Are you still longing for another ladle-full of steaming soup? Some piping hot melty pizza fresh from the oven? Anything with pasta and savory tomato sauce?
Yet, we are being reminded that spring is just around the corner!
In Eastern North Carolina, there are daffodil, tulip tree, red bud, and Bradford Pear in bloom, but we are stuck in near freezing temps at night.
If a sunbeam shines, we throw a party!
Hard to crawl out of winter’s hibernation mode; and even harder to shake off those holiday pounds for swimming suit weather.
What to do?
I have a couple new ideas – along with a blast from the past – that could help our dilemma.
Comfort food without a big carb hit. Let’s see what this looks like.
The first recipe – Yogurt Barley and Herb Soup – comes from my dear friends in California, Betty and Jane. Way back when, we attended Sacramento State College, (now California State University at Sacramento).
If ‘barley’ makes you wonder where my gluten-free mind went, fear not. I will give you a gluten-free option – although it’s not quite as chewy.
Short of Egg Drop Soup, I never had a soup that featured a serious egg component. That’s one thing that caught my interest – this soup has staying power. You’ll not be roaming around the kitchen for a snack two hours later!
Yogurt, Barley or Quinoa, and Herb Soup
Ingredients
4 cups water if using barley – OR – 1 cup of water if using quinoa
3 cups water – OR – the equivalent – in salt free chicken broth
¼ cup barley – OR – ½ cup quinoa
4 eggs
2 Tbs. flour – OR – gluten free all-purpose flour
2 cups plain yogurt – NOT Greek yogurt
1 Tbs. onion flakes
1 tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. thyme
2 cubes bullion – (*) if using water instead of broth
1 ½ tsp. seasoned salt
½ tsp. mint flakes
2 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. parsley
Method
For barley: Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add barley. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.
For quinoa: Add the quinoa to one cup boiling water. Simmer covered, until all moisture is absorbed – about 20 minutes. Set aside.
In saucepan using a wire whip, blend the eggs with your choice of flour, beating well.
Add yogurt and blend.
Add remaining 3 cups of either water or broth. I recommend the salt-free broth so the salty bouillon cubes can be avoided.
Add remaining ingredients (except barley or quinoa) and whisk together until blended.
Heat almost to a boil, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened – about 2 minutes.
Stir in barley or quinoa and heat another minute.
Serve. The original recipe card says to invite a hungry Russian peasant! This is a hearty soup and is best served fresh and will serve 3-4 with no leftovers.
There’s just something about pizza… yet it often is a source of some really bad ingredients for healthy eating and always presents with a serious carb hit. Even if you switch to gluten-free flour versions, there is a large carbohydrate factor.
I had heard about cauliflower crust recipes, but I just wasn’t motivated to tackle that from scratch. Fortunately, I stumbled upon this Caulipower frozen crust the other day. One third of a crust has just 26 grams of carbohydrate, so if you eat a half like I do, it’s still in an acceptable range.
These crusts are individually wrapped so it’s easy to use just one while keeping the other one protected and frozen. I definitely plan on referring to these again in the future. Let me know what you think.
Pizza sauce is actually good for us! The concentrated tomato concoction imparts lots of antioxidant lycopene – great for heart health and reduced cancer risk – as well as a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K.
Look for a brand of pizza sauce low in sugar, no high fructose corn syrup or alphabet soup preservatives. I prefer Classico brand. I’ll use almost ½ of their small jar on one of these pizzas.
Caulipower Pizza
Ingredients
1 Caulipower frozen crust
Lots of pizza sauce
Better meat choices: Cooked ground turkey or grass fed ground beef – maybe a bit of ground Italian sausage
Add some heat and/or flavor to the meat while sautéing the crushed red pepper flakes, anise, and Italian herbs
Sliced olives – a source of good fats and flavor
Knock yourself out for colorful veggies: Red/orange bell peppers, purple onion, and spinach
Grated cheese
Method
You know the drill.
Preheat oven per package instructions.
Unwrap the Caulipower crust and place it along with the cardboard underneath onto a cookie sheet.
Decorate! Sauce. Meat. Goodies. Cheese.
Bake according to package directions.
Enjoy!
Okay. That leaves us with a blast from the past. After sharing this with my California friend, Betty, she has received nothing but raves about this appetizer. It’s so easy to serve at home and to take to a party. With March Madness ramping up, this will become your go-to recipe for – dare I say – healthy snacking!
Zucchini Dipping “Bread/Crust” gets dipped in …you guessed it – Pizza Sauce! We already know how good that is for us. You’ll like this easy recipe I originally saw on Delish but has many iterations on the internet.
