Mini Cranberry Tarts for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than 24 hours away, and if you have still not decided what will go on your dessert menu, try these rustic Cranberry tarts which have an old-world charm to them, and with cute individual-sized portions, each guest can have their own personal pies, without having to horde around one big plate! Homemade pie dough can be made overnight and refrigerated, and you can also make the cranberry filling ahead of time. Add some holiday flavor by sprinkling dashes of fall flavors like nutmeg, some raisins and chopped pecans. Orange zest and Grand Mariner take it up one notch higher, making it a memorable feast for your friends and family. Recipe by Karen Baker, via Fine Cooking magazine; photo by Scott Phillips.

Ingredients

For the dough:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp table salt
6 oz. (12 Tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cold water

For the filling:
3 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup granulated sugar; more to taste
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1/8 tsp table salt
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp chopped pecans or walnuts

For Base & Garnish
3 Tbsp gingersnap cookie crumbs (from about 6 cookies)
Granulated sugar for sprinkling
Lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving

Making the dough
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and pulse until the dough just starts to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and press it into a cohesive ball. Divide it into six equal balls and put each on a sheet of plastic. Press the balls into disks and wrap well with the plastic. Refrigerate the dough until firm, 1 hour (or hold in the refrigerator for up to two days).

Making the Filling
In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of the cranberries with the raisins, sugar, maple syrup, orange liqueur, orange zest and juice, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, the cranberries have popped open, and the mixture is quite thick and syrupy, about 6 minutes. Taste the mixture. If it seems too tart, add more sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup cranberries, nutmeg and chopped pecans. Let the filling cool to room temperature (it will thicken to a jam-like consistency). Once cool, the filling can be refrigerated for up to two days.

Baking the Tarts
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. About 15 minutes before rolling the dough, take it out of the refrigerator so that it becomes malleable.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each disk of dough into a 5-1/2- to 6-inch round.

Transfer three rounds to each baking sheet and sprinkle the gingersnap crumbs evenly over the surface of each round, leaving a scant 1-inch border. Dollop the cooled filling into the center of each dough round. Use the back of a spoon to spread the filling evenly, leaving a 1-inch border.

Gently fold the border over the filling, pleating as you go, to partially enclose the filling. Lightly press the pleats together to seal. Sprinkle the crust with sugar. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream on the side.

Tart Recipe Variations
Feel free to adapt the recipe for the filling by using seasonal fruits. Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums are all great fruit tart flavors. the basic recipe for the dough and the shell remains the same. You can freeze the tart dough for upto a month, so make the most of this recipe, and you can easily bake variations of the same, all through Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Related Recipes
Traditional Bourbon Pecan Pie
Roasted Pumpkin & Onion Bisque
Upside Down Cranberry Cake

Delicious & Healthy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Most of the times, I end up baking Chocolate Banana Bread with old mushy browned Bananas. But this time, I wanted to try something different, and preferably healthy, if possible. So this recipe for Banana Oatmeal Muffins was just perfect! I loved the fact that it uses Almond milk, which gives it a mild Almond flavor, and the chocolate chips help transform this healthy muffin into a more sophisticated and kid-friendly treat. With less than 120 calories per muffin, it is indeed a dessert you can treat yourself with, a dessert which will keep you full for a longer time, thanks to the Bananas and Oatmeal! Recipe & photo courtesy of Roni at Green Lite Bites.

Ingredients
3 very ripe mashed bananas
1 cup vanilla Almond milk (use whole milk if you want instead)
2 eggs
1 tbsp Baking powder
3 cups Old Fashioned or Rolled Oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp mini chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips together in a bowl, then slowly add the Almond milk and combine to make a batter. Let it sit while you prepare the muffin pans.

Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray and keep ready.

Now stir the chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter. Just mix enough to combine, do not blend or whisk. The batter should be thick, not runny like cake batter.

Divide batter equally into 15 muffin cups, filling them 3/4th full. Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch. Do not over-bake.

The muffins may stick to the pan when hot. So allow them to cool completely on a wire rack, then turn them out easily.

