Tag: tasty

The many virtues of Mushrooms

Today I’m going to continue to write about Mushrooms.

Researching last weeks post shed some light on the other great virtues of this vegetable (or fungus).

Mushrooms are fat free,

They are also low in calories, cholesterol free, have very low levels of sugar and salt; they provide a valuable source of dietary fibre, as well as several vitamins and minerals.

A 100g serving of mushrooms contains more dietary fibre (2.5g) than 100g of celery (1.8g) or a slice of wholemeal bread (2.0g).

Apart from containing Vitamin D, mushrooms also contain:

  • Thiamin/Vitamin B1 – which controls the release of energy from carbohydrate, which is needed for the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system.
  • Riboflavin/Vitamin B2 – a vitamin that helps to maintain healthy red blood cells and promotes good vision and healthy skin.
  • Niacin/Vitamin B3 – helps to control the release of energy from protein, fat and carbohydrate, which keeps the body’s digestive and nervous systems in good shape.
  • Vitamin B5 – plays a number of essential metabolic roles in the human body, including providing assistance with the production of hormones.
  • Folate/Vitamin B9 – which is essential for the formation of red and white blood cells in bone marrow and is an important factor in healthy growth and development.
  • Biotin/Vitamin H – Is essential in the metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates.

Although these vitamins are also found in many vegetables, they are lost when cooked in boiling water: as mushrooms are rarely prepared with boiling water, they retain their valuable vitamin content when eaten.

Minerals as well,

Mushrooms also contain many beneficial minerals, such as Potassium, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Magnesium, Selenium and Ergothioniene (a naturally occurring antioxidant).

Recent research also found that most mushrooms [White Buttons and Cups, Brown Portabellos, and the exotic cultivated Shiitakes and Enoki mushrooms] are rich in the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) chitin and beta-gluten. These NSP can help to reduce blood cholesterol and protect against heart disease.

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

After writing the last post, I found a great Stuffed Mushroom recipe.

I have tried to cook different versions of ‘stuffed mushrooms’ in the past and the results have been average.

This one (originally from delicious.com.au) with some small changes was great.

Easy to make and very tasty.

INGREDIENTS (for 4)

8 Portobello (or large flat) mushrooms

50g unsalted butter

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

12 sage leaves, finely chopped

125g fresh breadcrumbs

200g Camembert cheese (or brie), rind removed, chopped

1 egg, beaten

Juice of 1 lemon

 METHOD

 1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place mushrooms on a paper-lined baking tray.

2. Heat a frypan over medium heat. Add butter, oil, onion, garlic and sage, and cook gently for five minutes until softened. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Add breadcrumbs to the onion mixture and stir to combine.

4. Add the egg and half the cheese. Combine well, then spoon generously into the mushrooms. Top with remaining cheese.

5. Place mushrooms in the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes until golden on top.

6. Arrange mushrooms onto serving dishes and drizzle with lemon juice.

 

I hope you enjoy this also.

 

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffin recipe

Today I’m going to share a muffin recipe.

This morning I was looking through my recipe collection and writing the week’s menu list when I came across this Spiced Pumpkin Muffin recipe.

Every so often, when I am researching something on line, I come across some interesting recipes. There are many gluten free recipes on the Internet and we have found many are lacking in taste or texture.

I had printed this one out ages ago and forgotten about it. The recipe is easy and I had all the ingredients, so I made a batch.

This recipe made 12 small muffins. They are very light in texture, quite yummy and are gluten free. I think you could make a few variations by swapping out the pumpkin for cooked apple or maybe even mashed banana.

 Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

(makes 12 small muffins)

Ingredients

5 eggs

4 tbsp. melted butter or coconut oil

½ cup mashed butternut pumpkin

½ cup Maple syrup or honey

½ cup dextrose or coconut sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

Pinch sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract or paste

½ cup sifted coconut flour

½ tsp. baking powder

 

Method

Preheat your oven to 200’ C and lightly grease a muffin tin.

– Mix the eggs, butter (or oil), pumpkin, maple syrup, dextrose, cinnamon, allspice, salt and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. I used a stick blender.

– In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder and coconut flour together then add to the batter. Mix well ensuring there are no lumps and the batter is smooth.

– Ladle the batter into the muffin cups.

– Bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

We ate a couple while they were still a bit warm with a little bit of butter, delicious.

I will definitely be making these again. I hope you enjoy them also.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper.

Menu planning has its advantages

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So today I’m going to write about menu planning.

Towards the beginning of this month, I wrote about memory loss. I shared that I found the use of a calendar, a diary and my phone calendar essential.

Well, I have also found menu planning very useful. We have been a bit slack over the last month or two, so I decided to get back to it. On Saturday morning, drinking a cup of coffee, with a few of my favorite recipe books.

Menu planning, in our view, has many advantages.

Using my recipe books to choose the meals, we find we eat a wider variety of meals.

Without a menu, we found we tended to eat the same types of meals every week.

There are many books available with recipes for quick, easy, healthy meals. I find it inspiring to look through them and get ideas for an interesting dinner.

When creating the menu, I don’t choose what we eat on what day. Instead we found that creating a list of 6 different meals works best. This leaves 1 evening open for dinner out or with friends.

I bookmark the recipe books, so that either one of us can make a start on the evening meal. I’m lucky in the fact that Scott also enjoys cooking.

Planning the week’s meals means that we buy less groceries.

No more buying something that we ‘might’ use and have it sit in the pantry for weeks, or go bad in the fridge. We only buy what is required for the recipes on the list. Usually we manage to choose meals for the week that have some common ingredients.

Doing the weekly shop this way actually saves us money. As our food is always fresh and we buy very little foodstuffs in boxes.

My favourite Recipe book at the moment is a vegetarian one called ‘A Modern Way to Eat’.

So this week’s menu is full of interesting, tasty meals, mostly vegetable based.

Looking forward to some tasty dinners.

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper.

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