#Carrots & Pumpkins

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Cookbook Sample Preview...

I'm perfectly normal about this, totally calm. But I noticed on Sunday that the Dragon Age official cookbook had a preview/sample that it didn't have last time I checked. To summarize, it shows the Table of Contents and 7 new preview recipes along with 2 from an earlier sample release. It's basically previews the whole first section "Starters and Refreshments".

I will be putting things under cuts in case people don't wanna see things. From now on and after its release, the tag I will be using for the cookbook if you want to block is #tastes of thedas or #da: tot

I will also be silently combusting inside as I try not to let the excitement amp me up too much. I expect to fail this mission lol. (Spoiler I did fail and have been making my excitement everyone's problem.)

So, the cookbook sample. Amazon had a scrolling preview that wasn't as nice as the spreads so I made them into spreads like we got with the previous six recipes. You can see them here in this post.

But the following is the full spread of the sample from the cookbook. It gives us the cover, the two title pages, the table of contents, an introduction of a new character/narrator, the table of contents for the Starters and Refreshers section, and the 9 recipes within that section.

Beneath the images, I have transcribed the lore blurbs of the recipe as well as give an image description, but I didn't type out the recipes. That's for a later post (Also because it doesn't fit on this post. I hit the limit, sorry.) For a similar reason, I'm not adding my commentary to any of the recipes.

Contents

Introduction - 7

Starters & Refreshments

Eggs à la Val Foret - 11 Nevarran Blood Orange Salad - 13 Fried Young Giant Spider - 15 Stuffed Deep Mushrooms - 17 Rivaini Couscous Salad - 19 Crab Cakes from Kirkwall - 21 Fluffy Mackerel Pudding - 23 Snail & Watercress Salad - 25 Cave Beetles - 27

For the Road

Spiced Jerky - 31 Grey Warden Pastry Pockets - 33 Pickled Eggs - 35 Unidentified Meat - 37 Seheron Fish Pockets - 39 Crow Feed - 43 Black Lichen Bread - 45 Hearth Cakes - 47 Peasant Bread - 49

Soups & Stews

Merril's Blood Soup - 53 Fereldan Potato and Leek Soup - 55 The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew - 57 Fish Chowder - 59 Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup - 61 Lentil Soup - 63 Nettle Soup - 65 King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Soup - 67

Main Courses

Stuffed Cabbage - 71 Antivan Gnochi - 73 Antivan Paella - 75 Grilled Poussin - 77 Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce - 79 Nug Pancakes - 81 Fish in Salt Crust - 83 Roasted Wyvern - 85 Nug Bacon and Egg Pie - 87 Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie - 89 Cacio e Pepe - 91 Turnip and Mutton Pie - 93 Smoked Ham from the Anderfels - 95 Roasted Turkey with Sides - 97

Sides

Sera's Yummy Corn - 103 Stuffed Vine Leaves - 105 Honey Carrots - 107 Nevarran Flat Bread and Yogurt Dip - 109

Sweet Delights

Blancmange - 113 Poison Stings - 115 Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler - 117 Dwarven Plum Jam - 119 Sour Cherries in Cream - 121 Treviso Energy Balls - 123 Rice Pudding - 125 Goat Custard - 127

Baked Goods

Antivan Apple Grenade - 131 Found Cake - 133 Varric's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls - 135 Croissants - 137 Cherry Cupcakes - 139 Chocolate Cake - 141 Varric's Favorite Pastries - 143 Sugar Cake - 145 Lamprey Cake - 147 Tevinter Pumpkin Bread - 151

Drinks & Potions

Lichen Ale - 155 The Hissing Drake - 157 Hot Chocolate - 159 Antivan Sip-Sip - 161 Dragon Piss - 163 Rivaini Tea Blend - 165 The Golden Nug - 167 The Emerald Valley - 169 Chasind Sack Mead - 171

Conversion Charts - 173 About the Authors and Photographers - 174

Introduction

Dear Mum,

It's me, Devon! I'm all grown up now-- or, well, more grown up than before. You always said I was too much like a child for my own good, and given the number of times you caught me daydreaming about going off on some grand adventure instead of sweeping the floors, I will grudgingly admit that you probably - probably - had a point. But guess what? I finally went on an adventure! A big one! Just like the Hero of Ferelden!

Okay, well, maybe not exactly like the Hero of Ferelden. But I did travel across Thedas! From Ferelden to Orlais, to Rivain, and even Tevinter. Plus, everything in between. It was a long journey, Mum. Weeks and weeks on the road, with the occasional bandit or beast. You'd probably have hated it, but, by Andraste, I loved every second of it! The sights! The sounds! The food.

Oh yes, the food. The reason why I set out on this journey to begin with. I know that I wasn't particularly adept in the kitchen the last time we saw each other. And, yes, I do remember that I nearly set Castle Cousland aflame with my first attempt at a stew. But I am pleased to inform you that I have been practicing extensively, and I think that, if the position still existed, I could take up your mantle as the Cousland family's cook. Granted, I doubt I would be able to fill your shoes completely; no one could manage such an impossible task. But I like to tell myself that I still would be able to make you proud.

And that takes me back to this journey and the all-important question of why. Why did I spend the last year traveling from one end of Thedas to the other, sampling whatever local cuisine I could get my hands on, even dishes that were downright strange? You're probably thinking that it's because the Hero of Ferelden ate it at some point - yes, that's certainly part of it, though I'll have you know that I tracked down foods enjoyed by the Champion of Kirkwall and the Inquisitor as well! Not to mention all their companions. But the truth is, Mum, throughout all of this, you were right there with them at the forefront of my mind. Because when I thought of ways to honor you, I kept coming back to the most important lesson you taught me: Love through food.

Every time I left your kitchen with a warm, full belly, I felt your love for me. And though I can't do the same for you anymore, I can fill this book. I can stuff it full of different recipes, dishes you've probably never even heard of, and think of you with each new entry. Because, you see, Mum, underneath all that childlike excitement, the dreams of adventure and heroism, I'm still very much your child. And I always will be.

Thank you for everything, Mum. I can't wait to share this book and the lessons that inspired it with the rest of the world.

Love, Devon

Starters & Refreshments

Eggs à la Val Foret

Image Description: A pancake with ham and a sliced poached egg with paprika and herbs on top sit on a silver platter.

Recipe Blurb: Ah, yes. Tons of cream! Exactly what I've come to expect from Orlesian cuisine. Do I have any tips for creating the perfect poached egg? Well, ever since I heard that Solas's bald head was once likened to an egg, I simply try to make my eggs just as round and shiny! So far, it's worked wonderfully and never ceases to put a smile on my face.

Nevarran Blood Orange Salad

Image Description: A wooden bowl rests on a rock, it holds a colourful salad with blood orange slices resting on top.

Recipe Blurb: Although I knew that Divine Victoria left behind a life of wealth and privilege to join the Seekers of Truth, it wasn't until I was in Nevarra, seeing exactly what she'd given up, that I truly gained an appreciation for the path she'd chosen. The best way to describe my first glimpse of the gardens of Nevarra is that it was like seeing a painting come to life. For a long moment, I could only stand there, so dazzled by the richness and vibrancy of it all that I was half-convinced I was actually still napping in the carriage. Surely, there was no way such beauty could be found outside of a dream. And yet the beauty before me was very much real.

So, too, was the picturesque tableau that arrived later that day on a plate: perfectly cut slices of blood orange artfully arranged on a lush pillow of bitter greens. Was this a meal or a still life, I wondered. In truth, the answer was both. For Nevarrans, food is as much a feast for the eyes as for the mouth. But even if your arrangement isn't quite worthy of being displayed in a museum, this salad will sing a symphony on your tastebuds.

Fried Young Giant Spiders

Image Description: A metal bowl filled with salad greens and fried crab legs arranged on top. Plate sits on a wooden table with a metal item and a smoking pot in the background.

Recipe Blurb: Just as people on the surface raise cows and goats, the dwarves underground raise spiders. Yes, to eat. The legs are fried and served with a sauce, which, true to dwarven fashion, is made with some type of alcohol. The precise kind depends on the establishment where you're eating your spider legs. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an exact recipe from any of the chefs I spoke to. These sauces are apparently closely guarded secrets and have spurred many a nefarious plot to acquire them-the competiontion to be crowned Orzammar's Best Sauce is fierce. But I've been assured that lichen ale is generally not used.

I've therefore come up with my own recipe, based on the many varieties I sampled while in Orzammar. Given that sourcing the requisite spider legs above ground is not nearly so easy, and the demand for such exports is minimal, I've subsituted them with crab legs. It's not a perfect match, but it's close enough to satisfy me.

Stuffed Deep Mushrooms

Image Description: Three mushroom caps fulled with a green, cheesy blend topped with chives. Placed on a platter that looks like a cut of wood, red capped mushrooms with white spots in the right hand corner in the foreground.

