Quiche

We love eggs at our house!  What's not to love about a food that is not only delicious but also contains all of the known nutrients except for vitamin C!  Read more about this awesome phenomenon in my educational post about eggs...Egg-stremely Deceiving.  One of our favorite things to do is have breakfast for dinner, we have cleverly named this "Brinner."  One of our favorite brinner meals is Quiche!

For the Crust

*Preheat oven to 350

• 1 1/4 cup whole grain all-purpose flour (recipe here) or regular flour, but this stuff is way better!
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil (one of the few times I use olive oil over coconut oil ... see why here)
• Enough water to make a dough (I go to my fridge spout and count to 2, you don't need much)

Mix all ingredients just until dough is formed, avoid overmixing as it will make the crust less flakey.  Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap (this makes it easier to transfer the dough to the pie plate) and roll it out into a circle a few inches wider than your pie plate.  Transfer the dough to the pie plate with the plastic wrap side up, once you have it evenly positioned over the plate press the dough into the plate then remove the plastic wrap .  Roll the excess dough around the edge of the pie plate to make the crust and use the end of a utensil to "flute" the edges.

For the Filling

• 5 or 6 large eggs
• 1 cup of organic milk
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach (I use Cascadian Farms organic)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 ounces cheese, shredded (I use raw smoked cheddar, available at Mama Jeans)
• 1/2 package of Turkey bacon or your favorite breakfast meat (I use Applegate Farms because it my opinion it is hands down the best!)
• Salt to taste (I use about 1 tsp)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and then pour into your crust.  Place in the oven at 350 for approximately 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.  Serve with a side of fresh fruit!

Egg-stremely Deceiving

In my opinion eggs are one of nature's perfect foods!  They are a simple food, well liked by most people and yet grossly overlooked as a "health" food because of the bad reputation they have obtained for being high in cholesterol.  Want to know the truth?  Well, the truth is that this "high cholesterol" business is hogwash!  The coolest thing about eggs is that they contain all known nutrients, except for vitamin C!  What other food can say that?!?!  They are good sources of fat-soluable vitamins A and D as well as certain carotenoids that guard against free-radical damage to the body.  They also contain lutein, which has been shown to prevent age-related macular degeneration.

So... you may be asking yourself, how did they get such a bad reputation?  Good question!  The answer is, it's all in where your eggs come from!  From time to time you will hear me get on my "soap box" and tell you that you should absolutely know where all your food comes from... and this is one of those times.  Just as with many other foods, all eggs are not created equally!  There is significant research that shows eggs from chickens that roam in pastures, notice I did not say chickens that have "access" to pastures, but ones that are actually raised outside have a vastly different nutritional profile.  If you test an egg from a carton off the shelf of Walmart and an egg from a local farmer who raises chickens outside, one of the most significant differences you will find is the omega-3 content of the egg. The pasture raised chicken has a much higher omega-3 fatty acid content, as well having a much lower total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and omega-6 content!  And what do we know about omega-3's?  They play a huge role in heart health and can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer!  So... now you may be thinking that the next time you go to buy a carton of eggs you will just look for the label that says "free-range" or better yet "organic" because they will be better right?  Wrong... unfortunately big companies have been extremely deceiving about the use of the words placed on egg cartons.  I am just learning some of this information myself and am astounded at what I am learning about some companies who market their eggs as "organic" because technically they are fed an organic diet but are by no means pasture raised.  This is the type of farm you want your eggs to come from...

This is good!  Ample access to the outdoors while still having a henhouse for nesting.

This is bad!  There are approximately 16,000 "organic" hens in this henhouse.  This company markets them as free range and organic because they have "access" to the outdoors and are fed an organic diet.

Here is a sample view of the inside of the henhouse.  Does it look like these hens have access to the outdoors?

