Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese.

This lunch time I had this bunch of ingredients to work with:

An heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil and a roma tomato.

So, of course, I made a caprese salad!

This salad is so easy, you just chop the tomatoes, slice the mozzarella, arrange the basil and drizzle with the olive oil and the balsamic.

The tomatoes were incredibly sweet. 

And they must have smelled wonderful because Connor was standing beside me and drooling the entire time I was assembling this salad.

It is one of the greatest salads to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Connor is one of those strange dogs that LOVES tomatoes. I made sure he got to enjoy all the of slices that didn't look perfect :-)

Oh, and how is the green bean recipe coming? It is still a work in progress. But you can take a peak at what the second attempt looked like.

Sauteed green beans with ground pork and sriracha sauce.

Now I am off to tackle the vegan scalloped potatoes. Wish me luck!

A drink for healthy skin

Ingredients in this mornings drink: Amazing Grass, fresh strawberries, raw honey, Udo's oil, frozen berries, Kyo-Green and some fresh blueberries.

Last night my sister made the comment, "I guess you are not taking the Udo's oil anymore because I never see it on the blog."

Just so you know, eating too much fat is an issue for most of the people in my family so the subject of fat content comes up a lot.


I told her, "I am still taking the Udo's oil. I have it everyday in my drink."

And it occurred to me that I should mention the biggest reason I drink this everyday. I drink this for my skin.

If any of you are prone to skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis or just plain dry skin - it is really important to get in a healthy dose of essential fatty acids and antioxidants everyday.

So what do the ingredients in my drink do?

- Udo's oil is a complete blend of 3, 6, and 9 omega fatty acids. Getting enough essential fatty acids each day is a must for healthy skin.

-Amazing Grass provides tons of greens which helps balance acidic ph levels and boosts your immune system. Also eating lots of greens in your diet promotes glowing skin.

- Berries provide a healthy dose of antioxidants and taste great.

- Raw honey is an anti-inflammatory and also boosts immune function.


Those are the 'must have' ingredients for my drink. Today I also added in some fresh berries and some coconut butter.

The white dots are the coconut butter and the small amber colored droplets are the Udo's oil.

I add in a little something different each day. Sometimes I add in some fresh spinach, bee pollen or some brewers yeast. 


The most important thing is that I want it to taste delicious because I want to keep this habit going.


So that is the story of my daily drink. 


Do you have something you take everyday just for your health?

Healthy dinner 7-11 style

I did intend to go shopping later today but that didn't happen.

I was busy downloading and updating and various other tweaks to the Macbook Pro.

There was a scary moment this afternoon when the laptop decided to stop recognizing my internet connection - but I think that was just because I had it on too long and it overheated. 

I did pause long enough to pick up some dinner at 7-11.

Fruit salad, the second serving of brown rice and a yogurt smoothie.

 

 

 

 

The fruit salad was surprisingly fresh tasting.

And it had big chunks of pineapple, my favorite!

The yogurt smoothie was a brand I didn't recognize but it was very peachy tasting.

OK, I am off to go play with the computer some more. For some reason the display is happy to function as a dual monitor but when I close the MacBook the display refuses to wake up and turn back on.

I am going to have to figure that one out...

The perfect combo

An over-easy egg on a bed of sautéed spinach and sweet potato home fries.

This may not be the perfect breakfast combo for most people but it is for me. I especially love the egg mixed with the garlicky spinach.



What I am noticing about Windows Live Writer is that it is more difficult to include captions to the pictures. I am sure it is just a feature I haven’t discovered yet but if anyone knows how – please tell me!!

Since this happens on a regular basis, you will not be shocked to find out that I had run out of kibble this morning. I needed to use one very large sweet potato in my pantry so the dogs enjoyed sweet potato puree for breakfast.

Sweet potatoes with Bulgarian yogurt, Kyo-Green and Udo’s oil.

For my breakfast, I sautéed up a handful of spinach with two, yes two, cloves of garlic minced with a few drops of olive oil. This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy spinach.

And I saved a few of the sweet potato pieces and browned them up in a skillet with a dash of soy sauce.

So even though the potatoes look slightly charred – it is just the soy sauce glaze which gives the sweet potatoes a nice salty coating.

