http://www.fncimag.com/imag/Food/Tomato+%26+Sweet+Potato+Soup

These show how it's possible to eat well without spending a huge a mount of $$$!!
November 12th
What a year! So much has happened. From getting out from under the desperate start the financial crisis dealt us, to being able to expand our reach and mission!  We are going to be offering extra classes at Hope Lodge, including a 'Healthy Cooking on a Budget' series + we will be continuing with our free monthly Tuesday night dinners there. We will be adding more classes at Columbia's Teachers' College too. Fairway will be sponsoring our food costs again. and we have just heard that in 2010 Aetna, through Team Continuum, will be funding our program with St. Luke's Roosevelt for Hispanic breast cancer patients. All good news!
August 17th
Tomorrow we close until Labor Day. Ann is off to Italy and should come back with lots of new recipes for us all! We have a lot going on this Fall so keep checking out our Events page!
See you in September!
June 1st
we are very excited here at cookforyourLIFE!  There has been a lot going on this year!
We have recently completed our first cooking and nutrition classes in Spanish working with breast cancer survivors from St. Luke's Roosevelt, Women at Risk and CancerCare. We were really lucky to start out on this venture with the help and collaboration of chef Alex Rajiv of the wonderful tapas restaurant Txikito,! If that wasn't enough, we have had God's Love We Deliver helping us with the nutrition roundtables!
This month, with technical help from Columbia University, we are starting a new program with our partners at Women at Risk.......plus there are our new free classes at Hope Lodge and also in Brooklyn at Kingsborough Community College.
We will be posting more as we go along! Be sure to check out the events page regularly!


a couple of pics from some of our 2008 classes...........

RECIPE BLOG

If you have a favorite healthy recipe you'd like to share with us, send it to us at recipe@cookforyourlife.org and we'll publish it!

Maple Apple Scones

Use the crisp new seasons apples for this. If you like your apples sweet, then Golden Delicious or Gala would be great, if you like them tart, use Braeburns!  If you like, add a pinch of ground cinnamon or cloves to the dry ingredients, but don’t overdo it!

Makes 8 wedges

2 small sweet apples or 1 large one

1/4C organic Thompson raisins

1 Tbsp Dark Amber Maple syrup

½ tsp salt

1 pinch (1/8 Tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

2 tsp baking powder

1C wholemeal pastry flour

1C unbleached all purpose white flour

1 Tbsp fine brown sugar (Florida Crystals)

3 Tbsp cold butter

1 large egg

milk (as needed)

Preheat oven to 400F

1. Peel then cut the apples into a small dice. Put the cut apples into acidulated water to stop them oxidizing (add 1 tsp lemon juice to 2 C water for this). When you are ready to use them, drain and pat dry on kitchen paper.
2. Sift the flours, and baking powder together in a large bowl, then stir in the sugar.  Rub in the butter with the tips of your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs, or pulse it in using a Cuisinart.
3. Break the egg into a measuring jug. Add the maple syrup and enough milk to bring the egg mixture to ½ C. Beat together lightly.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg/milk mixture. Mix together with a spatula or a fork until a soft dough is formed.
5. Fold in the diced apple and raisins into the dough and knead lightly to form a ball. If the dough seems dry, add more milk a Tbsp at a time.
6. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a thick disc  about 1”+ high. Place disk on a lightly floured  cookie sheet. Cut and separate into 8 wedges.  Bake for 10-15 minutes near the top of the oven. Cool slightly on a wire rack and eat warm with butter or spread.

Stewed Peppers and Potatoes   

This is a good, easy way to use the green or red bell peppers that are arriving at the Greenmarkets. It makes a fragrant stew that is delicious hot or at room temperature. It freezes well too!  The trick is to cook the onions and the peppers slowly until they are very slightly caramelized and sweet.

Serve it as a side with grilled chicken sausages or a simple omlette, or just eat it on it’s own with a chunk of good bread and a sharp green salad!

For a different breakfast treat, break eggs on top of it and bake it in the oven until the eggs are set!

Serves 4-6

1 large Spanish onion cut in half and sliced thinly lengthwise

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and sliced it thinly lengthwise

1 tsp fennel seeds

zest of ½ a lemon

3 large peppers, washed seeded and cut into lengthwise strips

1 lb small firm yellow potatoes (Yukon Gold) quartered

1 lb ripe tomatoes cored and diced

1 C of chicken stock or water.

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt to taste

You will need a heavy, wide sauté pan with a lid.

1. Heat the oil in the sauté pan over a medium/high flame. When it starts to ripple, add the garlic and the fennel seeds. Fry until the garlic starts to color and the fennel seeds have darkened.
2. Add the lemon zest , fry for a minute, then add the onions.  Sprinkle the onions with a little sea salt and sauté for a couple of minutes until they start to soften. Add the peppers and turn the heat down to a medium flame
3. Cook stirring occasionally until the onions have turned golden and the peppers have softened, about 10-15 minutes. Take care not to burn the onions. They should be sweet and golden, not burnt.
4. Raise the heat to medium/high and add the diced tomatoes. Cook until they start to change color. Add the lemon juice. Cook until it starts to bubble. Add the potatoes and water.  Season to taste. Bring to a boil, lower the flame to medium/low, cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. That’s it!

1. Put the water on to boil for the pasta.
2. When the water is nearly boiling, heat the olive oil in a wide sauté pan or wok.  Add the chopped garlic and fry gently until it starts to color. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan.
3. Add the tomatoes and sauté until they start to soften.  Cook until the tomatoes look a little saucy.
4. By now the water should be boiling. Salt it,  and cook the spaghetti until al dente, about 9 minutes. (it’s always better to undercook  thin pasta by a minute)
5. Add the snap peas to the wok and stir fry them. If the pan looks a little dry, add water from the pasta pot to it 1/4 C at a time.
6. Just before the pasta is done, add the herbs and the grated cheese to the wok. Mix well and cook for a minute. Check for salt.
7. Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, and add it to the tomato mixture. Toss well and cook one minute more, adding the reserved water if needed. It's ready!