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Apr 22, 2013

Recipes...yummy, yummy recipes!

I have really had a fun time this last week trying new recipes.  There is nothing like a lifestyle shift to get you out of a cooking rut! I have been so amazed at the amount of online resources there are for clean eating, and I have had some amazing meals this week!  Here are a few I would like to share!  I found an amazing site called Paleo & Wine.  I got a few recipes this week from there!


 This was one of the most amazing breakfast meals I have ever had, this will for sure be a regular in our house!


The only thing I did different for this recipe was I made my dipping sauce out of balsamic and Paleo Mayo. It was amazing!



And an oldie, that I made Paleo Friendly!

(click the link for the old version)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 T coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup organic beef broth
3/4 C canned Lite Coconut Milk
3-4 T Spicy Brown Mustard
1t dried Thyme

Melt coconut oil in frying pan
salt and pepper your chicken breasts and place in the pan
cook until juices run clear, about 5 mins each side
remove chicken from pan, but keep the juices. 
pour broth into pan and let boil until reduced by half. About 2 mins
whisk in coconut milk, mustard and thyme
Let boil and thicken stirring often, about 3 mins.
Place chicken back in pan and coat with sauce.
Serve warm topped with sauce, 
Enjoy!

I serve mine with Brussel Sprouts topped with the yummy sauce!



Pan Sauteed Beets

2-4 cooked beets( I got pre-cooked packaged beets at Costco and used those)
1 T Butter
1t minced garlic( I use a freeze dried variation)
1 t onion powder

melt butter in frying pan
slice your beets into strips
place beets, garlic and onion powder in frying pan and saute until tender and warm through. 


Apr 16, 2013

Today, I Ate Like a Queen

I am starting to get the hang of this whole clean eating thing.  I did have a bit of a food mourning moment at the Target checkout tonight.  My ritual for a night like tonight when my husband is out of town would be to grab a delicious treat, a diet coke and a gossip mag...sprawl out in bed and enjoy celeb who wore it bests next to a bubbly drink and something dripping in chocolate!  However, never fear, I whipped up something delightful and to be honest, am enjoying it more than I would have had I been laying here eating something laden with guilt.

Today, I felt like a champ.  I had the most AMAZING clean bacon with some eggs and a fruit salad for breakfast.  I enjoyed a scrumptious turkey burger topped with green olives, avocado and homemade Paleo mayo wrapped up in butter lettuce with a side of chopped carrots and sugar snap pea pods.  And for dinner, a beautifully pan seared Tilapia loin with oven roasted brussel sprouts and a side of fresh pineapple.  Finish the day off with this yummy treat I am noshing on, and I feel down right decadent!  So, enjoy these meals, they sure made my day!

These turkey burgers came from Costco.  I have been kind of obsessed with avocado and green olives on everything lately...and of course who can forget the amazing Paleo Mayo! Nothing special here, just fried up the burger in a pan with a tiny bit of coconut oil, salt and pepper.  In hindsight, this may have been better as a salad, it was so yummy, but kind of a mess to eat!

So, you have seen "banana ice cream" all over the internet I am sure.  That is one of our family favorites.  However, tonight, I was lacking enough frozen banana pieces to make a full serving.  So I experimented and added frozen blueberries and frozen strawberries....AMAZING! This tastes just like frozen yogurt, or berry sorbet...with NO sugar!  I am in love, and feeling really fresh right about now!  This recipe is simple.  I used about 1/2 a frozen banana, 1 C frozen blueberries, and 4 large frozen strawberries.  Threw it all in my Ninja blender and blended it for a good 3 minutes stopping periodically to scrape the sides and move chunks closer to the blades.  Now, the banana is the star player here for texture, not so much for taste.  The frozen banana gives the final product that creamy consistency.  I hope you love this as much as I did tonight!

For dinner tonight, nothing special just a pan seared Tilapia and a fresh pineapple.  I do however have a signature method of preparing sprouts that will blow your mind.  
I first cut the base off of the sprout, then chop it into fourths.  Some of the outer leaf will fall off...this is good!  Fill up a cookie sheet with your fourths and your leaves then toss with olive oil and either salt an pepper, or my personal fave, Johnny's Seasoning Salt.  Place in a preheated oven at 440 and let it cook.  Check every 5-10 mins and turn with a spatula as needed.  I like mine to be nice and brown on each side.  Take them out, and eat right away!  These have a nice nutty, crispy, smokey loveliness that you won't believe is coming from the worlds most hated veggie!  Like I said, this will blow your mind! 

