Quick Pickling – Kohlrabi and Apple

 

Last summer, thanks to joining a Farm Cooperative, I discovered quick pickling. I was presented a kohlrabi and wondered what I should do with. My go to for such conundrums is to check out Cooking Light. Low and behold I found a great Quick Pickling recipe that included kohlrabi! There is nothing more delectable than freshly made quick pickled fresh fruits and vegetables, especially during the warmer months. They go with absolutely every meal and can add something special to make each meal interesting, including backyard barbecues and picnics. Pickling is also great for the gut. Although quick pickling is stored for convenience and not for the long term, it still keeps easily in your refrigerator for a couple of weeks.  And keep in mind, the sugar you use is not all absorbed so the carbs per serving are only 5g and counts as a low carb food.

Kohlrabi and Apple Quick Pickles

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice vinegar
• 2 cups water
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 medium kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and thinly sliced (15 oz.)
• 1 small Honeycrisp apple, cored and thinly sliced (7 oz.)
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced (6 oz.)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 dill sprigs
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until dissolved.
2. Place kohlrabi, apple, cucumber, garlic, dill springs, pickling spice, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in a large bowl or 8 cup measuring cup. Pour hot vinegar mixture over kohlrabi mixture. Let stand and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
3. Transfer mixture evenly into 2 (1 quart) glass jars, covering kohlrabi mixture with vinegar mixture. Seal each jar with lid, and completely cool in refrigerator, about 4 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Nutritional Information

Servings: 2 quarts. Serving size: ⅔ cup. Calories per serving: 20; Fat 0g; Protein 1g; Carbohydrate 5g; Fiber 1g; Sugars 3g; Added sugars 1g; Sodium 64mg.

 

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Monday Motivational Meal—Salmon Pattie

 

Salmon patties are a great budget-friendly, heart-friendly meal that is easy to fix. Since they are high in protein and low in carbs they fit into the diabetes and bariatric lifestyle too. Try this USDA MyPlate recipe...and make sure to serve it up on your favorite Livliga pattern...like Halsa! 

Click here for the recipe. 

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Monday Motivational Meal—Indulgent Lobster Roll

 

 

Healthy Indulgence is not an oxymoron. It is possible to indulge healthfully. Truly is is good for our hearts and soul. The next time you need a little indulgence try this @EatingWell Lobster Roll. We served ours up on Celebrate because no matter when...a little indulgence is worth celebrating! 

Get the recipe here!

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Healthy Living Starts with Heart Healthy Self Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Livliga's Celebrate pattern we remind people to "Nourish Your Heart,"which is so important as part of Self Love

 

We focus so much on our physical selves that we often forget that the biggest challenge to weight management and living life as our healthiest selves is being in touch with our emotional well being.  Self Love is good for our hearts, both physical and emotional.

There is a new term floating around in social media called “self partnering.” Emma Watson is cited as the person who coined the phrase. If we look at the phrase as a way to describe enjoying who we are, the way we are, and being comfortable in our own skins it is easy to see why self partnering can be a good way to be.

Living life to the fullest, especially if we are living with a chronic disease, is not about a number on a scale or a size of clothing. It is about living a healthy lifestyle and enjoying the process. It is about making a plan work for you. We have to take into account our preferences and the dynamics of our lives. The biggest down fall for all of us is when we think we need to conform to certain “expectations” or  “ideals.” To succeed we need to know ourselves and choose a path and healthy lifestyle routine that is best suited to who we are and how we live. Here are some tips to help you focus on self-love with self-care in 2020.

