Showing posts with label healthy foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy foods. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Summer Garden Greens:

Among all our roses, evergreens and hydrangeas, or Linden tree blossoms...yes there was some devine "kale" to be found and our dinner was revolving around it tonight!


P.S. I will be making a Linden flower tea from our own Linden tree: (yes picking up blossoms and killing ants at the same time...)


Truth be told, kale is amazing in a smoothie but it did cause me stomach acids (can be hard to digest) when raw as I found out the hard way, also, some claim that lightly steamed kale is healthier, more nutritious etc.


So here is my lightly cooked kale salad, about 10 minutes of prep work:


1. In olive oil and a little butter, fry onions on low heat, but very golden;

2. Add 1/4 cup rasins, 1 minced garlic and 1 tbsp capers;

3. Almost immediately add washed and cut up kale and on medium heat fry very lightly so it is still very raw tasting with a superb crunch to it!

4. You may add few pine nuts and sprinkle some grated cheese (I use german eidam).





Enjoy the summer greens!

XO, Z

Monday, January 13, 2014

Healthy Foods - my old time favorite, pregancy miracle fruit and more!

The excellet choice that is available all year round and should be a part of your healthiest way of eating ARE "lentils" and let me tell you, I think they taste great!


Full of goodies for the body, lentils have rich concentration of dietary fiber, folate and phytonutrients...making them great for the heart and they provide a powerful antioxidant protection. 


If you choose them in the tin can form, they are ready in 5 minutes.

But I like the dry LENTILS and simple slow simmer in water with bit of salt in your cast iron pot will do the trick.


Add water as you need and when soft to taste, you may like to add (making them even healthier):

1 minced garlic

1 tsp mild curry

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp turmeric


And to thicken the lentils into a sauce like texture with some tasty bechamele basis, the ROUX (butter and flour slowly over the heat until golden). If it ends up to be too thick, add water bit by bit to get the desired thickness...


If you are into deep greens, chop up (add in) a few leaves of kale and only in the end cook them less then a minute on lower medium heat as kale should not be cooked much, just tiny bit to keep all the great nutrients. 

(For more information on click here on KALE raw or cooked?)





Certainly great tasting on its own, this dish can be perfect with some protein like slowly roasted pork shoulder with onions and garlic, or even simple boild egg. Think of it as a great side dish or main dish, what ever you like, but my little 4 year old loves it!


 


As you may have noticed, I am pregnant, 27 weeks to be specific and lucky I crave only good foods, similar to the not pregnant normal me!

Yet, I do have a bit of an issue with sometimes digesting my food and acids problems as the baby may be pressing on things or it is just me...

What I recently discovered helped a lot. It is the fascinating miraculous ANANAS as we say in Czech or PINEAPPLE which I only learnt on our recent trip to Kauai has to grow for 2 years before harvest!!! If you knew that, good for you.


Asssuming it is known to lots of people, this magic fruit functions as a digestive aid and anti-inflamatory compound...the least to say. 


BUT mainly, helping me in pregnancy with enzymes so I can digest is quite a nice plus and for me quite the miracle right now.


Speaking of pregnancy, Sharon from FashionIsha Blog wrote a lovely post on pregancy clothing and as a fashion stylist and pregant second time, I have to say the looks LOOKED fabulous, check it out

Myself never shoping in pregancy retail, stretchy fabrics, body hugging silhouets, leather (with elastic waistband) and other skinny pants are my answer to it all. 

TIP: accentuate the slimmer areas of your body with the right shape of clothes!


Here is me yesterday, 27 weeks along: stretchy American Apparel pencil skirt and Merino wool top I wore before I was pregnant too. 




Who says that horizontal stripes on a prego belly are not working?? I think they are quite fun! But keep the  blouse body hugging, no joke.



My son took this unsharp photo...seriously, this look is very comfortable, almost too comfy and I don't need to look like any less fashionable than my "not" pregnant stylish girlfriends! 

Loving cute pregnant belly's!

Thanks for visiting and let me know if you have any pregnancy fashion (getting dressed) concerns and I would be happy to answer your questions and style you along!

XO, Z