Scallion Pancake - 葱油餅

Yesterday I had a craving for scallion pancake; I think the root cause of the sudden Chinese food craving was that I had a fun conversation with a friend about all the yummy food you can enjoy in China and Taiwan from street vendors. I decided to make this snack even though I know I would not have time time to finish it until the evening. I did the prep-work in the morning, chopped up the scallion (green onion) and made the salty scallion mixture and set it aside (since it's best to let the salt has time to soften the scallion). After we return from Roland's nephew's wedding last night, I started to mix the dough at 8:30pm. Roland was wondering if I was still hungry. Of course it had nothing to do with hunger. Anyway, I finished panfrying the last pancake at about 10:30pm and went to bed with way too much food in the tummy but very happy!

Traditional Chinese cooking always uses white flour and white rice (my understanding is that only poorer folks ate brown rice is the olden days so it's a social status thing).  I made this pancake with whole white wheat flour and coconut oil for healthier ingredients.

Dough:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (from white wheat)
1 cup hot water
1/4 - 1/4 cold water
* For softer scallion pancake, use more hot water and less cold water.

Scallion mixture:
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup safflower oil or coconut oil

Stir together the hot water and the flour until the dough is partly mixed. Add the cold water and mix until all flour are incorporated into the dough. When the dough is cool enough to handle, kneed the dough until smooth. The consistency of the dough should be firm but soft. That sound contradictory but let me explain; I mean you should be able to make a indention in the dough very easily by gently pressing the dough with you finger. Cover the dough and let rest for 1/2 hour.

Mix the scallion, salt, and oil and a small bowl and set aside.

Divide the dough into 4 portions.

Lightly dust the working surface and roll out one dough ball with rolling pin into a large flat circle.

Spread 1/4 of the green onion and oil mixture evenly over the dough.

Starting at one side of the circle, roll up the dough into a long cylinder shape, pinched the end closed.

Wind the long cylinder dough into a circle. Tuck the end under and press to make sure it is firmly attached.

Roll the dough with the rolling pin gently into a pancake; about 1/2 inch think. This step always make a mess; scallions and oil will seep out of the dough. Be sure to clean up the oily mess before you start the next pancake. The pancake is now ready to be pan fried.

Bring a frying pan to medium heat and add a little oil to a frying pan. Place the pancake in the frying pan and fry both side until light golden.




Cut into 4 to 8 slices and serve when warm. You can save the left over in a air tight container or ziplock bag in the fridge. Be sure to warm up the pancake before serving.

Curry Tofu Salad

When I was running errands one day stopping at Whole Foods to get a few things, I all of sudden became very hungry. I was so hungry that I thought I could not continue without putting some food into my stomach. Even at Whole Foods, there are limited things you can grab that are low in sugar and dairy free. I ended up getting a curry tofu salad and it was so delicious! I came home, study the label, wrote down the ingredients, googled curry tofu salad recipes, made a couple of batched of it, and came up with my version of curry tofu salad. The only issue I have with this dish is that I can't stop eating it! I think this recipe can also to turn into a wonderful curry chicken salad.



Tofu, 14oz, firm or extra firm, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 -2 tablespoon Olive oil, for pan frying or baking tofu

1/2 cup Green bell pepper, diced into 1/2" pieces

1/2 cup Red bell pepper, diced into 1/2" pieces

3/4 cup Carrots, shredded
2 Green onions, finely sliced

1 Tablespoon Cilantro, cut

1/3 cup Raisins

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Curry Dressing:

2 heaping tablespoons Nayonaise (vegan) or Mayo; I like Follow Your Heart Vegenaise

2 heaping tablespoons Mango Chutney

2 teaspoons curry powder

If you don't have Mango Chutney, use the following ingredients, it tastes pretty close. The first two times I made the dish, I didn't have Mango Chutney, and the end result was very good also.
2 heaping tablespoons Mayonaise or Mayo
2 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 clove Roasted garlic, minced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar or agave

dash of salt & ground pepper

Cut Tofu into 1/2 inch cubes, pan fry until lightly golden. For firmer texture, use extra firm tofu and deep fry and cubes until lightly golden. You can also baked the tofu in a 375F oven on a lightly greased baking sheet for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Don't over cook the tofu; it can get dry. Mix the ingredients of the curry dressing in a small bowl and set aside. Combine tofu, bell peppers, green onions, carrots, cilantro, raisins, and almonds  in a large bowl. Top with the curry dressing and toss thoroughly. Chill for at least an hour. The raisins will sweeten up the dish; add salt & pepper to taste before serving.