Recipe Blurb: Though the mushrooms growing underground in caves and in many parts of the Deep Roads are all called "deep mushrooms," there is no singular variety. In fact, there are several! Some mushrooms are squat, with broad, flat caps, while others are long and spindly, reaching toward the sky like an old man's gnarled fingers. They also have a multitude of applications, used in the creation of everything from restorative potions to deadly poisons. But in Orzammar, mushrooms are farmed for eating!

I was able to sample some of these dwarven delicacies, prized for their unique flavor and intoxicating scent. After only a few bites, I was struck with inspiration. How delicious would one of these mushrooms be when stuffed with cheese and spinach? The answer is: very. Rest assured that I selected this particular variety of deep mushroom not only for its shape, which is ideal for holding the maximum amount of cheese (and spinach), but also for the fact that it does not carry the darkspawn taint. While certain dwarves will insist that a deep mushroom's proximity to lyrium and darkspawn can only improve its flavor, I am quite content to leave that particular question a mystery, especially where lyrium is concerned. Although I'm hardly and expert on the stuff, I can't help but think about Fenris and how much suffering he endured as a result of his lyrium-infused markings. It seems to me that, barring any natural resistance, lyrium and the body are two things that probably shouldn't mix.

Rivaini Couscous Salad

Image Description: A copper bowl filled with couscous, mixed with various veggies and a mint leaf on top. A letter with an amulet from Alistair in the bottom left corner - merch from the BioWare store.

Recipe Blurb: When I first encountered couscous, I mistakenly believed it to be a grain, like rice or the more familiar Fereldan barley. I was swiftly corrected. In fact, couscous is a sort of pasta, made with semolina flour and water, although it's far smaller than your typical Antivan pasta. Couscous has a very mild flavor on its own--maybe slightly nutty. But where it excels is in its ability to soak up surrounding flavors, making it a perfect base for any salad. I'd love to experiment further, but so far, this particular combination of red bell pepper and mint has proven to be incredibly pleasing.

Crab Cakes from Kirkwall

Image Description: A caste iron pan over a bed of coals and flames, filled with battered soft shelled crabs, red peppers, and lemon slices.

Recipe Blurb: I love it when recipes add a dash of whimsy into the mix. Food shoulf be fun. I, therefore, took it upon myself to put this into practice with a classic Kirkwall dish. After all, who hasn't looked at their crab cakes and wished they looked a little more like crabs? Okay, maybe I'm the only one who's thought this. But now that I've brought this possibility to your attention, I'm certain you're interested as well! Best of all, these extra-crabby crab cakes stay true to the original recipe's flavors, so nothig is lost--only gained!

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding

Image Description: Two red small bowls with baked masked potatoes and a slice of hard boiled egg on top sit on a net with a starfish in the background.

Recipe Blurb: Can it really be Feast Day without fluffy mackerel pudding? No! In fact, there's no dish I associate more strongly with the holiday than this unique combination of mackerel, onion, celery, and eggs. Granted, I've heard stories that, several decades ago, someone once attempted a diet consisting entirely of fluffy mackerel pudding. Now, that I certainly wouldn't recommend. It stops being Feast Day Fish if you eat it every day, no?

Snail & Watercress Salad

Image Description: A wooden bowl resting on a river rock, filled with a salad comprised of mixed greens, radishes, and cooked snails.

Recipe Blurb: When the Avvar can't get their hands on a gurgut or a wyvern, they turn their attention to smaller prey. Much smaller prey. Snails are found on many a hillside boulder, making them an abundant source of food for the Avvar. Now, while some would wrinkle their noses or cry out in disgust at the prospect of eating a snail, I am pleased to report that, when prepared correctly, the texture. and flavor are actually good! I could happily eat a plate full of snails dressed in butter and oil, but those still on the fence about a snail's place

Cave Beetles

Image Description: A carved bowl holding cooked whole prawns, lemon slices and herbs sit on a rock with fake beetles and a black rock with blue glowing lines in the background.

Recipe Blurb: You think that, after snails, I'd balk at beetles? Never! In fact, I greatly enjoyed this dwarven dish, which involves roasting cave beetles in their shells. However, I recognize that many may not have a palate that's nearly so adventurous. If that's the case, the cave beetles can be replaced with whole prawns while keeping the rest of the recipe the same. That being said, if you do enjoy the variation with prawns, I really recommend giving the cave beetles a try. They're quite similar in both texture and flavor. If you were to blindfold yourself, I doubt you could tell the difference!

[p3achyl3monm3lon]

Orange 01

Tango Orange / Orange is packed with as much flavour as the fruit it’s named after / mix hot Red with brightest Yellow and you make an acidic colour / cocktail tastes for hot summer / time of Campari or Orange wine / a shade of Italy and its Vermouth Negroni / as two primaries make a secondary / a more mature energy / fun sun liquor is the colour of Aperol Spritz; dark orange tangy citrus zest / a shot to warm you up, feel it in your chest / for the kick of ginger holds bonfire fever / that burns a blaze like a spice from its home in India / for Orange is the true shade of fire flames and molten lava / heady heat that can amp up ever brighter / of Pumpkin Paprika, Carrot Clementine Tangerine Marmalade sour / a toxic shock can be ignited by this sharp citrus terracotta / so to tango with this mango shade is something to make you brave for this inferno colour has enough sparking power to drive a heatwave

//

‘ORANGE - VITALITY

Orange is a little more mature, strong and threatening than its neighbour and sibling, yellow. It almost tips over into something frightening. There is much of it in the boiling interior of the sun. Yet in the correct dose, it seems like a concentration of an energy and vitality that too often we lack in our own minds and circumstances. To give over an entire room, car, flag or garment to this colour may be risky, as it can verge on extremity and obsession, and yet to deny the occasional wisdom of the colour seems wrong as well. We should know how to build in moments of what orange represents into a well-balanced life.’

Journal 2, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR: MUSINGS FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE

/

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The 20 Best Foods for Hair Growth

Best Foods for Hair Growth

All of us want strong and healthy hair. Our hair grows around 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) per month and 6 inches (15 cm) per year. Factors like age, health, genetics, and diet influence our hair growth. Although we’ve no control over our age and genetics, diet is the one thing that we can control. If you are experiencing hair loss then eating a balanced diet with the right…

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High-Calorie Ingredients For A Healthy Weight Gain

Calories come from all the foods and beverages we consume. It is the basic unit of energy that the body needs for all its vital functions. The number of calories that a person needs to maintain his basal metabolic rate depends on several factors. It includes a person’s age, gender, lifestyle and muscle mass.  

When a person eats minimal calories for a prolonged time, it can lead to several health problems. For one, the person can become underweight according to BMI, and it can cause weakened immunity and even organ failure. On the other hand, eating too many calories can lead to being overweight or obese, increased risks of heart diseases, diabetes or cancer.

Some people wish to gain weight by building lean muscle mass. This can be done by consuming about 3000 calories per day to fuel strength, muscle training and exercise.

High-calorie ingredients and foods will help provide this increase in calorie requirement. If you want to gain weight healthily, you should consume more healthy high-calorie foods like avocados, whole grains, nuts, fish, milk and dairy.

Are Calories All the Same or Are there Healthier Calorie Sources?

Your total calorie intake matters most if you are aiming to trim down and lose weight. Similarly, the number of calories you take also affects your muscle building and weight gain efforts. In essence, not all calories have the same effects on these two goals. There are healthy calories from nutritious food sources, and they are the best ones to help you.

For those aiming to lose weight, healthy calories will support you by providing fuel for your activities, keeps you feeling fuller longer and improve your overall well-being. Likewise, those who need to gain weight for muscle building must choose healthy high-calorie ingredients and food to provide you with stamina and fuel for your workout.

So what are healthy high-calorie foods that you need for your health goals? Professionals recommend the following food variety:

Colourful Vegetables - go for leafy greens for your salads, crunchy carrots and bright peppers. You can experiment with flavours to find something that you enjoy.

Lean Meats - go for lean white meats like fish and chicken. You can also have moderate amounts of lean red meat like pork and beef.

Whole Grains - healthy whole grains will provide you with fibres that you need for you to feel fuller longer. Go for whole-grain pieces of bread or oatmeals.  

Whole Fruits - whether you are trying to gain or lose weight, always choose to have whole fruits instead of having prepared fruit juices and fruit-flavoured drinks.  

Healthy Fats - you can have small servings of healthy fats, and the best sources of these are nuts and seeds.

More Water - it is always best to go for Water to sate your thirst. Avoid sports drinks, soda and sweetened teas.

In your health goals, you have to remember that empty or unhealthy calories will only leave you feeling hungry. Likewise, it will increase your cravings for unhealthy food choices. Empty calories are usually found in processed foods, sugary snacks, and other food products that contain excess fat and transfat.

