My Birthday Dinner

Today was my 58th Birthday, and this is what I had for dinner.  Looks delicious and I can vouch for it that it sure was!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has encouraged all of us Jung Suwon warriors to focus on our health this year, and that of course starts with a healthy diet.

This above warrior feast has all the good stuff in it – a mixture of veggies: brussels sprouts, broccoli, onions, garlic, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers and mushrooms.  Of course you can use a medley of whatever you have on hand, or whatever you like.

I started by sauteing the tofu with the onions and garlic first, added some gluten-free soy sauce, and added the rest of the veggies.  I added a little water too, and covered and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then topped it with 2 very fresh eggs and covered until the eggs were done – in this case done meant still a little runny inside.

If you either can’t have tofu or simply don’t like it, you could easily substitute boneless chicken for it, just make sure you cook it all the way through.  Or, to change it all up, you could use any meat you have left over from another meal.

Dr.  Tae Yun Kim has been encouraging my self-imposed weight loss – I set a new Year goal to get back down to 130 lbs, my ideal weight – and I enjoyed this meal without rice – although it would have been superb with some brown rice, or even noodles, for sure.

Go ahead and try it out – let me know if you like it!

 

 

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Healthy and Great Tasting Food

The beauty of this great tasting dish is that it takes only a few minutes to prepare, and is very healthy!  It is low calorie and low carbohydrates, and happens to be gluten free.

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has been focusing on healthy meals, especially those that can be prepared with minimal efforts, because who has time for a lot of cooking?

To prevent us from falling back on just stopping by a fast food place or grab other ready prepared foods (that are often full of unhealthy fats, have too many carbs and are otherwise not optimal choices) Dr. Tae Yun Kim is constantly coming up with wonderful dishes that not only taste good but also please the eyes!

For this particular dish, start with a medium sized frying pan, and cover about 1/2 inch high with chicken or beef broth; or water seasoned with garlic and ginger if you don’t have broth on hand.  Add some gluten free soy sauce – how much depends on how strong a taste you like, and sliced tofu and/or sliced chicken – and let simmer and soak in.  Add some red pepper flakes, amount will depend on how spicy you can handle.  Add a small handful of sliced onion, small handful of broccoli, mushrooms and spinach.  Add an egg or two and let is set – and you are done and ready to enjoy!  You can eat this with brown rice, or plain.

For the year 2016,  Dr. Tae Yun Kim has asked her students, and all her friends to please focus on good health, and to this end, she has been creating many new recipes!  Stay in tune!

HE CAN DO, SHE CAN DO, WHY NOT ME!

 

 

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New Beginnings

It’s been a couple of years since I have come to this spot and shared some great food creations with you.  It’s not that there hasn’t been any new food in my life, but that wonderful life things have kept happening and there simply wasn’t any time to do any  writing to do these special meals justice.

But Dr. Tae Yun Kim has been coming up with a myriad of healthy and very tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner meals that just blow the mind. Maybe we can even talk her into putting it all together into a cook book!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim has a very unique cooking style as you might remember. She goes by Ki energy, and will put together whatever works best for the people she cooks.  The above dinner was a spur of the moment kind of dinner, naturally gluten free, and some of the most delicious and healthy creation ever.

Not only did it taste heavenly, it was also very healthy, full of protein, vitamins, fiber and all the good stuff.  There was lots of ginger and garlic in the sauce, and it was made creamy by the addition of ground yucca, another of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s additions.

Because this dish is naturally low in carbohydrates it is great for diabetics and those that want to reduce their carb intake.

I will get you the basic recipe tomorrow.  For now I just wanted to let you all know – this blog is alive and well and will supply you with great new recipes!

Thanks for sticking with me, I look forward to more happy bloggings!

 

 

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Healthy cabbage (and a bonus story)

Before I get into this great topic – let me tell you that at the end of this post you will find a most delightful story by Dr. Tae Yun Kim, where the lowly humble cabbage plays a major role.  If you have time – please read it!

