Chayote radish salad

Recipe courtesy of Vegetarian Times Magazine


Chayote radish salad

• 2 Tbs. lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• 1–2 drops hot sauce, optional
• 2 chayote squash, diced (2 cups)
• 1 bunch radishes, sliced (1 cup)
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced (½ cup)
• 4 cups watercress or arugula

1. Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl. Keep at room temperature.
2. Cook chayotes in large pot of boiling,salted water 10 minutes, or until tender.Drain, and cool.
3. Combine all ingredients. Toss well. Serve immediately

Starfruit Pudding

A recipe from raweppicurean.net.

Starfruit Pudding
The exotic fragrance of star fruit and its succulent flavor will tantalize your taste buds. Star fruit is abundantly rich in vitamin C and fiber, as is the pear and apple in this recipe.

• 1 star fruit, seeded, save 2 slices for garnish
• 1 pear, cored, cut into pieces
• 1 apple, cored, cut into pieces

Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender [you can even use a food processor]. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Eat well, stay well while saving time and money

Excerpts from an article in the Minneapolis MN Star Tribune by Sarah Moran, 11/15/09

"I encourage people to merge their food and health care budgets because [eating well] is preventive health care," said Taiha Wagner, a practical nurse, lifestyle educator and president of Just One Bite Inc. in Eden Prairie.

And you don't have to give up anything in order to eat healthier, said Brenda Langton, owner of Cafe Brenda in Minneapolis and a natural-food expert. "Really, it's about all these new wonderful foods that will enter your world -- embrace it and have fun with it, enjoy it and reap its rewards."

Follow this simple checklist to get on the path to healthier eating for a healthier self. You can improve your health while saving time and money.

1. Read labels.
2. Avoid mystery ingredients.
3. Avoid trans fats.
4. Say no to high-fructose corn syrup.
5. Don't buy genetically modified.
6. Cut out MSG, or monosodium glutamate.
7. Reconsider your supermarket.
8. Choose produce strategically.
   Eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible.
   Buy organic for the "Dirty Dozen" -- the 12 most chemical-laden produce -- but stick with conventional for the "Clean Fifteen," 15 items with low chemical residue.
   
   Dirty Dozen: Peach, apple, bell pepper, celery, nectarine, strawberry, cherry, kale, lettuce, grape, carrot, pear.
   
   Clean Fifteen: Onion, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomato, sweet potato.
   
9. Check your meat.
10. Increase healthful fats.
11. Use whole grains.
12. Buy better milk.
13. Plan ahead.
14. Prep ahead.
15. Invest in cooking.
16. Get creative. Buy limes in bulk to save cash. Squeeze the juice into ice cube trays for fresh lime juice in no time.
    

How to choose a starfruit

Starfruit start green and turn yellow then orange starting the center. Starfruit is considered ripe starting around 50% yellow. Starfruit when green are tart with the taste turning sweeter as the color changes. If you like your starfruit tart, look for Asian starfruit. Florida starfruit are generally much sweeter.

The starfruit's points will turn brown as the fruit ripens. You can always take a carrot peeler and trim off the brown tips. if desired.

You can eat a starfruit like an apple or like an ear of corn - chewing your way down each prong of the "star" until you're left with a core. Slicing the starfruit into small stars is the most popular way to enjoy the fruit.

Health benefits of fruits and vegetables

Excerpts from the UK's Department of Health's web site.

I've ranted about the US government's food pyramid before, so I won't go into it again. Needless to say I find that the UK's Department of Health is a much more viable resource. Fortunately for Americans, the UK health agency's advice lacks being hideously tainted with lobbist money.

This article is to the point. Eat fruits and vegetables, you can't get the same benefits from a 'fruit roll-up' or 'vegetable drink'. If this is socialist healthcare bring it on.

Direct health benefits

By eating at least 5 portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables, you:

1. Reduce significantly the risk of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke by up to 20%. Just by increasing your diet to an additional 1 fruit or vegetable lowers the risk of coronary heart disease by 4% and the risk of stroke by 6%
2. Help prevent 1/3 of all cancers. Only quiting smoking is more effective.
3. Help lower blood pressure.
4. Delay the development of cataracts
5. Reduce the symptoms of asthma
6. Improve bowel function
7. Manage diabetes better

Why not a vitamin or vitamin fortified cereal?

