Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

I have posted this dressing recipe before in conjunction with other recipes like my Quinoa Asparagus Salad but it really is good enough to have a post of it's own. I found myself tired of digging through other posts just to find this little gem so here it is....standing alone and easy to find.

I eat this on everything from salads to fish to tacos. I am slightly obsessed with the cilantro lime combination and this is like summer in a bowl (which truthfully I need a dose of during the lovely gray Pittsburgh winters.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold pressed olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (I juiced 2 1/2 limes)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard (I use Annie'S Naturals Organic Horseradish Mustard)
1-2 tablespoons honey to taste (I prefer to use raw honey.)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
A large handful of fresh cilantro

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and blend.

And then try not to drink it right from the blender cup.

Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake with Homemade Enchilada Sauce (in a slow cooker!)

It is one of my 2015 goals to start running a free group every month on Facebook. One that will focus on health in various ways. Providing support and meal planning and sharing recipes and other things I have learned so far on this journey to being the healthiest, awesomest me I can be.

So to kick it all off, this month I am doing a Rock your Crock group. It is a ten day crash course on clean eating with the focus being on crock pot meals....because (as I have admitted many times in the past) I am a lazy cook and the crock pot is my dream come true.

Walking in the door late from coaching cheer practice or a busy day out and about, it is nice to have dinner ready to go. And with so many of the recipes being of the dump in the crock pot and turn it on variety, it has really become my very favorite appliance.

So today I am bringing you a really yummy recipe that fit the bill for my I want Mexican food cravings. I wouldn't say it is a "true" crock pot recipe as you can't really throw it all together and leave the house for the entire day (it only took 2 hours for mine to be done) BUT there is something to be said for the fact that you don't' even have to turn on the oven. And what I can do with the 2-3 hours it is in the crock pot vs the 30-40 minutes it is in the oven. But it is nice to have a quicker option in case you need to get dinner on the table faster.

Because I do think this would also make an awesome casserole. I would probably bake it at 350 for 30-45 minutes, add the cheese and then bake until the cheese is melted. I would also make sure the quinoa is cooked first, eliminating the extra water.

For this recipe I also made my own enchilada sauce. I had no idea what was in enchilada sauce and how to make it but after about 30 seconds of research I found tons of recipes. And they were so easy. So easy. Add this to the list of things I will probably never buy again because the homemade version is easier and better. Plus in the way I always tend to do things fashion, I was missing some of the ingredients so I subbed what was in my fridge and things still turned out pretty great. You've got to love when that happens.

So here is what I did:


1 lb ground turkey (or you can skip this to make it vegetarian friendly)
1 can rinsed black beans
1 can corn (or you can use frozen corn - about 1 cup)
1 1/2 cups rinsed quinoa
1 sweet bell pepper
2 cups fresh salsa
1/2 large onion (red or sweet) minced
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cumin
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried cilantro
1 go of homemade enchilada sauce (or 1 can)

Plus any toppings you like. For us this included limes, shredded cheese, avocado and fresh cilantro. You may want to add plain greek yogurt (a great protein packed sub for sour cream), minced green onion or anything else you like in or on your enchiladas.

** optional add ins: chili powder, small diced jalapeno, chilis

You can also add some spicy. I can't do spicy and I like to make my meals preschooler friendly so I allow my husband to add his own spicy-ness level which works out really well for us.


First melt about a teaspoon of coconut oil in a skillet and brown the turkey. (I seasoned with a little salt and pepper.)

Then put everything into the crock pot. Turn it onto high. Cook for 2-3 hours or until all the liquid is gone and the turkey is cooked through.


Easy Peasy.

I served mine over a mixed green salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette (which is pretty much my favorite dressing of all time.) And it was awesome.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

This was one of those things I had no idea I could make at home. (Kind of like mayonnaise) and once I actually made it, my mind was blown. First it was super easy. And second it tastes so much better. So this enchilada sauce is getting added to the list of things I will never actually buy again.

Another reason making my own is totally worth it? I can also control things like the spicy level and the flavor (which when you live in a house divided over how spicy food should be....this is an awesome thing.) I can make it mild enough that my preschooler and I can eat it and my hubby can add his extra spicy to his hearts content.

When I decided to try this out, I was doing so because I was working with what was in my fridge. So I made a few tweaks and it all worked out really great.

This is what I did:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup brown rice flour *
16 oz fresh mild salsa **
1 cup water
1 tablespoon of chili powder (adjust to the level of spicy you like)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a saucepan until melted. Whisk in the flour until combined.

Stir in salsa (or tomatoes), water, spices and syrup (so all the remaining ingredients). Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened (about 10 minutes).


And that's it. Super easy.




* I used brown rice flour to make this gluten free (and because I had it on hand.) If you are not avoiding gluten feel free to use all-purpose flour

**This is a perfect example of using what I had in my fridge. I really want to try this again using roasted tomatoes and onions from my farm share this summer.

Shakeology and Pregnancy: The great Vitamin A debate

The biggest question I have received since I made my pregnancy public (at least for those who don't see me everyday and kind of figured it out) is "What are you doing about your shakes?"

And that question plagued me the minute I saw two little lines pop up on the pregnancy test. So I put my advanced English degree to use and started doing research. I started with my friend Katy who I knew drank shakeo during her second pregnancy. I asked her how she approached her doctor and her doctor's response. I wanted to make sure I had all the information I needed when I headed to my first appointment.

