Category Archives: Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Recipes, This -n- That

Sunshine, Blue Skies, and Basil Boats!

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Summertime, and the livin’ is easy …

This is the perfect throw-together dish to serve on a hot afternoon, along with a favorite beverage.

Basil Boats. That’s what I call them.

When the basil is just starting to show its splendor, basil boats appear. You know, those perfectly cupped leaves that just beg to be filled with goodness?

So often, I just harvest the basil to quickly turn its fragrant leaves into pesto destined for the ice cube trays for future use.

STOP!

I am finally using these early crop beauties to contain wonderfulness! 

One usually sees basil carefully cut into chiffonade, added to mozzarella cubes or balls, tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and carefully perched onto a slice of French bread. All well and good.

Perfection, in any language.

Well, I’ve reversed the process just a bit and the results are attractive, playful, and totally tasty. 

Also, unlike other hand-held bites, these can be consumed within two or more bites, without spilling mishaps. An easily learned hold on the curved leaves, will result in spillage-free eating.

After carefully rinsing and drying the large, curled basil boat leaves, I prepared the fresh mozzarella by slicing into small squares.

Adding sliced cherry tomatoes to the mozzarella squares, and some olives – I was hoping for black olives, but the Kalamata olives were just fine – I rolled up a few of the smaller basil leaves to thinly slice into chiffonade slices. A spoonful of Robust Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar along with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, and I stirred up the toppings. 

But something was missing … hmmm … the French bread! 

After pan toasting a slice of French bread from the freezer, I sliced it into small squares, and tossed them in some butter and garlic salt.

After tossing the bread squares with the mozzarella and tomato mixture, the boats were filled.

Pairing our ‘Basil Boats’ with a delightful buttery Chardonnay, we feasted on a perfect mid-afternoon snack. 

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In health and still smiling – Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Recipes, This -n- That

Let’s Take A Trip To The Nearly Near East

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I have a problem with quinoa.

No, it’s not the spelling or the pronunciation – (KEEN-wah).

It’s the texture – or that its texture is so loose and not stuck together, which makes it seem too light, fluffy, and not substantial.

Oh, they make sticky quinoa just like sticky rice; but, for me, it’s too sticky.

Now I sound like Goldilocks. Too loose. Too sticky. Searching for the middle ground.

When my sweetheart showed me his favorite quinoa at the store, we bought and prepared it for dinner that night. Just like Goldilocks, this one was just right.

What was the difference?

The Near East brand he liked was a mixture of both quinoa and brown rice and offered the perfect blend of herbs and spices.

Voila and Eureka!

But I didn’t like buying a small box of the stuff every time I wanted savory quinoa. I have giant bags of quinoa and brown rice at home; so, all I had to do was duplicate the spice blend.

After snapping a picture of their ingredients list on the box, I set out to create my own version of their recipe for yumminess and texture.

I know labels start with the largest quantities of ingredients and in descending order, continue to the least. That list gave me a hazy road map – the rest was up to me.

Ingredients:  Quinoa**, parboiled long grain brown rice, salt, maltodextrin, yeast extract, onion powder, garlic powder, dried rosemary, dried parsley, tomato powder, dextrose, sugar, citric acid, spices, tapioca maltodextrin, natural flavor, sunflower oil, olive oil, tocopherols – preservative.

Clearly, some items were never going to be in my version: maltodextrin, yeast extract, dextrose, citric acid, tapioca maltodextrin, natural flavor, (highly processed) sunflower oil, and tocopherol preservatives. I also had plans to replace the sugar with a pinch of erythritol and monk fruit sugar alternative.

Did you know that according to Better Homes and Gardens magazine, “natural flavor” is a mystery ingredient defined by the FDA as:

“a substance extracted, distilled, or similarly derived from natural sources like plants, (fruits, herbs, veggies, barks, roots, etc.), or animals, (meat, dairy products, eggs, etc.), via a method of heating, with its main function in food being flavoring not nutritional.”

Why am I not leaping for joy?

As for the tomato powder, I’ve never had any. Is it a thing? But I found a tomato/basil seasoning blend recently and will be using it as I prepare for this post. We’ll see how it works out.

