Lunch today was sensational! It started out as a chicken lemon idea, of course, I had to add unsalted butter cubes to the top of the chicken. I had to dash it with kosher salt, black ground pepper, table salt, and thyme leaves. I added lemon slices to the chicken entrée. I added potatoes, I cut them into cube sizes, and put unsalted butter over the veggies in the tray as well. As you can see I did a healthy side of a mixed salad, topped with spinach, top whatever you can with spinach! The iron benefits are incredible. With some ranch drizzled over, a Coke on the side, and additional salt and pepper at hand – this dish was Fantabulous. #chef #foodie #connossieur #extravirginoliveoil 🫒 #meltedbutter #chickenrecipes #mediterranean #paleo #protein #health ⚕️👩⚕️👩🍳
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book(s), Not Without God: A Story of Survival and Not Without God: Hope In the Storm. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on The Neil Haley (media giant’s) Show, The Intuitive Edge podcast, and on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’broadcast as well as Grace and Truth Radio World!
Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and parts of the world. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among many other places. Last August she created the “Writing Because I Can’t Not Write Group” meetings and workshops where aspiring and seasoned authors can network and learn together.
Zina writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also likes to write about health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm was just published last year.
About 200 years ago European archaeologists were searching through the sands for Bible remains in the Middle East. They were mostly searching in Egypt and the southern half of Mesopotamia, what is today called modern-day Iraq. They searched for the works of remains of Greek authors and journals of travelers among other ancient artifacts. Babylon, Ninevah, Ur. These are names of places that many have only heard or read about but that few if any in the world knew the precise locations of.
By the early 1800s, archaeologists had also made many discoveries. They collected numerous bricks, tablets, clay cylinders, and boundary stones that were inscribed with ‘mysterious markings.’ However, these items were not only present in Babylon and Ninevah but were found in many other places including in Iran, for example. They found scripts written in old Persian and there were other tablets in other unknown languages.
They found these languages by decoding them. The written form of Akkadian, which was called Babylonian, was another language of one of the scripts and the third of the inscriptions was in Elamite. You may have heard Jesus make mention of the ‘Elamites’ in the Bible. Akkadian, in the written form, was called cuneiform. However, this cuneiform was NOT developed by the Akkadians or the Babylonians-it was developed by another people. The Sumerians.
Each tablet had the phrase ‘Sumer and Akkad.’ As in land of Sumer and Akkad or King of Sumer and Akkad. Sumer was a place, but where was it? Who were these people, and where did they come from? These tablets were developed by a completely unknown people—scholars were stuck. They didn’t know it at the time, but archeologists had stumbled upon the “mother civilization” of both the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
The origins of the Sumerians is a perplexing question for archeologists. Were they newcomers to the region or just evolve out of the existing indigenous people already there? It’s hard to know but we’re told the Sumerian language was unlike any other known language in the region. The Sumerian’s are credited for constructing the first real cities: Eridu and Uruk. Within centuries they developed many other cities. These cities seemed like small countries and are called city-states. Historians call this the early dynasty of Sumer up until around 2300 BC.
These were cities and high walls to protect buildings, people, cities, streets, etc. There was a ziggurat that was the tallest building in the center of each city. Another important aspect of their city states was the each had a patron deity (god) that protected the city. At the time they were polytheistic and had many gods.
It has been reported that the Sumerians started to believe in a monotheistic God around 2900 BC. Chaldea was a small country that existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BC, after which the country and its people were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population of Babylonia. The people in Chaldea were of Sumerian descent and called themselves, Chaldeans.
I guess you could say that my ancient ancestors were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population of Babylonia. However, I can’t deny the fact that they were originally Sumerians. The Sumerians were incredibly crafty people that were known for the development of not only math, but astrology, and even for the creation of writing (cuneiform), again, they developed the first city-states that resembled countries.
Exactly where they came from is murky, but it has been reported that they may be from the Levant, or the Eastern Mediterranean, countries made up of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Jerusalem, etc. Whether they were from the Levant, Damascus, or Ethiopia, they were an amazing people!
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book(s), Not Without God: A Story of Survival and Not Without God: Hope In the Storm. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on The Neil Haley (media giant’s) Show, The Intuitive Edge podcast, and on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’broadcast as well as Grace and Truth Radio World!
Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and parts of the world. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among many other places. Last August she created the “Writing Because I Can’t Not Write Group” meetings and workshops where aspiring and seasoned authors can network and learn together.
Zina writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also likes to write about health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm was just published last year.
