Superfood Sunday

Greetings and happy Tuesday.  4 days until my vacation starts!  :)  Woo hip!  With a vacation in sight, there isn't anything that can bring me down!  Add in the fact that I am going to see "Roman Holiday" on Thursday with The Running Historian, and well, this week is shaping up to be awesome!

You know what else is awesome?  Some of the foods I've been eating lately - especially this past Sunday.  I find that the more active I am, the more my body craves foods that are good for me.  That was definitely the case this past weekend.

Between my gluten intolerance and the fact that I try to avoid dairy most days (I have it about once a week), people often ask, "what DO you eat?"  So I thought I'd share some of what I ate this past Sunday.


1.  Morning Snack:  I used my new magic bullet (purchased with a gift card I've been hoarding for 18 months) to make a smoothie with fresh strawberries, blueberries, banana, OJ, and ice.

2.  Post-yoga snack: A diced avocado with salt and pepper.  This is one of my favorite snacks. Yes, avocados are a higher calorie/fat snack, but I feel justified in snacking on these given the number of calories I am burning!  Plus, it's a 'good' fat that your body needs!
 

3.  Late Lunch:  I grilled salmon for the first time and it turned out great!  I rubbed it with a little olive oil, and added salt and pepper, capers, fresh lemon juice, and a couple of lemon slices, wrapped it in foil, and grilled it on each side for about 3-5 minutes.  It turned out perfect!

The filet was a generous portion so I saved half of it for a dinner later in the week, and pair the salmon with some grilled zucchini.  

In addition to the food shown above, I also had toast with peanut butter, coffee, chips & guacamole, and a lot of pickles!!

So there you have it - some great gluten free + dairy free foods that are healthy and satisfying! 

Do you tend to eat more healthy foods when you are more active?  Have you made any new, healthy recipes lately?  I am hoping to try a few new recipes when I am at my parents' lake home over the 4th!

Dairy Free Friday

Happy Friday!  I hope you all had a wonderful week!

Today I'm sharing my favorite recipe that I've made so far in 2012 - which happens to be both gluten and dairy free!  I found it on the blog, For the Love of Cooking.  It's my new go-to blog as she posts easy, healthy recipes.  This recipe is called Tuscan Chicken with White Beans and Spinach.  I like it because it requires very few ingredients (most of which you will have on hand), it's made in one pot, and it's a quick recipe (takes about 30 minutes from start to finish).

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of lean bacon, cooked and chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil (divided)
• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of any fat
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Dried basil, to taste
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 15 oz can of white beans, rinsed & drained
• 2 cups of baby spinach

My modifications:

• I omitted the bacon because I knew I'd never use up a whole package of bacon. Leaving it out didn't impact the dish, in my opinion
  
• I liked the bean/tomato part of the dish so much, I doubled the onion, tomatoes, and white beans so there would be more of the bean mixture.  

Here is the recipe in pictures!

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried basil.  Brown the chicken thighs on medium high in 1 T of Olive Oil.  If you are vegetarian, I think it would work well to sub in your 'fake sausage' or whatever that stuff is called!

Once the chicken is brown, remove from pan, set aside, and cover with foil.  Reduce heat to medium, add additional T of Olive Oil.  Saute the onions for 4-5 minutes, until softened.  Then add the garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the tomatoes, white beans, dried basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Cook for 4-5 minutes until mixture is hot.

Add the spinach, heat until it cooked down, about 1-2 minutes.

Return chicken/juices to pan. 

It's so easy and SO good.  And relatively healthy (especially if you made it with chicken breasts instead of thighs). 

Have you made any good, new recipes lately?

Dairy Free Friday: Chicken, sausage, and Rice Skillet

Phew, after the heavy, soul-baring post from yesterday, I think it's time for something a little lighter!  It's been a long time since I've done a dairy free Friday post, so I think I'm due to share a great recipe with you. 

