Gather your friends and get ready to hop online for a fun class text Nina at 561-288-0358 to get the password for the class.
See you there!
with Nina Kauder
Gather your friends and get ready to hop online for a fun class text Nina at 561-288-0358 to get the password for the class.
See you there!
Best Ever, Herbed, Roasted Tomatoes! “From Land to Hand, From Tower to Power Bowl” Featuring Homegrown Tomatoes w/ Garlic, Basil & Rosemary over Arugula
ROASTED TOMATO RECIPE
TOTAL TIME 30 minutes (5 minutes prep / 20 minutes roasting / 5 minutes cooling)
YIELD: 2 Servings – scales up easily
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
INGREDIENTS:
METHOD:
Roasting Tomatoes:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees with oven rack in the middle part of the oven.
Step 2: Toss garlic cloves, tomatoes, oil (or aquafaba), salt & pepper onto a silicone mat-covered baking sheet and stir till evenly covered. Spread out so that air can circulate.
Step 3: Cook undisturbed…”till done”… approximately 20 minutes, depending on size and, your oven’s characteristics. Check progress in your oven at the 10-minute mark, to be safe, shake pan to toss garlic and tomatoes lightly.
(Let your nose guide you …hopefully before your smoke alarm does!)
Step 4: Remove from oven, and apply a liberal “dusting” of freshly minced mixed herbs, and set aside to cool. Get creative here, switch up your herbs as you wish – try Cilantro, with Lime zest, for a homemade salsa base, or with Za’atar for a Middle-Eastern twist!
Spoon out your tomatoes into a glass jar for longest keeping qualities and refrigerate for a week or more. Cover with a slick of Olive oil to keep them longer
Step 5: Bonus, scrape up all the cooking juices and blend into your basic vinaigrette recipe (1/3 Cup wine vinegar to 1 Cup EVOO; keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks)
HEALTH BENEFITS:
Tomatoes provide about 40% of the daily recommended minimum of vitamin C and are an overall stellar dietary tool to help both prevent, and manage diabetes and aiding in weight loss since they’re a great source of dietary fiber. With significant fiber, they are helpful to stabilize blood sugars, and improve cardiovascular health. Tomatoes are low in carbs and calories, yet rich in vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K, a known blood clotting factor. Mostly, tomatoes are known for being a great source of various antioxidants, most importantly Lycopene.
More about Lycopene:
A 2011 study found that the combination of tomato & olive oil helps protect against sun damage, and boosts the production of pro-collagen, which gives skin the structure to keep it firm and youthful. Lycopene is at its highest concentration when tomatoes have been cooked, and olive oil boosts its absorption from your digestive system into your bloodstream. While Lycopene is good for your eyes, tomatoes also contain lutein and beta-carotene, nutrients that support vision and protect against eye conditions including cataracts and macular degeneration. Finally, Lycopene has been linked to fewer incidences of prostate, ovarian, lung, and stomach cancers.
I’ve always believed that simple *is best*.
Once arrived in South Florida, THIS professional, highly trained “green” chef, added “urban farmer” to my skillset, incorporating growing food and composting to round out the full sustainability cycle , adding nutrients back into the soil and therefore the food. This had been the link to living a zero-waste lifestyle.
My biggest shift, was that I no longer felt called to show off my kitchen fancy footwork but rather exult in the purest homegrown ingredients, celebrating Mother Nature & Father Time’s glorious creations. For sure, these need the least of my meddling!
While at times, that meant just eating a freshly plucked veggie or fruit, other times, the only embellishment needed was the lightest of dressings, a few sprinkles of complementary herbs, or grinds of specialty spices.
Of note, tomatoes (so easily grown in my Tower Garden!) release their cancer-fighting antioxidants only when cooked giving me reason to create this recipe with many creative pairings listed below*.
Just know that these concentrated, decadent flavor bombs have become the backbone of many a #swoonworthy feast of mine!
