Make THIS Today!

Hello, friends! It’s a gloomy day in Indiana, and looking at the forecast for the coming week fall weather has returned! I LOVE fall. There are so many wonderful things about fall. Warm days, crisp evenings, apples, bonfires, sweatshirts and jeans are just some of the many things I enjoy about fall. Another thing I like about fall is the return of comfort food to my menus. Don’t get me wrong, I love homegrown produce and grilling in the summer. However, after a while I’m ready for soups, stews and pot roast.

Can you smell the deliciousness?!!

Pot roast is the focus of my blog today, but not just any old pot roast, my yummy, warm, comforting Mexican pot roast. I used my homegrown tomatoes, onions, and peppers, as well as my homemade Mexican tomato sauce to make it. See my previous post, “Roast These For Optimal Nutrition!” to make my delicious sauce, read to the end for the Mexican version! https://vitalvaldecap.com/2016/08/12/roast-these-for-optimal-nutrition/ If you don’t grow your own veggies, you can easily use produce from the grocery store or farmer’s market. Just make sure to use organic products whenever possible.

When I made my pot roast the other day, it was so delicious that I forgot to take pictures of the finished product; I was busy shoveling it into my mouth! Because Danielle is now in her own apartment, I’ve been diligently freezing leftovers for her to take with her for days when she doesn’t have time to cook. I froze the leftovers and sent them with Danielle to her apartment, and she was kind enough to take pictures of the plating for me. This roast is EASY to make, just use your crockpot and assemble the ingredients in the morning, and by the time you’re ready to eat it will be done. The smell in your house/apartment by the time you return will be to-die for!

Crockpot Mexican Pot Roast

2.5-3 lb chuck roast
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion rough chopped
2 bell peppers, any color
1 large tomato, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers (ribs and seeds removed)
2 cups Mexican flavored tomato sauce or red enchilada sauce
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place the chuck roast into your crockpot. I used one of these cool crockpot liners that I found at Target, you just line your crockpot with one, add the ingredients, cook, and after you serve your meal you can just throw away the liner. No clean up- fab! 🙂 Add half of the chile powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper directly to the meat. Next, include the extra virgin olive oil. Pour the sauce on top of the meat. Sprinkle the rest of the chile powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper on the sauce.

Chop onions, peppers and tomatoes, and then place them on top of the meat and sauce. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or 4-5 hours on high. Serve with green beans, potatoes, or tortillas. Olé!

Thanks for the pictures, Danzy! 🙂

This roast is protein rich, as well as full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, so it’s super healthy, and the flavor is warm, juicy and bursting with deliciousness. You’ll love it, I promise! It’s also inexpensive to make, as chuck roast is one of the cheapest cuts of meat, and the vegetables are not expensive either. Eating food that is good tasting and good for you like my Mexican pot roast will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie! 🙂

Yet ANOTHER Source of Cancer Prevention For You!

Wild and crazy garden!

Hello, friends! Happy late summer to you! We had some MUCH NEEDED rain this week, and my garden is growing like crazy with the added moisture. The herbs, tomatoes, onions and peppers are even more plentiful than they were! Another thing in my garden that is exploding right now is my tomatillo plant. I’ve never grown tomatillos before, but we found a plant when we were looking at tomatoes. I decided to get one to see what I thought about it. Now, I’m so glad I did! They are a delicious change from tomatoes, and I’ve made some great meals including them. I want to share what I’ve learned about tomatillos, and two different ways to utilize them in dishes.

My tomatillo plant, with little tomatillos on it!

The tomatillo is actually not a tomato, it is a vegetable from the nightshade family, and is actually related more closely to cape gooseberries. Their scientific name is Physalis philadelphica and they are a staple in Central and South America. They have a light brown husk that will eventually break off when the tomatillo is ripe. The tomatillo has a tart flavor, rather than a sweet flavor like tomatoes.

Tomatillos in their husks!

Tomatillos have high levels of dietary fiber, very few calories (approximately 11), moderate levels of vitamin C, A, K, niacin, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. They also have withanolides and flavonoids like lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta carotene.

Because tomatillos have high levels of fiber they are excellent for digestive health, as fiber can help add bulk to foods and speed their transit through the digestive tract, thereby eliminating constipation, excess gas, bloating, cramping, and even colon and gastric cancers. Fiber is also good at regulating the release of carbohydrates into the bloodstream, thereby regulating blood sugar levels, which is important for people with diabetes.

They also contain phytochemicals called withanolides, which have been directly linked to anti-cancer and antibacterial functions. Antioxidants help combat the effects of free radicals, which are the dangerous byproducts of cellular reproduction, that can kill or mutate healthy cells and turn them into cancerous cells. In addition, the vitamin A, C, and other flavonoids within tomatillos provide other cancer-protective effects, particularly lung and oral cancers.

