OK. I am really back....

OK. I am really back....back to myself, back in the kitchen and back to blogging about food! Life got crazy, I wasn't feeling great but now life is still crazy but I am feeling great and it is a good crazy! This summer brought us an amazing little niece, more time with my family, more responsibilities and opportunities at work, some health crap and loads of vegetables!!! Now that things have settled down a bit and I am back to being me I am back to blogging about the dishes I make and sharing them with you all! 

This morning I was inspired by all of the heirloom tomatoes piling up on my kitchen table and the 3 petite lobster tails in the freezer. Lobster is pretty cheap right now due to a surplus (thanks for telling me Dad, finally found some good deals) so I bought 3 tails about a week ago at Winco. I told Jackson not to enter the kitchen and got to work making a delicious brunch! I made an heirloom tomato salad with lobster and garnished it with watermelon slices sprinkled with cayenne pepper (J-man loves it that way). It turned out even better than I hoped for! You don't have to make this with lobster (can just keep it vegetarian, or do it with shrimp or tuna) but I would not suggest substituting the heirloom tomatoes for store bought. So raid your garden, your friend's garden, my garden or go to a farmer's market and get some yummy  heirloom tomatoes. 

Salad Ingredients

3 petite lobster tails (3 oz each)
1/2 head of romaine lettuce (washed, dried and pull apart the leaves keeping about 5 for each salad depending on how big they are)
1/4 of a red onion - diced
3 hard boiled eggs - sliced
4 different heirloom tomatoes - sliced 
Salt

Boil lobster tails until they curl up and turn bright red. Peel and remove lobster meat from the shell. Cut into pieces and saute quickly in a pan with a little butter or olive oil and garlic salt. Remove from heat and let cool. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a plate. Top with the tomato slices then red onion, then hard boiled egg slices and then top with the lobster and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle dressing on top and serve with the watermelon slices.

Dressing Ingredients

a handful of fresh herbs (basil, parsley)
a tsp of diced red onion
about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil
balsamic vinegar (I used a yummy Fig Balsamic I picked up at Honeyville Grain)

Put everything in a food processor and blend till everything is chopped and combined. 


Watermelon Garnish Ingredients

As much watermelon as you want (I used a petite seedless watermelon)
Cayenne Pepper 

Slice watermelon into wedges and lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper. 

Spicy veggie stir fry over Bistro rice

And I am back!!!! Sorry that I was gone so long! My life was crazy and then we went on our fabulous vacation! We had a fantastic time! The food at the resort was amazing. We tried to stay vegan-ish but it was hard. Especially knowing what we were paying for all inclusive to not try everything. But now we are home, a couple pounds heavier and in need of lots of veggies and fruit and some detoxing! Ha ha! I was excited to get back in the kitchen. I went grocery shopping and bought lots of healthy ingredients. Last night I made stir fry. My house smelled heavenly. I bought a new vegan cookbook on my nook prior to our trip. Chloe's Kitchen. I highly recommend it. She had some must haves for your pantry and one of them was Sesame oil. I picked some up at the store and I am so glad I did. A little goes a long way and it makes your house smell lovely and the food taste wonderful! I found a Bistro Blend rice in the bulk section of Winco. I am glad I picked it up. It is really yummy! You can do this with any rice of your choice. So we are back to embracing Eat to Live wholeheartedly! And now for the good stuff. The recipe!

Stir Fry Ingredients

1 habanero pepper - diced (optional for those of you who don't like heat do not add this!)

baby bell peppers - chopped

1/2 large white onion - chopped in larger pieces

Celery - chopped in larger pieces

Portabello mushrooms - chopped in larger pieces

Snap peas 

1 can of baby corn - rinsed and drained

Basil - chopped

6 cloves of garlic - chopped

Sesame Oil

Agave nectar

Chinese 5 spice (Highly recommend if you love Asian cooking)

Sesame seeds (You can buy toasted or toast raw sesame seeds. I toasted mine.)

Braggs Liquid Amino

Heat up the sesame seed oil and add the garlic and habanero pepper and cook for a minute or two. Then add all of the veggies, agave nectar, seasonings, amino (you can also use soy sauce), basil and simmer till veggies are cooked through but still crisp. Top rice with veggies and then top with sesame seeds. 

**Rice**

For the bistro rice I used two cups of rice and 4 cups of water. I added the rice and water to a pot, sprinkled some coarse salt in and some Chinese 5 spice and once it boiled covered and let it simmer for 50 minutes then took it off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes still covered. Do not stir or anything until it is done resting. Then you can fluff with a fork. 

