Monday, October 22, 2012

HEAVENLY BODIES.

Welcome to Heavenly Bodies  I thank you for your comments and think I have fixed the problem with the comment page.  Yesterday our neighbor gifted us with a large sack of black mission figs. So off to the computer for fig recipes before this present is past tense. 
Found a few that are healthy looking but am sharing them before baking so that's my disclaimer.   I will not add the nuts for they are not on my eating plan.    
I am trying to eat seasonally and locally and have enjoyed our Tuesday and Saturday market meeting the growers and talking produce.  Many are organic farmers.  My other change is to buy possessed food with as little ingredients as possible other than the actual product I was buying.  I like buying frozen corn with "corn" on the ingredients list.   

Enjoy   Happy eating.  Elin


10 Must-Have Fig Recipes

10 Must-Have Fig Recipes
Summer figs can be eaten fresh or dried, plain and simple. But that can get a little boring, don’t you think? Use these delicious fruits in delicious desserts or spreads or preserves. If you want to get a little more creative, use it as a stuffing forpork tenderloin or add it to a sandwich.
Since they’re only ripe for a couple months during the year, try to implement these healthy fig recipes in one of your next meals.
  1. Fig & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin - The meat from this porktenderloin becomes oh so tender and the juices from the fig and cheese mixture is heavenly.
  2. Fit Nut Squares - Instead of fig pudding for Christmas, bake some of these fig nut squares. They're sweeter and the kids will like them more. 
  3. Fresh Figs Baked with Honey and Cream - This special dessert is the essence of indulgence. Truly a treat. 
  4. Broiled Fig & Gorgonzola Finger Sandwiches - These sandwiches are perfect for an afternoon or evening party. 
  5. Fig Preserves - The thickness of the figs gives this jam a heavy texture. 
  6. 70's Fig Nortons - This classic recipe creates a delicious cinnamon cookie filled with figs and two kids of fruit juice for flavoring. 
  7. Quaker Cottage Fig Cake - This recipe was shared by our friend Edith Linson, who gave this out at her shop in Friendswood, TX founded by Quakers in 1894, due to the 5 creeks for fig preserving. 
  8. Fig or Date Wafers - Yummy wafers everyone loves! 
  9. Fig Filling - This is a delicious filling. 
  10. Honeyed Tart Apple and Fig Crostata - The crostata, even so Italian in name, can be traced to the Southern parts of the French Alps, known as a "Tarte-Au-Tatin" with a tantalizing taste sensation of a tart and a sweet summer fruit.



http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/12/skinny-figgy-bars.html
Skinny Figgy Bars
by  on DECEMBER 20, 2009
FavoriteADD TO RECIPE BOX
Fig Bars
I hope you enjoy this “rerun” of a recipe I associate closely with Christmas. It’s my low-fat, veganized interpretation of the fig-filled cookies my husband’s grandmother always made for Christmas. D looked forward to those cookies every year, and once he married a vegan, his grandmother often made a special egg-free batch just for us. Sadly, she’s no longer with us, but I think of her whenever I make these fig bars.
I made an impulse buy the other day, one of those “rings” of dried figs. I’ve been missing fresh figs all summer, so when I saw these dried figs in the store, I bought them without thinking. But then they sat on my kitchen counter taunting me with memories of my yummy, but definitely not low-fat, Holiday Fig Bars. Since I’ve been trying to cut down on sugar and refined foods lately, making a batch of those bars would not be in my best interest.
But visions of fig bars persisted, as such cravings will when you have the primary ingredient sitting right on your kitchen counter. I finally broke down this afternoon, just in time for my afternoon pot of coffee (another substance I should probably give up but won’t), and made fig bars. Actually, I decided to make fig bars healthy. I revamped my recipe so that the oil is gone, the refined flour is history, and the sugar is . . . well, the sugar is reduced. It’s gotta have something in it besides figs, you know!
You will be amazed at how good these are. They’re low in everything, except flavor.
Fig Bars

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Welcome To Heavenly Bodies 1

Heavenly Bodies 1 

This ia a wonderful welcome to Heavenly Bodies, a blog about eating, cooking, and creating wonderful meals with a heart-healthy plan.  I am following Dr. Esselstyn's book, How To Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, after having two strokes that really got my attention. Next month, November 28, I will celebrate my first year of living life as a VNO (vegan - no oil ).  It was difficult at first as my body got off high doses of sugar, salt and fat. Couldn't believe how many products had sugar in them.  I am now a label reader.... Another scary adventure into what I was putting into this HB for fuel.  I don't read so many labels any more because much of what is on the plate is fresh and local produce. 

My Benifits (so far)

  1. I have lowered my cholesterol 264 to 195 without Statin drugs which my body cannot tolerate. 
  2. Lost 50 pounds (ok 49.6). Have 6.3 pounds to meet the doctor's number.
  3. Have opened my life to a slew of delightful flavors from fruits, veggies, legumes, pasta and beans.  
  4. Learned new cooking styles to substitute for the oil.  New flavors to give natural sweeteners besides processed sugar. 
  5. Had a super report card at the dentist's with a no buildup on my teeth with  8 months between cleanings. 
  6. Appreciated the solidarity from my husband, family and friends as I started and now continue with this journey to stay on this planet a little longer and a lot healthier.
  7. Met many like minded eaters and will never forget the half hour talk with Dr. Esselstyn who called to tell me that if I wanted to become healthier by this plan, he wanted to be on my team and gave me his phone number to contact him if I had any questions. Wow. 
  8. Started a newsletter for people who were interested in my process and wanted recipes I have come up with as well as recipes I have altered to fit the eating plan.and lots more.....
Putting all this down makes me realize how delightful this adventure has become.  Thank all of you for your wonderful support. So here we go with the first Heavenly Bodies blog.

Welcome to Heavenly Bodies 1 

Best eating.   Elin.