The Hemp Connection [Search results for cinnamon] 

At inCYST we love the Mediterranean diet! You saw the announcement about Meri Raffetto's book, The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Dummies.

Recently I've been experimenting with a part of the Mediterranean that is often overlooked in discussions about this cuisine…the southern shore, or North Africa. It's fabulous.

It all started when my friend Kate turned her house into a Moroccan lounge and hosted a potluck dinner, where all of the guests were challenged to bring a dish that fit into the theme. I had the opportunity to try some incredible combinations of sweet and savory, and started looking for other recipes to try. What I love about what I've found, is that the dishes tend to be packed with vegetables, and they're a powerhouse on your palate.

These dishes combine all of the foods we generally associate with the Mediterranean, with all of the spices that come from its location along one of history's major spice trading routes. You'll need to stock your kitchen with turmeric, all of the peppers, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cloves, curry, fenugreek…before you get started. But I think you'll be pleased with what you get.

One of my favorite rules for eating out is to eat authentic ethnic. Those are the places you'll find the cuisines that keep healthy eating interesting and exciting. Northern African cuisine, whether it's Moroccan, Tunisian, is going to be a good bet for dinner out with friends that will keep everyone happy without anyone having to dissect the menu looking for something"healthy", which can be a buzzkill for any social outing.

Here is a recipe I recently tried that is going in my file to use again. It hit the spot on a cold winter night, fed me for several days, and did not leave me feeling like I needed to go searching for something after dinner because in the process of eating healthy I was not satisfied. It originally appeared in Sunset Magazine.

Pearl Couscous with Fall Vegetables and Caramelized Onions

Recipe Time
Total: 2 Hours, 30 Minutes

Amount per serving
Calories: 407
Protein: 11g
Fat: 7.2g
Saturated fat: 1g
Carbohydrate: 77g
Fiber: 7.4g
Sodium: 861mg
Cholesterol: 0.0mg
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
2 medium onions, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey

Couscous and vegetables
3 to 4 medium carrots
3 medium zucchini
1 jalapeño chile
4 small turnips
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash*
3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon saffron threads
3/4 teaspoon cumin
2 cinnamon sticks
7 cups reduced-sodium vegetable stock
2 cups pearl (also sold as Israeli) couscous

About 1 tsp. harissa*
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Make caramelized onions: Put onions in a large frying pan with 1/2 cup water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until softened, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onions are golden. Increase heat to medium-high, add olive oil, and cook, stirring, until deep golden. Meanwhile, soak raisins in hot water 15 minutes; drain.

2. Stir in spices and honey; then stir in raisins and cook, stirring, until nutty brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Make couscous and vegetables: Halve carrots and zucchini; cut into 1 1/2-in. pieces. Halve jalapeño (seed it if you want less heat). Peel and quarter turnips. Peel and seed squash; cut into 1-in. chunks.

4. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 tsp. salt, the pepper, saffron, cumin, and cinnamon sticks and fry, stirring, 1 minute. Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add carrots, turnips, and jalapeño and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Add squash and zucchini and cook, covered, until all vegetables are soft but not falling apart, about 20 minutes.

5. Transfer 2 cups hot stock from vegetable pot to a 4-qt. saucepan. Add 1 cup water and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil, stir in couscous, and cook, covered, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

6. Transfer 2 cups stock from vegetable pot to a pitcher and stir in harissa to taste.

7. Spread couscous on a platter, making a well in the center. Using a slotted spoon, arrange vegetables, including cinnamon sticks, in the well; discard jalapeño. Scatter onions on top and sprinkle with cilantro. Moisten the couscous with some stock and strain the rest into a second pitcher. Serve couscous and vegetables with the two stocks (plain and spicy) on the side.

*Buying cubed butternut squash will save you some time. Harissa's heat level varies wildly depending on the brand, so taste before adding.

Make ahead: Up to 1 day. Finish making all five components of the dish—caramelized onions, vegetables, couscous, harissa-spiked stock, and plain stock—and chill separately. Ten minutes before serving, reheat in a microwave and serve as directed.

I promised Ivonne I would post a recipe here, but my format will be a little bit nontraditional.

See, so many people have this perception that if you have a nutrition degree, or work in the fitness and counseling worlds, you are somehow this magic creator of 3 gourmet meals a day. They're all perfectly balanced, exactly the necessary number of calories with perfect ratios of carbohydrate, protein, fat, zinc, antioxidants, omega-3's, yadayadayada.

NOT.

I think sometimes these blogs and websites with all these people who'd like you to think it's perfect in foodieland are downright intimidating. I want you to HAVE FUN with food, and I want you to have the confidence to experiment.

So here's a look inside my kitchen and my head when I recently improvised on a popular recipe, Morning Glory Muffins.

Here is the original recipe as I found it on the Internet:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Now let's see what actually happened when I rolled up my sleeves and baked them.

1. "Where is the sugar? Dang! I forgot I was almost out and I only have half as much…OK, in food chem class we learned that while some sugar is necessary not all of it is. Maybe I can make do." Half the sugar is used.

2. Time to add the pineapple. "Hmmmm…I still have a dozen of those 400 oranges that I picked taking up space in the refrigerator…they're acidic, wonder what would happen if I replaced pineapple with chopped oranges?" Oranges are used in place of pineapple.

3. I used omega-3 eggs in place of regular eggs.

4. Now for the vegetable oil. "Wonder if I could use olive oil? That olive oil pastry I had on the cruise a few years ago was pretty good." So olive oil it is, and 2/3 of the recipe's original amount.

5. Home stretch…time for vanilla…"Oh, MAN! I could SWEAR I had vanilla!" Time for a little trick my mom taught me years ago…extracts are alcohol based, so you can exchange the vanilla for anything you might have that is a liqueur. "What's in my liquor cabinet? Banana liqueur, hazelnut liqueur…" Hazelnut wouldn't open (it was crystallized shut from disuse), so banana it was.

And there you have it. I would be a disaster on a cooking show, but my mad-science-hmmm-let's-see-if-this-works approach turned out some pretty darned good muffins.

