Put the lime in the coconut. Or turn it into bacon!

OK. So please hear me out before you think we are totally bonkers. My lovely friend Natalie told me her sister saw a cooking show where they made vegan bacon out of coconut. Being that we are limiting our meat intake to a little seafood and the occasional chicken breast doesn't mean I stopped liking bacon. So the challenge of turning coconut into something that tastes like the forbidden king of all meats was right up my alley. We got a coconut in the bountiful basket which was fate telling me I needed to make coconut bacon! Don't mess with fate! So I googled coconut bacon and I was surprised how popular it is. Jackson looked up how to open a coconut. I anxiously waited for my strong husband to shatter the coconut and get the glorious meat off of the shell. I mixed up the marinade and about 20 minutes later my house smelled like bacon heaven. The meat man came by right after we pulled it out of the oven. He was glad to hear we are still eating seafood. We bought the seafood pack while he tested the "bacon". He said it tasted just like bacon and in an omelet you would never know it wasn't the real deal!  


So for those of you out there that want to try it here is how we did it:


Ingredients


1/2 of a coconut (or you can just go get shaved coconut)
2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
1 tbsp of Liquid Smoke
1 tbsp Real Maple Syrup
1 tbsp water
a little smoked paprika
a little salt

Jackson took a nail and hammered it into each of the three dots on the coconut and drained all the liquid out. We are saving that to cook with this week. Then he covered the coconut with a towel and hit it with a hammer.

                                                      It takes a bit to chisel out the meat with a knife. 

 I mixed up the marinade.

 Then I put the coconut in the food processor using the slicing disc. 

Before Baking

After....Yummmmm!

Mixed the coconut in the marinade, added the paprika and salt and then put it on a baking sheet. I tried to get it to lay flat. We put it in the oven on 325 for about 20 minutes. It still wasn't quite crisp enough so Jackson suggested turning it on broil. We sprayed the coconut with Pam and switched it to broil. If you do that watch it close. About 2 minutes and it started to really brown. Then we let it cool. We made BLT wraps with whole wheat tortillas. They were very yummy. Who would have thought you could make coconut taste like bacon? I am definitely a fan!

I lost another 3 pounds since Thursday. This new lifestyle is definitely working. And creating new dishes and playing around with new recipes is a ton of fun. I did see a recipe online for eggplant bacon but I think the coconut bacon is something we will stick with for now!

Pasta? Don't mind if I do!

Pasta. Just saying it outloud my mouth starts to water. Noodles perfectly al dente covered in a thick and delicious sauce. Smothered with different Italian cheeses. Ok so I do love me some pasta. I admit I have often dreamt of traveling to Europe and eating my way through Italy. And I am overweight because.....I lay around and dream of eating my way across Italy! Carbs, cheese, olive oil. What's not to love. Well for starters the size of my ass! 
We have embraced the Eat To Live lifestyle which means for six weeks absolutely no dairy and very little meat and hardly any oils. That doesn't mean we have to give up pasta. We just have to do it differently. 
Jackson picked up our Bountiful Basket today while I was at work. When he told me we got asparagus I suddenly envisioned a whole wheat Penne with roasted vegetables and a creamy pesto sauce.
I had my able bodied sous chef chop up the veggies while I was on my way home. I think you are probably asking how I am to create a pasta dish that is healthy when it involves the words creamy pesto? It was actually quite easy. The end result made me feel like I was in Tuscany enjoying my decadent meal with my glass of red wine. I may seem confident a lot of the time but I tend to have a low self-esteem. Tonight, while eating the pasta I felt like I had accomplished something amazing. Hopefully some of you try this recipe and experience that feeling for yourself.  Ok. Let's get to it.




Ingredients
Whole wheat penne
About 5 or 6 asparagus spears
1 1/2 yellow squash chopped
1 white onion cut into medium size strips
4-5 cloves of garlic (not peeled. If you roast them in the peels you get a much better outcome than roasting them peeled)
6-7 baby bell peppers sliced
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic pepper


Creamy pesto ingredients
1/3 cup of cashews
8 basil leaves
A small bunch of parsley
Almond milk
Granulated garlic
Crushed red pepper
3 pieces of roasted red peppers (for this I used ones from a jar)
A couple of the roasted onion slices
The roasted garlic cloves

Veggies before

Veggies after

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly Pam two baking sheets. Put your veggies on the baking sheets and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with garlic pepper. Put in the oven and roast while you are making the pesto. When your veggies look close to being done (about 30 minutes or so) boil your water and cook your pasta. You can salt your pasta water to avoid salting the pasta after cooking. (Jackson prefers it that way). 

