Brown Rice Goodness

The closest form of edible grain, any grain eaten by present day man or teenager, in this instance, in it's whole state is, brown rice. That's because the definition of whole grain is:

all three parts of a grain are consumed in it's original form.

All my kids have eaten brown rice throughout the years, the trouble is that, I'm weak!

I've given into the request for white sushi rice, white basmati, the whole gamut of white in rice. It cooks quicker (this is ALL me!) and isn't as chewy (this is all my KIDS!) but those are all the reasons we should be eating brown rice. And now, sometimes, one of my wonderful children or an unassuming guest reminds me that they think, "Brown rice just doesn't taste like rice?"

Well, I know I'm not the only Brown Rice Warrior out there, but I continue to give it a good try to keep serving it and singing it's brown rice praises. Here are a few of my tricks in recipes to get them to eat the whole grain goodness in brown rice. It's not really that I'm trying to trick them, so to speak, I assume most Lenten practices look down on that form of wording, but I incorporate brown rice in ways that don't look like a pile of fiber to the teenage eye!

Your Life... Line Notes

RECIPE BASICS:

Steam a large pot of brown rice at the beginning of the week, when your home and can let it cook slowly and get tender. Never add salt to rice, but olive oil or butter when cooking. Approximately one teaspoon per one cup of dry rice. Cook enough for each person to have at least two or three servings per person in your family. Allow the rice to cool completely and store in airtight containers.

ADD one cup of brown rice to most any soup or stew.

USE brown rice in place of bread in stuffing for chicken or turkey with sage, apples & pecans.

TRY making brown rice pudding for dessert with raisins and cinnamon.

Healthy Fried Brown Rice (for 6 to 8 servings)

1/2 cup cooked brown rice per person

1/3 cup sesame oil

4 green onions (substitute yellow onion sliced thinly)

1/3 cup no-wheat soy sauce (or tamari sauce)

3 whole eggs with 1 TBSP water added, stirred well

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1. Heat oil in large wok, add green onion and saute 2 minutes on medium heat.

2. Slowly drizzle egg mixture into oil while stirring constantly, evenly.

3. Add brown rice, soy sauce, and peas.

4. Stir fry until all ingredients are hot and serve immediately

Putting Away the Cream & Sugar

During Lent, I try to not eat any sugar, extra heavy fat (cream) and yeasty breads. This accomplishes two tasks;

1. Trying to follow a more traditional Lenten Season. (I love to hear someone "giving up" Coke!)

2. It sheds a few extra pounds coming into bathing suit season. (Why not reap the rewards?)

So, I have a little Fat Tuesday celebration with a tea party, then make a big ceremony of throwing out what's left over. We've been known to find a small child lingering around (nearly in)the trash can asking if they can have that last cupcake before bed, even though they already just ate 3 or 4 or well, who's counting anyway. Since we are tea fanatics around here, we usually keep a sugar bowl around the rest of the year, but we retire it for awhile as well as our ancient cream pitcher. How long has it been...one day? I may have to agree with the ground hog...it's going to be a longer winter than I hoped!

I'm always preaching about whole foods anyway, so here's my chance to tie it into the doing part of Lent. I'll be giving a brief history of ancient grains, one or two a week, that people survived on as staples all around the globe (and still do) but in North America, it's mostly wheat and corn for us here. I think it comes from the main-stream grocery sources we have to shop at, but do not worry, I'll give some good online links to purchasing these other grains (really the first grains) so you can try them. If you're already eating them, give my recipes a try and post your comments. These recipes are a great way to scale back the meat & potato mentality, and allow for a chance to feel as if we are really giving up for a higher good, ours and Gods.

QUINOA PORRIDGE

1 cup yellow or red quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp. vanilla)

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup pecans

1/8 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Splash of hot water

1. Rinse the quinoa well with cold water.

2. Bring the water and vanilla to a boil, then add quinoa simmer over medium/low heat for about 15 minutes until the grain "pops." It will double in size.

3. While the grain is cooking, put the remaining ingredients in the food processor and whirl until chopped, about 30 seconds or so, but not mushy. If you need, add a bit more water.

4. Serve the quinoa in individual bowls and garnish the top with nut mixture.

Your Life... Line Notes...

The Quinoa Fact Line

*Quinoa is native to the Andes Mountains and has been cultivated for over 5000 years. It was "rediscovered" by two men in the 1960's and brought to America. It is grown now in the Colorado Rockies and can be found at health food stores or buy online at www.buyquinoa.com

*Nutritionally, it is the one food that could sustain you. It is full of iron, potassium, B6, riboflavin, I could go on and on, but try it first.

*It's actually not a grain but the fruit of a leafy plant that is related to the spinach & chard family.

* Toast it in a dry skillet for 5 minutes for a roasted flavor, then cook in recipes.