I am sure everyone has heard how healthy cabbage is.  It’s full of cancer fighting components, helps reduce cholesterol and is therefore good for heart health, is packed with antioxidants, has a lot of anti-inflammatory qualities, and is excellent for your digestive tract.

Several cultures have propelled cabbage to their national foods, such as Kim Chi in Korea (a very nice spicy fermented cabbage) and of course Sauerkraut of the Germans.  They are both very very good and very very healthy.  Give them a try, if you haven’t!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s favorite is to have either just plain Napa cabbage leaves, raw, and eat them with a spoon of brown rice and goju jang, a hot red pepper sauce.  Or steamed regular cabbage.

I love cabbage prepared in all kinds of ways and always like to come up with new and exciting ways to incorporate it into our food plan.

Yesterday, I started out, like I so often do, by sauteing chopped onions and chopped garlic in a little olive oil.

Then, I added shredded cabbage .

Just that, by itself, with a tiny bit of salt, was very very good.  But I wanted to combine it with some protein and make a meal out of it.  On consulting with my refrigerator, I saw organic, non-GMO tofu there, as well as eggs from the local farmers market.  I put half the block of tofu and an egg into the blender, and some parsley and gave it a whirl.

Then I combined the tofu mixture and the (slightly cooled off) cabbage mixture and put it in ramekins, which I then steamed.

It didn’t take very long, about 10 minutes or less, to have it “set.”

It turned out really good, very subtle and gentle flavors, yet the cabbage still shining through.

I understand many people nowadays don’t  eat any soy products, but still give this a try – just leave out the tofu and add another egg, or maybe substitute cheese if you can have dairy.

Go ahead, dig in your spoon and enjoy, and if you like, you can add any sauce you want, although I myself prefer to just let the simple earthy flavors come through.

Now, to that cabbage story.

“Once there was a king who had grown very bored and disenchanted with life.  He went from one meaningless and stagnant day to another finding no satisfaction or pleasure in anything.  He had even lost his taste for food, and all his traditional exotic dishes no longer yielded the joys they once had.  He grew so tired and apathetic that he issued a proclamation that whoever could bring him a dish that truly pleased him would be richly rewarded.

The greatest cooks came from all over the world bringing their best dishes.  But the king didn’t like any of them.  Life continued to be one boring dish after another.

One day a poor farmer came to the palace.  “Your Majesty, I have the most incredible dish you have ever tasted.  On this earth there is no other that can match it, but this dish takes some special preparation, and in order for you to fully enjoy it, I must ask that you eat nothing else until it is ready, ” the farmer said.  The king, by now so bored with his life, was willing to take the chance.

So the farmer left to prepare his special dish.

The next day the farmer arrived empty-handed in the king’s hall.  The king asked, “Well, where is my food?”

“I am sorry your Majesty.  It will be ready soon, I promise, but you must still keep your bargain.”

The next day, the farmer returned again, empty-handed.  This time the king was furious.  “Where is my food?” he roared.

The farmer replied humbly, “Oh, Your Majesty, I am still preparing.”

“Still preparing?” the king fumed.  “I am starving, and you are still only preparing?”

“I assure you this is the most fabulous food you have ever tasted,” the farmer pleaded.  If you’ll only wait one more day, it will be ready.”

Although the king was very angry and hungry, he was also anxious to relieve his boredom.  “All right,” he agreed.  “One more day.”

The next day the king awoke very early, his whole body filled with anticipation.  He could think of nothing but the farmer’s mysterious dish.  When the time came near for the farmer to arrive, it was all he could do to contain his excitement.

Finally, from beyond his hall the king heard the light footsteps of the farmer.  He smelled the most divine of smells.  His whole body reverberated with incredible sensations of pleasure and delight.  The farmer came closer.  The king could feel his mouth salivating and his stomach grumbling as his entire attention focused on the farmer’s simple porcelain bowl and its precious cargo.

The farmer lifted the lid to expose one thick slice of cabbage, steamed perfectly.  It was the most simple of dishes, but at that moment, it was a precious as the world to the king.