This is what they look like once they have been peeled!

The vitamin C in tomatillos is good for the immune system and collagen production, and the vitamin A and beta carotene helps with our vision and eye health. The high nutrient, low calorie and low fat in them also help with weight loss, because they help us feel full, acquire the necessary nutrients, and reduce the chances of overeating. The niacin helps us to increase energy, and the potassium is heart healthy. Did I convince you to try them?!!

I made two sauces with my tomatillos, one in which I roasted the tomatillos, and one with raw tomatillos. They’re both easy to make, but the raw tomatillos give the sauce a bright and vibrant flavor, and the roasted tomatillos make the sauce deeper and more intensely flavored. I loved them both, and I can’t decide which one I like better so I’m sharing them both with you.

Roasted tomatillo Sauce- See the blackened bits in the sauce?! They add such a nice, smoky flavor!

Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

10 tomatillos, peeled, rinsed and cut in half
5 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed for a milder sauce
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of water
tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat broiler in oven. Peel tomatillos and MAKE SURE TO RINSE THEM AFTER PEELING. Tomatillos are very sticky and must be rinsed to remove the stickiness.

Make sure you rinse them, to remove the sticky film!

Chop them in half and put them on a baking sheet with the chiles. Roast them 4 inches below a very hot broiler until darkly roasted, even blackened, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side, 4-5 minutes more. They will be splotchy and blistered, and that’s perfect.

Looks wrong, but it’s oh so right!

In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos, chiles, juice from the baking sheet, cilantro, water, onion, and salt until it’s a rough puree. Serve immediately or store it in the fridge.

I served the sauce over a pork tenderloin I made in the crockpot. I added shredded Mexican cheese, and served with corn tortillas. It was smoky and yummy!

To make the sauce without roasting the tomatillos, just throw all the ingredients into the blender or food processor, and blend until coarsely pureed.

Raw tomatillo sauce, brightly colored and flavored!

The sauce is a brighter green when the tomatillos are left raw, and it has a more tart, mild vinegar flavor, but it’s still really, really good. I served it over ribeyes we had made, and added black beans on the side.

That’s all there is to it! It’s a versatile sauce, whether raw or roasted, and can be used on tacos, nachos, burritos or enchiladas, on pork, chicken, beef or seafood; really any way you can think to use it. It’s delicious and healthy too, what more could you want?!! Eating tomatillo sauce is so good for you, and will help you lead a life of vitality- with Valerie! 🙂

Roast these for optimal nutrition!

A cornucopia of tomatoes!

Hello friends! These are the “dog days” of summer, aren’t they? At least they are in Indiana. According to dictionary.com, dog days are “the sultry part of the summer, supposed to occur during the period that Sirius, the dog star, rises at the same time as the sun: now often reckoned from July 3 to August 11. A period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence.” Well since most of the children are back in school, I’d say the inactivity part has passed, but the heat certainly causes me to feel a bit lethargic!

However, I have no time for lethargy because my garden is producing in full abundance right now. It is certainly not lethargic either! I have more tomatoes, peppers and onions than I know what to do with, and I am very determined not to waste one thing that comes from my garden.

So, I’ve gotten creative at different ways to utilize all of my fruits and veggies, because there are only so many sliced tomatoes you can eat before you get tired of them. I started thinking about making my own tomato sauce. However, I wanted to roast them because I thought it would add a depth of flavor that non-roasted tomato sauce would not have. I began to look around for recipes and combined a few to create my own version of roasted tomato sauce.

But here is another benefit to roasting the tomatoes to make a sauce besides taste, they are MORE NUTRITIOUS than an unroasted tomato! I’m totally serious! I didn’t know that, I only knew I liked the taste better. When tomatoes are roasted or cooked in a sauce, it helps to break down the plant cell walls, allowing us to better absorb the antioxidant lycopene. This nutrient helps safeguard our cells from environmental damage, may protect us from certain cancers, and is heart-friendly. Tomatoes do lose about 10% of their vitamin C from the cooking process, however the benefits of the increased absorption of lycopene far outweigh the loss of vitamin C. Some vegetables like peppers and broccoli are healthier when eaten raw, because cooking causes them to lose essential nutrients. This is not the case with tomatoes, as they are best for you when eaten roasted or cooked.

Now that you know how good roasted tomatoes are for you, I’m going to share my roasted tomato sauce recipe with you. It is SO AMAZING, if I do say so myself. I’m eating it right now over an Italian sausage with a piece of Colby Jack cheese melted on it. The sauce is creamy and it’s flavor can best be described as spunky! Please enjoy!

