Greek Stuffed Peppers

So...my veggie and fruit shares are coming to an end.  This is my last week of fruit shares.  I have 4 or 5 more weeks left of veggies.  Makes me a bit sad...although my freezer is stocked full of veggies and fruit, and my pantry has a bunch of jarred jams, sauerkraut, and pickles.  My winter should be pretty tasty!  but again reminds me that winter is coming....I really hate seeing pictures of winter scenes, I don't know why the news keeps trying to remind us of what is coming, I don't want to see that! I enjoy the nice turning of the leaves, let's enjoy Autumn for a bit longer...

Here is a nice hearty warm recipe, puts your oven back to use again now that the weather has cooled.  I remember growing up on stuffed peppers from my mom, from what I remember, they were pretty bland.  I want to say it was literally white rice, ground beef and crushed tomatoes-stuffed into a green pepper.  No seasoning or anything.  Here is a recipe that is super tasty and gives it a little Greek flare! Now I only had 2 peppers to use, so with the excess of meat mixture, I made some "meat muffins".  I greased up some muffin tins and stuffed the mixture inside and cooked it along with the peppers.  Both were incredibly tasty! I added a nice salad on the side of mixed greens, pears, feta, and balsamic vinaigrette!

Greek Stuffed Peppers

serves 4-6

adapted from Ellie Krieger

1 pound ground beef

1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped and steamed (or can sub spinach or kale)

1 medium zucchini, grated

1 small onion, diced finely

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 egg

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3 red or green bell peppers, halved lengthwise, cores and ribs removed

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, finely chopped

Crumbled feta cheese, use as much to your liking!

1) Premake the rice as per package instructions, and steam the swiss chard so it is nicely tender. Preheat the oven to 350 degree fahrenheit.
2) Mix the top 10 ingredients and 1 can of the stewed tomatoes, just until combined.  Don't work the meat too much or it will become tough.
3) Stuff those peppers with a mound of meaty goodness, if you have extra meat, make some meat muffins!
4) Top the peppers with the remaining can of chopped stewed tomatoes, and then with feta.
5) Put the peppers on a baking sheet or baking dish.  Bake in the oven for approximately 75 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink.
6) Eat and Enjoy!

Caribbean Chili

My slow cooker has been working over time this week.   I have literally used it for every meal this week.  It makes getting dinner on the table so quick and easy.  Plus it helps when you pick up a slow cooker cookbook at a garage sale for $1!! This is a great hearty vegetarian meal.  This recipe included a jamaican jerk seasoning, and it was quite spicy the first night.  When we ate the leftovers, it tamed down quite a bit.   So feel free to adjust the cayenne in this to your taste preferences! or even buy a premade Jamaican Jerk seasoning!

Caribbean Chili

Serves 6

Adapted from "Money Saving Slow Cooking" by Sandra Lee

16 oz. jar of black bean & corn salsa

1 (15.25 oz) can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups of butternut squash, diced

1 cup of green or red pepper, diced

1 cup of onion, diced

1/2 cup of water (or you can use broth)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon chile powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cilantro (for garnish)

Brown Rice (to serve with)

Put all ingredients, except for the cilantro and brown rice, into a crock pot.  Mix it up, and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.  (or you can put it on low for 8 to 10 hours).  Serve it over the brown rice, and garnish with cilantro.  It's not necessary, but it adds a great fresh flavor!

Sooo Sorry!!!

Wow, time flies when your having...well wasn't fun per say...work got insane and engulfed me! But I was busy cooking as always.  I'm trying really hard to make homemade snacks rather than buying packaged crap, because no matter how hard I try, there is always something inside those packaged items that isn't good for you.  Although these recipes aren't my original recipes, they proved to be very yummy!

I've been testing the waters to see if I am gluten intolerant.  I'm getting the feeling I'm probably not, but these recipes are gluten free.  You always can substitute the regular gluten product! I made some Cheddar Cheese Crackers that blow cheez-its out of the water.  So yummy, I made mine into bigger stars because I didn't have cute little cookie cutters.  These would be so sweet on a cheese platter for a party.  I highly recommend piercing a few dots (I used a fork) into the centers, because there was a batch I forgot to do it to, and they bubbled up.

