Leftover Tricks

Leftovers have always been my nemesis. The kids cry about having to eat leftovers, and it's usually tough to "fix" leftovers for dinner because either a) there's not quite enough of everything to go around or b) if I can convince the kids to eat leftovers, they want the same thing and don't know how to share. Leftovers are good for lunch the next day, but beyond that, I've had a hard time with them. On top of all this, I have a hard time eating exactly the same thing beyond dinner and lunch the next day.

I think my boyfriend put it best, though: "How can anyone hate leftovers, are you kidding me? Precooked food and all I have to do is heat it up? That's the best kind of food there is!" His enthusiasm for leftovers and hatred of throwing perfectly good food away because it sits in the refrigerator and goes bad reshaped my thinking.

Here's a few ideas for leftovers to get the creative juices flowing. First, don't feel bad about letting the leftovers build up for a few days. Cook a variety of foods, and then in a couple of days, you'll have a variety of leftover choices, which will widen your options. Second, mix things up. For example, my son wanted mini pizzas last night for dinner, which I can't eat, so I just heated up some leftover Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken because it was late and I didn't care. That meant there were no "new" leftovers for lunch today. So I took some spaghetti squash left over from a week or so ago, topped it with some cut up Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken and roasted broccoli. This was a brand new take on how I'd originally prepared these recipes, and it was a quick and easy lunch I could just toss in the microwave at work.

Another really good option is to recreate components from the recipes. For example, when I made my sweet potato quiche, I cut up a piece of chicken left over from a night or two before rather than cooking a new meat to put in it. You could also add leftover vegetables to a casserole (such as the hash brown casserole), or wrap them up in a whole wheat tortilla with some meat and grill it, turning it in to a panini of sorts. Left over fruit topping for pancakes can be drizzled over yogurt with granola to make a parfait. So many options. For me, the most important thing is reinventing the recipe so I don't have to eat the same food over and over.

What are your favorite leftover tricks?

Roasted Potato Bites

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved tater tots. Not to go all Napoleon Dynamite on you (I absolutely hate everything about that movie), but those were my tots! There was just something about those little potato morsels that were irresistible.

Now, I don't claim that these are anywhere near tater tots, because they're not. But they are little potato bites, and they're pretty darn tasty. My son let them go swimming in a pool of fry sauce (if you're not from Utah, that's a mixture of mayo and ketchup), but they were just fine by themselves. Even better, perhaps. I like fry sauce just as much as the next chick, but you really don't need fry sauce here. This is basically the ingredients for my baked french fries, the difference being the shape of the cut potato. They're a bit easier to cut this way.

I used six Russet potatoes from a 10lb bag and it worked out to be enough for one mom and three hungry males.

Ingredients:
6 Russet potatoes
2 T. olive oil
Chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

Scrub potatoes really well. We're keeping the skins on, and unless you like eating dirt, scrub the crap out of them.

Cut potatoes in thirds lengthwise, then cut the thirds in half lengthwise. Cut the slices into cubes about the same size long as they are wide. Put into a large mixing bowl.

Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and use tongs to toss, coating all the potato cubes. Sprinkle seasonings as desired. I didn't measure this time, but it was probably about a tablespoon each of the chili powder and paprika, and probably in the neighborhood of a teaspoon each of the onion powder, salt and pepper. Toss the potatoes until well coated with the seasonings. Add a little more if necessary. My mom used to say, "You can always add more, but it's really hard to take it out." Keep this in mind as you're adding the seasonings to the potatoes.

Arrange potato pieces in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until fork tender and brown. Serve immediately, with or without fry sauce.

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken

For some reason I thought I already posted this recipe. Remember a while back when I lost all my recipes from my ChefTap app? So I get a craving for this, and think it will be great because it comes together pretty quickly, and I realize I don't have the recipe re-imported into the app. I start searching the internet tirelessly, looking for the original recipe. Alas, I can't remember where I found it or exactly what was in it.

I wasn't giving up, though. I was making these suckers for dinner, end of story. So, while I can say that the concept wasn't mine (there were actually a ton of variations of this recipe online), I can say that this version came entirely out of my own head, albeit borrowed from some mystery recipe writer somewhere. I think the original recipe called for chicken thighs, so feel free to use thighs if you like. I love chicken thighs. Dark meat is so tasty. But breasts are just that much better. Because they're pounded flat and cooked quickly, all the yummy juices are locked in and they're really tender. Not a bit dry. Just be careful not to overcook them.

You'll need a meat cleaver (or rolling pin, but a meat cleaver works much faster and evenly) and some plastic wrap to make this work. My meat cleaver is double sided - a flat side and a side with spikes - and I like to use the side with spikes. It tenderizes the meat while flattening it.

Ingredients:
4 large chicken breasts
2 T. chili powder
1 T. smoked paprika
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicy)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

Cut each chicken breast in half cross-wise. Put chicken pieces, two at a time, on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Be sure the plastic wrap extends well over the ends of the chicken, because it will widen as it flattens.

Take all the day's frustrations out on the chicken with the meat cleaver. Beat the crap out of that stuff. Be careful to keep it even, though, and don't pound it paper thin. You want it to be about 1/4 inch thick when it's done. However thick or thin you get it, just be sure it's uniform. You're covering it with the plastic wrap to prevent any chicken goo from flying around your kitchen. Repeat until all breasts are pounded flat.

Arrange 2-3 chicken pieces in the bottom of a large mixing bowl so they're not overlapping. In a small bowl, mix together the chili powder, paprika, onion powder, sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle a little of the seasoning over the breasts, arrange two more in the bowl, sprinkle with seasonings, and continue until all chicken and seasonings are used. Use tongs to toss the chicken around, coating all pieces as evenly as possible with the spice mix.

Arrange chicken on prepared baking sheet in a single layer, not overlapping. Put under hot broiler (I put mine on the second-to-highest rack) and broil for 4 minutes. Flip chicken over and broil an additional 4 minutes. Be sure chicken is cooked all the way through and no longer pink.

While chicken is broiling (or before if you don't work all that quickly) combine vinegar and honey, whisking well to combine. The honey has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the bowl, so whisk it good. When chicken is fully cooked, flip it over again, and use a pastry brush to cover the chicken with the honey mixture. Broil for one minute, flip, coat the other side with honey mixture, and broil one more minute. Serve hot.

Note: You probably won't use all of the vinegar and honey mixture. You have two choices. One, you can reduce the amount of vinegar and honey you're using, or two, you can put it in the refrigerator and use it in another recipe. Because the chicken is fully cooked when you brush it on, there's no danger of cross contamination. You will likely end up with a few seasoning chunks in it, though. So, it's up to you. :)

Roasted Broccoli

I've been trying really hard to prepare more vegetables, particularly for dinner. It seems like I've got squash and potatoes fairly regularly in the rotation, but it's challenging for me to get the green veggies in. Part of the problem is that vegetables are so expensive this time of year, whereas squash and potatoes are on the cheaper side. The other part of the problem is that I never know what to do with the vegetables once they're in the house. Steaming them is totally bland and boring.

I've been hearing a lot of buzz lately about how good roasted vegetables are. Since it's winter, it's the perfect time to roast them because I don't have to worry about over heating the house. As it turns out, all the buzz was right. This was really tasty. I doubt I'll ever steam broccoli again.

Broccoli is one of those vegetables that's really tricky to wash. The very best method, even though it takes some time, is to soak it in water with an edible acid (lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, etc), and then rinse it. The vinegar gets inside those little pieces and breaks out any dirt or grime. If you like eating dirt, feel free to just rinse it. ;) 

Ingredients:
3 bunches broccoli
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 T. olive oil
2-3 T. lemon juice
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried cumin 
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Cut broccoli florets from stems and put in a large mixing bowl. Cover with vinegar and enough cold water to cover all florets. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Rinse well, and shake in a strainer to remove as much water as possible.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, toss broccoli with olive oil, lemon juice, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper. The broccoli should be completely covered with the oil and lemon juice, so add a little more if needed.

Arrange broccoli in a single layer on the baking sheet (touching is okay, just not overlapping). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until broccoli is tender and just starting to brown.

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini is one of those vegetables that you can just do so much with. Boiled it's not so tasty, but when you do something fun with it, it can be a super tasty treat!

When I think of fritters, I think of donuts - apple fritters, raspberry fritters, that kind of thing - so when I saw a recipe for zucchini fritters, it didn't really sound all that appetizing. The reviews were mixed, but it seemed like the people who didn't like the recipe simply did it wrong. Follow instructions, people! If your recipe doesn't work and you didn't do what the recipe instructed, don't go all hating on the recipe. That's all I'm saying.

My disclaimer here is that these are fairly high in fat. They're fried in coconut oil, and because they're made with coconut flour, baking them is not an option, trust me on this one. But, if you have one fritter that is paired with a lean protein, it makes for a pretty tasty meal. Coconut oil is a heckuva lot better for your than vegetable oil, but it's still fat. Everything in moderation. So, this being said, don't eat a whole batch yourself in one sitting and then get mad at me when you see how much fat is in them. :)

Ingredients:
3-5 zucchini, shredded
Sea salt
Cheesecloth 
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Ground black pepper
Coconut oil

Directions:
Shred the zucchini with the large holes in a cheese grater. You can use a food processor for this if you like, but zucchini is so fragile that I prefer to do it by hand. There is a pretty big range in the number of zucchini needed - you need about 4 cups shredded, so the number of squash will vary depending on their size.

Put zucchini in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle generously with sea salt, toss with a spoon and let sit for at least ten minutes. The salt is drawing the moisture out of the squash, so don't cut corners here.