Different Calorie Needs for Men and Women

Using a calorie calculator is very helpful in figuring out the number of calories that you need to consume each day. In calculating this, your gender is always taken into account along with your weight, age and activity level. It is because a man’s body needs more energy (or calories) even if it is the same size as a woman’s.

Men have more muscle mass compared to women, and these extra muscles need more energy. Likewise, men are commonly taller than women, and this extra height also means that men need more calories. But even if men and women hare of the same size, men will still need more calories. Men generally have a larger lung capacity, and they can work harder in physical activity and exercise. Thus, men need more calories to fuel proper functioning of their muscles.

A person’s specific calorie needs vary widely, and this is why calorie calculators are helpful. For instance, a 32-year-old male with an average height weighs around 160 pounds and has moderate physical activity will need approximately 2,600 calories each day for fuel. This calorie requirement will change if he intends to gain or lose weight.  

High-Calorie Foods For Healthy Weight Gain

Most nutrition and diet articles are aimed at losing weight and become healthier. But for those who are too thin, losing weight is not an option. Unhealthy sweets and fatty food may only lead to health problems. Thus, instead of munching on unhealthy calories to gain weight, you need to choose healthy high-calorie foods. It is the best way to help you build muscles and provide you with energy that your body needs.

Find out how much calories you burn each day with the use of a calorie calculator. Then create a diet plan that exceeds this value. Generally, the 3,500 calories per pound are applied in most diets. It means that each pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories of fat. Therefore, if you reduce or increase your calorie intake by around 500 calories, you will have a pound of fat loss or gain every week. Still, these are rough estimates, and it is not accurate for either weight loss or gain goals.

Adding around 500 healthy high-calorie ingredients and food each day can give you extra calories for weight gain. To ensure that this diet works, you have to plan to eat smaller and frequent meals throughout your day. You can use toppings like chopped nuts, dressings and gravy to add calories without the bulk.

Thus, whether you are aiming to lose or gain weight, it pays to source your calories from nutritious and healthy high-calorie foods. Some suggestions are:

Bagels

Bread and cereals are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates. This food contains starch and fibre, which gives your body energy to function. Complex carbohydrates are metabolized slower than simple carbs. Bagels are more calorie-dense compared with regular bread. A slice of white bread may contain 70 calories, while a small bagel can have more than 180 calories. Extra-large bagels from your favourite coffee shops can have as much as 300 calories. Top it with cream cheese and fruit jam for you to have a delicious, calorie-packed snack.

Pasta

Another high-calorie source of carb is pasta. It is ideal for any meal. All you need is to add the sauce, and you are ready to go. Two cups of cooked pasta are equivalent to 400 calories. A cup of bolognese sauce gives it another 160 calories. And if you will top it up with grated parmesan, you have another 45 calories. With one pasta meal, you get more than 600 calories to fuel a healthy weight gain goals.

Dried Fruits

One or two servings of dried fruit can give you a quick calorie boost. It has less volume than fresh fruits, and you can eat more without feeling full. For instance, a cup of raisins provides 400 calories, while a cup of grapes only has 60 calories. Other dried fruits that you can try are apricots, cranberries, apples and tropical fruits.  

Healthy Oils

Another healthy way of adding calories is by adding an extra dose of healthy fat to your diet. Go for olive oil which is a rich and healthy way of adding flavour to your bread pasta and vegetables. Similarly, canola oil is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids and is perfect all-purpose cooking oil. If you need lighter oils for salad dressing, choose grape seed oil or walnut oil.  

Avocado

Avocado is indeed a wonder fruit for any health goals. It is rich in fatty acids, potassium, vitamin K and fibre. One serving of avocado provides 200 calories and lots of extra nutrition. You can add slices of avocado to your sandwich or make guacamole to serve with tortilla chips, burritos and taco shells.

Nuts and Seeds

Munching on nuts and seeds are also a great way to amp up your calories in a healthy way. Nuts and seeds like almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are good for your health. You can munch them as a snack or use as a topping for yoghurt, ice cream and salad. Alternatively, you can also use nut butter like almond or peanut butter.

Granola

You can create your granola mix using dry whole-grain cereals, seeds, nuts and dried fruits. Store it in an airtight container and use for breakfast. You may also pack your granola on small containers so you can take them with you on busy days. Additionally, you can include some dark chocolate chunks for more flavour. Munching on granola is a great way to add calories to your day if you can’t do big meals.  

When it comes to gaining weight, the equation is pretty straightforward. You have to consume more calories than you burn for you to gain weight. On the other hand, if you have a high metabolism or have lots of physical activities, you could have a calorie deficit if you don’t eat enough calories to fuel your needs.  

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11 Ways to Enjoy Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes have quickly risen through the ranks of the superfood world. Paleo-friendly and insanely versatile, we just can’t get enough of this popular tuber!

These powerful veggies are made up of complex carbohydrates that help balance your energy output throughout the day. Good sources of complex carbs like these sweet treats help keep your blood sugar levels steady without dips or spikes.

The vibrant orange hue of these tubers tells you right away that they are a fantastic source of beta carotene. Beta carotene converts into vitamin A in your body, which provides some fantastic anti-aging benefits.

Chock-full of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium, it’s pretty easy to see why sweet potatoes are on the superfood list. (1) Sweet potatoes are also one of the best sources of antioxidants in the vegetable world. (2) What’s not to love?

Sweet Potatoes vs. Yams

Sweet potatoes are sweet, starchy tuberous vegetables that vary in hue from orange, white, and purple. The long, slender, orange variety, dubbed “yams”, are actually not yams at all, but, in fact, sweet potatoes.

When the long, slender, orange sweet potato was introduced to the United States, the name yam came into play to help differentiate between the color varieties of sweet potatoes.

A true yam is of the Dioscorea genus and grown in tropical climates. Rough with thick, fibrous skin, with white to rosy or purple-hued flesh, true yams must be cooked in order to be consumed. They’re poisonous otherwise. (3)

Although yams are growing more and more common in the U.S., they are usually found in the international sections of your grocer.

Sweet Potatoes: 11 Different Ways to Eat Them

Mega-nutritious and completely satisfying, you can enjoy sweet potatoes prepared in a savory fashion or sweet, as the name suggests. Try them baked the classic way, or dressed up with complementing spices, fruits, sauces and herbs! Here are 11 ways to enjoy these sweet spuds.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

If you’re a veteran sweet potato lover, then you need not look further than the purist preparation: the baked sweet potato.

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then prick your scrubbed and dried sweet potato with a fork a few times all over and place on the sheet pan. Into the oven they go for an hour or more.

Roast until impossibly tender and even to the point the caramelized natural sugars run down the sides. Split the sweet potato open and dab with grass-fed butter, coconut oil, coconut manna, sea salt, maple syrup – whatever you pleasure may be!

Twice-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This preparation is rather elegant and a great way to make a showstopper presentation out of our beloved baked sweet potato. The twice-stuffed potato essentially involves roasting, scooping, seasoning and then piping back into the shell. Here is how it goes:

Roast your sweet potato to perfection (as we discussed above) and be sure to throw an extra potato or two on the pan to ensure that you will have ample filling.

Let your roasted sweet potatoes cool down a bit before handling. Halve and scoop the flesh from each half, leaving enough behind in the skin to reinforce a sturdy shape for your filling.

To the scooped flesh, add an egg, butter, salt, maple syrup and preferred spices. Whisk until very smooth, almost like a thick frosting. If you need to add a bit of coconut milk or other preferred milk to achieve this texture, please do so.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a tip with the seasoned filling, and pipe artfully back into your potato skins. Bake once more for 20 minutes at 350°F.

Your twice-stuffed potato will be slightly puffed and completely delicious. Top with herbs, pomegranate seed and pecans, or even a tasty stone fruit relish.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

A sweet potato purée, or rustic mash, is a fantastic carrier for your favorite animal protein and vegetarian entrees. Serve with chicken, steaks, meatloaf, meatballs, fish filets, roasted veggies, and Portobello mushroom steaks.

Simply scoop the flesh from the roasted potatoes and whisk it in, or use a fork to mash it. Add grass-fed butter, salt, and a bit of coconut or hemp milk to make it all the more creamy.

If you dig the combination of sweet and savory, try adding a touch of cinnamon, smoked paprika and maple syrup to this mash-up as well. You can also keep leftover purée on hand to make Paleo pancakes and breads. It’s even a great egg replacement for your favorite Paleo baking recipes.

Sweet Potato Chips

If you crave crunchy and satisfying, there’s sweet potato chips. You can season them with warming spices or stick to a light sprinkle of Himalayan sea salt; both are delicious choices but the trick lies in the slicing.

To get your slices ultra-thin, as well as uniform so your chips will crisp up at the same time, opt for a mandolin. My number one rule is to go slow, practice, and keep your eye on the prize.

Mandolins are fantastic tools for any home cook to create ultra-thin and uniform slices of all of your favorite veggies. Unless you have superior knife skills, investing in a mandolin is a game changer.