Corn Muffin & Corn Bread

Kimberly loves corn bread. She was working on a school project and needed a good corn bread recipe. (Her project was to design, typeset, and whatever one needed to do to publishing a family cookbook.)  I have a lot of recipes for lot of things but apparently not corn bread. I loved the Napa Valley Pantry's World Best Corn Bread mix. It made a moist and slightly sweet corn bread with bits of corn. Yummy! My mouth watered just thinking about it. However, the "worlds best corn bread mix" was no longer available. Come to think of it, I have not make cornbread much ever since I ran out of Napa Valley Pantry's corn bread mix. All other corn bread recipes I tried in the past was just ok. After all, how can you compete with the "worlds best"?

My assignment from Kim was to try new cornbread recipes, so I tried two vegan corn bread recipes. One is from The Kind Diet by Alicia Sliverstone and the other one is from The Little House of Veggies http://littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com/. The Kind Diet corn bread was better than most of the recipes I've tried but it was too sweet and too crumbly. It had potential; so I modify the recipe and ended up making four batches of corn bread in one week. After a lot of eating and surveying, I think I really like the end product. The corn bread recipe from the Little House of Veggies is also very good. I have a hard time deciding which one I like better so I've included both recipes.

Anyway, after all the trouble I went through, Kim said that she got a good recipe from her best friend's mom. Oh well, I guess at least I've found one good corn bread recipe and one good corn muffin recipe.

Whole Grain Corn Bread - base on the corn bread recipe from The Little House of Veggies with minor modifications.

Dry Ingredient:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour (white wheat)
1 tablespoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon xantham gum (optional, helps the cornbread bind together better)

Wet Ingredients:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup soymilk, almond milk, or milk of choice
1/3 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 8 inch square baking dish. Mix all of the dry ingredients together. Then add the wet to the dry. Pour into the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.

Corn Bread or Muffin - loosely base on the corn bread recipe from The Kind Diet

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 3/4 cup of rice milk
1/4 cup safflower oil

Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or gluten free flour, see below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Real Salt
1/8 teaspoon of xanthan gum (it helps with binding)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the wet mixture. Mix till ingredients are well combined, do not over mix. The mixture is quite runny. For muffins, line the muffin tin with paper liner and evenly distribute the batter in the muffin tin; fill to about 2/3 full and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center pass the toothpick test (a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread or cake comes out clean). Makes about 18 muffins. For corn bread, pour the mix into a lightly grease a 8 inch square baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.

I made a batch of this corn bread with the gluten free flour below, and it was yummy. Loved it!

Gluten free flour recipe from The Art of Gluten Free Baking:

1 1/4 C (170 g) brown rice flour
1 1/4 C (205 g) white rice flour
1 C (120 g) tapioca flour
1 C (165 g) sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour or under the brand name, Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

How much sugar?

This article is about added sugar in our diet. It's amazing how much sugar is added to prepared/processed foods.

While I was preparing to teach the physical health lesson, I learned that 1 teaspoon of white granulated sugar weight about 4 gram. An average person should consume no more than 8 teaspoons of added sugar (32 gram) base on a 2000 calories diet. A teenage girl aged between 11 to 14 should aim to eat no more than 45 grams of added sugar in one day (about 11 teaspoons base on 2200 calories diet). It sounds like a lot of sugar but not really; since a lot of the food are loaded with sugar. For example, a 3.3 oz DanActive yogurt has 17 grams of sugar; that's about 4.25 teaspoon, a  little more than half of your daily 8 teaspoons. How about Ben & Jerry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough original ice cream? It has 24 grams of sugar in 1/2 cup serving size.

Here is a fun site where you can type in your favorite food and in a few clicks, you can read the nutrition labels. http://caloriecount.about.com/

The following table listed some common foods and their sugar content. Even salty foods contain some sugar.

