Pickled aubergines

Pickled aubergines  -Three cans; two in oil and one in vinegar

What you need

3-4 Aubergines (click the link to see health benefits)

Bell peppers, Italian sweet peppers, chili peppers

Ginger (click the link to see health benefits)

Garlic

Parsley

Dried red chili pepper

Turmeric (click the link to see health benefits)

White pepper

White wine vinegar

Water

Olive oil

Salt

3 glass jars with popping lids

How to do it

Chop the aubergines, peppers, ginger, and garlic and boil in batches in 1: vinegar and 1: water mixture for about 10-15 minutes

Drain (keep the vinegar mixture)

...Wash and sterilize the jars by boiling for at least 10 minutes...

Cut the parsley 

Mix the freshly cut parsley and the spices with the olive oil and the remaining vinegar

Once the jars and vegetables have cooled down to room temperature, fill the jars, leave empty space at the top, pour oil into two jars, and vinegar-water mix into one jar. Stir gently so that any air bubbles come out

Put on the lids and boil the cans for at least 10 minutes

They must be totally immersed in boiling water

Add towels/cloth so the jars won't break when they boil

Let them cool off and check that the lids have an inward bump in the middle. If not, repeat the boiling

Refrigerate for at least a week. When opening, make sure you hear a popping sound. Then you know that vacuum was kept and the pickle is not spoiled

(All this hassle with boiling and popping is necessary, because of botulism)

The botulinum toxin is something you should never, ever ingest (unless you want to die). You may opt to have it injected on your forehead when reaching 40+ -but only by a plastic surgeon with an excellent reputation

Eat as is or serve with Falafels. The oily pickle is lovely with pasta.

Memory loss in middle aged women

Middle-aged women are said to develop memory impairment.

Why is this claim not documented in the scientific literature for men? 

I do not know, but I think it’s because there is no noticeable difference to be measured.

But there is good news for us ladies going on our 5th decade and those of us who do not believe “Hot flashes are Nature’s way of preparing us for hell” –or any other proverb that gives the female middle-ages a bad name.

The rescue is:

- A sympathetic root that comes in various shapes that stimulates anyone's imagination in a good way;

- A root that has been in medicinal use for more than 2000 years in Asian countries, traditionally to remedy nausea and flatulence (=farting);

- A root with a tangy –even pungent taste, rounded by a promise of sweetness;

It is Ginger or Zingiber officinale and on top of the root there is a nice plant with decorative flowers. 

For healing, the root is the key.

Ginger root is good for nausea (all kinds of nausea, including morning sickness during pregnancy) and there is proof that it enhances the cognitive power of middle-aged women.

And you can even grow ginger yourself.

And yes, ginger is the cousin of curcuma, turmeric!

Here are two easy ways to add these benefits into your daily life:

If you wish to make your pre-, ongoing- or post-menopausal stage of life a happy journey you can simply slice up some ginger root, pour hot water on top and add a squirt of fresh lemon juice.

Or  try some neat recipes, combining ginger with various phytoestrogenes. 

If you are a middle-aged woman, you probably made it this far thanks to some of the inventions from modern medicine (called Big Pharma by some conspiracy theory-prone people).

Should you have children or grand children: Please try to make sure they are vaccinated against those childhood diseases that have disabling or even fatal complications.

Here’s a good one I picked up in public transportation in Switzerland:

This is measles in an adult. Bad timing and it may leave scars -but only when the virus is being kind to your body.

and:

(My home-country mentioned on Swiss public transport!!)

And if still in doubt regarding vaccinating your child (or yourself if your parents were übergreen and you didn't catch the disease yet), do read the facts behind the pics.

Admittedly these facts aren't nearly as scary as what the anti-vaccines propaganda people are posting all around the web. But at least it is based on facts.

Now let's all Male, Female, Child, Unvaccinated or Vaccinated go and and have a nice cup of ginger tea with a squirt of lemon juice on top!

Or any cup of tea. 

Peace.

Easy eggsy avocado boats

Avocado and eggs go well together, and here's a recipe that 

combines the two with warmth.

What you need

As many avocados as you have eaters

 
Double the amount of eggs as you have

eaters

Black pepper,  turmeric powder and salt

How to do it


Halve the avocados and remove the stone, keep the stone 

for later planting. 

If you are lucky, you'll end up with pretty plants looking like

this:

Remove enough avocado flesh to fit an egg (the cook gets to

eat the extra avocado -or save it for a later avocado dish,

such as the Avocado salad for four days, or the Romano 

Ramiro Avocado dish, or the Avocado salad with egg and

potato).

 Crack an egg into the avocado hole, add the spice and put

 into the oven (175 -185 C).

Keep an eye on the eggs -once they look good to you, 

remove & serve, it usually takes about 20-35 minutes.

Crabish Pasta - a quick and easy recipe for kids and their caretakers

A quick and easy pasta recipe that allows you to sneak turmeric and onion into your child's menu.

What you need

2-3 onions

2-3 cloves of garlic

15-20 bâtons de crabe / surimi /crab sticks

2-3 dl of cream

0.5 -1 package of broadband pasta.