I treat this as a concept recipe. Rarely have I used three zucchini. Also zucchini vary in size. Usually it’s one good sized zucchini, one egg, a dash of this and that. Here’s the original recipe.
Zucchini Dipping Bread from Delish
INGREDIENTS
3 medium zucchini, or about 4 cups grated zucchini
2 large eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. shredded mozzarella, divided
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 c. cornstarch – I use arrowroot or tapioca flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. freshly chopped parsley
Marinara, for dipping
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425º and line a baking sheet with parchment. On a box grater or in a food processor, grate zucchini. Using cheesecloth or a dish towel, wring excess moisture out of zucchini.
- Transfer zucchini to a large bowl with eggs, garlic, oregano, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, and cornstarch and season with salt and pepper. Stir until completely combined.
- Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and pat into a crust. Bake until golden and dried out – 25 minutes.
- Sprinkle with remaining 2 cups mozzarella, crushed red pepper flakes, and parsley and bake until cheese is melted – 8 to 10 minutes more.
- Slice and serve with marinara.
Whew! Three recipes in one post! I’m trying to make up for lost time.
Don’t forget to use our Blabbermouth Chocolates discount code just for our readers! Some Costa Rican Coffee/Chocolate is melting in my mouth right now! Mmmmmm! The Blabbermouth folks are giving our readers 10% off their first order. See the previous post for details in case you missed it!
In health, soup, pizza sauce, and chocolate-
Deidre
Thanksgiving? Leftovers may be my favorite part of the holiday, so it seems appropriate to have savored my Cranberry Secret Sauce over some peanut butter on gluten free toast for breakfast today.
Check last week’s post to keep that tasty and versatile jewel of redness around for the whole holiday season.
bacterial hand soap.
Finally, Bath and Body Works and other purveyors of “soap-ness,” have returned to offering most of their wares in the non-antibacterial form. Excellent!
squirt-top container, I discovered regular liquid is too thick to go through the apparatus. What to do? I tried diluting the liquid – one-part soap to 2-3 parts water – guess what? Foaming soap! Think of all the water I had been buying all those years.
No matter what soap we use, the trick is in proper handwashing technique. Rub, rub, rub those dirty paws thoroughly. Get to all surfaces of the hands, between fingers, and scrape your nails along the palm of the opposite hand to drive the soap bubbles underneath them. The rubbing process with soapy hands should last for 15-20 seconds or two hums of the Happy Birthday song.
truly proper handwashing, coupled with not touching your face, will break that hand-to-mouth/eye/nose circle of germ circulation.
Today’s next tidbit is something I’ve successfully employed in my recovery from being in a hypervigilant state for the past two years – even longer, as I endeavored to be “on-the-ready” for my husband’s changing needs.
mean our nervous systems magically switch to a normal maintenance mode. Some of my symptoms were manifesting as an irregular heartbeat at bedtime.
Maybe you, too, are trying to come off of a hypervigilant state. Whether it’s a different living circumstance, a change in jobs, or a change in relationships, converting to a calmer state of mind is not easy. Others may wonder why you may be having a rough time since the “problem” has been eliminated.
While I am still very much a work in progress, I would like to share a bit of success that may help you, too. Curing hypervigilance and anxiety requires a multi-faceted approach, often with professional counselors, but this may be a starting point for you.
This is how that went for me – here comes that nightly tension; I’m feeling those strong erratic beats of my heart which causes more anxiety – and instead of the usual tailspin, I applied alternate thinking.
quiet breathing.
Remember to be “off screen” before bed each night; the blue light of electronic screens is detrimental to the production of sleep-inducing hormones. Read something relaxing and helpful from a good old-fashioned printed book. It can be part of your winding-down routine for a good night’s sleep.
working is a big job. While post-hurricane mold spores swirl in the air along with the usual mix of wintertime viruses, many of us are walking a thin line between health and vocal collapse.
I’ve cheated the all-night simmering of chicken bones with large boxes of organic, free range, chicken bone broth.
2 chicken thighs
It’s that good.
“bad ones”
1 cinnamon stick
sweetness later on during cooking)
Place a sieve over a bowl. Pour raspberries and their juices into sieve. Using a spoon or rubber spatula, press the berries through the sieve until only seeds remain.
Dice up the peeled pear. I usually make a small dice by slicing through the thick part of each pear quarter, make lengthwise slices of both layers, then cut horizontally to make small pieces. Add pear to the cooking berries.
