All Week

We did really, really well this week! Every single night was good food. Not completely raw but still good :)
Monday
Spicy Carrot Salad, Red Potatoes
shredded carrots
fresh minced garlic
rosemary, salt, pepper, cayenne
water
lemon juice
olive oil
sweet apple, sliced and cored, not peeled


Microwave the carrots and garlic until crisp-tender. Drain. Mix in the apple slices. Add lemon juice and olive oil. Add rosemary, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Put in the fridge about 10 minutes and serve. It's not as spicy as it's supposed to be because I didn't put some ingredients that the original recipe called for. I don't remember what they are now! Oh well, I don't like it too spicy anyway.  

Tuesday 

Dinner Salad, Chicken Pot Pie

Pillsbury pie crust
butter
carrots, diced
green beans
peas
white onion, diced
red onion, diced
cream of mushroom
cream of chicken
3 chicken breasts
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grill the chicken breasts in olive oil until cooked almost all the way through so it's still juicy and not dry when it comes out of the oven. Shred or cube the chicken. Mix the chicken in with the veggies, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken.(I usually use fresh veggies, but being in a rush, I used a can this time). Rub butter in your pie pan so the crust doesn't stick to it. Put in your pie crust. Pour in your mix. Cover with the top of the pie crust and crimp the edges together. Using a knife, cut an X all the way through the top and poke holes in each quarter. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool a while and then serve! It's one of Jason's favorites because it tastes unhealthy but is actually good. It tastes like we're cheating!

Wednesday
Black Beans, Greek Cucumber Salad

Black beans, soaked over night
Corn kernels
Red bell pepper,  diced
Carrots, diced
Red onion, diced
White onion, diced
Garlic, minced
Salt, pepper
Water
 This is pretty easy it just takes planning. Put it all together in a crock pot on low for about 24 hours. You have to soak the black beans two days before you want to eat this then put it in the crock pot the day before you want to eat this. Other than the planning, it's super easy.

Thursday 

Thin Crust Veggie Pizza, Greek Cucumber Salad

1/2 cucumber, sliced
Baby spinach
Feta
Red onion, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/2
Green olives, cut in 1/2
Salt, pepper
Lemon juice
Olive Oil

Mix it together and enjoy. It's pretty easy and absolutely delicious. It's takes a little prep work but not very much.

(I don't have a picture of the pizza, sadly)
Pillsbury thin crust
Red onion, sliced
Fresh rosemary
Fresh arugula
Olive oil
Balsamic vinaigrette
Feta
Salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cook the onion in olive oil until soft. Add vinaigrette. Cook until caramelized. Spread out crust on a baking sheet. Crush the feta over the crust until it is mostly covered. You can have a crust if you like but I spread the cheese all the way to the edge. Add caramelized onions and bake for 5-7 minutes. Take out and sprinkle some olive oil across the pizza. Add the rosemary and arugula on top. Bake another 5-7 minutes. Take it out and cool a little bit until you can slice it up and enjoy. You don't want to cut it right away because the cheese will slide a bit and make the toppings askew.

 Friday
Asparagus Artichoke Salad

15 oz marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
Fresh asparagus
Salt, pepper
Red onion, diced
Cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/2
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Lemon juice
Olive oil

 Preheat oven to 450 F. Soak the onion in lemon juice for about 5 minutes. Lay out asparagus on a baking sheet. Cover in olive oil and salt well. Bake 10-15 minutes or until soft. Mix everything else together while you wait. When the asparagus is finished, take it out of the oven and let it cool until you can touch it. Cut it into bit sized pieces and mix it in with the rest. It's pretty much amazing. This is my favorite thing I've eaten all week long. It was super filling, super delicious, super easy, and all around good. This just might become a staple in my diet.

Today was nothing but left overs. Tomorrow probably won't be too good because of the Super Bowl but oh well. I think after such a fantastic week, and Jason's birthday being tomorrow, we can let Sunday slip by without guilt :)


'Til next time!!

A Little Behind

Sorry I'm a little late!! Friday night was good stuff... kinda. It wasn't super delicious but I had to use up the mustard greens.
2 cups fresh mustard greens
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped white onion
salt pepper
coconut oil
put it all in a pan and saute until tender ~20 minutes.

Saturday, lunch was DELICIOUS but oh so bad for you. Church's fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, oh my oh my! It tasted so yummy!!! But we all (my parents visited this weekend) felt like taking a nap afterwards because it was heavy.

Saturday dinner was about the same as Friday dinner except with spinach and in a sammich.

Yesterday, Sunday, dinner, we ate leftovers and grilled cheese sammiches.



