Cajun Shrimp Stir Fry

1 Lb Shrimp peeled and rinsed

1/2 cabbage, shredded

1 red pepper

1/2 c pearl onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp onion powder

1 T cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

1 T EVOO

1/2 c cherry tomatoes

1 cup brown rice

1 cup quinoa

4 c chicken broth-low sodium

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook brown rice with 2 cups chicken broth according to directions. Cook quinoa with the remainder of the broth. Mix both rice and quinoa together until blended evenly. You can also cook both the brown rice, and the quinoa, together in a rice cooker.

Cook Shrimp and 1/2 of the spices in frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and spices, on medium heat. Add in vegetables and cabbage, and remainder of the spices . Stir until vegetables are hot, but not too long.

Serve stir fry over brown rice and quinoa.

Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

 

Ingredients:

1 cup teriyaki marinade

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 white onion

2 red peppers

1 cup pineapple chunks

 

Directions:

Chop chicken into 1″ pieces. Place into bowl and pour in teriyaki sauce. Stir gently until sauce has coated chicken. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Rinse and cut your peppers into bite sized pieces, approximately 1 “. Set aside. Peel and cut your onion into similarly sized pieces. If using a whole pineapple, cut into small chunks, and place aside.

Using wooden or metal skewers, alternate chicken, peppers, onions and pineapple. Place skewers in the pre-heated 450 degree oven on the center rack. Bake for 10 minutes, turn over once. Bake for 10-15 minutes longer (20-30 minutes maximum of baking time total depending on size of chicken chunks.

Serve with soy sauce, and additional teriyaki sauce for dipping.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

It’s zucchini season! Traditional zucchini bread is very close to my heart…but, this recipe takes the cake! Hopefully you will enjoy it just as much.

Once again, our Ninja Blender comes to the rescue. Literally, every ingredient, outside of the chocolate chips and zucchini, can be whipped up in the blender or food processor. It’s best to stir in the chocolate chips if you want to have them resemble anything like chips in your bread. If you don’t have a food processor, you can shred the zucchini using a hand held shredder. The remainder of the ingredients mix up well with a hand held or standing mixer.

3 C grated and strained zucchini

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oat flour or an additional cup of wheat flour

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 t baking soda

6 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 C  extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

1 1/4 C stevia for baking

2 T Molasses

3 eggs

1 egg white

2 t vanilla

1/2 C low fat sour cream

3/4 C organic mini chocolate chips

Set shredded zucchini in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 small loaf pans and set aside. You can also make muffins with this bread. I was able to make 1 loaf pan and 12 muffins.

Place your eggs, egg whites, vanilla, sour cream, molasses, and oil to your blender or mixing bowl. Blend well. Next add the salt, cocoa, flours, baking soda, and stevia. Mix all of these together you have a smooth batter. Lastly fold in the chocolate chips and zucchini. Allow this batter to sit for 10 minutes. This lets the oat flour absorb the moisture, and makes for better texture in the bread.
Pour your batter into your loaf pans and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until your toothpick or knife comes out clean. In my opinion, it tastes really good when it’s still warm. You should let the bread cool before slicing , and warm it up a little bit to melt the chocolate:)

To make muffins, just shorten the bake time to 18-20 minutes.

 

Almond Snickerdoodle bites {no bake, gluten free, paleo}

Craving something sweet, but don’t want all the calories and sugar? These no-bake snickerdoodle bites can be mixed up in an instant. No baking involved, so they are great snack during the summer when you don’t want to turn on your stove.

Batter ingredients:

Mix together in a bowl:

1 1/2 cup oat flour

1/4 cup almond flour or coconut flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 scoop protein powder

1/4 cup stevia

Separately melt:

1/4 cup almond or cashew butter (all natural)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup or raw honey

1 T almond milk
Mix this in with the dry ingredients to form a thick batter that can be formed into balls. You can add a little extra almond milk if it is too crumbly, one teaspoon at a time.

Topping:

Mix together in a bowl:

1 T Cinnamon

1 T stevia

Roll your protein balls into the cinnamon mixture, and garnish with an almond if you like.  Place into an air tight container. This can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

 

Brocolli Cranberry Salad

Looking for a tasty  salad to take to your next potluck…that is also good for you? This salad will be sure to please. The best part about making it? There is very little cooking involved, so you can toss it together in an instant!  This went quickly at our last get together…and I will definitely make this one again.

 

 

Ingredients:

SALAD:

2 heads of brocolli (stems removed, rinsed and chopped)

1/2 medium red onion, diced

8 slices of turkey bacon cooked well and crumbled

1 cup low fat mozzerella cheese

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl.

 

DRESSING:

1 cup Olive Oil Hellman’s Mayonaise OR Primal kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo

4 packets of Stevia

3 T white vinegar

 

Mix the dressing well, and fold into your broccoli mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, before serving. Best if refrigerated overnight.

 

 

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

If cheesecake is on your list of favorite foods, you will love this smoothie. It has the creamy texture and sweetness of a cheesecake, with none of the regrets. Smoothies are so quick to make, and they are refreshing after a work out. We have them all the time in our house!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup strawberries

3 ice cubes

1 tsp stevia or honey

Directions:

Add all of the above ingredients  listed above to a high powered blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add more ice or almond milk until you reach the desired consistency.

 

 

Growing Organics

The big question when making the switch to clean eating, seems to be, whether or not to invest in organic foods. When it’s not possible to buy everything organic, it does help to be informed about what to choose if you do decide to make some changes.

According to the Environmental Working Group, the most pesticide laden produce are strawberries and spinach. Next up are nectarines and apples. You can check out their full list at http://www.ewg.org.  If you make a switch or two, that may be something to consider during your next shopping trip!

