Fancy scrambled eggs

Ok, they're not fancy, and I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this either, but I feel kind of silly for not thinking it sooner! Since we started eating healthy, my breakfast options dwindled significantly...like, no more cereal, sandwiches, oatmeal (yuck, anyway), french toast, etc.
So the go to is eggs, and usually scrambled because what's easier?
But eating eggs day in and day out gets SUPER boring so I just starting throwing stuff in.
First I started easy with "omelet" ingredients. I threw in a little green pepper and onion and called it a day. There are so many things that you can do with scrambled eggs, it's not even funny. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Cheese (duh!) green peppers, onions, and ham
2. fresh spinach (this was super good)
3. oregano (gives it just a little extra kick - it's all it needs)
4. asparagus (goes good as a side with plain scrambled eggs)
5. top with homemade salsa
6. top with avocado

What do you put in your scrambled eggs?

Homemade Salsa

Did you notice all the yuckies in store-bought salsa? All the unpronouncable ingredients and sugar.. now tell me why salsa (the one that's not SUPPOSED to be sweet) has freaking sugar in it?
Salsa is just as versatile as you can imagine, you can literally throw everything in there. We like ours a little spicy, and our favorite combination is:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of green chillies
(if those two items are in season, get them fresh!!)
1 tsp. cumin
a squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp. dried cilantro (i'm not a huge fan of cilantro, but use fresh if you like it!)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sweet onion
1 clove garlic
Combine all ingredients and pulse a few times in food processor.
Enjoy knowing all the ingredients in your salsa!

Healing from within

I've been feeling a little under the weather. I know when something is coming on, and usually I will take over the counter medication to try to contain whatever is attacking my body. Being that I'm nursing though, I can't take most of the cold medication out there (nor do I want that stuff in my body anymore anyway). The only way I know how to heal my body naturally is with food. Yes, you heard right.
I'm currently reading the book It starts with food. One of the quotes that struck me:

"The food you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy. Those are your options. There is no food neutral."

So in good food fashion I juiced a disgusting amount of fruits and vegetables and let the vitamins and nutrients do their thing. I also made a smoothie with things I'm not able to juice like banana and spinach (you can juice spinach, but I feel like I get more with the smoothie). And sure enough after just one day of feeling sluggish and that awful "I'm coming down with something" feeling, I started to get more energy, my throat wasn't as scratchy, and my nose unplugged. Two days later, I never did come down with that "something."
And the other amazing thing is, baby is getting all of this through my milk as well, rather than over the counter medications.
The power of food is amazing!

Cauliflower-crust pizza

When we were doing our 30 day challenge, we had a hard time finding something that would substitute pizza. We did try "meatza" which was disgusting. It was basically a crust made out of ground beef and egg and it was thick and crunchy and ..just gross. I don't know how people eat that stuff.
As we are eating mostly gluten-free and still trying to avoid grains, I was still inclined to find a reasonable substitute.
We had just gone out to get pizza the night before, and since nothing compares, I was sure this was going to be a flop. Much to my surprise, not only was this recipe delicious, but Husband even said he'd it again. (As a matter of fact, I've got a cauliflower crust, baking in the oven right now!)
We followed this recipe, but added some veggies to ours.
I highly urge you to try this yummy alternative to pizza. It's delicious.
Here's the recipe:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/08/the-astonishing-cauliflower-pizza-crust-you-have-to-taste-it-to-believe-it.html

And here's our version:

Cauliflower Rice

I'm happy to report that we're still eating healthy for the most part. 90% of what we consume is natural, organic, gluten-free or grain free. Yes, it is a little more expensive. No, Husband has not given up pizza.
What works for us is moderation. We allow ourselves to have pizza every now and then in exchange for not eating starches and grains every day. Also, I have stopped buying processed foods and breads. It has been an adjustment not eating sandwiches, but honestly I don't miss them all that much.
It truly has been a lifestyle change, and I don't actually have a hard time saying "no" to certain foods as I thought I would. If I do cheat, it's not for the day. It might be a meal, or a side, or something that is not a huge variation from what I eat anyway.
I actually feel better body, mind, and soul. I guess you really are what you eat!!
Since rice was a huge staple in our diet, I was happy to find Cauliflower "Rice" which more so has the consistency of couscous.

You'll need:
1 head of cauliflower
1 egg
2t Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
1 small onion
1 clove garlic

Remove stems from cauliflower and pulse in food processor until it has a "rice-y" consistency. (It really only takes seconds)
In a heated pan, saute onion and garlic with a little olive oil. Once soft, add cauliflower, egg, and seasoning. Mix everything together and keep mixing well so that the egg "scrambles." (you won't even notice it!) Cook on medium until soft.