My trusty sous chef, Danielle! 🙂

Valerie’s Roasted Tomato Sauce

30 tomatoes, halved
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
1 tablespoon oregano, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take the halved tomatoes, core them, remove the seeds, and place them on 2 large sheet pans halved side up. Coring and removing the seeds is optional, and makes a more concentrated sauce. If you’re short on time, just halve the tomatoes and place them on the sheet tray. Make sure you add a half hour more to the cooking time because the tomatoes with the seeds and cores will have A LOT more juice to them, and therefore will need to cook a half hour longer. I sprayed my trays with organic olive oil cooking spray so the tomatoes wouldn’t stick, which would aid in my clean up.

Next, get a big bowl and add the rest of the ingredients to it. Microwave the bowl for 2 minutes and pour the contents equally over the tomatoes. Use your hands to make sure the oil mixture gets all over the tomatoes.

Bake the tomatoes for 2 hours (2 1/2 hours if you didn’t remove the seeds and cores). Rotate the pans halfway through the baking process. Then, turn the oven up to 400 degrees and roast them for another 30 minutes. They will turn kind of blackened but that is PERFECT. You won’t believe how wonderful your house will smell while you’re doing this.

Now you have two options, you can either use a food mill and pulverize the tomatoes that way, or use a blender or food processor to beat up the tomatoes. I started using my food mill, but I felt it was leaving too many tasty bits unused, so I switched to using my trusty Vitamix. What I did was pour all the tomatoes into my blender, and blend on medium for about 20 seconds. Then, I poured the blended tomatoes into a pot, and cooked the roasted tomato sauce until thickened, about 15 minutes. I tasted it, added a 1/2 cup of red wine, and another 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Here’s a cool thing, the trays will have all kinds of bits on them and you may think, “oh my goodness, clean-up will be a huge ordeal!” but fear not, dear readers, I have a great and easy clean-up method that adds to the flavor of the sauce too. Take a cup of water and microwave it for 2 minutes, pour it onto the sheet pan, and wait a minute. Then, take a spatula, scrape off the bits, and pour the water/tasty bits into the sauce. It definitely adds flavor and makes clean-up easier too! That’s a win-win, my friends!

This sauce is so versatile, you can use it on pasta, to make Italian sausage sandwiches, as a sauce for steaks, or the way I used it the other night, over my healthy chicken Italiano. I took chicken thighs, salted and peppered them, and cooked them on the stove in a little EVOO. After they were cooked through, I added a piece of prosciutto and provolone cheese to the top and cooked for another minute until the cheese melted. Then, I poured the sauce over the top and served with fresh green beans- DELIZIOSO!

You can also turn this sauce into a Mexican sauce by adding chili powder, cumin, and jalapenos, and use it on enchiladas or in a taco sauce. Another variation is that you could add croutons, and turn it into a tomato soup. This sauce is so amazing, the sky’s the limit with it. You should definitely make this sauce, and if you make something super cool with it, let me know! Remember, cooked or roasted tomatoes are healthier than uncooked tomatoes, and far more delicious too! Eating like this will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie! 🙂

How Does Your Garden Grow? Deliciously!

The outer edge of the garden is for my herbs, and the inside is full of vegetables! Chewie likes to sniff the herbs, as you can see!

Hello, friends! It’s a beautiful summer day here. How is it where you live? I hope it’s as gorgeous as it is here! Because we now have our forever home, I have FINALLY been able to have the vegetable and herb garden of my dreams. We decided to make raised beds so I wouldn’t have to stoop or kneel to weed or pick my veggies and herbs. Now I’m really glad we made that decision. We also decided to make the raised beds out of stone instead of wood, because stone lasts forever, and we knew we would have to replace wooden beds in 3-5 years. I actually had to make the footprint of the garden larger twice while it was being built because I didn’t want to outgrow it too soon. We used organic soil once the stone was in place, and only use organic fertilizers on it as well. We never use pesticides or any chemicals of any sort on it, as there are lots of great natural ways to prevent infestations of bugs.

This is my tomato section, you can see how tall and luscious they can get with organic fertilizer and soil!

Eventually I would like to have a massive garden, and grow veggies and herbs to sell to restaurants who are interested in providing their customers with organic, scrumptious and beautiful vegetables and herbs. For now, though, I am focusing on growing enough for our family. I am writing about this today because I want to encourage you all to grow your own vegetables and herbs. It’s astonishingly easy to do, and requires very little maintenance along the way to deliciousness. I also want to share my recipe for salsa from my home grown tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro.

The back side of my garden with more herbs on the outside, and the inside has veggies, veggies and more veggies!

You don’t have to use stone, or make raised beds. Making a garden is as simple as clearing a spot for it, planting vegetables, adding organic fertilizer, watering every other day, picking weeds (I used to pull weeds every day and because they’re so small and tender they literally pull out in seconds, but now that the plants are so tall and well established they have pushed the weeds out), and enjoying the bounty of your garden. If you live in an apartment or condo (or like us were renting a home), you can grow your vegetables and herbs in pots on your patio.

