We're not ascetics here. We would never suggest that you give up your favorite foods just to remain healthy! Heaven forbid! But, given your individual state of health, you might feel it wise to modify your habits a bit after looking over some of the food commentaries we make on this page. We're also going to be bringing you some really nifty recipes, not all of them the most healthful and we'll leave it up to you to decide on whether or not to use them Another thing; if you have any favorite recipes you'd like to share with us and our visitors, feel free to do so by emailing them to betty@lequadrillage.com.
Some of the recipes we'll be including here are old - absolutely ancient - Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish recipes and take if from me, those people know how to eat! I'm going to assume you all know how to cook, at least the basics, because any recipes appearing here won't really be in the standard recipe format,allowing you to make whatever modifications you prefer.
KITCHEN CURES I
GARLIC
Some foods fuel disease and some foods fight diseases. Some people have actually fought cancer and prevailed simply by changing their diet. We'll deal with two of these kitchen disease fighters right here. They are garlic and turmeric.
Garlic; a well known kitchen cure.
Garlic kills insects, parasites, bad bacteria, and fungus
Garlic lowers blood sugar levels and harmful fats in the blood.
Garlic eliminates tumors and inhibits the growth of several types of cancer cells.
Garlic reduces the formation of carcinogens (cancer promoting molecules) in the liver.
Garlic helps prevent arterial clogging.
Garlic, along with cloves, cinammon, oregano, and sage, may help stop the growth of E-Coli in uncooked meat.
According to Ty Bollinger (Cancer, Step Outside the Box), one very effective anti cancer blend is raw broccoli, garlic juice, onions, and ginger mixed together in a food processor.
Note that cooking kills garlic's cancer fighting properties.
You can use Garlic (Allium sativum) medicinally. Dried, powdered, liquid extract, or fresh - all is OK. While garlic has been shown to reduce cholesterol short term, it really doesn't lower it sufficiently to make much difference. But there's a mountain of evidence out there indicating that it can slow the development of atherosclerosis, and a lot of oral chelating formulas contain it. The old folk wisdom that credits garlic with preventing insect bites seems to be right on and so is the claim that it can help prevent colds. Some studies are around that credit garlic with helping prevent colorectal cancer. Other well thought out studies suggest that fresh garlic is more effective. Allicin, naturally found in fresh garlic, triggers the production of potentially active constituents such as S-ally-L-cystiene (SAC) and Ajoene. Aged garlic does not produce allicin, but does contain SAC Garlic oil also contains allyl sulfides which can have biological activity. The old folk wisdom that credits garlic with preventing insect bites seems to be right on and so is the claim that it can help prevent colds. Some studies are around that credit garlic with helping prevent colorectal cancer. Other well thought out studies suggest that fresh garlic is more effective. Allicin, naturally found in fresh garlic, triggers the production of potentially active constituents such as S-ally-L-cystiene (SAC) and Ajoene. Aged garlic does not produce allicin, but does contain SAC Garlic oil also contains allyl sulfides which can have biological activity. You need to be careful with garlic. This food contains more than 200 chemicals, some of which may interfere with other medications.In high doses it can act as a blood thinner and should not be taken before or afdter surgery, near childbirth, or in combination with blood thinning supplements such as gingo, policosinol or high dose vitamin E. It stands to reason you need to be very careful if you're on medications such as Warfarin (Coumadin=rat poison) or Aspirin. Garlic preparations can also decrease the effectiveness birth control drugs, cyclospter surgery, near childbirth, or in combination with blood thinning supplements such as gingo, policosinol or high dose vitamin E. It stands to reason you need to be very careful if you're on medications such as Warfarin (Coumadin=rat poison) or Aspirin. Garlic preparations can also decrease the effectiveness birth control drugs.
TURMERIC - ANOTHER KITCHEN SPICE
Curcumin, a substance found in turmeric can repair DNA (genetic material) damaged by radiation. This includes damage done by cancer treatment.
Curcumin inhibits H Pilor, a bacterium associated with gastric and colon cancer. Note also that H Pilor causes stomach ulcers, a culprit in some heartburn cases.
Curcumin is an anti-oxidant that inhibits DNA damaging free radicals.
If you've ever wondered what it is that gives curry powder and mustard their yellow color, you now know that it is Turmeric. The somewhat spectacular, and often unappreciated health benefits of Turmeric and Garlic are too numerous to outline here in their entirety. You can get them both as supplements if you like and they are abundantly available as intrinsic components of many commercially compounded supplements. Turmeric is found in a product called Arthrit-Eze, a remarkably effective anti-inflammatory supplement for pain control and elimination. as well as a formulation called Total Balance, which in our opinion, should be used by everyone!
