Green Goodness Juice

I cheated. I skipped juicing for two days and boy was it a mistake. Juicing is work, it is not easy and I missed chewing so I skipped a couple of days. Because I stopped I felt like poo. I felt like I had a plague. So I'm back to juicing and being healthy. I have chicken thawing for a nice mostly healthy dinner and I'm enjoying this lovely beverage while I get to cracking on cleaning and rearranging the living room.

Green Goodness Juice

2 apples

2 pears

2 cups of fresh (not frozen) spinach

2 plums

a hunk of fresh ginger

Juice and enjoy!

You really really need the ginger, otherwise the juice is way too sweet. This is my favorite juice I have made so far this time around.

Sunshine Smoothie

 We started today with another yummy concoction. It looks like a lot of ingredients but in all actually it isn't. Lee came home with a gigantic bag of frozen fruit mix from the grocery store because it is perfect for my smoothie addiction. It is a mix of pineapple, strawberry, mango and peach. I made a  huge smoothie, as you can tell from the picture, for my breakfast and lunch today plus I had enough for Caleb to have a small smoothie with his breakfast.

 I find that carrots are a fairly strong flavor so I like to combine them with orange. They compliment each other in flavor and color which matters when getting kids to drink it. I know that Caleb refuses to drink anything that has muddy colors but he will drink anything with bright vibrant colors. 

Sunshine Smoothie

makes 2.5 servings

2-3 Blood  oranges, juiced

2 carrots, juiced

1 cup of frozen fruit mix

1/2 frozen banana  

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

My Personal Revolution!

While I was away from the blog last year the hubby decided it was time for a major change in our lives. He bought a juicer and start juicing everything, we once joked about juicing a ham! Lee was pumped and loved every minute of it. He even drank some of the worlds worst combinations ever imagined. He lost 40 pounds by replacing two meals with juice or smoothies and eating healthy for dinner. I know that sounds crazy, extreme but it is was needed to break the junk food addiction that most of us have. I did not replace meals with juice because I was pregnant and didn't think that was the best idea. He was doing amazing but we stopped juicing when pregnancy complications started to arise. It was probably the best time to be juicing but it was just too much. We continued to eat fairly healthy through out the pregnancy especially since I tried to control my blood pressure issues with diet and vitamins. We still try to eat healthy more often than not. I know that is not completely obvious by my blog posts! 

This is not and never will be a permanent solution for my life. I am trying to do the same as Lee by juicing my first two meals and cooking a nice healthy dinner for 30 days. After one month I will revisit the way I eat and continue to juice when I need a little extra hit of veg or when I'll be on the run and won't have time for a proper lunch, if for no other reason to keep me away from the drive through window. I'm also trying to get Caleb drinking this typ of juice as opposed to store bought "100%" juice. He helped me make this recipe, which is why I have so much. He added an apple and an extra pear to the juicer while I was retrieving spinach from the fridge. He also had a glass of apple and pear with a bit of spinach in his robot cup with lunch. He only drank half but it was apparently "dewiscious" with his pb&j for lunch. Do not think I would ever put my child on a juice cleanse! I just want him to learn what real unprocessed fruit and veg tastes like. 

I plan on sharing some of my favorite creations but I will still be posting food and baking posts because treating yourself now and then is just fine. I need to strike a balance between eating what I want and eating what I need!

I call this one Funky Juice because it is U G L Y, it ain't got no alibi! It's ugly, yeah, yeah it's ugly!

But it is sooooooo good! I'm not a huge fan of vegetable or tomato juice, I'm hoping to change that, but for the time being there will be mostly fruit in my juice! Also you should know we have a Breville Juice Fountain Plus. If you have a different juicer follow the instructions for your machine. If you like yours cold, either refrigerate your produce the night before or you can refrigerate afterwards just remember to stir before you drink it because it will separate! 

Funky Juice

makes 1 to 2 portions

3 pears

1 apple

2 plums 

5 strawberries

a heaping handful of spinach (think side salad amount)

Wash your veggies! Remove the stems. Cut plums in half and remove the stone. Remove the tops from the strawberries and juice. Now if you don't have a juicer. Remove seeds and cores. Process in food processor or blender and strain through a fine mesh strainer.  