Ok, I admit, I already outgrew my raised garden and had to use the edge of the fenced in area to plant my melons, zucchini, and cucumbers.

The vegetables I am growing are onions, peppers, asparagus, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, arugula, kale, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, and garlic. The fruit selection is strawberries, cantaloupe, tomatoes (they are a vegetable!8 different kinds!), blueberries, and watermelon. The herbs are 5 different kinds of basil, 4 different types of oregano, 6 different types of thyme, rosemary, French tarragon, lavender, 3 kinds of mint, curry, and probably a lot more that I can’t recall right now. As you can tell I love herbs!

Just outside of the fenced in area of our yard, I am growing potatoes and garlic!

One of the main advantages to growing your own over buying store bought produce is price. For example, if you buy herbs from the grocery store it can cost anywhere from $3-6, and you can use them for 1-2 meals. Buying potted herbs costs $2.5-4.00, and they can last anywhere from 8 months to indefinitely. I have rosemary and parsley in pots that I brought with me from our old house that are going on 1 1/2 years old now. They wintered inside our house, I took them outside once it got warm enough, and they are flourishing now! That’s a great return on a $4.00 investment!

Another reason for growing your own is that you can control what goes into your food. You can use organic soil, fertilizer and pesticides like I do. For me it is such a relief to know how my food is grown, and what is used in the process. In addition, store bought produce is often picked half-ripe so that it can ripen once it gets to the grocery store, causing it to not grow to its full potential of nutritional value. Home grown produce can be picked at the peak of ripeness, thereby getting the full value of every single vitamin and mineral it contains. It’s also super convenient, instead of driving to the grocery store, you can walk out into your yard, snip off some basil, pick a few tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and you are on your way to a delicious homemade tomato sauce.

So with the bounty I currently have from my garden, I made my yummy salsa the other day. It is so easy to make fresh salsa, but it’s even easier when I can go into my yard to pick the ingredients for it. I will share it with you now!

Valerie’s Fresh Garden Salsa

4-6 large tomatoes chopped into smallish pieces
1 medium size onion, finely chopped (I used two large green onions)
2 jalapenos– seeded and insides removed if you don’t like much heat, I put them in intact because we love heat in our salsa! I also used sport peppers (heat index, somewhere between bell pepper and jalapeno) and banana peppers too!
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1/2 cup each extra virgin olive oil and vinegar
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

Chop tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro and add to large bowl.

Add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the bowl and mix well. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. It tastes really good right away, but it’s even better the longer it sits. So if you make it in advance of the time you want to serve it, and let it sit and chill in the fridge that would taste extra amazing!

And voila! The finished product! It tastes delicious and it’s so good for you too. It’s full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that our bodies need to be healthy. It also helps prevent all kinds of diseases like cancer and heart disease. So remember to grow your own herbs and produce, and make yummy things with that home grown produce like my salsa. It will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie! 🙂

Join my current quinoa kick!

Hello, my friends! It’s the most beautiful morning here in central Indiana, and I’m so grateful for the warmth and sunshine that spring brings. It thaws the chill from my winter-weary bones.

Since spring is the time of greater light, it usually is a time of lightened up eating for me as well. My new eating passion is replacing simple carbs with complex ones, and my primary way of doing that is to use quinoa in the place of simpler carbohydrates like pasta and white rice. I’ve also been using vegetables in the place of simple carbs, and I’ll share some of those recipes with you soon.

The newest recipe I’ve created is called quinoa con pollo. Now, arroz (rice) con pollo has always been one of my favorite things to eat. I’ve shared the recipe previously on the blog. The other day when I went to make it, though, I thought that if I used quinoa in the place of rice I would have a healthier dish. But could I still get the same rich, complex, delicious flavors and textures with quinoa? I decided to make it and find out. The conclusion to the experiment was that it was just as yummy and amazing as it is when rice is used in the recipe. And swapping rice for quinoa resulted in a bigger bang for my nutritional buck, which was my ultimate goal. I’d like to share the recipe with you now; come along for the ride!
Valerie’s Quinoa Con Pollo

1 whole chicken cut up
1 teaspoon annato paste (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 onion quartered
1 jalapeño pepper
1 tomato
Red pepper quartered
1 handful cilantro
1 cup quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup rough chopped black, green or Greek olives- pitted
1 roasted red pepper (optional)

First, take your cut-up chicken and salt and pepper it on both sides.

Next, add the EVOO and annato paste to a large skillet on medium heat, and stir until the paste is melted into the oil. Annato paste adds a nutty flavor and rich golden color to the chicken, but is totally optional if you don’t have it. Then add the chicken to the pan and brown for three minutes on each side. Remove from skillet to a plate to rest for a few minutes.

