How are you feeling right now? Feel overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, emotional?  You might suffer from seasonal depression – sometimes called the winter blues.

To boost the levels of serotonin necessary for dealing with seasonal depression you may need more tryptophan. The legumes: peas, beans, and lentils are some foods rich in tryptophan.

So, to feel better and overcome depression and the winter blues, you may want to try one of these three lentil recipes.

French Lentil Soup for Fighting the Winter Blues

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 cups green lentils
• 8 cups bouillon
• 1 potato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch cayenne, to taste
• 1 pound swiss chard, chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

Bring the onion, garlic, celery, lentils and bouillon to a boil in a large pot. Add the potato and spices, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the swiss chard and cook 15 minutes more, or until the lentils are just tender, not mushy. Stir in the lemon juice and Immunity Boosting Spices. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

Healthy Lentil Pate Recipe for Seasonal Depression

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry green or red lentils,
• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 2 tbsp/olive oil
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1 tbsp tomato pasta
• black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

To cook lentils, cover them with water and boil for 1-2 min. and then simmer for 15-20 min. (until tender). While cooking lentils, saute onion and carrots in olive oil for 7-10 min., add garlic, tomato pasta, lentils and ghee. Mix thoroughly, season with black pepper and salt. Don’t forget to add Immunity Boosting Spices. Serve warm. You can also use food processor if you want it smooth.

Tasty Pomegranate Lentil Soup to Help Overcome Depression

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lentils, picked over
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups (2 quarts) water
• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup pomegranate juice or 1/4 cup grenadine syrup
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint or 2 teaspoons crushed dried leaf mint
• 2 Tablespoons raisins

Directions:

Add water, drained lentils, rice, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer on low about 45 minutes, until lentils and rice are tender. Add basil, green onions and pomegranate juice to the soup. Simmer an additional 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet, add mint and saute until butter turns golden. Divide soup into serving bowls. Drizzle each with the mint brown butter and sprinkle with a few raisins to serve.

Bon Appetit!

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

So, how healthy are your cooking and baking habits these days?

Sooner or later you may start looking for healthier ingredients for you recipes.

Be ingredient and health smart during the cold and flu season as well as holiday time you will be spending in the kitchen; that is why I  want to remind you about some healthier alternatives and healthier substitutes to the ingredients you normally use in your kitchen:

• 1 whole egg can be substituted with 2 egg whites
• white flour can be substituted with whole grain flour (rice, barley,millet, buckwheat – basically you can grind any whole grain)
• sour cream can be substituted with low fat plain yogurt or low  fat sour cream
• milk can be substitute with skim, 1% milk or powdered milk
• ice cream can be substitute with frozen yogurt
• heavy cream (not for whipping) – 1:1 ratio of flour whisked into non fat milk (eg. 1 cup of flour + 1 cup of non fat milk)
• whipped cream can be substituted with chilled evaporated skim milk or other low fat whipped products
• cheese can be substituted with low-fat cheese (please note: non-fat cheese does not melt well if use in cooking or baking)
• margarine can be substituted with butter
• butter can be substituted with light butter, vegetable oil or ghee
• sugar ( brown or white) can be substituted with date sugar, barley  malt, blackstrap molasses, pure raw honey; don’t forget that 1 tsp = 4 grams.
• table salt can be substituted with sea salt

Happy and Healthy Cooking and Baking !!!

Breathe, smile and be happy,

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

Halloweeen and the holidays are a good time to remember that we should try to do our best to protect our children from diabetes, obesity and heart disease when we can.

So, I would like to share with you a healthy Spiced Pumpkin Cookie Recipe.

Why is it healthy?

Just in case you don’t know, spices, like cinnamon and ginger can be used as an immune booster to help fight colds and flu.

Dark molasses is a great substitute for sugar, as well as a good source of iron and B vitamins.

As for raisins, they can be beneficial if you have constipation or anemia.

Imunity Boositing Spiced Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

• 2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 3 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Whisk pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and molasses in a second bowl until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients and raisins into the dry ingredients until no traces of dry ingredients remain. Drop the batter by level tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until firm to the touch and lightly golden on top, 10 to 12 minutes, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Bon Appetit!

Don’t forget to breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Counselor HHC

Are you ready for three homemade recipes made with cooling, fat-dissolving and green leafy vegetables. 

You can use these fantastic recipes to improve your kidney functions, for weight loss, detox your intestines and circulatory system, lower blood cholesterol and high blood pressure, and glowing skin.

Watercress with Almonds and Grapefruit Salad Recipe

• 2 cups watercress
• 1 cup radishes, sliced
• ½ silvered almonds or pumpkin seeds or pine nuts
• 1 cup red grapefruit membrane discarded
• ½ avocado sliced
• 1/2 cup Detox Turmeric Dressing

Mix watercress with radishes, grapefruit and avocado in large bowl. Add Detox Turmeric Dressing and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper I f needed.

Swiss Chard with Zucchini and Shitake Mushrooms Salad Recipe

• 1 bunch of Swiss Chard chopped
• 1 zucchini sliced
• 1/2 cup green onions chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil for 5 minutes, add garlic, Swiss Chard, zucchini and saute covered for 5 more minutes. Add onions and serve.

Arugula, Summer Squash and Blackberry Salad Recipe

• 2 cups Arugula
• 1 summer squash sliced 2 tomatoes sliced
• 1 red onion sliced
• 1 cup blackberries
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• ½ tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup blue cheese or goat cheese sliced
• 2 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil (you can use Detox Turmeric Dressing instead of apple cider vinegar and olive oil)

Mix all ingredients, top with blue cheese (or goat cheese), season with salt and pepper and serve.

Bon Appetit!

P.S. For more recipes listen to the Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati on Healthy Summer Recipes, click to listen.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor