Give-Away

Mmm - you know how much I LOVE coconut!!
Yesterday I made Hungarian Mushroom Soup using this recipe - but of course 'tweeking' it - coconut milk & oil, sorghum flour in the roue, savory rather than dill, nice fresh OG parsley came from my CSA share, & I had some left over roast chicken, so added that to the mushrooms! & 'of course' some garlic!

I first had Hung. Mush. Soup at Old Wives Tales in PDX, & love it! One (or more) of our Breitenbush Chefs had cooked there, & brought the recipe, or found it in the Moosewood Cookbook - & they offer a vegan version as well as the one with dairy.

Over on Bloggity Blog, there's a give-away for a tub of Tropical Traditions shredded coconut!! Wow - wouldn't that be awesome!! I'd use it up fast, too :) I have tried making coconut milk using bulk shredded coconut, & it wasn't great - so I'd like to try TT & see if it's as good as promised!

Head on over to enter the give away!!

Iskiate & brain health

Recently my son-in law sent a text asking where I get my Chia seeds? . . . I replied our health food store carries them - over in the seeds for sprouting section. When I was at their house a few days later, I noticed a recipe for Iskiate posted on the fridge, & when I got home I made a batch - yum!

• 8 oz water
  
• 2 T whole chia seeds
• 1-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1-2 tsp sugar (maple syrup, honey...)

Mix together & let sit 5-10 minutes. You can experiment with the liquid; coconut milk, sun tea, water kefir . . .

Matt's a runner, & recently hired as the Assistant Track Coach for the HS (he also manages the local Starbucks) - sounds like he'd been seeking a more 'natural' high electrolyte recharge drink - this is a great one! Inexpensive & easy to make it yourself.

Another friend recently mentioned the book Born To Run, about the Tarahumara Indians 'a Meixcan group of super-athletes,' & how they run barefoot. They also drank Chia Fresca or Iskiate; which has been making the 'circuit' in the running world since the book's publication. Today I picked up some Grade B Maple Syrup to use instead of sugar (I've also used a bit of honey or agave nectar) & here's another 'take' on the recipe.
I sometimes use ~ 1/4 C of my water kefir in the mix, I tend to drink more of my coconut milk kefir, so it's nice to find a new use for the water kefir! Already tart, & with herbs added in a second 'culture,' the water kefir is also high in probiotics. Chia seeds are high-fiber, omega-3, high-protein, antioxidant, & anti-diabetic. Myelin, the 'white matter' of the brain, is the insulation that surrounds the brain & nerve axions. Omega 3 oils support the recovery & regrowth (re-myelination) of the myelin!

This week I was invited to a talk on keeping our brains healthy as we age, by Roger Anunsen. I felt lucky to get a 'booster shot' from this expert on keeping our brains flexible & alert. This was an hour long overview of 'what's new' & a refresher on the info he presented last year. Roger is working on web casts, as he constantly seeks new info on optimizing brain health! He comments that he & a few others are working on translating the research into 'plain English' so more of us can access & utilize the info! The 'cogwheels' that support brain health are:

• Pysical exercise
• Mental exercise
• Socialization
  
• Stress Management
• Nutrition & healthy diet (inc. plenty of antioxidents & Omega-3 fats)
  
• Adequate sleep, including naps (ideal naps are: 23 min, 45 min, 0r 90 minutes)
  

I was tickled that dance provides the first 4! & calling square dance is a particularly good form of mental stimulation & social activity! He commented that some 'stress' is good - & encourages taking on the challange of learning something new fairly regularly.

Another 'brain health' expert, in his talk on 'Movement is Medicine' commented that ballroom dance has an Altzheimer's Risk REDUCTION factor of ~ 75%! He & his wife began taking ballroom lessons shortly after learning about the mental health benefits! His formula for "Optimal aging" includes: life satisfaction, social participation, self reliance, coping ability, setting new goals.
& a reminder for anyone who hasn't heard how great coconut milk & oil are for enhancing brain health, check out Mary & Steve Newport's story of reversing Steve's early onset Altzheimer's with the help of coconut & MCT oil!! Steve's last MRI (April 2010) "was reported as "stable" compared to the previous study." (June of 2008, about the time they began using coconut oil!) I use coconut oil for all my cooking, mixed with olive oil in salad dressing, & drink ~ 10 ox of coconut milk in the form of kefir daily.

