Ham and Lima Bean Soup

This one of my favorite bean soups and is absolutely to-die-for when made with ham bone broth. The broth is so tasty, as is, you probably won't even need to add salt!

Ham and Lima Bean Soup

Cover ham bone (trimmed of meat and fat) with water and simmer continuously in crock pot for a couple days. When marrow liquefies and bone becomes soft, you know you've successfully created a good broth.

Pour enough of this broth into another pot to make the amount of soup you want--or pour out the amount you don't want into another container for later use and cook your soup in the crock pot.

Add desired amounts of prepared dry lima beans and/or navy beans and/or great northern beans, diced onion, and any other desired vegetables.

Add diced ham just before serving time, with only enough time to heat up. (If the meat is cooked for a long time, the flavor is leached out into the soup, leaving the meat itself flavorless and chewy.)

Enjoy!

Your Sugar Intake

I posted the following on my private family blog last year and wanted to post it again here, as it is still a very important and relevant topic:

I like sweets as much as the next person and there have been times in my life when my diet has included too much of them. I am fortunate in that my mom raised my siblings and I on basically no refined sugar, so I always have that habit and example to fall back on. This isn't to say that we didn't ever have sweets growing up, just that she usually used sugar substitutes in the goodies she made for our family--and she still does. (I will talk about sugar substitutes in another post.)

First of all, in order to recognize how to cut back, most people need a reality check on how much sugar they are actually consuming. I am often surprised when I eat a few meals with other people by how many sugary things are included as a matter of course and not as dessert (which, for my family, is the only time sugar is included).

Think about your beverages first. Do you drink chocolate milk, punch (Cool-Aid or non 100% fruit juice), or soda (pop)? If so, those add a lot of sugar--and calories--to your daily consumption. Do you eat sweet foods for breakfast? Most people do, if the number of sweet breakfast foods available are any indication; think donuts, sweet rolls, pop tarts, sugary oatmeal packets--and the vast majority of cold cereals. I habitually refuse to eat or drink anything sweet (except for fruit, which is a must) in the mornings because otherwise I get a headache and feel gross for hours afterward (not the best start to the day). --Oh, and here's a plug for the benefits of eating breakfast, if you're one of those people who doesn't.

Next, think about those extras that many people add to lunches and dinners that really aren't necessary or don't have much nutritional value or substance, like most fruit snacks, granola bars, and jello. Even much of the canned fruit available at the store is packed in sugar-laden syrup! And most jams and jellies are made with tons of sugar.

These are just a few ideas to get the wheels turning. If after doing the above inventory you feel overwhelmed about cutting it all out, don't be. As we say in Spanish, "poco a poco." If you will make small changes little by little (I've said this before and I'll say it again), you can help yourself and your family become sensitized again to non-sugar foods, and feel better and be healthier. You could even lose extra pounds, if you need to: One of my friends was struggling to lose some weight, and after she swore off a few food items, including refined sugar, she lost the pounds! And my dad, who has always been a chocoholic, a while back finally chose to follow my mom's long-time lead and swore off sugar too. He also lost quite a bit of weight and noticed an increase in energy, clarity of mind, and fewer aches and pains. Amazing!

Cashew Turkey Pasta Salad

Sweet but with a zip, this pasta salad has hit the spot for me several times and is a dish often requested for birthdays and parties at my parents' house. (Note: My mom cut this recipe down from the very large amount she makes for our large family so that it would fit my little family better. Thus, it has a couple of weird measurements.)

Cashew Turkey Pasta Salad

Desired amount of diced, cooked turkey or chicken
10 c. uncooked spiral pasta
4 diced celery ribs
8 chopped green onions (or 1/2 white onion, thinly diced)

Cook pasta. Cool.
Pour sauce (see below) over pasta.
Add turkey.
Add celery and onions.
Chill (preferably 2 hours).
Add cashews just before serving.

Sauce:
1 7/8 c. mayonnaise
5/8 c. honey
2 1/2 Tb. cider vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. salt (preferably Redmond's Real Salt)
4 Tb. (or more to taste) pineapple juice concentrate
2 c. salted cashew halves*  (As these get soft if left in the salad, I prefer to sprinkle them on top just before serving or to allow people to add them to what they dish up as they go.)

*Note: cashews aren't shown in the picture.

Vegetable Casserole

The best thing about this recipe, besides that it is delicious and healthy, is its versatility, as you will see by the lack of specific measurements and vegetable types...

Vegetable Casserole

Vegetables:
Use whatever vegetables you have and whatever amount you want it to end up to be.
Cook the vegetables in MSG-free bullion water (or, preferably, bone broth).
Once cooked, use the water off them in the white sauce.

