Easy and healthy home cooking thread

[261252]

homemade cooking gets the chemicals out with
your own unique taste but it has to be easy

homemade ketchup

canned crushed tomato and vinegar to taste so start light on the vinegar

spices of your choice

i avoid sugar

I scoup out zucchini pulp then add

bring to boil then simmer for 20

where can you buy zucchini ketchup?

You can pasterize so it lasts longer by putting it in a jar inserted in boiling water




pasta sauce

same thing but no vinegar and no pasteurizing

but you can add meat and veggies and cook longer if no sugar added to get rid of canned taste

stores in fridge for over a week

 

[261252]

this one could not be easier

cranberries are extremely healthy but sour so a lot of sugar is added

instead of adding sugar boil with apples or pears for a few then mash
for cranberry sauce

 

[261252]

healthy fries

cut up potato

put on olive oil

sprinkle dill or smoked paprika

bake on parchment paper

use homemade ketchup



for sweet potato sprinkle cinnamon and it tastes like pumkin pie

 

[261252]

brocolli is very healthy

blanch so they remain crispy

smother with greek yogurt

add walnut and dried cranberries

 

[261252]

homemade yogurt has no additives and more active, living bacteria known as probiotics, which can help keep the intestines healthy.

You can use grass fed milk or goats milk even almond, coconut, hemp milk etc

bring milk to boil

more fat content in milk the thicker the yogurt

cool to 80%

add yogurt powder from health food store but follow directions


you can add chia seeds as they turn into a pudding texture

sit in dark place for 24 hours

add fruit and nuts


Greek yogurt is the same as regular yogurt but made thicker by straining to remove the excess watery whey, creating a thicker, more protein-dense product.

 

[SchlongConery]

Gazpacho!

I recently bought a bushel of Ontario plum tomatoes and cucumbers and made 5 litres of Gazpacho. Filled (partially) a bunch of old water bottles and froze the gazpacho in individual serving sizes. They keep really well! I can't get enough of gazpacho! The secret is the Jerez vinegar.

Then I made a huge pot of tomato sauce and froze some plain and then also made a bunch of tomato meat sauce. I use it on pasta, baked jacketed potatoes.

I also make fermented half-sour pickles.. that turn full sour too soon! And soon fermented sauerkraut.

I grew a lot of basil on the balcony this year so I'm going to try my hand at making some pesto before the frost comes.

I live in a condo so while it is pretty big, I don't have much room for canning. When I lived in a house, I also made soprasetta and other dry cured, fermented charcuterie meats. I had the room under the front steps made into an Italian-style 'cantina'. Perfect temp and humidity. Loved it. Used to grow several varieties of tomatoes... so good!

Eating whole foods is a lot of work though.

 

[SchlongConery]

homemade ketchup

I really like different vinegars so I might experiment with making my own Kustom Ketchup blend! Thanks for the idea.

 

[261252]

I really like different vinegars so I might experiment with making my own Kustom Ketchup blend! Thanks for the idea.

Yup

experiment with vinegars and spices

makes it more fun

sugar not needed as in store bought

they use it as a preservative and to get us hooked

once you stop sugar the cravings disappear and you taste the food

canned tomatoes is the way to avoid extra work

 

[Ponderling]

Almost anything from the Five Roses Flour cook book.
Recipes from cakes to pickles to jams and jellies.
Made from common ingredinets.

At one time late 1930's it was found in more than one third of Canadian homes.
My copy is dog eared and the cover has come off, but I still cook from it at least twice a month.

It has a nice spagetti sauce recipe, and good panckes and banana bread one as well.

I made the marmalade recipe last winter after hunting unloved seconds of citrus fruit for a few weeks in late January..
God the house smelled good when that one was cooking down to the gel stage

 

[Zoot Allures]

The two key words in the OP are healthy and easy

To get off all the chemicals you have to home cook natural foods
without additives and that can get expensive with foods from a health food store

But I find the healthier you eat the less you eat so this brings down the cost

Eggs are tastier, fruits are larger and juicier

A crock pot is a easy way to make tasty healthy foods that last a few days

 

[Zoot Allures]

Garlic belongs to the same family as onion and chives and is very healthy

I eat a raw garlic every day but I pickle them to make them palatable

Boil even parts water and vinegar with the spices you want such as
mustard powder or hot peppers then add garlic cloves and I store in fridge but pickled foods do not need refrigeration. Pickling takes a couple of weeks. If they turn blue that does not matter so eat the blue ones

