Bmore Food Voyeurs

05/01/2016

One of my favorite soups!
My kiddos love this too (extra bonus).

This soup is called "Hearty Vegetable Stew" which was created by rad chicks who wrote, "The Conscious Cleanse," a book I HIGHLY recommend if you are looking for a painless, and insightful way to clean up your diet. The recipes are so great and it's an easy lifestyle for my family to follow...ALL OF US enjoy it!

14/10/2015

I love this salad with all the various flavors from the curry chicken, the sweetness of the cranberries and the tang from the champagne vinaigrette. The different textures rock my world too! I usually do not add dried fruits to my salads, but the mix of protein and healthy fat made it easy for me to digest the sugar in the cranberries.

Sexy Beast Kale Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 bunch of organic kale
2-3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3-4 Tablespoons of dried cranberries
2 avocados, cut in half and sliced into bite size chunks
Celtic sea salt
Pepper
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Curry rub
Raw pumpkin seeds
*For vegetarian…skip the chicken and add roasted chickpeas…yummmm!

Instructions:
1. Turn oven on to 375 degrees. Sprinkle chicken thighs with your favorite rub seasonings. I use a delicious curry seasoning mix I make in large batches and keep in my pantry.
Recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-curry-powder
2. After adding seasoning to the chicken, cook for about 15-20minutes.
3. While the chicken is cooking, tear the leaves from the stems of kale leaves, wash and dry thoroughly. It’s key to get those kale bits dry otherwise the olive oil will slide right off…no good.
2. Put kale in large bowl and drizzle 2 Tablespoons of EVO on kale.
3. Using your hands gently breakdown and massage the leaves. Your hands will get oily and the leaves should start to soften.
4. Distribute the kale between 4 bowls.
5. Once chicken is cool, add to bowls of kale.
6. Add a large pinch of cranberries to each salad and top with avocado. Each bowl should get the amount of ½ an avocado.
7. Sprinkle raw pumpkin seeds.

Champagne Vinaigrette:
Recipe from: www.againstallgrain.com
Ingredients:
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup champagne vinegar
2 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 cup of olive oil

Instructions:
In a blender mix together 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ⅛ cup champagne vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. With the blender running, drizzle in ½ cup olive oil.
*For me, I often just add the ingredients to a mason jar and shake it for about 1-2 minutes and it turns out great.

14/10/2015

All the desserts we make at home are always free of peanuts, ALL tree nuts, dairy, gluten, and wheat.

I am also committed to feeding my family whole foods that are free of processed sugar and creating desserts that won’t take up permanent residence on my backside if you know what I mean.

09/07/2015

Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing
Recipe adapted from: www.vanillaandbean.com

Ingredients:
½ cup quinoa (sprouted if possible), rinsed
1 ¾ cup of filtered water
Pinch of sea salt
1 15oz can of Garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 organic red bell pepper, diced
1 organic green bell pepper, diced
½ organic cucumber, peeled and diced
½ red onion, diced
½ cup of parsley, chopped
3 Tbs chives, chopped
2 Tbs olive oil

Instructions:
1. Bring water to a boil, then add quinoa and pinch of salt. Stir once, turn heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat, covered for 15 minutes. Stir, place in refrigerator to chill.
2. While quinoa is cooking, put 2 TBS olive oil in skillet and sauté red onions on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes or until browned and caramelized. Once onions are soft and have a light brownish tint, allow them to cool.
3. Prep all the veggies by dicing/chopping and place in a large mixing bowl.

Creamy Dill Dressing
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of Vegenaise (or other mayonnaise)
1 Tbs organic apple cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp fresh dill, minced
½ tsp sea salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. OR you can use a small mixing bowl and wish with a fork.
The Ta-Da moment:
1. Combine all the veggies, herbs, onions, and chilled quinoa in large bowl. Pour dressing over the salad and stir ingredients until evenly coated with dressing.
2. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
3. This salad is great over leafy greens or on its own.

*If making this a day ahead keep veggies (including onions), quinoa, and dressing separate and then combine once ready to serve.