On to my concept recipe with no measurements for the spices:

Nearly East Quinoa and Brown Rice with Olive Oil

In a saucepan put:

  • 2/3 cup/ 156 ml       quinoa – rinsed in water and drained to reduce the anti-nutrient content
  • 1/3 cup/ 78 ml         brown rice
  • 2 cups/ 473 ml        water
  • Salt
  • Onion powder
  • Garlic powder
  • Crushed dried rosemary
  • Dried parsley
  • Optional pinch of sugar or erythritol
  • Additional spices/herbs that may contain:
    • Dried tomato flakes
    • Dried basil
    • Dried oregano

Give everything a good stir, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook until all water has been absorbed.

We have been totally satisfied with the results of combining two parts quinoa, with one part brown rice, along with this assortment of spices and olive oil.

It’s also more economical to easily duplicate this mix from what is already in your cupboard than buy it pre-done.

This quinoa/rice blend is a handy side dish and makes a nice addition sprinkled cold on a salad or added to a breakfast bowl instead of grits.

Why do we eat quinoa?

It’s an ancient grain once considered to be sacred by the Incas.

Really a seed, quinoa is prepared the same way grains are. Full of protein, nutrients, and fiber quinoa is also gluten-free and contributes to an anti-inflammatory diet. Rinsing before cooking reduces the elements that prevent our absorption of key nutrients.

Note: If you have chronic kidney stones, the oxalates in quinoa could contribute to stone formation.

The fiber, protein, and a host of nutrients make quinoa a smart carbohydrate to incorporate into your diet. Adding brown rice to the mix doubles down on the high fiber and nutrients.

Both grains can contribute to balancing of blood sugar levels, weight loss, regularity, and reducing cholesterol. What’s not to like?

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In health-

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Recipes

Big Red Gets Your Body Fed!

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When in doubt, go for the color.

Colorful fruits and vegetables are chockfull of benefits. They are often described as having phytonutrients – which means they have plant-derived compounds that are good for us.

Whether you can quote all the phytonutrients found in each colorful bite or not doesn’t matter.

Just know colorful foods are full of goodness, have less or none of the bad, will not weigh you down, are convenient and affordable, and offer a whole body health boost – as stated by the American Heart Association.

Today, we are concentrating on all things red, with a recipe for red/purple onions at the end.

Lycopene is the standout phytonutrient of red fruits and vegetables. The push to add extra tomato sauce and paste to recipes is because studies show lycopene helps to prevent, and even reverse, prostate cancer.

Watermelon is even higher in lycopene than tomatoes, and it also has citrulline which may help treat Erectile Dysfunction.

But reds are not just benefitting the guys.

We are all getting an abundance of vitamins and minerals with each bite – along with a host of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. Remember, excess inflammation drives disease and oxidative stress drives aging and causes the creation of free radicals which contribute to disease.

My recent foray into red onions included an inspiring meal at B J’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Cary, NC. The food in this chain restaurant was fresh and did not taste mass produced. The Cauliflower and Quinoa Power Bowl with Blackened Salmon sent me home in search of marinated red onion recipes and a desire to recreate the basic parts of this dish.

Many recipes for marinated red onions often include large quantities of sugar in the brine mixture. That’s a no go for me. Others involved several boiling water baths for the onion rings.

Meh. Too much work.

I finally settled on this combination of ingredients that was easy:

Marinated Red Onions 101

In a large, wide-mouth glass jar or large bowl, place 1 large red onion, sliced into thin circles.

In a smaller bowl, combine the following:

1/4 cup / 60 ml         red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup / 60 ml         water

2 Tbs. / 30ml              extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. / 5 ml                 Dijon mustard – I used spicy brown mustard this time

1 tsp. / 5 ml                 honey

1 Tbs. / 15 ml             chopped fresh herbs or 1 tsp. / 5 ml dry herbs (to taste) – I used dried oregano

1/2 tsp. / 2.5 ml        sea salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste.

Whisk the ingredients until well-combined and pour over the onions.

If using a glass jar, screw on the lid and shake a bit to coat and break apart the onion slices. Refrigerate and shake every so often.

