GG hopes it’ll go better than Leno’s new show.

Start this sauce around 30 minutes before you start making your pancakes, waffles.  The sauce also makes an excellent topping for ice cream.

Easy Fruit Sauce

Easy Fruit Sauce (makes several servings)

- 2 peaches
- 6 strawberries
- 1/4 pint of blueberries
- 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of demerara sugar*
- 1 tablespoon of half and half
- 1 cup of water

Rough chop the peaches and strawberries and place all the fruit in a pot with one cup of water (less if you want a thicker sauce).  Bring to a boil, add sugar and cinnamon.  Reduce heat to bring fruit to a simmer/rolling boil.  Add the half and half.  Reduce the sauce down, stirring occasionally.  The longer the sauce simmers, the more the fruit flavor concentrates and the thicker your sauce will become.

Here’s a little hint, this recipe is a great way to use your overripe/bruised fruit.

*I choose to use demerara sugar in my kitchen for several reasons.  Demerara sugar is a raw sugar that has an amazing flavor profile.  It’s not as sweet as refined sugar, but it adds an amazing molasses flavor.  I use it in everything, from coffee, to sauces like the one above.

Still not convinced to frequent your local market?  How does 10 pounds of local peaches for $6, $0.50 bunches of cilantro, 7 lemons for $2, 6 limes for $1.  Baby eggplant for $0.99 a pound, cabbage for $0.39 a pound?  I can go on and on.   Farmers markets are at least 50 percent of the cost of produce at you local grocery store and the best thing is it’s local (less of a carbon footprint) and your supporting small business.  Who says going granola can’t build up capitalism?

Courtesy: Vanessa Pike-Russell/flickr

You can turn a near kitchen disaster into something salvageable.

I attempted to make a paper thin zucchini noodle the other day.  It was part of an experiment trying to find a new healthy noodle for my mother in-law (more info here).  The prep was simple enough, trim the vegetable and peel the skin off.  I then took my vegetable peeler and shaved the zucchini into thin strips.  The strips were then tossed lightly in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked at 350 for 20 minutes at the most.

Zucchini noodles before being baked

I was not expecting the noodles to shrink as much as they did.  There was simply not enough zucchini to make a noodle dish and there was some sticking to the baking sheet that added to the frustration.  I was so frustrated I didn’t even take an after picture.  But as I said, you can turn a near disaster into something salvageable.  The problem wasn’t the taste– noodles didn’t taste bad at all, the problem was the sheer bulk.  With that said, the zucchini got bumped down from the main to a side.  But the most important thing to take away from this, all natural ingredients and healthy eating.

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Everyone keeps saying that I need to try canning, sounds like a weekend project.

Courtesy: kcgarrison_1999/flickr

My mother-inlaw was diagnosed with diabetes the other day.  As expected she’s struggling with the diagnosis and her new dietary restrictions.  As long as she has known me I’ve been a healthy eater and she’s now come to me for ideas, her first question deals with how she can still enjoy pasta safely.

It is okay to still eat pasta if you have diabetes, the key is portion control (see below)– but she, along with her doctor, want to cut it out of her diet as much as possible.  The problem with pasta for my mother-inlaw and diabetics like her is the amount of starch/carbs in it.  Your body turns those ingredients into sugar and as we all know, sugar can be a dangerous thing for diabetics.  Diabetics are advised to eat low carb pastas if they are going to eat any noodle based dish and that’s a problem for me.  I’m not a huge fan of manufactured, over-processed food that was developed in a lab.  Nature knows best.

Sadly there aren’t many natural options on the market.  Pasta and carbs go hand-in-hand.  To further complicate things, there is even some thought out there that the low carb brands you see in grocery stores can be dangerous for diabetics.  Popular rice pastas don’t work either because they are high in carbs like their wheat-based cousins.

My mother-inlaw wants to find anything that resembles a noodle dish.  On top of her love for pasta, she wants and needs their convenience.  As a busy person she wants the luxury of being able to boil up something and just having to add sauce.

But there are noodles out there that are natural and low in carbohydrates.

Asian shirataki noodles are not the perfect substitute for Italian pastas but they are very low in carbs.  They can either be made from plants and/or tofu.  They are basically tasteless and come ready to eat, all you need to do is heat them.  You can find them in most well stocked grocery and natural food stores.  They come refrigerated so look near the dairy case.

Interestingly, shirataki noodles contain a small amount of glucomannan and there is scientific evidence that glucomannan reduces blood sugar.