* You can use quinoa in soups and as a substitute for rice as a side dish.

Crispy Pecan & Cherry Granola

The beauty of homemade granola is three-fold.

1. It's easy to make, tasty eaten hot or cold.

2. You can make a huge batch, equal to about three medium sized boxes of cereal for half the cost.

3. It is an excellent source of a true whole grain.

While it's true that I'm a whole foods fanatic (this is the kindest word I could think of to describe myself in relation to whole food) I still like a little sweet taste in the morning, I think it stems from the fact that as an infant, I was given a mixture of formula that consisted of equal parts evaporated milk, water and sugar. I'm not kidding, I still have the recipe written on a doctor's prescription pad somewhere in a box amongst shriveled baby booties, a picture of me at the zoo under a "Don't Feed the Animals" sign and a yellowed cotton dresses (I still love the dress!)

OK, back to the granola...this is a recipe a friend and I bantered back and forth with, over trial and error, on the phone about 8 years ago. It's still a staple in our house, made about every three weeks. Keep in an airtight container and serve cold with organic milk, you don't need to much or hot by adding1 cup water, to half cup granola and cooking about 7 minutes over medium-low heat. This isn't a clumpy, hard to chew granola but a light, crispy granola you could be proud to serve to company!

CRISPY PECAN & CHERRY GRANOLA

8 cups steel cut oats or whole oats

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (not the sticky sweet kind)

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped dried cherries

1/2 cup canola oil or light olive oil

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup frozen 100% orange juice concentrate (or fresh OJ)

Preheat Oven to 325.

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a very large bowl.

2. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

3. Pour wet on top of dry and mix to coat.

4. Layer mixture evenly on 3 to 4 large cookie sheets.

5. Cook in oven for 20 to 30 minutes until dry and slightly toasted but not too brown.

6. You have to take it out and let it cool completely before putting it in an airtight container.

Your Life...Line Notes

*Don't layer the mixture too thick on the cookie sheets, it takes too long to cook and you have to keep turning it. As is my way, I've found it's much easier to use more cookie sheets and no turning is needed (less mess.) If you've only got 2 sheets, layer two, set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes then make two more while the others are cooling.

*Cool it completely or it will get sticky in the container.

Easy Valentine's Day Treats

Minty Cashew Delights

1 box "Andes" mint chocolates (or any high grade mint/chocolate combo)

10 oz. lightly salted cashew pieces

1. Melt chocolate in non-stick pan over very low heat. Stir constantly about 5 minutes or so until completely melted, DO NOT OVERCOOK!

2. Toss in cashews and mix to coat well.

3. Scoop a tablespoon at a time and push off onto buttered cookie sheet to make each candy.

4. cool in refrigerator for 5 minutes.

5. Wrap with 8" X 8" squares of clear basket wrap. (Found in card stores)

6. Tie bows with ribbon and place on platter covered with tissue paper.

Lolly Pop Valentine Flowers

A Big Bouquet of Valentine Flowers

These are easy to make and only take a little oversight on your part if the kids are doing them on their own. I just cannot bring myself to encourage my kids, or myself, to fill out all those little papers with various, current movie characters on them with only a name, fold them in half and pass them out. I just don't see the love. Don't hate me for it, but if you want to get a creative, loving Saturday morning art project going, these are perfect! Doing ALL the cutting first makes an assembly line project if you have multiple sets of hands and helps kids not to lose interest.

1 bag mini circular lolly pops

1 package of printed tissue paper

1 small ball curling ribbon

Paper, Stickers and Markers

Single Hole Punch

Creative Work:

1. Cut heart shapes out of paper and decorate with stickers & markers, punch single hole in top.

2. Cut the tissue paper into approximately 8" X 8" squares.

3. Cut the ribbon into 12" strips for the number of lolly pops.

Assembly:

4. Take 2 squares of tissue, placed on top each other and push lolly pop stick through.

5. Twist paper around the base of lolly pop and tie tightly with ribbon in a knot.

6. Slide a decorated heart onto the ribbon, tie again and curl ribbon ends.

Don't have a boat-load of your own kids to give these to?? Do some Secret Valentine work and take them to a Senior Center, Hospital Kids Wing or Mail to a Soldier.

Top-Notch Florida Honey

http://www.honey.com/ The National Honey Board
http://www.abfnet.org/ American Beekeeping Federation
http://www.pollinator.org/ N. Am. Pollinator Protection
http://www.tropicbeehoney.com/ Purchase Honey online!
http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/ for the kids (and you) check out this fun, interactive website sponsored by Haagen-Daz.
These sites offer a plethora of wealth information, for your health and your pocketbook, check it out!

