Oven Baked Cod

This really is a low calorie entree.  The cabbage salad is one of my favorites hardly any calories and very filling.   Paired with low calorie baked cod- its one incredible meal with minimal calories. 

Cabbage Salad
This particular day I was in a hurry so no time to add in the green onions.

3 cups chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons Asian Seasoned Rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 green onions 
1/4 cup cilantro

Toss it all together.  Serve and enjoy.



Oven Baked Cod

1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of half of a lemon
cod (four pieces)

Chop parsley and sprinkle the salt over top, stir in minced garlic.  Let sit while you get the pan ready for the cod.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cover a shallow 9 x 13 pan with foil.  Spray lightly with cooking spray or a light coating of butter.  Rinse off cod and place four fillets on the sheet.  With your fingers divide the parsley mixture amongst the four pieces of cod.  Smooth over top.  Place in a preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Kale and Quinoa

For all you parents you know how busy the end of the school year is.  Concerts, picnics, get togethers.... its crazy.  When you are the sandwich generation, it just gets even crazier.  Suffice to say between helping my parents lately and being Mom to two children, I have my hands full.  I am sure many of you know what I am talking about. We always think we are the ones that are so busy.  But really everyone is busy.  And busy changes over time, doesnt it?  My Fathers idea is busy, is that he had a doctors appt in the morning and had to roll his coins.  The elderly woman I know, her idea of busy is that she had to do dishes and make her bed.  I say this not as a criticism.  When you are tired or ailing in some way, things can seem busy because it just takes so much energy.  You know what I am saying.  Its all kind of relative.  For me, busy means I don't have much "me" time.  Lets be clear, I love my "me" time.  I can be downright selfish in this way.  I need "me" time for sewing, creating things in the kitchen, puttering around, organizing, whatever. It helps me keep my sanity.  (Which is pretty relative, I might add).  An hour of "me" time is wonderful!  Four hours of "me" time is amazing, rejuvenating and awesome.  So as we head into summer, I don't really expect too much "me" time.  And it's okay.  I love when my kids are home.  At least, that is, when they are not fighting.  Its unscheduled time for the most part for us.  Sleeping in a little longer, a little slower pace.  I enjoy that.  I am going to miss my "me" time though! I promise to blog as much as possible.

This post is kind of a hodge podge of stuff.  You see this here "bouquet" from Edible Arrangements?  Isn't it pretty!  We received this a week or so ago.  It disappeared kind of fast.  I did use the kale, which you see above.  I boiled it a little bit and put it in the refrigerator.  I had some leftover quinoa.  I thought how about this combination.  I sautéed the kale in a little olive oil with garlic.  Then I added the quinoa, just so it was heated.  It was incredibly good.  I like quinoa but there was something about this combination that made it stellar.  Definitely a do over around here.  Simple easy, nutritious and delicious.

This here was an amazing meal I had at a local Mexican restaurant called, Salena's.  I usually get the mole chicken. One of my faves! A glass of sangria made it all the better!

Enchilada Sauce

Enchilada's have become a way for me to clean up leftovers.  There are a couple other leftover-cleaner-uppers- soup and fritatta's.  For the enchilada's, if you are armed with some Mexican flavors (cumin, lime, chili, cilantro...) and some tortillas, you too can clean up your leftovers and no one would be the wiser.  Shh, don't tell the family.  Like especially the kids.  My husband does a little happy dance (well, not really) when I clean up leftovers.  He hates wasting food (as do I). For the most part I can keep on top of stuff in the fridge.  Mostly due to him as he is a champ for cleaning up leftovers.  Sometimes I am sad about this because leftovers from some meals are even better than the night they are first served.

My friend, knowing I love Mexican food, sent me this recipe for enchilada sauce.  You can go to the link here, at A Simple Pantry.  This blogger has lots of Mexican meals, lets of good food to check out and drool over.