Veggie burgers...full of flavor but short on calories

Wow! Life gets busy and I get further behind in food blogging! We made these a week and a half ago! This is a super simple, super healthy and super delicious meal idea. Jackson bought a box of veggie burgers. And the rest is history!  :)
While J preheated the grill, I prepared the zucchini for our side dish. Then he grilled the burgers and the zucchini while I prepped the toppings for the burgers. We used these thin whole grain "buns". They aren't really buns but they work great. We buy them in bulk then freeze them to use whenever. The grilled zucchini is a fave of mine. Miss Natalie taught me how to do it a few years ago. It is the best! Like I said, Super easy! And you don't have to do veggie burgers. But pile on the veggies. They are good for you and they will help fill you up!


Grilled Zucchini
2 zucchini - cut lengthwise in thirds
Olive Oil - I misted mine with a mister
Seasoning - We used this Hawaiian sea salt combo that my in-laws brought us back from Hawaii


After cutting the zucchini take the dull side of a knife and lightly score the zucchini in a zig zag pattern. Don't cut it though. Then mist with the olive oil on the fleshy side and season. Grill for a couple of minutes and you have yourself a delightful side dish!




Veggie Burgers
Veggie Burger Patties
Romaine Lettuce - cut in burger size pieces
Onion - sliced
Tomato - sliced
Jalapeno - sliced
Cucumber - sliced (It is wrapped in a paper towel as to not contaminate the other veggies due to Jackson detesting cucumber!)
Sauce - Frank's red hot sauce, fat free mayo and a little horseradish


Grill the burgers and then top with all the toppings and place on a whole grain bun. Yummy!!! I am hungry now. Better go eat a grapefruit or something for breakfast! 

Another variation of Chile Verde

I enjoy the weekends because I am able to spend some time preparing fabulous dishes. On Saturday I knew I was going to be gone for awhile watching my favorite 3 year old dance in a dance competition so I wanted to do something in the crock pot. We had tomatillos, lots of poblanos, jalapenos, clintro, etc. from the previous Saturday's bountiful baskets and Mexican Packs. I decided Chile Verde would be a great idea. I do it a bit different every time. When I got home from the dance competition all I had to do was thicken it a bit with cornstarch and put some refried beans in a dish, cover with taco sauce and a bit of cheese (that was our splurge, real cheese) and pop it in the oven. A few minutes later we had ourselves a Mexican feast!


Chile Verde Ingredients
6-8 Poblano Peppers
1-1/2 lbs of tomatillos (husks removed and tomatillos rinsed off)
6 cloves of garlic (still in skin)
Jalapenos (I used 3 with the seeds and it was very spicy so if you want less heat use 1 and possibly remove the seeds after roasting)
3/4 of a white onion chopped
2 boxes of broth (Chicken, vegetable- whatever you prefer)
Ground Cumin
Garlic Salt
Cilantro


Toppings:
Diced green onion
Diced avacado
Blue corn tortilla chips or whole wheat tortillas to dip in the chile verde


Instead of chicken or pork I added 1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained) and two cans of white beans (rinsed and drained). We didn't miss the meat at all but if you want to add it then it is yummy with it as well. :)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet spray a little Pam and then put the poblano peppers on the sheet. On another baking sheet spray a little pam and put the garlic cloves, jalapeno peppers and tomatillos on the sheet. Put both baking sheets in the oven. After about 15 minutes flip everything. Keep an eye on the garlic cloves so they don't burn. Cook another 5-10 minutes then remove both of the sheets. Take the poblano peppers and put them in a paper bag to sweat for about 10minutes.  In the crock pot add the boxes of broth. In a food processor process the garlic, jalapenos and tomatillos.Add the mixture to the crock pot. Peel the outer papery skin off the poblano peppers, remove the stems and then process them as well. Add the pureed poblanos to the crockpot, season with cumin and garlic salt. Add in the diced onion and cook on high for about 3 hours. Then add the beans and change to low until you are ready to eat. About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat add a little cornstarch water to thicken the chile verde. While it is thickening you can make the beans.  

Refried Beans Ingredients
2 cans of fat free refried beans
Taco sauce
Garlic salt
Cumin
shredded cheese or vegan cheese (We used reduced fat shredded mixed blend)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a baking dish spray with pam and then dump in the beans. Sprinkle with seasonings and stir and then spread around dish evenly. Top with taco sauce and spread to cover. Then sprinkle cheese. Bake about 20 minutes till bubbly. The last minute or two you can switch it to broil so that the cheese gets a little brown and crispier. Once it is done serve next to a bowl of the chile verde topped with the green onions, avocado, etc. Yummy!

A Mexican themed weekend in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's day is my favorite day of the year. This was the first year we were home and didn't throw a party. We were able to attend a party with some wonderful friends and celebrate a few birthdays at the same time. For some reason I had Mexican food on the brain this weekend. It might have had to do with the fact that I got two Mexican Packs with my Bountiful Basket this weekend. So although the foods contained some green they definitely weren't Irish, ha ha. For our friends' party I made Chipotle Hummus and Mexican Potato Salad. Both turned out great. The hummus was definitely my best. I want to play with the potato salad a bit I think but it was yummy. Today we made a Mexican Pizza for dinner. It was awesome. It was hearty and full of heat and flavor. I don't have pics of the hummus but it was basically my traditional recipe but instead of roasted red peppers or sundried tomatoes I put in two chipotle peppers with adobo sauce. It was spicy and smoky and yummmmmmmmmmmmy! The potato salad was quite easy as well. You could add hard boiled egg to it as well but as we are vegan-ish (mostly vegan but occasionally we eat meat and dairy) I went without the egg. 


