Know as the “Alligator Fruit” because of its colour and texture of its skin… this little green gem is loaded with antioxidants and healthy fats!
You can add them to smoothies, use them as spreads, dips or sauces. However, they can be pricy so if you see them on special don’t be afraid that they will go bad if you buy them or feel the need to eat a bag of avocados in two days just so you don’t waste them!
Here is what you can do to save them for another time… FREEZE THEM!!
Steps:
1- Cut them and remove the pit
2- Scoop out the ‘meat’ and set the skins aside
3- Blend them in a food processor with a little lemon juice. (You can chop them or leave them in halves if you wish but still add the bit of lemon juice… I like mine processed best!)
~~~~The lemon juice keeps them form turning brown~~~
4- Put them in snack size a bag so you can grab them and add them to any of your favourite things!
Check out this link below to learn some great benefits of the Avocado!!
The weather is getting nicer and I am feeling as if I don’t want to be inside making those hearty meals and cleaning up a big mess after. I want to be outside with the kids and enjoying the fresh air!
Enjoying the Sun!
Do you enjoy grilling?? Who is the BBQ Master at your house? I have really taking a liking to the BBQ this year and what to try a bunch of new recipes on it… something besides hamburgers, pork chops and bland chicken!!
Here is a Salmon Recipe that I found in the “What’s Cooking” Kraft Magazine. It is on my next nice day menu! Seems simple, different and yummy!
Perfectly Grilled Salmon:
Prep: 20mins Total: 40mins
Makes 6 Servings
What You Need:
1 Tomato Chopped
1 Cove Garlic, minced
1/4 Cup Parmesan Shredded Cheese
1/4 Cup Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing
1 Skin-On Salmon Fillet (1-1/2lb)
2 Tbsp Chopped Basil
What To Do:
1. Heat BBQ to medium heat. Combine first 4 ingredients with 3 Tbsp Dressing. Spray a large sheet of heavy duty foil with cooking spray.
2. Place foil on BBQ grate. Top with fish, flesh side down.
3. Grill 5mins; turn fish. Brush with remaining dressing.
4. Top with tomato mixture
5. Grill 18-20minsor until fish flakes easily with fork; top with basil.
What are your favourite BBQ meals?? Are you afraid to get adventurous with the BBQ? I was a little intimated but now I am excited… you can cook anything on the BBQ!
Don’t stick with BBQ all summer… step outside your comfort zone and explore 🙂
Way more Fun than Being Stuck Inside!Roasted Pineapple For Dessert … Yum!!
It seems like everyone around us are sick!! Its been a long winter and with the way it is in Newfoundland we often get four seasons this time of the year. So the warm, wet, cold and snow is really sending everyone into cold/flu mania!!
My Fam Jam was sick as well (thankfully all better now… **KNOCK ON WOOD**) and when they are I always resort back to the old fashion ways and make soup! For some reason, it just makes us feel so good! I typically would make Chicken Noodle Soup but it seemed like the kids (hubby too) were sick forever so i also made a delicious Roasted Red Pepper Soup. It was marvellous! You can make it as spicy or mild as you like and the heat from it just seemed to open airways and energize everyone. We didn’t make ours too spicy because the kids are not a big fan but it seemed like it made them feel really good and it was a nice switch up from the norm.
Red Peppers are sometimes called one of the “super foods” because of all there health benefits. So why not try and add them into your family’s diet… this soup allows you to get them into your kids easily without fuss! Kids love soup 🙂 I recently read in article online (chatelaine.com) that explained some of the benefits of red peppers… here are somethings I read:
-Red peppers are loaded with vitamin C. Besides being a powerful antioxidant, vitamin C is also needed for the proper absorption of iron.
-Red bell peppers are a great source of vitamin B6 and magnesium. This vitamin and mineral combination helps decrease anxiety, especially related to PMS (hello?!?) . Vitamin B6 is also a natural diuretic, so get ’em in ya to help reduce bloating and prevent against hypertension… why not?? we all want to be less BLOATED… ugh!!
