Bruce Tretter | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Posts Tagged ‘Bruce Tretter’

April 28th, 2016

Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Fitness Food, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Fresh Garlic Ginger Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Not too long ago, I showed how to grate or chop fresh ginger and then how to make a fresh low-fat kefir salad dressing packed not only with full-on flavor but also packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients that included ground turmeric, mustard, apple cider vinegar, ground flaxseeds, ground black pepper, and honey. Great stuff!

The fresh garlic ginger salad dressing you see here is a little twist on the fresh low-fat kefir salad dressing in that it substitutes kefir (a fermented milk, yogurt-like drink that’s packed with beneficial – or good for you – bacteria) with olive oil and also adds freshly chopped cilantro.

Here are the ingredients you need to make fresh garlic ginger salad dressing.

Click any picture on this page for a complete, easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

April 18th, 2016

Blog, Breakfast, Special Recipes

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Breakfast Yorkshire Pudding Picture Book Recipe

April 19th is Patriots’s Day, the day the first shots were fired in 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts, between British troops and American colonists. On that day, and all through the Revolutionary War that lasted 8 years, all Americans were still considered British subjects.

Why the brief history? Because I think it’s an enlightening backdrop to breakfast Yorkshire pudding, which as easy to make as they are fantastically flavorful to eat.

April 11th, 2016

Blog, Cycling Food, Special Recipes

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Yorkshire Pudding Picture Book Recipe

I first made Yorkshire pudding a couple years ago when the Tour de France raced through Yorkshire province in England. Yorkshire pudding, as you can see in the picture above, is nothing like the pudding we’re used to in the states. Instead, it’s more like a combination of muffin and dinner roll made with equal parts flour, egg, and milk and seasoned lightly with salt and ground black pepper as shown in the ingredients picture below.

April 5th, 2016

Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Fresh Low Fat Kefir Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Here’s a great way to substitute freshly grated ginger and freshly chopped garlic for the powdered version of those two ingredients to create a fresh low fat kefir salad dressing that’s as fully flavorful as it is full of anti-inflammatory ingredients. Great stuff all around!

Here’s a picture of the ingredients.

March 23rd, 2016

Blog, How To & Tips

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How to Grate or Chop Fresh Ginger Picture Book Directions

Fresh ginger. A staple of eastern cooking. Fantastically flavorful – I use it almost as much as I use fresh garlic…and almost always with fresh garlic. Ginger is the thick root of the tropically grown ginger plant with a great reputation for its anti-inflammatory properties that include easing stomach discomfort, improving digestion, and stimulating blood circulation.

The only problem: how to get a piece of ginger root from this…

…to this as quickly and easily as possible.
Read more »

February 16th, 2016

Blog, Nutrition, Vegetables, Videos

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Microwave Cooking Broccoli: Best for Flavor & Health Benefits – In Pictures & Short Video

Aside from its fantastic flavor – quick & easy preparation makes all the difference – broccoli has uniquely potent anti-inflammatory, heart health-promoting, cancer-fighting, body detoxification, and antioxidant properties. To get the most of both flavor and health benefits, it’s best to cook broccoli either by steaming it briefly or cooking it quickly in the microwave oven. You can see how to cook broccoli in the microwave oven (my preferred method for speed, ease, and best flavor & nutrition) by clicking either or both short step-by-step video or easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe links.

February 8th, 2016

Blog, Fitness/Health

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Listening to the “Get a New Bed!” Scream From My Back

Back & Bed Title Shot Chronic lower muscular back pain has been a part of me since I took a knee-buckling zap in my back raking leaves in the backyard almost 20 years ago. Since then, I think I’ve managed the pain pretty well despite quite a few intense flare-ups every year that, for a few days at least, require me to throw clothing for my lower body on the floor first to have them snagged with my feet and then maneuvered where they belong by rolling gingerly on my back and using a combination of gravity and some ridiculous looking anti-gymnastics. If you’ve had or have back pain, you know the deal.

Two days ago, after many months of steadily ramped up “regular” pain and a good dose of “get a new bed” personal advice, I woke up with a painful lower back stab and knew I had to make a change – now!

First thing I did – after a tortured session of less intense stretching than I normally do – was to go online to research “best beds for bad backs”. The first article I read from WebMD described my situation dead-on perfectly. Read more »

January 28th, 2016

Blog, Breakfast, Fruit, Nutrition

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Fresh Fruit vs. Dried Fruit Nutritional Value

Fresh vs. Dried Fruit An extraordinarily friendly woman I check out with almost everytime I take a run through BJ’s Wholesale Club in Northborough, MA, noticed a bag of mixed dried fruit along with containers of fresh fruit in my shopping cart and asked, “What’s better for you, dried or fresh fruit? I’ve tried looking it up online, but I can’t find a good answer.”

Bottom line: fresh fruit is by far better for the following three reasons:

vitamin and nutrient content in dried fruit is diminished through the fruit drying process, more so when that fruit is dried more aggressively commercially instead of more gently dried at home either in the oven or in a food drier
ounce for ounce, dried fruit contains more sugar and calories than fresh fruit (that makes sense as most of the weight in fresh fruit is water, and that water is removed through rapid evaporation when the fruit is dried leaving only the fruit flesh behind)
though fresh fruit may not be free of chemicals due to pesticide use depending how that fruit is grown, fresh fruit does not contain preservatives the way some fresh fruits do to enhance color and shelf life

January 20th, 2016

Blog, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Instant Nonfat Yogurt Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to make an easy to make, fully flavorful instant salad dressing using only 5 ingredients: garlic powder, mustard, ground black pepper, vinegar, and oil. Here’s an easy variation on that dressing that changes only one ingredient by substituting oil with plain nonfat yogurt. (See the nonfat plain Greek yogurt to oil nutrition fact label comparison below and note that a serving of nonfat plain Greek yogurt is 1 cup (8 ounces) while a serving of oil is 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce). That means that 1 cup (8 ounces) of oil contains 1920 calories and 224 grams of fat as compared to the cup (8 ounces) of nonfat yogurt shown below containing 130 calories and 0 grams of fat. Though any nonfat plain yogurt will work to make this dressing, I like using nonfat plain Greek yogurt for this dressing for its high protein content, thick texture, and rich flavor.)

January 4th, 2016

Blog, Dessert

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Easy to Make Apple Pumpkin Pie – All in Pictures

Last post showed how to make a richly flavorful, nutty textured nut, quinoa, and flaxseed pie crust. Here’s how to make a pie using that crust – or any favorite crust you like – that fuses the terrifically robust flavors of apple pie and pumpkin pie (that even fully qualifies as a vegan dessert).