My second snack was a Peanut Butter & Chocolate Granola Bar.  It was supposed to be crunchy, but I think I removed them from the oven a bit too soon.  They are not necessarily "chewy" but not hard, sort of an in between.  But taste awesome! So thats all that counts, right?

Here are the recipes, enjoy!
Cheddar Cheese Crackers
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Granola Bars

Garlic Scape Pesto Pasta

I have to admit, I never had garlic scapes before, let alone know what it was!  This was a pretty cool experiment for me.  The "co-op" I get my veggies from included a recipe in their email for this Garlic Scape Pesto Pasta, so I went from there.  The original recipe called for 10 garlic scapes, and many reviewers said it was too much.  So, I cut it back to 5 garlic scapes, and YOWZERS, it was still really garlicky.

After eating it, I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth, even after brushing my teeth, doing mouthwash, and eating 3 salt water taffy's and 2 cookies, it still wouldn't go away! I know..you're thinking, "I thought you were a clean eater?" Yes, I do eat pretty clean, but I like my sweets, and I can't resist salt water taffy from my favorite place in Delaware, I had to buy a box! But anyways, I'm getting off tangent.

Since it is just me and my husband, we always have leftovers.  When I reheated it, I added some plain Greek yogurt.  Also, I think with cooking it a bit more, it mellowed out the garlic flavor.  Sooooo...here is my recipe, and hopefully it won't require you to eat massive amounts of cookies to get the garlic taste out of your mouth.  Also, I wouldn't recommend making this for a first date or impressing the in-laws! It may not end well.

Garlic Scape Pesto

(Serves 4-6)

Adapted from Epicurious

5 garlic scapes
1/3 cup unsalted pistachios (if you use salted, just don't add more salt!)
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and go until it is smooth.  To mellow out the garlic flavor I recommend heating it up in a small saucepan on low.  Add to cooked pasta, use the pasta water if you want to thin out the sauce more, but mine came out fine. I topped the pasta with more parmesan, and had a simple lettuce and tomato salad on the side.  Enjoy! Super Easy to make!!

Mom's Potato Salad - Cleaned Up!

I have such fond memories of this potato salad.  My mom made it for any picnic or cookout we had, father's day, memorial day, graduations, labor day, and 4th of July! My mom had this Pillsbury Cookbook, and as they claimed on the cover, it's "the all-purpose companion for today's cook."  Which for my mom, it was! A lot of her generic recipes came from this cookbook, including this potato salad.  I was lucky enough to inherit this cookbook after she passed.

My mom passed away a little over 3 years ago.  When she was alive, my sisters and I always thought she was a very "by the book" cook.  She always had to follow the recipes to a T, and if she asked us for a recipe that maybe we sort of threw together.  She needed to know exactly how many tablespoons of garlic we used, so we had to give her an exact number! But, after she passed away, and we started to make her recipes ourselves, we realized that she had the tendency to make a recipe into her own.  Although, she never recorded it, she made the same recipe over and over again and remembered "her version" of it.  So, when we look at it, we have to figure out what was it that she did to change it, because we remembered it differently.

This happened to me when I approached this potato salad recipe.  I had to confer with my sisters to figure out exactly what she did, because the potato salad recipe looked nothing like her version.  Like for instance, I thought she put pickle relish in it, but my sister doesn't think she did.  I love pickles, so I put it in my version.    Also, my mom, from what we remember, put sugar in her potato salad, but no where on the recipe does it show it.  But, with my new clean eating lifestyle, I made some adjustments to make it a bit "healthier" to eat.  I don't recommend to make potato salad an everyday meal, but you can feel a bit better about eating it. So here it is! I hope all my readers enjoy their 4th of July and make great memories, like I have with my family on the 4th!

my mom and me

Mom's Potato Salad

(serves 6-8)

adapted from The Pillsbury Cookbook & my mom

4-6 small to medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cubed

4 eggs, hard-boiled, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped pickles or relish (I used dill)

1/4 cup green olives with pimentos, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup organic mayo

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tablespoon mustard (I used organic spicy brown)

1 tablespoon honey

1) In a big pot, put in the potatoes and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender.  Drain and put them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to get cold.  