Related Recipes
Wholegrain Blueberry Pancakes
Spiced Apple Bread
Quick & Easy Pineapple Muffins

VITAMIN D

In the past we were cautioned against too much exposure to the sun because of its link to skin cancer and premature aging. The advertising to use sufficient sunscreen was substantial and quite rightly so. But the benefit of sun exposure is that it stimulates our skin to produce Vitamin D. After medical trials and pathology findings, the medical community is now stating that many of us have a serious deficiency of Vitamin D. This deficiency is greatly implicated in hypertension, depression, birth defects, muscle weakness, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D deficiency also promotes the onset of “The Big Three”: cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Vitamin D is technically a type of steroid hormone known as a pro-hormone because of its action in the body. It was first put on the map in 1922 by Sir Edward Mellanby although RIckets was known as a vitamin D deficiency back in the 17th Century. Many functions of vitamin D have been identified along the way but now the focus is on obtaining adequate levels and addressing the epidemic deficiency. If you do not go out in the sun often enough, research indicates the necessity to supplement with at least 5000 iu a day. To obtain this from milk you would need to drink 50 glasses, which, of course, is not recommended. The skin can make 10,000 iu of Vitamin D when exposed to the sun for 20-30 minutes
each day (depending on the angle of the sun in the sky), though of course great caution is needed with sun exposure.

The original RDA’s for vitamin D 
children 200iu
Adults up to 70 years 400iu
Adults over 70 600iu
Recommendations NOW
Below 5 yrs 35 iu per lb.daily
5-10 yrs 2500 iu
Adults 5000 iu

There are 3 ways to get your adequate daily Vitamin D:

1.                   Midday sun exposure while being careful not to burn –
this isn’t always practical.

2.                   Regular use of a safe sun bed during colder months time
– this can be time-consuming and expensive.

3.                   Take 5000 iu of Vitamin D per day for 2-3 months, then
have a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test.

So, you may ask, how can I find out my levels of vitamin D?
Vitamin D testing at Balance Westside Wellness involves a simple blood draw
and costs $35 if not already covered by our insurance.
If you find you are deficient then it is easy and quite affordable to take a
supplement either in drops, softgels, tablets, or capsules. Fortunately Vitamin
D is very affordable can can work out as less than 5¢/day. It is recommended
that you have another test after 3 months. The aim is to have a level of 50-80
ng/ml.

Facts to Know 
It can take 48 hrs before the vitamin D3 is absorbed into your skin from sun exposure. Therefore it is best not to shower with soap for 48 hrs. Water alone on sun exposed areas is OK.
You do not absorb vitamin D (made from UVB rays) behind glass e.g. in the car, in office, at home. But we need to be careful because you do absorb the UVA rays which actually destroys vit D and also creates oxidative stress
which can lead to skin cancer, aging of the skin.
If you have dark skin you would be required to have 12 times longer exposure to the sun. Vitamin is known to influence 2000 genes in our bodies.Vitamin D is a derivative of cholesterol so be careful your cholesterol does not get too low (especially if you are on statins) otherwise it will be impossible for your body to manufacture Vit D.

Vitamin D is shown to be helpful in:

·                     Optimizing weight loss

·                     Lowering blood pressure

·                     Pregnancy – preventing pre-eclampsia, autism

·                     Auto immune disease – MS, Crohn’s,Rheumatoid Arthritis, fighting infections, especially respiratory infections such as TB

·                     Improving skin conditions – eczema, psoriasis

·                     Hearing loss

·                     Muscle pain and weakness

·                     Macular degeneration

·                     Limiting depression, headaches

·                     Periodontal disease

·                     Enhancing athletic performance

·                     Cancer prevention and killing cancer cells

CANCER 
There is strong evidence now that shows Vitamin D’ s important role in the prevention of cancer. It does this by basically inhibiting the cancer cells to proliferate. I has been hournaled that 75% of breast and colon cancer can be prevented with sufficient levels of Vitamin D. Laboratory evidence also shows a deficiency to be associated with prostate and skin cancer too.

