread and Quinoa-Lentil Soup

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What I’ve Been Up To

by ladypbwiggins

Like any scientific endeavor, food scientist must spend some time in research. I decided to save myself some time with making my own condiments. I know there have to be food techs out there that have published their findings. I found two that seemed promising. They were

Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients
Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients by Jessica Harlan
and
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples by Miyoko Schinner

Unfortunately, the first one was out of stock. I purchased the second and I have been very pleased with the information contained in the book.

I have been interested in vegan and gluten-free cooking, so this book provided vegan options. In one place I can find instructions for condiments and sauces. There are explanations regarding seaweed, tempeh, and soup concentrates. I am most excited about the vegan cheese recipes. The instructions are clear.There are also recipes that use the items.

I also discovered another book that I will mention here but it deserves its own post. It is The Healthy Mind Cookbook. God knows my mind needs all the help I can get.

Since October

by ladypbwiggins

Many of you followed my postings last year regarding our journey through my husband’s life scare. I don’t know if I thanked you, so Thank you for your support. I have learned that 2015 was a horrific year for a great many people. I pray that it was a time of spiritual growth for you as it was for us.

To recap

  1. Massive heart attack on March 27, 2015
  2. Stopped breathing and needed electrical shock 3 times before conversion
  3. Months of hospitalization and rehabilitation care centers followed.

During those rehabilitation stays he struggled to regain the use of his legs. So what has happened since the first rehab stay.

  1. He was taken off Mexilitine.He was given that drug to counteract the worst, Amiodarone. Amiodarone was not his friend. It caused severe blood pressure drops and may have been the cause of some of the tachycardia events, however, I can’t prove it. It took awhile but it was finally replaced with a less toxic drug o September 28.  I had to fight but was successful.
  2. We changed cardiologist and that was a great blessing.
  3. He decided to stop taking Atorvastatin and the Qvar. He decided to control his cholesterol with his diet and he said he could breath fine without that inhaler.
  4. Oh, he lost almost 100 lbs over the 10 month period.

Since October

  1. After his last Ventricular tachycardia episode on September 27, a pacemaker/defibrillator was implanted on October 1.
  2. He came home on October 6th using a wheelchair. He had a few attempts with a walker. He has gone from wheelchair to walker to cane. He still needs the walker for long distances but for someone who was not believed to live and then not ever to walk this is awesome.
  3. His memory is improving but his meds are creating some interference. He is overcoming.
  4. We have learned so much about our power and authority when dealing with the medical community. We are empowered and plan to share that knowledge.
  5. We have learned how to eat even better with targeted focus for health reasons, heart and brain.

God planned and provided the best foods for our health,

the slave master changed our diet to the worst because it wasn’t what we ate n Africa,

and now we choose to continue to eat what sickens and is designed to kill us.

Please let’s help each other leave the plantation.

We can make soul food healthy.

Thank you for praying for us and supporting us. We thank you for your continued prayers and support.

In His Love

 

My Garden Beginnings

by ladypbwiggins

I have been thinking of beginning my own organic container garden but I just kept putting it off. I am not a natural garden interest type person. I just like the fresh produce. One day I was standing in my favorite organic market looking at the cost of vine ripen organic tomatoes and thought if I had started my garden by now I would have my own. I then moved to the yellow bell peppers and the cost of those were ridiculous.

That’s it. I am starting this garden I declared inside.

I bought organic soil and fertilizer after conferring with a successful gardener friend. I proceeded to the plant section to discover that they sold organic seeds but not organic seedlings. I googled organic nurseries in my area and found one very close to my home. I thought they only sold landscape vegetation. I discovered they sold non-GMO organic vegetable plants.

Inside myself again I screamed “Yes!”

I bought yellow onions, green onions, jalapeno pepper, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and tomato plants. I spent approximately 15.00 for a sustainable supply of veggies.

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The other thing I did to insure some of these plants had a chance at survival was to purchase a self-watering container. It holds two gallons of water and the plants drink as they need it. The tomato and jalapeno plants are in a conventional pot. I pray I don’t kill it. My thumb is real light green.

 20160217_151024                                            It has begun.20160217_151013

Back In the Lab 2

by ladypbwiggins

If you are like me, long blog posts sometimes get to be tedious. That’s why I broke Friday’s laboratory experiments into several parts. Continuing.

