Light Lemon Salad Dressing

I generally use a balsamic and olive oil based dressing on my salads, but some days, I just want something a little lighter ...

Enter in to the wonderful world of LEMONS ...

Of course, this could have something to do with that lemons from Costco that is starting to take a turn and I'm trying to avoid having to toss them so I've been using them up for EVERYTHING! .... and this here recipe takes TWO lemons so that makes me pretty happy!

Here's what you need to add a little ray of sunshine to your salads ...

juice from 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup or so ... Costco lemons are HUGE and I got about 1/3 of a cup of juice from 2)
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Ready?

Dump the juice in to your glass canning jar or any other glass container with a lid.  Add the olive oil, whisk that baby up.

Add salt and pepper to taste. I added more salt that I thought I would need as it really made the lemon flavor jump out!

Lightly dress your salad with the dressing. You don't want it swimming ::this is a side note to Hubby who likes his stuff to swim in dressing:: but rather, lightly coated.  Taste delicious on light, delicate baby greens ;-)

Put the leftover dressing in the fridge and give it a good stir or shake before using.

Enjoy!

*Tessa Mae's makes a great Lemon and Garlic Dressing that I am going to try to duplicate soon ... that stuff is a little too thin for my taste and cost $4.99 for a small bottle ...

Ranch Dressing - Grain and Dairy Free

Ranch dressing is just about the only thing that I can REALLY miss when I'm doing grain and dairy free. I mean, heck, it's the perfect dipping sauce for just about anything. Toss i a pool party or bbq and I'm going to go ahead and grab a commercial bottle of crap from the fridge. So I was pretty excited to try this recipe!

It's easy ... but I also had my mayo made already that morning in anticipation of HUBBY needing some for his shrimp pasta salad ...

1/2 cup mayo (do me a favor, if going for TRUE dairy free, make your own)
2 to 3 tbs coconut milk (canned)
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp minced garlic (are you prepping your garlic in mass quantities yet?)
black pepper
squeeze of lemon juice

Mix all well together in bowl, cover and refrigerate for an hour, minimum. 

Serve up!

*Note ... dill is a very strong herb and the past few times I've made this, I've reduced the amount by half, sometimes adding a dash more. It's all a matter of taste!

Apple Snacks

Seriously, this is really really, REALLY good ... even my finicky receptionist who will eat nothing but her own home prepared food tried these and said "wow" ... I made this 4 days in a row last week to take to work and now I'm thinking these may be making an appearance at some poolside parties this summer!

Yes, the lemon and orange juice keep the apples from turning brown ... beautiful! 

A Smoothie to Make Me Feel Better

I just ordered a bunch 3 new vitamins on Amazon... I really need to get focused and try to lose the 10-15 lbs that I've gained. I've finally come to grips that it may be hormonal charged, especially after catching the Dr. Oz show the day I was home ... uggg ... so I ordered some Holy Basil, CLA and I3C ... lets see how it goes ...

Only problem with all this is that I need to take these 2 times a day ... and I have a hard time remembering to take anything!

Let me make it clear, I understand that my hormones are not 100% the blame ... I've increased my fat intake while "lowering" my grain/carb intake but have NOT done too much more as far as exercising has gone ... me and another girlfriend are trying to do a 2 1/2 mile walk two times a week and I throw in some other stuff in between ... I've finally convinced Hubby to hook up the DVR in the Florida Room so I can get back to working out again in the morning since I'm waking up early with the time change.

I'm actually pretty excited about the Holy Basil as it's also an anti-inflammatory and stress reducer ... all in one! Woohoo!

So then I come across this cool little recipe for smoothies ... and even though I don't use protein powder, I may just give in and use some greek yogurt if I feel I need the extra protein. In the meantime, I plan to skip it all together!

1/2 banana (frozen for the most part as I always have them in the freezer)
1/2 cup of frozen berries (whatever is in the freezer, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
1 scoop protein powder (I've been leaving this out)
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup cashews (I use unsalted as that's what I picked up at Costco a while ago)
1 cup of coconut water (12 pack bought at Costco a while ago)
*UPDATED 12/17/13 - I've started adding 3 tbs of Hemp Seeds to this last week ... just because I have them in the fridge and heck, they are supposed to be an excellent source of lots of things*

This is the almond milk that I use ... a little pricey at $3.99

but it's the best tasting one I've tried so far

Toss all in the blender (VITAMIX!) and let it rip til smooth.

This one was made with 4 frozen strawberries

for the 1/2 cup of frozen berries

I've done this the past three mornings as a replacement of the usual eggs and bacon in the morning and want to continue for a week or so and see how I feel ... even though I am full on that FAT is good for your body, I think maybe I need to add more variety ... hence the nuts and almond milk. AND I've read that coconut water is an anti-inflammatory also ... anything to help me through this little flare I'm having lately ... AND it does seem to keep me fully fairly full til lunchtime, which was my number one concern.

Spring Rolls with a Sesame Dipping Sauce

I had some Swagbucks available so I gave in and got me some Amazon giftcards ... heck, 450 points gives you $5 so why not?

