1-Hour Quick Pickled Onions

A few weeks ago, a listener left a comment one of our podcast episodes. In that episode, we recorded right from the kitchen of Jeanine of Love and Lemons, where she and I made a meal out of what was on hand in her refrigerator. It was a take on scrambled egg tacos, a non-recipe that’s pretty simple to whip up. We topped it with bright pink slivered onion slivers Jeanine had in her fridge. And, like any good taco, we added lots of hot sauce for good measure.

It was this episode where listener Amanda commented that she was planning to use the podcast in a lesson on meal planning with young adults. Turns out she’s a plant-based nutrition educator at a residential treatment facility that believes in food as medicine, or the power of food to heal. She teaches her students about eating lots of plants and how to cook, which helps them to be successful and stay healthy after they leave the program. How cool is that? I just heard back from Amanda about the class this week, and she said the class was successful. The students listened to Jeanine and I rifling through her fridge and deciding to make tacos with what was onhand. She showed them this picture of the final dish, so they could see what resulted was beautiful and delicious-looking. And she had them do an exercise creating an imaginary meal out of 4 leftover ingredients. However, she did mention that they weren’t too sure about the pickled onions.

It reminded me that pickled onions might need a little selling. Why make pickled onions? First of all, flavor: they bring a tangy brightness to a dish that’s unlike any other condiment. And second, color: the eye-popping fuchsia slivers make any dish look like a piece of art. Luckily, they’re also simple to make. Though you have 1 hour to wait, the hands-on time is only about five minutes.

What recipes are best for this hot pink garnish? More than you would imagine. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Tacos. Any taco is made more perfect with pickled onions. They’d be lovely on our classic lentil tacos, as we did here.
• Sopes. If you haven’t tried this authentic Mexican street food, you must. Here’s our homemade sopes recipe.
• Pizza. Pickled onions on pizza might sound crazy, but this pecan, grape, and pickled onion pizza is to die for.
• Salads. Throw a few pickled red onions on any salad to add a pleasant zing.
• Sandwiches. A sandwich is a perfect carrier for pickled onions; specifically, try our vegetarian banh mi.

This week, Amanda’s class will be trying out the pickled onions; she plans to have her students try them out on a sandwich. We look forward to hearing whether they’re converts! And let us know if you have other ways you like to enjoy pickled onions; we’d love to hear.

Listen: Episode 31, Reclaiming the Kitchen.

Looking for vegan recipes?

Pickled onions are fitting for vegan recipes, since they add a savory flavor. Vegan recipes are becoming part of our everyday, though we typically eat vegetarian. Here are a few of our recent vegan recipes:

• Homemade Sopes with Black Beans
• Refried Bean Tacos with Chipotle Cashew Cream
• Mexican Fried Rice Nachos

Looking for healthy dinner ideas?

Healthy dinner ideas are our everyday, outside of weeknight cooking. A few more healthy dinner ideas:

• Greek Nachos with Cilantro Drizzle
• Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers & Summer Grilling Menu
• Southwestern Bowl with Green Chile Vinaigrette
• Raw Falafel Buddha Bowls

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this quick pickled onions recipe, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, gluten-free.

1-Hour Quick Pickled Onions

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

What You Need

• ½ red onion
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ tablespoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

What To Do

1. Thinly slice the onion.
2. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour, more if possible. Cover and store in the refrigerator. Can be made ahead up to 2 weeks. Drain onions before using.

Notes

Adapted from Bon Appetit

3.5.3226

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2vNrQs6

6 Tips Before Starting Yoga for the First Time

How the Google Suite Can Enhance Open-Ended Math Exploration

Homemade Sopes with Black Beans

After bringing our son Larson home, we’ve become connected to new people all over the globe. Many are related to adoption from all sides: birth mamas, adopted children, adoptive families. Others have reached out knowing Larson has Mexican heritage. One of these generous souls was Alejandra of the vegan recipe blog Brown Sugar & Vanilla. She’s from Mexico, now living in Houston, and incredibly lovely and kind. We chatted about Spanish kids books and authentic Mexican recipes. One of the recipes she mentioned was sopes.

What are sopes? They’re a sort of thick tortilla with upturned edges, topped with meat, beans, and sauces. While Alex and I eat Mexican recipes often, neither of us had ever eaten a sope. Alejandra introduced us to sopes and created this special homemade sopes recipe in honor of Larson and his adoption story.

