Comfort food

When someone says "comfort food" what comes to mind? Rich, unhealthy, lasagna, fattening... However sometimes you just want to eat a basic hot meal. Well I'm here to say "comfort food" CAN be healthy. I wanted crispy chicken even though I don't like fried chicken and never have. I was bored with BBQ'd and broiled chicken. So I decided to make oven "fried" baked chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. We never eat a meal like this so it was fun - it almost looked like one of those pictures on a T.V. dinner box looking at you behind the glass in the frozen food aisle.


It was simple and good and different... especially for someone like me who thrives off of eating different unusually super healthy ingredients and heirloom vegetables. I also had to restrain myself from making a green salad to go with dinner... growing up we ALWAYS had green salad - I honestly can't remember a dinner without one and I seem to be carrying the tradition on.

Dinner for two:

2 small organic chicken breasts - skinless boneless
crushed organic corn flakes - couple handfuls - (Trader Joe's)
1 egg - beaten
2 tsp coconut oil - plus some to oil pan
sea salt and pepper

Potatoes:
4 organic potatoes
almond milk 3/4 - 1 C
sea salt and pepper

1 1/2 C frozen organic peas
1 tsp butter
sea salt and pepper

Oven 350 degrees - Oil a small baking dish. Mix corn flakes with salt and pepper in a small dish - dip chicken in egg and then in corn flakes to coat both sides. Place chicken in pan and drizzle with one tsp coconut oil. Bake 20 min or until done I use a meat thermometer. Then peel and cut potatoes into large chunks and steam or boil until very soft. Use a potato masher or blender and blend with almond milk and seasonings. (I was going to add a bit of butter but they didn't need it.)
Steam peas stir in butter and salt. That's it - easy!

Lettuce Wraps

lettuce wraps served with melon and ice tea

Lettuce wraps are super easy... yummy... healthy... and quick! Everyone is always giving Iceberg lettuce the "cold shoulder" In a salad bar people reach right over it and go for those dark leafy greens - however Iceberg lettuce is not to be shunned. Iceberg lettuce is an excellent source of potassium and manganese and a very good source of iron, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. It also contains traces of sodium, copper, zinc. Iceberg lettuce is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin K and vitamin C. It is also a good source of thiamin, vitamin B6, folate (vitamin B). Lettuce wraps just are not lettuce wraps without cold crisp Iceberg lettuce. So go ahead and reach for some Iceberg next time you are in the produce aisle!

Lettuce Wraps:

2 chicken breasts chopped into small pieces

1 can water chestnuts chopped small

3-4 green onions sliced

1 TBS fresh mint - minced

large piece of fresh ginger grated (about 1 1/2 TBS)

seasonings

Saute in a tablespoon or so coconut oil and all ingredients in a wok or large pan - as it is cooking add a pinch of sea salt, a few TBS of soy sauce, some black pepper, garlic, chili sauce, and any other spice you like... sesame oil would be good too. Cook until chicken is done and any liquid has cooked off. Remove from heat add a few TBS hoisin sauce stir and serve with cold Iceberg lettuce and sauce. My sauce: soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and pepper

beans beans beans

There has been a lot of talk about beans lately - ha! Anyway I have been using beans in desserts lately and that is defiantly a new thing for me. I love using them it opens up a whole new idea of what beans are for. Well I made a big pot of white beans for a cake. It was my friends baby's 1st birthday and she asked me to make a healthy little cake for him. I made a little sandcastle cake and it turned out pretty healthy and was sweetened with honey. Anyway so I had all these beans and was super hungry so I put about a cupful in a bowl threw in a egg and some bread crumbs and blended it some - not too smooth. Then I added some onion and seasonings and cooked them in a pan on the stove with coconut oil. Then I topped them with a quick corn relish and they turned out yummy, fast and different. They actually tasted a bit like potato cakes. It was something I had never thought of before but will make again. Here is a recipe more or less:

Bean cakes

1 C white beans

1 egg

1 slice bread crumbled

1/4 C onion chopped fine

3 TBS cilantro chopped

salt and pepper to taste and a dash of chili flakes

Combine blend or smash then cook in a hot pan over med heat with coconut oil. You will have to spoon it into the pan - it will not hold together until cooked.

Quick corn relish

1/2 C corn

1 small tomato chopped - I threw in chopped yellow grape tomatoes too from my garden

1/8 C red onion chopped fine

Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and spoon over cooked bean cakes - serve immediately. I tried one a few hours later... not nearly as good - eat them right away.

Day 29

Last nights dinner - a modest piece of Albacore, sauteed asparagus with Braggs, and a salad topped with a creamy dressing made out of white beans. I got the recipe off of a blog: http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/ it turned out yummy. I wouldn't say it tasted like regular ranch dressing at all but it was a good dressing and a nice change from oil and vinegar.

This is a fun melon we got - orange flesh - it looks like a honeydew on the outside and a cantaloupe on the inside but it tastes more like honeydew. It was super sweet - I will definitely buy this type of melon again.

Jason's favorite salad right now is very simple:

Purple cabbage, green onion, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, lots of cashews and seasoned with either sea salt & pepper, herbamare or Braggs - http://www.bragg.com/ he asks for this salad almost everyday!

We have decided cashews are our favorite nut! They are just so good, creamy, crunchy, nutty, delicious. Cashews are a super nutritious food they are high in magnesium and antioxidants. Did you know unlike many other nuts the cashew actually grows on the bottom of a cashew fruit called a marañon. It clings to the bottom of the cashew apple. The fruit is also edible but it is extremely perishable so we probably will not see it here in the US. I wonder what it tastes like.

Day 26

Caprese salad with cashews


Eggplant and asparagus with olive oil and soysauce


Today we started out the day with a warm bowl of oatmeal topped with strawberries and raisins. This is the first time we have had raisins in our oatmeal since we started. Because dried fruit was only added in this last phase we have been putting fresh fruit on our oatmeal instead - and you know what I think I like it better. It is interesting how your taste can change in a short number of days. Today was warm and sunny leaving a warm evening. The baby took an exceptionally late afternoon nap so we were able to venture out to the Redlands farmer's market. We walked among the stands of fresh produce as the farmers called out their produce. I ended up bringing home a bagful of produce - asparagus - eggplant - cherries - watermelon - yellow tomatoes. We also stopped by an amazing booth... Palmer Chiropractic... where we visited with a very handsome chiropractor. We took our produce home put the baby in bed and I made myself a fresh veggie dinner. Since Jason wasn't dining with me I made a plate piled with sauteed asparagus and eggplant (not his two favorites) and on the side I had a caprese salad substituting cashews for the mozzarella. It was great the cashews added a richness and crunch to the sweet flesh of the tomato. For dessert a fresh slice of watermelon and a handful of cherries.

Day 15

I wanted to try something different so I made these veggie patties. I grated and chopped lots of different vegetables and mixed them with 2 eggs, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger. Shaped them into patties on a hot skillet with coconut oil flip and brown on both sides. I served them with grilled fish. It's a nice way to change up your vegetables.

Today is day 15 the days are actually going really fast and I am really enjoying all the healthy yummy stuff we are eating. I am a HUGE dessert girl normally but I haven't been craving them this time... maybe because I'm eating lots of ripe fresh fruit. Melons are really good right now and they hit the spot.