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Kristen Helmstetter

(Brisa Starr)

antioxidants

Avoid Heating The Kitchen With A Quick Pickle To Enjoy Vegetables

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12-hour pickled carrots – zingy and fun

Inspired by Helen Rennie’s YouTube video, I took to doing a quick 12-hour pickle with some carrots I didn’t feel like cooking. The result is a tangy, fresh vegetable that’s great for egg salad, tuna salad, or simply enjoyed on buttered sourdough bread.

These make beautiful gifts around the holidays, too.

 

I doubled the base ingredients, detailed below, to fill my quart mason jar. Since I didn’t have everything Helen used, I made some changes like using chives and basil instead of dill and fennel seeds instead of coriander seeds. I would love to try this with cauliflower, radishes and zucchini next time. Always looking for ways to enjoy those vegetables in the summer, without heating up the kitchen.

Basic Brine Ingredients:

  • 200 grams unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 200 grams water
  • 40 grams sugar
  • 24 grams salt
  1. Stir the ingredients until dissolved.
  2. Select your veggies. Wash and chop them. Stuff them into a quart mason jar and fill with the brine.
  3. Put a lid on and let them sit overnight (or for 12 hours). Enjoy and store in the refrigerator.

Vegetable Ideas:

  • zucchini
  • cauliflower
  • red onion
  • radishes
  • celery
  • carrot
  • beet
  • fennel
  • jicama! (<– I can’t wait to try that one)
  • 1 clove peeled garlic and 1 knob peeled ginger for flavor

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My Smoothies These Days Look Like This

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Olive oil and hemp seeds are great in smoothies

It’s natural to start want cooling foods in the summer and smoothies never disappoint.

Lately I’ve been making them with simple vegetables like green pepper, celery, carrot, and or cucumber / apple. Then, I amp them up with a teaspoon of Dr. Cowan’s Garden veggie powders* for true vegetable variety and health benefits. It packs a flavor bomb, too.

I also like to add a fat for flavor and nutrient assimilation. In this case I’m getting fat from both the hemp seeds and olive oil. (You can read more about that popular, award winning olive oil on Amazon here.) I’m on an olive oil kick lately – it’s been calling me and it’s great added to smoothies.

The hemp seeds also add a little protein.

Another important ingredient is a pinch of sea salt to bring out all of the flavors and make it extra tasty. Lastly, I add water, not seen here.

Simple, tasty, and such an easy way to get more vegetables into your day with one quick recipe.

*Even though you see my Dr. Cowan’s Garden Kale jar pictured, notice the powder has red in it. That’s because I took my many jars of Dr. Cowan’s Garden powders and dumped them in a giant bowl. I mixed them and then distributed them back into the various jars. So, it says “kale” but it’s really a mix of many of his powders. (Why did I do that? I just felt like it.)

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Joy! Turns Out You CAN Cook with Olive Oil

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Olive oil: for both salads AND cooking.

I found this video from LifeHacker and I felt like my life had a renewed sense of vigor. Because… Olive oil.

And?

Cooking.

And? I’m Italian so olive oil is part of my DNA, but sadly I haven’t been getting my fair share of it. Because I never cook with it! Because I didn’t think one should!

All this time, I poo-poo’d cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Oops. 

Turns out, it’s a great oil with which to cook, provided you cook with it appropriately.

So, yes, I’m excited because, clearly, I just added more years to my life because I’ll be adding more olive oil into my life and olive oil is a longevity food.

Learn about cooking with olive oil here:

In the span of two days, the above video came across my feed plus two separate emails (one from Chris Kresser and the other from Life Extension Magazine) espousing the use of olive oil, and specifically, Chris Kresser linked to information that yes you can cook with it! It’s not just designed for cold dishes.

Well… three separate references to olive oil in the span of two days is enough to get my attention. That’s what I call a Cosmic Yes.

Tonight I’m going to make purple cabbage wheels roasted with olive oil. I can’t wait.

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Finally – Artichoke in the Instant Pot

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Organic artichoke – a beauty.

I’ve been wanting to try making an artichoke in the Instant Pot ever since I first got my Instant Pot (my bestie in the kitchen).

Two reasons:

  1. Artichokes are reputed as crazy nutritious, according to one of my favorite books, Eating on the Wild Side. A nutritious edible flower bud. However, in my attempts to find organic, I kept coming up empty-handed – until now.
  2. The instant pot promised, as usual, speed and ease of making artichokes.

