Where's The Heat

It's March and the weather doesn't seem to be getting "Spring Like". I think most of us have cabin fever right now. I decided to go with it and make a chicken stew.

I had some chicken breasts in the freezer (a staple in the house). So I thawed them and cut into bite size pieces.  Poured 2 tbsp. grape seed oil into a frying pan and seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, celery seasoning & tajin. I love Tajin, it has this lime salty flavor to it. Really good in bloody mary's  too. (I digress) I sauteed the chicken for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
While the chicken is cooking I cut up the veggies, 1 onion, 2 carrots
( sliced thin), 1 green pepper & 1 yellow pepper, diced, 1 jalapeno, diced & 2 stalks of celery, sliced.

When the chicken is almost done, add a palm full of Montreal Steak Seasoning stir and mix well.  Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.

Add 1 Tbsp. of grape seed oil and add the veggies to the pan.  Season veggies with salt & pepper to taste.  

While the veggies are cooking, in a sauce pan put
2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of rinsed quinoa.
Bring to a boil, simmer for about 20 min. until quinoa is tender.

When veggies are done add the chicken back into the pan. Mix and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of quinoa flour. Stir to mix and cook for 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth to pan

 ( about 1 cup) stir and simmer until thickened. This forms the gravy for the stew.

When the quinoa is done place it in a bowel and spoon the chicken stew over it.

Enjoy!
Let me know how you like it  :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope you all had a fantastic day.
I love Shepherds pie.
Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.
The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791 when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor.
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.

 I have never made Shepherds Pie, have only had it in restaurants. I wanted to think up a good low glycemic way to make it. I had 2 pounds of ground chicken in the freezer so I started with that. I looked up several different recipes and just pulled out the things about each that sounded good. And, away I went.

 I browned up the 2lbs of ground chicken, added sea salt, red onion, celery, fresh ground pepper & carrot.  Then I added tomato paste, chicken broth, green beans, thyme, rosemary & chopped garlic. I let that simmer for about 15 minutes to let the flavors mix.

While that was simmering I cut up and steamed a head of cauliflower. When it was done a mashed it up with my stick blender.

 

 and added a handful of low cal Italian blend, shredded, cheese.

 I then put the meat mixture into a pie pan and put the cauliflower mixture on top and spread it out.

Baked for 35 min and ...... WHAAALAAA

Let it sit for 15 min and then I dug in.

It was DELISH!

Low Glycemic Shepherds Pie

2lb. ground chicken
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp. organic quinoa flour
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1 tsp. rosemary
1 1/2 cup organic green beans (frozen)

1 head cauliflower
cheese, shredded (1 palm full)

Preheat oven to 400

1.  Brown the ground chicken and add the onion, carrots, garlic. Cook until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt & pepper.
2. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. 
3. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10-12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
4. Add the green beans.
5. Steam the cauliflower. When it is soft, drain the water (make sure it is dry) and mash the cauliflower until smooth.
6. Add the cheese to the cauliflower and stir to mix.
7. Place the meat mixture in the bottom of a 8 x 8 inch pan or in a pie pan.
8. Spread the cauliflower cheese mixture on top of the meat mixture.
9. Bake 35 minutes & let rest for 15 minutes.

Enjoy and let me know how you like it :)

First Week Of Spring TLS Chanllenge

We are now one week in on our Spring Find Your Fit Challenge. We did a week of detox and got rid of all the toxins in our bodies and then moved on to our low glycemic eating. I have lost 12lbs. and Bruce has lost 15lbs. This will probably be the only time we are close in our weight loss, so I am doing the happy dance as I type this.  (that accounts for all the type o's).

We had this GREAT product training today that my friend Jason Barter did. The one thing that sticks out to me is the section he talk about where the US allows chemically derived and potentially toxic ingredients in our foods and the same manufacturers change the ingredients in other countries that don't allow these ingredients.




Some of the key American brands that are participating in this deception are McDonald’s, Pringles (owned by Kellogg’s), Pizza Hut and Quaker (owned by Pepsi), Betty Crocker (owned by General Mills), Starburst (owned by M&M/Mars), and Ritz Crackers (owned by Kraft). In the examples below, red text indicates potentially harmful ingredients and/or ingredients likely to contain GMOs.

        
All the ingredients listed in RED are toxic/cancer causing ingredients. All this info can be sound in the article Food Babe Investigates: How Food Companies Exploit Americans with Ingredients Banned in Other Countries. It really is a MUST read.
               

Now that we have a start (check out the website for the whole story) on what NOT to eat how about some wonderful stuff we should eat :)

skinnytaste.com

Chicken & White Bean Stuffed Peppers

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup parsley (or cilantro)
5 bell peppers (red, yellow or green)
14 oz. shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 tsp cumin
adobo (or salt) to taste
15.5 oz can white beans
1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese


In a medium pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley and red peppers.  Saute until soft, about a minute. Add chicken and season with cumin and adobo. Add beans and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, until it thickens and the liquid reduces. Adjust spices to taste.