I will start by saying it is not gourmet.  Heck, most of the stuff coming out my kitchen isn't.  I need easy, comfort food that yields great leftovers as I only cook once a week.  I stumbled up on this recipe in my local newspaper and decided to give this one-pot-wonder a whirl!

For starters, here are the ingredients:

• 6 skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 12 oz. turkey or turkey-kielbasa sausage, cut into 1/2 -in. slices (I used turkey kielbasa)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 c. medium-grain rice
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
•1/2 c. frozen peas

Preheat over to 400F.  Heat oil in large, over-proof skillet.  Salt and pepper the chicken, and brown chicken on medium high ~4 min on each side - you could use chicken breasts to make it lower-fat.

Remove chicken and brown sausage.

Remove sausage, reduce heat to low, and saute onion, red pepper, and garlic.

Add rice, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Stir to combine.

Add chicken broth and tomatoes, bring to boil.  Add chicken and sausage. Place in over and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, add peas (I had a hard time stirring the peas in as my skillet was so full!).  Bake for another 10 minutes.

And voila!  A huge meal that makes awesome, delicious leftovers.

 So there you have it!  A simple, but good meal!

Have you made any new recipes lately that you've been happy with? 

10 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

Today I am thankful for my clear complexion.

Oh my, the journey to a clear complexion has been a long and painful journey.  I don't think anyone can understand how awful it is to deal with acne unless they have experienced it themselves.  I know it sounds vain to obsess over a physical imperfection, but the fact of the matter is that we all want to look nice and no one wants to attract negative attention.

My skin struggles started in my mid-20's and the problem has sort of ebbed and flowed, becoming especially bad starting last fall.  Appearance aside, it was extremely painful to deal with adult-onset acne.  The blemishes I dealt with were very painful.  Just touching or washing my face was unpleasant, and the pain would almost radiate out of the deep, cystic blemishes.

I tried a lot of different things.  Proactiv.  Mineral-based make-up.  Various antibiotics and other prescriptions from the dermatologist.  Regular facials.  The Clarisonic.

Nothing.  Worked. 

Then in April, I decided to try something new.  I eliminated dairy from my diet.  I was extremely strict that first month.  And the results were amazing.  So much so that my brother commented on my complexion - and anyone with a brother knows they don't notice/comment on things like that.

Now, I will say, this apparent cure is medically unfounded.  No medical profession will agree that removing dairy had anything to do with my skin clearing up in the span of a month. 

But I guess for me, the proof is in the pictures.  I hate to post pictures of my skin, and the pictures probably don't do it justice, but it gives a good before and after means of comparison...

My skin was really starting to flare up on my marathon trip with Amber.

Fall of 2010 - my skin was getting to it's worst at this point.

Here I am on April 23, 23 days into my dairy-free experiment...  with no blemishes.

Months later, my skin is still blemish free

I don't really know how else the difference can be explained.  And I guess I don't really care about the fact that the impact of going dairy-free is medically unfounded.  It worked for me. 

These days, I am not as strict about being dairy free.  I usually allow myself one day to cheat each week.  The strange thing is that I really do not miss dairy at all...  And that is surprising given the fact that I am a cheese lover.  Skin benefits aside, I actually feel better overall after removing dairy.  I have less tummy troubles and on those days when I do cheat and eat something with alot of dairy in it?  Ouch.  My stomach rebels.

I am careful about my calcium consumption, though.  I take a supplement and am diligent about incorporating non-dairy sources of calcium into my diet.

I know it might not be a cure for everyone, but it sure has appeared to be a cure for me.

Dairy Free Friday: Entertaining GF and DF

Greetings, Happy Friday, and hello from Charlotte, NC!! 

It's been awhile since I've done a Dairy Free post, so I figured it was time for one.  When I hosted the Ambers back in August, I made it my mission to treat them to a dairy free, gluten free vegetarian meal. 

For appetizers, we started off easy with some veggies and roasted red pepper hummus.  Yes, I bought hummus...  I know it's easy to make, but we were out and about all day and I needed something easy!!

I knew I wanted to grill dinner, so I found a veggie burger recipe that turns out great.  I knew it was a hit when my meat-eating family tried and really liked the Black Bean Veggie Burgers I made for them!  It's a really simple recipe - I would suggest doubling the bread crumbs, though, so they will stick together better.  I used GF bread crumbs, so the burgers were safe for me to eat.  (BTW, there is an egg in the recipe, so it is not a vegan recipe...  just an fyi...)

The burgers have a mexican taste to them due to the seasoning, so I decided to serve them with an avocado spread instead of the standard ketchup/mustard condiments.  I used this recipe - which is simple and delicious!  I may or may not have eaten the leftover spread with a spoon...  Hey, it's healthy carbs, right?

Along with the burgers, I grilled rosemary potatoes (sliced baby red/golden yukons, minced garlic, fresh rosemary, olive oil, and salt and pepper - easy!) and also grilled up a bunch of vegetables which were brushed with a balsamic glaze. 

It ws a FULL grill!  It definitely did not look like I was cooking for 3 :)

I was really happy with how the meal turned out, and the girls were very complimentary.  Canadian Amber ended up recreating the meal for her family so I guess that means they weren't just being nice when they said it was good!

Canadian Amber's plate

For dessert, we made banana softserve, which has become my go-to treat!  We mixed in some cocoa to make it a chocolatey softserve.  We rimmed the glasses with gluten free graham crackers, and added in some chocolate chips, marshmallows, and sprinkles!  It was delish!

All in all, it was a successful meal!  I even let the girls pitch in and help (this is a big deal, delegating is NOT my forte).  We had a blast making this meal and really enjoyed our evening.  Of course, the views from the grilling/patio area sure contributed to the wonderful night.

I think I proved that you CAN cook vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free food that is delicious!!

When is the last time you hosted friends for dinner?  What did you make?  I am excited to have a larger place as now I will be able to host dinner parties! 

Dairy Free Friday

I haven't done one of these posts for quite awhile!  I am still living dairy free, I just haven't taken the time to put a recipe post together for awhile.

Last week when I had my brothers' family over for lunch, I made this delicious Garden Bean Salad!  It's super simple and very delicious so I highly recommend it!

Ingredients:
1 small red onion, finely diced
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 t. sugar
Kosher salt
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 15-oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 lb. green and/or wax beans, trimmed and halved
2 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 T. finely chopped fresh chives
Freshly ground pepper

Now the post, in photos (which are kind of crappy because I was sort of in a rush to get this salad made before my brothers' family arrived).

Finely dice the onion and soak in water for 10 minutes (never had to soak an onion before...  kind of odd, but whatever!)

 Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 t. of salt.  When combined, whisk in EVOO.

Drain the onion, pat dry.  Stir onion and white beans into the dressing.

Bring salted water to a boil, add beans and cook for 4-5 minutes until beans are crisp-tender. 

 Drain beans, then plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.  Drain, pat dry, and add to salad.  Marinate at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Add chopped parsley and chives and serve!

See?  Pretty easy, right?  Not a whole lot of chopping either.  I think I threw it together in about 30 minutes.

Have you tried any new recipes this summer?

Dairy Free Friday

It's been awhile since I've done a dairy free post...  I have still been eating dairy free - I just have not made anything super noteworthy... 

But last Sunday, I tried another recipe from Angela's website, Oh She Glows - and it was a winner! 

Here are the ingredients:

1 large ripe tomato or 2 smaller tomatoes
1/2 c. raw cashews
1/4 c. water
1 T. tomato paste
2-4 garlic cloves (I used 4)
1 t. salt, or to taste
3-4 T. water or wine - optional (I did not include)
1-2 t. freshly ground pepper
1 c. packed fresh basil, finely chopped

Here's the recipe in pictures!

First off, tomato paste comes in a tube!  Which I think is awesome because I NEVER use the whole can!

Blend the chopped tomatoes (including seeds and skin), cashews, water, and tomato paste until smooth.

Saute the garlic over low heat

Add the blended tomato mixture and heat and bring to a simmer

Remove from heat and add fresh ground pepper and chopped basil

Serve on top of your pasta of choice - I served it over quinoa linguine.



 This was a really, really good recipe. I do not think you would know it's a vegan recipe.  It has minimal slicing/dicing so it's a great mid-week meal!

Have you made anything noteworthy lately?

Dairy Free Friday

Happy Friday, everyone!. I've got another great recipe from Oh She Glows to share with you: Spicy Rainbow Rice and Bean Salad. This is a great mid-week meal as it requires VERY LITTLE slicing/dicing, and the ingredients are all standard things that you might already have on hand! I only had to buy a onion to make this recipe - I love it when I have the majority of the ingredients!

This recipe also scores points with me because it has a nice kick to it! If you aren't a spice monster like me, maybe leave out the crush red pepper... I probably increased the spices by about 1/2 because I love spicy food. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rice

1 tbsp oil of your choice (I used EVOO)

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (I used a red onion)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp mustard seeds (optional - I included)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 green onion, chopped (optional - I did not include)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 tbsp Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 tsp Earth Balance, to stir in

And here is the recipe, in pictures!

Saute onion over medium-low heat until softened/golden. Add spices, garlic, and optional green onion and saute on low for a few minutes until the spices start to bubble (careful, don't burn them!) 

Add the black beans and Tamari sauce (you could use regular soy sauce). Heat for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Now comes the rainbow part. Add in the frozen pea & corn and the shredded carrot. Heat for another 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add in your grain & 1 T. of Earth Balance (or butter for dairy eaters) - I went with basmati rice (which I made in my rice cooker) because that's what I had on hand. I think next time I will use quinoa!

Serve up. Maybe garnish with some fresh cilantro. I don't really do garnishes because when you are cooking for one, I don't feel like a garnish is worth the effort. ;)

See? Easy peasy. And further proof that you can cook delicious, flavorful, healthy food without gluten or dairy!

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! I'll spend mine studying, but am rewarding myself by going to my brother's to grill a little surf & turf! I haven't had a steak off a grill since I visited my sister in January! Can't wait!

What are you up to this weekend?

Dairy Free Friday

Greetings, readers. My this has been a long week. I owe you a recap of my trip to DC, but this week has sort of kicked my butt, so maybe I will get around to that next week? In the mean time, hop over to Becky's blog and check out the video of photos that she put together!! I watch it when I need a little pick-me-up.

I have spent all week in a prep class for the series 7 test, which I take on Wednesday. Please God, let me pass this test on my first attempt. I will lose my mind if I have to study for this for another month. I added up the # of pages read/quizzes I have taken? Oh, it's somewhere in the range of 950 pages. Add in the # of pages I am reading for my CFA and that = overwhelmed/cranky/not-so-fun-to-be-around-Lisa. I am basically the human equivalent of Eeyore.

Anyways. Enough about that. This week I thought I would talk about some of the dairy replacements I've been using since going dairy free last month.

Do you see what I see? Yep, I found dairy free sour cream! Oh vey that was exciting. Note to self: You know your life is a bit lame when you get excited over finding dairy free products... I tried this on a baked potato (total comfort food for me) and it was GREAT!! I swear you could do a blind taste test with earth balance and the average person would NOT be able to tell that it wasn't butter/margarine. It comes in a tub, as pictured above, or in stick form, which is great for recipes as it's tricky to scrape out a tablespoon from a tub, you know? I love this stuff!! Definitely my favorite dairy free alternative out of all the products I am talking about today! This is the dairy free cheese that I used when I made that quinoa lasagna last month. I was really impressed with how it melted and tasted. No, it does not melt as well as regular cheese - it more so melts like reduced fat cheese I would say? But still, it's a great alternative. I had in on salads and that was great, too. Would I eat this stuff from the bag? No, it's not THAT good. And it's not something I really crave like I would crave cheese... But - it's a good alternative!

