If you are thinking, well that is just too easy meal, don’t give up on me yet.  I am going to show you how if you spend just a little more time with the preparation or variation, this can be a really great meal.

First off, cook up some spaghetti.  Even for a beginners cooking Blog, this pretty easy–Boil some water, toss noodles in the pan and cook until they reach al dente, or firm but not solid (just a hair under fully cooked).

Right here is where I would like to improve this dish.  First off, try whole wheat pasta instead of regular enriched flour pasta.  It is much better for you, and the taste difference in negligible.

If you are interested in a different taste than plain spaghetti, you can also try any short cut pastas like penne as a replacement.  You can find those pastas in the same places you buy your spaghetti noodles.

When your pasta has reached that al dente level, take it out and strain it.  While it is in the strainer, make two to three turns of the original pan or just enough to almost coat the bottom with olive oil.  Then add a clove to two cloves (or about a table spoon) or garlic to the oil, and then re-add the spaghetti.  Coat the pasta with spaghetti sauce (add meat balls if you wish), and apply Parmesan/your choice of cheese.

For the garlic or cheesy bread, I offer my special recipe.  Take some regular slices of whole wheat bread, or cut open halves of any type of french bread roll.  Coat that bread surface in olive oil and butter for a base.  Then apply garlic and/or shredded (or grated) cheese, to whatever quantity you see fit.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes at about 400 degrees.

For a couple of other cool alternatives check out Mei Li version of meatless spaghetti in her Be a Kitchen MacGyver Blog.  Or check out Lisa Kivirist’s Planting Patriotism Blog for a great recipe for Spaghetti with Zucchini.  Both sound fantastic.

So there you have it, an outstanding meal that takes about 15 minutes to make and can feed an army if you need it to.  Or better yet, it can be one of those great meals that if you make up enough of it, my spaghetti and bread can last a few extra meals for left overs.

Good Luck and Good Eating!

So how do you know if you are deficient? Some common signs of a possible major deficiency in zinc are acne, fatigue, white spots on your fingernails, hair loss, high cholesterol, prostate trouble, irregular periods, impotence and infertility. However, even a minor deficiency can affect your sexual desire and function, so taking the time to make sure you are getting enough of this mineral during the day can have a positive outcome on your romantic evenings. If you are concerned, there is an oral test that can be done at a doctors’ office, as well as a blood test to determine if you are zinc deficient. Vegetarians and vegans need about 50% more zinc in their diet then meat eaters. Since there is an array of plant-based zinc sources, there is no need to panic and since most Americans are believed to be deficient in this vital mineral, it’s time to eat up people!

Sexy Veggie Food Choices: tempeh, beans including lentil, adzuki beans, chickpeas and lima beans, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, nuts including cashews, pecans, pine nuts, almonds and Brazil nuts, honey, tahini, flax seeds, flax oil, peas, blackberries, kiwi, peas, summer squash, corn and sweet potato, oats and seaweeds including kelp and dulse.

Try this recipe for my “Just Can’t Get Enough Granola” to start boosting your zinc today.

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Now your probably thinking, this is probably too simple to be expressed on a Blog.  Well I disagree.  If a little extra time is spent with preparation, this can be one of those great easy meals, that you can remake again and again.  This meal is such a staple that in our house, we designate one night a week as Grilled Chicken Salad Night.

In order to make up this meal, you need to grab some boneless chicken fillets from your local grocer’s freezer.  Simply grill up the chicken over a charcoal or propane grill until the chicken is cooked through and crisp, but not burned. While cooking, cover the chicken with basic seasoning to improve taste. For my super delicious chicken salad, usually a little well done on the chicken makes for a tastier meal.

If you lack the potential to grill, chicken actually bakes well in the oven under steady supervision of flipping the chicken to ensure the chicken is baked all the way through.  To bake it use the same formula as you did for grilling, but just expect a little more production time.  In either case, slicing open the raw chicken at various parts will help cook the bird and let the seasoning soak in more.

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Fall crops – from butternuts to beets – require taking out the big sharp knives, the cutting boards, and usually can’t go from garden to plate in ten minutes or less. (Case in point: the yummy, yet rather complex, Beet Burger recipe I wrote about last week). But there’s a reason for that: these types of fall vegetables are meant to store and be savored through the winter months, particularly here in through our Wisconsin winters. Tougher skins and harder insides hold up to seasonal and local eating booty through our lean Midwest growing months, providing the opportunity to still eat fresh year round.

