Friday, February 24, 2012

Black Bean Quesadillas

So I was actually home the last couple of nights and I was able to cook. YAY! I have been reading a Women’s Health book the past few days and last night I made Black Bean Quesadillas (from the book) and Lightly Seasoned Southwestern Corn from Birdseye, a simple but oh so good meal. Here is a picture of how it turned out and a link to the original recipe.

Instead of making the corn salad in the recipe I just made the steam fresh bag from Birdseye.
Since it was only me at home last night Luke and I have leftovers for lunch today. Yum!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Shakeology and Morgan’s Veggie burgers



Hi everyone,
  So I have been have been eating really healthy and work out since the new year and I am happy to say I am down 10lbs! I couldn’t be happier. A couple of weeks ago my friend from High school introduced me to this amazing, awesome tasting shake called Shakelology. You can drink it as a meal replacement or a snack and it’s only 140 calories. I loved it so much I became a beachbody coach so I could tell everyone I know about it and help people get healthier happier lives.  
Shakeology helps reduced your appetite and increased your energy, it can lowered your total cholesterol levels and it can help you lose weigh and maintain your weight loss.

You get a lot of vitamins and minerals from Shakeology, but to speed up your metabolism you should stick to a workout plan and this simple healthy eating schedule. With five meals or snacks.

Breakfast: Within an hour of waking up.
Snack: 2 to 3 hours after breakfast.
Lunch: 2 to 3 hours after snack.
Snack: 2 to 3 hours after lunch.
Dinner: Finish at least 3 hours before bed.


On Valentines Day they are coming out with a 100% Vegan Strawberry flavor... nom nom nom.

The price of the shake breaks down to $4 a day for 30 days.

You can read more about it and order it using this link: http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/MorganLaRue

  You can also purchase a bunch of workout videos like P90X, INSANITY, Brazil Butt Lift®, ect from my coach site:
 http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/MORGANLARUE#
 Now on to the Morgan’s Veggie Burgers

 This is my go to veggie burger recipe. I can’t stand the frozen ones from the grocery store so I double or triple the recipe and freeze my own.
 This recipe has a lot of ingredients but do not be intimidated. Once you make these you will never buy morning star again.

Here is the original recipe: Morgan's Veggie Patties


I change it up by adding chopped carrots, no oil, I grind up the gluten free oats to make oat flour, I do not use the bread crumbs and I use a ¼ cup of egg whites or if I want to make it vegan I use ground flax seed and water instead of the egg whites. Also sometimes I use pinto beans instead of the white beans. All depends on what I have on hand. I also do not fry them, I put them under the broiler for 5 min flip and put back under the broiler for another 5 min. Once cooled I put in freezer bags and grab one out as needed. To heat them up just pop one in the microwave, cover with a damp paper towel.
I usually do not eat these with bread either I just put spicy hummus on top and top that with spinach a side salad or brown rice (depends on my mood) and some kind of steamed veggie.

YUMMY!



Friday, January 13, 2012

Happy New New

OK it’s been a while since I wrote in here, just seems like there is not enough time in the day sometimes. So on that note HAPPY NEW YEAR! As of Jan 2nd Luke and I have been back on the detox part of The Fat Smash Diet and doing pretty well on it so far. I love cooking and in this diet you must cook. Plus exercise and since I got Just Dance 3 and The Michael Jackson Experience for the Wii for Christmas I have been dancing my way into a new me. Plus I have been doing the Wii More Active 6 week challenge.    
So to get back to the cooking here are 2 things I have made in the past few week that I really love.



The only difference I made is that I use Sweet Potato instead cousin the white potato.
Luke and I loved this soup so much I ended up making 2 batches last weekend. Nom Nom Nom


And last night my dad came over for dinner and I made Mexi-rice and bean Tacos, with Spicy Sweet Potato
Adapted from this recipe: Mexi-riceand bean burritos, with spicy sweet potato..  (scroll down till you find the recipe on the page) 


I made some changes instead of using flour tortillas I used the small corn ones.
I used one can of low sodium kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
I also mashed some of the beans with a masher
I used 4 tablespoons of no salt diced tomatoes from a can
And I used Mexican style brown rice from this recipe: Mexican rice
 (I use Brown rice and Veggie broth instead of the chicken broth)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Quick and Easy “Tom Kha Goong” (Spicy Coconut Shrimp soup)


So about a month or so ago, the Ladies of Shameless Burlesque got together at my in-laws for a group meeting. My in-laws usually cook something for all of us and are wonderful host, but a few of the girls do not eat meat, some are vegetarian or I should say pescetarian. I usually will try to bring something for those ladies but this time I just did not have the time to cook anything. I let the girls know what my mother in-law would be making for the evening and told the pescetarian ladies they should bring something just in case since I would not have time to cook.


So Miss Aurora Natrix brought this yummy soup that she makes and let me try some. After one bite I just had to have the recipe and with her permission I am sharing it with you.



Quick and Easy “Tom Kha Goong” (Spicy Coconut Shrimp soup)
(prep time: 5 min, cook time 5 min) 1 generous serving

1 packet Thai Kitchen – Thai Curry Instant soup (Whole Foods)
1 tsp Thai Kitchen - Red curry paste (whole foods/publix) (adjust to taste)
1 tsp consommé (Vegan; Chicken flavoured)
2 tsp Thai Kitchen - Roasted red chili paste (whole foods/publix)
4 tbsp SO Delicious Original Coconut creamer (whole foods)
2 tsp ginger
¼  white onion sliced
¼ green pepper sliced
2-3 shitake mushrooms sliced
¼ to ½ a lime squeezed
A generous amount of fresh cilantro
1 ½ C water
6-8 shrimp (I always keep a frozen bag on hand to grab as needed)

Bring the water to boil. In a small bowl thaw out shrimp in luke warm water. In another small bowl combine ½ of the coconut creamer with curry paste, chili paste, and ginger, and stir. Set aside. Chop veggies and clean shrimp.
Once water is boiling add all of the remaining ingredients except for cilantro and limejuice. Stir and simmer. Cook for 3-5 min or until shrimp are cooked, stirring occasionally. Add limejuice and cilantro and serve.

