TGIF Weekend Chinese

IT'S FRIDAY! Oh how this week has been long. Not complaining, its been good! But long. Very long. I don't know what it is but I have been so tired and so drained this week. Maybe its the change of weather going into Winter or maybe its the simple fact that it was the week after Thanksgiving break. Phew! Well nevertheless, its over and the weekend is here! Can I get a woot woot?! I felt like Chinese, so off to the Natural Foods store I ventured to find myself some ingredients to experiment with. The little Chinese concoction I came up with wasn't too bad. I may find some little alterations down the road but its good enough to share. So on this beautiful, long waited for Friday, I present to you, my newest recipe....(would it be too much to ask for a drumroll?).......TGIF Weekend Chinese!!

*Serves 2-3*

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cooked grain such as rice, quinoa, millet, couscous, amaranth (that is what I used tonight), etc.
• 2/3 Cup shredded red cabbage
• 1/3 Cup shredded carrots
• 3 Tb. chopped green onions
• 1-2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 Tb. sesame seeds
• 1-2 Tb. olive oil
• 3/4-1 tsp. groung ginger (less if you don't like ginger as much)

1. Prepare preferred grain as instructed.
2. In a medium frying pan, saute onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
3. After letting those saute for about three minutes, add cabbage, carrots, and extra olive oil if needed.(If the ingredients are browning to the bottom of the pan)
4. Once grain is done, and you have cooked the vegetables to your desired preparedness, mix the grain in with the veggies.
5. Add ground ginger and sesame.
6. Let the flavors combine together in the pan over low heat for five minutes before serving.
7. Add salt and pepper if desired.

"Day after" Thanksgiving snack

I love Thanksgiving! It is a time where I just forget about all that I dont have and truly recognize all the countless blessing I do have. Why can't everyday be thanksgiving?? Oh wait, it can and should be. Everyday is a time for thanksgiving. To realize how much you have and give back to whoever you come across that could use a little assistance. That is what I believe is true happiness. Being thankful. Every truly happy person is thankful and dwell on all the things they do have rather than vice versa. The day before Thanksgiving I was thinking about how blessed I am to even have a creek full of drinkable water only a mile away, much more at the touch of a button on my fridge! Some people don't even have as much as a natural source of clean water within a reasonable walking distance. And if that is something I should be thankful for, then I have SOOO much more to reflect on. Anyways, after you have read my little devotional on gratitude, its time to get to what I am really thankful for tonight. The food!! After Thanksgiving, you may have a little turkey lying around in the fridge but lets face it! You are still stuffed from the binging that took place the day previously. However, once mid-afternoon rolls around, you could go for a nice, light snack. Here is my solution to this predicament you find yourself in.... :) its my simple, easy to make, "Day after" Thanksgiving snack.



What you need:

• raw, sweet vegetables such as red bell peppers, carrots, celery, sweet peas, etc.
• left over turkey
• maybe a little olive oil and yummy seasoning.

This next part is the easy part. Mix it all together. I know that wasn't the most genious recipe, but it is a nice idea for a light snack that possibly you haven't thought about. :) Enjoy your eating..

The Best Stuff on Earth -- Popcorn!

Ladies and gentlemen! Let me introduce to you the best stuff on Earth! I call it popcorn. Oh! You have heard of it? Ya, well you haven't heard of my popcorn. (Or maybe you have because it's not really mine) So my dad opened my whole world the day he taught me about popping popcorn over the stove. I could eat this stuff from sunrise to sunset and probably all through the night too! It is probably my FAVORITIST food (can we make that a word? I vote yes...). You may think that you love popcorn and you use something like Pop-Secret, Orville or any other microwavable popcorn. But please! For your own sake, just try this method. It makes the best popcorn that is light and fluffy and not weighed down by a whole bunch of artificial, by-product butter junk (which makes the popcorn taste like the salt flats of the Great Salt Lake) And this method of making popcorn is so much better for you as far as sodium and cholesterol! And without butter and other add-ons, popcorn is actually a healthy, low-calorie snack. Just add a little sea salt and it is better than any of that so-called "popcorn". This is the real deal, lets not lie here......

What you will need:

• A deep saucepan
• olive oil (others work such as safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, coconut, etc.)
• popcorn kernels (yellow corn kernels pop the best)

1. First you put the desired amount of kernels into the pot. Just remember that four tablespoons makes about two quarts so a little pops into a lot.
2. Pour oil in so that each kernel is coated in some. Shown below.
3. Turn on stove to as high as it will go.
4. As soon as the popcorn has been popping for about thirty seconds, shake the pan a little bit just to make sure the already popped popcorn won't burn.
5. As soon as there is three seconds or more between each pop, then turn of the stove immediately and shake the popcorn around to catch any of the last little kernels waiting to pop.
6. Pour into a bowl and if you add just a little bit of sea salt, your whole popcorn experience will become a lot healthier in a yummier way than you thought possible.