DIABETES 
Strong evidence from Dr Sarfraz Zaidi at the Jamila Diabetes Center shows direct association of Vitamin D deficiency in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops because of a malfunction in the immune system.
Vitamin D plays a huge role in the normal functioning of the immune system and when it breaks down, your immune system begins to attack your own cells. For diabetes this would be the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Lack of Vitamin D affects all other autoimmune diseases for the same reason. Those people with low Vitamin D are at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE 
Numerous studies have found that many people with a form of cardiovascular disease were low in Vitamin D. It can start with high blood pressure, arthrosclerosis, or the actual heart malfunction. “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, above and beyond established cardiovascular risk factors,” said Thomas J. Wang, M.D.,
assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. As you can see, Vitamin D has a vital role in our health. A simple blood test and, if deficient, simple ways in increasing your levels could prevent onset of disease and in some cases even death.

Ingredients of a Healthy Food

We understand that food provides certain essential macronutrients, namely protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Without these nutrients in balance no diet can be completely healthy. However, some qualities of certain nutrients are healthier than others, and some foods provide these healthy items better than others. Understanding the "ingredients" of a "healthy" food will help you to build a diet that can better fuel the body and prevent disease.
  
Good Fats, Bad fats 
  
Not all fats are created equal. We know that an excess of fat can lead obesity, heart disease, and chronic illnesses like cancer. However, there are several kinds of fat that are not only beneficial but essential to healthy living. They are needed for the transportation and absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which cannot be absorbed and used by the body without fats; the regulation of cholesterol in metabolism; for the creation of certain chemicals used by the body; and for healthy skin and hair. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are actually good for cardiovascular system, lowering bad cholesterol. Additionally, some fats that exist in the form of fatty acids, like Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, help prevent disease, lower bad cholesterol, control high blood pressure, and treat ailments like depression and anxiety disorder.
  
Polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats, Omega-3's, and Omega-6's are elements of healthy foods; even though a serving of nuts may appear very high in fat, you'll notice that saturated fat quantities are low; the rest of come from this "good fat" category. Most ingredient labels now list poly and mono unsaturated fats, so knowing a good fatty food from a bad fatty food is as easy as checking the package. Some sources of good fats include:
  
- Olive oil
- Walnut oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Sesame and sunflower seed oils
- Avocado oil
- Nuts like walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, pistachios, and cashews
- Oily fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, bass, and sardines
- Whole grains like flaxseed and wheat germ Try to replace bad fats, like butter and margarine, with the good oils and fats listed above. Replacing sources of saturated fats, like excessive quantities of cheese, fried food, or red meat, a few times a week with the healthier options above can add an extra nutritious edge you your diet. Sautee items in olive or walnut oils rather than frying in tradition oil and use ground nuts as flavorful sauces instead of cheese or cream, and substitute fish for red meat at least once a week.
  
Lean Protein
  
Protein makes up our hair, nails, skin, blood, hormones, enzymes...the list goes on. Suffice to say that protein is essential to the human diet. Broken down by special acids and used to perform countless functions, protein must be replenished daily through our diet, making it a very healthy ingredient in food. Good sources include: 
  
- eggs
- meat and poultry
- fish
- milk and other dairy products, like yogurt or cheese
- legumes like beans, peas, and nuts
- whole grains The problem with protein is that when consumed in the form of many meats and/or animal products, protein can be accompanied by saturated fat. Lean protein, or protein that is accompanied by less than 10grams of fat, is the best choice for weight and health conscious eaters. Choosing lean meats, like chicken, turkey, or lean beef (beef that has been trimmed of excess fats) provides plenty of protein without the added calories and fats.
  
Fiber 
  
Fiber, though not scientifically considered an essential nutrient, plays many important roles in healthy living and nutritious foods. It lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood sugar levels, slows the digestion of carbohydrates, regulates the digestive system/prevents constipation, and slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. Fiber rich diets have been linked to lower instances of heart disease and obesity. 
  
Fiber, like the different fats, is also listed on all food labels. Good sources include: whole grains, unrefined grains, grains, whole grain products like bread and pasta, brains, oatmeal, wheat germ, fruits, and vegetables.
  