Consider this Roasted Root Vegetable recipe my point of entry into the winter cooking season. Cooked in olive oil with some simple seasonings, this recipe showcases the distinct, hearty flavors of root vegetables. Potato recipes get temporarily bumped off the breakfast plate at Inn Serendipity this time of year as this flavorful, unusual recipe prompts folks to rethink their assumptions about rutabagas and other roots.

Roasted Root Vegetables (Vegan)

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Yes. After learning that Crisco got its name from crystallized cotton seed oil and waxing nostalgic about the big red-white-and-blue shortening can Mom used to keep in the cupboard for baking, I was shocked to find that a typical 32-ounce bottle of all-natural, cholesterol free Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil had just one ingredient.  Not cottonseed oil but soybean oil.

Soybean oil is another surplus crop more frequently used for whatever the processors, marketers, and packagers come up with. Cottonseed oil isn’t in the cooking oil or shortening ingredients.  It appears Crisco has given in to the cheap grain trend of government-subsidized crops making more of our food.  It’s probably better than fattier cottonseed oil that’s increasingly fed to dairy cows as a fiber source that converts to butterfat in milk.

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Gluten free baking is not for the faint of heart or the timid of soul.  The tried and true baking results that come from the familiar use of wheat flour are substantially difficult to reproduce without our old friends, wheat, rye, and barley.  With some experimentation and a little tenacity, you can find a good gluten free flour mix, and still have some of the same baked treats you once enjoyed before you relinquished all gluten related items.

In my three years of learning to cook and bake gluten free, I’ve tried numerous combinations of flours and prepackaged mixes.  Some were pretty good, but most spanned the spectrum between OK and outright terrible. I looked for gluten free flours in recipe books, in online searches, and throughout the blogosphere, and finally found the best all purpose flour mix in a cookbook - Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts.

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Pomegranates contain almost half your daily quota of Vitamin C, an antioxidant that is required for at least 300 different metabolic functions in the body. Vitamin C is also a protector from free radical damage and a facilitator of good circulation, which is vital for sexual health and pleasure. They also contain vitamin B5, the anti-stress vitamin needed for proper adrenal function, and vitamins A and E, which help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Pomegranate oil is now being used in many menopause products to help reduce symptoms, as well as in vaginal creams to help eliminate dryness, which can make sex painful. Pomegranate juice is easily found at your local grocery store, often mixed with other super-fruits, offering you an antioxidant cocktail that is easily assimilated by the body. The seeds are great in cold salads, on (soy) yogurt with some nuts or paired with greens for a sweet and tart delight. Do something good for your body today and try the greens recipes below to increase your overall health and feed your libido at the same time. It doesn’t get much better then that.

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This is a very adaptable, forgiving recipe—feel free to modify and experiment with ingredients.   Carrots can easily substitute for some of the beets.  The burgers freeze well (and taste surprisingly good cold), so we usually make a triple batch in a jumbo bowl.

Here’s the recipe:

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But these culinary treats should not just be for moms and kids.  Playing around with the recipe some can turn this classic into a work of art, and I would like to show you how.

(Photo taken by Dan Tentler)

Now this is not the first time the guilty pleasures of grilled cheese have been toted on this site.  Kelly Best-Oliver spells out her enjoyment of grilled cheese and tomatoe shallot soup.  Robin Shreeves also encourages grilled cheese and tomato soup in her Thrifty Thursday Blog from September 2008.

However, both these Blogs do not improve the process of making grilled cheese to improve taste.  I like to think that Grilled Cheese sandwiches can be a real meal, an almost delicacy if you will.  That is where I, Jason Karnosky–the working food journalist come in.

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Here is a scrumptious and healthy alkaline rich beet and orange salad with refreshing lemon zest and your choice of protein and toppings.

Try silky light tofu, or organic cottage cheese, crumbled feta, or plain. To top it off try fresh thyme or rosemary. I happen to have a blood orange I threw into the mix, so get creative and treat yourself to this healthy root vegetable and citrus salad.

Below is the recipe and an example menu to pair this nutritious side dish with.

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Are you looking to feel balanced inside? Perhaps you’ve tried eating alkaline and are looking for a new recipe.

Try this simple sprout recipe you can grow yourself! Try these Organic Sprouted Seed Kits.

Sprouts are one of the most natural and healthy foods for the body. Nourish yourself, and feel the difference. Most supplements for digestion, alkalinity, immunity, energy, and extra greens, include sprouts of some sort. Almost anything that is a seed may be sprouted. Beans are sprout-able too!