2) Also while cooking the potatoes, do the same method with eggs.  Put them in a pot, fill with cold water and bring to a boil.  But once they reach a boil, take them off the heat, put a cover on it, and let them sit for 15 minutes.  Once the time is up, drain and rinse with cold water.  Put them in the fridge with the potatoes to get cold as well.  Having the eggs and potatoes cold makes it easier to cut them up.  

3) Then take all of the chopped ingredients, with all the other ingredients, mix it all up until combined.  Keep in the fridge before serving.  Also, allowing a few hours in the fridge let's all the flavors melt together.  

One taste of this potato salad and I was back to my childhood. I sure do miss my mom, but this potato salad makes me feel like she is still here.  Happy 4th of July Everyone!

BBQ Kale Chips

Kale chips seem to be a new rage in "healthy" eating.  I've seen recipes for garlic, spicy, salt & vinegar, but I have never seen a barbeque version.  BBQ chips are probably my favorite kind of chip, so I had to make it with a kale chip! These were a great accompaniment to our burgers we had for dinner.  Here is the recipe!

BBQ Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale leaves
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
BBQ Seasoning, as follows:
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon organic evaporated cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
Dash of cayenne (add more or less or none if you want!)

1) Preheat oven to 275 degrees fahrenheit.  Chop up the kale into bite sized pieces.  Removed any really large stems from the pieces.

2) Dump the kale pieces into a bowl, and drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil on the kale leaves.  Mix them around until the kale is evenly coated. It shouldn't be drenched in oil, but have a nice light coating.
3) Sprinkle half of the seasoning into the bowl and mix around until it is evenly distributed.

4) Spread the kale onto two baking sheets, leaving some space between the pieces.  Sprinkle the remaining seasoning on top so you are sure each chip has yummy BBQ goodness on it!

5)Cook the kale chips for 25-30 minutes until they are crispy and slightly browned.  Let cool and enjoy!


*If you are in a hurry you could also cook it in a 375 fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes.

What About The Fruit?!

I'm sure most of you are wondering, what am I doing with all of this awesome seasonal fruit?! Strawberries, Raspberries, and Cherries?  Well, my husband and I like to eat fruit as a snack, whether that is during the day in between meals, or as a sweet treat at night with some dark chocolate.  Also, we add fruit to our granola or yogurt for breakfast.

One Sunday morning, we had pancakes with strawberries as a topper.  Then also made some "mimosas" and used crushed strawberries as our "juice"! I'm sure at some point, I am going to want to make a pie or cobbler, but I will be sure to share my recipe when I do!

Clean Eating Chocolate Waffles

Here is the long awaited recipe! I'm sure I'll be doing some more tweaking to this, but here is the recipe I made yesterday.  I got the basis of the recipe from The Gracious Pantry..  I decided I wanted to tweak it a bit, and thought about adding Peanut Butter because who doesn't love PB cups! Well, the peanut butter didn't make a flavorful impact I was hoping for, but, man, the protein in peanut butter makes them sooo filling! My husband couldn't even finish the 2 waffles on his plate, which normally is no problem for him!

If you are new to clean eating, I highly recommend adding more honey, maybe 2-3 tablespoons more.  Once you adapt to clean eating, you enjoy things that are lightly sweetened, especially sweetened with natural ingredients such as honey or maple syrup.  It does take a bit for you body to get used to it, so if you are a newbie, then add some more honey!  Also, if you aren't into dark chocolate, I would use regular cocoa, rather than the dark chocolate cocoa I used.

Then for toppings, sure you could do the basic pure maple syrup on top, but here are some other fun suggestions.  My husband and I heated up organic strawberry jam with a bit of water and used that as our "syrup".  Then for breakfast this morning (these are excellent as leftovers, just freeze them and toast them up when you want to eat them!) I mixed plain greek yogurt and peanut butter, you could even add a bit of honey or maple syrup, and I made sort of a PB cup waffle sandwich.  Yum! Super filling as well!!!  My next version may include coffee!

Clean Eating Chocolate Waffles

(makes 6-7 waffles)

Adapted from The Gracious Pantry

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal

1-3/4 cup milk (you can use any kind you have, dairy or non dairy)

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (the ingredients should be only peanuts and possibly salt)

2 whole eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons honey (add more if you are new to clean eating!)

1) Mix all of the dry ingredients-flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and flaxseed meal, using a whisk, whisk them together.  Using a whisk simulates using a sifter (its a lazy way of doing it, I learned it from Martha Stewart!).  It will break up all of the clumps and make the dry ingredients fluff up.  

2) Mix all of the wet ingredients together-milk, banana, peanut butter, eggs, butter, vanilla, and honey.  I used a potato masher, so it would mash up the bananas and mix the ingredients together.  They won't mix perfectly but get it so the bananas and peanut butter is all mixed in or in small pieces.

3) Slowly whisk in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Mix until everything is just mixed and there are no clumps.  Be careful to not over mix, because then you will bring out the stretchy glutens, and won't make a nice fluffy waffle! 

4) I like to have the batter sit for a few minutes so the baking soda can start doing its work.  This is when I then preheat the waffle iron.  I set it to the highest setting because I like crispy waffles.  

5) Once the waffle iron is heated, I use a bit of butter on both sides of the iron to be sure that the waffle doesn't stick.  Then pour a ladleful of batter in the center of the iron, and close it up.  Follow however your waffle iron tells you they are done! Viola! Yummy, good for you, chocolate waffles are here!

What to Make with Cabbage

When someone hands you a cabbage, most likely you think coleslaw or cabbage soup.  I wanted coleslaw, but not just as your typical side.  My husband and I love mexican food, even more, we love tacos! Using the leftover chicken from earlier this week and adding a few other ingredients, we had AH-MAZING tacos!

I also made homemade whole wheat tortillas over the weekend, here is the recipe for them.  It makes store bought taste like wax, they are so well worth the effort! Here is the recipe for the tacos.

Chicken Tacos

(makes about 10 tacos)

adapted from Bobby Flay (foodnetwork.com)

Chicken:
Leftover roasted chicken rubbed with spices
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Oil

I spritzed a little oil on the chicken and rubbed the spices all over the chicken prior to baking.  I roasted it at 425 degrees fahrenheit for about 1 or 1-1/2 hours.  I used a digital thermometer to track it, I kept it in the oven until it reached 176 degrees, then pulled it out and let it rest.  It continued to cook until it reached the 180 you need.  Then pull off the chicken and either shred or chop it up!

Someone was a fan of the chicken....

Coleslaw:
1/2 cup organic mayo
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon celery salt (or use celery seed and add your own salt)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Pepper to taste
1 small head of cabbage, finely shredded or sliced
2 carrots, finely shredded
3 scallions, sliced thinly

Whisk together the mayo, greek yogurt, celery salt, apple cider vinegar, and pepper in a large bowl.  Toss in the cabbage, carrots, and scallions.  (I only had baby carrots on hand, so I sliced them thinly rather than trying to grate it).  Mix until the sauce evenly coats the veggies, and let it rest for about 15 minutes to let the flavors marinate.  You can keep it in the fridge if you like.

If you have reservations about using greek yogurt, try it in this recipe.  You really cannot taste it, greek yogurt is able to absorb the flavors around it, all I could taste was the mayo.  I like using greek yogurt with mayo because it lightens it up and cuts some of the fat.

Other Toppings:
1 avocado, sliced
2 poblano peppers, sliced

Slice up the avocados, sprinkle with lime juice and salt if you would like.  The lime will keep it from going brown.  I cooked the WHOLE poblanos on a skillet on medium high heat, with a light spritz of oil.  I put a top on it and let them steam.  You will hear them sizzle, but they will start to get a nice char on them.  Once they look almost cooked, pull them off the heat, but keep the top on.  Let them cool down and they will continue to steam until they are tender.  Once cooled a bit you can slice them up.

Once everything is done, assemble your tacos however you like! These were so good, I think my hubby ate them in point two seconds!

Asparagus, Lettuce and Tomato

When I was thinking of what to make with the asparagus I pulled out one of my favorite vegan cookbooks, "Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook" by Kim Barnouin.  I made this recipe before and my husband LOVED it.  I even wrote a note in the book so I would remember it!

