My Very First Kitchen » Health Tips

Warm up with Miso

Dara — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:39:27 +0000

With rapidly approaching low temperatures outside, I am preparing to warm up inside. I have already begun to feel the onset of the chilly weather via the common cold. Every year when the tempertures drop, I get the “common cold,” as do most it seems. It is hard to walk into any public setting (school, restaurant, drug store) and not hear multiple people sniffing, coughing, sneezing ect.

Appetizing, no? Well, No is correct. But the recipe I am so enthused to share with you all…? Well, yes, in fact, it is

Forget over-the-counter medications that are hard on your body and merely cover up your sneezing and coughing for 4-6 hours (if they even do!) and try a more preventative and healing approach with my latest recipe.

Without further ado, I give to you…
MyVerFirstKitchen’s Warming and Healing Macrobiotic Miso Soup
serves 1 big bowl, or 4 small ones

The ingredients for this soup are available at most health food stores, Asian markets/grocery stores or Whole Foods. I have also added them to MyVeryFirstKitchen’s Amazon Store so you can at least know what to look for in the store. Not familiar with sea veggies, macrobiotics and healing??

Check out my page dedicated to Macrobiotics, Macrobiotics: Eat to Heal

Before I delve into this glorious recipe, can I just mention that this was by far the best Miso soup I have ever consumed. Yes, not only the best I have ever created, but the best I have ever tasted. I attribute it’s complex, intoxicating and delicate flavor to the Kombu, which I used to flavored the broth.

So, what do you need to make this amazing soup?

Ingredients
-Kombu: one 4×4 inch piece

-Wakame: 1/2 teaspoon

-Dried Mushrooms (I used a medley I bought from TJ’s and used about 1/3-1/2 of the package. Dried shiitakes work amazingly)

-Nama Shoyu: 2 Tablespoons (I was all out and substituted Tamari)

-Miso paste: 4 teaspoons (preferably mellow white, and Westbrae Natural is a great brand to purchase)

*optional additions include:(for a heartier miso soup)

-tofu, sliced into small cubes (about 3/4 inch)

-veggies such as carrot pieces, onion, scallions, sliced mushrooms

Instructions:
-Soak rinsed mushrooms in one cup of hot water for 10 minutes

(tip: boil one cup of water in a tea kettle or on the stove and then pour it into a heat safe bowl and add the shrooms)

-Rinse, pat dry and then soak the Kombu in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes

-After 10 minutes, add the kombu and its soaking water to the soaking mushrooms for an additional 5 minutes

-Remove mushrooms, slice off and discard stems and thinly slice caps and return to water

-Bring the water to a simmer, making sure to keep just below a boil, and cook for 15 minutes

-In the mean time, prepare wakame by soaking it in 1/2 cup of just boiled water. The wakame will expand by 20 times in size!

*(this is also a good time to prep any tofu and lightly steam your carrots and onions, if using. The veggies should be sliced thin or diced as small as the tofu)

-After 15 mintues, remove and discard kombu and mushrooms from the simmering water with a slotted spoon and then add the shoyu or tamari, and the miso. Stir until the miso is well incorporated (about one minute) and then add the wakame, tofu and any veggies.

-Remove from heat, pour into bowl, and serve! (if using scallions, sprinkle them on top right before serving)

kombu and mushrooms soaking:

simmering the broth (kombu + mushrooms):

“just poured into bowl” miso soup:

Directions: Consume for a happy body:)

Balanced Vegan Dinner

Dara — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:57:58 +0000

This dinner is the perfect balance of carbohydrate + protein + fat. It is cozy and delicious. Here is a quick, light, healthy meal that will leave you satisfied. Multiple servings are a must, I am only showing the first round of servings here:)

Baked tofu with homemade pumpkin cardamom sauce:

Slice and blot (with paper towels) extra firm tofu and bake at 425 for 20-30 mintues depending on your oven, flipping half way throught. You can also “marinate” your tofu in oil or any yummy sauce you like. BBQ is delish. For this recipe, I bake it plain so that it may be dipped in this yummy pumpkin sauce.