Keep reading for this easy recipe that may serve as a side dish, a larger salad or taco topping, or a mid day snack.

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Last Wednesday, two of my favorite foodies were on tv doing a segment about “guilt free” eating. Using simple substitutions, I learned I can save more than 200 calories by switching my morning bagel to an English muffin with Laughing Cow low-calorie cheese spread and almost 1,000 calories by switching from fettuccine alfredo to tofu noodles and light cheese. Simple changes that make decadent foods more health-conscious, what’s not to love?

For some people, quite a bit, actually. The foodies in question are Rachel Ray and Lisa Lillien — women who love talking about food in a way that doesn’t make a person like me feel overwhelmed. But their philosophies for simplicity, healthy substitution, and fun in cooking don’t always mesh with the more serious demands some food activists make. What I’m still not sure of is whether there’s a compromise to found somewhere in the middle?

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Long roots include carrots, parsnips, burdock and daikon radish. Some of these are excellent blood purifiers and can help improve circulation in the body and increase mental clarity. Round roots include turnips, radishes, beets and rutabagas. Round roots are nourishing to the stomach, spleen, pancreas and reproductive organs and can help regulate blood sugar, moods, and alleviate cravings.

Read more for a delicious Meatless Monday Vegan Roasted Root Vegetable recipe.

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Apples are not only delicious and an easy snack, but also very healthy in numerous ways. What are the main benefits of eating apples? What are some great apple recipes?

Apples are a great source of dietary fiber. As a result, they are believed to reduce the risk of some cancers, they improve the functioning of the intestines, eliminate cholesterol from the digestive tract, cleanse the lungs and colon, and help to prevent and potentially cure appendicitis.

Apples are linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer, stroke, asthma and Type 2 diabetes. Moreover, as Healing with Whole Foods reports, due to all the pectin apples contain, they can help to reduce blood cholesterol and remove toxic metals from the body such as lead and mercury. In addition, apples are also found to play a very beneficial role in cleansing the liver.

I love to eat apples with peanut butter. It’s one of my favorite breakfast combinations. But here are a couple of interesting apple recipes that go beyond my apple and peanut butter dish. Enjoy a rice casserole with apples or apple noodle pasta for lunch or dinner sometime!

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Hot cocoa serves up a good example of how making your own mixes from pantry staples deliver benefits on multiple fronts:

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But as frosts linger and the cold winds start to blow, don’t punt and think your fresh local bounty will disappear till spring.  With a little strategic shopping and planning, you can preserve a local meal focus all winter long by taking advantage of those last farmer’s markets.

Here’s another perk of eating local year round:  you’re supporting the economic health of your community.  Just ask Cindy Torres, manager of the Longmont Farmers Market outside Boulder, Colorado, and an IATP Food and Society Fellow.  Passionate about using local food systems as a healthy economic development tool, Torres co-founded the Boulder County Food and Agriculture Policy Council to look at how her area can increase the local food supply to enhance the lives of community residents of all economic backgrounds.

“With a little bit of planning and preparation, we can readily eat local till the spring markets start up again,” explains Torres.  Here are her favorite five tips:

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Snacking smartly can help diminish your cravings in a healthy way, help restore balance and help to simply put you in a good mood. By choosing a healthy snack that you actually enjoy you can help with your concentration, brain function and ward off that irritability that may be on its way. So when that next craving hits, ask yourself, “What am I really in the mood for”? Here are some healthy snack options ideas, broken down into categories, crunchy, sweat, salty and creamy, from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition.

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Fresh, organic fruit salads are so festive and healthy, make someone you love glow with one soon. I love mixing fruit flavors together and I think I’ve found a few secrets to delectable fruit salad blends. Here are some elements that make a great fruit salad sure to please and win smiles:

• Marinade: First off a good juicy base fruit is best, citrus and melons both make nice frescas marinades. If you can find organic watermelon or organic citrus in season near you, go for it, you body will thank you.
• Bite size delights of nutrients: The essence of fruit salad is to combine healthy organic bite size fruit slices that vary in texture and flavor. For instance organic white peach, green and red grape pair well with pear and berry. It is amazing how well fruits meld when combined.
• Freshness: Depending on how fresh the fruit is when cut, it will keep for half the week. To ensure this you may like to wash the fruits or add Grapefruit Seed Extract to the mixture for natural freshness.
• Rainbows: Creating a feast for the eye as well as the palate is key, I like adding edible flowers!

Keep reading for the recipe.

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