BETTY'S VEGETABLE SOUP FOR TEN (UNLESS YOU'RE MY HUSBAND, THEN IT SERVES TWO)
4 Cups red potatoes, cubed
2 cups coarsely chopped carrots
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 cup string beans
1 coarsely chopped bell pepper
I cup sweet peas
1 large, coarsely chopped onion
1 pound spinach
About 6 cups water
1 Stick butter
1 tspn black pepper
2 tspn dried sage
1 Tbspn dried basil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Put the vegies and water in a pot, bring to a boil and add everything else. Simmer until the vegies are tender, twenty to thirty minutes. That's it. Simple huh? And the butter makes it taste great! Don't worry about it; butter in moderation is good for you. Enjoy - Betty
BETTY'S ULTIMATE PUMPKIN PIE (IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A TASTE FOR BOOZE, FORGET THIS ONE)
FOR THE FILLING
2 Cups cooked pumpkin*
4 Eggs, separated
1 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 Cup whiskey
1/4 Cup butter, melted
1/3 Cup cream
Dont use pumpkin! Use butternut squash! Trust me, this will make a better pie. Cut it in half lengthwise with a large Fench knife. Scoop out the seeds, place the halves cut side down on on baking sheet and bake it at 350 degrees until it is soft; then scoop it out of the shell, after it cools, of course.
When it's cold (next morning), put two cups in a bowl and whip thoroughly with a fork until all the lumps disappear, but avoid mashing Beat the egg whites until they're stiff. Add the sugar, egg yolks (save the whites, we'll get to them in a moment), cinnamon, and beat for five minutes. Quickly add te cream, the whiskey (I use Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey for tis but you can substitute Brandy, or Rum, if you prefer), and the butter, and mix well. Sprinkle the corn starch over the stiffly beaten egg whites and fold into the mixture. Pour this into a pie dish lined with pastry and bake for about an hour at 375 degrees F. Allow the pie to become cold and firm before cutting.
This is some pie! I made two of them for my family last year and they disappeared before I could blink. I really suspect that the Amish women who devised this recipe liked to tipple in the kitchen a bit.
MAKING YOUR OWN PIE DOUGH
If you want to make your own pie dough, it's fairly straight forward. It's what I do because I don't like the chemicals they put into commercially prepared pie doughs.
I use one stick of butter for each cup and a half of flour, a little salt, and a little sugar and mix the dry ingredients well, then cut in the butter. I use my fingers. You can use two knives. The idea is to get the mixture to develop the consistency of coarse popcorn. Don't overmix this, and keep the butter cold. Work quickly. I don't use shortening or margarine. I use butter. That other stuff is no good for you, believe it! Read my thing on butter v margarine here.
Then add ice water, a little bit at a time. Toss the mixture loosely so it doesn't glop together. I also add a little lemon juice. When the mixture forms a ball and stays that way when pressed together, it's ready. Remember, this doesn't take a whole lot of water. Put it in the fridge for an hour or so before rolling it out. Rolling out pie dough is a whole other subject that I can't get into here - if I run across a good text on the subject I'll turn you on to it.
A raw oyster may contain anywhere from 40 to 280 mg of zinc for every 200 calories. They are also an excellent source of vitamins A, B-12, and D, as well as EPA & DHA omega-3 fatty acids. That's for RAW OYSTERS! Eat them chilled on the half shell with Tabasco sauce or horseradish, and crackers during the months of November and March. Ruining them with batter and frying will knock out 90% of their benefits. Try them! You'll acquire a taste! Scroll down to PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH OYSTER STEW!
MARGARINE BETTER FOR YOU THAN BUTTER? NUTS!
Nutritionists really knocked themselves out for years, convincing us that margarine was so much more healthful than butter. Their skewed reasoning, absent any real scientific thought, was that
Butter is animal fat, and as such is saturated fat containing cholesterol.
Margarine is vegetable fat so it simply must be better.
Margarine has polyunsaturated fatty acids, not satuated fatty acids.
Margarine has no cholesterol, and therefor it's better for you.
This reasoning was used to foist margarine off on gourmets who worried about their health. Butter lovers weren't exactly thrilled with the taste, but many went along with the concept. "Polyunsaturated" became a buzzword and synonym for "healthful."
But is margarine really better for you? Maybe not. Butter is real food! Margarine is not! To make butter, cream skimmed from cow's milk is churned down. It is naturally yellow due to the carotine it contains, and it is high in vitamin A. Natural Vitamin A.
Now let's examine margarine. It starts out as canola seeds if it's the good stuff, or any of a number of other seeds if the processor wants to make a bigger buck out of his product. The processor presses the oil out of the seeds, and to get the highest yield he can, then follows the pressing up with solvents to extract the last remaining drop of oil from the seeds.
One of these solvents is hexane, a known carcinogen!
Then the manufacturer refines the oil, removing odors, tastes, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Why? To increase eye appeal and shelf life. To this end, he also liberally adds yellow food coloring.
Now to become margarine, the clear oil needs to be solidified and it needs to remain solid at room temperature. This is accomplished by blowing hydrogen through it at temperatures up to 140 degees Fahrenheit, saturating the oil with hydrogen in a process callled hydrogenation.
During the process of hydrogenation, a metal catalyst is added to help solidify the oil. This metal catalyst remains in the product unchanged. When the oil turns into a solid blob of fat, hydrogenation is stopped. This is what the packaging labels mean by "partially hydrogenated."
Besides the loss in nutrients, margarine picks up chemically altered fats during hydrogenation. These are your infamous trans-fatty acids that cause health problems.