Which, at this point, are no longer Morning Glory Muffins. Given the fact that I used local oranges and pecans, our local tree nut, they have been renamed Arizona Sunrise Muffins. Here's the recipe as it ended up:

Arizona Sunrise Muffins

5/8 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins (chopped dates would make it even more local)

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup oranges or other citrus, peeled and chopped (probably need more sugar if you use grapefruit)

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

3 large omega-3 eggs

2/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon banana liqueur

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots, and nuts, and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

I must add an important disclaimer here. Not all my experimenting succeeds. I have some serious flops. The thing that matters is that I learn from each experiment, I don't aim for perfection, and I have FUN.

That's what I encourage all of you to do, too, when you step into your kitchen.

Fenugreek you say? What the heck is fenugreek? It's a spice popular in India, northern Africa, and the Middle East that has multiple benefits for PCOS:

--it can lower your lipids
--it can help to control blood sugar
--it can help improve milk production in women who have trouble breastfeeding
--antioxidant action in the face of high blood glucose

In women struggling with lactation, fenugreek tea (made with the leaves of the plant) has been found to be beneficial. The Fenugreek spice has been added to flour to provide functional properties and it has found to be beneficial in this format as well.

And since we're on the topic of hair loss this week, here's an Ayurvedic remedy using Fenugreek:

Mix ground fenugreed seeds with water and yogurt to make a paste. Rub into hair and wash after 30 minutes.

I'm giving you two recipes, the first one from India, and the second one from Ethiopia. If you like spicy foods, you're going to love adding this herb/spice to your culinary creations!

Methi Murgh (fenugreek chicken) from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 (4 to 6 pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (skin removed and discarded)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom pod
4 whole cloves
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
4 green chile peppers, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh fenugreek leaves
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
salt to taste
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Directions

1.Heat the oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat; brown the chicken pieces evenly on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from cooker and set aside. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, cloves, onion slices, ginger-garlic paste, and green chile peppers to the pressure cooker and cook until the onions are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir the spinach, fresh fenugreek leaves, dried fenugreek leaves, turmeric, red pepper, and salt into the mixture and cook until the spinach and fenugreek leaves begin to wilt and darken in color, about 5 minutes. Pour the water over the mixture and return the chicken pieces to the pressure cooker; bring to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes.

2.Fasten the lid on the pressure cooker; cook until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Release pressure fully and remove the lid; sprinkle the garam masala over the dish. Cook and stir until the liquid thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Berbere — spiced lentil stew from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

Berbere

2 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
3/4 teaspoons cardamom seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
8 — 10 small dried red chiles
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root (1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

In a small frying pan, on medium-low heat, toast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, fenugreek, and coriander for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Discard the stems from the chiles. In a spice grinder or wtih a mortar and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and the chiles. Mix in the remaining ingredients.

Store Berbere refrigerated in a well-sealed jar or a tightly closed plastic bag.

Yemiser W'et (Spicy Lentil Stew)

1 cup dried brown lentils
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 clarified butter
1 tablespoon Berbere
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
2 cups finely chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
plain yogurt or cottage cheese

Rinse and cook the lentils.

Meanwhile, saute the onions and garlic in the clarified butter, until the onions are just translucent. Add the berbere, cumin, and paprika and saute for a few minutes more, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Mix in the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock and continue simmering.

When the lentils are cooked, drain them and mix them into the saute. Add the green peas and cook for another 5 mintues. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Roberts KT. The Potential of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) as a Functional Food and Nutraceutical and Its Effects on Glycemia and Lipidemia. J Med Food. 2011 Aug 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Middha SK, Bhattacharjee B, Saini D, Baliga MS, Nagaveni MB, Usha T. Protective role of Trigonella foenum graceum extract against oxidative stress in hyperglycemic rats. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2011 Apr;15(4):427-35.
Turkyılmaz C, Onal E, Hirfanoglu IM, Turan O, Koç E, Ergenekon E, Atalay Y. The effect of galactagogue herbal tea on breast milk production and short-term catch-up of birth weight in the first week of life. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Feb;17(2):139-42. Epub 2011 Jan 24.

I almost missed Mark Moody. I had been enjoying myself at a gallery opening hosted at the local After Hours Creative Gallery, featuring the work of local artist friends Gennaro Garcia and Joe Ray. As I stood to leave, I noticed a cowboy on the other side of the beverage table, with a pint of strawberries and a pint of grapes, that he was rolling in something for people to taste.

I strolled over to see what he was doing. Turns out, he was letting people sample mesquite flour he produces from his property in Bouse, Arizona (a town so small even this near-Arizona native had to Mapquest it to find it!).

It didn't take much to get Mark talking about his passion. At his feet was a Native American metate, or grinding stone, that he was using to demonstrate how mesquite beans were traditionally processed into flour. He told me, he found the metate on his property, beneath a mesquite tree, where it was likely used long ago to reap nutrition from the desert.

Mesquite flour has been around for eons, but has only recently caught the attention of consumers. The trees abound in the Sonoran desert. My parents recently brought me some flour they had milled from their own backyard harvest in Tucson. It's a labor-intensive process, which makes it a challenging product to bring to market.

Nutritionally, mesquite flour is high in protein and soluble fibers, which helps to make it low-glycemic. It is also gluten-free. As far as other nutrients, it's a decent source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. Its taste is described as nutty, sweet, hints of molasses, caramel, cinnamon…I'll leave it up to you to try. I can tell you I loved the bread I made with it! It does require a bit of adjusting when baking, as I learned with my first loaf of bread. But I've pasted a few tested recipes below to get you started.

New Mexico State University has an interesting summary of some of the compounds in mesquite with potential health benefits. These include from antidepressant to anti-inflammatory to liver protection. I would NOT quit taking any prescribed medications based on this information, but it's interesting to note that nature provides us with many gentle options to medications when we diversify our diets.

Mark shared with me that he had been approached by a major purveyor of unique grains, to provide them mesquite flour to enhance their offerings, but, concerned he wouldn't be able to meet the demand, he turned the offer down. He does want to bring his product to market, but without compromising the business principles that have earned him a fine reputation in Arizona.

In order to honor Mark's commitment to quality, we'll offer his mesquite flours to you when supplies are available. That means if you really want it…no dilly-dallying!

