Southern Fried Goodness!

Do you want to eat healthy but still have that craving every now and then for that "Southern Fried Goodness"?  Here is a healthier version of Mom's Southern Fried Chicken...

Fried Chicken - (a Healthier Version)- that will make you want to shout the Rebel yell - even if your a Yankee! 

Yee-haw!

 

Ingredients

·        1 broiler/fryer organic chicken, cut into 8 pieces (you may even use skin-off breast pieces)

·        2 cups plain Kefir or low fat buttermilk (I make my own Kefir)

·        2 tablespoons kosher salt

·        2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

·        2 teaspoons garlic powder

·        1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·        Flour, for dredging (whole wheat pastry)

·        Coconut oil, for frying

·        Directions

Place chicken pieces into a glass container and cover with kefir or buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours - or whatever time you have.  This tenderizes the chicken and adds flavor too.

Melt enough coconut oil over medium-low heat (I use expeller pressed/organic that has a neutral flavor instead of cold pressed extra virgin which has a coconut flavor) so that it comes just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once oil liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. it should look red.  Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side.  The internal temperature should be 180 degrees. 

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan.

Rub - a - Dub - Dub... Here is How You Scrub...

A Little History…Did you know that the ancient Greeks and Romans didn’t bath with water very often? Instead they would apply a thin coat of olive oil all over their body and then scrape off the dirt and dead skin cells that the oil lifted off. The term “Greasy Italian” now takes on a new meaning, doesn’t it?

This was also the practice of our great grand parents and earlier generations until recent sales of soaps, shampoos and lotions became a multimillion dollar industry.

I remember my mom telling me that they rarely washed new born babies; instead they “oiled” them. Don’t throw away your shampoo and deodorant yet; but we might want to take a longer look at the crazy chemicals on the label and make some changes to more natural products.

Some folks pay big bucks at beauty salons for "hot oil treatments" for dry hair. I remember as a kid my mom would put warm oil on her hair and then sit under a heating cap. She would then shampoo and have beautiful silky hair.

Tip: Keep a spray bottle of light olive oil with a couple of drops of essential oils like eucalyptus, peppermint, or orange oil in your shower. Spray and rub in the oil at the end of your shower and let the water rinse off the excess oil. You may want to use a separate towel to dry your hair.

In the summer I use coconut oil at the end of my shower. Coconut oil is believed to have antibacterial and antiviral properties; and it feels a little lighter on the skin than olive oil. Some people even use Coconut oil as a natural deodorant but I am not ready to go that free yet. If you decide to try it please let me know how it works for you.

Coconut oil is the perfect make up remover – even for water-proof mascara.

Antiperspirants and breast cancer? It has been suggested that antiperspirants may be a contributing factor in America’s increased rate of breast cancer in men and women. It is believed that prolonged use of antiperspirants block the ability of the lymphatic glands in the underarm to detoxify causing toxins to back up into the surrounding tissues causing disease. Antiperspirants usually contain aluminum (aluminum chlorhydrate) which is believed to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. So you might want to stick with deodorant but drop the antiperspirant part of your hygiene routine.

Dry Brush Bath

Several years ago while attending a health seminar; a German health trainer told us that we should incorporate a daily “brush bath” into our morning health routine. He instructed us to use a natural bristle brush on our skin in small circular motions starting with our extremities working toward the heart. He told us to pay special attention to behind the knees, the bend in your arm, thigh, under arm, and neck where your lymph glands are located. This stimulates the lymph system, increases detoxification, blood flow and slightly increases the metabolism. He encouraged using coconut oil after the brush bath to moisturize and help protect against bacteria.

Stsh,Stch, Stch….

Homemade Mayo

As a kid, every summer our family would leave behind the sticky heat and heavy wet air of Florida and drive two days to the corn belt of Illinois. After what seemed like an eternity, we would to pull into the gravel drive way of the two story white farm house where my father was born and raised. To our amazement we would sleep with the windows open as a chilly breeze charged the quiet and peaceful night air. We actually had to wear sweaters at night; but by day, though hot, the heat was crisp. It was kid heaven. We ran carefree in cut-offs and tennis shoes from sunrise to sunset. Warm days were filled with 4-H county fairs, community parades, baby farm animals and riding a red Cushman scooter up and down dusty roads between the corn fields. Simple, but flavor packed lunches and dinners always included plenty of fresh picked sweet corn and vine ripe tomatoes.

Sometimes our Yankee cousins - talked funny. We were always amused to learn of familiar items with different northern names or totally unfamiliar items like corn relish, pork loin sandwiches (kind of like southern fried chicken steak on a hoagie bun), and tractor pulls.

When we asked for mayonnaise on our sandwiches my aunt would have to translate to the cousins– Oh, they mean “salad dressing” or “sandwich spread”. When we looked at the jar of the same product that we bought in our southern grocery stores – sure enough – that familiar white goop was labeled “salad dressing”.