You can buy prepealed garlic in vacuum packs but fresh is better as we grow excellant garlic in the Holland valley near Barrie but then you gotta peal it

Eat mint to fight garlic breath which can last 24 houirs

 

[Zoot Allures]

Spinach is very healthy so I put it in a lot of stuff

I get some stuff from the open pickled section of upper end stores like Loblaws
such as olives and eggplant etc throw them on with some olive oil and vinegar
with a can of tuna and apple pieces and nuts you got a spinach salad lunch

I fry spinach to get water out and it shrinks and becomes soft then add feta cheese and east indian curry like vindaloo that comes in jars for a salty side dish good for the best restauraunt



casseroles are easy just throw some healthy veggies in a casserole dish
and add a can of mushroom soup and cheese and top with healthy chia seeds for a crunchiness then bake for 30

tuna casserole, chicken casserole and shrimp casseroles are easy peasy

 

[MissCroft]

this one could not be easier

cranberries are extremely healthy but sour so a lot of sugar is added

instead of adding sugar boil with apples or pears for a few then mash
for cranberry sauce

Great tip! Will try it at Thanksgiving with pears. I'm getting an abundance because a friend/neighbour has a pear tree.

 

[Zoot Allures]

Was not into making bread as too much work until I tried yogurt bread

I use my strained home made Yogurt or greek yogurt for ease with vanilla for taste
and whole wheat or rye flour , too much baking powder (not soda) leaves a bad taste but it is really easy just mix until sticky with baking powder and salt then bake until spongy . For clean up ease i use parchment paper in the pan

bread is soft and tangy




nuts and seeds yogurt bread




cinnamon swirl



cheese and chocolate


cinnamon pear



whole wheat



chocolate and zucchini



cherry


yogurt cornbread

 

[Insidious Von]

I prefer pesto to tomato sauce, I make both basil and black olive pesto. With the later you'll be sweating out the garlic for days. lol

 

[Zoot Allures]

get a smoothie maker

a blender cuts a smoothie maker smashes

1
pure chocolate is called cacoa and the Mayans and Aztecs called it the " The Food of the Gods'' and was drank in ceremony

buy it at health food store , you can actually buy ceremonial cacoa which is cacoa that was prayed over during making

not only is it a super food it is a great source of four scientifically-proven natural happiness chemicals including serotonin, tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylethylamine. These neurotransmitters and brain nutrients are associated with feelings of calmness, happiness, and well being.

put in smoothy maker with hot water instead of morning coffee
I add ginger for taste


2
anything in a smoothie maker with equal parts ice becomes ice cream
so make a veggie or fruit ice cream. Google recipes

3
run smoothie maker for a few minutes and food becomes hot because the large square blade causes friction so make hot soup


but quality soup or ice cream becomes more work with several
ingrediants added at different times but once you got it down it is easy


4
of course you can make smoothies

Juicers are a ridiculously bad idea as they do not "extract the goodness from the veggies or fruit" instead they take out the goodness of fiber LOL and are too much work

 

[Zoot Allures]

Chinese eggplants are the long and thin ones with lavender skin and are sweeter and softer than the bigger eggplants and you will never look back

eggplants make for easy healthy recipes

 

[Zoot Allures]

Mushrooms are superb and totally underated health food

I buy chaga mushroom on Stamets advice. Buy it on the net for cheaper quantity then put it in crockpot with water to make chaga tea which I store in those fruit juice plastic jugs then I drink it instead of water

It has a different taste so you can add flavoring but I drink it straight
as you get used to taste


Watch paul stamets documentary fantastic fungi

 

[Zoot Allures]

Great tip! Will try it at Thanksgiving with pears. I'm getting an abundance because a friend/neighbour has a pear tree.

Go to the Bala cranberry festival in Muskoka end of October and watch cranberry harvest and go hiking for a great day trip and buy some cranberry wine

They flood the fields because cranberries float and makes harvest easier

Bala Cranberry Festival

 

[Zoot Allures]

I use crockpot on low all day with lid partially open as this allows heat to escape.

Too much heat erodes nutrition.

I put enough in fridge for a couple of weeks

You can also put in other dried mushrooms.

Paul Stamets recommends turkey tail