Vitamins
  
These food elements work together to fill in the rest of the nutritive properties of food. Deficiencies often lead to illness and death, as is often in the case in third world countries where well rounded diets are not easily accessible. The list of these elements and the roles they play is long... B vitamins alone could take up an entire page, but here is a guideline to some of the most important:
  
Vitamin A: helps build and maintain healthy skin and promotes eye health; found in dark leafy greens like spinach, and yellow/orange fruits or veggies like carrots
  
Vitamin B-complex: performs many roles, including releasing food energy, building healthy skin, aiding the development of red blood cells, and assisting metabolism; found in dairy, meat, nuts, legumes, some fruit, and vegetables (individual vitamin sources vary)
  
Vitamin C: maintains healthy blood vessels and tissues, speeds healing, and boosts the immune system; found in citrus fruits, dark leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, strawberries, and green tea
  
Vitamin D: maintains healthy bones and teeth and helps them harden, aids in calcium absorption; found in dairy, eggs, some fish, and sunlight
  
Vitamin E: fights the destruction of healthy cells and vitamins like A and C by free radicals; found in dark, leafy greens, vegetable oils, whole grains, wheat germ
  
Vitamin K: helps blood to clot; found in dark, leafy greens, milk, egg yolks

Diabetic Food

Today we will cover some of the foods that have made it onto the diabetic food list. Now first and foremost, it should be known that a person with diabetes should eat from all of the 5 food groups and make sure that they have plenty of protein, vegetables, fruits, nutrients, Lipids and carbohydrates in their diet. This is where the diabetic food list comes in handy, you will be able to tell which fruits and veggies that you can eat for example.

It should be stated at this time that if you are diabetic, then you know that you should definitely eat more vegetables than fruit because fruit tends to be on the sweeter side, the whole point of being diabetic is that you can’t have too much sugars right? Also, it is common sense that you should stay away from sugars such as ice cream, chocolate and any types of sweet desserts because these are loaded with sugars that the diabetic food list will define as NOT the type of foods you should eat.

It is also stated that a person with diabetes should stay away from fats like fried foods and animal fats. A person who is following the diabetic food list will surely be eating steamed foods or boiled foods. It bears mentioning that the only types of oils that the diabetic food list recommends for someone with diabetes to cook with are olive oil, soy bean oil and finally corn oil. Now here is a quick run-down of what a person can eat that is in fact recommended by the diabetic food list.

1.      Milk, can drink fresh milk but never sweetened milk.

2.      Vegetables, both fresh and/or steamed or boiled vegetables will provide your body with the nutrients that you require to get through the day.

3.      Grains

4.      Meat, should at least have an intake of at least 100 grams per meal, be sure not to eat meats with a lot of fat.

5.      Eggs

6.      Fiber, every one needs fiber in their diet to stay regular!

How To Choose Healthy Food

Vegetables, fruits, & grains are normally low in overweight & have no cholesterol. Most are great sources of dietary fiber, complex carbs, & vitamins. The American Heart Association recommends that you eat foods that are high in complex carbs & fiber.

Below are some tips for making healthy food choices:

- Coconut is high in saturated overweight, while olives are high in monounsaturated fats & calories. You ought to make use of this stuff sparingly to keep away from getting plenty of calories from overweight.

 

- When vegetable grains are cooked, saturated overweight or cholesterol is often added. For example, egg yolks may be added to bread or even pasta.

 

-Processed, canned, or preserved vegetables may also contain added sodium. With some people, much sodium (salt) may lead to hypertension. There’s some food companies that are actually canning vegetables with less salt. You can look for these in the market area or select fresh & even frozen vegetables.

 

- Nuts & seeds tend to be high in calories & overweight, although a majority of the overweight is polyunsaturated or monounsaturated. There’s some varieties, macadamia nuts for example, that are also high in saturated overweight. Foods that are high in soluble fiber are a great choice as well. Examples include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, & even apple pulp. Everytime you are looking for healthy food choices, always make definite you read the nutrition label or information about the food. You can then select what the food contains & how healthy it truly is for your body. By taking your time & making your healthy food choices wisely, you’ll have a lifetime to enjoy the foods that will take care of you.