1. Personalize your approach. It is clear diets don’t work. And there are so many different approaches to eating and preparing food. Pick the method that works for you both in the types of foods you prefer to eat as well as the way you consume them. If you are able to prepare your food regularly then a healthy eating style that allows you to cook healthy foods might be perfect for you. However, if you travel a lot for work, following the WW plan may make more sense since it is adaptable to eating out. Do some research and find an approach that works best for you.                                                                                                               
2.  Pick a plan that suits you and your lifestyle. What are the foods you prefer to eat? Are you a meat eater? A Vegetarian? Do you want to focus more on a plant-based diet? Do you like the structure of a specific diet plan? It is important to focus on a plan that will work with who you are, what you prefer to eat and that is possible for you to stick to and maintain. Doing what is “hot” and the latest fad may set you up for failure. It is best to know what will work for you in the long term. Wanting some ideas about good options? Check out the 2020 US News and World Report on the Best Diets, which means they are relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, effective for weight loss and protective against diabetes and heart disease, to discover which might be best for your lifestyle.                                         
3. Connect with purpose. Research has shown that if we follow a healthy lifestyle plan for a specific reason and purpose we are more likely to succeed in the long run. If we try to change up our habits or lose weight because somebody else shamed us into it we will not have the drive to accomplish it. If becoming healthier, including losing weight, is part of a bigger mission in our lives where we have a drive to make it happen then when things get tough we can break through the barriers fortified by our greater purpose. Read some of the success stories of weight loss shared in magazines and online and you will see each person who succeeded had a greater purpose than just losing weight. What is your purpose for wanting to live a healthy life? 
4. Keep it Simple…It is way to easy to make achieving a healthy lifestyle complicated. We want to change EVERYTHING! We want to change our routine, how we eat, when we exercise, how much we sleep, what we drink, you name it, we want to change it. Sustaining all that change at once inevitably becomes too hard to do. It is better to start with one change and build on that change overtime. 
5. Take the long view and make it about a lifestyle. We know diets don’t work. They have a beginning and an end. A lifestyle is a continuum. It is a journey and a way of being. How do you want to live your life as your healthiest self?

It is possible to both love ourselves and challenge ourselves to live life as our healthiest selves. This isn’t about being at your “perfect” size or fitting in to your “skinny” jeans. It is about feeling good, having the energy to get up in the morning to tackle your must do’s as well as your bucket list. Self Love is critical to our ability to live life as we deserve and want…as our healthiest, vibrant selves.

In Livliga's Celebrate pattern we remind people to "Find Wellness," which is so important as part of Healthy Living

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Moroccan Lamb Tagine—DASH Diet friendly

There are many popular diets available to choose from when we want to jumpstart our healthy habits and get back on track. Among the most popular for improving our health while also easy to follow is the DASH Diet. According to dashdiet.org: The healthy DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet plan was developed to lower blood pressure without medication. Original research showed that DASH could lower blood pressure. Since then, numerous studies have shown that the DASH diet reduces the risk of many diseases, including some kinds of cancer, stroke, heart disease, heart failure, kidney stones, and diabetes. It has been proven to be an effective way to lose weight and become healthier at the same time. It is full of fabulous, delicious, real foods. All of these benefits led to the #1 diet ranking by US News & World Report each year from 2011 - 2018.

There are many elements of the DASH Diet that lend itself to being similar to the Mediterranean Diet. You can’t beat using fresh, unprocessed foods combined with spices to provide a taste and healthy meal. This Moroccan Lamb Tagine originally came from The Diabetic Living Magazine.

Last year my husband and I had the opportunity to go to Morocco. While there we went to a cooking class in Marrakesh to learn how to prepare various tagines. The place where we took the class was a special nonprofit and school where disadvantaged women are taught the skills they need to find a job and become financially independent. It is called Amal Restaurant and Training Center for Women (amalnonprofit.org). It was some of these very women who taught our class. It was a hands on class where we learned how to prepare the tagine and cook it in a traditional tagine pot. As our food cooked we sat on beautiful Moroccan rugs, enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony and learned more about the training center while our tagine cooked. It was a wonderful experience and our tagine was pretty good too!

This Moroccan Lamb Tagine is easy to assemble and cook in a slow cooker.  It incorporates the spices and their complexity of flavors that embody the food from this part of the world. This is the wonder of eating healthy. It truly is possible to eat interesting, flavorful foods that promote our health and support our desire to live life as our healthiest selves.

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1½ pounds boneless lamb shoulder or lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 1½ cups coarsely chopped, peeled sweet potato
• 1 medium plum tomato, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• ¼ cup pitted dates, quartered 
• ¼ cup green olives, halved 
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can reduced- sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups hot, cooked pearled couscous
• ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted 

Directions 

1. In a large bowl, combine ginger, cumin, salt, turmeric and cinnamon. Add lamb to bowl; toss to coat in spices. 
2. In a 4-quart slow cooker, place lamb, sweet potato, tomato, carrots, onion, dates, olives, tapioca, lemon peel, lemon juice, honey and garlic. Pour broth over all. 
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. 
4. Serve over couscous and top with almonds.

Nutritional Information:
Serves 8. Serving size: 1½ cups; ½ cup couscous and 1 cup lamb tagine. Calories: 425. Total Fat 16.9g; Saturated Fat 3.6g; Sodium 455mg; Total Carbohydrate 38.7g; Dietary Fiber 5.3g; Total Sugars 10g; Protein 30g.