I served my cauliflower rice with a side of shrimp ( I bought the frozen, pre-cooked kind.) You can use whatever you like, but I threw some Oregano, Parsley, Salt and Pepper, and Cumin in a bowl and tossed the shrimp in it. Then added worcestershire and lemon juice in the pan. Yum!

Challenge update

Our 30 day diet challenge ended about a week ago and I'm happy to report the results: husband lost 14 pounds and I lost 7 (darn men!)
But the best part of it is that we actually continue to eat the Paleo way most of the time. Yes, it's only been a week since we've finished and I understand most diets soon fall to the wayside, but for
 us the benefit has been huge. I personally have more energy, feel fuller longer, and obviously the weight loss has been a bonus. I actually cheated about two days before the diet ended (husband ate my lunch ...sabotage?) and had myself a bowl of pasta. The entire time it was cooking, my little carbohydrate loving heart was sighing sounds of love and endearment ...and then.... It didn't taste so good..and it made my stomach hurt...and I was hungry a mere hour later. Drats!

Here's a quickie recipe for my go to breakfast and quick lunch :
(There's a few varieties of this recipe floating around the Internet, but I tweaked a few things and this is my fave version)

Paleo banana pancakes

2 bananas
1T coconut flour
2 eggs
1T almond butter (I tried this with peanut butter when I was out of almond butter...not the same but it would do if you're in a crunch)
1t vanilla
1t cinnamon
Coconut oil
Agave nectar

Mix all ingredients together except coconut oil and one of the bananas. Melt some coconut oil in a hot pan and pour a spoonful of batter in the pan  ( if you make your pancakes too thick, they will fall apart. Make sure one side is well done, otherwise they won't flip). This makes about 4 pancakes or one serving, they're very filling.
Cut up the other banana and top pancakes. I like agave nectar on top, but raw maple syrup would do, if you prefer.

They are pretty versatile, you can add nuts or berries, whatever you like. I'm obsessed with these. Enjoy!

Halfway there

To my three loyal readers (hi mom!), don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you!! Life's just been busy, that's all.
We're halfway done with our paleo-ish diet!! I can't believe we've stuck with it for two weeks already!! It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be until a couple of days ago, right before the half-way mark. But, only two more weeks to go! I  can do this. The hardest thing in the beginning was figuring out what to eat. Now I don't even meal plan anymore. I stick some sort of vegetable with a meat, and we have a meal. Not much to it when you can't use half the ingredients in the pantry. I haven't missed bread or rice or potatoes as much as I thought I would, which is interesting considering I lived off that stuff.
The most surprising aspect of this has been the hunger. That was one of my main concerns in the beginning because I've always associated it as diet = hunger.
But I can eat one small meal a day along with breakfast and a snack and be totally fine! Full, even.
There have been some recipes I've tried that have worked, others were mediocre, and one was so terrible that I could barely get through it. (paleo-leans or whatever you call yourselves, you've royally screwed up "meatza")
I have lost some weight, although for me this journey has been more about cutting out processed foods than weight loss, and Husband wants to wait the full month before weighing himself.
All in all, what I learned is that it's super easy to "cut the crap" so to say, and I will continue to cook like this even after our diet is over.
Will I ever eat a grain again?
Please, if you know me at all, you know I can't stay away from a warm baked potato topped with melty butter and sour cream.
But I saw a quote the other day that struck me:

 

"It's not what you do some of the time, it's what you do most of the time."

If I apply that to food, I'll have a good base for healthy eating without having to torture myself watching other people eat cake.

Resolutions

Well it's a new year, and as always I make a resolution to eat healthier and exercise. As always, this falls to the wayside by January 2nd. Exercising has never been my thing, no matter what I try. Doing videos at home alone is a bore, and gym memberships are too expensive. Even when I lived in an apartment and we had a free gym available to us 20 feet from our complex, I'd always make excuses as to why I couldn't make it down there... "it's too cold to walk there, it's dumb to drive around the corner, it's too hot to walk there, my show is on,...etc..."
As you know, my eating habits haven't been the best, and my goal was to incorporate one healthy meal a week to start out. But since it's the new year I figured what the heck, we'll (by we I mean I'm dragging my husband into this kicking and screaming) just do a 30 healthy eating challenge. I keep hearing all of these great things about the Paleo diet so we're going to try that out. ..kind of ... we're doing the 30 day Paleo-ish diet. I'll cut out all grains  (rice, bread, taco shells, etc....pretty much my entire pantry), as well as potatoes. OH, potatoes!! If nutritionally possible, I would live off of potatoes alone. I don't know how my poor potato eating soul is going to survive this, but that's the point of a challenge, right?
The reason I added the "ish" at the end is because we are not cutting out dairy, and we will be limiting sugar rather than eliminating it.
I just finished our meal planning for the month, and am excited to embark on this challenge starting Sunday. Wish me luck!! I'll blog about our progress.
Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

