Recipe Tuesday

Tuna Stuffed Jalapeno - Snack, Appetizer or Meal 

I eat bread sparingly these days. I am still not used to the gluten free varieties and most gluten free options are loaded with sugar. I've been stuffing peppers, squash, sweet potatoes and most recently jalapenos. 

My family is very fond of stuffed jalapenos and it is hard one to beat since everyone loves my aunt's recipe that is loaded with mayonnaise. Selling my hubby and mom on a healthy version was a VICTORY! I put a little twist on it and they were taken back when I served it as part of a meal.

Tuna Stuffed Jalapenos

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1/2 white onion finely chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

4 sweet peppers finely chopped

1 can of wild tuna in water

1/4 teaspoon of cumin (always taste for your liking to add more...I know I did)

1/4 teaspoon of paprika (always taste for your liking to add more...I know I did)

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder 

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Juice of 1/2 of lemon

1/2 lemon sliced into wedges

6 large jalapenos

1 tablespoon of parsley or cilantro

for jalapeno coating

1/4 cup of almond meal

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

Preheat oven at 350

Clean the jalapenos and slice them vertically. If you want more of a "boat" look only slice off part of the side with a small slit. I wanted mine to be even so I sliced them down the middle. Carefully take out all of the seeds and set them aside. 

Pour olive oil in a pan, once it is hot add the onions and garlic and mix until the onions are clear 2-3 minutes. Add in the jalapeno, sweet peppers and seasonings. Taste and add more seasonings if needed. Once the mixture is well stirred (1-2 minutes) add in the tuna. Stir well for an even coat of flavorings. Turn off and set aside.

In a bowl, mix the egg white with the 1/2 a teaspoon of paprika. On a flat plate put all of the almond meal. Prepare your cookie sheet for baking. Grab the jalapenos, dip in the egg mix and almond meal and then place them on the cookie sheet. Once they are all coated stuff them with the tuna mix. 

I use a large spoon and cup the tuna with my hand for a secure tight feel. Once they are all set pour a little lemon juice over each topped jalapeno to avoid them drying out in the oven. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with parsley or cilantro.

Enjoy!

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!

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!

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!

Recipe Tuesday

Having a variety of meals and recipes helps me keep up with "free-eating". I know it is important for me and helps me eliminate boredom eating. When I do not switch it up and fall into familiar or frequent foods I start to stray.

There are other emotional components,  like yesterday, when I reached for bread sticks and an ice cream sandwich.  --- I caught myself falling into a binge and stopped before it got worse. I instead started to stretch and meditate about what I was feeling. Being mindful is key. I  don't want to gain weight. I have worked hard for this 3.5 lb loss I've had in 12 days.

So back to the recipe: 

GREEN BEANS Cool & Hot Salad

4 cups of green beans (cooked but still crunchy (about 6-7 minutes. Then cooled in ice water)
1/2 purple cabbage (shredded)
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
3 green onions (thinly sliced)
1 roasted red pepper (thinly sliced)
1 Serrano pepper (thinly sliced)
Lemon juice from one lemon (to taste)
2 tbs of lemon zest

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and add pepper to taste. Voila!

I used the left over salad the next day and zapped it a few seconds. It was a good warm side veggie dish and tasted different.  Remember you can always add or remove stuff in order to switch it up.

Items you can add the next time or switch out with some of the current veggies for a different taste. If you do this keep the red cabbage, green bean, and lemon base. 

Garbanzo beans
Pine nuts
Bell peppers

Walnuts
Pearl onions
Green apple

We got this!

Trying something new. Recipe Tuesday

Grilled Salmon. Quinoa with Leeks and Mushrooms. Green Salad.

Weight Watchers Weekly , April 13-19, 2014.Property of Weight Watchers.

everyone said, "It's DELICIOUS!"

I had to try this recipe because everyone kept on raving about it at the Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday. They all made it sound DELICIOUS. My husband agreed. I will add some lemon grind, a spice and cook the veggies for less time next time. Don't get me wrong, it was indeed Yummy!

The Salmon was seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon. Grilled on each side for about 4 minutes. The green salad was a simple red leaf lettuce and roman lettuce blend with tomato. All easy and ready for the table in 20 min. (everything cooked about 5 min faster than directions).

Hope you try it and give reviews.

To trying something new!

 

Day 30. Recipe Tuesday.

Today is recipe Tuesday and I'll be cooking Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken but I will not be using any butter like the recipe calls. I will be serving it with a salad of mixed greens (recipe below) and roasted garlic and olive oil couscous . I use the recipe on the box for the couscous but add lightly sauteed zucchini and tomato for a more filling side dish.

Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad and Poppy Seed Dressing.
6 cups fresh mixed greens
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
half a small red onion, thinly sliced
poppy seed dressing (recipe below)
Poppy seed Dressing Ingredients:
1/2 cup avocado oil (or any oil, such as olive oil)
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

I will add pictures of the meal once I cook tonight.

--------addition----------

1. There is an official name change since when I asked my brother and gf to come back next week they said, "heeey tasty Tuesday instead of Taco Tuesday!" 

2. I need to prep more. For example I need to make sure I have all my ingredients for the chosen recipes. Today an old pantry item or some sad looking strawberries.The strawberry mixed greens salad became the pear and plum mixed greens salad. The lack of poppy seeds made me use a berry vinaigrette. 

Everything else was great including the wine for my guest and the blueberry green iced for me. 

To good food. 

Day 23. Inspiration for Recipe Tuesday.

Tonight I started to work after browsing for a few minutes on the internet. I lost track of time and it was late and I was huuuuungry, yes that hungry. I have some homemade cookies in the house which tempted me to simply think, "forget it, I'm sick, I'm going for it!!! 3 cookies and milk for dinner." I walked to the frig and thought, "well, I actually want a steak. I don't have steak." Before I knew it I talked through the motions of healthy alternatives:

1. 3 chocolate fudge cookies with milk became;
2. One ham sandwich with two slices,heavy on the mayo became;
3. 1/2 ham sandwich,light mayo and add mustard. Add greens in the sandwich and a salad on the side.
4. Oh, and add sliced almonds and that new salad dressing I just bought. Raspberries for an added tart taste.

Voila my dinner. Yes, I know it's not a culinary accomplishment BUT, it is a large improvement over the first "meal" I thought of having. A late dinner also resulted in my blog "special edition". As of today I will start to have Dinner Tuesday's. This will include simple or long, healthy or alternative meals. I will redeem myself next Tuesday. I hope.

Now I say goodnight with a warm cup of Tina's Tea, my mothers home remedy concoction. And yes, one cookie (160 calories).