It’s June and what a fun time of year. School play days, ball tournaments and soccer. We waited all winter to enjoy these outdoor events, surrounded by the green grass, new leaves and the crops popping through the soil. Everything is so refreshing, so hopeful. The smell is intoxicating, even better than my favourite scented fabric softener.
But with all of these events, we are busy, and this column focuses on good food fast.
Here are some quick breakfast smoothies that are packed with healthy ingredients.
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Smoothie #1
1/2 cup fresh or frozen 125 mL
blueberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen 125 mL
strawberries
1/4 cup chilled green tea 60 mL
3/4 cup plain yogurt 175 mL
2 tablespoons ground flax seed 25 mL
1/2 cup ice cubes or crushed ice 125 mL
Smoothie #2
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon virgin olive oil 5 mL
2 tablespoons chopped parsley 30 mL
(I’ve used dry, but fresh is better)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh 15 mL
ginger root
1 banana
1/2 cup ice cubes or crushed ice 125 mL
1/2 cup fresh or frozen 125 mL
strawberries
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on medium speed until smooth. Serve and enjoy. Makes two cups (500 mL). Add water to add proper consistency, if necessary.
The main course
For quick, healthy dinners to serve on busy nights, Company’s Coming offers its recipe book 30-Minute Weekday Meals. This cookbook features a variety of easy recipes and handy suggestions for preparing, cooking and serving a meal in less than 30 minutes. You’ll find clever shortcuts, tips and even a list of handy ingredients to keep in your kitchen. Also, partnered with each recipe are convenient “Make It a Meal” side dish suggestions to round out the menu. Here is a sample:
Beef noodle skillet
1 teaspoon cooking oil 5 mL
1 lb. lean ground beef 500 g
1 teaspoon seasoned 5 mL
salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 mL
1 can (14 oz.) diced 398 mL
tomatoes with juice
1 can (12 oz.) vegetable 341mL
cocktail juice (V8, Clamato)
1 cup water 250 mL
22/3 cups penne or other tube 650 mL
pasta
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, 250 mL
thawed
1 cup sour cream 250 mL
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 60 mL
2 tablespoons chopped green 30 mL
onion
Heat cooking oil in large frying pan on medium-high. Add ground beef, seasoned salt and pepper. Scramble-fry for five to 10 minutes until beef is no longer pink. Drain.
Add next three ingredients. Stir.
Add pasta and vegetables. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover. Simmer for about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender but firm. Add remaining three ingredients. Heat and stir for about one minute until heated through. Serves four.
Mini-Cini Rolls
These may not be what you might consider “from scratch” but they work when time is short.
2 tablespoons packed brown 30 mL
sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon 5 mL
1 teaspoon melted butter 5 mL
1 tube of refrigerated 311 g
breadsticks
1/4 cup confectioners sugar 60 mL
11/2 teaspoons cream cheese 7 mL
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 mL
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Grease a nine by 13 inch (22 x 33 cm) pan.
Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl; set aside.
Separate the breadsticks into eight strips. Sprinkle the tops with the brown sugar mixture and roll each one into a spiral, pressing to seal the ends. Arrange in the baking pan about one inch (2.5 cm) apart and bake until lightly golden, 15-18 minutes. Cool.
Prepare icing by combining the confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese and vanilla in a small bowl, adding a few drops of water, if needed, to make a smooth glaze. Drizzle over the tops of the rolls and let stand a few minutes before indulging.
Makes eight rolls. I often double the recipe. From Weight Watchers Magazine.
Did you know?
Which company is the biggest purchaser of apples? It is now the food giant, McDonald’s. Bombarded with recent obesity lawsuits and wanting to meet the needs of health conscious consumers, McDonald’s and many other fast food chains, such as Wendy’s, are adding fresh fruit to their menus. Hats off to all who are following the healthy trend.
It takes just weeks to decrease a person’s risk of chronic illnesses after making basic diet and exercise changes. The research, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found that participants experienced significant reductions of body fat, cholesterol levels and blood pressure after just six weeks of eating more grains, legumes and fresh produce and doing 30 minutes of exercise each day.
It’s in the bag, literally. A study done in Boston by Dr. Jack Bukowski, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, says ordinary black tea can prime our immune system.
After recruiting 21 non-tea drinkers, he took blood samples, then assigned 10 to drink coffee and 11 to drink tea. After exposure to E.coli bacteria in the lab, blood samples of those drinking five or six small cups of black tea a day in the first two weeks had five times more of the anti-infection chemical interferon than at the first test. That pointed to a stronger immune response in the tea group; whereas coffee drinkers showed no change. Bukowski has shown that ethylamine, a digestive byproduct of a substance in black, green and oolong tea, can stimulate the body’s white cells on the front line of our defences against infection. Since bacteria also contain ethylamine, our immune system may be put on watch by previous exposure to tea. When tea drinkers are exposed to germs, some may be protected from getting ill, or at least have a milder infection compared to non-tea drinkers. More good news: ethylamine is also present in wine.
Cereal is beyond breakfast
If evening snacking is your weakness, try eating a healthy cereal. People who had one cup (250 mL) of ready-to-eat cereal with 2/3 cup (150 mL) of low-fat milk 90 minutes or more after dinner significantly reduced their overall daily caloric intake, compared to those who did not change their late night habits, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
A typical late night snack packs about 400 plus calories, whereas cereal and milk is less than 200 calories provided you choose a healthy cereal, says David Klurfeld, a co-author of the study. For quick measure, eat your cereal out of a two cup measuring cup. Fill to the one cup (250 mL) line with cereal and then add milk until the mixture reaches two cups (500 mL).
Odour issues
I want to address readers who have written regarding odours that they cannot eliminate.
My newest product to tout is Scope. It eliminates many odours associated with pets and food. I have not tried it for smoke, which is the problem for many readers. So I turned to my Queen of Clean book by Linda Cobb. She recommends trying the product Odorzout, which is now available at any Pet Smart store. Perhaps your local pet store or hardware store can get information for you at 800-88stink.
If you have smoke damage in your home or personal belongings and cannot get rid of the odour, contact your insurance company for the name of the cleaner it uses for insurance jobs. Professional cleaners may have a product to recommend.
Jodie Mirosovsky is a home economist from Rose- town, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
