Massaman Curry

We went to our friend’s house this past Saturday and instead of ordering in, I said I would make curry, which we all love.
Start with a wok (mine is cheaper and from IKEA, but works great) and add oil. You can add about a tablespoon of oil…coconut, olive, or avocado all work great.
I then add spices.
Massaman curry paste that I buy at YDFM or  Buford Hwy Farmers Market. I put in a good 2 tablespoons. Then powdered lemongrass, garlic (fresh or granulated), sriachi to your liking, juice of 1 lime. You can also add shrimp paste, lime zest, kaffir lime leaf, other spicy sauce like chili paste or schezuan.

Stir and add liquid to smooth to a paste. I like homemade stock or miso broth. Add a little salt and pepper here now. Next add your veggies. I add (in this order) 5-6 cubed red potatoes and 4 diagonally sliced carrots. Let that cook, stirring regularly, then 1 head each of broccoli and cauliflower, then about two handfuls of sugar snap peas or something like that, then one whole pepper (I like red) cut in small cubes.
Cook all that and add liquid as needed to keep things “loose” when you are stirring.
Then add cubed chicken and let that cook.
Then add 1 can lite coconut milk and let cook another 5-10 minutes. I actually crushed up cashews and added shredded coconut, as I had that around.
Serve by itself or you can make rice or quinoa and eat it over that.
Add more sriachi at that time if you are my husband!
Yum!

Enjoy!! Pretty clean if you don’t use rice and just eat by itself.

Stir Fry

Stir Fry is so easy.
It is the prep that takes time, but it is one of the best ways to get a meal with tons of veggies, use up some veggies that are about to go, and get a little protein.

Tonight, made a pork stir fry. You can use chicken, shrimp, beef…whatever.

I use coconut and avocado oils to cook with, but olive oil works well too. Coconut and avocado have higher smoke points, so you can cook at high heats with little ‘burning’ on your veggies.
You can get big containers of coconut oil at Costco and avocado oil at BJs for good prices.
2-3 T oil
5 carrots, peeled and sliced on an angle
1 pepper(I used red), sliced thick
1 red onion, cubed large
1 broccoli crown, cut bottom stalk off and cut large ones in half
1 yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise and sliced thick
*save ALL scraps and start a bag in your freezer for veggie scraps (carrot peels and ends, rest of pepper, onion peels and ends, etc. We can make homemade stock later!
*and you can add more or less depending on what you have. I love mushrooms, but was out. You may want just broccoli and carrots, no biggie!

Heat up the oil in a wok or large pan on med-high.
Cook your food from hardest to softest. I started with carrots and broccoli in this case. Let that cook about 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add other veggies. I just added everything next, but mushrooms would have gone in after the next batch of veggies cooked for another 10-15 minutes.

After that, add the protein in. If you are doing pork, I did 1 large butterfly loin chop and trimmed the fat. Cut them in the center lengthwise and then did small slices.
You can do frozen chicken breast strips or frozen shrimp. I would thaw by taking out early in the day and putting about 2-3 cups in a bowl in the fridge.

Then add that protein in and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes.
Then you will add the sauce. Note that all you have added was oil at this point.
-1T fresh ground garlic
-1 t fish sauce
-1 to 2 T fresh ginger, ground. Can use powdered. This is to taste, how you like it
-1 t sesame oil
-1-2 T rice wine vinegar
-1 T balsamic vinegar
-2 T soy sauce
*can add red pepper or sriacha if you like spicy

Pour this over and mix well and then let sit for about 3-5 minutes.
Enjoy! You can make rice or quinoa or cous cous or just eat it ‘clean’ and carb free!

I threw some sliced scallions in for good measure at the end.
Serves about 6.

Chicken Artichoke Yum

Trying to get back on a cleaner eating schedule. Hard to do…so much stuff out there is fast and easy and yummy, but so filled with stuff that makes my stomach upset and just flat out isn’t good for you.
Decided to make one of my faves tonight to eat on for a few days.
3 chicken breasts, sliced
1 pkg baby Bella mushrooms, quartered
2 T capers
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
2 crowns broccoli, trimmed
Crushed garlic, about 2 T
S&P
Artichoke hearts, halved-about 2 cups

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes, covered with foil. Stir and bake for 15 minutes, covered. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

In love with spaghetti squash right now.   Wes isn’t so crazy about it.
I basically made the same lasagna I posted before but cooked it in a pan instead of the shell.   I also used organic cottage cheese (Trader Joe’s) instead of ricotta.   Soooooo recommend this swap out.
Great way to eat clean and get the feel of lasagna with no noodles.  And BONUS, Wes liked it!

Take squash and cut in half lengthwise.  Remove fleshy seeds with spoon (Helps if you cut one hard end off) put about 1T olive oil or avocado or coconut oil on skin side
Bake on cookie sheet flesh side down on 425 for 30-40 minutes.
Cook 1 lb ground turkey with 1 T avocado or coconut oil, S&P, chopped basil, minced garlic, chopped parsley, chopped onion or scallion *and you can add peppers/celery/and any other veggies you want
Scrape all squash strands out and put in bowl.
Take fresh tomato puree and put about 1 large ladlefull in bottom of lightly greased baking dish.
Place squash,  then spoonfuls of cottage cheese, then turkey mix, then part skim grated mozzarella (buy organic or the block…NEVER pregrated), then repeat another layer.  Finish with tomato sauce and part skim grated mozzarella cheese on top.
Bake on 375 for about 20 minutes until cheese is brown.