Mexican Potato Salad


4 large red potatoes - peeled and chopped
6 small butter potatoes - peeled and chopped
8 regular potatoes - peeled and chopped
1 onion - diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
2 jalapenos diced
1/2 to 3/4 cup of fat free mayo
Mustard - a few squirts
1 capful of Apple Cider Vinegar
Cumin
Garlic Salt
Coarse ground salt
Dried habanero flakes

Boil the potatoes in a large pot until fork tender then drain. In a large bowl mix the mustard, vinegar, mayo and seasonings. Add the jalapenos, onions, celery and cilantro and habanero flakes and mix again. 

Add the potatoes and mix gently till everything is coated.

 Refrigerate 6-8 hours prior to serving.

Poblano Peppers

Mexican Pizza

1 pizza crust or 1 package of pizza dough (this time we used Pillsbury Pizza Dough)

1 can tomato paste

2 tbsp of adobo sauce

6 cloves of garlic - roasted

2 tomatoes sliced - roasted (after roasted you can chop up)

4 poblano peppers - roasted (after roasting place in paper bag and close to let them sweat. After they have cooled then peel the outer layer of skin and then chop the peppers)

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can fire roasted chile peppers 

5 mushrooms -chopped

2 large green onions - chopped

1/4 bunch of cilantro - chopped

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

Avocado - chopped

Chipotle Lime Seasoning

Garlic Salt

Cumin

We made the pizza dough according to the instructions except before I baked it for the initial 5 minutes I sprinkled it with garlic salt and the Chipotle Lime Seasoning. For the sauce I just put a can of paste into a bowl and added the adobo sauce and some cumin and garlic salt. After the crust baked 5 minutes we put the sauce on the crust, added the beans and chile peppers, then the veggies, roasted garlic and poblano peppers. Then came the cilantro and then the vegan mozzarella. After it was done baking we added avocado and we had ourselves a Mexican Pizza!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies....yeah its real.

Wow. 10 days since my last post. Sorry with work and going out of town to see my family last weekend I haven't been able to blog. I also haven't cooked much. Jman has been the chef the last few days. I did however bake some cookies early in the week. We bought the mix at Honeyville Grain. Gluten free, dairy free, wheat free and nut free. Made with dark chocolate chunks. Really yummy and a fun and more healthy treat to reward our hard work. I highly recommend this mix. It was easy and they turned out delicious. Even those who hate healthy food LOVED them! We are still rockin and rollin with living an Eat to Live lifestyle. We shrink more and more each day. Feels great. Just got our bountiful basket and two Mexican packs. Look for some yummy recipes over the next few days!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

A way to a man's heart....

They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Maybe that is why J man loves me, ha ha. I fill his belly with yummy and healthy food. I am working mid shift and later hours so we are both trying to share the cooking load throughout the week. I made him dinner this morning for tonight. J man could eat taco salads every day of the week. So I made him taco salads Vegan Style. When he comes home tonight all he has to do is put the shredded lettuce on a plate, heat up the "taco" ingredients, top with some salsa and some vegan cheese and he is ready to eat. I also made him a salad for lunch. The thing with living Eat to Live is that you have to spend a little bit of time prepping and planning. But if you dedicate a few minutes to doing that then you can save yourself a lot of headache and calories, etc. in the long run. He looks so amazing. He has always looked amazing but each day I see more and more changes. I see them in me too but I think we are more self critical and I don't notice the changes in me as much as he does. Except for the clothes. I spent all day yesterday hiking up my pants so I wouldn't moon anyone, ha ha. OK. Back to the food. Here is the recipe!


Taco Ingredients


2 cans of black beans rinsed and drained
Green peppers - chopped
Baby bell peppers - chopped
3/4 onion - chopped
1 small can of fire roasted green chiles (I used the hot ones)
Ground Cumin 
Garlic Salt
Chipotle Lime Seasoning (optional but if you can add it to your spice cabinet you will be happy. We got ours at Honeyville Grain)


Salad Ingredients
Shredded Lettuce
Cheese (vegan or real, up to you!)
Salsa

Water saute

Smells awesome!

I pammed a pan and added the chopped onion. I cooked them on high heat for about a minute then added water to water saute them. This is the best way to saute veggies without oil. It is awesome! Once the onions were getting translucent I added all of the peppers and green chiles. Then I added the seasonings and more water as it cooked. I added the beans last and a bit more water. Let it simmer for a few minutes. And that is it. Serve it over the lettuce and top with salsa, cheese, etc. Yummy and super easy!

Done!