A Recipe For Life

Well, it’s that time again. Time for A Recipe For Life. My goal, as always, is to provide you with delicious recipes that are healthy, inexpensive and simple. It used to be that the healthy part was the challenge, but today, it’s definitely challenging to find recipes that are healthy, simple, delicious AND inexpensive. Today’s recipe definitely meets the criteria. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Battling Alzheimer’s disease is difficult enough, so I hope that these recipes help to lighten your load a little.

I found this recipe in a book called The Hallelujah Diet by George Malkmus. However, it is attributed to a cook book called Everyday Wholesome Eating by Kim Wilson.

Recipe For Life

Chili

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
3-4 small to medium onions
1 bell pepper (color of your choice), diced
2 cups corn (frozen or canned works)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. oregano
5 cans (7 cups) beans, lightly drained: Kidney, cannellini or black beans will work well
2 tsp. cumin
pinch cayenne
1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
28 ounce can tomatoes

Instructions:

Saute’ onions and garlic in olive oil, add seasonings, then tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 minutes (I simmer for about 40 minutes or a little longer to allow the flavors to meld together). Stir occasionally.

Serving suggestion:

Delicious with tortilla chips (we use Trader Joe’s flax seed chips. I know, sounds crazy, but they are really good and packed with fiber). Also works great with rice.

Also delicious with cornbread (see recipe below) and a salad

Recipe for Life

Kickin’ Sweet Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
3/4 cup milk (I use soy)
1/4 cup oil (light olive oil, corn or canola oils all work fine)
1/2 cup PURE maple syrup (You can substitute 1/4 cup sugar if you don’t have pure maple syrup available)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit (232 Celcius)

Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish (I use a spray like Pam or equivalent)

Mix all ingredients well and pour into prepared baking dish

Bake at 450 degrees Farenheit for 25-30 minutes

Enjoy with the chili above and a salad!

The beauty of these recipes is that they really are EASY. Using canned beans eliminates the soaking and long cooking time.

In addition beans are packed with fiber and protein. According to the Idaho Bean Commission:

• Each half-cup serving of dry beans provides six to seven grams of protein, meets at least 10% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein, yet costs about 20 cents per serving.

• A single half-cup serving of cooked dry beans counts as one, one-ounce serving of lean meat in the USDA Food Pyramid Meat and Beans group, and as a full serving of vegetables in the Vegetables group.

• The quality and digestibility of beans can be improved by consuming them with cereal grains. Beans are a rich source in lysine, but a poor source of methionine. Cereal grains are a poor source of lysine, but high in methionine and other sulfur amino acids. When beans and grains are served together in dishes like beans and rice, or tortillas and refried beans, they provide a complimentary protein profile.

Here’s a list of the Recipes for Life so far. Try one today!

Smoothies

Blueberry Muffins

Lentils and Rice

Three Potato Crock Pot Soup

               

Introducing A Recipe For Life

If we were to play a word association game and I said, “Alzheimer’s disease” what words would come to your mind?  Well, I am not a mind reader, so I can’t say for sure what you would say, but I am going to guess that, “stress” might be one of the words.

It’s an incontestable fact; Alzheimer’s disease and stress go hand in hand.  Stress for the caregiver and for the one who is physiologically and emotionally battling the monster, Alzheimer’s disease. 

The last couple of days, I have posted about grief from the perspective of the caregiver and the Alzheimer’s patient.  The process of grieving adds another layer of stress to the, already complicated, matter of dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.

Today, I am introducing, “Recipe for Life.” A segment that will be of benefit to Alzheimer’s caregivers and patients alike.  “Recipe” will focus on various aspects of nutrition and health that will be of benefit to those affected with Alzheimer’s disease and caregivers specifically, and everyone else in general.  Good nutrition is essential to good physical and mental health, so it’s important that you keep yourself healthy and strong.

Last week in Caregivers Corner, I talked about water, juice and smoothies, they are an awesome threesome to keep you hydrated, healthy and energized.  Today, I’ll give you a healthy, simple and delicious recipe that you can chew versus drink.

Today’s Recipe for Life:

One Pot Wonder-Lentils and Rice (adapted from What’s Cooking Vegetarian by Jenny Stacy)

Benefits:  Lentils are high in dietary fiber and protein, they cook quickly and combined with a whole grain, such as brown rice they pack an extra punch to make a well rounded, complete protein dish.  There is an excellent article by Rebecca Livermore about the health benefits of lentils, click here to see Rebecca’s article. In summary, they are not only high in fiber and protein, but they also provide iron and folic acid.  They are an excellent food for fighting cholesterol, constipation and coronary heart disease.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups DRY  lentils (your choice, red, green or brown)

1/3  cup long grain rice (brown is best nutritionally, but white will work fine)

4  Cups of vegetable stock

1  leek cut into chunks (its okay to use a small onion)

3  medium cloves of garlic crushed

1  14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala (Indian Spice, curry will work too)

1 red bell pepper sliced

1 cup small broccoli florets

1 cup can or frozen corn

1 cup French style green beans

1 TBS fresh basil, shredded

Instructions

1. Place lentils, rice, vegetable stock in medium-large pot, cover and cook together for 30 minutes.
2. Add the leek, garlic, tomatoes, cumin and garam masala or curry, red pepper, broccoli and corn.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Add the fresh basil and enjoy this “Recipe for LIFE!”