That perception is absolutely false. Many ladies do not dare to make a meal if there is no meat. The meat has many benefits but is highly toxic and harmful waste leaves the body. When you use animal fat for soup you are clogging your arteries and veins leading to heart attacks and cerebrovascular problems.

Today the leading cause of death worldwide is the clogging of veins and arteries all for the consumption of animal fats and margarine. In some countries one of the most harmful foods is a delicious stew and think that it is used almost daily and there is a complicit silence on this issue.
They are damaging our way of eating than a person who underwent catheterization send him some medication so it does not present new plugs but statistics show that despite all become clogged again within a period ranging from 3 to 5, but are frequently clog in days.

Vegetarian soup

In a saucepan pour a liter of water and put to cook with the following:
The stem of a single sheet of chopped celery.

Two tomatoes, hopefully organic, chopped.

Six potatoes Creole whole.

An egg onion cut in two.

A little bit of turmeric, if you have asparagus and a tallit if available and minced. When everything is cooked melts and add a leaf of spinach try strained by hand, one of spinach and a celery and starts to cook again and add carrot strips and salt. To serve it fried plantains fried and mixed with the soup. To add protein, we can take green pea gravel or soy milk. This soup is dirt cheap and replaces the advantages and stew is delicious.

Image to link: Vegetarian Organic Life

A report just released by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimates 30 to 50 percent of Americans could be infected with swine flu this fall and winter. The projection of deaths is 90,000, more than twice as many deaths than in a typical flu season. Many of these deaths will be children and young adults. This group seems particularly vulnerable to this new flu virus. Swine flu is expected to resurge this September with the school year beginning and to peak in mid-October. Unfortunately, the anticipated vaccine won’t be available until mid-October just when the flu season is expected to peak. Add to this frightening scenario that flu vaccines usually take several weeks for the body to develop immunity. The good news is we can start to build natural immunity now.

Viruses and bacteria attack the body everyday. Did you ever notice how some people are always sick? They have weakened immune systems. Start now to boost the immune system to help fight the viruses and bacteria lurking out there to strike. The best and natural way to do this is through certain foods. Orange juice, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, beans, red meat, garlic and onions are great immune boosters. One meal that is loaded with immune boosters is chili. Make it today to build a healthier immune system.

Chili
Serves 4

½ pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, sliced
½ red pepper, sliced
½ yellow pepper, sliced
½ orange pepper, sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
1 (10 oz.) can condensed tomato soup
1 can of water
1 teaspoon parsley
1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans (do not drain)

Brown meat in large pan. Halfway through browning, add onions and continue browning for a couple of more minutes. Add peppers and cook for a couple of more minutes. Add tomato. Stir. Stir in soup and parsley. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add undrained kidney beans. Continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Beef is high in iron, B12, which helps make DNA and keeps nerve and red blood cells healthy, and zinc, a great immune booster. Beef provides protein that repairs body cells, builds and repairs muscles and bones, and provides a source of energy. Kidney beans, also an immune booster, are another good source of protein. Sweet bell peppers are truly the wonder food because they are packed with immune boosters, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are called medicine of the future because of their incredible ability to fight diseases.

Recipe is from the book, Organic for Health, by Sandy Powers

Ingredients:

· 4 tuna steaks, 6 ounces each

· Kosher salt

· Black pepper

· oil

Zucchini pasta:

· 4 cups Julienne green and gold Zucchini

· 2 tsp kosher salt

Artichoke Sauce:

· 16 oz peel, seeded and diced  tomatoes

· 1 medium yellow onion diced

· 3 cloves garlic minced

· 1 tsp kosher salt

· 1 cup diced marinated baby artichokes

· 1 to 2 teaspoons finely minced hot or mild chile pepper, or to taste

· ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

· Black pepper to taste

Black Olive Tapenade:

· 1 cups pitted Kalamata olives chopped (or olives of your liking)

· 1 big garlic clove minced

· 1 Tbls capers

· ¼ cup fresh Basil leaves chopped

· ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped

· Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

· 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar

· ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

· Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine all Tapenade ingredients, tasting and adding salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let stand at room temperature before serving. Makes 1 ½ cups

Julienne the Zucchini into long thin pasta like shape. Toss with salt and let sit in colander for 15 minutes. Zucchini will soften to an al dente consistency.