Risotto is something I didn't try until I made it myself in my adult life, actually I believe this was the first recipe I ever made of risotto.  I am not anywhere near to be italian, so italian food didn't show up very much in our household.  Please know that risotto is a labor of love, you can't leave it unattended, and it takes a while to make. Make sure you cut out the time to make this, it would be a good Sunday dinner.

I didn't make this fully vegan, and I made a few adjustments to it to save on costs, from what I had in my cupboard and my tastes.  It actually calls for wild mushrooms and a array of different mushrooms, but I am not a fan of those, so I only used baby bella mushrooms.  Feel free to use any mushrooms you like! I paired it with the lettuce and tomatoes for an easy salad, with a simple homemade dressing.

Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

(serves 6)

4 cups (32 oz container) organic vegetable broth

2 cups water

3 tablespoons olive oil (or any oil)

4 tablespoons butter (to make it vegan use Earth Balance)

1 8oz package of sliced baby bellas

1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

Salt & Pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 large onion (or 1 small), diced

1 cup arborio rice, uncooked

1/3 cup white wine (I used leftover flat champagne-or this can be omitted)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for topping (use vegan cheese if you want it to be vegan)

1) In a large saucepan add the vegetable broth, cover and keep warm over low heat.  

2) In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add the mushrooms and asparagus, and saute until lightly browned and crisp tender, about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.  

3) Using the same large saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, stirring until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and remaining butter and saute for 1 minute. 

4) Add the rice and stir until well combined.  Add the wine and stir until the wine is absorbed.  Add 1 cup of the warm broth to the rice and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until nearly absorbed.  

5) Continue adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each additional broth be absorbed before adding more.  Continue adding the broth until the rice is tender and creamy, about 30-40 minutes.

6) Stir in the sauteed mushroom, asparagus, and parmesan cheese to the rice, and season it with salt and pepper to taste.  Feel free to garnish your plate with more parmesan, which hubby and I totally did...maybe we added more halfway through eating it...don't judge us!

I have to add this too, a very happy hubby eating tomatoes, which he totally doesn't like tomatoes, but loved the fresh organic ones we got from our share!

Swiss Chard & Beets

Last night for dinner I used the swiss chard and beets from my weekly share of produce to make two separate side dishes.  With the swiss chard I made sauteed swiss chard with bacon and onions, and with the beets I made ginger orange beets.  I roasted a chicken as the main, and will be using those leftovers for another meal! Below are my recipes!!

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Bacon & Onion

(serves 3-4)

4 slices of bacon, diced
1/4 of a large onion, diced
1 large (or 2 small) cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of white wine (I used champagne because I had some!) or chicken/veggie broth
1 bunch of swiss chard, stems removed & chopped
Salt & Pepper

1) In a saute pan, start cooking up the diced bacon at medium high heat.  No need to add any oil because the bacon will give off bunches of oil! Keep cooking until the bacon starts getting brown on the edges.
2) Add the diced onions.  Keep cooking until the onions start sweating it out, and the bacon continues to get more brown.  Then add the minced garlic.  Cook for a few minutes, don't let it go too long or the garlic will get bitter. If you want to add a little heat, feel free to add some crushed red pepper here too!

3) Turn the heat down to medium.  Pour in the white wine or broth, use it to help pick up all the browned bits at the bottom.  *please note, please be careful using alcohol if you are using a gas stove.  Remove the pan from the gas burner, then pour in alcohol, and return it to the burner.  Or else you will have a wonderful flaming show!*
4) Add the swiss chard to the pan.  When I rinsed the swiss chard, I didn't let the leaves totally dry so that the water can also assist the cooking.  Sprinkle a little salt (the bacon adds plenty of salt) and pepper.  Put a lid on the pan and let the swiss chard cook down.  Check it every few minutes and toss it around so the yummy flavors soak in it! The dish is done once the stems and leaves are softened!

