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Menus / Recipes, Why?

Still Going Strong…Tabouli Anyone?

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Well, we are still hanging in there with the Eat Right 4 Your Type meal plan and thus far have continued to notice less bloating, weight loss, more energy (with the exception of the Lyme symptoms that plague my body with the changing weather) and a new outlook on our future and foods.  We have all noticed that certain foods can still make our mouths water and yet, we are not craving much more than the fresh veggies and fruits that our body needs.  We had a few weeks that we struggled with brilliant meal ideas, yet we made it through and this week has been a little better with the planning and food prep.

I would say that one of our all time favorites has been the meal on Monday night when my husband and I had the opportunity to prepare dinner together like we used to, pre-children.  It was a delightful evening filled with ideas, conversation and sharing of responsibility to prepare a meal that the kids didn’t critique and devoured leaving no leftovers.  (You could say boo hoo…it was that good!)

The recipe was taken from fellow blogger minimalist baker.com.  Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Crispy Tofu.  She did an amazing job coming up with the recipe.  I only made two changes to it, I used Brown Rice Spring Roll Papers and I used Bean Threads as the noodles.  I have avoided tofu for so long it is difficult to convince myself to use it in my recipes, however, this one was well worth it.  Especially when I found organic, fermented Tofu.  I encourage you to take a look and give them a try.

Tonights dinner  was another hit, making Buckwheat Tabouli served up in romaine leaves or in avocado halves.  The original recipe came from the back of the Eden Organic Buckwheat package, however, I changed some of the ingredient choices… not sure it’s still considered tabouli.

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2 C. cooked Eden Organic Buckwheat, cooled and fluffed

1 English cucumber, cut in half longwise, seeds scooped out and diced

3 medium green onions, chopped

5 artichoke hearts, chopped

1/8 C. chopped raisins, (I would have used currants, however I was out of them so I chopped up raisins)

1/8 C. pine nuts

1/2 C. fresh, chopped mint

1 C. fresh, chopped parsley

1 TBS. fresh minced garlic

1/8 C. pumpkin seeds, chopped

3/4 C. Olive Oil

Juice from 2 fresh lemons, plus another 1/2 to drizzle over before serving

2 tsp. sea salt

1 diced up ripe avocado, unless you serve it in avocado halves

Mix all ingredients together and chill for at least an hour.  Fill Romain lettuce boats or Avocado halves and drizzle the juice of 1/2 a lemon on top prior to serving.

 

Menus / Recipes, Why?

Eat Right for Your Type Update Week – Two

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Okay, so if you are following this fun journey with me (us…) then you already know that we are two weeks into eating according to our blood type.  It’s been quite a journey.  We have noticed that weight loss, although slow, is going to be accomplished.  We learned that we are sleeping better, have more energy during the day, are thinking clearly, and are noticing that the water weight that “weighed us down” (ha ha) is actually minimized.  And on a more personal note, “gut” reactions are improving.  If you know what I mean.  🙂

The winner of this past week was the wild caught Walleye.

Arugula greens on the bottom…

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Baked Walleye with approved seasoning…

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Topped with:  sauteed pinenuts, fresh garlic, 1 cup of parsley, pea shoots (chopped) and chopped green onion.  Then baked again for another 5 minutes.

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Served with:  Sauteed purple, yellow and orange carrots, celery, pineapple, and garlic, in grape seed oil and a dash of a sweet red wine and a pinch of sea salt.

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I topped it with some bean sprouts and served it up with a smile.  🙂

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The peppery bitterness of the arugula was a nice addition to the fish since we cannot use any pepper for seasoning.

Some of our other favorites this week were:

The buckwheat pancakes with freshly ground buckwheat, ricotta, 2 eggs, sea salt, 1/4 C. honey, 1/8 C. olive oil and baking powder.

1 egg Omelette with black beans, green onion, kale and goats cheese.

Salads topped with a variety of the following:  black beans, goats cheese, feta, cucumber, carrots, artichokes, pecans, almonds, avacados, and seeds.  For dressing we bought and have enjoyed some various flavored olive oils with some fresh herbs.

I also made some greek muffins out of almond flour.  They had feta, precooked turkey bacon and spinach.  These are a favorite in our home.  They actually look like and taste like muffins.  🙂

And second place went to the lettuce wraps that I made.

