Tuesday, June 23, 2009

More natural recipes

Our new eating routine is more than just following some random recipes with no real rules. It's more importantly about selecting your ingredients. Chicken broth vs free range chicken stock for example...$0.50 difference in cost, but much better for you overall. That does not by any means that you should march into Whole Foods and stock up anything with the word "organic" plastered on it. Just be smart about what you're putting into your body. Are there preservatives? Are you confused about the majority of ingredients on the label? Are there fake or processed sugars? If so, then try to find an alternative. You can make small changes to your diet rather than going all at once (unless you really have the budget). For example, last week my mom made the change to organic milk, and I made the switch to free range chicken eggs. It may cost us a dollar or two more now, but we hope to save ourselves money on our bodies in the long run.

Citrus Smoothie
difficulty: 2/5
tasty-factor: 3/5


12 oz orange juice (we used "Citrus C" Odwalla)
1 ea lemon (segmented)
1 ea orange (segmented)
1 ea grapefruit (segmented)
1 ea banana
4 T psyllium husks (ground)
Blend all ingredients in blender until combined.
notes: I'm not a big fan of banana, so I would have liked to find a way to make it a bit more citrus-y.




Rice flour "pizza"
difficulty: 3/5
tasty-factor: 3/5

1/2 c. rice flour
1/4 c. water
1 T vegetable oil
pinch salt & sugar
1 ea onion (sliced and sauteed)
1 link spinach & feta chicken sausage (cooked & sliced)
1 # fresh mozzarella (sliced)
1/2 c. tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 425*F. Combine first four ingredients
in a bowl and mix with your hands until fully combined, and roll
into a ball (if you want mini pizzas, roll into four smaller balls).
Grease a pizza pan. Flatten each ball until it is about the size and
appearance of a tortilla. Spread tomato sauce over the dough and
arrange slices of cheese and sausage on top. Bake for approximately
10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
Cut & serve :)

notes: Took a little to get used to. With nothing to yeast or baking powder it does not resemble a traditional pizza crust. Overall, it tasted good I think.


"Dolmade" soup
difficulty: 3.5/5
tasty-factor: 4/5

1/2 c. onion (diced)
1ea garlic clove (minced)
2ea fresh mint leaves (chiffonade)
2ea sun dried tomato & basil chicken sausage links (sliced)
1ea 14.5 oz can chicken stock
1/2 c. brown rice
1 bunch fresh spinach
salt & pepper to taste

Sweat onions until transparent, then add garlic, mint, and sausage. Add chicken stock and rice and simmer. Cook until rice is fully cooked, then add spinach. Continue to cook until spinach is wilted. Season to taste, and serve.

notes:
This was originally our attempt to make actual
dolmades, but we somehow managed to mess up horribly. It ended
up being more of a soup, but MAN OH MAN was it delicious!




3 comments:

  1. excellent. Shall add them to my To Try recipe folder :)

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  2. "mom" has also made the switch this week to soy coffee creamer, seventh generation brand dish detergent (already switched to the laundry detergent monthes ago) and bought all "all natural" meats this week. "Dad" is switching out the Splenda-sweetened water for watered-down Sobe water-he's a harder sell. Every step you take in a positive direction is a good step. Relapses allowed.

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