Preheat your oven to 400°F, toss your slices with melted coconut oil and preferred seasonings, and be sure to spread them out on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a single layer with plenty of room between slices so you create crispy, not steamed, chips.

Keep an eye on your chips over the course of 10 to 20 minutes, agitate them a few times and rotate the pan halfway through. Enjoy with guacamole, soup or straight from the pan!

Sweet Potato Fries

For quick sweet potato fries, preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice sweet potatoes into matchstick-sized pieces and place them in a bowl with melted ghee, salt and pepper. Feel free to add any of your favorite seasonings here – paprika and garlic powder taste great! When the fries are evenly coated, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes until crispy.

PS: You can transform sweet potatoes into curly fries, too!

Sweet Potato Soup

A sweet potato and roasted red pepper soup with cashew milk is creamy, unique and satisfying. Start with grass-fed butter and sauté your mirepoix (carrot, celery, onion) until tender.

Add chopped sweet potato, skin and all, along with jarred, or home-roasted, sweet red bell peppers. Cover with chicken stock, bone broth, or vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.

Add to a high-powered blender with a handful of soaked cashews and some water. Blend until ultra-smooth.

Tip: A blended soup should be the texture of heavy cream, so you may need more water than you think!

Add your perfectly-blended soup back to your pot and season with salt to taste. Add a squeeze of lemon to balance and add a touch of acidity to your soup. Now you’re ready to cozy up with your favorite chair in front of the fire!

Sweet Potato Salad

Potato salad is always a fan favorite. In the colder seasons, I love to make sweet potato salad with warming spices and homemade aioli with lots of Dijon mustard.

There are plenty of Paleo mayos on the market, as well as some amazing hacks to make your own avocado or cashew-based mayo swap.

To really amp up your potato salad game, try using purple, white and golden varieties. Chop and roast your favorite varieties of sweet potato and throw into a large mixing bowl.

Add plenty of salt and warm spices like allspice, coriander and cumin. Chop fresh savory, rosemary, sage, and thyme along with garlic and red onion, and a couple small handfuls of your favorite seeds or nuts like pecans, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts or black sesame.

Stir in plenty of aioli, a bit of apple cider vinegar and another handful of either dried tart cherries, cranberries or even pomegranate seeds.

Let sit in the fridge for an hour or two before enjoying; the flavors will marry and you will have yourself a very tasty, Paleo-friendly sweet potato salad.

Sweet Potato Paleo Pie

This is a homey, satisfying and just sweet enough treat to enjoy throughout this entire holiday season. It’s indulgent, but loaded with healthy perks.

Delightfully familiar if you are a pumpkin pie fan, sweet potato pie will satisfy that craving and then some. Try this easy Paleo recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan Pie here.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Latkes are traditionally made with potatoes and served with applesauce and sour cream. These sweet potato versions are delightful when served traditionally, but I prefer to eat with an egg-over-medium plonked on top. Enjoy these sweet potato latkes as a breakfast, a side or a quick snack.

Shred scrubbed and dried sweet potatoes with a box grater until you have about one cup. Add shreds to a bowl with one egg and 1 tablespoon of coconut flour.

Zest and juice one lemon and add a large pinch of sea salt. Add your favorite herbs and spices to taste. I like to use seasonings like cumin, crushed garlic, fresh sage, or allspice.

Stir your mixture until just incorporated. Heat a high-heat oil, like avocado or coconut oil, in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. There should be enough oil that it comes about half the way up the latke when in the pan.

Working quickly, scoop a couple tablespoons of your mixture into the hot oil and spread out to form a nice, round layer, not more than a ¼-inch in thickness. Add as many more as you can to the pan as long as there is plenty of room between latkes so you can flip with ease as well as ensure a nice golden color on each side.

Keep an eye on the heat and oil as you take out the finished latkes and add more to the pan. You must allow new oil to come back up to a hot temperature before adding new batter to the pan. Drain on paper towels and top with your favorite additions or enjoy right away.

Sweet Potato Crostini

Using sweet potatoes as a landing site for all sorts of toppings is a fail-safe, Paleo crowd pleaser! Try slicing and roasting a slice of sweet potato and serve piled high with some fabulously delicious toppings.

Swapping the common toast point for a perfectly roasted round of a sweet potato will let your Paleo buddies dive into holiday platters with ease. Some great toppings are pestos, nut butters, savory fruit relishes, dips and other thick sauces like tapenades or guacamole.

Sweet Potato Noodles

Sweet potatoes shredded into long, luxurious “noodles” have proven to be worth their salt in the decadence department. You can use a spiralizer to make these noodles, or even a vegetable peeler to create long strands that are Paleo-friendly and hold up to classic pasta sauces.

You can blanch these noodles quickly, or enjoy marinated or even raw. Sweet potatoes can carry a multitude of flavors and pair so nicely with classic tomato sauces, vegan-style cashew cream-based Alfredos and most certainly pestos.

(Make This Next: Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole)

The post 11 Ways to Enjoy Sweet Potatoes appeared first on PaleoPlan.

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[mybattambangtraveller]

Dig into our newest salad - Dirty Farmer! Inspired by a good friend and agronomist/soil expert, the salad is jam-packed with yummy goodness produced in the ground. Roasted pumpkin, carrot, beetroot, sweet potato - all tossed into a bowl of rocket (and other leafy veg) and served with toasted seeds and a home-made dressing. Plus, chicken and other fun stuff.It's available tomorrow (Tuesday) between 11am and 1:30pm for pick-up or delivery. If you're super-keen to amp up your vegetable intake with salads that don't suck, let us know before 5pm today!Happy Monday!

[anamorales]

5 easy meal prep salad recipes

Sharing 5 of my favorite salad recipes that you can easily make as meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.

When you’re eating a salad but also thinking about the tacos you’re going to eat later.

JK I love salads… almost as much as tacos.

They’re one of my very favorite meals because it’s such an easy way to get in a ton of nutrients and the high fiber content keeps me full and satisfied. I try to have at least one salad per day, either for lunch, alongside dinner, or even for breakfast (don’t knock it til ya try it). When I make a chopped veggie salad for dinner, I save the leftovers to enjoy the next day. This way I just have to add some protein and dressing, and it’s ready to go. 

When I make salads, I try to amp them up with as many delicious ingredients as possible. There’s nothing more disappointing than when you order a salad at a restaurant and it’s essentially a bag of lettuce with a few sad veggies sprinkled on top. You can keep your $15 bag of lettuce, mmm k? In order to be a good salad, it needs to have an equal lettuce-to-toppings ratio.

Healthy salad ingredients

Here are some of my favorite salad components:

– A mix of greens (I try to switch it up each week between mixed greens, kale, baby spinach, arugula, chard, and romaine)

– Chopped fresh veggies (carrots, cucumber, celery, bell peppers)

– Roasted or pickled veggies (I love artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, beets, pickled green beans or okra, zucchini, squash)

– Cheese (feta, goat, and lately I’ve been enjoying crumbled vegan cheese or some nutritional yeast)

– Nuts/seeds (almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, candied pecans, sunflower seeds)

– Protein (leftover grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, Beyond Meat sausage, chickpeas, lentils, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, or salmon)

With all of these components it helps to keep things exciting, because salads can get boring very quickly.

The best healthy salad recipes to go along with these are here.

For today’s post, I thought I’d share some of my go-to meal prep salad recipes. You can make these in advance to enjoy throughout the week and are very helpful when the day gets crazy. Lunch is already waiting for you!

Here are 5 of my go-to meal prep salad recipes:

The best pasta salad recipe you will ever have

We enjoy this year-round and it’s the best salad for get-togethers, picnics, and easy summer lunches. The best part is that it tastes even better the next day. So many of you have made this recipe and I’m so pumped you love it as much as we do!

My favorite kale salad with a delicious avocado almond butter dressing

I got this inspiration for this recipe from my favorite vegan deli in San Diego at People’s Co-op. I’d get this salad at least once a week and loved the creamy almond butter dressing in addition to the lovely soy sauce flavor and crunchy almonds. It’s SO good. If you usually don’t love kale salads, maybe give this one a whirl!

Chickpea curry salad

This is my latest favorite and I’ve been making it at least once a week for at least a month now. P goes crazy for it, too! It tastes amazing on top of a bed of greens, in a wrap, or on a sandwich. 

Tempeh bacon BLT salad

This is another vegan recipe and the star of the show is tempeh bacon. The tempeh bacon is also incredible on a BLT-style sandwich or scrambled with some eggs. 

Spring salad with artichokes, quinoa, and asparagus

This is one of the most simple salad recipes but all of the ingredients go together so well. It’s perfect for spring

  So, tell me, friends: what’s your go-to salad recipe or combo? I’m always looking for new ideas!!

xoxo

Gina

Salad love photos by Kristi Harris

The post 5 easy meal prep salad recipes appeared first on The Fitnessista.

