Greek Style Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients:
-2 lbs chicken thighs (You can use breasts if you prefer, but I often use thighs because they're cheap, tasty, and my husband loves them)
-2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
-1 onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 tsp dried oregano
-8 oz fresh spinach
-1 roasted red pepper, diced
-1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomato
-4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
-1 tsp orange zest (save the orange for later!)
-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
-juice of 1 orange
-1/2 cup chicken stock
-sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
-Heat the coconut oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add in your chopped onion and minced garlic. Season with sea salt and oregano. Saute until transluscent, about 3 minutes.
-In the mean time, place your chicken thighs between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Pound them out with a rolling pin or frying pan until they are about 1/8 inch thick. If you are using breasts, butterfly them first (split open like a book with a sharp knife), and then pound them out.
-When your onions and garlic are transluscent, add the spinach to the pan along with a splash of water. Cover the pan just long enough for the spinach to wilt. It will only take a minute.
-When the spinach has wilted, remove the mixture from the pan and into a large mixing bowl. Add to the bowl the sun-dried tomato, roasted red pepper, orange zest and feta cheese. Stir to combine.
-Taste the mixture. Adjust with sea salt and pepper to your preferences.
-Season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper, both sides. Take one of your pieces of chicken and lay it flat in front of you. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the filling onto the lower 1/3 of the chicken (use about 1/2 cup if using breasts). Roll the meat up tightly and secure with toothpicks. Don't worry if some falls out the ends. That's to be expected. Repeat this process with all of the meat.
-In the same pan you used to saute the onions, heat the other tbsp of coconut oil over medium high heat. When the oil is smoking, add your chicken rolls into the pan. Let brown until deeply golden on all sides.
-When the chicken is browned, remove from the pan and set aside to a plate. Add your balsamic vinegar into the pan. This is your deglazing agent! As it smokes up, scrape up all of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Those borwn bits are major flavor! Squeeze the juice of the orange into the pan.
-Add the chicken back into the pan. Add enough chicken stock so that it comes halfway up the chicken. Bring the liquid to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer. Cover and let the chicken simmer in the pot for 10 minutes.
-When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the pan. Leave the pan uncovered and let it simmer to reduce for an additional five minutes. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
-Spoon the sauce over the chicken for service. Enjoy!
*Please use organic ingredients when possible.
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Hummus is one of my favorite Go-To snacks and there are some great store bought brands out there. However, many contain artificial preservatives and MSG (if you don't know why it's prudent to avoid MSG, read here). I know that I always say this, but I really mean it when I say it's too easy to just make your own! This recipe is about a 3 minute process, including 
clean up. The great thing about making your own is that YOU control the quality of the ingredients. Also, you can really customize your hummus to your liking. You know when you buy hummus in the store sometimes you get one that's too garlicky. Sometimes you get one that's too runny. This way, you know you'll get exactly the hummus of your dreams. And you can really experiment with hummus too. Try adding all kinds of different spices to it. Give it an Indian flare by adding a bit of curry or a pinch of garam masala. Give it a southwest spin by adding smoked paprika (here is the recipe for my Smoky Southwest Hummus). Get creative!
Hummus is also a very versatile dip. In fact I encourage you to think of hummus not only as a dip, but as more of a condiment. I LOVE to use it on my sprouted tortilla wraps or in a lettuce wrap in place of mayo (not that there aren't some great mayo recipes out there:)). And I know that traditionally hummus is served with pita, but I love to serve mine with celery sticks, carrot sticks, and cucumber chips! If you have to have a pita-like dipper, try these sprouted tortilla chips. This hummus is also a really great alternative to that ranch veggie dip rubbish.
And I absolutely cannot neglect the fact that hummus is full of great-for-you ingredients. Did you know that 1/4 cup of sesame seeds has about 350 mg of calcium? That's more than one whole cup of cow's milk. The extra virgin olive oil in this recipe is full of heart healthy fats that will give you that shiny coat, as I like to call it. The lemon juice provides vitamin C. Garlic is incredibly anti-bacterial. And the fiber in the garbonzo beans will keep you nice and full. I hope you enjoy this hummus recipe as much as I do! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
-15 oz can chick peas (garbonzo beans- same thing), drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup tahini (tahini is just seseame seed paste. You can find it in the international section of every grocery store)
-juice of 1 lemon
-2 cloves of garlic
-2 roasted red peppers
-1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
-sea salt to taste
Directions:
-Place your beans, tahini, garlic, roasted red peppers and lemon juice in your food processor or high speed blender. I make my hummus in my Ninja and it works great!
-Pulse the mixture a few times to get it going a bit. Then turn the machine on and let everything start to combine. Slowly stream in your olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. I like my hummus a bit chunky so I go light on the oil.
-Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt.
-If you find that you have used 1/2 cup of olive oil (which is quite a bit!) and you still prefer it a bit smoother, go ahead and add in some more lemon juice or a bit of water.
