Tasty Tuesday: Even More Food for Life and Health

This week of our no-meat journey into food for life and health we feature SIDES. When eating like this, a good side dish can be your main entree. Serve with a salad and bread stick and you have a meal!

I want to continue with some back story of our church’s cookbook. The front pages contain “Basics of Healthy Eating,” so today I will share a couple of those.

Tip #1: Always, always, always read labels. As a rule, the fewer the ingredients, the less refined, and better! Definitely try your best to stay away from: aluminum, modified food starch, sodium benzoate, BHT, monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame (includes: NutraSweet, Equal), nitrates or nitrites, hydrogenated oils, artificial coloring and flavoring.

Tip #2: The fresher and less processed, the better. If you don’t have a garden yourself, it is better to purchase fruits and vegetables from local farmers or produce stands. If you have a farmers market close by, consider yourself blessed! As a rule, the produce is picked riper and grown from better soil than the produce from grocery stores.

Less processed: use unrefined sugars, salt, and grains. The refining process removes essential nutrients, minerals and/or fiber that are necessary for proper digestion and absorption. Use unrefined sea salt instead of table salt. Use brown rice instead of white. Use Sucanat (evaporated cane juice) or fruit (ground dates, raisins, pineapple, banana) for sweetener, in place of sugar.

Now for this week’s choice of sides!

Edamame Succotash is delicious. When I make this? It’s a meal. Very, very good.

The Fiesta Couscous I have not tried but I have eaten in Elizabeth’s kitchen and she’s a great vegetarian cook and food preparer!

Bon Appétit!

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 John verse 2