Chicxen and Polenta with Mushroom Marinara

Chicxen and Polenta with Mushroom Marinara

This dish has a layering of flavors and textures 

  Marinara Sauce  (start the sauce first this makes enough for 4 servings)

1 large can  Chopped San Marzano Tomatoes (these are expensive but well worth the price and naturally sweet so they are a must unless you want to cook this for at least an hour or two)

6-8  baby bell mushrooms cleaned and sliced

3 large cloves garlic peeled, smashed and finely chopped

¼ cup red wine (remember when choosing a wine for cooking only use one that you would actually drink)

2 TB  fresh basil leaves julienned

Place a sauce pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot add 1 Tb grape seed oil and add the garlic, sauté until soften making sure to watch carefully being sure not to burn it. Add the mushrooms and sauté 2 minutes. Add the wine and stir well, then add the tomatoes. Bring sauce to a boil then simmer (at a low boil) for 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the dish. The last 10 minutes add the fresh basil leaves to the sauce.

The Rest of the Dish

12  slices of polenta 1/4 “ thick

1    sweet red bell pepper (cleaned and sliced into thin strips)

1    bag of Quorn chicken strips or chicken style Seitan

8   slices fresh mozzarella or vegan mozzarella

Preparation

Heat a skillet (cast iron is the best) on medium high till it’s pretty hot add just enough grape seed oil to coat the pan toss in the peppers and quickly stir fry till they are chard on the edges (this is important for the finished dish in regards to texture and flavor.  Remove the peppers and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium.

If you are using Seitan cut it into strips if using Quorn use them the way they are toss them with salt and pepper. Add 2 tsp. oil to the hot pan and then toss in the Seitan or Quorn strips saute’ until heated through and cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

Heat the pan back up to medium high and add the slices of polenta, fry on each side until browned and crispy. Remove them to a paper plate of paper towel lined plate.

To assemble this dish place 3 polenta on a plate, top with 2 slices of the cheese, next divide the Quorn or Seitan between the 4 plates piling them up into a mound, then do the same with the peppers. Lastly pour ¾ of a cup of sauce over the top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Garnich with more fresh basil leaves . Serve with crusty bread and your favorite wine.

Organic apples reduce harmful pesticide exposure for kids

by Susan Enfield in New Hope 360 Blog

May 3, 2012 11:30am

inS

This should go for juice as well.

Another new study links pesticides commonly used on apples, a kid favorite, to abnormalities in the developing brain. Here's why apples are the most important organic purchase you can make for your kids.

When I read news this week of yet another study about the negative health effects of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on children, as a mother, I got mad. As a New Hope Natural Media editor, I want to urge retailers out there to step up efforts to educate shoppers about why organic apples are the No. 1 organic buy to make for their family.
The study found that prenatal exposure to the organophosphate (OP) pesticide—now banned for residential use but still widely used on many crops—may be linked with abnormal changes in the cortex of a child’s developing brain. Other recent studies show that exposure to chlorpyrifos in the womb and early childhood may be linked with lowered IQ and increased incidence of ADHD.
A few more persuasive facts:

• Apples are one of the top fruits consumed by U.S. children
   
• Conventional apples are No. 1 on EWG’s Dirty Dozen; 98 percent of apples tested had pesticides.
   
• Conventional applesauce, another kid favorite, retains much higher residues of several pesticides on average than organic applesauce.
   
• Even officially allowable levels of OPs may harm humans, according to recent studies.
   
• Apples are also frequently sprayed with Paraquat, a pesticide that may have a link to Parkinson’s disease.
   
• The health of families in agricultural communities is directly affected by either doing pesticide spraying, or by runoff or drift.

I won’t say it doesn’t pain me to spend as much as $2.99/lb on organic Honeycrisps at certain times of year. But the pleasure of savoring their clean, wholesome, juicy crunch without worrying about ingesting poisons is truly priceless. (Plus, if I’m feeling thrifty, I can choose the cheaper bagged organic apples.)

GMO's Whats up with Dow Chemical and the FDA

The current state of GMOs

Jenna Blumenfeld, Delicious Living

Mar. 19, 2012 4:03pmnShare

Bill Freese, science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, recently sat down with Organic Connections, the magazine for Natural Vitality, to discuss the latest in the battle against GMOs.

According to the Just Label It campaign, more than 900,000 people have signed the petition to the FDA to label foods containing GMOs, and 92 percent of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods as well. But while the non-GMO movement is certainly heating up, massive biotech companies such as Dow Chemical and Monsanto have filed concerning petitions with the FDA to deregulate their patented crops.
Bill Freese, science policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety—the nonprofit leading legal and scientific battles against GMOs—shares his views with Organic Connections magazine.
Dow is now seeking approval for a corn seed resistant to the highly toxic herbicide 2,4-D. “It’s associated with a number of diseases such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is cancer of the immune system,” says Freese. “2,4-D is also an endocrine disrupter. [It’s] very volatile and it drifts a lot,” he explained. “When you spray a herbicide it can drift hundreds of yards, and in some cases even more, to land on a neighbor’s crops. In the end 2,4-D is going to kill a large number of crops that aren’t resistant to it.”

Loaded Graham Crackers

When you have a craving for something sweet but don't have anything in the house but the fixins try making these

6 whole graham crackers (check your ingredient list if you want them to be vegan)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate or bittersweet
2 Tb earth balance or real organic butter
1/4 cup milk, soy milk, half-n-half what ever you have in the fridge
20 drops of liquid stevia (if you have any of the NuNaturals flavored ones use 10 orange and 10 vanilla)
1 Tb organic brown sugar or organic cane sugar
Chopped nuts of your choice (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans)
Shredded Coconut
Dried fruits like cranberries, raisins, blueberries

 Preparation:

Place chocolate and earth balance in a double boiler or if you don't have one use a metal bowl on top of a pot with 1/4 pot of water. Place this on medium heat stir chocolate and butter until melted, turn off heat and add the cream stir until well blended.
Place the grahams out onto a sheet of waxed paper or cookie sheet. spoon the warm chocolate sauce onto the top of the grahams 1 at a time. Then quickly sprinkle with your choice of toppings press them into the chocolate so they will stay put. Place in fridge for 15 minutes till set up, don't leave them too long or grahams get soft. Take out of fridge and endulge.