My friend Misty asked me “What do you know about mesquite flour?” Mesquite (genus Prosopis) is a deciduous, leguminous tree that grows quite well in Texas and Mexico and has a range that goes as far north as Kansas and westward to southern California. Most people use the wood to create a flavorful smoke that imparts a fabulous taste to barbequed meats. But mesquite also has another purpose.
Category Archives: protein
What You Need To Know About Amino Acids
Amino Acids Are The Building Blocks
Going meatless
There's a lot of media attention to the idea of reducing how much meat we're eating. Including a suggestion for ditching the meat at least one day a week and switching to Meatless Mondays.
If you are a meat eater who is simply trying to eat less meat, incorporating a vegetarian plan one day a week can be a great way to get started. But it's important that you don't become a carbotarian and simply add lots of pasta or simple carbohydrates for your meatless meals. While getting proper nutrition from vegetarian meals requires a little more thought and effort, it is not difficult.
Amino Acid Food Combinations
- a Korean dish called Kong bap is a mixture of seven grains and four beans. Because this dish contains beans (adzuki beans and green peas) and grains (barley, rice, Job's tears, sorghum, and corn) it provides all of the essential amino acids. This dish also has soybeans which are considered to be a complete protein by themselves.
- South and Central America have many dishes that call for a combination of beans with corn
- In the Middle East, there is hummus or falafel (made from chickpeas) and whole wheat pita as a common option
- India brings us dal (lentils) and rice
Delicious lentils for dinner
- 1/2 C. rinsed lentils
- 1 C. rinsed red rice (can use brown rice if you prefer)
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 T. curry powder
- 1 T. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper
- 3 1/2 C. vegetable broth
- 1 T. olive oil
- Saute the pepper and onions in the olive oil until just starting to soften
- Place all dry ingredients into the crockpot
- Add broth and stir well
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (check at 4.5 hours to see if you need a little more water)
- Add salt to taste after done cooking
- Note: Don't add the salt while cooking because it will delay the lentils from softening
Creamer And Meatless Meals
My friend Karen recently asked me what she could use for a substitute for vanilla cinnamon Coffeemate creamer. She would like to give up the artificial ingredients in the creamer. The best substitute that I can think of is to flavor a half pint of light cream with the amount of vanilla and fresh ground cinnamon (which will be stronger than the already ground stuff). Mix it all together and keep in the fridge until you need it. A half pint is 8 ounces and should remain good for approximately 10 days. The cream really is not that bad for you if you are simply using a small amount for flavor and smoothness. Of course if you are one of those people who take a little coffee with your cream this is not going to work.
I'm sure there are many others but these are the ones that I like the most.