Green Veggie only smoothie (paleo)

So I have decided that smoothies are pretty good. Easy to get all the veggies and fruits in that I eat every day. Trying to get the kids onto the smoothie train too, but for now its mostly me and sometimes my daughter. Tonight I needed veggies but I am in a hurry as we have track and other things. So a smoothie is going to be how it happens.

HUGE handful of kale. I used baby kale this time. I probably used two huge handfuls as the blender was over half full of just kale after I packed it down.
1/2 of a cucumber
half of a red bell pepper
handful of parsley
1 peeled lemon
1 peeled lime
2 stalks of celery
liquid stevia to taste
about 2 cups water
10 ice cubes

I put everything into the blender and hit "smoothie"   Pretty good. Its kind of bitter without the addition of the stevia. Would be great with added fruit in place of stevia, but I wanted to see if I could get a veggie only smoothie to taste good. Enjoy!

Yummy Marinade

So tonight it was .. um.. chicken .. yet again..  But only because I wanted to experiment with a marinade for BBQ. And because my hubby really wanted a BBQ (since its Father's day)..  It turned out really good!

I took 4 chicken breasts and cut them in half lengthwise. Then split them through the middle so they were thin. I then marinated them in the ingredients below for about half hour. Then onto the nice hot grill about 3 minutes or so each side (or until no longer pink inside). These cooked up fast because they were thin. For thicker pieces,you will need to cook longer.
 They were very tasty, flavorful and juicy!!Especially for such a short marinade time. Made a great chicken salad.  YUMMM!!
                 I tried to get a photo of the entire plate of chicken I cooked, but before I could get back into the kitchen with my phone, they had eaten all but these two.. The chicken was apparently a success.

Marinade
1/4 cup black soy sauce (this is usually sweeter than regular soy sauce. Can be found at Asian markets)
1/4 cup low sodium tamari sauce (regular soy sauce would probably work)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice from 1 lime
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
about 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger

Put into a ziplock baggie and shake to mix well. Let sit - so flavors marry- while you prepare your chicken.. or for about 10 minutes or so. Add the chicken, toss to coat all pieces and let marinate (I left mine at room temp) for about half hour. It could probably go longer, but I would put into refrigerator if it was longer than half hour.

UPDATE
I have now used this marinade several times. But only with chicken. It would probably be good with other meat, but we don't eat pork much, and I just have not had anything but ground beef, so no experimenting there. We eat quail, sometimes, so next time we are planning quail I will marinate those and see how they turn out. I once let chicken marinate for over 24 hours (because I was busy and forgot about it..). It is very good no matter the amount of time marinated. Every time I have made chicken that has been in this marinade, it flies off the plate! I grilled (literally) an entire 7lb bag of boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I had marinated and they were gone so quick I didn't even get the chance to freeze some for my lunches. I was able to hide one piece, and when I ate if for my lunch the next day I didn't even warm it up. It was still so dang good, even cold!!! My kids keep asking me to make more of "that chicken". We ran out of propane one night, and my son cried when I told him we would do the chicken another night.. So then I had to go get propane so he didn't have to wait. I have chicken that I just put into the refrigerator to thaw, but shhhh.. don't tell the kids I plan on marinating it, or I won't get a chance to put up any for my lunches.

Asparagus stuffed chicken

Tonight for dinner we are going with chicken..yes, chicken again. We eat a lot of chicken and turkey here.  But I wanted something different. I did some thinking and decided to make breaded baked chicken stuffed with asparagus. I went about this in a way that would meet both my son's diet, and also mine. Part of my diet is being mostly gluten free. So I had to figure out how to bread the chicken without using flour/wheat, but also taste good. here is what I came up with:

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl
In another bowl you need about half cup of coconut milk. Coconut milk will help keep the chicken moist.

4 chicken breasts
8 asparagus stalks, trimmed of bottoms
2 tsp coconut oil

I cut the chicken almost in half lengthwise, making a "flap". I then dipped each piece of chicken into the coconut milk, then into the dry ingredients, coating everywhere including inside the flap. I sat each on a rack on top of a baking sheet. I then pulled open the flap and placed 2 pieces of asparagus into the middle of each piece of chicken. I then put about 1/2 tsp of coconut oil on top of the asparagus then folded the chicken back over itself. Bake in oven at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is done.

The chicken was a HUGE hit.. Kids and hubby all loved it. I made mashed cauliflower to accompany the chicken. Those were only so-so. I am going to have to research more on the cauliflower recipe for next time.

