I guess you might say that I have a weakness for cookbooks. It’s not even that I’m looking for stuff to make. I enjoy reading through cookbooks and seeing what information they are offering. You can often learn about other places by what is in the cookbooks. Some cookbooks offer all sorts of nutritious information. Others are full of decadent desserts. You can suit your fancy.

A couple of books I picked up before Christmas are kind of interesting. Both are by the same two women. One is “Superfoods Happiness”. The other is “Superfoods Anti-aging”. Both contain a list of what are called superfoods, some of which are duplicated in both books.  The books also include many recipes using these superfoods.

There are seven superfoods listed in both books. They are avocadoes, eggs, red grapes, red onion, salmon, sardines and walnuts. Apparently red onions contain more antioxidants than their paler cousins. Cooked onions are richer in antioxidants than raw onions.

Both books have over fifty recipes using superfoods. One recipe that caught my eye was “Chicken With Fifty Cloves of Garlic”. I’m not planning on making it but I thought it looked interesting. You have to peel fifty cloves of garlic as part of the recipe. That seems like a lot of work. Garlic is interesting. I think we mostly think of it as something to chop up to add to various dishes for flavour (which it does), but there is a lot more to it. In the book, it mentions that it has been used since antiquity. So, I looked up antiquity. It dates back to times before the Middle Ages. So, garlic was in use before then.  It had some medicinal uses long before that time. Today we are told it can do many things. It is an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antifungal, and cholesterol lowering. They say it helps to lower blood pressure, can be a blood thinner and fights cancer. Each day you need to eat at least one clove of raw garlic which should be fresh. Raw garlic can be used in things like pesto, bruschetta, dressings and marinades.  Cooked garlic can be used in stir fry veggies, soups and sauces.

I find this very interesting and garlic has some good properties. I’m not going to recommend eating garlic every day. It’s up to each person to decide. I also think that it is something to look up for yourself. What I’ve written is from the opinion of a couple of people. But it’s something to think about.

These books got me thinking about good foods to use more in my diet. The beginning of the year is a good time to think about improving our eating habit.

Keep warm!

About the Author

Linda Calder is a retired teacher. She likes to write and enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys going on cruises, taking pictures and scrapbooking.