Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Chicken Healing Soup with Ginger & Coriander

Olive Oil & Essential Oil......
This Gluten Free ~ Dairy Free healing soup recipe is for all of my sickie friends. The Yucky stuff is going around like crazy, so if you know someone who was is down with the cold or respiratory flu, you would be considered an angel for bringing this soup to them. 
 
My healing soup from Aroma & Olive Oil works fantastically on sore throats and seasonal colds. But don’t wait until you are not feeling well, as it is so delicious and warming anytime you are in the mood for something comforting and fragrant.

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2-pounds chicken breast, sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 small bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
2-3 drops doTERRA Ginger Essential Oil (or 1 teaspoon crushed ginger root)
1/2 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
1 drop doTERRA Coriander Essential Oil (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds)
2 boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Preparation

1. Rinse and partially freeze chicken for 2 to 4 hours. Remove from freezer and slice thinly.
2. Coat sliced chicken with salt, pepper, and cornstarch; let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Using a small bowl, combine Olive Oil, sesame oil, Ginger and Coriander Oils; set aside.
4. In a large pot, bring broth and water to a boil. Turn heat to low and add cilantro; continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. While simmering, stir in prepared chicken and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in blended Oils. Garnish with cilantro leaves and sliced eggs. Serve hot.


Never use an essential oil for internal use unless it has a food facts label.
 
To learn more about purchasing doTERRA's essential oils click here
 

Olive Oil Tonkatsu とんかつ


Olive oil…

Oishii ! しいです ! is how everyone describes my Tonkatsu とんかつ , and all it will take is one bite before you will be speaking Japanese too.

If you have not yet tried a traditional 19th century Japanese breaded pork cutlet, what are you waiting for? Tonkatsu is crunchy, tender, filling, and delicious. Oh …and by the way, using olive oil for frying you not only end up with a crispier crusted cutlet, you are also treated to the added benefit of monounsaturated fat (that’s  the good, heart-smart stuff ).

Serve it as a single dish, a sandwich filling, or alongside curry. Either

Serves 6
Prep time 25 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes

Ingredients

6 ½ inch slices pork chops (fat trimmed)
Japanese cooking rice wine*
Soy Sauce*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flour for coating
3 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups homemade bread crumbs*
Extra virgin olive oil for pan frying
Tonkatsu sauce* (optional)
Roasted sesame seeds

Preparation

1. Tenderize chops by pounding them to about 1/4 inch, and drizzle with rice wine and soy sauce. Sprinkle salt and pepper both sides of each cutlet; rest for 10 minutes

2. Coat each chop in flour, dip into beaten eggs and press into bread crumbs to coat both sides.

3. Pour about 1 inch of olive oil into a large skillet and heat over medium high until hot. Place 1 to 3 cutlets at a time in the hot oil. Deep-fry until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, turning them only once.

4. Drain on paper towels and cut the pork into bite-size strips.

5. Arrange on individual plates. Drizzle katsu sauce on cutlets, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve with white sticky rice* and salad.

*found online and at Asian grocery stores.







 



Friday, February 22, 2013

Dr. Oz Slips with Olive Oil WivesTale


Olive Oil...
Picture from the Olive Oil Times

Dr. Oz is adored by millions, and I want to commend him for speaking out about food fraud. This is a subject that is not spoken about often enough.  On a recent segment of his successful daytime television program, Dr. Oz warned his viewers they are being duped into buying fake extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). He said some experts claim that nearly 70 percent of EVOO sold is counterfeit. This is the time Dr. Oz should have turned to the olive oil experts that he had on his show that day.  Instead, he urged everyone to check their olive oil with a test that he and his family use. In the test, Dr. Oz puts a bottle of EVOO in the refrigerator. If it freezes at a normal refrigerator temperature, “then you’re pretty sure it’s pure,” said Oz

I can only imagine what the experts on his show were thinking, but they were polite enough not to call him out and put him in the fridge, in front of millions of viewers. Olive Oil experts everywhere will tell you that what Dr. Oz shared was nothing more than a wives tale.

