I have a ton of nervous energy today.  I am in a play that is opening tonite and I think the only thing that could calm my nerves right now is to cook.

We had our final dress rehearsal last night and… well…we were a little off.  Should I be admitting that to you?  There are so many theater superstitions, I can’t keep track of them all.  Well, anyway, you know what they say…A bad dress rehearsal equals a good opening.

What is good, is this wrap!  It has lots of protein and fiber and is fun to make.  I pretty much love anything wrapped in a tortilla.  Its my comfort food and that is what I need today.

You know what else I am doing…updating and moving files from my computer to an external hard drive.  So pretty much I am counteracting my stress reliever (cooking) with a stressor (computer work).  Why am I doing that?

Ok, now Im watching Smash, while I update my computer, while I cook to relieve my stress about opening night.  Im going to be exhausted before I even get to the theater.

Wish me luck!  Oh wait, not luck, thats bad luck.  Tell me to break a leg!

posted by Michelle
Tags: avocado, white bean wrap, wraps
Filed under: Recipes

I might have  a little problem.  Look what I bought today.  Its all tropical.  Mostly coconut.

I am slightly obsessed with coconut right now.  I can’t decide if it’s as simple as having a craving, being anxious for summer or if its a bigger issue.  Whatever the answer, I am slathered in coconut lotion, have on coconut perfume and coconut lip gloss.  I am cooking with coconut and eating coconut and I am so happy!

I have wanted to make macaroons forever but was scared they were complicated.  Oh boy, was I wrong and oh boy, was I happy to find that out.  Most recipes make them with sweetened coconut, I knew I could make a healthier version and I think they are better than the sugary ones.

And, of course, I studied up on coconut and here is what I know…

Most of the benefits of coconut are mineral based.  It contains iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, selenium and manganese.  Minerals are important nutrients and along with protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and water, they keep our bodies healthy and functioning.  Coconut oil is even better for you.  HERE is some information on why you should get involved with coconut oil.

But let’s focus on the Potassium in coconut meat…  It is essential to muscle health and regulates blood pressure.  Along with sodium and chloride, it keeps your bodies electrolytes in balance.  You should be eating twice as much potassium as salt.  If you eat a lot of salt, make sure to balance it with food high in potassium.  A potassium deficiency will produce great fatigue and muscle weakness.

And because one coconut recipe was not enough for me this week, I made THESE.  They are called coconut crack bars.  I found the recipe on http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com  These were also super easy to make and incredible delicious.  Make them!  Eat them!  Slather yourself in coconut lotion and be happy!!!

posted by Michelle
Tags: coconut, coconut macaroons, coconut oil
Filed under: Recipes

Im here!  Im here!  Im here!  I missed you!  Seriously, I think about you every day and have lots to tell you but I fell into a technological black hole and couldn’t get out.  I am such a blogging newbie and was frozen out of my site.  Apparently, you have to renew your hosting subscription…duh.  So, I think its all good now and I will get on with the food!  (And I apologize for the sorry photos, as I said, I have been having major tech problems)

So… I am still obsessed with roasting vegetables.  Its so easy and so yummy.  I usually just roast beets to get the skin off but today I decided to roast the peeled beet and see what I got.  What I got was deliciousness!

Okay, I know these beets don’t look pretty but if you can find a way to love them, they will love you back.

•  If you are concerned about ingesting toxins and regularly detox your body, beets are a food that belong in your diet.  The beet has an enzyme that neutralizes toxins making them water soluble for easy excretion.
• They regulate inflammation, especially in the cardiovascular system.
• Did you know that not all fiber is created equal?  Beet fiber (along with carrot fiber) are two specific food fibers that have been shown to provide “special” health benefits in our digestive tract (including prevention of colon cancer) and in our cardiovascular system.

Carrots are a nutritional hero!

• They are full of Vitamin A.  Actually, they are full of beta-carotene which our bodies convert into Vitamin A.  Vitamin A strengthens the immune system and bolsters cell growth.
• Beta-carotene and Vitamin A are great for your eyes, skin, teeth and bones.
• They are potent antioxidants.

Yeah, yeah, we know all this…but did you know that carrots can be an analgesic?  Gotcha on that one, right?  AND…Using a carrot face mask will help prevent and cure acne!  It will shrink your pores and clear them of debris and dirt.  One more thing…beta carotene needs a little fat to release the goodness.  So go ahead, add a little butter or olive oil.

CARROT MASK:  1) Steam and mash carrots, allow to cool  2) Add 1T honey, 1 T olive oil. 3) A few drops of lemon juice will act as an astringent.  4)Add a little mineral water if you need to thin the mixture.  5)Apply to a clean face for 15 minutes then rinse off.  FUN!

