Spirit as Healer, Lifestyle as Medicine
I love this snack as an example of food first (vs. supplements). This snack supports your immune system, natural detoxification, and thyroid by providing 100% of your daily needs for both vitamin C (kiwi) and selenium (Brazil nuts). It also provides fiber and just the right combination of healthy carbohydrate (kiwi) and healthy fat (Brazil nut) to help control your blood sugar in-between meals. This is how easy, and tasty, it is to eat with purpose.
Fresh papaya, in addition to tasting like a tropical dream, contains the digestive enzyme papain. This makes it a wonderful complement to richer dishes that contain legumes and animal proteins. It is also in season during our colder months, bringing a bit of sun to our shorter days up north. This stew also uses cheese and avocado in balanced amounts to add rich flavor and texture, as well as, nutrition (calcium from cheese and mono-unsaturated fat from avocado). In a consistent, long-term therapeutic lifestyle focuses on how to add favorites vs. restrict them.
Let me show you how to stretch your chocolate craving by using chia seeds and real peanut butter in this no-bake, 5-minute, 5-ingredient recipe! We talk a lot about the benefits of high-volume, low-density leafy and tender carbohydrates on our plates, but there are three times when dense might just be better.
I love turning ingredient labels into recipes so played with this one – adding edamame for more protein and came up with the following adaptation of this salad. The smell is absolutely intoxicating as you make this salad. I haven’t tried the store’s version of it to see how close I am to the original in taste, but I think that’s OK.
This is another take on the popular CARE Orange and Grape Chicken Salad. With this version, I want to show you how easy it is to create a completely new taste with just a few substitutions. In this case, I change out oranges to take advantage of now in-season blueberries. I also switch to a low-fat mayo allowing me to add extra nutrition and crunch with the addition of walnuts.
Here is another way that I like to use the CARE Tater Tot Hash. At least twice per month, I have an egg bake on my meal plan. Their versatility is endless. My husband is actually the one that discovered using tater tots with riced cauliflower while making brunch one weekend. He paired the hash with bell peppers and eggs. It was delicious. Here I turn it into a bake for easy make-ahead weekday breakfasts.
This lunch is surprisingly fast to put together. Once the hash is made (either the first day you make it or made-ahead over the weekend), toss with pre-shredded greens and a reheated lean sausage (or other protein of choice) for a nutrient-rich lunch… with tater tots.
Here the texture of riced cauliflower pairs incredibly with the diced potato goodness of tater tots. The cauliflower allows us many more bites of tater tot than having them by themselves. Cauliflower and potato pair extremely well together in many dishes. I find it much more enjoyable to keep a touch of potato in any revised idea rather than just trying to use cauliflower as a full substitute for potato. For example, when making cauliflower mashed potatoes I always add one potato and it has made all the difference with my family. The same applies here mixing tater tots with riced cauliflower.
This recipe has been a program favorite since the original Perfectly Produce Seasonal e-Recipe Books. My dear friend, Amy, didn’t have all the vegetables to make my fall chili so she emailed me what she used instead. I loved that she kept it simple and just used what was in her crisper! I published her version and it continues to be a favorite of CARE members. It’s perfect for weekend make-ahead cooking and left-overs beg to be frozen for grab-and-go meals later in the month!
