Happy Insides

Recently we decided to give up refined carbs and refined sugar. This has not been an easy task. Especially when it comes to treats. Cassie is a big sweets fan and not being able to eat a lot of the treats out there has made her turn to baking more often. Cassie found this recipe on The Mess Pot for Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookie Bars. The recipe looked great and we felt that with some tweaking we could come up with a great adaptation of this recipe. We decided to make it into cookies rather than cookie bars for the main reason that the two of us don't need to eat a pan of cookies bars. With cookies we could bake just a few at a time and freeze the rest for future use.

To make these more friendly to our new food rules we swapped all purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour, sugar for evaporated cane juice, and brown sugar for sucanat. For the pretzels make sure you get a whole grain variety.

These were definitely delicious and we are going to be making them again in the future. Especially since we have a large bag of cookie dough in the freezer.




Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
Source: The Mess Pot (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 c. sucanat
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 bag organic chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. whole grain mini pretzel twists chopped
1/4 c. peanut butter

1) pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2) in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, bkaing soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter, evaporated cane juice and sucanat at medium speed until well mixed and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. On a low speed beat in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.

3) Place 1 T. balls of dough on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

4) You can either melt the pb a little a drizzle it over the cookies or you can just put a small dollop of pb on top of each cookie.

Read More......

We have been seeing a ton of recipes for various types of lettuce wraps lately. We decided to give it a go and see if we could come up with a good recipe of our own. What resulted was a spicy and sweet meal that was definitely a crowd pleaser...or at least a Jason and Cassie pleaser. Both of us were very happy with how the meal turned out and certainly plan to make it again. You cook the chicken ahead of time in the crock pot making this meal not only really tasty, but also very simple.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Makes 4 servings
1-1.5 lbs. skinless chicken thighs (bone-in)
2 c. low sodium stock
3 T. low sodium soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
1 t. dried ginger
1 t. cumin
1/8 t. cayenne
1 t. sucanat
1 T. canola oil
1 c. mushrooms diced
1 c. green bell peppers diced
1/2 c. carrots diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 c. cooked brown rice
1 T. all natural peanut butter
2 T. Siracha
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. low sodium soy sauce
8-12 large romaine lettuce leaves cleaned and dried

1) in the morning ahead of time put the first 8 ingredients into the crock pot and let cook on low for 8 hours. Chicken should be moist and will shred easily. Remove the bones and shred the chicken.

2) heat canola oil in a medium pan and saute the mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots and garlic until tender.

3) Meanwhile whisk together the peanut butter, Siracha, rice vinegar and soy sauce.

4) Add the rice and chicken to the pan with the vegetables and mix well. Add the sauce and heat for a minute.

5) Serve the chicken and rice mixture on a plate with 2-3 lettuce leaves per person.

Read More......

One day at work Cassie noticed a stack of discarded Food Network Magazines and decided to grab them to see if there were any hidden jewels. Among them we found a recipe for these Chicken Salad pitas that sounded like a great, fresh, summer dinner. We decided to go ahead and make them this week. After the grocery shopping had been done, we realized that we'd forgotten to get pitas from the store. An oversight for sure, but not one that we let get in the way of our meal. We are both pretty adept at making bread like recipes for things like tortillas, nan and pizza dough. We have most bread recipe staples in our pantry so we hit the internet and found a great recipe for Whole Wheat pitas to go with it.

The pita recipe is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that we found on the Planet Green Website. Give yourself about 2.5-3 hours before you want to eat to make the pitas as they need time to rise. Other than the rising time they are very simple and delicious.

Whole Wheat Pitas
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 package (2 1/4 t.) active dry yeast
1 1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil + 1t.
1/2 t. honey
3 c. whole wheat flour +more for dusting
2 t. salt (I probably only used 1 t.)