To make the sauce cook onion and garlic with salt over low heat in a heavy bottom pot until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer for thirty minutes. Add artichokes, chile pepper and basil and simmer another ten minutes. Add black pepper to taste and set sauce aside to cool.

Right before grilling tuna toss the sauce and zucchini together in large bowl.

Pull tuna steaks out of fridge fifteen minutes before cooking which will help to keep the tuna from sticking to the grill (If using). Season Tuna steaks with Salt and Pepper, then brush lightly with oil.

Lightly brush a grill rack, or broiler pan with a little oil. Grill tuna over coals medium high heat.    Turn after about 2-3 minutes for rare tuna, 4 to 6 minutes for more medium to well done. Tuna should maintain a pink center, but will flake easily around edges.

To finish twist equal portions of pasta onto four plates, top with grilled tuna and tablespoon of tapenade.

Serves four.

Also, dark chocolate is healthier than milk chocolate!

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour.
• 1 tsp baking soda.
• 1 tsp salt.
• 1 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, softned.
• ¾ cup white sugar.
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar.
• 1 mashed ripe banana.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1 12-oz Packaged (or 2 cups) dark semisweet chocolate chips.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat together margarine, White sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add banana and vanilla extract.

Gradually add the flour mixture while beating until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Let stand for a few minutes, then transfer with a spatula to a wire rack to cool.

Image to link: Community live journal

By Sandy Powers

Keeping with our theme of gifts from the kitchen for the holidays during these difficult economic times, I’ve included a special cookie with history called the Anzac cookie. Remember, a gift from the kitchen is personal, thoughtful, and affordable.

During World War One, a joint British Empire and French operation was mounted called the Gallipoli Campaign. The purpose was to secure a sea route to Russia through the Gallipoli peninsula of Turkey, one of the enemies of the Entente Powers, which consisted of the British Empire, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States. This was the first campaign undertaken by the joint military group known as The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps—ANZAC. It was a long and bloody campaign that lasted from April 1915, to January 1916. The story is told that the women back home in Australia and New Zealand wanted to send their loved ones “Soldiers’ Biscuits,” (biscuit is the British version of the American cookie.) The transportation of food from home took up to two months to reach the soldiers. Concerned with spoilage, the women developed the Anzac Biscuit (cookie.) The ingredients for the cookie did not spoil. Eggs were omitted due to the scarcity of eggs during wartime. The recipe has weathered time. It is a delicious cookie with an unusual history that makes for a unique gift from the kitchen. As a special touch include a holiday card with the history of the Anzac Cookie.

Anzac Cookies

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

½ cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon boiling water

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix well. Mix melted butter, honey and boiling water together. Stir into dry ingredients and mix well. Keep mixing until well blended. Drop by tablespoon onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Dough is crumbly so you may need to shape mounds with fingers. Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes.

Sandy Powers is the author of “Organic for Health,” Winner in the Health category of the National 2008 Beach Book Festival, Finalist in the Health: General category of the National 2008 Best Books Award, and accepted on file with Oprah.  Visit Sandy and her other recipes at www.organicforhealthsite.com

By Sandy Powers

These are difficult economic times without any sight of change in the foreseeable future. We will return to pleasures in our lives that are unconnected to money. While our holidays will still be filled with gift giving, many of the gifts will come from the kitchen instead of the shopping mall. Giving a gift from the kitchen during the holidays is thoughtful and personal. It is a gift that truly is from you. One of my recipes that my family and friends look forward to receiving is my Pineapple Fruitcake. No one throws this fruitcake away!