Country-Style White Loaves
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I tried to find the link for this recipe but there was only links to the book. It is The Art of Cooking Recipes and Techniques(The Cooking Club). The basic elements were all purpose flour (white), yeast, sugar, butter, milk and water. Those who know me personally, this recipe is healthy sacrilege. I must tell you I paid the price. I believe it was the source of gastrointestinal disturbances and inflammation pain in my joints. The reason I used these ingredients was because I bought the flour for Christmas desserts that we did not make. I decided to use it up and then replace it with oat flour or gluten-free flour. It was okay. Heavy like my great-grandmother’s.

Homemade Ketchup20160115_131340

This recipe is found in The Daniel Plan Cookbook. I used this recipe but I didn’t have enough sun dried tomatoes. Once again I substituted. I used ripe Roma tomatoes. I guess we are so used to the store bought kind that the sweetness was a little much. I don’t know if the tomatoes and honey combination was the source. I will use it and make the next batch with the sun dried tomatoes as instructed. I also checked the ingredients on the organic ketchup I had bought before. It contained more spices. Maybe I will add some of these spices on the batch after that. Continuing to experiment until I get the taste we want.  Ketchup

 

Vitamix Minestrone Soup

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I’ve wanted to try making minestrone soup for a while. I found a recipe that appeared to be similar to The Olive Gardens’ Ministrone. Before I had a chance to try it, I discovered a recipe in my Vitamix cookbook.  I tried it with a few changes. I used black beans instead of kidney beans and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I guess I blended it a little longer than necessary because my soup looked creamier than theirs. However, it tasted good. My husband and I decided mine would make a good spaghetti sauce. Here is the link for the recipe. It is worth a try. It is a tasty, quickly made soup. Vitamix Ministrone.

Some adjusting and changes will be made to better suit our needs and lifestyle.

Happy Experimenting.

Back In The Lab

by ladypbwiggins

On Friday January 15, 2015, I finally re-entered my my lab (kitchen). I have cooked meals but after the holidays I just was not interested in doing any “new recipe” cooking. I awaken quite early but I did not enter the lab until about 6:30 AM. I put the coffee on and moved into action.

The first order of business was to prepare for breakfast before my husband joined the conscious world.

20151026_091752Turkey Sausage I seasoned the ground turkey so that the sausage seasoning would have time to penetrate. This time I made more to freeze for future breakfasts.

 

Oatmeal and Dried Fruit Muffins 

I didn’t particularly care for bran muffins until I made these. Usually, I experience20160115_122020d very dry muffins. The black strap molasses and unsweetened applesauce make them quite tasty and moist. In stead of purchased applesauce, I put a fresh apple and a little water in my Vitamix and let it rip. The recipe is in Dr.Steven Masley’s 30 days Heart Tune-Up.
I cannot publish the recipe because of copyright laws. I would recommend purchasing the book, especially if you have heart problems. There is a lot of good information for heart health and many tasty recipes.

Mini Potato Corn Meal Cakes

Have you ever had boxed potatoes flakes and didn’t know what to do with them. I never used them and now that I am trying to prepare fresh, unprocessed foods I was at a lost. I didn’t want to throw them away. They were a blessed and appreciated gift in a Thanksgiving basket. While having my first cup of coffee, I noticed a recipe on the box that was interesting. It was Mini Potato Corn Meal Cakes. Why not, I said to me. I followed the recipe and it yielded more than I needed for that morning’s breakfast.You got it. I froze the rest. Here is the recipe with my real time changes.

2 cups Idaho Spuds Classic Mashed Potatoes

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed  (I didn’t use)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions  (I used yellow onions)

Combine potato flakes, cornmeal, garlic salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Stir milk, corn kernels, cheese and green onions.Let stand for 2 minutes.

Scoop into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Flatten into 1/2 inch thick patties. (I skipped this. I went straight to the skillet.)

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.

Place patties in a single layer in pan. Brown [patties about 4 minutes per side, spraying with additional cooking spray as needed. Repeat with remaining patties.

Serve warm garnished with a dollop of sour cream and green onions or shredded cheese. (I skipped this. It would defeat my healthy plan.)

My husband said the cakes were good. My omissions did not affect the taste.  Next time I will use fresh potatoes.

This is getting to be pretty long so I will put the other recipes in another blog.  Friday was a busy day.

Happy Experimenting.

 

Turkey Sausage Revisited

by ladypbwiggins

A few weeks ago I tried a homemade sausage recipe that I found. In that post I gave the source credit for the recipe. This time I tried it just as she wrote it except I substituted vegetable broth for chicken broth.