Pasta made from quinoa is lower in digestible carbs and lower on the glycemic index than wheat pastas.   The noodles are made from a flour made from the grounded seeds of a South American plant that’s a close relative of vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard.  The nice thing about quinoa pasta is that it comes in several different noodle styles.  Quinoa does have a taste traditional pasta lovers will have to get used to– it’s slightly nutty and earthy.  You can find it at any natural foods grocery store right next to the wheat pasta.

Courtesy: Christaface/flickr

The healthiest low carb noodle alternative out there are noodles made from vegetables– not exactly the same texture and taste as regular noodles.  The most popular way to make a vegetable noodle is to slice a zucchini or squash into “noodles” bake them and then serve with a sauce on top.

Diabetes isn’t a death sentence and pastas can be enjoyed on rare occasions.  As a rule I stay away from processed, enriched noodles.  Whole wheat and rice noodles fill my pantry, they are lower in carbohydrates than the enriched types, but still should be avoided by diabetics.

Starchy foods are part of a healthy meal plan.  What is important is the portion size.  Whole grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables like potatoes, yams, peas and corn can be included in your meals and snacks.  The key is portions.  For most people with diabetes, having 3-4 servings of carbohydrate-containing foods is about right.  Whole grain starchy foods are also a good source of fiber, which helps keep your gut healthy.

American Diabetes Association

Aunt Ruby's German Green

One of the tomatoes that we picked up from the farmer’s market over the weekend included an Aunt Ruby’s German Green.  Aunt Ruby’s German Greens are a medium sized, green striped tomato with a green inside.  They are one of the largest green beefsteak tomatoes on the market– but unlike a traditional under-ripe green tomato, it has all the characteristics of a ripe tomato.  Most importantly that means they have the texture of a ripe tomato.  They do not have the hard, stiff texture like traditional green tomatoes and are not tart in the least bit. Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomatoes have a nice fruity flavor, with a hint of sweetness.

The tomato bears the name of Aunt Ruby, a home gardener from Greeneville, Tennessee.  Her seeds originally came from relatives in Germany and after her death in 1997 her seeds made their way around gardening circles and are popular with heirloom tomato growers.

The Aunt Ruby I picked out was almost over-ripe, in my opinion the perfect tomato for a sandwich.  When you buy these exotic tomatoes the best way to experience them is to make them the centerpiece.  That means either adding them to a salad, making them into a tomato sandwich or serving them on the side with just salt and pepper.

This week’s finds include:

Mini cucumbers, a golden zucchini, eggplant, okra and an assortment of heirloom tomatoes.  One of the tomatoes we picked up was an Aunt Ruby’s German Green.  More on that coming up!

I brought the steamer out last night because I decided to make vegetarian cabbage wraps for dinner (recipe to follow).

I steamed cabbage, carrots and asparagus in my little bamboo steamer– the prep couldn’t have been easier.  I separated six cabbage leaves, diced the carrots and trimmed the asparagus.  While the prep work was being done, I had the steamer in a pan on the stove with a couple cups of water and peppercorns (a fun thing about steaming is that you can infuse flavor by adding it to the water).  After the water came to a rolling boil, I added the veggies and then cooked them for about 12 minutes.

The only seasoning I added was to the asparagus.  They needed to be seasoned because I didn’t use them in my wraps, because I was serving them as a side dish.  I tossed them in a little truffle oil and salt and pepper.

One of the main reasons why steaming is so healthy is because we don’t cook the food in fat (butter, oil, etc.) which doesn’t add extra calories.  Steaming food, especially vegetables, also is more nutritious.  Studies done by the USDA show that steamed food retains more vitamins and nutrients.

Cabbage Tofu Wraps (serves 2)

- Extra firm tofu
- Asian mushroom variety pack
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 3 green onions
- 6 small cabbage leaves
- 2 diced carrots
- 1 small cucumber
- 2 large garlic cloves
- Juice of 1 lemon, lime
- Soy sauce
- Peanut, canola oil

Dice the tofu into cubes and sear in hot pan with peanut and canola oil.  Add lemon and lime juice.  Remove tofu from pan and add to casserole dish (with pan drippings), bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, salt and pepper the tofu, splash with soy sauce.  Bake for another 10 minutes.

Roughly chop the mushrooms and saute in pan with canola oil.  Season with pepper.  After three minutes or so, add finely chopped ginger, garlic.  Stir, add the chopped green onions and saute for several more minutes.  Deglaze the pan with soy sauce, bring to simmer (about 1 minute) then remove from heat.

Steam the cabbage and carrots for 12 minutes, dice cucumber and serve.

To build the wrap, add the tofu, mushroom mixture, carrots and fresh cucumber.