Spicy Sriracha Soup with Avocado Crema

Yesterday, I woke up with snow on the ground, and I got home from work with even more snow on the ground. It was the perfect night for hot homemade soup. I originally planned on making homemade tomato soup with chicken and maybe throw in some chick peas. I knew from the start I wanted to make more avocado crema. I’m telling you; this stuff is good.

Well, like always, the plan changed. I ended up with more of a goulash. I struggle with heat, and so this was originally a bit too spicy for my taste. The avocado crema was a nice cool base to complement the soup.

Ingredients:

• 6 tomatoes on the vine
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/3 of a minced red onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup uncooked green split peas
• 3/4 cup uncooked pearl couscous
• basil
• cumin
• coconut oil
• sriracha sauce or hot sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• cook the green split peas and couscous first (I cooked them in the same pot but added the couscous after 10ish minutes)
• add coconut oil, cumin, and basil to taste (I didn’t measure but probably around 1 tsp of each and 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil)
• puree the tomatoes in a food processor
• in a large pot, heat the tomato puree with 2 cups vegetable broth with the minced garlic and onion
• add more basil to taste
• cook on high heat until it thickens
• add the cooked split peas and couscous with a pinch of salt and pepper
• reduce heat and cover
• final step – add sriracha or hot sauce to taste (careful: don’t keep adding without tasting like moi)

I topped mine with a bit of parmesean cheese, roasted edamame for a crunch, and a dollop of avocado crema.

Here is the avocado crema recipe I found on Feed Me Phoebe. So simple: Greek yogurt, avocados, cilantro, and garlic.

random tidbit: all you unorganized, messy, or eccentric girls out there, find a boy who will help you organize your room. It’s fun; they’re fun. Last night, mine did exactly that. Pay them with a bowl of hot soup. Check it outttttt. You don’t even want to see the before picture – books everywhere and nothing had its own place unless you count the bed or maybe the floor. Yay for nice boys.

My Body Is in Shock

This is day seven of a diet of homemade everything – cookies, cakes, casseroles, it all.

I thought I could just taste a few things and walk away. Ha. I overestimated myself.

The struggle is very real people.

This time last week, I was able to say no to the dips and desserts. Well, by party number two, my will power went to hang out with the spinach and kale at the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge.

It was a gradual downward slope. I started tasting the dips by dipping spinach leaves in them instead of crackers, chips, or bread. My older brother even stated, “You know the spinach doesn’t make that Reuben dip healthy, right?” Yeah, I know; it made me feel less terrible about myself though.

Well, it’s late afternoon of Christmas Day, and it doesn’t matter how I try to sugarcoat it. My body hates me. My stomach is in fact sugarcoated with so much dense and rich food. It tasted so so nice at the time. I couldn’t get past the guilt though to fully enjoy it, and I’m definitely not enjoying it now.

Currently, I feel bloated, moody, tired, and my skin is breaking out like crazy. Also, WWIII might be taking place in my abdomen based on the implosions I keep feeling and hearing.

Anyways, enough with the self-loathing. My brother and sister-in-law contributed to my stockpile of cookware presents that everyone kindly got me this year. They got me an immersible hand blender. I will be using it daily for the next week as a lot of recovery juicing will be happening.

This is my first hand-blended creation:

Ingredients:

• fresh pineapple chunks
• green grapes
• raw spinach leaves
• water
• agave nectar

It took a couple of minutes to create and was and is exactly what I need to recover from this Christmas cheer.

Here are some articles on how your diet affects your skin and mood:

• The Best Diets for Your Skin
  
• The Food and Mood Connection

The Eve of Finals Week

What do you make to ease your finals-week woes? Candy Cane Kisses Pancakes, yo.

They take five minutes to make and eat – a small amount of the time you already don’t have to spare.

I used Bob’s Red Mill whole grain pancake mix because we ran out of our usual gluten free kind. Use coconut oil to heat the skillet. Add non-dairy coconut milk (Kroger’s) and place a couple kisses on top. Press them down as they melt before flipping. Once cooked, it’s like they’re pancakes with Christmas cheer as filling.

So happy. They helped me complete this professional writing portfolio before beginning another paper.

Yay, skewl.

Really though, one of my favorite people recently reminded me that I’m extremely blessed to have access to formal education. Even though all I want to do is cook, write about it, teach and take fitness classes, and travel to learn how others do it, school has helped me realize that, and so I should be grateful.

I am grateful. It’s just finals week, but we can do it.

