Power Foods

Dairy-Free Mushroom Soup Recipe

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This recipe is great for those who are doing an elimination diet where you are allowed to use mushrooms. The soup can be used as strictly a soup or as a sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of cubed mushrooms
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic (~1-2 cloves of garlic)
  • 2-3 tbsp of parsley
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • black pepper and salt to taste
  • 1 cup of coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup – 1 cup water

Directions:

  1. On medium heat, lightly fry mushrooms in oil, stirring continuously.
  2. Cook mushrooms until the liquid is released from them.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and enough liquid to achieve desired consistency.
  4. Heat liquid until it reaches adequate temperature.
  5. Optional – blend to a puree with a hand blender if desired. Be careful to not blend at high speeds due to hot liquid potentially splashing.
  6. Now it is ready to eat or add to another dish as a sauce. Enjoy!

Have you benefited from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Dr. Elisha Cook ND by calling 519-537-7058 and book your appointment today!

Sautéed Garlic and Tomato Sauce on Zucchini Recipe

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Garlic and Tomato Saute recipeThose who are following a Paleo or Mediterranean style diet will love this recipe! This recipe is great for those who are trying to avoid gluten, dairy, and ultimately refined carbs. It can also be a vegan option if the meat/fish option is avoided. This recipe also requires a spiral sliver or spiralizer. The recipe is also best done in stages as opposed to adding all of the ingredients at once. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
  • 2 zucchinis
  • approximately 625g of grape tomatoes halved – or more
  • 1/3 cup of basil (or Italian seasoning)
  • Optional: Shrimp
  • Optional: Feta cheese

Directions:

  1. Heat the oil on low – medium heat.
  2. Add in the minced garlic and sauté until softened (approximately 5 min).
  3. If you are adding in shrimp, add it to the garlic mixture and cook for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat.
  4. Add in halved tomatoes and let cook for approximately 10 minutes (this also depends on the desired consistency of the sauce you prefer. For a “chunky” sauce, cook for less time.)
  5. Spiral cut the zucchini, and add it to the pan, cooking for approximately 10 minutes or until “noodles” are soft.
  6. Remove from pan and serve.
  7. For extra flavour, you can add feta cheese to the top if this works with your specific diet.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Dr. Elisha Cook ND by calling 519-537-7058 and book your appointment today! 

 

 

Power Food: Apples

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ApplesIn the western hemisphere there is an old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Though this expression seems old, outdated, and simplistic; there is some truth to it. Apples have quite the diverse set of health benefits and health promoting properties that make it a mean power food!

Components of Apples

Surprisingly, one of the most beneficial components of an apple is its skin. The skin of the apple contains approximately 50% of the insoluble fiber and vitamin C content of an apple. In addition to containing vitamin C and insoluble fiber, apples also contain a healthy dose of antioxidants, quercetin (great for allergies and inflammation), pectin (helps prevent cholesterol from building in blood vessels), and B vitamins.

Therapeutic Potential

Based on the components listed above, apples may have some of the following health benefits (most of which have been researched and proven):

  • Reduced risk of lung cancer by 50% with regular apple consumption
  • Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease by 13-22%
  • Reduced risk of stroke
  • Reduced LDL (Bad) cholesterol by 23% in individuals who ate an apple every day for six months
  • Increased HDL (Good) cholesterol by 4% in individuals who ate an apple every day for six months
  • Reduced risk of asthma
  • Improved lung functioning
  • Reduced risk of type II diabetes
  • Reduced blood glucose levels
  • May inhibit cholera toxin (still being explored)
  • Increased potential to lose weight with consumption of three apples per day (this is due to the insoluble fiber mentioned earlier)

Storing and Processing

With many fruits and vegetables, storing them for any length of time decreases the nutritional impact that it can have. However, apples can be stored for 60 days with little to no impact on their nutritional quality. Research has shown that after 60 days of cold storage, apples had the same antioxidant potential as they did when compared to day 1. This trend is not consistent across different apple types though. For example, a red delicious apple will retain its nutritional quality far longer than a golden delicious apple.

The processing of apples and the impact on their nutritional benefits rests mainly in whether the peal is used. Ultimately, the apples will be more beneficial if the peal is intact. In addition, when the pulp of the apple is disposed of, for example in juicing, much of the potential health benefits are lost. When an apple is juiced, it has only 10% of the antioxidant potential of a whole apple that is eaten. Does this mean that juicing an apple is not good for you? Of course not. Adding an apple to your juice can add a nice flavour, it simply may not provide as much of a health benefit as you would think.

What about pesticides? 

Much like other fruits and vegetables, pesticides are commonly used on apples. Some would argue that this is to a greater extent on apples than other fruits. Ultimately, this does bring up concerns about eating them and how to best clean them. The best way to clean an apple is probably the simplest. All that is necessary is using water and rubbing the skin of the apple. Because there are only low levels of pesticide residue on the surface of the apples, this method of cleaning the apple keeps many beneficial properties of the apple intact while still removing majority of the pesticides from the surface. However, for those more sensitive to chemicals, a more thorough approach may be needed.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Elisha Cook via the contact portion of this website.

Sources:

http://www.livescience.com/44686-apple-nutrition-facts.html

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-3-5.pdf%C3%AF%C2%BF%C2%BD%C3%83%C5%93

Sauce-less/Salt and Pepper Chicken Recipe

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Having completed the elimination diet previously and restricted my diet from certain substances for my own health concerns, I found it challenging to find any sauces that fit my needs. I have also found that many of the sauces contain excess sugar and added preservatives, making them less than ideal for a healthy diet. Finally, my husband did something so simple to our chicken that we now use all the time! Simple, easy and delicious! Rather than using a sauce, we do more of a rub for the chicken that works out great! The ingredients below are rough estimates as it depends on your preference, health concerns and dietary restrictions. Most of the ingredients we do to taste.

Ingredients

  • Chicken (thighs, drum sticks, or breasts)
  • Approximately 1 cup of olive oil
  • Approximately 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
  • Approximately 1 – 2 teaspoons of salt
  • Approximately 1 – 2 teaspoons of pepper

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix together olive oil and garlic powder in bowl.
  3. Coat both sides of the chicken with the olive oil mixture.
  4. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over all of the pieces of chicken.
  5. Place chicken on a baking pan with parchment paper or on a non – stick sheet.
  6. Place chicken in oven for 1 hour, then remove, let cool, and serve.

Like I said, simple but so good and void of excess sugar and “contaminants” to your diet!

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Elisha Cook via the contact portion of this website.