From start to finish and into my stomach. No, this was not all for me. I didn’t even finish everything on my plate. 🤣 But take a look at what I just made. It was healthy and delicious. I have moved over from extra-virgin olive oil on top of the chicken breasts to unsalted butter cubes. 🧈 It cooks much better and is safer in the oven. I also dashed it with kosher salt, parsley flakes, black ground pepper, and table salt. I also added minced garlic pieces.🧄 With the potatoes cooking in the cubes of butter that melted and in the water, the spices and garlic only added some extra flavor. This was yummy good.😋 On the side, I have a cut-up Vidalia onion and a cut-up red pepper (both caramelized in extra virgin olive oil🫒), as you can see. I had to get my veggies and protein in before intermittent fasting begins. I also have a small side of Asiago cheese on wheat bread.🧀🥖 This was soo good! #protein #paleo #ketosis #fasting #mediterraneandiet #extravirginoliveoil #unsaltedbutter #health #realfood 🐣🥔🧅🧄🧀🥖🌶
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book(s), Not Without God: A Story of Survival and Not Without God: Hope In the Storm. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on The Neil Haley (media giant’s) Show, The Intuitive Edge podcast, and on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’broadcast as well as Grace and Truth Radio World!
Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and parts of the world. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among many other places. Last August she created the “Writing Because I Can’t Not Write Group” meetings and workshops where aspiring and seasoned authors network and learn together.
Zina writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She likes to write about health and diet also and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm was published last year.
This #dish is so yummy. It’s #chicken #broccoli medley, I added some #sharp #cheddar and #wholewheat #bread as you can see below. With a little #ranch on the side, this meal was delicious. Cooked in extra-virgin olive oil, with #koshersalt #groundblackpepper and a little table salt, of course. It’s healthy and tasty too! Of course I had to have some water on the side.😊🫒🥦🥦🐣 #mediterraneandiet #ketorecipes #protein #paleodiet #healthy #paleofood ⚕️🥦👩🍳
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast as well as ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Today I made a single piece of chicken thigh. Yes, there’s fat on it. Don’t let the fat freak you out! You can see I surrounded it with veggies. A little healthy fat won’t kill you! It’s actually extremely healthy for you, contrary to popular belief. I seasoned it with thyme leaves, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a little table salt. I have about one to two cups of peas and carrots surrounding it. I also added a half cup of water to the bottom of the pan while cooking and added “butter” flavored cooking spray to the bottom also. I baked it at 400 F for about 40-45 minutes. Cooking times can vary. You’ll have to check on it. I used a cake pan to keep it all together.😀 Butter has health benefits, so does meat and veggies are low carbs!!! I drizzled extra virgin olive oil over the veggies along with a little salt and pepper. I also have a cup of rice sprinkled with mini cubed potatoes and curry seasoning on the side. It’s a mini version of my ‘karee,’ dish, in other words, my tomato beef stew sauce that I like to put over my rice. Of course, this is a cup of brown rice—to have optimal health! Total calories: a low 502 (and I didn’t finish all the chicken) but this is not including drinks or condiments.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Last night I made a yummy Italian Sesame twist! Actually, many cultures enjoy making bread like this.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted it a little sweet or salty, so I divided it and used salt on one side and sugar on the other. I also want to share the recipe in case anyone is interested in making it.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups white all purpose flour (plain bread flour has a higher protein content but you can use all purpose too)
1 tblspn active dry yeast or 2 (1/4 oz) packets
2 tblspns white granulated sugar
1/2 tspn salt
1 cup warm milk
2 tblspn melted butter (salted or unsalted)
First, melt the butter in a pan. Heat the milk. They can both stay in their pans for now. Combine the flour, the yeast, and sugar in a separate bowl. Whisk them together. Then add in the salt. The salt helps strengthen the dough and stops it from collapsing during baking. Make sure you mix the flour and yeast in well with the sugar, then add the salt. Combine all together.
Now, make a “well” in the center of your combination. This is where you add the butter and milk. MAKE SURE THE MILK IS NOT TOO HOT OR COLD. You can do this by sprinkling the milk on your hand before you mix it in. If the milk is too hot or too cold the rising of the dough will take longer. Here are some pics:
Use a spoon to mix and combine. Scrape up the dough on the sides. Then place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and USE CLEAN HANDS TO KNEAD for about 10 minutes or until the dough comes together. Continue to knead the dough ball with hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. It does not have to be perfect, but it has to have some elasticity to it.
Brush a seperate bowl with Extra Virgin Olive oil, classic olive oil, or butter. Place the dough ball into the new bowl and cover with a tea towel for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
The dough should double in size after 45 minutes. Get out your rolling pin and stretch. Cut the dough into three “ropes.” You can twist them with your hands, they do not have to be perfect, but just make sure they look like ropes!
Then, place down parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment, make a loose “braid” with the three ropes. Pinch the ends together and tuck. You can just roll the ropes with your hand, again. Crack an egg into a dish and brush the loaf with the egg. Sprinkle sesame seeds (I toasted my sesame seeds first. Just put them on high heat in a pan for a few minutes). Sprinkle salt or sugar on top, whichever you prefer.
Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes but check on it make sure to not burn. The bread is done once it is golden-brown!
You can see I added a heart to the top of it. You can make a separate heart with the rope and seal it down with toothpicks. I hope you enjoy it!😊🥖💕
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Some cultures enjoy eating “yellow” rice, and I loved to eat it while growing up! Here is the recipe: first, you have to make the chicken in the crock pot. The nice thing about shredded crock pot chicken is it can be frozen and does not need to be thawed when you put it in. Add the 2 chicken breast pieces, dash it with salt and pepper (garlic is optional), add 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Also add 2 cups of water so the chicken does not stick. Here is a pic of step one:
Set it on high for for 2-4 hours. Sometimes two hours is plenty. If your cooking thermometer reads 165 or higher—it’s done! The chicken will be really hott! Give it at least 15 minutes to cool and then you can just start shredding it up! Here I added some more table salt and ground black pepper (just a dash!) and I also included thyme leaves.🌱 See pic below:
After that, you can start on the yellow rice!😃💛 Cook rice just like you would any other day: I am a big proponent of brown rice, but brown rice does not do good with yellow rice. So here I made long grain white rice, I think it is a little better for you than regular white, and I do not use a rice cooker.😅🤣
In case you have never made rice, you need one cup of water for each cup of rice. A little extra. So here I have two cups of rice, and at first I boiled the rice in 2.5 cups of water. As soon as I brought the rice and water to a boil, I reduced the heat to very low— BUT the rice has to boil before you lower it. After I lowered the heat to the lowest I could without turning it off. I covered the rice. It takes a sufficient amount of time, but once the rice sucks up ALL the water, it is done! At times this can happen, and the rice will still not be fully cooked. I taste the rice, if it is a little crunchy I know it’s not finished. So then I add a little more water, 1/2 to 1 cup, and boil it again. Then reduce heat. Same process. Until the rice sucks all the water up!
Now, for yellow rice the timing is important. Just after you’ve turned the heat off and the rice is done, add the other ingredients. 1 tspn turmeric, 1 tspn salt, and 1 tblspn butter. Mix it all together.
Voila! You have yellow rice!💛
Now, LAST BUT NOT LEAST—you have to add the raisin/almond topping! It is simple. You place a pan on the stove and add 1-2 tbspns of extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Heat it up.and then add 2 ‘heaping’ tablespoons of “slivered” almonds and 2 “heaping” tablespoons of raisins. I like to use jumbo mixed raisins! And it only takes a few minutes for them to cook!
Finally, add the topping to the rice, and create your ‘chicken and rice’ plate! All done!😃🍚👩🍳🐤
Enjoy!🍛
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Tonight’s #dinner was fabulous, and I want to post it before I forget my recipe in case anyone wants to try it! It’s a Food Network-inspired #oven #roasted #chicken and I added a lot to it!🐤😀 First, I cut up my #veggies. I chopped two #potatoes, one onion, an #avocado, and a #lemon 🥔🥔🧅🍋🥑. Then, I put each to the side on their plates. I rinsed off my whole #chicken (it was a fresh young chicken, 5 pounds). Then I #rinsed it quickly on the inside and don’t forget to move anything excess or inside the chicken. Then I placed the chicken on the oven-safe plate. I melted two tablespoons, no more than 1/4 cup of #saltedbutter. After that, I added one tablespoon of #thymeleaves to the butter. Do not completely #melt the #butter 🧈 Then add the thyme leaves (1 tbsp) to the butter. You need a brush to dress the chicken. After that dash the chicken with #koshersalt and #blackpepper. Then, make sure to add cooking spray to your oven-safe plate under the chicken, or you can grease the bottom of the plate with butter if you have no #cooking spray. Add one or two cups of #water to the plate, so the chicken sits in a little water. You don’t want it sticking to the plate during the cooking process. After that, design your cut-up veggies all around. After that, I like to drizzle the whole thing with #extravirginoliveoil 🫒 but it’s not completely necessary. I also like to dash again but this time with table salt. Finally, squeeze part of the #lemon over it to give it that #zesty taste🍋🍋🍋. Yummy! You have chicken, lemon, thyme, potatoes, an onion AND an avocado! What more could you want?👩🍳😃🧅🥑🥔🌱 Cook at 400-425F for up to one hour. Cooking times will vary. Check on it every five to ten minutes. If the top starts to burn, you want to lower the temperature, and spice it with a little more salt (do not over salt!) you can always add more after it’s done. But if you make something too salty you can’t fix it. #Under-salting is always best! The kosher salt is really rich and works its way into it nicely so you don’t need much. Check on it every five to ten minutes, again, but mine didn’t need one whole hour. Your thermometer should read at least 160 F. Voila! It’s done!🥑🥔🌱🧈🍋🧅🐤
