Soak Your Oatmeal? Rotten Bananas?

I've become very enamored with oatmeal as of late. It's hot, which I enjoy first thing in the morning. It is filling, so I don't get hungry again until lunch, which is 11:30 for me because I usually eat breakfast at 7:00 - 7:15. I am learning during my oatmeal research that it is better for you nutritionally if you soak it for 24 hours before cooking and eating, you can do this with steel cut or rolled oats. You are probably wondering why? Here is a quote from the Kitchen Stewardship website explaining:

"Why Does Soaking Make Grains Healthier?

Soaking the grains begins germination, rendering the enzyme inhibitors unnecessary, since they exist to protect the seed and prevent early sprouting. They are neutralized so that the seed can sprout, making everything more accessible to our bodies. Levels of phytates are also reduced in soaking because the acidic liquid helps to break the bonds they form with minerals".

It is a pretty simple process and the easiest way to do it is to put your oatmeal into a bowl (if you are going to eat at work put it in a carry along container) while you are cleaning up from the current days breakfast so it will be ready to cook the next day. To the bowl add warm (not hot!) water; 110 degrees, same temp used when making bread. In addition, you will add 1 TBS of lemon juice OR whey (pour it off your yogurt if you have any in the fridge). It is also suggested that you add 1-2 TBS of whole wheat flour because oatmeal is low in the enzyme phytase which is needed to neutralize the phylates in the oatmeal. After 24 hours you are ready to cook.

I am not trying to add any more complications to your morning, but if you are planning on eating oatmeal as a regular breakfast food like I am, I think this is probably a good idea, you want to get as much nutrition from your foods as you can and not cause yourself any digestive problems.

Ok, now what about the rotten bananas? As a result of this last Daniel Fast I have decided that I cannot go back to eating sugar. It is not my friend and it is simply not worth eating anymore. But have you ever eaten oatmeal without any sweetener? Yikes!

Banana works as an excellent sweetener for oatmeal but they have to be really, really ripe. What do you do with bananas that are really, really ripe and you are not ready to use? Freeze them. Drop them into ziplock bags and pop them into the freezer until you need them, they will look horrible, especially if you leave the skins on but they are wonderful to use especially in your oatmeal. They are also great for smoothies & banana bread. Don't throw those rotten bananas away!

Daniel Fast Breakfast Foods

Breakfast is your most important meal of the day. People who eat breakfast are healthier than people who do not (it's not known whether eating breakfast makes you healthier or that healthy people eat breakfast). I think breakfast is a good idea because it keeps you from binging when you finally do get good and hungry (usually too hungry).

During the Daniel Fast breakfast can be a challenge. My usual non- Daniel Fast breakfast is a banana and coffee with cream, no sugar. Since beginning the fast I start out with hot water with lemon squeezed in it, not that I am particular to lemon but I want something hot to drink and I don't want a plain cup of hot water. The easiest thing to eat is still the banana but now I throw it in the blender and add about 1/2 cup of juice, voila breakfast. I may also eat a few cashews or pecans.

This morning I wanted something a little more substantial so I had oatmeal. I know some of you hate oatmeal, I'm sorry - maybe trying a different type of oatmeal may help. Old fashion oatmeal (the kind that takes longer to cook tastes a whole lot better than the pulverized instant stuff. Old fashion oatmeal has a great texture and is not slimey. The steel-cut oatmeal is even better, the oats have just been sliced instead of rolled (and mashed) under great big steel rollers.

Oatmeal - Debbie style

1/2 cup of old fashioned oats
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 really, really, really ripe banana (the kind that you want to throw away but it's still good)
1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil
cinnamon

Put the oats into a bowl add 1 cup of water, the pecans and raisins. Microwave covered for 3 minutes (keep an eye on it so it does not boil over). Mash the banana and stir in with the coconut oil and add the cinnamon. This breakfast lasts until lunch and you don't need a snack to keep you going.

What to Eat During a Daniel Fast? Pasta Tapenade & More

Ok, so you are going to start the 21 day Daniel Fast (if you are unfamiliar with this check out Daniel 10:2-3) and you are wondering what you are going to eat. The nutrition group at our church met on Saturday to discuss just this. Some of us are just starting, others have been fasting for several days and the rest are contemplating. Daniel-Fast.com is a wonderful website to help get you started and to explain the fast and it's purpose in more depth.