If using a bowl, stir the onions and marinade, separating the onion rings as you go. Cover, refrigerate, and stir occasionally.

These rings will be crunchy and tasty in a few hours, and deliciously wilted in a day or two.

Marinated red onions offer visual, taste, and textural appeal to salads, protein entrees, tacos, burgers, and to top savory quinoa.

You don’t have to tell the family they are getting blood pressure lowering sulfur, lots of quercetin to calm inflammation and impart antibacterial protection, fiber, probiotics, or a host of other things.

Nope. Just enjoy the compliments

Look how our dinner plates turned out. The protein was sliced boneless pork chops.

Recipe for my homemade version of Near East Rice with Quinoa next time.

See if you can add some red pepper, tomato, strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, apple, cranberry, cherry, red onion, pomegranate, or beet to your next meal.

In health-

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

Three-Legged Stools

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Sometimes we need reminders – that includes authors of healthy lifestyle blogs.

Yes, even me.

You see, we were wondering why something wasn’t working so well as I bustled around the kitchen this morning – “being all healthy.”

Soaking chia seeds for my sweetheart’s smoothie. Grinding up flax seeds for us both. Sautéing unbreaded okra slices for my gluten-free breakfast bowl. Drinking a glass of water as our first fluids of the day. Vitamins.

All the good things … Except.

Someone was complaining of “death balls” after a trip to the bathroom.

And someone else left the bathroom in happy amazement and relief.

What was the difference between the two of us?

It goes back to that truth-giving, three-legged stool. Take away just one of those legs, and the stool no longer functions.

Regardless of age, the human body needs three things in consistent daily supply for optimal bowel function. Yes, we’re talking about poop – and I’ve done this before HERE – but it bears repeating. Not sorry if this is TMI.

Repeat after me –

MY BODY NEEDS:

  1. WATER
  2. FIBER
  3. EXERCISE

There should be enough water to lighten up the color of urine – which will be darker first thing in the morning. The number of 8-ounce glasses varies depending upon the level of hydration and if there is sweating. Generally, the number is 8 glasses.

Fiber minimums for adults are 21-25 grams for women and 30-38 grams for men. Most of us are dramatically deficient in getting enough fiber. You can read about ramping up fiber in our March 8th post.

Okay. That’s two legs of the stool. Isn’t that enough? No, foodtalk readers, it is not.

Nothing takes the place of exercise.

When I took my walk early yesterday morning at a jauntier pace than usual, and then did a repeat walk in the afternoon, I left the bathroom smiling today.

What with doing taxes at the computer for days and sitting to write a bit more, the walks were less peppy and not as long. The resulting disappointments in the bathroom were predictable.

Duh!

In health-

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Recipes

Celebrating The Orange and Green!

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Saint Patrick’s Day conjures up images of the Chicago River waters running emerald, or a draught of green Guinness from the local pub.

As most of the northern hemisphere is still trying to shake off the hoary frosts of winter – it was 19 degrees F in our area this past weekend – and as our southern hemisphere readers are gearing up for fall, I was looking for some warming comfort food.

Most decorations for this festive season’s nod to all things Irish, which center on everything green; but in search of the perfect comfort food, I was reminded of the other Irish color: orange.

So, I’m pulling up a blast-from-the-past – Good, Better, Best Butternut Squash Soup – that dishes up orange and a bowlful of yumminess.

Plain butternut squash soup is – good.

When caramelized onions and garlic are added, you get something – better.

Add anti-inflammatory spices, creamy good fat from coconut milk and bone building gelatin, and you’ll have the best steamy bowlful of butternut squash goodness you’ve ever had! It’s the BEST!

By using my trusty immersion blender, I simply blitzed the cooked soup ingredients into creamy wonderfulness. No more using a dripping ladle to fill a blender in small hot batches to blitz, then having to pour the soup into ANOTHER pot to finish. Yay! I can’t recommend my immersion blender enough!

This recipe was originally crafted with the flesh of a previously roasted butternut squash. Peeling this hard gourd was dangerous with a knife. Then I picked up a new vegetable peeler that was shaped differently, so now peeling thicker skins is a breeze. 

