Quick Tip Tuesday-A Pat On the Back

I realize that Tuesday is almost over. I have had one of those days...On that note, my tip for today is to give yourself a pat on the back. We have a tendency to get caught up in numbers as an absolute, a concrete bar by which to judge ourselves. When I was a senior in high school, my school formed its first ever track team. By that time, I was well into my health kick. I already exercised regularly and ate better than most of my peers, which should give me an advantage, right? Plus, I thought it might be fun to be a part of North Fremont High School's first ever track team, so I signed up. I ate right, worked hard at practice, and proceeded to come in dead LAST at every track meet I ever participated in. I tried to console myself by saying that at least when everyone else had finished the race and I was still running, the whole crowd was cheering for me (who cared if they were all sympathy cheers?). I mean, how often does that happen? To this day when I am running, I get passed by everyone who isn't walking.  How is it that I haven't sworn off running? I realized that I have to do things without caring about the numbers. Sometimes we need to give ourselves an "A" for effort. So today, give yourself a pat on the back for all of the improvements you have made to benefit your health and the health of your family. All of the little things matter, so count them as a success and be proud of yourself. Good job! 

The Promised Pita

Two posts ago, I admitted my hummus addiction and promised a whole wheat pita bread recipe. It's not 100% whole wheat, but I find that the addition of one cup of white flour really helps the consistency. These are fun for sandwiches of any type, but with hummus, vegetables, and some falafel or seasoned, grilled chicken, it makes a great meal So, here it is:

Pita Bread- Yields 8 pitas (can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, plus ½ to ¾ cups more as needed.  
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1¼ to 1½ cups water, roughly room temperature
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Mix yeast in the flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the olive oil and 1¼ cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball.  If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.

Once all the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes.  If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.  As the dough is mixing, continue to add flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. (I add a fair amount of flour, so don’t be afraid to keep adding more until you reach the right consistency.)

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the dough around so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size.  Approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gasses and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it will be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450⁰. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat it as well.  If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while it is preheating. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there.  Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough.  You should be able to roll it out to between ¼ and 1/8” thick – 6 inches in diameter.  If the dough does not stretch sufficiently, you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5-10 minutes before trying again.

Place disks on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment paper and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 20-30 minutes.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface.  They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes.  Remove them and place on a cooling rack.

Quick Tip Tuesday-The Periodic Food Log

I always learn a lot about my eating habits when I can look at my food choices over the course of a "normal" week. However, recording everything I eat all of the time is too time consuming for me. The solution I have found is to take one week about every six months and make the time to record my food intake. This is an insightful process as it forces me to measure everything and realize again what 1/2 cup of oatmeal, or 1 tablespoon of almond butter looks like. It is a great way to reevaluate your food intake and make any adjustments that have become necessary since the last time you checked. You will learn a lot about serving sizes and nutrition information, too.

There are a lot of different ways to keep a food log. One is to just grab a piece of notebook paper and start writing what you ate. Make sure to include the date and descriptive amounts of EVERYTHING. One thing I have learned is that if you eat something, but don't write it down, you still ate it :) Sorry about that. You can then look up the nutrient content or, just make it a practice in awareness. Another option is to input your intake into a calorie calculator of some sort, which will provide you with the feedback you are interested in there are several of these out there. The one I am most familiar with is Super Tracker: https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx You will need to create a profile in order to save your information. After you input the date and search the database for the food you ate, it will generate the report you request. Under the tab, "My Reports" you can choose which reports are the most useful to you.

It might be a bit time consuming, but even a few days recorded will give you an idea of areas that could use some improvement.

I would love to hear what people are surprised by after taking a close look at their regular intake. I always have a couple of surprises. It is well worth the effort!

My Hummus Addiction

I'm not sure when or where I was first introduced to hummus, but I do know it was much too late in my life. I know it was when I was in my early 20's, which makes me feel bad about all of those hummus-free days that were wasted. I do my best now to make up for those wasted days. I think it possibly doubles the amount of vegetables I eat. When my kids were little, I was delighted when, one by one, they grew to love it too. They would use the same carrot over and over again, licking the hummus off and then dipping in for more. Now that they are older, they think I am addicted to it. Nicole, after learning about the addictive properties of nicotine, suggested that I check the ingredient list to see if it was in the hummus I bought.

A few weeks ago, I did a post about hummus and suggested the "Sabra" hummus. That is my favorite store-bought hummus, but I have a recipe for you because everything is healthier when you make it yourself. So, here is my hummus recipe that is an assimilation of several recipes with my own twist (and I promise, no nicotine). Just for fun and for my friend who requested it, my next post will be a pita bread recipe that I have used for years.

This can make a healthy snack, or a full meal if you dice up a bunch of vegetables and add some felafel.

Hummus-I always double this because we go through it fast!

• 2 15 oz cans of chickpeas

• 1/4 cup tahini
*
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed (1 tsp)
• 
1/2 tsp sea salt

• 2-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Reserve the liquid in case you need a little more at the end.

Combine the tahini and lemon juice in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and frothy, about 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides once or twice.  This step is really important if you want your hummus really creamy.

Add the garlic and salt and blend again (about 1 minute).

Add in the chickpeas in about three additions and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides regularly.  Once all of the chickpeas are blended in, add the olive oil 1/2 tablespoon at a time. Blend well between additions. Continue to blend for a couple of minutes, adding reserved bean juice or more olive oil until the taste and consistency are just right.

I also add about 1 tsp each of cumin and basil, and about 1/2 tsp paprika. When I have fresh herbs in the garden, fresh parsley and basil are a great addition.

*Tahini is sesame seed paste. It is usually found in the ethnic food section, but if you live in a small town like mine, you might just find it near the peanut butter.

Quick Tip Tuesday-Fresh Ginger

Fresh ginger root is not only delicious, but it also touts many health benefits. It has been said to improve all aspects of digestion, reduce nausea,  and relieve joint pain. It also has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. I use it regularly in Asian recipes. The powdered stuff doesn't do it justice. Go for fresh. I buy a whole root from the store, cut it into 2" chunks and throw it into a container in the freezer. It only takes about 5 minutes out of the freezer to be ready to peel and grate.  Ginger that is still slightly frozen is actually easier to peel and chop or grate. The combination of being slightly frozen and having the right tool makes the perfect grated ginger. I love the Microplane zester/grater for ginger as well as citrus zest. I have used several cheap ones that just seem to frustrate me, but I am now on my second one of these, and I LOVE them!