So... you do the math?  Which eggs from these 2 henhouses do you think will be more nutrient dense?  Not only do the hens in the overcrowded henhouse not have the ability to diversify their diet outside,  but have you thought about where all their poop goes?  Ummmm.... yuck!  Going back to  my food philosophy; you are what you eat, and there is no possible way a hen raised in this environment could produce nutrient dense eggs.  And thus the mystery is solved as to why eggs got such a bad reputation!  If you are wondering about specific brands of eggs and their farming practices here is fairly comprehensive report.  Organic-Egg Scorecard

So... where do you go from here?  My advice would be to find a local farmer who raises chickens, or go to your local farmers market or health food store and inquire about the farming practices of the places they receive their eggs.  This is one situation where I would say buying local, even if it's not organic, is far better than buying from a major organic brand off the shelf of a grocery store.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This is arguably the best BBQ pizza you will ever eat!  My husband would be the one who would argue this!  We made this with some friends the other night and per her request I am posting the recipe! Here you go Melissa... :o)

Pizza Crust Dough

• 2 cups water at 80 degrees.  (To achieve this I usually microwave tap water for 15 sec)
• 4 Tbsp Coconut Oil (Why Coconut Oil?)
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 cups Whole Grain All-purpose flour (Recipe Found Here)
• 3 cups Whole Wheat Bread Flour (if you do not wish to make whole grain all-purpose flour you may substitute 2 extra cups of whole wheat bread flour or another flour of your choice)
• 3 tsp Bread Machine Yeast

Place all these ingredients in your bread machine and program it for the DOUGH setting.  In my bread machine this process takes about 5 min to throw in the machine and then the machine takes 1 hour and 20 min to make the dough.  The recipe makes 2 regular pizza crusts or if you would prefer thin crust you can cut the recipe in half.  When the dough is ready preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Roll dough into 2 pizza crusts and use a fork to poke lots of holes throughout each crust (this will prevent bubbles in your pizza's).  Next, partially bake each crust for about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and your ready for toppings...

For the Topping

• 3/4 pound chicken breast
• 1 Tbsp of your favorite grill seasoning (I use mesquite)
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp dried cayenne pepper
• 8 oz Cheddar Cheese (my favorite is raw smoked cheddar from Mama Jeans)
• 2 small tomatoes (seeded and chopped)
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small jalapeno pepper
• 2 Tbsp cilantro leaves (I usually use much more, but I really like cilantro)
• 2 Tbsp thyme leaves
• 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
• Coarse Salt
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• Your favorite BBQ sauce

Combine grill seasoning, paprika, chili powder, and cayenne pepper and use to season chicken breasts. You can either grill the chicken (my preference) or heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil in a screamin hot skillet and cook chicken about 2 min on each side.  When chicken is fully cooked dice it up.  Combine tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and thyme.  Make a garlic paste by adding a generous pinch of course salt to the minced garlic and mash it with the flat of a knife or spoon.  Add paste and juice of lime to the salsa and mix thoroughly.  Spread your favorite BBQ sauce over each pizza crust then scatter chicken, salsa, and cheese evenly over each pizza.  Bake 12-15 minutes more until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

Good Grains

Let me just start this post off by saying I do my best to get the majority of my carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, but sometimes, well, more like a lot of the time, I just get this overwhelming desire to bake something!  It is because of this that I have developed what I believe to be the healthiest form of whole grain "all-purpose" flour.  I have been using this concoction for a couple years now and have found it to work in nearly every recipe that calls for all-purpose flour, whether it be cookies, muffins, breads certain types of cakes, and even pizza dough.

Now, for those of you who are used to using enriched bleached white flour, you might find the taste and texture of this to be a bit more grainy, however, if you are used to using whole wheat flour you will likely find this mixture to be less grainy but packed with a whole lot more nutrients!  Speaking of bleached enriched flour, if you are using this you should stop!  Its terrible for you, and what's worse is that it is the first ingredient on almost every store bought bakery item.  The short version of how it is made is they take whole wheat and process it so heavily that every ounce of anything nutritious is completely removed, then they add chlorine to it to make it white so it looks prettier, and then they take man made versions of a few of the things they processed out of the wheat and add it back in... thus making it "enriched."  So the next time your at the grocery store shopping for bread, crackers, pasta, whatever it may be, check the label, even if it is advertised as a whole wheat or whole grain item, more often than not enriched flour is still the first ingredient!  Sometimes they will leave out the bleaching process but you will likely have to read 5-10 ingredients down the list to find the whole wheat or whole grain flour in it that is being advertised!  Not cool!  