Stuffed Peppers

The heavens have parted, the angels are singing, and pigs are flying...not really, but pretty darn close. My mom, The Cook, asked ME for a recipe. And no, not out of pity!

Normally I make what I lovingly dubbed "unstuffed peppers" meaning I throw a bunch of tomato sauce, peppers, meat and rice in a pot and serve it with a heaping side of mashed potatoes.

side of mashed potatoes. seriously.

In order to try to make things a little healthier, I tried something new. I know things can be even more healthy, but that's not the point... baby steps!
Also, disclaimer: by no means is this a food blog, so don't expect any spectacular pictures like over at my mom's blog.

Ingredients:

4 Green Peppers
1 cup rice (i used jasmine, brown would be better, none would be best)
1/2 can corn
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning ..I made my own
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey if you prefer, but I do get all my meat from a local butcher and it's all hormone-free)
1/2 onion
Shredded cheese - I used Mexican 5-cheese
Green beans

Preheat oven to 400. Brown meat and cook rice. Chop onion and throw in with the ground beef so it softens.
Prepare your green peppers, cutting them in half length-wise and de-seeding.

Brush the peppers with olive oil and stick 'em in the oven for 20 minutes.
Now that your meat is done, pour can of tomato sauce in the pan, some salt and pepper, and the taco seasoning and mix together. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine cooked rice, meat mixture, corn, and black beans. My husband hates beans so I smushed them up with a fork, and he never noticed.

Stuff peppers with mixture and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes or until peppers are soft. Cover with shredded cheese and leave in oven until melted. Serve with a side of green beans. Yum!

You can find many variations of homemade taco seasoning online, but here's the recipe I used:
Equal parts cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder, and 1/2 part red pepper. Mix together and store what you don't use.

My husband ate lettuce!

Let me tell you something: Aside from green beans, Husband refuses to eat anything remotely green. So when I suggested that we eat lettuce wraps, and he agreed, I practically fell over and ran out the door to gather supplies for dinner, lest he change his mind.
I ground some chickpeas in the food processor, made a dijon mustard dressing (dijon mustard, olive oil, cumin, and paprika), and Husband made the chicken.
He did also make green beans as a side. We wrapped it up nice and snug into a lettuce leaf and it wasn't half bad.
At least it was a good protein kick, if nothing else.
Few things I wish I'd have done differently:
1. Different sauce - the dijon didn't do it for me and I wish I had some Tahini, I think it would have been perfect.
2. More veggies - I forgot to get tomatoes, and didn't have enough green peppers (saving them for stuffed peppers later this week). Baby was unhappy since it was past her bedtime, so we got too lazy to cut up the onions once we calmed her down.
3. Avoid chickpeas - they weren't terrible, but I've never cared for them. The only reason I threw them in is because people seem to love them and put them in practically everything. I don't get it.

All in all, a half-way successfull "healthy meal of the week". Now that I know Husband actually liked this, I'll try it again, with a few different ingredients. Lettuce wraps can be pretty versatile and I'm excited to see what combo we'll come up with next!

Small changes

Normally when I delve into something, I go at it full force. I've had to step back a bit with wanting to change our lifestyle because, well, it can't be done overnight. It is a commitment and an ongoing learning experience and I feel like if I change everything all at once, it'll be too much and I'll give up. But this is important to me to make a better life for my daughter and for husband and I's quality of life as well. I want it to be second nature for her to pick veggies over french fries when we go to a restaurant.

It's about the small changes; first off, I want to try to eliminate as much plastic as I can from our home. When I saw my measuring cup start to crack from overuse, I could just picture all the toxic chemicals leaching out of it.
I bought a glass one and if one can be in love with a measuring cup, I am.
Also, I was keeping frozen breastmilk in the freezer inside a tupperware container. It was way too small, and I kept having to use multiples. In search for a bigger container, I also bought glass.
I know that as small as it is, it is making a difference and before I know it, it will become second nature to me as well.

