Gangsta's Paradise

This recipe came to me all the way from California.  A girlfriend of mine swears by juicing, so I found myself intrigued enough to borrow my Mom's juicer.  Big round of applause for The Green Gangsta!  Boy was it something.  Surely packed with vitamins, this tart drink should definitely be on your list to try:


The Green Gangsta (made two glasses)


Ingredients:
kale (aka scary lookin' lettuce)
two green apples
1/4 inch ginger root
1/2 cucumber
1 lemon

The best part of juicing is that there really isn't much prep.  Just wash your fruits & veggies really well because you put them in the juicer with skins on.  I made this awhile back, but I remember thinking I'd liked to have added more ginger - gave it some pizzazz!

Motown Philly

Back from hiatus!  Between working, taking care of my daughter, and managing "life"... turns out blogging took a backseat.  I've got countless recipes to share, but last nights dinner takes the winning prize for my first returning blog.  Easy? Yes!  Quick?  Yes!  Tasty?  Yes!

Compliments of Pinterest, below is the recipe for Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers.  They turned out awesome!  A minor twist to this beloved sandwich - no bread and still delish.  I doubled the recipe as I had guests for dinner, and wanted extras for the hubster's lunch. 

Ingredients:

8 ounces thinly sliced roast beef (I just got it from the deli)

8 slices provolone

2 large green peppers

1 medium onion

1 container baby bella mushrooms

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp EVOO

4 cloves of crushed fresh garlic (I used more, but I love garlic!)

s&p to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400

Slice peppers in half length-wise, remove ribs & seeds

Slice mushrooms & onions.  Saute over medium heat with butter, EVOO, garlic, and S&P.  Saute until onions and mushrooms are caramelized (20-25 minutes).
Slice roast beef into thin strips; add to onion/mushroom mix.  Cook 10-15 minutes.
Line each side of the peppers with a slice of provolone
Fill each pepper with onion/mushroom/meat mixture
Top each pepper with slice of provolone


Bake 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melty & browned.  


ENJOY!

Holiday, Celebrate!

Easter was last weekend, and with my family, any holiday means good food!  Whenever a holiday rolls around, it's either my responsibility or my sister's to bring the salad.  And not just any salad, taboulli salad.  This recipe was passed down from my Great Aunt Mary and has surely made it to our table every holiday you can imagine.  


As a heads up, while it's really easy to make, it includes a lot of food prep so it can take awhile to assemble.


Salad:
lettuce (I used Romaine, but you can use whatever you want)
diced green pepper
skinned & diced cucumber
diced radishes
diced green onions 
parsley (I put it through my food processor)
diced tomatoes (I actually just cut cherry tomatoes in half)

Bulgur Wheat:
It seems like every time I'm cooking for a party, I find myself strapped for time.  The nice thing about the bulgur wheat is that you can cook it the night before, cover it, and store it in the fridge until assembly time.


1 part bulgur wheat  (typically 1 cup)
1 part boiling water (typically 1 cup)


Boil the water, add bulgur wheat, remove from heat, cover and let rest for 45 minutes.  Once the salad is assembled, sprinkle over the salad and toss.

Salad Dressing:
The longer it sits in the refrigerator the better it will taste.  Again, this is a good thing to make the night before.  This dressing is the best part of this whole salad!


1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 EVOO
fresh basil (I use a lot, but I love basil...)
4 cloves fresh garlic (through a garlic press)
S&P

Serve it up!
Isn't it pretty?  I love serving it because it's so rich in color and overall pretty healthy.  ENJOY 

TJ's

I am a shopper.  No, wait...I'm a bargain shopper.  Even with groceries.  I think people mistakenly compare Trader Joe's prices to Whole Foods.  Wrong-O.  Trader Joe's is super affordable and I think their produce is better than Giant Eagle.  My friends and family always ask what my staple TJ items are...Ask, and you shall receive!  But first, let me give you four reasons to hit this place up:


1. It's inexpensive!  Think I'm lying?  Their dried spices (basil, oregano, sesame seeds, cumin, etc.) are only $1.99.  No joke, they go up to $7 a bottle at some stores.


