Breaded tilapia

I LOVE breaded fish, but I am trying to stay away from gluten. BUT.... Look what I found!!!

It's made with rice flour and Italian seasonings! 

I am also trying to avoid eggs, but I needed something to hold the bread crumbs!

I had my cast iron frying pan nearby with a little bit of oil in the bottoms to fry those puppies!! 

I fried them until they were a bit flaky and served em up with some roasted broccoli and roasted chickpeas!

Yum!

Cute-cumbers!

Seriously, how cute are these guys????

When I first picked them up, I was wondering how I could use them. Well, I found some ways that make my purchase justifiable!!

1. I "infused" them in my water! I cut 2 cute-cumbers lengthwise and placed them in my water bottle with 2 lemon slices. I left it overnight and had some refreshing water the next day. Yum!

2. They are a crunchy salad topping.

3. They are also good for snacking. They definitely crunch!

4. They may be good if you do your own pickling! 

Yay for cute-cumbers!! I found them at Costco. 

Apple sausage pasta

This was such an easy dinner and not too many dishes to wash either!! 

First I sliced the chicken sausage into small diagonal chunks and cooked it in my cast iron frying pan in a teeny bit of oil... palm fruit or coconut is best.  Al Fresco makes other chicken sausage flavors too.  This one has maple syrup in it, so it's not the best, but hey, it was yummy!

While it was cooking, I cut up my veggies.  This is just what I had on hand-- petty pan squash, yellow squash, onions, and some frozen peas. You could add any other veggies that you want.

When the sausage was done cooking, I took it out and put it in a glass dish with a lid to keep it warm.  I used the same pan to fry the vegetables.  I put a lid on the pan so they steamed a bit.  While the veggies were cooking, I put the water on for the noodles.

This is organic brown rice pasta.  It tastes JUST like regular pasta. 

When it was all done cooking, I splashed a tiny bit of oil onto the pasta, some seasoning salt, and some garlic powder on.  I put it in the dishes above to keep warm since the hubs was not home yet... his is the one with more pasta.. lucky!!  

Tessemae's Salad Dressing

Go to your refrigerator and take a look at the ingredients of your salad dressings and marinades.  Can you read all of those words??  Our goal is to know exactly what we are putting in our bodies.  Well, have no fear, your clean salad dressing is here!



They have many flavors, but my favorite is the balsamic.

Hubby's favorite is the Zesty Ranch.  It is not a creamy ranch, so no worries about aversions to dairy products.

Ways to use Tessemae's dressings:

1. On your salad
2. As a marinade
3. Fill your slow cooker with 4 chicken breasts, half a bottle of chicken stock, and half a bottle of Tessemae's.  Cook on low for 4 hours.  We used the mild hot sauce and had buffalo chicken salad. Hubby LOVED it!!

It is difficult to find a retailer for Tessemae's.  The closest one to us is about an hour away, but you can order online http://www.tessemaes.com/.  

Guest Post! Frittata: Breakfast of Champions

This post is from my brother, Danny, who began his healthy journey several years ago.

Several years ago (sorry it's blurry... you get the idea!)

At his wedding

Most recently, he began following the Paleo lifestyle.  If you are insterested, you can read about it here http://thepaleodiet.com/

Danny is a great cook!  He makes most of the meals for him and his wife, so I asked him to do a guest post recipe.

SO, here goes!

I’m sure everyone’s heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Is this claim rooted in fact or is it an urban legend?  In the end, do you really care?  Most of us are hungry and need something to fuel our day and probably don’t have much time to do it.  Unfortunately, most “quick and easy” foods are loaded with sugar, carbs, and chemicals.  Wouldn’t it be great to get your protein, veggies, and healthy fats in 1 dish as part of “the most important meal of the day”?  The solution:  Frittata.  A frittata is an egg dish, sort of like an egg pie.  Frittatas are my go-to egg vehicle, especially when it can be made the night before and enjoyed for the next couple mornings.

Frittatas are awesome! Let me count the way

1. It’s easy to make.
2.   It can be made ahead of time and warmed up later (and still taste just as delicious).
3. The possibilities are infinite.  You can use your favorite proteins, veggies, and other toppings to break up the monotony.
4. It can help you clean out an overstocked fridge:  leftovers, veggies that need to be consumed, etc.  You’re only limited by your creativity (and what you have on hand).
5. It is healthy!  The eggs alone have a ton of nutrients. You can boost the vitamin and mineral content by adding colorful veggies or pack in extra protein in the form of meat.
6. It is basically an omelet but takes less finesse to make and sounds fancier.
7. Your co-workers may or may not look at you weird when you are not eating Pop-Tarts (loaded with sugar/carbs/chemicals) or oatmeal (grainsL).