Preheat oven to 350. Cut peppers in half removing seeds and stem. Place peppers in an oven-proof dish. fill each pepper with 1/3 cup of chicken and bean mixture. Pour about 1/3 cup water or chicken broth on the bottom of dish. Cover tight with foil. bake 40 minutes. Remove foil, top with cheese and bake uncovered another 5 minutes.


We loved these. When I try a recipe or make one up, we never know how we are going to like it. This one was good, really good. I use as many organic ingredients as I can. And when you use good food, not preservatives, fresh, whole foods, it is a amazing how full and satisfying your food is. We may pay a little more for it, but the out come is so worth it.
Serves 5

I added Roasted Brussels Sprouts and a Cucumber Salad. Great meal.


Let me know how you like the Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers. Leave me a comment.


Enjoy!

P.S. I just found a really good blog article from Lauren Ridinger @ Loren's World on 5 delicious and healthy snack choices. Great ideas.

Spring TLS Find Your Fit

We are on our last leg of our weight lose and we have defiantly changed our life style of eating! We make so many different choice when it come to food. The biggest difference is when we make a bad/wrong choice.... we are miserable for hours if not days! We have just finished our 7 Day Detox. I lost 10 lbs. and Bruce lost 18 lbs. So we are off to a good start.

Today was one of our "snow storms". I just wanted to be home and cooking! I got to leave work early so, I went to Cermack and shopped for all my veggies.... if you haven't been there, it's a "must go". They have some of the best produce and the best prices. Today they had organic heirloom tomatoes for $.99 lbs. Red ones, yellow ones and purple ones! Whaooo!

I came home with 4 large bags of food and I was so ready to cook.  It was 5pm and we were getting hungry so I picked the quickest one so we could have some dinner. Chicken Poblano Soup was first on the list. I found the recipe on Pintrest. I changed it up a little to keep it TLS friendly.

Next, I made an Easy Crust-less Spinach and Feta Pie....Outstanding! Then, Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers. I have these in the frig for later in the week. The filling is delicious, so I know these are going to be good. In the crock pot I have Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken. I also made a big green salad with lots of greens and good veggies, to go with everything.

Here is the Chicken Poblano Soup recipe, the rest will follow when we taste test them :)

A good cook always has wine  :)

 

This is a really quick and easy lunch or dinner. Just add a salad and you are complete.

Serves 2
Ready in 20 min.

1 Boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 oz.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lbs. poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small yellow onions, rough chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 C fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
8 oz. plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, divided

1. Cook the chicken breast in a large pot of salted boiling water, about 10 min. When the chicken is cooked through transfer it to a cutting board and use two forks to pull apart the meat. Set aside.

2. Mean while, heat the olive oil in a large, nonstick soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 min., or until lightly browned.

3. Add 3 cups of water to pot and season with extra salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer. cook for about 5 min. or until the peppers and onions are cooked through.

4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers onion and garlic to a blender. (don't use a food processor... it makes a big mess)Add the cilantro, half the Greek yogurt, and half of the cooking water, and blend, gradually adding more cooking water until the soup reaches a smooth, creamy consistency.

5. Add a teaspoon of water to the remaining yogurt and whisk until smooth.

6. Divide the soup, chicken and remaining yogurt among two bowls, and garnish with extra cilantro. 

This soup was delicious!! Let me know what you think.

I will post the other recipes this week.

Enjoy!

Salad In A Jar

We have had so many requests for this recipe since we plastered it all over Facebook :)  These are easy but a little time consuming because you need to chop up all the veggies. Putting them together is a breeze. You can make the salad any way you want.... chicken taco, sea food, fruit, etc. or just put veggies/meat in the jar and enjoy! Let your imagination run wild.

The secret (if there is one) is to keep the hearty veggies at the bottom. There will be no sogginess if you remember this. Use things like shredded cabbage, celery & pea pods. Then add your peppers, fruit meat and lettuce always at the top.

This is the veggies and meat for 10 quart jars of salad.

I roasted several chicken breasts. A few with Lawry's season salt & fresh ground pepper. The others I seasoned with home made taco seasoning. I also used medium canned shrimp (rinsed well) and albacore tuna.

Decide on a dressing and pour it on the bottom of a quart canning jar. Next add some shredded cabbage, then for the taco chicken I put put chopped celery, cherry tomatoes sliced in half, sliced green onions, black beans, diced chicken breast and diced romaine lettuce. For this Chicken Taco Salad I made Restaurant Style Salsa. One had just salsa on the bottom, the other I mixed salsa and Greek yogurt together. 

Raspberry Chicken

Raspberry Chicken Salad

For the shrimp I made a dressing with equal parts of low-fat mayo and Greek yogurt,    1 tbs. Parmesan cheese and 1 tsp. horseradish along with salt to taste. I thinned it with almond milk. My friend Jason suggested taking Greek yogurt, zest of an orange and juice from the orange.  DEEELISH!!

I think you get now........ It's fun and delicious.

Add caption

  These make a really large salad, so feel free to share. I am going to try some in a pint jar next.