2. Their staff is super friendly.  I'm pretty sure they are all hippies that smoke it up in the back...high or not, they always answer my questions.  Yep, I'm the person who asks questions at the grocery store!


3. They have a great selection of seasonal fruits & veggies.  And a great beer & wine section.


4. I don't typically buy frozen meals (hello, I'm blogging about food...I love to cook), BUT their freezer section has tasty, healthy options.  When I check the ingredients, they don't include foods that I've never heard of or can't pronounce.

Above:

Asparagus, Eggplant, Apples, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Ginger Root, Frozen Pineapple, Frozen Strawberries, Frozen Raspberries, Shallots, Vegetable Chips, Bananas

Above:

Taco Shells, Snapea Crisps, Basil, Garlic Powder, Dijon Mustard, Clif Bars, Sliced Almonds & Pine Nuts

Above:

Quinoa, Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, Turkey Meatballs, Tahini Paste, Fresh Mozzarella, Potato Bites

Just a couple of notes on some items above:

Ginger root - Scary looking!  A good friend of mine sent me some "juicing" recipes that include ginger root...I'm dying to try them out.  

Pinenuts - I love pine nuts, especially in my stromboli and pesto pasta.

Clif Bars - Of course Dr. Oz just did a snippet about how protein bars aren't good for you, but I happen to love the crunchy peanut butter Clif Bar.  And, it's nice to snack on when I'm driving in the mornings.

Quinoa - All the rage these days.  This one has zucchini and sweet potatoes in it.  Highly, highly recommend!

Tahini Paste - I'm amped up to make my own hummus this weekend!

Frozen Fruit - If I made a new years resolution this year, it is to not waste food.  I hate throwing away fruits & vegetables b/c they've gone bad sitting in my freezer.  Frozen fruit & veggies are just as nutritious and last way longer.  

A couple of other items that I did not pick up because I already have stocked at home are:

Shelled Edamame - Add to any stir fry or Asian lettuce wraps for extra protein.

Everything Pretzel Chips - They're like eating an everything bagel.  Need I say more?

Trek Mix - Individually packaged.  These are great if you pack your lunch everyday.

So there you go!  I could spend hours in this store, so go when you have some free time.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, try Mustard Seed in Fairlawn.  It's a bit pricier, but they have a lot of all natural, organic items to choose from.  

Dillas...

Quesadillas...or in my  home, what we call "Dillas".  I realize this isn't necessarily a new concept to many, but this dinner is quick and easy.  Best part is that you can keep these ingredients in your house to use on a day where you don't feel like investing a lot of time into dinner.  I typically have two cans of both black & refried beans in my cupboards.

Thank goodness my husband likes Mexican fare, because it's a staple in our weekly menu.  At least once a week we have tacos, taco salad, burritos, enchiladas, or like yesterday, quesadillas.  Original?  No.  Delicious?  We think so!  

[NOTE: I haven't mentioned this yet, but I've challenged myself to go meat-free for thirty days.  Don't get me wrong, I will never be a vegetarian.  But my interest was sparked when I was told I'd feel like I have more energy. What I am really curious about, is whether or not it'll help me shed some baby weight.  This is why there is no chicken in this meal.]

That said, here are the ingredients I used for Wednesday's fiesta:

Tortillas - the carb monster of this meal.  But, use whole wheat or multi-grain and it's not so bad!

Shredded Cheddar

Black Beans

Fat-Free Refried Beans

Chopped Jalapenos (time saver!)

Salsa

Avocado

Chopped green onion

Tomato

Anything canned typically means it's high-sodium.  But, I've tried multiple times to buy dried beans and they never turn out.  A couple calorie and sodium savers to this recipe would be to use fresh salsa.  Trader Joes & Whole Foods have a variety of tasty fresh salsas I recommend.  Unfortunately I haven't made a TJ trip in awhile, so canned it was.  Also, with all the tastiness of this meal, I've gone without the cheese.  However, I've been indulging a little since I'm going without meat.  Lastly, rinse those black beans really well and you'll cut out a lot of the sodium.