With my new found FREE Amazon credit, I picked out a new cook book ... and glad I did!

Page 26 and 27 gives us this pretty neat recipe ... and of course, I had to give it a try.

Mind you, I'm not a fan of spring rolls/egg rolls, any of that stuff, under normal circumstances. Usually, I find an odd taste that just turns me off ... never could figure out what it is/was ... but I wanted to give these a shot and try them out on Hubby ...

Easy enough, but I still opted to do the prep work that morning before heading to work, chopping the chicken (in place of the pork) and cutting the veggies. So when I came home, all I had to do was steam the "rolls", sauté the filling, stuff and roll and finish steaming ... yahoo.

Sometimes, breaking up the steps like this makes me more likely to try a new recipe during the work week ...

12 to 15 green cabbage leaves. I used Chinese cabbage as the green cabbage at the market was icky
2 tbs fat (I used olive oil)
1/2 pound diced chicken (I used thighs)
2 tsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
3 carrots, julienned (matchsticks)
3 celery stalks, julienned (matchsticks)
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

Sauce:

1/4 c coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1/8 cup toasted sesame oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp ginger (I used the fresh stuff in tube)
salt & pepper to taste
dash of hot pepper flakes (because we like a little heat)

In a steamer rack or bamboo steamer, steam the cabbage until soft enough to roll without cracking, about 5 to 8 minutes. While that's steaming, heat up 2 tbs olive oil in heavy skillet and cook the chicken for 5 minutes or so, adding the soy sauce/coconut aminos to season while cooking.

Add carrots, celery and shrooms to the chicken and sauté for another 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat (but leave the mixture in pan).

Once leaves are soft, trim each to a round circle, cutting the any large ones in half (you don't want a massive roll).

Lay a leaf flat on board, and add a scoop of meat mixture to the 1/4 closest to you. Roll leave a roll and then fold in the sides and continue rolling.

Place the roll back in the steamer, seam side down and steam for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your sauce!

Add coconut aminos to a small saucepan along with the sesame oil, ginger root, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Warm over medium heat while whisking until garlic is soft and the sauce is infused.

Pour sauce in small dish for dipping and place the rolls on a small serving platter.

So, we ate a few of them. I had an issue with the rolls after the final steam, removing them. I guess I didn't roll them tight enough?

And then I remembered, I do NOT like cooked cabbage, even lightly steamed stuff. So I dumped out my cabbage leave and used a romaine lettuce leaf instead. Way better!

Enjoy!

Two Minute "Carb" Fix

There comes a time when you just got have something "carby" like ... generally, for me, it's on Saturday or Sunday morning, usually after I've had one too many adult beverages the night before. Carby stuff in the morning just makes me feel better, what can I say?

Fortunately, there are people out there who know how to make fake food out of real food ... so there, we can have some carbs in the morning. Well, at least, I can make believe it's carbs!

Easy enough to make these, although it did take me a few times to get the timing right. The original recipe suggested 2 to 2 1/2 minutes so my first time I started with 2 minutes 15 seconds. They were rubbery. Next time 2 minutes and pretty good ... I think it depends on the size of your egg (the smaller, the less time)

Ready?

1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbs coconut flour
1 tbs almond flour
1 tbs full fat coconut milk (from a can)
1/2 tsp baking powder

Dump the dry ingredients in a microwave safe mug and give a quick stir to mix up.  Add egg and coconut milk, mix to combine.

Place mug in the microwave for 2 minutes, on high.

When cooked, simply turn cup upside down on a plate and let the muffin slide right out ... cut in half, english muffin style, top with whatever you wish (my? I like an easy over egg and use the muffin to sop up the wet yolk) ... enjoy!

Daylight Savings = Lifestyle Changes

Hope everyone remembered to turn your clocks back ... we forgot! So its 8:20am and I keep thinking its 9:20, so this is going to be one LONG Sunday.

I've put myself on the scale this morning.

Looked at myself, butt naked, in the mirror.

Squeezed my hands and barely got the wedding ring off as they were so swollen.

A day on the boat, a restless night of sleeping and a slice of pizza for breakfast to take the beer haze away.

Time to buckle up and get moving back to some healthier choices.

Seriously.

I've done 40% maybe of conscientious GOOD eating. But you know what happens when you only do 40% GOOD FAT and 60% BAD CARBS and sugar? Weight gain, first and foremost. And then that sluggy, old lady feeling. Yikes! Yes, I AM 49 but I damn well don't think I'm supposed to feel 80, all creaky and achy.

Hubby heads out of town on Tuesday for a whole 8 days. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Monday ... or better yet, today, RIGHT NOW??

I"m going to flip the leftover pizza the bird (and scold my tummy for being consoled by that piece I already ate) and focus on the HEALTHY food I have in the fridge. I'm going to stop at the produce store on my way back from my dads and load up on produce ... and then I'm going to precook some good protein.

Yes, I'm resetting my eating habits.

It's about dam time!  Look for updates and hopefully a few new recipes to maybe get you motivated too ...