Hey all!
I took a little bit of a break from the blog and I also traveled to the Dominican Republic! I will be back to blogging this week! I am still trying to make healthier food changes, trying to not eat fast food and processed foods although I am not perfect. I have Dominican Republic foods to share with you as well as more healthy recipes that I’ve been making!
I was also thinking of doing this:
Thoughts? Questions?
❤ Shel
Well I ate McDonalds. It was late and I hadn’t eaten and was on the road from Indianapolis to Chicago. I had a chicken sandwich and a few chicken nuggets (and a few fries). I wasn’t exactly excited about it but I’m not going to dwell on it either, life happens sometimes.
Went grocery shopping at Trader Joes yesterday and all I bought were fresh produce and proteins, I didn’t even look at the tempting frozen meal isles for anything I might want. I’m even switching Monkey over to whole grain pancakes (I make a big batch and freeze them in portions for him because I’m that awesome).
Although I did eat fast food I have also eaten some healthy stuff too.
I made a healthier egg salad over greens. I substituted some of the mayonnaise with sour cream, it was yummy.
I also whipped up a healthier version of chicken fried rice by substituting in brown rice (you can’t even tell the difference) and loading up on the veggies with onion, carrots, celery, scallions, red bell peppers. I was pretty pleased with it considering I normally buy frozen fried rice from Trader Joes because making it myself I know exactly what’s in it.
Questions? Thoughts? Want full recipes?
❤ Shel
I know this is a food and health blog partly made up of my glutinous food endeavors but I just wanted to make a quick post to acknowledge that 2 years ago today I went on my first date with a chef I call Monkey. We went out for sushi and we were both literally crying real tears from laughter. Love you. (Feel free to insert eye rolls). ❤ LGITW
As always, questions? Thoughts?
❤ Shel
Part two of sharing some party food ideas. I tried to have mostly every ingredient I used for the whole party food spread to be non processed but I’m still learning. I will warn you that two items include a small amount of bacon, hey it’s a party after all! Sorry about the picture quality in advance 😉
Baked Kale Chips
This stuff is so yummy, crunchy, and healthy! And easy! So much better for you than a bag of fatty potato chips.
Kale (stalks removed)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (regular olive oil is fine too)
S&P (salt & pepper)
Preheat oven to 275′ Spread torn kale on to a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, toss, bake around 20-25 mins until crisp. I taste for seasoning before serving, you may need to add a small sprinkling of salt.
Parmesan Bacon and Scallion Frittata
This is a great base recipe to add whatever you like or have on hand, I change my frittatas all the time but I made this particular version on that day.
Eggs- 8
Low Fat Milk (or any milk)- splash
Grated Parmesan Cheese- 1/2 c
Bacon- cooked, diced, 2-3 slices
Scallions- 2-3 bunches, thinly sliced
S&P
Butter
Olive oil
While the bacon is cooking mix together eggs, milk, S&P, parmesan, and scallions. Add a dap of butter and a light drizzle of olive oil to a pan. Add cooked bacon to egg mixture. When pan is hot and butter begins to foam add egg mixture, cover, cook on med-high heat around 20 minutes until top is set.
I normally slice mine like a pie and it’s great with some dressed greens but I cut it into small squares and topped with a dab of low fat sour cream for an appetizer style. Yes, there’s bacon but this made around 36 pieces so 3 pieces of bacon divided among 36 didn’t seem so bad, feel free to substitute turkey bacon. Once you get into the habit of making frittatas you will make them all the time, great for clearing out your fridge and this method gives you the freedom to clamp a lid on and walk away for 20 minutes instead of transferring from stovetop to oven.
Bacon Cremini Stuffed Mushrooms with Feta and Goat Cheese
Mushrooms-stems removed
Crumbled Goat Cheese
Crumbled Feta (with or without herbs)
Bacon- cooked, diced, 2-3 slices
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
S&P
I make this simple recipe all the time for myself as a snack or side dish. I use either baby portobellos, baby creminis or the humble white button mushroom 🙂
Preheat oven to 375′ Cook bacon, drain, remove stems of mushrooms. Add mushrooms to baking sheet, drizzle oil and S&P, toss. Stuff with bacon and top with cheese. I made half with feta, half with goat. Bake around 10-15 minutes just until the mushrooms have cooked a little and cheese is melted. This was one package of mushrooms that yielded 16.
Questions? Thoughts?
❤ Shel
I threw a party over the weekend and tried to make some healthier/non processed food options. It turned out great, there was no food left! I wish I took better pictures!
These veggie cups are so cute! I like how everyone got their own individual cup as well. I used a lite ranch, blue cheese would be great too. I just cut up carrots, cucumber and celery.
Baked Rosemary Chips
•Potatoes
•Extra Virgin Olive Oil (regular olive oil is fine too)
•Dried Rosemary
•S&P (salt & pepper)
Slice potatoes thinly using a mandolin, slicer or by hand (these were done by hand). Brush baking sheets with olive oil, line potatoes, brush potatoes with olive oil, S&P. Bake at 375′ 15-20 mins. When they’re hot I sprinkled them with dried rosemary and a coarse salt.
This is a good starter recipe that can be played with so many ways. Adding fresh parsley instead of rosemary with a blue cheese dipping sauce, adding cayenne pepper to make them spicy, adding thyme, endless possibilities!
I’ll share more of what I made coming up.
Questions? Thoughts?