And I also enjoyed a perfectly ripe kiwi. Gotta have that vitamin C!

I am going to dig through my dwindling supplies and see if I can come up with a fun idea for dinner.

Happy Wednesday!

Sweet and sour pork stir fry for one

Sweet and sour stir fry.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time will not be surprised that this was my breakfast this morning.

I had a moment last night when I was staring at contents of my freezer (which by the way is STILL 3/4 full) it occurred to me that a pork chop would be awesome for breakfast as long as it included sweet and sour sauce.

The pork chop went into a hot skillet, browned on both sides and then 1/2 cup of veggie broth and 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce went into the pan and I cooked it (covered) for another 7 minutes.

I really can't stand any tendon or fat texture in meat (I've been that way since I was a little kid) so I cut off the fatty bits.  I wonder if anyone else does this??

The dogs got to enjoy the parts I cut out :-)

Veggies and meat ready for stir frying.

This dish turned out stunning, incredible, delicious and possibly a life changing meal. I kid you not.

 
When I order sweet and sour dishes in restaurants the sauce is always way to sweet for my tastes. This sauce turned out more tangy than sweet which I loved!

I enjoyed this blissful meal with a big mug of green tea.

Make this meal as soon as possible. You will love it!
  
Sweet and sour pork stir fry

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 pork chop, 1 1/2" thick
1/2 cup of broccoli florets
1 cup of packaged coleslaw mix
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. of soy sauce
1/2 tsp. of grape seed oil

Sweet and sour sauce:
1/2 cup of pineapple chunks with juice
2 Tbsp. of rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. of vegetable broth
1 1/2 Tbsp. of raw honey
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. of ketchup
1 tsp. of corn starch

Instructions:

Put a skillet on medium-high heat and add in the grape seed oil. When the pan is hot, add in the pork chop and cook on each side until nicely browned. Then add in the broth and soy sauce, cover the pan and let cook another 7 minutes or until cooked through.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes and then cut into medium sized cubes.

While the meat rests, toss all but the cornstarch into a sauce pan over low heat. When the sauce begins to simmer, mix the corn starch with a little bit of water and add this mixture to the sauce. Stir occasionally until the sauce become thick and glossy. Take it off the heat and set it aside.

Wipe out the skillet and put it back on medium-high heat. Add in the oil and when the pan it hot, add in the veggies. Stir constantly until the cabbage has wilted but the broccoli is still bright green. Add back in the pork and add 3/4 of the sauce and stir to combine.

Serve the sweet and sour pork over a bed of rice. Drizzle the rest of the sauce over the top.

Enjoy!

Breakfast of champions - if champions ate quinoa

I did pick up some new bedding during my shopping trip to Ikea.

And it is doggie approved :-)

Abby testing out the new sheets. Connor is there too but you can only see his butt.

As I was perusing the pantry this morning I spotted my jar of nutritional yeast.

So this morning's breakfast was comprised of the following ingredients:

1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of quinoa cooked in vegetable broth
4 florets of broccoli, chopped fine
a handful of spinach leaves torn into small pieces
1 button mushroom, chopped
1/4 of an onion
1 clove of garlic
2 egg whites

This turned out really delicious. And since I threw in the broccoli and spinach into the pot with the quinoa and let it all cook together it was super simple.

I did cook the garlic and onions in a skillet over low heat while the quinoa simmered. When the onions just started to caramelize, I tossed in the mushrooms, covered the pan and let it cook another 5 minutes.


I pulled the onions, garlic and mushrooms out of the pan and then added in the 2 egg whites. I let them cook on low until just set.

Oh, yes, and I stirred in 1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast into the quinoa when it was done cooking. The nutritional yeast added a nice cheesy flavor that paired really well with the slightly sweet taste of the onions.

I thought this was a great breakfast that was packed with protein from both the quinoa and the egg whites. And I got a nice dose of greens as well. It was definitely a breakfast of champions :-)

I enjoyed my bowl of quinoa with a plump peach and a big mug of tea with soymilk.

I can't believe it is Monday already. Where did the weekend go?

Peaches and roasted red peppers

I was up early writing (3am to be exact) and I realized I haven't cooked anything for the dogs in quite a while.

