Super Nachos-Healthified

My husband has a favorite dinner that his mother made while he was growing up. Now, I love it too, but it's not very good for you, so I combined a recipe from Simple Healthy Tasty and some of our favorite tastes, and came up with the following:

-Refried Beans (my guess is 1 large can, but I make my own. I use about 3 cups. See here)
-1 recipe of Cheezy sauce 
-1 recipe Sunflower Seed cream (mixed with 1-2 T taco seasoning)
-1 1/2-2 c frozen corn (rinse to thaw)
-1 pepper, diced (I use sweet bell peppers)
-chopped cilantro
-1 recipe of Guacamole (see below)
-1-2 c salsa or pico
-GMO tortilla chips (we just quarter corn tortillas and toast in oven)

optional ingredients: olives, other raw veggies-chopped, black beans

Spread beans and cheezy sauce and broil until cheezy sauce starts to brown. Layer everything else and serve with chips. Yum!

Guacamole
2-3 avocados
2 T lime juice
1/2 t sea salt (to taste)
optional-chopped cilantro
mash with fork or blend in blender

We like to eat this on a hot day, following a cup of ice cold green smoothie!

Water

With Spring in the air, I've been so busy with outside work and indoor spring cleaning. I'm enjoying the open windows and fresh air. I've also noticed that I have been drinking more water lately! For some reason, I hate hate hate drinking water when it's cold outside. So, I'm loving the feeling of hydration! :)

Interesting story. My 12-year-old really fights me about drinking water. She always has. Well, last week I called her for dinner and she appeared very agitated about something. When I asked her what was up, she responded very sharply, "Nothing!" At first, I was a bit miffed, but when I looked into her eyes, I could tell she meant it. I dismissed it, and we began dishing up salad. We began our normal dinner conversation, talking about our days-the good, the bad, the funny, etc. My 12-year-old kept asking really strange questions to her siblings. I didn't take a lot of notice as I was trying to do a few things at once. Finally, her brother said, "Lydia!" very sharply. I looked at Lydia and didn't see anything odd, so I asked him what was going on. He said, "Lydia doesn't know anything! She keeps asking me questions that I already told her!" I looked at her and asked again what was wrong and she responded with a monotone-like "Nothing." Her eyes were glazed and she seemed unaffected by what her brother said.

I had a thought. "Lydia, how much water did you drink today?"
"I drank water today, Mom."
"Yes, but how much?"
"I don't know."
"Go bring me your water bottle."
She brought it to me, and there was maybe....maybe....1 ounce gone.
I sat her down and said, "Drink. Now. All of it."
She did, and within 10 minutes, she was smiling, laughing and interacting normally with her siblings. When I asked her if she felt better, she rolled her eyes at me. Yep, my 12 year old was back. We then talked about the importance of drinking water.

My friends, our bodies NEED water! Our bodies can't perform their functions without it. We feel sluggish, tired, brain-dead, hungry without it. Our brains struggle with memory and performance without it. Our organs and kidneys can't provide us our necessary vitamins and minerals without it. We struggle with balance, focus and response time when we are dehydrated. Also, we are often dehydrated and don't even know it! If we are feeling thirsty, we have been dehydrated for a while. Drink often throughout the day.

If you drink something besides water (sugary things, soda with chemicals, etc), you need even more water to flush it all out of your system. As a rule, we try to drink half of our body weight in ounces each day. At least!!!  So, let's say I weight 150. I would need to drink 75 oz every day at a minimum.

If it's difficult, add some lemon to your water (or lime). Lemon actually adds some wonderful antioxidants, as well as purifies your liver and kidneys. If you want to detox? Fresh lemon juice is how you do it. I personally don't like it, but I try to have the juice of at least 1 lemon a day in my water. You can also add frozen fruit to your water for a sweeter flavor, but if you can, drink pure water, and lots of it, every single day!

Happy Spring, friends!

