Not Your Mom's Health Food - The Guerillas in the Kitchen Series - Week 1.

My fabulous friend Delayne and I have been working on a documentary about Naturopathic medicine, weight loss, and health centering around what we eat for the past few years called: "invisible me" (website coming soo-oon!) Recently we decided to embark on a weekly cooking extravaganza to promote our movie and eating healthily, but deliciously. A great cookbook to consult is: "Deceptively Delicious" The aim of the book is for parents to get their children to eat healthier, but the recipes are good, simple, and healthy.

Many Americans have health and weight problems because of allergic reactions to certain foods or items in food (such as dairy, gluten, sugar, or even odd things - I am allergic to NUTMEG!). To find out about how to get a food allergy test ask your doctor. Delayne and I, along with our friend Megan, decided each Thursday we would get together and cook dinner AND dessert that tastes great and does NOT include any of our allergans. Def. easier said than done!! :-) Delayne is allergic to sugar, banana, vanilla, dairy - pretty much EVERYTHING included in traditional baking. I am intolerant of sugar - my all time favorite food. Boo!

BTW: Did you know that Beef or cow products (including cow-based cheeses) are one of the highest contributers to global warming in terms of cows emitting toxic carbons into our atmosphere? scary! (See www.npr.org for more information.) Because I don't eat beef and turkey is healthier, Delayne and I made two traditional hamburger products using ground turkey. Way less fattening!!!

Two weeks ago we attempted turkey meatballs - actually YUM! First we made this amazing sauce that was completely sugar-free. Here's are our homemade recipe:

Turkey Meatballs and Homemade Tomato Veggie Sauce ala Delayne & Mary:

1. Meatball Ingredients: mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch, 1/3 c. soy flour (or buckwheat or any other kind of flour), 1 onion diced, chopped celery, garlic, salt & pepper, basil, and ground turkey together. We got our turkey at Trader Joe's. It was hormone free and free-range - you can get ground turkey at any supermarket though. Mix this all together with your hands and then shape into little balls. We had to do several mess-up batches before realizing we needed a bonding agent (cornstarch).
   
2. The sauce: mix together Organic Crushed canned tomatoes (or you can dice up your own tomatoes from scratch), tomatoe puree (14oz), veggies - we did peppers, onion, zuchini, and squash with garlic and heat to boiling on med heat. After the sauce boils reduce heat to simmering.
   
3. TO cook the meatballs: pan fry olive oil (about 2 tbspn) until boiling and reduce heat. Add meatballs. Cook for 10min over low heat or until they are firm and brown. Then cover them and add a couple tbspns of water to flash steam.
   
4. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for about 10 minutes.
   
5. Add to your favorite whole grain pasta (the whole grain is important for a well rounded meal!). I recommend the Whole Foods 365 brand.
   
6. IT'S AMAZING! And it only took about 30-45 minutes total to make. You can also make all of it in advance or in a crocpot.
   

TURKEY BURGERS!

1. You can also make Turkey Burgers using pretty much the same recipe. We added about 2 tbsn's of butter and some cumin to the above recipe (minus celery) and shaped in a patty form and then just pan fried with olive oil.
2. For maximum health benefits serve with toasted Omega-3 organic buns, avocado, organic ketchup, and lettuce. Another amazing thing to add (that is also great for the environment) is Veganise. WaAAAAY better tasting than traditional mayo and made organically from soy. Found at any health foods market. I think it is the best condiment I have ever had!!!! Enjoy!
   
3. We also added Sweet Potato French Fries. Which are sooo simple and healthy. All you do is scrub sweet potatoes, dice them up, mix with olive oil and salt, and bake on 325 - 350 for about 20-30 min. This also works with beets. Yuuuum!