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Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup Clearly Organic Brown Sugar
1/3 cup water
3 Tablespoons Clearly Organic Butter, softened
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon Clearly Organic Ground Ginger
1 teaspoon Clearly Organic Ground Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl or standing mixer, beat together molasses, brown sugar, water, and softened butter. Combine until smooth. In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda, allspice, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir to combine dry ingredients. Then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, one cup at a time, stirring or beating with a mixer to evenly distribute.

Combine all ingredients and form dough into a ball. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly flour your counter and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with desired shapes and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes then allow cookies to cool on a wire rack. Decorate as desired.

Seasonal Foods for December

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

We often think of eating fresh seasonal foods during the summer months. However, December offers a wide variety of flavorful ripe produce. Holiday meals can be more colorful and nutritious with beets, Brussels sprouts and butternut squash. All of these vegetables are at their peak of freshness in December. Cauliflower, fennel and mushrooms are also seasonal delights late in the year.

When it comes to fruit, oranges, kiwi and grapefruit are just right during the winter months. Pomegranates, pears and persimmons are also excellent choices in December. All of these fruits make delightful additions to any meal or snack. Next time you’re at the store pick up some of your favorite seasonal produce.

Making Healthy Choices During The Holidays

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

Striking the right balance with food, family time, fun and relaxation around the holidays is not easy. Even if we have good intentions to eat healthier and exercise during the Christmas season we usually lose sight of that goal the minute the first cookie platter shows up. Here are a few simple tips to help you stay motivated during the busy holiday season.
1. Plan ahead. As you put more holiday events in your schedule be sure to also put your workout time in your calendar. Picking a day and time for exercise makes it far more likely to happen. Planning ahead also means keeping your kitchen well stocked with fresh vegetables and lean protein. Pre-chopping veggies or cooking meals in advance helps most people consume a more portion controlled balanced diet.
2. Try something new. Allow the change in your daily routine to bring change to your exercise regimen. Try a new class at the gym, sample some new YouTube workout videos or hire a personal trainer for the month.
3. Stay moving. Even if you can’t get in a structured workout you can always do a few sit ups, push ups or squats. Start your days with a quick heart rate jump by doing 30 squats, jumping jacks and some leg lifts.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

Place fresh cranberries and orange juice in a small sauce pot. Heat over medium heat. Add honey, granulated sugar and orange zest to the pot and bring to a boil. The cranberries will start to pop and become more liquid.

Reduce heat to medium low and let ingredients simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove cranberry sauce from heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Contents will jell upon standing. Cranberry sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Tips For Roasting Vegetables

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

A roasted vegetable done right can turn any veggie naysayer into a believer. The best part about roasting vegetable is that virtually anything goes, no complex recipes need to be followed. Most people have everything they need (oil, salt and pepper) for roasting already in their pantry. If a few simple rules are heeded, then you can be on your way to cooking up flavor rich vegetables everyone will love.
 
1. Oven Temperature. Be sure you put veggies in a hot oven. I think 400 to 425 degrees is the best roasting temp. Any more than 425 degrees can blacken and burn vegetables on the outside without cooking the middle. Any lower than 400 degrees would extend cooking time and not provided the desired toasty edges that makes roasting so delicious.
2. Give your veggies space. Spread your vegetables out on the baking dish. Leave a generous amount of space between each piece. If the food is stacked on top of each other or to close it will steam and not roast. Don’t be afraid to split up your product. It still works great to roast two pans at a time, just keep them in the middle of the oven and rotate the pans halfway through cooking.
3. Don’t skimp on the oil and spices. Add enough oil for all the veggies to be coated but not so much that oil starts to pool at the bottom of your bowl or on the roasting pan. Same general guide for salt, pepper or any desired spices, add enough so that each piece looks evenly seasoned.