– Red bell peppers are packed with antioxidants. The combined effects of vitamin A and C and lycopene. This combination in the red bell pepper becomes superfood. Red peppers are one of the highest veggies in lycopene, which has been successfully tested in the prevention of many cancers including prostate and lung.
-Burn more calories with red bell peppers. Recent research has shown that sweet red peppers can turn up your system to burn more calories. Red bell peppers do not contain capsaicin, which is what makes peppers hot and causes us to sweat, but they do have a mild thermogenic action that increases our metabolism without increasing our heart rate and blood pressure like the hot peppers do. BONUS!!!!
Roasted Red Pepper Soup:
Ingredients:
3lbs Red Bell Peppers, halved and cleaned (8-10) I didn’t have all red peppers so i used yellow (2) and orange(1) as well!
5 Cloves of garlic, in peel
2 cups Onion, chopped
2tbsp Olive Oil
1Tbsp Italian Seasoning
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 tsp Hot Sauce
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp rice vinegar
Directions:
1. Half the peppers and remove all the seeds and membranes. Press them flat with your hands and lay them on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet. Place the garlic cloves on the baking sheet.
2. Set the oven on broil and raise the rack to the upper position. Broil the red peppers and garlic for 15 minutes.
3. Once the skin has blackened, remove them from the oven and place in a large zip bag to steam (10mins)
4. Preheat large pot to medium heat. Add oil, seasoning and onions. Cook for 10 minutes, until onions are soft.
5. Add broth, hot sauce and salt and pepper. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels into the pot.
6. Peel the charred skin off the peppers and place win the pot.
7. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for another 20mins.
8. Then using a hand help immersion blender or standard blender, blend until smooth. **if you are using a blender be sure to remove the lid and cover with a towel instead- this will allow heat to vent without a big mess**
9. Add the vinegar and salt if needed.
10. You can add a little sour cream or plain greek yogurt to mild out the spice and heat. Just thin it out with a little milk and swirl it over the top!!
This recipe I found online (www.aspicyperspective.com) and made some changes to make it more suited to our likes! Feel free to do the same!
I hope this helps with the cold and flu season! We really enjoy it and even froze some to have later.
Roast Pepper Love
(check out: http://www.chatelaine.com/health/diet/five-health-benefits-of-red-peppers/ to read more about the power of the Red Pepper and they also have a couple recipes there for red peppers :))
MANGOES- so yummy… So many health benefits!
1. Good for Your Skin
2. Lowers cholesterol
3. Prevents Cancer
4. Prevents Dry Eyes
5. Promotes good Eyesight
6. A Treat for Diabetics
7. Improves Digestion
8. Boost Immune Systems
9. Source of Iron
10. Improves Sex
EAT YOUR MANGOES PEOPLE!!
As the summer has ended its kind of bitter sweet!! So many fun moments and memories that were made… yet it went so fast it left me wanting more!! Its funny because there are times or events that happen in your life that make you take a step back and re-evaluate. I think summer ending done just that for me! September for us means adjustments. My husband goes back to work and its back to the grind with kids, focusing on my business, working towards some big fitness goals of my own, and just juggling life!!
However, this September was different!! Both my boys experienced milestones this September… My oldest started Kindergarten and my youngest started Preschool!! And as Nate, my youngest, always says “BOY OH BOY” wasn’t it tough for me which I am sure a lot of mothers out there experienced and can relate to!! I mean sure I knew it was coming… I knew they had to do this but for about three days I was just emotional over the fact they were growing so fast and already the first part of their little lives has gone by.
Kids grow in stages and as they grow things become not “easier” but more manageable as they become independent. I like to call the first part of life for the mothers “survival mode” because that’s what we sleep deprived, often malnourished, hormonal mommas that is fueled by coffee are doing… SURVIVING!!! Now that the boys are starting to become so independent (I mean really Patrick takes the bus… ALONE!?!!) I feel like we should slow down during those crazy times and soak them up more. As I watched the bus drive by all I could think about is “Lisa you need to slow down…” the boys are gonna be grown and all they will remember is me telling them to “hurry up get your boots on” or “stop carrying on and get dressed” or “eat your lunch we need to get going!!!”