I did change up a few things from the original recipe.  First, because I had no chili powder (that, like, never happens, me- running out of a spice!) I had to grind some of my chilies.  OMG, let me tell you, while it upped the flavor quotient, it also upped the spicy quotient.  I was okay with it- but the kids, not so much. I recorded what I did in the recipe below but honestly, if you use fresh dried chilies, lower the amount unless you can take the heat! I also, added the tomato juice to kind of buffer the heat.

BEST DAMN ENCHILADA SAUCE

Recipe adapted from this recipe at A Simple Pantry Blog.  Swoon, people, swoon.

4 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons chili powder, freshly ground*
1½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
4 cups beef broth, chicken, or vegetable broth
2 cups tomato juice*

In a soup pot heat the oil, then add in the flour.  Toast the flour, stir frequently, when the flour is lightly golden add in the broth, then the remainder of ingredients.

*See italics in paragraph above.
 

Green Broccoli Spread

You can't even imagine the power house a flavor that is this spread.  Oh my.  A little goes a long way. This is some kind of delicious.  If you have it at a party, my guess, is it will disappear really fast! You could really get creative with it.  It would be great on pizza, replacing the sauce and just a little cheese sprinkled over top.  It would be great used like a pesto on some pasta.  Get creative- this stuff is delicious no matter where it goes.

Green Broccoli Spread
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, September 2014

6 ounces broccoli florets
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 basil leaves
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 anchovy fillet or a teaspoon of anchovy paste

Cook broccoli in boiling water until crisp-tender.  Rinse and cool in a colander so that it can drain.

In a food processor place garlic in first, process. Then add the remainder of the ingredients.  Process until everything is smooth.  Chill and serve.  Yield: 10 servings- 2 tablespoons. 

Calories 36 per serving. Protein 1 g, carbs 3 g, fiber 1 g, sodium 142 mg and calcium 21 mg

Tropically Green Smoothie

I have been forever making smoothies.  When my daughter was little, she did not like meat.  A whole period of time where she just wouldn't eat it.  So I would make her smoothies with Silken tofu in it.  She drank those up- no problem.  Now, it is a thing. Totally trendy.  Smoothies everywhere, with all kinds of ingredients that I would have never thought to put in her smoothie at the time- wish I knew- I totally would have.  In fact, I totally would have made this one.  Love it!  Thought I would taste the spinach. Not at all.

Tropically Green Smoothie

 

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1/2  frozen banana

1/2 cup peaches

1 tablespoon chia seeds

 

Whirl it together in whatever you got to do the job.  Blender, food processor- whatever.  This is good stuff!

Pumpkin Almond Squares

Let me start out by saying that if you are looking for a sweet treat, you might need to go somewhere else.  Or you could up the sugar content pretty easily.  But that is not what I was looking for and if you are also looking for something with minimal sugar, this is your treat!  I like to have it in the morning with three egg whites (210 calories).  Delicious.  Not sweet, more like a biscuit in its level of sweetness. Fills me up until lunch.

Honestly, I am all about counting calories these days.  I have struggled with my weight for years, ah hem, all my life.  I come from a family of thin people.  I was the most active in my family.  I had tons of energy.  Literally my Mom would make me sit down and watch television sometimes just so I would stay put for a few minutes.  If I could have played tag all night with my neighborhood friends I sure would have.  My absolute favorite thing to do.

I played soccer for three years, starting in fifth grade, then basketball, then track and field...  I wasn't any good mind you but I was moving.  I would go to the local weight loss center and work out there- aerobics, step, dance, whatever.  I have always kept myself moving.  Honestly, I think in a lot of ways it is the reason why my blood pressure, despite my weight is still normal.  I have always had good eating habits.  My parents always went to market every week and brought home tons of fresh fruit and vegetables.  And I loved them.  Okay well, maybe not onions and peas at the time, but all the rest of them.  We rarely went for fast food and really I still don't- ask my kids, they feel like they missed out.  So, what the heck is my problem?  I am not a binge eater, though when I was young I did binge a little.  For me, at least for the past 25 years, it has been more about portion control and making poor choices.  Probably genetics has a lot to do with it too.

