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Almond Coconut Rounds

I know we are all busy and eating healthy isn't always convenient. However, by eliminating chemicals from our diets that our bodies can't process, we can eliminate multiple health disorders. Eating healthy begins with picking unrefined products. Start reading the ingredient labels on your foods — stick to the basics and eliminate all unnatural foods from your diet. Shop in the health section of the grocery store and outside of the main aisles, if possible. And, if you still have a sweet tooth, there are scrumptious organic, pre-made desserts available; or, even better, try making your own healthy snacks, like the Almond Coconut Rounds below!

Ingredients:

  • 1 jar of almond butter
  • 1 cup of puffed rice cereal, preferably organic
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened, unsulfured coconut

Instructions:

  1. In a large bowl, mix the almond butter with the puffed rice and place aside.
  2. Next, take the coconut and toast it in the oven at 350°.
  3. When done, remove coconut and place in a bowl.
  4. Then, scoop a spoonful of the almond butter mixture and mound into a ball.
  5. Roll the mounded ball in the toasted coconut.
  6. Viola! Your snack is done— enjoy!

Variations:

  • Instead of oven-roasting the coconut, you can cheat and toast it in the microwave, using a microwave-safe bowl, and being careful to watch it and stir it often.

— from Cassandra Palmer
Atlanta, GA

Broccoli and Garlic Pasta

It seems that many people justify their reliance on over-processed and unhealthy convenience foods by claiming that cooking dinner from scratch, using fresh ingredients, takes too long. This simply isn't true. While I admit, it can take a while to make homemade lasagna, there are many alternatives. I came up with the following recipe that tastes great, looks impressive and can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta. The broccoli takes on an amazing garlic flavor and just about melts in your mouth. You will never go back to frozen dinners again.

Ingredients:

  • 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Heat oil in a large pan or wok and add the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and shallot.
  2. Sauté until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add broccoli and cook until almost tender, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add bread crumbs and stir to incorporate and heat through.
  5. Toss with 10 oz hot, cooked pasta.

— from Rachel Rappaport
Baltimore, MD

Nettle Cream Sauce

Nettles grow in most states in the US, though not in all parts of those states. Look for them growing in rich, moist ground, in woods with some sunlight, and on the edge of fields, roads and paths.

—recipe adapted from Healing Wise by Susun Weed

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 plastic grocery bag of fresh nettles, not packed tightly (probably about 10-15 cups loosely packed, though much more can be used depending on how strong you want the green nettle flavor to be)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • olive oil
  • 1-2 cups yogurt, sourcream or silken tofu
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2-1 cup mushrooms (optional)
  • 1/4-3/4 cups walnuts, pinenuts or other nuts (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil.
  2. Cook the nettles over low-medium heat in a pot with an inch or more of water in the bottom.
  3. In a blender, put strained nettles (save the water), sautéd onions and garlic, creamy stuff, and mushrooms and nuts (optional). Add 1 tsp. salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Blend until it is a smooth, delicious sauce. If needed, you can add a little of the cooking water from the nettles to make it blend more easily. (Note: be careful that the blender does not explode hot liquid on you when you turn it on).
  5. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
  6. Serve it over pasta or rice or other grain.

Variations:

  • Add mushrooms and/or nuts to make an even more buttery rich and earthier sauce.
  • Add more water to make a creamy nettle soup.

— from Carolyn Cooley
San Francisco, CA