The king bit into this pure, plain, and simple cabbage.  Nothing in his life had ever tasted so good.  His senses came alive as he felt once again the intense pleasure of taste, and smell, and texture.  The king was so overjoyed that he made the poor farmer a rich man.”

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Korean Red Bean Ice Cream – non-dairy version

When Dr. Tae Yun Kim was just a little girl, they didn’t have any ice cream in Korea.  They didn’t have electricity, or ice cream makers, or even the concept of any food that wasn’t meant to simply nourish.  Sweets?  Ice cream?  No way.  Just things to keep you alive and reasonably well, especially during and after the Korean War.

With the American Soldiers – to whom Dr. Tae Yun Kim is forever grateful for saving her and her family’s lives, came some things she had never heard of before, such as chocolate, coffee, candy, ice cream, among many other things.

And while she could never even dream of having any of those goodies – she was barely allowed to survive on whatever little food she could scrape and scratch together – she always wondered what they would taste like.  For example, once in a while an ice cream vendor would come through her village, in the summer, peddling his wares, yelling out, “Ice cakes, ice cakes….”

It was only much later in her life that she finally could taste these simple treasures, and enjoy them.  Here is how I have learned to make this ice cream, healthy dairy free, gluten-free version.

First, soak your red Azuki beans.  Soak them in a LOT of water.  They are big guzzlers, so go overboard with the water, and soak them for at least a day.

Boil the soaked beans and you will need to make enough to have 2 cups of boiled beans.

This is what the red beans look like after boiling

It’s ok if you end up overcooking the beans, because most of them will end up in your blender.  Let the beans cool off.

Now, put a can of full fat coconut milk (or use any other milk you like) in your blender.

add 2 cups of cooked beans and keep the leftover beans handy.

Add anywhere between 3/4 cups – 1 1/2 cups of honey.  Traditionally, this isn’t very sweet, so I normally use less than a cup.  But if you prefer it sweeter, use the full amount.  Here is my current favorite honey:

I love how it says “made by American bees!”

This is the inside of my blender, with all the ingredients in place

Set your blender on either Ice cream, or smoothie setting, and process until it’s all nice and smooth.

Put it all into your prepared ice cream maker, and let it go!

Doesn’t it look cool how the ice cream maker swirls around the future ice cream?
When the ice cream is almost done, add the rest of the cooked, cooled, whole beans, up to 1 cup, but you can add as few as you want.

Then, either put the ice cream into popsicle molds (which is the traditional way to serve this) or put it into a container and store in freezer.  My popsicle didn’t look good enough to take pictures of, although they tasted awesome!

Either way, it is a most delicious and healthy way to enjoy a cool treat on a hot summer’s day!

If the ice cream isn’t sweet enough for you, drizzle with honey….

“You have the power to fulfill your dreams!”

Note: Shirley over at GFE gets the credit for me attempting to convert the original recipe – so surprise my teacher with this new concoction.  Thanks for your ice cream recipes!

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The healing powers of a Blueberry Buckle

…When the dog bites, when the bee stings….who hasn’t had days like that?  Days when you just need a little something to eat, something that soothes you, and makes you feel happy inside and out, and that makes you forget whatever troubles, worries or bad things you have gone or are still going through.

My Martial Arts teacher, Dr. Tae Yun Kim, has this to say about those times:

“Rejoice in the lesson of pain and hurt, it gives you strength, it gives you freedom!”

And why not have some food to help with the rejoicing?

Strangely enough, in the winter, this can be a nice bowl of home-made chicken soup.  But in the hot summer, what to do?  Real comfort food, when I myself need comfort, needs to be fast, easy and have that taste that spells home-made, and makes you feel the world is ok.

When nobody is around, I like to resort to a mug cake, or mug cookie or mug anything – they are so quick and easy and one-portion goodness.  But when family is around, I like to make something that everyone can enjoy.