While whole wheat flour is certainly not bad for you, it's not quite as nutritious as the media makes it out be.  There are many other grains available in the form of flour that should be incorporated into our diets, each with different nutrients to offer.  After doing much research on which would be the best one to use for everyday cooking and baking and getting absolutely nowhere I got the novel idea to get several different varieties, mix them all together in a big jar, and Voila, my whole grain all-purpse flour was born!

So... where do you begin?  Well, the great thing about this process is it is totally customizable to each persons taste or nutrition preferences.   I don't think I have ever made the exact same batch twice.  But, just as an example, these are some of the leftover bags I have sitting in my pantry at the moment.

You can typically find a variety of flours in the bulk foods section at your local health food store.  I like the selection at "Mama Jeans" but many grocery stores carry a brand called "Bob's Red Mill" which also has several varieties to choose from.  I am a huge fan of sprouted grains so I buy as many of those as I can each time.  If you are unfamiliar with sprouted grains it is a natural process that allows the seed grains to germinate which initiates a chemical transformation in the phytates on the exterior of the seed that makes the nutrition within the seed available for digestion.  Here is a list of the most common flours I tend to use in no particular order.  I always buy organic and sprouted when possible.

• Oat Flour - Has a very mild flavor so I tend to use more of this than other more grainy varieties because I'm not a huge fan of grainy texture.  This is a popular gluten free option.  High in fiber and thiamin.  
• Spelt Flour- A non-wheat flour but still in the wheat family so it is not gluten free.  Has a light slightly nutty flavor, also one that I use more heavily in my mixture due to it's lack of grainy texture.  Good source of vitamin B12, manganese, niacin, copper, phosphorus, protein, and fiber.
• Kamut Flour- A high protein flour in the wheat family but is commonly tolerated by people with wheat sensitivities.  A great source of selenium, an antioxidant known for helping maintain a healthy immune system and guard against cancer.
• Barley Flour- A non-wheat flour very high in fiber and one of the lowest on the glycemic index.
• Millet Flour- A gluten free flour that is high in iron, B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium
• Rye Flour- A whole grain, high fiber flour abounding in nutrients such as manganese, fiber, tryptophan, phosphorus, and magnesium.  
• Buckwheat Flour- A high protein, gluten free flour.  Also high in fiber, amino acids, niacin, copper, magnesium and flavenoids which are phytonutrients that protect against disease by acting as antioxidants.

So there you have it!  I typically use equal parts of each of the different flours with the exception of a few of the less grainy ones.  When I'm finished it looks something like this...

Questions about Quinoa?

Quinoa is all the rage right now in the health food world, and for good reason!  It is what I like to call a superfood, meaning it's too good for you to not eat it!  Quinoa is actually a seed, however, when cooking it behaves more like a grain such as rice.  Pre-cooked it looks like this... 

After cooking it puffs up much like rice to look something like this...

Why love quinoa?

• It is packed with 9 amino acids which makes it a complete protein!  So it tastes like a grain but without the carbs!  Could it get any better??
• It is rich in fiber with 6 grams per 1/4 cup... that's more than an apple!
• It's packed with vitamins and minerals such as iron, riboflavin, magnesium, and vitamin B2.
• Its wheat and gluten free for those of you with special diet considerations.
• It is very low on the glycemic index meaning your blood sugar doesn't spike, it is digested slowly which will make you feel fuller longer.
• It cooks quicker than rice taking only 10-15 minutes.
• It has a mild nutty flavor that mixes well with many different cuisines similar to rice.

Following is one of my favorite quinoa recipes, it has become a staple in our home, but I use quinoa as a substitute for rice in many other recipes as well.  

Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro

1 Tbsp coconut oil   (why coconut oil?)

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup quinoa rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups water

1 15 oz can black beans

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Feta cheese to taste

Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and red pepper and saute until beginning to soften, about 3-5 minutes.  Stir in next 4 ingredients.  Add water; bring to boil.  Cover.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until quinoa is almost tender, about 14 minutes.  Add beans and cilantro, cook uncovered until water is fully absorbed. about 3 minutes.  Stir in Feta cheese if desired and serve.