Meanwhile, make pumpkin sauce:

1/4 cup pumpkin pecan butter (or TJ’s pumpkin butter)
cardamom and cumin seeds (about a tsp each)
one clove garlic
pinch of ginger powder (optional)
honey, agave or brown sugar to your taste
soy milk creamer to thicken
water to thin if needed

Begin by frying seeds until fragrent in a non stick skillet
Remove from heat and mix with crushed clove of garlic.
Add pumpkin to skillet and stir until warmed throughout, add other spices and seasonings, and then add the fryed seed mixture.
Stir in soy milk creamer and sweetener to taste.
Drizzle over baked tofu, or use as dipping sauce! Delicious on sweet potatoes too.

Sweet Potato Fries:

Peel potatoes if desired, otherwise slice sweet potatoes into wedges.
“Paint” them with olive oil using a pastry brush, you can be quite generous with oil here, as this is the main fat source of the meal and will help in the absorption of valuable nutrients. (you can see my technique for “painting” oil here)
Season with sea salt + garlic powder + red pepper flakes or chili powder

Bake at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flipping half way through.
(Or, if you are baking your potatoes and tofu at the same time, put the oven to 450 and flip tofu when browned on the bottom. Baking time will vary, so keep a close watch!)

Last but not least, MYVERYFIRSTKITCHEN wouldn’t be what it is without a ginormous salad:

Spinach + mushrooms + broccoli + tomatoes + yellow bell pepper + favorite salad dressing (honey mustard for me.)

Perfectly satisfying deliciousness of protein + startch (with some healthy EVOO fat!) + vegggggies. There is even room for a cupcake!

Happiness = Beautiful Vegan Cupcakes

Dara — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:32:53 +0000

From the lovely Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book, I give to you my version…

Toppings are the most fun:) Vegan Newman O’s, vegan chocolate covered almonds, vegan chocolate chips, vegan sprinks, vegan licorice, dried fruit, culinary lavender…

These cupcakes instantly make me happy, as well as anyone else who looks their way.

The butter cream frosting reminds me of fluffly clouds, and tastes like heaven.

The cakes themselves are “springy,” delicately spongy as well as perfectly moist and crumbly all at the same time. I truly adore them.

The recipe from VCTOTW (though with my exact ingredients) includes:
Organic unsweetened soymilk
Apple Cider Vinegar
Organic Vanilla Extract
Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar
Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Organic Canola Oil
Organic Baking Soda (aluminum free)
Organic Baking Powder (aluminum free)
Sea Salt

And the super amazing fluffy vanilla butter cream frosting includes:
Organic Vegan Shortening
Organic Vegan Buttery Sticks
Organic Powdered Sugar
Vanill Extract
Soymilk Creamer

If you are interested in the nutrition/measuring amounts, you can check out the recipe in my spark recipes box here OR, in my little widget:

see more recipes

I will be sharing my chocolate version of these dreamy little gems soon.

Product Review: Go Raw’s Banana “Bread” Flax Bar

Dara — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:26:42 +0000

Ah, living raw foods. Raw food was actually how I first developed a love for preparing foods and reading recipes. Prior, I had no interest in cooking, preparing meals, grocery shopping, ect. I think it may have been the challenge presented by the raw food lifestyle and way of preparing foods that intrigued and motivated me. My first raw cookbook was actually Ani’s Raw Kitchen (Ani Phyo).

I started by making dips and spreads, and then saved up for a dehydrator!! I was ESTATIC! Looking back on that time of my life is intriguing. I spent hours looking for different recipes to experiment with (which I do do now, but it was so NEW to me!) I think I made just about everything in Ani’s book, minus a few desserts! Although other desserts were definitly in the works. Cheezecakes, pies, tarts, puddings ect! Well lets just say I “over did it” on the nuts/seeds!!