But really where are we going? Why can’t we slow down and take 5mins to jump in on the pillow fight or crawl in the fort to read a book. Why not pause and listen to the most creative and amazing story that they just are so excited to tell you about? Instead we are rushing… impatient… angry… is that what I want my kids to remember? or even worse turn out like that? Wouldn’t it be better if they saw patience, happiness and love??
So… Are we moving too fast.. are we rushing around so much that we are missing opportunities to capture each moment and savor it! ?? I think so, Yes!
Another Life Lesson that I learned by paying attention to my kids!! They truly are innocent, pure, happy little creatures that really spend their days trying to be HAPPY. And if we slow down we might just see that by embracing some of our children’s habits its may not be so bad. We definitely well have more moments cherished in our hearts and our children will have so much more joy!!
In honour of our summer… which we spent (SLOWED DOWN) on many road trips, camping trips, sight seeing and spending a lot of great quality time together with friends and family… I present to you: “Lisa’s Road Trip Cookies” !!! We enjoyed these delicious little snacks many times on our adventures…
Well for anyone out there that wants a quick protein packed breakfast… Here is a SUPER DELISH idea!!
Protein Pancakes:
1/2 cup cottage cheese ( I use fat free)
1/2 cup oats ( I use large flakes)
1/2 cup egg whites
1. Mix all together… whisk so its mixed really good!
2. heat pan to a med-high heat
3. Spray a little cooking oil before you pour your mixture into the pan.
4. Heat 2-3mins then flip 1-2 mins and it done!!! Makes one pancake.
Tips:
–If you want extra protein you can add a scoop of your fav protein powder when you are mixing your ingredients… no matter the flavor.. or add blueberries or bananas!!
– Use a sugar free topping or top with yogurt… so many possibilities!
I am always looking for quick breakfast…. I make many versions of this and they keep well in the fridge so each morning I can just heat them… put them in a wrap or just as they are!!!
Lisa’s Egg White Muffins:
500g cartoon of Egg Whites
4 – Asparagus Spears (chopped)
1- 1-1/2 cups of water
12 slices of Turkey Bacon (cut in half)
salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Use cooking spray to grease your muffin tray (i get 12 egg white muffins)
3. Take chopped asparagus and put in a bowl with water and microwave them for about 2mins or until tender
4. Line your muffin tray with 1 Slice of turkey bacon in each cup… I cut the bacon in half and cross
them over each other to cover the whole cup.
5. Pour 3 tbsp of egg whites in each muffin cup on top of bacon.
6. Portion the asparagus so u put some in each muffin cup on top of egg whites! Salt and Pepper to your taste.
7. Bake in oven for 25-30mins or until done!!
There are many varitaions to this recipe… I sometimes sauté mushrooms… onions and peppers… and use that instead of the asparagus… I sometimes leave the turkey bacon out as well… Make it your own!!! Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different flavour combinations!!!
So I use Turkey a lot in my meals… Its lean and tasty!!! Here is I guess a stir-fry?!? that I eat a lot!!!
Lisa’s Turkey Sausage Stir-fry:
1 Pkg. of Turkey Sausages
1 Med. Onion
1. red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/2 lb. white button mushrooms
2 celery stalks
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
garlic
salt
pepper
1. Chop all vegetables up before you start!
2.Then cook your sausages… I don’t use oil to cook the sausages I brown them with their own fat content… and if I see they are sticking on I pour in 1/4 cup of water… once cooked take them out and chop them up too…
3. Pour in oil… let it heat a minute or so and toss in all veggies…
5. Add you seasoning now!! If you have other seasonings you like then add them… it’s a flexible recipe!!
4. Once veggies are cooked toss in the chopped sausages and serve!! You could serve with rice if you like 😉
HappyRunningMad 