*********************************************************************************
Recipes I found at http://www.desertusa.com/ (and adapted slightly to fit with our inCYST recommendations)

MESQUITE CORNBREAD

from Native Peoples Magazine

3/4 C. each of cornmeal and flour
3/8 C. mesquite meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. each baking soda and salt
1 C. yogurt
1 egg
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. canola oil

MESQUITE ZUCCHINI BREAD

from Martha Darancou Aguirre of Rancho la Inmaculada

1 c mesquite meal (Sonoran)
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 c sugar (experiment to see how little you can get away with!)
1 c Finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/4 c chopped nuts
3 eggs
1 c canola oil

Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In another bowl, mix sugar, zucchini, oil, egg and lemon peel. Mix well. Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool thoroughly before wrapping.

Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients and stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spread into greased 8 inch by 8 inch pan. Bake 20 — 25 minutes at 350 degrees. For a unique Southwestern kick, add 1 tablespoon chipotle (dried, smoked jalapeno) flakes and 3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels.

And this? Just a little shout out for Joe and Gennaro, who are 100% for me meeting Mark in the first place. It's a collaboration between the two. I've linked to their respective websites above if their creativity catches your eye.


I am so grateful I went to the educational meeting yesterday I almost didn't attend! For the majority of my career, the health benefits of vinegar is something that hasn't been taken seriously by colleagues in my profession. But when I saw the presenter for this topic was respected Arizona State University nutrition researcher Carol Johnston, I figured it was worth going to hear what she had to say.

Turns out, Dr. Johnston, a few years ago, while working on another project, quite by accident, found an obscure research article reporting that vinegar may be helpful in reducing insulin resistance. She decided to pick up on where the study left off, and what she has learned with her work has a lot of pertinence to PCOS.

One of the goals of better insulin function is to reduce a reading known as"postprandial blood glucose"…that is, the blood glucose reading you see after eating a meal. This reading can be important, because high numbers have been associated with heart disease as well as excessive baby weight gain in pregnancy (macrosomia). For those of you who experience the phenomenon of being hungry after eating a meal, part of the reason may be a high postprandial blood glucose.

Dr. Johnston's first study used nondiabetic subjects who were divided into two groups: insulin resistant and non-insulin resistant. None of these individuals were taking diabetes medications. If they were in the test group, they were asked to drink 20 grams of apple cider vinegar, wait 2 minutes, and then eat a (pretty high glycemic) test meal of a white bagel, butter, and orange juice. Both groups tried the vinegar and no vinegar protocols. Blood glucose 30 and 60 minutes later was measured.

They found that when vinegar was consumed before a meal, postprandial blood glucose was significantly reduced. Dr. Johnston proposes that vinegar actually may have activity similar to that of Precose or metformin. While she used apple cider vinegar in her studies, she shared that any vinegar will have the same effect. So whatever your preference, rice, balsamic, wine, or raspberry…get creative in the kitchen!

She also clarified that the difference between the action of cinnamon and vinegar is that cinnamon reduces fasting glucose and vinegar reduces postprandial glucose. So you can use both if you wish, they're not going to replace each others' benefit…they may actually complement each other.

It's important if you choose to try this, and you're on medication, to share this with your physician. The results may significantly affect the dose of medication you need. I can pretty much bet most physicians aren't informed about this, and since I was skeptical until yesterday myself, I'm providing all of the references used to write this article for anyone to download and share. The journals in which they were published are respected ones.

A really important caveat: you can overdo this advice. Large amounts of vinegar over time can cause low grade metabolic acidosis (Dr. Johnston studied this too, knowing the mentality of dieters and people desperate to get off of meds.), which is associated with osteoporosis. This acidosis can be prevented by making sure your diet has a good amount of high-potassium foods. Since those are notably fruits and vegetables, the obvious practical way to use this information is to eat a nice salad with each meal, topped with a vinaigrette dressing. Dr. Johnston recommends a ratio of 2 parts vinegar, 1 part oil, the reverse of what is traditionally used.

Keep in mind too, if you're planning to go to the health food store and buy the vinegar pills…they aren't going to work. Dr. Johnston did three separate studies with them (because she was so surprised they didn't work and she was so convinced they would), and did not get the same results the original vinegar produced.

We had the opportunity to try a new product by Bragg's, a line of vinegar beverages. inCYST intern Sarah Jones and I tried the apple-cinnamon and the concord grape-acai flavors. Both of us felt the drink was a little much to consume as packaged, but they would be fun to use in vinaigrettes, marinades, etc., in the kitchen. I'm going to try some recipes this weekend.

Keep in mind too, that any favorite foods made with vinegar will also be beneficial! Pickles, sauerkraut, Korean kimchi, there are many cultural favorites that can make this fun! Think of ways vinegar can be added to your own marinades and flip the oil to vinegar ratio.

If you're really adventurous, or just want a fun party gag, try these pickle pops we sampled yesterday! Sarah was not so keen on them but I'm German and found it pretty tasty. When I looked this up for you all,, I discovered there is even a jalapeno flavor. That's pushing it even for me, but hey, there's something for everyone.: )

Check back with us too if you're actually measuring your blood glucose after meals and let us know if this was helpful!

The cost of diabetes medications can exceed $6,000 per year, per person. And one of every 8 federal health care dollars, ($79.7 billion annually), is spent on diabetes care. Imagine what we could do to our personal budgets, not to mention that nagging national debt, if we all just walked into Costco and invested in an industrial-sized bottle of vinegar…

Ebihara K, Nakajima A. Effect of acetic acid and vinegar on blood glucose and insulin responses to orally administered sucrose and starch Agric Biol Chem 52: 1311-1312, 1988.

Johnston CS, Kim CM, Buller AJ. Vinegar improves insulin sensitivity to a high-carbohydrate meal in subjects with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2004: Jan 27(1); 281-2.

White AM, Johnston CS. Vinegar ingestion at bedtime moderates waking glucose concentrations in adults with well-controlled type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2007 Nov;30(11):2814-5.
Johnston CS, White AM, Kent SM. A preliminary evaluation of the safety and tolerance of medicinally ingested vinegar in individuals with type 2 diabetes. J Med Food. 2008 Mar;11(1):179-83.

Johnston CS, White AM, Kent SM. Preliminary evidence that regular vinegar ingestion favorably influences hemoglobin A1c values in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2009 May;84(2):e15-7.
Johnston CS, Steplewska I, Long CA, Harris LN, Ryals RH. Examination of the antiglycemic properties of vinegar in healthy adults. Ann Nutr Metab. 2010;56(1):74-9.

