Miracle Paper by Fenugreen

Sick of your veggies and fruits going bad?  Try this awesome paper, FreshPaper, and your produce will last two to four times longer before going rotten!

It all started when the inventor, Kavita Shukla, was visiting her grandma in India, drank some untreated water, and her grandma made her a concoction of spices to drink, and amazingly Kavita didn't get sick!

Fenugreen FreshPaper should be placed under or within any produce package and the organic Indian spices will significantly slow bacterial growth!

Every time you buy a pack, Whole Foods makes it possible to donate a pack to a food shelter!  So when you buy, you're helping others!

Lots of people, besides me, think it's really cool too!  For example, Oprah Magazine said, "The best non-diet tip we've ever heard!".  Check it all out in this brief CNN clip below:

There is also a TED talk by Kavita which is when I first learned about this product.  Remember www.TED.com?  It is this awesome website that I just love!

FreshPaper is sold at Whole Foods and other in-store locations (though they didn't haven't it at Woodmere when I went last week -- boo!), and www.fenugreen.com.

Before you get some of this paper, or instead, you can always use a VINEGAR AND WATER solution to wash produce, removing the bacteria that causes food to go bad.  I have found this technique to be quite effective!

Basically, a 1:3 ratio of vinegar-to-water works well, though measuring isn't important.  Two methods work well, including filling a spray bottle to squirt on your fruits and veggies.  The other method is to give your fruits and veggies a quick soak/swish in a bowl of the solution.  According to Cook's Illustrated, vinegar has been shown to kill 98% of the bacteria on produce!

BONUS TIP: Once ripe, store avocados in your refrigerator until you use them; they'll keep for weeks this way!  Click here for other quick tips for the kitchen.

Peanut Butter Brownies -- Healthy Disguised as Sinful!

Like I often say, these are so healthy you could eat them for breakfast! In fact, I fed them to my kids as an appetizer before dinner! They still ate well, but if they filled up just on these, it would be ok! Dates rock! Peanut butter and walnuts are healthy fats, and cocoa has it's own laundry list of mental and and other health benefits!

To mention dates again, I go back to Dr Greger's endorsement of dates as a healthy food. Here it is in a nutshell: dates are made mostly of sugar, so the worry is that like sugar, dates may raise our blood sugar, raise our triglycerides, oxidatively stress our bodies, and make us fat. According to recent studies: DATES are FANTASTIC for us! No harmful affect on triglycerides or weight, improvements in antioxidant stress level, and one study considers that dates may be an almost IDEAL food with its many essential nutrients and health benefits!

Peanut Butter Brownies

2 c walnuts (or pecans, or some combination of the two, or probably another nut would work!)
3 c pitted dates (60 dates if you're counting!)
2 t vanilla
1.5 c warm water
1/2 c ground flaxseed (optional: updated additional, nutritious ingredient!)
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c natural peanut butter (1/4 c for more of a chocolate brownie; 2/3 c for a peanut buttery brownie!)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until you have a brownie-batter-ish consistency (no eggs so feel free to enjoy some!). It helps to blend the nuts a while before adding the water.  You may wrap your food processor with a towel when you add the water. Fill pans to thickness you want your brownies to be. I made mine a half inch or so thick. I use two silicone bread pans (4x9" or so) so there are more edges! I also fill something else with what is left; this afternoon I used an 8" round pan.  I bake for ~30 minutes at 375 convection, so that's around 40 minutes at 400 conventional.

Unlike brownies with beans in them, you can feel free to taste and enjoy piping hot from the oven! SO YUMMY!  Happy weekend!

COMMENTS: Do you camp? I've mostly camped as a kid, Girl Scouts, and another random trip or two. I think it's an awesome experience with nature, for anybody, and especially for kids. Now, if I can get my hubby on board! He's a good sport. We did go once when our friends graciously offered up their camper to us, while they slept in their tent. It was fun! I want to do it again! It even had a lasting effect of turning my daughter into a self proclaimed nature-lover :)

Smooth and Sweet Banana Bread!

This delicious banana bread is egg-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free!

So no butter, eggs, milk, or sugar...what the heck is in here?

I adapted this recipe from one that came in the recipe book that goes with my bread maker, the Zojirushi Virtuoso Breadmaker.

Dr Greger Daily Dozen Check Marks: 1 and 2) bananas and dates, 3) flaxseed, 4), spices, 5) whole wheat flour, 6) walnuts 

Egg-free, dairy-free, sugar-free banana bread!

Smooth Banana Bread

3 bananas, very ripe (add an extra half banana if they are small)
1/4 c flaxseed, ground
1 c water, warm
1 t vanilla (optional)
1 t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (you can't taste it, but you're adding antioxidants!)
3/4 c dates, well-chopped (~145 grams OR 15 pieces)
2 c whole wheat flour
3 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
Optional add-in: 1/2 c walnuts, chopped, and folded in just before baking

Mash bananas, combine with flax, water, vanilla, and dates. Separately, combine remaining dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet gradually until just mixed. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour, and enjoy! Allow less time if making as cookies, instead of bread, ~20 min.

In my bread maker, I just throw it all in without even mashing the banana, and hit the "cake" button! Awesome :)

Egg-free, dairy-free, sugar-free banana bread!

COMMENTS: What is your favorite season, and why?