Blueberry Kale Smoothie (paleo)

So yes... yes I will admit it.. I am on a diet.. ok. Not a really real DIET.. but just a diet.  However, it is working. I am down over 25 lbs now. Some of that I am sure is because I am supplementing my not diet with minerals that we all need. Because none of our fruits and veggies have the minerals that they used to, so supplements are the only way to get them. I read a study that suggested 90% of all Americans are mineral deficient and that is what causes a LOT of the problems we have today. I was a daily sufferer of headaches, and also the occasional migraine.  After taking the minerals for just a couple weeks I have not had any more headaches AT ALL.. and then I cold turkey stopped drinking coffee (and I am .. was.. a pot and sometimes 2 pots of coffee a day drinker) and I did not get even one headache from the caffeine withdrawals.
But anyway, that is not the topic of this post. (however if you want to know what minerals I take, get with me, or message me and I will let you know.)

The reason for today's post is the YUMMY smoothie I made for my lunch today. I am not much of a smoothie person, but on this diet I just feel like I am eating ALL THE TIME.. and sometimes I cannot finish. I eat approximately every 2-3 hours. SO I decided to just wing a smoothie to try and get everything into it that I would eat for my lunch.  Today's lunch needed to have a fruit, veggie, protein & healthy fat (and sometimes grain) but no grain in my smoothie today.

Ingredients
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup walnuts (protein and healthy fat)
6 BIG pieces of kale ( I had a variety of kale, from my garden. But its all still kale)
1/4 cup coconut water
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
few drops of liquid minerals (I incorporate them into nearly every liquid I drink all day long.)


Throw all of the above into the blentec and hit "smoothie".  And once it was nice and smooth, my daughter and I just drank it down.. It was great. I got everything except a grain for my lunch, and didn't have to take half hour to eat it. And even better, it was really really good.. My daughter wanted more. Couldn't get the boys to try it, but that's ok as it left more for me and my girl..

Homemade Natural Ketchup

I don't know about you, but our family LOVES ketchup.. I do mean that. My kids will eat ketchup with ANYTHING.. Including ketchup.. (not a typo.. my son has a shirt that says "I eat ketchup on my ketchup" and it totally fits). But here is my dilemma..Most ketchup brands have corn syrup.. and high sodium. The "natural" brands don't have corn syrup, still have high sodium, usually extra sugar and are expensive. So I have decided to try and make my own. I am starting first with low sodium organic stewed tomatoes. But later on (once I have more tomatoes coming out of the garden than I know what to do with) I will attempt to make it with them. And I will update here once I do.


Homemade Natural ketchup

2 cans -14.5 oz - organic low sodium stewed tomatoes. Drain only 1 of the cans
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mustard powder
1 medium organic carrot
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 drops liquid stevia extract - optional. Taste before adding as you may not need it.

I am lucky enough to own a Blendtec blender. I LOVE it!! I have also had a vitamix. I like Blendtec better. I burned out Vitamix, multiple times, just making peanut, cashew, walnut or almond butters. I have never burned out a Blendtec.. But maybe the Vitamix blenders just didn't like me.. hmm.. anyway - they are both good blenders, if you own one I recommend using it.. If not, a regular blender should work but you'll probably have to heat the ketchup on the stove-top to gain thickness. You can do that even if you do have a vitamix or blendtec, but I did this all in the blender without aid from Mr. Gas Range.

I put all ingredients into the blender and turned on. I set it for "soup" as I want this to thicken up. Which i hope will occur after heating, and letting the steam escape, like I would on the stove-top.  After the first go, I tasted it.. Very tasty. I had Connor taste it too. He said MMMMMM.. It still needs thickening, so I continued to cycle, then cool. Did this 3 times. Then it looked good. I then had everyone else try it. They like it, but said it doesn't taste like store ketchup... probably as there are no extras in it.. but they liked it so I guess it may pass the test.. I'll see (and update here) once I make some fries for the kids to eat it with..

( I may try mixing it into the leftover store bought ketchup we have, just so they get used to it. It does taste different, better IMO. But kids are finicky creatures, and never like new things. So if I mix it, then maybe they will like it and not know until I have them hooked.. Bawahahahha - yes... 'evil' mom laugh. )

Lemon Lime Chicken (Paleo)

So with this new way of eating, we are discovering ways to make food taste good without using much, or any, salt and trying to avoid "unhealthy" foods. It sometimes gets hard to find a meal that can satisfy us and meet the guidelines too.
Tonight I wanted something easy, tasty and done when I got home as we have a night of track meets to attend and want to have the kids fed before we go. So I did some thinking. And I cruised the internet. And decided to "wing it" again when I couldn't find anything that suited us just right. I love my crock pot and so this is what I am going to use for this recipe. I decided chicken was going to be the protein tonight, and using some ideas off the net, and my own I put this together.