Cooking Oil Conundrum

Before I dive into posting about all of my favorite healthy foods and meals I felt it appropriate to discuss an ingredient found more often than not in recipes.  There are essentially 3 types of fat categories that oils fall into, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated.  Based on what we often hear in the media one would likely feel reasonably confident that the oils in the saturated fat category would be the least healthy.  Well friends, I am here to tell you that couldn't be farther from the truth!  Let's take a look at each of these a little closer.  Keep in mind that when talking about these types of fats for cooking we are discussing them in terms of consuming them after heat is applied (because that's generally what happens when you cook), some but not all of the oils listed are much better for you if consumed unheated.  

• Polyunsaturated- this is the most highly reactive type of fat, which leaves them most prone to oxidation and free-radical production when exposed to heat and light.  Most of the oils in this category are already highly processed and refined before they ever make it to the shelves of the grocery store and then we take them home and heat them some more which makes them the most inflammatory inside our body due to their high reactivity to heat and light.  This inflammation is what causes many degenerative diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.  The oils that typically fall into this category are your "vegetable" or soybean oils, cottonseed oil, safflour oil, and corn oil to name a few.

• Monounsaturated- this type of fat is somewhat reactive to heat.  It is known as a heart healthy fat, but when speaking in terms of cooking oil it literally falls somewhere in between the saturated and polyunsaturated fats, meaning that when heat is applied you lose many of the health benefits the oil is said to provide.  This category is where you will find the most popular cooking oil known as extra virgin olive oil.  While EVOO is known as a great source of phytochemicals (known for drastically reducing the risk of cancer) it is best consumed at room temperature.

• Saturated- these are much more stable and less inflammatory than unsaturated and much less reactive to heat and light inside and outside the body, which makes these the best oils for cooking because they can withstand incredibly high amounts of heat without compromising benefits  Coconut oil and real butter fall into this category.  Coconut oil has been linked to lowering cholesterol, promoting weight loss and a healthy digestive tract, as well as having many many other health benefits!

Surprised??  It helps so much to know the science behind the foods we consume.  Who would have thought that a saturated fat would be the best kind of oil to use for cooking or baking?  So, if it isn't obvious already my go to cooking oil is hands down coconut oil.  I could easily write an entire post about the benefits of coconut oil in general but the fact that it can withstand very high heat just makes it that much more perfect.  Saturated fats derived from animal sources have such a bad reputation right now so it is so easy to assume the same to be true for saturated fats from plant derived sources, but you have just learned that it is actually quite the opposite!  Why the difference?  I'll save that for a later post...

I have used many different coconut oils over the years but this is currently what is in my pantry because it was the best value at Mama Jeans last week.

My Food Philosophy

I am by no means a food or nutrition expert, nor do I claim to be, but for some reason I have become incredibly interested and passionate about the subject and have since spent countless hours researching all things food related.  After years of people asking me question after question about a particular food I am eating or preparing, and me racking my brain to remember why exactly I began eating the food in the first place, I decided to start this blog to keep track of it all in one place.  That being said, here are a few of my philosophies on food...

• You are what you eat... literally!  
• Every 35 days your skin replaces itself and your body makes new cells from the food you eat!  That's crazy cool right?  Or scary... depending on what you eat!  There are so many more examples I could give of this... like the fact that this is true for the plant an animal products we consume as well,  but the bottom line is, you should care about what you put in your body!

• I don't eat anything that doesn't taste good!
• If I discover a new food that is worth eating, I will find a way to make it taste good!  Period.

• Everything in moderation... even dessert!
• I don't believe in adhering to any special diet.  I'm not a vegan but I believe the majority of your diet should be focused on fruits and vegetables.  I do not stick to a raw food diet but I believe you should eat raw foods with every meal.  I believe in a high protein diet but you won't hear me preaching low carbohydrates, in fact, carbs can be one of the most nutritious parts of your diet.  Anyways, you get the point, everything in moderation.  

• I don't count calories... or fat... or carbs... or anything else for that matter.
• I believe if you are filling your diet with fresh, unprocessed, non genetically modified (GMO), whole foods then there is no need to  pay much attention to the numbers because your nutritional density will more than compensate for it.

• Organic is always best when available!
• I could go on forever about my feelings on this subject but in short I believe there is sufficient evidence to support eating an organic diet.  I do however realize that cost can be a huge factor in ones ability to switch to a completely organic diet so below you will find a diagram of the food most necessary to buy organic as well as the least.