Rather than thinking simplictically about raw foods (as I do now and so does the wonderful Gena, whom I have learned alot from!) I was making EVERYTHING with tons of nuts/seeds! So just a heads up, if embarking on raw foodism, try to limit your nut/seed consumption to one meal per day!! TRUST ME!

Annywaysss…I still do LOVE raw foods, hence my raw snacks all day long! But I also love warm comforting foods too:) While checking out the blogworld today, I noticed that Gena of Choosing Raw and Jenna of EatLiveRUn are restarting their Raw Food Wednesday Challenge! I have decided to join this fun challenge:) So from my snack photo today, you can omit the Kombucha and string cheese! It was random that I chose my raw banana bread flax bar today for a snack, but was surely meant to be, as I was planning a PRODCUT REVIEW for you all!

So without further ado…

The ingredient list is spectacular:
Sprouted Organic Flax Seeds
Organic Banana
Organic Coconut (unsulphured)
Organic Date
These are SO awesome for people trying to increase their raw food consumption but don’t have enough time for food prep! They are also perfect for your children’s lunchbox And let me just tell you, they are absolutley delicious! If you like bananas or banana bread, you will fall in love with these!

Texture: they are soft, chewy and quite pliable. The texture might be my favorite part, as I have tried the other flavors of this bar, which include pumpkin seed, spirulina and flax granola which are much more crunchy/cracker-like.

Nutrition: In one bar there are 120 calories, 5g fat, 15g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 4g protein as well as Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron!!

I highly suggest you try these (obviously!) and if you like them, I find that it is best to buy them in bulk as they are more pricy than your average food bar. But hey, they aren’t full of FAKE and GROSS ingredients. They are made with integrity, all the nuts/seeds in their products are sprouted (which makes for easier digestion and nutrient absorption) and they are made with REAL FOOD!

Okay, so there is my rant for you today!! Here were the snacks I packed for the day from which you can omit the string cheese and kombucha and you can ADD a handful of almonds and guacamole! Good thing for NO cheese, as it is VEGAN MOFO month! So in celebration of such, let me just mention that I will be making some vegan treats this week/weekend!! I have been vegan for long periods in my life, so I am excited to be a part of the third year of Vegan MoFo month! Click the link to see all participating blogs!

So there you have it, my raw foods for the day! For dinner I have dreaming of creating some sort of pumpkin souflee but healthier type thing!? It will most likely NOT be raw because I have been craving tofu latley too! But ya never know, I might save that creation for tomorrow and do a bit more brainstorming! Well, you will find out soon enough!

Here is a quick preview of the raw dessert I will be indulging in tonight!! My famous (in my family at least!) Raw Nanaimo Bar!! Click the link if you aren’t even sure what a ‘normal’ nanaimo bar is!! Needless to say, they are amazing, if I do say so myself!!

xo,
D

Coffee Controversy

Dara — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:16:04 +0000

So my day started without coffee this morning! There are many coffee haters out there so I thought I would let you all know about coffee’s health benefits!

It can LOWER your risk for cavaties, diabetes, colon cancer, depression, Alzheimer’s, liver disease, gallstone disease and more! Oh and for me? It helps decrease my asthmatic symptoms, wakes me up, makes me feel warm and cozy, and gets me out of bed in the morning! Addiction? Maybe! But then I am also addicted to vegetables…so there

I found a lot of my coffee facts here and here

I know many bloggies out there are anti-coffee drinkers, and I know its not the BEST thing in the world for me, but I LOVE it!! We all have our vices, right? A steaming cup of coffee in the morning, mmm, nothing better Well, we are all out! I knew I would have no time to stop anywhere, so tea it was. Chai is my fav!

I even got a Pilates workout in this morning thank goodness. My back has been KILLING me since school started, lugging books and my laptop all over campus all day!

Snacks for school/work today included:

I didn’t have the Amazing Meal, and have yet to try it! Any thoughts on it?? I am back in an Oikos greek yogurt phase…!

