Why More Kale?

Being informed helps you make healthier choices. Healthier choices help you eat better. Eating better helps you feel great...and who doesn't want that?

Today, I'm sharing some info on Kale.

I've been trying to incorporate more kale in my diet. My doctor told me that by adding kale, spinach, brussels sprouts and eggs to my diet they work to help decrease insulin resistance which is attributing to my PCOS.

I've always been told spinach is good for you, but I didn't know much about kale. So, being the little science nerd I am, I began to research it some.

"One cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus." - WebMD

It also has high concentrations of vitamin A, C, and K. It has anti-cancer benefits and is good for healthy eyes. The fiber in kale helps to lower blood cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol lowering abilities seems to increase when kale is steamed. Kale chips would be good too, to increase the benefits, here's a great recipe. You can always use kale in salads with or instead of spinach. You can add it to juicing if you're into juicing. The possibilities are endless.

To visually share the benefits and greatness of kale, here's a info graphic from Juice Generation.

What are your favorite ways to use Kale?

Happy Monday!

Resources used: WebMD & World's Healthiest Foods

Wacky Mac 'N Cheese

I am a huge fan of mac 'n cheese. It's the best comfort food. I know, there's virtually no nutritional value. So I added some.

I took my mom's homemade mac 'n cheese recipe and revamped it. Drastically! 

I needed to change a few things. For example, my mom's recipe that I was basing the basics off was for a single batch, I always double the batch, but I forgot to double the cheese sauce. Oops. Also, I'd add more veggies. I probably should have used elbow macaroni, I usually do, makes it more wet because of less surface area.

Hubby was excited to bring leftovers to work because the guys all ask what restaurant he went to. He says, "No restaurant, my wife made it!" Makes a wife proud!

Stella was mad I wouldn't share. Poor pooch. 

Wacky Mac 'N Cheese

16oz elbow macaroni, cooked 6-7 minutes, drained

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cup unsweetened almond milk (I prefer Almond Breeze. You can also use unsweetened coconut milk)

about 2oz freshly grated asaigo cheese

about 2oz freshly grated parmesan cheese

about 2oz freshly grated romano cheese

about 2oz freshly grated smoked gouda

5-7 cloves garlic, minced (you can scale back on this if you're not a fan of garlic - I LOVE it though)

1/4 - 1/2 bunch of kale, thinly sliced

2 cup mushrooms, sliced if you prefer

small onion, diced

about 10 leaves fresh basil, chopped

2 teaspoons salt

pepper to taste

little olive oil

about 1 cup bread crumbs

***If you don't want to grate all of the cheese, you can get about 8oz whatever cheese blend you prefer. But trust me, it's worth it to use fresh grated cheese! 

Start boiling a pot of water for pasta. 

Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of a frying pan on medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic, saute until soft. Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are cooked (they'll be a pretty even brown). Turn off heat and set aside. 

Add pasta to boiling water and cook for 6-7 minutes. 

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in sauce pan. Add flour and blend, cooking for just a bit. Add almond milk and cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Once it starts thickening add basil. 

Drain pasta. 

Mix in cheese after sauce thickens. Turn burner off and let set until cheese melts. Stir in salt and pepper.

Mix onion and mushroom mixture in with pasta. Add sliced kale with pasta. 

Add cheese sauce to pasta and veggies. Mix well. Pour into 9X13in pan or 3-quart casserole pan. 

Sprinkle top with extra cheese if you have some. I prefer gouda. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs. 

Bake at 350, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Broil low for the last few minutes if you like the top extra crispy. 

*Adding peas, asparagus, roasted tomatoes, etc would be good too. Just make sure if you add too many veggies to add some extra butter and milk and maybe a little extra flour so the mac 'n cheese isn't too dry.

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! 

Also, I came across this e-card and had a good laugh, so how I feel about Mac 'N Cheese. 

Soba Noodles w/ Veggies & Mustard Soy Dressing

Ugh, and I have to cook dinner?! is exactly what went through my mind last night. I spent all afternoon in class, then in lab, then had to go grocery shopping and make dinner. I really just wanted to crawl in bed and call it a day. 

