Blueberries for Health - Kerplink, Kerplank, Kerplunk

Blueberries are in Season!

My daughter is working at the local blueberry stand. We have so many delicious blueberries in the refrigerator. Plus our garden blueberry bushes are producing juicy berries. I don’t mind as blueberries are a favorite food and more than that they provide excellent health benefits.

Blueberries' deep purple color is teaming with polyphenols, in particular anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins, which are responsible for their antioxidant properties. They provide protection from cancer cells by promoting the death of the cancer cells and stopping the growth of new blood vessels that feed the cancer cells.

Their work doesn’t stop there. They are known to impact memory. In a study done in April 2005, it was found “…that various fruit and vegetable extracts, particularly blueberry (BB), were effective in reversing age-related deficits in neuronal signaling and behavioral parameters following 8 weeks of feeding, possibly due to their polyphenolic content.” Anthocyanins in aged blueberry-fed rats are found centrally and may enhance memory. Nutr Neurosci. 2005 Apr;8(2):111-20

Another study done by the Center for the Study of Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome, Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that drinking one blueberry smoothie with 22.5 grams of blueberries a day increased participants insulin sensitivity.

“Insulin sensitivity was enhanced in the blueberry group at the end of the study without significant changes in adiposity, energy intake, and inflammatory biomarkers. In conclusion, daily dietary supplementation with bioactives from whole blueberries improved insulin sensitivity in obese, nondiabetic, and insulin-resistant participants.” J Nutr. 2010 Oct;140(10):1764-8. Epub 2010 Aug 19.Bioactives in blueberries improve insulin sensitivity in obese, insulin-resistant men and women. 

So what are we waiting for! 

It’s time for a blueberry recipe.

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BLUEBERRY TART

Adapted from Clean Start, by Terry Walters

Preheat the oven to 350˚

Prepare one 9 inch tart pan .

Serves 8

Ingredients:

Date Paste: (makes just over ½ cup of date paste)

20 pitted dates

¼ cup of raisins

1 1/4 cups of warm water

Crust:

2 cups almond meal

2 tablespoons date paste

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Pinch of sea salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

Filling

1 cup of date water from the soaked dates

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

½ cup date paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon almond extract

Pinch of sea salt

2 cups of large blueberries or 4 cups of small wild blueberries

Directions:

Date paste: Place 20 dates and a ¼ cup of raisins  in 1 1/4  cup of warm water; soak until till soft.  This isa bout 1/2 hour to an hour. Strain off the water and set aside. In a fo0d processor blend dates and raisins until smooth. If needed add a few tablespoons of the date water to make it smooth.  

Crust: Melt coconut oil in a pan over medium heat. Add salt and almond extract. Mix the almond meal and date paste in a bowl. Pour the oil mixture over the almond meal mixture and fold in until all the ingredients are incorporated. Pat into the lightly oiled tart pan to form a crust. Bake the crust for 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove the crust and gently pat down any bubbles that may have formed.

Filling:

Mix together  ½ cup of the water reserved from the dates and the arrowroot, set aside.

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, combine the ½ cup of date water, ½ cup of date paste, lemon juice, almond extract and salt. Bring to a simmer. Add 1 cup of blueberries and stir until they start popping. Keep stirring and lower the heat. Whisk the arrowroot mixture into the berry mixture and keep whisking until the mixture thickens. Once thick, remove mixture from the heat and fold in the remaining blueberries. Pour into the crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate for an hour. Top with homemade whipping cream.

Enjoy!

2011 Healthy Eating Challenge

According to the USDA 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans our food choices makes a difference in our health and our ability to prevent chronic disease.

The Dietary Guidelines state that:

· 81.1 million Americans are faced with cardiovascular disease

· 74.5 million Americans deal with hypertension and 36% are pre-hypertensive

· 24 million Americans have diabetes, while in the background there are 78 million pre-diabetics

· One out of every two women and one out of every four men are diagnosed with Osteoporosis

· 41% of the US population will be diagnosed with some type of cancer, that is one out of every two woman or men! Dietary factors may influence the risk of being diagnosed with cancer of the colon, kidney, endometrial, post-menopausal breast cancer, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus.

The report finds that the American diet contains too much sodium, solid fats, added sugars and refined grains.

What are the optimal dietary Guidelines?

Simply put a whole food, plant based, fiber filled diet with lean meats and fish and low fat dairy is now recognized as a healthy and sound diet. Limiting alcohol and getting out there for exercise are also important to health.

