Chunky Chicken-Vegetable Soup

1½# seasoned chicken breasts

¾c seasoned corn flour

I used ½T of my Rosemary Seasoning

2-3T extra virgin olive oil

5 lg. cloves garlic - minced

¼ lg. onion - minced

juice of ½ a lemon

½c white wine

1½# peeled, cubed red potatoes

⅓ lg. red pepper

¾ lg. onion 

2c sliced carrots

2c celery chunks + leaves

1½c sliced baby green beans

5-6c potato water

2-3T chicken soup base

1 can diced tomatoes

**½t chili lime seasoning

1T sugar

Cut the chicken in bite size pieces and dry them between layers of paper towel.  Mix the flour and seasoning you'd like to use into a gallon size plastic bag.  Put the chicken pieces in the bag and shake well.  Using a colander over a garbage can, shake all the excess flour off the chicken.  Drop the pieces into a big pot where the oil, garlic and onion are sizzling.  Keep stirring, as the meat browns, drizzling in some potato water* to keep everything from sticking.  This will get 'gloppy,' but stay with it and trust the process.  Add the lemon juice wine.

(Beforehand, peel and cube the potatoes, dropping them into 5-6c salted water.  When you're ready for them, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and save that *starchy salt water.)

Stir in the vegetables adding a little of the potato water, as needed, to keep everything from sticking.  Stay with this and stir until everything's sizzling.   Add the rest of the water, a little at a time, then the soup base and tomatoes.  Cover and simmer on low heat 45-60 minutes.  Check the flavor and **add more seasonings if needed.  This makes about 6 quarts of soup.

Ahhh. . .Soup! 😃 Lin

Peppery Dandelion-Lemon Water

1 lg. lemon

a good shake of:

cayenne pepper - and

finely ground black pepper

2-3T dandelion jelly - or honey

Other additions:  Slices of lime or orange, fresh crushed mint, sliced frozen strawberries or dark cherries.

Scrub, juice and slice the lemon into a 2 quart glass pitcher containing the peppers and jelly.  Add 2 cups fresh water that's been heated just a little.  Stir and let stand for a few minutes to bring out all the flavors.

Fill the pitcher with more fresh cold water.  Put it in the sun for a couple hours.  Stir and refrigerate.

Serve over ice or heated in a mug.  This is a wonderful cleansing drink . . . Lin

Farro, Fruit and Nut Hot Cereal

½  c farro - rinsed

a pinch of salt

1½c water

½c chopped pecans or walnuts

½c chopped frozen berries-cherries

½-1t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

½t pure vanilla or almond extract - optional

1t honey or jelly - optional

¼-½c half and half - optional

Rinse the farro in a strainer then combine with water and salt in a 2 quart pan.  Simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes until the water is absorbed.  Add the next group of ingredients and bring back to a low simmer, remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Today I used Dandelion Jelly !! I found at a Farmer's Market, to give this a touch of sweetness.  Top with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar for a nice crunch.

This is a great cold weather breakfast. . .Lin

Chicken-Farro-Vegetable Pilaf

1c farro

3c chopped vegetables

~ carrot, celery, onion

1-2T extra virgin olive oil

1# seasoned chicken breast or thigh meat
~ this is garlic and herb

1t-1T seasoning

1t-1T soup base

3c water

Farro is an ancient whole grain with many dietary benefits, but it's derived from wheat, so it's not gluten-free.  If you want to add whole grains, protein and fiber to your diet, farro is a convenient and healthy choice.  It's one of the oldest cultivated grains, initially discovered in the fertile crescent of the Middle East.  Farro is an original grain from which other grains are derived.  More commonly it's now grown in Italy in the regions of Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany, and the Marches.

Rinse the farro well in a strainer and let it drain on a crumpled paper towel.  Combine the vegetables, farro and bite size pieces of chicken in a large non-stick pan with the olive oil.  Saute on low until the chicken and farro browns a little and the vegetables are slightly translucent.  Add 3c water and seasonings and/or soup base.  Cover and simmer over low heat until all the water absorbs - 30-40 minutes.  This is something that can be served now, to a group as a casserole, or just made ahead for individual servings for lunches or dinners for the next 3-4 days.  