Armed with the most effective equipment, let’s dive into our soup recipe:

GOOD – BETTER – BEST BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Into a large soup pot on medium heat add:

1 yellow onion, chopped*

½ bulb of garlic (that’s about 5-6 cloves), peeled, smashed, and chopped*

*Make sure to let these prepared allium family vegetables rest at least ten minutes before cooking. See my book, Toolkit for Wellness, page 162, to learn why.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil to cover the bottom of the pot

A dollop of grass-fed butter for an extra yummy factor (about a tablespoon or so)

Slowly sauté onion and garlic in oil and butter until clear. Reduce heat and add a tablespoon or two of water to continue cooking to caramelize veggies. This may take 7-10 minutes.

Add the following seasonings and ingredients:

2 teaspoons of curry

1 tablespoon of turmeric

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

½ can full fat coconut milk (if the cream is solid, scoop out about half to use and pour about half of the clear fluid into soup pot)

¼ cup of Great Lakes unflavored gelatin, evenly sprinkled over the top of the ingredients

1 – 32-ounce organic free range chicken broth with about ½ cup of water to rinse out container

Flesh of one raw butternut squash, peeled and cubed

Simmer with lid on until the squash is tender – about 30 minutes depending upon the size of the squash pieces.

When the squash is tender, use your immersion blender to turn this soup into creamy goodness.

There’s nothing left to do but serve and enjoy! A dollop of sour cream, crema, or Greek yogurt on top of each bowl is a nice flavor touch, as well.

Butternut squash is low in calories, has no cholesterol, and is a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins. In fact, it has more Vitamin A than pumpkin. Vitamin A is an antioxidant and is vital in skin and eye health. Butternut squash also is a great source for flavonoids which convert into Vitamin A and is a rich source of B-complex vitamins.

The onions and garlic add to the anti-inflammatory features of this soup as do the spices which are very beneficial to fighting inflammation.

The gelatin is an excellent source of protein and is extremely helpful to bone and joint health.

The coconut milk is a source of good fats that help power you through your day.

The taste? Mmmm good!

Keeping warm and in health-

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Recipes, This -n- That

Soup du jour For A Cold Winter Day

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We had our first big snow of the year the other day. Yup. A whopping 3.5 inches of the white stuff in my new central North Carolina home. Back nearer the coast, my former hometown dealt with ice and a bit of snow – sorry, guys.

We are all looking for big bowls of soup or soupy stews to warm our insides here in the Northern Hemisphere. Our down-under friends can file these ideas away for comforting food in a few months.

Over these last few weeks, there have been several soups – including:

Potato Leek Soup – with chunks of leftover ham added after blending, mmm …

Clam Chowder

Spicy lasagna soup with gluten-free lasagna noodles as a substitution

Chili

Plus, a couple of stew-like chicken and vegetable concoctions served over rice using these:

Yai’s Thai brand yellow Thai coconut Curry, and

Mina brand Shakshuka Moroccan Tomato Sauce

These two jarred sauces added just enough punch in their respective stews to make our tastebuds sing. And, in keeping with eating real foods, the ingredient lists are short with only real foods listed. No chemicals or preservatives. Yay.

The chicken-based stews both featured cubes of butternut squash and potatoes. The added potassium in these two have quelled my nighttime foot cramps. Review the post about potassium HERE.

Vegetable components varied using what was on hand for the Shakshuka sauce to bags of frozen Asian stir fry veggies for the curry.

All I had to do was throw the chicken into the crockpot or into a large pan with lid – I prefer boneless and skinless thighs – with the sauce, potato and butternut squash chunks, and onion, and forget about it. When the chicken was tender, extra veggies were added to finish.

Easy-peasy.

I must give a shout-out to Half-Baked Harvest for the yummy Spicy Lasagna Soup. That one is a keeper! Tieghan Gerard has some wonderful recipes on her site. I just eschew most of the dessert and bready items – foods that cause spikes in blood sugar are truly evil – more on that as we revisit Metabolical in a coming post.

Lastly, as I was stationed in the kitchen chopping veggies for these soups and stews, I answered the call of my rumbling tummy with an old childhood favorite.

Do you remember stuffed celery? The kind with peanut butter? Maybe you called it Men in a Boat if raisins were added?

