*I am reposting this recipe I shared last January 15, 2009. Unfortunately, I lost my old file which included the picture. I shall edit this post once I find it or I make a new batch and take photos of it!

Due to requests of some dear friends, here is a “recipe” of the salad dressing I had for one of the Christmas dinners I hosted here at home:

**oh no! warning: i really do not know how much of each ingredient I used…so I guess for those of you who haven’t tried it, just pour and mix until you find a taste that’s to your liking? Basta it’s supposed to taste a little tangy yet light…

…oh wait, ok i’ll try to imagine the measurements…. here goes….

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp garlic, super chopped

2-4 “strips” of anchovy fillets (as we all know, this is quite salty so you might want to try to go for 2 first)

2-3 tbsp lemon

mustard (this would really depend on how tangy you’d like your dressing to be)….i think i put in about 2 tsp. of this

honey (i see this as the “equalizer” of all the other ingredients)

* I suggest you “pound” the garlic and anchovy fillets together first before mixing in all the other ingredients

* oh, and it helps to base the amount of mustard to put it on the color of the dressing….it should be a very pale yellow

Now, what to toss in with this dressing?

romaine lettuce

shrimps (i marinate mine with the dressing before cooking it)

candied walnuts

caramelized onions

grapes/apples

garlic croutons

Here’s to my attempts at serving “healthy” food!

I have had this craving for caramelized onions for almost a month now. Lately I came up with this…i don’t know….I don’t even call it a recipe, but since it does involve food preparation, let’s just call it that for now.

I came up with this “recipe” to satisfy my weird onion craving..

- Slice white onions into rings. Season with pepper. Set aside.

- Measure about a half-cup of whole-wheat flour (may be bought at Healthy Options), you actually don’t need a lot, just enough to coat the onions

- Add a pinch of paprika and some cayenne pepper to the flour (both of these would have to be suited to your taste, how spicy you would like it to be) As for me, i like it HOT so that means more cayenne pepper

- Coat the onions with the prepared flour

- Using EV olive oil, saute the onions

…I’ve been snacking on these and adding these onions to my salad, sandwiches…practically everything! *sigh* I wonder when I’ll get over them… ???

Interestingly, here are some sites I found that support this craving of mine:

http://www.cayennepepper.info/health-benefits-of-cayenne-pepper.html

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhealthinformation/a/paprikahealth.htm

http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/onions.php

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=66

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/olive-oil.htm

yaaay!   Justified!

When your child has a temperature, here are some helpful hints on treating it naturally:

• The most important thing is to make sure that she does not get dehydrated, since the sweating and runny nose that often accompany a fever can deplete her body of fluids. Give your child a cup of tepid diluted apple juice every hour, and if she is a reluctant drinker pop a straw in, which will encourage her (hopefully).
• If your child is not hungry, don’t insist that she eats. Energy taken up digesting food is energy channeled away from the healing process. Make plenty of fresh raw juices. Juices rehydrate your child’s body, supply plenty of antioxidants and encourage the elimination of unwanted toxins. Most children love fresh raw juices, and these are all that is needed to see them through acute illness.
• Tepid sponging can be very effective at bringing down a fever naturally. For some who don’t like this, a tummy compress can be an effective fever controller and detoxifier. The important thing is not to let your child get cold. If your child is resistant to the above strategies, don’t insist. Just keep her nice and cool and wipe her forehead with a cool flannel when needed.

** my notes from the book Boost Your Child’s Immune System by Lucy Burney.

More to come.