Humdrum Quesadillas

Today was rather uneventful, I am not gonna lie. Nothing too "snazzy". It was rather nice to just slow down for a day. : )  When dinner rolled around, I decided that quesadillas sounded good. So in an attempt to spice up my day a little, I decided I wanted to try and "jazz" up my boring quesadillas. Secret ingredient? Apples!! Please stop the applause, everyone and their grandma has already used this idea but if you have never tried this (which might be all of two of you reading this) then congratulations on making a new discovery. So here you go. The recipe for my "Humdrum Quesadillas". (Dorky, I know, that the only thing exhilarating today was that I learned a new word. Humdrum: boring;uneventful). DONT GET ME WRONG! These quesadillas are anything but humdrum!  But remember? I name the recipes after things that happened that day. I don't name them on the quality or characteristics of the dish. ; )






Here's the scoop:

You take two whole wheat tortillas. You put one face down on a large skillet/frying pan. You put desired amount of mozarella cheese onto the tortilla. Then you slice apples into 1-2 cm slices. Place them on top of the cheese. Place your remaining tortilla on the cheese and apples and let it cook unto the bottom tortilla is golden brown. Flip and let the other side cook the same. Simple enough? I thought so. It is a quick and delicious way to jazz up the typical cheese quesadilla. :)

Make your Own Muesli

Say what? Muesli? What is that? Well I looked up the word on google and it gives a really good definition. Muesli is a mixture of grains, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds usually served in the morning as breakfast. So basically it is kind of like uncooked granola (sort of). I like eating it as my breakfast because unlike other cereals (even the "good" ones like Raisin Bran or Honey Bunches of Oats), Muesli doesn't have near as much artificial sugars and starches and preservatives. Not that those things matter all that much, especially if you love those cereals. However, it does serve as a very delicious and very nutritional cereal in the morning. Switching from the "health conscious" manufactured cereals such as the ones that I mentioned above, to  a homemade, natural Muesli is just a simple example of how to make small changes in your diets, without going extreme. So my friend, here is the "How To" on making your own Muesli. . . . . . .



You Choose

For your grain choose 1 C of the following:
   (I did half and half of oats and spelt)

• rolled oats
• rolled spelt
• rye flakes
• wheat flakes

For your seed (if you want one) pick 1/4 C of:
  (I did 1/4 C of hemp seed and a handful of green pumpkin)

• hemp seed
• chia seed
• flax seed
• unsalted sunflower seed
• green pumpkin seed

For your dried fruit choose a large handful of:
             (I did a handful of raisins)

• Raisins
• Pitted dates
• Dried cranberries
• Dried goji berries
• Dried blueberries
• chopped dried apples

For seasoning choose as many of these as you wish: (I did cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger-could have done without the ginger personallly)

• 1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Combine all your prefered ingredients and store in an airtight container. Pull out whenever you are wanting a light snack or a delicious breakfast and serve with milk (dairy, rice, almond, or soy). You can serve it hot or cold. For me I find it easier personally to just "nuc" it in the nuclear machine (microwave) when I want it hot. Whenever I eat mine, I like to serve it with 1 Tb. honey, agave, or sucanat. :)   ENJOY 

Your Welcome Chocolate Cookies

Let me tell you something. Sometimes, you come up with really yummy, unique recipes and you don't really want to share them because you have this dream of it becoming some legendary family secret that is passed down from generation to generation. And then you have a day where you feel really generous so you share it on your food blog anyway. Let me tell you something else. I can read your mind and I know that you are secretly thinking something along the lines of: "If I want to ever be healthy, I can't eat chocolate cookies ever again!" Well can I prove you wrong? This recipe has a lot of beneficial ingredients for your body and quite honestly beneficial yumminess for your soul. Yes, I just went there. So all in one, I am sharing a recipe that I  debated sharing with you, AND I am giving you the freedom from sacrificing chocolate cookies in order to be "healthy". I appropiately named these cookies, Your Welcome Cookies. :)

*makes 12 cookies*

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or just regular Whole Wheat Flour works too)
• 2/3 Cup Sucanat (SUgar CAne NATural)
• 1 generous tsp. baking powder
• 1 generous tsp. cinnamon
• dash of sea salt
• 3 generous Tb. cocoa
• 1/3 C grapeseed oil
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 3 Tb. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 Tb. almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a larger bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Stir dry into wet until you have a thick dough. If the dough is too sticky, stir in some more flour. Roll into 12 balls, and flatten onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the top of the cookies crack. Then sit back and relax as you enjoy amazing chocolate cookies. Oh but make sure to turn off your stove. I would hate for your house to burn down. :)

Pacha Pasta

Have you seen Emperor's New Groove? I don't even care how old I am, it is still my favorite movie of all time. It is so hilarious!! I got some of my friends together to watch it tonight, (because we aren't too cool for G rated, kiddy, hilarious movies) and we couldn't stop laughing. And may I add the fact that it has such good morals. I just feel warm and happy inside when I watch it. I don't have to censor anything or filter crude language or jokes like every other movie on the planet. I could just watch it and enjoy. Another thought, Pacha, one of the main characters is such a good guy. I love him a lot. No matter how rude the emperor is to him, he still wants to help out and be loving. End of Story. Pacha is the best! And another cool story...I made a new pasta dish tonight for dinner. Do you see where I am going with this? I see where I am going with this. : ) Pacha Pasta!!!! Here is the recipe....