*Try them atop polenta, tossed over spaghetti squash or mixed with beans as a protein filled bruschetta over toast. For Mediterranean Fusion, add these to mashed, or refried beans; as “dressing” for fresh greens or steamed veggies, added to omelets and salads, drizzled over broiled tofu, as a topping for sautéed green beans or potatoes or broiled fish/seafood. Want a base for a quick, easy salsa? Check! Boost your veggie chili, spike store-bought hummus and elevate a humble bowl of brown rice, or lentils, topped with these jewels, and a few broccoli sprouts!
Many a time, I will simply eat them like a jam, spread on a flax cracker or with veggie scoops, like my favorites, Watermelon Radish, Golden Beet or for a little more heat, use a Poblano pepper, instead! I encourage you to discover a new veggie each week for a healthy 52 weeks ahead. Let me know what you try out!
Bon Appétit & You’re Welcome!
*If you’ve found peace of mind, learned something helpful, or been inspired to make a change in your own, or a loved ones life, please consider supporting practical wisdom and wellness. It only takes a minute to make a secure donation that helps pay our many costs. Little goes a long way towards helping us continue to live ad-free in the world and bring you stimulating content.
Chai-Scented, No-Bake, Energy Bites with ultimate flexibility, these people-pleasing morsels can masquerade as breakfast, dessert, or an exotic snack. Best of all, with no flame, heat, sharp blades or even scissors, this is perfect for instant gratification, and especially great way to distract and satisfy kids of any ages. You’ll be sure to always keep some in your freezer for that perfect “snack-attack”!
Bonus: If you’re lucky enough to have kids around that still love to make mud-pies with their hands, give them a chance to play with their food and make this dessert for you 😉
TOTAL TIME 20 minutes: 10 minutes PREP & 10 minutes Freezing time
YIELD:One Bakers’ Dozen of (13) Bite-sized “Balls”.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Banana, ripe
½ Cup Almond OR Coconut Flour
2 Tbsp. nut butter of choice
2 tsp. pure maple syrup
1 scoop Vanilla Complete Protein Powder, by Juice Plus
1 Extra-Large dose of patience
SPICES:
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Cardamom
½ tsp. Turmeric
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
¼ tsp. Ginger, ground
¼ tsp. Allspice, or Cloves, ground
TOPPING:
1 Tbsp. Coconut, Dark, or Turbinado Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
METHOD:
In a large bowl, mash your banana using a fork and stir in nut butter and maple syrup.
In another bowl, stir together almond or coconut flour, all spices and your Vanilla “complete”.
Add dry ingredients to the banana mash. Stir until a dough forms. Add cacao nibs, chocolate chips, or
any optional ingredients now, if using.
Separate dough into 13 evenly sized balls.
In a shallow bowl, stir together topping made of two ingredients only:1 Tbsp sugar and 1 teaspoon
cinnamon. Roll each ball into cinnamon/sugar mix until completely coated.
Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freezer. Ready to eat when firm to the touch.
Notes: Leftovers keep up to 1 weeks stored in the refrigerator, 4 weeks if stored in the freezer.
Anyone else enjoying memories of that radical thing we used to do, not that long ago, called “gathering IN-PERSON”?!
I am, and of course, my mind goes right to “snickerdoodle”, naturally!
Need a translator? Here’s how that worked, for me:
Friends… Family… Loved Ones… Holidays… Christmas… Christmas Cookies… Snickerdoodles!
You’re still with me, right?
This recipe is so easy, we can enjoy these snickerdoodles any day; they’re not just for Christmas, anymore. In fact, I recommend you always keep some in your freezer for that perfect any-time “snack-attack” (since it’s not like anyone’s just going to “drop in on you!)!
TOTAL TIME 10 minutes: 05 minutes PREP & 05 minutes Freezing time
YIELD: One Bakers’ Dozen of (13) Bite-sized “Balls”
INGREDIENTS:
TOPPING:
METHOD:
In a large bowl, mash your banana using a fork and stir in all your wet ingredients. In another bowl, stir together all flours, spices and the serving of Vanilla “complete”. Add dry ingredients to the wet. Stir until dough forms. Scoop 12-13 small balls of dough.
