Movie and Herbed Lemon Salmon 1-31-13

Good Evening friends!!
Hope everyone is well.  I have a salmon recipe to share this evening but first I wanted to tell you about a movie I saw last night.

Hungry for a Change, here is the trailer from you tube. 

It was surprisingly interesting.  It really focuses on juicing and the benefits of consuming more vegetables and fruits.  Most people do not consume the suggested serving amounts of produce daily.  Juicing can definitely help up your intake.  Of course I'm a fan of increasing your fruit and vegetable intake and if its organic that is even better.  There is lots of discussion about the negative effects highly processed, genetically modified, food like substances.  Most of the food consumed now in the USA is a chemically altered food like substance.  Its really sad to see that even the vegetables and fruits most people are consuming have been genetically modified to withstand bad weather.  At one point in the video Jamie Oliver shows how much sugar our nations children are consuming daily, weekly, monthly and yearly in just milk.  I have not been a cows milk drinker for quite some time now and I can't imagine ever going back after seeing that.  Watch this, its about 90 minutes and provides so much information.  The experts who speak about the average Americans intake are all people who at one point were very unhealthy.  Many of them have gone through diet after diet.  Think about the amount of money spent on diet foods and quick fix weight loss schemes.  Those products are designed to fail you.  If they worked we would all be skinny and those companies would go out of business!  If they worked we would not keep paying for them. 

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/press

Ok, now to the food ;)
I have been trying to get a handle on my love of carbs so that means less baking and cooking up fancy foods.  I'm trying to eat more like this

And a little less like this 

So this weekend I roasted veggies, made turnip puree, acorn squash puree, spaghetti squash, baked lots chicken breasts and sliced them.  I also made this herb lemon salmon, which has been easily to pack and take for lunches all week. 

My hope was that I could simply portion out as I needed the meat or veggies and heat.  It has worked well, until I go to sleep.  This sleep eating thing I have issues has been pretty bad this week.  I have got to get a handle on it!  I cut out all sources of caffeine, tried teas, and meds.  I tied a shoe string to the fridge and freezer so the burst of cold air would wake me, it worked once :(  I have locked my bedroom door but it is a twist pull one so opens easily from the inside.  GRR!!!!  I will conquer this, I hope.  Anyway, here is the salmon recipe

 

Herbed Lemon Salmon

1.5lb salmon, skin removed (I got this from Costco, it was huge)

2 lemons

1/2 c Sage, Rosemary, Thyme (I pulled bunches of them off my new plants)

2 garlic cloves crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Slice lemons.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on salmon.  Smear garlic on salmon.  Top with sliced lemons.  Sprinkle herbs.  Wrap in foil.  Bake 350F for about 35 minutes. 

 



Peanut Butter Granona 1-28-13

Good evening friends!! 

As promised her is the peanut butter granola I made this weekend.  I used a recipe I found on www.pbfingers.com

The original recipe may be found here http://www.pbfingers.com/2011/06/14/peanut-butter-granola/

I of course made a change or two.  I added apple chips, since I used to love peanut butter and apples as a snack, till I of course became addicted to almond butta that is!

 

Apple Peanut Butter Granola

1.5 c rolled organic oats

6 tbsp peanut butter, organic unsweetened

2 tbsp raw organic honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 bag apple chips, organic unsweetened

 

In a medium sized bowl mix peanut butter, honey, vanilla and cinnamon.  Add oats and mix thoroughly.  It takes a while to stir everything together so all oats are coated.  Bake 325F for 15 minutes.  Crush, by hand apple chips, you want bite size pieces.  Toss with oats and bake 5 more minutes.  Allow to cool completely.  I split it up into 6 1/2 cup servings. 

 

With a banana and homemade almond milk this was delicious!  Enjoy ;0

Homemade Almond Milk 1-27-13

Happy Sunday friends!! Hope your having a wonderful relaxing weekend. 
I gave blood Friday morning and was pretty drained all day, so I haven't done much cooking.  Last night I put some almonds to soak for almond milk and this morning I pulled out the blender.  I ended up with a deliciously fragrant vanilla almond milk.  Why make it when I can buy it for cheap, you ask.  Well, have you looked at the back of your dairy milk substitutes?  They are filled with tons of additives used to preserve and "enhance" flavor.  This is the creamiest milk I have had in a very long time.  I also like that I know everything that is in it.  There is no corn syrup, or sugar, no preservatives.  I can pronounce everything on the ingredient list.  I especially like that!  It is a bit higher in calories, from my what I figured its about 115 cals per cup.  That's not too bad for as tasty as it is.  You could even freeze some in ice cube trays and blend it up for ice cream.  Of course I would add a little sweetener to that, like agave or honey and maybe even some cinnamon. 

 

 Start with plain unroasted almonds.  Rinse off 2 cups almonds.  Place almonds in blender.  Fill blender with water.  It does not matter how much at this point you will dump it and rinse it off. 

