Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Last Week of Veggies

My jar of dill pickles. First time making pickles,
hope they turn out.....?

August is quickly coming to a close, can you believe it. This means we are approaching fall and the harvest season, my favorite time of the year. I love fall.

I hope this month's challenge has been good for you. You have found some new veggies you like, different ways of cooking them and improving your health along the way.

To go out with a bang this month, try eating fresh produce, either veggies or fresh local fruit with every meal. Every time you eat, you should have some veggies or fruit with your meal.

Stay tuned and on your toes because September is around the corner, which means a whole new challenge to help you achieve a healthier body.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

August Challenge: Lime, Fish and Shrimp Tacos

Well, how has your challenge gone so far? Finding new veggies you like? New Recipes? I sure hope so. If not, I am here to help!

I know it is fish and many people do not like fish, but I have had many people who do not like fish who really enjoy this dish and ask for the recipe. Give it a try.

What you need for the marinade:
White fish, I used talapia
Shrimp
Zest and juice of 2-3 limes
Minced garlic, 3-4 cloves
Small Shallot minced
White wine, either sweet or dry ( you can also use white wine vinegar)
Thyme, fresh is best, but you can use dried. Several sprigs of fresh or several good shakes of dried
Sea salt and pepper

Other ingredients I used:
Bell peppers
Onions
Spicy peppers
Lettuce for "taco shell"
Any other taco like items you like to put on, like guacamole, sour cream, cheese

What to do:
Mix together all of the ingredients except fish and shrimp for marinade, together in a bowl or shallow dish. Place fish and shrimp into the mixture and shake it around and allow to marinate 1 hour to over night, the longer the better. Bake the fish in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until it is firm and cooked to your liking. Saute the shrimp in a pan on the stove with butter, or you can do it in the oven with the fish.

For the veggies, all the peppers and onions, I cut them in large junks and grilled them. After grilling, cut into smaller chunks if you would like, and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.






 Once everything is cooked and ready to go, assemble your taco on lettuce leafs and enjoy the fresh tasting yumminess! Doesn't that look tasty?!?! You and your family will be eating healthy, tasty food and not even realize it.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's many blessing,
Jenn

Monday, August 12, 2013

August Recipe... Squash Ravioli

How is August's Challenge going of adding more fresh produce? I hope it is going well. If you need ideas, be sure to check out Tuesday Recipe Posts because many of them have fresh produce in them. For this week, I thought I would give you a new recipe! It has been awhile. As a mark of goodness, it is Hublet approved.

Beings that August is all about veggies and last month we gave up grains for a time, here is a ravioli recipe. Instead of pasts, I used yellow zucchini squash as the "ravioli" and inside is meat and several fresh veggies. As a fare warning, this recipe does take some time to make, so I will give you an easier version as the end, no excuses.

What you need:
1 lb of ground beef, can us any type of ground meat
1 medium to large zucchini or 2-3 small ones
4-5 garlic cloves
1/4 to 1/2 onion
3-4 small ripe tomatoes
small bunch of fresh basil or to taste, dried use several tsp
sea salt and pepper to taste
splash or two of balsamic vinegar
3 medium to large red peppers
olive oil

Method:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place red peppers on a baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper, makes clean up much easier. Once the oven is heated, put the peppers into the oven. About every 10-15 minutes, rotate peppers until all sides of the pepper skin begin to pull away from the flesh of the pepper. Some of the skin will be blackened, but the flesh will not be.

Take the peppers out of the oven and allow to cool until you can touch them. Remove the skin, steam, seeds and any bad spots you find once you open up the pepper. Put the pepper into a blender and blend with salt, pepper and several drizzles of olive oil until smooth. Place into a small sauce pan and keep warm.
While the peppers are roasting, chop or put garlic, tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, balsamic and ground beef into a food processor, mix well until everything is chopped and mixed. If chopping, mix all of the same ingredients well after chopped. Allow this mixture to sit while you prepare the zucchini.
Pill the zucchini. If it is larger, slice in half. Use either a peeler or mandoline to thinly slice the zucchini. I have found with a large zucchini, slicing it in half gives you long enough slices to roll the meat in it. Once all thinly sliced, lay out 2-4 slices. If they are wider, I used two, if thinner, I used 4. If using 4, weave together, if 2, make a cross.


Put a dollop of meat in the center of the zucchini.


Then, alternate the ends over the top of the meat dollop until rolled up. Lay them on a baking sheet, again with parchment paper with the folded side down so it does not come unraveled.


Once the peppers are out of the oven, put the ravioli in. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how thick they are and how done you like your meat.
Take out of the oven and serve with the roasted red pepper sauce over the top and enjoy knowing you are feeding yourself and your family a healthy, fresh meal!

I served mine with this salad.
tomatoes
mozzarella cheese
olive oil
fresh basil
balsamic vinegar
fresh lemon
salt and pepper






A faster way to make this ravioli:
I would still roast the red peppers. Follow the instruction above for that.
Dice up all the rest of the produce. Mix the meat and produce together and put into a baking dish. Cover and cook until the meat is finished. Should take about 15-20. Drizzle the roasted red pepper sauce over the top and enjoy!

I hope you find this recipe tasty like we do.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's abundant blessings,
Jenn


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

August Is All About Veggies

Can you believe it, another month has already passed? Man time flies when you are having fun.

August's challenge is going to be much easier than some of them we have already done, like July's challenge of eliminating processed sugars. August's challenge is all about veggies!

If you have been reading my blog for any time, you know I am a big fan of veggies. I do believe they are important for us and foods we need. My opinion on the amounts and reasons has changed over the years and learning more. That is one of the great things about learning, or down falls of learning, you grow and opinions change. The humbling part is you have to be big enough to realize you were wrong or misguided in your thinking, and have to admit that.

For me, I love veggies, especially in season ones. The best are from my garden. Nothing like going out and picking fresh produce and eating it. Veggies provide our bodies with many nutrients. With that all being said, I am not a fan of vegetarian/vegan diets, nor will I promote them. If you were thinking that is where this month's challenge was going to go, of being a vegetarian or vegan, it is not. I do encourage you to eat more in season, properly prepared veggies, if they are right for your body, but not to become a vegetarian or vegan. If you choose to do so, obviously it is your choice and you need to do what you believe is best for your body and allow others to do the same for theirs.

The first week's challenge:
Go to a farmers market this week(end) and pick up some fresh, locally grown produce.
The second part, try eating one to two servings of veggies a day. If you already do this, then eat more.

Remember, with your veggies, be sure to eat healthy fat with them, like butter. The reason for this, butter will make your veggies taste better, more importantly, the vitamins and minerals from veggies are best used by the body in the presence of fat. Without the fat, our bodies can not fully unlock the power of all those veggies. I heard a quote from Sally Fallon one time and it went something like this, it is not the broccoli that is healthy for you. It is the butter you put on the broccoli that is healthy for you.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time!
God's many blessings,
Jenn