Then, take the garlic, onion, jalapeño pepper, red pepper, tomato and cilantro and throw them into a blender. Blend the ingredients for a minute until smooth, and then add them to the skillet. This is called soffrito, and is a blend of ingredients that is a staple of Mexican cooking.

Stir occasionally and cook for 5 minutes until thickened and bubbly.

Add the quinoa to the soffrito and simmer for a few minutes until the liquid is absorbed into the quinoa. Put chicken back into the pan, and then add the chicken broth. Toss the olives in as well.

Cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until the liquid in the pan is absorbed and the quinoa is soft.

Garnish the chicken with the roasted red pepper and a few leaves of cilantro. Eat and try not to make loud yummy noises! 🙂

The quinoa adds twice the protein, half the carbs, 2 1/2 times the fiber, and twice the iron for the same number of calories as rice. It’s a true nutritional powerhouse, especially if organic quinoa is used. I really didn’t miss the rice in this dish, I promise! I hope my Mexican grandma isn’t going to send down her disapproval from heaven for changing a dish of such rich cultural heritage, but I think if she tried it, she’d approve! Let me know what you think when you try it. Making healthy but delicious swaps in your meals will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie!

One of the healthiest things you can eat!

Hello, friends! Well I have an abundance of tomatoes and peppers in my garden right now, and I’m always trying to think of ways to use the bounty of my garden before it goes bad. One of my absolute favorite ways to use my tomatoes and peppers is to make salsa. I make a delicious and easy salsa that my family raves about. In fact, they fight over it when I make it and it certainly doesn’t last very long in my house. The other day Jacqueline’s boyfriend texted me to ask if I had made any salsa and if so, could he come over and have some. He has eaten an entire bowl of my salsa at one sitting quite a few times! I have made it for years, and in doing so I’ve tweaked my recipe and now I think it’s perfect, but you can be the judge of that.

I have discussed the health benefits of tomatoes and peppers numerous times this summer but let’s review this.

Tomatoes have fiber, potassium, choline, folic acid, vitamin C, lycopene and beta-caratine all of which help prevent heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure. They lower blood glucose levels, improve overall skin texture, help with depression, etc etc etc.

Peppers are full of vitamin C, capsaicin, B6, Folate, and carotenoids, which help with weight loss, controlling cholesterol, fighting against inflammatory disorders like arthritis, and lowering your risk for breast cancer and heart disease. The benefits are enormous!

Salsa also contains onions which have vitamin C and B6, folate, potassium, iron, and flavonoids quercetin and allyl disulphide. They’re anti-allergic, anti-histaminic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant all rolled into one!
Now are you convinced that salsa is good for you? Here’s the bonus- it also TASTES GOOD! It is one of my favorite things to eat and it’s so versatile. You can put it on tacos, eggs, chicken, and steak. You’re really only limited by your imagination. Without further ado, here we go!

Valerie’s kick butt salsa

7-8 tomatoes chopped
1/2 onion chopped
4 jalapeño peppers
1/3 cup cilantro chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 lime
4 teaspoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

First chop the tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro. Add them to a large bowl. If you want a mild salsa remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños, but I left them in because we like a medium salsa.

Add the garlic to the bowl with the tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro. Squeeze half a lime into the bowl. Add the garlic, vinegar and olive oil. Finally, add the salt and pepper and mix to combine all the ingredients. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.

I like a rough chopped salsa, but if you life a smoother salsa you can always give it a quick mix in the blender to smooth it out a bit.

That’s all there is to it! It’s healthy, easy and delicious! I’m eating it right now actually and it really is very tasty. If you try it, let me know how you like it. Eating food like this will help you live a healthy life, and a life of vitality-with Valerie!

Peter Piper Knew What He Was Talking About- Here’s Why You Should Do It Too!

Eat your heart out, Peter, I pickled my own!

Now when I speak of our good friend, Peter Piper, I’m not talking about the part where he PICKED the peck of pickled peppers. Though how do you pick pickled peppers anyway? Wouldn’t you have to pick regular peppers and then pickle them? So confusing, those old tongue twisters. No it’s the PICKLED part of the peppers that I want to focus on today.

You may be thinking, why should I care about pickled peppers or pickled anything else? Here’s why you should care- pickled or fermented vegetables are SO GOOD for you! And we’re talking ANYTHING pickled- like cucumbers (most common vegetable pickled), radishes, green beans, cabbage (think sauerkraut), and the Korean fermented vegetable dish called Kim chi. Did you know that pickled foods contain probiotics (good bacteria that helps your gut health)? Yes, that’s true. Let me explain this a bit.

Pickled cucumbers, or as most of us call them, pickles!