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Diced Chicken breasts (I used only two breasts in the whole meal for a family of 4), chopped Kale, diced into cubes butternut squash, onions and pineapple.  Placed in a leaf of Boston lettuce and topped with just a dollop of sour cream.    These were also very yummy.  I did season the mixture with fresh garlic, herbs, and a touch of coconut aminos.

So far so good.  We shopped yesterday according to our weekly meal plan and I look forward to sharing with you next weeks favorites.   (I already have to say that today’s homemade tortillas were a hit…until next week….)

 

 

 

 

 

Menus / Recipes, Why?

Week One Update….Culinary Eating For Our Blood Type

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Well, as we finish out one week of our dietary changes, we are noticing some interesting results:

  1.  Less bloating.
  2.  Less digestive discomfort, even without digestive enzymes.
  3.  Thinning of mucus in sinuses and less of it.
  4.  Less coughing and asthma.
  5.  Sound sleeping most nights with only waking up for bathroom breaks.

Several of us are feeling positive results after just 5 days (6 1/2  in my case).   Cooking seems to be quite easy, not much more than I’ve been doing.  Only exception to that is the meal planning.  No longer can I cook on the fly and make it up.  We’ve had a few disgusting disasters and a few really really yummy meals.

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Winner Meals (Above) :

Turkey Tofu Burgers with avocado, grilled pineapple, steamed zucchini with almonds and garlic. 

Black Bean soup with a side salad with grilled pineapple, cucumber, carrots and a homemade goats cheese, olive oil and avocado dressing.

Winner Meals (Not pictured):

GF Tofu Lasagna

Chocolate Chip cookies

Omelette w/ feta and green onion

The meals listed above were all super tasty and we are excited to have them again.  Prayerfully we will not have a rotation of foods.  🙂

Until next update, it is with great hope that you may feel inspired to give it a try and join us.  If so, drop me a line and we can all be a support to one another.

Menus / Recipes

Zucchini for Lunch?

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A few weeks ago I had a conversation with someone regarding uses for yellow squash.  They inquired how I liked to cook them.  My answer was not quite what they expected, as you could say that at that point our family was sick of eating both zucchini and yellow squash.   I asked the question back to them saying:  “How do I make them now?  How are we enjoying them at this time?  Well, I keep them in the CSA box, or put them in the fridge in a drawer, wait until they are rotting and them throw them out.”  Told you it wasn’t quite the response they expected.  ha ha ha

Well, as I was pondering my blogging this morning, I decided to go through some of my pictures I’ve taken this summer and see what might spark a fire in the part of my brain that stimulates my writing.  Funny what I found…. Zucchini wraps!  So, I’m going to share what we did for a lunch meal in August.

I sliced long zucchini strips through the mandolin, put them on the stove in a pain with some grapeseed oil and just cooked them ever so slightly so they would bend.

I then cut up some precooked chicken we had leftover and placed the pieces on top of one end of the zucchini slice, sprinkled with some oregano and salt.

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Then I placed a dollop of seasoned ricotta cheese with a basil leaf.

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Then I rolled them up, placing them in a long baking dish side by side.

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Topped with some fresh shredded parmesan and some mozzarella, I baked them at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, then I broiled them for the last 5 minutes.  Watch this closely or they will burn.

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I sliced up more fresh basil and tomatoes, topped the zucchini and served.  It was actually quite good and the kids enjoyed them.  Although, this was the last time we have eaten any squash.  ha ha

Menus / Recipes, Why?

Breakfast on the Grill… Yum!

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We had a wonderful vacation, visiting friends and family, enjoying the warmth of the south and the ability to spend 90% of our days outside.

One of our favorite things to do when we are camping is cooking nearly every meal on the grill.  One of the highlights was our eggs benedict breakfast for Easter.  All done on the grill.

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Salmon Crabby Patties

Two Salmon Fillets, cut up into 1 inch pieces

1 can crab

1 small sweet pepper, chopped finely

2-3 green onions, chopped

2 eggs

1-2 gluten free, rice free pieces of bread (enough to bind the ingredients, you could alternatively have used some Almond flour)

1 tsp. dill, chopped

2  garlic cloves, chopped

Seasonings and

1 TBS dijon mustard

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Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.   Add enough of the bread so that you can firmly form patties.  Place the patties in a coconut oil or grape seed oiled skillet on the grill.   Cook on low while you make the hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce

3 Organic egg yolks, well whisked

Melt approximately 3/4 to 1 C. butter, in a small pan over the grill

Using a larger skillet, lay a canning ring on the bottom and add water just covering the ring.  Place your mixing bowl on top of the ring and this will make your double boiler.  (Make sure your mixing bowl is of a heat proof material.)