24/06/2015

Coconut Quinoa and Kale Salad with Nut-free Pesto

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed under running water in a fine mesh colander for a couple of minutes
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 small bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves chopped, (for a total of about 4 cups chopped kale)
• ½ small red onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs. coconut oil
• ⅓ cup large, unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
Nut-free Basil & Cilantro Pesto
• 2 cups cilantro, packed
• 2 cups basil, packed
• ½ sunflower seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ cup olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ lime, juiced (or more, to taste)
• pinch red pepper flakes, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup filtered water, and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa, cover and simmer for 15 to 17 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and mix in the red onion. Cover and set aside.
2. Melt coconut oil in pan and add chopped red onion. Cooke on medium/low heat for about 15 minutes or until onions have caramelized (looking soft and have a LIGHT brownish color).
3. Add kale to food processor and blend until leaves are minced.
4. Add minced kale, onions, and quinoa to large bowl. Mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. PESTO INSTRUCTIONS: Make the pesto: combine cilantro, basil, sunflower seeds, and garlic in a food processor. Start processing the mixture, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, lime juice and red pepper flakes, all to taste, and blend well.
6. In a skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut flakes for a few minutes until golden and fragrant, stirring often. Top the salad with coconut flakes and serve warm.
*This salad would also be excellent with slices of avocado on the side!
*I served this quinoa salad over organic spinach leaves and added pan roasted garbanzo beans. I also served this salad with the pesto dressing on the side. It was delicious!!
Recipe is adapted from www.cookieandkate.com

01/03/2015

At home we enjoy salads that are not only healthy, but they’ve got character baby!! I am always in search of salads that leave me craving more...create some of these in your kitchen and you’ll become addicted too!

23/02/2015

I met my husband back in the summer of 1998 and I’ll NEVER forget the first time he took me to the Russian restaurant called Astoria in downtown in Baltimore. The room was full of people really enjoying life and spending time with their family and friends celebrating…celebrating anything and everything! The music was loud and amazing and I’ll always remember the first time I ate the food AND enjoyed all the people watching (a hobby of mind). It was during this first extraordinary date that I not only knew I was already in love with Vlad, but also in love with the mouth watering, underwear dropping GARLIC POTATO dish! This dish was packed with salty, buttery, garlicy goodness…I was hooked for life that night.
So fast forward 17ish years and I am still in love if not more in love with those potatoes…I mean VLAD…okay you got me! Now when we go to any Russian restaurant/party I try to position myself at the table to where I think the potatoes will be placed. True story! So in an effort to have what I want when I want it without all the buttery guilt I created this dish using cauliflower instead. The roasted garlic and cauliflower is the healthy twin of the dish I love so dearly. So, the next time you see me out at one of those restaurants and I have a strange look on my face…you now know the truth.
Kristan’s Europa style cauliflower salad (minus the guilt)
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into bite size floret
4-6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 package of white mushrooms
Handful of fresh dill, chopped
Olive oil
Pinch of sea salt and pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
*2. Smash garlic cloves and let rest 10 minutes.
3. Wash and chop cauliflower into bite size florets, put onto baking sheet.
4. Chop handful of fresh dill (or however much you’d like to use).
5. Gently wipe the mushrooms with a lightly wet paper towel and chop.
6. Combine the garlic and cauliflower on baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil onto mixture. Mix the garlic, olive oil, cauliflower, sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper…I use my hands. You want to make sure the mixture is nice and juice.
7. Put baking sheet in oven for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to stir the mixture at about 8-10 minutes and watch after 15 minutes to make sure the garlic doesn't get burned.
8. Take out of the oven, add fresh dill and BAMMMMM!
* Nutritional tickle for you: to reap all of garlic’s health benefits let the garlic set away from heat for 10 minutes after you've chopped, minced, sliced, or smashed. Find out more by reading the AWESOME book/my bible: “Eating on the Wild Side” by Jo Robinson…it will change your cooking life forever.
I make a large batch and put it in salads for lunch or use it as a side to my main dinner dish. You could also use this recipe to begin an AWESOME roasted cauliflower soup recipe…I see a future recipe brewing here!

22/02/2015

This is a SHORT (like 40 seconds) video I took of Sloan as part of my presentation on food allergies. I am sharing this with you because I myself sometimes forget what Sloanie might be experiencing out in the world being someone that has life threatening allergies to certain foods.

Did you know that here is an estimated 6 million children with food allergies. That's about 1 in every 13 children has a food allergy, which makes it roughly 2 children per classroom with this disease.

What blows my mind about food allergies (among many things) is that about 25% of life threatening food allergy reactions that happen during the school day happen to children that had not been diagnosed with food allergies...translation...this can happen to anyone at any time! Information is power!