Pickling is a form of fermentation, and when vegetables and fruits are fermented, healthy bacteria help break down the hard to digest cellulose in foods, as well as some of the natural sugar. These healthy bacteria help keep fermented food safe and less likely to spoil, and can also help increase the good bacteria in your gut when eaten. That’s not just good for your gut, my friends, it also affects your immune and nervous systems. Almost 80% of our immune system exists in the gut, which contains about 100 trillion bacteria. In other words, we have 10 times more gut bacteria than the number of cells in our entire bodies! The gut also has the second nervous system in our bodies. We have the same amount of neurotransmitters in our gut as our brain! I know, crazy right?!!

Here’s the thing you’re probably thinking, ok so the gut is important, but why do we need pickled or fermented vegetables and fruits? The reason is because bad diets, antibiotics, stress and numerous other factors can create an imbalance of bad bacteria, creating bloating, fatigue, diarrhea, inflammation, headaches, and sugar cravings. Probiotics in fermented foods can help rebalance your good bacteria and ELIMINATE THESE SYMPTOMS!

Yummy, interesting Kim chi!

Another reason we need more pickled or fermented fruits and vegetables is that overweight people have different intestinal bacteria than lean people. In addition to other health problems, an imbalance of bad bacteria can create inflammation and fat gain. A study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed obese people reduced abdominal fat nearly 5% simply by drinking probiotic rich fermented milk for 12 weeks. Probiotics also reduce the risk for metabolic syndrome, which is an unpleasant condition that includes high blood pressure, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Clearly, probiotics are the way to help prevent numerous diseases!

The recommendation is to eat 1-3 servings of pickled or fermented vegetables each day to get the optimal gut benefits. Now, don’t go rush out to the grocery store and buy 10 jars of processed pickles. If you’re going to buy your pickled vegetables please buy them from the refrigerated section and try to get them without added sugar and organic if possible. If you don’t like pickles, refrigerated, non-pasteurized high quality sauerkraut is a delicious and healthy way to get your probiotics and vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals too. Kim chi, the Korean fermented vegetable dish, is another way to get your probiotics. My daughter’s boyfriend is of Korean descent and his mom brought us Kim chi. I have been OBSESSED with it since she sent it, and have eaten the garlicky, spicy vegetables with almost every meat I’ve eaten. If you don’t know someone Korean, go visit your local Korean restaurant and try it! Truly unique and delicious!

Last and most important, I’m here to give you an easy and quick recipe for pickling vegetables so you can do it at home. You will be stunned at how easy and delish this is. Then, you can make some more when you run out instead of buying more from the grocery store. It’s also convenient to make your own because you can pickle whatever vegetables and fruits you have available at home. Check it out, you’ll be impressed!

Ingredients ready to be pickled!

Valerie’s Easy, Quick Pickled Vegetables

Gorgeous peppers- Peter would definitely want these, even before they’re pickled!

One cup chopped vegetables ( I used cucumbers and of course, peppers- both sweet and jalapenos)
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Stir the vegetables into the vinegar, sugar and salt. Let sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. THAT’S IT!

Cukes sliced and ready for pickling!

You can put the pickles on a burger, hot dog, any sandwich, mix them into scrambled eggs, serve them alongside pork chops or steaks, or stir them into soups or top them on salads- they are versatile and delicious. I made a batch before I wrote this post, and Danielle is trying to eat them all before I’m even done writing! They’re addictive, and they’ll help give your gut the healthy flora it needs to boost immunity, fight disease, and get rid of that extra weight! Sounds great to me!

Voila! Done and ready for eating!

Try to pickle your own vegetables and let me know what you think of them. Also, I’d love to hear if your health improves by eating your pickled veggies, but remember you need to eat them AT LEAST once a day! Eating pickled vegetables is a way to live a life of vitality- with Valerie!

Eating Healthy Starts with this! Part Deux

Good day, my friends! I’m now going to continue my healthy eating post by telling you the second thing you need to eat healthily at home. The first as you recall if you read part one, was a pantry stocked with lovely items to help you cook healthy meals. The second essential is a well stocked refrigerator/freezer. Or in my case refrigerators/freezers because I have two, one in my kitchen and one in the garage. They are both important to my healthy cooking strategy so I’ll talk about how I use them both. Again, please don’t judge my fridge organization or cleanliness, just the contents! In addition, all food mentioned is organic whenever possible.

Fridge Essentials

1. Liquids for drinking- We don’t drink soda pop and I don’t have any in the house. Instead, I keep the fridge stocked with filtered alkaline water, chocolate milk, almond milk, healthy juices with no sugar or corn syrup, and half and half for my coffee.

2. Yogurt and hummus- We always have these two items, though I usually make my own hummus, for healthy snacking.

3. Cooking ingredients- I always have minced garlic, olives, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon and regular mustard, ketchup, salsa, hot sauces, and pickles to help add flavor to my meals.