 Lemon Lime Chicken
Ingredients

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( I used frozen)
2 medium/large lemons
1 medium lime
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning

I put the chicken into the crock pot while still frozen. I zested the lemons and the lime. Then added that on top of the chicken. Then I "peeled" the lemons and lime, (really, I just cut away the pith with my sharp knife) removed the seeds (throw away seeds) and then sliced them up and tossed them into pot. Then sprinkled the remaining ingredients on top. I added no liquid. I put all this together the night before, then put into the refrigerator until the morning. Once I got up for work I put the crock pot into the heating part, and set it  up on low heat then went to work. When I came home my house smelled wonderful and I had this amazing chicken.. Juicy, flavorful, and shredded up like magic. I think we will have this with rice, or maybe noodles. Not sure yet. But it was good all by itself. Kids loved it, and I know this will be a repeat recipe.

Beans, Beans, the magical fruit...

Today's adventures are all about beans.. and more beans!
A friend of mine brought me 4 or 5 lbs of pinto beans so that I could try them out. She said they are the best beans anywhere, and so fresh. I usually use store bought dry beans & sometimes canned, but was excited to give these a try. And as one of our FAVORITE foods are Refried Beans, I wanted to utilize the pinto beans for this - as most store bought have LOTS of sodium. The "low sodium" can I have in front of me says it has 610 mg of sodium for 1/2 cup of refried beans.. That is more sodium than I think is needed, and definitely more than my son should be having for 1 serving. So I decided that if I could make them, with little or no salt, and have them still taste good then we will be in bean heaven.

I cooked about half the beans.. I am not exactly sure how many lbs there were, I estimated. But it is a good amount of beans. I have a large crock-pot, and half the beans filled over half the pot. So at least 2 lbs, maybe 3.  I sorted through them, making sure to get any out that looked bad, and checking for stones. Then I rinsed them a few times to remove any dust. These beans were very clean and pretty to begin with. And my friend said as they are so fresh there would be no soaking required. Hallelujah! I hate soaking beans for hours, then cooking for more hours. So being fresher eliminated at least the soaking part.
Once the beans were rinsed, I put them into the crock-pot on low, covered them with cool water until at least 2 inches of water above the beans. I did this later in the evening, maybe 8 or 9 pm.  Then I left them to cook overnight. I got up once, and checked on them and they did need more water so added a couple more cups of water. When I got up this morning (I am usually up very early) they were done. I did not add anything to the cooking of these, just beans and water.

To flavor the beans and make them "refried" I decided to try the following:
Remember - I do not actually "measure" and so these are estimates.

1 large onion minced
3 garlic cloves mince.
juice from 1 large lime
2 tbsp Mrs dash fiesta lime seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp of ground cayenne pepper

I cooked the onion and garlic in a little (1 tsp) butter until they were translucent. When they started to get dry, to avoid adding more butter or any oil I used some of the juice from the cooked beans. While the onions cooked I started ladling the mostly drained beans into my food processor. I did have to add some of the liquid, to keep the beans from being too dry or "gummy". Most places I looked recommended just smashing the beans with a potato smasher, but I just figured the food processor would be easier on my hands ( I have arthritis so anything I can do to make it easier is a good thing). I used the pulse to get the beans "smashed" up to where I wanted them to be. Once the onions were done, I turned off the heat and added in the smashed beans. I did have to repeat the beans in the food processor about 5 times to get all the beans that I had cooked, and I was able to add them all into my large stockpot.
Once I had all the beans processed and in the pot with the onions and garlic,I turned the heat back on low, and I added the other seasonings. The lime and Mrs Dash were a later addition as I just felt the beans needed something, and I just did not want to add any more salt than I had - 1 tsp for as many beans as I made is not too much. But not enough to flavor them much either. The lime and Mrs Dash did the trick! Once everything was mixed in and heated through I did a taste test. Everyone in the house LOVED them, and were begging for bowls of refried beans for brunch. And I was happy to say  "Sure, eat as many as you want."

Turkey and White bean stew -
2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 lb great northern beans
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 can low sodium chicken stock
1 can low sodium stewed tomatoes
5-6 pieces of curly kale. I use the long mature kale for cooking. not baby kale.


For Dinner we are also using beans. This time we are using white Great Northern beans. These were store bought dry, so I have soaked them already overnight in cool water in the refrigerator. Always seems they work out better for me if I do that.
I used about half a pound of beans. Checked, rinsed, and soaked. This morning I rinsed them again and put them into the crock-pot, covering them with several cups of water. I let the beans cook most of the day, until they were tender. Then I fried up some ground turkey, a diced white onion, couple cloves of diced garlic, some cumin, poultry seasoning, ground cayenne pepper, & onion powder. cooked this until the turkey was done, and then poured into the crock-pot with the beans. I added 1 can of low sodium chicken stock, 1 can of low sodium stewed tomatoes -drained- and a couple cups of water to the crock-pot to bring liquid level up to nearly the top. I then chopped up some curly kale, rough chop - large pieces and used the stems, then threw them into the pot too. I let this cook until the kale was tender. Then nom nom nom!  It was pretty good. Kids ate it, but were not overly excited about it. I think it will make a great freezer lunch to have handy  for work.