Whisk the eggs in your double boiler along with 1 TBS. water until it begins to thicken.   As it thickens, slowly add the melted butter and continue whisking.

After you pour in the butter, drop in your eggs on the already buttered skillet and cook just so they are over easy.  When nearly done and the eggs have been cooked over easy on the grill, remove the mixing bowl and whisk in 1 TBS Lemon juice and a dash of salt and Cayenne Pepper.

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Place one of the patties on  the plate, topped with one of the eggs and add the sauce on top.

It may not look as beautiful as it would if you went out to eat, however, the taste was absolutely a winner.  Especially for those children who are not fond of either salmon or crab.  🙂

Menus / Recipes

A Month of Paleo

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As a family, we decided that we all needed to be watching more of what we ate.  Keep in mind that we are already eating gluten free (3 of us are celiac), we eat very little sugar, and we eat all organic, grass fed, farm fresh foods.  You may ask yourself what else we could we possibly do.  Well, we decided to try a strict Paleo diet for one month.  Now, we are for the most part doing that with adding in a few extras like butter, and the rest of the milk we have plus a few cheeses.

We are finding it to be fairly easy, however, eating on the fly is harder still as I have to think about everything and we cannot just make or eat a GF muffin or GF bread with the turkey meat.  So, I’ve been coming up with a few recipes and buying lots of veggies to supplement some of our stand bys.

Tonights meal is stuffed cornish hens with rice.  Ha, that’s not paleo you say!  Well, actually it is.   Stuffed with veggies and nuts, and the rice is actually cauliflower that has been shredded.  It smells delicious and it looked great.

Stuffing –  I chopped up and sauteed the following veggies:  Carrots, small red and orange peppers, garlic, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, baby bella mushrooms, 1 large leak and 1 cup of pecans.  (I actually only used 2/3 of a cup of the chopped pecans in the stuffing, and the rest of the cup I put into the “rice”.)

Using sea salt, I salted the inside cavity of the hens and stuffed them with the above stuffing mixture of veggies and pecans.  See below:

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“Rice” – 1 head of cauliflower shredded in food processor.  Add 1 large stalk of fresh basil and about 4 garlic cloves,  both chopped, and the rest of the pecans.  Then I sauteed in a little butter, 1 tsp. sea salt and about 1/2 pint of homemade chicken broth.  Just prior to serving, I added a goat cheese that was like a feta.  Keep in mind that the pecans turned the cauliflower a light tan color making it looked like either a fried rice or brown rice.

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Can you say Yum?  🙂

 

Menus / Recipes

Fall is Here and The Soup is On

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Fall… The trees changing colors remind me of a painting in a museum.  God’s palatte of colors amuse the eyes and challenge the imagination.  A tree stands tall with it’s summer leaves expressing it’s desire to hold on to summer at the bottom of the tree, while the middle hesitantly relinquishes  it’s leaves to the cooler temperatures and the top willingly submits in excitement over the seasonal change.  From green to an orange hugh to the glaring red with a hint of purple creating a color unknown to the crayola crayon pack.

College Football games, warms coats, turtle necks and gloves.  The flip flops are put away and the shorts hit the storage bins.  As the heat turns on and the air conditioning is turned off, the blankets are pulled out of the basket as we snuggle up on the couch by the fire place.  Once again, the menu choice that takes center stage is soup.  Especially when the fall harvest is bringing in the squash and the last of the winter storage vegetables.

As we drove home last night from another weekend away, I looked forward to the yummy butternut squash soup I had made before we left.  Simple, quick, healthy and full of nutrients.  Butternut squash is a wonderful source of  vitamins A, B6, C, and Potassium.  It is also filled with anti-oxidents and is good for inflammation.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Start with cutting 2 butter nut squash in half long wise.  Scoop out seeds and place the squash into baking dishes flesh side down with enough water to steam.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until flesh is cooked through and soft.