The 2011 Guidelines state:

“Individuals should meet the following recommendations as part of a healthy eating pattern and while staying within their calorie needs.

- Increase vegetable and fruit intake. (Notice the emphasis on vegetables NOT fruits.)

- Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.

- Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains.

- Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products…

- Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.

- Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry.

- Replace protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories and /or are sources of oils.

- Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.

- Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of concern in American diets. These foods include:

vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products.”

(USDA, Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, www.dietaryguidelines.gov, page 33.)

Are you ready to choose health?

The 2011 Healthy Eating Challenge starts with including one new vegetable, fruit, protein or dairy product a week into your diet. This is a vegetable that you have never heard of or never tried, maybe kohl rabi, daikon radish, kale, collards, gooseberries, acai berries, calf beans, buckwheat, basmati rice or goat’s milk kefir.

Don’t worry about how to cook your new food, just search the web with the name of the food and “recipe” after it and to find an abundance of recipes. Keep a log of your recipes and notes on which ones you have grown to love.

In December we will come back to our 2011 Healthy Eating Challenge to see what our favorite recipes have been. For starters I have a Rutabaga recipe for you to try.

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Winter Veggie Mash
from Farmer John's Cookbook

pinch of salt
1/2 large rutabaga (about 1 pound) peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 pound of any kind of potatoes, yellow fins to purple potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/4 cup broth, nut mylk, milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a few pinches of salt and then drop in the rutabaga:cook for 10 minutes. Add the potato and carrot; cook until everything is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.

2. Heat the broth or milk in a small saucepan, but do not boil.

3. Mash the rutabaga, potato and carrot with the butter until smooth, adding a little of the warm broth or milk at a time until the mixture reaches the consistency you like. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Serves four.

Winter Pesto

It is cold out there!
Infact today's storm disrupted work twice when the power went out and once when the hail was coming down so hard I had to stop and stare. It makes me wonder how the newly planted strawberries are fairing in such weather. I will have to go take a peak tomorrow.

Dinner needs to feed more than my belly tonight, it needs to feed my soul too. Winter Pesto does just that. Being that basil is out of season, I have chosen to use my sister's tried and true recipe which uses kale instead of basil.

Winter Pesto

Dairy Free:

1 bunch of Lacinato Kale

½ to ¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup of fresh Meyer lemon juice

1 cup of toasted Sunflower Seeds

4 cloves of garlic

1 tsp salt

Optional: ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (reduce the salt to ½ tsp)

In a three quart pot, boil water for blanching the Lacinato Kale. Have a medium bowl of ice water set aside for cooling the kale after it is blanched.

Strip the leaves from the stems of the kale and place them in the boiling water. Turn off the light and wait about 4 minutes, until the kale leaves are bright green. Using a slotted spoon remove the kale and dip it into the ice water to stop it from cooking. Remove it from the water and spin dry or pat dry with a cotton kitchen towel.

In a blender or food processor put ½ cup olive oil, the lemon juice, sunflower seeds, garlic, salt and kale leaves. Pulse and then blend until smooth. Add more olive oil if it needs to be creamier.

Store in a glass container or freeze. It will last for 3-4 days in the refrigerator and up to a month in the freezer.

If you like dairy you might add Parmesan cheese before blending the pesto for a cheesier flavor.

Top eggs, pasta, rice, quinoa or even a slice of whole grain bread with the pesto.

I add some Arame sea vegetables to the my dish of rice and pesto. Yum!

May every bite be blessed!

The Best Breakfast Yet!

Four Elements Breakfast

Ingredients:

Two glasses of room temperature fresh water, with lemon if you like

Fresh air just before the sun breaks over the horizon

A patch of earth

Your undivided attention

Directions:

Upon rising drink two glasses of fresh water.

Get dressed and go outside.

Stand quietly on the earth and breathe softly and deeply while facing the rising sun.

Soften your eyes so that you are not focusing on anything but yet you are facing the sun.

Note: You do not want to look at the sun; you could burn your retinas.

Attend to your breath.

As the warmth of the sun increases and the brightness of the light increases

Inhale the energy of the New Day with Gratitude and Love.

Quietly breathe this energy into every cell of your body.

Dedicate your day and breathe your last breathe.

Walk into the house and remember:

As the new day dawned your spirit broke the fast with the earth, water, sun and air.

Many Blessings!

joellen