OMG So yummy. Can't wait to make this again!

 


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Turkey Chili Soup with Hominy and Brown rice


Turkey Chili Soup with Hominy and Brown rice

For this weeks lunch to share between Luke, my dad and myself I decided to make a soup I ready do love.

Here is the original recipe: Turkey Chili Soup with Hominy



I doubled it since it has to last all week between 3 of us so here is what I did:

 Recipe: Turkey Chili Soup with Hominy


About 8 servings when doubled. Maybe more.

  1. 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  2. 1 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
  3. 4 garlic cloves, minced
  4. 1 1/2 pound ground turkey
  5. 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
  6. 4 teaspoons ground cumin
  7. 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
  8. 1 tablespoons corn starch and a little cold water
  9. 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  10.  7 cups water
  11. ½ cup of uncooked brown rice
  12.  3 teaspoons of Better than bouillon (by superior touch)
  13. 2 15-ounce can hominy, drained and rinsed

  1. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook over high heat, stirring, until barely softened, about 3 minutes. Add the turkey, chili powder, cumin and chipotle powder and season. Cook, breaking up the turkey with a wooden spoon, until the liquid has evaporated and the turkey is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the water and hominy heat on high till it boils, stir in better than bouillon once its dissolved add the rice, and simmer on low for 40 mins. Mix the cornstarch with a little bit of water and pour into the soup. The soup will thicken as it cools.
  2. Now you can serve or put it in containers and heat and serve as needed.
 

 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Moroccan Shrimp with Spinach and Channa Masala with brown rice


Ok so I really try to eat Vegetarian or Vegan during the week, but I was really craving this recipe for dinner. So here it is my friends:

 Moroccan Shrimp with Spinach 

This recipe is from "Fitness" magazine's June 2011 edition.


Makes: 4 servings
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 7 minutes

1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
Pinch ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
*1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I usually only make enough for Luke and Myself so I use 10 med size shrimp 5 for each of us)
*10 ounces fresh baby spinach (about a cup full for each of us)
*3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (one tbsp just for the 2 of us)
  1.  Mix the coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne, allspice and 1/8 tsp salt in a small bowl. Place the shrimp in a large bowl, add the spice mixture and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. *** see note below
  2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, oil and remaining salt. Divide spinach and shrimp evenly among four 15-by-12 inch sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bring the edges of each sheet together and fold tightly to seal.
  3. *Heat the grill to medium high. Place packets on grill and close the cover; cook until spinach is wilted and shrimp is opaque, 5-7 minutes. Serve immediately.
(I do not Have an out door grill so I put the packets in the oven under the broiler for about 8 mins, turn over 4 mins in) 


Nutrition facts per serving: for the orginal recipe which is 4 servings
229 calories, 25 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 2 g fiber

 ***While the Shrimp are refrigerating I made the Channa Masala


Channa Masala


Ingredients
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 whole onion, small
  • 2 whole garlic cloves, minced
  • 15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz can of no salt diced tomatoes
  • 1¼ tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ½ cayenne pepper (more if u like it spicy!)
  •  
Directions
Line a medium saucepan with a thin layer of broth and sauté onions over high heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until onions are translucent, adding more broth as necessary. Add coriander, cumin, turmeric and ginger, stirring to coat onions and cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chickpeas and tomatoes with remaining broth, stirring to combine. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce to low and simmer 15 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in paprika and garam masala and let sit for 5 minutes. Salt to taste and serve with Brown rice.
*I also added 1 tsp of cornstarch mixed in 1 ½ tablespoons of cold water and added it to make the sauce a little thicker.

This recipe says 2 servings but it’s more like 6 or 8 if you eat it with something other then by its self.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Black Bean Tofu


Black Bean Tofu

So after I poster the Black Bean dip recipe yesterday a friend of mine Eleana asked if I have ever made black bean sauce and I replied no but I would love the recipe. So she sent me a message via FB and gave me the link for the original recipe, which calls for chicken. I of course changed it a little and used up some baked tofu I had in the fridge. 
 I also took Elenan advice and used a little bit more garlic, ginger and canned beans. 

Made it early for Luke, He's going to a friends house to watch the Dolphin Game

Here is the original recipe: BLACK BEAN CHICKEN

And this is what I did:

BLACK BEAN TOFU:
½ a block of Baked Tofu**** See note
1 can of low sodium black beans (do not drain)
5 garlic cloves
3 slices ginger
5 baby Portabella Mushrooms sliced or chopped
½ cup of broccoli florets
1 tsp. Braggs Amino Acids
1/2 tsp. cooking wine
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. Agave nectar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 scallion

1. Cut the tofu into 1-inch pieces. Mix the tofu with sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, Agave nectar, cornstarch and mix all together. Let sit while you cut up the Garlic, scallions and ginger.

2. Chop the garlic, ginger and scallions into tiny pieces. Fry them with a little oil. 

3. Add the black beans and liquid, mush them up a little with a fork or potato masher. Heat 

4.  Add the mushrooms and broccoli florets heat on med for 5 min

5. Add the tofu and sauce cook till heated and veggies are cooked like you like them. 

6.  If you like you can add some Chinese Chili Sauce to add a little heat.

7. Serve over Brown rice. 

8. Enjoy


****Note: Baked Tofu, I usually do this once I have a block of tofu so I can add it to a bunch of things.

 Recipe Here: BAKED TOFU