While visiting a farmers’ market in California recently, I found organic artichokes. And… they were good ones.

Eating on the Wild Side says:

  • Buy your artichokes as fresh as possible (keeping in mind that apparently jarred artichokes are still nutritious)
  • Make sure they’re firm when squeezed
  • Rub two artichokes and they should squeak
  • Store them in the fridge drawer
  • Eat your fresh ‘chokes right away

I brought my Instant Pot with me to California, because who doesn’t travel with their Instant Pot?

Here’s what I did:

Put one cup of water in the Instant Pot along with the trivet.

Slice off a bit of the top of the artichoke as well as cutting off the stem.

Set the artichoke upright on the trivet in the Instant Pot.

Set the Instant Pot to HIGH pressure for up to 20 minutes. Quick Release. I know it’s hard not knowing the exact time, but it depends on the size of the artichoke. I started mine with 8 minutes and ended up with a total cooking time under pressure of maybe 13 to 15? I can’t remember exactly. It’ll take some experimenting, but rest assured that it’ll be easier than using any other cooking method to make them.

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Recipe: Michigan State Matcha Green Tea

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Vibrant matcha green tea for vibrant health.
Vibrant matcha green tea for vibrant health.

I grew up in the state of Michigan, and I was a University of Michigan fan all my life. As you might imagine, I also graduated from the University of Michigan, too. Go Blue!!

Well, we wolverines were rivals with Michigan State spartans… yes, indeed we were! Except, I liked Michigan State so long as they weren’t playing us. :)

Hey! Not cool! Grrrrrrrrr!!! Go BLUE!
Hey! Not cool! Grrrrrrrrr!!! Go BLUE! (image)

Well, in spite of that image above, I’m making a tea for Michigan State fans.

I thought them when I was mixing it together. It’s matcha green tea and white tea. Those are their colors: green and white. Nuff’ said.

Green n White for Michigan State
Green n White for Michigan State (image)

By the way, speaking of matcha green tea…

do you have a copy of my book Matcha Cookbook?

It has over 50 great recipes

featuring health boosting matcha green tea powder!

 

Michigan State Matcha Green Tea
Michigan State Matcha Green Tea

Recipe: Michigan State Matcha Green Tea

In a small pot, heat the water to 180 degrees F on your stove.

Using a French press, put the hot water along with the white tea leaves in it. Let them steep for 4 minutes. (If you have another way to brew loose tea leaves, then by all means do it how you like.)

While it’s steeping, sift the matcha green tea powder into a mug. Pour the now-brewed white tea into the mug and manually whisk (or use an electric whisk) until frothy.

Update: I found a new matcha that I’m in love with.

It’s smooth, pure, and delicious. Pique Tea Matcha!

Pique Tea Matcha

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Recipe: Reishi Nighttime Mocha – Relaxing and Delicious

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Reishi Nighttime Mocha - relax yourself with each sip
Reishi Nighttime Mocha – relax yourself with each sip

I’ve been a fan of adding chinese medicine herbs (tonic herbs) into my drinks and foods for years. You can see it evident in the multiple recipes on my blog that use them.

I use them a lot here.

Here’s a Bulletproof -style mocha with tonic herbs.

Mushroom Coffee

Damn Good Gluten Free Muffins with tonic herbs.

My Big-Ass Brisket uses tonic herbs.

Souped Up Soup uses them to add nutrition to boxed soup.

See? I use tonic herbs in my life a lot.

So, the other night, I made a delicious decaf coffee elixir utilizing some powerfully relaxing reishi, and it was so effective that I had to share it.

Reishi: A powerful herb for the immune system and longevity
Reishi: A powerful herb for the immune system and longevity

For those of you who don’t know, reishi is basically a potent mushroom tonic herb with many potential health benefits, including some mega relaxation. There’s even a legend that women who consume reishi while pregnant end up having calm babies, known as “reishi babies.” It also has a long history of use as an immune health builder, cancer fighter, and overall longevity supporter. It’s known as the “Mushroom of Immortality” which pretty much says it all.

Um, yeah okay, I’ll take some of all of that.

Reishi Nighttime Mocha Recipe

Blend it all together in a high-speed blender and sip your way to relaxation and a happy heart.

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