Don't Miss Out!

Below is the link to my new blog. It is a new and improved version of Everything but the Kitchen Sink. This blog is not for a grade, but simply out of the love of writing that blog and the feedback that I've gotten.

 http://gestaltejf.blogspot.com/

Thank you SO MUCH

I really want to thank everyone who has read this. You were a driving force - keeping me writing and searching for new things to write about. I got an 'A' in this class and I am going to figure out a way to continue my blogging. I will be able to write more about what I do in my life and not worry about it being classified as a "news blog." I will hopefully be launching that blog soon and will post links to the new one from this one. Thanks again, and don't worry - I will keep writing! :) Have a wonderful time enjoying the early days of summer, getting outside more. Take good care! 

Veggies Make it Into Pizza

Pizza places are ubiquitous with American culture, and are often just a call away. The ingredients, however, are often some of the most unhealthy imaginable. From whole milk cheese to bleached flour crusts to pizza sauce full of high fructose corn syrup, clearly pizza could use a healthy face lift.

Some good tips to make your own pizzas and calzones is to find store-bough pizza dough, normally available in whole wheat varieties. Good ingredients to have on hand are good tomatoes (either fresh or canned - fire roasted are nice) and a variety of vegetables. Frozen vegetables such as spinach and artichoke are creative and economical choices. Everyone loves artichoke and spinach dip - just try to put it on a pizza. No one will miss Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, or any other delivery pizza. Peppers and onions can even be found frozen and pre-chopped. Of course extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil are also great flavor additions. Cheese can be personalized to a nice smoked mozzarella or gouda, replaced for lower fat cheese or omitted all together. 

Hand-made pizzas aren't always as pretty as ones that come in a box - often they look like states (Pizza Ohio anyone?) It is a good idea to roll out the crust, brush it with dried oregano and extra virgin olive oil, prick it with a fork and then bake it for about 5 minutes before taking it out and putting the toppings on. This ensures that the crust cooks completely. Buying your own pizza dough allows you to make personal sized pizzas so that each person can top their own with whatever vegetables they see fit. Be creative, though, as always. Zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc. all make fantastic additions. Also try using alternatives to sauce. Want an Indian pizza, use a spicy sauce like Korma for an alternative. A tip is to cook all the ingredients about 90 percent done before hand, so that topping is easy and then the final process is just melting cheese, finishing the cooking process of the crust and re-heating all the toppings. 

So vegans, vegetarians or just general health-nuts... don't rule out pizza too soon.

Bars for Breakfast to Backpacking

Fruit and nut energy bars of every shape, size, flavor, etc. are ubiquitous in any grocery stores now, but they are easy to make from everyday ingredients that can be bought in bulk. As always, recipes are just a suggestion. This bar features almonds, apricots, dates, pepitas (or pumpkin seeds), but any fruits and nuts can be used, and nutrients can be added like flaxseed meal or even protein powder. The juice that is called for in this recipe is orange juice, but carrot juice is a great alternative. The greatest part of this bar is that there are no added sweeteners, which even popular CLIF bars, for example, have brown rice syrup as one of the leading ingredients. Granola bars normally contain extra oils and sugar, which downplay nutritional content.

If breakfast is always an on-the-go meal or if road trips always lead to drive thru munching, these bars are a must. Feel free to experiment with different ingredients to make a signature flavor. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw or roasted unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 

1 cup raw or roasted unsalted almonds (whole or sliced/slivered)

1 small  banana 

1/2 cup medjool dates (pitted)

1/4 dried blueberries 

1/4 cup carrot juice 

pinch salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Start by rough chopping the dried fruits. If the knife keeps sticking due to the texture of the fruit, try spraying the knife with a non-stick cooking spray. This is also a great idea for cutting cheese and other sticky foods. Throw the pepitas and almonds into a food processor and pulse. Add dried fruits and blend until it mixes, but isn't a smooth puree. Don't have a food processor? Use one cup of almond butter instead and cut fruit smaller. The bars will just have larger pieces of fruit, but still be delicious. Form bars to whatever size fits your hunger. Making 10 bars each bar should be about 140 calories. 