*serves 2-3*

Ingredients

• one package of whole wheat spaghetti pasta (the less preservatives and ingredients, the better!)
• 1 1/2 Cup spinach
• 1/4 C hemp seeds (I got some at the local health food store)

For the Tangy Sauce:

•  2 Tb. olive oil
•  2 Tb. red wine vinegar
•  2 Tb. mustard (French's is the best)
•  2 Tb. honey
•  sea salt & pepper to taste

Ok, so this is a quick and easy meal process so I hope you can easily figure it out. Cook the pasta according to directions. Then, once thouroughly cooked, drain the pasta and put it back in the sauce pan. Throw in the spinach and the hemp seeds and cover with a lid to let the leftover heat steam the spinach. While this is taking place mix all the sauce ingredients until thouroughly combined. Pour over your pasta dish and serve with parmesan if you would like. (You may soon learn I love parmesan on everything!)

Enjoy! :)

Mali's Quinoa with Chicken

I have made an important decision. OKAY so maybe it's not that important. But I have decided to name each of my recipes after something that happened the day I came up with it. It's my way of blogging about little thoughts of mine everyday and sharing my recipes. If you could care less about what I have to say, then by all means just skip to the good stuff (the food!). But I will try to keep my entries short and sweet and to the point. So the main dish recipe that I have come up with, has been named after my run today. There is this amazing varsity runner on my cross country team and she is so nice and fun. We have been running together the past week as a means of getting a head start to the winter track season. We decided to drive up to the face of the mountain today and run along the trails up there. BEAUTIFUL may I say! Oh my! To top off our run, we ran up this crazy hill that is apparently call Mali's. Once we ran up the very tall, steep hill, we just let go of all of our cares looking down on the beauty of the whole valley. We could see everthing and I could just feel the Spirit of the Lord so peacefully. It just amazed me that we weren't even that high up, yet the rustle and bustle of the cities below was silenced. It was an amazing experience to be able to just slow down in life for all of five minutes and enjoy the beauty of nature and the breath-taking view. So hopefully after reading this rather longer entry, drool is not stuck between the keys of your keyboard. Anways, on this wonderful night, I now present to you my newest dish: Mali's Quinoa with Chicken.      : )

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Cooked Quinoa 2/3 C dry (don't let the name scare you, its just a grain cooked similar to rice. Very delcious, full of protein, and gluten free. Can be found in any grocey store)
• 1 1/4 C water
• 1 Cup chopped spinach
•  1 Tomatoe chopped
• 1 Tb olive oil (plus 1 more for the pan to cook the chicken)
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tb whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp of Mrs.Dash original blend spice (if you dont already have this stuff, stop what your doing and go to the store! Salt free and preservative free with an amazing mixture of spices. I use it on EVERYTHING! Point made.)
• 1 Chicken breast sliced length-wise(into 2 pieces)
• fresh thyme for garnishing (optional)
• 2-3 Tb. of parmesan (optional)

In a freezer baggy, combine flour, cayenne, pepper, salt, and Mrs.Dash seasoning. Place your thawed chicken in the baggy and shake. Maybe do a little dance around your kitchen. Or not. But you probably should. Just saying. :) Ok now, heat up your 1 Tb oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Place chicken breasts in the pan and continue cooking on medium. While the chicken is cooking, bring 1 1/4 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Once it boils, throw in your dry quinoa. Reduce to a simmer for 12 minutes and place a air-tight lid over it. Once your quinoa is done, it's probably best if you drain any of the excess water. Keep your steamy quinoa in the pan for five minutes. While your at it, throw in the spinach and tomatoe. Stir it a little and then quickly cover it with a lid to let the heat cook it all together a little. Once its done, stir in the lemon juice (not too much, or else it will be bitter), and then another Tb of olive oil. Cut up your chicken and throw that in too. Add parmesan or thyme as garnish if you would like and enjoy your dinner. :D

Rainy Day Cookies

So confession! I love love love rainy weather! Thunderstorms and rain and wind are definately the things that can make this girl happy. I started the morning with a good work-out at the recreation center and then I have just been cleaning all day. Enjoying the peacefullness of the weather, that's for sure. Oh and if you were wondering, rainy weather is the best time for baking. Can we please just clarify that subject right now? Yes!

Rain = perfect time to bake. So I figured why not? I wanted to come up with a new cookie recipe. I am happy. It is rainy. There was nothing holding me back. This cookie is similar to a sugar cookie I guess you could say but it has almost a bit of a graham cracker taste. I dont know! It's hard to explain. I guess the only way you can figure out is by trying them! ; )

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 Sea Salt
• 6 Tb sucanat (sugar cane natural)
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 4 Tb grapeseed oil ( you can find this inexpensive oil in almost any regular grocery store, next to the olive oil )
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Just combine all the ingredients and place on greased baking sheet. Pop in the oven @ 350 degrees F, and bake for 12 minutes.                        


  *Make 12 cookies*