So, I make some concessions.  While I could easily make Shirley’s perfect pound cake over and over (and over and over) again – it is that good – I realize that this will not work for everyone.  But, I just discovered her Blueberry Banana Buckle (recipe here) and it surely hit the spot.  It’s summer comfort food to the max.  Check it out!

This time, I did something new:  didn’t add anything, didn’t change anything – but I left out the topping!  My recently cast-less foot was starting to hurt and so I just figured this cake will be just as good without – and it was!

Enterprising family members informed me that it was the perfect “underneath” for ice cream as well 😉

And because I just love this part of one of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s motivational books, I thought I would share it with you:

“You are complete, peaceful, and fulfilled.

Being complete does not mean we have nothing more to learn, do, be, or become.  Being complete means we have the potential to accomplish anything that is naturally a part of the universe.” (The First Element, page 88)

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How homemade ice cream can help you take charge of your thoughts!

A few years ago Dr. Tae Yun Kim went to Jeju island, Korea.  I got to come with her, as videographer.  All was well, except it was extremely hot.  Hot and humid, as in, over 100 degrees, and about 80+ humidity.  Dr.  Kim was cool as a cucumber, in her black, knit St. Johns pantsuit, not even breaking a sweat, while the rest of us were moaning and groaning and sweating like crazy.

Add to that the fact that most Koreans do not like air conditioning, so the rooms and lecture halls that she was giving speeches in, had no A/C, and the fan, if there was one, operated at a speed slower than snails.

Your thoughts create your reality!  This is one of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s signature sayings.  She also said that if you focus on the heat, you will feel the heat a lot more.  If you focus on being cool, the heat will not get to you.

Dr.  Tae Yun Kim also says that “The first step in taking charge of your life is to learn to take charge of your thinking.  The difference between a limited you and an unlimited you begins with your attitude and state of mind.” (Seven steps to Inner Power, page 17)

So, in furnace like weather like today – mid 90s – I thought about that a lot.  And among other things, ice cream came to mind!

Armed with a recipe for ice cream from Shirley (You can find it here) I got our new blender ready – love this totally insanely great machine!  No, they don’t pay me for writing this and they don’t even know I exist, but here is the beauty:

Look at all these helpful buttons!  I have used almost all them and this is really great machine!

I put all ingredients into the blender, and had some fun.

I even went outside to get some roses for the ice cream bowls.

From my taste tests during the preparation, I knew I had a winner!  It was completely wonderful!

So, when it’s hot out there – do yourself a favor – make this ice cream and chill!

New note to this blog: this is indeed the best ice cream ever!  It was just declared such by a 16-year old ice cream afficionado/connoisseur…

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Spice in your life – stuffed Korean Jalapeno peppers

Cooking is definitely a creative process.  Whether you follow a recipe exactly as is, or whether you develop your own recipes, or whether you are somewhere in between, creativity is needed!

And what does Dr.  Tae Yun Kim say about creativity?  Here is a little gem:

“You can have whatever you can think.  Because we have such great freedom to create, we must take responsibility to use our power constructively!” (Seven Steps to Inner Power, page 32)

Korean food is highly creative and its hard to get exact recipes.  I have had these stuffed peppers in several restaurants, and usually they are dipped in egg and fried.  I try to minimize my fried food intake, and I thought I would do some experimentation in re-creating this delicious and gluten-free dish.

First, I cut a few Jalapeno peppers in half, lengthwise, and baked them in the oven just enough to make them a little soft, at 350.  This will probably take about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I cleaned some leaks and cut them fine

I sautéed some hamburger meat (from grass-fed beef) with a liberal amount of garlic and chopped onions, and then added the leeks.

At this point you can add spinach if you like, or any other veggies, although, if you decide to add carrots and other “hard” vegetables, pre-cook them to make sure they are cooked.

Salt and pepper to your taste, and if you want to make sure you get the Asian flavor, put in some gluten-free soy sauce and/or gluten-free hot bean paste called “Goju-jang.”  Go easy at first, until it’s hot enough to your liking.

Then, stuff the pre-cooked peppers, and heat them up in the oven.

Enjoy one of Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s favorite dishes!