Curry Chicken and Asparagus

This was one of the last meals I was planning on trying out over Thanksgiving break. It was supposed to be a toasted sesame seed dish, but I didn’t have the right ingredients available at my parents’ house. So I used what was at hand, and it turned into a curry dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 uncooked chicken breasts
• 1 bunch raw asparagus
• curry powder
• 1 1/2 portabello mushrooms
• 1/4 onion chopped
• 1 handful raw almonds
• coconut oil

Directions:

• boil the chicken in water with curry powder
• chop chicken into bite sizes
• wash and chop asparagus into thirds
• wash and dice mushrooms
• chop onion
• heat pan with coconut oil (1/2 tbsp)
• cook asparagus, mushrooms, onion, and almonds with curry for 5-7 minutes until well sauteed but not completely cooked
• throw in the chicken and mix
• cook for about 3 more minutes
• remove from heat and serve over raw spinach or rice

Curry to taste. I used about 2 tsp collectively in the chicken and the final dish.

My parents, brother, and sister-in-law tried it out at our third Thanksgiving dinner. They all said they enjoyed it, but my sister-in-law added a bit of salt. No hurt feelings here; it’s all a learning adventure. Nom.

Tips to Stay Healthy on Thanksgiving

Don’t skip breakfast ever but especially not on a Holiday – get your metabolism going first thing and prevent over-indulgence

Move instead of napping directly after the meal – go play outside with your nieces and nephews (what I’ll be doing), start a bit of wine-induced dancing, help clean up, get the giggles flowing with some crazy stories or board games (ab workout yeahhh,) take the dogs out, or anything to burn some calories and support the digestion process instead of killing over on the couch

Don’t deprive yourself – try the things you want and don’t be ashamed or guilty to indulge a bit. Just try to keep portions small

Eat slowly – take your time and allow your body to realize when it’s full instead of shocking it into a food coma

Send leftovers home with loved ones – be weary of any Nana’s with similar intentions. Before you know it, you’ll be taking home her entire crockpot of leftover cream cheese mashed potatoes and a whole pecan pie

Get right back on track with your next meal – that night, shoot for lean and green. As always, I suggest some variation of a spinach salad

Kick the anxiety and be thankful – focus on the good people, times, and stories. A wise woman in my life challenged me to interview and document interactions with members of my family over Thanksgiving break. Ask your grandparents, aunts, cousins, and friends questions about their histories and present lives. Be engaged and document; be reflective and thankful.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, ya’ll.

Bacon Brussels Sprouts

This is one of the healthy Thanksgiving side dish recipes I previously mentioned. I never cook meat, so I’m trying to branch out a bit. Here, I experimented with turkey bacon.

I love Brussels sprouts, but I know many don’t. So, I figured the bacon addition would maybe draw in some converts.

I followed this recipe that calls for maple syrup and cream. I used Trader Joe’s ginger syrup and nondairy coconut milk instead. I was pleased with the results and many of my friends said they were tasty. Even some that aren’t Brussels sprout fans said this dish wasn’t too terrible.

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of frozen Brussels sprouts
• A pack of turkey bacon
• 1/4 cup maple or ginger syrup
• 1/8 cup coconut milk
• Ground black pepper
• Coconut oil

Directions:

• Cook the bacon and set aside onto paper towels to absorb the grease
• If using whole sprouts, cut into halves
• Sauté the sprouts in the same pan add a bit of coconut oil if there isn’t much remaining bacon grease
• After about 8-10 minutes, reduce heat by half and add the syrup, milk, bacon, and pepper
• After a couple of minutes, remove from heat and enjoy

Autumn Couscous Salad

Another Great Side Dish for Thanksgiving

This is the recipe that I followed. I use the word “followed” very loosely. I only used two of its ingredients – butternut squash and pearl couscous. The rest I kind of experimented with.

Ingredients:

• pearl couscous
• dry split peas (same amount as what you cooked of the couscous)
• one medium butternut squash
• one can of black beans
• three Roma tomatoes
• curry spice
• ground black pepper
• coconut butter/oil

Directions:

• Slice the squash in two
• Spread 1/2 tbsp of coconut butter/oil onto each half and roast rind facing up
• Cook the couscous and split peas together with curry spice, black pepper, and a 1/2 tbsp of coconut butter/oil
• Remove from heat and add the rinsed black beans
• Slice the tomatoes and the roasted butternut squash and mix into the dish
• Serve as either a warm or cold salad

Next Time:

• I will definitely add in the dried cranberries – in place of the tomatoes – and diced onion that I left out from the recipe I was following

2 Ingredient Cookies – Bananas & Oats

Bananas and Oats – that’s it.

These are made at our house at least once a week. If you have a couple bananas, some oatmeal sitting around, and maybe an exam the next day that’s getting you down, then you have everything required to enjoy these yummy and light cookies.

