Prepare for Cold Season with this Natural Flu Shot Recipe

Last year my whole family was struck down by the flu and multiple severe colds. After spending all of the holiday season sick last year I am determined to do whatever it takes to prevent the same from happening this year! So when I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and mildly sore throat, I dug up a recipe that a good friend sent me last year (after I had been sick on and off for nearly 2 months!). This recipe has been spread across the internet but I tried it last year and felt it worked so I'm trying it again.

I made this in my blender by juicing the lemons, adding 3 cups of frozen pineapple chunks (couldn't find pineapple juice - don't know why but the frozen pineapple worked great!) and adding several cloves of garlic (I found that the garlic is pretty strong so if you are scared off by the thought of consuming a whole bulb of garlic, start with a little). Then I added the honey, cayenne pepper and grated FRESH ginger, which I really prefer as it tastes great. Blended until smooth and drank 1 cup.

It is powerful but very refreshing! The pineapple really add sweetness and you can start with just a little cayenne pepper then add more depending on how hot you can stand it. As I drank it, I felt that the garlic and cayenne really went to work fast and probably killed any germ, cold or flu bug that could exist in my throat!
If you can't read the photo above, here are the ingredients:

Ingredients

6	lemons - use the juice only
1	bulb garlic (not clove, the whole cluster of garlic cloves)
2 tsp	grated ginger (or dry ginger powder)
3 c	pineapple juice
1/4 tsp	cayenne pepper
2 Tbs	honey

 Blend all ingredients thoroughly and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Take 1 cup 4 times a day until symptoms are resolved.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Stay healthy,
Sprout

12 Days of GREEN! Day 11: Green your Table - part 2!

Day 11: Green what you put on the table!

'Tis the season for cookies, treats, casseroles and roast beast!  It's inevitable and just an integral part of great family meals and holiday parties. Try to green what you put on the table AND what you eat by balancing all the great holiday foods with some great seasonal veggies.  Maybe using a veggie or two that you don't normally serve will make it more festive.  I personally love sauteed brussel sprouts!  I hated them as a kid, but then again they were always boiled, soggy and bland!  I went to a Mario Batali restaurant several years ago and had the most amazing sauteed brussel sprouts with shaved pecorino cheese that completely changed my attitude toward the the little mini cabbages!  I recreated the dish and often serve it as a side when the sprouts are in season or on sale and also for my family during the holidays.  Everyone loves them!  Here's what I do:
Get fresh brussel sprouts - firm and clean looking and slice them 1 or 2 times to form thick slices.
Sautee them in a hot pan or wok with a tablespoon of butter or 2 Tbspns of olive oil and 1 large clove of garlic, minced.  Saute over high heat about 5 mins or so, making sure to brown the brussel sprouts (those who watch Food Network as often as I, til they are caramelized) to bring out the good nutty flavor.  Add salt and pepper to your taste.  When done, sprinkle in about 1/4 cup minced or grated pecorino cheese (more or less depending on your taste but remember that these cheeses are more salty so don't add too much salt).  You can also substitute parmesano-romano or assiago cheese.  Toss in and serve.  To add a festive touch, you can also add toasted pine nuts (my fav!) or toasted hazelnuts - this really brings out the nuttiness of the brussel sprouts!

If you have a great veggie recipe that you like to serve around the holidays, please leave a comment below to share!

Thanks and HAPPY GREEN HOLIDAYS!!!

Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

My son Shea wanted to make cookies today - we often bake together on the weekends and today we really went all out!  First he got out a bunch of bowls, measuring cups, spoons and a whisk and started talking like he was on a cooking show.  I tried to get it on video, but as usual, was not fast enough and he didn't want to be on camera anymore.  Then we made a batch of corn muffins but afterwards he really wanted to make cookies too, so I looked around to see what we had on hand to decide what kind of cookies to make.  We had 3 over-ripe bananas and lots of oatmeal so I thought that would be good.  I also remembered I had some dried organic wild blueberries and thought that would go really well.  So I took the Oatmeal Raisin cookie recipe from the Quaker Oats container and modified it.  The end result was really really yummy!

Here's the recipe:

• 2 sticks margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1-1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 cups quick oats, uncooked
• 1 cup dried wild blueberries

Heat oven to 350. Beat together margarine/butter and sugar until creamy then add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Mix in bananas, stir, then add flour, baking soda and cinnamon and mix well.  Stir in oats and blueberries.  Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.  Makes about 4 dozen (I make mine a little smaller for the kids so it makes about 5 dozen).
You can replace the dried blueberries with any other dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, currants, or chopped up dried apples.

Click on any of the green links in my blogs to purchase that item at a great price through Amazon.com.