So we are thrilled today to be sharing Alejandra’s method for making authentic homemade Mexican sopes! Though they sound exotic, they’re actually quite simple to make at home. I expected them to be a little fussy, like making homemade tortillas. But unlike tortillas, which can be difficult to press thin enough, sopes are intentionally thicker and easier to press. They’re pretty simple to cook on a hot griddle; the only part that requires a bit of finesse is turning up the edges after cooking.

Here’s the basic concept: Mix together a simple dough made mostly of masa harina, then form it into little dough balls.

Using a pie plate, flatten each dough ball into a thin disk. No need for a tortilla press here!

Cook each disk on a very hot griddle for a few minutes until cooked through. While it’s still warm, crimp the edges.

And that’s it! Once the sopes are cooked, you can fill them with anything you might use for a taco.  Here we’ve spread them with a thin layer of our supremely simple refried black beans, then sprinkled with bright pink pickled onions and a bit of crunchy romaine. For a special treat, added a dollop of this vegan chipotle cashew cream. If you think ahead and have some onhand in the refrigerator, it’s perfect for topping Mexican recipes of all kinds. Or, you can go all Jackson Pollock with sour cream and hot sauce.

These homemade sopes make for simple, healthy meals. We made ours as a weeknight dinner (I’ll admit, we can be fairly ambitious on weeknights), but a dinner of sopes would be fabulous for weekend guests. Serve them with a side salad and some chips and salsa fresca as a unique alternative to tacos. They’re a bit outside the norm, but we’re convinced sopes should be a thing. And Larson will grow up knowing—and loving—them!

A huge thank you to Alejandra of Brown Sugar and Vanilla for sharing this recipe with us in honor of Larson. Alejandra blogs at Brown Sugar and Vanilla and has a lovely feed on Instagram.

Looking for vegan recipes?

These sopes are vegan, which stands out from most of our Mexican recipes. Vegan recipes are becoming part of our everyday, though we typically eat vegetarian. Here are a few of our recent vegan recipes:

• Refried Bean Tacos with Chipotle Cashew Cream
• Mexican Fried Rice Nachos
• Herby Tomato Flatbread with Rye Cracker Crust
• Tart Cherry Cardamom Baked Oatmeal

Looking for healthy meals? 

Who isn’t looking for healthy meals, these days? A few of our top healthy meals:

• Greek Nachos
• Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers
• Raw Falafel Buddha Bowls
• Southwestern Bowl with Green Chile Vinaigrette

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this homemade sopes with black beans recipe, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Homemade Sopes with Black Beans

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 4 (10 sopes)

What You Need

• For the sopes
• 2 cups masa harina
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• To serve
• 1 recipe Supremely Simple Refried Black Beans
• Shredded romaine
• 1-hour Quick Pickled Onions (or sliced red onions)
• Chipotle Cashew Cream (or sour cream)
• Mexican hot sauce

What To Do

1. Mix the flour with the salt and gradually stir in the oil and nearly all of the water. Mix it together with your hands until a soft dough forms, with the consistency similar to playdough. Continue adding little bits of water until the correct consistency is achieved.
2. Divide the dough into 10 pieces and roll them into balls, then cover them with a kitchen towel.
3. Cut a gallon-sized plastic bag into 2 large squares. Get out a pie plate with a flat bottom or tortilla press.
4. Heat a pan or skillet over high heat.
5. While heating the skillet, place one of the dough balls between the two squares of plastic. Using a large pie plate with a flat bottom (or a tortilla press), apply pressure until you have a flat and even disk.
6. Place the masa disk onto the griddle, and cook until it looks dry on the top, about 1 minute. Then flip it over and cook another 20 to 30 seconds until fully cooked. Place the cooked sope on a baking sheet and wait about 30 seconds until it has cooled, then pinch the edges up with your fingers to form the borders. Continue for all sopes. (This process works well with a helper!)
7. To serve, spread with a thin layer of refried beans, then top with lettuce, pickled onions, hot sauce, and a dollop of cashew cream.

3.5.3226

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2iYhVKi

The Best 6 Ways to Get Rid of Stress and Your Body Fat

Beauty is only skin deep.

