Not a Fan

I'm not a very big fan of mayonnaise. As a matter of fact I hate it! But I am a fan of sandwiches. I make my own spreads for sandwich, panini's, and wraps. You can also use it for a dip or spread it on crostini. Your options are endless here. This is what I threw together today. I just used what I had on hand but you can get creative as you want with it. By making your own spreads you are cutting out a ton of preservatives and calories. Eat real food! It's way healthier, cleaner and better for the environment.

Cannellini Bean Dip:
1 cup of cooked cannellini beans (i had some left over) or you could use a can
1 garlic clove
1 roasted red pepper ( you could use any veg you have on hand just roast it a bit first)

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse away! Make sure all the garlic is blended you don't want to bite into a chunk of raw garlic.












I then used up what I had in my fridge and made a whole wheat panini for my daughter and I. I just cooked up some pepper, onions and string beans. Spread the dip on my bread, put in my veggies and placed on panini maker. The beans in the spread give you protein and you get a serving of veggies!

Just when you think.....

Just when you think summer is here! Hot weather, fresh fruit, veggies, eating a bit lighter, trips to the beach and playground.... Oh the joys of summer! Bammm we get hit with damp,wet and cool weather. With this past weekend  feeling like a cool September day, it put me in the mood for Collard Greens. Their not in season but this is what I felt like eating.

If you're feeling adventurous and want to try a new green this week this recipe is a good place to start. It's an easy one pot meal that's sooo yummy and probably a bit different then what you usually cook. Keep this one in the volt for Football watching on Sunday's.

Ok, here are some health benefits of this big, bold and beautiful green!
-high in vitamin A,C and folate
-also contains vitamin E and calcium
-good source of fiber

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Green

Ingredients:
1 cup dry black eyed peas, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 a large onion, diced
4-6 minced garlic cloves
1 bunch collard greens (sliced thin)
1 cup vegetable broth
water (add as needed)
1/2 an 8 ounce can tomato sauce
few dashes liquid smoke
few dash worcestershire sauce
crushed red pepper or some hot sauce for some spice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

soak your beans overnight then drain and rinse in morning.
heat a large pot with olive oil md to high heat, add you onion and cook till soft for about 5 minutes then add you garlic and saute a few minutes. In the meantime remove stems for collards and slice thin and add to pot and saute that for a bit. Next add tomato sauce, vegetable broth and a little water (1/2 cup) and then your beans. Add a few dashes of liquid smoke and worcestershire sauce. Then some red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to your liking. You can also put some hot sauce on it after if you like it spicy.

Bring to a boil then simmer for 45 mins. Always taste for seasoning. I serve this over brown rice and this time I added some organic tortilla chips on the side.

roll up the leaves to your greens

then slice thin

this is what liquid smoke looks like. you can find in bbq sauce isle

cooking in the pot

yum!

Camu- Camu

Summer's finally here! I'm feeling good, the sun is out, the kiddo's spend all day at the park, fresh produce and fruit is in season, the sun is up till 8 at night. And I wake up with that tickle in my throat and my girls wake up with snot coming out their nose. Great.... Not now! Now's not the time to be sick!!! Ughhh

Instead of running out and buying 10 oranges or vitamin C tablets with fillers and who knows what else is in it. I swear by Royal Camu. It has 30-60 times more vitamin C than an orange! Shocking, I know! Just a little side note, most commercially prepared camu-camu doesn't have a huge amount of vitamin C. I recommend whole world botanicals. (i don't work for them or anything, i just think they make great products). This power fruit is suggested to help support the immune system and help with mood balancing. Who could use that? I swear it adds a little pep in my step. It's also safe for kids, pregnant and nursing Mom's. I put a little in this mornings smoothie with some fresh OJ and a banana. And I'll add some in my water every 3 to 4 hours. 

Please note that this is not FDA approved.

 

Mangiafagioli

Bean eater! The Cannellini bean is a tasty Italian bean also know as the "white kidney bean". And if you're not use to eating beans the cannellini bean is a good one to start with. You can throw a handful in your salad, use as a spread on a sandwich or as a dip with veggies. It's also great in soups, so today I give you an Italian Bean Soup Recipe I cooked up on Sun. This recipe is always a hit with meat eaters, they don't even notice the meat is missing!This recipe makes a lot of soup. It freezes well but DO NOT FREEZE IT WITH PASTA.

Cannellini Bean Health Benefits:
-helps lower cholesterol
-low in fat
-high in protein
-high in fiber and iron
-vitamin B-6, C, E and K

Ingredients: (Try to use all organic)
2 cups dried cannellini beans
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion
3 carrots peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4-6 cloves of minced garlic
8 cups water or veggie stock(i do 4 cups water and 4 cups veggie stock)
11/2 cups diced tomatoes
salt to taste ( a full teaspoon)
2 tsp Italian dry herbs
1/2 lb ditalini or orzo pasta

Directions:
Soak your beans over night. In the morning drain and rinse. Chop all your veggies. ( I forgot to get fresh tomatoes so I used a can of diced tomatoes from my pantry)
Get a stock pot out and heat your oil on md to high heat. Throw in your onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute for about 8 minutes. Add your water or stock, tomatoes, beans and salt/pepper and herbs.
Bring to a boil cover and lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Take 2 cups out and puree in blender to give the soup more body. DO NOT PUT THE LID TO YOUR BLENDER ON TOP. The soup will be hot so cover with a thick cloth or big thing of folded up paper towels. Hit the blend button fast, on, off, on, off so it doesn't go all over the place!
Cook you pasta and add when done. Here's some pics.

soak your beans overnight

cooking with basic real food

saute for 8 minutes

bring to a boil and cover

blend (be careful)

this is what should come out of blender and I saved some for my 7 month old 

I forgot to take a pic of final product! Sorry guys.

