Memorial Day

One class on Monday at 9:00 am.

Herbs and Spices

When trying to eat healthier the challenge is avoiding "the same ol' thing"-- food can get boring and when that happens it's easy to justify eating out or eating something that is not so good for you... like a Hot Pocket or heaven forbid, a Marie Calendar dinner!

Most everyone has heard of the items on this list and likely has them on hand--but when it's time to add something to your meal you might be unsure of which one to add; so here is a quick and easy guide on how to choose the herb that best compliments what you're preparing... and a quick note on the diff between a Spice and an Herb.

What is the diff between a Spice and an Herb??

While the terms herb and spice are used interchangeably by cooks and in cookbooks, there are distinct differences between the two. It all depends on what part of the plant is used.

 

Herbs

In general, culinary herbs are the leafy portions of a plant, whether dried or fresh. Examples include basil, bay leaves, parsley, cilantro, rosemary and thyme.

 

Spices

On the other hand, spices are harvested from any other portion of the plant and are typically dried. Popular spices come from berries (peppercorns), roots (ginger and tumeric), seeds (nutmeg), flower buds (cloves), bark (cinnamon) or even the stamen of flowers (saffron).

 

Two-fer!

Some plants are generous enough to yield both an herb and a spice. Cilantro is the leafy herb of the same plant that gives us the popular spice coriander seed. And dill weed (an herb) and dill seed (a spice) also come from the same plant.

Personally, I find herbs to be more difficult to pair with the meat or veggies. Pepper, Cayenne, nutmeg, cinnamon and such are easy to figure out... so here is a little help with the herb choice:

SOUP & STEW: Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Basil, Bay Leaf (don't eat this one)


POULTRY: Tarragon, Rosemary, Parsley, Sage, Thyme, Basil, Cilantro, Dill


SEAFOOD: Thyme, Cilantro, Tarragon, Basil, Dill


BEEF - PORK - LAMB or GAME: Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Tarragon, Bay Leaf


VEGGIES: Rosemary, Parsley, Thyme, Tarragon, Dill

If you'd like to get more adventuresome, take an afternoon and visit Penzey's in downtown Overland Park (address below) and if you go on a saturday---you can visit the farmer's market!


PENZEY'S
7937 Santa Fe Dr, Overland Park, KS
(913) 341-1775

Mon.-Fri.: 9:30AM - 5:30PM
Sat.: 9:30AM - 5:00PM
Sun.: 11:00AM - 5:00PM

Quit picking on eggs and red meat!!

Once again, someone wants to link heart disease to red meat and eggs... thankfully we have smart people out there... like Chris Kresser to eloquently debate this silliness.

http://bit.ly/163mMvF

Foam Rolling... Pre or Post WOD??

Ever wonder if the foam roller is helping?
Seems like it MUST be helping since it feel so good....?

If you're like me, you find the foam roller to be a
"hurts so good" experience most of the time.
Once you're done there is a noticeable ROM increase
and that MUST be a good thing!

I've always pondered the question:
"Should I roll before? After? Or both?

Did some digging and found this article...
it's long and perhaps a bit science-y for some of you,
but read it through to the end...
good stuff in this article!


http://bit.ly/18dXCdb