Make your Own: Pesto Sauce

The goal of the Make your Own series is to support the Sprout Wellbeing community in choosing a few things they can "make on their own" rather than buying them pre-packaged, thus avoiding the additives, preservatives, sugar, and trans-fat associated with the processed and packaged varieties.  The Making-Your-Own lifestyle is a gradual process of adding in one new make-your-own thing at a time so I always remind people to not be overwhelmed by trying to make everything on their own all at once!

So far in the "Make your own Series", we have made our own granola bars , salad dressings, tortillas, and chips.  All of these recipes are perfect for your "back to school" busy night and lunch packing routines. Make a big batch of granola bars, salad dressing, or chips on the weekend and have ready-to go-snacks for the week! Another great recipe for easy dinners is pesto sauce. There are so many uses for pesto sauce and it is easy to store for the whole week or freeze for later. Make a big batch and eat for the week with the suggested recipes below. Plus, this recipe is the perfect way to sneak leafy greens into the diets of picky eaters!

If you want to learn more quick, easy recipes and meal planning suggestions, register for the "Fast Food", "Healthy Pizza", and other cooking classes that Sprout Wellbeing is offering in partnership with the Moscow Food Co-op this Fall!

Pesto Recipe

    * 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

    * 2 cups fresh spinach

    * ½ - 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

    * 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

    * 2/3 cup chopped walnuts (walnuts are much cheaper than pine nuts and taste great!)

    * 6 medium sized garlic cloves

    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

    * Special equipment needed: A food processor 

1. Pulse walnuts in food processor a few times. Add basil and spinach, pulse a few times. Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Ideas for Pesto Sauce

• Bake or stir-fry broccoli, zucchini, squash and/or your other favorite vegetables. Combine with whole wheat pasta and pesto sauce. Add white cannelli beans, or cooked chicken/tofu for some protein.
• Use as a spread on your sandwiches or toasted baguette slices
• Make pesto garlic bread with whole wheat bread
• Use as sauce for fish, meat, chicken, etc
• Add to soups and salad dressings
• Put a dollop on your egg scramble
• Serve on baked potatoes
• Use as a pizza sauce (learn to make pizza at the upcoming "Healthy Pizza" cooking class!)

Tips

Freezing/refrigerating

Pesto will keep in refrigerator for about a week. But you can also freeze pesto for up to 6 months so you always have it on hand. Just put it in icetrays and cover with plastic wrap. When they are frozen, remove and put them in ziplock bag back in freezer until you want to use them. Remove desired number of pesto ice cubes ( 1 cube is 1 – 2 servings) and de-thaw or throw straight into hot food (do not microwave!)

Food is Medicine: Why This Recipe is Good for you!

Basil: An array of flavonoids exist in basil, which help to protect cells and chromosomes from damage. Essential oil of basil has been shown to inhibit the growth of several types of bacteria so adding basil to your vinaigrette will both enhance the flavor, and ensure that the fresh salad greens are safe to eat. Eugenol, which is found in essential oil of basil, provides an anti-inflammatory effect, just like Aspirin!  Basil is also a good source of vitamin A, which helps to prevent damage to the cells by free radicals.

Walnuts: Rich in fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, and antioxidants such as Vitamin E.  Nuts in general are also high in plant sterols and fat - but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 fatty acids  - the good fats) that have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol. Walnuts, in particular, have significantly higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids as compared to other nuts. Eat some nuts everyday for health!

Olive Oil: Has high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidative substances. Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels while raising HDL (the "good" cholesterol) levels. No other naturally produced oil has as large an amount of monounsaturated as olive oil.

           

Spinach: Rich in vitamin C, A, K and helps fight cancer and aging! My #1 suggestion to my clients is to add more leafy greens to their diet!

Garlic: Research has shown that garlic helps keep people healthy by preventing cancer and plays a role in reducing the risk of heart disease. It contains a compound called allicin which is a powerful antioxidant. I add this to almost every savory dish I make since it makes everything taste gourmet and delicious!

Living The "Pura Vida" Lifestyle

As some of my readers may know, I just returned from my honeymoon in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is one of my favorite places in the world. Yes, the beaches are beautiful. Yes, the jungles are lush. But the real reason Costa Rica is such a special place is that the people there live a wonderfully healthy, relaxed, communal, and peaceful lifestyle. In fact, 60-year-old Costa Ricans have the longest life expectancy of anyone in the world! In other words, if you are middle aged and live in Costa Rica, you are more likely to reach a healthy age 90 than your counterparts worldwide. This may be surprising since costa rica is considered a developing country and spends less than 15% of what the US spends on healthcare. So what's the secret?

This is not just good genes! Genetics only play a small part in lifespan and health. Lifestyles are the main determinants for how long you live and how healthy you feel! So as a health coach, it was my duty to all my current and future clients that I spy on the "Ticos", the word for local Costa Ricans, to see what the secret is to their healthy lives. Based on my observations and the current research on the longevity of Costa Ricans, here are my conclusions on the secret to Pura Vida, the costa rican greeting to mean "Pure Life".

