Recipe Tuesday -

What do you do when you have a bunch of leftover's ? Start to create a new dish.

3 chicken thighs boiled and shredded
4 cups of chicken broth
4 cups of water
2 cups of lentils
2 cups of cooked white beans
1 1/2 cup of celery diced
1 1/2 cup of carrots
1 green bell pepper
8-10 sweet peppers
1 medium onion
6-8 garlic cloves
6 scallions
1 Tbs of coconut oil
Sea salt, paprika, white pepper to taste
A couple pinches of cumin

Heat a large stock pot at medium to low heat add coconut oil. Add white onions and garlic. Mix until the onions clear. Add the sweet peppers and bell pepper. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Add carrots and celery and stir for 1-2 minutes. 

Add seasonings and stir.

Add the chicken stock to the pot. Then add the lentils. Make sure to have at least 4-6 cups of fluid - chicken stock and water. You will be adding white beans and chicken later so keep that in mind. Add more stock or water if you feel it necessary.

Cover the pot and let the items simmer for approx. 20 minutes. I suggest you check the lentils package cooking  instructions so you can time it better. You want to add the cooked white beans and shredded chicken 10-15 minutes before the lentils are ready.

Chop some jalapenos. Make some guacamole. Top that soup off!

Enjoy!

Recipe Tuesday

Today I got a special request for the Salmon and Quinoa dish from Saturday. 
The request was made by a special little girl who loves both dishes.

This is going to be a whole entree so please do not get overwhelmed with the mutiple steps. It is pretty easy.

You will need.

For Quinoa
2 cups of cooked red Quinoa (others will do too).
2 roasted tomatoes
1 roasted green pepper
1 roasted yellow pepper
1 roasted portabello mushroom
1 roasted red onion
Garlic powder to taste
Paprika to taste
Sea salt to taste
1 tsp. of coconut oil
Lemon zest of one lemon
**you can use fresh veggies if you do not have time to roast them.

For slaw
1/2 thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 thinly sliced red pepper
1/2 thinly sliced red onion
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon of oregano
Dash of sea salt

For Salmon
1 1/2 lb of salmon
Herb blend (I use Costco organic sodium-free herb blend)
1 lemon
Parsely
Pinch of sea salt
Olive oil

1. Turn the broiler on.

2.Start by slicing and mixing all of the items for a slaw together. I use a mandeline but a knife works fine! Once mixed together stick it in the frig so it's pickled in the lime juice. It is best to put it in a closed container so you can shake it around every 10 minutes or so. You need a total of 30 min minimum to pickle.

3. Roughly slice all of the veggies and  roast the veggies in the broiler for approx 5-10 min. You want them to remain a bit crisp and not over cooked.

3. In the meantime prep the fish on a cookie sheet lightly sprinkled with olive oil. Place the salmon filets on the sheet and genoursly sprinkle the herb blend on the fish with a dash of sea salt. Squeze half of lemon juice over all of the fillets and slice the other half to apply over the fillets. Add a few sprigs of parsely over the top of the fillets. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

4. Roasted veggies should be sitting and waiting for you. About 5 minutes before tge fish is ready...get a skillet and add the coconut oil and mix all of the veggies and condiments together. Then add the quinoa for a quick mix. Add the lemon zest at the very end. The whole process should not take more than 3-5 minutes so the veggies remain crisp and not over cooked. They will have the charred flavor from the slight roast and the lemon will bring all of the dishes flavors together.

I always invite you to make it your own with some of your own favorite tastes and flavors.

enjoy!

Motivational Monday

I shared with you about starting a detox on 01/18/16. I did not provide specifics just that there was a bunch of "no-no's". Attached is the daunting list I was given when I decided to join the 28 detox challenge with Arbonne. Now before I go any further I want everyone to know I usually do not advocate for supplements because I was a firm believer in getting what we need from good food. A few testimonials of people who experienced a lot of my ailments (specifically vertigo), and have since been cured, made me reconsider and jump in.

At first I thought it was going to be very difficult and nearly impossible to do. I have eaten clean before but not at this level. The no honey, maple syrup, soy or corn was throwing me for a loop. How could I possibly manage? Especially right before a Vegas trip?

Well, I managed and so has my hubby. We are both feeling better and energized. I thought I was going to meet my breaking point at yesterday's super bowl party when chocolate cake was staring me straight in the face but I got my berries and munched on.

We are on the last week of the 28 days but this is not the end. I said I was going to detox for a total of 90 days so the clean meal planning continues all the way through 04/03/16 at which point I will re-evaluate. It may very well be a way of living at that point.

Here's to good health and new commitments.

Recipe Tuesday

A Superbowl Clean Menu meant I had to look for new recipes. I found one I really liked on Stupid Easy Paleo. The Jalapeno-Lime Chicken Wings recipe was the one for me. I changed it up just a bit to fit my taste buds but the base of the idea came from this site. I also had chicken thighs instead of wings just because the store ran out of organic wings!

So here it is the Jalapeno-Lime Chicken Marinade - Kiki's Remix

4 lbs of chicken thighs
4 jalapeno peppers, not deseeded and cut into chunks
1/4 cup of coconut oil
4 tbs of coconut aminos (soy sauce could work if you're not eating clean)
1 whole head of garlic, peeled
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Cumin
Juice of 2 limes and 1/2
1 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
a dash of onion powder (to taste)
a dash of sea salt (to taste)

**Remember to taste as you go to determine what else you will like for your taste buds.**

Add all of the marinade ingredients to the blender. Process until smooth. Marinade was thick but my vitamix broke it down after a bit. The original recipe suggested adding water if it was too thick.

Put the chicken into a container. Pour the marinade and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. I let it sit for close to 2 hours.

We grilled the thighs and cut into them about 10 minutes after being off of the grill.

Enjoy!

Superbowl Sunday - Clean Eating Menu

I created a menu with help from my friends at befreeology.com and pinterest. I finally found recipes I could use or alter to meet my needs.

I'm excited about introducing people to new tasty blends. I will have some items that are not clean e.g. cheese, alcohol, corn tortilla chips for those guests who may need a bit more.

I'm so excited and putting my grocery list together. :)

Recipe Tuesday

One of my new favorite eats is Black Bean Hummus. You can make it real thick or thin it out and use it as a dressing as well.

I encourage you use fresh products but canned beans are okay if you cannot make your own. If you do make your own save the "caldito" (broth) to thin it out for dressings and sauces. If you use canned beans make sure they are low sodium organic rinsed well.

Remember to change the recipe up to your taste e.g. less garlic if you do not like a lot of garlic etc.

BLACK BEAN HUMMUS

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tbs of fresh squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon of cumin

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspooons of olive oil

1 large jalapeno, chopped 

15 oz of black beans

1/4 cp of cilantro, chopped

Add the garlic cloves to the food processor, process until they are finely chopped. Then add in all of the other ingredients --- zaaap, zaaap, zaaap. --- Process until they are at the consistency you like. 

I have made the same recipe in various ways already. I have added the "caldito" to make it thinner and I coat my salads in it. I have also added parsley instead of cilantro and it gave it a different flavor. Then there was the one time I added way to many jalapenos and I had to add avocado to kill the spice (I was out of beans). The consistency changed but it was just as yummy. My husband also likes mixing it with his brown rice. 

Keep Playing with Food. 

Enjoy!