Blueberry, Lemon & Banana Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

Wheatgerm 10%
Flax Meal 10%
Oat Flour 30%
Red Mill unbleached white flour 50%
1 tsp. baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs
juice from 1/2 lemon + zest
about 3/4 cup almond milk (for desired consistency)
pinch of grated Dubliner Cheese
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup blueberries

Carrot Soup

10-12 carrots cut into chunks

1 onion – chopped

several celery stalks – chopped

1 cup cream (or milk or soy milk)

1/4 cup butter

fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

cinnamon or nutmeg if desired

Add all chopped vegetables to 8 cups boiling water. Boil until vegetables are soft.
Use a food processor or blender to puree. Add butter, dairy, lemon juice and seasonings.

To Make the Rabbit:

Shape rabbit face out of soft cheese – use black peppercorns for the eyes; red for the nose.
Use a vegetable peeler to make the whiskers and to shape the tiny carrot at the bottom.
Hollow out a space at the fat end of the tiny carrot to insert a celery leaf or two.
(The white and blue part of the eyes were drawn in digitally)

Microwave Cooking Myths & Health Concerns

Does cooking food in a microwave oven damage nutritional food value?

Answer: ALL cooking methods break down nutritional food value. The microwave doesn’t damage food’s nutritional value as much as other cooking methods because it cooks food faster.

Eating raw food gives one the most nutrients.

If you use a microwave – don’t heat your food in plastic…because heated plastic gives off phthalates and BPAs.

Pertinent Excerpts from research articles:
– Unlike nuclear radiation or ultraviolet radiation, microwave radiation can’t hurt you — it’s as harmless as visible light
-Microwave ovens usually don’t destroy nutrients in food. And in some cases, preparing food in a microwave might actually promote nutrient retention.
– We absorb EM (electromagnetic) radiation from power lines, cell phones, airplane flights, computers, fridges, and so forth. There is growing evidence that effects of microwave radiation add up over time.http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Microwave-cooking-and-nutrition.shtml

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-microwave-cooking

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/01/does-microwave-cooking-rob-food-of-nutrients/http://www.livestrong.com/article/313503-microwave-ovens-kill-food-enzymes/#ixzz2CDxIkD3X

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.html

Special Scrambled Eggs – Kids Cooking

Our son started cooking for himself several weeks ago. It gave him a huge boost in self confidence. After that, he wanted to cook scrambled eggs for us for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• start with a cold, non sick pan

• crack desired number of eggs into the pan (if it’s cold, one can pick out the shells without getting burned)
• turn on the burner heat and mix them up as they start to solidify
• when they are almost done, add any kind of pesto and stir it all up!