Category Archives: Holiday Celebrations

Blogging for good health!, Holiday Celebrations, Stress Reduction, This -n- That

Five Golden Rings

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Hallmark reverie!

This is a month of tidbits for me.

Taking an inspiration from one resource, Karl Moore’s, The 18 Rules of Happiness, and symbolically throwing it up in the air to see what it latches onto, is my Modis operandi right now.

After amplifying his rule #5 of, “Learning to let go,” in last week’s post, I wanted to touch upon Rule #6, “Do Random Acts of Kindness,” for this week.

Since it’s December, it’s easy to think of Secret Santa names being drawn out of a hat at the office or perhaps in your large family. But that’s assigned giving.

We’re talking about random acts of kindness.

Then, I remembered a recent Hallmark movie in which the main character repurposes five holiday greeting cards. Originally purchased to give to her now ex-boyfriend, she used those cards to send thanks and appreciation to five individuals from her past.

Not totally random, but to the recipients opening the card from someone they hadn’t seen for years seemed random – or unexpected, at least.

Close enough.

So, I’m throwing out a challenge.

Before this month is out, let’s all find five opportunities to do a random act of kindness.

Whether you pay it forward in line at the drive through or send a sincere note of thanks in snail mail to someone you haven’t seen in a long while. Find an opportunity to brighten five people’s lives in an unexpected, or random, way.

We’ll be sending out those five goldens rings referenced in that familiar song, The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Just image those five golden rings – each creating ripples of joy, gratitude, and hope.

What could be better?

In health –

Deidre

PS – you could take this idea to another level by involving your children or grandchildren and getting together to compare notes about giving successes. Could be a great teaching tool. Some of the deepest satisfaction from giving, though, is keeping it one-on-one and not seeking fame for your kindness.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Holiday Celebrations, Recipes, Stress Reduction

That’s Nuts!

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With the holiday party and baking season upon us, we turn to the subject of nuts. We’re talking about walnuts, pecans, cashews, and the like.

Nuts can be a powerhouse of nutrition with fiber, healthy oils, and beneficial phytonutrients that cut down on inflammation and ramp up heart health, blood sugar balance, and so much more.

But there can be a downside to nuts, depending on how they are treated.

Longtime readers of this blog or my book, Toolkit for Wellness, know that raw nuts are better than nuts highly processed in unhealthy oils.

But raw nuts still have factors in them that can inhibit proper absorption of nutrients and can contribute to unhappy tummies.

Enter the ‘activated nut,’ which has been handled in such a way as to eliminate the anti-digestive phytates and to activate beneficial digestive enzymes instead.

Activated nuts require soaking first, followed by dehydrating.

To soak:

Use glass bowls, if possible. Metal bowls may discolor but can be cleaned using Bar Keeper’s Friend.

Dissolve approximately 1 teaspoon of sea salt in 6 cups of water, add raw nuts, and soak. I buy large bags of nuts, so this requires multiple bowls.

Walnuts, almonds, and pecans can soak 12+ hours; cashews take just 6 hours. The water will turn quite brown.

Using a large colander, thoroughly rinse soaked nuts and spread out on towels. I have a large bath towel dedicated to this process – some staining may occur. Roll the towel up and let the towel soak up any extra moisture for a few minutes.

If nuts are to be used in a blender or food processor, they can be used now; but if long-term storage is desired or if they are to be used in baking, dehydrating is necessary.

To dehydrate:

If using a dehydrator, spread nuts out in a single layer on each tray needed, allowing for good circulation of air around the nuts. Do not crowd them. Place trays in dehydrator. Set temperature to 115-125 degrees and set timer for 12 hours.

When time is up, check for dryness and lengthen the time as needed. Store in a closed container in a cool environment.

If using the oven method, spread nuts out on large baking trays without crowding them. Set the oven at its lowest temperature. Since oven heat will be higher than the dehydrator, the drying time will be shorter. Stir nuts every hour and check for crispness after 6 hours.

Freezing nuts will lengthen their shelf life.

The resulting nut is light, crisp, and brimming with goodness!

I mostly activate pecans and walnuts, but now that my trusty dehydrator has found a place in my new home, I will return to activating almonds and cashews again as well. The brown outer covering of the soaked almond can be pinched off prior to dehydrating if desired.