I love this summer season of abundant fruit & fresh veggies - though with our longs cool spring, home crops are a bit limited. I am also thinking of how to 'revamp' my back yard - want to make some new raised beds, & clear more of the tall grass! I currently have apples, pears & a loaded fig tree! I dried some of the figs, as I couldn't eat that many fresh, & the grandkids who LOVE them are 2 hours away.

In good health!

Chestnuts a'Roasting

The season/month/year continues to speed past - where does the time go?

Today I played my last Holiday Harp Gig in a local insurance company lunch room - & am not ready to put away the Christmas music. Hmm, family, beware!

I'm enjoying the treats of the season - huge pomegranates - I brought one to a Solstice Circle last night, appropriate for the longest night.
At Saturday's brunch, our hostess had mixed pomegranate seeds into melted chocolate - what a lovely treat!

I'd noticed a basket of local chestnuts at Harvest Fresh, & then this bit on Suzie the Foodie's blog about roasting chestnuts!
Sold! Over the years, I occasionally get a few handfuls of the nuts (though the blight wiped out many of our N American Chestnut trees, there remain pockets of trees which survived)

Fresh chestnuts are ~ 1/2 the price of imported Italian Chestnut flour - & I can whir them in my mini processor to use in a recipe or two - perhaps some pumpkin scones? Or Chocolate brownies??

Susie recommends getting out the rolling pin to smush the nuts & begin to extract the meat.

So I scored, turned the oven to 375* & roasted for ~ 20 minutes. Hmm - I'd forgotten how similar to sweet potatoes or squash roast chestnuts taste! & you need to peel the inner skin as well as the outer - I'm glad I only roasted ~ 20, lol! I roasted the second large blue squash a day or so ago, so think I should try the pumpkin scones (egg free!)

We're going to my daughter's in-laws for a Christmas brunch, these would be fun to take along - & my granddaugters are always interested in grammie's concoctions. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a perenial favorite - it will be fun to see what they think of chestnuts!

****************
Yum!!
I found a suggestion not to use xanthan gum in quick bread recipes over on gluten free gourmand after making the scones - will try leaving it out next batch!

Vegan Pumpkin Chestnut Scones

combine coconut milk & vinegar before mixing flours to make 'buttermilk'

1 1/3 cup brown rice flour blend (brown rice flour, potatoe starch, tapioca flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup chestnut flour (fresh roasted & ground)
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground cardamom (seeds from 3 pods)

-- sift dry ingredients together
-- cut in 6 tablespoons of coconut oil

-- puree:
¼ cup agave nectar or honey or brown rice syrup
1/2 cup pure pumpkin (I rough chopped & pureed with other ingredients

1/3 cup of coconut milk (or your favorite milk) combined with
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (& a splash of raspberry vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Puree wet ingredients till smoothe, then mix into dry, adding more coconut milk if needed. I bake on a pizza stone, so I don't preheat the oven! Flatten dough on stone, cut into 8 wedges, bake at 425* for 10-15 minutes (till toothpick comes out clean)

What a simple vegan recipe! While I've been using a mix of coconut oil & butter, it came out great with just the coconut oil - & no eggs - my daughter will be happy!
Chestnuts have been called 'the grain that grows on a tree' - fortunatly, gluten free! They are a very low fat nut (54 calories per oz, hazelnuts have 180)
Here's a table with some of the nutrients from this website.
There's a more complete breakdown here - note the high level of potassium, there are only a couple mg. of sodium! Since they have a high water content (1/3-1/2 water) they are best stored in the fridge or frozen.

Chestnuts, cooked/4 ounces
Calories	149
Total fat (g)	1.6
Saturated fat (g)	0.3
Monounsaturated fat (g)	0.5
Polyunsaturated fat (g)	0.6
Dietary fiber (g)	5.7
Protein (g)	2
Carbohydrate (g)	32
Cholesterol (mg)	0
Sodium (mg)	31
Vitamin C (mg)	30
Potassium (mg)	811
Magnesium (mg) ----------------------------- 53 Calcium (mg) ------------------------------- 46