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1/3 stick of real Butter

1 large Onion, chopped

4 Celery sticks  with tops, chopped

3 Garlic cloves, chopped

Melt butter in pan and saute the onion, celery and garlic.  When sauteed to look translucent, add:

2 small or 1 medium Red Pepper, chopped

bunch of Parsley, chopped

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When the squash is done, scoop out the flesh from the shell and add it to the sauteed vegetables above.  Add also the water from the baking dishes.  Do not let it boil.  After cooking for about 10 minutes, add:

1 Pint of home made Chicken broth concentrate, I used my canned broth (recipe on previous post last fall)

2 cans of Organic coconut milk

dash of Red Pepper Flakes, add more if you like really spicy

1/8 tsp Chipotle Pepper

1/8 tsp Turmeric

1/2 TBS Sea Salt

Pepper to taste

Cook until all are tender.  I use an immersion blender right in the pot to blend.  If you don’t have one of those, use a strainer or a slotted spoon to pull out the chunks of vegetables and place them in a blender, blending until smooth.  Add back in to the soup pot and serve warm.  Make sure not to boil or it will burn.

A warm and tasty treat served with a nice warm piece of baked home made bread.  Or, with a grilled cheese sandwich, my kids favorite.  By also making a grilled cheese sandwich on home made gluten free bread and using raw cheddar, the kids are more inclined to enjoy any soup I make.   🙂

Hope you enjoy!

Menus / Recipes

Swedish Pancake Spin

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Breakfast is such an important meal of the day.  It provides the energy boost our body needs after a long evening of rest and repair.  It’s too bad that in our home breakfast is usually eaten between 10-12 a.m.  By the time I wake up, wait an hour after taking my thyroid medicine, then take an hour and a half to ingest all of my Lyme meds, wait another half hour before consuming anything, it ends up being at least 10.  Then if I get creative and decide to make something other than eggs, it can be at least another hour if not more.  Fortunately for us, there is enough to do in those hours we are up so that no time is wasted and everyone enjoys waiting for a little something warm and home made.

One breakfast treat that the kids really enjoy and I rarely remember to make, gives me the warm fuzzies as I am reminded of my youth.  When I was at college, one of my grandmothers came up to visit me and she saw lingonberries in my pantry.  She told me how lingonberries go well with Swedish pancakes and she would show me how to make them.  Well, it just so happened that I had the recipe for Swedish pancakes in my cookbook “Where’s Mom Now That I Need Her”.  So we both went up to the store and bought the other ingredients and made Swedish Pancakes filled with lingonberries.  A warm memory that makes me smile.  🙂

As I pulled out that book this morning, I looked at the recipe and decided to try and make them a bit healthier with the ingredients I had on hand.  I must say, it was the first time the kids said they were like a pastry, very soft, sweet and the best I’ve made yet.  So, that being said I thought I’d share what I did.

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Swedish Pancake Spin

3 eggs

3/4 C. Organic whole milk vanilla bean yogurt

1/4 C. purified water

2 TBS Raw Honey

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

2/3 C. Sorghum flour, Sifted

Start with the first 5 ingredients and whisk them together until well blended.  Then add the flour by sifting it into the bowl and mix well.

Heat a cast iron skillet with a little butter and once hot, pour very little of the batter into the pan in a circle.  If need be, lift the pan with the handle gently allowing some of the batter to spill into a larger circle.

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The batter should look like an extremely thin pancake.  Flip it when it begins to look dry on the top.

Place onto a plate and fill with lingonberries if you have them or with fresh cut up peaches, nectarines, strawberries or blueberries.  Roll them up with the seam at the bottom of the plate.  We also like to dust them with an ever so little bit organic powdered sugar just before serving.

Can you say Yum?

Celtic Fun, Menus / Recipes

A Cooler, A Cutting Board, A Bowl and A Crockpot… Not a Crackpot!

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In the two weeks we were traveling we only ate out one time.  What?  How is that possible?

Well, let me tell you how.  A cooler, a crock pot, large bowl, cutting board, some serving utensils and some prep.