For those of you who love green tea, you may wish to expand on your experiences with matcha. This version of tea is made by covering tea bushes before harvest, which causes them to turn a darker green. The biochemistry of this change gives matcha a sweeter flavor than traditional green tea.

This form of green tea is a super power house; gram for gram, it ranks higher in antioxidants than many of the foods consistently on health writers'"top ten supefoods" lists. In fact, researchers recently reported that the ECGC content of matcha can be up to 137 times higher than commercial green tea!

These leaves are then ground into a super-fine powder, which can be used in baking and cooking. If you've ever had green tea ice cream or a green tea smoothie, it is likely matcha that provided the flavor. I think it adds a beautiful color to whatever it is used in.

Most recipes on the Internet using matcha seem to be oriented toward sweets. However, if you look, there are some really interesting options in other categories. I've posted some of the most interesting below, along with links to the websites where I found theme so that you can be inspired in your own kitchen.

If you can't find match locally, consider visiting my friend Kerstin Wingert's online store. That is where I've found it and she is very popular in Phoenix because of her attention to quality in her products.

A storage note: Once opened, matcha does oxidize quickly so be sure to have a plan for using it, or share with friends and have fun tasting each others' creations!

One of the many smoothie recipes I found

Matcha Mango Smoothies

1 1/4 cups mango chunks
1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk or low-fat milk
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon matcha tea powder
1/2 cup ice cubes
Honey or agave syrup (optional)

Add mango, soymilk, yogurt and matcha tea powder to blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Add ice cubes; cover and blend until smooth. Taste for sweetness. Add honey or agave syrup if needed; cover and blend to combine. Pour into 2 glasses.

Makes 2 servings (1 1/4 cups each)

Tip: Adding too much matcha tea can result in a bitter flavor. Start with a small amount of matcha and adjust according to taste.

Here is the most interesting one I found. It is on my list to try!

Green Tea Fish Stew

5 Tbls. Olive oil
1 Clove garlic; peeled
4 medium Potatoes; peeled and diced
1 lb. Flounder, cod or red snapper fillets cut in chunks
2 bottles clam juice
2 cups water
16 ozs. diced or pureed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Bay leaf
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Crushed red pepper or to taste
3 Tbls. Chopped parsley
1 tsp. Matcha green tea powder

Heat oil in Dutch oven. Add garlic; sauté until well browned. Discard garlic. Add potatoes to Dutch oven, cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned. Add fish, stock, tomatoes, wine, Matcha, bay leaf, salt, crushed red pepper, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until fish and potatoes are tender. Remove bay leaf. Serve sprinkled with parsley. Serves 4

http://www.islandteashop.com/recipes/green-tea/poultry-fish-meat.php

You could probably cut the sugar in this one. Be sure to use dark, high quality chocolate. A great holiday treat!

Matcha Almonds
1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces unblanched almonds
2 teaspoons butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon matcha (powdered green tea) or more to taste

Preparation

1.Combine the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan and slowly heat to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook sugar syrup until it reaches 240 degrees, or to soft-ball stage. Add almonds and stir to coat. Add the butter and remove from the heat. Stir until the almonds are glazed with syrup. Cook over medium-low heat until little liquid is left in the pan.

2.Add the chocolate and heat until it melts and almonds are completely coated. Set aside to cool.

3.When almonds are cool, dust from on high with the matcha to coat evenly.

YIELD About 3/4 pound

http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/11700/2003/01/19/Matcha-Almonds/recipe.html

And just for a little fun, here is matcha martini recipe! Isn't this the most Christmasy looking beverage! The photo shows a strawberry garnish, the recipe suggests mint and cinnamon, but for this holiday in particular, garnished with a candy cane it would be so pretty!

Matcha Zentini

* 1 tsp ZenMatcha powder
* 1 ounce Godiva White Chocolate liquer
* 1 ounce vanilla vodka
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Shake well over ice and pour.

Garnish with a mint leaf and cinnamon (can substitute cream and clear white chocolate liquer for Godiva liqueur)

http://zenmatchatea.com/matcha/tea/recipes/matcha-martini-recipes

Weiss, David J; Anderton, Christopher R (2003-09-05). Determination of catchins in matcha green ttea by micellar electrokinetic chromatography. Journal of Chromatography 1011 (1-2): 173–180.

Many of you remember Amber, who had been recording her journey with us here and who helped us out with a segment for ABC-LA. Well, since that time, she has gone back to culinary school. (Go Girl!) She recently shared a report that she wrote about quinoa, and has agreed to let me post it as a guest blog. So excited to see someone with PCOS working in a place where she can have a significant impact!

This ancient grain has many nutritional properties, as it also possesses many universal uses as stated by, Daniel Fairbanks, Ph. D., a professor of plant and animal sciences at Brigham Young University.

“It has about twice the protein of regular cereal grains, fewer carbohydrates, and even a dose of healthy fats.”(D.Fairbanks)

Plus"it is considered a 'complete' protein, which means that, like meat, eggs, and dairy, it packs all of the essential amino acids your body needs
to build muscle.”(Matt Goulding Men’s Health 2007)

Despite its many qualities, until recently, the last fifteen years or so, it has not been a popularly widespread grain. “It has been cultivated in the South American Andes from around 3000 B.C.” (K. Railey) and is claimed to be a staple food, like corn, or rice. “Quinoa is not specifically a true grain, but rather a seed of the Chenopodium or sometimes called the Goosefoot plant.” (D. Johnson, S. Ward) What classifies this as a grain is its culinary use, or the cooking technique used to prepare it. “The Incas believe quinoa to be a sacred grain, planting it each year is done first by the chief with a solid gold shovel.” (K. Railey)

Quinoa grows best in cool arid climates at higher elevations. The plant grows six to eight feet in height and has several angled branches; the flower produces clusters of seeds at the end of a stalk. The greens of the plant resemble that of a goose’s foot, hence the name"goosefoot," and are edible, similar to spinach greens. The seeds or quinoa, are very small, only about a quarter of the size of one grain of rice. They vary in color they can be red, brown, white, or pink and have a nutty flavor when properly cooked.