Apr 15, 2013

What the Heck Do We Eat Now?

Anytime the cook in the house decides to completely shift the way she eats, inevitably, there is some panic in the ranks.  My husband hesitantly promised he would support my whole foods movement, my children on the other hand, are fighting...hard. I wouldn't say that my family has had "bad" eating habits in the past.  I have never allowed a lot of sugary treats, chips(aside from taco night and bbq's), or lot's of "kid food" in the house, and my kids love fruit, and a few veggies.  But, my kids also loooove cheese, peanut butter, cereal(the "healthy" kind!) and as most kids, they love juice, which I have always watered down.  My 6 year old was less than enthused with the spinach, banana, strawberry, beet, coconut milk shake I tried to pass off as "SO YUMMY" this morning.  And my 1 1/2 year old wanted nothing to do with the sliced up avocados and chicken breast I offered her at dinner.  This last few days has been easier than expected for me, but a complete nightmare when it comes to the efforts I am making to help my kids eat better.  So, after a night of feeling 1000% defeated, I came to this conclusion; this will have to be a slower process for my kids.  They are only children, they did not make this decision and they sure as heck don't posses the maturity level it takes to accept major life changes cold turkey. If I am making 1 improvement to their overall dietary intakes every few days, I consider that a success. The main focus for me right now needs to be educating myself, healing my body, and making better habits so that when they do come to an age where they begin to understand "nutrition", they will be able to recall lessons I have taught them and they will have to tools to make better choices.  For now, that is the best I can do.  I will keep offering them the best food I can, and then back off and let them eat!  I have to also learn not to freak out when they leave my house for say, school, sports, parties, sleepovers.  I can't control their food intake, nor would I want to.  But hopefully I can teach them balance and then, let them use it!

So, what have we been eating around here the last few days anyway??  I will share as many recipes as I can so that anyone who comes across this blog will be able to bulk up their whole foods recipe box! Here are a few recipes from the last few days that I have loved!

Crock Pot Pork Carnitas!( I got this recipe from the Whole9life.com website)



(The recipe said it served 4, but I would honestly say it is more like 6)
  • 5 lbs of country-style spare pork ribs (or however many will fit in your crock pot)
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 2 cups of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups of diced peppers
  • 2 heaping tsp dried oregano
  • 1 heaping tsp granulated garlic powder
  • 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
  • 2 heaping tsp  cumin
Mix all dry spices in a small bowl. I use a heavy hand with the spices – season to taste.   Mix the diced tomatoes and peppers in a separate bowl.
Put down one layer of the ribs in the bottom of the crock. Sprinkle a spoonful of the spice mixture over the meat and spread around some of the tomato/pepper mixture. Top with onions. Make a second layer of ribs and continue until you are out of ingredients. I like to finish with ribs on top, not onions, so the layers are slightly uneven.
Turn crockpot to low and cook for at least eight hours.
Using a pasta-serving spoon, shred your pork ribs. This is the best use for a pasta-serving spoon ever. It allows you to pull apart the meat and remove the bones as well as any egregiously large pieces of fatty gristle.
Use this to make a hot salad, or serve alongside some cauliflower rice and cucumber slices. I especially like it as a salad because the cooking liquid can serve as dressing–no extra condiments necessary. My favorite is a hot salad topped with some avocado slices. It’s what’s for dinner tonight!   This freezes really well, too. Perfect for single-eaters or small families.

Homemade Paleo Mayo (from theclothesmakethegirl.com)
Ingredients:
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice @ room temp
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 cup olive oil (light, not extra virgin) @ room temp
Directions:
1. Place the egg and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Let them come to room temperature together, about 30-60 minutes. Add the dry mustard, salt, and  1/4 cup of the oil. Whirl until well mixed – about 20 to 30 seconds.
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART!
2. The only remaining job is to incorporate the remaining 1 cup oil into the mixture. To do this, you must pour very slowly… the skinniest drizzle you can manage and still have movement in the oil. This takes about three minutes or so. Think about three minutes during a WOD; it’s a fairly long time. Breathe. Relax. Drizzle slowly.
If you’re using a blender, you’ll hear the pitch change as the liquid starts to form the emulsion. Eventually, the substance inside the blender will start to look like regular mayonnaise, only far more beautiful. Do not lose your nerve and consider dumping! Continue to drizzle.
If your ingredients were all at room temperature and you were patient, you will be rewarded!