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

As you can probably tell from my pictures, I'm not a professional photographer. I'm also not one to make something pretty looking, including food. I just kinda do whatever, and it tastes good, so why make it look pretty? It's just gonna get eaten right? Well, I have a sister who can make anything look pretty. Anything! So, every once in a while I decide to make something look pretty, and it's USUALLY when I don't have the camera handy to take a picture, so bear with me while I explain this delectable dessert to you and and how, if you desire, to make it look gorgeous. 

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

1 c quinoa, rinsed well

2 c water

2/3 c almond milk

6 organic free-range eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 c coconut oil, melted

2 1/4 c coconut sugar or sucanut

1 1/2 c unsweetened raw cocoa powder or carob powder

2 1/4 t baking powder, aluminum free

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t sea salt

strawberries for garnish

Combine the water and quinoa in small saucepan. Bring to boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10ish minutes. Fluff with fork and cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or 2 round pans and line bottom with parchment paper. Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in blender and pulse until combine. Add quinoa and coconut oil and blend until smooth.

Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in large bowl. Add blender contents and mix well, adding milk if it's too thick. Pour into pan(s) and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and cool in pans.

At this point, you can serve as is or frost. It's super moist and rich, but we had a birthday in our family when I made it last time, so I did the following:

8 oz good-quality dairy free dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 can coconut milk

1/3 c powdered coconut sugar (just run through your blender until powdery)

1 1/2 t vanilla

Put chocolate in bowl and set aside. In small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the milk and sugar until bubbles appear at the edges and steam rises from surface. Pour mixture over chocolate and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then stir gently until glossy and smooth-this will take a few minutes. Add the vanilla and stir gently. Pour over cake and let it cool & set up a little bit. Cut a piece and add one of these to each serving:

 All you do is take a strawberry and  cut small slices down to just before the stem. Fan out a bit. Pretty, huh?

Red & Green Pasta

Let's talk mushrooms for a sec. I am not a huge fan of them....or so I thought. Turns out, I'm not a fan of white button mushrooms. However, I had no idea the huge variety of mushrooms there are! Lately, I've been reading about shitake (shi-TOK-ee) mushrooms. They are high in vitamin D. As I said in an earlier blog entry, vitamin D is usually absorbed from sunlight through our largest organ: the skin. During colder months, we tend to stay indoors more and don't get this important vitamin which can lead to depressed mood, seasonal depression or full-on major depressive disorder.

So, back to shitake mushrooms. Turns out, they are sometimes used medicinally! So, I went on a shitake hunt...yes, I do try things that previously I haven't liked. You should do it sometime. ;)

I found them at Whole Foods, and I immediately knew I needed to be open. The texture was totally different from button mushrooms! I actually got kind of excited! See recipe below for how I prepared it.

Red & Green Pasta

1 lb pasta (I used brown rice spaghetti, broken into quarters)

2 c diced shitake mushrooms

chopped onions

1/2 c raw sunflower seeds

4 garlic cloves, minced

whole wheat flour

2 c finely chopped broccoli

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, or blend 28 oz fresh tomatoes

2 T extra virgin olive oil

sea salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

fresh or dried basil

a sprinkle of fennel

1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

Cook pasta. While it is cooking, saute mushrooms, sunflower seeds, onions and garlic in oil. Add some flour to thicken. Add broccoli and tomatoes, then season with salt and pepper, basil and fennel. Drain pasta and toss into saute pan. Mix together and sprinkle with cheese.

The result? Shitake mushrooms are on the chewy side...but chewy in a good way! I really liked them and will buy them again. Don't be put off by the price. They were $10/lb at Whole Foods, but I got about 2 cups worth and only paid a few dollars.

Raw Apple Pie

 So, I've tried my hand at raw desserts before, and I have been pretty unsuccessful. However, my last 2 raw desserts have been completely wonderful! This particular pie is soooo easy, and so much faster then traditional apple pie. Give it a go, and let me know how you like it! I highly recommend making it the night before because the apples soften and it's more like traditional pie texture, but you certainly don't have to do that. It's still quite flavorful. 