Attempting to cook the quinoa for the first time it became clear that this little seed is relatively unique in such a way, that when cooking it, the seed’s outer casing peels outward forming into a tail shape. The grain itself is a lot like rice, but the tail creates a crunchy and unique texture. Upon further research of this super grain, I became aware that “the seed when picked has a resin like coating; called saponin” (botanical.com) that rinses off easily. This outer resin'like “coating is of use as a detergent and a topical antiseptic in South America.” (K. Railey)

“The protein in quinoa about 12% to 18% about one cup a day could provide you with the proper amount of protein daily.” (D. Fairbanks) It also contains calcium, and iron and a substantial amount of vitamin E, and several of vitamin B complex, however it does contain a 6% to 7% o fat ratio (considered healthy fats). It has lower sodium content; it contains albumen, is gluten-free and it contains eight essential amino acids. Other grains come close to containing as much protein as that of quinoa but it is only about half the protein levels.

In conclusion, in my research of quinoa, I have found that it truly lives up to its superior qualities in that it has amazing protein levels, vitamin complex, and amino acids all packed into a rather small package. I love that you can use the whole plant, not just the seed and that it possesses medicinal qualities. It has replaced rice, and flour in my home due to its many benefits, and its universal cooking techniques. Since it contains higher amounts of fat and oil, it is necessary to store quinoa, in glass jars in the refrigerator in seed form it can store for up to one year, flour about three months. This super grain can be found at local health food stores, and on – line.

Recipe courtesy of epicurious.com

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (all red or a mix of red, white, or black)
1 1/2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 teaspoon salt

Accompaniments:
Broken or chopped walnuts, pure maple syrup or honey, milk, and flaky sea salt

Wash quinoa in several changes of water in a bowl, rubbing grains and letting them settle before pouring off water (if quinoa does not settle, drain in a large fine-mesh sieve after each rinse), until water is clear. Drain washed quinoa well in a large fine-mesh sieve. Combine all
ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil, covered. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and keep covered to keep warm. Remove
cinnamon sticks. Divide quinoa among bowls and top with walnuts, maple syrup or honey, milk, and sea salt.

Bibliography

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/chenop53.html. (2012, March 7). Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://www.botanical.com: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/chenop53.html

http://www.menshealth.com. (2012, March 6). Retrieved March 6, 2012, from http://www.menshealth.com: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/quinoa

Johnson, Duane L. and Ward, Sarah M."Quinoa". (2012, March 7). http://www.hort.perdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-222.html. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://www.hort.perdue.edu:
http://www.hort.perdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-222.html

Railey, K. (2012, March 8). http://www.chetday.com. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www.chetday.com: http://www.chetday.com/quinoa.html

www.epicurious.com. (2012, March 7). Retrieved March 7, 2012, from www.epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com:80/recipes/food/Cinnamon-Scented-Breakfast-Quinoa

We know you all love recipes and inspiration, so we are excited to be joining a group of bloggers that will provide you even more of what you're looking for!

Recipe Redux is a monthly blogfest showcasing the creativity of registered dietitians who love to cook. At the beginning of the month we are each given a theme to work with, and on the 21st of each month, our creation relating to that challenge is posted, along with links to all of the other recipes our colleagues have provided.

Dietitians participating in this club agree to focus on at least one of the following in their recipes.

• reduction in overall calories and/or sugar
• increase in fiber
• lowering of saturated fat and/or increase in mono- or poly-unsaturated fats
• reduction in sodium/salt from processed foods
• showcases at least one food group mentioned by the Dietary Guidelines as the basis of a healthy diet: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, seafood and beans

Our challenge this month was to create something using either maple syrup or honey. I decided to use one of my favorite treats on a cold night, champurrado, as the basis for which to create Mexican Oatmeal. Champurrado is a hot drink traditionally made with masa (the cornmeal you use to make tortillas), flavored with all of the spices native to Mexico (chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, fennel seed, and some type of sweetener). All of these are beneficial for inflammation and insulin resistance, so adding them to oatmeal makes a perfect hormone-friendly breakfast!
I simply took those spices, switched out the masa for oatmeal and created the following breakfast you can make in your microwave. Think Mexican Hot Chocolate and oatmeal all mixed together…yummy, healthy, and full of energy to get you through to lunch!

Buen apetito!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 wedge Abuelita Mexican chocolate*
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove, stir until chocolate is completely dissoved, and microwave for one minute more.

Serves 1

Nutrition information 330 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 55 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 13 grams protein, 7 mg cholesterol, 111 mg sodium

*You can use any dark chocolate, really, I just chose this one because it's what I keep around to make Mexican hot chocolate. The darker the chocolate the better…vegan chocolates will give you more antioxidant power as milk tends to bind the beneficial compounds and render them metabolically unavailable.

This past week I read an article about foods traditionally served on the Mexican holiday,"Dia de los Muertos," (Day of the Dead), which falls on November 1. If you're not from the Southwest, you cannot appreciate the festivities associated with this holiday, on which Mexicans honor their passed relatives.

My favorites are the skeleton cookies!

I know, it sounds a little morbid, but it's all about remembering and honoring your loved ones, and maybe even visiting their burial sites with offerings of trinkets and their favorite foods.

The article about Dia de los Muertos foods described a warm, gruel-like beverage called atole, which is typically made with masa or oatmeal, and spiced with cinnamon. I found one, however, based on pumpkin and pumped up with peanut butter, that looked especially healthy and yummy. It is from the blog, A Visit With Grandma.

It's really a healthy, caffeine-free twist on a pumpkin latte! Tee hee…all this time you thought someone up in a Seattle test kitchen thought of it first…

Here it is…enjoy!

Americanized Pumpkin Atole
To a blender add:
1 egg
a few glugs of molasses
some sugar (brown or white)
2 cups of cooked squash or pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
optional — 2 or 3 tablespoons of peanut butter
milk (fill the remaining space in the blender with milk, leaving just a little space at the top.
-Blend this all up and taste to see if it needs more sweetening.
-Pour the mix into a pot and heat until just boiling.
-Serve

We've all had those moments…the kitchen is low on groceries, it's late at night, and either the store is closed or you're just to tired to go restock.

So your choices are:
…eat nothing
…make a fast food run
…eat cereal

I've learned that in these times Google is a lifesaver. You can simply enter the name of a couple of ingredients you have along with the word"recipe" and something is going to pop up.

Sunday night I was completely bare. And I had a can of pumpkin and some Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour.