Bon Appetit

Let me know how yours turn out.

This Was A Surprise

I was looking around Pintrest the other day and I found this recipe on the the Amateur Gourmet for Roasted Cauliflower. After reading it I saw a link that someone left in the comment section. Now I get to an other cauliflower recipe that is made with "Anchovies" ewww!
Cauliflower is one of the staples in our house, it's right up there with beans  :)  I was excited about this recipe because I could use my mortar and pestel, which I haven't used in years! The wheels in my brain started worked, "how can I change this?" I changed up a few ingredients (left out the anchovies) and gave it shot.
It was very good!
Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Almond Sauce

mix sliced cauliflower with olive oil and salt & pepper

For the cauliflower
1 medium-sized head of cauliflower                              
3-4 T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 T parsley, chopped


For the lemon almond sauce
1 clove of garlic
1 t lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 palm full of almonds
3 T extra virgin olive oil (add until mixture until a thick sauce)

Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Remove any green leaves from cauliflower. Place head of cauliflower stem side down on a cutting board and slice like a loaf of bread into ¾-inch thick slices through the stem and all. (It will not all stay together) 

Toss cauliflower slices in a bowl with the oil and generous amounts of salt and a few grindings of pepper. 

Lay out in one layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place pan in oven and bake for 1 hour, turning the pieces 3-4 times. The cauliflower should turn deep golden brown, extremely tender and fall apart easily. It may appear ready after 40 minutes, but you want to press on and wait until the cauliflower completely collapses. Some smaller bits will turn dark brown and crispy. Do not discard them. They are the best parts.

Prepare the lemon almond sauce. Pulverize the piece of garlic in a mortar with a pestle. Pour lemon juice over it and let sit for 10 minutes to remove the rawness.

Coarsely chop the almonds and then add them to the mortar and pound to a paste.

Note: that's the new knife my kids bought me for Christmas.... If you have nothing else in your kitchen, have a GOOD knife.

Drizzle the olive oil while stirring with the pestle until a thick, pourable sauce is formed.

 

Place the roasted cauliflower in a bowel, add lemon almond  sauce, mix well and top with sliced green onion ends and serve, either warm or at room temperature.

 I also added a few red pepper flakes at and blended them in.

We had the lemon almond cauliflower with Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar and I added green and red bell peppers.

This was a success and I had fun making it. I hope you enjoy it and it would be a good recipe to try on the people who say they don't like cauliflower. The nutty taste with the little lemon flavor pretty much changes the tastes into something delightful.

Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

Find your ~bliss

Pam

Moving Right Along

Things are going great. It's 2013 and we are healthier then we have been in the 12 years we have been together.

Bruce has lost a whopping 155 lbs.

July 2011

Febuary 2012 When the journey began

August 2012 The first 80lbs.

January 2013... 155lbs.

I couldn't be prouder of him. He has worked so hard and he just keeps going. There is a light at the end of the tunnel now. He is on his last 50lbs.

We are leaving for Miami on January 29th so we are doing the TLS Find Your Fit Fat Shredder. We can lose up to 14lbs. in 2 weeks. Very excited about this. I actually am working out. The TLS Find Your Fit Fat Shredder has a 10 min. power workout. Today was my first day and it took me about 20 minutes, but I did it! Anybody who knows me gets it :) I hate to sweat! But I also don't like being out of shape, so that wins. If you are interested in the Fat Shredder, just drop me an email and I will get you the info.

Well I needed to make something for lunch and it was midnight......... I got out a 1lb package of ground turkey and browned and drained it. Looked in the pantry and got a can of black beans (here we go with the bean again :) and a can of tomatoes with green chilies. Now I'm thinking Taco salad.
I rinsed the beans and added them to the browned ground turkey along with the can of tomatoes.

 I also added a palm full of Wildtree Cajun Seasoning, mixed it all together and let it simmer until all the liquid was gone and the flavors were blended.  I found a cube of basil in the freezer and I added that also. I guess I need to get some more cilantro.

I always have a tupperware dish full of salad made in the frig. When the "taco" mix was done, I just put a couple of handfuls of salad in a dish, topped it with the "taco" mix and some low fat shredded Italian blend cheese. All Bruce has to do for lunch is add some Annie's Naturals Organic Cowgirl Ranch Dressing.

With lunch done.... on with breakfast.  Checked the frig again and found 8 eggs, turkey pepperoni and still had some of that cheese left from the "tacos".
Individual Omelets coming up!

Scramble 8 eggs with 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp fresh ground pepper.

If you don't have a stick mixer.....I highly recommend one! They are one of the best things I bought. I got it as a gift for someone, couldn't remember who, so I kept it.... Everything happens for a reason :)
They work really well for smoothies also!

Next grease a cupcake tin and poured in about 1/3 cup of the scrambled eggs. Place 2 slices of Hormel Turkey Pepperoni in each and sprinkled with the shredded low fat Italian cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

And you end up with these cute little omelets!

And a happy healthy meal.

ENJOY!