	teaspoons of sugar (1 teaspoon = 4 grams sugar)
Breakfast Cheerios (1 cup) Multigrain Cheerios (1 cup) Honey Nut Cheerios (3/4 cup) Frosted Cheerios (3/4 cup) Apple cinnamon Cheerios (3/4 cup) Fruit Loops, 1 cup Yoplait low fat fruit-flavored yogurt, 4 oz. Pancake syrup, 1/4 cup	1/4 teaspoons, 1g/serving 1.5 teaspoons, 6g/serving 2.25 teaspoons, 9g/serving 3 teaspoons, 12g/serving 3.25 teaspoons, 13g/serving 3+ teaspoons, 12.5g/serving 4.5 teaspoons, 18g  8 teaspoons. 32g
Foods that sound healthy, but are loaded with sugar! Granola, 2/3 cup Dried cranberries, 1/4 cup Dried blueberries, 1/4 cup	4 teaspoons , 16g 7.75 teaspoons, 31g 6.5 teaspoon, 26g
Beverages Orange Juice/Apple Juice, 8 oz. Soda (Coke, Sprite, etc.), 20 oz. Snapple Lemon Iced Tea, 16 oz.	5.5 teaspoons 16 teaspoons 11.5 teaspoons
Snacks/Desserts Balance/Power Bar    Frozen Yogurt, 1 cup Restaurant Chocolate Cake, 1 slice McDonald's Vanilla Shake, 21 oz.	4.75 teaspoons 8.5 teaspoons 13 teaspoons 24 teaspoons
Movie Theatre Combo Twizzlers, movie size, 6 oz. Soda, movie Large, 44 oz.	17 teaspoons + 37 teaspoons
Misc. Foods Ketchup, Heinz, 2 TBS Ranch dressing, Kraft Foods, 2 TBS Italian dressing, 2TBS Raspberry Vinaigrette Fat Free Dressing, 2 TBS Barbecue Sauce, 2 TBS	2 teaspoons, 8g/serving 1/3 teaspoon, 1.2g/serving 1/4 teaspoon, 1g/serving 1.75 teaspoon, 7g/serving 1.85 teaspoon, 7.5g/serving

Sources:
How much sugar should we eat?

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/joybauernutrition/sugar-how-much-should-we-eat/ 

Good Sugar - Bad Sugar

Is there such a thing a good sugar verses bad sugar?

Fruits and most vegetables contain naturally occurring sugar. These naturally occurring sugars are the good sugar. These foods also contain important nutrients to our bodies. So eat fruits like apple, banana, blue berries, cantaloupe, oranges, mango, peaches, pineapples, and vegetables like carrots, tomato, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, etc.

What about all other kind of sugar, the kind of sugar that we use for making cookies, cakes, treats, and sugar in soft drinks and juices? Here is a interesting and informative video about sugar: Sugar: the bitter truth by Robert H. Lustig, M.D. Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic, University of California, San Francisco. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM&feature=player embedded

I watched this video and was pretty depressed about sugar consumption. However, I decided that I can't live without eating some sugar; it just mean that I have to choose the "healthier" sugar and use less of it in recipes and thus eat less of it. The sweeteners I like to use are maple syrup, agave, brown rice syrup, coconut palm sugar, malt sugar, and date sugar. Brown rice syrup I mainly use to sweeten non-dessert food; it is too "heavy". I use agave and maple syrup in recipes that calls for liquid like banana bread or pumpkin bread and use coconut palm sugar, malt sugar, or date sugar in cookies.