Enjoy!

Nothing says Summer like Homemade Salsa and Natural Chips!

Salsa is great all-year-round, but making it fresh with local or even home-grown ingredients is just something to look forward to every summer.  Fresh salsa is just the best!  I actually almost always make my own because it tastes so good fresh and is super-easy to make.  This year I am growing Roma tomatoes, Cherry peppers and cilantro in containers on my 6'x20' balcony right here in NYC! (along with lots of other things).

But first, I have to tell about my NEW favorite chip...Green Mountain Gringo Tortilla Strips!  These chips ROCK! We are kind of tortilla chip snobs and have tried just about every kind of chip lately looking for something that is lower priced, more natural but still taste good. These chips taste great - perfectly salted (not too salty and can be enjoyed plain), have excellent crunch and corn flavor and best of all - have an awesome shape!  The long rectangular shape are the perfect size for dipping and are just thick enough to hold any dip or salsa.  Because they are thicker, they also do not fall apart or break much during packing, shipping and displaying at the store - so more chips for dippin!  Best part - they are made with only 4 natural ingredients!  Masa Harina Corn Flour, Non-hydrogenated Canola Oil, Salt.  They have no preservatives, are cholesterol free, Gluten free and made from GMO free corn.  They taste like a tortilla chip is supposed to taste like - not greasy,  or with a hint of any flavor... just crispy corn flavor.  They also come in Blue Corn Tortilla Chips - my personal fav!  Buy these in bulk because if your house is like mine, they go really fast!  Amazon's price also cannot be beat!

So now that you have a great chip, here is a quick easy recipe for great salsa:

• 5-6 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 small or 1/2 larger onion (depends on your taste), chopped
• 1-2 small hot peppers (Cherry peppers are milder, Fresno & Jalapeno peppers are med-hot), chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 lime, squeezed
• small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (more or less depending on your taste) - fresh cilantro gives it that great summer-fresh flavor but you can also use dried (maybe a tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash of hot pepper sauce or dried hot pepper flakes to taste (if you like a little heat)
• Other things you can add if desired: chopped green or red peppers either raw or roasted or chopped tomatillo

If you like chunky salsa, just chop everything and mix in a bowl - chill for at least 30 mins.
If you like smoother or medium chunky salsa (I do!) put everything in a food processor or blender and just give it a little quick blending - or longer for really smooth salsa.  Chill for 30 mins.

Enjoy!

"Recycled" Muffins

With 2 toddlers in the house (often picky eaters), we always seem to have some left-overs in the house, or fruit / veggies that are past their peak.  My favorite way to use up (or recycle!) left-overs is to make mini muffins!  Who doesn't love a little muffin?  The kids sure do gobble them up so it's a great way to get them to eat their veggies!!  This is also a good way to re-use those left-overs instead of throwing them away...

I have made several varieties of this recipe: zucchini-carrot-banana, pumpkin-apple-ginger spice, peas-carrots-green beans with cornmeal and today's special, carrots-banana-blueberry.  You can use any combo of veggies and fruits, just put them all in a food processor or blender (add a little juice or water if it's too dry).  No matter what you put in them, you can make them yummy with honey, vanilla and cinnamon or other spices like ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  I usually make these low-sugar for the kids so you can increase the sugar to 1/2 cup if you need the sweetness.

makes about 56 mini muffins



2 cups wheat or unbleached white flour
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sugar
2-3 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 egg
3 cups blended, mashed or pureed vegetables & fruit (whole or mashed) (if the mixture is too thick or dry, you can add some fruit juice so it is more like the thickness of applesauce)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon (less if you don't love cinnamon) or any other spice you like


1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Spray mini muffin pans or rub with olive oil (or you can use muffin paper cups)
3. Mix all ingredients with fork or mixer on low speed - just till blended
4. Fill muffins 2/3 full with batter
5. Bake 15-20 minutes until or toothpick comes out clean
6. Remove from oven a let cool about 5 mins. in pan
7. Remove muffins from pan and let cool on a wire rack or wood cutting board
8. Store half in an air tight container.


These Freeze really well in an air tight container - let defrost on the counter over night

tip: If you don't have 3 cups of vegetables, you can add unsweetened apple sauce or mashed bananas; you can also add dried fruit like raisins to add some sweetness
substitution:  If you want corn-veggie muffins, use 1 cup flour and 1 1/2 cup of corn meal or one box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix (made in Michigan right down the road from my parents!)  I also make mini corn muffins with Jiffy mix + 1 can of creamed corn adding a couple TBSP of flour

Need a good mini-muffin pan? 
Click here to get a great one from Amazon.com.

Happy baking!