Whilst this popular saying is quite true, we live in a society where personal appearance plays a huge role. We want to impress others by making sure that we look good and are physically fit. With this in mind, we work hard to achieve a certain body type.

Being fit and fabulous sometimes get the best of us. It puts a lot of stress and pressure on us and we feel frustrated when we don't achieve our ideal weight.

Is it possible to lose weight while reducing the level of stress that we have?

This routine will show you how to burn calories and live a happy and stress-free life.

6 Useful and Practical Tips to Eliminate Stress and Burn your Body-fat

1. Evolve a healthy sleep routine

We should never underestimate the power of quality sleep over our weight and stress management. Having a lack of sleep has a negative effect on both factors.

How can a good amount of sleep lower your stress and burn calories?

Sleep is one of the best ways of rejuvenating your body. By taking a deep sleep, you give your body an opportunity to rest and heal. Waking up after 8 hours of sleep is a sure way to boost your day. You're energized and ready to face whatever your day will bring you.

Lack of sleep is one of the reasons of weight gain. When you don't have enough sleep, the hormone that commands your brain that you are already full is affected. Your metabolism goes haywire as well. You feel tired and sluggish so you compensate with unnecessary overeating and don't have the energy to exercise.

Establish a healthy sleeping routine every night. Set a specific time to buzz everything off and go to slumberland. Avoid distractions by turning off gadgets and mobile phones a few hours before your bedtime.

2. Take a walk

Walking is one of the easiest and cheapest forms of exercise.

Obviously, we don't need to hire an instructor since we've learned walking either by ourselves or with the help of our parents. You just need a pair of good rubber shoes, your favorite playlist probably, and you're good to go.

Walking hits two birds with one stone. This exercise will not only help you reduce your weight but your stress level as well. It's a good cardio exercise and helps you burn those extra calories. The happy hormones that walking produces and the beautiful scenery and fresh air will surely melt all the stress away.

Make walking a part of your daily routine. Park a few miles away from your destination and walk the rest through. Use the stairs instead of the elevator.

3. Exercise before breakfast

Starting your day with an exercise has more benefits than doing it later in the day.

First, doing your exercise first thing in the morning sets your priority. Since you have put this on the top of your checklist, you won't miss out on exercise anymore.

Exercise before breakfast is also said to burn more calories and improve your metabolism. It also helps you make healthy food choices all throughout the day so you won't get to binge on unnecessary food cravings.

Completing your exercise in the morning will also give you the much-needed energy for the whole day. It also releases a feeling of accomplishment and happiness.

Be faithful with your morning exercise and you'll see how fit and happy it has made you in a short period of time.

4. Eat a healthy breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You may skip lunch or dinner, but not breakfast.

What makes it the most important meal of the day?

Having a full healthy breakfast gives you the energy that you need. It also makes you feel full longer so you avoid unnecessary food cravings.

Below are some of the healthy breakfast ideas that you can use:

• Nut Butter, Banana, and Chia Seed Toast
• Yogurt and Berry Smoothie
• Savory Oatmeal With an Egg
• Quinoa Fruit Salad
• Tomato Toast With Macadamia Ricotta
• Chia and Quinoa Porridge
• Avocado Toast With Egg

Loads of fiber and protein to get you the nutrients and energy that you need.

5. Celebrate the small wins

All work and no play make John a dull boy.

Just like with this popular saying, being goal-oriented and focus-driven all the time has its negative draw back. It can be exhausting if you're always keen on just achieving your goals. If you don't get the figure that you want by the end of the month, you tend to get frustrated and burn out.

To keep your momentum, celebrate every accomplishment, no matter how small they are. Fuel your motivation by giving yourself some rewards for all your hard work. Lost a few pounds after 2 days? Reward yourself by treating yourself with an ice cream.

Celebration and reward don't need to be grand or expensive. A little something to boost your morale and keep your motivation will do.

6. Keep a food diary

Keeping a food diary is an excellent way of managing your weight. Listing down all the food and calories that you consumed is a great idea to have full control of your food intake and have an understanding of how it affects your health.

Here are some tips on how to create a food diary.

• You can either use a notebook or download an application that can be used for your diary.
• Write down everything that you eat and drink for that day. Be as specific as you can. Including the quantity of the food that you consumed is also a great idea.
• Write down the date, place and time that you eat your food. This is important to understand patterns of your eating habit. This can help you identify why you eat this certain food at this particular time.