So I Googled"pumpkin hummous recipe". What I got, out of my bare kitchen, was one of the best recipes I've ever tried.

Here it is for your enjoyment.

Notes to readers:
1. Be sure garbanzo bean flour is a kitchen staple because you can make just about any kind of hummous.
2. Remember Google.
3. Don't let your kitchen go as empty as I did.
4. And if you ignore number 3…don't let your knee jerk reaction be a fast food run.: )

Pumpkin Hummus

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups dry garbanzo beans
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
5 fluid ounces lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt to taste

Directions

1.Place the garbanzo beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.

2.Place the soaked garbanzo beans into a large saucepan and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the garbanzo beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once cooked, refrigerate the beans and liquid until cold.

3.Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.

Source: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-hummus/Detail.aspx

One of my friends travels to Albuquerque frequently on business. I just emailed him to tell him to look for mole sauce on his current trip. And then I got to thinking, with Valentine's Day just around the corner, it would be a unique and healthy way for this blog's readers to dish up some chocolate!

Mole sauce is a Mexican sauce derived from cocoa powder. There are many different varieties, but some of the more common varities also include cinnamon, chile peppers, and nuts. Not long ago a local chef did a demonstration at our local botanical garden. Her version had about 14 different herbs and spices! This sauce is great on most meats, but I like it best on chicken.

Chocolate actually may have some heart-healthy benefits; researchers have said that an ounce of dark chocolate is as good as a baby aspirin for heart health! And cinnamon is gaining recognition for its effect on improving insulin function.

If you Google"mole sauce", you'll find plenty of recipes to try. Make this the week you treat your sweetie, as well as your heart.

Have you ever heard of Freekeh? I had not, until this past spring at Natural Products West. It is a roasted green wheat that originated in the Middle East. Like quinoa and farro, it is higher in protein than traditional grain products. It also has a relatively low glycemic index. Freekeh has been a bit of an underground favorite, but has recently been showing up in stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. It is great in pilafs and all things Mediterranean, simply use as the grain base in your favorite recipe. However, if you'd prefer, I'm posting a couple of recipes I found here for you to try. Here is a simple Freekeh breakfast recipe provided by the Greenwheat Freekeh people. You can also buy their product online " />

buy their product online if you can't find it in your local grocer. Freekeh(TM) Breakfast 1 or 2 Granny smith apples one box of 400gm Freekeh cinnamon any dried fruit you like (ie raisins and apricots) as much as you like. Method First cook the whole grain Freekeh (or cracked grain Freekeh for some variation). All you need to do is to empty the whole box of grains in a pot and cover with water plus a little more (Freekeh cannot be over cooked and is very resilient). Cook for about 35 minutes or so until the grains are soft. If using cracked Freekeh only cook for about 15-20 minutes. (One other possibility is instead of cooking the Freekeh to simply soak it overnight in the fridge with water with a towel on top) While waiting for the grains to cook, chop and dice one or two apples (no need to peel, and Granny smith are best). Place the diced apples in a dry pot on low heat and stir for about 1 -2 minutes. Add only less than 1 teaspoon of water. Add cinnamon and stir for one more minute. Wash as many dried fruits as you like (dried apricots and raisins are good) and add to the apples. Stir for 1 more minute or so. Tip the fruit mixture over the already cooked grains and mix well. Let cool. Place in the fridge. The breakfast cereal should keep for 10 days or even more. To eat. Take a scoop or two of the mixture add some milk and put some wallnuts or cashew nuts or both on top. Heat in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and place a dollop of vanilla yogurt in the middle. In the summer you do not need to heat in the microwave and only use the yogurt without the milk… but then again you may come up with new variations to this recipe! From Bon Appetit Magazine comes this recipe for Chicken with Kale and Freekeh-Lentil Pilaf Ingredients Vinaigrette 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 1/2 cup Sherry vinegar 2 small garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons finely chopped Hunza raisins 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice Kosher salt Pilaf and Chicken 4 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided 1 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2"-thick cutlets Kosher salt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 pound kale, large center ribs and stems removed, torn into pieces 1 cup cooked freekeh 1 cup cooked lentils Preparation Vinaigrette Stir cumin in a small dry skillet over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; add vinegar and garlic. Let stand for 30 seconds. Transfer to a blender; add oil and next 3 ingredients. Purée. Season with salt. Pilaf and Chicken Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt. Working in 2 batches and adding 1 Tbsp. oil between batches, cook chicken in single layers until browned on both sides and just cooked through, 2–3minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Remove pan from heat; add 1/4 cup water. Stir, scraping up browned bits. Whisk in 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Scrape sauce into a bowl. Melt butter with 1 Tbsp. oil in same skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until just beginning to brown, 1–2 minutes. Discard garlic. Working in 3 batches and adding more oil as needed, add kale to skillet and toss until wilted, 1–2 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large bowl. Season lightly with salt. Cover to keep warm. Add freekeh and lentils to same skillet. Increase heat; stir until warm, 2–3 minutes. Spoon pilaf onto plates. Top with chicken. Whisk juices from plate with chicken into sauce; drizzle over chicken and pilaf. Top with kale.

A study was recently released suggesting that dark chocolate can help to reduce cholesterol in diabetics! Whoo hoo! Here's the article summarizing some of the benefits of chocolate.

http://www.drcutler.com/cholesterol/dark-chocolate-may-help-lower-cholesterol-in-diabetics-800137266/

Note in the article, however, researchers are still weighing the evidence about whether or not the fat and sugar in chocolate the way we like to eat it outweighs some of these benefits.

You can't binge on it or replace other foods with it…chocolate should be a component of a healthy, balanced diet.

Here are my five favorite ways to include chocolate in ways that reduce the downsides.

1. Used in mole sauce. Mole sauce is a complex Mexican delicacy made from a combination of cocoa and other spices such as cinnamon. It's not something you'll find in your average Tex-Mex restaurant, but look for it in more upscale venues like our own local (James Beard nominated) Barrio Cafe, often with chicken or turkey.

2. In hot chocolate. Cocoa powder (undutched) in lowfat milk is always a great bedtime treat! I kind of like the Abuelita brand Mexican hot chocolate because it too has the cinnamon touch.

3. In chocolate milk. Remember, women who have one fat-containing source of dairy per day are more fertile than women who do not. Chocolate milk is a double whammy of goodness!