As far as healthy eating goes, to me healthy eating is not about fat-free foods and shredding calories. It is about eating clean food, knowing where it comes from, and minimizing/eliminating boxed foods that have ingredients no one can pronounce.


If you're wondering what happened to the avocado from last week, it never did ripen: It eventually grew some things, and walked itself to the trash can.
Since it's college football day at our house, I was determined to give it another go. I found ripe avocado at the store today (though I'm willing to bet it was the same avocado that was sitting there last week) and made yummy guacamole. My husband doesn't like guacamole, so I made buffalo chicken dip for us as well.
To my surprise, I preferred the guacamole over the dip and devoured the whole thing.
Husband tried it and said "it's not horrible." I assure you that's a small victory.

 

Knowing my kitchen history, I'm sure you're dying for a recipe from me, but I didn't actually have to cook anything so it doesn't count. ;)

 

 

I didn't measure anything, but for one serving I used:

 

1 avocado

Juice from one lime

a pinch of salt and pepper

about 1/3 cup of chopped sweet onion

One small tomato, chopped

a pinch of cumin and chili powder (this was a new addition for me, and is a combination of two different recipes I found for guac, I think it made a huge difference in taste from my previous guac)

 

Mash the avocado, mix all ingredients together, enjoy!

 



Ratatouille

You're hoping that I'm talking about the movie... no such luck. I know I know, by now you'd think I'd have learned my lesson and just stay out of the kitchen already.
I won't give up in my quest for healthy eating and as I was telling my husband last night, we're going to be in for a rude awakening once baby starts on solids here in a few months. Let's just say there aren't going to be any pureed french fries and chicken nuggets... my little nugget is only going to get the good stuff!
Anyway, the ratatouille wasn't that bad. It was a learning experience, and I know what to do differently next time. I did throw it in the oven (like in the movie, though not as pretty) rather than doing it on the stove top and using a bunch of oil to cook the veggies. 
The recipe called for a seasoning called herbes de provence.. I had never heard of it, but happened to have it in my spice carousel we received for our wedding. So I generously dumped sprinkled it onto the veggies.
I proudly made the tomato sauce myself, and it tasted delicious... it was the only thing that was delicious.
The veggies came out of the oven and the colors were beautiful and vibrant. As I poured it onto our plates for dinner I could tell the texture was perfect. And then we bit into the yummy goodness...
...and almost spit it riiiight back out. Husband and I looked at each other and he said "this has a really weird taste." Yup.
It was the seasoning...I used quite a bit and it made the dish taste very bitter.
Next time I'll stick with basil.

The disaster that's my kitchen

I was going to post a yummy guacamole recipe today, since our normal go-to snack on football sundays is queso from a jar. Queso from a jar has 26 ingredients, half of which I can't pronounce.
I knew when I bought the avocado yesterday that it wasn't quite ripe.. none of them were.. no big deal. I thought they'd ripen some in a day... so I go to cut into it and cut all the way through...and  cut through the pit ..eeeh.. that's never happened before. I poke the avocado - rock.hard. crap! So I google how to ripen avocados quickly.. someone said nuke em in the microwave for 1 minute...ooooook.. (didn't work). Someone else said put lemon juice on em and stick em in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap... currently waiting to see what will sprout out of my surely not going to get ripe avocados. sigh....

Fast forward to this evening.
Me to husband: We've got those two bananas that are getting pretty brown. Maybe I should make banana bread?
Husband: I don't think you should do anything pertaining to cooking.
(is it that bad?)
Husband: I'd rather eat brown bananas, I don't want you to ruin them. But at least set the timer this time.
(it is that bad, apparently).

SO, I'm determined to make a healthy version of banana bread and lo and behold I found this recipe.
I didn't have whole wheat flour but didn't think it was a big deal, I'll just sub all-purpose. Also, I don't have those cute bundt pans, so I halved the recipe and stuck it in a loaf pan. I go to get the greek yogurt and don't have an original one... only strawberry and blueberry... umm, I guess it's going to be blueberry-banana bread.

In goes the blueberry yogurt. On another note, I guess I could have just scraped off the top since the blueberries are on the bottom...hindsight.

 

 

Baby was screaming and didn't want anything to do with dad, so I mixed ingredients while holding her...and since I only had one hand, the measurements probably weren't as precise. But at least she was happy for the time being, and enthralled with what I was doing. (see where this is going?)