Take control of your body and mind by applying these habits into your daily life. Being fit and stress-free is not impossible at all.

Author Bio:

Jack is a personal trainer with over 20 years in the fitness industry. He has run in dozens of marathons across the country. He is an expert advisor for various fitness related entities and writes regularly for several health/exercise websites, including http://ift.tt/1z0PcQN

from Dai Manuel: Your Lifestyle Mentor http://ift.tt/2xKx3hO

This is why coconut oil is the best thing since sliced bread

We live in a time when, theoretically, we can find information on absolute anything with just a google search. We tend to swan along convinced that we have trustworthy facts at our finger tips, and a lot of us believe absolutely everything we read on the internet and in the newspapers.

We’re under the impression that the days of governments being able to brainwash their citizens are behind us, as, logically, they shouldn’t be able to hide anything from us anymore, or skew the facts to make us believe what they want us too.

The reality is, however, that despite the fact that we could look anything up and double check facts for ourselves, we tend to believe exactly what’s written in black and white. After all, they wouldn’t lie, would they? I don’t know about you, but I think that most of the human race is fairly trusting. I definitely always believe what people tell me until I’m given a strong reason not to, but in the case of food, we have to go out and find those reasons for ourselves.

The fact is, newspapers exist to sell newspapers. Digital newspapers exist to sell advertising space on their digital newspapers. And they can’t do that without headlines that will really grab people’s attention. There’s nothing that’s more likely to get a bit of a buzz going than an article either claiming that a certain miracle food or diet is the answer to all our problems. The only thing that might top that is an article on the evils of sugars, fats, or slamming the same foods that you could have sworn they were praising just last week.

It's really hard not to be influenced by the headlines. Let’s take the pomegranate as an example. I have no particularly strong feelings on pomegranates or knowledge about them, but I’ll use them to illustrate my point. When you see articles plastered all over the internet telling you that pomegranates, for example, are the super-food to end all super-foods, you’ll probably suddenly see pomegranates everywhere, both because you’re now more aware of them and because the big stores will probably be trying to cash in on the craze.

You’ll end up buying them, and for a while, you’ll swear that you’ve never felt better and that it’s all down to your new, magical super food. Then, suddenly a study will be published and the papers will be saying that actually, pomegranates cause some rare form of cancer (I’m making this up) and that raspberries are the real way forward. You won’t really be sure what to do, but those pomegranates might start looking a lot less appealing.

Food Fad or Fact: Coconut Oil for the Win?

A great example of a recent case of this is the coconut oil debacle. You heard about it, I’m sure. After a few years of coconut oil being lauded in the media as the best thing since sliced bread, coconut oil was branded as the devil by the American Heart Association. Obviously, the media loved that. We were suddenly all warned off coconut oil as being one of the worst kinds of fat, and it seemed like we were all going to drop down dead of heart disease if we kept consuming it.

There were soon plenty of articles out there explaining why the AHA’s recommendations needed to be taken with a pinch of salt, and pointing out that they weren’t actually saying that no coconut oil at all must be consumed, but it was the initial, more controversial articles that would have really grabbed readers’ attention.

Quite a lot of people also pointed out the people funding the study, who included peddler's of canola oil, a suggested ‘healthy’ alternative, had plenty of reasons to want to divert some of the huge amounts of cash being spent on coconut oil into their own bank accounts. Of course, some of the people defending coconut oil were then accused of profiting from it… I could go on. It’s a bit of a vicious cycle.

Now I am in no way suggesting that I am any kind of an expert on nutrition or diet or whether coconut oil is good for you or not. I’ll admit to being a pretty big fan of it and its incredible versatility, but I’m not here to convince you it’s the holy grail of oils.

What I’m saying is that the average person with no specific training in nutrition needs to be very careful about what they read and a little less willing to believe everything they see in the headlines. I too am a very trusting person and my reflex is to assume that everyone is telling the truth. Unfortunately, though, the harsh reality is that we still can’t, and never have been able to, blindly put our faith in what government-run organizations and media outlets are telling us. Pessimistic, I know, but true!