Pumpkin Seeds

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

One of the many joys during the Fall season is carving pumpkins. It’s always been a tradition in my home to cut open our large pumpkin and scoop out the seeds for roasting. Roasting pumpkin seeds is fun, easy and delicious. I like roasting my seeds at a high temperature for 7 to 8 minutes. This makes them crunchy and crisp.

Here is an easy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place pumpkin seeds in a colander in your sink. Rinse seeds and remove stringy pumpkin pieces. Pour seeds onto a rimmed pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Drizzle seeds with olive oil and sprinkle on desired amount of salt & pepper. Then toss to combine. Roast on 375 degrees for 7 minutes or until seeds are slightly brown and crisp. Other unique and flavorful spice combinations are garlic, cayenne pepper and salt or you can also make sweet roasted seeds by adding butter, sugar and cinnamon. Watch the Clearly Organic blog for unique recipes including roasted pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Bread

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

1 1/2 cups Clearly Organic Flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup Clearly Organic Sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pumpkin purée

1/2 cup Clearly Organic Olive Oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon Clearly Organic Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. In a separate small bowl whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, water and spices. Combine flour mixture, pumpkin mixture and chocolate chips. Stir until just combine. Do not over mix. Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Health Benefits of Walnuts

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

Walnuts are a super food that contain many beneficial nutritional components. Incorporating walnuts and a variety of other tree nuts into your daily routine not only adds flavor and texture it can boost your overall wellbeing.

Here are 3 benefits of eating walnuts consistently:

1. The omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in walnuts make them the perfect food to help with memory enhancement and cognitive functioning.

2. Out of the entire tree nut family walnuts have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants. Which means these tiny nuts can help prevent the growth of certain types of cancers.

3. The monounsaturated fats in walnuts help keep your heart strong. The nutrients in walnuts help lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and raise your good cholesterol.

Consider adding walnuts to your next salad, bowl of oats, yogurt or cottage cheese. These small nuts pack a big nutritional punch.

Improving Your Lunch

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

Whether you’re packing a lunch for your child to take to school or you’re packing food for yourself at the office it’s easy to fall into the routine of bringing the same thing. Here are a few creative lunch ideas that the whole family will love.

1. Balance is best. The most nutritious and filling lunches are ones with protein, vegetables and natural carbohydrate from foods like fruit and oats. Some of the classic convince lunch items are still great options. Apple sauce and mixed fruit cups are great ways to add a serving of natural carbohydrate to any lunch. Combine them with a string cheese or a deli meat roll-up and you have a perfect carbohydrate and protein blend.

2. Deli meat roll-up. Take a slice of your favorite cheese and wrap a piece of deli meat around it. You can also place spinach leaves and spicy mustard in the roll-up for an extra kick. I love munster cheese and spinach wrapped with a slice of turkey. Bring two or three of these roll-ups with a piece of fruit and you’ll have a protein packed lunch.

3. Vegetable based pasta salad. In July we had a recipe for Picnic Pasta Salad. The mix included broccoli, peppers, cheese, chicken, Italian sausage, artichoke hearts and more! This delicious blend of wholesome foods combined with Italian dressing is a great lunch selection. You can make it ahead of time, mix & match different vegetables to fit your taste and add variety.

4. Breakfast for lunch. A hard boiled egg with oatmeal is not only a power breakfast but it can be a power lunch as well. Enjoy a hard boiled egg with overnight oats & chia seeds (recipe on blog) and you’ll have energy to make it through a long afternoon.

Sweet Corn And Cherry Tomato Salad

Written by novagiant on . Posted in Wellness.

2 cups fresh sweet corn off the cob
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons Clearly Organic Olive Oil
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Clearly Organic Sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Clearly Organic Black Pepper
 
Cut corn kernels off the cob and sauté in a skillet for 5 to 8 minutes or until kernels are a vibrant color and soft to touch. Let cool. While kernels are cooling combine basil, oil, lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk vigorously until well combined. In a large salad bowl combine corn, cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Pour dressing over the top and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.