If you like, you can omit the red pepper, and then you have a standard hummus. Equally delicious.
*Please use organic ingredients when possible.
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I LOVE sauerkraut. But I grew up eating the stuff our of a jar from the grocery store, which is delicious, but not as nutritious as it could be. This recipe for traditionally lactofermented sauerkraut is even more delicious, easy to make, and full of healthy probiotics! Probiotics help populate your gut with healthy bacteria, aiding in digestion and immunity! This sauerkraut is a great way to get some probiotics into your diet! Give it a try!
Ingredients:
-1 head of cabbage. Remove the outer leaves. Core it and shred it finely. You can make this easy and run it through the shredder blade on your food processor. But I actually love chopping veggies (I know, it's weird) so I like to do it by hand- it's relaxing to me.
-approximately 1 tbsp sea salt
-4 tbsp liquid whey (here is how you get that)
Directions:
-Place your shredded cabbage in a large bowl and sprinkle over your sea salt. Now you want to get really friendly with your cabbage. Use the best two tools God gave you- your hands! It's key to really massage the salt into the cabbage for a few minutes. The point of this is to draw the liquid out of the cabbage.
-Go back every 45 minutes or so and turn and massage the cabbage. I like to let the cabbage sweat for about 3-4 hours.
-Get a quart size mason jar and a wooden spoon. Place about 1/2 cup of cabbage into the jar and take the handle of the wooden spoon and beat the cabbage down. Just go for it here. REALLY beat the crap out of it. You need to push the cabbage down to minimize air bubbles. This will also ensure that the liquid is coming out of the cabbage.
-Repeat this process until you have the jar filled, leaving 1-2 inches at the top. Don't forget! Really beat down the cabbage with the wooden spoon good! You won't hurt it!
-Add in your 4 tbsp of liquid whey. Between the whey and the liquid released from the cabbage, the cabbage should be covered with liquid. If it isn't, you didn't pound hard enough. Or, you can add in some of the liquid that accumulated in the bottom of the bowl you sweated the cabbage in.
-Cover the jar, and let it sit UNDISTURBED on the countertop at room temp for three days. After three days, crack that baby open. There should be some fun fizzy bubbles at the top. Give it a taste and see if it's sour enough for you. If not, close it and let it sit another day. Just keep tasting and letting it sit at room temp until you reach your desired sourness. When you've reached that, you're ready to enjoy! And enjoy you will! It is DELICIOUS!
-Store it in the fridge for up to six months.
*Please use organic ingredients when possible.
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Blackberries might just be my favorite berry! Besides being delicious, they're full of vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C and manganese! AND they are antioxidant powerhouses (antioxidants are those things that go to battle with the free radicals in our bodies, which attack our DNA and cause the C word)! In this smoothie, blackberries take center stage and make this smoothie sweet and tangy, while the coconut milk makes it smooth and creamy. Try it!
Ingredients:
10 oz bag frozen blackberries
1/2-3/4 cup homemade coconut milk (get the recipe here) or quality store bought coconut milk
1/4 cup liquid whey protein (optional, but here is how you get that). If not using, just use extra coconut milk
1 tbsp spirulina (also optional- if you prefer go ahead and use spinach or omit the greens alltogether but they add loads of vitamins and minerals to the smoothie)
1 tbsp pure maple syrup or 1 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
juice of 1/2 of a lime
Directions:
Chuck it all in the blender and whip it up until smooth and creamy. If you want it extra smooth, strain it in a seive to get rid of the blackberry seeds. Enjoy!
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Coconut Milk is one of my favorite alternatives to cow's milk. It's great for those who are lactose intolerant. It works for vegans and vegetarians. It's nut-free so those with nut allergies can enjoy it too!
Coconut milk also has fantastic health benefits! Coconut milk is made up of short chain and medium-chain fatty acids, which the body is able to easily convert to usable energy. So even though coconut is saturated fat, it is quickly used up by the body instead of being stored as fat. About half of the medium chain fatty acids in coconut are composed of Lauric Acid. Lauric acid is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-microbial, and whatever anti you can think of. Coconut is also packed with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.
Coconut milk is also super versatile. You can drink it straight up and it's fantastic. You can make homemade coffee creamer with it. You can make coconut milk based soups like Tom ka gai with it and it will be some of the best soup you've ever had! You can use it as the liquid in your smoothies. You can make ice cream with it. You can make yogurt with it. There are so many things you can do with coconut milk.
