Friday, October 27, 2006

Healthy Granola Muesli

I don't know about you, but I really, really like granola and muesli, especially when it's made at home using healthy, whole ingredients.

Today I'd like to share two favorite recipes for healthy granola and muesli, both of which I learned many years ago from a newsletter reader named Wiens.

These are excellent recipes, so be sure to give them a try.

Wiens' Homemade Stove Top Granola

1 cup rolled oats or kamut or rye flakes
1/3 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pecans or a mixture)
1/3 cup wheat germ or ground flaxseed or pumpkin seeds or all
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
2-3 handfuls of dried fruit (raisins, dates, figs, apples, apricots, etc -- anything chewy)
Water

In a food processor, add the dried fruit and about 3 tablespoons of water. Puree and add water as needed till it becomes fully blended and a sticky ball. Set aside. Add the oats and nuts to a large lightly greased skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly for about five minutes, paying attention to turn ingredients over. The nuts and oats will start to become slightly golden and toasted.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and continue stirring and turning for about 10 more minutes until it's all golden and smells toasted.

Add the sticky ball of fruit and, using a plastic spatula, chop the ball up until it is evenly divided and coated with the nuts and seeds. Altering the amount of fruit will increase or decrease the sweetness and gives the granola that chewy texture.

Serve warm or cold on its own, over fresh or warmed fruit or with plain yogurt or milk. This granola would also be great as a topping on a baked fruit dessert! Store in the refrigerator. I don't know how long it keeps because I eat it so fast.


Wiens' Stove Top Muesli

Use the same recipe as above (no salt) and add everything to a bowl except the ground flaxseed or wheat germ and the coconut. You could also try the other grains or even millet or buckwheat. No need to puree the fruit. Fill with water until the ingredients are just covered and store in the fridge overnight.

Do not drain, as the water is very sweet and tasty! The sugar from the fruit has sweetened the water and the flavor travels throughout all the ingredients.

Then add flaxseed and coconut and stir together. Serve warm or cold in the same way. Add fresh fruit or berries, serve with yogurt or add milk. All these combinations have been delicious!

Thanks to Wiens for sharing these healthy granola recipes so many years ago.

If you have a healthy granola or muesli recipe you'd like to share, please use the comment link below.

Chet "Granola Man" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Sweet Potato Recipes

I love sweet potatoes, I surely do, and in today's blog entry I'm sharing two sweet potato recipes that should do everything to your sweet tooth but extract it.

These are great recipes, and you're going to get repeat requests for them if you serve them at family dinners, believe me.

Stuffed Honeyed Sweet Potatoes

5 sweet potatoes
1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup light cream
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs dark rum
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs walnuts -- chopped

Wash sweet potatoes; drain excess water. Place damp potatoes in slow-cooking pot. Cover and cook on Low 5 to 6 hours or until done. (If desired, potatoes may be refrigerated at this point, then scooped out and filled just before serving. Add about 5 or 10 minutes to baking time if potatoes are cold.)

Cut off the top third of each potato lengthwise and scoop out, leaving a 1/4-inch shell. Mash potato pulp with butter, cream, honey, rum, cardamom, and salt. Return mixture to shell. Top with walnuts.

Arrange in shallow baking sheet. Bake in 425 F oven for 15 minutes.

Whoa, that sounds pretty good, eh?

Well, our second healthy sweet potato recipe for the day is just as good, if not better:

Sweet Sweet Potatoes

2 pounds sweet potatoes -- peeled, grated
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter -- melted
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup broken pecans -- toasted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/4 tsp vanilla

In a crockpot, combine potatoes, honey, butter, coconut, pecans, and cinnamon. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. Stir in coconut and vanilla extracts.

If you like healthy, tasty, and easy-to-prepare recipes, you'll want to sign up for at least one of our free recipe newsletters. Over 100,000 subscribers enjoy our healthy recipes every week. You should be one of them!

Chet "Sweet Tater" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. If you have a sweet potato recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below to make it part of the Internet for all eternity!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Healthy Soup Recipe

Today I'd like to share a very healthy soup recipe. It has the added benefit of being really easy to prepare. And, yes, of course, it tastes great.

Vegetable Sweet Potato Chowder

3 cups frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup sweet potato, diced
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 quart water
2 1/2 Tbs soy sauce, low sodium
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
3 bay leaf
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup water
1 cup spinach -- chopped

Place the vegetables and stock or water in a large soup pot. Add the soy sauce and other seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Mix the arrowroot with the cold water and add to the soup, stirring. Add the spinach, stir, and cook another 5 minutes.

If you have a healthy soup recipe, you'd like to share, use the comment link below. :)

Oh, one more thing. If you like healthy soups as much as I do, you'll want to click here for a free subscription to my Amazing Soups newsletter. Join more than 10,000 other subscribers and receive a health soup recipe once a week!

Chet "Soup Man" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Monday, October 16, 2006

Healthy Salsa Recipe

Break out the corn chips because today I want to share a healthy salsa recipe that'll disappear faster than Beep Beep's Roadrunner on steroids! Thanks for Priss Lindsey for sharing this tasty and healthy concoction.

New Mexico Ceremonial Salsa

Chet, after 40 years of perfecting salsa, this is the best!

6-8 tomatillos, husked and cut into large chunks
1 basket cherry tomatoes, washed and stemmed
1 bunch cilantro, washed and cut up
4 cloves chopped garlic or 1 tbs minced garlic
Juice of one lime
2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 giant Spanish onion, peeled and cut into large chunks

Put ingredients in blender and blend throughly. It may help to do the cherry tomatoes and tomatillas first to get a liquid consistency and then add in the other ingredients. Salt to taste. This gets better in the fridge and will keep for 4-7 days. It's great with white corn chips or inside burritos or on tostados or just in a bowl of beans.

Oh man, does that sound good or what?

If you have a healthy salsa recipe you'd like to share, please use the comment link below to do just that.

Happy dipping!

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Friday, October 06, 2006

Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Here's my favorite recipe for healthy carrot raisin oatmeal cookies that I learned many years ago from a fellow named Gerald Pedersen. Because this is an extremely healthy oatmeal cookie recipe, sugar addicts and sweet cookie connoiseurs will probably not go as hog wild over these treats as I do.

But, hey, that's tough toenails, right?

Anyway, I love this recipe, and I cook up a batch every month or two.

Gerald's Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

4 oz prunes
3 Tbs water
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
2/3 cup raisins
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cup oats
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Pecan halves

Puree prunes with the water in a food processor until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl. Stir in honey, carrots, and raisins. Add remaining ingredients except pecan halves. Mix well. Drop spoonfuls of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Press a pecan half in the center of each cookie. Bake at 275F degrees for 15 minutes or until set and just starting to brown. Remove to cooling racks. Makes three dozen.

If you have a healthy cookie recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below, please.

And if you want to subscribe to my free cookie recipe newsletter (which features a healthy cookie recipe as well as a traditional cookie recipe each week), click here and join the fun.

Chet "Cookie Man" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com