Fruitcakes date back to Roman times when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and barley mush were mixed together to form a ring-shaped dessert. Roman soldiers packed fruitcake with them on their long marches because of the fruitcake’s long shelf life. During the Middle Ages, cooks added honey, spices, and dried fruits to fruitcakes. Crusaders, like the early Roman soldiers, carried the fruitcake with them to sustain themselves for long periods on their marches to the Holy Land. An interesting historical twist to the lore of the fruitcake occurred in the early 18^th Century when a few European countries outlawed the fruitcake because they were considered “sinfully rich.”

As a special touch to the Pineapple Fruitcake, jot a note that tells some of the history of the fruitcake and attach it to the gift.

Pineapple Fruitcake

2 and ½ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup butter

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

4 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 and ½ cup candied pineapple chunks

½ cup candied cherries

1 and ½ cup walnut pieces

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in eggs. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in orange juice. Mix well. Fold in fruits and nuts. Pour into well-greased and floured 9 inch tube pan.* Bake at 300 degrees about 2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool in pan.

* To stretch gift giving, divide batter into two small bread pans. Adjust cooking time. Check with toothpick after 45 minutes, then 15 minute intervals.

Cancer survivor Sandy Powers shares her healing recipes in her book “Organic for Health,” Winner in the Health category of the National 2008 Beach Book Festival, Finalist in the Health: General category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News, and is on file with Oprah.  For more recipes, visit Sandy’s website:  www.organicforhealthsite.com

By Sandy Powers

Seeds of cultivated green beans from Peru were carbon dated 7680 BP (i.e. Before the Present). Along the East Coast of America, Pre-Columbian natives were utilizing companion plant cultivation. Corn was planted in a scattered manner with beans right next to the corn enabling the bean vines to wrap around the corn stalks. Beans in early America were the vine variety. In the spaces between the cornstalks/wrapped beans, the native Americans grew squash with its hairy vines and stiff leaves to protect all three plants from the foraging animals.

Green beans are excellent sources of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, and manganese. All helping in maintaining bone health and preventing cholesterol build-up. No wonder the Green Giant is Jolly.

Not to be outdone, sweet bell peppers, also indigenous to America, have an impressive lineage dating back 5,000 years. Pre-Columbian Americans cultivated sweet peppers as a spice and medicine. Today, studies show sweet bell peppers offer protection against cataracts, help prevent blood clots, and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Sweet bell peppers are truly the wonder food because they are packed with immune boosters, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are called the vitamins of the future due to their incredible ability to fight diseases. Scientists are just beginning to unravel the healing properties of phytonutrients.

Keep you and your family as jolly as the Green Giant and stir up this wondrous side dish for dinner. It compliments every meal.

Green Beans, Peppers, and Balsamic Vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large can of organic green beans, well drained

Wash and core the following peppers:

1 organic green pepper, sliced into strips

1 organic red pepper, sliced into strips

1 organic orange pepper, sliced into strips

1 organic yellow pepper, sliced into strips

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Sauté green beans and peppers in olive oil for 2 minutes. Remove to serving dish. Stir in balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.

By Sandy Powers

How smart is Popeye? Smarter than you think. Popeye attributes his amazing strength to eating spinach but he is also protecting himself against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer and arthritis. The Journal of Nutrition recently published a report that spinach fights prostate cancer while The Nurses Health Study reveals women whose diets are high in kaempferol, a nutrient in spinach, have a 40 percent less risk of ovarian cancer.

Spinach, like other leafy green vegetables, provides more nutrients than most other foods. Vitamin C and Vitamin A, two nutrients in spinach, are important antioxidants that work to reduce free radicals in the body known to cause blocked arteries, heart attacks, or strokes. Spinach’s Vitamin K promotes bone health. Add the iron and calcium and you have the mighty spinach. Make your spinach organic and you even increase the healthy nutrients of the mighty spinach. According to a study by Rutgers University comparing conventionally grown spinach with organic spinach, organic spinach has 97 percent more iron and 99 percent more manganese than conventionally grown spinach. Many of the essential trace elements that are absent in the conventionally grown spinach are rich in the organic. The United States—notably California and Texas—is one of the largest commercial grower of spinach. Help the economy and yourself, have organic spinach for dinner.