Peanut Honey Chicken Stirfry

I think my family would literally starve if it wasn't for stir fry, I not kidding, they would waste away into nothingness. if we are particularly busy I may make a form of stir fry weekly sometimes three or four times a week. It is an easy, on the go, healthy and versatile meal.                                                                           

                                             

 I swear one of these days I will stop taking pictures at 8:00 at night and start preparing food during daylight hours. But until then I'll just have craptastic pictures with flash and horrible lighting. Just for the record, my sauce looks incredibly thick here, too thick actually, it wasn't lumpy or that thick the picture is just not a good one. 

This stir fry is my "basic" stir fry. Sometimes I change the peanut butter for other flavors. I've listed some substitutions and other combinations below. The veggies are something I rotate in and out. This time it was a pre-cut frozen stir fry pack, I ditched the packaged sauce for my own though. The usual suspects are any combination of broccoli, bok choy, carrots, mushrooms, onions or cabbage. My favorite is bok choy but it isn't always available everywhere. I don't know exactly how many veggies to tell you, mine is usually fairly veggie heavy, excluding the one pictured. I usually do a full head of broccoli or bok choy or both and 5 to 6 carrots but that is my favorite combination. That should give you an idea of where to start. I often omit chicken or meat completely and go full on veggie. Remember vegatables cook down in size so when you're staring at a mountain of veg you'll only have about half of that by the time it is all done. Basically this is the most versatile way for me to get good foods into my family and make it quickly with little effort. I can chop everything the night before or early in the morning or even buy pre-chopped frozen veggies to thaw along with the meat. Minute rice is even an option to speed things along.

This recipes makes a lot of sauce. I like mine sauce my husband not so much so when serving I'll plate it up with less sauce and reserve some on the ise for me. You could cut the amount of sauce back if you so desire. 

I know this seems like a lot of food, and it is. This usually feeds two adults and one child dinner and then again for lunch the next day and often at least one more meal out of it for one of us.

marinade

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 inch chunk of ginger, grated or finely chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4-6 boneless chicken breast cut into chunks

sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter (I prefer the natural type that is still a bit grainy)

1/8 cup honey

1-2 tablespoons rice vinegar or lime juice

2 table spoons sesame oil plus extra for cooking

1 tablespoon of Sriracha (I tend to add more afterwards so that I don't have little ones breathing fire)

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

4 tablespoons of water

coconut or peanut oil for cooking

your choice of approx 6-8 cups of veggies

and 4-6 cups of cooked rice, I use brown or jasmine

(You can stir fry the rice but my guys prefer it light and fluffy)

Start but combining all of the ingredients for the marinade into a large gallon sized freezer bag or casserole dish with a lid. Add chicken in or toss to coat. Let it marinate for 30 minutes or more.

Start by making your sauce.

For sauce whisk together soy sauce, peanut butter and honey.Whisk in vinegar/lime juice and Sriracha. Slowly add sesame oil while whisking. Set aside.

Start cooking with your veggies. Put your wok or skillet on medium-high, add 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil add veggies in along with a few drops of sesame oil, not too much, that stuff is strong. Sauteed your veggies until tender crisp and set aside. You may need to add more cooking oil at this point. Add your chicken sauteed until brown. Then add sauce simmer until chicken is cooked through. Once chicken is cooked through remove chicken from sauce and set aside. Bring sauce back to a boil. Combine water and cornstarch. Stir slurry into boiling sauce and whisk well so that lumps do not form. Boil one minute or until sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat. I like to serve mine layered on a large platter, starting with rice, then veggies, chicken next topped with sauce and peanuts. However sometimes I make my family's plates for them and layer it in the same way in a large bowl.

Some nice substitutions are mango puree, curry paste, coconut milk or orange juice instead of peanut butter. Very often I may combine some of the flavors. Orange and coconut milk are wonderful as well as coconut milk and curry paste. You will also need to modify your measurements and other ingredients also. For example you may choose to omit the honey with the curry paste. If all of these flavors are just too much for you swap in a chicken stock. (beef for steak and veggie for vegetables ) 

Something else to consider, if I sub steak for chicken I like to lower or omit the peanut butter and up the soy sauce. I leave the peanut butter out totally for shrimp and scallops. We prefer the seafood  with either the coconut or fruit sauces. 