Now the manufactured and packaged margarine makes its way into the dairy case of your local supermarket side by side with butter.
Well, no, butter isn't absolutely perfect...
To be fair, butter has its own nutritional problems these days. Besides its natural saturated fats, butter contains some pesticides and antibiotics picked up indirectly through the cow's diets. (Unless the feed is organically grown) And the margarine advocates are right about the cholesterol in butter, which contains about one gram of cholesterol per pound. And since your liver can make up to a gram and a half of cholesterol by itself every day, you could be in trouble if you were to eat more than a pound of butter a day! (Read our take on cholesterol here.)
So compared with margarine, butter wins hands down in our view. A few pats of butter a day won't hurt a bit; it sure tastes better and since polyunsaturated does not mean "healthful" there is no reason to abstain from eating butter. Just remember to eat less than a pound a day... Betty
Beets are super good for you. Ever wonder what to do with them? Here's an Amish Recipe
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbspns butter
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3 cups cooked red beets
slice them
Mix the dry ingredients, add the vinegar and water and stir it smooth. Cook this for 5 minutes, add the beets and let it all stand for about 30 minutes. Then, before serving, bring it back to a boil and add the butter. Simple huh? Good too!
SUGAR
It's not the teaspoon of sugar you put into your morning coffee that does the damage. It's all that sugar that other people are putting into your food for you that's making the waistband of your jeans too tight. Forget that those ®Cocoa Krispies are "organic" or that the ®Krispy Kreme donut is "whole grain." They're loaded with a big sugar blast!
Commercial processing of almost any whole food will blunt its flavor. Processors get the taste back into it by putting in sugar. When you real labels, you'll see that many products contain sugar. (Most ingredients that end in "ose" and any "syrup" contain sugar. Too much sugar is not good for your body. It adds calories, has no helpful nutients and forces your body into insulin and inflammatory response that can eventually backfire as asthma, gout, rheumatoid arthritits, and diabetes, among other things Kids and young people are targeted by food companies with high-sugar foods such as Mr Misty Slush®, from Dairy Queen, which has 280% of the recommended daily allowance of sugar.
The worst is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), discussed in further detail below. It has a long shelf life, it's cheap, and it's great for weight gain. Some scientists believe that the body processes HFCS differently than it does regular corn syrup and that it decreases the metabolism by tampering with our metabolic hormones. It forces the liver to put more fat into the bloodstream, raising triglyceride levels.
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
The number one source of calories in America is high fructose corn syrup in sodas. There are about 40 grams of HFCS in each can, far more than the American Medical Association's recommended daily maximum consumption of ALL the sweeteners you consume during the day. And we haven't even considered all the corn syrup that is included in just about everything that comes off the packaged grocery shelf. Look at the labels! And you wonder why there is so much obesity around. Twenty five percent of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sweeteners and the majority of those are high fructose corn syrup.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is known to raise your triglicerides and LDL cholesterol, putting you at increased risk of heart disease. The unbound fuctose in HFCS, which contains zero vitamins, minerals, or enzymes, can in itself, interfere with your heart's use of copper, magnesium, and chromium, minerals vital to its proper functioning. HFCS interferes with your feeling of fullness when you eat, so you tend to eat more than you need, and to top off the negatives, it's addictive! HFCS affects Leptin, a hormone made by the body's fat cells. Leptin tells your body to stop eating! HFCS turns off Leptin. Processed fructose fails to stop GHRELIN, a hormone that increases hunger and appetite; you fail to get the message to stop eating!
So our advice to you - and you're not going to like this - is to STOP CONSUMING THAT STUFF! Stop drinking sodas. Cut out the processed juices unless "high fructose corn syrup" is absent from the label. Use sugar as your preferred sweetener, unless you're a diabetic. Eat as little cane sugar as possible and avoid HFCS entirely. Avoid artificial sweeteners. They have no nutritional value and have been linked to migraines. They change what your taste buds recognize as sweet.
ASPARTAME, A POOR SUGAR SUBSTITUTE
Aspartame, popularly known as Nutrasweet, or Equal, sounds like a great alternative to regular sugar. Well, it isn't!It's true that Aspartame has very few calories compared to sugar. The advantage stops there. Here are the facts about the declared "safety" of Aspartame:
The FDA knows that Aspartame is a carcinogen! Aspartame is a trigger for tumors and brain cancer.
Aspartame is an exitotoxin, a super stimulent.
Just like MSG Aspartame stimulates your brain to death.
Aspartame also interacts adversely with other prescription drugs.
Here are some other facts you may not want to know: Aspartame is made up of 50% phenillalaline, 40% aspartic acid, and 10% methanol. Phenilalaline is a substance some people cannot metabolize. This is an inherited trait. People can pass this on to their children. This trait can cause mental retardation in those children.