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Down home comfort food

Today, I decided to take charge and get back into the kitchen.  After all, I had just read what Dr. Tae Yun Kim has to say about taking charge:

“Who are you?  Waiting quietly within you is a Presence, a Force, a state of Consciousness that gives you power to overcome mental and physical limitations in your life power to harmonize and change discordant situations, power to create and to achieve goals, power to experience peace and joy regardless of the circumstances around you – power to be who you really are.” (Seven Steps to Inner Power, page 3)

All right – armed with these positive feelings, I made my way into the kitchen.  I wanted to make something easy, yet very comforting.  I found the perfect recipe for that here: http://glutenfreeeasily.com/gluten-free-mug-pancake/

I absolutely love the idea of mug muffins, mug cakes, mug anything.

I wanted to experience that joy mentioned above, and so I set to work.  As I was assembling the ingredients, I saw some lonely black berries in the refrigerator, and right away I had an idea.  What if I made that mug pancake with its own sauce/syrup in the mug?  Hmmmmmm.  I heard Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s voice in my head ” how are you going to find out unless you try?  What do you have to lose?

I put some maple syrup on the bottom of the mug, and added some black berries, and microwaved that for a little less than 2 minutes.

I mixed the rest of the ingredients (substituting coconut oil for the butter) in a separate bowl

and poured it over the “sauce” in the mug/ramekin.

I cooked it according to the directions, and the most delicious pancake with built-in syrup was ready!

The flowers, by the way, are a gift from Shirley, the originator of this recipe, and a dear friend. After 10 days, they continue to provide great enjoyment!

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My first ever product review: new super wave oven

Did I mention that my Martial Arts teacher, Dr. Tae Yun Kim, is very cool?  Although she teaches very traditional Martial Arts, she always lives in the here, and now, and encourages me to try out new things!

“Making changes helps set you free by opening up many more alternatives and options for you.  A person who knows just one way of doing something, just one way of being, is not as free as the person who can choose from many options.” (The Silent Master, page 142)

So, I tried out this new cooking device, which I had seen in Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s kitchen.

isn’t it a beauty?

Here is what the claims are:

• This machine completely reinvents how we cook! It uses special, Tri-Cooking Technology high-tech lamps to cook from the inside out while searing food and sealing in the juices!
• It can even cook frozen food straight from the freezer! No defrosting or preheating needed!
• Uses a combination of halogen, convection, and infrared heating to deliver nutrient rich, flavor packed food without the use of added fats or oils.
• Or you can try healthier options like broiling, grilling and steaming – All using the SAME appliance!

• Super Wave Oven is the healthy way to bake, barbecue, roast & even fry!
• Plus it’s self-cleaning, so clean up is a breeze!
• It cooks up to 3 times faster than a traditional oven, while using up to 80% less energy!

I found that most of the claims held true, but cooking straight from the freezer – I do not recommend it!  At all!  I tried it with a perfectly good steak, and it did not turn out well – was more like shoe leather!

Also, the claim of not using any fat isn’t entirely true.  For example, for the “fatless French fries” you really need to coat the potatoes in some oil – I use olive oil in spray form – they will come out perfect, but without the oil, they are dried out and not very tasty.

I roasted a whole, 15 lb turkey according to the directions in the booklet that came with the oven, and it turned out perfectly cooked, beautiful, tasty and juicy.  Not a hint of dryness, not even in the breast!

I have also roasted a whole chicken, and chicken parts, and have made French fries – and everything turned out beautiful.

And while it only takes 3 hours to roast a 15 lb unstuffed turkey – be aware that you will need to turn the bird every 30 minutes.

But as you can see – well worth it!

As far as cost for the oven goes – I have seen it as low as $ 79 on Amazon.com, and up to $ 100 on various internet sites.

My summary: If you don’t want to fire up an oven for a long time, especially in the hot summer months, and if you want to spend less time in the kitchen, and want to cook with less fat, this might be the tool for you.

For a busy Jung Suwon warrior, this could be a great time saver!

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