Note: this recipe was featured in an episode of  Livliga’s Facebook Live: Healthy Recipes Served Up On Livliga. To enjoy this episode and others go to our LivligaHome YouTube channel and explore!

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Fresh Strawberry and Banana Homemade Ice Cream With Jello

This recipe is easy to make (only 5 ingredients!), has a great fruit taste and a vibrant look to it. Perfect for a summertime refreshing snack or dessert. It is more of an ice milk or granita in texture. I added nonfat milk to enhance the protein in the recipe. If you are looking for something fun to do with kids this is it. This recipe can be used to make popsicles too. The secret is in the jello.

I am a firm believer that life should have its Guilty Pleasures. The key is to make them “healthy” and not destructive to our goals and life vision. This ice cream is just such a guilty pleasure. To make it look like plenty of ice cream and to make this special pleasure last longer and allow me to savor every bite I served it up in my Just Right Set® dishes and used my new Just Right Set® bariatric spoon. Check out the photos to see how its looks and how much pleasure I must have gotten out of my “healthy” guilty pleasure treat!

When I was working on this recipe I thought it would be fun to do a taste test with a few family and friends. The main ingredient difference for the taste test was the type of jello I used. I didn’t want to add additional sugar/substitute and I wanted to see (with a blind test, of course) which version people preferred. I tried the new “Simply Good” strawberry jello with real cane sugar, sugar-free strawberry jello and then banana creme sugar-free pudding jello. Hands down the winner was the sugar-free strawberry jello version. It had the brightest color and flavor of the three versions. The winning recipe is below.

Fresh Strawberry and Banana Homemade Ice Cream With Jello:

Ingredients

• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 ripe banana (can be frozen)
• 1 cup strawberries (can be frozen)
• 1 package sugar free strawberry jello (.6 ounce)
• 1 pinch of Kosher salt

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend well.
2. Pour mixture into an airtight container with a wide mouth for easy scooping later.
3. Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
4. Serve when ready or anytime there after for a tasty treat.

Tip

1. If the ice cream is too hard to scoop let it sit out on the counter for 15-20 minutes. In a hurry? Place the ice cream in the microwave on high for 10 seconds.
2. This recipe makes great popsicles too. Just pour in the molds and freeze.

Serves: 6   Serving size: ½ cup

Calories per serving: 52   Fat: .22g   Sodium: 121mg   Carbs: 8.42   Protein: 3.11

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No Cook Meal-- Healthy Gazpacho

No Cook Meal-- Healthy Gazpacho (photo by LivligaHome)

When it is hot outside it is nice to think of cool meals, especially those that require no cooking. An easy meal for a refreshing lunch or dinner is a no cook gazpacho. It is super easy to make and can be made from fresh ingredients or can incorporate canned ingredients, depending on the time of year, or your willingness to chop tomatoes. 

The traditional base of a gazpacho is tomato. Its origins are thought to be from Andalusia, a region of Spain.  Historic conjecture has it that the soup as we know it today was developed after Columbus returned to Spain from his voyages with peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes.

The health benefits of gazpacho are numerous. According to an article written by Dr. Andrew Weil, this cold soup is great for your heart. The antioxidants fight heart disease and reduce blood pressure, if eaten regularly, by as much as 27 percent. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research all the ingredients combined in gazpacho make for a powerful, cancer fighting, concoction worthy of regular consumption, any time of year.
 
No Cook Healthy Gazpacho
 
Ingredients

• ½ sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 7 cups tomato (or 1- 28 ounce can diced tomato)
• 3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Toppings

• 8 ounces cooked chicken or crabmeat (for non-vegetarian version)
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Remaining cucumber, finely chopped
• ¼ cup Greek yogurt

Directions

1. Cut prepared cucumber lengthwise and then into quarters. Place all but two quarters into the well of a food processor. Add all other ingredients. Process until ingredients are well blended and finely chopped.
2. Chill for at least ½ hour. Divide soup into four servings. Top each serving of soup with ¼ of each topping. Serve with grilled garlic bread or baked sweet potato fries.

Serves: 4. Serving size: 1½ cup. Calories: 277 (with toppings/crabmeat). Fat 12.5g (Saturated Fat 1.9g); Sodium  507mg; Protein 10.4g; Carbohydrate 36.3g; Fiber 6.3g; Sugars 17.5g.

Re-posted from Sheila's Blog on TheEpochTimes.com.

 

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