Methanol is wood alcohol. You don't want to be drinking this stuff Methanol distributes itself throughout your body, including your brain, muscle tissue, fat, and nerve tissue. That's not all. Here's what happens when you drink diet soda:
When Aspartame gets into your body and reaches a temperature of 86°F, the methanol converts to Formic Acid and Formaldehyde, commonly known as embalming fluid. Since you know that your normal body temperature is 98.6°F, you now know that you have formaldehyde (embalming fluid) in your cells binding to protiens and your DNA. Drink a lot of diet soda and you risk vision, brain, heart, nerve problems and pancreatic inflammation.
HOLD ON, WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET! Aspartame was once on a Pentagon list of biowarfare chemical submitted to Congress! In spite of this, since 1983, aspartame has been approved as a food additive for use in soft drinks. Our government at work, protecting our best interests and "keeping us safe."
The "safe" amount of aspartame, according the the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is 7.8 milligrams. One liter of diet soda (about 5 cups) contains 56 milligrams of aspartame. Even low levels of aspartame intake consumed often can cause serious health problems. So whenever you quench your thirst with a diet soda, you're slurping up a potential biowarfare weapon and a bunch of diseases looking for a home. No need to thank us for this information.
A GREAT SUGAR SUBSTITUTE
The best sugar substitute we've ever encountered is Xylitol. This is a plant based sugar alcohol with the look and texture of sugar. It is slightly - we said slightly, less sweet than sugar, but essentially it can be used one to one in any recipes calling for sugar. The exception, you can't use it for baking yeast breads because it won't feed the yeast. Xylitol is metabolized much much more slowly than sugar and so would appear to be safe for diabetics. Xylitol reinforces your tooth structure and does not cause cavities, the way sugar does. If you're diabetic don't take our word on its safety for you, we are still looking into it, but you might want to ask your doctor about this.
Where to get Xyiltol? It's more expensive than sugar and the prices for it run all over the road. The very best price for it we've been able to find is here - Epic Dental.com The service from these folks is superb. Occasionally we do hear of someone unable to tolerate Xylitol. If you do have a negative reaction to it when trying it, stop immediately. This is a very rare occurence and usually indicates some underlying health issue. Almost never happens, but we thought you should have a heads up on this. In such a case, your next best bet is Stevia.
DON'T GIVE XYLITOL TO YOUR DOG!
IT'S POISON TO CANINES
SAME WITH CHOCOLATE
HOW ABOUT SOME APPLE FRITTERS? Here's how the Amish make them
1 cup Flour
2 Tsp sugar
3 apples
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
Mix the dry ingredients and add the well beaten egg and milk. Stir the batter smooth. Take the peeled and cored apples and slice them rather thin. Drop them in the batter and fry them in hot, deep fat (I use lard) on both sides until they're golden brown. Sprinkle them liberally with powdered sugar and serve them hot.
MILK
Milk is a species specific food. Cow's milk is good for calves. That said, if you can get raw milk from a reliable dairy, drink it. Stay away from processed milk. It's no good for you. In fact we put it in the category of poison.
Pastuerization, the most benigh phase of processing milk, destroys all the enzymes we sorely need, reducing the food value of the milk dramatically. At the same time, it fails to destroy all of the pathogenic micro-organisms in the milk. Its primary value is that it extends the refrigerated shelf life of the milk to 2 - 3 weeks. Ultra pastuerized milk lasts a lot longer than that.
Then, when the milk gets homogenized, it can last even longer! Processors like that. Another thing the processor likes about pastuerization is that he doesn't have to worry about testing every lot for excess pathogens.
Homogenization breaks the fat globules in the milk into such tiny, sub-microscopic particles that they bypass the digestive system and pass directly into the bloodstream, contributing greatly to arterial plaque buildup. This holds true for anything with hydrogenated on the label.
There are other facts about milk processing that are just as disturbing, but it is not our intent to delve into all the excrutiating details here. If you must drink milk, buy skim milk and cream separately and mix them yourself. You'll find it tastes a lot better and you'll be avoiding the danger of arterial blockages.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH-TANGERINE SOUP With a Pistachio Gremolta
This will please any vegetarian and even the most voracious meat eater like me will welcome this at the table anytime. Here's what you'll need:
About a pound of peeled and cubed butternut squash. If you don't have a scale, figure about 4 cups.
A couple cups of fresh tangerine juice. You can use orange juice too, if you prefer.
Some dried apricots; about a quarter cup, maybe a little more.
Gather your cinamon shaker, honey jar, and if you have any saffron threads, have them handy.
Chop up a couple tablespoons of fresh ginger and two garlic cloves.
You'll also want to get the ingredients for the gremolta and have them handy for when you need them.
Chop a quarter cup of parsely for this.
Chop about two tablespoons of pastachios and mince some tangerine or orange zest from the citrus you used for the juice.
Have a quarter cup of plain yogurt handy.
OK, so now that you've got everything together, put a little butter in a large pot, enough to just cover the bottom, and saute the squash, ginger, garlic, cinamon, and saffron (just a pinch, if youhave it) in the butter over medium heat until the squash gets brown. Expect this to take about five minutes. Stir this often as it sautes. Then add five cups of water, the tnagerine or orange juice, the apricots, and maybe two tablespoons of honey. If the citrus juice you used is tart, you may want to use a little more honey. Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat to mdium low and simmer covered until the squash is tender. This should take about 40 minutes. Then let the soup stand for ten minutes or so and puree it. I use a Kitchen Aid Mixer but you can puree small batches in a blender if you want and that will work too. Puree the batches until they're smooth, return the soup to the pot and reheat it through.