4. As cacao nibs, in your morning oatmeal. Cacao nibs are the dried cacao seed, from which chocolate is derived. You can buy them in stores like Whole Foods and they're a great way to flavor your breakfast.

5. As cacao nibs, in your afternoon trail mix. Frequent a store with bulk food bins and create your own concoction of cacao, healthy nuts, a little bit of dried fruit…and voila! You've got something to nibble on when the afternoon munchies hit.

Chocolate galore…and no candy bar in sight. Enjoy!

While shopping at Trader Joes the other day, I stumbled upon an amazing product!
Trader Joes Five Seed Almond Bars
They are made with flax, poppy, sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds and combined with almonds, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar and honey to create these soft, chewy and delicious cookie bars
They taste amazing, but what is so wonderful is that each 110 calorie bar has 53mg EPA and DHA. The omega 3 sources seem to be from the flax as well as Omega-3 refined menhaden fish oil (with tocoperols)
If you live by a Trader Joes you just have to try it!

One of my clients sent me this recipe, which also happens to be gluten-free. I'm thinking it could make a great Thanksgiving day breakfast, giving you a great Thanksgiving taste, fueling a great morning walk or workout, and keeping your appetite in check when the big meal is served. I removed the whipped cream and the sugar from the rims which you will see in the original recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free + More Free)

1 cup pumpkin puree, chilled (fresh or canned)

½ cup full-fat coconut milk, chilled

½ cup filtered water

1 sliced, frozen ripe banana

1 tbsp almond flour (optional)

1 tbsp hemp seed (optional)

A tablespoon or two of honey, to taste

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice, or more to taste

Prepare glasses by dipping rims into shallow bowl of water and then cinnamon.

Combine all ingredients in blender. Cover and blend on high until smooth, about 30 to 60 seconds.

Pour into prepared glasses or pint-sized Mason jars as I did.
Enjoy!

http://glutenfreeeasily.com/pumpkin-pie-smoothie/

It was bound to happen. Food manufacturers saw people like me hyping omega-3 fatty acids and people like you following advice…and they decided to do what they always do…put it into something chocolate and sweet. For more information on this omega-3 supplemented, chocolate-flavored infant formula, which by the way I DO NOT recommend or endorse, please visit Marion Nestle's blog.

And we wonder why our kids are fat. We teach them how to be every time we feed them!

Oh, and while I'm at it, I'm sharing my personal Top Ten List of Foods that should not be in your anti-inflammatory diet. If you ever see any of these, anywhere, remember that the likelihood that a cold front has passed through the devil's front yard is about 1,000 times greater than any of them actually helping your overall well-being.

1. Canola-fried battered blooming onions
2. Acaip;aced Jello
3. Olive oil deep-fried candy bars
4. Blueberry cola
5. Red rice yeast cinnamon rolls
6. Probiotic-laced frozen yogurt
7. Tequila gingko shooters
8. Gluten free donuts
9. Vegan potato chips
10. Red wine popsicles

I am at PCOS week at Green Mountain at Fox Run Resort this week, and I am so enjoying meeting and working with the women participating in the program!

Tonight, Chef Jon and his lovely and enthusiastic Sous Chef Lisa gave a wonderful cooking demonstration about beans. I wanted to share a couple of the unique recipes they provided.

Spiced Bean Muffins--yes…muffins!
1 cup pinto beans, cooked
3/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar--packeed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspooons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat muffin pans with vegetable spray.
In a food processor, blend the beans, eggs, milk, oil, and sugar.
In a spearate bowl combine all dry ingredients.
Whisk bean mixture into dry ingredients just until combined.
Portion with 2 ounce scoop and bake for 15-20 minutes or until done.

Greek Bean Cake--Jon said these cakes can be made ahead and frozen, to be pullled out of the freezer and quickly heated for an easy high protein snack. I loved that idea!

Makes about 4 cakes

2 cups garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed
3/4 cups red onion, chopped
1 cup tomato, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup dried pita bread crumbs

Puree garbanzo beans.
Fold in remaining ingredients; try to keep cheese in whole pieces
Form cakes, bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Our next PCOS week will be in November (see sidebar at right for dates and link). It's a great way to give yourself a week of healthy PCOS living and to learn from great professionals like Jon and Lisa!

I know, I know. You may be asking,"What in the heck is that?!" At least that was my first thought.

I came across Piñalinaza product by chance, when in the midst of a bout of homesickness for the latin markets in my hometown of Miami, FL I decided to shop at a Food City in Chandler, AZ instead of my usual Fry's or Sprouts.

Sure there wasn't any salsa music playing, and the prepared foods and the marketing were more Mexican than Cuban, but it felt close enough to home. As I was grabbing a bag of onions and a few mangoes, I saw a little stand off to the side in the produce department. Always on the lookout for an"omega 3 boost," the packaging for the Piñalinaza caught my eye.

So what is it exactly? Simply put, it is flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed) with ground pineapple and prickly pear, as well as some other citrus fruits (orange and grapefruit). At plain sight it looks exactly like regular flaxseed meal. But it has a mild tropical scent to it. If you already use flaxseed meal, I imagine you could use it in the same way you use the regular stuff!

Flaxseed is an excellent source of fiber and omega-3 fats, and as you may have already read in this blog before, the best way to get the benefits of flaxseed is to grind the seeds instead of eating them whole.

How do I use it? Normally I might put a tablespoon or two of flaxseed meal into a smoothie/protein shake or sprinkle it into yogurt. When making a smoothie I tend to stick with a vanilla flavored based as it's the most versatile when adding other flavors to it. This didn't disappoint! I made a vanilla smoothie with unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze brand), vanilla flavored whey protein, 2 tablespoons of Piñalinaza and about 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut, the kind you might use in baking. A nice tropical deviation from my usual cinnamon-vanilla smoothie.

I also sprinkled it right into some plain Greek yogurt for a quick breakfast this weekend. One tablespoon and half a packet of Splenda (you can use whatever you like if you need the extra sweetness — Greek yogurt is a bit too tangy for me to eat it unsweetened!). I bet it would tasted even better if I'd had some fresh pineapple chunks to throw in there, maybe some other tropical fruits — papaya, or mango. Unsweetened dried fruit may work too. Hmmm… I may have to go back to Food City and pick up some other things!

