Supernatural Botanicals

Think you’re not a breakfast person?  Think again.  If you aren’t hungry when you wake up, you’ve eaten too much the night before.  Our bodies are designed to trigger hunger pangs about every 3-4 hours.  After an entire night of sleep, whether it’s 10 hours, 7 hours, or only 5 hours, your body should be hungry.  If you are eating at night, this is off setting to your body’s natural biorhythm.  If you aren’t eating breakfast because you don’t feel hungry, stop eating at night and before bed to reset your mind, body, and habits.  Perfect way to drop five pounds, too.

Fun Fact:  The coldest spot in your refrigerator is on the bottom shelf, in the back.  It’s the perfect place to keep your drinks to keep them the coldest (and also to avoid having delicate fruits and veggies from getting icy.)

According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, bean eaters weigh less and have slimmer middles. Beans are super fat fighters because they contain the ideal combination of fat-busting nutrients—soluble and insoluble fiber, protein, and a type of fat-burning carb called resistant starch.

Cuban Black Bean Soup

CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP

Ingredients:

• 7 cups cooked black beans (a one pound bag of dried beans prepared according to package directions.)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large sweet onion, finely chopped (reserve some for garnish)
• 1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander, paprika
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• a handful of parsley, chopped
• rind of one orange (several large peels)
• juice of the above orange
• 6 cups hot, boiled long-grain rice, white or brown

Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, saute onions, garlic, and spices in oil over medium heat, stirring until onions are translucent. Add carrots and celery, saute for 3-4 minutes more. Add peppers and saute another 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, parsley, and tomatoes. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Combine the drained black beans with the vegetables. Add in as much bean liquid as you like, more for a thinner soup, less if you like it thicker. Add the orange rind and simmer on low for about 30-45 minutes. Stir often.

Remove orange rind. Stick blend the soup until it’s as thick as you like. (Or remove a cup or two of soup to blender, blend, then add back to soup.) Add fresh orange juice and cook 5-10 minutes more. Taste. Serve on hot rice. Garnish with chopped onions, chiles, and/or lime wedges.

“We don’t make our own Fondant.  Fondant is hard on mixers, and for the trouble, it’s better to just go the store and buy it.  Fondant is basically pure sugar.  You can add candy flavorings to alter the taste if you like.  We tend to think of fondant as the canvas that we decorate, but it also acts as an airtight seal that keeps the cake inside fresh and moist.  When it comes time to eat the cake, you can peel the fondant off like you would an orange peel. “ Duff Goldman, Ace of Cakes, on the blatantly grotesque taste of fondant icing.

Want happiness?  Try music.  Music activates parts of the brain that can trigger happiness, releasing endorphins similar to the ways that sex and food do.  Music can also relax the body, sometimes into sleep, as it stimulates the brain’s release of melatonin.

A study of older adults who listened to their choice of music during outpatient eye surgery showed that they had significantly lower heart rates and blood pressure, and their hearts did not work as hard as those who underwent surgery without music. A second study of patients undergoing colonoscopy showed that listening to their selection of music reduced their anxiety levels and lessened the dosage required for sedation.

Case in point, listen to this song and try not to start immediately salsa dancing.  It’s absolutely impossible to listen to this song and not start instantly dancing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO0R_QTnKzA

  Tender Butter Lettuce salad, no spines….at all, crumbled bleu cheese, pine nuts, balsamic vinaigrette.

  Vine ripened tomatoes with fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

   Lamb (pre-grill) for the Irishman.

  Lobster tails with drawn butter and filet mignons.

    Delicious fresh brewed dessert coffee, Vanilla Cream.

   Chocolate Mousse.

I found this Chocolate Mousse recipe in Cooking Light Magazine way back in 2001.  That goes to show you how good this is.  Chocolate Mousse has such a decadent, silky texture, combined with ultra rich chocolate, it just makes your mouth scream spoiled.  I love mousses because they are whipped, and when made with conscious ingredients, can be made into a fantastic healthy luxury for your palate.  This always works well when you are entertaining, as they are easy to make and produce over-the-top praises.   This is one of the best recipes I have found yet, courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine. 

Chocolate Mousse
Cooking Light

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 (12.3-ounce) package reduced-fat extra-firm tofu
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Fat-free whipped topping, thawed (optional)
Grated chocolate (optional)

Place chocolate and tofu in a food processor or blender, and process 2 minutes or until smooth.