Check out my Reece’s version of Men in a Boat using mini semi-sweet chocolate chips – delish!

In health – fall, winter, spring, and summer – one decision, one bite at a time –

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Titles Worth Reading

Playing The Game Of Clue

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We are presented with a victim covered in band aids.

Every year, more and more band aids are applied to stop our victim’s various leaks. Each effort is quelling one leak, but more leaks keep popping up.

What is the cause?

Are we so busy treating the symptoms, that a true understanding of the causes for our collective diseases are being ignored? Or maybe truly fixing the cause is not financially advantageous to those who are supplying their vast resources of expensive band aids to us?

We explored leaky gut last year HERE, but now I want to soar even higher for an even broader, 50,000-foot view.

Ever wanting to learn more about health and wellness, I have discovered Metabolical by Robert H. Lustig, MD. He compliments my messages in Toolkit for Wellness– our being designed for good health and eating an anti-inflammatory diet – and focuses his prescription for health into 1) protecting the liver and 2) feeding the gut.

In his scholarly book, he peels back layer-after-layer of the band aids to reveal the long-ignored causes. His descriptions of the intricate physiology of cells and body systems underscores my determination to not use band aids – but to prevent needing them in the first place.

Lustig calls this solving the problem upstream – at the source of the trouble.

Where’s the trouble?

In the food.

Processed food, specifically.

Not vegan vs. keto vs. organic vs. fill-in-the-blank.

This is not a new message, I know. Hang with me for a moment.

Lustig supports his conclusions that 75% of the US health dollars and 50% of the world’s health dollars go towards efforts to medically “fix” the host of chronic non-infectious diseases that affect modern society: diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

These fixes are failing at dizzying speed as numbers of cases rise every day despite all the money being spent AND as our life expectancies shrink.

He likens our efforts to medically “fix” these and other noncommunicable diseases that plague us as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” for all the good they are doing.

Even cancer, autoimmune disease, dementia, and psychiatric disease is being shown to be processed food related, and more cases of advanced disease processes of all kinds are being seen in teenagers.

As I have long said, we are not crumbling genetically – we are feeding our bodies the wrong food. These startling statistics are simply the culmination of 40-50 years of relying upon food-like substances, not real food.

I’m just on page 55 so far, but the over-arching message is that the chronic diseases of today are a result of abnormal metabolism in different cells and different organs of the body. Abnormal metabolism becomes metabolic syndrome which is the springboard for insulin resistance, diabetes, and fatty liver disease – and obesity.

Abnormal metabolism is set aright not by a fix of pills, (band aids), but by food choice.

What’s for dinner tonight? Is there added sugar and/or salt to the ingredients list? When was the last time any of us cooked a meal totally from real/whole food with no labels?

I’ll be sharing more from his book in future posts but let me leave you with Lustig’s experience with trying to advance treatments for his pediatric diabetic patients.

After years of falling in line with the likes of the American Diabetic Association and others who rested their diabetes approaches on “covering” blood sugars with appropriate amounts of insulin, Dr. Lustig proposed something novel: How about decreasing the need for insulin by NOT eating sugar?

He was regarded as if he had sprouted horns.

Why?

Because some studies have not been conclusive as to what raises blood glucose levels. Really? Oh, you mean the studies that were backed by food interests – including Pepsi? Hmmm…

The studies not backed by food/beverage interests did show that sugar causes diabetes (Type 2).

Ta-da!

Food for thought, dear readers. That’s why we call this foodtalk4you.

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In health-

Deidre

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

Echinacea is The Powerhouse!

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Is your body feeling challenged?

Have you ever crumpled on the couch after a day that has taken a toll on your limited energies only to feel – how shall I describe this – a bit challenged? Maybe there’s a feeling niggling inside that says, “Whoa! I might be sensing something not good starting to happen”?

Whether we are experiencing good stress – called eustress – or bad stress, the toll on the body is often the same.

Factor in our increased holiday activities, and there’s a recipe for being more susceptible to colds, flu, and the like – not to mention COVID.

Elderberry

Whenever I am feeling overly tired, challenged, or have that niggling feeling, my go-to is echinacea or elderberry.