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[jonasmaurer]

5 easy meal prep salad recipes

Sharing 5 of my favorite salad recipes that you can easily make as meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.

When you’re eating a salad but also thinking about the tacos you’re going to eat later.

JK I love salads… almost as much as tacos.

They’re one of my very favorite meals because it’s such an easy way to get in a ton of nutrients and the high fiber content keeps me full and satisfied. I try to have at least one salad per day, either for lunch, alongside dinner, or even for breakfast (don’t knock it til ya try it). When I make a chopped veggie salad for dinner, I save the leftovers to enjoy the next day. This way I just have to add some protein and dressing, and it’s ready to go. 

When I make salads, I try to amp them up with as many delicious ingredients as possible. There’s nothing more disappointing than when you order a salad at a restaurant and it’s essentially a bag of lettuce with a few sad veggies sprinkled on top. You can keep your $15 bag of lettuce, mmm k? In order to be a good salad, it needs to have an equal lettuce-to-toppings ratio.

Healthy salad ingredients

Here are some of my favorite salad components:

– A mix of greens (I try to switch it up each week between mixed greens, kale, baby spinach, arugula, chard, and romaine)

– Chopped fresh veggies (carrots, cucumber, celery, bell peppers)

– Roasted or pickled veggies (I love artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, beets, pickled green beans or okra, zucchini, squash)

– Cheese (feta, goat, and lately I’ve been enjoying crumbled vegan cheese or some nutritional yeast)

– Nuts/seeds (almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, candied pecans, sunflower seeds)

– Protein (leftover grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, Beyond Meat sausage, chickpeas, lentils, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, or salmon)

With all of these components it helps to keep things exciting, because salads can get boring very quickly.

The best healthy salad recipes to go along with these are here.

For today’s post, I thought I’d share some of my go-to meal prep salad recipes. You can make these in advance to enjoy throughout the week and are very helpful when the day gets crazy. Lunch is already waiting for you!

Here are 5 of my go-to meal prep salad recipes:

The best pasta salad recipe you will ever have

We enjoy this year-round and it’s the best salad for get-togethers, picnics, and easy summer lunches. The best part is that it tastes even better the next day. So many of you have made this recipe and I’m so pumped you love it as much as we do!

My favorite kale salad with a delicious avocado almond butter dressing

I got this inspiration for this recipe from my favorite vegan deli in San Diego at People’s Co-op. I’d get this salad at least once a week and loved the creamy almond butter dressing in addition to the lovely soy sauce flavor and crunchy almonds. It’s SO good. If you usually don’t love kale salads, maybe give this one a whirl!

Chickpea curry salad

This is my latest favorite and I’ve been making it at least once a week for at least a month now. P goes crazy for it, too! It tastes amazing on top of a bed of greens, in a wrap, or on a sandwich. 

Tempeh bacon BLT salad

This is another vegan recipe and the star of the show is tempeh bacon. The tempeh bacon is also incredible on a BLT-style sandwich or scrambled with some eggs. 

Spring salad with artichokes, quinoa, and asparagus

This is one of the most simple salad recipes but all of the ingredients go together so well. It’s perfect for spring

  So, tell me, friends: what’s your go-to salad recipe or combo? I’m always looking for new ideas!!

xoxo

Gina

Salad love photos by Kristi Harris

The post 5 easy meal prep salad recipes appeared first on The Fitnessista.

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[motherindia411]

                   Foods to Give To Your Baby When They Have The Flu

Many parents are worried what to feed their babies when they are sick and suffering from flu since the child loses the appetite and feels irritated at times. During this phase, you need to feed the child with wholesome foods in smaller quantities that can be easily digested. Keeping your baby hydrated is very crucial during this time and you need to be aware whether your baby is urinating and drinking lots of water.

Foods To Give When your Baby Has The Flu

Breast milk For all the newborns and infants below six months, breastfeeding is very important and they need to be exclusively fed on breast milk. This will help the baby to build immunity to fight against the sickness and soothes a cranky and irritated baby. Breast milk is the best choice when a baby is sick since, it is a good source of antibodies that help the baby to stay strong.

2- Barley Water

Feeding barley water is a great remedy for treating cold, cough, and fever in babies. It also keeps the baby hydrated and soothes any ailments. But this is applicable for babies above 6 months only and also babies with gluten allergy need to avoid barley water.

3- Sweet potato puree

Sweet potato is a very good source of many nutrients as well as it promotes immunity. It also helps the body to generate white blood cells. It can be steamed and mashed for the babies above six months or it can be given in the form of porridge mixed with milk.

4- Pomegranate Juice

Full of antioxidants, pomegranate juice will help your child to get rid of cold and its discomfort. For the babies above six months, you can add a pinch of pepper and dry ginger powder to the juice, as it would help to subdue the cold and cough.

5- Moong Dal porridge

Moong dal porridge is a complete meal for your baby and it is also easy to digest. It can be given for lunch or dinner and is suitable for babies more than seven months old. This is a soothing dish, which will ease the discomfort for your little one and helps to eat well.

6- Carrot puree

Carrot helps to improve the immune system and keep the bacteria and viruses away. It is known to have many medicinal properties. You can pressure cook the carrots, mash them well and feed the babies carrot puree or even carrot soup.

7- Rice water

This is the simplest and the best food for a baby when he/she is sick and feeling very low. Rice water means cooking the rice by adding plenty water and then feeding your baby with the water of the same. This is easily digestible and can be given to a baby above six months. It helps to enhance immunity and also soothes an irritated child.

Foods to Avoid When Your Baby Has the Flu

Cow’s Milk

Cow’s milk is believed to cause congestion and hence, can be given to babies above one year but it should be avoided for babies who are less than a year old.

Certain fruits

It is advised to avoid some fruits when your baby has throat infection and flu like grapes, orange, watermelon, banana, and lychee. This is also applicable for babies above six months.

Some Veggies

Some vegetables like cucumber, pumpkin, bitter gourd should be avoided when your baby is suffering from cold, cough, and flu due to the cooling effect these vegetables have on the baby’s body.

Sweeteners

Sugary items and sweets need to be avoided specially when the baby is not well and this is because it will increase the throat infection.

Dry fruits and nuts

It is difficult to digest and chew the dry fruits and nuts and hence it needs to be avoided when your baby is sick and is suffering from flu.

Taking these handy and useful tips you can always take precautions and protect your baby from infections and falling sick.

You can also read this –

Baby Poop Colour guide for new Parents

Newborn baby Gift ideas Boy

How to find Best Gift for the Pregnant Sister

Pregnancy Gifts for first time Moms

First Birthday Gift Ideas for Niece KNOW MORE ABOUT-Foods to Give To Your Baby When They Have The Flu - MamaAndPeaches READ MORE-Best Gifts for Pregnant Women & Baby, Pregnant Wife, Expecting Moms, Mom to be and new Mothers | Mamaandpeaches

[paleorecipecookbook]

How to Turn Salads Into Epic One-Dish Meals

Salads are such a fantastic concept because they can carry such a diverse load of flavors. The trick is in making healthier choices for what you are mixing up in your salad bowl, and realize that you don’t need the cheese, sugary vinaigrettes, ranch dressings, or croutons in order for them to be tasty. Salad building can range from super simple to completely sophisticated. There are so many options, there is something for everybody’s tastes!

14 Ways to Build a Meal-Quality Salad

You can get really wild when it comes to salad building. Between the different greens, nuts, meats, veggies, fruits, and salad dressings, one could never tire of the endless possibilities! Below are some of the best salad tips to ensure that you are getting the most out of your salads during any season or meal.

1. Go for Protein

Be sure to get enough protein into your salads if you are having them as entrees or you’ll be hungry shortly after your meal. Balance is what you must learn when becoming a professional salad builder.

Creating a Paleo entrée salad means building your dish around protein! Adding seeds and nuts are a great way to go, but don’t forget that you can prepare yourself a lovely piece of meat just for your salad, or use leftovers from other meals! Some ideas for your salad protein include, but are definitely not limited to:

Grilled or sous vide steak

Pulled pork or chicken

Coconut fried shrimp, chicken, oysters

Marinated shrimp

Pan fried, baked, or steamed fish

Crab or fish cake

Eggs, soft boiled, hard boiled, poached

Bacon

Meatballs

Sausage

Tenderloins

Roasts

Duck breasts

2. Learn Some Knife Skills

The way your vegetable or protein is pulled, chopped, ribboned, or diced can make a big difference when it comes to salad building. Learning to use the proper knives for the proper ingredients can be as simple as finding a YouTube tutorial, or taking a basic cooking skills class.

3. Spiralize and Shred

Use your veggie peeler or spiralizer to create ribbons of cucumber, summer squash, carrots, or just about anything else!

