Pomegranate Archives - Domestic Fits

By now, you have probably heard a thing or two about this scandal with Paula Deen. If you haven’t, here is a recap:

Paula Dean was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

Three years ago.

The number 1 treatment for Type 2 Diabetes is diet and exercise.

She continues to cook large volumes of high fat, high sugar food on TV, in her restaurants and cook books.

She now wants to endorse a Type 2 diabetes drug and "comes clean" about her diagnoses.

The public freaks out.

Although we all have opinions about, well, just about everything and everyone we have ever met, I’m not concerned about Paul Deen. I don’t know her, and it’s none of my business.

But I am concerned about you. And me. And what I feel like is my responsibility to you. I have quite a few "special occasion" food recipes on this blog, made with high fat, high calorie, high sugar ingredients. And I hope that doesn’t give you the wrong idea.

I hope you all read my post about how I don’t eat like that all the time and how I stay in shape.

Learning from someone else’s mistakes is better than making one yourself, the same dramatic positive changes without the mess to clean up. Use her as inspiration, not as fodder for gossip. She is unhealthy and needs to make changes in her life, but that’s her business. How can we take this all in, look at ourself and see how to make our own changes rather than making her the villain? How can we help the people we love who are living unhealthy lives? How can we all be in this together and use it as a way to live better and eat better?

How can we have those uncomfortable conversations with people we love who are killing themselves with food? You know who just popped into your head when you read that. Why haven’t you talk to that person?

Use Paul’s story as an icebreaker in your own life. As inspiration to change.

Whether she decides to change or not, who cares?

I’m glad this came out, but can we stop pointing fingers and starting living better?

Here is my salad, my way of staying in shape. I eat it about 5 days a week in various forms and this one is my favorite.

Chocked full of protein, iron, amino acids, general good stuff. It also keeps me full until dinner.

Best Quinoa Salad Ever

2 cups arugula (or spring greens), chopped

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (Here is how you cook Quinoa the RIGHT way don’t cook it like rice or it will be mushy)

2 tbs pine nuts

1/2 an avocado, chopped

1 oz goat cheese

1/4 cup Pomegranate seeds

2 tsp Balsamic vinegar

Toss it all in a bowl, makes about 2 servings.

Printable: Best Quinoa Salad

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POM Wonderful really is wonderful. I remember the days before POM, when I was a kid, and I had to get on my "dirty clothes" and sit in the bathtub just to eat a pomegranate. Seriously, actual fact. Now, you can buy all these great pomegranate related products, all the antioxidant and yumminess without the blood-like stains. Win, win.

I made these during Rosh Hashanah. I’m not Jewish, but I have recently had the honor of learning about all the beautiful food traditions the Jewish religion has. I had lunch with my friend Tori, of The Shiksa In The Kitchen, the other day and she told me all about eating pomegranets during the Jewish New Year to "to remind ourselves that our good deeds in the coming year should be plentiful." Now, who can’t get behind that? Wouldn’t the world just be a better place if we all took a second to remind ourselves to do more good deeds in the coming year?

Besides the beautiful symbolism of eating pomegranates during the High Holiday, these muffins were awesome. I was so happy with how they turned out.

Pomegranate Streusel Muffins

2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup almonds, chopped (BTW: POM Wonderful ALSO has almonds! And, they’re great)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 sticks butter, cold, cut into cubes

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl add the white sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, almonds, cinnamon, pecans, oats and salt. Stir to combine. Add the butter cubes and using either your hands or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is well combined and resembles crumbs. Measure three cups of the crumb mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the rest of the crumbs into the refrigerator to chill.

Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and pomegranate juice to the mixer. Mix on medium/low speed until just combined. Don’t over mix. Add the pomegranate seeds and stir to combine.

Spray the wells of a muffin tin with butter flavored cooking spray. Add the batter to the wells until about 1/2 way full. Top with the chilled crumbs until the wells are filled to just below the top, about 1 or 2 tbs of crumbs.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Makes 20 muffins

Pomegranate

The Best Little Quinoa Salad Ever

Pomegranate Streusel Muffins