My breakfast started with a roasted red bell pepper.

A roasted red pepper ready to be put into a Ziplock bag to steam.

One cup of quinoa went into a sauce pan with water for 20 minutes.

I enjoyed the quinoa with roasted red peppers and peaches.

I made another attempt at the nutritional yeast 'cheese' sauce which included:

Unsweetened soymilk
Nutritional yeast
Yellow mustard
Garlic powder
Tumeric
Earth balance butter spread
Lemon juice

No recipe yet because it still needs some tweaking.

And I added some pea sprouts on top.

The dogs enjoyed a melange of quinoa, Udo's oil, apricots, peaches, seasoned nori, a drizzle of the sauce and some chopped pea sprouts.

Yes, they ate up every little bit. In fact, Connor stood waiting for Abby to finish her portion so he could check for any crumbs.

Sadly, there were none :-)

A Popeye start to the 4th

Mostly egg white scramble with tortilla and spinach.

I hope you all have fun plans for the 4th!

I started my day with lots of spinach - a very Popeye themed start to my day :-)

While two large handfuls of spinach was wilting in a skillet over medium heat, I tore 1 corn tortilla into small pieces.

When the spinach started looking a little dry, I whisked in one whole egg and three egg whites.

A pinch of salt, pepper, dried basil and a sprinkle of dried parsley.


I started with one spoonful of salsa on top but by the time I was done eating I ended up having two more spoonfuls. 

Today starts my second week of P90x. I do have to say I am still incredibly sore after every workout. Hopefully that will get better this week.

Oh, and I also had a big mug of tea. I need caffeine to power my workouts!

Have a safe 4th of July!!

Salmon and cream cheese quesadillas

What I really wanted this morning was this:

Bagel and lox.

But I didn't have any bagels, let alone poppy seed ones. I also did not have any dill.

So, instead I used white corn tortillas to make salmon and cream cheese quesadillas.

White corn tortilla with Tofutti cream cheese and smoked salmon.

I used plenty of my favorite smoked salmon.

I sprinkled some shredded cheese over the salmon and topped it with another tortilla.

It went into a pan on medium high heat until it was nicely browned on both sides.

It came out gooey and cheesy and I loved the salty bite of the smoked salmon. 

This was a great way of getting in my weekly dose of salmon. 

 I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!
 

Choices at the salad bar

Whenever I shop at Draeger's I always stop by the salad bar.

They have an enormous salad bar and everything is incredibly fresh.

And it got me thinking about the choices people make when they peruse the many selections.

For me, the fun of a salad bar is filling your plate with exactly what you want no matter how bizarre the combination.

Number one for me would be pickled beets. I know most people dislike them but it is one of those things I never think to buy and have in the house so I always enjoy them when I am out.

So my 'only the things I want' salad included:

Lots of herb spring salad mix
Shredded purple cabbage
Artichoke hearts
Peas
Red onion

 
I was a bit heartbroken when I couldn't find my favorite raspberry balsamic vinaigrette on the shelves so I settled for this:

This has an interesting flavor. It initially tastes very strawberry but then it finishes with a burst of herb flavor.

It was a great combo with this salad.

The salad ended up being a vision in purple. 

So what do you put on your plate when you hit a salad bar??

Easy no-cook meal

Last night I really didn't want to cook. Even though the weather had cooled off a bit, my cement patio was still giving off a lot of heat.

Tuna fish and black bean tacos.

I know this sounds like an odd combination but it was incredibly delicious and I didn't have to turn on the stove.

I mixed one packet of chunk-lite tuna with 1 tsp. of Veganaise, 1 Tbsp. of mustard, a pinch of garlic powder and lots of fresh ground black pepper.

Since I didn't want the tuna fish to make the bottom of the taco soggy, I started with layer of shredded lettuce.

On top of that went a handful of black beans (drained and rinsed), tuna fish, some chopped green onion, a slice of avocado and lots of fresh chopped cilantro.

And you won't see any pictures of what I made this morning because I had the exact same meal again for breakfast.

With coffee, of course.

This afternoon I am turning on the stove and making a recipe I have been trying to perfect. 

Happy Thursday!