22/02/2015

Okay you know I love you because I am sharing my go-to mac'n'cheese recipe! XOXO

Our Family’s Macaroni & “Cheese”
SERVES: Makes 4 side dishes or 2 large entrées
Ingredients
For the creamy sauce
● 1 ½ cup of cauliflower florets
● ¼ cup. plus more if needed unsweetened non-dairy milk (h**p, non-GMO soy etc.)
● 1 Tb non-dairy butter (soy-free Earth Balance)
● 3 garlic cloves, minced
● 1 shallot, minced
● 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
● 1/2 tsp, salt
● 1 Tbs. Braggs nutritional yeast
● 2 cups of brown rice pasta, cooked according to package
Instructions
Place cauliflower and1 c. water inside, cover and bring to a boil. Steam for 5 minutes and drain the water.
While the cauliflower is steaming, in a skillet, heat butter and sauté garlic and shallots until lightly browned (about 7-10 minutes).
3. Place cauliflower, salt, Dijon mustard, and browned garlic and shallots into a blender with 1/4 c. non-dairy milk. Blend until smooth. Add milk by 1 Tb if it's still too thick. Remember that this is replacing heavy cream so you don't want it to be runny but a thick heavy cream-like consistency. Season according to taste.
4. Put the drained pasta back to its pot and add the cauliflower sauce to the pasta.
Mix the pasta and sauce so that it is evenly coated.
Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
*Recipe adapted from http://www.forkandbeans.com/?s=kale+past

22/02/2015

Spiced Apple and Rice Cereal
Ingredients:
Cereal:
1 cup brown basmati rice (soaked overnight)
1 Tbs. raw apple cider vinegar
3 to 4 cups water
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
Pinch of sea salt
Apple Topping:
2 to 3 tart apples, cored and thinly sliced
¼ cup raisins (optional)
2 Tbs. pure maple syrup
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
4-6 Tbs. water
Raw pumpkin seeds (optional)
Instructions:
1. To make cereal, place the rice in a bowl and cover with at least 1 inch of water, add the vinegar. Let the mixture soak on your countertop for 8-12 hours, or overnight.
2. In the morning, drain and rinse the rice in a fine-mesh strainer. Place the rice, water, spices, and sea salt into a blender and blend on high until smooth. Pour mixture into a medium saucepan and bring to a bowl, whisking constantly. Reducing the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the cereal has thickened and the rice is cooked, about 10 minutes. For a thinner consistency, add more water. When cooked, remove from the heat.
3. To make the topping, heat the coconut oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the apples, raisins, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the water and simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Fill individual serving bowls with the hot cereal and spoon the apple mixture over each. Garnish with raw pumpkin seeds.

I enjoyed this dish and so did Liv. However, Sloan was not into it! I would make this again, but next time I will ask Sloan what type of seasonings and topping she would enjoy.
The recipe is from " The Whole Life Nutrition cookbook" by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre
A book I HIGHLY recommend!!

19/02/2015

Life Changing Bread
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
½ cup ground flaxseeds
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 ½ cups gluten free rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
2 ½ Tbsp. maple syrup
1 ½ Tbs. Italian herbs
2 tsp. Celtic sea salt
3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 ½ cups water
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a loaf pan with olive oil or coconut oil…don’t be shy…really grease that baby up!
3. Put sunflower, flaxseeds (if not already ground), pumpkin seeds, rolled oats, chia seeds, and sea salt in blender. Blend on high until mixture becomes powder-like. Make sure to watch your blender so you don’t over blend and create seed butter.
4. Pour seed/oat mixture into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix.
5. Bake bread for 20 minutes
6. After 20 minutes remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down, directly on a rack (I used a smaller cooling rack to bake the bread on inside the oven), and bake for another 40-50 minutes (it should sound hollow when tapped). Let cool completely before slicing.
7. Eat it with a stick of vegan butter…okay well maybe that’s just how I roll?!

18/02/2015

We are BIG fans of soup in our house! Trust me I used to careless about soup- I kind of saw it as useless as drinking beer...like why bother??!!

Well, since those days I've learned a few things and now I am a transformed soup lover! Here are a few reasons why:
1. I love the gracefulness of cooking soup. I find soups are really hard to screw up (unless you add too much cayenne pepper, which I have done…YUCK!).
2. My Sloanie is NOT a big water drinker, but she will drink broth and soup like it’s her job, which helps with her digestion and ability to…you know…go!
3. All the nutrients from the food remain in the pot!
As a result, both of my girls will often take a thermos full of soup to school for lunch in addition to their stocked laptop Bento Box.