Mayonnaise is simply an emulsion of oil and eggs with a little salt and acid. Sounds easy to prepare when you think about it doesn’t it? Unfortunately, like most store bought food products the bottom line of mass production is profit. Profit in the food industry translates into long shelf life which further translates into added preservatives which equals one more brick in the wall to building an unhealthy body. Homemade mayonnaise usually tastes better, is healthier, is less expensive and is certainly fresher.

After I checked the ingredients on my standard store bought mayo jar, with it’s preservatives, then compared it against the little half pint health food brand that cost $8.00 I decided to start making my own. Egg and oil in the blender – how difficult could that be?

This recipe is not the white creamy goop in the jar that you are used to but it is very flavorful and healthy. I use it all the time now and my family has not even noticed the switch.


Homemade Mayo
(I always double this recipe)

1 cup light Olive Oil
1 egg (or 2 eggs for a thicker mayo)
Juice of 1 lemon (or red wine vinegar)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
A pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper

Put mustard, lemon, and egg into the blender (or food processor). Blend on low for a minute or less. While blender is on low, drizzle in the oil in as slowly as you can.

If you like a thicker mayo, use two eggs or just the egg yolks. After refrigeration it will thicken more.

Pour into glass jar and seal. I like to use wide mouth mason jars. They now make a plastic screw on lid for canning jars of most sizes. I use the wide mouth quart and pint jars for most of my soup, sauces and leftovers.


Don’t be afraid of the fat. The Low fat diet craze has proven to be unsound. Yes, bad fats are bad for us and good fads that are heated up too high are bad for us but we now know that good fats protect against heart disease, stroke and inflammation as well as type 2 diabetes. This recipe contains good fat. Enjoy with a good conscience.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes… (oh, that was the 70’s – and you had to be there...oh, never mind)


The Big Three Major Diet Changes that will Alter Your Body and Probably make you Loose Weight, Too.

I really believe that God designed our bodies to protect us from disease, create all the energy we need, and even store reserves for emergencies. If we eat well and our environments are clean, our immune systems usually do a pretty good job of protecting us from diseases as well as systematically work toward self-healing, replenishing and rebuilding.


Rule of thumb - if you can’t understand the “laboratory tech-talk” on the label it is probably not good for your body.

Lets Get Real - The main mission of most large food corporations is not your health and healing; it is the bottom line - profit. Most food corporations assign a primary mandate to their food development departments that their products have 1. maximum shelf life and 2. maximum taste thrill in order to achieve the greatest profit margin. They accomplish this with long lasting product and repeat purchases. Many companies justify peddling their health damaging fun foods by telling themselves they are "just giving the public what it wants". Few have the goal of your optimum health and healing in mind.

Our friend, Dr. Josh Axe of Maximized Living here in Nashville, Tennessee advises us to make three major healthy changes in our diets.

They are:

1. Replace the bad fats with good fats
2. Change the meat we eat
3. Remove refined Sugars

1. Replacing the bad fats with good fats – Why? Good fats are essential to hormone production, cancer prevention, brain development, weight loss, cellular healing and anti-inflammation. Hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, and rancid vegetable oils are connected with inflammation which is the root cause of heart disease, cancer, and stroke, as well as other inflammatory health issues.

No-No’s – Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated oils like cottonseed oil, soybean oil, and vegetable oils (yes, vegetable oil like canola which quickly turns rancid. This really surprised me because I always thought it was a “healthy oil”! ) – This change alone will help you loose weight because almost every bread, cracker, cookie, and boxed food on the market is filled with this stuff.

Good Fats: Cold Water fish, olive oil (not heated), olives, avocado, coconut milk, unrefined coconut oil, coconut flakes, grape seed oil, full fat plain yogurt, cod-liver oil, krill oil, canned sardines, flax seed oil, butter, hemp oil, almond butter, raw (unpasteurized) cheese, eggs, cashew butter.

I cook in a taste-less, cold pressed coconut oil or grape seed oil (cheapest at Trader Joe’s Grocery Store). Good fats can become bad when you cook with them so when cooking with high heat – use only coconut oil or grape seed oil. Olive oil becomes a bad fat when heated above 120°.

2. Changing the meats you eat – Why? When an animal that was designed to eat grass is given a grain diet to fatten it up for the market, (remember the “This little piggy” toe song?) it changes the fatty acid ratios and denatures the good fats which when eaten causes imbalances in our bodies. Also the commercial pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and hormones in meats are higher than any vegetable we eat.

Replace with: grass fed, free range meats. Also, eat more veggies than meat – sorry guys and Dr. Atkins – that diet is not healthy. A good rule of thumb for meats is to buy locally raised organic meats when possible. You can find a local farmer through Local Harvest - www.localharvest.org - plus buying locally will help support community agriculture and keep farmers (your neighbors) in business.

3. The Biggie – Replacing Refined sugars - Notice the key word in the article title is change - not eliminate. If you tell a chocoholic like me or the ordinary American sugar addict that we can no longer have sugar – well we just can’t/won’t do it. That is what an addiction is – something that we became a slave to. Some of us can’t shake it even if threatened by a miserable disease.