The coneflowers of the echinacea plant may grace your garden with their stunning beauty and variety of color options. It’s long been used by Native Americans for its medicinal properties when taken internally or used on the skin to treat wounds.

Before you dive into using any form of echinacea, please check out THIS POST for vital information about precautions, interactions, and dosing. All medicines started out in nature – just because we can get them over the counter does not mean we should casually use them on our own.

Echinacea

Echinacea as an anti-inflammatory agent helps to support proper immune function. Its antioxidants bolster our immune response. It is not a treatment for COVID.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that many studies have been done on echinacea’s use with the common cold and other respiratory tract infections. This is what I am trying to ward off or lessen when I turn to echinacea.

I have also discovered elderberry syrup can be helpful in boosting my immune response, so I have added it to my ward-off-getting-sick arsenal by either preparing a cup of tea with one dropperful of an echinacea or elderberry containing extract OR by chewing up five Nature’s Way Esberitox Chewable Tabs.

This is anecdotal evidence, but when coupled with a smart approach that includes –

Respecting my body’s messages to slow down

Getting adequate sleep

Eating real food with no additives

Maintaining modest exercise

Then I can successfully keep the wolf on the other side of the door, and can wake up with stable energies and no more niggling feelings of impending badness.

Taking a couple days of down time to catch up and recharge before continuing our vacation explorations – this time in the mountains –

In health –

Deidre

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, This -n- That

Thanksgiving Delights While You Wait

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What’s happening while the Thanksgiving meal is in the oven? Does your family participate in a Turkey Trot? Is everyone watching a football game? Perhaps family members are linked together only by uncomfortable silences.

Bring that party together by printing out our first-ever wordsearch puzzle! Using key terms from many of this year’s posts, we’ve made a wordsearch puzzle just for you. Share what you’ve learned about these key terms with your family and friends as an icebreaker or conversation starter about healthful living.

Let’s take a look at these terms:

Foodtalk – Our term here at foodtalk4you for the helpful exchange of information – we strive to feed the body, mind, and spirit.

Gluten-free – Choosing food that doesn’t contain the gluten which is found in wheat, barley, and rye flour. Gluten is pro-inflammatory for many people. Just leave gluten behind for 30 days to see how you feel. Chances are you will have a happier belly with smoothly functioning digestive processes, clearer thinking, and an increased sense of well-being. Learn more HERE.

Mindful – Tuning into the present moment within yourself, others, and your surroundings. It’s being aware and responsible for your choices. Learn about mindful eating HERE.

Breathe – We explored the need to breathe using our noses and not our mouths HERE as a first basic step to total body health and welfare. Patterns of breathing (box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing for example) can help us not only de-stress but aide in falling asleep. Catch some ZZZs HERE.

Zentangle – Fun, relaxing art form reminiscent of doodling that uses fewer supplies than adult coloring. Catch the fun HERE.

Crema – Recipes were shared featuring the least thick of the trifecta of sauces selected. Find your crema HERE.

Crème fraiche – The perfect blending of heavy cream and buttermilk that is perfect for stroganoff or whipped up over fresh fruit. Grab your recipe HERE.

Honeycrisp – These apples are the perfect addition to spruce up fall salads with visual appeal, crunch, and flavor. Click on the recipe HERE.

Crockpot – In the cooler seasons, crockpots are the perfect appliance for outstanding savory flavors with minimum effort. Find a yummy recipe HERE.

Plan ahead – Moving our plans from a thought or wish to reality is a frequent topic here at foodtalk4you. Success comes in taking the tiny steps every day that will nudge us toward our goals. Review this topic HERE.

Synchronicity – Stepping back from an up-close view of your circumstances to get more of a “30,000-foot view” often reveals patterns and improbable series of events that help us to appreciate the beautiful synchronicity of our lives. Good and bad experiences become part of the beautiful mosaic of our past, present, and future. Get the good vibes HERE.

Thought distortions – These kinds of thoughts threaten to not only blow circumstances out of proportion, but also undo our sense of balance and even our self-esteem. Did you cave to the temptation of a rich dessert? Your response may try to punish yourself by introducing thoughts of having failed your weight loss efforts forever. Did your new friend skip a day or two of responding to your texts? Your thought distortions may lead you – erroneously – into thinking you’ve been dumped, and you are no good at relationships. Take a breath and a moment to analyze the validity of your thoughts.

