Indian Springs Baptist Church Women's Ministry: how to cook organic

Genesis 1:11

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.

God gave us perfect foods for our bodies. He created them for us. All the foods that He created have health benefits for our bodies. They are fuel as well as they help to strengthen us. I am going to post many foods in then next few weeks and tell you how great they are for your body and how to prepare and eat them. Did you know you are much better off to feed your body the nutrients and minerals that it needs from food rather than a man-made supplemental pill? Well, if you didn't before, now you know. Let's start looking at food as a necessity and fuel instead of a social event, reward, or treat.

This week, I am going to tell you about the sweet potato. When I was growing up, my grandparents ate them all the time. My papaw had one named after him in Scott County, VA called the Frazier Sweet Potato. I am not sure how all this plant stuff works, but he crossed two plants and made a new one and they named it after him and sold it over there.

Note: Potatoes are on the dirty dozen list so buy organic or grow your own.

Benefits of Sweet Potatoes

Clear Skin: Did you know they help your skin stay clear, smooth and young-looking? The reason: Crayola-colored orange in sweet potatoes comes from beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A in your body and switches on DNA that's in charge of producing new skin cells and shedding old ones. The deeper the color the higher the beta-carotene content is in the potato.

As an anti-oxidant: Sweet potatoes have been found to contain a high amount of anti-oxidant, making it suitable in combating inflammatory problems like asthma, arthritis, gout, etc.

Diabetes: This fibrous root is suitable for diabetics' consumption and it is a very good blood sugar regulator. It helps to stabilize and lower insulin resistance. Diabetics can eat sweet potatoes without worry as they have a low glycemic index. The glycemic index of a food reflects the food's effects on a person's blood glucose level. Fast glucose absorption, a rise in blood sugar and its resulting dive happens with high-glycemic foods and is not desirable. It's better for the body to slowly absorb any gluclose, sustain a moderate rise in sugar levels and experience a gradual return to the regular level. Since white potatoes, rice and flour have a high glycemic rating, diabetics will benefit from eating sweet potatoes instead.

They are high in vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 helps reduce the chemical homocysteine in our bodies. Homocysteine has been linked with degenerative diseases, including the prevention of heart attacks.

They are a good source of vitamin C: While most people know that vitamin C is important to help ward off cold and flu viruses, few people are aware that this crucial vitamin plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. It helps accelerate wound healing, produces collagen which helps maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essential to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.

They contain Vitamin D: which is critical for immune system and overall health at this time of year. Both a vitamin and a hormone, vitamin D is primarily made in our bodies as a result of getting adequate sunlight. You may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (or SAD, as it is also called), which is linked to inadequate sunlight and therefore a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth, and it supports the thyroid gland.

Sweet potatoes are a good source of magnesium: which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Magnesium is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function, yet experts estimate that approximately 80 percent of the population in North America may be deficient in this important mineral.

Sweet potatoes contain iron: Most people are aware that we need the mineral iron to have adequate energy, but iron plays other important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper immune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.

High in Fiber: Sweet potatoes contain almost twice as much fiber as other types of potatoes. Contributing close to 7 grams of fiber per serving, they make an excellent starchy addition to any meal. The high fiber content gives them a "slow burning" quality. This basically means their caloric energy is used more slowly and efficiently than a low-fiber carbohydrate.

An Anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant rich food
The storage root proteins of this vegetable are observed to have potent antioxidant properties. In one study, these proteins had about a third of the antioxidant activity of glutathione - one of the body's most impressive internally produced antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from oxidative damage induced by free radicals.

How To Make The Perfect Sweet Potato

Ingredients:
Large organic sweet potato ( potatoes are on the dirty dozen and can have 37 different pesticides)
Organic butter
truvia
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Line foil on the bottom rack of your oven to allow potatoes to drip. Wash the potatoes and place them directly on the top rack of the oven. Bake for at least 1 hour. Test them with a fork if needed. A fork should stick in them like they do butter and they skin will pull away from the potato. Add butter, sprinkle with truvia and cinnamon. YUMMY and HEALTHY!!

foil on the bottom rack (yes my oven is dirty, it gets lots of action)

The potatoes are place directly on the rack above the one with foil

Finished product..with truvia, cinnamon, and butter

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

INGREDIENTS

1 large sweet potato

2 teaspoons olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel potato and cut into wedges. Toss wedges with oil, salt and cayenne pepper. Spread the potato wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes total. Makes 2 servings.

Brandy Kisner
Health & Wellness Coordinator

Genesis 9:3
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything."

We all have busy lives and it is sometimes hard to feel like you can eat healthy and be hurrying around all the time. I have had a few people ask how to cook and prepare meals and eat healthy when you work, or have small children, or just a busy family. I am going to give you a few tips on how to not look like the picture #1 up there but more like the pretty girl with the pot and a heart.

If you notice my verse above, God gave us all we need for food. A lot of His foods need no preparing, because He has made them perfect to eat right off the vine, tree, and plants. If you are eating healthy, you need to avoid processed foods, chemicals in your foods, and convenience items. But, that does not mean you have to make everything from scratch and labor for hours a day.

Tips for Eating Healthy in a Hurry

1. Be Prepared: I know I say this a lot, but being prepared is the key. Take just a few minutes each week and plan meals. We rotate breakfast items or pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast everyday. That one is easy to plan. Snack can be the things that are the easiest. Fruits, nuts, cheese, yogurt., cut up veggies , just Grab it and eat it. Lunch and Dinners vary by the day and what I plan has to do with how busy we are. If you know you need to eat out due to ballgames or dance lessons, plan in advance where you are going so that you can choose healthy options. I will post a few of my favorite quick dinners at the bottom of this article.

snack items..this took less than 5 min to prepare for a week....

2. Cook more than you need or cook in advance: Out of all the tips that I am going to tell you, this one has to be the one that I most rely on. I cook a lot of stuff in advance, when I have the extra time. I will fry a whole package of nitrate free bacon all at once and keep them in a baggie in the fridge and heat them up for a few seconds in the morning. I cook a whole week's worth of oatmeal at a time, again, heat up the portion you are going to eat in the microwave that morning. You can boil a few days worth of eggs and keep them for heating in the microwave as well. If we grill or bake meat, we put on a few extra for lunch or dinner the next day. I also cut up a bunch of fruit and keep it in a bowl mixed or put in baggies so I can grab them and go.

a whole week's worth of oatmeal

fry the whole pack all at once of bacon

3 Cook with quick appliances: I have two favorite items now that I love to cook with. The George Foreman indoor grill, and my newest gift from my parents..the New Wave Oven. It has halogen, convection and infrared cooking elements. This versatile tabletop cooker roasts, bakes and broils your meals 3x faster than traditional methods. I LOVE it! You can take frozen food from your freezer and put it directly in it and cook it. I had frozen chicken breasts on our plates in less than 15 minutes and it was the moistest chicken ever! My boys loved it and said it was the best chicken they ever ate! You can cook meats, veggies, baked goods, anything you can imagine and it is done super fast and is super moist! No, I don't get kick backs or work for them, they are just that awesome. Thanks to my cousin Mindy for telling me about it and bringing it over to cook in one day. They have these at Sam's, Wal-Mart, and Costco's now for a reasonable price! Make quick and healthy cooking so easy and it comes with a cooking guide and ideas for all foods! I also like my microwave with my Pampered Chef steamer to quickly cook any veggie!

this is the new wave oven

the dials on the new wave..so easy to use

here is some broccoli in my cooker

4. You don't have to make everything from Scratch: Read the labels on everything and avoid anything that you can't identify as food or added sugar. Our bodies were not made to process additives and chemicals in foods. That doesn't mean you can't buy anything in a package to be healthy. That just means, check the label and make wise choices.

Here are a few packaged item that I have purchased to give you some examples: