Who woulda thought Brussels Sprouts?!

I had never ever tried Brussels Sprouts in mi vida loca. The round little miniature cabbage-looking veggies didn't appeal to me and xenophobia kicked in a bit. But there they were. About a pound of them included in my basket a couple of weeks ago. When we were brainstorming our Thanksgiving meal options I volunteered to give it a whirl. The worst that would happen is that we wouldn't like 'em! I decided to do some research and found out that they can be bitter and raw is a definite don't. However, if seasoned properly and cooked at the right temperature, my oh my. These are a definite healthy & scrumptious treat.

To quote, this was a text I received from Geoff today as he had lunch today: "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm dissapointed we didn't have any brussels sprouts leftover!"

Ingredients

1- 1.5 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, yellow leaves removed, cut in half

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat.

3. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning.

4. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Serve immediately.

These are great as a side dish or atop pasta! I'd imagine even on a fresh salad! Enjoy! :)

Spicy & Sweet [Sweet] Potatoes

For Thanksgiving this year, I had all the veggie side dishes, since well, turning vegetarian doesn't deem me the best turkey cook! I wanted to use all the veggies I had readily available and one was sweet potatoes. I don't like mushy sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top so I did some research and modified what I found to suit our tastes and the spices I can tell go well together. Here's what I came up with. & just to vouch for their amazingness, Geoff's dad despises sweet potatoes- he had seconds and even asked the recipe! Weee, here's to you, Poppa!

Ingredients

• Enough sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed, to fill your baking sheet.


• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar


• 1 tablespoons paprika


• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder


• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic


• 2 teaspoons cinnamon


• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

You can add more/less depending on your taste!

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F


2. Place the sweet potato chunks into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper over them. Toss until the potatoes are evenly coated with the seasoning. They should look dark and seasoned now. Spread onto a baking sheet.


3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the potatoes over with a spatula, and continue baking until the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Twice-Baked Potato Scoops

Oh boy! If you have the time, a few potatoes and some veggies, you are in for an absolutely delicious and versatile treat! In my basket this last Saturday (which my future MIL picked up for me- Thanks Momma!), we got another bag of potatoes. I absolutely ADORE potatoes! Baked, fried (a la french, haha), mashed, etc! Ah, amazing vegetable! Hearty & a total comfort food of mine!

I wanted to make something new, that incorporated mashed potatoes (since they're my fave and I've been making them from scratch for my family every holiday since I was little)! I remembered the last time we went to a sit-down restaurant they had what appeared to be little potato "boats" with mashed potatoes inside topped with bacon, cheddar cheese and sour cream..Mmmmmm! Now, although that looked amazing, I'm sure I went for a veggie dish instead. So tonight, I bring you a very versatile recipe that is healthier and can accommodate any taste buds. I literally just looked in my fridge and pantry for whatever I had available and went with that. The possibilities for this recipe are endless! It's almost like deviled eggs, but with potatoes! & with Thanksgiving around the corner, this may be a good side dish to change things up a bit!

Ingredients- basically, however you like mashed potatoes!

• As many large baking potatoes as you want to make- I made 6 because ours were small and I always make extra for lunch or in case we get company


• Any veggies you want to add: I added small chops of the following: broccoli florets, red and yellow peppers, and carrots.


• I didn't have any cheese and my beau is a cheeser so I added a teaspoon of cream cheese


• soy milk (or regular) until desired consistency


• 1 tablespoon of butter


• 2 minced garlic cloves


• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


2. Bake potatoes for 1 hour or until soft. You can wrap them in aluminum foil, spray a tiny bit of EVOO and sprinkle sea salt and pepper for crispier skin You can also take a fork and poke each potato a few times to allow heat to get in and cook a bit faster (thoroughly).


3. Cut each potato in half. If yours are small, cut only enough to be able to scoop out the inside.


4. Let potatoes cool because you'll be handling them (haha)! I am not patient and used a clean kitchen towel to get going on them.


5. Scoop out the potato from the skin leaving about 1/4 of the potato so you have a sturdy base. I cupped each potato in my palm and used a tablespoon starting from the center out. Put all the potatoes in a mixing bowl or food processor.


6. Add all of your ingredients. Pulse or mash until desired consistency/taste.


7. Fill the potato skins/scoops with your mashed potatoes (I sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast on each since I didn't have cheese).