By the way, the company (Ibitta) also makes a prickly pear version of the product called Nopalinaza, boasting 4 grams of omega-3 in one 15-gram serving.

If you run across one of these products and get to try it, come back and leave a comment. Tell us what you thought and what you did with it!

The Mediterranean Diet is healthy, it’s true, but it’s not the only healthy way to eat. It just happens to be one that is heavily researched… and therefore marketed by the commodity boards representing foods that grow well in the Mediterranean. It so happens that California, the world’s eighth largest economy, and Chile, a country with a large agricultural tradition, have climates similar to the Mediterranean. Both economies depend on our love of the Mediterranean diet to thrive, and they therefore are a big part of the reason why so much research money has been invested into this way of eating.
I love the Mediterranean diet myself, but I sure don’t want anyone out there from other cultures abandoning their way of eating because it’s Northern European… or African… or Tasmanian. Mother Nature doesn’t play favorites—she makes sure she takes care of her Eskimos just as she nurtures her Italians. I thought it would be fun to survey varieties of cuisines around the world so that no matter what your origin, there’s something out there that is good for you.

I’ll start with German food, which is part of my personal heritage and what I was enjoying for lunch today. I made a salad with vegetables that likely would show up on a German summer salad, including two different types of radishes.

We got rutabagas and potatoes in our box this week, and I made the rutabaga-potato salad recipe our chef created. I had some lowfat chicken-apple bratwurst in the freezer, so thawed and cooked them up to have ready for the rest of the week’s lunches.

And… for dessert, I had some plain yogurt that I ground some Trader Joe’s coffee/chocolate/sugar mix on top of.
Let’s break that down for closer inspection.
Salad My salad had two different kinds of radishes, carrots, onions, celery, and a variety of lettuces. I sprinkled some German dill salad mix on top, then added apple cider vinegar and canola oil before tossing. Radishes: Great for cancer prevention. See my colleague Dr. Chris Wharton’s article on why radishes are so nutritious for more information. That beautiful red color? Comes from antioxidants similar to the ones blueberries get all the credit for. Onions: Very important to German cooking. And they are part of the __________family of vegetables, famous for __________________________-- Lettuce: I mixed several varieties to get more red color, again, to get more antioxidants.
Bratwurst The traditional version is a little bit fatty, but these days there are so many varieties chicken, turkey, and low-fat sausage, it’s easy to make a high-protein, low fat choice. This lunch, I had the green apple/cinnamon chicken variety from Fresh and Easy. Each link only had 110 calories.
Potatoes Potatoes? Yes, potatoes! How many of you stay away from them because you’ve been told they are high glycemic? Well, they are, if you don’t eat them wisely, such as eating them, super-sized, as French fries dripping in pro-inflammatory omega-6 oil.
The poor potato in this situation is not the culprit here, it’s the messenger. If you eat a small baked potato in a balanced meal, you’re doing ok. The potato salad I made has two benefits. Baked and then cooled potatoes contain resistant starch, a form of carbohydrate that is not immediately absorbed into your bloodstream. It passes into your large intestine where it ferments and becomes food for healthy bacteria (food that feeds those bacteria is also called prebiotic). Secondly, the dressing for this salad was vinegar. And as you’ve heard here many times before, vinegar helps to keep your blood sugar stable after meals, potentially as well as metformin. So a little bit of potato salad, without the mayo, holds potential to be PCOS-friendly.
Vinegar One of the strong points of the German diet is the vinegar. In addition to the salad, it’s used in pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, and sauerbraten. If it's sour, it's likely ok to eat!
Cheese Though I didn’t have any with this meal, cheese is something Germans love! A common breakfast is a piece of thinly sliced cheese on a slice of whole kernel rye bread, topped with a tomato. Cheese, remember, in moderation, has been found to be associated with increased fertility. The reason it works in the German diet is because, unlike Americans, Germans don’t shred, smother, and melt it on anything and everything they eat. It’s eaten in small portions and used to accent the rest of the food on the plate.
Berries Germany is pretty far north, meaning in the summer it is a fruit basket of flavor. Currants, strawberries, cherries, apples, peaches, grapes… you name it, someone is growing it. Mit sahne (with cream) is a popular way to serve fruit, and if it’s real cream and it’s minimally sweetened, it’s wonderful treat!
I have to tell you, the German meal I described above left me feeling so full and satisfied I wasn’t hungry until long after sundown. It really reinforced for me the power of eating balanced. Talk to people of German heritage, and they’ll often tell you about a grandparent or great-grandparent who lived, relatively disease-free, into their 90’s. They certainly didn’t get there on 800 calorie diets… perhaps we should be taking this diet a little more seriously instead of discounting it because of its potatoes.

I recently noticed that Starbucks has an apple bran muffin that it advertises contains DHA in the marine algae form. I checked into it, knowing we've got a lot of readers on the lookout for omega-3 options.

I was able to find the ingredients on the Starbucks website:

whole wheat flour, brown sugar, water, whole eggs, apples, wheat bran, honey, dried cherries (red tart cherries, sugar, sunflower oil), soybean oil, dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), raisins, rolled oats, unsalted butter (cream [from milk]), quick oats, molasses, nonfat milk powder, salt, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), calcium carbonate, ground cinnamon, sodium bicarbonate, natural flavor, vanilla extract, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, xanthan gum, dha oil (dha algal oil, high oleic sunflower oil, sunflower lecithin, rosemary extract, ascorbyl palmitate).

However, nowhere on the Internet could I find information about how much DHA this muffin actually contained.

So I wrote Starbucks, asking for the information. Starbucks politely wrote me back and told me they didn't have the information to give me.

Coupled with the facts that the primary oil used in this muffin is soybean oil, inCYST readers should know that there is a strong possibility that the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of this product is likely higher than what you ideally want. Plus, the dried fruits are sweetened, you're going to be better off with another way to get DHA.

If Starbucks would be willing to switch out the oil and provide the DHA information I'm willing to revisit this topic. But given the fact that no one really seems to know if the omega-3 content is comparable to any other choices, the fact that this product contains omega-3's cannot really be considered to be advantageous.

Here's hoping we're educating all of you well enough that companies learn that just because it's not required by law, information on a label must be complete in order to be a selling point.