4. Add Leftovers

Try topping with last night’s leftover protein or starches. Nothing is off limits when it comes to building up your salad to create yummy texture and heartiness! The “salad rules” that exist for what can and can’t go in a bowl should be thrown out the window.

5. Build Your Own Greens Blend

Pair butter lettuces with mache, arugula with spinach, and so on. The pre-made salad mixes are handy, but if you get stuck in salad ruts and aren’t sure why, it may be your salad mix holding you back! Try reaching beyond the spring mixes and experiment with some peppery and spicy additions, sprouts, or tender heads of red leaf or bibb lettuces. You can also try adding some sturdy kale, or throwing in chard with your chopped romaine.

Amping up your leafy base can start you off on the right foot with salad building, and can also introduce a wide variety of different nutrients. Some great salad greens include:

Bibb and butter lettuces

Kale, lacinato, red or curly varieties

Chard

Red leaf

Green leaf

Romaine, red tipped romaine

Arugula

Watercress

Micro greens

Spinach

6. Think Outside the Box

Experiment with mixing cooked and raw veggies and fruits together to create interesting texture and flavor. Here are some ideas for you to get some fun and funky flavors into your entrée salad rotations, not to mention some serious nutrients:

Berries

Marinated vegetables, like eggplant

Herbs, like combining basil, mint, and cilantro

Quick pickled veggies, like sliced cucumbers, fennel, or daikon radish

Ferments, like kraut or kimchi

Roasted veggies, like sweet potatoes, squash, cauliflower, and broccoli

Dates or figs

Apples, pears, mangos, cherries

Sea vegetables, like hijiki or arame

Red, green, and Napa cabbage, shredded thinly

Olives

Grilled romaine or lemon halves for a smoky and charred flavor and texture

7. Get Your Granola On

Most of the following items can be tossed with coconut, sea salt, and raw honey and roasted at 325ºF for 15 minutes to create a savory and sweet grain-free granola to add to your salads. Or use individual items a la carte.

Chia seeds

Flax seeds

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds

Black sesame seeds

Hemp seeds

Goji berries

Mulberries

Unsweetened dried fruit

Coconut flake

Freeze dried berries

Pecans

Pistachios

Pine nuts

Walnuts

Hazelnuts

Almonds

Chopped Brazil nuts

Macadamia nuts

8. DIY Your Dressing

Making your own dressing can be really fun, and better tasting than most that are store bought! When eating Paleo, sneaky sugars and ingredients can be hard to avoid when buying packaged or bottled convenience foods, like dressings. So try your hand at making your own combos.

Try flipping the classic ratio of 3:1 fat to acid to 3:1 acid to fat. This creates more vibrant and tangy dressings which work best on hearty salads! A little hack to save you time: add all vinaigrette ingredients to a glass jar with a lid and shake to combine. Bonus, now it’s ready to store in the fridge for your next use.

Another trick: the next time you are at the end of your mustard jar, instead of tossing aside, add minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar, a dab of honey, sea salt, and some avocado or olive oil. Shake vigorously, and voila!—a mustard vinaigrette, ready to use and ready to store!

For a dairy-free creamy dressing, blend nuts and veggies together, with plenty of sea salt and lemon juice. Some of my favorite innovative creamy dressing combos:

Carrot, ginger root, apple, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos, sesame oil, sea salt

Green apple, cilantro and some stems, jalapeno, garlic cloves, champagne vinegar, avocado oil, sea salt

Avocado, spinach, basil, garlic clove, lemon, olive oil, avocado oil, sea salt

Walnuts, coconut aminos, lime juice, a little maple syrup, olive oil, avocado oil, sea salt

9. Eat the Rainbow

The pigments which add color to your fruits and vegetables are great for collagen production, providing antioxidants, trace minerals, phytonutrients, and can even contain cancer fighting properties. (1)

Plus, colorful food is just so much fun to eat! Don’t be nervous to blend fruits, berries, seeds, nuts, herbs, and veggies.

10. Choose a Theme

If I am in the mood for richness, I will have a creamy dressing made from homemade aioli or an avocado based dressing, adding buttery olives, and tender deep greens like spinach. Or if I am in the mood for something bright and tangy, I will lean towards lime juice cilantro over red leaf lettuce with lots of spicy microgreens!

Some tips for creating themes and balance within your salads are as follows:

With bitter leaves, try adding sweeter nuts and fruits to balance, like pecans and berries or walnuts and apples.

For inspiration, I focus on foods that I like or that I am craving and try to build around that concept. Lasagna, for example, is what I am craving, so I will try to use ingredients that lend themselves to that flavor profile: spinach, oregano, basil, chili, tomatoes, olives, chicken sausage, or beef and bison meatballs with a creamy cashew-lemon and pine nut dressing!

Or maybe I have a hankering for Thai food. I would lean towards cilantro, shredded carrot, cabbage, radish, coconut flakes, lime, mango, macadamia nuts, black sesame seeds, kimchi, and shrimp, fish, or chicken.

11. Toss That Salad

I make my salads in a large metal or glass mixing bowl first, so that it is simple to dress and toss, and easier to plate it up in my prettier bowls. It may sound like a small tip, but it changes the game when your salad is evenly dressed, seasoned, and served well.

12. Keep It Simple

I eat leafy green salad with every meal, even on top of my eggs in the morning. Do not underestimate the value of simple. Lemon and olive oil with salt and pepper is just scrumptious, and sometimes just what the doctor ordered! It is always a good idea to sidle up a simple salad alongside your entrée protein.

13. Take It With You

Mason jars for salad packing are fantastic. Always start by putting your dressing on the bottom, so it doesn’t sog out your greens and more delicate toppings. Just layer up all your fixings, screw on the lid, and shake when ready to eat!

14. Reuse

For anyone who likes a bathtub-sized salad, try reusing salad greens containers, like Organic Girl. These are the perfect size for my entrée-style salads. I take it with me on the road, to the airport, into meetings, and more. I just find them so handy to pile up all my favorite salad fixings! You don’t even have to pack dressing. Just add lemon halves along with some avocado, and voila: you’ve got your acid and your fat, perfect to dress your salad and make it delicious down to the last bite.

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[floridaindependentblog]

Are you on the hunt for some plant-based snacks that will make you drool?

Just because you’re following a plant-based diet doesn’t mean you need to gnaw on carrot sticks and kale all day. There are many plant-based snacks out there that are both healthy and delicious.

And, some plant-based snacks even pack in some plant protein to help keep you full until your next meal.

What kind of plant-based snacks are we talking about?

Check out this guide to discover the top 5 plant-based snacks that will make your mouth water

1. Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates

If you’re looking for a healthy snack that feels like you’re eating dessert, then peanut butter stuffed dates are the treat for you.

Not only are these delicious, but they’re also easy to make. Plus, you’ll get some natural sugar from the dates and a boost of protein from the peanut butter.

To make this snack, all you have to do is remove the pits from the dates (or buy ones that are pit-free) and slice a small slit in each one. Then, add a little peanut butter in and you’ll be good to go.

If you’re really looking to amp up this sweet snack, you can also drizzle a bit of melted dark chocolate over the dates.

2. Hummus Platter

If you’re looking to put together an Instagram-worthy plant-based snack, then it’s time to fix yourself a hummus platter.

Hummus is essentially made from chickpeas, oil, and spices, making it a delicious, protein-filled snack option. To create your platter, all you need to do is scoop some hummus into a bowl and then choose the items you want to dip into it.

Carrots, cucumbers, pita chips, and olives are all a good choice.

3. Avocado Toast

The great thing about avocado toast is that there are so many ways to dress it up while still keeping your snack plant-based.

If you’re looking to keep things simple, we suggest mashing up a ripe avocado and then sprinkling on a little fresh lemon juice and salt. Other great plant-based avocado toast toppings include radishes, pumpkin seeds, cilantro, and hemp seeds.

4. Smoothies

Smoothies aren’t just for breakfast. They also make a great plant-based snack, especially when you’re on the go.

We recommend filling your blender with a non-dairy milk such as almond milk, oat milk, or hemp milk, ice, and a few of your favorite fruits. If you’re really hungry, you may also want to add in a scoop of plant-based protein powder.

Then, blend it up and enjoy! If you’re looking to get fancy, then you can turn your smoothie into a smoothie bowl and top it with chia seeds, banana slices, coconut flakes, and almonds.

You can read here to learn why putting whole fruit in your smoothie is a good idea.

5. Vegetable Chips

If you’re craving a salty plant-based snack that’s also healthy, then vegetable chips are your answer.

To make vegetable chips, all you need to do is thinly slice some of your favorite veggies. We recommend sweet potatoes, zucchini, beets, and kale. Then, sprinkle on some salt and pop them in the oven for a crunchy, salty treat.

Plant Protein: Are You Ready to Try These Plant-Based Snacks?

As you can see, there are a lot of delicious options out there when it comes to plant-based snacks.

Be sure to check back in with our blog for more plant-based diet tips and tricks.