Breakfasts:  Hard boiled eggs, GF cereal with raw milk, GF bagels with organic cream cheese or almond butter, home made GF muffins and pre-made home made GF waffles.  I made the waffles and muffins before we left and froze them.  We would put the waffles wrapped in foil into the crock pot over night on warm and by morning we had warm waffles to enjoy with some sliced strawberries and maple syrup.  We also had kefir or yogurt with some strawberries and bananas.

Lunches:  GF organic Turkey sandwiches made as we wanted them.  Sliced GF organic grass fed beef sausages with GF Rice Free Lentil crackers and raw cheese.  Costco also has a wonderful organic GF chicken salad in single serving cups that were delicious.  We also ate leftovers from our dinners the previous night and pre cut veggies with organic hummus.

Dinners:  Prepped before leaving was the marinated chicken I cooked, cut up into cubes and froze.  This was also useful in the cooler acting as another ice pack.   The kids and I were able to wash some lettuce with some paper towel, I cut up tomatoes and we tossed the thawed chicken into the bowl with the lettuce and tomatoes adding in an organic Caeser salad dressing with a little cheese and we had a chicken Caeser Salad.

I also cooked up chicken breasts and shredded them mixing them with a habanero pineapple sauce and some barbecue sauce.  Both were organic without high fructose corn syrup.  I then froze it and when thawed, cooked it in the crock pot serving it on GF buns as pulled chicken sandwiches.  Serve with a few homemade sweet and sour pickles, cut up veggies and gluten free organic chips.

One night we made taco salads.  I had precooked and frozen some ground beef and used it also as an ice pack for the cooler when we first left.  We again washed some lettuce, tomatoes and put all in the metal mixing bowl with fermented salsa, raw cheese, organic avocado, and the organic dressing.   The leftovers we ate for lunch the next day.

We took some precooked chicken brats that were frozen and I put them in the crock pot with some cut up peppers and onions in the afternoon one day in CA and we had dinner ready when we were done with our day.

On the way home, we made a stop at Costco and Whole Foods.  We chose some pre-made salads and chicken dishes that we could put in the cooler.

Snacks:  We had apples, bananas, dried fruits, cut up veggies with organic hummus cups, and of course I allowed the kids some GF chips of various kinds.   Believe it or not, I actually found pretzels that were GF and rice free.  Woo hoo, I actually enjoyed a few pretzels.

Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive when it comes to food as long as you have a few hours of prep, the resources and the want to eat nutritious meals.  I cannot remember the last time we were in a fast food drive through.  Other than coffee it has to have been at least 12 years.  We travel quite often and we rarely eat out when we do.

When we did eat out in CA, it was the first day, in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf.  Of course, who could pass up such a wonderful Ahi Tuna.  🙂

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Menus / Recipes

Back in the Kitchen…

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This week has been spent putting up more vegetables for winter.  From green beans to tomatoes to even more fermented vegetables.  I’m so excited to be back in the kitchen, at times too excited as my legs and feet don’t hold up the way they used to before Lymes.  I do however, take breaks to rest between projects so getting it all done plus making dinner actually gets accomplished…most nights!   🙂

Tonights dinner was one of our son’s favorites.  Ahi Tuna with a wasabi sauce.  Easy to make and very tasty.  I found a great recipe out of Make It Paleo, however, didn’t have all of the ingredients as they listed, so I improvised a slight bit.

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Ahi Tuna

Mix the following ingredients together in a bowl and pour in a bag over 4 Tuna Steaks:

1/4 C. Coconut Aminos

1/8 C. Fish Sauce

1 TBS. Chopped Garlic

1 TBS. Garlic Tea Tree Oil

2 tsp. Ginger (if you have, fresh even better)

1 tsp. Sea Salt

Let marinate 2 hours prior to cooking.  Before placing on the grill, dip each side in a bowl with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sea salt and ginger.  Lightly coating.  Cook each steak on the grill or in a grill pan for about 2-3 minutes per side depending upon how rare you can handle it.  It’s far better the rarer it is.  One of our children does not like it rare so I compromised and did the 3.  It was slightly over cooked for my taste, however, all ate dinner so that was an accomplishment.

Wasabi Dressing

Homemade mayonnaise (see previous post on recipe) with some wasabi powder.  Wasabi is strong and it’s taste gathers steam to the palate the longer it’s in the dressing so be careful when using.  Start small and gradually increase quantity to your personal taste.

Served along side the cucumber, tomato, olive and basil salad.  Yumm!