Simple Frittata Ingredients:

6-8 Large Eggs

¾ cup chopped onions

¾ cup chopped green pepper

¾ cup broccoli (break into small pieces)

1 large clove or 2 small cloves garlic minced

1 T Coconut Oil or Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350º F.

2.       Heat coconut oil in an oven safe skillet.

3.       Add broccoli, green, pepper, and onions to hot oil.  Sauté for about 5-7 min until veggies are soft.

4.       While veggies are sautéing, crack eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

5.       Add garlic to skillet and sauté for 2 minutes.

6.       Pour egg mixture evenly into skillet and place in oven for 10 minutes or until eggs are firm.

7.       Top with your favorite hot sauce, if that’s your thing.

Optional Toppings:

·         Avocado or guacamole and/or salsa

·         Bacon!!!

·         Your favorite sausage

·         Cheese!  (Try Kerry Gold Dubliner, its Irish and from grass fed cows!)

So, start rocking frittatas for breakfast and the next time your co-worker makes the stereotypical “Breakfast of Champions” comment when they see you eating in the office, you can be confident they are actually right.

Drink. More. Water

Photo courtesy of Faceook.com

How much water do you drink per day?

Forget plastic disposable water bottles!  We use a Brita Water Pitcher at home and various reusable BPA-free water bottles. The Brita purifies our tap water and then we stick it in the fridge to keep it cold.  We have a green one just like this, but they have other fun colors too!!

You can get your own water filter pitcher at different stores like Wal-Mart, Target, KMart, or any home store.  You can also order online!  Ours is the 80-ouncer and we fill it up several times throughout the day.

Photo taken from Water Aid

Remember to try to drink half your body weight in ounces EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!

Meatballs

We LOVE pasta in this house!  Lately we have been making our own sauce so that we know EVERY ingredient that goes into it. We eat brown rice pasta and we cannot even tell the difference! Brown rice pasta is made from rice, which is a grain, so it does not have gluten or flour in it.  Your body process grains slower than gluten or flour and it is low on the glycemic index. 

I made these lean meatballs to go with our sauce and our brown rice pasta.  First, gather all the ingredients.  I like to sneak in extra vegetables for flavor and fiber, so get a big mixing bowl and add in your ingredients. 

Disclaimer: I NEVER measure things!  I will give you an estimate of the measurements, but add as much or as little as you desire.   :)

 1 egg

1/4 c. chopped onions

1/4 c. chopped green peppers

2 tbsp. tomato sauce (homemade)

1/2 c. almond meal (added for extra protein)

and of course, your lean meat-- I used 97% lean ground beef, 

but ground pork, ground chicken, or ground turkey would work as well

Stir it up and form it (even though I hate touching raw meat, I had to use my hands)

I used my cast iron skillet and added some sauce and some oil 

(palm fruit or coconut oil are best, but I only had olive oil, so I used that)

Cover the pan, set it on medium heat and wait until they are AT LEAST half cooked

When they are about half browned, you can turn them over.  Some of mine broke, so be VERY careful! They are done cooking when they are all the way brown and the internal temperature is about 160-165 degrees. 

Serve them with brown rice pasta and LOTS of sauce.. ok, you don't have to have a lot of sauce, but that's what we like!

Full Recipe makes about 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 c. chopped onions

1/4 c. chopped green peppers

1/4 c. tomato sauce 

1/2 c. almond meal (added for extra protein, but not necessary)

1 lb. lean, ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey)

2 tbsp. oil (palm fruit, coconut are best)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine onions, peppers, egg, 2 tbsp. sauce, almond meal, and ground meat.

2. Mix it all up and form it into small balls of meat.

3. Add oil and desired amount of sauce to a frying pan and place the meatballs in the pan.

4. At medium heat, cook the meatballs until they are fully brown inside and out and the internal temperature is about 160-165 degrees.

5. Serve with brown rice pasta and tomato sauce and enjoy!

Healthy Snack

This is one of my ALL-TIME favorite snacks.  A sliced organic apple with 2 tablespoons of cashew butter.  The ingredients of the cashew butter are cashews and sunflower oil... NOTHING else!