1) Pour water into a bowl. Add yeast olive oil and honey. Allow yeast to bloom until it begins to foam, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and salt. Knead dough for about 5 minutes until round smooth and elastic. I used our Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook, but by hand would work fine as well. Grease the bottom of a clean bowl with olive oil and press the dough into the bottom greasing the entire ball of dough. Cover the dough and sit aside in a relatively warm place. Allow dough to rise for 2 hours till it has doubled in size.

2) Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead it by hand until it is round and smooth. Divide the dough into 16 2 ounce balls. Cover and allow to rise for another 20 minutes.

3) Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees and place an overturned baking sheet or a baking stone on the middle rack.

4) When the dough is done rising roll out the dough on a clean work surface that is dusted with more flour. Each pita should be about 6 inches in diameter. Place as many pitas onto the baking pan in the oven and allow to bake for about 2 minutes until it starts to bubble. Remove with a metal spatula and repeat with the remaining dough.

5) Serve warm or room temperature.

Chicken Salad Pita with Baba Ghanoush
Adapted from Food Network Magazine
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 sprig rosemary leaves
3-4 leaves of fresh basil chopped
3/4 t. red pepper flakes
2 T. canola oil
2 cloves garlic minced.
Kosher salt or sea salt
1 T. olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c. grape tomatoes halved
1 cucumber chopped
Fresh ground black pepper
4 pocketless pitas
1/2 c. baba ghanoush
2 c. coarsely chopped romaine lettuce or spinach

1) Whisk the vinegar, rosemary, basil, oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt to taste a shallow dish. Add the chicken and let marinate for at least 30 minutes
2) Mix the tomatoes, cucumbers salt and pepper in a bowl. Drizzle with 1 T. of olive oil
3) Grill Chicken until cooked through 2-3 minutes per side. Cut into 1/2 inch thick strips. Toss with the vegetables.
4) Place a pita on each plate. Brush with baba ghanoush. Top with lettuce and the chicken salad.

This really was a very enjoyable meal and we will definitely be making this again. Hope you enjoy it.

Read More......

We recently joined a CSA like organization called Door to Door Organics that delivers mostly local organic produce to your house once a week. This was week 2 and so far we are enjoying the fresh produce we have been getting. It is so much fun to try to plan meals around what you will be getting in your box every week. This week we got kale, celery, carrots, and fresh basil among other things. Jason came up with the idea to make a soup using these ingredients. Cassie had recently seen a recipe for a sausage, potato and kale soup on the main web-page of eatingwell.com (but didn't look at the recipe). We decided to make something like that and ended up creating our very own and very delicious soup. It had some great flavors and the yams added such a nice hint of sweetness. Next time we will probably add some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to give the soup some spice. I am adding red pepper flakes to the recipe because I think they will be a great addition

Sausage, Yam and Kale Soup
1 T. olive oil
3 carrots diced
3 celery stalks diced
1/2 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
6 c. low sodium beef broth
1 yam diced
1 bunch kale chopped
4 turkey Italian Sausages
2 T. chopped fresh basil or 1 t. dried
1/2 t. rosemary
1 t. oregano
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper

1) Remove the turkey sausages from their casings and brown in a pan over medium. Crumble the meat to be like ground burger.
2) Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the carrots, celery and onion until tender about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for another minute or two.
3) Place the sauteed vegetable and the remaining ingredients in a crockpot and put on low heat for 8 hours.

This really was so simple. There was lots of chopping to do, but everything else came together nice and easy. We used beef broth because we had some in the house, but I am sure chicken or vegetable broth would work as well.

Read More......

What the heck is biscuits and gravy doing on a healthy eating blog? Well we both firmly believe that a healthy lifestyle contains the occasional unhealthy food. Splurging once in awhile helps keep you from feeling deprived and then binging. Biscuits and gravy really don't need any kind of introductory hype. They're just flat-out, savory goodness. We've made basic biscuits and gravy before, then we discovered a recipe for Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits in Bon Appetite magazine, so we thought why not use those instead of your regular buttermilk variety. We adapted the recipe to include jalapenos and no chives, which added a complimentary spice.