Homemade Christmas Part 2

So I'm a little late here. I feel like a major slacker but the last two weeks before Christmas included sick kids, exhausted husband and kinks getting thrown my way. The last 4 days before Christmas I came down with the plague. I almost cancelled Christmas morning brunch at my house but I just kept trucking along and made it through. I made it until December 26th and then I deflated like a popped balloon! So my head is all swimmy and things that are stationary seems to be moving, in fact the computer seems to be giving motion sickness. I felt worse this time last year but I had come down with morning sickness that time. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that is not this case this time! Wow! this year has been CRAZY!!!! Anywhoooo, I'm rambling, maybe its the cold medicine  These are a few of the handmade gifts we made but I plan to show you more. While wrapping the gifts at 2:00 AM Christmas morning I realized I never did take proper pictures of my work. So I'll have to borrow a couple of things back to take some shots and remake some of the food items.

Christmas Morning with my men!!!!

Apple Butter

This is seriously one of the easiest things I've ever made. Luckily I have a Pampered Chef apple slicer so the hardest work was the clean up. I started it at 1:30 am, went to bed got up at 8:00 am stirred it a few times and it was done by 11:30 am I blended it and it was ready to can. I have a timer on my slow cooker so I didn't have to worry about checking it. I may have stopped around eight hours but I wanted the flavors to be a deep and rich as possible.

What it should look like at each stage

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

7-8 lbs of apple (I used Gala and Red Delicious but a tart apple would be good also)

1 1/4 cups raw sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of you apples)

3 TBSP molasses

1-2 TBSP cinnamon (I like mine with alot)

*optional*

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

(I didn't use them this time)

Peel, slice and core your apples. Place them into your crock along with the remaining ingredients cook on low for 8-10 hours. Stir occasionally. Once they are done either mash with potato masher or use an immersion blender to smooth. (If you like it with more of a chunky texture use the potato masher) You can either can or freeze. It will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Bacon Bark

This may be the ugliest thing I've ever made but it may also get me a "BEST BIG SISTER IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE" award. My little brother may just be obsessed with bacon. So I remixed peppermint bark, tossed out the normal ingredients and Davidified it. 

Peanut Butter Bacon Bark

1 pack of bacon

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

12 oz Reese's peanut butter chips

6 oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F. Start by layering bacon onto a broiler pan. In a small bowl combine sugar, cinnamon and chili powder. Top the bacon with sugar mixture and pat down so that all the bacon is covered. Bake 15-20 minutes. Watch carefully the sugar will burn easily. Pull out and let cool. Once bacon has come to room temperature, chop bacon into fairly small pieces. Cover a baking sheet with wither wax paper. Pour peanut butter chips into a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until chips are melted. (My microwave takes 1:00 to 1:30 minutes) Pour melted peanut butter chips onto wax paper smooth out into a flat rectangle shape. Top with your chopped bacon. While that cools melt your white chocolate chips in the same manner as peanut butter chips. Drizzle melted white chocolate over and let cool. Refrigerate until cool and hardened. Once hardened break into bite sized pieces. 

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix
(I made a double recipe which makes between 14-16 cups)

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix
5 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons salt
26 oz box of powdered milk
32 oz powdered creamer
2 cups cocoa
16 oz instant chocolate pudding
2 cups brown sugar
12 oz semisweet morsels
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. In a large heavy bottom skillet heat sugar over medium heat stirring often. Cook until sugar has liquefied and turned a dark amber. Pour onto baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and let cool and set until hardened. Once hard break into chunks and place into a food processor. Pulse into a powder. (I had to do it in batches) Combine all ingredients in a huge bowl and process in food processor in batches until all ingredients are combined and a fine powder. ( I used a medium plastic box with a lid to hold it all until ready to bottle) I poured mine into 16 oz powdered creamer containers that had been washed and cleaned with the label removed.


I also made this Praline Sauce, Coconut Lime Sugar Scrub and these Oatmeal Fudge Bars I did change a couple of things for the recipient, I added chopped macadamia nuts to the crust and swapped white chocolate for the dark. I have made the bars a couple of time by the recipe and I love, love, love them! 

Christmas Morning Muffins!!!!

