Healthy and Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Natural cranberries can be a wonderful healthy food with many benefits. Cranberries are well know for preventing urinary tract infections , kidney infections, preventing bladder stone production by acidifying your urine, and boost your immune system helping to prevent colds and flues.

Many of us have cranberry sauce only during the Thanksgiving holiday with turkey, but there are so many delicious ways you can use up cranberry sauce. Add a big scoop of cranberry sauce to a smoothie, or flavor your plain yogurt. Make a ham or turkey sandwich or wrap adding a smear of cranberry sauce. It goes well with chicken, pork and beef. You can also use cranberry sauce as a glaze for meatloaf.


I absolutely loved this recipe shared by a friend of mine. The best thing of a homemade sauce is you can control how much sugar you put in, and also you can add more fresh and healthy ingredients.

Ingredients

• 8 -12 oz of fresh organic cranberry 
• 2 cups of water
• 1 1/2 oranges zest and juice 
• 1/2 lemon juice and zest
• A pinch of himalayan pink salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg 
• 3 sticks of cinnamon 
• Fresh Rosemary bunch
• 1/2 Apple chopped in small pieces
• Honey ( add according to your taste)

  In a large saucepan, combine water and honey ( I like raw honey). Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the honey for 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients and let them boil uncovered over high heat to medium for 10-15 minutes or till skins pop. If you like a runnier sauce, cook for less time. For a thicker sauce, cook a little longer. 

After the sauce is made, make sure to take the cinnamon sticks and rosemary bunch out, they are just for flavor! 

Sautéed Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprouts

I love brussels sprouts and flavored with lemon and garlic make a wonderful side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb Brussel Sprouts
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced 
• Sea salt
• Black Pepper

Clean the Brussels Sprouts and cut each one vertically in half;
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and sauté the halved brussels sprouts in olive oil for about 8-10 minutes on each side until is soft and fully cooked, add minced garlic, paprika, turmeric, sea salt, black pepper for seasoning; squeeze fresh lemon juice on top and serve immediately.

I

Quinoa, with Black Beans , Cherry Tomatoes and Peas

Today's lunch was very fast and delicious. Quinoa is one of my favorite foods, grain-like but not a grain , has a delicious nutty flavor and usually I have a good amount of quinoa leftover. I love the possibility that it can be mixed with a variety of ingredients. 

So, for today's lunch I made a fast, simple and delicious salad.  I tossed a can of organic Black Beans and Peas into my 2 cups of quinoa leftover  some garden fresh halved cherry tomatoes. Season with lime juice, turmeric, fresh cracked black pepper and serve room temperature. Enjoy!

Zucchini Noddles with creamy Avocado- Basil sauce

I love Zucchini, and I love to make Zucchini Noodles with my Vegetable Spiralizer machine. It turns zucchini into fun curly shapes, shoestrings and vegetable noodles , great way to add new texture to pasta dishes.

Avocados, I love them too. They are perfect for making a creamy sauce, add lot of flavor and healthy fats, turning the Zucchini Pasta a very substancial meal.

How to make this dish so creamy? Very simple and fast! All you need is a ripe avocado, fresh basil leaves, garlic , lemon juice and olive oil. Combine all these ingredients into a food processor and processing until smooth. Add salt and some crushed black pepper or your favorite seasonings.

The zucchini noodles can be made Raw or Cooked.

-To make it Raw just place the zucchini noodles in a large bowl and toss the avocado-basil sauce.

-To cook the Noodles, melt coconut or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sauce and toss with the noodles to coat. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until heated through, then sever immediately with shrimp or you can really use any thing you'd like.


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Baked Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash has become wildly popular lately as a low-carb option to replace spaghetti noodles.Very easy process to transform squash into tender tangles of spaghetti. No spiralizers or any special tools are required.
To prepare squash, start by washing it off and drying it.

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 400F while you prepare the squash
- Slice the squash in half: the next step is cutting it in half lenghwise. before cutting. Spaghetti squash are really tough and hard, if it's too hard to cut, try microwaving it for a minute or two. or boiling it for five minutes. Let it cool and try to cut it.
-Scoop out the seeds: once you have cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds with a spoon . 

- Seasoning before bake- brush the halves with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season generously with salt and black pepper.

-Place the squash in a roasting pan: Place the squash halves cut-side down in a roasting pan.
-Cook the squash for 45 to 60 minutes: Transfer the squash to the oven and cook for 45 to 6O minutes. Smaller squash will cook more quickly than larger squash. Check the squash after 30 minutes.
-The squash is cooked when tender: The squash is ready when you can easily pierce a fork through the flesh all the way to the peel. The flesh will also separate easily into spaghetti-like strands. If the noodles are still a bit crunchy for your taste, put the squash back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.

- Scrape out the squash: Use a fork to rake gently the squash flesh from the peel. If you want to make long noodles rake in the same direction. 

- Serve the squash: Serve the squash immediately.

Colorful Protein Salad

Simple, nutritious and delicious salad. 

                                          Ingredients:

Cooked Quinoa
Cooked Lentils
Broccoli Florets
Mini Sweet Peppers
Pine Nuts
Olive Oil
Salt
Fresh lime juice
Black Pepper 

Just mix everything, add the amount of each ingredient according to your taste. This very simple, nutritious and delicious salad is a powerhouse of goodness, the veggies stay raw and the quinoa, lentils and pine nuts add the protein on it.

Quinoa: Red or White, which one is healthier?

The super-versatile gluten-free, Quinoa ( pronounced KEEN-wah, not kwin-OH-ah), is available in different colors, but the most commercialized types are white and red. Although they are the same grain, there are slight nutritional differences between red and white quinoa. We cook and eat quinoa like many other grains, but, botanically speaking, the part we eat is actually the seed.

                                                                      Alain Jocard/AFT/Getty

                                White Quinoa

White quinoa, actually a bit more tan than white, is the most widely-available in stores. Compared to wheat or rice, quinoa is a better source of protein, has all the essencial amino acids, as well as a number of vitamins and minerals. Of all the quinoa colors, white quinoa has the most delicate taste and the lightest texture and it cooks up a bit fluffier than other types of quinoa.

                                       Red Quinoa
It takes on a brownish color when cooked, is more often used in meals like cold salads since it holds its shape better during cooking, has a richer taste, slightly chewier texture, and somewhat nuttier flavor compared to white quinoa. The main differences in between white and red quinoa is the red quinoa is slightly lower in total fat, a little higher in sodium, fiber, sugar, and protein, vitamin E, riboflavin, and folate. Their amino acid profiles are pretty similar, both are complete proteins.

                                         Calories

There is slight difference in calories between the red and white quinoa. Uncooked red quinoa contains 170 calories for a 1/4-cup serving, while the same serving of white quinoa contains 172 calories.

                                     Carbs and Fiber

If you're trying to increase your intake of fiber, red quinoa makes a better choice. A 1/4-cup serving of red quinoa contains 32 grams of carbs and 5 grams of fiber, while the same serving of white quinoa contains 31 grams of carbs and 3 grams of fiber.