Put the squash into a piece of cheesecloth and squeeze all the water out. Get in there and really muscle it. When you think it's as dry as it can get, open the cheesecloth, move the squash around, and squeeze it some more. Do this a couple of times until absolutely no water is coming out of the squash. If you don't do this, your fritters will fall apart.

Put the dry zucchini back into the mixing bowl (be sure to wipe out any residual water first). Add the coconut flour, egg, baking soda, cumin and black pepper to the bowl, stirring to combine. Do this quickly, as the coconut flour will start absorbing the moisture from the egg, so you'll end up with a mess if you take too long.

Once your mixture is done, preheat a large skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add some coconut oil. Once oil gets hot, make the fritters. Do one fritter at a time, placing it directly in the hot oil. Press mixture firmly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Wiggle it out, press it a little flat with your hands, and set in hot oil. Use a spatula to flatten even more. Repeat with each fritter, doing 3 to 4 in a pan (or however many you can fit). Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy, flip, and cook on the other side. Be sure to add more coconut oil to the pan for each new batch.

Let cooked fritters sit on a cooling rack while making the others to avoid them getting mushy. My batch made 7 fritters.

Sweet Potato Quiche

Quiche has always been one of my favorite breakfast treats. I largely avoided it because it was so unhealthy. Do you have any idea how much butter is in quiche? Not to mention the heavy cream. A while back I was looking for a recipe for gluten free quiche and found one Paula Dean had posted that used hash browns for the crust. Obviously since it was Paula Dean it wasn't healthy, but it sure tasted good!

I've been reading all sorts of recipes lately that use sweet potatoes (yams, because they're orange) with eggs and vegetables in breakfast casseroles, mini quiches, etc. I sort of took a hybrid approach between these recipes and Paula's recipe. Good gravy, it sure turned out tasty!

As with my sweet potato hash browns, it's much easier and less time consuming if you grate the potatoes with a food processor instead of a cheese grater. The cheese grater works, though. I started making the quiche before I realized I didn't have any meat to put in it. Then I remembered a piece of chicken I had left over from last night's dinner. I made Orange Maple Chicken, and it was absolutely perfect in the quiche. I don't expect you to make the recipe just to have some left over for the quiche, any cooked chicken will work. But I think the orange maple flavor from the chicken added a layer of depth to the dish. Yum!

Feel free to use bacon instead of chicken if you like. If you do this, eliminate the liquid smoke. I use liquid smoke in many of my recipes because it has a bacon-y taste without all the fat in bacon. Not to mention, pork is out of the question.

Ingredients:
1 medium yam
2 T. coconut oil, plus more for sauteing 
1/2 sweet or yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 zucchini, finely diced
1 cooked chicken breast, finely diced
3/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried coriander powder
1/4 tsp dried cumin
10 drops liquid smoke 
Sea salt & ground black pepper
Mrs. Dash 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and set aside.

Peel yam and shred, either with a food processor or the large holes in a cheese grater. Spread yams in a thin layer between paper towels, and press as much moisture out of the yams as you can. Muscle those puppies.

Put yam shreds into pie plate. Melt 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a very small pan, then drizzle over the yams. Use your hands to toss the oil evenly. Press yams into the pie plate evenly across the bottom and up the sides. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes total, or until starting to brown. The yams will shrink slightly as they cook, so remove from oven every 10 minutes or so, and push down the bottoms and sides to keep the "crust" intact.

While crust is baking, prepare the base. Crack eggs into a large mixing bowl. Whisk well. Add a little coconut oil to a medium skillet. Saute onions and peppers until very tender and starting to caramelize. Add zucchini during the last few minutes and cook until soft. Remove from heat and let cool.

Stir chicken breast, coconut milk, onion powder, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, liquid smoke and vegetables into the quiche. Stir well to make sure seasonings are well combined. 

When yams are finished baking, pour egg mixture directly into hot crust. Sprinkle a little Mrs. Dash on top. I did this as an afterthought, a little worried there wouldn't be enough flavor without bacon or cheese, but I really think it's optional. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Return quiche to the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until eggs are set. Let cool slightly before slicing.

Makes 4 large slices or 6 smaller slices. It will reheat well, too.

White Chocolate Cranberry Bars

My dad was in town this week and I decided to have him over for dinner. He's an incredible cook, so needless to say I was more than a little intimidated cooking for him. I made the Honey Mustard Chicken & Plantains with some zucchini shreds sauteed in coconut oil. He said he liked it, and we spent the rest of the meal - and after - talking about different things we could do to recipes. You know, the kinds of flavors you could add to different recipes, things like that. I wish he lived here. He had some incredible ideas.

Anyway, I made these for dessert. The original recipe had two versions - one using leavening and the other without - and I've made them both ways. The version that used leavening agents turned out more like a cake, but these had a texture that was far more dense. I know it sounds a little odd to bake without leavening, but trust me, the unleavened version is the better of the two. Naturally I still made a few substitutions from the original. I highly recommend trying these.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oat flour (grind up oats in the blender)
1/2 cup cashew flour (same thing - grind up cashews in the blender until they resemble a powder)
2 T. liquid egg whites
1 large egg
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 T. melted butter (or coconut oil)
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 T. dried cranberries
3 T. coarsely chopped white chocolate

For the topping:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
Soy milk
Dried cranberries and chopped white chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil and coat with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, cashew flour and salt, whisking together. Add the egg whites, egg, honey, applesauce and butter, stirring well to combine. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the nuts and oats to absorb a little of the moisture.

Pour half of the batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons each of the white chocolate and cranberries over top of the batter. Drizzle remaining batter on top. If necessary, use a spoon or tip of a butter knife to ensure the cranberries and white chocolate are completely covered by the batter. Use this method rather than mixing them in to the batter to ensure they don't sink to the bottom.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden and it starts separating from the sides of the pan.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool completely.

For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and about a teaspoon of soy milk at a time, whisking well, until icing is combined and still slightly thick. Pull the sides of the foil away from the bars and press flat, but keep the bars on the foil. Spread icing over the top. Immediately sprinkle additional cranberries and white chocolate over top. Cut into squares or triangles and serve.

Blueberry Coconut Oat Muffins

The original recipe I found for these used a lot of protein powder and they were called "Protein Cookies." I've tried several different recipes with two types of protein powder (Syntha-6 and Iso-100, which are both high quality protein powders) and neither of them worked. The recipe turned out tasting delicious, but they had an ammonia type smell to them. Since we eat with our eyes and our nose before our mouth, it simply didn't work for me.

I learned that oat flour could be substituted for protein powder. Granted, the recipe will be much lower in protein, but you really only need super high quantities of protein in your diet if you're doing heavy weight lifting on a regular basis. When I was doing boot camp, I needed massive quantities of protein every day. The same would be true of Cross Fit (which I still want to try someday). But now I'm doing yoga and other cardio exercises (Jillian Michaels is my hero), so I don't need quite as much protein as I did before.

Anyway, these muffins are really dense and probably are more of a soft cookie consistency than they are a muffin. I ate two and that was probably a little much - I could have been satisfied with one and a piece of fruit. Because they have blueberries on top, store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

Since I can't use peanut or almond butter in my recipes (two of my favorites), I tried some soy nut butter when I made Monster Cookies at Halloween. I don't really care for it, so I started using cashew butter instead. Cashew butter will work in most recipes, but it isn't solid enough for the no-bake recipes (like no-bake cookies or no-bake granola bars). Cashew butter worked really well here. Unfortunately I didn't have enough so I used half cashew and half soy. I could still taste the soy, so I highly recommend going with all cashew, or use peanut or almond.

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup oat flour (grind up oats in the blender or food processor)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup agave or honey
1/2 cup cashew butter (or nut butter of choice)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, then spray with cooking spray (you'll need 12). Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, oat flour and cinnamon, whisking to combine. Stir in agave, cashew butter and water using a sturdy wooden spoon. The mixture should be sticky. If it's too dry, add a little more water, a few teaspoons at a time.

Divide batter between muffin cups. Using a spoon or wet hands, press batter down into the cups. Top with blueberries (1 tablespoon each) and coconut (1 teaspoon each). Unsweetened coconut is better because it browns without burning, but if all you can find is sweetened it'll work in a pinch. I have to go to health food stores to get the unsweetened.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until coconut is toasted.

Eggs & Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Since Thanksgiving, I've had a hard time stomaching the thought of sweet potatoes. It seems like we do sweet potatoes for everything around the holidays, and I burn out on them pretty quickly. I had two large sweet potatoes left (and when I say sweet potatoes, I actually mean yams - the orange fleshed kind) and they were going to go bad pretty quickly if I didn't use them.

Sad face - one of them actually did go bad! I was hoping to salvage at least half of it, because I wasn't planning on making a lot, but it was time to call the vegetable coroner.

Fortunately I still had one whole good one left. I'd seen several posts on different paleo websites about using sweet potatoes (which according to their pictures are actually yams) for hash browns. I'd been putting this off for two reasons: one, I already mentioned how sick I was of yams, and two, my food processor passed away during the tragic accidents when I made the Pumpkin Scones. Grating the potatoes by hand with a cheese grater was the only way it was going to happen. To be frank, I just didn't want to do it.

In an effort to save the remaining sweet potato, I decided it was time. I cut off about a third of the potato, peeled it and went to work grating it. It wasn't as difficult as I expected, but I sure hope Santa puts a food processor in my stocking this year. If I didn't have to grate them by hand, I would most definitely make them all the time. Happy face! I love sweet potatoes because of how low in calories they are compared to their Russet counterpart. Plus they just pack so much flavor.