Dinner tonight was what is becoming quite the usual: Flat out wrap tortilla pizza + one HUGE sweet potato (which I added ketchup and tobasco to) + greens + some of the boys unpictured Beecher’s Mac and Cheese (so good!!)

Night friends! Gotta get up early to go get coffee!!!!

Kabocha Squash

Dara — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:49:54 +0000

Here goes my first full week of school! Then work tonight until 8:15pm!!

Dinner last night was that amazing Kabocha squash from the farmer’s market(!!) which you can see in my previous post + spinach and red bell pepper. As well as a Whole Foods Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon burger for some protein and fat.

I piereced the squash and put it in a 400 degree preheated oven. After about 20 minutes I sliced the squash into quarters, added water to the oven tray and cooked flesh side up for another 20 to 30 minutes. I only added salt + pepper. It was DIVINE! How I love the autumn season and all the delicious squash it brings!!! It would of course be delicious with additions of coconut oil, cinnamon, coconut butter, ect! The sky is the limit! It is also very filling considering how low in calories it is.

Soo I just wanted to share my love of Kabocha, and squash in general with you all if you dont mind
Nutrition info per 1 cup of cooked squash:
Calories = 40
Fat/Sodium/Cholesterol = 0
Carbs = 7 grams
Fiber = 1 gram
Vitamin A = 70%
Vitamin C = 15%
There is also some iron, folic acid, calcium and trace B vitamins present in Kabocha.

As you can see however, Vitamin A is the PRIME nutrient in Kabocha. What is Vitamin A good for you ask?? Well…

Vitamin A promotes healthy:
vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation.

Vitamin A helps regulate the immuse system and helps lymphocytes (a white blood cell) fight infections more effectively!

Not convinced???

Well, when Vitamin A is found in brightly colored orange veggies (carrots, KABOCHA, bell peppers, ect) it is called a provitamin A carotenoid. In the body, this type of vitamin A is made into retinol which helps fight free radical damage (wrinkles!)

So there you have it, eat your Kabocha today!

See you later for school eats + tonights dinner!

PS: Kabocha is probably one of the sweetest squashes out there. It is kind of a cross between a sweet potato and pumpkin!

Benefits of Seaweed

Dara — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:15:26 +0000

Time for a seaweed lesson! But first some quick eats! I have been so busy I haven’t had time to post my recent eats, so here is a recap from the last few days!

Snacks for school:

This tortilla pizza contained mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella and spices! The veggies were literally piled a couple of inches high! The boy and I split this and each had a salmon burger + asparagus!! Delicious:)

He even took a picture of HIS plate for you all!

Here is my plate:

Those are Whole Foods Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Burgers and they are TO DIE FOR!! We ate them with horseradish and doused our pizza in Tabasco!

While preparing dinner I snacked on this!

More seaweed salad!!! SOO good! If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend that you do ASAP!

And here is some motivation to try it! I found these seaweed facts on this website

Health Benefits of Seaweeds :

Kelps correct mineral deficiencies.
A good protective food, valuable in overcoming poor digestion, preventing and overcoming goiter (because it is the richest source of iodine), and rebuilding and maintaining the proper function of all glands.
Reported to aid in brain development.
Offsets deficiencies of an inferior diet.
Kelp helps prevent osteoporosis.
Beneficial for those suffering from impotence, anemia and emaciation.
Helps to detoxify the body.
Helps to increase metabolism.
May help in controlling obesity because it dissolves fatty wastes through the skin.
Seaweed bath helps maintain hormone balance for a more youthful body.

Seaweed suddenly sounds quite delicious huh? Well, IT IS!!

Here is an amaazing dessert creation of mine, which is Raw and fabulous! Recipe to come soon if you wish!

Farmer’s Market loot:

6 bell peppers
1 kabocha squash (YUMMM!)
Carrots

I am off to bake my squash now! Later in the week I am hoping to have some product reviews + raw dessert and vegan dessert recipes for you all!

Enjoy the rest of you Sunday!

xo,
Dara