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How Long Does It Take To Cook Quinoa in a Glorious One-Pot Meal?

Reader question: I came to the Book Signing at The Bookworm in Edwards. I would like to sign up for MRT testing, and also have a recipe question – I am cooking lots of veggies and quinoa in a 5.5 qt dutch oven for tonight. No meat. Do I really cook them for an hour? ~Lorie, Colorado

A Glorious One-Pot Meals book signing at The Bookworm in Edwards, CO on 1-20-2014.
A Glorious One-Pot Meals book signing at The Bookworm in Edwards, CO on 1-20-2014.

Thanks for coming to the book signing, Lorie! I’m always happy to talk about MRT food sensitivity testing and will contact you directly to schedule a free initial phone consultation.

As for the question about how long to cook just veggies and quinoa using the Glorious One-Pot Meal method, the main thing to remember is that dry goods including dry quinoa will always take the full amount of time to cook regardless of if the rest of the meal includes meat or not.

If you are using a 5.5-quart Dutch oven but you are only cooking for 2 people, then use the amount of quinoa (3/4 cup) and liquid (1 cup) called for on page 9 in the common measurements section and plan on around 45 minutes of cooking time.

If you are using a 5.5-quart Dutch oven and cooking for 5-6 people and filling the pot to the brim with vegetables along with three times the amount of quinoa and liquid, then it will indeed take about an hour to cook.

Remember, too, that you will always know when your Glorious One-Pot Meal is ready because the aroma of a fully-cooked meal will escape your oven and waft through your house.

Happy cooking!

Vitamin D Can Help Prevent and Recover From Flu

Vitamin D is not a vitamin after all. Turns out it’s a “steroid precursor” with direct effects on our immune systems.

Personally, I prefer taking Vitamin D-3 in a liquid form as it is easy to control the dosage.

Maybe we should have taken our cue from the ability of the human body to produce “Vitamin D” from sunshine alone whereas we must take in other vitamins and minerals through food sources. Science is still figuring out so much about how the human body works that we are in a constant state of catch-up in our knowledge about nutrition.

A recent double-blind, randomized study in Tokyo, Japan, of over 300 schoolchildren aged six to 15 years found that those with higher levels of Vitamin D in their blood experienced a 50% or greater reduction in flu infections. Only one in ten children given Vitamin D during the study came down with flu, while one in five of the children given a placebo got the flu.

During the 2012-2013 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) credit the flu vaccine for reducing doctor’s visits for flu by one-half, or about 50%. This efficacy rate varies each year as vaccine makers have to guess which flu strains might be common months ahead of the actual flu season.

“Mitsuyoshi Urashima, the Japanese doctor who led the trial, told The Times that vitamin D was more effective than vaccines in preventing flu,” reports PreventDisease.com.

Since Vitamin D increases the body’s production of anti-microbial peptides (AMP), it makes sense to increase Vitamin D supplements during times of infection from cold and flu viruses. Research suggests that the correct dosage of Vitamin D3 is as much as 5,000 IUs (International Units)/day for adults, particularly those with impaired immune function, and perhaps even higher doses during times of health crises.

As with any supplements, be careful as over-supplementing can sometimes bring harmful effects.

Come See Elizabeth Yarnell in January 2014

Reader question: I found you on Amazon. Do you have any speaking or demonstrations events scheduled for 2014? None seem to be on the website calendar. ~ Susan A., Evergreen, COYarnell_red_web

Hi Susan. So nice to meet you, and thank you for noticing that I had not yet updated my online calendar to reflect my January engagements.

It has now been done and you’ll see that I have a book-signing at the Bookworm bookstore in Edwards, Colorado (outside of Vail) on January 20th (Martin Luther King Day), as well as a lecture on eating healthily in our toxic world in Denver on January 26th. Both events are open to the public and I would love to see you there!

If any of my readers would like me to come speak at an event, please feel free to contact me directly or suggest my services to the event organizer.  I love speaking to groups of all sizes and demographics as long as they are interested in how they can improve their health through better eating.

And really, who isn’t?

 

Effortless Eating Named One of the Best Natural Foods Websites

I received a sweet email from Deborah at NaturesGardenCandles.com letting me know the exciting news that my little blog had made her list of the Best Natural Foods Websites. Pretty cool. It’s worth checking out the other great natural blogs on her list and finding other cool people to follow. I must confess that maybe the best part of this honor has been discovering Deborah’s blog and getting inspired to set about making some homemade, natural “bath bombs” with my daughter. Maybe this summer…

Thanks, Deborah!

 

natural food blogs

Find Natural Herbs and Spices
at NaturesGardenCandles.com

Is the Kindle Edition of Glorious One-Pot Meals Missing Some Information?

Reader question: Hi Elizabeth, I received your book in the kindle edition for Christmas. I am looking forward to trying your recipes and technique, but I had a question/comment. The nutrition information is not included in the digital edition, or if it is I am not seeing it. Is it possible to update the book to include that info? We are watching our calories as well as generally trying to eat healthier and that would be useful information.  Thanks, and hope you are enjoying your holiday! ~Angela M., ChicoGlorious One-Pot Meals cover

Hi Angela, I’m glad to hear that you are planning to try Glorious One-Pot Meals!

The nutrition information for each recipe is included in the print copy of the cookbook; this is the first I’ve heard that it is not included in the Kindle edition. I’m sorry to report that I have no control over the Kindle version as it is released directly from the publisher.

Personally, I am a believer in the nutrition we get from  eating whole foods vs processed foods, which is why GOPMs are made from whole foods, and think the “nutritional information” that accompanies a recipe is pretty worthless when it comes to eating healthily. For instance, the fat content of a recipe may seem high by the numbers, but if the fat is from healthy sources like olive oil or avocado or fish, then it would still be a healthy recipe.

My recipes are designed to use whole foods and be healthy options for dinner, and as long as you use quality ingredients I believe you can be assured of the healthfulness regardless of what you might see in the nutritional counts.

That said, I realize that in this country we’ve been trained to use the nutritional breakdown to assess the value of a meal, and, under duress, I did indeed provide that information for every recipe in the cookbook. You can pick up a print copy of the book for under $15 on Amazon, or for the full price of $17.95 you may order it directly from my site and I will be happy to personally sign it to you.

A heartfelt thank you  to everyone who purchased Glorious One-Pot Meals this holiday season; the cookbook enjoyed the number one spot in the Dutch Oven category on Amazon last month and is often  still in the top 5,000 books purchased on Amazon — pretty amazing for a little book that was first released almost ten years ago in 2005!

 GOPM_ranking_12_26_2013