Lunch Shrimp salad (from my own brain)

1 C salad shrimp...the tiny ones
6 green olives sliced
handful of snap peas diced up in the pod
any other veggies you want to ad
1 T homemade Paleo mayo

mix it all up, and either eat it as is, or enjoy over a green salad.  I served mine with homemade sweet potato chips!

Sweet Potato Chips 

1/2 of a yam(better for you than a sweet potato)
1 T light olive oil
dash of salt

Heat oven to 450.  Thinly slice your yam.  I use a mandolin.  Toss yam slices in the oil and season with salt.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven.  Bake for 7-10 mins then flip and bake an additional 3-5 mins.  Let cool then serve!!

Apr 14, 2013

New Way of Life


Well, there has been a good reason that I have been MIA from the blogging world.  I have been lost.  Very very lost, and very very confused.  I have found myself in a dark and unhealthy place.  I won't bore you with all of the details,(in this post at least!) but basically, after months of self destructive behavior, less than desirable numbers on the scale, and a laundry list of bad health issues, I decided to seek help from a Naturopath.  I have seen him a few times, run some tests and journaled food and the results are in...adrenal fatigue, gluten/soy/dairy sensitivities and basic bad food choices.  I knew in my heart he was going to take me off of gluten.  After following my food journal I just had a feeling that I was gluten intolerant. But actually facing a diet without soy, dairy AND gluten put me into a head on collision with an overwhelming sense of doom. Since my daughter was born in December 2011, I have suffered from some pretty debilitating anxiety, but NOTHING like what I have felt this last week due to this dietary upheaval.  It took a couple of days, and a LOT of research for the panic to subside.  Turns out, this lifestyle is HOT right now and there are a TON of resources for recipes and support groups on the world wide web.  So, yesterday, I put on my big girl panties, packed up my kids and spent a good 2 hours shopping at Costco and Huckleberry's Natural Market(not impressed with Huckleberry's we will talk about that later).  Came home last night, made a killer dinner and for the first time in days, felt like I could actually do this. 

I have also, thanks to a dear friend from high school, found a great resource in a book titled, "It Starts With Food."  There is SOOO much valuable info in this book that I almost feel like I need to read each chapter twice just to absorb it all.  I will admit, it is not easy to read some of this wonderful info...for a person like me who uses food as a drug, some of it even made me feel defensive.  But, in my heart, I know these changes have to be made.  I am doing my best to only eat whole foods.  I am following the plan in the book about 90% the only thing I ate yesterday that was not on their plan was PurePea protein powder.  Other than that, the only foods that crossed these lips were whole foods! You can check out the Whole9 community on facebook and actually get their Whole30 program for FREE off of their website HERE

So, without further adieu, here is the AMAZING recipe I created last night using guidelines from the book!  I hope you enjoy this, actually, I KNOW you will enjoy this! 

Chili Lime Chicken with Avocado

FOR THE CHICKEN:

All natural chicken breast( I get the Kirkland brand from Costco)
Mrs. Dash Chili Lime Salt free seasoning
1 T Coconut Oil
pinch of Salt 
1 lime wedge
2-3 slices of avocado

Warm up your coconut oil in a frying pan.  Season each side of your chicken breast with Mrs. Dash and a pinch of salt. 
Cook until juices run clear, depending on the thickness of the chicken, about 5 mins each side.

While chicken is cooking, slice avocado, and prepare a green salad.  I made mine with organic Spring Mix from Costco, carrots, celery, mini cucumbers and black olives. 

FOR SALAD DRESSING:
(1 serving)
1/2 T Olive Oil (either EVOO or light olive oil)
1/2 T Balsamic Vinegar 
1 Lime wedge
Put all ingredients in a small bowl and stir!  They won't really come together, but I promise, on your salad, it is divine! 

After your chicken is cooked all the way through, squeeze your lime wedge over the top and finish it off with your slices of avocado.  I added about 1/2 C of fresh kiwi from Costco to my plate and squeezed a bit of lime over those too!  This dinner was so so yummy and very filling.  

ENJOY!