Baby went in the bath, and we smell something burning. ...not again...
After the bread cooled off husband was the first to try it.
Me (anxiously awaiting): aaaanddd?!?!!?!?
Husband: you try it....

Whatever. It was edible... though a little chewy.

Feeding the Fam.

I've never been a good cook, nor have I ever considered myself a cook to begin with. I find the ingredients are too many, and trying to do multiple things to make them all finish at the same time, arduous. I don't find it enjoyable, and actually prefer baking. I've never been the "a pinch here, a handful there" type, and my controlling mind likes the constructed measuring of baking ingredients. I don't like getting my hands dirty, and as mentioned in a previous post, have an aversion to handling raw meat. And though I hate the process, I get a surge of pride at the finished product, at producing a meal for my family.

My mother, on the other hand, comes alive in the kitchen. She never taught me to cook, partly because of my disinterest, and partly because she is the stay-out-of-my-kitchen type of cook. She glides effortlessly through a kitchen, chopping here, stirring there, tasting one thing, and checking on another. She is in a different world. She cooks from passion, not from necessity. Step into her kitchen while she is cooking, and you will certainly feel that you are in her way. Some of my fondest memories are sitting just outside the kitchen watching my mom cook and having a heart to heart with her.

Earlier in the week I blogged about wanting to cook a healthy meal. I knew I wanted to make a succotash, but needed help with the rest. Mom brought over tilapia and I had some extra spinach in the fridge that we decided to throw with it. So last night my parents came over for dinner, and entertained the baby while I started dinner. But I had never made tilapia before, or non-frozen spinach and kept peeking my head out asking for help. She finally joined me in the kitchen and I thought for sure I'd be exiled. But then something magical happened. We chopped and stirred and tasted and glid ....together. We belonged in the same space and cooked without getting in each others'way, talked without bickering, and she taught me without taking over.

What resulted was a wonderful barley, squash, and corn succotash with tilapia and spinach. ...but it was so much more than that.

And here is the finished product. For some of my mom's cooking check out her blog at mrsbrechtl.blogspot.com. Not always healthy, but always delicious.

A sign?

 I stood in my high heels and betty crocker apron lovingly mixing muffin batter as my clean kitchen sparkled in the background....
 I stood in my pajamas with spit up on my robe dumping muffin "powder" from a box into a bowl. Thinking that it seems strange that this magic powder could turn into yummy banana bread muffins in just 12 minutes. Where is this banana flavor coming from? And the walnut flavor? I don't see any bananas or walnuts in there. What is really in this so-called batter? Plus I'm trying to live a healthier life and I'm sure muffin mix from a box is not condusive to that..
I thought back to the time I made a yummy caramel apple cake from scratch for a work carry-in. A few weeks later, I wanted to make some for us, but didn't feel like messing with all the ingredients so I bought a boxed one. It smelled the same, but when I bit into the cake, I spit out this rubbery looking piece. Eeeeew what was that? ..It was supposed to be the "apple." Who knows, maybe it really was rubber... back to the muffins... I stuck them in the oven and started feeding the baby. Baby sweetly fell asleep on my lap and I started catching up on my reading. About half an hour later an unpleasant smell started wafting in through the kitchen... Oh crap, the muffins! They were unsalvageable. I'm taking it as a sign from my healthy living muse that I shouldn't have eaten those anyway. From now I'll be making my own batter... and setting the timer.

Healthy Eating

We are making progress with this whole healthier eating thing. We had french fries and brats for dinner tonight.
 I rarely have time to make dinner, my husband and vegetables are like oil and water, and lately he has been taking care of filling our bellies while I tend to the little one. So normally our dinners consist of something quick, and quick tends to be synonymous with unhealthy.. maybe it doesn't have to be? So why doesn't he take care of baby while I make dinner? Weeeelll, I have this aversion to handling raw meat (that I reaaallly need to get over) and hubby just finishes dinner once he's started. To me eating healthy has always seemed "hard."Or maybe it isn't and it's just unknown territory. Either way, I'm determined to turn our eating habits around. I figured it would be too much to just purge everything out of our pantry, so I will try to implement at least one healthy meal in my meal plan for the week. Sounds easy enough? The problem is I need it to be quick, healthy, and husband friendly. I don't want to get rid of alll the "good stuff" either, I have a guilty pleasure for nice, wholesome comfort food. And since I don't know how to cook healthy (or how to cook much of anything, ahem), this will require some research on my part.
I'll start with my meal plan for this coming week, wish me luck, I'll be posting an update!