Chia Seed - Ten Benefits from this Power Food.

Do you want to increase your brain power and body strength with one of the most powerful foods imaginable?

Chia seeds impart power and energy to a well-balanced diet.

Ten benefits to adding chia seeds to your diet are:

1. Nutritious. Chia seeds provide calcium and protein to your tissues. The seeds are also rich in boron, which helps the body assimilate and use calcium. The nutrients also support proper brain functioning.

2. Water loving. The seeds can soak up ten times their weight in water.   Try this fun experiment. Put one tablespoon of chia seeds in a cup of water and stir. Wait a few hours and see what happens. When inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain electrolytes.

3. Easily digestible. The shells are easily broken down, even when swallowed whole. This is an improvement over flax seeds, which have to be ground to be digested properly.

4. Concentrated. If I could only take one cup of food for a few days, I'd choose chia seeds!

5. Mild tasting. Unlike some seeds, the flavor is very mild. The mild taste makes it easy to put in any recipe you want. They won't really change the taste, but will add to your nutrition!

6. Energy enhancing.

7. Versatile. The seeds can be used to replace less-healthy fat in just about any recipe. You can use them uncooked in salad dressings, spreads, fruit shakes, ice cream, and just about anything you want. You can also add them to cookies, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods.

8. Slimming and trimming. Yes, the seeds will help you lose weight, for two reasons. The first reason is that they are so filling that you will eat less of other foods. The second reason is that they actually bulk up and cleanse your intestines.

9. Endurance enhancing. Chia seeds are known as the "Indian Running Food".

10. Regenerating.  After eating, the nutrients travel to the cells very quickly due to the ease in digestion.

Spaghetti Squash - Preparation

Spaghetti Squash - Preparation
Categories: Low, Fat, Vegetable
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In answer to how to prepare spaghetti squash, I found this in the June, 94 issue of Southern Living:
The flesh of spaghetti squash, when cooked, comes out like strands of  cooked spaghetti and makes a great light stand-in for pasta lovers.

Prepare squash by cutting in half lengthwise and removing seeds. Pierce skin several times with a fork and follow one of the cooking methods below.

To bake, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a large baking pan. Bake at 350 oF for 45 minutes or until skin is tender and strands may be loosened easily with a fork.

To microwave, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water; cover with plastic wrap, folding back a small edge of wrap to allow steam to escape. Cook on HIGH 7 to 10 minutes.

To boil, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a Dutch oven, add water to a depth of 2 inches. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Cool cooked squash. Using a fork, remove spaghetti-like strands of pulp. Discard shell.

Yield: 1 medium spaghetti squash equals about 4 cups cooked.

WHITE SAUCE MIX

From time to time recipes will appear here listing "white sauce mix" as an ingredient.  Below is the formula I use for white sauce mix.  It's the basic ingredient in most of our cream soups, like seafood bisque, & summer vegetable bisque.  Because it's made with nonfat milk, it is better for you than adding heavy cream or half and half to your favorite cream soup recipes.

WHITE SAUCE MIX
Recipe By : Louise
Categories : Sauces Mixes
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2 C Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
1 C Unbleached Flour
1 C Butter or Margarine
2 ts Salt
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1. In a large bowl combine dry milk, flour, and salt.
2. Mix well. With a pastry blender cut in butter or margarine until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
3. Lightly pack in a large airtight container. Store in refrigerator. Use within 2 months. Makes about 1 quart of mix.
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TO MAKE BASIC WHITE SAUCE:
Use 1/2 cup WHITE SAUCE MIX and 1 cup of cool water. Combine in a small sauce pan (for thinner white sauce decrease the mix to 1/4 cup or for thicker white sauce increase mix to 3/4 cup). Cook over low heat until smooth, tirring constantly. Season with pepper, herbs, and spices. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of sauce.
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VARIATIONS:
Substitute milk, tomato juice or chicken or beef stock for all or part of the water. Cheese Sauce: Add 1/2 to
1 cup Shredded Cheddar cheese after mixture thickens. Stir until cheese is melted.
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Pastry Dough Tips for Pies, Tarts, Turnovers, & Pinwheels

Basic two crust pie instructions:

1. Mix dough according to directions -- roll out half of your pastry dough using short, gentle strokes with a rolling pin and stopping often to re-flour the pin and the board. Your dough should be moving all the time. If it’s not moving, it’s probably stuck to the board. Lift gently and add more flour. Dough should be thin and extend about one inch over the sides of your pie plate.

