Pineapple Salsa

When we took our trip to Hawaii earlier this summer our little guy could not get enough pineapple salsa. It is probably because the fresh pineapple over there is amazing. Actually the abundance of fresh produce over there is all amazing. Today I made my own version of pineapple salsa. I didn't use fresh pineapple as it tends to burn my mouth quickly, but feel free to use it if you have it, just give it a quick steam first to stop the enzymes that cause the burning sensation in your mouth. Our Whole Foods sells banana chips cooked in coconut oil in the bulk section and they absolutely make the best vessel for this dip. Enjoy!

Pineapple Salsa

Gluten Free, Vegan
Makes 2 cups

1 14oz can crushed pineapple in juice (1.5 cups)
1/4 large onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 large lime, juiced
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ginger powder (or fresh if you have it!)

1. Peel the onion and cut into smaller pieces. Add it to a food processor.
2. Rinse the cilantro and trim of the thick part of the stems. Cut into several pieces and add to the food processor.
3. Pulse the cilantro and onion until finely diced. Sometimes the cilantro sticks around the blade, just pull it off and keep pulsing until it is all chopped.
4. Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
5. Let it set in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
6. Store in the fridge for about 4 days.

Notes and Substitutions

• If using fresh or thawed from frozen pineapple then put it into the food processor to crush it.
• This recipe is really adaptable based on your taste preference. The flavor develops a lot when you refrigerate it for a couple of hours so I would adjust the seasonings after it has set for awhile.
• Serving Suggestions: I love this recipe with banana chips, organic blue corn tortilla chips, over fish, or as a taco topping.

What is your favorite type of salsa?

Cauliflower Country Gravy

It has been a long time since I've had biscuits and gravy. At least a decade. If your not impressed or distraught by this then you probably aren't from the south. I used to love biscuits and gravy when I was kid, but deciding to follow a vegetarian diet at the tender age of twelve pretty much ended by gravy days, as it traditionally contains chicken stock and sausage. Okay, I don't know if that is actually the traditional way but it should be. Brown gravy is in the same boat (pun totally intended) as it usually made from pan drippings. Since adding meat back into my diet I have enjoyed my fair share of brown gravy as I can easily make it fit into our gluten free diet, but white gravy, or "country" gravy is basically flour and milk. Like many of my recipes this one was initiated by accident. I was trying to make a cauliflower alfredo sauce (like this recipe) and my husband remarked that it tasted a little like gravy. I logged it away in my brain until the hankering for biscuits and gravy struck me last week. I am proud of all of my recipes but I am especially proud of this one. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Country Gravy

Gluten Free, Vegan Options
Serves 4

1 lb cauliflower florets (about 4-5 cups)
2 cups water or 1 cup water and 1 cup chicken stock
2 tbl grass-fed butter, lard, or coconut oil, melted
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper or to taste
4 slices bacon or 1/3 pound ground sausages (optional)

1. I used frozen cauliflower, but fresh is fine. If using frozen thaw it out, if it is fresh them steam it until fork tender.
2. Melt the butter (or fat choice, but the butter is the most authentic tasting) in a medium pot.
3. Add the cauliflower, water, melted butter, salt and pepper to the blender and blend until completely smooth. I let my cheap blender go for at least a minute to get it creamy.
4. Add the pureed cauliflower mix back to the pot and gently heat over low, stirring occasionally.
5. In a separate pan cook your bacon or sausage. If using bacon then let it cool slightly before breaking into small pieces and adding to the pot. If using sausage then just add the cooked crumbles to the pot.
6. You can make this ahead of time and just heat it up when you are ready. Stir it well as some of the water will separate.
7.  Serve hot over biscuits.

Notes and Substitutions

• To make this vegan use coconut oil and water, and no bacon obviously!
• If you want it thicker add less water or heat it longer, stirring often, to cook some of the water out. Although with 2 cups of liquid it will be pretty thick.
• I really recommend using freshly ground pepper as it tastes so much better in this recipe, but it is not necessary.

Thaw or steam the cauliflower.
I just put mine in the blender and let it sit out for a few hours to thaw

Melt the butter

Add everything to the blender except the meat.
Blend until smooth and creamy.

Cook your meat.

Add everything to a pot and heat over low.

Enjoy! I had it over biscuits and shredded chicken.

How do you make gravy?

Feed Me Friday

The weather has been crazy here. It feels like fall, which is my favorite season. I spent most of my day yesterday outside, and of course eating! Here's what I ate.

Breakfast

When I first woke up I had one egg with sautéed broccoli cooked in leftover bacon fat. I topped that with homemade sauerkraut and nutritional yeast.  I also drank a cup of green tea.

Snack 

 

I made a quick smoothie to take on a walk. It had spinach, blueberries, gelatin, banana, hemp seeds and water. It wasn't a pretty color but it was delicious and creamy.

 We walked for a long time and eventually made it to the local coffee shop where I got an iced decaf americano. I love iced coffee but this iced expresso was even more delicious.

Lunch

 When we got back from our walk it was time for lunch. I quickly mashed together a tin of sardine in olive oil with hot sauce and mixed it with spinach, cucumbers, and honey dijon dressing (recipe here).

Snack

 Later I made some biscuits (recipe here) for dinner and split one with our little guy. And by spilt I mean I got one bite before he insisted on holding it and then ran off yelling "No" at me. Toddlers are fun!

Dessert

I decided to have dessert before dinner since dinner was going to be late. Like I really needed a reason? I toasted some homemade zucchini bread (similar to this recipe) and topped it with coconut oil and homemade sunflower seed butter. It was so rich and gooey. It tasted like a warm brownie with ice-cream on top.