Want more information on Beets?  Click HERE

Want more information on Carrots?  Click HERE

Preparing Beets is not as hard as you think.  They should only be cooked lightly.  Steam them for 20 minutes with the skin ON.  Use kitchen gloves to prevent the staining of your hands.  To remove the skins, wear your kitchen gloves and rub the cooked beets with paper towels, the skin should slide off.  Or…you can buy the pre-cooked and peeled kind…I won’t tell.

posted by Michelle
Filed under: Recipes

Im in a good mood.

My best friend and her family came to visit from L.A. and it was awesome!   I’ve known her and her husband for…um…Yikes, its a big number, so lets just say forever.  :) And hanging out with them is like a reset for me.

It kind of grounds me, reminds me of where I came from.  Do you have those friends?

After about a thousand conversations that we started and never finished (you know how that goes with 4 energetic kids running around), we decided to get a sitter and have a grown up night.  Yay!

We had a yummy sushi dinner and ended the night at a local bar.  That serves tater tots.

Seriously!  Its like their thing.  And I love tater tots!  Like, really love tater tots.  They are the quintessential comfort food.  I specifically go to this bar because they serve tater  tots.  And I have bags and bags of tater tots.

Ok, you get it.  The problem is, they are processed and frozen and not at all how I like to feed myself or my family.  So I decided to make them.

Well, kind of…  I, of course, had to “healthy-ize” them.  I remembered a Cauliflower Tot “pin” on Pinterest.  And then I added to that…  And here it is…

Good friends, comfort food…See why Im in a good mood?!

posted by Michelle
Tags: cauliflower
Filed under: Recipes

I love baking.

There is nothing better than mixing eggs, butter, flour and sugar.  Its delicious and edible in all its forms.  Dough…To Die For.  Cookies….Bliss.  Cake…MMMMM.

I don’t use flour, sugar or butter very much anymore but my desire to bake has not waned.  The great news is, you don’t need any of those ingredients to bake.  Yay!

Applesauce or banana can replace the butter and oil.  Oats, coconut flour, nut flour or oat flour replace enriched white flour.  Xylitol, stevia or agave replace sugar.  You are still left with a batter that is edible and cookies that are not only delicious but healthy.  Yay again!

So you know what I say…Lets bake cookies for breakfast!

This recipe is so ridiculously easy.  There are 4 ingredients.  You can complicate it by adding more ingredients…like chocolate chips…but thats not really complicated, is it?   Apples would be yummy too.

I found the idea here.

posted by Michelle
Tags: banana, cookies, healthy cookies, oatmeal
Filed under: Recipes

You know those days where you swear someone is going to jump out and say, “You’re on Candid camera!” ?  Im having that day.  I can’t tell you how many things have already gone wrong.  Well, actually I can…

1.  In my haste to get to work this morning I forgot I put on black and grey argyle ski socks and slipped into my little white tennis shoes as I walked out the door.  Did not look good on TV! (if you clicked the link, you saw a show from years ago.  I will try to get a newer one for you…without black socks and white shoes!)  Back to my day!…

2.  Getting out of the car at the grocery store, in said white shoes, I parked over a very large and apparently deep puddle of water and squooshed my way through Raleys, cursing the wool ski socks.

3.  I forgot my sturdy canvas bags and had to settle for Raley’s super crappy plastic bags which split in the back of the car and allowed the contents to roll around for the 10 minute drive home.  To drown out the incredible annoying rolling sounds, I turned up the radio and belted out Locked Out Of Heaven with Bruno Mars.

4.  Feeling invigorated by my set with Bruno, I bounced out of the car and grabbed the plastic handles only to have the bags tear completely in half and send my apples, avocados and cans of soup careening under the car.

5.  Now…(yup, its not over) I am on my belly shimmying under the car to grab the runaway avocado.  If you live in the mountains in winter you know that you avoid this activity at all costs!

6.  I stumble into the house with loose apples, avocados and the remaining bags, squooshing in my wet socks, covered in dirt from my driveway and my friends jump out from behind the couch and yell “surprise!”  No, they didn’t, Im kidding.  But you can just see it, right?!

I am cleaned up, groceries are washed off and put away and I am happily cooking and watching The Young and The Restless.  I have not watched in years and I have no idea what is going on, but I am enjoying it immensely!

Im not sure what else this day has in store for me but here’s what I made for you!

Got the recipe from here.

posted by Michelle
Filed under: Recipes

Why does everything break all at once?