But there are a few good reasons NOT to buy it at the grocery store. The first is the price! This stuff can be expensive! Especially an organic canned version. You may pay $2.50 a can! For this recipe I use less than one bag of organic shredded coconut. It cost $2.99 and it makes four cups! By my calculations, that's about a 70% cost savings, give or take. Next, if you buy it in the can, even the organic stuff, you're getting more than you bargained for. Those cans are lined with BPA unless otherwise specified on the can. The organic canned version I have does not say "No BPA", therefore, it's in there. I don't want it and I certainly don't need it. Another common ingredient found in canned versions is guar gum. Guar Gum is used as a thickening agent and has potential hazardous side side effects including but not limited to intestinal blockages, glucose fluctuations and colon cancer (Thatcher et al). That's not something I need or want either! It;s just too easy not to make your own. Try it out! Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
-2 cups shredded, unsweetenedd coconut (I like the Let's Do Organic brand. I know you can find it at Whole Foods but It's also found in the organic section of many grocery stores, and you can definitely get it on Amazon).
-4 cups of water
-optional flavor agents (Vanilla, almond extract, berries, cocoa or cacao)
Directions:
-Heat your water to a simmer. Pour it in the blender. Add your coconut to the blender.
-Blend on high for 2 minutes.
-At this time, add in your flavor agents if using. I used vanilla in this one, but it's equally delicious plain. A little cocoa added in and you have chocolate coconut milk. A little cocoa and some almond extract and you have Almond Joy flavored coconut milk. YUM! Blend to incorporate.
-Pour the mixture through a fine mesh seive, making sure to push down the pulp to get all of the liquid out.
-At this point your milk is ready to drink! If you want to make it extra smooth, pour the milk through cheesecloth or a nutmilk bag to get the rest of the fine particles out. Enjoy!
Note- you can make as much or as little of this as you want at a time. Just use a 2:1 ratio of water to coconut. This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. The solids may separate. That's ok, just mix it up and you're good to go.
*Please use organic ingredients when possible
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Thatcher, Elizabeth. "The Harmful Side Effects of Guar Gum." LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2013.
Since my husband is fanatical about banana bread, I'm constantly experimenting with various different versions of it. He really likes to have these muffins around for breakfast because they're a great grab and go. But of course I want to make sure that he has a well-rounded breakfast to start his day off right. So I figure if I add in some oats and some flax, I have a pretty good breakfast-y muffin and banana bread all wrapped up in a cute little package. And since pretty much everything can be made better with the addition of chocolate chips, I threw in a few of those too. However these muffins are ALMOST as good without the chocolate chips. If you want to leave them out and substitute raisins or some other dried fruit that would be great as well. One of the best parts about these muffins is that they're free of refined sugar, and they've got loads of fiber and protein in them. I hope you enjoy these as much as my hubby does!
Ingredients:
3 large or 4 medium very ripe bananas
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted (or butter if you prefer)
2 eggs
4 tbsp pure grade B Maple Syrup (you could substitute honey for the maple syrup if you prefer)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup oats, soaked
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your muffin tin with butter or coconut oil. You can use the paper liners or these silicon liner if you like.
In a large mixing bowl, combine your bananas, eggs, melted coconut oil (make sure it's cooled so that it doesn't scramble your eggs!), maple syrup and vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer or whisk until well incorporated.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine almond flour, oats, flax, baking soda and salt. Mix with a fork, making sure to get rid of the clumps.
Mix the wet with the dry until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips if using.
Distribute evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling about 2/3 of the way up.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
I ALWAYS have frozen bananas in my freezer. Therefore, I ALWAYS have banana ice cream. You guys I feel silly even calling this a recipe because there's really only one ingredient..you guess it..BANANAS!
Ice cream is pretty much one of my favorite things in the whole world. I can't really think of a flavor that I don't like...well there's...nope nevermind.. I like them all. And believe me, I indulge in some Ben & Jerry's from time to time (Phish Food is my fave:)). But I definitely don't have it everday, or even every week. So when I'm craving ice cream and Phish Food isn't on the menu, this is a great go-to dessert recipe. So, when your bananas are about to go off (so nice and spotty, no green bananas for this recipe), just peel them and chunk them up. Toss them in a container in the freezer and voila! You can make banana ice cream any time!
Directions:
When you're ready for ice cream, take your frozen bananas out of the freezer. Make sure they are good and frozen when you make this, otherwise the heat of the machine will melt the ice cream. I find that about 1 per person is just right. Throw them in your food processor or Vitamix if you have one. I make mine in my Ninja and it works great. Pulse them at first, and then scrape down the sides. Now turn the machine on and let 'er rip! Scrape down the sides as needed and let it blend until the bananas reach the consistency of soft serve ice cream. I know! Crazy! But they really do become the texture of soft-serve! And don't worry if you don't really like bananas because strangely enough, it ends up not tasting banana-y.
From here, you can flavor it up any way you like. You can add some vanilla in, which is my personal fave. You can add in some cocoa powder for a chocolatey ice cream. You can mix in some raspberries or strawberries. Squeeze in some orange juice and vanilla for a creamsicle flavor. You can stir in some almond butter..OR you could do cocoa powder AND almond butter and it would be divine! The possibilites are endless really. Try it out! It's pretty amazing.
*Please use organic ingredients when possible.
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