Happy, healthy snacking and baking –

Deidre

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

Humming for Hummus

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Do you realize we are well into the holiday season?

The weekend before Halloween, I couldn’t find a parking place at the local grocery store! The scene before me resembled the mad crush we see just prior to Thanksgiving that continues all the way through New Year’s.

Party season is already in full swing!

Whether we are geared toward gathering to cheer for our favorite team, celebrating an event or holiday, we do love a good party.

Spanakopita

And that means having a few recipes up our sleeves to whip up in short notice that will please a crowd. Sure, it’s handy to have some packaged frozen delights we can throw into an oven with practically no effort – mini quiche and spanakopita are some of our favorites – but sometimes I just want to share something I have made.

I do not remember how the concept of pumpkin hummus entered my mind. I may have been looking to pair pumpkin with cream cheese, but what I discovered is way better!

After the requisite Google search for recipes, I compared the ingredients of the top two, side-by-side. You can see how my quick notes were dripped on and blurred.

The result is a hybrid of the two, plus my personal tweaks.

This dip was a big hit at a recent gathering and is so easy to pull together with ingredients that are generally on hand. The exception to that might be tahini – which may not be a staple for you, but it’s easily found at the grocery store.

The recent discovery of pumpkin chips at Trader Joe’s provided the perfect dipping complement to this savory pumpkin hummus.

The downloadable recipe is below. You pretty much throw everything into the food processor and that’s it!

Pumpkin HummusDownload

As recommended by one recipe, I drained the chickpeas/garbanzo beans, saving the liquid. After the initial blitzing of the ingredients, I added about 2 Tablespoonfuls of the liquid to thin the hummus just a bit.

The second time making this, I remembered to process the hummus even more. The first time around, I noticed some thin slices of chickpeas had escaped becoming pureed.

Tasting the hummus before finishing is crucial. Both times, I determined a few more shakes of all the spices would be beneficial to boost flavor.

I opted to use a few shakes of red cayenne pepper in lieu of red pepper flakes – my goal was to give interest to the naturally gentle profile of hummus – not to give a spicy kick that would result in reflux.

Pepitas/pumpkin seeds provide the perfect garnish after swirling the plated hummus with the back of a spoon and drizzling a bit of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Yum for hummus!

In health –

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Holiday Celebrations, Recipes

Creating Octoberfest!

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There’s so much confusion in this world, why add to it? Valentine’s Day is on February 14. Saint Patrick’s Day is on March 17.

Done.

But then, in 1971, an Act of Congress moved several federal holidays; Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day; to ‘designated Mondays’ to create three-day weekends for federal employees.  

Okay.

But Oktoberfest in Germany? Not in October? Honestly?

Does the name of a celebration have no meaning?

Sheesh.

It was only in recent years I learned Oktoberfest celebrations in Germany are finished, done, kaput and put away by October.

Really?

According to their official festival website:

The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810, and ended on October 17th, with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated. Later, the festival was prolonged and moved to September to utilize warmer weather for enjoyment of the outdoor events.

As a firm believer in truth in packaging, why not call it Septemberfest?

Defying the rules, we were invited to an Oktoberfest gathering at a friend’s house in October!

The hosts supplied the venue, brats with sauerkraut, a start on the beer selections, and the guests brought the side dishes, and a pack of their favorite fall beers.

What a blast! The weather was warm enough to be outdoors – the party was held in their pristine open garage – and we used tasting glasses to sample different brews.

For the last several years, I have combined a couple recipes for German Potato Salad I had gleaned from the internet – until I finally developed my own hybrid version I am sharing with you today.

German Potato SaladDownload

I took pictures of food prep, and there’s even one of the guys’ table below as they determinedly sampled every beer for a consensus vote as to favorites.

Boys!

I hope you enjoy this versatile downloadable recipe that is great for summertime grilling or a fall Oktoberfest – whenever you prefer to have one.

In health –

Deidre

PLEASE NOTE: My website, deidreedwards.com, is not yet up to speed. The website redesign is taking a bit longer than planned. I can only apologize – the downloads, and my Caregivers Toolkit Bundle, are not accessible at this time.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.

We will release an immediate announcement just as soon as the website is up and running again.

Sincerely, Deidre