I was trying to think of what was in my cupboards and what was cheap to make. 

I found this jewel on Pinterest. 

Pinterest - solving what's for dinner since 2011. Or 2010? Whatever year...it's saved me again. 

 

I had unopened soba noodles in the cupboard. I went on an oriental food kick awhile ago and never got around to opening them. I do this with food quite often. In some cases it ends horribly...moldy, smelly and turns into some liquid which would leave you wondering what it was in the first place. Oops. 

Luckily that wasn't the case this time. It also led to a pretty good dinner and so fast to make! I'm a happy camper. However, it was a tad salty for my liking, but my hubby loved it. Sadly, he needed more then this little bit. It's enough to feed 2 people, but he usually eats twice as much as the normal person. 

 Soba Noodles with Veggies & Mustard-Soy Dressing (The Greatist)

 3-4oz soba noodles
1 red pepper
2 scallions
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids, it's healthier than soy sauce, but probably why it was a tad on the salty side)
1/2 tsp mustard
1tsp honey
dash of black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional) - I used them, be careful how much you add, but I recommend adding some

Cook soba noodles according to directions on package. Drain and rinse and place in the fridge to cool.
While soba noodles cool, gut the red pepper and cut into thin strips. Cut scallions, too.
In a bowl, whisk soy sauce, mustard, honey, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Add noodles and scallions and pepper to the sauce and gently mix together.
Eat up!

Enjoy your Monday!

Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi

I haven't been in the kitchen much lately. I hate to admit it. I really miss it though.

That's what I get for taking summer classes.

Anyway, last night was the first night this week that I wasn't drowning in homework, so I got to cook dinner!

 Awhile ago when I was at World Market, I picked up some gnocchi. I never tried it before, but I love pasta and potatoes...so how could I go wrong?

 I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs and it seemed easy enough and it was quick, so why not? Quick as in around 15 minutes. Beat that Rachel Ray!

It's the perfect comfort food. Especially after a long week. 

Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi slightly modified from How Sweet Eats.

1 pound whole wheat gnocchi (I used regular, tastes just fine too)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced (I add extra, I love garlic!)

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1/3 cup white wine (I dumped in a bit extra)

1/2 cup heavy (or light) cream

1/4 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese + more for topping

fresh parsley for garnish

salt and pepper

Start boiling water for gnocchi.
Heat skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and garlic and a dash of salt and pepper. Saute until onion is soft. Add garlic and mushroom. Saute until mushrooms are soft.
Dump gnocchi in boiling water and cook as directed on packaging.
Add wine to onion/mushroom mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and stir. Turn heat off and stir in parmesan.
Drain gnocchi when it's done cooking. Then mix with sauce.
Top with parmesan and chopped parsley.
Enjoy!

When I remake this again someday, I will probably double the amount of mushrooms and onions. I felt they cooked down a lot more then I wanted so I didn't get the taste I wanted. Also, that sauce would be great with some asparagus, either on asparagus, or add asparagus to it, or asparagus instead of mushroom. My husband doesn't like mushrooms, he liked this recipe. But for his sake, I may try with asparagus or something next time.

Do you have a favorite gnocchi recipe?

Happy Friday!

Easy Roasted Veggies

I realize I've been MIA the last few days...sorry!

Also, I'll have to admit, I have been eating pretty poorly. Well, veggie burger at Culver's and lots of pasta sort of poorly.

To get back on track, I made roasted veggies. This was a recipe my doctor recommended. The best thing about it is it's easy! Seriously. You basically chop some veggies, put them on a pan and bake for an hour and a half or so. Okay, maybe add some seasonings and oil, but I LOVE this recipe! It's great for the fall or beginning of summer when farmers have a lot of root vegetables.

My father-in-law participates in a CSA (if you don't know about it, check it out here, then check with your local farmers to participate in one, it's fantastic!), which means every week he sends some extra veggies my way since he can't possibly eat that many in a week!