Popeye's Favorite Spring Meal

The warm bowls of thick and comforting stews wear out their welcome by the time the leaves come out on the trees, as large meals in the spring and summer often seem too much. This is a meal that can feed a whole crowd, and seem delightfully light. It can be adjusted for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, and if gluten is a worry - quinoa or wild and long grain rice can take the place of couscous. 

The ingredients are chicken (tenders work well; portion 2 tenders per person give or take) and/or tofu (about 4 oz/person is a good starting point), soy sauce, honey or agave nectar, orange juice, white pepper, salt, baby spinach, extra virgin olive oil, shallots, garlic, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, green onions. The portion sizes will differ dramatically depending on how many people are coming to dinner, and different amounts of hunger. If you don't eat meat or soy products, try just using baby portabellos.

The protein for this meal is either chicken or tofu kabobs, and if cooking for a mixed crowd (that is, mixed meat eaters and vegetarians) then using separate pans makes anyone happy. Just divide the marinade and use different bags. If cooking for four people combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup honey or 1/8 cup agave nectar, 1 teaspoons white pepper and 1 teaspoon salt in a ziploc bag. Seal and shake the bag to combine ingredients and then either drop in either chicken or tofu, each cut in one inch cubes. Marinade for up to 2-3 hours. They are ready to grill (or broil) after marinading. Just stick onto skewers (don't forget to soak wooden skewers in water to avoid burning). Don't throw the marinade out - it is always good to brush the kabobs in the middle of the cooking to keep them moist.

Once the kabobs start cooking, rest of the meal is wilting spinach and cooking couscous, which is a five minute wonder food, so the meal comes together quickly. The best advice for what can be difficult timing, is to get things waiting for you in the kitchen. This includes pre-chopping the green onions (for the couscous) and garlic and shallots (for spinach) and getting enough water in a bowl for the couscous. Couscous is a one to one ratio of liquid to couscous, and each person should get about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Vegetable stock, chicken stock or water all work fine. Get the water boiling and keep warm, that way couscous can just be dropped in 5 minutes prior to serving. 

The wilted spinach with almonds and cranberries is a fantastic side dish and will make anyone rethink spinach. Start by drizzling a small amount of extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat and putting one shallot and one clove garlic both finely chopped. Stir and don't allow burning. After a couple of minutes, add 1/2 cup soy sauce and start putting spinach in. Buy at least two standard bags of baby spinach salad mix for four people.  It wilts down so much, this will be a small portion. It will take about 5 minutes for spinach to wilt down. At the end, add a couple of handfuls of dried cranberries, almonds and fresh ground black pepper.

If wilting spinach completely ends up being too mushy for your tastes, try just adding the soy sauce and making a warm dressing that can be added atop the spinach to give a gentle wilt. Then top with a handful of dried cranberries and almonds.

When the spinach goes into the pan, add couscous to the warm liquid and let stand for 5 minutes before fluffling with a fork and adding a few chopped green onions.

The kabobs should be done within ten minutes or so. It might be easier to manage everything by doing kabobs on the broiler inside. Just turn the kabobs halfway through cooking and brush with extra marinade.

Spoon some couscous onto a plate, top with the spinach and then one or two kabobs. This truly is a great meal to impress and is great for eating outdoors after a warm day.

Vegan Dessert Decadence

Vegans often get the short end of the stick when it comes to dessert. Most pitch in cookouts are full of baked goods, almost all of which contain eggs or dairy. Here is a dessert idea that everyone will like.