❤ Shel
So I have been trying since the completing the Master Cleanse to ease out processed foods or at least eliminate most. Processed foods, however, are sneaky little buggers lurking everywhere. I was disappointed to find that the 100% whole wheat English muffins I purchased had 26 ingredients! I’ve never really spent much time looking at ingredient lists of foods I buy. I was also disappointed to find that frozen shrimp with lime and cilantro I bought from Trader Joes had a laundry list of ingredients, may of which sounded more like complicated chemicals than food. You would think that some shrimp skewers with lime and herbs you grill would seem healthy enough right? I’m really going to have to pay more attention to labels from now on. I went grocery shopping at Trader Joes again tonight and everything I bought was fresh, I didn’t even go through the frozen aisles or bagged items aisle. I’m throwing a party this weekend and I’m making a handful of appetizers, I’m pretty sure none of them include anything processed, I will share what I made this weekend 😉
Here’s a link to a great blogger about processed foods:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/
My yummy dinner: Salad of baby spinach, mushrooms, avocado, goat cheese, evoo and lemon juice, a hardboiled egg and sautéed sugar snap peas and red vino!
Questions? Comments?
❤ Shel
Since the Master Cleanse I still have not eaten any fast food! I made a remake of McDonalds Egg McMuffin!
Remake Egg McMuffin
These are great for freezing too, I made 10 and individually froze them. Really good for a quick eat, on the go, when you’re lazy, tired, etc. Just wrap in paper towel and microwave for 1 min.
Toast English muffins. Cook Canadian bacon in dry skillet about 3 mins per side. Spray a muffin tin with non stick cooking spray. Crack egg whites into a muffin tin, add s&p (salt & pepper) Bake at 350′ for around 12 mins until set. I had the ingredients all going simultaneously. While the eggs cook, you can cook the Canadian bacon while toasting the English muffins. I ran a knife around the edges of egg whites for easy removal and they all came out easily.
Gather ready ingredients for assembly
Assemble and eat or let cool and wrap and freeze!
The facts:
McDonalds Egg McMuffin Remake Egg McMuffin
Calories: 290 Calories: 209
Fat: 12g Fat: 4.5g
Cholesterol: 260mg Cholesterol: 20mg
Protein: 17g Protein: 21.3g
You could reduce this even more by:
I think they taste good too, I wouldn’t eat it if I didn’t. Monkey likes them too, they’re great for a quick bite for him after a late night of work (chefs work long, late hours) or a quick bite for him before work.
McDonalds Egg McMuffin is actually their best sandwich as it is compared to their others. Their biscuit and bagel sandwiches range from mid 400 calories up to 1090 calories.
Now if I could make a healthy Big Mac that actually tastes the same………hmmm…..
Questions? Comments? Thoughts?
❤ Shel
So the Chick Fil A dinner party was canceled, phew! Poor Monkey accidentally soaked his contacts in Bactine disinfectant overnight instead of contact solution resulting in no fun the next day when he put them in his eyes. So he canceled due to his burning, swollen eyes. Although I might not have looked so weird after all with him wearing sunglasses there at night.
I realized that trying to eat low fat while your boyfriend has a bowl of hollandaise and a bowl of clarified butter in the fridge could possibly pose as a challenge. A few nights ago he made me salmon poached in white wine with a blood orange hollandaise (yum) and the leftovers have been staring at me in the fridge now. As a result I made this and it was so good I could drool thinking about it.
Sautéed garlic spinach topped with a paprika poached egg and blood orange hollandaise. There are few things in life that get me more excited than a runny egg yolk. Like for real. Okay, maybe bone marrow.
Went out to dinner last night for the first time since the sushi post Master Cleanse, I did well. I looked at the restaurant’s nutritional facts before going and picked the lowest calorie entrée that sounded good to me: Grilled chicken with a mushroom sauce and broccoli and potatoes. Plus I only ate half of it. I did not partake in the giant nacho tower that was ordered as an appetizer. I was going to get a steak but I would’ve ordered in with a gorgonzola cheese glaze and I knew that would be like over 300 more calories. No dessert (never do anyway) wine was my dessert 😉
I’ve been changing around some recipes to make them healthier, I’ll be posting some. I also started buying low fat items vs regular which I’ve never done before. Just trying to be healthier overall. Oh, and I haven’t had pop since the cleanse either (I used to have one Pepsi a day). I haven’t worked out since the sad yoga attempt, I promise I’ll go do that right now!
Questions? Comments? Requests?
❤ Shel
So Monkey has a friend who is married with 3 kids (two twin toddlers!) I have never met this friend (I don’t think he gets out much). So he invited us over for dinner and said he would “order a big spread from Chick Fil A”
Why this is a problem is that since coming off of the Master Cleanse I have not eaten fast food (nor do I want to) and I’m also trying to eat as little processed and high fat foods as I can as well.
But since I have never met these people I don’t want to:
“What happened to my girlfriend who used to love Big Macs?”
– Monkey
Help! Advice? Thoughts?
❤ Shel
My appetite is still small but my headache since coming off the cleanse is finally gone! I had freshly squeezed oj and for lunch a hardboiled egg and some raw cherry tomatoes and hummus. A friend came over and attempted to teach me yoga haha I stink but hey, at least I tried (kind of). We took a short walk as well to a record store. My plan for dinner was to make a salad at the salad bar a grocery store near me has but it took forever to dig my car out of the snow and by the time I got there the bar was closed 
So I made breakfast for dinner, I didn’t eat a large amount I find myself getting full a lot faster than before the cleanse. If you haven’t noticed I eat a lot of eggs! Love them all ways.
Have any of your favorite healthy recipes to share?
Questions?
❤ Shel
Foodie ditches food 