We as the American public are just scratching the surface when it comes to understanding olive oil. Extra vvirgin olive oil is not just any old cooking oil.  Just as wine has many varieties which differ from grape to grape, and harvest to harvest, olive oil too shares the many variations.  Extra virgin olive oil is   literally the juice of the olive fruit, and when cultivated, harvested, and processed with expertise olive oil becomes a delicious eatable life giving serum. Although many extra virgin olive oil varieties will coagulate when put in the fridge, some will remain fluid even under cold temperatures.

The best way for a consumer to know if the olive oil they are purchasing is authentic is to look for:

A dark colored glass bottle.
A harvest date stamped on the bottle.

It is even better if the harvest location is stamped on there as well, but that is a rare find in an American grocery store today.

I am a staunch advocate of knowing where your food comes from, and olive oil is no different. The further we are removed from knowing where it comes from, the closer we are to being duped.

If you are one of the lucky people who happen to live in a city where there are one or more olive oil specialty stores, I encourage you to pay them a visit. The owners are often well educated when it comes to olive oil. Once there you will have the opportunity to taste the difference between blends and varieties. After tasting the many types of olive oil, you will gain a quick understanding of the differences in intensity and flavor. Many of these stores will often post nutritional evidence of the quality of their oils with each variety and blend they sell.

Although the fridge tip may be left out in the cold, I am glad to see Dr. Oz speaking out against food fraud. Hopefully people will be asking more questions and even prompted to contact their local grocery store  manager, to request more quality food products. We have the power to stop the fraud in our food industry when we purchase real food, rather than the many chemical processed non-foods they are currently selling us. And when we are purchasing real unadulterated food products, what we are really doing is casting a vote with our American dollars. The question is, now that we know about food fraud, what are we really willing to do about it? Bon Appetite
 



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Olive Oil & Granola Love Fest



olive oil.....
 
You do not need to be a hippie to enjoy this yummy granola. But after just one bite don't be surprised if the word "grooooovy" slips past your lips. This is one delicious breakfast cereal that will delight even the pickiest of eaters. Olive Oil Granola is a staple in our kitchen. We use it for everything from yogurt fun, to topping our  ice cream sundaes. 



It is especially a great treat for people who must swear off gluten and/or dairy. But don’t let that scare you, as this cruncher has converted many a die-hard junk cereal fans into healthier breakfast eaters. If you want less sweet skip the sugar; it's delicious either way.  

If you really want to be in good morning heaven, pour a little of your cold homemade almond milk over the top.... and oh baby!!!

Ingredients:

6     cups rolled oats
  cup chopped pecans or almonds
¼    cup cashews or sunflower seeds
1     cup dried apples (optional)
1     cup corn flakes
½    cup krispy rice cereal
  cup shredded coconut
½    cup dark brown sugar (optional)
½    cup honey
½    cup mild tasting extra virgin olive oil
1     tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  teaspoons sea salt
1     cup craisins

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F °

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, apples, cereals, coconut, and brown sugar.

3. In a small saucepan add honey, olive oil, vanilla and salt. Heat over a medium flame until very hot, but not boiling.

4. Evenly pour hot honey mixture over dry mixture, and toss to combine. 

5. Divide mixture and fold out onto 2 large sheet pans (jelly roll). Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning with a spatula every 20-30 minutes to achieve an even color.

6. Cool for 20- minutes and transfer into a large bowl. Add craisins, and blend until evenly distributed.

This is a very large batch and stores well in mason jars or Ziploc bags.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Strawberry and Almond - Naturally Pink

and then some...
Make your almond milk PINK and delicious naturally !!!
Now that you know how to prepare your own homemade Almond Milk, it’s time to experiment and have fun with flavor. Because tomorrow is Valentine’s  Day, wouldn’t it be fun to serve those you love some pink love milk? Strawberry Almond milk is so easy to make, and if you ask my family, of all of the almond milk drink flavors they have tried this week, strawberry is the biggest winner.

Ingredients

2-3 cups homemade almond milk

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries  

Preparation

Toss everything into a blender and mix on high until completely combined. Serve with a hug and a kiss.
Other flavors we love:

Chocolate

Cinnamon

Orange

Lemon

Lime

More to come…

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