White Sauce: (May need to half this depending on the amount of vegetables.)
Melt one square of butter.
Add 1 c. flour, stir well.
Slowly add the liquid from the vegetables, stirring smooth after each addition. If needed, thin with milk after the bullion/broth is stirred in.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Can be served straight from the pot, or poured into casserole dish and kept warm in oven. Can add a breadcrumb topping, cheese, etc (but is good simply as is).

Applesauce Cake

A moist, tasty cake, this is a good recipe for times when you want something sweet but healthy. I have used it a few times to make birthday cake for little ones, particularly times when they have been sick on their birthday (and we don't eat sugar when we're sick). If you don't like raisins, nuts would also be good, or it would be good without either.

Applesauce Cake

1 c. shortening (butter)
1 c. honey
4 eggs (or 2 eggs and 4 tsp. baking soda)
4 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. whole wheat flour (if using white wheat flour--or 2 c. wheat and 2 c. refined white, if not)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. raisins

Cream honey and butter.
Add eggs, cream well.
Add applesauce, sift in dry ingredients.
Add vanilla and raisins.
Pour batter in greased and floured 9x12 or 8x8 or 2 bread loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

MSG

Lots of people have heard that MSG (monosodium glutamate), a "flavor enhancer" is bad for consumption, but did you know the following?:

• MSG is found in almost all of the processed foods that are manufactured in the United States.
• The literature is clear in demonstrating that MSG is toxic to humans and that over 25% of the population suffer adverse reactions from MSG.
• In studies where mice were fed MSG by feeding tube, normal neonatal mice suffered acute degenerative lesions in the inner retina, and some mice became grotesquely obese.
• Neuroscientists believe that the young and the elderly are most at risk from MSG.
• Since 1998, some of our agricultural crops have been sprayed with AuxiGro WP Metabolic Primer (AuxiGro), a product that includes 29.2% processed free glutamic acid (MSG). Produce sprayed with AuxiGro is not identified as being sprayed. Therefore MSG is back in baby food, without disclosure. (It was officially removed from baby food in the 1970s.)
• MSG has now been implicated in a number of the neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease.

The history of MSG (which is pretty interesting), all the above information, and more can be found here.

So what specific food items have MSG in them? The list is endless but includes chips and many other snack foods, salad dressings, frozen dinners, cream soups, and instant noodles. And if we're talking fast food, you can pretty much guarantee it has MSG in it! Here is an extensive list of popular fast food restaurants and their accompanying MSG-filled products.

My family's diet isn't completely MSG free, but almost. I have a friend who is allergic to MSG (she gets a reaction exactly 7 minutes after ingesting it), so her family avoids it completely. And as I learn more about it and make an effort not to often buy or eat foods with MSG, I know I am helping my family feel better and eat healthier.

Alternatives for Cream Soups

A friend of mine asked a very good question the other day that is one I have been playing with for a while: What is a healthy alternative to using canned cream soups in casseroles, sauces, and other recipes? Well, making just a basic white sauce is the first option that comes to mind (obviously you may need to double or triple this recipe, depending on how much you need):

Basic White Sauce

• 1 Tb. butter
• 3 Tb. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. chicken bone broth (or canned low sodium chicken broth with no MSG)
• 1/2 c. milk
• salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.

Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth.

Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed.

Can be varied by using vegetable broth, sauteéd chopped celery, celery seed, or sauteéd chopped mushrooms.

If you're looking for something a little more interesting, here are a couple of others:

Substitute for Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 c. water
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 garlic clove crushed
1 or 2 Tb. olive oil
2 c. chopped or sliced fresh mushrooms
1 Tb. corn flour (or regular flour)
some Worcestershire sauce or some mustard, just enough to taste (optional)
Salt, and pepper.

Heat oil on medium heat.
Saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms.
In a mixing bowl add water and flour and beat until it gets the consistency of heavy cream. Add more flour if needed.
Add this mixture to onions mixture little by little so it does not get lumpy and keep stirring.
Add rest of ingredients, bring to boil for a few minutes, then add to whatever dish you are preparing.
And if you have a wheat grinder, you can make bean flour from dry beans, which makes another kind of delicious "white" sauce. (Click the link below for a great video tutorial and some other fabulous cooking-with-food-storage ideas):

Substitute for Cream of Chicken Soup

Grind 4 Tb. of any white bean (lima, navy, etc.) to make 5 Tb. bean flour
Combine 5 Tb. bean flour
1 ¾ c. water
4 tsp. chicken bouillon into a saucepan (or preferably, the equivalent amount of a bone broth)
Cook on stove top at medium temperature until thick and delicious (whisk frequently). The soup should cook in 3 minutes. (This may be longer if your grinder makes a very coarse flour).
Use this with cooked veggies and or meat for a complete meal. (Replaces a can plus the water or milk in recipes).
So why not just go with the easy option of cream soups for your recipes? One reason is to avoid all the unnecessary salt contained in them. Another you will see in the next post...