Daniel Fasting does not have to be boring or torture, it does take discipline though, it takes you telling your body what it is going to do instead of the other way around.

Here are the recipes for the foods pictured above:

Pasta Tapenade - This recipe is an original, my husband created it on a Daniel Fast a couple of years ago. It has become a family favorite and we eat it quite frequently. On nights when we can't think of what to eat for dinner we have a Pasta Tapanade night, it's whats for dinner. Video Directions 

12 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
2 cans organic diced tomatoes
1 medium onion finely diced
3 large cloves of garlic-crushed
6 Tablespoons of olive oil (regular, not extra virgin)
2 Tablespoons of Dill
3 Tablespoons of Basil
6 Tablespoons of olive tapanade
Juice from 1 lime
Ground salt and ground pepper (to taste)

Cook pasta till al dente (you want the pasta to be a bit on the firm side, but not chewy or crunchy). Pour olive oil into a hot pan. Saute onion about 2 minutes and add spices, salt and pepper, mix well.
Add cooked pasta and stir until onion and spice coat the pasta entirely. Add the diced tomatoes including any juice. Stir until evenly spread throughout the pasta. Add olive tapanade and mix until evenly distributed. Squeeze lime onto the pasta and stir in. Serve. Taste great hot, warm or cold. 

This recipe should serve 6.


 Red Quinoa and Berry Salad (a fabulous recipe that comes from Communicating Food For Health, www.communicatingfoodforhealth.com)

2 cups of red quinoa (you can use regular quinoa as well)
2 chopped celery stalks
1 cup mixed berries or pomegranate seeds (fresh is best, if you use dried make sure no sulfur and no sugar)
1/2 cup of seedless raisins (use sulfur free)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 squeezed lemon
Freshly ground pepper

Rinse the quinoa (this I found to be a little tough, if you have a mesh strainer it helps immensely). Add 3 cups of water and microwave for 20 minutes, let cool.
Place quinoa in a bowl and add celery, berries and raisins.

Season with oil, lemon, and pepper. Sprinkle almonds before serving.
Serves 8

We don't count calories on the Daniel Fast, if you are interested in this info email me and I will share.


Yellow Chickpea Pepper Salad (this recipes was a surprise, I love chickpeas also know as garbanzo beans but many people are unfamiliar with them. This recipe was a hit, my son who does not really care for them enjoyed this dish) Note- this recipe is also from Communicating Food For Health.

2 cups chickpeas (canned or pre-soaked in water overnight and cooked for 1 - 1/5 hours.
1 cup sliced yellow peppers
2 yellow squash chopped in rounds
1 medium sized yellow onion chopped (I preferred sliced)
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Freshly ground pepper

Saute onions, garlic, yellow peppers, squash and cooked chickpeas. The original recipe called for 1 cup of boiling water, this made it too soupy try 1/2 cup. Also at this point you are to add the olive oil , cumin, ground tumeric, and pepper; go ahead and add the spices and olive oil when you first start, I think you get a better flavor when the spice come into contact with the vegetables and heat together before you add water.

Serves 6


As you can see, you can eat well on the Daniel Fast.

Veggies!

I just finished helping at a local Mobile Food Mart sponsored by Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. Referred participants receive fresh fruit and vegetables to help supplement their diets. For many of these participants this once a month event is the only time they have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
I present ideas on what to do with the fresh produce so that it does not go to waste.

The importance of fruits and vegetables cannot be overstated. It protects you from certain cancers, provides you with crucial vitamins, minerals and fiber and it only has about 25 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrates per 1 cup raw and 1/2 cup cooked serving.

It is the perfect snack food because you will fill up and quit eating long before you rack up any significant calories.

This evening I demonstrated a vegetable dressing for raw vegetables.

1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Teaspoons honey

Place ingredients in a jar or plastic container with a tight fitting lid and shake until completely combined.

Makes 5 servings

17 Calories
1 gm fat
0 Cholesterol
36 mg sodium
3.8 gm carb
.2 gm protein

This stuff is delicious! I served it earlier in the day to 4 & 5 year-old's during a vegetable promotion class and many of them really liked it as well. I served it with broccoli and cauliflower pieces, they enjoyed their mini "trees".

Sardines

I went home for lunch today and intended on having a tuna steak but I had to cook it, so I decided to have some sardines instead. I really like sardines and I have just as hard a time figuring out why some people hate them as some people have trying to figure out why I like them.