Voila!🐤🥑🍋
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
This is a pretty healthy concoction for a late lunch today. The worst part: is potatoes. Potatoes are a ‘starchy vegetable’ and not the best choice. But they are yummy and by far not the worst thing you can have! They’re still a vegetable. I added brown rice (definitely the best ‘grain’ choice)! I try to steer clear of white bread and white rice. Wheat and brown are always the way to go! I did add a tablespoon of butter (unsalted) to the potatoes! Yummy. And contrary to popular belief: the chicken with skin is not bad for you. It’s what we call a ‘healthy fat.’ ALL saturated fat is not bad. You don’t constantly have to have Turkey or veggie burgers. A little skin on your meat won’t kill you. You can always tear it off, anyway. Think real food! Do away with ‘skinny meals,’ low fat, and fat-free. Those are not healthier choices. Low-fat cheese is not healthier than whole milk or cheese. Low-fat milk doesn’t benefit you greatly over regular milk. They are not making you skinnier. They just make you hungrier because of their added alternatives. Don’t miss the vital nutrients your body needs. The lemon was for squeezing over the rice and chicken and potatoes! I love the zest of the lemon and the taste of it with some added salt!🍋 Total calories: (roughly) 590 without adding drinks or condiments.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Yesterday night I made Ka’ree, a very traditional meal. The best way I can describe Ka’ree is it’s a tomato (beef or chicken) stew to which some spices and veggies are added. When I was younger, my mom made this type of ethnic dish, (beef stew) around once to twice a week. One of my favorites has always been Ka’ree. I love the deliciousness of the curry, the hidden spice in the potato and what it adds to the tomato sauce, as well as the tender beef (or chicken) that shreds into the heated stew.
Ingredients
0.75-1lb chuck roast or chuck beef steak or chicken
4-5 large potatoes
an onion, medium-large sized (chopped)
6oz tomato paste
15oz tomato sauce
4-6 cups of water (for sauce)
2-3 tbsp of curry spice
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsns lemon juice
1 tspn dried lime (or Noomi Basra)–this is optional
1 tbsp oil
Kosher salt or table salt (I like to use a little of both!)–1 – 2 teaspoons
Black pepper–1-2 teaspoons is fine
chopped garlic cloves (no more than 2-3 chopped cloves, or it may be too hott)
2-4 cups cooked brown rice or long grain wild rice (I steer clear of white)!
First, you cook the meat: Cut the meat into cubes ( I used beef chuck steak) and you set it aside. I also used extra virgin olive oil (2 tbspns) and dashed the meat with Kosher salt and ground pepper to cook.
Oh, I also included the chopped garlic cloves before I started cooking!🧄
Voila! Should take no longer than 15-20 minutes. Make sure meat is tender (heat on high) you can add water.
After you’re done cooking set the meat aside. Now, use the same pan to carmelize the onions. Just cook them in an additional tblspn of extra virgin olive oil (classic olive oil is ok too) until they turn slightly brown. Try not to use vegetable oil; not the healthiest choice by far.
Cooking time to slightly carmelize onions should be no more than 5-10 minutes!
Next you add the curry (2-3 tbspns), salt, pepper, and tomato paste TO THE ONION MIX. Use the same pot (use a big one). The stew will eventually rise. AFTER you add the curry, 6 oz. tomato paste and 1-2 tspns of salt and pepper (each) to the pot, the pot will start to burn a little. The ingredients will brown. That is OK. It’s normal. See below.
You can see that once I added the tomato paste, curry, salt and pepper I mixed them together some (you can just add a dash of salt and pepper). After this you have to add the tblspn of vinegar. Be careful. It will smoke. Also have all ingredients ready to go at this point you have to work fast. As soon as the vinegar makes this mixture bubble, add the TOMATO SAUCE, 15 oz. can. This will stop the splash from the vinegar!🥫
Here I have added the tomato sauce and 4 cups of water. No more splash keep heat on high here.
Finally, add the potatoes and beef to combine all together. Add everything slowly, the water, little by little, gently add beef and potatoes. Combine all together.
You can even add an additional 2-4 cups of water depending on how much stew you want to have. You can use more salt and pepper. Table salt is fine to use at this point. I used kosher salt when I cooked the meat. Spice it how you would like, but don’t make it too salty. Keep in mind if it is under salted you can always add more later. You don’t want to use too much salt and ruin all your hard work!