Jasmati Rice with Spinach

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large organic sweet onion, chopped

1 cup organic frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted

1 package of organic spinach, rinsed and dried

1 cup uncooked organic Jasmati Rice

2 cups of organic chicken broth

Place rice in pan with chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Wrap towel around lid. Secure wrapped lid on pan, making sure the cloth does not touch any part of stovetop. Simmer rice for 20 to 25 minutes or until all broth is absorbed and rice is slightly dry. Turn off heat but keep pan on burner. Remove wrapped lid.

Sauté onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add mixed vegetables and spinach. Continue to sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Add rice to large bowl. Add spinach mixture and stir well.

Serve Jasmati Rice and Spinach with sliced tomatoes on the side. Tomatoes help the body absorb the iron in spinach.

Sandy Powers

www.organicforhealthsite.com

Manual labor is required to gather capers, for the buds must be picked each morning just as they reach the proper size. After the buds are picked, they are usually sun-dried, then pickled in a vinegar brine.

Capers can range in size from that of a tiny peppercorn (the petite variety from southern France, considered the finest) to some as large as the tip of your little finger (from Italy).

Capers generally come in brine but can also be found salted and sold in bulk. Either way, rinse before using to flush away as much salt as possible.

The taste is slightly astringent and pungent, and they can lend piquancy to many sauces and condiments; they can also be used as a garnish for meat and vegetable dishes.

Where do capers come from?

Although they are grown throughout the Mediterranean as well as parts of Africa and Asia, the finest capers are said to be the tiny nonpareille (meaning ‘without peer’) that come from southern France. Capers range in size from this especially small variety to much larger ones from Italy. Morocco is the largest commercial producer today.

A new variety of capers from Spain is emerging on the market as “caperberries.” The smaller the better has long been a mantra with capers but these caperberries are the size of olives. Packed with the stem intact, they are an elegant addition to a buffet with roasted fowl or poached fish.

How do I use capers?

Capers can be used in a variety of sauces, salads and meat or fish dishes. They lend a mild peppery, pickled taste when added to a recipe or served along side as a garnish.

You should rinse capers before using to wash away any saltiness. You may wish to coarsely chop the larger varieties but this really isn’t necessary.

Experiment with capers in their various sizes and in different recipes to decide what you like the best. You might add them to tuna salad or try sprinkling a few capers on your next pizza. Or add them to a chunky tomato sauce and serve it over fish.

Check the indexes of your cookbooks for other uses. Look especially for tapenade, a pungent spread made of capers, olives and anchovies. Also look for recipes that call for capers such as mustard sauces or mayonnaise variations.

Or try the following recipe inspired by a salad I had at the local Macaroni Grill. It’s a great combination that will improve after a day or two in the refrigerator, if it lasts that long.

Medicinal uses:

In Greek popular medicine a herbal tea made of caper root and young shoots is considered to be beneficial against rheumatic. Dioscoride (MM 2.204t) also provides instructions on the use of sprouts, roots, leaves and seeds in the treatment of strangury and inflammation.

False Caper Warning – Poisonous:

If you are planning to preserve capers from your own garden, first be absolutely certain it is a true caper plant. Euphorbia lathyris, common name caper spurge, is a poisonous plant with buds that are often confused as capers.

Ingestion of caper spurge buds can cause burning of the mouth, nausea, paleness, irregular pulse, dizziness, delirium and fainting. Contact your local Cooperative Extension Service for assistance in identifying your plant.

If you do have a true caper plant, make homemade capers using this recipe as a guideline. Harvest flower buds before they begin to show any color prior to opening. If you want salt-free capers, pickle them in your choice of vinegar.

Sources: Hub UK, Home Cooking