Last but not least, a milk alternative. I am not a milk person and I never drank milk when I was eating dairy, so I don't drink it now. However, I do use milk in the occasional recipe. Out of soy, rice, and almond milk, I prefer almond milk.

So there you have it!! Lots of great alternatives available for you if you are trying to cut back on dairy! What are you up to this weekend? I have my last series 7 class tomorrow and then will spend the rest of the weekend doing practice exams. I have about 8 to do between now and Wednesday. Thrilling, right?

Dairy Free Friday

First off - today is an especially happy Friday because I am flying to DC this afternoon!!! I will finally get to see Becky & Charbelle in person! I won't say "meet" because after reading their blogs, emailing, chatting on the phone, and texting, I've already met these girls! But seeing them in person? It's going to be fabulous! And I've never been to DC so it will be fun to check out another city. And then there's that 10 mile race... which I feel a bit unprepared for, but oh well! I'll schlep through those 10 miles.

I've officially been dairy free for a month now. I can really tell the difference in my complexion and have had a good amount of people comment on it as well. I should have taken before and after pictures, but I didn't think to do that. These 2 pictures give you an idea though. The first was in mid-January. It's not super close up, but it gives you an idea of how bad my skin was, especially down my my jaw line (oh, and I am holding my beautiful faux-niece Elle).

And here is a horrible self-photo.

Is my skin perfect? No, but it's significantly better. I still have some redness from previous breakouts, but that's starting to heal as well. I have a follow up with my dermatologist in 2 weeks and I think I'll be able to go off one of the 3 medications I am currently on! Fingers crossed!

And this whole dairy free thing? It actually has not been that hard. There are so many great recipes out there! I never felt like I was depriving myself. What I miss the most is sour cream (I love baked potatoes with sour cream) and real cheese on my salads.

What I don't like is that being gluten free and dairy free makes me, well, a bit of a high maintenance dinner guest... But I think I will allow myself to have dairy occasionally so if someone invites me to dinner, that will just be my day for dairy, I guess!

So, now for this week's dairy free recipe! I made Mushroom risotto on Saturday night. I had previously made risotto for the Barrister back in December *shakes head in an attempt to erase memory* but that version was cheesy (and delicious) so I was worried this wouldn't compare.

Well, there was nothing to be worried about. This is probably the best recipe I've made all year - dairy or no dairy! So if you like mushrooms - I HIGHLY recommend it! It's a time intensive little recipe, but so worth every stir of your spoon!

Click over to Angela's lovely blog for the recipe! Here it is in photos!

All chopped up & ready to go! Look at all those mushrooms!

Saute the onions, then add the mushrooms! It looks like A LOT of mushrooms, but don't worry...

It totally cooks down!


Add a sprig of rosemary, salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar. Slowly add arborio rice and vegetable broth.

Cover and continue to stir every couple of minutes. Add more vegetable broth if need be. I used about 3 cups, I think? When it's done, stir in 1 T. of earth balance (or butter for the dairy eaters)

Serve up (preferably in a pretty bowl) and enjoy!

So there you have it! I think the crucial ingredient was balsamic vinegar! Or maybe the fresh rosemary? Mmm, it was so good! It's one of those recipes that makes me wish I had a dinner guest because it would have been nice to comment about it with someone. Instead I bbm'd about it with Amber - which was a good substitute!

Alright this blog is epically long! Time to wrap it up!! Question for you: Should I continue the dairy free posts? You won't hurt my feelings if you tell me to move on and talk about something more interesting/relevant/etc!

Happy weekend, everyone!