4. Vegetables and fruits- The vegetables I usually have on hand are romaine lettuce, asparagus, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and peppers. The types of fruit are grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, and watermelon. Many meals and snacks can be made from these vegetables and fruit.

5. Deli meat and cheeses- Important items here are turkey lunch meat, salami, cheddar cheese- both sliced and shredded, as well as romano cheese and parmesan for pastas.

6. Wine- no explanation needed here! 🙂

7. Eggs- Eggs are one of the things we eat often in my house. I make hard boiled eggs, fried, scrambled, poached, and egg salad. There are so many awesome dishes that can be made with eggs. Eggs are a great ingredient in other dishes as well, making them one of the most versatile items in my fridge.

8. Leftovers- My outside fridge is mostly for leftovers, drinks and yogurt. I love leftovers and have written about that in many past posts. I eat them for lunch the next day or repurpose them into future meals. They are one of my favorite things in my fridge so don’t throw out the leftovers, this is your chance to be creative!

Freezer Essentials-

1. Frozen vegetables- I always have frozen mixed vegetables on hand, mostly to make soups and stews, but I do like to have them for lunch sometimes.

2. Breakfast meats- We love breakfast in this house so I stock my freezer with bacon, breakfast sausage and chorizo to thaw for delicious breakfasts.

3. Leftovers- Sometimes we don’t eat all of the leftovers in the fridge, despite my best attempts to polish them all off, and I definitely don’t want them to go to waste. I put them in the freezer, making sure to label the type of food and the date on the freezer bag, so I can ensure that when I defrost them I know what it is and how long it’s been in there. It’s so handy when I don’t have anything planned to cook. I just thaw the food item, and dinner is served!

4. Meat- This is the heart of my outdoor freezer. I have different cuts of chicken in one section, beef in another, and lamb and pork in a separate area. I use the outdoor fridge to thaw the frozen meat a night or two before I am ready to cook, and then it’s ready to prepare.

5. Frozen fruit- I have frozen blueberries to make blueberry pancakes, and strawberries for smoothies.

Well, that’s what I consider essential for storing in the refrigerator and freezer. I hope you will stock what you like to eat and serve to your family and friends in your fridge/freezer. Eating at home is the best way to eat healthily. Eating healthy foods is the best way to live a life of vitality- with Valerie!

Healthy, Homemade Hummus- an EASY Snack!

Healthy, Homemade Hummus- both easy and delicious!

I must admit that I REALLY REALLY LOVE HUMMUS. I love it so much it deserves all caps! It’s creamy and rich but not heavy and it pairs well with vegetables like carrots, celery, and peppers.

It’s super, super healthy too, which makes me REALLY REALLY LOVE IT even more. A 2 tablespoon serving has only 50 calories, but provides you with 2 grams of fiber AND 2 grams of protein. The fiber/protein combo helps to keep you feeling full longer than if you had eaten a snack that only contained carbs. Also, it has 5 grams of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) which is the fat that is very good for your heart and the rest of your body. Remember, “Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat”- and you can read about that in one of my previous blog posts for more information.

A serving of hummus has 6 % of your daily value for folate and 4% for vitamin B-6 and thiamine. Folate helps prevent birth defects and is super important for pregnant women. All of these B vitamins give you energy and help keep your skin, liver, hair and eyes healthy, as well as your brain and nervous system too. Also, it has 6% RDA for phosphorus and magnesium, and 4% for iron and zinc. Phosphorus repairs cells and tissues, and magnesium is essential for muscle and nerve function, healthy immune system and strong bones. Iron is essential for cell growth and oxygen transport, and zinc is necessary for wound healing, immune function and the creation of DNA and proteins. Does this convince you to eat hummus? It should and if it doesn’t its deliciousness should really change your mind..

I also admit that I’ve always eaten store bought hummus until recently. It just seemed easier to grab a tub of it in the grocery store rather than make my own. However, with the recent bacteria laden problems that have occurred with my favorite store brand of hummus, I decided it had to be safer to make my own. Therefore, I went on a search for different hummus recipes and tried a few before coming up with my own that tasted better and was easier for me. Here’s what I came up with and I hope you like it!

Ingredients assembled and ready to go!

Healthy, Homemade Hummus

Assemble ingredients and get out your blender-

You can use a food processor also, but I don’t know how to use mime (too many blades and attachments) so I always use my blender!

2 cans organic garbanzo beans- drain one can (IF USING NON ORGANIC BEANS YOU MUST RINSE THEM FIRST BEFORE USING)
1 lemon- zest and juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

First, put your garbanzos in your blender. Next, zest (use a micro plane to remove the peel from the lemon WITHOUT ALSO INCLUDING THE WHITE PART OF THE PEEL INTO THE HUMMUS) the lemon. The white part (pith) is very bitter and should never be used. Then squeeze the lemon juice into the blender.

