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When you have a sore throat and are coming down with a cold, ginger and cayenne tea is the way to go. Add lemon, garlic, and honey and you'll be fixed up well quickly.
Read MoreWant to impress your friends? This homemade beet marmalade should do the job. It's incredibly easy to make, and a great flavor combination.
Read MoreI tend to do a cleanse once or twice a year. This is the first time it's a full-on juice cleanse, with no solid foods for 3 days. My friend and I are in this cleanse together. I made it 66 hours total, pretty close to the 72 hours I had committed. I've been keeping myself going on store-bought raw juices, coconut water, herbal tea, and a small amount of probiotics.
When I re-read that last sentence, I realized just how crazy this cleanse may be. Even though I'm an avid meat eater, there is something I love about eliminating everything but raw veggie and fruit juice for a few days. The challenge of making the smoothies taste good enough to satisfy my desire to eat keeps me going.
I make smoothies regularly, but they always have almond or rice milk in them. I'm using coconut water for the cleanse smoothies. As long as there is some avocado mixed in the texture is similar to the ones I usually make. Nice to know that I can eliminate the milk from the smoothie and not miss the flavor, but cut down on the calories.
The way I see it, if I can get in the habit of making one or two smoothies a day that are primarily veggies and good stuff, I can eat all the other stuff I love without worrying about getting all my nutrients in.
I do have to say that so far I feel great and very calm. That might just be because I'm a little crazy from not eating, but I think it has to do with giving my system a rest. Your body uses up a lot of energy trying to digest meats, grains and processed sugars. Eating this way always gives me perspective on how much and how often I eat or snack. It's a kickstart to remembering portion control and being more aware of my eating habits.
Not to worry, the mouthwatering meats, gluten and dairy free treats and all the other wonderful dishes I love to make will be back shortly. I'm sure to have a new appreciation for them!
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Enjoy!
Hello There.
I just found out that my post for No-Cook Cranberry Relish was featured on The Fruit Guys' website.
What a nice way to end the year. They are deliver great fresh fruit to our office sometimes and it's always a pleasure when the delivery comes in.
Look into fresh fruit and veggie box deliveries in your area, it's totally worth it. You never know what you'll get in the box. The mystery contents can lead to some great off-the-cuff meals.
Hope you are enjoying this 363rd day of the year.
Yep, that's right. And, I think Ms Iz does, too (that's my daughter, in case you didn't know).
I made a gluten-free (happens to also be dairy-free) pumpkin bread yesterday, which I have to say beats the pants off my old version. I don't bake a lot, so it's very nice to find a recipe that comes together easily and has little to no mess (but a few dishes to clean up afterward).
The original recipe is from Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival, which is a book I received as a wedding gift. Many years (almost 15) and life changes (had a kid, got out of my marriage) later, I still return to this recipe every Thanksgiving. I love pumpkin pie, but can't really eat the crust, and being a novice baker, muffins and breads like this are much more in my comfort zone.
Even though butter and I are best friends, using vegetable oil here makes the bread moist and the batter silky. I changed up some of the spices, though. I didn't have everything on hand, so used cinnamon, cloves and ground ginger. Adding the walnuts just before baking gave the bread a nice crunch, but didn't mess with the interior texture. Oh, and of course, I used a gluten-free mix of flour instead of the traditional white flour the recipe calls for. I bought a pre-mixed flour this time, but you can go here to find a great recipe for your own mix.
I had intended to make muffins this year, but as always happens, I had no liners for the tray. Once I bought the liners, I realized I only had a mini muffin tray, so the liners were too big. I spotted the mini springform pans in the back of the cabinet. Adding a little oil and some parchment paper made the breads a snap to remove from the pans.
makes 5 small loaves
Recipe adapted from Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival
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I don't really like cranberry sauce.
But wait, that was before I found this excellent no-cook cranberry relish.
Well, it was back in 2001, I believe, when Gourmet (R.I.P.) published this very simple no-cook cranberry relish. I was dead set against it. In 2002, my friend and co-worker at the time, Heidi, said she had made this and was thrilled with the results. The taste, said Heidi, was tart and the texture was crunchy, not soggy.
I sat down and thought through the pros and cons of cranberries. It occurred to me that I've been drinking cranberry juice for years and loved it. The thought also crossed my mind, though, that all other ways that cranberries were ever presented to me did nothing for me, and even turned me against this particular berry.
But, I promised Heidi I'd make it. She was right. The relish is nothing like the canned cranberry (or fresh cranberry) sauce I'd previously eaten. And, so, this has become a standard in my Thanksgiving repertoire.
Wait, wait, there's even more. Every year, I get the ingredients to make this, and somehow have convinced myself of a few things from the previous year:
This relish gets better over a couple of days, so make it today and it will wow your guests on Thanksgiving.
No-Cook Cranberry Orange Relish
Recipe adapted from Epicurious (Gourmet magazine, 2001)
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