I have never, and I mean never, been able to cook an egg over easy. Without fail, I break the yolk. So, when I make "over easy" eggs, I combine the traditional method with a poaching method. I add water to the pan, cover with a tight fitting lid and let the steam cook the top of the eggs. It works perfectly every time. I use a glass lid so I can keep an eye on them and not overcook the yolks. As soon as the tops are white, they're done. You can go a little longer if you like them over medium but for me, there's something about a cooked egg yolk that just grosses me out.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
1/3 to 1/2 sweet potato (yam)
1 T. coconut oil
Cooking spray
4 large eggs
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Peel and wash sweet potato. If you have a food processor (lucky you!) grate it up with the grating attachment. If you don't, grate it with the large holes in a cheese grater and then go buy yourself a food processor. Or ask Santa.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt coconut oil, turning the pan to coat the entire bottom. Add sweet potato shreds, then cook untouched for a few minutes or until they start to brown on the bottom. Coat the top of the potatoes with cooking spray. Flip, and continue cooking until desired tenderness. You don't want them mushy, but an undercooked potato is no fun either. If you don't like to use cooking spray that's fine, you could use a little more coconut oil. Keep in mind, though, that coconut oil is very high in fat and calories, so I use it sparingly. If you don't have coconut oil, olive oil would work as well. I just like the flavor of coconut oil.

 When hash browns are almost finished, heat a skillet over medium heat. Spray pan with cooking spray (or coconut oil), and when pan is hot, crack eggs directly into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a few tablespoons of hot water to the outside edges of the pan, cover with a tightly fitting lid, and cook until eggs reach desired doneness. Watch closely, and if all the water evaporates, you may need to add a few more tablespoons of water.

Serve eggs on top of hash browns.

Roasted Butternut Squash

I've had a butternut squash sitting on my counter for about a week. Squash keeps longer than other vegetables, but I knew it was time to use it. I originally bought it to make Butternut Squash Lasagna, but that's a fairly time consuming recipe so I just hadn't gotten around to it. I started Google-ing recipes for butternut squash, and it seemed like roasting it was going to be the simplest way to go.

There were lots of recipes, but I wanted something simple. I also came across the coolest little trick I'm going to share with you. If you've ever tried to peel and cut a butternut squash, especially a big one, you know what a tricky task it can be. I canned some squash a few months back and ended up with blisters on my hands by the time I got done cutting up 4 large squash. Here's the trick: bake the squash whole for 25-30 minutes before attempting to cut it.

I will never try to cut a raw squash again. :)

My only regret when I made this recipe was that the squash was small. I had two helpings - and so did everyone else - and we all wished there was more. It's so simple, but soooo tasty!

Ingredients:
1 butternut sqush (pick a big one!)
1 T. olive oil
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash the outside of the squash and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place whole squash on prepared baking sheet and cook for 25-30 minutes. You don't want it overly soft, so check it at the 25 minute point to make sure it doesn't "give" anywhere.

Remove from oven and let squash sit until just cool enough to handle. Leave the oven on. Trim ends from squash and cut in half lengthwise and crosswise. Remove seeds and membranes with a spoon. Set squash on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to remove the skins.

Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. Put chunks in a large mixing bowl, add olive oil, and toss to coat. Arrange squash in a single layer on a foil covered baking sheet (you can use the same one you cooked the whole squash on if it didn't leak, if it did, change the foil). Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.

Return squash to the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until squash is soft and just starting to brown. Don't overdo it, you don't want mushy squash.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

I found a version of this recipe a while back and used it religiously. I love - and I mean LOVE - buffalo wings, but they're so unhealthy at the wing joints. They're usually fried, and even if they're not, they're still over 100 calories per wing. Do the math: 6 wings is over 600 calories (and most people I know, including myself, eat more than 6).

The trick here is to let them marinate for at least 30 minutes. There's been times I've been in a rush and not let them marinate long enough. They're still good, but letting them go for a while is key. One of these days I'm going to let them marinate a couple of hours or overnight.

I still want to find a dairy free blue-cheese type dipping sauce, but I just haven't yet. It's a little hard to make cheese-free blue cheese. Just sayin'.

Ingredients:
1 package chicken tenderloins (or use chicken breasts and cut into strips)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 to 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot
5 dashes Buffalo Tabasco (optional - it will work with all Frank's)
2 T. chili powder
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
10-15 dashes liquid smoke
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
In a very large mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients but chicken. Check for taste (try to ignore the strong vinegar taste, this will go away when you bake them). You're looking for a full bodied taste (add more liquid smoke or salt if it doesn't seem bold enough) and the right spice level (obviously more Tabasco or Frank's if it's not spicy enough).

Submerge chicken tenders in sauce and poke down with a fork. Stick in the refrigerator and let marinate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Arrange marinated tenders on prepared cookie sheet in a single layer, not touching. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I don't know about you, but sometimes I grow tired of potatoes, rice and quinoa as a side dish. I try to mix things up sometimes, but quite frankly, I just can't always think of healthy options. When I buy vegetables (aside from bell peppers and onions), they go bad quickly, often before I can use them.

I came across this recipe as a post on Facebook. Most of the time the things that show up on Facebook are so totally not good for you. They're usually fattening "quick" desserts or casseroles. This looked simple and yummy though. I absolutely love brussel sprouts, but my kids hate them. I hadn't made them for a few years and I figured that maybe - just maybe - I could get away with it since they were older now.

My kids didn't say a whole lot about this, they just ate it. I guess that in and of itself is a victory.

Ingredients:
1 lb brussel sprouts
1-2 T. olive oil
1-2 T. balsamic vinegar
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Trim the ends off brussel sprouts and discard any loose leaves. Rinse well under cold water. Cut each in half from the root to tip.

Put sprouts in a large mixing bowl. Add vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper, tossing to coat. Arrange sprouts, cut side down, in baking dish, and sprinkle with a little more salt & pepper, if desired.

Bake for 20 minutes. Flip sprouts so the cut side is up. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until tender.

Serve hot. Makes about 4 servings.

Stuffed Twice-Baked Yams

I seriously doubt the nutrition information I've been able to find online about yams. There's a difference between yams and sweet potatoes - yams have the bright orange flesh and sweet potatoes have a whiter flesh. Yams are my favorite, though. So much flavor. I could just mash them up and eat them plain. The info I've been able to find online just seems too low. But it's consistently lower than I would expect, and if it's consistent, it's got to be right. Right? I guess that's just a double win for me because I could eat these suckers all day long.

By the way, yoga is my favorite thing in the world. I started doing it a couple of weeks ago. I started with Jillian Michaels' Yoga Meltdown. Holy crap, so amazing! I got a few new yoga DVD's from the library tonight. One of them is from GAIAM, who is apparently a pretty big name in yoga. They have their own line of yoga equipment, plus it seems they put out a bunch of videos.

The thing I love about yoga is that it really challenges your muscles without making you overly sore or feeling like you want to die. You're not going to get a crazy caloric burn from it (unless you're working out with Jillian, of course), but the way it makes you feel is just amazing. Especially if you get one that has one of those zen cool down things - relax, release the tension - oh em gee, so amazing.

Anyway, enough about yoga. Just try it.

Tonight I made these loosely based on a version of stuffed sweet potatoes I found on one of my go-to Paleo websites. Maybe it's the zen yoga feeling talking, but holy Moses, seriously so good. You simply must try these. I kept adding more spices so I can't tell you exactly how much of everything I ended up with, but just know that since it's cooking and not baking, you can play around with it until it tastes right.

Ingredients:
2 yams, scrubbed well (we're keeping the skins on)
1 T. olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey
1 T. chili powder
20 dashes Worcestershire sauce
15-20 dashes liquid smoke
Sea salt & ground black pepper
2 T. nutritional yeast

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cut yams in half crosswise and again lengthwise. Arrange in baking dish, cut side down, and bake until soft. Mine took about 35 minutes and probably could have used another 5 on the bigger pieces, but I was afraid of burning the smaller ones. Just make sure they're tender enough that you can scoop the flesh out. 

While yams are baking, drizzle olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until just starting to caramelize. Add ground turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon.

Add chili powder, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, salt & pepper. Stir well and cook until turkey is no longer pink. The turkey I use is 90/10, and there always seems to be some liquid left over. This is okay. Stir in the nutritional yeast and check the seasonings. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until yams are done. Most of the moisture from the turkey will reduce away.

When yams are tender, remove them from the oven (but keep it on). Use a spoon to scoop out some of the flesh, leaving just a little around the skin. Transfer scooped out flesh to a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork to smash the yams up as best you can.

Put yam skins (the shells) back into the baking dish, cut side up. Stir the yam flesh into the meat mixture, using the wooden spoon to break up any big pieces. Spoon the meat into the shells. Stack it high - you'll need to stuff these puppies to get it all in there.

Return to the oven and bake until heated through, about five minutes.

Makes 4 servings, 2 pieces each.

Lemon Artichoke Chicken

Get home late plus everyone is starving equals "need something on the table fast!" I'd seen a recipe a while back for a lemon pesto with chicken and artichokes. My food processor is broken so I haven't been able to try it (plus do you know how expensive pine nuts are?? Holy sheesh!). I had some canned artichokes I've been wanting to use, so the question was whether I should use a homemade mayo based sauce like the Asian Chicken Salad or a cashew based sauce like the Chicken Alfredo.

