PUMPKIN RECIPES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Pumpkin is very low in carbs and can be used to replace some of the flour and starch in traditional recipes because it is so high in fiber. It is also a terrific sub for potatoes and yams in our Fall and Winter menus. I have missed being able to make some of my favorite pumpkin recipes while recovering from vitamin A toxicity. See my post about the “Scariest Vegetable,”* but I found a solution: white pumpkin varieties contain little or no vitamin A. However,…

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PRESERVED LEMON RECIPES & A SAGA OF 3 LEMON TREES

My kids planned a special gift for me for Mother’s Day. They know how much I like Meyer lemons so they ordered me a Meyer lemon tree and a kit with everything needed to successfully grow it indoors. It almost made it, but just about the time it should have arrived, there were reports of a terrible accident near Fife that backed up traffic for miles. All lanes on northbound Interstate 5 where closed for nine hours in a crash that involved two semi-trucks loaded…

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The Scariest Vegetable!

anglerfish-jack-o-lantern-pumpkin-2 (carbwarscookbooks.com)

My grandson, Brandon, a graduate student at Duke University’s Marine Lab in North Carolina, sent us pictures of his anglerfish jack-o-lantern. As you can see from the picture of a real anglerfish, he nailed it! (He used a lollipop for the lantern and the fins are made from a cereal box.) The anglerfish, with its gaping maw and fearsome jagged teeth is also called, appropriately, “the devil fish,” but there is something else in these pictures that can be scary, especially for those of us…

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CAN A GREAT VINAIGRETTE SAVE A MARRIAGE?

CAN A GREAT VINAIGRETTE SAVE A MARRIAGE? (CarbWarsCookbooks.com)

Some food writers achieve success beyond recipes and cookbooks. MFK Fisher. (1908-1992) for example, earned a place among the great American authors (How To Cook a Wolf, The Art of Eating, Consider The Oyster…). Nora Ephron (1941-2012), is another (Silkwood, I Feel Bad About My Neck, When Sally Met Harry, Sleepless in Seattle, Julie and Julia…). Her semi-autobiographical novel, Heartburn (1986), is the painful-to-read, but hilarious account of the end of her second marriage; the story revolves around a stolen wedding ring and a recipe…

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VITAMIN D MUSHROOMS

Why do we need Vitamin D? Vitamin D, which is really more like a hormone than a vitamin, is essential for healthy bones and strong muscles. It helps put calcium into the bones rather than into the arteries, where it causes hardening of the arteries. It plays an important role in metabolism, prevents infections, enhances mood, and reduces the risk of cancer and auto-immune and cardiovascular diseases. Rickets, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and fractures are a few of the many problems linked to low vitamin D. How…

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AFTER POTATOES

AFTER POTATOES  Close your eyes and tell me what you see when I say comfort food. Did you see potatoes? Chances are they were mashed with a pool of butter or gravy on top. Or perhaps the spuds in your mind’s eye were deep-fried, crispy and brown, and cozied up to a little paper cup of ketchup. The USDA reported that potatoes are the most commonly eaten vegetable in America. (http://time.com/2818849/these-are-the-most-popular-foods-in-america/) Tomatoes, another member of the nightshade family, came in a distant second. Our rocky…

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ROAST PORK WITH MOJO SAUCE

Crisp, succulent, roast pork with onions in a spicy, fragrant, citrus sauce. Prepare to fall in love with the flavors of this famous Cuban dish. Low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, Paleo.   I discovered what all the fuss was about the first time I had Mojo Roast Pork in a local place called The Twisted Cafe in Woodenville, WA. The owner based his menu on his mother’s traditional Cuban recipes. After I tasted his mojo pork, I went straight home and starting looking for recipes, partly…

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THE PERFECT STEAK WITH FRIED LEEKS

You may like these fried leeks better than french fries. Pair them with a perfectly cooked, uniformly rare steak for a meal that rivals any at your favorite steak house! FRIED LEEKS Leeks naturally separate into thin layers that are uniform in thickness so they make fries that crisp up quickly without a coating of flour or batter. They have so much flavor you won’t need a dip or sauce. Fried leeks have been popular for a very long time; Martha Washington had a recipe…

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EVEN THE FATHER OF FAT PHOBIA SAID YOU SHOULD EAT THIS ONCE A WEEK!

Liver, Bacon, and Onions

UPDATE: it turns out that Keys was WRONG about that too! https://www.carbwarscookbooks.com/eureka/  Eureka! https://www.carbwarscookbooks.com/eureka-part-2/  What Changed? https://www.carbwarscookbooks.com/eureka-part-3/  To Everything There is a Season…   Even Ancel Keys, the father of fat phobia and inventor of the “Mediterranean” diet (1.), advised eating liver once a week because the Cretans, one of the two most healthy groups in his Seven Countries Study, were very fond of organ meats. (Contrary to the common belief that his diet was largely vegetarian, Keys and his wife ate chicken, Canadian bacon, and fish regularly and they ate beef,…

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