Ethylene gas – Many fruits emit this gas to facilitate the ripening process. It’s useful when you put ripening fruit in a brown paper bag so all the ethylene gas can be captured and used to speed the process. By wrapping the stem end of a bunch of bananas, the process can be slowed down. Also, one fruit’s ethylene gas can ripen a different fruit in its vicinity. Review the science HERE.

Manifesting – Takes hoping and imagining about our plans to the next level by creating a positivity within ourselves that attracts the outcomes we desire. Create your positive outcomes by reading THIS.  

Limiting beliefs – These thoughts are often born of early childhood experiences that we have internalized as facts and truths about ourselves. Peeling back the layers of our limiting beliefs helps to not only understand their origin but is also the first step in releasing those beliefs for our betterment in the present time.

Release – Letting go of hate, disappointment, grief, and limiting beliefs is a must-do before we can proceed with present joy and growth. Many resources have been shared to assist in this process.

Potassium – A critical mineral that we need for proper body function. We shared many common body issues linked to low potassium along with a resource list of foods high in this mineral HERE.

BDNF – Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor is a protein found in the brain that helps to ward off brain cell death and promotes the growth and development of new brain cells along with their thousands of connections to other nerve cells. Review this post HERE. 

Journaling – Whether it’s jotting down three ideas, experiences, or blessings at the end of the day or writing paragraphs, journaling will help each of us gain that “30,000-foot view” of our lives. Putting feelings into words transfers the process from one brain area to another, allowing for rational thought to help us figure things out. 

So, while the holiday meal’s fragrance fills the air at your house, print out our foodtalk4you puzzle, and start the conversation rolling as you discuss the terms and find them. They can be found going across, up, down, and diagonally.

Always thankful for our readers!

In health-

Deidre

  • #RAISEcaregiving (ACL’s official tag for RAISE activities)
  • #CaregivingInCrisis (CAN’s 2020 observance)
  • #NFCMonth (Annual observance hashtag)
  • #FamilyCaregiver (A larger conversation on family caregiving) 
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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, This -n- That

Pink Cadillac – That’s Where It’s At …

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Mary Kay Ash

Have you ever had Pink Cadillac Syndrome? It’s based on the idea you never knew how many pink Cadillacs were on the road until you bought one … or earned one through your Mary Kay business.

I haven’t seen a pink Cadillac in years; but I have bought something I thought unique, only to find many other people had the same idea. Where was I? Why didn’t I see all of those before?

My recent experience involved thinly sliced apples in a green salad. Simple enough idea, but new to me. Long a proponent of blueberries or strawberries tucked into a scrumptious, green salad – possibly graced with bits of walnut, tossed with a savory, balsamic vinaigrette, and topped with feta. Wow!

When recently dining in Mason Jar Tavern in the Piedmont area of our state, I enjoyed a flank steak salad that delighted all my five senses.

Anytime a meal can be delivered in salad form, I’m all in!

What made this delicious salad unique, (or so I thought), was the addition of thinly sliced apples. The presentation alone was amazing – and the subtle flavor and crisp texture of the apple slices multiplied my gastronomic experience.

Honeycrisp Apples

Not a week later, my daughter-in-love shared Half Baked Harvest’s recipe HERE for a salad featuring thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples, along with pomegranate arils. I have it on good authority this is a delightful addition to make your meal memorable.

A few days after that, Sunday’s newspaper National Magazine insert featured thinly sliced apples in a salad. Who knew?

Where have I been? Pink Cadillac Syndrome, undoubtedly, but I’m delighted I have finally woken up to the world of sliced apples to make my salads sparkle!

So that’s this week’s tip. Use some sliced apples to give your salads a new flavor and texture profile this season.

Off to slice some apples for tonight!

In health-

Deidre

The MORE button below will let you share this post with your friends. It’s also an excellent time to start gift purchases for the coming holidays. Why not go to this link HERE and get copies of my books for your friends and loved ones.