Healthy Food and Cooking Demo

Hello again!

Two weeks ago we had another lady over doing a presentation for us about healthy food and shoving us how to make it.
Her name is Connie Vail, and last time she was talking about super food such as pumpkin and beans, and she also gave us recipes on how to make them and use them in our food, so for those of you who weren't there, here are the recipes, try it and enjoy!:)

Pumpkin Soup
1 Onion, diced
3 tbsp vegan margarine
2 cups vegetable broth
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp ginger

Sauté onion garlic and ginger in soy garden butter or coconut oil. Add vegetable broth, pumpkin, cumin, curry and coconut milk, simmer 5 minutes and serve.

Garbanzo Sandwich Spread
2 cans of garbanzos (can be found at Krogers)
1/2 cup celery chopped fine
3 green onions minced fined
3 medium dill pickles chopped
1 can of chopped or sliced black or green olives
Vegenaise till it snaps when you stir (about 1/2- 3/4 cup)
1 tbs The Vegetarian Express Greek Isle Seasonig

Mash garbanzos with a fork, and chop the rest of the ingredients accordingly.
If using a food processor place onions, pickles and celery in first, and process to your desired size. Then add the garbanzos and the Vegenaise. Leave the grabanzos chunky. We want some texture, not smooth. So just a few quick pulses should do. Hand stirring may be needed to get the Vegenaise mixed in and to see if more is needed.

Aerobic Isntructor!:)

My dear fellow exercisers!
As many of you might know already we now have a personal trainer/instructor for our workout sessions, and let me inform you that having a real instructor is much more personal than the tv-screen:)
Her name is Maydis Skeete, and she is a very sweet lady, which those who came last time already have experienced, and let me now give you some of the benefits and reasons for why from now on, you should defenitely do your best to come out and join too:)

- a personal trainer is normally something you will have to pay more than you can afford to have, and yet this is completely free!
- you get to use equipment that you normally have to either buy in the store, or pay to use in the gym, and again, this is free!
- you get help to do the exercises right so that you don't end up hurting yourself and you are actually working out the right muscles
- you get a chance to reach your personal goals
- you get to hear encouraging words instead of many of the insults you are used to hear from our former dvd-trainer...:)
- you get breaks for drinking water so you don't have to stop and feel bad while all the others are still working out
- you get to come and enjoy the fellowship of working out with others so that you don't have to motivate yourself in your own dorm room or apartment
- and last but not least, you get the joy of feeling the pain in your body telling you that you have done yourself a huge favor!:)

and remember, that when you get 50, 60, 70 and so forth your body will treat you the way you treated it now...!

so, next week, be sure to bring yourself, some good shoes and a water bottle, don't eat too late or too early, and come and have some fun exercising!

-Is:)

Throw Out the Pop

Dr. Mehmet Oz did an amazing talk on diabetes recently on The Oprah Show. I was surprised to find how common diabetes is becoming especially among younger individuals. For those of you who are addicted to soda, check out this clip... a huge wake up call.

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Why-This-Diabetic-Had-Her-Leg-Amputated-Video

I know people in the South Asian community who refer to diabetes as "sugar." Its kinda funny if you think about it. People don't realize how serious of a condition it is. As Dr. Oz says in this Huffington Post article, its actually much more than just "a little sugar."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mehmet-oz/its-not-just-a-little-sug_b_447838.html

Spinach Pesto with Linguini

Spinach-Almond Pesto with Whole Wheat Linguini
created by: Almond Board of California

If you haven't tried making pesto with spinach and almonds (or any other nut for that matter) you need to check it out... so delish! You can even make extra batches and freeze it for later use.

servings: 8
ingredients
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed almost dry
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 cup slivered almonds, divided
6 cloves garlic, roasted and peeled
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Prep:
Place almonds and pine nuts in a single layer in a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring occasionally until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Combine all ingredients except 1/2 cup of the slivered almonds in a food processor, blending just until smooth. Serve sauce with remainder of slivered almonds for extra crunch and flavor on whole wheat linguini.

SIDE NOTE: ~Almonds~
Almonds are a great source of vitamin E, with 25g providing 70 percent of the recommended daily allowance. They also have good amounts of magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, fibre and are a good source of healthy monounsaturated fat. They contain more calcium than any other nut which makes them great for vegetarians who do not eat any dairy products.

They also contain amygdalin, also known as laetrile or vitamin B17, the controversial anti-cancer nutrient.

Almonds contain several phytochemicals including beta-sisterol stigmasterol and campesterol which is thought to contribute to a healthy heart. A handful of almonds a day helps reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering LDL, or ‘bad’ blood cholesterol by as much as ten percent.

courtesy of http://food-facts.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_healthy_foods_almonds

http://muslimahfitness.com/

An excellent resource for those of you looking for fitness advice.

http://muslimahfitness.com/