Sugars & Substitutes with their Glycemic Index

Artificial Sweeteners	N/A	Never a Healthy Sugar Alternative All artificial chemical sweeteners are toxic and can indirectly lead to weight gain, the very reason many people consume them. They should be avoided. In fact, given a choice between high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, we recommend high fructose corn syrup by far (though it's essentially asking if you should consume poison or worse poison).
Stevia	0	Best Healthy Sugar Alternative Though it is 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar, stevia is not a sugar. Unlike other popular sweeteners, it has a glycemic index rating of less than 1 and therefore does not feed candida (yeast) or cause any of the numerous other problems associated with sugar consumption. Read more about stevia at Organic Lifestyle Magazine (OLM). Please note that Stevia and Truvia are not the same thing.
Xylitol	7	Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol sweetener found in the fibers of fruits and vegetables which can cause bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence with initial consumption. It's said to be safe for pregnant women, and is said to possibly treat ear infections, osteoposis, respiratory infections, candida, and is it even helps fight cavities. In fact, in Finland, virtually all chewing gum is sweetened with xylitol.
Agave Nectar	15-30	A sweet syrup made from the Blue Agave plant, Agave Nectar is obtained by the extraction and purification of "sap" from the agave plant, which is broken down by natural enzymes into the monosaccharides (simple sugars): mainly fructose (70-75%) and dextrose (20-26%). Read more about agave nectar at OLM.
Fructose	17	Though fructose has a low glycemic index rating, fructose consumption should be limited. Fructose is linked to heart disease as it raises triglycerides and cholesterol. It is devoid of nutrition.
Brown Rice Syrup	25	Though it is said to have a low glycemic index (25), it is not recommended for diabetics, since its sweetness comes from maltose, which is known to cause spikes in blood sugar.
Raw Honey	30	A Healthy Sugar Alternative in moderation With antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients, raw, unprocessed honey is considered a superfood by many alternative health care practitioners and a remedy for many health ailments. Choose your honey wisely. There is nothing beneficial about processed honey. Read more about honey at OLM.
Coconut Palm Sugar	35	Originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm , the date palm or sugar date palm (Phoenix sylvestris). It's also made from the sap of coconut palms. With a relatively low glycemic index, Cocnut palm sugar is the new rage among health nuts. It's often called "coconut nectar sugar" or "coconut sugar".
Apple Juice	40	Fresh apple juice is good for you, though we recommend eating fresh raw whole apples. Concentrated apple juice (sometimes used as a sweetener) is closer to refined sugar than fresh apple juice.
Barley Malt Syrup	42	Barley malt syrup is considered to be one of the healthiest sweeteners in the natural food industry. Barley malt is made by soaking and sprouting barley to make malt, then combining it with more barley and cooking this mixture until the starch is converted to sugar. The mash is then strained and cooked down to syrup or dried into powder.
Amasake	43	This is an ancient, Oriental whole grain sweetener made from cultured brown rice. It has a thick, pudding-like consistency. It's not easy to find in the U.S., but it is a great alternative to refined table sugar.
Sugar Cane Juice	43	Healthy Sugar Alternative in moderation Sugar cane juice has many nutrients and other beneficial properties and is said by some health practitioners to be almost as medicinal as raw honey.
Organic Sugar	47	Organic sugar comes from sugar cane grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. It is usually darker than traditional white sugar because it contains some molasses. (It has not been processed to the degree white sugar is processed).
Maple Syrup	54	Maple syrup is made by boiling sap collected from natural growth maple trees during March & April. It is refined sap and is therefore processed.  It has a high glycemic index, and though it is much more nutritious then refined table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, there are better choices.
Evaporated Cane Juice	55	Evaporated cane juice is often considered unrefined sugar, but juicing is a refining process, and evaporating refines further. Though better than turbinado, cane juice (unevaporated) is a better choice as a sweetener.
Black Strap Molasses	55	White refined table sugar is sugar cane with all the nutrition taken out. Black strap molasses is all of that nutrition that was taken away. A quality organic (must be organic!) molasses provides iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc, and is alkalizing to the body.
Turbinado	65	Turbinado sugar is partially processed sugar, also called raw sugar. Raw Sugar
Raw sugar	65	Raw sugar is not actually raw sugar. It is processed, though not as refined as common white table sugar. Therefore, given a choice between raw and white, choose raw. There are many different variations of raw sugar with many different names depending on how refined it is.
Cola (and most other sodas)	70	Though cola has a lower GI ranking then some might expect, there are many other reasons to avoid cola, or any type of soda. There is nothing beneficial to the human body inside a can of soda (not to mention we should avoid drinking out of aluminum cans!).
Corn Syrup	75	Corn syrup has very little nutrition and should be avoided.
Refined, Pasteurized Honey	75	The nutrition is gone, and there is often high fructose corn syrup added to processed honey. Refined pasteurized honey is no better than white table sugar.
Refined Table Sugar	80	Conventionally grown, chemically processed, and striped of all beneficial properties, many health advocates believe that refined sugar is one of the two leading causes (high fructose corn syrup is the other) of nearly every health ailment known to man (or woman or child). Not only does it have a high GI ranking, but it also is extremely acidic to the body causing calcium and other mineral depletion from bones and organs (sugar is alkaline but has a very acidic effect on the body).
High Fructose Corn Syrup	87	Many health advocates believe that high fructose corn syrup and refined sugar are the two biggest contributors to health ailments in our society. High fructose corn syrup is a combination of sucrose and fructose.
Glucose (AKA Dextrose)	100	White bread was the benchmark, but for consistency glucose now holds the rating at 100.
Maltodextrin	150	Foods that have maltodextrin often say "Low Sugar" or "Complex Carbohydrate", but this sweetener should be avoided!

Sources:
Sugars & Substitutes with their Glycemic Index: 
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/blog/healthy-sugar-alternatives.php

Healthy Eating

I am teaching a class on physical health to teen girls this weekend so I decided to put a few articles that I've gathered for my lesson on the blog under the label: Healthy Eating.

Here is the lesson's main idea on maintaining physical health:

• Eat a well balanced diet
• get proper exercise
• get proper rest

The lesson suggest that a well balanced diet consists of:

• Food for building bodies: meat, legumes, fish, poultry, eggs, milk
• Food for protecting against disease: fruits and vegetables
• Foos for energy: cereal grains and their prodicts such as breas, rice, or noodles

Here are some links to good information on Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits from 2006 Brigham Young University Women Conference archive.

• Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits - rules in a nutshell http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33a.pdf
• Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits - Q & A http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33b.pdf
• Ideas for Nutritions Snacks                     http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33c.pdf
• Veggie Time Saving Tips http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33d.pdf
• Health Benefits of Vegetables http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33e.pdf
• Recipes http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2006/sharing_stations/pdf/33f.pdf

My family's medial health history is pretty bad. Both my parents died of cancer. My father passed away from cancer in 1975; he was 49 years old and I was twelve. I am not sure what type of cancer he had since I have no access to the medical records in Taiwan. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 1999. After all the chemo, radiation, and harmon treatments, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer in January 2005 and passed away because of it in Sept 2006. My mother's two siblings, my aunt and my uncle, both died from cancer prior to my mother. I also lost my first husband Doug to cancer in 1992. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer at age 27 in 1990 and passed away when he was 29 in 1992. I think my "health quest" started after he passed away. I realized that I have no control if I get sick, when I get sick, or what I get sick from, but I can take care of my physical body in my everyday life: exercise, eat healthy, get proper rest, and avoid known harmful substances.

My philosophy on healthy eating is really pretty simple: eat food that is as close to it's natural state as possible and eat organic as much as possible. In order to be not too strict for my children's sake, I  mainly follow the six rules below.

• no hydrogenated oil
• no MSG
• no nitrate or nitride 
• no high fructose corn syrup
• no white sugar
• no white flour

These rules drives my kids creasy sometimes because they eliminated a lot of foods from the grocery stores. When Kaydn was six years old, his little friend came to visit and made a statement that still made me laugh to this day: "You guys must be poor because you don't even have fruit snacks!"
    
I thought for years that my kids will probably never recover from what they called "restricted" eating habit and will hate healthy foods for the rest of their lives. But as of right now, one child has survived it and is starting her own healthy eating habits. That's 33% success rate; not too bad for all of the complained we've heard for the past 15 years!

Oatmeal Cookies

I bake these healthy oatmeal cookies and loved them. Kaydn and Roland discovered them and they were vanishing fast from my pantry.  I wanted Cassidy to try them before they were gone, so I asked her to have a taste. She politely said "no, thank you." Later on, I try to get her to eat these cookies again when she was reaching for some corn bread. She had a funny look on her face and said "thanks, but I am not in the mood for oatmeal cookies." I really wanted her to try it so I followed her around in the kitchen and kept saying "try it, you've got to try it." It was almost like the book Green Eggs and Ham, I followed her around and repeatedly say "try it, try it, you will like it, just take one bite!" She said the cookie looked "funny", too chunky, and "too healthy." I should started to quote Green Eggs and Ham and made a joke about it but my drill sergeant instinct won and I tried to "order" her to eat the cookie. Of course this did not work. Roland heard the commotion and came upstairs to see what was going on. He was able to persuade Cassidy to have a bite. Once she had one bite, she was hooked. I tried to stop her from finishing the rest of the cookies but she said they were so good and she could not stop eating them. The recipe is adopted from Alicia Silverstone's Oatmeal, Walnuts, and Dry Plum Cookies recipe form The Kind Diet.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour (from white wheat)
1/3 cup date sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Real Salt

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup safflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon molasses

1/4 cup chopped dried plum (dried plum = prunes or other kind of dried fruit)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350F and line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
If your date sugar is clumpy, place the 1/3 cup date sugar in a blender with 1 cup of flour and pulse until date sugar and flour are well blended with no clumps. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate medium size bowl, mix well and add to the dry ingredients. Stir the mixture well and fold in the dried plums and nuts. If the cookie dough is to crumbly, add 1 - 2 teaspoons of water, one teaspoon at the time, until the dough stay together.
Use a small ice cream scooper and drop the dough onto the cookie sheet. Lightly press down to flatten the top. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Make about 30 cookies.

I think we should re-read the Green Eggs and Ham together as a family :-D
I would not, could not, in a box.
I will not eat them with a mouse.
I will not eat them in a house.
I will not eat them here or there.
I will not eat them anywhere.
I do not eat green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

What do you do with your basil harvest?

I am sad to see the temperature droop as we get more into the fall weather. Not only it means cold winter months are heading this way, it also signal the end of cutting fresh basil from my herb garden whenever I need basil for cooking. It's especially sad when unexpected cold nights freeze my basil plant and turn the whole thing black before I get a chance to harvest them. To not take the chance of loosing basil to cold nights, I started harvest my basil plants this weekend in mid October. I'm making a batch of regular pesto to freeze and a batch of almond tomato pesto for pasta.