Add 6 dates into the blender after the almonds have soaked for a few hours and been rinsed off.  Fill back up with 4 cups of water.  You will need 4 more cups when blending. 

 This is what it looked like after about 4 hours of soaking.  I just poured them into a strainer, rinsed them off and refilled the blender with the almonds, 4 cups of water, 1 whole vanilla bean, and 6 dates. 

The fun part, blend half the almonds, dates, vanilla bean and 4 cups of water.  Just let it blend for a few minutes.  It would take less time if you have a high power blender like a vita mixer. 

While the blending is going on place a stock pot and colander in the sink.  It will splash when you pour it so the sink is the best way to avoid finding splatters of milk later everywhere in your kitchen.  Add 3-4 layers of cheese cloth into the strainer.  Pour blended mixture into the strainer.  allow to strain while you blend the other half of almonds and another 4 cups of water.  Once that is done blending pour it into the strainer as well.  Stir it a few times to help the milk strain through.  I let it sit in strainer for about an hour and stirred a few times. 

After it has strained for a while, squeeze the cheese cloth and try to get out as much of the milk as you can.  This really takes some muscle so to get it all out!  After you are left with almond pulp, don't throw it away.  You can make almond meal by dehydrating it.  Just pull out the cheese cloth spread on a cookie sheet and bake at your ovens lowest setting until dry.  This will probably take about 3  hours if you leave the oven door open just a crack.  After store and use as you would any almond flour.  It may be clumpy so just stir it with a fork.  Remember there is dates and vanilla in it so probably best to use in sweet stuff. 

 

Almond Milk

2 c Almonds

6 dates

1 whole vanilla bean

8 cups water

cheese cloth

strainer

blender 

Store in the refrigerator and use with in about a week.  Enjoy!!  Tomorrow I will share peanut butter apple granola to enjoy with your almond milk ;0

Peanut Butter Recipes from my favorite bloggers 1-24-13

Happy national Peanut Butter day friends!!
Hope your having a nutty Thursday.  Since I don't usually use peanut butter I am sharing some of the wonderful recipes I have seen floating around on the blog world today.....

Peanut Buttery Bars http://carrotsncake.com/2009/06/peanut-buttery-bars.html

Peanut Butter Smoothie http://carrotsncake.com/2012/07/wod-you-say.html

Brownie in a Mug http://carrotsncake.com/2013/01/my-buddy-and-me.html

Microwave Nut Butter Cookie http://carrotsncake.com/2012/09/microwavable-nut-butter-cookie-for-one.html

Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie http://www.pbfingers.com/2011/03/04/why-do-you-build-me-up-peanut-butter-cup/

Peanut Butter Granola http://www.pbfingers.com/2011/06/14/peanut-butter-granola/

Homemade Peanut Butter Oreos http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/01/23/homemade-peanut-butter-oreos/

Peanut Butter Breakfast Pudding http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/02/01/peanut-butter-breakfast-pudding/

Peanub Butter Cookie for one http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/07/26/single-serving-peanut-butter-cookies/

I guess thats probably enough peanut butter for now.  I cant wait to try some of these!!
Enjoy your peanut butter coma! 

Mango, Coconut and Macadamia Nuts 1-23-13

Good evening Friends!!

I made these tasty little muffins of goodness this weekend.  One is a hearty snack and 2 are perfect for breakfast.  Filled with fruit they are a sweet breakfast muffin. 

 

 

Mango Coconut Macadamia Muffins

3 c rolled Oats

1 mashed banana

3 large eggs

1/4 c raw honey

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 c raisins

1/2 c dried mango chunks, unsweetened

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 c chopped raw macadamia nuts

 

Mix everything in a large bowl.  Fill cupcake liners with approximately 1/2 c batter per liner.  Bake 350 F for about 35 minutes.  Cool and enjoy!  I froze most of mine so I can take out 2 at a time and eat when ever I want them.  I had about 18 muffins and by my calculations they are about 160 cals per muffin, not too bad!!





Coconut Lime Clams 1-22-13

Good evening friends!!

The coconut lime clams I had planed to make last night turned out to be WAY better than I expected.  It was so good, I'm really glad this made 4 servings because I can't wait to eat it again.

 

Coconut Lime Clams

 

1 lb clams on the half shell

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium shallot, chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp ground cumin

3 green onions, chopped

1 can stewed tomatoes with green chilies

1 lime, juiced

1/2 c unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 c vegetable broth

3 cups frozen green beans

1/4 c shredded unsweetened coconut

 

In a skillet heat olive oil over medium heat, add shallots and cook until translucent.  Add ginger, turmeric, cumin and onions stir until makes a bright paste.  Add tomatoes, lime, coconut milk, vegetable broth.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Place green beans in bottom of baking dish, top with clams and pour sauce on top.  Sprinkle with coconut.  Cover and bake 350 for 20 minutes.  Remove lid and bake 10 minutes more.  Makes 4 servings. 

