Mother Connie Sez: Eat Your Sprouts, Little Sprouts!

We have discussed sprouts at some length.  Leanne Ely, The Dinner Diva, who is responsible for Saving Dinner, has this to say about that:

"Sprouts are fabulously easy to grow, you don't need special equipment and they grow year round.

Here's how: 

Use wide mouth glass canning jars, available at many hardware stores. You will need screen lids; either cut pieces of different (plastic) mesh screens, or buy some of the special plastic screen lids designed for sprouting (usually available in health food stores or even hardware stores).

Sprouting is easy: just put the seed in a jar, add the soak water and put the lid on. When the soak is over, invert jar and drain the water, then rinse again. Prop the jar up at a 45 degree angle so the water will drain (or your seeds will continue to soak). 
Keep your seeds out of direct sunlight. Rinse seed in the jar 2-3 times per day until ready, always keeping it angled for drainage.

Avocado Yumwich
Serves One

2 slices whole wheat bread (or use a whole grain wrap bread)
1/4 avocado
1/2 ounce low fat cream cheese
1 slice tomato
Sprouts piled high (your choice, but I LOVE radish sprouts on this!)
Put together and eat. How's that for cinchy instructions?  For gooooood eatin', slice onions up and saute till brown. When they're still working on their tans, add a little barbeque sauce and add that to your yumwich. Eat with wild abandon. 

Per serving: 279 Calories; 13g Fat; 9g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 410mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.

Copyright (C) 2010 www.savingdinner.com Leanne Ely, CNC All rights reserved"

 

Oh, my stars and garters, kids!  This is making Mother Connie hungry.  Again.  And just think of all the great things you could do with that left over tomato and the avocado that did not make it into the sammie!  WOOHOO!  I am thinking of mashed avocado with a touch of onion, a dab of lemon spread over toast for breakfast, paired up with a smoothie full of yogurt, chia seeds, and fruit.  

 

Dear me, I'm beginning to salivate and it's nowhere near mealtime!

 

Seriously, now, kids, if we all were to eat well and wisely as The Dinner Diva shows us we might have less need for The Healing Codes.  

 

Come to think of it, if YOU are having health issues, you are not satisfied with your relationships or you feel that you do not have the abundance you yearn for you would benefit from learning more about The Healing Codes.  Their whole deal is that you should live your life in truth and love, not fear and untruths.  Sound simple?  IT IS.  Check it out by clicking here:  The Healing Codes.

 

For more good eats, click here: Saving Dinner   

 

Connie Baum  

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

Even Saving Dinner Can't Help Me Today!

I think that if you hold your ear really close to your monitor you will hear the saws, the hammering and the grunting that's going on in the kitchen.

No, The Normanator has not commandeered the room to prepare dinner. We are getting new kitchen counter tops and with the expertise of the plumber, the carpenter and The Normanator the job is being done properly, loudly, and much too slowly for Mother Connie!

Change is hard, even when invited. We have had to become accustomed to living without our customary routine, food, and even cleanup has taken on a new dimension. Oh, my stars and garters!

The Saving Dinner crew can help you make changes when it comes to meal prep. They specialize in helping you make interesting menus with a budget firmly in mind. Leanne Ely calls herself "The Dinner Diva" and is frugal, creative and knowledgeable about nutrition, food prep and all things dinner.

I wonder just what Leanne would do for dinner tonight if she were here? I guess we will just have a picnic and eat the fresh spinach and radishes The Normanator brought in. The stove still works, so I can cook some protein. But tonight it might be crowded, with the carpenter, the plumber and me all shoulder to shoulder!

Who will be saving dinner at your house tonight? click here

Connie Baum

What Is There To EAT?

I'm no different from you. I like to take the easy road. Doesn't everybody? But when the family wants to know what is there to eat, well, I'm just glad I have a plan: SavingDinner.com and you owe it to yourself to click on her site and see what all is there.

Leanne Ely has become my new bff - best friend forever. "Why?", you ask... Well, because she has taken all the heavy lifting out of food preparation. She is the next best thing to having a sous chef in your very own kitchen!

This Wonder Woman of Culinary Craft popped up while I surfed the net, looking for anything that would make home care better for my family. She was 'living' on one of the pages of Maria Cilley's "FlyLady" website. There were generous offerings about how to stretch an ole dead chicken, easy ideas for nutritional, low cost fare for anyone's dinner table. I was intrigued...and hooked on Leanne's easy ways in the kitchen.

Her own website is chock full of how-to videos, recipes, menu plans, tips and ideas. Her ad appears on this page. You can click on that banner or you can click on any of the underlined blue print on this page. Your family may not clamor for every single idea she has there but if you only find one or two gems, you'll feel as if you've won the lottery!

Whether you are wrestling with the daily care and feeding of a brood or if you are just another foodie you will have a good experience by clicking here and visiting The Dinner Diva!

Connie Baum

Broccoli, Anyone?

Oh, the news about broccoli is going to make your mother so happy! She may say, "I told you so!" but that's okay. The news should please everybody.

The prestigious Johns Hopkins University has learned that the dark green cruciferous my be helpful in dealing with chronic lung diseases.