When you deem the sauce is finished cooking by noting the consistency and the popped state of the berries, turn off the heat and allow to cool a bit. Remove the cinnamon stick.
may have some sense of a lack of fulfillment – or downright panic -with no added sugars. Dessert seems to be a thing of the past.
In the recipe section of Toolkit for Wellness, I included a few ideas to dress up these seeds into what I call a jam. If you add berries and cook them in on the stove, you can get a bowl of chia goodness (that will be prettier).
add creates the flavor. A small handful of dried fruit works well, too.
Forget the New Year’s party hats. Where’s the chicken soup?
In a saucepan, assemble:
Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger, and lemon slices in butter and olive oil until onions are translucent.
There is nothing like Mama’s TLC and chicken soup, to be sure, but this comes in at a close second- especially if you are the source of your own TLC!
stomach that just ingested a bit of the divine … that is … a spoonful of Coconut Ganache.
For my one post this Holiday Season, let me share this little bit of Heaven. It will challenge you to dish out this goodness with all you meet. Spread the love and possibly heal a past hurt by sharing the healing “salve” of Coconut Ganache!
different things. As my beloved continues to slumber more than 15 hours a day now, it would be easy for me to just ‘spin in place’ as I watch his winding down. The three rounds of planks that energized me on Tuesday, are just not motivating me today. My yoga mat is not calling to me.
oncept instead.
The first step is to smash-up some watermelon.
Having made this three times this week, my salad contents have varied with the addition of leftover sautéed okra, avocado, mango, blueberries, steamed broccoli, and of course that chicken.
ever so quiet lately due to my caregiving ministrations, which are always a priority. Thank you for your patience and understanding concerning my unpredictability. My dear husband continues to be under hospice care and my care at home. Still confined to bed, his uncomplaining and appreciative attitude is sprinkled with humor, insight, and love.
With a Valentine’s Day post in mind, I kept making these little darlings in heart shapes. Needless to say, I missed that deadline; but a heart-shaped scone is so precious any time of year! A good way to say, “I love you!” don’t you think?
e problematic if the walnuts are not finely chopped. A secret method? I ended up actually filling the heart shape, pressing the dough down to reach the edges and height of the cookie cutter exactly. Consistent results and portion control.
ks” of proteins. Just 1/3 cup of quinoa flakes contains 4 grams of protein.
Walnuts- a great source of plant-based Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and an amino acid l-arginine which is heart healthy. Walnuts have been shown to help with brain function, suppression of tumor growth, weight control through increased satiety, as well as improved blood sugar levels. Experts say that even a quarter of a cup of walnuts a day can positively impact our health.
benefit. But wait! You’re not done! Remember to soak your raw walnuts overnight in salted water; rinse and drain; then dehydrate at a low temperature (110-118 degrees) until light and crispy. The results are crunchy and much more digestible. As always, refer to your copy of 
Flax absorbs moisture. Wait a minute to test dough again before adding another tablespoon of it, if needed.
king instructions.
Apply egg wash using a brush.
enjoy a big game, final tournament, or the Olympics, (YES!), every once in a while. What’s a big game without big game food? Can the words, ‘big game food,’ even be uttered by someone trying to, “Do my body good,” at every turn?
Wonder why that weight is not melting away after holding back on gluten? It’s probably because you have a cupboard full of gluten-free equivalents. In other words, you are still eating pretzels, pizza, brownies, pasta, cakes, and cookies. That’s a lot of carbs, folks.
done in such a rush, you know? I was hastily scanning the gluten-free frozen foods section when I spied what I thought was frozen thin crusts for pizza. A quick read of the very short ingredient list passed the test for no chemicals or high fructose corn syrup. Okay. Grab it. Done. Out of the store.
Prep an assortment of vegetables. I used purple onion, red and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, baby spinach leaves, and olives. Use your imagination- colors and textures abound!
Maybe this paper thin crust pizza will become your go-to big game or Friday night treat. It has for me!
So let’s blast off each day with a little something that is yummy, delicious, and easy to do. This is also excellent for your energy levels, clarity, and focus – AND – is full of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammation elements which will soothe your insides.
Blitz this in a blender or use an immersion blender.
What I have discovered about Power Coffee is that I am not ‘charged up’ in a jittery way. I am focused. There is no need to ‘dig deep’ to get out of my chair to start the day’s activities. I am experiencing very stable energy levels and my ‘drive’ lasts and lasts. This is all on coffee that is 50% decaf.
with amazing anti-inflammatory properties. Studies show, turmeric is protective against forming the precursors of Alzheimer’s. Its anti-inflammatory properties are shown to relieve symptoms of arthritis, and it is protective against cancer.