They’re also versatile. If you have people around that would consider it a travesty to call something made of banana and oatmeal a cookie, you can throw in some tasty but possibly less healthy additions to get them hooked. I’ve used shredded coconut, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, almonds, walnuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), pumpkin puree, and several spices like apple pie spice, cinammon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice. My absolute favorite additions are dark chocolate chips, coconut, and pepitas.

They’re seriously ridiculously easy to make, and would be the perfect last minute Thanksgiving dessert dish.

Pinterest led me to Lauren’s recipe the first time. Here’s what her cookie process looked like:

(Photo Cred: The Burlap Bag)

Directions:

• Peel and fork-mash two bananas
• Combine a cup of old fashioned oats
• Add more oats if too liquidy
• Add any additions (I suggest the dark chocolate chips and coconut)
• Oven to 350 and grease pan with oil of choice – I suggest coconut oil
• Spoon the mix onto the pan and cook for about 15 minutes or until golden on the edges and firm throughout
• Nom (Enjoy)

With add ins, we usually get about ten medium-sized cookies. I do always eat about three spoonfuls of the mix before it even reaches the oven though, so maybe it’s closer to thirteen or fourteen servings.

If sticking with just the two basic ingredients of bananas and oats, I suggest adding pumpkin spice or apple pie spice to give it more flavor. They’re definitely still good on their own though.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

Unfortunately, I ate this in a day. By myself. Fortunately, it’s low cal. It was still a problem. I used this recipe, but as per usual, I tweaked it a bit. It calls for fat free cream cheese. I substituted normal cream cheese for this milk-free imitation cream cheese made – yes, of tofu. Ew, right? Imitation? Tofu? Didn’t think it could get worse than fat free taste? Well, Tofutti imitation cream cheese has to be worse right? Wrong. It was wonderful and fun to try out. Different, yes, but I ate it all in a day though remember? I would have chopped up the kitchen table to dip in it if I had run out of apple slices. It’s that kind of good.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 container of Tofutti Cream Cheese (Kroger’s)
• 1 container fat free whipped topping
• 1/4 c organic powdered sugar (Kroger’s)
• 1/2 can of pumpkin purée or to taste
• 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice or to taste

Directions:

• Combine the cream cheese, whipped cream, and pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth
• Add powdered sugar and pumpkin spice to taste
• Refrigerate and serve cool with apple slices, graham crackers, or cookies

The recipe calls for a stand mixer. I used a whisk, and it worked fine. Also, I liked the flavor before adding powder sugar, but my roommates disagreed. The same goes for the pumpkin puree. I liked it more pumpkiney, but add both according to your preferred taste.

Southwestern Stuffed Mushrooms

This is the first installment of my Holiday Recipes. In pursuit of contributing some healthier dishes to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner, last night I tested out these stuffed mushrooms. My sister-in-law makes incredible ones every year, but these Southwestern Stuffed Mushrooms are going to rival hers come Thanksgiving dinner as a lighter yet hearty version.

My stuffed mushrooms turned out to be exactly that – hearty and light.

Ingredients:

• 2 packs of brown mushrooms (Aldi)
• 1/3 c pearl couscous
• 1/2 c split peas
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 roma tomato
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 yellow/red bell pepper
• 1/4 c salsa of choice
• 1 tsp round curry
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

• After washing the mushrooms, cut the tops off but save the stems
• On a greased pan (coconut oil), pepper mushrooms and bake at 350 for 10 minutes
• Cook the couscous and split peas together with a 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil, 1 tsp ground curry, and 1 tsp of ground black pepper
• Remove from heat and add the black beans and chopped tomato
• Dice up the mushroom stems and the bell pepper
• Saute the stems and bell pepper in coconut oil, a dash of ground curry, and chopped garlic
• Add the couscous/split pea/black beans mix, 1/4 c salsa of your choice, and the lemon juice and cook for a couple more minutes
• Stuff the mushrooms with the mix
• Depending on how long the mushrooms have been out of the oven, either serve immediately while hot or rewarm the stuffed mushrooms in the oven

If dairy is not an issue or concern, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top and serve

Next Time:

I’m going to try a different type of shroom that is bigger with more space for the stuffing and packed with more nutty flavor.

If you don’t like mushrooms, I get it. I used to hate the texture and what I thought was a lack of taste. I pride myself on being willing to always try new things, and my goal in life is to find a way to prepare all vegetables in some form that I enjoy and is still healthy. Mushrooms have been conquered as I now love them. Beets are next on the list for me. What I’m saying is that you should still give these a try. Trying new foods or giving them second and third chances shows that you’re a kind and creative person. I don’t really know if that’s true, but I’m telling you to still do it; give these babies a tryyyy.