  1.  I bought a turkey breast and a turkey thigh. Using my virgin boning knife I removed the meat from the thigh bone. The breast was already removed from the breast bone. I must admit this process caused me to consider becoming a vegan.
  2. I used my KitchenAide meat/nut grinder to grind the meat. I used both the light meat and the dark meat believing the dark meat would add a little fat. My hope was that the turkey would be juicier.
  3. Next I used my mortar and pestle to grind the basil and oregano.
  4. I added that along with the rest of the spices to the ground turkey.
  5. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
  6. Mixed it all up be sure to evenly distribute the spices.
  7. Finally, into the pan it went. I used a little oil in the pan so the patties wouldn’t stick. I think I used grapeseed oil or it might have been coconut. Either works.
  8. The results were very good. It was less dry but not what I wanted. Sooooo

Next time, I will bake a turkey part and use the drippings to add a little fat to the mixture.

For the recipe review Making Turkey Sausage.

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Making Turkey Sausage

by ladypbwiggins

I have re-entered the laboratory(my kitchen). I have wanted to try this recipe for a long time but always got distracted. Several years ago my husband and I chose to stop eating pork, beef or chicken. Turkey and fish are our meats of choice. I like turkey sausage but you can’t always find a brand that doesn’t taste dry.  Since my husband’s illness we have been on a low sodium eating regimen.There is always the cost to consider. I searched online and found a recipe submitted by Bonnita Wirth.  So here is my experimentation with her recipe.

I did not add chicken broth because I don’t eat chicken. I used olive oil instead. I must say that may not have been a good idea because the salt taste was nonexistent. I suspect Ms. Wirth relied on the broth to add salt.The lean turkey was a little dry that is why I added olive oil.I was very happy with the seasonings.

Ms Wirth’s recipe.

120151026_090130 pound lean ground turkey breast

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 minced clove fresh garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp coriander and/or Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning

(sea salt, mustard seed, black peppercorns, coriander, onion, garlic paprika, chili pepper)

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground20151026_090134

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 c chicken broth and other wet ingredients

Add chicken broth and/or other wet ingredients, mixing well.

Let stand 15 to 20 minutes.

Form turkey into 6 to 8 patties, approximately 3/4 inch thick20151026_091752

Cook patties thoroughly on a nonstick surface
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When I repeat the experiment this is what I plan to do.

Replace the chicken broth with either vegetable broth or turkey broth.

Use 85% lean instead of 95% lean ground turkey.

I will try it again. If I am successful then I will try her Italian sausage seasoning. My husband said it sounded like I was going to have a sausage factory.

P.S. To the sausage that I did not cook, I added salt and cooked it the next day. Flavor-wise there was a tremendous taste difference. I will try this again. I like being able to avoid paying for packaging. My next experiment will be using turkey that I ground myself. Gobble, gobble.

A Natural Sedative

by ladypbwiggins

“Food is thy medicine. medicine is thy food.” -Hippocrates

A few days ago I made a vegetable-juice smoothie for my lunch. I drank it while visiting my husband. I shared it with him. That was not a good idea. Yes, he needed the nutrients and it was healthy but there was a sedative in the drink.  I had no idea. My alert husband was suddenly a very sleepy man. I thought his medications were the culprits but alas, it was me and my juice. I don”t know why I didn’t get as sleepy. I looked back on my day and I did get pretty relaxed. I guess he was more vulnerable in his weaken state.

I discovered while researching something else that Walnuts contained an acid that is a powerful sedative. So if you can’t sleep eat a handful of walnuts and go to bed.  🙂 I am not guaranteeing deep sleep but you stand a good chance of relaxing.

Now To Make It Happen

by ladypbwiggins

Today’s assignment is to determine three (3) goals that I would like to accomplish with my blog. When I first began blogging it was to find out if anyone was interested in what I had to say. It seems a few people are.

  • One of my goals is to learn what people are interested in and to learn how to effectively match my writing interest with their reading interest. I am writing a book but I didn’t know if anyone would buy it.
  • The second goal is to increase the number of connections to be inspired by and to inspire.
  • Speaking is one of my gifts and I enjoy informing and motivating people. Knowing what people are interested in could give me an opportunity to do something I love.

On that note, I will be speaking at a Black History Picnic celebration here in Perris, CA. It will be interesting because I am asked to speak about healthy nutrition while the listeners are eating soul food. This will be a challenge.The next day I will be speaking at our church for morning worship.I am going to have an exciting weekend.

In the meantime, I am trying new recipes to introduce to our congregation during our health ministry. Tonight it was a Dr. Hyman’s Sun-dried tomato Turkey Burger. This is a recipe in The Daniel Plan written by Pastor Rick Warren, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Mark Hyman. It was very tasty.