Gravy (found at: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbiscuitsandgravy.html)

½ lb. ground breakfast sausage.
2 T. butter
4 T. all purpose flour
3 c. cold milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You'll need it to make the roux...

You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste.

Cheddar, Bacon, and Jalapeno Biscuits (adapted from Bon Appetit, Feb. 2010)
Makes 6 biscuits

3 thick-cut bacon slices
2 cups bread flour
3/4 T. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chilled, unsalted butter,
cut into half inch cubes
1 jalapeno, minced
3/4 c. chilled buttermilk

Position rack just above center of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels and drain, then chop coarsely.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in processor. Add butter cubes. Blend until coarse meal forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Add cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and copped bacon; toss to blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).

Using lightly floured hands, drop generous 1/2 cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Now, split two biscuits onto each plate and pour the gravy on top.


Remember, you don't have to live in the deep South to eat like the world is going to end tomorrow, so when you're craving something that'll leave you and your dinner guests speechless, give this a try.

Servings: 3

Calories: Don't ask

Read More......

Huevos Rancheros is definitely one of our favorite meals. We both love it a lot, but it can be pretty unhealthy with a little tweaking we have been able to take Emril Lagasse's recipe for Huevos Rancheros and turn it into a meal that can be enjoyed any time and with a lot fewer calories and less unnecessary fat. We actually love to make 2 servings of this during the week and then use the remaining ranchero sauce and make 2 more servings on Saturday mornings for a nice, but healthy weekend breakfast.

Huevos Rancheros
Adapted from Emril Lagasse

Ranchero sauce:
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped white onions
1 c. chopped bell pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cayenne
1 minced jalapeno (with or without seeds depending on your preference)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 c. chopped fresh tomatoes and their juices
1 c. low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
3 T. chopped cilantro

4 corn tortillas
1 c. refried beans (preferably low sodium)
2 T. butter
8 large eggs
2 oz. pepper jack cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the Ranchero sauce, in a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook stirring for 3 - 5 minutes. Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno and garlic. Cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Add the stock and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the cilantro. Cover and keep warm.

Put 1/4 of the refried beans on each tortilla and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 7-9 minutes until the tortilla is slightly crispy at the edges and the beans are warm.

In a medium skillet melt 1/2 T. of butter. Break 2 eggs into the skillet and fry until begining to set. Repeat until all eggs are cooked.

Place 2 eggs on top of each tortilla with refried beans. Top with 1/4 of the ranchero sauce and sprinkle 1/2 oz of cheese on top.

Server immediately.

Read More......

We tried this dish for the first time this week and it was SO good. We found it in the cookbook "Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey" by Najmieh Batmanglij. This cookbook is one of our absolute favorites, as it has some amazing and authentic vegetarian recipes. It follows the Silk Road and you can find a variety of delicious dishes that you would never think to make. The Persian Cauliflower Kuku is no exception to that. It is a hearty meal that is much like a Spanish tortilla made using cauliflower instead of potatoes. It would be good paired with yogurt and flat bread or some quinoa.

Persian Cauliflower Kuku
Silk Road Cooking: A vegetarian journey
6 eggs
1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. flour or bread crumbs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese or fresh mozzarella shredded
1/4 c. vegetable oil, butter or ghee
1 small red onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 small head of cauliflower coarsely chopped
2 t. salt (we used less about 1 t.)
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. paprika
1/4 t. turmeric
1 green bird chili chopped or 1/8 t. cayenne
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley or basil

1. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the baking powder, flour, milk and cheese. Whisk lightly.

2. Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over low heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, cauliflower, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, chili and parsley. Stir-fry for 5-10 minutes until the cauliflower is soft.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the cauliflower in the skillet. Cook over low heat 6-12 minutes until set.

4. Place the skillet under a preheated broiler for 1-3 minutes to brown the top.

5. Serve warm of cold.

4-6 servings
300 calories per serving for 4 servings.
200 calories per serving for 6 servings.

Read More......