Now, your mother may not have been a researcher at Johns Hopkins, but she did chide you about eating your veggies, I am sure. That's a mother's JOB, after all.

The report I read had a whole lot of big medical words and letters. I wondered as I read it if I might be looking at jargon or code! At any rate, studies have linked chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, and improvement in the condition when broccoli is used in the diet.

I can just hear the gears in your brain shifting right now. You are already stressing over what to DO with broccoli. Not to worry. I have the answer to that for you. The Dinner Diva will be too happy to come to your rescue in that department!

Leanne Ely never lacks for ideas when it comes to food. Whether you are looking for economical ways to use broccoli or any other food, for that matter, Saving Dinner stands ready to assist you.

The mother in me wants to remind you that raw vegetables have the most enzymes and nutrition. I have some broccoli beside me as I write this and I am enjoying little florets dipped in hummus. How fast and easy to prepare! How economical and delicious it is!

It's no wonder I'm healthy! Here's hoping my own mom would be proud to know I listened to her. So would The Dinner Diva, I think.

Eat Your Vegetables!

Here's news you can use: Baby carrots are not good for you.

I know, I know, my mother told me the same thing your mothers told you: that carrots are good for you.

Not baby carrots.

Those cute little carrots in the handy packs that feature easy-to-use veggies are not what they seem to be. While they appear to be small carrots, in reality they are really crooked or deformed root veggies that are crammed into a machine that shapes them into "COCKTAIL CARROTS" or "DESIGNER CARROTS". Sidebar: Who makes UP these fancy names? End Sidebar.

That's not the worst of it. Here is the really bad news: After the machine gets the carrots to look just so---they are dunked into a bath of water and chlorine. The chlorine is, ostensibly, to preserve them. Remember, these pieces have been skinned, so they are even more receptive to the toxic dose of chlorine.

Chlorine is a highly poisonous agent. It is a known carcinogen.

If you have ever bought these little goodies you know that they get a white film on them after sitting in your fridge for a few days. This is the chlorine oozing out! YUCK!

We ingest vegetables to maintain our good health. Knowing that baby carrots are not really what they appear to be, from now on, we will all be wise to choose from the selection on the produce counters of organic carrots, if we do not grow our own products. That will be the surest way of saving our well being and Saving Dinner !

For more information about clever ways to provide health enhancing, nourishing, interesting meals for your family please look at The Dinner Diva's website: Saving Dinner .

And, please, DO eat your vegetables!

It's ALL About the Food!

Saving Dinner is one thing. But even the Dinner Diva herself, Leanne Ely, would agree that the quality of life is more than dinner...SNACKS are important, too!

Time was when a 5 cent candy bar did the trick. Now, I'm giving away my age! As the price went up and so did my weight and cavity count, candy bars just did not cut it. We had to resort to-dare I say it- HEALTHY munching!

I know, healthy snacks may seem to be an oxymoron. but let's examine the issue: the food that's grown in soil lacks the nutrients the soil does not have to offer. Couple that with the fact that American food is processed literally to death. Inedibles such as msg and sweeteners are added, as is processed salt, icky oils and other gross things that, admittedly, taste good. One of my mentors, Dr. John Cortner, used to wail about pasteurized, homogenized milk being "congealed junk". Some folks cannot afford or have chosen not to supplement their food intake with whole foods supplements. Worse, they may be taking over the counter products that are lacking in quality and frankly, whole foods.

So, what's a mother to DO? What IS there to snack on, if we can't choose from long aisles loaded with chips and dips and microwaved stuff. SIDEBAR: Please, dear visitor, do NOT use microwave ovens. We are talking about HEALTH here. END SIDEBAR.

Well, apples are good and goodness knows that Southeast Nebraska has loads of apples this time of year. All types and colors. Leave the life giving peels on and slice them. Simple. Quick. Yummy. A shake of sea salt will bring out the sweetness and flavor of the apples.

You could even dip those slices in peanut butter, almond butter, hummus, or one of those new protein powders made from sprouts. NOW we are talking HEALTHY! That's what we DO here...

How about keeping a stash of peeled hard cooked eggs in your fridge? You can quickly chop some celery and onion and toss in some commercial pickle relish. You mix it all and spoon it into lettuce leaves for a tasty wrap! THAT is a SNACK.

The old standby of stuffing ribs of celery with cream cheese or cheese food or shredded cheese is okay but why not jazz that idea up a notch? For health's sake, use almond butter or creamed spinach leftovers or tiny ribbons of dried beef.

Tiny grape or cherry tomatoes make a terrific and healthy munchie. Wash tomatoes of nearly the same size and place them on a deli lid (you know, the lid from the Dream Whip). Lay a second lid on the tomatoes and slide your knife between the two lids from one side to the other for a PERFECT half slice to your little tomatoes! Sprinkle a tad of sea salt, a pinch of pepper and a teensy weensy pinch of sugar over the whole works and snack away. ( I saw these techniques done on Rachel Ray, who credited an intern on her show for the slicing tip and I saw someone on The Food Network season tomatoes thusly.)

Here's hoping I have whetted your appetite some. For Saving Dinner , you and Leanne are on your own!

I truly wish you WELL.