In a shallow bowl, stir together the Tbsp sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Roll each ball into cinnamon/sugar mix until completely coated.
Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freezer. Ready to eat when firm to the touch.
Feeling Anxious? Don’t turn to pills, turn to basic skills and enjoy combining foods in your pantry into amazing, healing treats. This is part of my #foodasmedecine way to eat!
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Walnuts have been shown to lower blood pressure and decrease inflammation.
2. Sunflower seeds are rich in magnesium, which promotes a healthy mood, safely and effectively as a homeopathic therapy.
3. Cacao is a great source of four scientifically proven bliss chemicals – serotonin, tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylethylamine. These neurotransmitters are associated with cosy feelings of wellbeing, happiness, and can even alleviate depression.
4. Cherries, known to improve sleep, a critical component of keeping your immune system at it’s best!
Mix all this together and make chocolate bark, and the goodness goes way beyond amazing deliciousness! Have a piece in the afternoon, with a cup of green tea, and be happy knowing your afternoon pick-me up is completely therapeutic.
Note, the linked recipe does NOT include sunflower seeds, but go ahead and play with your food, walk on the wild side and add what you want… I highly recommend that you liberally sprinkle your chocolate slab with the seeds.
Combine all ingredients and enjoy for breakfast, dessert or as a snack
Tex-Mex Lentils (raw lentil taco filling) – 1 serving
Optional:
Mix and enjoy, best eaten by the spoonful!
How to sprout lentils (yields ~1 cup sprouted lentils)
Share with us how YOU might use your sprouted lentils, especially any variations you come up with. We can’t wait to hear back from you and see your own pictures! Post your photos, questions or comments by tagging us on Instagram or Facebook
Thank you, and please, play with your food…
-Chef Nina
Farm to table food is always the best! and food grown at Holman’s Harvest in Loxahatchee, Florida is top notch! Abundant Green Papayas made excellent topics for my class at the farm. If you didn’t catch my class or want a recap here is your chance to get in on all the goods! Be sure to let me know which of these recipes you enjoyed best in the comments below. ⇓⇓
Papayas provide us with antioxidants to keep us young and vital, fiber to stabilize blood sugar levels and satiate hunger, and folate, a vitamin B which is a rockstar in of itself.Folate converts proteins into a useful end product, and turns carbs into energy. If you’re looking for iron, folate helps prevent anemia.
Papaya is great for lowering your cholesterol, reducing constipation, improving skin health (which like happiness, is an inside job!) and boosts our immune systems. What’s not to love?! Oh, if you find the flavor of ripe papaya a tad … un..exciting like I used to, add a squirt of lime and chili pepper, and Mmm!
Papaya Seed Salad Dressing:
In this moment, where there’s increasing panic about Corona-virus or covid-19 getting out of hand (IMHO) I know it’s time to go back to the basics, and review stellar existing tools already at our disposal.
Spirulina is an important nutritional supplement for anyone with any chronic illness or symptom, or for anyone who wishes to help prevent illness or symptoms in the future. I can’t ever think of healing without first thinking of Spirulina as the preferred tool I would lean on heavily, and here’s why:
Spirulina, simply put, is THE most nutritionally complete of all foods, with countless uses as a supplement for maintaining good health and even preventing diseases. It is an army of warriors, loaded with critical nutrients and antioxidants, including protein, complex carbohydrates, a bio-available, plant-based source of iron, B-complex vitamins, and A and K vitamins, too. It’s the darkest blue green algae, borderline green-black in color, that’s rich in chlorophyll, fatty and nucleic acids, and lipids, too. Spirulina is loaded with gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA, a compound also found in breast milk that helps develop healthier babies.
If you’re headed in a plant-based direction, you’ll be thrilled to know that 60% of Spirulina’s dry weight is protein, which is essential for cell growth and regeneration, making this a brilliant replacement for fatty meat and dairy products, without any of the liabilities those come with (i.e., cholesterol, CVD, inflammation, etc). Here in South Florida, we are so fortunate to have some of the cleanest of all Spirulinas, grown locally in Vero Beach, part of Florida’s treasure coast. It’s grown in sterile tanks, kept at highest purity, more so even than the Hawaiian ones claim, and then flash frozen. More about that later, and how to buy your own supply, exponentially more potent than any powders or pills on the market.