Extra virgin coconut oil (or butter, or any other frying fat/oil of your liking)

turmeric

black pepper

dill (Anethum graveolens), dried or fresh

one chicken (or vegetable) bouillon cube

Optional ingredients for serving

lemon

grated cheese of any kind

How to do it

Fry the onions in the coconut oil or use your personal choice of frying oil or fat

When cooking for kids who claim they don't like onions (and most of them do), chop them as tiny as you possibly can 

The front pan is no-tossing mama's extra onions

Add turmeric powder and some black pepper, then add the crushed garlic and the bouillon cube 

Chop the crab sticks to pasta width and add to the pan.

Pour over the cream. Let simmer while you cook the pasta.

Mix and serve with lemon and grated cheese.

The neat thing about this meal is that you don't know by looking when you're having a piece of bâton de crabe or plain pasta -so it is like life at its best: Full of surprises!

The everything soup

A healthy and easy soup that allows to rid yourself of any left-over vegetables. The veggies can be a little off, the soup will be tasty even if you use wrinkly apples, sprouted carrots or softened broccoli.

3-4 potatoes

5-6 carrots

3 onions and/or 1 leak

3-4 garlic cloves

2-3 apples

2-3 tomatoes

kale or spinach or pak choi

1 broccoli

plus nearly any other vegetable you can think of or happen to have (celery, bell pepper, cauliflower, chili, chard, fennel, beans, peas, pumpkin, parsnip, fresh or dried herbs...)

1-2 vegetable bouillon cubes

black pepper

turmeric

a squirt of ketchup

secret weapon (scroll down)

Cut the potatoes and carrots (no need to peel off the vitamins and cause waste!), put to boil in some water. 

Keep chopping and adding the rest of the ingredients in above order. 

Do not add too much water, but allow the tomatoes, the kale and broccoli to soften in the steam. Keep the lid on and a low temperature, then you don't need to keep an eye on the cooking and you use less electricity / gas.

Once everything has softened blend it to a smooth puree, now you can add water up to  a wished consistency.  Add the spices.

The purpose of this soup is to ensure children (and lazy grown-ups) get enough healthy vegetables in their diet. You may choose to take to the secret weapon now so that the consummation of the soup is guaranteed:

Hot dogs!

Let the sausage pieces simmer in the soup for at least 20 minutes, then serve. The soup keeps at least 5 days when refrigerated, and you can easily deep freeze it for months (but it's highly unlikely you will need to -it will be gone in a couple of days).

Romano Ramiro avocado dish

This is the perfect starter as it can be prepared 1-2 days in advance and it is served cold. 

It's also a fantastic lunch-box meal; packed with fabulous flavonoids and vibrant vitamines.

What you need

1-2 Avocados

1 Lime

1-2 Ramiro peppers (or chili pepper for the brave)

3-4 Garlic cloves

Fresh basil and parsley

Himalayan salt

Black pepper

Turmeric powder

Rice noodles

2-3 table spoons of (extra virgin) olive oil

Romaine lettuce

Italian sheep milk cheese (such as "Pecorino Romano")

How to do it

Mash the avocado(s) and sprinkle generously with lime juice (this prevents the brown colouring of avocado exposed to the oxygen in the air). Cut the ramiro pepper, garlic, basil and parsley and mix. Add salt, pepper, turmeric and mix. 

Cook the rice noodles according to instructions, in salted water. Cool the noodles in cold water prior to adding the virgin olive oil, virgins don't like it hot.

Serve on Romaine lettuce leaves with grated pecorino cheese.

Avocado salad for four days with limited food waste

I've gone through all the cupboards in my kitchen. 

It was a painful experience.

It's astonishing how food items pile up and go bad before one knows it. I only disposed of really very old stuff, as one shouldn't take "best before" dates too seriously. 

The "use by" and "best before" dates are referring to quality of the product such as taste, colour or consistence. 

The dates do not refer to safety. 

But despite applying this wisdom, this is how it all looked like:

Of course the waste ended up in the bio gas plant, but still the energy used to produce and ship these items is of a completely different magnitude than what can be regained.

After this kitchen Catharsis I made rules for myself: 

1. Buy only what you use

2. Use all you buy.

Sounds easy? We shall see.

Here is a simplified version of avocado salad that makes sure there will be no leftovers

4 eggs

2 avocados

4 small onions

1 cucumber, 1-2 bell peppers or other crunchy vegetable

1 lettuce head (green, red, any kind) or one chinese (napa) cabbage

Boil all 4 eggs, and put 3 of them after cooling in the fridge, use one each day.

Use 1/2 of an avocado (refrigerate the other half for the next day) -scoop the flesh out with a spoon and keep the skin if you have kids (ideas on how to amuse your children to follow).

Peel and cut one onion. 

Smash the avocado with a fork, add the onion cuts and some salt and pepper.

Add sliced cucumber/bell pepper and lettuce, top with sliced egg. Add turmeric powder.

Mix & Enjoy - and repeat for four days in a row.