I tossed it around in my head for a bit while I was chopping the chicken, and ultimately decided on the cashews. I figured if it didn't work out like I was hoping, I had a better chance of everyone liking a cashew based sauce because it's so yummy. My youngest doesn't care for squash, so I sliced the zucchini super small hoping he wouldn't balk at it. I still had some strips left over from when I made the Vegetable Lasagna, so it was really easy to chop those strips up.

This turned out better than I could have hoped. Since I was going off the cuff (which I don't do very often), I was a little apprehensive about it. Turns out I had nothing to worry about, because it was a huge hit. Yey!

Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 T. olive oil
2 T. onion flakes
3/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 T. unsweetened soy milk
1-2 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1 T. nutritional yeast
2-3 T. lemon juice
5-10 drops liquid smoke
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and brine reserved
1/2 zucchini, quartered and sliced thin
Salt & Pepper
Smoked paprika

Directions:
Drizzle olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken and onion flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Put cashews in a blender and process on low until they become powdered. Scrape sides of blender occasionally if it starts to clump.

Add about two tablespoons of artichoke brine, soy milk, liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and liquid smoke. Process on high until completely liquified. If necessary, add a little more artichoke brine. You want the sauce to be thin, because it will thicken up when you heat it.

When chicken is cooked, add zucchini to the pot and stir until soft. Stir in artichoke hearts. Add sauce and heat through until sauce reaches desired thickness.

As always, check seasonings and adjust for taste. I wanted mine fairly lemon heavy, so I ended up adding a little more lemon juice. Serve hot over brown rice or quinoa.

"Baked" Beans (Healthy Makeover)

I love baked beans. Absolutely love them. They're creamy (I know that sounds weird), and just full of all kinds of awesomeness. But -- have you ever looked at the nutrition facts on the back of a can? Holy crap! I would still heat up a can as an occasional treat, but it was something I avoided because of how ugly they are. It got easier when I found out about my tomato allergy, because they have tomato in them.

I was trying to pull something together quick one night and got a craving for baked beans. I had a can of Great Northern beans in the pantry and thought, "Why not? I'll try to get close." They ended up spicier than the canned version, but were still pretty darn good. Next time I'll tone down the spice a bit. I used some dehydrated onion flakes for flavor, but the consistency of the onions and beans together didn't work. So I modified that here to use onion powder instead of flakes.

Back when I was cooking a lot of vegan recipes, I learned pretty quickly that liquid smoke was a good substitute for "bacon" flavor in quite a few dishes. Liquid smoke is the key to capturing that pork flavor in the beans.

Ingredients:
1 can Great Northern (or Navy) beans, drained and water reserved
5 dashes Frank's Red Hot
3 T. brown sugar
10 dashes liquid smoke
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then adjust seasonings if necessary. Simmer for about ten minutes or until sauce starts to thicken. If sauce gets too thick, add a little of the reserved bean water.

If the beans get too spicy, add a little more brown sugar to counter. Too sweet? Add a little more spice.

Makes about 3 servings.

Sticky Chicken

Today was a major BOO! Got some bad news at work, and I mean really bad news, so I came home in a rotten mood. Wasn't much in the mood to cook (remember how it's one way or the other?), but we still had to eat. My awesome BF suggested something "simple" so we could sit down and relax. Simple? I liked the sound of that.

I found this recipe a while back and I've been aching to try it. Making something new on a night when you're not in the mood to cook doesn't really seem like all that wonderful of an idea, but it seemed pretty simple so I figured I'd try it. One dish, one pot and one bowl - makes light work of clean up, too. Although, that's my son's job. But still.

The original recipe stated to heat the sauce in the original baking dish in the oven. I'm sorry, but I simply don't have the patience for that. Not going to happen. So I put the sauce in a saucepan to thicken it up that way, then pour it over the chicken. Much more simpler.

My kids had helped themselves to some deep dish pizza around 5:00 so they weren't hungry. That was okay, because with how this turned out I was dying to take some to work for lunch tomorrow. 

Some sticky chicken, brown rice and a glass of wine (or two or three - don't judge, crappy day) and I'm right as rain.

Ingredients:
1 package chicken tenders (about 2 1/4 lbs)
1/3 cup barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet & Spicy)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
3 T. honey
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. chili powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 T. arrowroot powder
Cold water 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange tenders in bottom of dish so they are touching but not overlapping.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together remaining ingredients except arrowroot and water. Spoon sauce over chicken, then use a fork or tongs to wiggle the pieces so a little of the sauce gets underneath. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove chicken from baking dish and pour sauce into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine arrowroot and just enough cold water to mix it together into a thick but still pourable liquid. Put chicken tenders back in baking dish and pour sauce over top.

Serve with brown rice.

Asian Buffalo Chicken Salad

I am loving yoga. I've been doing the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown, which is an amazing workout. She doesn't just do the yoga poses, she adds dynamic movement to get your heart rate going and burn more calories. Ironically, I feel more energized after doing this workout, whereas with other workouts - which have been amazing, too - I feel totally wiped out and just want to lay on the floor. I'm not a particularly flexible or coordinated person, so yoga in my living room is probably about as far as I'll go.

When I lost all the recipes in my ChefTap app a few weeks ago, this was one I never recovered. Fortunately, I remembered roughly how I'd made it. The only meat left in the house was chicken, so that was "What's for dinner." This is seriously so yummy. It has just the right amount of spice, and the flavor layers are pretty yummy. It's very easy to adjust the spice level to your liking.

I used to use the packaged cole slaw mix (cabbage and carrots), but when I had to take carrots off the menu, I tried grating my own cabbage with the mandolin. It didn't work. But a kitchen knife makes quick work of it. Mmm!

Ingredients:
Olive oil or cooking spray
3 large chicken breasts, trimmed
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper (red or green), diced
3 egg yolks (reserve whites for another recipe)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste
3 T. olive oil
Frank's Red Hot, to taste (I use about 20-25 dashes)
Buffalo Tabasco, to taste (I use about 4-5 drops)
1-2 tsp chili powder
1 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced

Directions:
Split chicken breasts in half lengthwise. Preheat a skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium heat. Coat with a drizzle of olive oil or cooking spray. Arrange chicken breasts in pan, cover, and cook until no longer pink, flipping every 2 to 3 minutes. When thoroughly cooked through, remove from heat and place in a large mixing bowl. Shred chicken using two forks.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe. Preheat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Drizzle a little olive oil or coat with cooking spray. Add pepper and onions and sautee until starting to carmelize, about ten minutes. Stir frequently so they don't burn. When finished, remove from heat.

To make the dressing, put egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in the beaker of an immersion blender. Whip until mixture is bubbly. Add olive oil, a few drops at a time to start, until mixture starts to thicken. Continue adding olive oil while blending until mixture is thick like mayo.

Use a rubber spatula to put "mayo" in a small mixing bowl. Add Red Hot, Tabasco, chili powder, Liquid Aminos and fish sauce. Stir well and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Combine chicken, onions, peppers and sauce in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until starting to warm, then add cabbage. Heat through. You want the cabbage slightly wilted but not completely cooked.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Roasted Chickpeas

Cooking can be very therapeutic. It's just you alone with your thoughts (unless you have kids, that is). These days, though, my mind wanders to places it shouldn't. There's no rational basis for the things that flood my mind. Yet it keeps coming. I almost want to beg someone to stay in the kitchen with me in an attempt to keep me sane. Hearing voices is probably is the next step. I hear those padded rooms are nice. And they give you drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

Not that I'm in to drugs. I'm just saying.

Tonight it was just me and my youngest home. He has this teenage tendency to sit in his room listening to music with the headphones on and I could tell my mind was already racing. Not a good night to spend an hour making dinner. I did my yoga, which totally got my mind in a happy place, but then I started feeling all paranoid about irrational things again. So I made scrambled eggs for dinner. In and out. Boom!

I've been wanting to try these chickpeas for a few days now, ever since I found the recipe splattered all over Facebook. No one credits the original source, so whatevs. They seemed pretty simple so I figured I'd toss them in the oven and let them roast while I scrambled the eggs and begged my teenager to have a conversation with me.

They turned out pretty good! I can tell I didn't use enough seasonings, so whatever seasonings you pick, go nuts with it. Sprinkle it on. When you think you're done, sprinkle some more. I really don't think you can overdo it here. Well, maybe. But I'm telling you, season them like it's nobody's business and you're going to have an awesome snack.

Speaking of drugs (weird segue, I know) I am feeling amazing today. Three days ago I made a commitment to stick entirely to whole, natural foods. Save for one mini almond joy and just a splash of creamer in my coffee (that one is non-negotiable), I've done it. And holy crap, I cannot believe the difference it's made. I feel lighter, healthier, cleaner. If you've ever eaten completely healthy stuff you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, try it for a few days and see for yourself. It's incredible.

I didn't get in near enough calories today, so this is a pre-bed snack. I know you've heard, "Don't eat too late in the evening." I've heard it too. I've also heard it doesn't matter what time you eat, just so you're eating healthy. Late night snacks are typically junk food - chips, candy, ice cream, whatever. I personally believe it's what you're eating, not what time you're eating it that's potentially problematic. I've never had any ill effects by eating later in the evening, so until my body tells me otherwise, I'm going to go for it. :)

Ingredients:
1 12oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 T. olive oil
Sea salt
Chili powder
Curry powder 
Other seasonings as desired - I'm going to try a cinnamon/clove version next time

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drain chickpeas and rinse well. I used a wire mesh strainer and shook as much water off as I could. Spread on a paper towel to dry them. Either let them sit for a half hour or so, or blot them completely dry with a paper towel. Combine chickpeas, olive oil and seasonings in a medium mixing bowl. Toss well with a spoon until evenly coated.