*EDIT:  When I first tasted this, I realized I had used too much seasoning.  To balance that, I added about ½c sour cream, 1-2T tomato paste and a splash of white wine.  Worked like a charm! . .Lin

A Healthy Salad Mix

I've been doing a lot of listening and reading lately, trying to sort through all the information floating around, regarding nutrition.  My old standby, my 5 Ingredient Salad, has always been my favorite go-to.  It would (will) be hard to turn my back on that.  However, I've learned that tomatoes and cucumbers 2/5 of the salad, contain high levels of lectins.  The 'jury' still seems to be out as to whether or not they should be reduced or eliminated from our diets, but I do know lectin containing foods are inflammatory.  Having many auto-immune conditions, which are perpetuated by inflammation, for myself, I'm going to eliminate foods high in lectin until I hear or read otherwise.

This is one version of a healthier alternative.  If we shop carefully, at food co-ops and farm stands, we can later, check our vegetable drawers for good salad mix ideas.  Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, cilantro, parsley, celery, green and purple cabbage, radishes, kohlrabi, onions, romaine and all types of lettuce, carrots. . .SO many good choices!

This time I used Romaine, Purple Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Celery, Carrots, Onion, and added black beans, avocado, and some bleu cheese crumbles.  The dressing I was craving today was made in an old Good Seasons cruet using apple cider vinegar, rosemary seasonings, water and good quality extra virgin olive oil.  Clean eating can be fun as well as healthy. . .Lin

Chicken Vegetable Rice Bowl

1c rice

3 celery stalks

4 lg. garlic cloves

¼ lg. green pepper

¼ lg. yellow onion

1# fresh mushrooms

2T extra virgin olive oil

2c water

1-2T Better Than Bouillon - chicken

1c frozen peas

1¼# chicken thigh meat

1T extra virgin olive oil

your favorite seasoning

Combine the rice and all the sliced-chopped vegetables in a 3 quart pot.  Drizzle with olive oil, toss, stir regularly and saute' over medium heat for 10-15 minutes to lightly brown everything.  When it's sizzling, add a little of the water to keep it from sticking.  Stir in 1T of the chicken soup base, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until all the water is absorbed.  Check flavors, adding fresh ground black pepper and a little more of the soup base if needed.  Stir in the peas, cover and set aside.

Trim the fat off the meat and cut into bite-size pieces into a medium non-stick pan.  Drizzle with oil and season.  Start this on a high heat to get the outside sizzling, stirring regularly.  When the meat is lightly browned, cover and reduce heat.  Let it simmer in the oil and meat juices until done, about 15 minutes total cooking time.  Serve with the vegetables and rice. . .Lin

MED-AT Fusion

MEDiterranean

ATkins

.   .   .   .   .  FUSION  .   .   .   .   .

Over the years I've had no trouble maintaining my weight or losing a few pounds to get back to around 130# which wasn't bad for 5'3" in my early 60's.

That all changed in my mid-'60's when I started to gain, and it seemed my metabolic rate crashed.  I also developed some serious health issues, necessitating being put on prednisone, the pain-taker, powerful-anti-inflammatory, make-you-hungry - hungry-all-the-time - eat-everything-in-sight medication.

At my highest, I'm sad to admit, I hit 197#  I've managed to drop 22# while tapering down and off the medication, putting me right at 175#, but my goal is still about 35-40 pounds away.  My metabolism is no longer my friend, so I know it won't be as easy as it once was. . .  I've stayed on the nutrition track, reading a lot and generally, becoming more confused the more I read.  I heard, read or saw something recently that was very convincing yet shocking in regard to rice.  Basically saying white rice is actually better for us than brown or other less processed rices! 😧 If I can find it again, I'll post it here.

People I'm close to swear by Keto, but when your daily intake is supposed to be 5% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and a whopping 75% fats. . .okay, healthy fats, but nonetheless. . .I don't think that's a good fit.  I lost a lot of weight, quick, one year on Atkins, but that also has it downsides.  More and more lately, I'm hearing again about The Mediterranean Diet.  What I've decided to do, personally, is combine the best of both of these, but basically it'll be following a plan that uses less grain than the Mediterranean and less meat and fat than the Atkins.  Here's an interesting website - OLDWAYS as well as their Facebook Page - Oldways FB

Wanna come along? 😊 If so, stop back often and search "Fusion". . .Lin