The post Plant Protein: 5 Plant-Based Snacks That Will Make You Drool appeared first on Florida Independent.

[waterworldcraze]

Can Guppies Eat Bread? Bad Idea!

We’ve all seen it. You’re out on a sunny day, and notice people crowded around a pond feeding bread to fish. While it’s cute to watch fish beg for a treat, you may wonder if you can do this with your pet guppies also.

But, before you get your bite-sized bread cubes ready, you should probably make sure it is safe.

Can guppies eat bread? Guppies can eat a small amount of bread, but it doesn’t mean they should. It’s not a part of their natural diet and offers no health benefits. Also, pieces of bread make a clean aquarium dirty quite fast. It’s far from the best snack option.

Want to learn more about why this tasty treat is not your best option? Continue reading below.

Bread is bad for your guppies’ health

Bread is undeniably a tasty treat. Your guppy won’t deny eating it. However, it does no good for your finned friend’s health. Listed below, you’ll find the reasons why bread is a poor choice of snack food.

Inappropriate ingredients

Nearly all the ingredients in bread are not meant for your fish to consume. This holds especially true for highly processed bread that contains preservatives.

In most bread, you’ll find harmful ingredients such as sugar, corn syrup, artificial coloring, sugar, and sodium. Bread also contains yeast, possibly the most damaging ingredient, which will be discussed later.

Little nutritional value

Bread is a high-calorie food with little nutritional value. It does contain some calcium and fiber, but not enough to make an impact. Instead, your fish is mostly loading up on empty calories. Guppies should eat a diet high in protein with some nutrient-dense plant matter.

It causes digestive issues

Bread has the potential to hurt your guppies’ digestive system. It’s mostly caused by yeast. When your fish eats yeast, it expands in its stomach. This leads to bloating, constipation, and discomfort.

Guppies also can’t break down gluten, meaning more discomfort and indigestion. Unless you want a bloated, lethargic guppy, avoid feeding it bread.

Bread is bad for your guppies’ tank

Want to mess up the water quality in your guppy tank fast and effortlessly? Throw some bread in the tank and walk away. Think about dipping a piece of bread into a bowl of soup.

After a few seconds of dunking, the bread absorbs lots of liquid. However, if you dunk the bread too long, it turns into a soggy mess and will fall apart.

The same thing applies to your fish tank. If the bread crumbs thrown in aren’t eaten within moments or fished out, they will expand. This expanded bread soon disintegrates into the water.

These tiny pieces of mushy bread then sink to the bottom of the tank. The rest of the bread will wind up stuck in your tank’s filter. Worst of all disintegrated bread is a sure way to amp up your tank’s toxic ammonia levels.

Other human food to avoid feeding your guppies

Bread is not the only table food you should keep out of your guppies’ mouth. Below is a list of human food that isn’t ideal for your fish.

Processed foods

These types of foods contain lots of unnatural ingredients that can harm your guppies’ health. They have preservatives, trans fats, sugar, and salt. Guppies don’t eat these kinds of food in the wild. They should not eat it in captivity, either.

High-fat meat

Guppies do need a small amount of fat in their diet, but some of the meat that we eat has way too much fat to benefit your fish. Beef and pork can contain a lot of fat and should be avoided.

Too much fat consumption often leads to a fat buildup around your guppies’ heart. Also, too much fat is harmful to your fish’s liver.

Dairy

This is another example of food your guppies never eat in the wild. Dairy, like meat, is high in fat. It does not have much nutritional value.

Starch

Like bread, your guppy will enjoy eating starchy foods, but it is not ideal. Starchy products such as pasta, rice, crackers, and cereal all contain that indigestible gluten. They will bloat your fish and cause discomfort.

Vegetables cooked in fat

Veggies are an excellent supplement to your guppies’ diet. However, you must be careful about how it is prepared. Since the excessive intake of fat can hurt your fish, make sure to avoid it.

This means no sauteed veggies in butter and olive oil. Instead, opt for boiled, steamed, or raw vegetables.

The best human food for your guppies

Can’t resist the call of feeding your guppies some table scraps? The good news is that there are plenty of human foods suitable for guppy consumption.

Best of all, if you stick to the human foods recommended below, you’ll be doing a world of good for your fish friends. Healthy, natural foods add an abundance of vitamins and minerals to your guppies’ diet.

Also, your fish benefit from a diet with variety. A varied diet ensures proper development.

Listed below you’ll find the best human foods for your guppies.

Proteins

Guppies are active little fish. Some protein in your guppies diet is excellent for keeping your fish energized. But, you want to be sure you are providing protein beneficial to your guppies’ health. Lean meats prepared without added flavoring or fat is the best option.

Opt for egg yolks. They are easy to prepare and loved by guppies. They have lots of protein and healthy fat. Seafood such as fish and shrimp is another top pick. It can be fed to guppies raw. Steamed chicken breast is another favorite.

Vegetables

Guppies are omnivores. Protein alone won’t cut it. In fact, the majority of your guppies’ diet should be plant-based. It provides all the healthy vitamins and minerals your guppies need. It’s easy to feed your guppies vegetables too; there is no shortage of options.

Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and romaine are a popular option. Also, it’s an easy option since it does not require cooking. Just shred it into small pieces and feed to your fish. Peas, sweet corn, sweet potato, and carrots are also healthy options. Blanch them before serving.

Fruits

Plant-based is not just about vegetables. Fruits are also a healthy food group with great variety. Sweet fruits contain lots of healthy nutrients, but should mostly be considered a treat since they are high in sugar.

Try some apples, grapes, and bananas. Remember to fish out any uneaten pieces promptly after serving. High sugar fruits can grow unwanted bacteria quickly.

Don’t forget about savory fruits that are often lumped in with vegetables. You can serve these varieties more frequently than high sugar fruits. Offer your fish blanched bell pepper or raw pumpkin.

Guppies also love cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes. But before serving, scrape out any of the watery jelly found inside these fruits.

Wrap-Up

While your guppies will eat bread, you should probably refrain from serving it. It’s not worth it when considering its effects on your guppies’ health and water quality.

Thankfully, there are lots of other human food treats you can offer to your fish. Stick with those lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits to keep your guppies satiated and nourished.

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A food box that enables you to recreate dishes from some of the best Dutch chefs at home!

As we didn’t have any specific plans for New Year’s Eve and Koen and Erica would be returning from their Christmas break that same afternoon, we thought it would be a lovely occasion to get together for a final 2019 cookout. However, with their plane landing only around 4.30 pm, the timing would be too short to conduct a proper cookout and prepare everything from scratch. Therefore, I suggested ordering the new Cook Like a Chef food box which I had read about a couple of weeks earlier. The fact that the included courses were from different Dutch Michelin starred restaurants was met with great enthusiasm.

About the Cook Like a Chef food box: The concept of Cook Like A Chef is to make a food box available so you can recreate dishes from some of the best Dutch restaurants at home and put a course on the table in just 20 minutes. With all the prep work already done by the restaurants, you really only need to finish, assemble, and plate the various dishes.

The currently participating restaurants are De Librije***, De Leest***, Parkheuvel**, and De Lindehof**, and the food boxes will be rotating every ten weeks in the beforementioned order. The regular 4-course menu is €69,50 and is to be ordered for 2 persons or more. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and lactose-free menus are also available, as are wine pairing options. There are sets of 4 bottles, both in a regular and a more high-end choice, but the wines can also be ordered individually per bottle. Gins and Fruits de Mer chocolate can be added as well.

The more festive December / Christmas edition of the food box that we had, was a mix of signature dishes from De Librije, Parkheuvel, and De Lindehof and it set us back €79,50 per person (4 regular and 1 vegetarian). No wine pairings were ordered, as we decided to pick some (similar) wines from our own wine cellars instead.

The (conditioned) delivery is available for the Netherlands and a small part of Belgium (Flanders up to and including Antwerp). The deliveries are made only on Fridays, Saturdays and the days before public holidays. The delivery fee is €15,50 for orders up to 4 persons and €24,75 for 4 or more. If you really want to recreate the full restaurant experience at home and excuse yourself from kitchen duty, you can even hire a professional chef to do everything for you.

What is in the Cook Like a Chef food box: I ordered the food boxes to arrive on the day before New Year’s Eve (on the day itself was also possible, but I just wanted to be on the safe side). The delivery truck from Schmidt Zeevis, a renowned fishmonger from Rotterdam, handed over 2 cardboard boxes, with explicit instructions on the outside stating which ingredients should be placed in the freezer immediately. The various courses came in separate brown paper bags, with all elements prepped and pre-portioned: single-use piping bags for the crèmes, vacuum-sealed fish and meat, and the rest in (reusable) plastic containers. The vegetarian ingredients were labeled accordingly when they resembled their non-vegetarian counterparts. The boxes also contained printed menu cards, postcards depicting the ingredients for each of the courses, and 1-page leaflets clearly indicating each of the prep and plating steps.