Line a small baking sheet with foil and spread chickpeas into a single layer. Touching is okay, but try to spread them out as much as possible. Bake for 25 minutes or until crispy. Start checking frequently at the 20 minute mark to make sure they don't burn. Let cool and eat. Store any leftovers in a zip top bag or airtight container - but make sure they're completely cool first. 

It doesn't look like much, but it makes 3 servings (1/3 cup each).

Honey Mustard Chicken & Plantains

I bought a big ol' stack of plantains the other day, fully intending to use them for Plantain Beef Pie. It seems like we just had that, though, so I was inclined to do something a little different. When I was a kid, it seemed like we'd have the same meal every single night and I just can't do that. Gotta switch it up, keep it fresh. We had spaghetti so much when I was younger that neither my brother or I can even stand the sauce as adults. It's interesting to me how things like that can happen.

I'd almost forgotten about this recipe. The first time I made it, my man turned his nose up at it just a little. He tried to hide it - like I say, he never complains about anything I make - but I could see it. It was a micro expression, but it was there. But he said he liked it. He's wonderful - he won't lie to me and say something is good if it's not. I think the biggest thing here is that it's not your typical honey mustard from a bottle flavor. We use honey and mustard, but it's not sweet and syrupy like the salad dressing or dip. 

Have you ever watched Lie to Me? Easily one of my favorite shows, but of course it got canceled after three seasons. Dr. Lightman uses micro expressions to read people. He can tell if they're hiding something, being honest, etc. based on the subtle movements in a person's face. I think I'm more attuned to those after having watched the show, though I suppose a 42 minute television show is hardly a substitution for formal training (though I think there are people in this world who would erroneously beg to differ).

Anyway, this recipe is awesome. You want the plantains to be on the greener side, because if they're too ripe they'll turn mushy.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Drizzle olive oil 
2 plantains, peeled and diced
1 shallot
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced (or just use one whole onion of your choice)
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-6 T. Dijon mustard
3-4 T. honey
Dash cayenne pepper
Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Trim chicken breasts of any visible fat and cartilage. Split each breast down the middle lengthwise (this will help with cooking time). Heat a large skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium heat. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil in the bottom and turn to coat. Put chicken in hot skillet and cook, turning every 3 minutes or so, until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink.

Heat another large skillet over medium heat. Drizzle a little more olive oil, add shallot, onion and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables start to brown. Transfer vegetables to a bowl or plate. Add diced plantains to the same hot pan and cook, stirring frequently, until crispy. Remove from heat.

When chicken is cooked, transfer it to a large mixing bowl and shred using two forks. I am not aware of an easier way to shred chicken. Sorry, just gotta buckle down and do it.

Put a large pot over medium heat (sorry, I know we're using a lot of dishes here). Combine shredded chicken, plantains, shallot, onions and peppers. Add honey, mustard and cayenne, stirring well to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Check seasonings, adding more of anything that seems to be lacking.


Once heated through and seasoned as desired, serve. This works as a stand alone dish, or over quinoa, brown rice or squash noodles.


Makes 8 "me" sized servings, or 4 teenage sized servings.

Avocado Scramble

We're going to call this recipe a happy accident. I was attempting to replicate a recipe I'd seen for baking an egg inside an avocado half. It looked really yummy! The recipe said to scoop out "a little" of the avocado around the pit to make room for the egg. So I did, but alas, it was not enough and the egg spilled out onto my foil. Ugh. I poured the egg back into the small mug I'd cracked it in and scooped out a little more of the avocado. Try number two, fail. There wasn't much avocado left to scoop out and I was running out of time to mess with it, so I just heated up a skillet and tossed the whole mess in there, hoping to cook it just enough to be able to eat it. On top of all this, I'd just finished working out and was pretty darn hungry.

I was home alone so there wasn't anyone to talk to, but when I took the first bite I actually said "Oh my gosh" out loud. It was seriously that tasty. So really, unless you're going for a pretty presentation, there's no reason to mess with hollowing out an avocado, hoping you get enough out so your egg doesn't go splooshing into your pan.

Ingredients:
1/2 avocado, smashed with a fork
2 eggs
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat a small skillet (I used an omelet pan) over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray. Mix together eggs and smashed avocado. Pour into hot pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until egg is fully cooked. It's a little trickier to tell if it's cooked than with regular scrambled eggs. You'll be able to tell, though, because it will start to look dry instead of slimy. I know, slimy probably isn't the best word to use when talking about cooking.

Makes 1-2 servings, depending on how many calories you're going for. Serve with a piece of fruit.

Citrus Smoothie

Fad diets make me cringe. There's a bazillion and one ways out there to lose weight quickly. The problem is that most of these fad diets aren't sustainable in the long run. The weight quickly comes back, sometimes with a vengeance. Anyone who's ever been on a weight loss roller coaster knows exactly what I'm talking about.

For long term, sustainable weight loss, you need to change how you eat for good. Whole foods is the way to go. The closer the food looks to how it would in nature the better it is for you. I still use processed foods in my cooking, but I notice how much better I feel when I stick to the real thing.

Speaking of whole foods, I have a really gross story to share with you about "natural colorings." Surely you've heard of Red 40. This is a "natural" coloring. Pick up a package of pretty much anything and read the label. Good chance you're going to find either Red 40 or natural coloring in it. Even bottled grapefruit juice has it. Red 40 has a really disgusting origin. There are these little bugs from some country down south somewhere that feed on the red cactus flowers. People will collect these bugs, smoosh them up into a paste and call them natural coloring. I have a friend who used to drink those little Crystal Light to go packages. Each time she'd open one, I'd say, "Mmm, getting your squished bugs in, I see?" Before I go off on some tangent, let me just say that there is an intentional veil drawn between us and the food we're eating. I won't preach to you, but do me a favor: go rent a copy of Food, Inc., watch it, and decide for yourself what food you're going to put into your body.

Stepping down from soap box now. 

I started seeing all sorts of recipes for "detox" smoothies and waters. I started doing some research on the whole "detox" concept to see if there was any basis for it. As it turns out, citrus is a really good detox food. Don't expect to shed 14 pounds in 3 days like some of these things claim, but it appears it is reasonable to expect to feel better over time if you're incorporating citrus into your diet on a regular basis.

I tried this one and it was pretty yummy. I don't know yet if it has all the "detoxification" qualities it claims, but it sure tastes good! This smoothie is more tangy than sweet, but the banana gives it just a hint of sweetness. There's little protein in it, so if you're going to use it as a meal, be sure to pair it with some type of lean protein like egg whites. This is a really good pre-workout drink because the carbs will give you energy, but it's not heavy like oatmeal to weigh you down. Drink about 30 minutes before working out.

Ingredients:
1 banana*
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
1 lime, peeled
1 orange, peeled
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 ice cubes*

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. If necessary, add a little water to get things moving.

*Instead of a banana and ice cubes, try freezing the banana.

Veggie Lasagna

I found a version of this recipe in a Paleo cookbook. I don't generally use a lot of cook books, but this one I couldn't turn down. The headlines touted over 200 real food recipes, how could I go wrong? I was so disappointed when I saw that the majority of the recipes were loaded with tomatoes and garlic. How sad! There were a few that looked tempting, and this was one of them.

I'll be the first to admit I don't cook nearly as many vegetables as I probably should. I do cook with a lot of squash, primarily because it's a good substitute for noodles and tomato sauce. When I'm cooking I always think, "I wish I had a vegetable to go with this," but short of potatoes, I don't keep many of them in the refrigerator. My vegetable crisper is more like a vegetable musher, so my veggies go bad too quickly. Sad face.

The thing I loved about this recipe was not just that it was healthy (we're talking under 200 calories per serving here), but that it had so many veggies. Obviously I'm going to substitute squash for any type of pasta sauce, but feel free to use tomato sauce in place of the starred items below.

To get the zucchini slices uniform, I used a mandolin. Zucchini is soft enough that a cheese slicer would work, too. However you cut it, just be sure that they're thin (about 1/8 inch thick) and uniform.

This came out pretty watery and it was almost impossible to keep it in lasagna shape, but oh my goodness, so tasty! My oldest loved it, but my youngest couldn't get past the fact that it had mushrooms in it. Oh, well, can't please them all.

Ingredients:
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
Drizzle olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
4 cups cooked, cubed butternut squash*
1/2 roasted red bell pepper*
2 T. apple cider vinegar*
1 T. honey*
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T. nutritional yeast 
Hot water
2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise
8 large baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. 

Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and pepper. Saute until they just start to caramelize. Add ground turkey, stir well, and cook until no longer pink.

While turkey is cooking, combine squash, roasted bell pepper, vinegar, honey, sage, oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast in a blender. Add just enough hot water to get things moving, and puree until smooth. Check for taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

When turkey is fully cooked, pour sauce into skillet, stirring well to combine. Heat through.

Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Coat bottom of dish with a small amount of sauce. Add a layer of zucchini and mushrooms, followed by half of the remaining sauce. Arrange another layer of zucchini and mushrooms, followed by the remaining sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to 350 and bake 15-20 more minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Teriyaki Stir Fry

My oldest is taking advanced culinary classes in high school. He always has some sort of comment about what I'm making for dinner. When I made this, he said, "Mmm, smells like it has an Asian flair, yet you're not using Asian ingredients. What exactly are you making?" If he hadn't started with the "Mmm," I might have been offended.