You could make the parsley mix for the gremolta in between times. Toss the parsley, pistachios, and zest together in a bowl. That's simple. Then when you serve the soup, spoon a gob of yogurt on top of each serving and garnish with the parsley mix. Simple huh? Enjoy - Betty.
Resistant Starch causes a slower glycemic response in your body. Foods high in resistant starch (and incidentally, fiber) are not digested in the stomach or the small intestine. They are digested in the large intestine (colon), much lower in the digestive tract.
This means that your blood sugar and insulin levels don't spike. You feel fuller longer because your food is digested more slowly. Some foods high in resistant starch are:
Cold, cooked potatoes (they don't haveresistant starch while they're hot).
Legumes like lentils, peas, and beans have more resistant starch than any other foods.
Whole grains are rich in resistant starch. Some of these are brown rice, barley, whole wheat, oats, and buckwheat.
Cooked and chilled pasta. As with potatoes, hot pasta doesn't have resistant starch.
Bananas - especially the ones that are a little green.
Resistant starch helps you burn fat for up to 24 hours. Foods high in resistant starch really help you resist weight gain. The big bonus to consuming a lot of resistant starch is that it helps you avoid insulin resistance and by doing so, helps you avoid metabolic syndrome diabetes and other inflammatory diseases.
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH POTATO PANCAKES Another Amish Recipe
Peel 4 pounds of potatoes and 2 large onions
Break 6 to 8 eggs into a bowl
Get 2 cups of flour ready. You might want to add a couple teaspoons of baking powder. This is a concession to us city slickers who aren't happy unless we goose everything up. Actually, the Amish don't use any.
You'll want a teaspoon of lemon juice. The Amish women just squeeze a whole lemon into the mix at the right time.
You'll also want some ground nutmeg and about a teaspoon of salt.
Put the raw potatoes and onions through a food grinder, using the fine blade. Amish women usually just grate them. Drain them if you want to, you're losing good nutients if you do. NOw mix up the eggs, flour, baking powder (if you must), lemon juice, a pinch of nutmeg, and a little salt. If the mixture is too stiff, add another egg or two.
Now drop the mixture by the serving spoon into a hot skillet lubricated with lard. Yes, lard. If you're chicken, use coconut oil, but there's nothing wrong with lard. The pancakes should be about as big around as a baked bean can.- about four inches around. Don't have the heat too high, you want to give the potatoes time to cook before the pancakes turn into cinders. They'll need a little more time than regular pancakes. Serve them with apple sauce. I just love these - Betty
CAVIAR DEVILED EGGS We woudn't bore you with just any old recipe
Shell 5 hardboiled eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Mash the yolks with 3 teaspoons lemon juice, 2-1/2 tablespoons mayonaise or sour cream, and season with salt and pepper. Pipe or spoon the yolk mixture into the egg whites, leaving a small depression in the center of each; then fill this with black caviar. For a big party, it's easy to adjust the amounts.
DELICIOUS VEGETARIAN RECIPES
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Shell two dozen oysters and heat a quart of milk. Add a teaspoon of salt and some pepper Heat the oysters in about 3 tablespoons melted butter until the edges begin to curl. Remove from the heat and put them in the hot milk with some chopped parsley. Break a few pretzels into the soup and serve with crackers. If you've never broken pretzels into oyster stew before you don't know what you've been missing.
The Glycemic Index (or GI) was developed by a team headed by Dr David J Jenkins at the University of Toronto during 1980-81. It was meant to assist in finding which foods were best for people with diabetes. The index is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates that break down rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI and carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream have a low GI. For most people, foods with a low GI have significant health benefits.
Recent scientific evidence has pretty much confirmed that individuals who follow a low GI diet over many years were at a significantly lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes as well as coronary heart disease. High blood glucose levels, or repeated glycemic "spikes" following a meal may promote these diseases.
The index itself is not universally conclusive. It does not take into account factors like insulin response, which can in fact be more appropriate in representing the effects from some food contents other than carbohydrates. Also, the glycemic response can be different from one person to another, and even in the same person from day to day.
This makes the Glycemic Index subject to a lot of confusion. It is really not a solid scientific measurement tool. For example, Glucose has been established as the standard reference food, with a GI of 100. But white bread can also be used as a reference food, which produces a different set of values.
GLYCEMIC INDEX - COMMON INTERPRETATIONS
Classification
GI Range
Examples
Low GI
55 or less
Most fruits and vegetables other than potatoes & watermelon, grainy breads, pasta, legumes, milk, fish, eggs, meat, nuts, oils, brown rice.
Medium GI
56 - 69
Whole wheat products, basmati rice, oranges, sweet potatoes, table sugar, most white rices.
A low Gi food will release glucose more slowly and steadily. A high GI food causes a more rapid rise in blood glucose levels and is suitable for energy recovery after endurance exercise or for a person with diabetes experiencing hypoglycemia.