It started with the coffee grinder.  (Yeah, not good at 5am)  Later, the toaster oven.  (The most important appliance in my kitchen as my children would starve without it.)  Then the cabinet door flew off the hinge.  (It was as bad as it sounds.)  And now the worst one…

My Nikon’s flash literally blew up in my face.  I felt the heat and everything!

So now what?  Well, I’m going to ignore the door being gone and hope no one notices.  The other 3 are vital to my existence.

If you are anything like me, you imploded for a split second, shoved a Hershey’s kiss in your mouth and took a deep breath.  I immediately went out and bought a new coffee grinder and toaster oven.  Neither of which are as good as my previous ones.  Poo!  I am researching cameras and going to splurge this time.  Yay!  But meanwhile every food photo in this post was taken with my iPhone.  Sorry!

All of this drama left me craving comfort food (a huge burrito) but I talked my inner monologue down to a compromise…a huge veggie burrito.

And it was just as satisfying.  Doubly satisfying as I didn’t consume hundreds of extra calories.  Score 2 for Michelle.

ROASTED VEGGIE BURRITO

2 zucchini, chopped (I sliced them and then cut each slice into fours)

2 yellow squash, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

6 green onions, cut into 2″ pieces

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1 low carb whole wheat tortilla

Sriracha or any hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 400′.  Wash and chop all the vegetables.  Place veggies in a large bowl and drizzle with the olive oil.  Sprinkle garlic salt on veggies.  Arrange veggies in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast at 400′ for 3o minutes, toss and roast for 30 more minutes.  Warm tortilla in hot oven for a couple minutes.  Place warm veggies in the tortilla, drizzle with hot sauce, wrap and enjoy!

(I added some black beans to the leftover veggies for my next meal.)

posted by Michelle
Tags: roasted vegetables, roasted veggie burrito, veggie burrito
Filed under: Recipes

I suck at dieting.  The minute I tell myself I am going to watch what I eat, I crave everything I am trying to stay away from.  Hello chocolate! (I say in my sexiest voice.)

Whats up with that?!  I wasn’t craving it before I told myself I wasn’t going to eat it anymore.  Our brains are powerful and my internal monologue is a challenging one.  It constantly gives me an out or an okay when it should not.  Its a classic enabler!

So, it’s time to take control of that inner monologue.  ”I do not NEED chocolate, I WANT chocolate, I do not NEED choc…” Wait a minute!  I know I read somewhere that dark chocolate is actually good for you.  Not that sugary milky stuff but the super dark stuff.  Give me a minute…

HA!  I was right…here you go…

Dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) and even better, Cocoa Powder is one of the highest sources of Flavonoids.  Flavonoids are potent antioxidants.  Remember antioxidants destroy free radicals which are the destructive molecules that cause major problems in your body. (ie. heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, premature aging)

Flavonoids reduce insulin resistance.  They allow the insulin to do its job and keep your blood sugar stable.  Cocoa powder is very low on the glycemic index so no spikes in blood sugar.

There are other benefits to dark chocolate (cocoa powder).  The flavonoids in cocoa protect and increase blood flow to the skin and improve skins hydration and complexion.  Cocoa stimulates the production of endorphins, which not only makes you feel happy but reduces collagen breakdown in your skin.

This is, of course, not free reign to eat as much chocolate as you want.  In most of the studies, a small amount went a long way.  One small square of dark chocolate a day is all you need.  And if you are staying away from chocolate right now (I mean you Kaia girls), use cocoa powder.

And make sure it is natural cocoa powder, not sweetened, not dutch, not alkalized.  If it is alkalized, the antioxidant properties have been destroyed.  It’s acidity has been lowered so it may be less bitter but all of the good stuff has been removed.

HERE is some information on cooking with cocoa powder.

HERE is some information on dark chocolate benefits.

HERE is the nutritional breakdown.

I know, I had you at hello, right?  But isn’t it nice to know all this anyway?  The more knowledge you have, the more you can control that inner monologue and tell it what to do, not let it tell you what to do!

RAW BROWNIE BITES

(sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan)

adapted from HERE and HERE

1 1/2 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Place dates, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt in your food processor and blend well.  Mixture will be dry and crumbly. Add nuts and give it a few more pulses to blend.  Use your hands to press the ingredients together.  Roll into balls or shape into squares.  You can also line a baking dish with plastic wrap and press the mixture into it.  Refrigerate for and hour or two and cut.

This recipe is very adaptable.

Add a teaspoon of coconut oil.  Use mint extract instead of cayenne.  Replace some of the nuts with coconut.  Add chopped chocolate chips or mint chips.

posted by Michelle
Tags: dates, healthy brownies, raw brownies
Filed under: Recipes

This week has me thinking I might truly be a hermit.  I break into a sweat every time I have to go outside.  Or… it could be that I have on 7 layers, plus a beanie and 3 pairs of gloves inside my heated house.  Either way, I don’t want to go outside.