Dinner

Dinner, or should I say "brenner", was biscuits with shredded rosemary chicken and a cauliflower country gravy recipe that I am sharing on the blog on monday. You definitely want to make this one. It was so tasty that I had two of these.



What are you eating this week?

Cherry Cream Pops for Tot's

Notice it is on the face, but not the hand!

So I'm sure you've noticed cherries are in season. I really can't help myself. They are so beautiful and sweet that I've been keeping them stocked in our fridge. I already made some delicious cherry chicken with them and have been enjoying them as desert or in a smoothie. Today's recipe is for some delicious ice pops. I started making my pops in a large square ice-cube tray because it makes a smaller portion with a long handle for our messy toddler (who will throw a full on tantrum if he can't hold the pop himself). This recipe also has the addition of shredded coconut which keeps the pop from melting so quickly and running down his hand! Though I designed this recipe with toddlers in mind, my husband and I both love it so you can put it into regular molds for adults. Enjoy!

Cherry Cream Pops for Tot's

Gluten Free, Vegan
Makes 12 small pops 

40 sweet red cherries, pitted and sliced in half
1 tbl water
1 tbl coconut oil
2 tbl maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut shreds
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup of water
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pit and slice the cherries
2. Add the cherries, 1 tbl water, coconut oil, and maple syrup to a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil, stirring occasionally. 
3. Once it starts boiling reduce the heat to a simmer and continue stirring. After a few minutes it should be syrupy and the cherries should darken and start to break down some.
4. Add the coconut flakes and stir for 2 more minutes. It should be getting really thick by now.
5. Turn the heat off and add the water, coconut milk, and vanilla.
6. Pour into a blender and blend until as smooth as desired.* 
7. Pour into mold and freeze for about 30 minutes or until firm enough to insert a stick.
8. Insert the stick after about 30 minutes (probably more for larger molds), then freeze until firm. I did mine for about 6 hours.
9. Pop em' out and enjoy! 

Notes and Substitutions

• *If you have a high power blender (like a vitamix) and you want the benefit of the shredded coconut slowing the melting then just pulse it or put it on a lower setting. I blended for about 45 seconds in my cheap blender and still had plenty of shredded coconut bits.
• This recipe should work with different fruits or different types of milk. 
• These are the molds I used (affiliate link)

Pit and slice the cherries

Cook with water, coconut oil, and maple syrup until it starts to boil

Simmer and stir until it gets syrupy

Add the coconut flakes and stir for 2 more minutes

Turn off the heat and add coconut milk, water, and vanilla

Puree in blender

Pour into molds and place in the freezer

Once semi-solid, insert the sticks

Freeze until hardened and enjoy!

What is your favorite recipe for toddlers?

Feed Me Friday

Back when I first started blogging (last Novemeber) I tried to start doing a weekly post of a days worth of my meals. And by try I mean I lasted 2 weeks (here and here). Many of the other blogs I read do this. I like seeing what other people eat. I think it sheds a realistic light on eating healthy. So what I found out is that I am terrible at remembering to take a picture of my food. I do a lot of fly-by eating while chasing our toddler around. However, one of my personal health goals is to practice more mindful eating by being present at my meals and to reduce the mindless snacking. Cooking often in the kitchen always leads me to snack when I'm not really hungry. So I am again going to attempt to start this series. I think it benefits you the reader by giving insight into a "healthy" diet (I think it's healthy anyway!) and it helps me by making me stop to take the time to photograph my food and enjoy it! So here is what I ate yesterday….




Pre-Breakfast
I got up early to see my husband off (I'm lying, our son woke me up being fussy and then I couldn't fall back asleep, so I hung out with my husband until he left)

I enjoyed a cup of mint green tea with coconut milk, and forgot to take a picture. We are off to a good start! But hey it was way earlier then I'm normally up!

Breakfast 

I cooked two local eggs in coconut oil and left the yolks runny. I added some leftover sautéed onion, portobello, and zucchini; and a handful of fresh spinach. I ate that with a side of a melon I got at the farmers market. It has the texture of cantaloupe but a very unique flavor. Its mildly sweet with a little of the right kind of bitter. I think it was called a tropical melon

Snack 

Later I made some lemon-ginger cookies from one of my favorite blogs (recipe here). Mercury and I both liked them although Noah didn't care for them. 

I also made some homemade sunflower seed butter and had to lick the spoon!

Lunch

We had a really simple lunch. Spinach salad with honey-dijon dressing (recipe here) and about 4oz of baked salmon. It really hit the spot and was easy to throw together. I had mine with a cup of plain green tea.

Snack

I tried to give our son a snack of plantain bread (recipe here, seriously make this, it's amazing) and sunflower seed butter. Of course he suddenly decided he wasn't hungry so I ate it.

Later I had some more mint green tea with coconut milk while I made dinner. Can you tell another one of my health goals is to drink more green tea?

Dinner

We had enchiladas stuffed with homemade shredded chicken and sautéed peppers, onions, and tomatoes. The tortillas are made out of plantains, flax seeds, and coconut oil (similar to this recipe). Topped with my sisters super easy enchilada sauce recipe (basically tomato sauce and chili powder), cilantro, and cheese dip. We don't normally eat cheese but I happen to be making cheese dip for a party tomorrow and decided a little treat was in order. Neither of us are allergic to dairy, it just doesn't digest well for us so we avoid it mostly.

Dessert
So I didn't actually have desert. Dinner was really filling and we were both ready for bed soon after. I put it here because this is supposed to be a normal day of meals for me, and I normally eat dessert! Usually some ice-cream, pieces of dark chocolate or some random sweet concoction I'm working on.



What are you eating this week?