My friend Julianne sent it to me awhile ago, but I just started making it recently, and it’s simply divine.  And not only is it tasty, but it’s an economical way to create a healthy meal that you and your family can enjoy during the week.  Think about cooking once to eat at least twice, but hopefully multiple times.

I will tell you that it’s a little upfront work with the chopping, and it took a little longer than I expected, but it’s well worth the effort. I made up a batch on Sunday night and Bruce and I have been enjoying it ever since.  I love the mix of flavors with the root vegetables and the peanut butter. To keep it optimally healthy, I use an all-natural peanut butter that’s free of sugar and hydrogenated oils, so you can imagine that means no Skippy or Jif!

I love this recipe because you can get plenty of protein from the peanut butter but it’s a nice break from eating meat.  Give it a whirl and let me know what you think. 

African Peanut Stew

 2 Tbs. olive oil
 2 large onions coarsely chopped
 3 large cloves garlic, minced
 1 small head of green cabbage, coarsely chopped
 3 large Yams or 1 small butternut squash cut into 1 in cubes 
 3 cups of carrots, diced
 2 cups of parsnips, diced
 3 cups of canned diced tomatoes, chopped
 4 cups of apple cider
 1 cup of chunky style peanut butter
 1 tsp cayenne pepper
 2 tsp salt
    
Directions:

1. Heat oil in big heavy pot and saute onions until soft.
2. Add garlic, cabbage, squash, carrots parsnips, tomatoes and apple juice. Bring to boil. Simmer for ten
minutes.
3. Stir in peanut butter a bit at a time.
4. Add cayenne and salt, then simmer covered for 2 hours or until
      veggies are tender.

Have a favorite peanut butter recipe? Share it below!

But to me, losing weight is all about making permanent lifestyle changes in how you eat, exercise, and manage stress, not a short term fix from the latest diet book. It simply doesn’t work.

So I was intrigued by the idea of certain foods that are helpful, and of course, I had to flip through to find out what they were. Interestingly, I regularly eat half of them, some of them I’ve even talked about like kale and quinoa. And last week, before I even saw the article, I wrote a blog post about how I combined three of them into one dish (quinoa, kale and lentils) that was healthy, delicious and low in fat and calories.

Here are the 20 foods they mentioned:

Steak, eggs, kale, oats, lentils, goji berries, wild salmon, apples, buckwheat pasta, blueberries, almond butter, pomegranates, chiles, yogurt, quinoa, sardines, tarragon, parmesan, avocado and olive oil.

I have to say, I eat about half of the items on a regular basis, and it’s a fact, things like kale, oats and lentils can help us lose weight for a host of different reasons.

You can read the whole article with explanations about why these foods are so good by clicking here.

I’m curious to know how many of these foods you’re regularly eating. Which ones are staples in your diet and to what degree does it help you to lose weight?

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.
3. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.
4. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
5. Shake the pan from time

Ingredients:
4 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, place on a baking sheet and roast for approximately 1 hour, or until tender. Remove and let cool.
2. Scoop sweet potatoes from skin and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Either mash by hand, put in a food processor or use an immersion blender to mix, removing lumps until a smooth consistency.
4. For sweeter potatoes, add the maple syrup.
5. Warm up in the oven or microwave and enjoy.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 Hour

Ingredients:
Seeds from 2 medium pumpkins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 300° F. Remove the seeds from the pumpkins. Discard the pulp.
2. Spread the seeds (no need to rinse them) evenly on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until dried, about 1 hour.
3. Toss the seeds, olive oil, celery salt, and cumin in a large skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, until the seeds are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 ears fresh sweet corn

Directions:
1. Thoroughly combine the butter, garlic and chili powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Soak the corn in the husk in a sink or tub filled with cold water for 15 minutes. Remove the corn from the water, shake off the excess and pull the husks back halfway. Remove as much of the silk as you can. Rub the flavored butter all over the exposed corn. Pull the husks back over the corn and twist shut. Tightly wrap each ear of corn in foil.
3. Immediately place the corn on the grill over hot coals. Close the cover and cook 30 minutes, rotating each ear one-third of a turn every 10 minutes.
4. Remove the foil from each ear. Cool a few minutes until easy to handle, then remove the husks. Serve immediately.

Directions:
1. First make the dressing by combining all the ingredients and whisk well.
2. Chop all the salad ingredients, leaving the apples until last, and mix in a salad bowl.
3. Toss salad with half the dressing. Add additional dressing if so desired.
4. Either eat immediately or chill for up to one hour and then add the apples just before eating.

Try fresh herbs like parsley, dill, cilantro, or mint for a totally different taste.

4-5 cups spring water
1-2 inch strip of wakame (my favorite sea vegetable) rinsed and soaked 5 minutes in 1 cup of water, until softened
1-2 cups thinly sliced vegetables of your choice (see notes)
4-5 teaspoons barley miso
2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions:

1.  Chop soaked wakame.
2.  Discard soaking water or use on houseplants for a boost of minerals.
3.  Place water and wakame in a soup pot and bring to a boil.
4.  Add root and ground vegetables first and simmer gently for 5 minutes or until tender.
5.  Add leafy vegetables and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6.  Remove about 1/2 cup of liquid from pot and dissolve miso into it. Return it to the pot.
7.  Reduce heat to very low-do not boil or simmer miso broth.
8.  Allow this to cook 2-3 minutes.
9.  Garnish with scallions and serve.

Notes:

Any combination of vegetables can be used in miso soup. Here are some classic combinations:

onion-daikon: very cleansing
onion-carrot-shiitake-mushroom-kale
leek-corn-broccoli: great in summertime
onion-winter squash-cabbage: great in wintertime

Variations:

Add cooked grains at the start of making the soup. They will become nice and soft.
Add a tablespoon of uncooked quinoa or millet at the beginning and let it cook with vegetables for 20 minutes.
Add cubed tofu toward the end.
Add bean sprouts toward the end.
Season with 1/2 teaspoon ginger juice for an interesting twist.

If using dry shiitake mushrooms, let them soak for 20 minutes, slice and add at the beginning.