Keep on high throughout let it come to a boil. Than reduce heat to medium high. Cover with a lid. Let it cook at least twenty minutes. Stir in between. Check on it. Once the potatoes are tender the stew is done. This can take anywhere from 40 min.-1 hr. You have to check on it regularly. Stir. Take a potato out, cut it with a fork, see if it’s tender (cooked), taste it, spice a little! Lol You get the idea. Be safe. And prepared. 🍅🥩🥔🧅🍛🧄
Oops… and I almost forgot—don’t forget to cook the rice! Ka’ree is put over a bed of rice. Here I have cooked 4 cups of brown rice.🍚🌾 And below is also a photo of the finished product! Have fun! There will be lots of leftover!😄
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Yesterday night I made homemade whole wheat chocolate chip walnut cookies and they are sooo delicious! Yumm! Since whole wheat is a much better alternative to white flour, I would like to share my recipe to put a health spin on baking. The next time you make homemade cookies, you may want to try whole wheat flour yourselves! It is better for you than white flour. 🍪🍪☕️
This recipe calls for:
3 cups of whole wheat flour
2 tspns baking soda
16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar (optional)
3/4 tspn salt
2 eggs
2 tspns vanilla extract
8 ounces of chocolate chips
2 cups crushed walnuts
First, you whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Put in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, sugar(s), eggs, and vanilla, and these don’t need to be too well blended just combine. Oops, don’t forget to add the walnuts and chocolate chips also!
Then, add the flour mix from the separate bowl. Now that all ingredients are in one bowl, use a wooden or regular spoon to combine and mix them together.
The mixture may seem a little dough like and hard to combine at first. Here’s the trick: add up to a half cup of water (as much as needed but not too much!) to moisten the combination of all the ingredients. Use your hand to knead. Put the mixture into cookie dough form.
You can even add extra flour and extra water to the combo mix to make more cookies. I added 2-3 cups extra flour and a little more water! It came out to 43 cookies!
Scoop the cookie dough (1-2 tablespoon sizes) onto oven trays covered with parchment paper, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 F. Then move the trays around to rotate cookies, bake for an additional 8-10 minutes. The edges should be golden brown!🍪👩🍳
Then let them cool on oven racks for at least an hour. Refrigerate. You can even freeze them for up to a month!🍪☕️🌰
Mixture of the second bowl.All ingredients combined.After adding water and kneading.Cookie dough!Voila! Me while baking last night!👩🍳☕️🍪
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Did you know that eating meat promotes a healthy lifestyle? When you eat lots of protein, you’re able to burn off 20-25% of it, and you don’t even need to exercise! As a matter of fact, you can live a sedentary life and still lose weight as long as you eat right! Do not fear red meat. I tend to follow a paleo and Mediterranean-style diet. Think back to the caveman, obesity did not exist during their time. We didn’t have the faulty guidelines we go by now. Vegetable oil packaged foods are not good for you, six grains per day (as recommended on the USDA food pyramid is not good for you), and fruits are not healthy and okay in abundance because they grow on plants and trees. They contain a lot of sugar. Did you know that in NY City you cannot send your child to school with whole milk? Did you know that they’re given pizza and donuts, though? Saturated fat is not all bad and doesn’t cause heart disease. Therefore, red meat, even bacon, is OK. I have lost around thirty pounds since last year in November. When I first started I was on a strict diet—eating only 1,200-1,300 low calories per day. Now I’m eating up to 1,800-1,900 calories and still maintaining the same weight! And it is not because of more exercise! I make sure to get in meat at least one 4-6 ounces two times per day with a side of veggies. I have two eggs for breakfast every morning. I still get in some sugar and snack (within limits). Eating protein each day once to three times per day promotes health. The nutrients in red meat are vital for me. Iron, B1, B12, Vitamin D, and other nutrients are crucial. You can’t get them the same way anywhere else.🥩🥓🍗🍖
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I made these wonderful meat “pizza” and tabbouleh pies yesterday! The taste was fantastic! I added a hint of citrus 🍋 to each one and combined with the parsley, tomatoes, yellow peppers and onions. Yummmmm! That’s all I have to say. I made the dough from scratch and enjoyed it! I also love to embrace my ethnic side! #mediterranean #health #food #foodie #paleo #keto #tabbouleh #diet #weightloss #healthnut #connossieur #food #traditional 🧅🌿🫑🥖🍅
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
It’s what’s on the menu! Healthy! It’s Mediterranean! Paleo! Keto! And everything healthy you can think of. Downfall: the starchy potatoes.🥔 Nonetheless, still a very balanced meal. Here’s a secret: I didn’t have skewers so I substituted them with toothpicks! Very lightly salted with some pepper. Cooked chicken in extra virgin olive oil.🫒 Also a diabetic-friendly meal!⚕️
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s just been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I did it again! Today I even had leftovers!😀 I can’t stress enough that meat is good for you. I have lost weight by adopting this method. Having at least one 4-6 ounce meat/poultry/fish per day along with a side of low carb veggies can really improve your health. Red meat is ideal for me because at times I can be mildly anemic. The health and nutrition provided by following this plan: a paleo, or even Mediterranean style plan is priceless! I have lost weight and am now fitting into pants I haven’t worn in years! Of course limiting snacks and sugar helps along with fasting in the evening/near bed time hours. I am not one to eat dinner at night. This top sirloin fillet was cooked to perfection and the asparagus and Asian style noodles made it so yummy. I also worked in potatoes and onions. Yumm! I love the feeling after I’ve just had some good nutrition.🥩🍜🧅🥔🌱
Cookin’ in my kitchen!🍃😃