 

I served with a cornbread biscuit.  That I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of!

 

Quick Corn Bread Biscuits

 

1 c Butternut squash puree

1 egg

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

hand full fresh herbs I used sage, rosemary and thyme

1/2 c organic cornmeal

1/2 c coconut flour

1 tbsp olive oil

 

Mix everything in large bowl and spoon 6 biscuits on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 350 for 25 minutes. 

 

Enjoy!

Spicy Kale Chips 1-21-13

Good evening friends!!  Hope you all had a pleasant Monday. 
I had these wonderful plans to come home and make tasty clams with coconut lime sauce.  So after work I came home, changed and headed to Whole Foods, since I was out of lime.  Well I bought everything I needed to make my new clam dish but the Turkey Chile some how made its way into my bag.  Sneaky Chile!  So I had that for dinner instead with a quick cornbread biscuit, I will share that recipe later. 

I made several things this weekend kale chips being one of them.  Raw pumpkin protein cookies are something I also made this weekend, huge fail!  But me being me I wont throw them out and plan to eat them even though they look like little poop piles, not an exaggeration.  I thing this recipe will take a bit of tweaking and a few batches before its shared.  It sounded so good :(  On to the successful recipe.  These kale chips were spicy and crunchy, I had to put them away before I ate them all. 

 

Spicy Kale Chips

1 lg bunch kale

1 medium red bell pepper

1/4 c chopped red onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp chipotle

handful of fresh rosemary and thyme

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 c sunflower seed butter

 

 



Place all ingredients in food processor or blender.  Pulse until smooth.

Depending on what type of kale you choose to use, you want to remove the stems and tear it into bite size pieces.  Make sure to wash your kale extra well or it will be sandy. 

Place everything in a bowl and mix well.  I tried really hard to just use my handy dandy spatula but it would not spread the mixture evenly through out the kale bunch.  Use your hands, its messy but fun and you get to lick your fingers after, yum!  Spread out on a cookie sheet.  I covered my cookie sheet with foil, so it wouldn't stick.  Spray a non stick spray or oil lightly your foiled cookie sheet.  Bake 325 15mins, or until crispy.  Watch it because it will go from crispy yumminess to burnt wierdness in a matter of a minute! 

 

Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie, ice cream and 10 miles 1-19-13

Good evening friends!!!

Yup, I ran 10 miles today, that made for a 24 mile week!  Woo Hoo!!!  I'm getting ready for another half and feel like I have a new PR coming my way ;)
With all this running I decided I would treat myself to ice cream.  No I didn't make it, but I do have an ice cream maker and should have just pulled it out.  I bought something I found at Sprouts.  I'm not sure it was worth the splurge.  I ended up putting almond butta on it because it didn't taste like chocolate peanut butter.  I got the chocolate flavor, sort of, but no peanuts, and if you can't tell I'm kind of a nut fanatic! 

It only has 150 cals for the whole pint!! Really that is what sold me on it but next time I will just make some.

So I came home and made this Chicken Pot Pie with butternut squash crust.  It was better than expected.  What made it really great was the fresh herbs from my little herb plants. 
 





Chicken Pot Pie
1 lg Chicken Breast
1 celery stalk
1/4 c onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 c mushroom
1/2 c turnip
2 c vegetable broth
1 c peas, carrots and corn
1 tsp Italian oregano
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Season chicken breast, I used my favorite Organic No salt Seasoning from Costco.  Cook chicken whole in skillet when cooked, remove and cube.  Add veggies to skillet and cook until tender, add herbs, chicken and broth.  Cook about 10 minutes, longer if you want the broth to cook down. 

Butternut Squash Crust
1/2 c butternut squash puree
1/3 c coconut flour
1/3 c almond meal
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 sage leaves
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp Thyme

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until forms dough ball.  Makes 2 tops.  Split in half and press one ball out into a circle and top baking dish (24oz corningwear pictured above) with chicken and vegetable mix.  Bake 350 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!!

French Toast Scramble 1-18-13

Happy Friday!!
Is anyone as excited its the weekend as I am?  It's been an oddly long week. 

I am a creature of habit and have the same few breakfasts over and over.  This one has been my main breakfast for a while now.  Its just so tasty and it keeps me full until lunch!

I got it from one of my favorite blogs www.carrotsncake.com, I know it says French Toast Scramble so your probably expecting some toast or bread of some sort but its bread free ;)





French Toast Scramble
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 small/medium banana, smashed
Vanilla
Cinnamon
1-2 tbsp Nut butta of your choosing
1 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut

Whisk eggs, banana, vanilla and cinnamon. Scramble just like normal eggs. Pour into a bowl and top with nut butta (I prefer almond or sunflower) and sprinkle with coconut. Its delish and very easy. Enjoy!!

This weekend I am excited to be making dark chocolate mango macadamia nut treats and butternut squash crust topped chicken pot pie, I of course will post!