Put the cashews in the food processor and process until they are completely chopped into a fine almost powdery substance. Then add the herbs. Process some more and then add a little almond milk. You want it to be thick and creamy so add sparingly. Process some more then add the granulated garlic, crushed red pepper and the roasted red peppers (I think the jarred peppers work better for the sauce and process some more. Take out the garlic and peel it and add it to the pesto mixture. Add some of the roasted onion slices and process till completely creamy.

Chop the asparagus into bite size pieces

Drain your pasta, put back in the pot and add all the roasted veggies. You will need to cut up the asparagus spears into small pieces. Then add the sauce and mix. Be careful to not tear the penne. That's it. I am not lying when I say that I felt guilty after eating it because it was so creamy and I could swear there was cheese and oil in it. But there wasn't. It was full of whole grain pasta, vegetables and nuts and herbs. Delicious but full of nutrition!

Bon Appetit!

Salad takes center stage

When we think of a salad we think of it as an appetizer or a side dish to accompany a meal. By the time we are done pouring on the salad dressing our healthy side dish now packs more calories and fat than our main course! I have dabbled in homemade salad dressings in the past but since we have embraced Eat To Live I am making new ones every week. A salad can be a delicious and healthy main course. Don't be afraid to make a salad with lots of vegetables and herbs. Salads should be fun. And you can't eat too many vegetables so go nuts!

I am getting over being sick and wanted something light and easy for dinner. I thought a salad with roasted balsamic chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and shrimp would satisfy quite nicely.


Salad Ingredients


Chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 yellow squash chopped small
1 tomato diced
5 green onions diced
Snow pea pods cut in half
3-4 fresh basil leaves diced
Bean sprouts (the lovely Natalie Royster-Jensen grew her own and shared with me)
1 can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
Balsamic vinegar
Pepper
Pam non stick spray
Shrimp medium sized pealed and deveined tails removed
Granulated garlic
Lime juice


Dressing ingredients


Lime juice
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Water
1 tbsp of Tahini
1/2 tbsp of olive oil
Pepper
Basil
Parsley
Agave nectar (just a drizzle)

They will be dry and just starting to split

Coat a baking sheet with Pam and pour the garbanzo beans onto the baking sheet and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with pepper. Push the beans around on the pan till they are well coated. Put in the oven and broil till the liquid is gone and beans have started to split. I have a low and high broil setting so I started on low then switched to high for a few minutes then they were done. 

Boil the shrimp till pink and no longer translucent. Drain and put back in the pot but removed from heat. Sprinkle with granulated garlic, pepper and lime juice. 

Shrimp take just a couple minutes to cook 

In a big bowl add the lettuce, basil and veggies.

And now for the dressing! If you don't have Tahini don't worry. You can make the dressing without it. But Tahini is excellent in salad dressings, hummus and Mediterranean cooking. To find it go to the peanut butter section of your grocery store. We looked for it forever! Who would have thought it would be there??? But now you know so you won't be wandering around the store looking for Tahini!  :)

Save dressing in fridge for up to 1 week

Put all the ingredients for the dressing except the water into a food processor. I didn't put measurements on the vinegars and lime juice because it varies depending on your tastes and how much dressing you want. Practice and experiment. Blend well. Add water if needed. 

Lightly pour some dressing on the salad and mix well. This allows you to lightly dress the whole salad and not overdress it. Add the roasted chickpeas. Serve on plates with the shrimp on top.

You don't have to adapt the whole Eat to Live lifestyle to start eating more healthy. We all can benefit from eating more fruits and vegetables. Instead of sticking your salad on the sidelines, try moving it center stage as the main course! 

Brussel Sprouts and Beans

Jackson wanted me to make something with Brussel sprouts for dinner. He had bought a bunch and then we got more in the bountiful basket. I was thinking of making a soup in the crock pot with some dried beans. I decided to still do the bean soup but add Brussel sprouts as well. It turned out great. It may seem weird but each ingredient complimented each other well.


