Getting Adventurous With Juice

So the green juice has become my new fave. I crave it. In fact, if I could bring the juicer to work with me, I would.

My friend told me about it and she called it green lemonade. I have been experimenting with the exact amounts, but it is basically, granny smith apple, lemon, and kale. I add a little stevia just to make it less tart. It tastes just like lemonade and is just as refreshing. Surprisingly, my daughter agreed to try it (it does not hurt that her favorite color is green) and she loves it. What a great way to get kids to eat kale!!!

The next, I am not so sure about...



Gorgeous color! This was beet, apple, and carrots. Maybe I used too much beet for my first try? I will definitely try it again but maybe alter the amounts and work up to it.

Another juice I tried but I did not take a pic was also interesting. It was grapefruit, sweet potato, apple and celery. The grapefruit was totally refreshing. The sweet potato and apple were not very noticeable. But the celery! Wow! Who knew celery had such a strong flavor?! The odd thing was the initial taste was the grapefruit and the aftertaste was all celery. Again, a little odd, but not necessarily bad.

And the experiments continue...

Chocolate Avocado Pudding...Seriously!

I have started seeing this Chocomole all over the blogs and was fascinated. It is only in the past few years that I have started eating guacamole (I was so missing out) and the thought of avocado pudding was so odd! But in my quest to eat healthier and try new things, what a perfect combination to try!

There are many different versions and I stuck to a very simple one. I also wanted it to be quick so the kids did not see what I was using!

My daughter was not a big fan, but she is not really into anything with a pudding consistency. Same goes for my husband. My son and I have been eating a little every night because it is so rich. And I like it sprinkle with some chopped peanuts. So good!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding
2 avocados
1/4 cocoa powder
7-8 dates
chocolate soy milk - I found it needed a little thinning

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Ratatouille Pizza

This is definitely a 'loose' version of ratatouille and yes my inspiration did come from the movie Ratatouille. I had some zucchini and summer squash to use up and I had taken out some whole wheat pizza dough from Hannaford. I like the dough because it has a nice chewy quality but does not seem too heavy. I usually will chop up zucchini and mix it with diced tomatoes on a pizza, but this time decided to try something prettier!



I stretched the dough and sprinkled it with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. The I took a couple of herb and garlic Laughing Cow cheese wedges and smeared those on the dough. Then I layered the tomatoes, summer squash and zucchini. More salt, pepper and garlic. Then into the oven.

About half way through baking, I moved the pizza to the top rack and added some fresh mozzarella cheese. Baked until melted and yum! I meant to make a quick salad to go with it but was too hungry!

Chicken Finger Basket at Home

My children love chicken fingers. I hate that they love fried food! Well, don't we all, but I am trying to teach them that most things are good in moderation and some things are for once in awhile.

This summer in the Boston area has been pretty rainy and cool so far. I felt like we were in need of a little comfort food that was still easy and healthy.

Bring on the chicken finger basket. I cut up boneless chicken breasts into strips and breaded with seasoned panko bread crumbs. After a brief "fry" in a little olive oil on the stove, I finished cooking them in the oven. This way they get that nice browned crunch but are cooked through without getting too dark.



On the side, I used the mandoline to cut some potatoes into fries. I tossed them in a little olive oil, sprinkles with salt, pepper and garlic and baked them until tender inside and crispy outside.


So yummy and much healthier!

On the Side

I find summer cooking so easy. Throw something on the grill and while waiting mix up some summer veggies for a fresh side dish.

The first one I made to go along with burgers and corn on the cob. It is a combination of recipes I have seen but as usual, I just keep adding and tasting until I am happy with the result.



Bulgur Wheat Salad
* cooked bulgur wheat
* chopped grape tomatoes
* chopped cucumber
* feta
* chopped kalamata olives
* fresh lemon juice
* olive oil
* salt
* pepper
* white balsamic vinegar

Definitely better after sitting over night.



The following night we were having chicken and I had some leftover corn on the cob. Since my children are both missing teeth and we have to cut the corn off the cob anyway, I decided to use the corn with some other veggies in the fridge.



Corn and Veggie Salad
* corn
* chopped shallot
* chopped red pepper
* chopped tomato
* chopped zucchinni
* salt
* pepper
* cajun seasoning
* fresh lime juice

Saute all the veggie together until tender and season to taste.

Recently at Trader Joe's, I picked up some marinated mahi mahi for a night where I was just too tired to cook. It came in handy tonight and it was good! After defrosting, I drained out the marinade because it looked pretty oily. I mixed together a topping for the mahi mahi and some shrimp. It came out great and tasted like yummy baked stuffed shrimp but without all the butter.



To serve along with it, I sauteed some asparagus with some leftover bruscetta from lunch at Amelia's Trattoria in Cambridge. So good!



And my first harvest this summer was the romaine lettuce for a quick Caesar salad. I used a bottled dressing and left out the croutons, but topped it off with some asiago cheese.



Quick, easy and healthy. And the best part was that I got to eat it on my porch which felt so nice and toasty compared with the last two weeks of cold, rainy Boston weather! Sun, please come back!

Panko Topping
* sorry, I used the dump and mix method so I do not have any quantities!

* panko bread crumbs
* parsley
* salt
* pepper
* garlic
* olive oil
* 1-2 T smart balance spread, melted

Mix together, crumble over fish, shrimp, bake.

Antioxidants Galore!

My father in law brought up some black grapes this morning and as we were eating them with dinner, my son asked to try and juice them. The kids did not seem that impressed with the grape juice, but then again I am not sure they have ever had bottled grape juice. It definitely was a strong flavor, but so good! And to think of all the healthy vitamins and antioxidents!

Awhile ago, I made a recipe from Wondertime magazine. I had gotten a trial to the magazine and it had a recipe for Powerballs. These consisted of 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of honey, 3 cups of oats and then 1 cup of mixed dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips etc. After mixing them all together, you shaped them into balls and refridgerated them. They had the consistency of raw cookie dough (so good) and were very sweet. The problem was they were pretty high in calories and somewhat small so we ended up eating a ton of calories without realizing it.

After getting the chia seeds, I thought, why not make the chia gel and use that as part of the binder? And instead of honey, agave nectar. I tried mixing the chia seeds with the agave but they never really gelled in the nectar. Oh well, I used it anyway. I used only 3/4 cup becuase it is so much thinner than honey. I also used Better n' Peanut Butter to cut a few more calories. The mixture was still pretty thin, so I added some 10 grain flour to thicken it a little. It did end up thickening a little more as it set.

Also, to make them more like a cookies, I scooped them and slightly flattened them and baked just to make everything stick.



They came out great and one cookie is really satisfying as a healthier dessert. Plus, with the added chia seeds, I know there is a lot of good stuff in there!



Revised Wondertime Powerballs

1 cup Better n' Peanut Butter
3/4 cup agave
1 T chia seeds
3 cups oats
1/4 10 grain flour

The following I added until I liked the mix:
chopped dates
raisins
dark chocolate chips

Scoop into balls and slightly flatten.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.