Spirulina has a completely unique composition of phytonutrients, including chlorophyll, phycocyanin and polysaccharides, that can help as a detoxifier, purging toxins from the body. 270 children in Chernobyl consumed five grams a day for 45 days resulting in Radionucleides lowered by 50% and allergic sensitivities were normalized. In 1994, a Russian Patent was awarded for Spirulina, deeming it a medical food for reducing allergic reactions from radiation sickness.
Spirulina is not just valuable, but essential for removing heavy metals such as mercury, aluminum, lead, cadmium, and toxic copper from the liver, reproductive system, intestinal tract, thyroid, and brain. Getting rid of these metals removes some of the most favored food of viruses, which are behind symptoms to many chronic illnesses, including autoimmune diseases.
When consumed within 24 hours of each other, barley grass juice powder, Spirulina, cilantro, wild blueberries, and Atlantic dulse provide THE most effective method on the planet of removing heavy metals. These foods each have their singular strengths, performing slightly different roles in the detoxification process. During the removal process, metals can get “dropped” or dispersed back into the organs, at which point another member of the team will swoop in, grab the metal, and continue the journey toward the finish line. On its own, each individual player isn’t 100 percent effective; as a team, they are your anti–heavy metal secret weapon!
The beta-carotene content found in spirulina is ten times more concentrated than even carrots.In fact, Spirulina is THE richest beta-carotene food, and provides a profusion of additional carotenoids including yellow xanthophylls.
Iron is essential for building a strong internal system, yet it is one of the most common mineral deficiencies (zinc is the most common). Spirulina is rich in iron, magnesium and trace minerals and is easier to absorb than iron supplements and gives you an alternative to eating meat for iron. Ten grams of spirulina can supply up to 70% of the minimum daily requirements for iron.
Healthy flora is one of the foundations of good health. It increases the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the foods we eat and helps protect against infection. Spirulina is a builder of beneficial flora such as lactobacillus and bifidobactria, needed in the digestive tract to promote healthy digestion and proper bowel function, while it also suppresses bad bacteria like E. coli.
Spirulina increases stamina levels in athletes and its rich nutrient content and bioavailable protein content helps build muscle mass. It can curb hunger that may develop during demanding training routines, helping to maintain an athlete’s ideal body weight.
Other Potential Benefits: Promotes healthy eyes, great for anti-aging, helps protect against infection, great for digestive health, increases absorption of nutrients from food, eliminates mercury and other deadly toxins commonly inside the body, helps prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases, and more.
Healing Tip: High-quality spirulina is the best protein powder you can use in morning drinks and smoothies. It is the easiest to digest and by far the most beneficial out of all the protein powders. It deeply replenishes the body with much needed mineral and micro-nutrients. It’s a whole food vitamin and mineral, along with protein powder,
packed into one.
Tasty Tip: Sprinkle over watermelon or add to Thai coconut water; also delicious with pineapple in a smoothie!
Check out my recipe for Spirulina Scallion Vinaigrette.
This was introduced at the 2020 Kaikai plant based dinner, to rave reviews!
Spirulina: Where to get yours? Lastly I get my Spirulina from Spirulina4Life and I highly recommend it! Barbara Bechtel is my representative and you can contact her at (786)385-0422 or head over to Spirulina4life.com
Be sure to join my Meal Prep CommUNITY on facebook so you can be a part of prepping for success each week!
Let me know below in the comments how you like to use Spirulina
Article Sources:
https://www.medicalmedium.com/
In summary, what more could you possibly want?!
Disclaimer:
This site is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice, legal advice, or professional services. If you feel that you have a medical problem, you should seek the advice of your health care practitioner.
Read more about Chef Nina and her love for helping others succeed.