You guessed it... that is not a quesadilla maker, it's my panini maker!  The best part of the panini maker is that my hub veto'd this registry item when we were getting married.  (Seriously?  Who doesn't love a good panini?!)  To appease him, I didn't register for it when we were walking through the isles of Bed, Bath & Beyond... but I definitely added it when I was editing the registry online.  To this day, it's one of our most used kitchen appliances.  Not only does it make a great sandwich, but it doubles as our quesadilla maker.  It puts the grill marks on there, and gets everything hot and melted together.

Protein, check.  Veggies, check.  Fiber, check.  Dairy, check.  Healthy fat, check.  

Let me know your thoughts!!

Smoothie operator...

One of my newest addictions is my morning smoothie.  In Chicago, they have Jamba Juice.  In Cleveland, they have Robeks.  Both are delish - neither are as delicious as what I make at home...and for half the price!  Our blender was one of those wedding gifts I registered for, received, and then rarely ever used.  The most use it got was when I was preggo and had cravings for peanut butter, banana milkshakes (uh, yum!).  


It all started last summer when a friend of mine hopped in the car with a home-made smoothie and I thought, "What an excellent idea!"  From there, my smoothies have been comprised of different ingredients, but this is my most recent success:


1 whole banana
1-2 handfuls fresh spinach
6-8 raspberries (black or red)
2-3 chunks of pineapple (fresh or frozen)
1 handful of blueberries (hello antioxidants!!)
1 cup of non-fat plain Greek yogurt
a splash of cranberry or orange juice
1 handful of ice


Can it get much healthier than this?  Here's the best part - you can't taste the spinach AT ALL.  I was nervous when I first started adding spinach to this recipe b/c I thought it might make it a little bitter, or that I'd have spinach chunks in the smoothie.  Nope.  It's still citrusy and super tasty.  

Side note: I feel like I've heard and read a lot about flax seed lately.  I tried adding them to my smoothie a couple of times...and they add a bit of a nuttier taste than I'd really like.  But it's all personal preference!

Chicago!

CHICAGO!  I lived in Chicago for almost six years...and the two things I miss most are my friends and the restaurants.  Safe to say, you could go to a different restaurant every night of the week for a year and never visit the same restaurant twice.  Chicago is truly a melting pot of cultures, and so is the food.  Some of my favorite restaurants were the small, hole-in-the wall, eclectic spots.  

Last weekend, George and I had to venture six hours West to the Windy City to clean our condo for our new renters.  I was thrilled to see my friends and hit up some of my favorite eats!  My first stop was Southport Grocery.  Easily one of the best brunch spots on the North side of the city.  The great news is our waitress gave me the ingredients and instructions on how to make the tomatoes on their bruchetta.  Excellent.  We also visited Piece Pizza...thin crust pizza at a brewery, yes puh-lease!  

This post, however is all about the sushi!  George and I have yet to find a sushi restaurant in Cleveland that we can enjoy as much as Coast.  Not only do they have unique, delicious rolls...but the place is BYOB.  Can it get any better than that?! 

At the top of the photo, you'll see super white tuna sashimi and salmon sashimi.  It took me a really long time to be able to stomach the texture of sashimi.  But this is melt-in-your-mouth fresh and I can't recommend it enough!


Additionally, you'll see their signature Coast Crab roll (king crab, scallion, masago in spicy mayo with tempura crumb, red tobiko) and Volcano roll (white tuna in hot volcano sauce with tempura crumb), a Spicy Tuna roll, and lastly a Himachi roll (yellowtail, jalapeno).


The best part of sushi is that (aside from the tempura and mayo) it's mostly healthy.  I never leave with that "I'm so full roll me out of here!" feeling.  Follow dinner with some green tea ice cream and call it a night!  Bottom line, sushi rocks.