Elizabeth Yarnell, Author, Innovator, Naturopath, Speaker
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Passover Macaroons

I made these light and airy macaroons in 2003 and noted “big crowd-pleaser” on my recipe card, so I thought I’d pull them out again this year. Most macaroons are dense balls of coconut cake but my memory tells me that this recipe produced ones with a weight more like marengue cookies. In other words: macaroons that can almost float.

I’ll post a photo back here after I actually make them (either tomorrow or Saturday), but wanted to get the recipe up in case anyone needed it before then. (See my next post for a photo, tips and a recipe adjustment!)
Chocolate Chip Macaroons
Makes 4-6 dozen

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar (I prefer organic, unbleached, unrefined sugar)
12 oz. chocolate chips (this year I’m using organic dark chocolate chips — yum!)*
1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange zest
pinch of salt
5 1/3 cups of shredded coconut (about as much as typically comes in a package, though I like to get mine out of the organic bulk foods bin at my local natural grocery store)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in sugar.

Beat in orange juice, orange zest, and salt. Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared sheets. Bake 20 minutes.

*The originally published recipe, “Chocolate Macaroons” by Mollie Franks of the San Diego Hadassah, CA, called for 12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted to be added in with the orange juice. I adjusted it to use chocolate chips instead.

Ear ache

My children’s preschool teacher’s 9-year old daughter had an earache the other day. Since pediatricians are known to over-prescribe antibiotics for Similasan Ear Ache Reliefear aches, I suggested she try to battle the virus first, then head to the doctor if there was no improvement.

After all, antibiotics won’t kick a virus, only a bacteria. And most ear aches are viral infections.

I suggested she prepare some garlic tea as an infection fighter and use some Similasan homeopathic ear drops to manage the pain. I find Similasan near the ear wax candles and contact lense solutions in my regular grocery store (King Soopers).

She could also benefit from 4 tablets of homeopathic Aconite under the tongue. Aconite is a great virus fighter and should always be taken at the first sign of a cold.

If the pain is still too much, a dose of Tylenol would not be out of the question. Ear pain can be absolutely unbearable.

The next day the child felt well enough to return to school — without unnecessary antibiotics.

Food Additives and ADD/ADHD

Think your kids are out of control? Check the labels on their food products. Likely as not, if your children are eating a lot of packaged, processed foods they’re ingesting a fair amount of toxins that could be affecting their central nervous system and general health.

A new study conducted by Southampton University in England warns that common food and drink additives could be contributing to behavorial problems such as tantrums, poor attention spans, hyperactivity and allergic reactions.

This research backs up a study from seven years ago by the same institution. Seven years ago. How long will it take before we stop poisoning our kids and ourselves?

Stick with whole foods and you can’t go wrong. Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store rather than in the center aisles. Instead of doping up ADD/ADHD kids with Ritalin, consider some simple dietary changes combined with more structure to their days and see what happens. It’s not the quick fix of drugs, but you’ll preserve their developing brains instead of shutting them down, possibly saving them from a lifetime of feeling uncomfortable in their own bodies.

Environmentally-friendly Dishwasher Detergents

When Consumer Reports rated dishwasher detergents, it found that the ecologically-sound brands (some good ones are Seventh Generation and Eco) actually work better than familiar national brands like Cascade because they contain naturally-occurring enzymes which literally digest the food off the plates and work better than harsh chemicals. Not to mention wash away cleanly without leaving a residue and are disposed of without contaminating our water supply.

Here’s what my enameled cast iron Dutch oven looked like after I reheated some squash soup in it and left it on the stove too long. Oops! Those cast iron pots heat up so quickly!Dirty Dutch Oven

After the pot cooled down, I filled it with hot water, sprinkled a layer of dishwasher detergent on the base and let it sit for a few hours while the enzymes did their stuff. When I came back to it, it easily wiped clean with a sponge and now it is as good as new (sorry I don’t have the after photo — you’ll just have to trust me on this!).

Better for you, better for the environment, and better performing, it pays to switch to an ecologically-sound dishwasher detergent. Give it a try and see for yourself.

Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner: Semi-homemade Pizza

Here is one of my favorite go-to meals that I can pull together without a lot of effort: semi-homemade pizza! This is a great dinner that kids love to help make, too.

Semi-homemade PizzaI use a packaged pizza dough, like Boboli or any other brand, though my girlfriend swears that she whips up pizza dough in minutes from scratch. I bow down to her, but have not ventured this myself.

Anyway, I open the package of pizza dough and my kids paint the top with olive oil, carefully leaving a bare ring around the outside for a crust. Then I pour some marinara sauce out of a jar onto the dough and the kids use a basting brush to smear it around.

I hand them bowls of grated cheeses, which they sprinkle (more or less) around the pizza, and then a bowl of sliced mushrooms (our family’s favorite pizza topping) to scatter on top. I pop it in the oven and less than 20 minutes later, voila! There’s pizza!

For this particular pizza, we used soy mozzarella and monterey jack cheeses and topped it with grated Parmesan. My family doesn’t mind soy cheese and I prefer it because I digest it better, so we will sometimes do regular cheese, sometimes soy-based cheese, and sometimes a mixture.

Together with a salad or steamed broccoli, it’s a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

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