Today, I again tried some new stuff and this time it turned out pretty terrific! Red Potato Stir Fry again from last week because it was so tasty. And also a spicy carrot salad. I got it from a website that I visit often and changed some stuff.
Spicy-ish Carrot Salad
1 cup shredded carrots
2 minced fresh garlic
salt  & pepper
1 sweet apple, cored, not peeled
water
lemon juice
olive oil

Put the carrots and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and put your water in (just enough to cover the carrots). Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until the carrots are kinda soft (you still want them to be kinda crunchy too so not too long!). While you're waiting for the carrots, core your apple and cut it up thinly into 1/4 inch slices. Once the carrots are done, drain them and mix in with the apples. In a separate container, mix 1 part lemon juice and 1 part olive oil. Add salt and pepper. (I also added cayenne pepper and onion powder). Toss the carrots and apples in the lemon juice mix. Put in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to serve it cold.

That's all folks!! I hope you enjoy!

Destruction and Simple

Last night, was destruction of all things delicious. Okay, maybe not all things delicious, but it was destruction of the delicious things on my stove, at the very least!
I attempted to make veggie wraps. Here was the supposed to be recipe:

2 large mustard green leaves
2 cups of cooked and seasoned rice
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup of dice tomatoes
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
some cheese

spread out the mustard greens. place the rice down first in a line in the center. then put your veggies on, then the salsa, then the cheese. roll it up like a burrito and enjoy.

sounds good, right? WRONG! the greens tasted more bitter than i anticipated, the rice was dry and awful because i have yet to find all the parts to the rice cooker so i made them the old fashioned way in a pot. the salsa was terrible and i ran out of tomato. so instead of trying to fix it, which would have been the better option, we went to an asian buffet. yes!! we went out to eat, stuffed ourselves with fried things and sweet things and a few green beans (to make me feel less guilty). then, to make it worse, we stopped by mcdonalds and got ICE CREAM!!! gah! i couldn't sleep a wink last night! i felt so heavy, and so slow, after only a week of eating right, one night of eating poorly affected me greatly. so tonight, to keep it simple, i made an old stand by: SAMMICHES!! it doesn't really need a recipe, so i'll just tell you the order i put things in :)

bread (top)
avocado
spinach (kale for jason)
white onion
cucumber
tomato
spinach (kale for jason)
avocado
bread (bottom)

it was basically delicious and it gave me energy rather than making me groan and wish i were laying down to sleep! well, i learned my lesson. even if i screw up dinner (which will happen again, i'm sure), try and try again because an asian buffet is never a good idea.

til next time!!

Deliciousness

Last night's dinner was just as excellent as Monday's and perhaps a little more healthy because it was more raw!

Pimento Spinach Salad

2 cups of fresh spinach
2 tablespoons of jarred pimentos
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

toss it all together until the olive oil covers all the spinach. the pimento is heavier than the olive oil so it might be better to put it on top after you've plated the salad. very simple, my favorite kind of recipe!

Red Potato Stir Fry

coconut oil
3 medium sized red potatoes (or 5 small ones, or 2 large ones)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped red and yellow bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped red and white onion
salt and pepper to taste

melt your oil in your sauce pan until it covers the bottom. add salt and pepper. quarter the red potatoes and stir fry them until you can easily stick a fork all the way through. they're already pretty soft before you cook them so it shouldn't take long. after you can stick your fork in the potato, add your bell pepper and onion. mix them around some just to get them sort of soft. you want them to still be their fresh color in order to keep the crunch and nutrition. plate it and enjoy!

again, the lunch and breakfast are nothing fancy so I won't bore you with those!

I'm back!!

After a long, long time of not blogging, I have returned to my faithful followers (which include myself and Jason) to share the wealth of health that I am discovering through mostly raw foods!! First up, lemme tell ya just how sophisticated my dinner was last night :)
Alaskan Salmon
1 lb fresh Alaskan Salmon
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
olive oil

just grill it! cover the bottom of your skillet with olive oil. put it flesh side down on low heat until it is about 1/2 way cooked through then flip it skin side down and wait until it's finished. move it every now and then to keep if from sticking. squirt a little lemon juice over the top and enjoy! (I didn't do the lemon part because I didn't have any. It was delicious anyway!

Creamy Spinach
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced or chopped mushrooms

melt your coconut oil in the skillet. add your salt and pepper and stir. add mushrooms and stir fry until cooked through. add spinach and stir fry together with the mushrooms until dark green. do not cook too long or it will be wilty. you still want some crunch in it. take it off heat and place on a plate. using a paper towel, soak up excess oil. add a tiny bit of parmesan cheese. and stir up.

Of course, to make it more sophisticated, we had a glass of pino grigio to go with it. unfortunately, we're not wine folks, so it kinda went to waste!! oh well. dr. pepper or tea is good enough for me :)


well, that's all for now!! the rest of my meals this time around have been usual: veggie sammiches and green smoothies :)

til next time!!

