Healthy Tip: Plant a Fresh Herb Garden

I love using fresh herbs in my cooking.  It adds another depth of flavor that is amazing AND it helps you more easily cook with vegetables, especially to make healthy delicious meals!! Go ahead and try it!!  I still use lots of dried herbs, but fresh herbs are definitely my favorite!!

I have my own little herb garden on my windowsill with lavender, chives, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.  Plus I have other pots of mint, Italian parsley, cilantro, and SEVERAL pots of my favorite herb BASIL!! Whenever I want to add some fresh herbs, I can simply snip some off and enjoy the freshness.

Roasted Cauliflower & Sweet Potato

I have been having fun experimenting with roasting different veggies with different seasonings!!  Here is a couple that I made yesterday that were divine...

Roasted Cauliflower & Sweet Potato

EVOO

1/2 head cauliflower, sliced

1 sweet potato, sliced into wedges

handful fresh chives, chopped

no salt seasoning

Tuscan seasoning

pink Himalayan salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place EVOO on roasting pan and arrange veggies on pan. Mix everything around so the veggies are covered lightly with the EVOO.  Apply seasonings....I put fresh chives and the no salt seasoning on the sweet potatoes and the Tuscan seasoning and pink salt on the cauliflower. Bake for 20 minutes, turn over and bake additional 10 minutes.Enjoy!

Veggie Egg Frittata

Frittata's are great for a fast meal or when you want to use up a bunch of leftover veggies!

Veggie Egg Frittata

EVOO

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 small zucchini, chopped

6 mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup spinach, chopped

8 eggs

salt and pepper

Tuscan seasoning

1/4 cup feta

handful fresh basil, chopped

Heat oil and saute garlic for a few minutes. Add veggies and seasoning. Saute until tender. Add eggs and allow them to set in saute pan. Then move the saute pan to the oven under the broiler and bake until slightly browned. Sprinkle feta cheese and fresh basil over top and serve warm.

Steamed Artichoke With Lemon & Garlic

 I really LOVE artichokes, but was always a little uncertain how to make them! My friend made me some at her house and now I realize how simple they are to make and how fresh steamed artichokes taste oh so good! Here is my simple version of how I prepare mine. Normally artichokes are served with butter or mayonnaise. Since we do not keep either of those in our house, I just put some lemon and garlic in my steaming liquid and served them as is with no sauce! 

Steamed Artichoke With Lemon & Garlic

1 artichoke

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lemon, cut in half

Wash the artichoke under cold water to remove any dirt between the leaves. Cut off the thorny ends of all the leaves with kitchen shears. Slice about 1" off the tip of the artichoke. Cut off the excess stem, leaving about 1" left. You can steam the artichoke whole, or cut the artichoke in half. Add to a pan with a steaming basket and about 1-2" of water.  Add garlic and lemon to the cooking liquid. (I squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water and place the pieces of the lemon in as well.) Bring water to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Steam with lid on for 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. You will know it is tender when the outer leaves can easily be pulled off and a fork can easily pierce the stem.You will also start to smell it when it is ready!

I like to eat the artichoke warm, but they are also good cold! To eat, pull off the outer petals one at a time. Tightly grip the green end of the petal with your fingers and place the white fleshy end in your mouth. Pull petal through teeth to remove the soft, pulpy, delicious part! YUM! Discard remaining petal.When you get to the middle of the artichoke, the petals become more tender and you can eat more of the petal! BUT, make sure when you get to the choke (the inedible fuzzy part in the middle) that you scrape it out with a spoon and discard it.  THEN you are left with the artichoke heart....which is of course the BEST part! Enjoy!

Healthy Tip: Give Healthy Food As Gifts

I made this cute basket for some of my friends and visiting teachers! I realized that I CAN GIVE HEALTHY FOOD as a gift (as opposed to something just sweet) and everyone LOVES it! I think it is nice to share my passion and something I love with others! They are getting a healthy treat that is delicious AND I am not tempted to eat a not-so-healthy treat that I do not really want! Win Win!!

Orange Mango Smoothie

  My daughter LOVES mangoes and this is a creation we made for her! 

Orange Mango Smoothie

2 mangoes, peeled and seed removed

2 oranges (cut off peel ,but leave white pithe on)

1 banana

2 cups ice

1/2 cup water (if needed for consistency)

Place everything in vitamix and blend until smooth! Makes 2-4 servings. My daughter LOVED it!! We will definitely be making this concoction again whenever mangoes are on sale!

Turkey & Corn Tin Foil Dinners

With all the camping we have been doing, we are enjoying creating some fun and healthy tin foil dinners! Here is the latest concoction...

Turkey & Corn Tin Foil Dinners

ground turkey (optional - 1/4 lb for each person)
sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced
white potatoes, peeled & sliced

baby carrots, halved

garlic cloves, halved

green beans, trimmed

mushrooms, halved
zucchini, halved
onions, sliced
kernels from one cob of corn

EVOO

McCormick Tuscan seasoning
salt and pepper
To prepare, take 2 large pieces (approx 18") of tin foil and 1 large piece of wax paper. (I do not like my food to touch the aluminum foil.) Layer cooking spray, then ground turkey and then veggies of your choice. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Wrap foil around food to create a little package for the food to steam inside of.  When you are ready to cook, your fire should be burned down to coals, or the briquettes to white hot. Place the foil dinner on the coals. If you have enough briquettes, you can cut time in half by placing additional coals on top of the foil package as well.

Cooking time will vary depending on your coals, how big you make your tin foil dinner, and the size/type of the vegetables. Cook for about 20 minutes and then turn package over. Cook 20 minutes more. Remove from coals and carefully open to check to see if it is done. If not done, re-close, wrap another piece of foil around the package if needed and return it to the coals. Check again in another 10-15 minutes. When done, open and eat directly from the foil package.