Lynn Homisak Certified Holistic Health Practitioner

How can you go wrong? Plant based protein, fiber, potassium, good carbs, low cal, no cholesterol...not to mention, satisfying and delicious. A guiltfree treat. Dig in!

Feeling "snacky"?

Heres an article that can help you satisfy those "in between meal" urges more healthily. Some good info.

The Top 5 Snacks for Weight Loss, According to Science Ditch the vending machine chips and chow on these instead.

Hey!! Do NOT sit back and watch all that beautiful Basil growing in your garden die!! Chiffonade it, divide it up in an ice cube tray, and cover the basil with EVOO. Put in freezer, remove, pop them out and store in plastic freezer bags. When you need fresh basil for a recipe, just reach for one! Simple. P.S. you can do this with store bought basil as well.

Sorry I've been absent in posting. Seems my abundant zucchini garden kept me busier than usual! If you're interested, you can find all of my prepared dishes at and I'm happy to share any recipe.

One of my newest garden vegetable is called "Little Fingers Eggplants", also known as "Aubergine". They grow to only 3-6" and yesterday, I happily harvested about 2 dozen of them.

Like their more familiar larger eggplant variety, "little fingers" are a nightshade vegetable, prompting many people who are fighting inflammation to eliminate them from their diet. That said, they do have many health benefits as the verywellhealth illustration in this post shows.

I found a great recipe for Coconut Curry Chicken Tenders and Aubergine over couscous. The skins are soft enough to eat and the fruit, a little sweeter than regular eggplant. Cant wait for my second harvest. Quite delicious!

If you like tuna melts, but you'd like a healthier version, this post is for you!

The healthy tuna melt boat! A time-saving meal. If you try it once, you'll make it again. If you have an over abundance of zucchini (or even if you dont), you'll find this recipe worthwhile!

I used a large zucchini (you can use 2 smaller ones). Cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place both halves in a low oven-safe tray. Dress with a little EVOO, salt & pepper and bake in 350° oven for about 10-15 min to soften. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the tuna filling, much like you would tuna salad. I used 3 cans of fish... two tuna and one wild salmon. Add to them a mixture of chopped onion, celery, cucumber, and carrots, sweet relish, salt & pepper and a combo of 2% Plain Greek Yogurt and mayo to bring it all together.

Pile the combined tuna/salmon mixture into the zucchini boats. Top with sliced tomato, swiss cheese and cheddar cheese.

Put back into your 350° oven and bake for 10 minutes, until cheese turns slightly brown. If not yet brown, turn your oven to broil and leave in another 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on and watch that it doesn't burn.

Remove, plate, eat. You're welcome!!😊

If you know me at all, you know I am a salad lover. They allow me to be so creative! And now that figs are in season, they've become a sweet compliment to my salad dish (in addition to those walnuts, kalamata olives and feta cheese that you see in this photo!) What a delicious combo! I ❤ fresh figs of all kinds, but "Brown Turkish" are my favorite.

Healthline.com helps me explain why we should include figs in our diet: One ounce of dried figs has 3 grams of fiber. Fiber may help alleviate constipation and keep you feeling full longer. It may also help lower cholesterol and control blood sugar levels. Figs are a good source of calcium, which can ward off osteoporosis as well as other health issues.

These HOT 🌞 Summer days call for COOL❄ Summer Salads...full of nutritional goodness. Satisfying as a stand-alone dinner.
Q: How many...and what ingredients should I add?
A: Sky's the limit on how many! As to what kind? Use your imagination!

Here are three different varieties...

1.Blackened Salmon salad with a light lemon-tartar sauce dressing
2.Grilled Romaine with tomatoes, feta cheese, bacon with balsamic dressing
3.Roasted Chicken-jicama-fennel-egg, etc. Combo with EVOO and Champagne vinegar dressing

Breakfast on the GO! BREAKFAST TORTILLAS!

Heres an idea I saw on the internet that I just HAD to try. They were not very time consuming to put together and when finished were easy, convenient Breakfast go-tos.

Here's what you need:

Package of 6 wheat tortillas
8 oz. container sour cream or greek yogurt (you wont use it all)
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 lb. container of mushrooms, sliced
1 small-medium onion, diced
4 cooked sausage links OR 6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
1 cup shredded (or small cubes) swiss cheese
Prepared salsa
Salt and pepper
2 tbs. butter + 2 tbs. EVOO

1.Cook your sausage or bacon (your preference) through. Set asude.
2.Sautee onion and sliced mushrooms in 2 tbs. butter and 2 tbs. EVOO till soft (1-2 minutes)
3. Scramble eggs together with the milk and add to the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4.While cooking the egg mixture, add in the cooked meat and stir constantly, until everything is incorporated. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Now, build your tortillas!