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting a local and national supplier of specialty honeys in Edgewater, Florida, TROPICAL BLOSSOM HONEY CO, INC.
I happened to visit on a Saturday when they are normally closed to retail, but they were kind enough to see me in the parking lot and invited me in anyway. This is hospitality at it's finest in my opinion, because of course I couldn't just keep quiet and grab one or two tiny items (I try, really I try to behave myself but once I'm inside I'm like a naughty two year old in a new toy store; I plead that I'll JUST LOOK for a minute! Of course that's what all two year olds say and then they start picking up and touching everything they come even close to and showing it to you, and asking if they can have it, and isn't it all lovely and well, you know what I'm talking about here. Usually my husband reels me in, but he had the good sense to stay behind.) OK, back to the honey...
The Tropical Wild Honey, pictured, is unfiltered, uncooked and produced from the nectar of plants in the Everglades and piny woods in Florida which are not cultivated, chemically sprayed or fertilized. This gives it a pure taste and a clear amber color. I have been using it for cooking with excellent consistency results and flavoring breads with it instead of sugar. It's a good value and produces a flavorful aftertaste.
The Tupelo Honey, with it's slightly green hue was truly mouth-watering, it's naturally high content of fructose allows you to use half as much since it's so sweet. It's one of the rarest types of honey in the world and is only produced in quantity from the area of the Apalachicola River basin that surrounds the tributaries in Northwest Florida where the gum trees grow.
Citrus Honey with natural essence of Key Lime and Tangerine was a perfect match for my Honey Infused Chicken recipe. I've made this simple recipe for my family for many years but was pleased with the "just-right tang" this new version produced. It has inspired me to work on a few new recipes using it.
Finally, The recipes...

Honey Infused Chicken

2 lbs. organic chicken legs and thighs (breasts if you like, better w/ dark meat)
1 cup Citrus Honey with natural essence of Key Lime and Tangerine
4 TBS butter
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1. Wash and dry chicken and place in glass rectangular baking dish. Pieces should not overlap.
2. Combine all remaining ingredients in a glass bowl and microwave for 1 minute.
3. Pour over chicken to coat, cover pan with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to marinate for 4 to 6 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake chicken slowly for 2 hours.
*This is a great winter dish because it helps heat the kitchen slowly when everyone is coming in from a chilly day and it smells wonderful! Talk about comfort food, this is it!

Arugula & Citrus Honey Salad

1 5oz. Baby Arugula*
2 navel oranges, peeled and sliced into circles
1/2 cup pecans, toasted in oven for 5 minutes at 350 to release flavor.
1/3 cup Citrus Honey with natural essence Key Lime and Tangerine**
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
3 TBS olive oil
1 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Arrange arugula on salad plates per person.
2. Place one thick slice of navel orange on top of arugula.
3. Sprinkle nuts over orange slice.
4. Whisk together the honey, vinegar, oil, zest and salt until well blended.
5. Drizzle over salad and serve immediately.

Your Life...Line Notes
*Earthbound Farm Organics Company sells this in most stores or buy from Farmer's Market.
**Purchase online at http://www.tropicalbeehoney.com/
You can substitute any high quality honey or any lettuce greens for salad, but the 2 listed ingredients make it spicy (arugula) and citrusy-sweet with this particular honey.

Indian River Citrus

To me the, one the best parts of winter is Citrus! Being able to get great deals on grapefruit and oranges at the grocery store is a big plus when it's chilly out and I'm in need of some extra internal sunshine, but getting it from the source is a dream come true in the month of January! Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Indian River area in Florida. It is one of the biggest citrus supply areas for the East Coast and travelers (such as myself) can anticipate it as they get closer with billboards at every interstate exit. I must admit I kept on going, waiting to get to the source its self. This photo is one from all the wealth we bought from LOVELAND GROVES in Edgewater, Florida. When I was there it was cold and they told me they were up late at night praying the fruit didn't get frozen. After tasting a unique orange called "Honeybells" which only come into season once a year, I started praying too! They're deep orange in color (photo it's lower right) and thinly skinned so when you grasp it, it's firm but you can feel the juice just under the skin waiting to burst out. When sliced, they give a nice little squirt of zest and don't have too many seeds. The flesh is softer then a typical orange, closer to a tangerine but not as tart and larger in size. Our favorite way to eat them is to slice into quarters, not peeled, so all the tangy-sweet juice can be savored. The best part of going to the source, is to see the "real" way the fruit looks. It hasn't been polished, picked weeks earlier to ripen en-route in the back of a truck, and it isn't plastic looking. In this photo, top left, is grapefruit. It's slightly greenish and rough skinned but pink as a winter sunrise when sliced in half and gives your mouth just enough pucker to appreciate citrus. Try this simple salad in the next post that utilizes some of winter's fresh bounty. The Honeybell's botanical name is Mineola Tangelo.