I found the original recipe on one of my favorite Paleo sites. It originally called for flank steak (beef teriyaki). Flank steak was going for $7 per pound. No thank you. I'll use chicken. I also switched up the veggies a bit and served it over quinoa. Quinoa is such a funny word. It always makes me think of that football commercial where the guy's team won when he ate a quinoa burger so he decided quinoa was magic or good luck or something. So funny! Quinoa is a little magical. If you haven't tried it, you simply must. It has the highest protein content of any grain (though it is actually a seed). Ancient Incan warriors used to eat it before going off to battle because of the energy it gave them.

Another note about quinoa - the package directions state to rinse it well before cooking. It has a natural bug repellant called sapopin that can have a bitter taste. I've tried it both ways - rinsing it and not rinsing it - but I've never had it taste bitter, so I skip the rinsing step. Quite frankly, it's kind of a pain. To cook it, use a 3:1 ratio of water to dry quinoa, but I usually use a little less water so it doesn't get mushy. Boil the water, add the quinoa and cook for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. One-half cup dry quinoa will yield 1 1/2 cups cooked.

The recipe got good reviews. It doesn't really taste like teriyaki to me, but it has really deep, rich layers of flavors.

Ingredients:
Drizzle olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
4 large chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup Liquid Aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
1/4 cup honey
1 to 2 T. Frank's Red Hot (or hotsauce of choice)
1 tsp fish sauce
8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Drizzle in a little olive oil, then add onion, pepper and ginger. Saute until vegetables start to soften. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.

Add Liquid Aminos, honey, hot sauce and fish sauce. Stir until completely combined, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add zucchini and mushrooms and continue cooking until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve over brown rice, quinoa or spaghetti squash.

Tacos

I seriously do not understand why it is so hard for me to decide what to make for dinner. It's not like I'm deciding something that's life or death. It's food. I know how to cook, I love to cook, I just can't ever decide what to cook.

My oldest son suggested "something Mexican" for dinner. My response was, "Okay, tell me a Mexican dish that doesn't have tomatoes, garlic, wheat or cheese in it." His response to me was, "I don't know, maybe you can look up some recipes." Thank you, son, very helpful.

I decided on tacos, because I figured that was as close as I was going to get. Most Mexican dishes are completely loaded with everything I can't cook with. It does seem a bit silly to post a recipe for tacos, but I'm doing it to be a little self serving. I've decided when I can't decide what to make for dinner I'm going to look at my blog. This will remind me that tacos are an option. :)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 T. dried onion flakes
1 can black beans, drained (reserve the water)
1 T. chili powder
1/2 T. ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 T. smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
Sprinkle cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicy)
12 corn tortillas
Cooking Spray 
Lettuce, tomato, salsa, avocado or whatever else you like for toppings

Break up ground turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion flakes. While it starts to brown, open the black beans and drain, reserving about half of the liquid. Add chili powder, salt, paprika, coriander and cayenne to the pan, stirring well. The seasonings will soak up almost all of the liquid from the turkey as it cooks, so add a little of the bean water as needed to keep it from over-drying.

When turkey is completely browned (no pink remains), add the beans. Stir them in gently so as not to break them up too much. Cover pan and remove from heat.

I used to have this awesome pancake skillet that let me cook 6 taco shells at a time. It caught on fire (okay, not all the way, but it was smoking pretty good), so now I use two omelet pans and cook two shells at a time, one in each pan. You can do it either way.

Heat your pans over medium heat. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Once they are hot (don't start too early), spray one side of a corn tortilla with cooking spray (I use olive oil or canola cooking spray) and put the tortilla, sprayed side down, into the hot pan. Let cook a couple of minutes (until starting to brown), spray the top side with cooking spray and flip with tongs. Cook another minute or two, until the second side has browned. Remove from pan, fold in half, and let "set" on prepared baking sheet. Continue with remaining tortillas. Note: getting the temperature right is a little tricky. If the pans are smoking, turn the heat down just a little. If the tortillas are taking forever to get brown (or just plain soggy) turn the heat up a little. I usually adjust the heat several times during the cooking process.

Serve tacos with desired toppings.

Variation: The last time I made this I wasn't incredibly hungry, so I made a taco salad. Green leaf lettuce, top with meat/bean mixture, avocado and just a drizzle of light Italian dressing. I tore up a single taco shell and sprinkled it on top. I know the Italian dressing sounds odd, but it was tasty. :)

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Okay, I don't take any sort of credit for this recipe at all. This was my very first attempt at a gluten free recipe, and I was amazed at how moist it turned out. Everything I'd heard about gluten free bread was negative - too dry, crumbles too easily, too many weird ingredients, etc. But that is so not the case here. Honestly, I can't even tell a difference between this and the "real thing." Side note, why do we call it "the real thing?" Just because it's made with wheat? Makes no sense to me.This is banana bread, end of story.

The only adjustment I made was reducing the amount of coconut oil from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. But seriously, it's just so good, so I had to share it with you, even though it isn't something I tweaked or came up with. And I figure since it's made from brown rice, it's got to be healthy, right? Sometimes I'll make banana bread loaves and other times I'll do muffins. The muffins tend to disappear so much faster, but I think that's because it requires far too much energy for a teenager to unwrap the bread, cut off a slice, and re-wrap it. Did I just say that out loud?

I tend to prefer baking with oat flour over rice flour simply because I think it has a better texture. Someday I might try replacing the rice flour with oat flour. On the other hand, though, if it ain't broke...

This recipe really doesn't take too much time at all. It feels like it, which is why I don't make it all that often, but it really isn't too bad. I think the reason it feels this way is because you end up with quite a few mixing bowls for various purposes. The biggest reason I don't make it all that often is because my guys gobble up the bananas before they're ripe enough to use for banana bread. Sigh.

I'll admit, sorghum flour sounds like a weird ingredient. I guess it is. I don't really know exactly what sorghum flour is, but it's critical for the recipe. Don't try to use all brown rice flour because it won't work. I have not been able to find sorghum flour in bulk. The only place I can find it is from Bob's Red Mill. I think some grocery stores have it on the baking aisle, but if you can't find it there, you can definitely find it at health food stores like Whole Paycheck. 

Ingredients:
4 eggs
4-5 ripe bananas (4 large or 5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crack eggs into a small mixing bowl. Whisk lightly. Don't over-beat. You know when you bake something and end up with those giant peaks in the middle? That comes from over-beating your eggs. Don't do it.

Peel bananas and break into chunks in a medium mixing bowl. Use a potato masher to smoosh them. My son tells me it looks like banana soup when I'm done. So seriously, smoosh to your little heart's desire. Add applesauce and vanilla extract, then mix well. Add eggs and stir just enough to combine.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, rice flour, sorghum flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk well. Pour in wet ingredients and whisk just until combined, but make sure all the lumps get whisked out.

Melt coconut oil (or butter) in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, fold gently into the batter, just until combined. Side note, I don't know why it's necessary to fold in the coconut oil, but that's what the recipe said, so that's what I did.

Grease two loaf pans with cooking spray. Pour the batter evenly between the two. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You do NOT want to over bake these, or you'll end up with the aforementioned complaints about gluten free baking. Remove from oven and place pans directly on to a cooling rack. Let cool for 10 minutes. Use a butter knife to loosen the sides and remove the bread from the pans. Return to cooling racks and let cool completely. You can eat it at this point (some recipes say wrap it and let stand overnight, but that's just silly). Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap.

If you're making muffins, I highly recommend using paper liners greased with cooking spray. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the muffins right away and let cool on a wire rack. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Spice Hot Cereal

I find it funny... Just the other day I was saying, "No matter how you dress up oatmeal, it's still oatmeal." And here I am with a post about oatmeal. It was my day off, lying around in bed, wondering what to make for breakfast. There was a recipe for muffins I'd come across, but quite frankly, I just wanted to get breakfast made quickly, crawl back into bed and spend the morning watching a movie.

The original plan was just to make plain ol' oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup. That just sounded too boring. I figured I could toss in the pumpkin pie spices to jazz it up a bit, but then I remembered a container of leftover pumpkin that was still in the fridge. I knew it didn't have much life left to it so I was going to need to use it quickly. The pumpkin chia pudding I'd made a week or so ago sounded really good, but since it needed to sit overnight, obviously not an option. I decided to throw together all of the ingredients for the pumpkin chia pudding and see what happened.

It was sooo tasty! Well, to me anyway. It tasted like a bowl full of hot pumpkin pie. The only thing it was missing was some graham crackers. Maybe next time.

Remember that chia seeds soak up a lot of liquid and take some time to gellify (yes, I just made that word up). That is key to making this, otherwise you could end up with a pumpkin brick. Keep it moist and it should turn out just fine. :)

Ingredients:
2 cups hot water
1 cup old fashioned oats (please, don't let me catch you using instant!)
1 1/2 T. chia seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2-4 T. brown sugar or Sucanat
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Bring hot water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add oats and stir frequently, cooking about 3 to 4 minutes until the liquid is starting to get thick. Turn off burner, but keep pan on the hot burner.

Stir in chia seeds and let them start soaking up the water while you measure out the rest of the ingredients. Stir in pumpkin, brown sugar (amount varies depending on how sweet you like it), cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

The cereal should be getting fairly thick at this point, so start adding a little soy milk at a time, stirring after each addition, until you reach the desired consistency. Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings. As you can see, it's pretty easy to adjust it for more servings.