Ginger Orange Beets

(serves 2)

To Roast the Beets:
6 small beets (or a few large ones)
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

For the Vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons of olive oil (or any oil you have)
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
Zest from half of an orange
2-3 tablespoons of fresh orange juice (from the half you zested)
1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger
Salt & Pepper
1/2 orange, segmented

1) Preheat the oven to 425 degree fahrenheit.  Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets, wash them with a wet paper towel.  Since the beets were so small I put them in a foil packet all together.  Rip off a piece of foil, put the beets on there, drizzle a little olive oil and salt & pepper.  Fold up the foil and make a packet, but leave air around the beets.

2) Put the packet on a sheet pan and roast them in the oven for about 55 minutes.  If you are using large beets you will have to cook them off a little longer.
3) Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Put all of the ingredients, except for the segmented orange, into a bowl and whisk until it emulsifies and creates a smooth dressing.  Cut up the other 1/2 orange into segments (meaning cut around the skin so you just have the yummy pieces of fruit) put that into the vinaigrette.
4) Once the beets are done and have been cooled, use a paper towel or a dish towel you don't mind turning hot pink, and rub off the skin.  It will come easily off.
5) Cut the beets into quarters, and add to the dressing and toss.  This salad can be served warm or cold.

Homemade Larabars

My husband and I, around a year ago, were obsessed with larabars.  We eventually grew sick of them, and stopped eating them.  I was on 100daysofrealfood.com and she talked about how homemade larabars are amazing compared to the store bought.  So I thought I'd give it a shot, and create my own recipes based on hers.  I tried an Apple Pie Larabar, but it was a bit mushier than I wanted, so I want to continue to tweak that recipe.  BUT my Coconut Cream Pie one came out AMAZING.  I'm obsessed with coconut, hubby on the other hand, not so much.

Coconut Cream Pie Larabar

Makes about 8 bars (more/less if you want bigger or smaller bars!)

1 cup of dates
1/2 cup of almonds (I used sliced because that is what I had)
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon water

1) Put all of the ingredients in a food processor (the picture to the right is the apple pie one), and blend it until all the ingredients are mixed together.  It forms sort of a sticky mass. You may need more water, just watch it as you blend it.
2) Pat out the mixture into a square, and cut into squares, rectangles, or roll into balls!
3) For longer storage keep it in the fridge.  It also makes them a bit firmer too, if you end up adding too much water.


P.S. I find that bulk nuts are much more cost effective than the ones pre-bagged.  Take a look at your grocery store and see if you can save any money!

I'm Back

Hey All!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while, but summer is here and so are the fresh fruit and veggies!!!  I found a local co-op that does a weekly share for fruit, vegetables, and flowers.  I opted into the fruit and veggies.  This is my first week of produce, it looks sooo yummy!! 

This included:

Swiss chard

Green lettuce

Tomatoes

Beets

Cabbage

Asparagus

Strawberries

I am creating dinners solely based on these veggies, so stay tuned for my creations!!!

Homemade Honey Nut Cheerios

So a few weeks back I had gotten plain Cheerios on a great deal, I got 4 boxes for only $2! Unfortunately my cereal eating husband didn't enjoy the plain Cheerios.  So using the basic recipe from my granola recipe, I came up with this! I have to say it pretty good without being overly sweet.  I sort of threw things together, so I will give as close to exact measurements.

4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup honey
Dash of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 of a box of Cheerios
1/4 cup of slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.   Melt the butter, honey, salt, and cinnamon in a saucepan.  Once the butter has melted, add the vanilla.  Drizzle the mixture on the Cheerios and almonds, and mix well until all of the Cheerios get covered.  Spread evenly on the baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool completely, and break up to store in an airtight container.  I think if you used less Cheerios you could probably make cereal bars because they do stick together somewhat.  Enjoy!

Eating Well on a Budget

My husband and I are working hard to pay off our debts, which means having a super tight budget for groceries.  I have been only been spending $100 a week, and that includes dinners, lunches, breakfasts, personal/household items, and enough food & cat litter for 5 cats! Its been tough but do-able.

Breakfasts: My husband is super easy, and a creature of habit.  He has cereal every morning.  So one staple is milk, obviously, and then cereal.  I either buy cereal by couponing, or if I am able to do it, make a home made granola.  Recipe is here! For me, I tend to get bored easily.  So I either eat the granola, or make pancakes or muffins that I can keep in the fridge or freezer.