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s just been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Today’s main course was incredible! I got some really great nutrition in with this one! #baked #chicken with sliced #eggplants along with cut up #potatoes You can’t leave out some fresh #healthy #tomatoes The thing I love about cooking meals like this is all you mainly have to do is cut up the #veggies 🍆🥔🍅 Then design them in a pretty way in a nice #baking dish. But of course, use #salt and #pepper on the ingredients. I used #kosher salt and ground pepper. I also added non-stick cooking spray as well as a cup of water to the bottom so it wouldn’t stick. I #baked at 350 F for at least 35 minutes, more like 45, and even increased the temperature to 400 F for the last ten minutes or so. You be the judge of when it’s finished. Oh, and I drizzled #extravirginoliveoil over the #chicken and #potatoes and other #vegetables. This was delicious! #yummy #paleo #keto #lowcarbrecipes #mediterranean 🫒 #healthyfood #healthylifestyle #foodie #health🐤🥔🍆
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s just been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Yesterday was fun! As much as I love to cook and bake, you would think I’d already made home made dough before, but yesterday was the first time. I made a traditional cookie called a “kleicha!” I made many, actually. So I have lots to store and freeze up for later. I grew up on these types of foods, so I really enjoyed the art of baking and didn’t mind putting forth the effort into making them. There were three phases: making the dough, filling, and then fill and bake.
Did you know that yeast is good for you? Just one tablespoon of yeast has protein, and high levels of iron, phosphorous, and B vitamins. It’s quite nutritious.🥖👩🍳 #bread #yeast #healthyliving
Well after I made the dough, then I had to make the filling. Here it is below: I made ‘walnut kleicha.’ Allspice, sugar, and even some coconut are included!🥥
After that, I had to cut, crimp, fill, and fold. By the time I was done I had about 50 kleicha (cookies)!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I had to brush on the egg wash to the top of each cookie!
Then, FINALLY, bake at 375 F for a total of 25 minutes. Be sure to remove midway from oven and add another layer of egg wash, you can crimp your kleicha again, and then return your tray to the oven so they can fully bake! You want the color to turn into a deep golden brown.👩🍳🥖
Here are a few pics of the finished product:
They came out delicious and are perfect to accompany with a cup of tea or coffee for dessert! These cookies are especially made around Christmastime or other major events/holidays.🎄 They are presentable and nice to add to the table if guests are over and a delightful treat! I hope you enjoyed my pics.😃👩🍳
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I’m not too sure how I feel about this bandana, thoughts? Anyway, you may get tired of my posts about food and diet lately. As some of you know, recently I created the page, “Zina’s Healthy Tips to Maximize Health.” https://www.facebook.com/Zinas-Healthy-Tips-to-Maximize-Health-112061191416124/ If you haven’t liked it already, I would greatly appreciate it if you do. The cover photo is a picture of my beloved father, I dedicated it to him. He lived to be 87 years old through wonderful doctors and medicine. He didn’t always make the healthiest choices, but one thing I distinguishably remember about dad is he had eggs for breakfast every morning typically with sausage. He would eat cold Turkey often and raw tomatoes. He’d at times eat liver from an animal or even tongue from a sheep (yuck!). He wasn’t the greatest cook and left that to mom. But when he did eat or prepare something himself, it was always ‘real’ food.’ I remember ordering pizza one time and him and mom yelling at me and saying, ‘What’s that?’ Cheese with bread.😂😂😂. I also created this page to celebrate not only food but life. I have had my share of surgeries and health challenges in my life because I suffered a spinal cord injury at just sixteen years old from a vehicular related accident. During one health crisis, I tried to become a vegetarian and didn’t eat meat for three months, but that was not the cure. I also considered doing the very difficult ‘Daniel fast.’ And was not able to do it at that time. Nonetheless, I’m feeling better, so much better, and have been studying food for months. In the last several months I’ve dropped more than 25-30 pounds, so I want to share with the world what I’ve learned. The number one cause for disease is food. When you don’t eat right it can cause inflammation and an array of other issues. I am also happy to announce that I have hopes for writing a third book, but this time it will be a healthy cook book. I’d appreciate all your support as I continue to go through this health journey. I can never fully cure my spinal cord injury, but I can choose to be as healthy as possible even though I have to live with it for the rest of my life. Blessings to all, Zina #Zina’sHealthyTipstoMaximizeHealth❤️
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Good morning, friends, today I want to share a video of the new recipe I made yesterday. Chicken-kale lemon skillet. After watching the video I want to add a few edits. You only need to use two tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil in total. Once just before you begin panfrying the chicken, and the other tablespoon should be used when you cook/mix up the veggies! That will be enough. You also only need one 1/4 of a teaspoon of kosher salt to sprinkle over each piece of chicken while panfrying. Kosher salt is rich and tasty, a little goes a long way. Also, before transferring your chicken and veggies into an oven-safe plate to prepare for more cooking, you want to use some nonstick cooking spray on your oven-safe plate. You also want to add one cup of water to the oven-safe plate after you have put down your chicken and veggies. The water will help your chicken and veggies to stay moist. I ended up cooking at 425 F for at least 20 minutes and then cranked the heat up to 450-500 for the last 5-10 minutes. You will judge when it is done by how the chicken looks and by using a cooking thermometer. Once the chicken has reached 155 F it is done! You can serve!