2. Place bottom crust loosely into ungreased pie plate and pat into place. Leave your excess inch of crust in place for now and brush lightly with milk or water. Place your prepared filling into your bottom crust. Dot with butter and set aside.

3. Roll out top crust the same way you rolled out your bottom crust. Place gently over filling leaving another one inch of excess in the diameter. Tuck your one-inch of excess top crust UNDER your one inch of excess bottom crust – all the way around and flute all edges with fingers or a fork.

4. Cut about 4-5 one-inch slits [steam vents] in the top of the pie. Brush with egg-wash [beaten egg thinned with an equal amount of water or milk] or milk before baking for nice golden crust.

5. Bake pie at 450º for 10 minutes, then lower oven temp to 350º and cook for 45-50 minutes longer. Crust should be a golden brown and filling should be bubbling up through the stem vents when done.

 Basic single crust pie shell instructions:

1. Follow #1 directions above.

2. Place bottom crust loosely into ungreased pie plate and pat into place. Fold your excess inch of crust over on itself and flute edges. This gives you an UNBAKED single piecrust usually used for pumpkin and pecan pies. For a BAKED single crust, go to step #3.

3. After fluting the edges on your raw crust, poke tiny holes throughout the entire crust, bottom and sides, with a dinner fork. Brush the entire crust with milk or egg-wash and bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. The BAKED single crust is usually used for cream pies, like chocolate cream or lemon meringue. Tip: bake and freeze a few and when you need a dessert in a hurry, thaw a crust, fill with instant or prepared pudding (chocolate, butterscotch, coconut, etc), top with cool whip and you have a very delicious pie that looks like you slaved over it.

Tart Shells:

1. Follow instructions for the single crust BAKED shell except you will be making smaller rounds and portioning them into muffin cups. Bake according to directions, fill with Steve’s Microwave Fruit Filling, top with Cool Whip and you have a really nifty dessert. Make the above in TINY muffin cups for a great crowd pleaser. Note: if using the tiny tins, I don’t even roll out the dough . . . just portion into tins and mold into place with your fingers before pricking and baking – super simple!

 Turnovers:

1. Cut out a cardboard template – 5” X 5” for regulation size turnovers or 3” X 3” for small turnovers. Mix and roll out dough following my basic two crust pie instructions. Use your template to cut squares of pastry, place a dollop of Steve’s Microwave Fruit Filling on each square, moisten the edges of the pastry with water or milk, fold into a triangle, seal edges with a fork pressed in intervals on the two open sides of your triangle. Poke in a stem vent on the top of your turnover, brush the tops with milk or egg wash, place [leaving an inch of space around each pastry] on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Pastry Pinwheels:
 I learned how to make these from my grandmother [Memere Lively]. They are a really great way to use up leftover ends and pieces of pastry dough after you finish a day of baking pies, tarts, or turnovers:

1. Gather all pastry dough scraps and press into a ball. Roll out thinly, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, roll up the dough like a jellyroll, starting at one end and continuing until you have formed a log. Slice the log into ½” cookies, place flat side down [like cookies] close together on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

 Pastry: Savory and Sweet

Cooking Tip: Buttermilk

Many recipes call for buttermilk because acid is needed to react with baking soda in your recipe to create a nice light product with plenty of moisture. Since buttermilk is not a basic kitchen staple, here is a tip for creating buttermilk for your recipes: place one tablespoon of lemon juice into your one cup measure then fill to the brim with milk for one cup of buttermilk. Skim or fat free milk used the same way will create: fat-free buttermilk. If you’re out of lemons, orange juice or vinegar would substitute equally well for the lemon juice. To create other measurements of buttermilk, please use the following ratio: 1 part lemon juice to every 15 parts milk.

Saco Cultured Buttermilk Blend, 16-Ounce Canister (Pack of 3)