Shrimp Salad

Maybe I was just absolutely starving, but this was hands down the best shrimp salad I've ever tried. I had to adjust it just slightly from the original version, but holy crap, so yummy. If you count the time boiling the eggs, it took less than a half an hour to throw it all together. So simple, so tasty.

So here's the scoop. I really don't like wasting food. Generally speaking, if I'm separating an egg, I will use just the part I need and reserve the other part for another recipe. I'm talking yolk vs. white here. I also keep a carton of egg whites in the refrigerator for times I only want egg whites. Unfortunatley, though, when it comes to things like egg salad and such, I don't use all of the yolks. The calorie/fat difference between the egg and the yolk is crazy. Since I can't think of a use for just a hard boiled egg yolk, that means I toss it. Sorry chicken who laid the egg, sorry pocket book, sorry Mother Earth. If you have a suggstion for using just a hard boiled egg yolk, please let me know.

But I digress yet again. I do that a lot. Let's make a yummy shrimp salad. I highly recommend you make the dressing before chopping up your whole ingredients to give the flavors time to meld.

I'm amazed how many different tips and tricks there are to making a perfect hard boiled egg. It's so frustrating when they crack while boiling OR when the shells stick to them and you lose half your egg white trying to get those stupid little shell pieces off. I've found a few tricks that seem to almost always get perfect hard boiled eggs.

One, let the eggs come to room temperature before putting them in the pan covered with water. Two, use a big enough pot that the eggs won't bump in to each other. Three, use cold water to start, and bring it to a boil very slowly over medium heat (rather than high heat like if you were just boiling water). Four, when they're finished boiling, use a slotted spoon to take them out of the pan and put them directly in an ice water bath. Five, after you transferred all eggs to the ice water, crack each one and put back in the ice bath so the cold water can enter the shell and further cool the egg. Six, roll the egg where you've cracked it before attempting to peel, loosening the shell. Seven, if it's still sticking, use the tip of a sharp knife or a fork to pierce and get under that little membrane, then focus on peeling off the membrane instead of just the shell.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1 T. honey (or agave nectar)
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
Sea salt & ground black pepper
2 hard boiled whole eggs, diced
2 hard boiled egg whites, diced
1 firm pear, cored and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cups cocktail shrimp

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, honey, parsley, thyme, basil, salt & pepper. Set aside. Stop periodically to whisk it together again (oil separates).

I'm going to assume you know how to chop vegetables.

Put eggs, pear, onion and shrimp in a large mixing bowl. Toss well with a large serving spoon. Whisk dressing one last time, then pour it over the salad. Toss again until everything is coated.

Eat.

Quinoa Hot Cereal

It snowed today. I hate snow. I mean, I really really hate snow. It's cold, a pain in the butthole to drive in, and makes everything all messy and gray. Now before you run off and start calling me a hater, I will admit that it has one redeeming quality: it looks pretty when it's falling. The building I work in has a rotunda with glass windows all in front. When it's early, dark and the snow is falling, it will catch the light from the street lamps. Looks kind of like a postcard. Just don't make me drive in it.

When it's cold out, there's nothing like a hot breakfast to lift your sprits. My problem is that there's only so many bowls of oatmeal I can eat. Dress it up different ways, change the fruit, toppings, whatever - it's still oatmeal. At home it's easy, but hot meals I can take to work are a little trickier.

We had some quinoa left over from dinner last night, so I threw all of this together in a bowl, hoping it would come together and taste good. Um, yeah, it's good. Really good. Sorry, oatmeal, you may have a replacement for cold mornings.

One word of caution: this recipe has the potential of being very calorie dense. For my protein powder, I use Dymatize Iso-100 Vanilla because it only has 106 calories per scoop. My other favorite, Syntha-6, has 200 calories per scoop. If you work out like a madman, you'll be okay on the higher calorie end. But if you're a once-in-a-while exerciser like me, I highly recommend picking something up that's on the lower end.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 scoop protein powder
1/4-1/3 cup cold water
1/8 cup Craisins
1 T. walnuts

Put quinoa in a serving bowl (or in my case, a tupperware to go). In a small bowl, whisk together protein powder and just enough water to make it pourable. I started with 1/4 cup and added a little more at a time until it was about the consistently of thin pancake batter. Pour protein over quinoa. Top with Craisins and walnuts (I crushed the walnuts a little with my fingers).

Microwave for 30 to 60 seconds or until warm, stirring halfway through so the protein doesn't clump.

Orange Glazed Salmon

As much as I know how to cook, making salmon has forever eluded me. Try as I might, I have never been able to get it moist. I mean, it's always been okay, but never great. My dad was in town last week and was talking about some of the new things he'd been trying recently, one of which was salmon. I commented, "That's the one thing I've never been able to do right, what's your secret?" His answer was simple: "Three minutes per side."

That seemed simple enough. I'd always baked it. I guess that's what I was doing wrong.

I still think I overcooked it. My pieces were probably smaller than what he was using. It was still a little on the dry side, but not too bad at all. Three minutes per side is probably good for bigger pieces, I would recommend two and a half minutes per side for smaller pieces.

Weird thing: three minutes seems like an eternity when you're standing at the stove watching something cook. Just sayin'.

I was never a black pepper fan. Just the smell of it made me want to take off running. If you like black pepper, good for you! I found, though, that freshly ground black pepper is soooo much better than the stuff that comes in el cheapo shaker. It's considerably more money for a pepper grinder, but it's so worth it! If you don't have one, go get one. I find myself using ground black pepper when the dish is "missing something," whereas I used to use garlic. So there you go.

I found the glaze recipe on a paleo website. The secret to the glaze, I promise you, is letting it reduce significantly. By the time it was reduced to a sticky syrup, the flavors were so much more potent than they were when I first started it. So be patient with it, and don't start the salmon until the glaze is almost finished.

Ingredients:
4-6 salmon filets (about 4 oz. each)
2 oranges
1 tsp ground ginger
1 T. onion flakes
1 T. honey
Sea salt & ground black pepper
Lemon juice (for drizzling on the salmon)

Sprinkle salmon filets with salt & pepper and set aside.

Zest one of the oranges directly into a small saucepan. Juice both oranges. I have a fun little gadget that squeezes out every little last bit if juice, but if you don't have one, just squeeze out the juice the best you can. Add juice to sauce pan along with ginger, onion flakes, honey, salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk frequently, simmering until mixture has reduced by at least half - it should be thick. This will take 15 to 20 minutes, more or less depending on how much juice you get from the oranges.

When glaze is almost finished, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Coat pan generously with cooking spray, then put salmon filets in the pan in a single layer, not touching. Drizzle with lemon juice. Cook "three minutes per side," or until salmon is cooked through. As I said, if filets are smaller, go 2 1/2 minutes per side. Depending on the size of your skillet, it may take two batches. If so, put salmon on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm until all fish is done cooking.

Spoon glaze on top of salmon, spreading it around with a spoon. Serve on top of cooked quinoa or brown rice.

Paleo Chick-fil-A Chicken Strips

I didn't really start eating Chick-fil-A until about a year ago. I just thought they were another fast food joint that only served chicken. When I realized how yummy their chicken was, especially the chicken strips, I started eating it fairly regularly. Aside from the chargrilled chicken sandwich, the nutritional specs weren't really all that much better than any other fast food joint.

I came across this recipe on a Paleo website a few months ago. The first time I made it, it seemed really labor-intensive! I figured I would use it as an occasional treat, but wouldn't be something I would make regularly. Besides, frying the chicken in coconut oil was still frying it. You can tell me all day long how much better for you coconut oil is than vegetable oil, but at the end of the day it's still higher calorie and higher fat than something baked. The real motivation here is that they are considerably cheaper to make than to buy. I can make up a whole batch - about 15 strips - for about $7.

I'd had a hankering for these for a few days, so I decided to buckle down and make them. The second time was sooo much easier! I figured out a little trick that helped, too: Add the seasoning to each side and don't over-smoosh into the chicken.

Don't freak out about the pickle juice if you're a pickle hater. The flavor of the pickle juice doesn't come through at the end, even though the smell is very much there while you're marinating them.

Ingredients:
1 package chicken tenders (about 15)
1/3 cup pickle juice
1 egg
1 T. milk of choice (I used soy, coconut was in the original recipe)
2 T. coconut flour
2 T. arrowroot powder
1 T. smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder (I didn't have any, so I used a spice grinder to blend onion flakes)
6-8 T. coconut oil

Put the tenders in a gallon-sized zip top bag. A bag with the slider top works best. Add pickle juice, squeeze out as much air as you can, and smoosh it all around. Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 2 hours.

Drain out as much pickle juice as you can. I dumped it all into a wire mesh strainer. Put chicken back in the same bag. Whisk together egg and milk in a small mixing bowl and pour mixture in the bag. Smoosh around and put back in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Mix together the coconut flour, arrowroot powder, paprika, sea salt, pepper and onion powder. Use a dry whisk to break up any clumps (for some reason, coconut flour tends to clump in this mixture). Remove bag of chicken from the fridge and pour out as much of the egg-milk mixture as you can (or use the strainer again). Put chicken back in the bag and smoosh the chicken out into a single layer.

Lay the bag flat on the counter and toss in about half of the seasoning mix across the chicken as evenly as possible. Seal the bag and smoosh the seasoning around into the chicken. Flip the bag over and repeat. Work the seasoning in to the chicken on both sides as best you can.

Heat a few tablespoons coconut oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. I used kitchen scissors to cut the bag open so I wouldn't lose any seasoning by knicking the top of the bag when pulling the chicken out. Use tongs to put chicken strips directly in to the hot oil. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes, then flip, re-cover and cook 3 minutes more. Make sure chicken is cooked all the way through. I cooked a few of the bigger pieces about a minute longer.