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Intermittent fasting will get rid of any type of inflammation you have associated with -itis. Tendinitis, arthritis, colitis, etc. It will improve your skin, hair, nails, and organs. It increases fat burning and promotes anti aging. It is more effective than exercise! it helps with brain cells and improves cognitive function. It can kill cancer cells and reverse diabetes. The less you eat the better, and an 8 hour OR LESS window of eating would be ideal. I tend to do the 16:8. I eat during the hours of 10 to 6 and stop from 6pm and on. Giving me 16 hours of no food! Your body naturally goes into ketosis and stops burning carbohydrates for fuel. It will burn fat (it starts to burn it’s own fat), the right kind of fuel. Every time you eat you trigger insulin and the more times you eat in a day, the less chance you have of losing weight. Snacking is the worst thing you can do.:) I will attach Dr. Berg’s video. It just reinforces what I already knew. Intermittent fasting is the way to go! https://youtu.be/xF0OJh19Ubw
I had breakfast this morning and packed my lunch because I knew I’d be out. Here it is. Just to give you a sample of my ‘health meal.’🍅🐤🌾🍋 #brownrice #bakedchicken #tomatoes #lemon
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
The idea that you have to completely cut out sugar or carbs in order to lose weight is a myth. Carbs are in almost everything. We have ‘good carbs’ and ‘bad carbs.’ A banana has carbs, but they are a ‘low carb.’ As a matter of fact, the idea that a ‘plant based diet’ is the key to losing weight and health is a myth also. The food pyramid should be flipped upside down. It’s no wonder diabetes and heart disease are two of the most prominent diseases in this country. We are conditioned to gravitate towards sugar and taught that butter, milk, and meat are ‘bad for us.’ We’re taught that egg yolk is dangerous; however, new findings have reported that you don’t get high cholesterol from dietary cholesterol such as eggs, red meat, and ‘fatty’ dairy.
Actually, it doesn’t impact ‘bad’ cholesterol or your ’LDL’ at all.
Here is a sample breakfast of mine:
Here is a sample dinner:
I have lost weight and found my journey back to health by incorporating either meat, poultry, or fish twice per day. I have a side of veggies and one egg every morning. I stick to a calorie restrictive diet and home cook my own meals. Eating this way w/a healthy snack each day makes me feel full. I’m getting enough nutrition and iron to sustain me. I don’t have to gravitate towards sugar. Follow me for more tips on diet and health or let me know if you have any questions. I’d be happy to help!
Oh, and please spare me with the ’lowfat’ and ‘nonfat,’ reduced ‘fat’ stuff. Please don’t offer me protein ’shakes’ or ’skinny meals.’ That stuff is packed with things that are unhealthier than ‘fat’ or sugar. I steer clear of those products. Real food balanced with the right portion sizes is the key. We are taught to over eat.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I have been decreasing my amount of breakfast lately: for example, instead of having two eggs for breakfast, I am only having one. I don’t add ground beef every day, as a matter of fact, sometimes I skip breakfast altogether. Some of this is to continue to maintain my low calorie intake of 1,440 calories or less per day. Some of the reasons I’m decreasing is also because of the benefits of fasting or reducing food. Fasting has been proven to improve our health greatly. After eight hours of fasting, your body naturally goes into “ketosis,” so intermittent fasting is like doing “keto” without following a keto diet.