Some simple sugars such as fructose have a lower glycemic index than many vegetables, grains, and legumes. But fructose away from fruits, such as the fructose found in packaged process foods, can induce insulin resistance, increase triglycerides, and promote fat storage. This is what makes high fructose corn syrup so dangerous!
Complex carbohydrates do not necessarily have a low glycemic index. Carrots, peas, potatoes, and rice have a medium to high GI. This means they produce a rapid rise in blood glucose similar to table sugar.
If you're following a low carbohydrate diet, such as Atkins, you really need the supplementary benefits of Total Balance
OVEN POACHED EGGS IN SPINACH NESTS (Serving eight)
For the Spinach Nests
Three eggs
Three pounds spinach, chopped
Half cup of all purpose flour
Half teaspoon salt & some coarsely ground black pepper
One pound smal curd cottage cheese
This recipe is for a poached egg in each of eight spinach nests. Each of these spinach nests with the poached agg on it will ultimately be placed on an English Muffin, so you'll need four of them, split and toasted, but not just yet.
This part you can get ready up to two days ahead of time:
Combine the eggs, flour, and cottage cheese and whisk it all together real well. Then add the spinach. salt and pepper. Stir it all up real well.
Now when you're ready, have eight eggs and a quarter pound shredded Swiss or Parmesan cheese ready and grease a 9 X 13 baking pan. I use lard and suggest you do the same. Stay away from that hydrogenated stuff, and (good Lord) don't use cooking spray. Get your muffins ready and if you want, you can sliver a bell pepper and an onion.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees:
Take the spinach mixture you made and press it into the greased baking pan. Make eight indentations uniformly spaced, with the back of a spoon. This is where the eggs will go later. Remember, you're making eight spinach nests with a poached egg centered in each one. Bake this for 25 minutes at 350° and remove it from the oven.
Use a spoon to hollow out the indentations some more. Then break an egg into each indentation. and put it all back into the oven for another 15 minutes or so, until the whites are set, but no longer. Then sprinkle it all with cheese and put it back for another minute.
Slice this up into eight spinach nests, pull them out with a spatula and put each one on an english muffin half. Garnish with the slivered red pepper and onion, if you want. This is great! Betty...
DIABETES People who drink wine, especially red wine, are less likely to be obese and more likely to stay healthy and live longer. Red wine contains resveratrol, a phytonutrient (anytime you see phyto you know it's plant based) found in grape seeds and grape skin to protect against fungus. Resveratrol has several benefits. It cuts the risk of diiabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity and helping to lower blood sugar.
DEMENTIA Resveratrol prevents dementia by promoting the breakdown of beta-amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer patients.
CANCER Resveratrolmay also help in cancer prevention and treatment. Resveratrol inhibits the adhesion of cancer cells, which is a requirement for metastasis (spreading of the disease). Further, resveratrol also promotes cell death (apoptosis) of cancer cells without harming healthy cells. It also slows down angiogenesis (new blood vessels) which is required by cancer tumors.
Besides that, drinking red wine is a lot more fun than taking supplements, although if you feel the need for a substantial intake of resveratrol, you need to get it in supplements because the resveratrol content of red wine is inconsistent, and anyway, you really don't want to turn into a lush in the interests of good health! Do you? Betty...
This might be a good place to put in a plug for my favorite wine merchant.
FILET OF SOLE WITH WHITE WINE SAUCE
You'll need 3 lbs filets of Sole or Flounder, 2 Tbsp finely chopped green onions, 3/4 cup dry white wine, and of course, a little salt & pepper.And you'll be making the Sauce Perisienne, below.
Put the fish fillets in a buttered, shallow baking dish and sprinkle with chopped onions, then season with salt & pepper. Pour in the wine and enough water to cover the fish Cover the dish and poach in the oven for ten minutes at 350°F or until the fillets are firm to touch. Remove from the oven and carefully drain the liquid to a sauce pan. Bring this liquid to a boil and reduce it to one cup. Use this for making the white wine sauce - Sauce parisienne.
SAUCE PARISIENNE
For the Sole
5 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
Few drops lemon juice
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tsp salt
White pepper
5 Tbsp grated Swiss cheese
Melt 4 Tbsp butter over moderate heat and stir in the flour. Stir constantly for two minutes to make roux. No lumps! Slowly pour in the reduced poaching liquid and milk, beating constantly; then stir constantly while you cook it till it thickens and comes to a boil. Mix the egg yolks and half the cream. Stir in some of the hot sauce and then and then slowly add this heated egg mixture to the rest of the sauce. Stir this for a few seconds and add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Now pour in the remaining cream to thin it. Add this sauce to the baking dish with the fish in it, sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the sauce bubbles and is lightly browned. Voila! You're a French Chef!
...AND HERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD...