Lunches: Again, hubby is a creature of habit.  He eats PB & J EVERYDAY!! So it requires bread (which I am wanting to invest in a bread maker), natural PB (just peanuts and salt), and natural strawberry jam.  Which have you looked at the everyday jellys/jams? They have "high fructose corn syrup" and "corn syrup" listed on there...I think they separate it to avoid showing that there is probably more corn syrup than strawberries.  But anyways, so for me, I work from home.  I eat whatever is leftover from dinners or a PB & J once in a while.

Dinner: In efforts to save money, at least once a week we eat eggs in some sort of way.  Like quiche or scrambled eggs with veggies mixed in.  I try to eat at least 1 veggie based meal a week.  Since it is just the two of us, I cook 3 meals, and usually get 3-4 nights worth of leftovers.

Its been difficult but we are working really hard to keep eating clean, but on a budget.

Double Decker Taco

When I was younger I was an avid eater at Taco Bell.  There was a double decker taco they had that I loved, and ever since my husband and I lived together I have been making these tacos at home.  This time I have made it all clean eating!

 

 

Tacos to me are a very loose recipe, and can be altered to your own tastes.  Here is what I did.

Refried beans (I got the recipe from 100 Days of Real Food and I kept about half of the liquid because I like thinner refried beans)
Get the recipe here

Ground beef
- organic grass fed ground beef
- a mixture of spices ( chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper)

Cook beef until no longer pink, and when the beef is almost done add spices so the flavor gets seared into the meat.

Tacos
- refried beans
- seasoned ground beef
- soft tortilla shells (I like to make homemade ones but had to do grocery store convenience-THESE ARE NOT CLEAN!)
- hard shells ( I used blue corn shells)
- shredded lettuce
- salsa
- plain chobani (or sour cream)
- you can add anything else your heart desires!

Spread a good layer of refried beans on the soft shells.  Place the hard shell on top.  I find if you break it in half you can lay it flat on the soft shell, and it's easier to fill and close up.  Add ground beef, salsa, lettuce, chobani, and whatever else and close up your taco.  Enjoy!

P.S. yes that is a cloth napkin, I'll talk about that some other time!

Starting from Scratch...literally!

At 28 years young, I have gone through many different diets.  I've been vegetarian, did the South Beach diet (didn't last long), I was even vegan, although I felt so good being Vegan-it wasn't practical.  I watched both of my parents die of cancer.  That made me think more and more of the food I ate as a child.  We ate lots of red meat, boxed processed foods, canned vegetables, canned meat (ewww!!), and man did I drink A LOT of soda.  My dad passed away when I was 24 years old, and as a stress eater I definitely put on some weight after he passed.  Then my mom passed 2 years later, and while she was sick, was when I began to research vegan diets.  There have been lots of studies showing that a vegan diet can reverse the cancer death sentence.  I tried to convince my mom on that, but she was a meat and potatoes type of woman and she wasn't giving up her meat! But then the practicality of it came in, being in a hospital everyday, makes it pretty hard to be on a strict vegan diet, so that was when I fell off of the wagon.

So fast forward to 2012, and I saw how much weight I had gained.  Well, my sister and brother-in-law, who own a Crossfit, took me and my husband to the Crossfit games.  My husband and I looked at all of these fit people, and although we weren't obese or even remotely that over weight, we were the heaviest people there! And Crossfitters are known for the "Paleo Diet", but that was not for me, I was Vegan, I love my beans!! But the diet that caught my attention was "Clean Eating", I had bought a book by Tosca Reno a few months back.  So my husband decided, even if our grocery bill was gonna be higher, it was worth it if it made us healthier in the long run.  We also started to Crossfit, but unfortunately since I coach cheerleading and work full time, I don't have time to do it anymore.  I do, however, do modified Crossfit workouts with my cheerleaders, which is a lot of fun (well they don't think so!). So this blog is devoted to my clean eating adventures, as well as any other helpful advice on having a happy healthy lifestyle.  Plus, I do love my hippie dancing! Maybe that is what helps stress levels? :) or maybe its the wine...its one of those!