Do your research

If you see a big health claim made somewhere telling you that a certain food or way of preparing food or dietary choice will either make you live forever or kill you, then before you share it on social media, throw out the offending article or go out and buy a year’s supply, do a little more digging. Have a look online to see if anyone is arguing the other side, and check out the points they make and how they back them up. Think about what the motivation of the parties involved could be.

By all means, take up a plant-based diet (I follow one myself) or go paleo, or keto, or whatever you fancy doing, but make that decision yourself based on balanced and thorough research, rather than making a snap decision.

Everything in moderation

I know you’ve heard this a million times before, but it couldn’t be truer. No matter how great a food is for you, or how beneficial a certain diet is, you can always have too much of a good thing.

Listen to your body

Rather than listening to what everyone else has to say, why not try and pay a bit more attention to your own body?

If you’re not feeding it the right things or giving it too much of a certain thing, it’ll find a way to let you know. It might manifest itself in exhaustion, sluggishness or bad skin, but if you’re doing something wrong nutrition-wise it will surface sooner or later. If a report suddenly comes out suggesting veganism is the worst thing you could ever do for your health, but you’ve been thriving on a vegan diet for years, stick with it!

The main message is that when it comes to food and diet, the media is an extremely fickle thing that will jump on bandwagons that they think will get them plenty of attention and exposure. The more confusing, the better! Rather than blindly trusting the headlines, do some more research, give things a go, trust your intuition and listen to what your body is trying to tell you.

Bio:

Katie is a wellness expert who spends most of her time trying out new plant-based recipes, trail running, and travelling. When she’s not doing that she’s writing for Sleep Health Energy, a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about enjoying top-to-toe health and getting a restful night’s sleep, which will leave you bursting with energy. Follow along on Twitter.

from Dai Manuel: Your Lifestyle Mentor http://ift.tt/2eOXriB

4 Digital Tools to Help Students Increase Appreciation and Self-Worth in Any Classroom

As teachers, we sometimes forget that little, everyday actions in the classroom have a huge impact on our students’ lives. Just a small offering of appreciation can transform relationships and boost student self-worth. Simple tokens of gratitude, such as students voicing their appreciation for a fired teacher, can shift the climate of entire schools and strengthen the bonds among teachers, kids, and the community. But it’s not just about recognition — it’s also about supporting and inspiring others. Studies have shown that when someone gets appreciated, they feel more socially valued, and this can lead to prosocial behavior. In other words, when someone receives thanks, they are more likely to pay it forward. The more teachers express and practice gratitude, the more inclined students will be to do the same, leading to a more supportive and equitable world.

Check out these picks to help students develop a greater sense of self-worth and inspire a positive classroom culture.

This I Believe

This inspirational site focuses on the writing, sharing, and discussing of people’s core beliefs through short essays. Students can practice listening to or reading essays about what others have to say. After spending some time in the Gratitude section, students can then compose and publish their own self-reflective essay on the site. Guide students towards understanding that success often depends on not letting others force you to break your own core beliefs and values.

 

DIY

The DIY site gets kids “making.” Whether they’re harvesting honey, building a circuit, or creating their own film, kids complete challenges in various skill areas by posting their creations online and getting helpful feedback. Have students practice expressing thanks for any comments they receive, and further reciprocate kindness by commenting on others’ creations. Letting others know you’re grateful and demonstrating openness to receiving feedback can be integral factors in developing self-worth.

 

Mindprint Learning

Students take online assessments to measure their strengths and challenges — like processing speed or verbal reasoning. Teachers can use Mindprint’s advice to discuss the results with each student, helping them appreciate the assets they’ve been given.  With this assessment, kids can learn to self-advocate for their own success by making a plan to build on their strengths, while also addressing any weaknesses. Hopefully students will believe in themselves a little more, and be more willing to pick up new skills.

 

Seesaw: The Learning Journal

Seesaw’s digital portfolio allows students to submit a variety of work, such as videos, pictures, or drawings. They then can reflect on their learning through a voice recording. Have students practice describing their work to parents and teachers. Teachers can help students take pride in their achievements, and work with parents to send encouraging notes back to students. Through the tool, educators are able to facilitate communication that is supportive and builds student confidence.

This article’s content is an extension of the We All Teach SEL blog series from Common Sense Education. Check it out for a complete look at social and emotional learning in the classroom.

from MindShift http://ift.tt/2gx1x2J