Not only do sardines taste wonderful they are wonderful for you.
One serving of sardines (in olive oil, drained) has:
150 calories
11 grams of heart healthy fat
14 grams of protein
naturally occurring Omega-3's
vitamins - A, B2, B6, B12, D & E
minerals - calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium

I drain the can and squeeze the juice of a lemon or lime over the sardines and let it sit for 1 minute before I use them.
I like sardines over a salad usually, but today I ate them on Triscuits along with a salad.
My favorite brand is King Oscar, they taste better than any other brand that I have tried.
(I have no idea who Michael Kraus is but he took the photo of the sardines)

Raw Foods

The Daily Green had an article on 8 foods you should eat raw, it was quite interesting. The next time I go grocery shopping (which will actually be today) I plan on picking up some of the foods they suggested.

#1. Nuts - we already do this one. Family faves are raw cashews, almonds, pecans and pumpkin seed (we soak/sprout and then dry before using). We also roast them when we make Chilpotle nut mix, we try to limit how often we do this, you can't stop eating it once you start and nuts are not cheap!

#2. Broccoli - I am having a hard time with this one, I barely like cooked broccoli (only in quiche or roasted in the oven) I do not like raw broccoli at all. But the article says that it helps your liver detoxify carcinogens, well that's worth choking some down, I'm going to have to find a really good dip.

#3. Garlic - This is a no brainer, raw garlic protects your DNA, hummus anyone?

#4. Juice - I am not a juice fan, it is far better to eat the whole fruit or vegetable. But if you are going to drink juice, raw juice is much better for you. It has not been pasteurized so you get the beneficial enzymes. Watch chugging the juice, it is way easy to overdo it.

#5. Salt - regular table salt has been heat and chemical treated. Raw salt has trace minerals, but I like it because I think it tastes better and it looks really nice.

#6. Cacao - Chocolate! Raw Chocolate! I will have to go and look for this one, it's a natural mood elevator. If you've ever tasted cocoa powder before adding the sugar and milk you probably have an idea of what raw chocolate tastes like. I found 99% Cacao bars at World Market, I like them.

#7. Chia Seeds - Well this is a new one to me. The only thing I remember doing with Chia Seeds was spreading them on a Chia Pet. I don't remember anyone suggesting that you eat them. Well it turns out they are a nutritional power house; Calcium, magnesium, antioxidant, fiber and omega 3 rich, oh I left out they also provide iron. The article suggested making pudding with the Chia Seeds for a nutritious breakfast. Update - my son has started making the pudding, I am learning to like it.

#8. Kimchi - My niece and nephew love kimchi, I've only had it spicy and it was a little much for me. Fermented foods like kimchi aid in digestion because they provide probiotics (good bacteria). I will save this one for special occasions, but I do make and enjoy fermented cabbage and cucumbers also known as sauerkraut and pickles;-)

Quick Dinner Idea

I came home from work hungry and wanted to prepare dinner quickly, here is what we had:

Brown rice with Portabella mushrooms and green peas
Asian green beans
Tuna Steaks

Sounds impressive right? It was a breeze.

The rice dish was leftover brown rice and green peas from Monday night's dinner.
I cooked 2 cups of brown rice in 4 cups of chicken stock and and 2/3 cup of frozen peas on Monday to go with dinner. To "doctor" it up for tonight's dinner I sauteed a package of Portabello mushrooms in 2 TBSP of butter added it to the leftover rice and added a little chicken stock to moisten.

The Asian green beans were made by putting 1/2 cup of chicken stock into a pot and adding an entire bag of frozen green beans (I used the ones from Trader Joe's, they are really good, I think it's because they are so skinny). To that I added 1 TBSP of soy sauce (that's the Asian part).

The Tuna Steaks took exactly 4 minutes to make and I still over-cooked them, next time I will only grill them for 2 minutes. I drizzled olive oil on the steaks and sprinkle a little sea salt on them while waiting for the George Foreman Grill (my latest cooking gadget that I completely love, yes I know I am a little behind the times but I finally caught on) to get hot. Once the steaks were done (4 minutes) it was time for dinner. I added wedges of lime to squeeze on the tuna. Dinner was done in less than 1/2 hour. Time enough to eat and take my son to the library. I picked up Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. I haven't read it in over 30 years.