We recently have been getting quite a few carrots, potatoes, a couple beets, lettuce, and maybe some spices. I just wish they'd leave the greens on the beets, because they really help make this recipe. Sadly, my poor beets lost their greens, so I had to do without. The greens are packed with a lot of great nutrients, and they taste so good!

I used a couple potatoes, beets, carrots, onion, and parsnips...since it's what I had. I chose to peel the beets and one potato...why one potato? I don't know, I'm strange. I also found out, I hate parsnips. 

The great thing about this, it doesn't need to be perfect. You want everything relatively the same thickness so they cook evenly, but you just slice and lay them on a pan. Usually you'd see lots of green, no tinfoil, but since I didn't have greens, I had to use tinfoil instead. I think the greens are the best part, they absorb a lot of juices and flavors and I can't explain it, you'll just have to try it sometime. 

Then add some seasonings. I drizzled with olive oil then sprinkles Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. You can add whatever you like.

Then I decided to add a little balsamic vinegar. I had never tried that on roasted veggies before, and it was pretty delicious!

Put in the oven at 350 and bake for an hour to an hour and a half. You want the beets and carrots to be soft. Then take it out and enjoy!

Roasted Veggies and Greens
1 or 2 bunches of beets with good looking greens (I usually buy extra greens too since I love them so much. I like a fairly thick layer across the bottom, then you don't need to use tinfoil!)
2 onions
4-6 carrots
olive oil
spices
*Feel free to use any extra root veggies you want, like I added parsnips

Cut off the greens, wash them, lay them across the bottom of a pan. Try to make it as even across as possible.
Scrub and peel beets, onions and carrots. If you added extra veggies that need to be prepped, be sure to do that too.
Drizzle olive oil on top, however much you want.
You can also add balsamic vinegar. I'd recommend trying it!
Add your spices, they can include, but are not limited to:
freshly cracked salt and/or pepper
lemon juice
garlic (cloves or chopped)
basil
rosemary
tarragon
lavender
marjoram
thyme
parsley
Then bake at 350 degrees for 1 - 1.5 hours. Beets and carrots should be soft.

A note my doctor included on the handout he gave (I got this recipe at a cooking class he did):
The greens, by the way, are the most nutritious part of your whole meal since they have amazing antioxidant potential and they have one of the highest pheuolic phytonutrients of any vegetable. The beets, onions and carrots will caramelize with the olive oil while baking. There are lots of colors in this dish, so no protein source needs to be added. Your body will hook up all the amino acids in your digestive system and make protein. The beets have a unique phytonutrient called betalain. This promotes liver function and protects from environmental chemicals in a big way. Combine that with the vitamin A found in carrots, the blood sugar balancing effect of the olive oil and onions, as well as its incredible ability to reduce inflammation, you're not just eating food, you're consuming medicine.

When you factor that in, you're eating a pretty amazing meal.
You can add chicken, steak or fish with it, but like he said, it's not necessary.

Incase you're curious, my doctor is Dr. Adrien DenBoer, to see his website click here.

Happy Monday!

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

I have never made, nor had, stuffed peppers before.

So I decided to change that.

I'd say the result was pretty great! Plus they're quick and easy! And they managed to fill my husband, the boy who is never full...they're pretty great!

The best part was they only required me being in the kitchen for a few minutes total, the rest of the time I was free to work on homework or....no, let's face it, I only have homework to do. However, you could use the time to clean, spend time with your kidlets, or whatever you need to do!

The peppers are gut free! I would have had 6, except one of the peppers was starting to mold on the inside! Disgusting I know!

Then you scoop in the guts you made. I ended up with extra fillings since I was a pepper short. But it tastes delish on chips, so we put it to good use!

Put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes and you get this tasty goodness!

 I thought the hubby didn't want cheese, which meant I didn't pick up any at the store. He thought we still had some, but I used it all for a Lazy Man's Lasagna (which will be on the blog in a day or so), so we went vegan for the night.