As of today, I have set my “eating” hours from 10 am to 6 pm. That will put me at a 16:8 plan. Eight hours of eating and 16 hours of no food. Again, after 8 hours of no food, your body naturally goes into ketosis and stops buring carbohydrates for fat. Instead, it burns fat and makes things called ketones, which it can use for fuel. That’s what we weant. Ketosis is a word you’ve probably seen while you’re looking for info. on diabetes or weight loss. Typically I have breakfast and lunch with a snack in the evening. I would like to get to the point where breakfast and lunch are cut by 200-400 calories each time.
I achieved that. The picture I posted above is of my breakfast. I had one egg: 70 calories. I had almost half of a sweet onion: that is about 18 calories in the picture above. I had a third of a Roma tomato: again, only around 8 calories. I also had a slice of split top wheat bread: 8o calories. With coffee (with limited cream and sugar), that is 50 calories. That’s a low 224 calories. As you can see, by taking out the regular 2 oz. beef and extra slice of wheat (or second egg), I have cut my calories significantly. However, I will incorporate ground beef maybe for lunch or tomorrow. The benefits of ground beef are incredible. Red meat provides iron and other nutrition. I have been anemic before and don’t want to get back on iron pills, so having red meat several times per week is important for me.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
This was one of my main dishes while doing the Mediterranean diet back in November, and it’s still great to eat this way. Brown rice (if you’re going to have a grain, make it brown or whole wheat, for bread). Of course, there are other healthier grains, but brown rice and wheat bread were my go tos while I was on the Mediterranean diet. You may have learned that skin on chicken is bad for you, but the latest findings show that some skin on chicken is OK to have at least once in a while. It’s got Omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart. And I don’t mean you should have at it and order Kentucky Fried Chicken or anything. All restaurant food can be more damaging than you realize. Heated ‘oil,’ especially vegetable oil and canola is a leading cause of obesity and diabetes in this country. You can see I have cooked homemade–and this piece of chicken thigh (w/skin) is 239 calories, 4 oz. The 1/2 cup of brown rice is 180 calories and the ‘mixed veggies,’ half-cup, are only 35 calories! It’s a win-win-win! And you’re getting in some ‘low’ or healthier carbs. Carbs to watch out for: sugary stuff, processed, cookies, TV dinner type, etc. Another note: I added a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to the rice AND the veggies and sprinkled them with KOSHER salt and some black ground pepper. Kosher salt–definitely the healthier option! Total calories in this meal: 454 calories (not including drinks or condiments). I’ve been thinking of writing a healthy cookbook someday, and this would definitely be a meal I add!😃🍽️🌾
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Edits! you will have to adjust your heat from high to medium high from time to time. Take caution when frying anything with (olive oil) I use a lid when cooking the chicken to prevent all the bubbly oil from making a mess! Oh, and technically chicken is cooked at 150-155!
Here are the results!
Yummy stuff! I can’t wait to dig in!🧅🍅🐤
#myveryown #tomatoonionchickenskillet
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Today I decided to create a new recipe, and it tastes pretty delicious!! First I started by caramelizing the onions for 5 minutes, and if you’re wondering how I did that I will explain. You coat a pan with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and then turn the heat up to medium-high heat. If the onions start to turn brown they are not burning, they are caramelizing it’s a natural process when cooking onions.🧅 Oh, I only sliced half of a large sweet onion. Then you add the tomato (I chopped a full Roma tomato) and continued to mix them together frequently. I cooked for an additional 5 minutes once I added the tomato. Don’t cook for too long or your tomatoes will become too soft. Then I moved the tomato-onion combo to a hot plate on the side. After that, I cooked the chicken. You can use two 4 oz. chicken thighs (skinless) or chicken breast pieces. Using the same hot pan, you coat one more time with a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil (you may need to add a little nonstick cooking spray or butter during the cooking process). Start with the smooth side of the chicken, again, cook on medium to high heat for 5 minutes then flip the chicken over. Cook for 5 minutes than flip, again. Please note: you will need to continue this process several times to make sure the chicken is cooked. Also, keeping the chicken covered with a lid will make it cook faster. Another note, you should keep 3-5 oz. of water on hand to continually add water to your chicken/pan. Adding the water with the oil and the chicken will make it boil over some and then fry a bit to get that nice brown look. Your chicken is not cooked until it has reached a temp of at least 145. Finally, I added a half cup of the tomato-onion combo and laid it over the chicken thigh piece. Yummy! I also have leftovers for tomorrow. #mediterranean #mediterraneanfood #paleo #paleodiet #healthylifestyle 🐤🍅🧅
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I’m not too sure how I feel about this bandana, thoughts? Anyway, you may get tired of my posts about food and diet lately. As some of you know, recently I created the page, “Zina’s Healthy Tips to Maximize Health.” 
notwithoutgod.net 