It took 3 batches to cook all the chicken. I put the cooked chicken on a paper towel-lined baking sheet covered with foil to keep it warm while cooking the second and third batches. Serve right away with your favorite dipping sauce.

Mocha Chia Breakfast Pudding

I am sooo loving chia seeds these days! I'm learning all the fun things you can do with them. I recently read about using chia seeds in place of eggs in baking. Interesting! I've used flax seeds before and it works beautifully, so I'm definitely going to have to try the "chia eggs."

This is a slightly different version of the pumpkin chia pudding I posted about last week. If you don't like coffee, you can just add additional milk - though I promise it won't be as yummy. ;-) My brain is already starting to spin with different ideas for other flavors of chia protein pudding.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cold brewed coffee
1/2 cup milk of choice (I was out of almond, so I used unsweetened soy)
1 T. cashew butter (or other nut butter)
1 T. cocoa powder
2 scoops vanilla or chocolate protein powder (I use Iso-100 Vanilla, but any will work)
1 T. agave nectar (or honey)
4 T. chia seeds

Put all ingredients except chia seeds in a blender. Process on low for about 30 seconds or until completely combined. Divide between two small mason jars or other containers with tight-fitting lids. Add 2 T. chia seeds to each jar. Put the lid on and shake well. Refrigerate overnight.

Even more important than with the pumpkin version, pull the jars out of the fridge every hour or so and shake so the chia seeds don't lump together at the bottom. You don't have to do this all night - just a few times until the seeds stop floating to the bottom. Stir before serving.

Plantain Beef Pie

Plantains are fun little critters, but can sometimes be challenging to work with. In an un-ripened, green state they're firm, starchy and kind of potato tasting. In their ripened, yellow-brown state, they're soft and sweet, quite similar to a banana. The trick is getting them uniform. I'll usually buy a bunch of them when they're not ripe, then let them ripen as needed for the recipe. Unfortunately that means THEY get to dictate when they get used.

My son was intrigued when I started cooking, even though I've made this a few times before - he's just been at work and hasn't eaten it yet. He said, "I just can't see how all that stuff is going to go together, but it's a good experiment, I guess." I wasn't experimenting though - not exactly. I just had to adjust to leave out the tomatoes and garlic. The original recipe used tomato sauce, fire roasted diced tomatoes, and 2 or 3 cloves minced garlic. If you want an easier way of doing it, use the tomato stuff instead of the butternut squash.

You can do the plaintains one of two ways: you can fry them in coconut oil in a skillet, or bake them as I did. The first couple of times I fried them per the original recipe instructions. This time I tried baking them and, quite frankly, I can't tell a difference. Obviously if you bake them you are going to significantly lower the fat content.

Ingredients:
5 large ripe plantains
1 onion, diced
Drizzle olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
4 cups cooked, cubed butternut squash
1 roasted red bell pepper
2 T. apple cider vinegar
Hot water
1 can diced green chilis
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 T. chili powder
2-4 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos (sub low-sodium soy sauce and use less)
1 tsp liquid smoke
2-4 T. Nutritional Yeast
Sea salt & fresh black pepper
8 T. liquid egg whites (or 3 whole eggs, beaten)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with foil and coat generously with cooking spray.

Cut ends off plantains, cut in half cross wise and each half length wise. Remove skins, and use a paring knife to slice off any brown spots. Use a sharp knife to cut strips of plantains by cutting each quarter in thirds lengthwise. Confused yet? :)

Arrange plantains on baking sheet and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft and hot. Keep the oven on after removing plantains. Some plantains, particularly the less ripe ones, may come out crunchy. That's okay, just make sure they have plenty of sauce on them when you assemble the dish to soften them back up.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and fragrant. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. DO NOT DRAIN.

Combine squash, red bell pepper, vinegar and 1/4 cup hot water in a blender. Puree until smooth, adding more water if necessary. Pour squash mixture into pot with cooked turkey. Stir in chilis, rosemary, chili powder, Liquid Aminos, liquid smoke and salt & pepper. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir until heated through.

Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour 2 T. egg whites in the bottom. Arrange plantains in a single layer in the bottom of the pan, touching but not overlapping. Spoon 1/3 of the meat mixture over top, followed by 2 T. egg whites. Smear the egg whites around on top of the meat as evenly as possible. Continue layering in this manner until all ingredients are used. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until eggs are set and dish is hot and bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Cut into 8 slices lasagna style and serve.

Pumpkin Monster Cookies

You know, you never realize how much you use your phone - rely on your phone - NEED your phone, until it dies. Mine took a big ol' crap today. Yep, said just a few expletives. I was already out on my lunch break, heading to Whole Paycheck to pick up a few specialty items when it happened. Luckily, I was able to make a U-turn and head to a T-Mobile store I had just passed. They're going to overnight a new phone to me, but in the meantime, I'm stuck with this old dinosaur that won't do crap. All my apps, all my pictures, all my contacts - GONE.

I mentioned apps, right? That means my beloved ChefTap app. More than 140 collected recipes are gone. I'm going to have to start collecting them again. BOOO!

I'm an emotional eater. I always have been. Fortunately for me, I packed a Monster Cookie for a snack today. My super healthy lunch left me feeling unsatisfied, and the Monster Cookie was what finally did the trick and made me not want to punch out the next person I saw.

So, as you can see, Monster Cookies save lives. I highly recommend you whip up a batch right away. I found this recipe on Busy But Healthy's website. They're not the greatest cookies I've ever tasted, but they had chocolate in them and that's what mattered. I'll sacrifice a little bit of the yumminess for something that's better for you.

Note: In the recipe I call for soy butter. You can use any type of nut butter, peanut butter is fine - most people have it in their cupboard. Almond butter, sun butter, cashew butter - use whatever you have.

Okay, let's make some cookies and save some lives.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
1/2 cup sucanat (or unpacked brown sugar)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup soy butter
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cups oat flour (grind up oats in your blender)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole, old fashined oats
1/3 cup chocolate chips (or try carob)
M&Ms

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two large cookie sheets by covering them with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all wet ingredients and sugars: pumpkin, sucanat, sugar, egg, vanilla, soy butter and apple sauce. Give it a good whipping with an electric mixer. Add oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and whip again until smooth. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfulls onto prepared parchment paper - I did mine about the size of golf balls. Stick 3 M&Ms on top of each cookie, pressing just firm enough so they stick. Bake for 15-16 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Note number 2: I didn't think these were very good AT ALL when they were warm. They had a funny taste to them. I suspect it was the soy butter, since it was the first time I had ever baked with it. Once they were cool and had been stored overnight, though, they were much tastier. It's still not a Nestle Toll House cookie, but it's good. So if you don't like them when they're warm, wait a bit before you give up on me. :) That being said, though, my teenage boys scarfed them down straight out of the oven. I guess I'm a little pickier than a teenage boy.

Hashbrown Casserole

My BF and I decided to be Jack and Sally for Halloween. I knew we'd never find a Sally Dress at a second hand store, and I just can't justify spending $40 or more for a flimsy little dress from a costume shop. I decided to get a similar shaped dress from a second hand store and just sew on the fabric swatches to make it look like Sally's.

Yes, mock all you like - I'm obviously better in the kitchen than in other "crafty" areas. I should have known it wouldn't work. After lots of explitives and unpicking, I finally acknowledged my limitations and admitted it wasn't working. I got online, hoping to find a pattern I could download.

Unfortunately, many other women have had the same problem I was having and there is no easy way to make a Sally Dress. I finally realized if I had any chance of making this work, I was going to have to make my own pattern like others had done. I started cutting out fabric swatches that were the same size as a nightgown I have that's Sally-shaped, used some Liquid Stitch, and I think I have something that might - MIGHT - come together. Right now I just have the front and back of the dress. We'll see what happens!

The moral of the story is that this took the better part of the day yesterday. After stopping to go to the fabric store for the Liquid Stitch, I realized how late it was getting and we needed dinner. My awesome BF didn't want me spending tons of time in the kitchen because he knew I was trying to get this dress done. He suggested this Hashbrown Casserole because it comes together fairly easily. He's the best ever. And I mean ever.

This recipe is loosly based on a casserole that used cream of mushroom soup, sour cream and loads of cheddar cheese.

Ingredients:
1/2 package frozen hashbrowns
1 package (about10 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
Sprinkle Mrs. Dash (or all-purpose seasoning of choice)
Drizzle olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey
2 cup milk of choice (I use unsweetened soy)
3 tsp granulated beef bullion
2 tbsp dried onion flakes
2-3 tsp liquid smoke
2-4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
Cold water
Sprinkle smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread hash browns in an even layer and put in the oven. You're only thawing the hashbrowns, not cooking them, so there's not really a set time here. Just keep an eye on them so they don't burn while you continue with the rest of the recipe. Put frozen vegetables in a wire mesh strainer and run them under hot water. Set aside.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and onion and saute until slightly caramelized. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink.

While onion and turkey are cooking, proceed with the sauce. Put milk, beef granules, onion flakes, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk frequently and bring just to a simmer. Check for taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Combine arrowroot powder and a small amound of cold water, stir into sauce. Sauce should be just slightly thick.

Remove hash browns from oven (if you haven't already) and sprinkle generously with Mrs. Dash. Spread mixed vegetables over hash browns, and ground meat mixture over vegetables. Spread sauce over meat, making sure to cover everything. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.