The reason why fruit and vegetables are so beneficial is because of their array of compounds. As well as vitamins and minerals, fruit and vegetables also contain many complex plant components (called phytochemicals), including flavonoids, glucosinilates and phyto-oestrogens.

Some of the vitamins and phytochemicals are also antioxidants, destroying free radicals in the body. These free radicals are known to have a role in causing cancer as well as other harmful effects.

It appears that the benefits of fruit and vegetables stem not only from the individual components, but also from the interactions between these components. Dietary supplements containing isolated vitamins or minerals do not appear to have the same beneficial effects as fruit and vegetables themselves. Indeed, in some studies, supplements caused more harm than good.

Food can impact your mood

The mood influencer we know and love the best - caffeine and its cousins (theophylline found in tea) and theobromine (found in chocolate). Eagerly taken to stimulate mental alertness, the amount of caffefine varies from the 10-50mg found in soft drinks to 100-175mg for a cup of drip-made coffee. Red Bull has 80 mg.

Want to feel calm? Feeling anxious? It's a good-enough excuse to indulge in dark chocolate, but beware the calming benefits are maxed out after only 1/4 an ounce. No need to eat the entire candy bar.

Chocolate also triggers the release of endorphins, natural opiates which make the body feel “balanced” and de-sensitized to pain. Chocolate has tryptophan, an essential amino acid that helps produce the mood-calming and anxiety-reducing neurotransmitter, serotonin.

Serotonin is also produce by eating complex carbohydrates. Although other factors are at play, consumption of complex carbohydrates may provide a means for controlling stress.

Also promoting a relaxed but alert mental state is theanine – an amino acid found in green and black teas. Theanine actually slows the frequency of brain waves, measurable on the surface of the head which improves learning performance, mental acuity, and concentration.

You can achieve the same effect by listening to classical music, hence the recommendation of playing classical musical to babies. This brain wave state facilitates learning of, e.g., foreign languages.

If you're tired and moody, you might think eating simple sugars and refined carbohydrates can help. It can creating a wide mood swing that often ends in exhaustion with hints of depression.

Unfortunately American consumes about 150 lbs of refined sugars and about 400 lbs of refined carbohydrates. This elevates blood sugar levels causing insulin to be released which may cause a precipitous drop in blood sugar. When that happens, some tend to express more primitive and aggressive behaviors.

Based on an article in Prepared Foods Exclusive: The Food – Mood Enigma by John J. Smith, Ph.D.

Healthy benefits - papaya, starfruit, Uniq Fruit and guava

Excerpts from an article called Unique Choices for Fruitful Diet on Natural Home Remedies.com.

Papaya – Regular consumption of papaya endows with liberal discharge of papain enzyme in body. Papain enzymes are acknowledged as one of the most efficient enzymes that are capable to break proteins and natural source to enhance immune system which further helps in reduced chances of inflammatory diseases.

An increased intake of papaya assists in coping with deficiencies of potassium, folate and vitamin C. it is also a very popular food among diet conscious people owing to the petite quantity of calorie present i.e. half papaya comprises only fifty nine calories.

Star Fruit – Daily consumption of this Asian fruit helps in prevention from development of cardiac ailments. Since ages, star fruit had been used to reduce inflammations of cardiovascular system owing to ample quantities of polypheonols antioxidant obtained through consumption. A person experiencing deficiency of vitamin A, dietary fiber or potassium should increasingly consume star fruit several times during a day. Like papaya, star fruit also contains petite quantity of calories.

Uniq Fruit – The usage of ugli fruit is very popular in Jamaican home remedies for common cold and flu. Consuming this fruit at least three times a day helps to boost immune system and discharges liberal quantities of vitamin C and carotenoids in body. The calorie content of this fruit is only forty five. It is recommended for persons experiencing frequent attacks of cold or nasal congestion to eat ugli fruit regularly for at least one month for permanent relief.

Guava – Guava is a seasonal fruit. Inclusion of guava in an all-fruit diet extraordinarily strengthens the immune system and fulfills almost seventy percent of body’s daily vitamin C and requirement. An increased intake of guava fruit also helps in confining the production of LDL cholesterol and free radicals in body. Individuals with impaired or blurred vision should also consume guava fruit to defuse free radicals present in retinal portion of eye