Ingredients


about 2 cups of dried beans (I used the miscellaneous bulk dried beans from Winco)
2 boxes of broth (vegetable, chicken, whatever you have or like to cook with)
about 1 cup of carrot juice (my new favorite cooking liquid!)
2 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
a few basil leaves and oregano leaves (fresh or dry but if using fresh dice up small)
some ground cumin
granulated garlic
Salt or salt substitute
Pepper 
Brussel Sprouts (end cut off and cut in half)
1 Peeled and chopped sweet potato
1/2 white onion chopped
celery diced
dried habanero flakes or red pepper flakes (Optional for a little heat)




I put the beans, broth, bay leaves, herbs, carrot juice and seasonings in the crockpot around 11:00am on high. At around 3:30pm I added the rest of the ingredients and let it cook an additional 2 hours. 

The Brussel Sprout is one of those vegetables that has a bad rap. It is really just a tiny delicious cabbage like vegetable but most people associate it as being yucky. It is a wonderful versatile little vegetable full of nutrients. I usually rinse the Brussel Sprouts and then cut the end off and peel the first layer off and discard. Then cut in half. 

I peeled the sweet potato and cut it into thirds to make it easier to chop so I didn't chop off a finger. 

I am usually not allowed to use knives unsupervised. Ha ha. Funny but true!

Many people don't cook with bay leaves. You can buy a bag of dried bay leaves in the spice aisle usually by the Mexican ingredients. They keep for a long time. Or you can buy the fresh and dry the ones you don't use to use later. My mom is an excellent cook. One of the many things she has taught me over the years is to save the inside of the celery stalk. The tender inside of the celery with the leaves are a great addition to any meal. Just chop and add to the dish for some extra flavor. 

Make sure to take out the bay leaves before serving. They should stay whole or if they to break apart it is usually in half and they are quite easy to remove. This was a great soup full of flavor and absolutely guilt free. Full of nutrients but not lacking any taste or flavor. Feel free to substitute any ingredients or change it up. You see I don't measure and you will rarely see measurements from me. I just add and taste and add and taste. Everyone's taste buds are different. Experiment and have fun in the kitchen. Don't be afraid to try new things!

Food for thought....

I am sitting here wondering how to write my first blog. Words usually come so easily to me. I am rarely speechless. Call it writers block. Call it bloggers block? So I guess I will just type and see what happens! I have always loved food. I am not picky. I pretty much love all food. Which is good and bad. My life has always revolved around food. Like when I was 2 and asked Santa for Kentucky Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Or how every vacation we plan is around what restaurants we are going to go to. I can tell you every fantastic meal I have had in my life. I can tell you every horrible meal I have had in my life. I can tell you what we ate for dinner last week. I can tell you what we had for Valentine's Day last year at Franck's. Needless to say I also wasn't very active my whole life. I was a book worm. I loved to read and write. Combine that with a love of food and it is no wonder I was always a little heavier than my friends growing up. And then as I got older I was a lot heavier. Both my husband and I love food. And in the past 10 years together we have loved a LOT of food together. The past few years have been spent trying to get healthy. Working out more. Eating less "Bad" foods and more "Good" foods. Recently we decided we can still have a love affair with food. But we needed to change our mindset. I read Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live. Changed our outlook on food. We have eliminated dairy from our diet and only eat a few ounces of fish or shrimp or chicken a week. Our cupboards are full of beans, grains, nuts and seeds. Our refrigerator is full of vegetables, almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk. Our counter is full of fresh fruits. The weight is falling off and we have never felt better. The hardest part is not getting bored. When  you eliminate dairy and meat the first thing that comes to mind is what the hell am I going to eat? Well we have made Thai Coconut Lime Vegetable Curry, Black Bean Burgers with baked Sweet Potato Fries, Vegetarian Taco Salads, Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash, Vegetarian Chili and many more healthy plant based meals. Each one more delicious than the next. Full of spice and flavor and nutrients galore. So now our food obsession has taken a different turn in the road of life. We are excited about Bok Choy instead of feta cheese. 

 Hummus makes me giddy instead of a really nice piece of Swiss Cheese.

 Homemade "ice cream" made with almond, soy or coconut milk fully satisfies instead of chocolate or actual ice cream. 

My first blog is about done. It was fun and I think this will be a new hobby of mine. Look for more blogs to come full of healthy yet completely delicious recipes and meal ideas!