The other option, which can be a lot of fun…is to grow some of your own produce. This is a great option for those who enjoy gardening, or for those who would like to try something new! Last season, we had great success with growing our own tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries. We have even added a few extras this year, including greens, ghost peppers, cauliflower, and cucumbers. It took an afternoon of digging and planting, but at this point it is fairly low maintenance. The pics that you find on this post are from our tiny garden.

No space for a garden? Container gardening can be a fun and simple solution! A small container of tomatoes or greens can give you some fresh vegetables on a porch or patio. If you plant peppers, remember to have TWO plants! We had just one plant a few years back and couldn’t figure out WHY our plant didn’t grow anything! My brother, who is much more skilled at growing hot peppers, was quick to inform us that we needed two plants for pollination purposes. So, while we are by no means pros at this…we all had a good laugh! We are (slowly) gaining knowledge and actually have some peppers this year!

 

One of the  benefits to eating organically grown produce, is, of course, avoiding the exposure to pesticides. Organic food is often more fresh due to the fact that it doesn’t have preservatives added to make the food “last” longer. Also, without all of the pesticides to do the fighting for them, plants actually boost their production of phytochemicals (vitamins and antioxidants) that get passed along to you as well.

These beautiful bright yellow flowers are just a sign of the zucchinis to come! I will be sure to share my chocolate zucchini bread recipe after our harvest.

Vanilla Nice Cream

Although this initial recipe is for Vanilla Nice Cream, the possibility of flavors is really endless! This can be served alone, or with my strawberry rhubarb crisp. Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (gluten free)

Easy to make, and completely natural…this is an ice cream addicts dream!  Nice cream is actually a fruit filled version of Ice Cream. Flavors can be added to suit your taste.

Ingredients

2 cups frozen bananas

1 tsp vanilla

2 T almond milk

1 T honey or maple syrup

1 tsp stevia

 

Directions:

Place frozen bananas in a high powered blender or food processor. We have a Ninja professional blender and it is AMAZING! Blend on high. Add additional ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a freezer safe container. Place finished Nice Cream in the freezer, and allow to harden for an hour or so. If it becomes too difficult to scoop, allow to soften for several minutes on the counter.

 

Flavor varieties:

Strawberry- add 1/2 cup of strawberries and blend well prior to freezing.

Mint chocolate chip- add 1/2 tsp of peppermint flavoring, and 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips.  You may wish to stir in the chocolate chips at the very end, prior to freezing, if you are using a powerful processor.

Chocolate- add 1/4 c. cocoa powder, 1/4 cup organic mini chocolate chips.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (gluten free)

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Remember the rich sweet/tart flavor of strawberry rhubarb pie? Strawberries bring the sweet flavor, and the rhubarb adds the sour…and somehow together, they are a perfect match! Just in time for your summer barbeque. This recipe can be doubled if your picnics are anything like ours, where the desserts are the most popular part of the meal!

Replacing white flour with almond flour lowers the carb content, and ups the nutritional value of this crisp.  Berries are a wonderful anti-inflammatory, and honey adds a complex sweetener that increases the health benefits of this yummy dessert. Click on the link below for the recipe for Nice Cream. It’s a delicious, guilt free alternative to ice cream that will go perfectly with this tart crisp!

Vanilla Nice Cream

Recipe

Filling:

3 cups chopped rhubarb

3 cups hulled and sliced strawberries

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons tapioca starch

1/4 cup stevia

1 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon cardamom, or to taste

 

 

Ingredients for the crumble:

1 cup blanched almond flour

3 Tablespoons coconut sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

1 Tablespoon coconut flour

Pinch salt

1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter

1/4 cup honey

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray a pie plate and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, fold together the rhubarb and strawberries until combined. Add the lemon juice and mix gently.
3. Stir in the tapioca starch, sweetener, cinnamon and cardamom.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared pie dish and set aside.
5. Wipe or scrape the excess filling ingredients out of the mixing bowl and make the crumble topping: Whisk together the almond flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, coconut flour, and salt. Add the pecans and stir briefly to incorporate.
6. Pour the maple syrup into the coconut oil and stir to combine, then pour the mixture into the dry (flours/sugar) mixture. Stir until well blended.
7. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the fruit filling in the pie pan.

Bake for 45-60 minutes until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the rhubarb is tender.

Health Boosting Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate always sounds so delicious on a cold winter’s day! It also sounds particularly yummy on a chilly evening, any time of the year. Of course, I am a little partial…and probably have some sort of chocolate every single day. The trick was to find a way to make it nutritious, without sacrificing the flavor.

Chocolate does have it’s health benefits…especially dark chocolate! One of the reasons dark chocolate is especially heart-healthy is its inflammation-fighting properties, which reduce cardiovascular risk. The trick is to add chocolate into your diet….without adding sugar! Chocolate gets a bad rap because sugar, it’s partner in crime, is usually involved!

This recipe is so delicious, that you won’t mind replacing the traditional hot cocoa with it.

Recipe:

1 1/2  cup almond milk

2 tsp cocoa

1 teaspoon stevia

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp raw honey

Optional add ins for a little spice:

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp tumeric

Directions:

Warm your almond milk on medium low on the stove. Stirring often, add in the additional ingredients. Continue to mix until well blended. Sprinkle in cinnamon and or tumeric if you wish!

 

According to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:

“The potential benefits of eating chocolate may include:

• Lowering cholesterol levels
• Preventing cognitive decline
• Reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems”

Sounds good to me!

Cinnamon has been known to control blood sugar and insulin levels. Raw, unprocessed honey has been known to help with this as well. It is a natural energy source, and is rich in antioxidants.  For anti-inflammatory benefits, tumeric is the way to go!