Our experiences with the Cook Like a Chef food box: They certainly delivered on their statement that preparing the dishes would be super simple and that no culinary skills or fancy kitchen equipment are needed. An oven, a stove, a grater, and a stick blender is all that we needed. Grating some lime zest, heating ingredients on the stove and in the oven, putting the stick blender into the lobster sauce to make it foamy, boiling ravioli, and frying the langoustines and the quail roulades were about as cheffy as it would get. The only ingredients you need to add yourself are some butter for cooking the quail and some salt for the last-minute marinade salmon trout.

The indicated overall timing is accurate; we had 1 person cooking, and 2 doing the assembly and plating, and we could put all the courses on the table within 20 minutes. It should be noted that, especially when ordering both the regular and the vegetarian food boxes, you will have to do some washing up in between courses as 3 to 5 different pots and pans are needed for each of the warm courses. As always, with cooking, common sense is needed rather than blindly following the instructions, especially if the ingredients come straight from your fridge. For example, the quail rouleaus were precooked sous vide but did need quite some time in the pan to heat through and through. Similarly, the indicated times that the vegetarian aubergine tartelette and the cauliflower heart had to be in the oven (the instructions called for 10 and 5-6 minutes at 160℃, respectively) were way too short.

Each course and its presentation had its different character, reflecting the chefs. It even was noticeable in the instructions which lead to some banter in the kitchen come to the main course as to how one “playfully” puts ingredients on a plate (yes, a lot of wine had already been consumed by then…). Videos for the plating suggestions are also available on Youtube, but we winged it based on the pictures on the instruction leaflets, in which it is was indicated that some of the quantities of sauces and crèmes would be more than strictly necessary for proper plating. The good old “Less is More” fine dining mantra. We did not use full restraint and tried to use up the ingredients if it meant putting a few extra blobs of delicious crèmes or sauces on the plates. We were still quite content with the result of our plating efforts.

The quality of the ingredients was outstanding, and, most importantly, all the dishes tasted brilliantly (Chantal was so kind as to let me try her vegetarian ones). Compared to home cooking, professional chefs tend to use (much) more salt to amp up the flavors. Hence, we found that none of the dishes needed additional seasoning. We found that the chicken ravioli on their own were borderline overseasoned, but still agreeable when combined with the other elements on the plate.

Any downsides? Yes, but a few minor ones. Unfortunately, some of the quantities of the ingredients were 1 or 2 short (the pumpkin slices for the first course and the cinnamon stick mousse for the dessert). Furthermore, given the replacement ingredients for the Vegetarian menu (quinoa salad and the stalk of a cauliflower), one could argue that a slightly lower price tag is warranted.

Nevertheless, the portions themselves are generous; definitely more substantial than as part of a menu in one of these restaurants. Therefore, after finishing the 4 courses — served over 3½ hours — we were replete and delighted that the Cook like a Chef food box turned out to be a splendid way to say farewell to 2019!

The results:

1st course: De Librije*** (Jonnie Boer):

Raw Marinated Salmon Trout, Pickled Pumpkin, Almond Sherry Sauce, Lemon crème, Lovage crème, and Lovage oil.

Vegetarian: Same as ours, but a Sweet and Sour Quinoa salad replaced the fish

2015 Branco de Santa Cruz by Telmo Rodriguez (Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain)

2nd course: Parkheuvel** (Erik van Loo):

Bresse Chicken Ravioli, Langoustines, Mushrooms, and Mushroom Jus, and Lobster Bisque

Vegetarian: Eggplant Tartlette, Beurre Blanc of fermented Bell Pepper juice, Garlic and Curry Crème, Balsamic Onions, and kimchi

2018 Marsanne Les Vignes d’à Côté by Domaine Yves Cuilleron (Côtes du Rhone, France)

Main course: De Lindehof** (Soenil Bahadoer):

Quail Roulade and Quail leg in Jus, Surinam potpourri, Pointed Cabbage Rendang, Broad Beans and Carrots

Vegetarian: Roasted Cauliflower Heart, Cauliflower Crème, Baharat Crème, Pickled Onions Tempura chips, Raisin and Macadamia Vinaigrette

2006 The Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon by d’Arenberg (McLaren Vale, Australia)

2008 Brunello di Montalcino by Col D’Orcia (Tuscany, Italy)

Dessert: De Librije*** (Jonnie Boer)

Deconstructed Apple Pie (Apple, Crumble, Star Anise Chocolates, Cinnamon Stick Mousse, Vanilla Pod Gel, Brandy soaked Raisins and Vanilla Parfait)

2015 Le Doux Secret by Cave de Labastide de Lévis (Gaillac, Marsac Tarn, France) 

Of course, we didn’t forget about the kids: they also got to indulge multi-Michelin Starred fare with a generous helping of the Mac ‘n Cheese by Marco Pierre White.

‘Cook like a Chef’ Food Box – Review A food box that enables you to recreate dishes from some of the best Dutch chefs at home!

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Quick and Easy Cold-Weather Weeknight Dinners - Fall Weeknight Meals - Holiday Weeknight Recipes

Quick and Easy Cold-Weather Weeknight Dinners – Fall Weeknight Meals – Holiday Weeknight Recipes

Date: 2019-12-09 14:00:07

[aoa id=’3′][dn_wp_yt_youtube_source type=”101″ id=”Z7EwOhrNL_4″][/aoa]

Welcome to Easy Food Recipes!

Quick and Easy Cold-Weather Weeknight Dinners – Fall Weeknight Meals – Holiday Weeknight Recipes

This video highlights 6 easy to make winter weeknight recipes!

All of my videos are edited by me (credit given to original content owners) using the editing program, Final…

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5 easy meal prep salad recipes

Sharing 5 of my favorite salad recipes that you can easily make as meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.

When you’re eating a salad but also thinking about the tacos you’re going to eat later.

JK I love salads… almost as much as tacos.

They’re one of my very favorite meals because it’s such an easy way to get in a ton of nutrients and the high fiber content keeps me full and satisfied. I try to have at least one salad per day, either for lunch, alongside dinner, or even for breakfast (don’t knock it til ya try it). When I make a chopped veggie salad for dinner, I save the leftovers to enjoy the next day. This way I just have to add some protein and dressing, and it’s ready to go. 

When I make salads, I try to amp them up with as many delicious ingredients as possible. There’s nothing more disappointing than when you order a salad at a restaurant and it’s essentially a bag of lettuce with a few sad veggies sprinkled on top. You can keep your $15 bag of lettuce, mmm k? In order to be a good salad, it needs to have an equal lettuce-to-toppings ratio.

Healthy salad ingredients

Here are some of my favorite salad components:

– A mix of greens (I try to switch it up each week between mixed greens, kale, baby spinach, arugula, chard, and romaine)

– Chopped fresh veggies (carrots, cucumber, celery, bell peppers)

– Roasted or pickled veggies (I love artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, beets, pickled green beans or okra, zucchini, squash)

– Cheese (feta, goat, and lately I’ve been enjoying crumbled vegan cheese or some nutritional yeast)

– Nuts/seeds (almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, candied pecans, sunflower seeds)

– Protein (leftover grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, Beyond Meat sausage, chickpeas, lentils, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, or salmon)

With all of these components it helps to keep things exciting, because salads can get boring very quickly.

The best healthy salad recipes to go along with these are here.

For today’s post, I thought I’d share some of my go-to meal prep salad recipes. You can make these in advance to enjoy throughout the week and are very helpful when the day gets crazy. Lunch is already waiting for you!

Here are 5 of my go-to meal prep salad recipes:

The best pasta salad recipe you will ever have

We enjoy this year-round and it’s the best salad for get-togethers, picnics, and easy summer lunches. The best part is that it tastes even better the next day. So many of you have made this recipe and I’m so pumped you love it as much as we do!

My favorite kale salad with a delicious avocado almond butter dressing

I got this inspiration for this recipe from my favorite vegan deli in San Diego at People’s Co-op. I’d get this salad at least once a week and loved the creamy almond butter dressing in addition to the lovely soy sauce flavor and crunchy almonds. It’s SO good. If you usually don’t love kale salads, maybe give this one a whirl!

Chickpea curry salad

This is my latest favorite and I’ve been making it at least once a week for at least a month now. P goes crazy for it, too! It tastes amazing on top of a bed of greens, in a wrap, or on a sandwich. 

Tempeh bacon BLT salad

This is another vegan recipe and the star of the show is tempeh bacon. The tempeh bacon is also incredible on a BLT-style sandwich or scrambled with some eggs. 

Spring salad with artichokes, quinoa, and asparagus

This is one of the most simple salad recipes but all of the ingredients go together so well. It’s perfect for spring

  So, tell me, friends: what’s your go-to salad recipe or combo? I’m always looking for new ideas!!

xoxo

Gina

Salad love photos by Kristi Harris

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