5. Lay out one tortilla at a time and spread about 1 Tbs. sour cream or yogurt in the middle.
6. Add 1/6 egg mixture over cream, about a Tbs. of salsa, 1 Tbs. cheese and roll up tightly.
7. Wrap prepared tortilla with freezer wrap/ parchment paper, label and freeze.

When ready to eat, just microwave for approx. 2 minutes (depending on your microwave) and enjoy a breakfast treat every day for 6 days or if you prefer, just when you want one.

Excuse me...we just ran out and I'm off to make some more!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Coconut Pecan Topping (my shortened take from a "Taste of Home" recipe)

This is what you might call a vegetable treat!

Ingredients for the cake:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup Avocado Oil
7/8 cup sugar (imagine a little more than 3/4 cup)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs. baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. grand cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup buttermilk (can be made by mixing 1/4 tsp. white vinegar in 1/4 cup milk)
1 cup shredded zucchini

Ingredients for the topping:
1/2 cup shredded/toasted coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)
3 tbs. unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbs. milk

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves; gradually add to batter alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Fold in zucchini.

Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Spread over warm cake. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

No-Bake Chocolate Organic Energy Bites

Servings: 20

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Chill Time15 minutes

Organic Ingredients*

1/2 cup almond butter*

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp honey*

1 tsp vanilla extract*

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Up to 4 tsp warm water , as needed

1 cup old fashioned oats (raw)*

3/4 cup toasted or raw coconut*

1/2 cup flaxseed meal*

6 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips*

•1/4 cup chopped almonds*

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, stir together almond butter, honey, vanilla and cocoa powder. If mixture seems too thick stir in 2 tsp warm water to thin.

Add oats, coconut, flaxseed meal, almonds, and chocolate chips and stir until evenly coated. At this point if mixture still doesn't stick well, stir in up to 2 tsp water as needed.

Transfer mixture to refrigerator or freezer and chill until nearly set and easier to handle.

Remove from refrigerator and shape into 1-inch balls. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Copyright © 2020 Cooking Classy

Its zucchini time! A yard full of striped Italian Zucchinis just waiting to be cooked up and enjoyed! Here's a winner!!! A MUST try! If you go with the slow-roasted tomatoes, it can be a little time consuming, but, believe me...well worth it.

BTW...."You'll get the most health benefits if you eat the colorful skin, which holds the healthy carotenoids. Zucchini skin is soft, thin, and perfectly edible, so don't peel it off."

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-farro-cakes

Excellent article from Healthynation.com
Diabetes Patient Education Center

Eating with Diabetes: 7 Rules for a Healthy Diet

These choices will help keep blood sugar steady.

A healthy diet is crucial in managing diabetes (type 1 or type 2).

That’s because every morsel you eat, whether it’s a shiny, red apple or a forkful of gooey mac and cheese, is going to release varying levels of sugar into your bloodstream. Reducing the amount of sugar surging into your body can help manage diabetes symptoms, possibly prevent hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and help you avoid the serious complications of diabetes on the kidneys, heart, eyes, feet, and more.

Here are some basic expert-approved rules to keep in mind for healthy eating to manage diabetes.

Lose weight if you need to. Losing excess weight can improve your insulin sensitivity and decrease your risk of complications with diabetes, says Sonal Chaudhry, MD, an endocrinologist at NYU Langone Health. This means you need to monitor portion sizes in addition to choosing good-for-you dishes.

Watch your carbs. Carbs are a critical part of a healthy diet (and you don’t need to stop eating them) but you want to monitor how many you consume in a given meal or snack. That will vary for each person, depending on their age, weight, activity level, and what medications they take. Learn tips for counting carbs for diabetes here.

Don’t skip meals. This seems like a simple way to cut calories and lose weight, but it’s not a smart strategy for managing diabetes. “Having a consistent supply of carbohydrate to the bloodstream is very important so that you don’t become hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic,” says Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, a nutritionist and cookbook author in New York City.

Balance your plate. Managing saturated fat, calories, and carbohydrates doesn’t have to mean studying ingredient lists and food labels religiously. Try the MyPlate method, which means dividing your dinner plate into healthy portions: half the plate for fruits and vegetables, a quarter of the plate for whole grains, and the remaining quarter for lean proteins, like fish. Learn more about using MyPlate for a healthy diet here.

Eat more fiber. This nutrient has many benefits, including helping you feel full, aiding in blood sugar management, and assisting with weight loss. You can find fiber in such foods as whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits.

Cut back on certain red-flag foods. That includes soda, sugary juices, high-salt foods, and fried foods.

Treat yourself in moderation. Yes, those with diabetes can absolutely have dessert, but they should plan for it. For example, if you know there’s going to be cake after the meal, reduce the carbohydrates—the rice or dinner roll—you eat at dinner.

©2005-2020 HealthiNation, Inc. All rights reserved. HealthiNation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.