8. Bake for 10-20 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want your toppings). Broil the last minute.


9. VOILA! Enjoy! :)

Banana Nut [sometimes Chocolate Chip] Bread/Muffins!

Tonight Geoff went into the kitchen and said "I'm craving banana nut muffins!" Music to a girl's ears! I immediately went to the kitchen and starting pulling ingredients for our pantry! This is my go-to banana bread/muffin recipe! Only the starred items are needed to achieve this but I love to add the extra good stuff. As you can see, there's no sugar, oil or unnecessary negatives. You can be sinfully healthy and impress everyone around you with your mad baking skillz! haha! :) & since they're good for you, you can have more than one....or two! I'm on 2.5 right now, haha!

 

Ingredients

• *1/3 cup applesauce


• *1/2 cup honey


• *1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• *2 eggs


• *1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)


• *1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour


• *1/2 teaspoon salt


• *1 teaspoon baking soda


• *1/4 cup hot water


• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon


• 2 teaspoons of ground Flax Seed


• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)


• 1/4 cup granola (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F


2. In a bowl, mix applesauce and honey together.


3. Add eggs, and mix well. I haven't tried this without eggs but I've heard you can add extra banana or applesauce, who knows though!


4. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Enjoy mashing with your [clean] hands!


5. Stir in flour, cinnamon, flax seed and salt.


6. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.


7. Blend in chopped nuts.


8. OPTIONAL: I use half of my batter regular, as described, and then add half a cup of mini chocolate chips to the other half! Sprinkle granola on regular banana nut bread/muffin!


9. Spread batter into a greased  loaf pan for 55 minutes OR you can make muffins (about 12) for 35 minutes!


10. ENJOY! :)

Corn on the Cob Quickstyle!

Happy 10.10.10 @ 10:10pm!

Congrats to JSpa & Flo for their new baby boy, Oliver who was born today! & our great friend Kyle & Alex who got engaged! LOVE is in the air, homies! <3

So here's a quick & easy recipe to store for whenever you need it!

I've developed a new love for fresh corn on the cob! So I've tested out SO many different ways to cook it quickly and efficiently! My go-to over the last month or two has been to cheat by using the microwave. Which may have been common sense to most of you, but I had no clue- until my friend [Rainey] told me she sometimes used the microwave! So I tested out a few different methods and voila! Fresh corn on the cob in approximately 3 minutes! How's that for quick and easy? Growing up in East L.A., it was part of my everyday culture to stop at any given corner on Whittier Blvd. & buy corn on the cob from the street vendors. I loved getting it slathered with mayo, cotija cheese, melted butter, powdered chile and some lime! Wooowee! Soooo yum! Although that recipe is still a comfort food that takes me back, I wanted to do a different version with what I had readily available in my refrigerator. I also have begun cooking an ear of corn and taking the corn off the cob, instead of buying a can- so much fresher and very convenient when it comes in my co-op basket!

Ingredients

• 2 ears of corn


• 2 tablespoons of veganaise or mayonnaise


• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper


• a few crumbles of your preferred cheese- I used feta because it's what I had on hand

Directions

1. Place fresh corn on the cob on a dampened paper towel in your microwave for 3-4 minutes. [Add a minute for more cobs, i.e. 3-4 cobs=5-6 minutes, & so on]! Do not remove the husks or silk. The corn will cook in its own moisture. Turn ears over & rotate them after 1.5-2 minutes! When the timer goes off, and the ears are hot, wrap them in a paper towel so they continue to steam for about 5 minutes.

About to be cooked!

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together your veganaise or mayonnaise with the cayenne pepper in a small bowl. You may want to omit the cayenne if you don't enjoy heat or add less! [As I've said before, it's one of my go-to spices]!

3. Remove the husks and silk (you can use a paper towel to help remove the silk- & trust me, it is super fast the more practice you get. Some people have advised to do it before as well- your preference!)

4. Spread cobs evenly with your mix and sprinkle with cheese crumbles.

ENJOY the sweet perfection!