Great squeezing technique, right?!!

Now, add the parsley, minced garlic salt and pepper to the blender, and blend on medium speed until ingredients are combined. The last step is to add the extra virgin olive oil into the top of the blender while it is blending on low speed until it is fully incorporated into the hummus. Keep the lid on the blender so it doesn’t splash, and remove the plastic center part of the lid to add the olive oil. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed and THAT’S IT!

That’s me dipping a carrot into the hummus!

This hummus tastes good as a dip for carrots, celery, pita or tortilla chips, but remember pita and tortilla chips are carbs so go easy on those dippers! It’s also delicious as a substitute for mayo on a sandwich and as a layer in a layered salad. You can add black, green or Greek olives, roasted red peppers, jalapenos or anything you can think of to the hummus to make different varieties of it very easily. Olives are my favorite addition but since some members of my family don’t like them I usually just serve it plain.

Well, that’s it for today, my friends! I hope you try to make your own hummus since it is an easy to make and yummy snack. Let me know how it turns out if you do! Eating healthy snacks like hummus will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie!

Being Thankful is GOOD for your Health! And Turkey Leftovers Part 2!

I’m so thankful for these two!! xoxo

Since the holiday centered around thankfulness is tomorrow I started thinking about being thankful. I did some research and did you know that being thankful is actually good for your health? Yes, it’s true! People who have social connections- through family, friends or even companion animals- have longevity, survive serious diseases, and have better health than those who have no social connections. Also, the act of “being grateful” is associated with better physical and emotional health, which makes sense, doesn’t it?! People who have social support are found to have more of the immune system natural killer cell activity, and even people who care for companion animals get sick less and recover faster than those who don’t have animals. It makes me doubly thankful for my family, friends and animals this Thanksgiving! I’m also thankful for my love of cooking which comes in handy during this food centered holiday! Tomorrow I’ll be cooking turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, Brussels sprouts, cranberries and asparagus for my family and though it’s exhausting I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

A long ago Thanksgiving- I’m so thankful for my family!

So you’re done with all the cooking and you’re left with a mountain of turkey meat, what do you do with it all? My family will eat turkey in the traditional Thanksgiving way for maybe one more meal after that before they are sick of it and I’m forced to be creative. In my last post “Leftovers you’ll love, what to do with all that turkey part 1”, I shared a recipe for leftover turkey (or any kind of meat) enchiladas which I hope you enjoyed reading about. Today, I’m going to share with you a recipe for turkey hash that is delicious, easy, and will get rid of more of that turkey in a different way.

Ingredients gathered and ready to go!

Leftover Turkey Hash– ingredients, 2 cups of leftover turkey (or any) meat, 6 small potatoes, minced garlic, one small onion, 5 small red, orange and yellow peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Nuke the potatoes first!

1. Microwave 6 small potatoes for 5 minutes or until slightly soft. I like to microwave my potatoes first so that they will mostly cook before I put them in the pot. It saves a little time for me, which is always a good thing.

Chop your veg next!

2. Prep your veggies next by chopping them so they’re ready to go in the pan.

3. Heat your pan, add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and toss your veggies in until they’re softened. Then, add a teaspoon of minced garlic.

Chop potatoes when they come out of the microwave!

4. After the potatoes come out of the microwave, cut them in half to let them cool for a minute or two, then chop them into small pieces and add them to the pot with the other vegetables. Also, at this time add a teaspoon each of chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper to taste at this time as well.

Everything happily cooking in the pot!

5. Add two cups of turkey meat next. In this case I was using a ham I had made the previous night for my hash. I’ll be using turkey after tomorrow!

Time for the eggs!

6. Now is the time to make your fried eggs because hash is best when it’s covered with a delicious egg. All that gooey yolk runs over the hash to add a level of unctuousness to it! I just add a bit of butter to a fry pan, crack my eggs in, and cook them until the white is solid. The secret to delicious fried eggs is to cook them low and slow- slowly over a low heat- in order to keep them tender.

Yummmmm!!

The only thing left to do at this point is to plate the hash, add the egg to the top of it, and eat! Add a few drops of hot sauce if you want a little extra kick, like I do. This meal can be eaten any time of the day or night because in my opinion eggs and hash are not just for breakfast. The picture at the beginning of this post shows my daughters digging in to this meal yesterday afternoon and they thought it was really great! So that’s it for today, and I hope you will try this recipe because it really is easy and delicious. I just want to say that I soooooo appreciate all of my readers, and know that when I count my blessings, you are one of them! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading and sharing my blog, it has been a life changing experience for me in every way! As I said earlier, being thankful is good for your health so take some time in the next few days to count your blessings as I will be. Being thankful will help you live a life of vitality- like Valerie!

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Sharing the importance of living a joyful and healthy lifestyle!

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