Ingredients

1 12-16 oz. bag frozen berries (either mix or single preferred variety)

1 package Graham crackers (watch out for eggs and dairy)

1-2 cups Shredded Coconut

1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk or soy milk

4-5  T of margarine (Earth Balance is vegan)

2 T of unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

Frozen berries and other fruits are a great place to start for desserts, especially those with a healthier twist. They are a great value if buying produce off season at all, and they aren't as sensitive with ripeness. By all means, though, if fresh fruits are available in your grocery store and budget, they'll work just fine. Graham crackers (which can be found without eggs or dairy - try Trader Joe's Cinnamon Grahams) work well to form a nice crust with Earth balance or any other margarine melted down and combined with the crumbs and even a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder if it is available. Just crunch graham crackers and add cocoa, then stream in small amounts of melted margarine and combine until the mixture is wet enough to form a crust if pressed into the bottom of a dish. Thaw berries in the microwave or on the counter. There will be a lot of juice as they thaw so sometimes it is a good idea to keep the bag in a bowl of some kind to catch any that leaks. Berry juice stains are pretty stubborn. Put the crust in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes or so just to crisp the top and then fill with the berries. In a separate bowl take shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) and dampen it with a little bit of coconut milk or soy milk - even some of the margarine if coconut milk or soy milk would never have another use in your regular cooking. Use enough coconut, at least a cup, to top the entire top of the pie.  Then put the pie into the oven until the berries have bubbled and the coconut is toasted. Usually it takes about 10 minutes or so. Serve with a nice raspberry or chocolate sorbet. Who still wants to put their foot down for cake and ice cream? This makes a great birthday treat.

Find a Friend and Share Garlic Breath

There are tons of roasted garlic products on the market from hummus to pasta sauce, but it is rarely something home cooks prepare themselves. It is an excellent way to use garlic, and has a sweet and  mellow flavor than just using raw cloves in dishes. The best part about roasted garlic, though, is that when it is doesn't even have to be cut because the roasting process turns it almost to a soft paste.

The process could not be more simple. A whole head of garlic will contain several cloves. To expose these cloves, simply cut the top of the whole head of garlic. Cut only the very tip so that none of the actual cloves are wasted. Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil and place the whole head, still intact. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil liberally over the top along with a sprinkle of salt and fold the foil up around the garlic and twist the top off. Place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes and the garlic cloves will ease right out and be easily smashed. If a recipe calls for one clove of raw garlic, more roasted garlic may be needed. Roasted garlic goes well in baked potatoes, garlic bread, salad dressings or pasta sauces. Roasted garlic is best stored in a small airtight container. Just squeeze the whole garlic head and the cloves will come right out. 

Worried about garlic breath? Cook for a group of people, or just that special someone. This is one case where two "wrongs" make a right - they cancel each other out. Happy cooking and smooching!

Nutritional Goldmine

Hemp is a substance that is clouded with controversy, but hemp seeds provide a source of protein with all eleven essential amino acids, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and healthy fiber. Hemp is used to refer to the industrial (non-narcotic) strains of Cannabis. So even though the nutritional content is rare, by no means are any edibles in this blog "special."

Hemp seeds are very versatile and ground into a meal similar to flaxseeds and pressed into milk similar to almonds or rice. They are a great source of unsaturated fat, which is very heart healthy. The oil if found bottled (watch out for preservatives) can be great for pan frying, albeit very expensive. The oil is more often seen in skin care products.

Hemp protein powder is a great answer for those not able to tolerate whey. Soy protein is the only other option for protein powders, usually, and it is very hard for the body to digest. Hemp protein powder has good healthy fiber and is easier on the system, not to mention has more natural amino acids and omega fatty acids. The powder is usually green though, so even though it may taste like vanilla or chocolate, anything it goes into will likely become dark green. Add blueberries and blackberries to a smoothie and it should take on a more purple hue. This type of protein powder dissolves well into juices or even oatmeal, however. You can even go wild and add hemp protein powder to hemp milk and double up on the good nutrition. Gesundheit! 

A Little Known Cactus

The same dessert cactus that is responsible for the production of tequila also produces one of the most versatile and nutritionally valuable sweeteners. Agave nectar from the blue agave cactus is lower in glycemic load than honey or sugar, about twice as sweet as sugar, so not as much is needed for recipes. It is naturally produced and performs just as well in baking recipes as it dissolves into cold beverages. This can be a replacement for refined sugar in almost any recipe and goes well in coffee and tea. Agave nectar can be somewhat expensive, but by far Trader Joe's and Good Earth have the best everyday values. Agave nectar is an unrefined sugar, which is easier for the body to process.