I have been counting calories.  I use My Fitness Pal.  There are a ton of apps out there and I have tried a few others but this is the one I am currently using.  I have built up my database so it is easier for me to log my calories. Recently I went down to 1200 to 1300 calories.  1500 sure wasn't working for like, six weeks.  Can't even begin to tell you how frustrating that was.  Giving up sugared things and gluten and still not losing weight was making me crazy.  But unlike before I am not giving up.  I am getting this weight off me! 

I am tired of getting winded going upstairs.  Ha, sometimes at night pulling myself up the 12 stairs that I need to go up to go to bed.  I want to tie my shoes easily.  I want to not worry about sitting in restaurant booths- whether I can fit or not. I want my ankle pain to decrease.  I want more energy to do more of the things I like to do.  Like bike riding.  I love biking.  I can go for an hour but I want to do that effortlessly! I want to shop in the small girls area. I want to have clothes that hang nicely around my body, that don't pull where I don't want them to pull.  I want to get rid of mounds of clothing that I have held on to for years because clothing is so hard for me to find. I want to fit into the seats at the amusement center so I can have fun with my kids! Oh, there is so much I want to do! 

If you are not into dropping the sugar- add a 1/2 cup of sugar to the recipe and you will find it sweet enough. 

I will share with you where I am today as soon as I get up the courage.  Probably, when I have lost a little so you know how serious I am about this!

It was, like, a really big strawberry.

Pumpkin Almond Bars


1 cup pumpkin puree
2/3 cup pure brown rice syrup
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish.


In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

Combine pumpkin, brown rice syrup, eggs and vanilla, until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and continue mixing for a full minute, until smooth and well blended. Pour into prepared pan

Bake for approximately 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick insert in center comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes, before cutting into bars.

12 servings, calories 145 per square

Texas Caviar

I could have sworn I posted this last year!  I can not find it anywhere on my blog.  Which means either cyberspace has eaten my post or I never posted it.  No fear, I made it again.  It really is something you will make over and over again. It is just that good.  It travels well, so it is great for a potluck! Or Memorial Day picnics.

Beans are a really great addition to your diet. " Eating the right foods can help you lower body fat and cholesterol. Beans such as kidney beans and black beans are high in essential dietary fiber important for healthy digestion. Adding beans to your daily diet is good for lowering body fat and controlling weight. This helps to prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease."(SF Gate News). Thats pretty exciting!

Beans offer a few other benefits.  They have a lot of fiber so they will help keep you feeling fuller longer.  They also help your body with insulin spikes. "Soluble fiber in beans slows the passage of glucose from food into your bloodstream. Because of this, your body has to produce less insulin; high levels of insulin are a precursor to diabetes." (Johns Hopkins)

Beans are an undiscovered super food!  Lets keep it our secret though because you know the price is going to go up as soon as beans are discovered to be great! Will let people go on thinking that kale is the star.  We will know that there are some major stars waiting in the wing.

If you want some bean recipes, I have some here such as,  Frijoles- 3 Days, 3 Ways,  Borracho Beans, Party Beans, Negro Frijoles, Moroccan Fave Bean Soup,  Lucknow Red Bean Chili, Black Soy Beans, Hoppin' John, Pasta e Fagioli, Jamaican Coat of Arms... Many other recipes can be had because the bean is like a blank canvas (sweet or savory). 
 

TEXAS CAVIAR

4 cups black eyed peas*
1 (11 ounce) cans white shoepeg corn
1 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup red pepper, finely chopped
6 -10 jalapeno peppers, minced (if you don't like the heat, leave it out)

Marinade
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, pour over chopped onion and cool.

Drain beans if using canned and shoepeg corn. Combine all ingredients and marinade the bean and vegetable mixture for 24 hours.


*You can use any type of beans, it doesn't have to be black eyed peas.  You can use a mixture of beans for a very colorful mix.