I was wondering what else to do with them so I can enjoy basil in the winter months since freeze them in the freezer turn the herb black. I google "how to preserve basil" and learned a few things from articles on the internet. I froze a batch of basil leaves after I rub olive oil on them. They did not turn black!

http://www.herb.co.za/herbal/basilsweet01.htm,

Harvesting and preserving your Sweet Basil

Don't try to dry your sweet basil as the flavour is not the same as fresh basil. You can keep the leaves briefly in plastic bags in the refrigerator or you can preserve them in olive oil or vinegar. To freeze you can puree the leaves with a little water and freeze them in ice cube trays or you can cover both sides with olive oil and freeze them whole.

http://www.justhungry.com/preserving-shiso-basil-lemon-verbena-and-other-herbs

Basil puree 
For every 2 cups of fresh basil leaves (lightly packed into the measuring cup), use 1/2 cup of light olive oil (I prefer a light, relatively flavorless olive oil so that the basil flavor really shines through, but you can use an extra virgin if you prefer.) Be sure to pick the leaves only from the stems. Wash the leaves then pat them dry with kitchen towels.
If you are a purist you will mash the leaves with a mortar and pestle, but I use the food processor. Whiz up the leaves until chopped, and add the oil to make a puree. Add a few drops of lemon juice, and a little salt (1/4 tsp. or so per 2 cups of basil).I freeze this spread thinly in plastic zip bags. To use, just break or cut off as much as you need. You can turn this into pesto by adding freshly grated Parmesan, crushed or grated garlic, and ground pine nuts. (The easy way of course is to whiz everything together in the food processor.)

Hearty Pinto Bean Stew

I opened a can of pinto beans by mistake thinking that it was refried beans. As I was contemplate what to do with a can of pinto beans, I saw this recipe in The Kind Diet and decided to give it a try. It was so good! I modify the recipe to use canned instead of dried beans and enough to serve 4. It's a very quick and easy soup.

2 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced, medium size
2 cans of pinto beans
4 cups of creamy tomato soup; Imagine Creamy Tomato Soup is dairy free. Pacific Creamy Tomato Soup is not. I use Pacific Creamy Tomato soup; it available @Costco.
4 teaspoons shoyu
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried
1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
dash of red pepper flakes

Lightly sauté the onion in olive oil in a 2 quart sauce pan. Add the rest of the ingredients: pinto beans, tomato soup, shoyu, garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes to the onions, cover and simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat.

You can substitute 2 cups of dry pinto beans for the canned beans. Cover the beans in water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse the beans. Bring the beans and 4 cups of water to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beans are tender. Drain the water and use the beans in the above procedure. You can also cook the soaked beans with a pressure cooker.

Here is a link to more information about cooking with beans: http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/beanframe.html

Cheesy, Oozy Guacamole Bean Dip

This dip really surprised me, it was deliciously good, my whole family loved it. I made it recently for a Lia Sophia Jewelry Party and all my friends loved it too. So many people requested this recipes to be added to my blog so here it is. The recipe is from the book The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.
When I make it, I always make two versions, vegan version for me since I am staying away from dairy and regular version for the rest of the family. When my family finish the regular dip, they all help clean out the vegan dip. Kimberly especially likes the vegan version; she says it has less fattening. I use Follow Your Heart vegan gourmet cheddar cheese alternative. It is so much better than the soy or rice cheese we used years ago when we were on a dairy free diet because of Cassidy's allergy to milk. It also freezes well; no crumbling or falling apart after thawing. One thing about store bought taco seasoning, I was reading the label and was surprised to find that it contain milk product. I make my own taco seasoning and included the recipe below.

1 can refried beans or refried black beans, I prefer the refried black beans
3 large avocados
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 - 8oz containers nondairy sour cream
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 cup diced mild green chiles, drained
1/2 cup sliced black olives
5 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups shredded vegan Cheddar cheese

Spread a layer of refried beans in the bottom of an 8x13 quart glass baking dish. I use two round 9.5" Pyrex pie pan since I make regular and vegan versions, you can also use 8x8 pan for thicker bean dip. Mash the avocados (pitted and peeled) in a bowl, add the lime juice, mix, and spread on top of the refried beans. Stir together the sour cream and taco seasoning and spread over the avocado.  Sprinkle the green chilies, olives, and tomato on top of the sour cream mixture and top with cheese.  Heat the dip for 15 - 20 minutes in preheated 350F oven until the dip is heated through and the cheese is a bit melted. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Taco Seasoning ( recipe is approximately equal to a store bought package)
1 tablespoon ground chili pepper (I use Ancho Chili Petter)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Moroccan Couscous with Saffron

This is a dish from The Kind Diet that I wanted to try for a long time but never seemed to have winter squash on hand. When I finally had the winter squash, I was out of carrots or summer squash. It took me three months to get all of the ingredients together and make the recipe, the result was yummy. I love this dish: love the texture of the couscous, love the sweetness of the winter squash, and love the spices.

Vegetables:
2 cups peeled butternut or banana squash, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups carrots, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 1/2 cups zucchini or yellow squash, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Real salt
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. Turn and mix the vegetables after it has roasted for 15 minutes.