Raw Apple Pie
2 c raw almonds
1 t sea salt
1 c pitted dates
With a food processor or a high-powered blender pulse the almonds and sea salt together until almonds are about the size of Grape-Nuts. Add dates and pulse until it forms a dough. I had to add some water until the "dough" would fit together when I squeezed a handful of it. But even if it's a little crumbly, that's fine, it still tastes fun with the crumbles. :) Press dough on bottom and sides of a deep dish pie pan to form the crust.

5 organic apples (We used Fuji, which was fine, but I bet honeycrisp would be delightful! If using honeycrisp, only do 2)
1 c dried fruit (I used 1/4 c goji berries and 3/4 c raisins, but do whatever strikes your fancy...or whatever you have on hand, in my case!)
2 T cinnamon
1 orange, peeled
1/2 c dates
water, as needed
Slice the apple very thin (or run through a food processor-I hate to use mine often cause it takes up so much space in the dishwasher). Toss apples, dried fruit and cinnamon in a large bowl until everything is coated well.
Add the orange and dates in high-powered blender, adding water if needed to make it the consistency of a smooth syrup. Pour over the fruit and mix well. Spoon filling into crust and serve immediately or cover and place in fridge until ready to serve. Stores well for a few days, and just gets softer and tastier. :)

Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie

I love this! My children LOVE this! It's just sweet and flavorful and wonderful!  The kids ask for it at least once a week, and get super jealous when I make it for me. AND IT'S SO GOOD FOR YOU! Raw beets are an excellent blood purifier. Coconut liquid is packed with minerals and electrolytes. Strawberries are high in vitamin C.

1 1⁄2 c coconut liquid  from young Thai coconut (best raw, or use coconut water. I buy them by the case at Costco) 
1 large carrot, cleaned and cut into 3 pieces (or 6 baby carrots)
1⁄4 of a medium beet, raw, peeled (we grow these in our garden and peel them, cut them into quarters and throw into the freezer)
1⁄4 c cashews
1⁄4 c chopped dates 
2 t vanilla
12 frozen strawberries
optional: 1 t flax seeds or 1 t chia seeds
Pureé all ingredients except the strawberries in your high-power blender for 90 seconds. Add the strawberries and pureé on high until smooth. 

My little guy? He skips the jealousy part and goes straight to, "Momma, a moo-ee peeeeeeeeeeeze?" How can I resist those baby blues?

Chilaquiles

Thanks to Simple, Healthy, Tasty for this one. Delicious!!! Our kids lapped it up.

Chilaquiles

Coconut oil

1 onion, chopped

1-2 colored bell peppers, chopped

chili powder

cumin

Mexican seasoning

1-2 cans of kidney beans and/or black beans (we cook in large batches and freeze in 3 c bags)

corn

salsa

olives, sliced

Green and/or Purple Cabbage, finely sliced

tomatoes, chopped

fresh cilantro, chopped

Lime slices, optional

Saute onions and peppers in coconut oil. Add spices to taste. Add beans and corn (and additional veggies as you like). Lastly, add tortilla chips, salsa and olives. Stir until coated and warm.

Place large handfuls of raw sliced cabbage on your plates and top it with the filling from the pan and then add the cilantro and tomatoes. Squeeze lime juice on top and pour ranch dressing and cheezy sauce on it. (I add almond milk to the cheezy sauce to make it a little more runny).

Ranch Dressing

1 cup of Sunflower Seed Sour Cream (recipe below, Note: This can be left out if you are in a hurry or just want it more simple! It's not quite as rich, thick, and creamy, but still really good)

1 cup almonaise

3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1-2 T Ranch Dressing Mix (see below)

Mix all ingredients until nice and smooth. It will be dip like consistency and great for carrot sticks etc. To make more dressing like consistency add some water or rice milk. Also it will thicken a bit in the fridge so keep that in mind. 

 

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

1/4 cup basil
1 cup dill
1 cup parsley
1/2 Tablespoon garlic granules
1/4 cup onion powder
1 Tablespoon Real Salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine ingredients in a jar stir or shake until well combined.  Use about 1-2 Tablespoons per 2 cups of dressing.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup water

4+ Tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove pressed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.