1.) Rice + Beans + Fresh Fish + Fruit + Vegetables = Long Life (& Very Budget Friendly!) Diet 

Typically, Costa Ricans eat a simple diet of mostly plant-based foods like rice, beans, vegetables and an abundance of tropical fruits from the trees in their own backyard. Yum! The countries most typical dish is called "Casados" which is a plate with rice, beans, cabbage salad, cooked vegetables, plantains (cooked banana-like fruit), and sometimes your choice of meat (fish, pork, chicken). In the coastal area of the Nicoya peninsula where the lifespan is the longest, the dish is usually made with fresh fish and seafood. This dish is so delicious, so satisfying, and so healthy. What makes it even more healthy is that portions are normal size and dinners are eaten with family and community. The beans and rice combo are a great source of protein and fiber, and it is one of the cheapest meals you can make. Buy beans and brown rice in bulk and you can feed your family healthy meals on a tight budget!

2.)  Leave the car at home, turn off the lawn mower, and carry your groceries.
In Costa Rica there aren't many people in workout shorts running on the beach or spending hours in the gym. But Ticos stay active through farming, surfing, bike riding, "mowing the lawn" with machetes, carrying groceries and other supplies, and the best exercise of all: walking. They walk to the bus, to their neighbors house, to the grocery store. Exercise is built into their everyday lives.

3.) Community, Community, and More Community: 

As the Costa Ricans show us, to be healthy you've got to belong to something, and better yet belong to a group that supports you in being healthy. Costa Ricans are part of small, family-oriented communities in which everyone knows and supports each other. Social living is a part of daily life. Research from the Framingham Studies show that smoking, obesity, happiness, and  even loneliness is contagious.   Your friends and family have a long-term impact on your health and longevity.  Taking stock in who you hang out with and expanding your social circle to include healthy-minded, supportive people might be the most powerful thing you can do to add years to your life. This is why Sprout Wellbeing's mission is to create community around healthy living. Come join a Sprout Wellbeing activity to meet some inspiring, supportive people, and you will add years to your life!

4.) The "Pura Vida" (Pure Life) Perspective: 

Pura Vida is a Costa Rican greeting for hello and goodbye, and is also used as a response to most things. Things go well, "pura vida". Things go badly, "pura vida". Pura vida embodies a positive perspective on life, one in which Ticos enjoy what comes along and don't try to control what they can't. Costa Ricans also live at a slow pace, which may annoy a tourist waiting for their meal at a restaurant or sitting on the bus waiting to get somewhere. Tico's are ok with slow, expect slow, and enjoy slow. They live in the moment and enjoy it even if there's someone waiting in their restaurant for their dinner of Casados....and the Tico waiting for their Casados is not stressing that their dinner is taking too long! This shift in perspective and expectations greatly reduces stress and we know that stress is the main cause of the chronic inflammation that is associated with every major age-related disease.  Because we live in a faster paced culture here in America we need to be sure to find ways to relieve stress such as taking moments to breathe deeply throughout our day, pray or meditate, and exercise. So accept what life brings, live in the moment, and live slow!

5.) “Plan de Vida”:

Costa Ricans know why they wake up in the morning, their purpose, their "plan de vida" or "plan of life".Want to live long? Do an internal inventory. Be able to articulate your values, passions, gifts and talents.  What are the things you like to do and the things you don’t? Then incorporate ways to put your skills into activities you truly enjoy and give you meaning in your life.

6.) Family, Family, and More Family: 

Costa Rican's put family first and build strong family relationships. Living in a thriving family is worth half a dozen extra years of life expectancy.   Invest time in your kids, nurture a close relationship and consider keeping your aging parents nearby.

7.) Access to preventative healthcare & education

Costa Rica disbanded their army in order to fund things like healthcare and education. Not only does this create a peaceful country, but also provides education and basic health coverage for preventative care to every Costa Rican. Both the healthcare and education system have great outcomes. In fact, kids in the US would probably feel behind if they tried to go to school in Costa Rica. And many people from the US, Europe, and Canada choose to have their surgeries in Costa Rica because of high quality of care at reduced prices.

8.) The Sunshine Vitamin

With a never ending summer, Costa Rica weather ensures that all Ticos get their share of Vitamin D which is a vitamin we can only get from being in the sun or from supplementation. The understanding of the important functions of vitamin D are increasing with each new research study suggesting vitamin D has key roles in many functions of our body and may have effects on osteoporosis, depression, prostate and breast cancer, and even diabetes and obesity. Of course, sun exposure also has an important downside which is that too much of it will lead to skin cancer so I don;t advocate tanning or going without sunscreen, but ensuring sufficient vitamin D is crucial to health especially for us living in Pullman where almost everyone is Vitamin D deficient in the winter. Talk to your doctor about your vitamin D levels and possible supplementation of this important vitamin.  

Let's Learn from the Centurians!

Do you want to see how many years each simple life change can add to your life? Check out the research on communities that have Centurians (people who live past 100):http://www.bluezones.com/live-longer/power-9/

Do you want to know how your lifestyle is affecting your lifespan? Take the Vitality Compass survey to see what your life expectancy is based on your life habits: http://apps.bluezones.com/vitality/

You can add healthy years to your lifespan by each simple change you make to your diet, lifestyle, perspective, and environment. You don't have to do all the changes and definitely not all at once! Each change can add years to your life independently. Take one small step at a time. Pura Vida!