I truly, have never felt this level of cold.   My car registered -13′ on my way to work on Friday.  -13′!!!  Im a California girl!  Im having a mini panic attack just writing that number.

We’ve already established that I don’t really like dirt.   Im outdoorsy in that I like to have coffee on my porch.  Just knowing its sub-zero outside has me feeling sub-zero inside.

I’m going to make a super spicy bowl of hot soup to warm me from the inside out.  (I already have the 7 layers warming me from the outside in.)

I read somewhere that January is National Soup Month.  So I will go with it.  (Who comes up with this crap anyway?)

I’m going to put cayenne and jalepeno in the soup so here’s the skinny on Capsaicin.  It is the active component of chili peppers.   It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact.

Ingestion of capsaicin causes thermogenesis, the increase in body temperature.  Exposure to capsaicin increases satiety and reduces fat intake.  It is common for people to experience pleasurable and even euphoriant effects from ingesting capsaicin.  There is a, pain-stimulated, release of endorphins.

Whoopee!  Im gonna be in a great mood in no time.  Maybe I’ll even go outside and enjoy the snow.  Ha ha!  Just kidding.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

4 cups organic chicken broth* (vegetarian substitutions are below)

1lb organic chicken breast, grilled and cubed*

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 jalepeno pepper, sliced

1 can (14.5 oz) organic reduced salt diced tomatoes

1 can (15 oz) organic Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Lime wedges

1 cup crushed homemade tortilla chips (optional)

Heat the broth, covered, in a large pot until boiling.  Add beans, chicken, onion, tomato, jalepeno and spices.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chips and a squeeze of lime

*This recipe is easily made vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth and tofu or seitan for the chicken.

posted by Michelle
Tags: chicken tortilla soup, healthy soup, soup
Filed under: Recipes

Move over Google, I have a new best friend!

Asparagus!  I know, weird right?  But here’s the deal…I was really mean to my body over the holidays (especially New Years Eve).  I ate and drank my way through the month of December and I am paying for it now.   I’m sluggish and my brain is in sleep mode.  I left the house in slippers today.  I am in need of a major detox but I don’t do juice fasts, I need actual food, that I can chew.  So… I asked my BFF for help and she offered up Asparagus.

I like asparagus but it’s that weird little side effect (you know what Im talking about) that sort of turns me off it.  Not anymore!  I will deal with that weird smell now that I know how awesome this veggie is.

Lets get the “we all know” ‘s out of the way first…

We all know that green veggies (asparagus) are packed with anti-oxidants which fight the free-radicals that damage our cells and cause aging.

We all know that green veggies (asparagus) have tons of nutrients like fiber, folate, Vitamins A, C, E and K and Chromium (which helps regulate blood sugar).  Folate (in conjunction with b-12) will fight cognitive impairment.

I need to start ingesting ALOT of folate and b-12.  My snow soaked slippers will thank me.

Asparagus is a natural diuretic, the amino acid asparagine helps rid your body of toxins.  So plug your nose and pee, its good for you.

But here is the best one!!!

Asparagus is a hangover remedy!  According to Rodale News, researchers found that “extracts taken from the leaves and shoots of Asparagus boosted levels of key enzymes that break down alcohol after heavy drinking.”  Ya-hoo!  They go on to suggest eating a healthy dose of asparagus before and after a night of drinking.

I can do that!

WARM ASPARAGUS SALAD

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 lb thin aspragus, trimmed and cut into 1-2″ pieces

1 lb grilled chicken, cut into chunks (you can use tofu or seitan to make this vegetarian)

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced (optional)

1-2 bags of prepared mixed greens

Make the dressing.  Whisk together the first 6 ingredients and set the dressing aside.  Trim your asparagus of its woody end.  I hold the end of the asparagus with one hand and just below the head with the other.  Gently bend the asparagus until it snaps.  It will snap where it is supposed to and each spear is different.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the dressing in a large skillet.  Add the asparagus and grilled chicken (or tofu or seitan) and sauté for 3 -5 minutes.  Don’t over cook the asparagus and you just want to heat your meat.

Add the cherry tomatoes and lemon dressing to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes to combine flavors.

To serve, line the platter or bowl with the greens and spoon the warm mixture over the greens.  Top with the egg and serve.

I ate the whole bowl.  I needed to be sure I would be detoxified.  It had nothing to do with how delicious the salad was.  :)

posted by Michelle
Tags: asparagus, asparagus salad, warm chicken salad, warm salad
Filed under: Recipes