Accuchef Recipe Program

I use Accuchef recipe program to keep my recipes organized.  I was tired of different size index cards, newspaper and magazine clippings and recipes on notepad paper.  I wanted them all organized in one place. The most important thing I was wanted in a recipe software: that it be easy to use.  I was able to download the program and use immediately without reading any instruction manual or help file.  There is a nice help file f needed.

Although the program is only $19.95, they give the option to download a free, sixty-use trial copy before purchasing.  All future upgrades are free.

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This program allows printing of cookbooks with headers and footers and on index cards.  It's possible to import recipes from a website and comes with over 150 recipes.  Each cookbook file can contain over 2 billion recipes!!!  It's possible to list available ingredients and Accuchef can suggest recipes.  The nutrition analyzer can analyze over 6,300 items. There are many, many more great features.

I love this program!

Julien Bakery Paleo Wraps

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried these Julien Bakery Paleo Wraps.  The folks at my local health-food store have not yet steered me wrong and they were certainly right about these Paleo Wraps.  Made from coconut meat and coconut water, they are not only delicious, but they actually stay together when eating.

My first wrap consisted of shrimp, lettuce and cocktail sauce.  The slight taste of coconut added to the taste.  I'm not certain these coconut wraps would go with everything, but it could not have been better for shrimp.  My husband tried roast beef, Swiss cheese and mustard - just as good!  Although these are a little pricey, as is any specialty food, I think they are well worth it!

Julien Bakery items are available at THE GLUTEN-FREE MALL:

Tomatoes are a Fruit

There is no question - tomatoes are a fruit.  Period.  It's easy to tell a fruit from a vegetable; there are two different ways:

1.  The seeds are INSIDE a fruit or OUTSIDE a vegetable
2.  The flower has a fruit attached, while vegetable flowers are above or separate from the edible portion. 

So yes, tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, green peppers, avocado and cantaloup - all fruits.  Just because we put something into a garden or tossed salad, does not mean it is a vegetable.

And speaking of summer squash, zucchini is not only a fruit, it's a summer squash.  I know the signs at the supermarket say "summer squash" on the yellow and "zucchini" on the green, but they are both summer squash.  The yellow is usually either a crook neck or a straight neck.  Winter squash, which are also fruit, are the ones that become ready in the fall usually after a frost - hubbard, butternut, acorn, etc.

This brings me to corn.  Corn on the cob is one of my summertime favorites and I've been known to buy four dozen at a time.  I cook them, cut the kernels off the cob with a knife, place in an inexpensive plastic bag, then into a vacuum-seal bag.  I lay the bags out in my freezer, flatten and let freeze; I then vacuum seal.  I've also been known to eat only corn on the cob for dinner.  Is there anything better than fresh corn-on-the-cob with organic butter in the summer?  There just might be - freshly frozen corn off the cob in January!  It's always great to take a bag out of the freezer and enjoy on a cold wintery day!  I have not bought insecticide-laden corn from the supermarket in several years.  It is a lot of extra work to freeze my own corn, but well worth it!

Corn - is it a fruit, vegetable or grain?  I personally think the jury is still out on that subject.  The Whole Grains Council defines corn as a grain if it is dried and a vegetable if it is cooked.  I think I may be wrong, but I have to disagree.  Since we eat the kernels, which are the 'seeds,' and the seeds are INSIDE the husk, I would have to take vegetable completely out of the equation - seed, fruit or grain.  But honestly, I vote for grain.

Nigella Sativa - Black Cumin

For the last couple months I'm seeing, over and over, articles on the Internet about a black seed that is said to have many health benefits - Nigella Sativa.  This morning I came across an article by Green Med Info that contained lots of interesting information.  Also known as Black Cumin, this tiny black seed is believed by many to be a powerful herb with numerous health benefits.

While black seed is said to be anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory, what I find most interesting is that it is believed to be antibacterial and said to not only kill MRSA (Methicillin-resistand Staphylococcus Aureus) but also believed to kill h.pylori.  According to Russ Bianchi, h.pylori is the most common cause of heartburn and can be eradicated with cayenne pepper.  I am interested to know if this tiny black seed can contribute to killing borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease bacteria, since it is believed to be anti-bacterial.


I buy my black seeds from Amazon, but I've read I might be able to find them in my local, Indian spice store. Black Cumin tastes a bit like lemony pepper. I grind the seeds in my Melitta coffee grinder, put the powder in a small bowl and my husband uses it like pepper.  I've used a pepper-type shaker, but since it is a bit oily, it sticks together; a bowl/spoon seems to work better.  I'm not a big fan of pepper, so I would probably need to encapsulate it, if I were to take large amounts.