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Green Bean Un-Casserole

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Green Bean Un-Casserole

GreenBeanUnCasserole
Healthy and satisfying replacement to the traditional casserole.

I’ve never been a fan of the gelatinous goop with deep-fried onions on top –  also known as the traditional green bean casserole served on Thanksgiving.

I love green beans. A lot. And I don’t prefer them swimming in goop. Thankfully, neither does the hubby! 🙂

This recipe is full of flavor and leaves us feeling satisfied, not wishing we’d never eaten. Why not lighten up your table with a quick and easy recipe this year?

8 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
  • 2 TBSP olive oil or walnut oil
  • 2 TBSP minced garlic
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp (or to taste) sea salt

Directions:

Place walnuts on ungreased baking sheet and bake 7 minutes at 350° F until lightly toasted.

Place beans, garlic and 1 TBSP oil in storage bag and shake to coat beans in oil and garlic.

Sauté beans and garlic in remaining oil, 5 minutes, until crispy-tender.

Place in deep serving dish; season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and parsley, toss well before serving.

5 Surprising Beauty Foods

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Beauty foods?!? Yep, BEAUTY foods. Get you glow on without all the toxic muck from the ‘beauty’ industry. Heck, you can grow your own beauty foods in the backyard, balcony or kitchen window sill!

All fresh fruits and vegetables contain magical powers when it comes to shiny hair, clear skin, and strong nails. However, the ones I’ve chosen below are perhaps not as well known for their powerful beauty benefits. Try and include these foods into your diet if you want to look your best without the need for botox or other unnatural remedies.

1. Red Peppers. All red and orange colored foods contain beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant. Red peppers are particularly beautifying due to the minerals A, C, and K. Vitamins A and C can help prevent cell damage that leads to premature ageing, and they can also reduce inflammation, which can cause a puffy-looking face. Pepper also has Vitamin K, which is an excellent property for protecting our cells from damage.

2. Spinach. All leafy greens are actually very powerful in terms of being a beauty food because of the chlorophyll they contain. There are also loads of other phytochemicals and fiber in spinach that help build blood that is super clean and which will show through in your skin.

3. Turmeric. This yellow-colored, Indian spice has a load of powerful antioxidant qualities. Turmeric assists in protecting our cells from free radical damage and also contributes towards cleaning up metabolic waste in our systems. It is also great as a liver flusher to get rid of any poisons and chemicals which are stored there.

4. Pumpkin Seeds. Wow, these really are powerful. What don’t pumpkin seeds have in them?! The humble pumpkin seed contains high levels of zinc, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins B, C, and E. Pumpkin seeds are also a great source of amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids, all essential for healthy cell maintenance. Make a handful of pumpkin seeds a regular part of your diet, and you will definitely notice a change in your appearance.

5. Parsley. Next time your plate is garnished with parsley, don’t push it aside. This is a pretty powerful herb when it comes to anti-aging, as well as purifying and cleansing the body. It contains vitamins A and C as well as anti-oxidizing flavonoids that protect our cells from free radical damage. Parsley also helps to purify the blood, kill bacteria, aid digestion, and cleanse toxins from the liver.

The best thing is that all these foods are easy to incorporate into your diet. Add turmeric to juice and combine the other foods with some other fixings to make a great, beautifying salad. Who said that beauty was hard to keep?

Looking for more tips? Check out my tips for Sexy Summer Legs!

Smoothie Slim Down

 

All Hail, Kale!

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Do you know what kale is? Yes, it is a leafy green. But it is so much more! Kale is a nutritional powerhouse that has earned the title of King. In addition to conventional antioxidants like vitamin C, beta-carotene, and manganese, kale also provides us with at least 45 different recently discovered flavonoids, including kaempferol and quercetin. Many of the flavonoids in kale are also now known to function not only as antioxidants, but also as anti-inflammatory compounds. Plus, it packs in more fiber than a typical green and the combination of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients makes kale a healthy eater’s dream. Seriously. This is one awesome veggie!

Ok, so you’re sold on the nutritional benefits of King Kale…how do you prepare it? I love it sauteed with caramelized onions and a splash of balsamic vinegar with toasted walnuts on top. Divine.

King Kale rocks my juicing world too! I always add a couple kale leaves to the juice du jour. Kale has a very mild flavor and doesn’t ‘interrupt’ my daily juice concoction’s flavor profile and I pack in the extra nutrients. Bang for your buck!

But, one of our favorite ways to see King Kale offered up – is in the form of Cheesy Kale Chips. Fantabulous! Here is the recipe I fiddled with until we got it ‘just right’. Don’t be afraid to change this or that…it’s all about what makes YOUR taste buds tingle! Also, I use a dehydrator because I like to leave them technically raw (very low heat for longer amount of time); however, an oven works well too!
Hope you enjoy your ‘chips’. Check back in and let me know how it goes – especially any tweaks you make!

Cheesy Kale Chips

INGREDIENTS
3 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast*
2 teaspoons Braggs Liquid Amino

kale
So delicious AND nutritious!

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon dried Basil
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ginger Powder
½ teaspoon Onion Powder
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup Raw Cashews (soaked for 2 hours)
1 large bunch of curly, green kale (I made with Red Russian too!), washed, large stems removed, torn into bite sized pieces (just remember they SHRINK when dried – so not too small).
[* Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast; it’s not alive and has a slightly cheesy flavor which many vegans like to use as a cheese substitute. It can be found at most health food stores and some big-chain grocery stores.]

PREP
Put all of the coating ingredients into a food processor or Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Using your hands, massage coating onto kale pieces making sure you get it inside the curls. I’ve found leaving the kale a bit damp helps the process along.

Place the coated kale pieces on teflex sheets (they don’t have to be flattened out) and dehydrate at 105⁰ overnight or until coating feels dry. Now, you can slide them onto the mesh screen and continue to dehydrate until they are very crispy (3-4 more hours).

OVEN METHOD: Place on cookie sheets and bake in a 200⁰ oven until they are dried out and crispy (45 – 60 minutes).

Eat ‘em up! Enjoy…