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (vegan) or chicken broth
2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter (vegan) or butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

While the vegetables are roasting, bring the vegetable broth to boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add the butter, cumin, saffron, plus salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and let steep for at least 15 minutes. Reheat the broth to a boil when the vegetables are ready.

When the vegetables are done, place them in a large deep skillet pan and add the couscous and the scallions. Pour the hot broth over the couscous mixture in the deep skillet pan, mix gently, and bring it up to boil (this should happened very quickly) As soon as the broth starts to boil, turn off the heat, cover the couscous mixture, and let it sit on the stove top for 15 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork before serving.

Sugar Snap Peas with Miso Sauce

This recipe is inspired by a show I watched on Food Network:  Healthy Living with Ellie Krieger. She microwave the sugar snap peas with a little water similar to steaming or blanching the peas. She then made the sauce in a sauce pan and then toss the sugar snap peas with the sauce before serving. I don't like to cook with microwave so I simply sauté the peas and simplify the ingredients list by using the Brown Sauce (see the article on Stir-Fry Sauce). If you don't have miso, it is not the end of the world. You can simply skip it, the dish taste different but it is still good. If you skip the miso paste, you may need a little more brown sauce to balance the sweetness of the orange juice.

1 pound sugar snap peas or snow peas
2 teaspoon olive oil
2 scallions, white and green, sliced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, optional, there is ginger in the brown sauce add the ginger if you like a stronger finger flavor.
1 tablespoon of brown sauce
1 teaspoon of frozen concentrated orange juice or 1/2 teaspoon of orange marmalade jam
1 teaspoon low sodium white miso paste
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan over a medium high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and sauté until tender; if you like the sugar snap peas softer, add a little water (one tablespoon) to the pan and cooked until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the scallions and ginger and saute for 1 more minutes. Turn the heat to low and add the brown sauce, concentrated orange juice/jam, miso paste, sesame oil and stir until miso paste is dissolved.

Celebrity Sherbet

Aunt Cindy made this ice cream at Bear Lake a few years ago and it has been one of my kids favorite homemade ice cream ever since. Lately I have been having trouble with dairy product so I made it with coconut milk and it is still so yummy!

1 1/2 quarts Half'n Half  for non-dairy version use So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage
1/2 pint whipping cream Thai kitchen or other brand canned coconut milk or light coconut milk
18 oz pineapple juice
juice of 9 oranges
juice of 4 1/2 lemons
6 cups sugar   use agave for those who are trying reduce sugar consumption; I use half the amount

Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved. Put in a large ice cream maker and follow the ice cream making instructions. I like to use Cuisinart ice cream maker because there is no salt or ice involved and much easier to clean up. If you have use the Cuisinart,  use 1/3 of the recipe and it fit perfectly.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

When Kimberly was training for the Park City half marathon, she asked me to be supportive of her training and her effort of to eat health which means "stop making sweet treats". I agree to be helpful and decided to drastically reduce sugar from of our diet and make treats with as little sugar as possible. Cutting white sugar and high fructose corn syrup years ago was easy; I replaced them with organic evaporated can juice. But how do you make treats with very little or no organic cane sugar?
This recipe came to the rescue for me since I like peanut butter and chocolate. The recipe is adopted from the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone but I must give a word of caution for those who feel incline to read the book since I have mentioned many recipes from this book on my blog. Even though this book has great recipes, it is not for people who love, enjoy, and plan to eating meat and dairy; her recipes are either vegan or are based on the macrobiotic diet. But her philosophy about dessert is great: "You may not think of desserts as health foods, but I beg to differ. By eating scrumptious vegan desserts on a regular basis, I maintain my mental health, for there is no life without dessert!"

I prefer the mini muffin tin to the regular size tin and one batch makes about 30 mini cups. I can have one or two mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup at night and be happy and satisfied.

3 Table spoons vegan butter; I use 4T if using malt sugar
1/4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener  I use 1/4 cup malt sugar since maple sugar is expensive.
3/4 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter, unsweetened and unsalted; I use Costco's organic creamy peanut butter
10 graham cracker squares or 16 Health Valley amaranth graham crackers, crushed (use a ziplock bag and wooden rolling pin). I prefer the Health Valley graham crackers; they are so good that I tend munch on them for snacks.

Chocolate Sauce
1 cup grain sweetened, non dairy chocolate or carob chips (I love unsweetened carob chips but my kids do not, so I stay with the grain vegan sweetened chocolate chips)
1/4 soy, rice or nut milk; I use So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk beverage
1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts

Line a 12 cup muffin tin (regular size) with paper liners and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well. Remove the mixture form the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 table spoons per cup, among the muffin cups. Be sure to let the mixture completely cooled before you continue the next step.

Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture. Top with chopped nuts. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Run and Swim to End the Summer

What a way to end the summer! Kim ran a half marathon this morning at Park City and Cassidy swam a mile with her swim academy this afternoon.

We awoke at 5:15am this morning to get ready. We arrived at the starting location, Newpark Resort and Hotel, at about 6:15am and met up with cousin Kati and her family. It was still dark and there were a lot runners there! It's amazing how many people run marathons or half marathons.

The marathon started at 6:30am. After all of the marathoner took off, runners started to line up for the half marathon. Kim and Kati decided to be in the front of the second wave in stead of the end of the first wave so they lined up right after the orange tape.

The first wave moved out at 6:45am and the girls move to the starting line waiting for the signal.

Waiting, waiting . . . 

They sure did not look like they were about to endure a lot of pain and suffering.

                                               6:50am, time to run!

The half marathoner had to run around the parking lot to get on the trail so we went toward the west end of the parking lot to catch our first photo opportunity of the girls running.

As soon as we took the above photo, we headed to the east end of the parking lot. Here was our second and last opportunity to watch them run, until the end that was. It's funny that we only took a few steps while they ran abut one mile around the parking lot.

These two had been running for a few minutes and they sure look happy to be in the race.









I thought I'd include the course map for those who what to check out the Park City half marathon course. This map is intended for IE browser so it may not work for Firefox or other internet browser.


While Kimberly was sweating and breathing/running hard, Cassidy was getting compensated for having to get up bright and early to watch the marathon.

It just so happened that within 20 steps from where we where watching the girls getting on the trails, there was a Kneaders. Happy Day!

I did not ordered anything at Kneaders; it was too early to eat such a big sweet breakfast. But Cassidy was always hungry. She ordered the Chunky Cinnamon French Toast. It looked delicious! I wounder how many calories it had?

I was so surprised to see a runner back in the parking lot around 8am while we were sitting in Kneaders. That meant he finished running 13+ miles in just over an hour. Wow! We headed toward the finish line at about 8:30am. The girls were running about 10 minute mile during training. We figured that it would take them about two hours and ten minutes to arrive at the finish line. Because the half marathon was an out and back course, the finish line was where the girls started the trail. I was sure that they were looking forward to see the beautiful word "FINISH".

While we were waiting for the girls to cross the finish line, I started to worried a little about Kimberly. She had had a lot of pain ever since her training runs were longer than 7 miles. She had suffered shin splint, her hips would locked up after a run to where she could hardly walk, or sometimes her hip would grind during a run. I was not sure that she would be able to run the course and was afraid that her body would fall apart during the half marathon. 

 

We saw Kati!    

There was no words to describe the feeling of seeing her coming towards the finish line. She was faster than we had anticipated. Her official time is 2 hours 3 minutes and 34.9 seconds.

After Kati came in, I was more worried that Kim was injured. The girls' running speed was about the same, so we expected them to stay pretty close to each other. With every passing moment, I thought that there was a real possibility that Kim was hurt.

Here come Kimberly!

She was smiling, what a great sight!!!

 Her official time is 2 hours 5 minutes and 38.5 seconds.

Way to go girls,

We are so proud of you!!!

In the 19-24 age group, Kati finished 9th and Kimberly finished 12th.
  

After the half marathon was over, we had to hurry back to Marriott Summit Watch so Kimberly could sit in the hot tub for a little while to relax before we had to check out. We had stayed at Park City for the week and it was time to pack up and head home. Actually, Cassidy and I stayed the full week; Roland and Kaydn were visiting grandpa and grandma Brown in Canada. Kim had to work everyday so she only stayed some nights. Kimberly felt pretty good after four Advils (thank you, Dan!), so we did a little shopping on Main Street after we checked out of the hotel. We discovered that there was a bike race going on Main street; a marathon and a bike race all in one day in the same town; pretty impressive.

After returning home, unloading luggage, and running errands with Kimberly to help her get ready to move down to BYU for her senior year, it was time to take Cassidy to the swimming pool for the swim academy semi-annual mile swim. She was wearing her brand new swim suit we purchased before the mile swim. This girl has been growing taller again.

Cassidy and Kaydn joined the swim academy last September, so this is Cassidy's first mile swim.

One mile is 36 laps, or 72 length of the pool, a lot of back and forth. Here is a photo of the swimmers and the counters.

What a great feeling to finish the mile swim; she should wear the goggle indentation proudly!

She finished the mile swim in 31 minutes and 57 seconds.

Three cheers to Cassidy!

One ran the half marathon, one swam a mile, I guess I'd better stay up late to finish this entry on the blog.

 What a special day!