Leftovers :)

Ya for another post! Horay!
Last time I said something about cornbread. That I had never made it from scratch. Well, my wonderful cousin Jodi corrected me. She gave me the recipe and I made it and it was delicious and it was easy.
1 cup flour 1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup of sugar more if you want it sweeter
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
4 tsp baking powder
Mix the dry ingredients first. Cook it at 425 until it is done.


Now for Thanksgiving things. I have never cooked a Thanksgiving meal before this year. I have to say, I think I did a pretty wonderful job. I cooked a 10 pound turkey. Yes, a whole turkey, not turkey meat from the store that's already made. I actually took a frozen turkey, took out the what-what and baked it. Lemme tell ya how :)

What you need:
a turkey
some apple juice
an injected
an oven bag
an oven

I took the apple juice and injected the meat with it. Then I poured and rubbed some on the outside and under the skin. Then I just followed the directions on the oven bag. It was pretty easy. I also made a very unique gravy type thing. It ended up being more of a sauce than a gravy but it complimented the turkey very well.

What you need:
2 large, ripe tomatoes
1 cup apple juice
2 medium sweet apples (peeled and cored)
olive oil
honey (to taste)
Worcestershire sauce (to taste)

Cut up and then puree the tomatoes and apples until very very smooth. Heat up in a sauce pan with your apple juice, olive oil, honey, and worcestershire sauce. You might want to add a little bit of salt but I wouldn't put much. Once it's nice and warm, turn it down to simmer and let it cook until nice and thick. I had to keep adding honey and apple juice because I didn't think it was sweet enough yet so you might want to taste it often and add things until it's just right for you.

I also made a veggie thingy ma-jig that was pretty tasty and extremely easy to make. I'm sure it would be more tasty with fresh veggies but canned is just plain cheaper this time of year.

1 can corn
1 can string beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can green beans

Just put them all in a pot and add a little rosemary and thyme. There's already plenty of salt in the cans, so don't add any.

The rest of the dinner was from other people bringing food. We had sweet potato pie, green spaghetti, mashed potatoes, rolls, and cranberry sauce. There were plenty of leftovers. This was for the ASL class I teach. For my family Thanksgivings, I didn't cook nearly as much. Actually, I didn't cook at all. For my step mom's family, I forgot to bring something but everything else was delicious. For my dad's family, I made salad (lettuce, cheese, and croutons). For my husband's family, we went to Luby's. I did take leftovers from my family Thanksgivings so my fridge is full of food. Not healthy food, like the kind this site is dedicated to, but food. Starting later this week, we'll get back to the recipes I normally make :)

Healthy Yummms

So I am definitely a slacker blogger. When I didn't have a life, it was easy to post every other day or close to it. Now it's every few months. Eep! We are eating healthy, mostly (we had mac & cheese on Monday) and allowing cravings daily (we have a cheese snack with lunch) I'm just not posting new recipes. I'm gonna do better! Probably. Maybe. We'll see....
For dinner tonight:

Pepper Onion Rice
1 teaspoon habanero pepper
1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon red bell pepper
1 tablespoon red onion
1 tablespoon white onion
1 teaspoon green onion
2 cups rice
some sausage :)
salt and pepper to taste

Finely dice all your peppers and onions. Cut up your sausage into however big you wanna (I like slices but you can do chunks). Throw it all in while your rice is cooking and add your salt and pepper. The flavor of the peppers and onions will cook into the rice and sausage so you don't really need other spices. If you'd like to add them, I'd go easy and only use the basics like rosemary and thyme.

Jalapeno Corn Bread
I make a lot of things from scratch and it ends up being just as easy to make and is more delicious but corn bread is just plain easier from a box. It's the taste I grew up loving and honestly, I'm not that great with bread things from scratch. So to make jalapeno corn bread, you get a box of corn bread and follow the directions. The you slice up some jalapeno. Pour the juice into your batter. Put your batter into your pan and stick the sliced jalapeno into it where ever ya please. Bake and enjoy :)

When everything's ready, put a slice of cornbread into a bowl and put the rice on top. It's delicious. Save left over corn bread for breakfast in the morning. Here's the recipe for the best cereal ever. My daddy made this for me often growing up and I'm hooked.

Corn Bread Cereal
Put cold corn bread in a bowl and crush it so it's a big pile of crumbs. Add a splash of milk and sprinkle some sugar. I haven't tried this for jalapeno cornbread but it sure is tasty with sweet corn bread. Guess I'll find out tomorrow morning!

Well, that's all for now. I'll update ya tomorrow, perhaps. Or next week. You never really know with a lazy lady like myself :)