Breakfast with Chips!

No, it wasn't with Ponch or John from the California Highway Patrol.... and it wasn't breakfast with a bag of Doritos either.

Today we had a healthy breakfast thanks to CHIPS, the Coronary Health Improvement Project in Itasca County. Five folks from CHIPS showed up in our kitchen and served us with not only a healthy meal, but a tasty meal!

We had Biscuits and Gravy, Joyce and Arthur's bread, fruit & Rice Pudding. And best of all, we created a little community in our kitchen and in our conference room, people talking about changing eating habits, feeling better - both physically and mentally. Here's some of the recipes from the feast today. Look here for more!

Biscuits and Gravy

"Buttermilk" Drop Biscuits 3/4 cup plain soymilk or rice milk 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 3 Tb canola oil 1 Tb frozen apple juice concentrate (or other liquid sweetener) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour soymilk into small cup or bowl and stir in lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes to sour. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Place oil and juice concentrate in small cup and beat with fork to combine well. Add this to flour mixture and cut it in with fork until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add soymilk and stir batter with wooden spoon. The batter will be thick. Mist the baking sheet with nonstick spray and then drop dough onto it by larkge rounded spoonfuls to make 10 biscuits. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until golden. Transfer to a cooling rack. Best served hot or warm. (From Vegan Vittles) "Sausage" Gravy 1 cup water ½ cup raw cashews 2 cups water 1/3 cup flour ½ tsp salt 1 tsp chicken or beef-style season (vegetarian options include McKay's and Bill's Best) 1 tsp soy sauce 1 Tb nutritional yeast flakes ½ bag Morningstar Farms Sausage or Griller Crumbles (vegetarian soy product) In a saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to boil. Blend the remaining ingredients, except sausage crumbles, until creamy (best to add flour at the end of the blending). Take blended mixture and add it slowly to boiling water, stirring with a whisk until the pot returns to a boil. Stir in crumbles and serve hot over biscuits. Alternate Biscuit Recipe 1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 Tb baking powder 3 Tb Smart Balance or Earth Balance, cold 1 cup soy, rice, or skim milk Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flours and baking powder. Quickly cut in Smart or Earth Balance while cold. Add milk and mix lightly with a fork. Do not overmix. When mixture has almost come together, pour out on a floured board. Gently press about ½" thick (may need to flour the top a little if it's sticky). Take a cup dipped in flour and cutout biscuit rounds. Reshape scraps to get another biscuit or two out of the dough. Spray a shot of Pam where each biscuit will sit on a baking tray, and put in hot oven for about 15 minutes. Best served hot out of the oven. Makes about 10 biscuits. Rice Pudding 3 cups cooked brown rice 3 cups soy, almond, or rice milk 4-6 oz. coconut milk (optional) 1 Tb cornstarch 1½ Tb maple syrup Zest of ½ lemon Zest of ½ orange 2 tsp vanilla (less if you use vanilla soymilk) ¼ tsp nutmeg ¼ tsp cardamom ¼ tsp cinnamon 1/3 cup raisins 3 Tb sliced almonds 1 tsp sugar Combine everything in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top with almonds and sugar. You may then, if you wish, broil the mixture for about 8 minutes to toast almond and sugar topping. This step may be skipped. Best if chilled thoroughly before serving.

Think Healthy this Holiday Season

This email came in from KAXE's girl in the woods, baker and public health advocate, Amber:

I definitely enjoy baking during the winter months, however I usually make yeast breads and lefse, and rather few treats. As for the cookie question, I'm a big fan of spritz cookies with almond extract used as flavoring. Many listeners are probably familiar with these, they are a traditional variety made with chilled dough and the use of a press. It is important to use real butter for these cookies, for the flavor.

I want to remind listeners that while they are making treats this baking season, it's important to take care to use healthy, or healthier oils and fats. Any margarine or vegetable shortenings that contain "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils" are the worst and should be avoided at all costs. While health experts generally recommend REDUCING saturated fat intake to very small amounts, they also recommend ELIMINATING trans-fats, or those hydrogenated vegetable oils. This is because these fats are made in a lab, and are not found in nature, thus our bodies cannot metabolize them, and they affect our blood and cholesterol in a way much more severe than even animal fats and saturated plant fats (the traditional villains). This is why butter is preferable to margarine. Many recipes that call for margarine can also be made successfully with liquid vegetable oils, such as olive, walnut, grapeseed, canola, soybean, etc. If using olive oil in sweet treats buy a very light colored light flavored variety. There are also non-hydrogenated margarines available, and are generally marketed as such. "Earth balance", and "Smart balance" are two brands I know of. Always always read labels. This goes especially for snack foods.
It's really important to do all that we can to avoid coronary heart disease. Eliminating hydrogenated oils is essential. Remember ANY alternative found in nature is better for you. The holidays are a good excuse to bake some more wholesome homemade treats that are much better for us than those industrial packaged goods that tempt people from grocery store shelves! More information on dietary fats, and specifically hydrogenated oils, can be found on the Harvard School of Public Health Website

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html

Thanks for listening everybody, take care!