FYI: Geoff did NOT like corn at all- especially on the cob and now he devours these! :)

Rosemary Wedges

Potatoes are probably my favorite root vegetable! They are extremely versatile and make up some of my favorite meals: mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries (oh, my demise- I can never say no to a crunchy french fry! Limp ones need not apply)! They can be side dishes or main dishes! They can be added to stews, soups and make excellent salads. Ahh! AND they're good for you! They get a bad rap mainly due to the toppings we enjoy loading them with! Minus the added delicious junk, potatoes are rich in Vitamins (C, B6), potassium, iron, copper AND promote good blood-pressure levels!Okay, enough with the potato endorsement! ;)

This is one of Geoff's favorite recipes! Use as a side for veggie burgers or anything really!

[I'm still waiting for the recipe for homemade veggies burgers from my Roomie *ahem*]

They can be as crispy or soft as you'd like! But they do take awhile so be warned! It definitely depends on your oven!

Here they are about to go in the oven:

Rosemary Potato Wedges

 

Ingredients

• EVOO- a couple of tablespoons, at most


• Potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges (any kind will do- I'm partial to Yukon Gold & Red but these are just 4-5 regular baking potatoes)


• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (from a jar is fine too- just make sure to chop those, too)


• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced (depending on how much garlic you enjoy- we love a lot!)


• a couple of sprinkles of ginger and cayenne pepper


• 2 teaspoons of crushed red peppers


• chopped fresh parsley, to taste (optional)


• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F.


2. Place the wedges in a bowl or plastic baggie. Add all of the dry ingredients and EVOO & either mix with your hands or shake all about in the bag! [I love this part!]


3. Make sure all the wedges are evenly coated! Spread the seasoned potatoes in a single layer on your baking dish or sheet.


4. Bake your potatoes until browned and to the consistency you prefer. Average is about 40 minutes! Occasionally, move the sheet around to ensure even baking!


5. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and ENJOY! :)

*Feel free to add any spices in your pantry that you have and prefer to make this recipe your own! For instance, I tend to add cayenne, ginger and garlic to most of my recipes because I love that spice combination!

& here they are before being devoured:

Riquísimo!

Easy Stuffed Peppers!

As you may or may not noticed, I love my recipes to be quick and easy. So I'm always looking for shortcuts to make cooking fast, easy and fun! Tonight I was in a rush to make dinner as I had just gotten back from training for my 5k and wanted to have dinner ready before the fiancé got home. I looked in the fridge and figured I should do something with my red bell peppers...and then I saw my green chile peppers looking a bit sad... Along with two ears of corn...so stuffed peppers it is! I found some leftover homemade salsa (I'm sure some from a jar would be fine, too) and from my pantry pulled out some rice, kidney beans (sure, why not? I've been meaning to use them for something) and voila! Well, kinda...if you go through the typical route of making stuffed peppers it'll take you well over an hour...I cheated and used to microwave to speed up the process. Of course, not using plastic in it and not standing in front of it ;)

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers & Green Chile Peppers

Ingredients

• 2 large red bell peppers, halved and seeded


• 3 large green chiles


• 6-8 oz of salsa- either homemade of from a jar


• 1 cup of white or brown rice (I made mine with garlic for more flavor)


• 1/2 onion


• 2 ears of corn


• 1 can kidney beans (drained & rinsed, optional)


• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


• 1 dash each of the following: ginger, turmeric, cumin


• salt & peppers to taste


• homemade vegan Parmesan cheese*

Directions

1. Place two ears of corn in your microwave. Heat for 3 minutes. Peel back ears and voila! Amazingly perfect corn! :) Set aside to cool down.


2. Arrange pepper halves in a square glass baking dish. Cover dish with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic wrap for vents, and heat 4 minutes in the microwave, or until tender.


3. Sauté onions in a small pot. Add kidney beans and cook through.


4. In a bowl, mix salsa & cooked rice. Stir.


5. Chop up one green chile (If you don't enjoy spicy foods you might want to reconsider adding this one)! Remove corn from the cob.


6. Stir in chile, corn, kidney beans, and red pepper flakes, ginger, turmeric, cumin, salt & pepper into the salsa/rice mix.


7. TASTE it! See what you'd like to add!


8. Spoon hot mixture evenly into pepper halves; if they got warm, cover with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic to vent steam, and heat in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Remove plastic, sprinkle with vegan Parmesan cheese*, and serve when ready! :)

Hearty, delicious and healthy! All peppers contain Vitamins A, C, K, Lycopene, fiber, antioxidants that prevent cancer, & improve your immune system!

*I'll add my recipe for this in a later post! ENJOY! ;)

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

I find that we have not been going to the grocery store as much as we used to and I am LOVING it! A few months ago, we started purchasing fruit & veggie baskets from a local co-op called "Bountiful Baskets" (www.bountifulbaskets.org). For a total of $16.50 you get an array of different fruits and veggies that are either locally produced or come from other areas of Arizona and California (although they have locations for other states and I'm sure that the produce is closer to the given region). I swear by this so much that a few of my girlfriends have begun purchasing theirs as well. I get so excited to get my basket and then see what recipes I can come up with for the next two weeks. We have been basing all of our meals with whatever we get in our baskets and it's been working great!

Our Bountiful Basket from this Saturday

A couple of weeks ago we got sweet potatoes in our basket. I was so excited to make sweet potato fries! I wanted to make sure that they turned our crispy (since they tend to come out softer). As I was looking through my pantry I noticed I still have Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) I thought I'd throw these in to the mix and voila!

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries with Vegan Ranch

Ingredients

• 6 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut


• 2 tablespoons EVOO


• 1 garlic clove, minced


• 3 tablespoons Panko Bread Crumbs


• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• 1 teaspoon rosemary (or Italian Seasoning)


• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


2. In a plastic bag, combine the sweet potatoes, EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, cayenne pepper. Close and shake the bag until the fries are evenly coated. Add panko crumbs last.


3. Spread the fries out in a single layer on two large baking sheets. DO NOT overcrowd or they will not become crispy!


4. The amount of time to bake will vary by your oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crispy and brown on one side. Turn the fries over using a spatula, and cook for another 20 minutes, or until they are all crispy on the outside and tender inside. *

*When it comes to choosing what spices you want to use, think about what you typically enjoy and what you have in your pantry/spice rack. Feel free to substitute any of the spices for this recipe! Next time I get some I'm adding cinnamon instead of cayenne! ;)

ENJOY! & as you're eating them think about all the beta-carotene you're consuming (which fights cancer), along with selenium, Vitamin C & Vitamin E! & since they're baked, this eliminates any added fat!

I'll leave my vegan ranch for a future posting! ;)

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog! With the encouragement of some of my amazing friends and fiancé, I have decided to join the blogging world to share the hit's and misses of our new nutritional ventures! [I hope this lasts longer than my last online project: "365 Days of My Vida Loca" on Flickr]! With my fiancé, Geoff, being on recent Cancer remission (woot, woot) I have become absolutely fascinated my the nutritional value of everything we consume! We've done countless hours of research & taken cooking classes and are now aware of the purpose of so many foods. I've always considered eating my favorite hobby! However, at this time, I am interested in how to make food from scratch that is still delicious and filling, yet serves a healthy purpose! I'll be posting recipes (both great ones and not-so-great-ones as I continue on this fun quest in my love for food and healthy living!

I'll start my first posting with one of my absolute favorite recipes that I've become pro at!

Disclaimers: I tend to eyeball instead of measure & I encourage you to edit these recipes to your taste, because in all honesty, that's what I do! :]

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

[adapted from "Food for Life" Book]

1.5 cups chickpeas/garbanzos (drained & rinsed, save the liquid)
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper (you can buy this in a jar or make your own)*
some green onion diced
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon tahini**
3 garlic gloves minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 cup of veggie broth or you can use the liquid from the garbanzos

Place everything (except the broth) in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add the broth as needed for a smoother consistency! Serve with anything you'd like to dip (carrots, celery, bell peppers, pita bread, etc.)!

*- roast a red bed pepper in your broiler for 5-10 minutes, cool down in a brown paper bag, then the black burned stuff will roll right off and you'll have a delish red pepper); or you can just buy one already roasted- I recommend making your own!

**tahini: buy sesame seeds- usually in the Mexican spices section for less than a buck. Place them in a baking dish and put them in your oven for 5 min at 350F; careful, they burn quick! You just want to brown them a tiny bit!
Place them in your blender or food processor and add a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil as it blends until you get the desired consistency. It should be thick but smooth!

-Want it to have an extra kick? Add fresh jalapeños!

ENJOY!