It has the same amount of carbohydrates as honey, which some may mistake as the same glycemic load. In actuality, however, glycemic load is measured by multiplying the glycemic index by the carbohydrate count and then dividing it by 100. Anything with a glycemic load under 10 is considered low, anything over 20 is high, and anything in between is considered medium. Foods with a low glycemic load will contain sustained energy that the body uses over a long period of time and will not cause blood sugar spikes . Honey has a glycemic index of 63, compared to 30 of agave nectar, and half as much is needed in recipe substitutions or normal sweetening practices. 

Agave syrup can substitute maple syrup, sugar, honey, brown rice syrup and any other common sweetener. It can become too sweet very quickly, so adding in small amounts and taste testing is a good idea, but in most cases reducing the called for amount of sugar or honey by half works just fine. Brown rice syrup should be an equal substitution, since it is also very concentrated in sweetness.

Here is a quick table of some glycemic comparisons:

	Carbohydrates (g)	x	Glycemic Index	/	100	=	Glycemic Load
1 Medium Apple	21	x	54	/	100	=	11.3
1 regular cola (12 oz)	40.5	x	90	/	100	=	36.4
1 tbsp honey	15	x	63	/	100	=	9.45
1 tbsp agave nectar	15	x	30	/	100	=	4.5

Redefining American Grilling

Grilling in America is normally associated with burgers, dogs, steaks, but that doesn't mean vegetables  aren't good enough reasons to heat up the coals. Mushroom burgers make great burger alternatives or additions to traditional cookout fare. The smoky taste of the grill goes well with the earthiness of mushrooms. 

Grilled Portobello Burgers

Pick mushrooms that don't appear wet in the packaging because that is a sign the mushrooms aren't very fresh. The gills  on the bottom also should still be in good condition, not pressed down, wet or slimy. To start, wipe the tops of the mushrooms with a damp cloth. Running big mushrooms under running water makes them soak up water and they become tough and then they won't absorb any marinade or flavor. Great choices for adding flavor to marinades are soy sauce, balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire based. Shallots and garlic also go well, as well as rosemary. Extra virgin olive oil also adds a good flavor and helps keep the mushrooms moist when grilling. Mix marinade by getting a ziploc bag or some kind of baking dish or bowl. Place any garlic or shallots in the bottom with any seasonings. Add the soy, balsamic or Worcestershire to the seasonings. For well suited flavor profiles, keep seasonings within their families. Pick a dominant flavor, such as balsamic vinegar and build from that. Pick rosemary and garlic, possibly some Dijon mustard. Then stream in extra virgin olive oil and whisk. This is how any at home salad dressing is made. Saving the oil for last and whisking it in helps create an emulsion. The mushrooms can hang out in the marinade for up to a couple of hours. 

Grill gill-side up first, and then flip after about seven minutes and grill for another five minutes or so gill-side down. Fill the inside with some marinade while the top is cooking, and as the mushroom warms the marinade will cook inside the mushroom and be very flavorful. The mushrooms should decrease in size pretty dramatically, because they are full of moisture, so buy mushrooms larger than whatever bread or bun you're using. Extra marinade can be reserved for brushing on the mushrooms as they grill. These can either become a burger alternative or go atop a meat or vegetable patty. 

Serve mushroom burgers on a crusty roll, bun or dense sliced bread. Ketchup and mustard work fine, but experiment with salsas, barbecue sauces, and even hummus for condiments. Roasted red peppers, red onion, baby spinach and a nice roasted garlic hummus are great together. Looking for a good cheese, smoked gouda would work very well. But be clever, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich can also be replicated by slicing the grilled mushrooms thinly and adding caramelized onions, peppers and provolone cheese all on a hoagie roll. Just because it is vegetarian doesn't mean Americana has to be abandoned completely.