grilled cheese

My husband is one heck of guy. He just created the new banner at the top of my blog with his photoshop ways.....and I think its perfect! In honor of his great work I wanted to show his fantastic grilled cheese making skills. I'll tell you there is nothing more satisfying than a grilled cheese cooked by my husband with a bowl of soup for dinner. This grilled cheese was will some spinach and cheddar bread we bought at the farmer's market. Pure bliss that's all I have to say....

homemade iced tea

There is not much more to this than USE THE STUFF YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE BEFORE YOUR BUY MORE !!!!! This is a simple mint green iced tea I made with leftover tea I had from the winter that I didnt want to wait until next winter to drink. Sometimes tea can go bad (well not bad just stale) so use it up!

just like when you make a cup of tea use one tea bag per cup of water

find some inventive way to stir it around in the simmering water. Then be sure to taste it along the way so you can make sure its strong enough....


And enjoy some delicious tea !!!

Arugula Polenta with Chicken

This delicious meal was courtesy of the most recent issue of Clean Eating. It is beyond good!

"Polenta is brings complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber to any protein paring, particularly important for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels since fiber can slow the absorption of sugar." - Straight from the recipe in Clean Eating

Your ingredients are 2 chicken breasts, salt and pepper, 3 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1 1/3 cups of polenta (or coarse cornmeal), 4 cups of arugula chopped, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 1 medium tomato diced.

First sprinkle your chicken breasts with pepper. Heat a large skillet with 1 tbs of olive oil and begin cooking your chicken breasts.

Then boil your chicken broth. Once it comes to a boil whisk in your polenta or cornmeal. It will not take long to come to a good consistency. Then once its throughouly mixed stir in the yogurt and arugula.

Once your chicken is cooked through...remove from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. Then slice on a diagonal. And assemble like so below. It is a healthy, filling, and delicious meal for sure....




Enjoy !!!

If I didnt have you convinced before...

If I didn't have you convinced before about Heirloom tomatoes check out this!

How can you not resist this if you like tomatoes???? It is something that the end of summer is all about. Next time you see one at a farm, farmer's market, or the organic section of your grocery store remember 3 things......



1. How delicious it will be
2. It must be firm and not mushy feeling
3. How delightful it will be to look at


I know it sounds funny but seriously how can you resist it????

Delicious and Nuitrious

This is a wonderful dessert after any meal courtesy of the Bread and Honey blog I love to follow. Some vanilla frozen yogurt, sliced almonds, honey, and sometimes I add raspberries or blackberries to it.



It is awesome and I had to put it on here try it and enjoy a delicious and nutritious dessert!

Reduce the salt !!!

Cutting the salt out of a regular meal can be as easy as making your own taco seasoning instead of buying one of those packets that have a bizzzziilllllllion mg's of sodium in it. Most of the items that go into this you probably have in your spice collection for sure. We use this in tacos, burritos, the picture below shows it being mixed with ground chicken for taco salad. You can use it for anything you like that is the best part of it. I also did not know that spices and seasonings can go bad. So by making your own taco seasoning mix you can use up some of your spices you already have.


You will need to mix 1 tsp of chilli powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, and 1 tsp of cornstarch.

Then add the mixture to your chicken, beef, ground chicken, I have even used it on ground turkey, tofu, fish. What ever you want!!!

If there isnt enough liquid in the bottom of the pan be sure to add a little water to ensure the seasoning is mixed throughout.

You can also add more of any of the seasonings to make it spicer. This is a basic recipe that creates a mild flavor.

Enjoy!

The best Guacamole ever I swear it!!!!

This recipe was adapted from my good friend Ina Garten on the Food Network. Tonight we had taco salad for dinner and for us that means guacamole as well.







You will need 3 avocados 1 small red onion, diced 2 small Roma tomatoes, diced The juice of one lemon 2 cloves of garlic, minced salt and pepper, about a tsp of each about 15 shakes of Frank's Red Hot or any other hot sauce
Add everything to one bowl and be sure to just chop up the mixture with a flat utensil like shown. The best part of the guacamole recipe is to leave some chunks in it. No one enjoys pureed guacamole...Thanks Ina !!

No more boxed breads or cakes !!!

This is a simple post on zucchini bread to hopefully convince any readers I have to stop making breads and cakes out of boxes. There are so many additives and extra sugar/salt that you just don't need. With a few simple ingredients that you most likely have in your home already and you can bake wonderful healthy treats like Zucchini Bread!! This recipe was originally to make 2 loaves, but considering it is just my husband and I....I didn't want to have an extra loaf that would moldy.

I wish I had started this blog when I had picked up the lovely zucchini that provide the grated zucchini for this bread. I had gone to our local farmers market a week or so back and one of the vendors had a special on zucchini that she had a surplus of. She had a surplus because zucchini for some reason this summer has grown wonderfully. The one I picked up was about 2 feet long and about 6 inches in diameter. It was wonderful. So I grated some and froze it for things like sauces, stews, and delicious zucchini bread. I also sliced the other half, blanched it, and froze for a zucchini lasagna in the near future. The best part of the giant zucchini find was that it was only 50 cents total. I had to double check with her upon paying as I thought the sign meant 50 cents per pound. But I was totally wrong and it was just a great find.

TIP: Farmer's market's can frequently be a great source of reasonably priced veggies and fruit. Especially late in the summer as we are when their crops are plentiful and they need to get rid of them.

Your ingredients all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla extract, grated zucchini....










You will need to sift together 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon like so....







The sifting will make it a lighter and fluffier bread....it is definitely worth it. If you don't have a sifter try a fine mesh strainer. If you don't have that it will be fine...



Then mix the wet ingredients together. In a seperate bowl mix 1 large egg, 1 large egg white, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 cup of grated zucchini.














Once the wet ingredients are mixed throughouly it will look something like what you see below

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and bake in the oven at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes. When it looks golden brown on top and a little crispy take it out. Be sure to test the center with a toothpick or thin knife to ensure it is done in the middle. When you take it out it should look as delicious and nutritious as the one below...

Nothing beats a couple of pieces of zucchini bread a small amount of
butter (or a lot) and a glass of OJ for breakfast

The Beginning

I have chosen to begin this cooking, recipe, baking, natural eating food blog. It may in the end be much more than just that, but for now food blog it is. I have had several family and friends suggest I put my recipes and meals that I cook online in a collection for everyone to use. Once people began asking me what I made this week for dinner and seemed quite interested in what I came up with.....I decided why not give it a try. There is nothing more that I love doing that planning what my husband and I will have for dinner during the week. I absolutely love to cook and I love knowing exactly what is in the things we eat and how they can better our overall health. Sometimes I do sneak in super healthy things into sauces, soups, and casseroles that my husband never realizes.....like ground flax seed....but more on that later.

We have a store in the area called the Natural Living Center that I go to every week to get items in bulk for a much more affordable cost that the local grocery stores. Getting exactly what you need of an item is far more economical than purchasing a massive container of corn meal when you only need 1/2 a cup. Today at my weekly shopping at the Natural Living Center I picked up these beauties!
There is nothing better than a heirloom tomato in the end of summer. If you have never had one seriously spend the extra 2-3 bucks and get one you wont regret it. This time of year you can get them most places (natural food stores, farmer's markets) minus the mainstream grocery stores. They are far superior than the mealy non-ripe tomato you sometimes find in the grocery store. Take a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and take a break and enjoy a delicious lunch like I did this rainy Saturday. A wonderful tomato, some delicious bread, olive oil (it doesn't even have to be the good stuff), sea salt, and some pepper.....its the best stuff on earth for sure....
More recipes to come for sure!!!!