GREENSuper Food

My 3 year old has a very strong opinion on what she wants to eat every morning. Now this could be anything from pasta and string beans to a smoothie and this morning the request was just that, a chocolate smoothie.  So I take a look and see what fruit we have and put together our smoothie.

And this is what we came up with! I ran out of kale but I always have  a container of GREENSuper Food in the fridge. This stuff is great! It's 100% organic and is loaded with all kinds of goodies, wheat grass, barley grass, spinach, broccoli, acai, carrot, beet, flax seed, oat flour and much more! It comes in a few flavors but I like chocolate the best. Plus my 3 year old she  thinks she's having a scoop of chocolate in her smoothie. Little does she know it's packed with green goodies! If you put a scoop in water it taste like you're drinking your front lawn. That's why we put in smoothies and always put in some fruit so it doesn't taste like grass and you're getting some fruit for the day as well.

Ingredients:
1/2 or a bit more of almond milk
2 frozen bananas
1/2 cup any other fruit you have on hand
1 scoop GREENSuper

Directions:
Place in blender and blend.

Enjoy!

Everything's Better with Butter

Someone recently told me they needed a little inspiration and wanted to know how I got to this point. I obviously can't do it all in one post, but little by little I'll unravel my story for you.

I use to be a huge foodie. Loved to go to new restaurants, read about up and coming chef's and all things related to food. I really use to think to make food taste good you needed a little butter. One of the first meals I ever cooked for my husband was a stuffed veal chop the size of your head! I stuffed that bad boy with a thick piece of fontina cheese and a nice slice of prosciutto. And how did I cook it one might ask??? In a big old frying pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and a 1/2 stick of butter!

Let me put you in on a little secret... That's how restaurants get their food to taste good. Now don't get me wrong, I still like to go out to eat and try new things, but I don't overindulge because I'm at a fancy, new, hip restaurant. I don't polish off buckets of  wine and order the surf and turf anymore. There's nothing wrong with ordering an appetizer as your entree. And always order some type of green!!

What do I use now for butter?? This little gem right here!

Earth balance is a great alternative to real butter. It's vegan, gluten free, lactose free, and non GMO! It also has great flavor and I recommend you try it!

My journey started with small changes. I was recently told that there is no such thing as try, you either do  it or you don't. So you either start changing your eating habits or you don't.

One of my Fav's

We cook a lot of different beans in our house because we don't eat meat. Beans have way more nutritional value than meat, minus the cholesterol and fat meat has to offer you. Here's a little news flash for you. Buying dry ORGANIC beans in bulk is way more affordable than organic meat on any given day. You can buy a pound of organic dry beans for 5.00 yes, that's right 5.00. You can get a can of organic for about 2.00 or a frozen bag for about 3.50. Clearly your best bet is to buy in bulk, this goes for grains, lentils and oats as well.

I received a request for a chickpea recipe and I'm going to share with you one of my all time favorite chick- pea recipes. Chickpea Piccata! This bad boy comes from one of the best vegan cookbooks around, Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

We need to talk about cooking dry chickpeas for minute. Soak them overnight in a big bowl with cold water. In the morning dump out that water and give them a rinse. Pick out any not so good looking beans or any stones. Bring a big old pot of water to a boil (2 inches over your beans) reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. In a pinch for time and have to get to work? Break out the crock pot! Throw in your beans, cover with water and let her rip for 6 hours. I season my beans after I cook them.

You can leave your cooked beans in the fridge for up to 5 days. Cook up some whole wheat pasta or brown rice, saute some garlic, onion and spinach, throw in some cooked chickpeas and poof you have feeling healthy meal that gives you so much more than meat could ever give you. Then open up a window, if you're not use to eating beans you'll be tooting all over the place!

Health Benefits:
-great source of fiber (fill you up and lower cholesterol)
-high in folic acid
-contain minerals such as iron,copper,zinc and maganese

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup or less of thinly sliced shallots
6 cloves garlic. sliced thinly
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
a few pinches of black pepper
fresh thyme or dried (this makes the dish)
2 cups cooked chickpeas or 16 oz can of chickpeas
1/4 cup (or a little less) capers with a little brine
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed  lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the bread crumbs and toast them by stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
Add your vegetable broth, wine, salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn up the heat, bring mixture to a rolling boil, and let the sauce reduce by half; it should take about 7 minutes. Add the chickpeas and capers and let heat through, about 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and turn off heat.

I serve this with whole wheat angel hair pasta and a side of steamed broccoli for a complete meal!