Serve this French dish with a nice German wine! Get a good Moselle or Riesling to go with it for a delightful experience. Or you can settle for a good California Riesling, which would be quite comparable. German wines aren't particularly in vogue these days, which is a pity, because they're absolutely wonderful and if you're not a sophisticated wine drinker, you'll want to become one after you taste one of these.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly brown the onions in bacon fat and place them in a baking dish. Retain the fat in the skillet. Bake the onions uncovered for about 30 minutes, then remove them and drain them. Put the mushrooms & chopped shallots in the skillet and cook, stirring constantly for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the baked onions and set everything aside. Now add vegetable oil to the fat in the skillet and brown the chicken. Whenit's niceand brown, pour most of the fat off the skillet and pour in the cognac Light it! Watch out! Shake the skillet back ad forth until the flame dies and transfer it all to a large casserole. ( I use a big black deep iron fry pan for this.) Add the spices. Boil the wine and reduce it to 1-1/2 cups. Stir flour into the skillet (hope you haven't discarded it yet?) with the remaining fat and cognac. (Never throw out good booze.) Now pour the reduced wine into the flour mixture and add the chicken stock. Cook it smooth. Strain it out and pour it over the chicken, cover it all and cook it in the oven for 30 minutes, then carefully stir in the onions and mushrooms (watch your hands here, this stuff is hot). Continue baking for another 20 minutes or so, until the chicken is tender. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve it with a nice light red wine, like Zinfandel, or Bordeaux. A bit of work, but oh so worth it, Betty...
Use any tender cut steak; sirloin, porterhouse, or any favorite. Saute it in a skillet (use butter) and season until it's done the way you like it. Transfer it to a heated platter and add the sauce below.
MARCHAND de VINS
3 Tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
3 beef bullion cubes
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots or onions
1-1/2 cups dry red wine
1/2 tsp parsley
Dissolve the bullion cubes in 1/4 cup of hot water. Saute the shallots or onions in melted butter until they're soft. Then, stirring constantly, pour in the wine, add the bay leaf and parsely, some salt & pepper and continue to simmer until it's all reduced to about a cup. Add the bullion. You can pour this over the steak as is, or strain iand add it to softened butter before pouring it over the steak. Serve it with Burgundy, Beaujolaise, or Bordeaux. Also, there is absolutely no law that says you can't serve it with Riesling!
Combine the vinegar, water, scallion, parsley, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes while you're melting the butter in the top of a double boiler. Strain the vinegar water, add the egg yolks to the butter and stir yntil the mixture thickens, the gradually add the hot, strained vinegar water. You need to stir constantly as you slowly add the vinegar water to keep the eggs from curdling. Season this with salt, and, hust before serving, add the chopped parsley and tarragon leaves. Delicious with steak. Delicious with the Broiled Salmon recipe below here.
BROILED SALMON For six Salmon Steaks
Make a marinade by mixing a third cup olive oil oil, two tablespoons of minced green onions, about a tablespoon of grated lemon rind , a quarter tablespoon of thyme,, and some salt aand pepper. Add the six salmon stakes (about 3/4 inch thick ones) and marinate them for an hour or two. (In the fridge.) Preheat the broiler, and soften some butter meanwhile, then brush the steaks with marinade and broil 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove the skins, brush with the softened butter and serve them on a heated platter. (Never put food like this on a cold dish.) Serve this with the Bearnaise Sauce above and a nice Chablis wine.
DO NOT ADD MILK TO TEA! Milk negates an important property of tea, which is to relax the arteries. Also, if you mix DARK CHOCOLATE WITH MILK, you lose the benefits of the chocolate.
A carotinoid in MANDARIN ORANGES protects against atherosclerosis, liver disease, and insulin resistance, the precurser to diabetes.
FOLIC ACID reduces the risk of Alzheimer's Disease. Folic Acid (folate) is found in green leafy vegetables, beans, and many other vegetables; which slow memory loss by 40% in people over 65. The nitrates in leafy vegetables increase production of nitrioxide in the body. Nitrioxide relaxes the arteries to help lower blood pressure. If you're having problems with memory, help, very effective help, is only a click away: Get more info on MemoRise for Improved Memory and Retention
DRIED PLUMS (prunes) may reverse bone loss and prevent osteoporosis. COLA DRINKS have been linked with decreased bone density in older women.
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It's likely that you... like most of us, take dietary supplements of one type or another. But, do you really know if you are receiving the benefits that you expect? So many of the supplements on the market are ineffective either due to low potency levels, or, they simply do not contain what is stated on the label. Even worse, many supplements can have dangerously high levels of contaminants due to relaxed regulations governing the manufacture of dietary supplements. There is some interesting information available on this subject. If you take supplements we would recommend you check out this info by clicking here.
IF YOU'RE HYPOTHYROID, NOTE THIS: Both Fluorides and Bromides lower iodine levels. Orange Gatorade® and Mountain Dew® contain brominated vegetable oil products and really should be avoided by everyone, but especially by those with low thyroid function. Limiting fluoridated water is also important. The average water filter does NOT REMOVE FLUORIDE! Commercial baked goods should be avoided where possible, since they are a major source of bromides. Potassium bromate strengthens bread dough and promotes a higher rise. Bromate can cause cancerous tumors. Both substances cause nutrient depletion, another case for supplementation in this day and age.