Why replace the sugar? You know most of the reasons, but some important ones are sugar:

• Suppress the immune system-this means you are more prone to all kinds of nasty energy and quality of life stealing diseases because your body’s ability to fight them off is weakened
  
  
• Makes your body acidic- Your body needs to be balanced or on the alkaline side because cancer grows in an acidic environments not alkaline ones.


• Causes a loss of tissue elasticity – that means it makes you start to look older than Granny Clampett.
  
  
• Stresses out your (Irreplaceable) pancreas
  
  
• Spikes your insulin production – so what? I can handle the highs and lows. Well…that’s not all…
• Raises Insulin levels:
  
  
• Causes rapid weight gain – (The good news is we no longer have to buy a ticket to see the fat lady at the freak show)
  
  
• Depletes you vitamin and mineral storage- Refined Sugar is an anti-nutrient it contains no vitamins or minerals (empty calorie) so in order for sugar to be metabolized it must tap the body’s reserve of vitamins and minerals. That means “five-a-day” turns into fifteen-a-day to make up for the sugar that is taxing your supply
  
  
• Increases bad cholesterol - A depletion of vitamins and minerals impairs the metabolization of cholesterol and fatty acids, contributing to higher blood serum triglycerides, cholesterol – translation: Doctors tell us this increases chances of heart problems and stoke
  And on and on and on...

So, what’s an addict to do?

Stevia is a 100% natural, Calorie Free, Sugar Free, sweetener – and a lot of people like it. It is also suitable to bake with. I don’t care for it because it has a bitter after taste to me. Trader Joe’s Grocery store has a brand they sell in packets that is a blend of Stevia and maltodextrin (a product derived from starch) which is the best I have tried. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s and are desperate enough to pay for packing and shipping I will buy some from my Trader Joe's and mail it to you. NuNaturals Stevia is another good brand available at most Whole Foods markets.

*Maple Syrup- Grade A- light, mild, and more delicate maple flavor. This is the best grade for making maple candy and maple cream. It is the most popular grade sold because it’s closest to the artificial supermarket pancake syrup we grew up with.
Grade B- is sometimes called Cooking Syrup, is made later in the season. It is darker, with a strong maple and caramel flavor. Although some people use this for table syrup it's often used for cooking, baking and as a flavoring agent. Grade B less-widely-available but many enjoy more pronounced maple taste and use it as a part of a seasonal cleansing fast.

*Honey- Local and raw is the best. It is thought that honey derived from local flowers helps reduce seasonal allergies.

Fruit sugars like date sugar – watch out for the calories.

*Warning: High GI foods such as refined sugar, honey, maple syrup and corn syrup require little processing by your digestive system so if the body does not hand an immediate need for the energy, it stores that energy as fat.

Drum roll please…
My all time favorite sweetener and healthy sugar substitute is….and I love it so much that I sell it on my web site…

Agave – pronounced (Uh-gah-vay) is an all natural, low glycemic, plant juice that is sweeter than sugar. It looks like bottled honey, except not as thick. It is organic and kosher. It is even diabetic user friendly because it is low glycemic.

To be continued… Tomorrow, I will tell you more about this wonderful product, Agave.

Let Them Eat Cake!

Hey girls and boys, do I have a great cake recipe for you! We made this cake for our family and for an office party birthday and it magically disappeared almost instantly. I got so many requests for the recipe I decided to post it. The crazy thing is (and don’t tell anybody this until there are only crumbs left on the plate because they will never know) beside being -lick the plate delicious- it is TOTALLY HEALTHY! It is whole wheat and there is no refined sugar in it – only healthy agave sweetener.

(Note: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour which is white in color and light. It is different than brown Whole Wheat Bread Flour)

You can buy the cookbook that this and many more great recipes come from our web site at: www.zoeway.com– we are in the process of getting it online - so if you can't get on quite yet, please check back in a few days). This cookbook is a little on the expensive side but is well worth it (full color pictures on every page and chock full of good info). It is not like some other Agave cookbooks that I've reviewed. Other popular Agave cookbooks ask you to buy a list of weird ingredients that you will probably never use again or have recipes that are unappealing. This great cookbook is filled with family favorites that have been converted to be healthy and delicious as well as new recipes that are bound to become family favorites. You can also buy the Agave at our site in various sizes. I buy the gallon size because I bake with it and use it to refill my smaller size that is more handy for adding Agave in my tea or coffee.

Whole Wheat Agave Carrot Pineapple Cake

This is a super moist and delicious carrot cake. The Cream Cheese Frosting, which is incredible, can be made in minutes and only uses 2/3 cup agave vs. 6 cups of powdered sugar, saving you over 3,000 calories!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 virgin cold pressed coconut oil - warmed to liquefy (or 1 ½ cups canola oil)
1 1/2 cups agave
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups crushed pineapple (with juice)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I grind my own in my Vitamix)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grind Flour. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake at 325°F for 50 - 60 minutes. Let cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake tastes better on day two!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
This delicious frosting is easy to make and saves you 3,000 calories over the sugar equivalent and tastes better.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature (I use organic dairy)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2/3 cup agave

Steps:

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and blend until smooth with an electric mixer. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tips and Notes: Use as a frosting on carrot cake, chocolate cake, brownies, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc.