Sweet Potato Recipes

I love sweet potatoes, I surely do, and in today's blog entry I'm sharing two sweet potato recipes that should do everything to your sweet tooth but extract it.

These are great recipes, and you're going to get repeat requests for them if you serve them at family dinners, believe me.

Stuffed Honeyed Sweet Potatoes

5 sweet potatoes
1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup light cream
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs dark rum
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs walnuts -- chopped

Wash sweet potatoes; drain excess water. Place damp potatoes in slow-cooking pot. Cover and cook on Low 5 to 6 hours or until done. (If desired, potatoes may be refrigerated at this point, then scooped out and filled just before serving. Add about 5 or 10 minutes to baking time if potatoes are cold.)

Cut off the top third of each potato lengthwise and scoop out, leaving a 1/4-inch shell. Mash potato pulp with butter, cream, honey, rum, cardamom, and salt. Return mixture to shell. Top with walnuts.

Arrange in shallow baking sheet. Bake in 425 F oven for 15 minutes.

Whoa, that sounds pretty good, eh?

Well, our second healthy sweet potato recipe for the day is just as good, if not better:

Sweet Sweet Potatoes

2 pounds sweet potatoes -- peeled, grated
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter -- melted
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup broken pecans -- toasted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/4 tsp vanilla

In a crockpot, combine potatoes, honey, butter, coconut, pecans, and cinnamon. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. Stir in coconut and vanilla extracts.

If you like healthy, tasty, and easy-to-prepare recipes, you'll want to sign up for at least one of our free recipe newsletters. Over 100,000 subscribers enjoy our healthy recipes every week. You should be one of them!

Chet "Sweet Tater" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. If you have a sweet potato recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below to make it part of the Internet for all eternity!

Healthy Soup Recipe

Today I'd like to share a very healthy soup recipe. It has the added benefit of being really easy to prepare. And, yes, of course, it tastes great.

Vegetable Sweet Potato Chowder

3 cups frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup sweet potato, diced
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 quart water
2 1/2 Tbs soy sauce, low sodium
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
3 bay leaf
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup water
1 cup spinach -- chopped

Place the vegetables and stock or water in a large soup pot. Add the soy sauce and other seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Mix the arrowroot with the cold water and add to the soup, stirring. Add the spinach, stir, and cook another 5 minutes.

If you have a healthy soup recipe, you'd like to share, use the comment link below. :)

Oh, one more thing. If you like healthy soups as much as I do, you'll want to click here for a free subscription to my Amazing Soups newsletter. Join more than 10,000 other subscribers and receive a health soup recipe once a week!

Chet "Soup Man" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Salsa Recipe

Break out the corn chips because today I want to share a healthy salsa recipe that'll disappear faster than Beep Beep's Roadrunner on steroids! Thanks for Priss Lindsey for sharing this tasty and healthy concoction.

New Mexico Ceremonial Salsa

Chet, after 40 years of perfecting salsa, this is the best!

6-8 tomatillos, husked and cut into large chunks
1 basket cherry tomatoes, washed and stemmed
1 bunch cilantro, washed and cut up
4 cloves chopped garlic or 1 tbs minced garlic
Juice of one lime
2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 giant Spanish onion, peeled and cut into large chunks

Put ingredients in blender and blend throughly. It may help to do the cherry tomatoes and tomatillas first to get a liquid consistency and then add in the other ingredients. Salt to taste. This gets better in the fridge and will keep for 4-7 days. It's great with white corn chips or inside burritos or on tostados or just in a bowl of beans.

Oh man, does that sound good or what?

If you have a healthy salsa recipe you'd like to share, please use the comment link below to do just that.

Happy dipping!

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Here's my favorite recipe for healthy carrot raisin oatmeal cookies that I learned many years ago from a fellow named Gerald Pedersen. Because this is an extremely healthy oatmeal cookie recipe, sugar addicts and sweet cookie connoiseurs will probably not go as hog wild over these treats as I do.

But, hey, that's tough toenails, right?

Anyway, I love this recipe, and I cook up a batch every month or two.

Gerald's Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

4 oz prunes
3 Tbs water
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
2/3 cup raisins
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cup oats
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Pecan halves

Puree prunes with the water in a food processor until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl. Stir in honey, carrots, and raisins. Add remaining ingredients except pecan halves. Mix well. Drop spoonfuls of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Press a pecan half in the center of each cookie. Bake at 275F degrees for 15 minutes or until set and just starting to brown. Remove to cooling racks. Makes three dozen.

If you have a healthy cookie recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below, please.

And if you want to subscribe to my free cookie recipe newsletter (which features a healthy cookie recipe as well as a traditional cookie recipe each week), click here and join the fun.

Chet "Cookie Man" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Cabbage Salad

Today I'd like to share a healthy cabbage salad recipe that's been a big hit at CasaDay for several years. It's easy to prepare and tastes great.

Indian Cabbage Salad

2 cups thinly shredded cabbage
2 cups shredded carrot
1/2 cup crushed roasted peanuts (or substitute favorite raw nuts)
1/4 cup coconut oil (salad oil is an OK substitute)
1 hot green chili chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp honey
Lemon juice and salt to taste

Mix everything except salt and lemon - add them only when ready to eat.

If you have a healthy cabbage recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Easy Vegetable Soup

Fall is in the air here in rural North Carolina, and it's about that time of the year to start seriously thinking about healthy soup recipes.

Well, today I want to share a recipe that everyone will like because it's easy to make and tasty to boot.

Really Easy Vegetable Soup

1 large can V-8 vegetable juice
1 large can Campbell's tomato juice
2 large packages of frozen mixed vegetables
1 large package of frozen green beans
1 small package of frozen lima beans
3 cans small whole potatoes, diced
1 cube beef or chicken bouillon base
1 tsp hot sauce
Seasonings to taste
Water as desired

Place all ingredients in large stock pot and simmer on low heat 3 to 4 hours. Taste occasionally and add water and seasoning as needed.

And, yes, this would work well in your crockpot too.

If you have a healthy soup recipe you'd like to share, please use the comment link below to do just that.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Sandwiches

Today I'd like to share some recipes for healthy sandwiches. Let's start with...

Susan's Peanut Butter and Tomato Delight

Chet, my Dad taught us to love tomatoes and peanut butter sandwiches when I was a girl and never in my life have I heard of anybody else eating it. I have tried to get people to try it and they do give you that look like you have to be nuts to put tomatoes and peanut butter together, but it really is an odd combination that tastes wonderful.

I tried Susan's suggestion, and she's right. It's a great sandwich.

Speaking of tasty healthy sandwiches, here are a few more...

Laura's Veggie Sandwich

Hey, Chet, I have a favorite veggie sandwich that makes a good lunch:

Mash 1/2-1 avocado (sometimes I squeeze in a little garlic with my garlic press and add a little celtic sea salt) and spread on two slices of bread, preferably whole grain, homemade is best.

Top with sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, grated carrot, sliced cucumber, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, and whatever other crunchy veggies I can find.

Put sandwich together and cut in half diagonally. Yum... and healthy!

Two Quickies From Barbara

Regarding peanut butter and banana sandwiches, my kids had two favorites:

Cut a "v" in a large banana and fill it with peanut butter for a healthy and delicious banana boat.

For another healthy "boat" we would...

Make tuna salad and put it in a leaf of Chinese cabbage, Boc Choy, or even a rolled Romaine lettuce leaf. This is an excellent protein sandwich with fewer carbs.

You can also fill a scooped out tomato with the tuna for a colorful, filling, and healthy lunch option.

If you have recipes for healthy sandwiches you'd like to share, please do so by clicking on the "comment" link below.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Weight Gain Tips

Today I'd like to share three helpful tips on how to gain weight that I learned from a bodybuilder friend named Anthony Ellis...

• To gain weight you must eat more calories than your body burns off, so EAT MORE! The most important thing that I cannot stress too much is that you need to eat to gain weight. You need to eat like you've never eaten before. (But not junk food like donuts and chips or candy.) In other words, you need a weight gain diet.
  
  
• Start eating six meals per day (space them out to about once every three hours). This is a weight gain diet used by those who know what they're doing.
  
  
• Increase your protein intake and reduce your simple carbohydrate intake. Without protein your body cannot build new muscle.

Anthony has a lot more to reveal about how to gain weight in an excellent article on my website. Click here to read that article right now.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Oily Skin Tip

Got oily skin?

Well, let's start this week with a natural skin care tip that'll help you sop up your excess oil.

This is so easy, you're hardly going to believe it...

Rub a crisp lettuce leaf directly on your skin to help combat the greasies. You can also use fresh lettuce juice on your face or pour some into your bath.

Lettuce juice also works well to sooth irritated and sunburned skin.

If you'd prefer to use natural skin care products for oily skin problems, I recommend the L'Bri line. Click here for details.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. If you have a natural skin care tip you'd like to share, click on the comments link below and tell us all the details.

Apple Breakfast Bars

Let's finish off this week with a healthy recipe for...

Apple Breakfast Bars

1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups raw apples, shredded

Combine all ingredients. Let stand 10 minutes. Press mixture into 8" x 8" baking dish. Bake at 375F degrees until lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Loosen with spatula, and cut into bars while warm. Serve hot for breakfast.

If you have a healthy breakfast bar recipe you'd like to share, just click on the comments link below and start typing.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

How to Be Happy

Today I'd like to share a wonderful motivational piece on how to be happy that was emailed to me several years ago. I don't know the name of the author, unfortunately, so I can't credit it properly.

A Donkey Shows Us How to Live

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally the farmer decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway.

It just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up! As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

And now you know how to be happy... or, if nothing else, how to be happier!

Click here for another great motivational story on my website.

And if you have a motivational story you'd like to share, click on the comment link below and start typing!

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Improving Eyesight

There are a number of ways to improve eyesight.

Today I'd like to share a letter from Ed, who has good information on how to improve your eyesight naturally...

Weston A. Price and Rosalind Wulzen discovered two different unknown factors in raw-milk butter that enable our bodies to use the oil soluble vitamins (A, D, and E) more effectively.

Since these vitamins, especially A and D improve our eyes, among other health effects, we all need to know about these activator factors in butter.

Price recommended taking both cod liver oil and butter to give our bodies the fat-soluble vitamins we need.

Nourishing Traditions, a wonderful book by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, has lots more info on traditional foods we should be eating for superior health.

Oh, one more thing.

I have an excellent article on my website entitled "Why Butter is Better." If one of the vegan gurus has you believing that butter is a non-healthy food, you need to click here for a different (and in my opinion, much more correct) point of view.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Lemon Juice Tips

Toay I want to babble on a bit about a healthy fruit that doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should... the lowly lemon, which is wonderfully rich in nature's purest vitamin C.

Did you know that lemon juice is an antioxidant?

It's true. German studies reported that lemon peel exhibits remarkable antioxidant activity, activity unrelated to vitamin C.

As you no doubt know, antioxidants work beneficially on human cells, especially in terms of providing protection against cancer and aging.

Oh, here's a little lemon juice tip for you pregnant ladies... fresh lemon juice squeezed into pure water reduces or gets rid of morning sickness.

If dandruff problems are giving you fits, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to your shampoo, and enjoy the results. Be sure to rinse well with plenty of water. Warning: lemon juice can lighten the color of your hair, so keep that in mind.

Canker or other mouth sores? Try gargling with lemon juice and pure water.

If you're spending a lot of money on soft drinks, try squeezing fresh lemon juice into tonic or carbonated water. Whoa, good!

So the next time you're at the supermarket, get a bag of fresh lemons and put them to use in your diet.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. Oh, one more thing. If you like lemonade, click here to learn about my popular collection of 33 classic recipes.

No Mayo Potato Salad

Let's start what promises to be one of the hottest July Mondays on record with a healthy potato salad recipe, shall we?

No Mayo Potato Salad

6 large potatoes
3-4 scallions
3-4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Scrub the potatoes, or peel them if you don't like skins. Cut into 1-inch cubes and cook in boiling water until almost starting to fall apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, slice the scallions very finely, including the green part.

Drain the potatoes and tip into a bowl. While they're still hot, pour in the olive oil and mix well. They should start to disintegrate a bit - this is the secret of this salad!

Add the scallions, vinegar, salt and black pepper. Taste as you go along and add the amounts you think you like. Leave to cool; chill if you wish, and serve. Serves somewhere between 5 and 10.

Try this healthy potato salad recipe because it's a good one.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. If you have a healthy potato salad recipe you'd like to share, use the comment link below to add it to the blog.

Hair Loss Remedy

You can spend weeks trying to find a hair loss remedy on the Internet. That's especially true about finding one that actually works.

Well, still being the proud owner of a full head of healthy (but grey) hair, I can't vouch for the hair loss remedy I'm about to share, but, hey, it's worth a try.

According to Helen Lee in her book The Tao of Beauty, you can eat your way to great hair.

Her Black Sesame Seed Soup can be eaten as a snack or even for dessert and supposedly provides skin and hair benefits.

Helen Lee says the ingredients should be purchased fresh from your nearest Chinese grocer.

Hair Growing Soup

1 cup of uncooked long-grain white rice
1 cup of black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon of sugar, or to your own tastes

Wash and drain the rice and the sesame seeds in separate containers. Stir-fry the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over low heat for approximately 5 minutes or until the heat releases their fragrance. Be careful to not let them burn.

Grind the rice and toasted seeds with 1/4 cup of water in a blender or food processor.

Pour the mixture plus an additional 1 3/4 cups of water into a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. Add sugar as desired to taste.

Hair Growing Soups notwithstanding, if you're having hair loss problems and also drinking distilled water, there may be a connection between the two. Click here to read an article on that topic.

If you give this hair loss remedy a try, I'd like to hear about the results. Just use the comment link below.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Sauerkraut Salad

Let's start the week off right with a healthy sauerkraut salad recipe, shall we?

Lima Bean and Sauerkraut Salad

2 cups of naturally fermented sauerkraut
2 cups of cooked lima beans (if pressed for time, you may use canned or cooked frozen lima beans)
1 head of Romaine, Boston, or Red lettuce, chopped
Mayonnaise dressing
Salt and pepper to taste

This is an easy salad to prepare and, since it contains sauerkraut, is a good way to begin a meal as the tangy taste helps stimulate digestive juice flow.

Drain the sauerkraut and pull apart with a fork. Combine well with the beans. Stir in enough mayonnaise to just wet the salad. Spread over a bed of lettuce and serve. Serves 4-6.

For the mayonnaise, you can either make your own or you may use a store-bought brand that is made without soy or canola oils. In the USA, Hain's Safflower Mayonnaise is acceptable and widely sold at supermarkets.

Click here if you'd like to learn how to make sauerkraut.

That's it for this Monday. See you later.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Raw Cookie Recipe

Let's end the week with a healthy raw cookie recipe, courtesy of Sheryl.

Apricot Pecan Cookies

2 1/2 cups chopped dried apricots
4 cups muesli
2 cups coarsely chopped raw pecans
3/4 cup honey
1 Tbs vanilla
1 3/4 cup raw organic almond butter
1/2 cup chopped dates
Dash of salt (I don't use the salt)

Stir all ingredients together. Shape into flat round cookies about 1/2 inch think. Makes 4 dozen cookies. Refrigerate or freeze these cookies immediately. You can vary the dried fruit to change flavor.

Hint: rinse hands often and keep them moist while forming the cookies. The dough won't stick as much.

This is a terrific raw cookie recipe, and I know you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. If you have a healthy raw cookie recipe you'd like to share, click on the comment link below and start typing.

Soak Water Tip

Here's a great little tip from Regina on what to do with the soak water you use for sprouting:

Chet, I love to sprout all sorts of beans. Did you know that the soak water (for sprouts and beans that you cook) is great for your plants?

The carbohydrates left in the soak water that are difficult for us to digest are wonderful nutrients for all house plants and vegetables. So instead of pouring that water down the drain, pour it on your plants for a free natural fertilizer.

I love these practical and easy tips.

If you have one you'd like to share, click on the comment link below and write about it right now.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Bath Tips

Today I'd like to share four healthy bath tips you can use to save money.

Why spend an arm and a leg on expensive bath products when you can whip up wonderful bath ingredients from your own kitchen?

Ginger Bath

Peel and coarsely chop an inch of whole ginger. Put in an old stocking, tying one or both ends to keep the ginger inside. Place in a tub with very warm running water. A ginger bath will help to detox your body and soothe your skin.

Apple Cider Vinegar Bath

Add half a cup of vinegar to your bath to help combat fatigue and invigorate the body.

Baking Soda Bath

To relieve itching and various skin irritations, add a half of a box of bicarbonate of soda to your bath. A soothing baking soda bath is also great for sunburn.

Milk Bath

Add 1 cup of instant milk powder to your bath to make your skin silky soft. You can also add a few drops of lavender essential oil to relax you before bed.

I learned these healthy bath tips from my friend Victoria, the creator of Tooth Soap.

That's all for today.

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Healthy Banana

Today I'd like to share some information emailed to me many years ago by a correspondent long forgotten about one of nature's great health foods -- the lowly banana.

If you want a quick fix for flagging energy levels there's no better snack than a banana.

Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose - combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proved that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

Besides being a quick fix for flagging energy levels during the day, bananas may also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making them a wise addition to your daily diet.

Here are just a few of the conditions that bananas are said to help...

Anemia

High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure

This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect food for helping to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power

Two hundred students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation

High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Depression

According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain trypotophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

Hangovers

One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

So take advantage of one of the best buys in your supermarket and keep a good supply of healthy bananas in your home... all the time!

Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com