Stuffed Peppers

6 medium-large peppers (whatever colors you prefer)
1 cup dried rice*
cilantro
olive oil
small - medium onion diced.
couple cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn off the cob
1 can black beans
1 can enchilada sauce (or the equivalent homemade enchilada sauce)
cumin
chili powder
(any other spices you might like, I threw in paprika, salt and pepper)
dash of hot sauce (I was out of normal hot sauce, so I used Sriracha which gave it a nice smokey flavor)
cheese (optional - any kind of monterey-jack, mexican blend, mozzarella, etc would be great!)
meat (you could throw in some seasoned and cooked steak or chicken, if you choose)

Cook rice according to the package instructions, I add some chopped cilantro to the water when I add rice. I also use oil instead of butter to keep it vegan.
Once rice is done cooking, add about a tablespoon olive oil to frying pan on medium heat, add onion and garlic and spices and saute until cooked. (I just dump spices in, I'm really sorry if you can't cook that way, I've always been like that and so far no mistakes. You can always start small and add more to the mixture if it's not the desired taste you want. I'd say I used about 1-2 teaspoons of cumin, chili powder, and paprika.) 
Mix the rice, enchilada sauce, garlic & onion mixture, beans (I drained and rinsed mine, but not necessary), and corn in one of the pans. Check the taste, add whatever seasonings or sauce you need to make it taste great!
Cut the peppers about an inch from the stem and clean out the guts. If the peppers cannot stand without toppling over, cut off as little from the bottom as you can to get them to stand straight. You don't want any holes down there!
Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers. Stand the peppers in a pan (no cheese yet) and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Then sprinkle with cheese (if you're going to) and bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese melts. If you're not adding cheese, you're done after the peppers are tender!

It's as simple as that! We ate some Tostitos Hint of Lime chips with ours and it was perfect. I missed the lime in there. So if I wasn't going to eat lime chips, I probably would have squirted some lime on there.

You could always serve them with guacamole or whatever else you can think of. This was basically what was in my kitchen, but there are many ways to make these.

Happy Hump Day! The weekend is almost here!

The Streaking Burrito

Testing, Testing. Is this thing on?

Well, first post. I'll try to keep it short. I tend to ramble. 

This recipe isn't original, but I like it. It's healthy and we get leftovers. Leftovers to a college kid is fantastic! 

I chose to make my own pico de gallo just because I enjoy it. I like to make what I can as long as it doesn't take forever or get too expensive. 

This is probably the only time you'll see meat on my blog! It was before the hubby decided not to eat meat anymore. I probably would have marinated it, but forgot. Usually I'd put some oil in a plastic bag to cover most of the chicken and dump in the spices and let it sit for 1-3 hours in the fridge.  Then take it out and put it on the tinfoil to bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.
This time, I drizzled the breasts with olive oil and sprinkled, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, cumin and chili powder. Sounds like a lot, but when you cut them in slivers it ends up not being so concentrated.

 I put parsley in my pico de gallo this time, but cilantro would probably be better if you're looking for that mexican food flavor. I dump things in until they look about right. Most of my cooking is dumping things in, luckily no mistakes yet. 

The finished product. Looks great right. I wish technology allowed me to share this with you guys! I guess I'll just have to give you the recipe to make your own.

I prefer mine minus the shell, plus chips!

Ready to make it?

Pico de Gallo

5 roma tomatoes - juice & seeds removed and diced

1 small onion - diced

handful (or however much you want) of parsley or cilantro - chopped

juice of a lime - optional, I like the extra tartness it adds

Streaking Burrito Fixings 

1 cup not cooked brown rice - cook as directions on bag/box say. Add in chopped cilantro to your liking

1 can pinto beans &/or 1 can black beans

corn - frozen or fresh off the cob

romaine lettuce

avocado/guacamole - optional

sour cream/greek yogurt - optional

meat - seasoned chicken or steak - optional

shredded mozzarella to sprinkle on top

I usually start with rice at the bottom, add my beans, then corn (these are the warmer things, especially if you're heating up leftovers...works nicely so you don't have to heat the chilled toppings). Then I add my greek yogurt (I prefer it over sour cream, it's healthier and tastes pretty much the same), pico de gallo, and top it off with cheese. 

I like mine in a bowl and eat it with chips or you can put it in taco or burrito shells. 

Happy Monday!