EGGS AND MACULAR DEGENERATION: Lutein & Zeathanthin are carotenoids concentrated in the macula of the eye. People who eat egg yolks have a decreased risk of developing macular degeneration. Eggs contain fewer protective carotenoids than leafy greens, but the bioavailability to the retina is high.
PROSTATE ENLARGEMENT (BPH): Risk f developing BPH can be reduced by eating a diet rich in vegetables. Some studies suggest that vegetables protect against or slow the growth of prostate cancer.
TEA AND BONE DENSITY: Older women who drink tea regularly have higher bone density than women who do not.
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INDIGESTION & ACID REFLUX: A spoonful of sauerkraut wit each meal can eliminate the symptoms.
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TAHINI (Ground Sesame Seeds) works vigorously at reducing blood pressure
TABLE SUGAR: The only good thing we can say about it! This stuff is an absolutely great antibiotic! Use it to cure infected skin wounds, ulcers, and the like. White sugar creates an environment where no bacteria can survive. To dress open wounds, coat a strip of gauze heavily with vaseline, then pour 1/4 inch of sugar over the vaseline. Wrap the sugar coated gauze around the wound and secure woth an ace bandage. Change it often. Honey works too.
A BIT OF TRIVIA
IF YOU ROUTINELY CONSUME CONVENTIONALLY GROWN PRODUCE, YOU ARE PUTTING ABOUT THREE POUNDS OF PESTICIDES ON YOUR PLATE EACH YEAR.
EASY BRUNCH EGGS For a Big Family
Butter up a 9X13 baking dish and set it aside for the moment. Now shred a quarter to half pound of cheddar cheese, slice a few mushrooms, a pepper, and an onion and saute them lightly in butter. While this is going on, break a dozen eggs, open 2 cans of creamed corn, and combine everything in a bowl, then pour it all into the backing dish. Don't forget to add a little salt and pepper before you pour it, whatever your taste. Some people like to put in a little Tabasco Sauce® (me), and then bake it at 350° 70-80 minutes. Simple. Lets you spend time with your family instead of in the kitchen. Betty...
EGGS BENEDICT MY WAY
1/3 cup mayonaise
1Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup sweet butter, melted
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
8 slices Canadian bacon
3 large egg yolks, or 4 smaller ones
1 tspn grated lemon peel
About 3 tablespoons boiling water
2 English muffins, split & toasted
2 - 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tspn cayenned pepper
2 Tspn chopped cives
8 poached eggs (when the time is right).
The hardest part of of this recipe is making the HollandaiseSauce. Don't let it scare you, it's not that bad and there are a couple of different methods you can use. The easiest way, and messiest if you consider cleanup of the dumb processor is to use one. Here's how: Toss the mayonaise, egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard, and pepper into the processor and blend them for about 5 seconds. Then pour,slowly, don't dump, the melted butter down the tube and let the machine run for a minute or so until it's all blended really well. Now transfer the stuff to a double boiler, where the water is simmering. And here's the whole secret to a successful Hollandaise sauce: Never for an instant, let that water come to a boil! Boiling water, 3 tablespoons should be added to the mix now, along with the grated lemon peel and whisk it continuously until the sauce is real hot. Again, never let that simmering water boil! This will take four or five minutes and the sauce will thicken as you whisk it. Now whisk in the chives and tarragon, add a little salt and pepper, and you're past the worst of it. You can use a regular old stand mixer in place of the processor if you want, or do as I do, if you're pretty good in the kitchen, and use a whisk for the whole job. You'll need to adapt the method a bit and this is not for beginners, but it keeps you from needing to clean up all the machinery.
You should have your egg poacher set up and ready to go by this point and you can poach your eight eggs now. Probably you have a four-egg poacher (you can just slide the eggs into boiling water , one at a time too, if you want),* and you'll need to keep four of the poached eggs warm while you do the other four. Transfer the done ones to a warm plate (put one into the oven on "warm" ahead of time for this purpose) and do the other four.
You should have had a skillet set up for the Canadian bacon (I use a little lard here - Inever use cooking spray) and saute it just enough to heat it through. Saute it on each side, about a minute is enough. Put two slices on each English muffin half, then put on two poached eggs, and top each off with Hollandaise sauce. You're done! You're a hero! Betty...
* A note about poaching eggs without a poacher: Just break the eggs into a saucer one at a time and gently slide them into a skillet of boiling water. Then use a spoon to gently bring the whites over the yolk. This will keep the whites intact, otherwise you'll have shredded whites by the time they're done. If you want to make the eggs ahead of time: Poach the eggs for 3 minutes, then put them in a bowl of ice water. this stops the cooking. Then, just before serving, cook the eggs in simmering water for one minute.
NOTE THIS
It's likely that you... like most of us, take dietary supplements of one type or another. But, do you really know if you are receiving the benefits that you expect? So many of the supplements on the market are ineffective either due to low potency levels, or, they simply do not contain what is stated on the label. Even worse, many supplements can have dangerously high levels of contaminants due to relaxed regulations governing the manufacture of dietary supplements. There is some interesting information available on this subject. If you take supplements we would recommend you check out this info by clicking here.