Kale Yeah!

If you look back through this blog, you will notice I. Love. Kale.

This salad is so yummy and is actually clean when you look at what goes in it.
In a small food processor (or in my case, the awesome Magic Bullet) combine the following:
1 can anchovies with oil
Zest & Juice of 1 lemon
2 T dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic
1 T water
2 T fresh parmesean cheese

Pour over cleaned,  sliced kale totaling about 6 cups (ribs removed) and let sit overnight.  Can add 1 hard boiled egg to serve or chopped tomato.

I am officially obsessed with chicken thighs

“Turtles” (as my dad used to call them) have become my new favorite thing to cook.
They are affordable, don’t dry out like breasts will, and are versatile.
Made them with veggies, ginger dressing, and other flavors in oven and served over (you guessed it, QUINOA)
5 chicken thighs
1/2 cup ginger dressing
1 T fish sauce
1 T soy sauce
1 t rice wine vinegar
Juice of one lime
Garlic powder
Variety of peppers, carrots (sliced thin), squash&zucchini,  onion, snap peas

Casserole dish and mix everything together.
Bake covered on 350° for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 30 minutes
I made quinoa with some chicken stock and added a little soy, fish sauce, and S&P
Easy. Clean. Filling. Yum.

Clean Alfredo Sauce

So I found a recipe for clean Alfredo sauce for pasta, pizza, quinoa and while it was good, I am going to work on making it a little tastier.  It was just missing ‘something’.
However, I am posting photo and recipe today and will be back in a week or so with my renovated version.
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 c chicken broth
Pinch Nutmeg
Pinch black pepper
Fresh garlic cloves, minced (I like to use a grater/zester) to equal 1 T
2 t onion powder
1/4 cup cottage cheese or Greek yogurt
2 T nutritional yeast
1 T olive oil
1 t salt

Boil broth
Add cauliflower and spices and cook about 20 minutes.  Let cool and mix in blender (I used an immersion blender).
Add cottage cheese, olive oil, salt, and yeast and blend again and heat on low for 5 minutes.
I mixed it with quinoa pasta (Trader Joe’s) and sautéed some spinach with fresh tomato and smoked salmon but you can add ground turkey or chicken and other veggies. I have also added fresh tomato puree to it for a little kick.
Again, I am going to try some other versions and will post soon.

Chicken Thighs with lemon and artichoke

This recipe could be one of my new favorites.
I had Organic boneless chicken thighs from Trader Joe’s and some artichoke hearts and LOVE lemon.   I read about a chef today who puts citrus in everything and I totally understand why as it just makes flavors POP.  I regularly add lime juice to just about any Asian, Hispanic, or Indian dish I make.
For this dish you need:
1 sliced red onion
1 sliced lemon
Juice&zest of one lemon
1 large can artichoke hearts
2-3 minced garlic cloves
***can add other veggies like peppers, broccoli, mushrooms.  I wouldn’t recommend carrots or any squash.
Olive oil
S&P
1 c chicken stock (I use homemade, but just make sure it is organic or no sodium with zero preservatives)

Place a layer of sliced red onion, artichokes, and sliced lemon in the bottom of a lightly greased baking dish.
Place chicken thighs on top and cover with remainder of veggies.
Add lemon juice and zest and garlic and stock along with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake covered with foil on 375 for about 45 minutes and then uncover and cook for another 30 minutes.

I made quinoa with chicken stock and served it over that.   Yummy!

Clean Lasagna…what?!

Made a spaghetti squash lasagna tonight.   Have been dying to try this forever.

Take squash and cut in half lengthwise.  Remove fleshy seeds with spoon (Helps if you cut one hard end off) put about 1T olive oil or avocado or coconut oil on skin side
Bake on cookie sheet flesh side down on 425 for 30-40 minutes.
Cook 1 lb ground turkey with 1 T avocado or coconut oil, S&P, chopped basil, minced garlic, chopped parsley, chopped onion or scallion *and you can add peppers/celery/and any other veggies you want
Scrape all squash strands out with fork and place in bowl.
Mix 1.5 cups part skim ricotta cheese with S&P, garlic powder, and same chopped herbs from above.
Take fresh tomato puree and put about 1T in squash “shell”.
Place squash,  then ricotta mix, then turkey mix, then repeat and put squash on top layer.  Add more tomato sauce and part skim grated mozzarella cheese on top.
Broil until cheese is brown.
CLEAN AND YUMMY!!!

Simple Summer Salad

I know summer is ending but this salad is so good and while most of these items are still in season for just a bit, I would highly recommend making it before time is up!
Measurements don’t really matter, as this salad is about personal likes and taste.
Cubed watermelon
Sliced cucumber-1 is good and I would remove seeds
Chopped tomato -I recommend homegrown or heirloom…I used pear tomatoes we grow at home
Balsamic vinegar
S&P
Crumbled unpasteurized feta cheese
Dash of xt virgin olive oil
Chopped basil or mint, either adds flavor

Combine and let marinate for a good hour before eating.