Place salt and egg whites in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until candy thermometer registers 238°. Pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating at high speed. Gently stir one-fourth of meringue into the tofu mixture; gently fold in remaining meringue. Spoon 1/2 cup mousse into each of 8 (6-ounce) custard cups. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours. Garnish with whipped topping and grated chocolate, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

CALORIES 147 (34% from fat); FAT 5.6g (sat 3.3g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 5.2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 26mg; SODIUM 134mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.5g Cooking Light, MAY 2001

   Are you hungry, girl?  Then check out my girl, Lisa’s, website www.HungryGirl.com for the latest advice and tips on weight loss tips, fantastic recipes, shopping guides, girlfriend pow-wows, and more.  Be sure to sign up for her newsletter for great tips on eating and shopping for food, as well as some great recipes such as this recipe, courtesy of Hungry Girl:

 Athens Mini Fillo Shells + Snickers

PER SERVING (2 Snickers-filled shells): 91 calories, 4.75g fat, 53mg sodium, 11g carbs, <0.5g fiber, 6g sugars, <1g protein — POINTS® value 2*

Yup, you read that right. We’re actually advocating the purchase of a Snickers bar. But don’t bite straight into it. Instead, get the standard 2.1-oz. bar and slice it in half lengthwise. Then cut each half into 5 “nuggets”. Set out 10 of those frozen fillo shells and pop a chocolate nugget into each one. Place them on a baking sheet, bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, and then let those babies cool. Now you’ve got yourself 10 itty-bitty Snickers pies! And they are INSANELY DELICIOUS. Chew two o f ‘em for less than 100 calories. We recommend whipping up a few batches of these treats for an upcoming New Year’s bash. Trust us, they’ll be gone long before midnight. 

Head on over to HungryGirl.com and check out what all the buzz is about. 

   Okay, so who is not addicted to the Travel Channel?  I know I am.  Actually, there are things I love about it and things that concern me.  See below. 

   Great things about the Travel Channel:  Sweepstakes!  Travel Channel offers a Trip A Month sweepstakes.  This month…Tahiti.  This, I love for obvious reasons.  Click here for your chance to enter.  http://win.travelchannel.com/index.tbapp

   Cool People on Travel Channel:   Tony Bourdain is the only food show on TV with a “Mature” rating.  You have to love that in itself.  Tony discovers crazy foods in different countries and enlightens us with his charm.   He’s a chef, a writer, a traveler, and, again, heavy on the charm.  We love Tony!

   More cool people on Travel Channel:  Samantha Brown.  She’s a girlfriend’s  girlfriend.  She gives you an all-access pass to her travels, and travels to the most luxurious places in the world.  Samantha is great and you can’t help but love her to pieces. 

   Disturbing things about the Travel Channel:  Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.  While I love Andrew’s insight and personality, he’s slowly turning me into a vegetarian…by force.  The foods he eats are definitely bizarre!  From eating the heads of animals to sucking the eyeballs out of carcasses to drinking animal sperm.  eck!  And…just in time for dinner.  His show always seems to be on at dinner time.  And I can’t be for sure, but I’ll bet his wife makes him boil his tongue before he kisses her these days.   And even though he makes me cringe much of the time, I still think he’s fantastic. 

Loving the Travel Channel.  Discover it for yourself. 

Six.  I have six subscriptions to different magazines.  I also borrow at least 25 others per month from the library.  I’m really into periodicals because I love the constant surge of information.  I’m the kind who likes to know at least a little bit about everything that comes my way.  Beyond that, magazine advertising keeps you current on what’s hot.   Here are a few of my favorites. 

   Prevention magazine.  It was years ago I found an article in this magazine about Jorge Cruise’s exercise program.  It kick started my fitness into high gear, and I’ve never been the same.  In theory, this magazine is responsible for the size of my jeans today.  Thank you!!!   Great articles on health, fitness, diet, and overall well-being. 

   Shape magazine.  Whether you workout or not, Shape magazine will get your mind going in the right direction.  Excellent health and fitness articles, trend-tracking, girly-slant.  Great stuff. 

   Self magazine.  I really love the random facts throughout this magazine.  Every issue has a section of “did you know” type of facts.  Very interesting.  Very motivating.  Much like Shape, but different features.  Both are equally great, in my opinion. 

   Domino magazine.  This magazine is sensory overload, a design-lovers dream.  Fantastic design ideas from interior to jewelry to clothing to beauty.  Retro-cool.  Excellent articles.  Girly-girl stamp of approval.

   Real Simple magazine.  Real Simple is about making life easier.  It’s like Martha, simplified.  Ways to make your life easier and more beautiful.  Fun how-to sections, great party ideas, current ads.