We are hosting out Christmas Morning Brunch again this year and I plan on scaling back the food... well I planned on it but it doesn't seem to be happening... Last year I made this granola and laid everything out for granola parfaits and they were DELICIOUS!!!! However, I wanted to change it up this year. My Mom and I have a tried and true muffin recipe so I'm remixing it with these two lovely flavors and a third yet to be determined flavor. I know you're all like Strawberry Pina Colada at Christmas!?!?! Well, that is how I roll, stank you very much. I like to mix it up and get CRAZYYYYYYY y'all!  Okay, maybe I'm just sleep deprived. I probably shouldn't write these when I haven't been sleeping often or while I'm listening to a playlist made of mostly Prince, Michael Buble and Outkast. Whatevs. 

For Basic Muffins:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
Raw sugar for topping*

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease and flour muffin cups or toss in liners if you too cool to bother with all of that nonsense. (As you can see I am!) Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine  Make a well in center and set aside. In another bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Add all of the liquid to dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened and still lumpy. Add mix ins making sure not to over work. Spoon into cups approx 2/3 way full. Top with raw sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes.
* Optional but needed

For White Chocolate Pomegranate:
Prepare as above except
omit oil
add
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white chocolate
seeds from one pomegranate

For Strawberry Pina Colada:
Prepare as above except
omit oil
swap milk for coconut milk
add
1/4 cup diced strawberry (if using frozen no need to thaw mix in still frozen)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup shredded coconut

You can see my sous chef admiring his work ready to dig in. 

and in other cuteness....

♥♥♥♥ Liam's new happy spot is staring up at the tree. ♥♥♥♥

Homemade Chirstmas

This year for various reasons we are making all of our Christmas gifts, with the exception of some of the boys gifts. The first one I've made is for our parents aka the grandparents. Therefore if you are one of said grandparents

 DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!!

You will need:

Our first project was a hand print ornament. I used clear glass ball ornaments that I purchased at a craft store. I also bought a red paint pen and red glitter embossing powder. (If you don't own a heat gun you could use either paint or regular ink) For my oldest I used the largest ball I could find for the baby I used a regular sized smaller ball. The larger size comes in a 4 pack the smaller in a 12 pack. I used clear embossing ink and printed the boys hands, stamped on to the copy paper and sprinkled it with the powder. I used the heat gun to emboss the powder. I let it cool, cut out the shape of the hand. I took the top of the ornament off, rolled up the paper and slid it into the top of the ornament, replacing the cap afterwards. I used the red paint pen to write their name and the year. I finished it off with a red ribbon on the top. They don't photograph very well but they are adorable in person. To add contrast you can use either a different color paint pen or embossing powder but I liked the monochromatic color scheme. 

Chicken Tikka Masala

We have a few favorites around here that we eat at least once month if not more often, Chicken Tikka is one of them. It is easy and even though it takes a bit of time, it isn't constant, chopping, shredding, stirring, etc... I use the time to do my dishes, clean my counters, whip up a dessert, secretly dance around my kitchen to MC Hammer songs, or whatever my moods moves me to do.

Normally I make Quick Pickled Cucumbers or roasted broccoli and have Naan to go along with the rice. You'll definitely want Naan, pita or some sort of bread to soak up any last bit of sauce. I almost licked my plate tonight. But I am a lady, sort of, so I restrained myself.

For the Chicken Tikka Masala you will need:


1 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
salt and pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast

Combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper in a gallon size freezer bag, add in chicken and toss. Let marinate for an hour or more.

2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2-3 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 Serrano or Jalapeno pepper diced (remember to remove the seeds unless you like it HOT)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoom garam masala
8-10 Roma tomatoes diced
1-1 1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

In a skillet melt butter and add in ginger, garlic and the pepper. Saute until slightly golden approximately 3-4 minutes then add tomato paste. Cook until darkened just a bit add in paprika and garam masala, cook 2 minutes. Add in tomatoes and a cup of water. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Transfer to food processor and process until a smooth texture. Add back to skillet and simmer while you grill chicken add in the remaining half cup of water if needed. I used my griddle but you can sear it in a skillet or on a grill. Grill until just brown on the outside and add to the curry. Finish cooking for approximately 5 minutes, could be more or less depending on your stove and size of our breast. Once chicken is cooked through stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. Serve with white or brown rice.