The other thing I really wanted to figure out WHY some doctors were clearing it as totally fine and
others were telling women to hold off and not drink it during pregnancy.  Was it that some doctors aren't familiar with the product and ALL the ingredients and really didn't have the time to dig into it so they were saying no just in case? Or were there real issues to be concerned about and maybe these doctors knew more about that. Because dealing with certain herbs and other ingredients we don't normally use can be tricky. Studies aren't done on pregnant women so when there is a question and no one really knows the answer, everyone aires on the side of caution....which makes sense.

BUT if shakeology was so good for me daily before, why shouldn't it be amazing for me during pregnancy?

And should I wait until my doctor's appointment to see if they are cleared or keep taking them until I can talk to my doctor?

So many questions....so many possible answers and reasons. Seriously....motherhood starts the minute you pee on a stick and it says pregnant. And it doesn't get any easier.

So I dug in and this is what I found:

When I asked my previously pregnant colleagues, those that had doctors that said no to shakeology during pregnancy did so due to the levels of Vitamin A. And for good reason....too much vitamin A has been linked to birth defects like cleft lip, cleft palate,  hydrocephalus (water on the brain) or major heart malformations.  (For more information on Vitamin A and the study done at the Boston University School of Medicine click here.) 

BUT there is a difference in the type of vitamin A you are getting (which the above article also states.) Vitamin A from animal sources (liver is the biggest source and is not recommended to eat during pregnancy but it is also found in fish oil, fish and seafood, dairy and fortified cereal.) and preformed vitamin A (which your body uses directly and is also known as retinol) is responsible for the birth defects while vitamin A derived from carotenoids (which your body converts to vitamin A and includes beta carotene) is not....so you can munch carrots and other vitamin A rich fruits and veggies to your hearts content. 

With all the scary problems listed above why not avoid vitamin A altogether? Well it is kind of important for mom and baby. It helps with embryonic growth (source). It's important for mom because it helps with tissue repair (important post partum!) and also supports vision and a healthy immune system.

So what kind of vitamin A is in shakeology? 

The whey blends of shakeology (Chocolate, Vanilla, Greenberry and Strawberry) are fortified which makes it easy to list all the vitamin amounts. (Yay consistency!) Chocolate, Greenberry and Strawberry all contain 5,000 IU of vitamin A sourced from beta-carotene and Vanilla has 500 IU. This is only so it doesn't cause issues in the coloration due to it being derived from beta-carotene (which is what makes carrots and pumpkins orange.)

Below is the nutritional label from chocolate shakeology. I circled the vitamin A content in pink so it was easy to find.

But I drink vegan shakeology and it isn't fortified....

And I do. I don't do well with diary so I drink the vegan formula which made this whole thing a lot trickier.

Well it did and only at first.

The reason that vegan shakeology does not have the vitamins and minerals listed on the packaging is because those are derived from whole foods. Which, was one of the reasons I loved the vegan formula so much in the first place.

Just because there aren't added vitamins, doesn't mean there aren't any vitamins at all. I have been drinking vegan shakeology for almost two years and have noticed many benefits, one being that I don't get sick as often as I used to.

So what did my* doctor say....

She pretty much told me all I need to do is add a folate supplement (or folic acid, I chose to take folate because it is the natural form of folic acid. Folate is what is found in food where folic acid is the synthetic version. I found a pretty reputable brand on Amazon that wasn't very expensive.)

She also told me that since I had issues with prenatals making me sick during my last pregnancy, Shakeology may even be a better option for me than a prenatal would. I really had to play with when to take my prenatal last time. It would make me extremely nauseous. This time I didn't have that issue at all. I made sure I took my shake everyday. I did make it more of a snack though instead of having
it as a meal replacement. I found that I was hungrier (I mean growing a whole new person does require a lot of energy and this way I was getting the extra calories I needed for a healthy pregnancy.)


Interested in talking to your doctor about Shakeology? Here is a great resource to get the conversation started. Click here to download.



* This was MY doctor's opinion for MY pregnancy. Everyone is different and has different circumstances which make all of our pregnancies different. If you are curious about Vitamin A in pregnancy, Shakeology during pregnancy or have any pregnancy questions you need to talk to YOUR doctor(s). They know your history and what will be best for you and your growing family. I am not a doctor and this post is just strictly for sharing my experience.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/07/us/study-links-excess-vitamin-a-and-birth-defects.html

http://vitamins.lovetoknow.com/Sources_of_Vitamin_A

http://www.babycenter.com/0_vitamin-a-in-your-pregnancy-diet_675.bc?page=1

https://faq.shakeology.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8902/~/lower-levels-of-vitamin-a-in-vanilla-shakeology

Quick, Healthy and Yummy Crab Dip

We tend to do a lot of Holiday meals in this house as a big old snacky food spread. For us, it makes a lot of sense when you do a middle of the day big holiday meal to just have some appetizers and other things that work to make small plates when you get a little bit hungry later on.

Now the problem with that is, typically, appetizers are not the healthiest of foods. Sure they tend to be bite sized but my problem around bite sized food is that I tend to end up eating way more than I would if it was all just normal sized. A nibble here, a handful there and pretty soon I have eaten triple
what I planned on eating.

One way to combat this issue....taking my old standby, unwaistline friendly foods and cleaning them up. This year I was totally craving crab dip like I crazy person. So I decided to clean it up, add artichokes for loads of flavor (and adding artichoke hearts to anything always makes me feel like it's  fancy and indulgent) and embrace my crab dip craving. Plus if you are trying sticking to the 21 Day Fix meal plan, artichokes are a green container. So bumping this dip up with loads of them totally helps fill up those green containers while packing a boat load of nutritional benefits. They are loaded with fiber, help promote healthy digestion and help stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon. They are also loaded with antioxidants, vitamin C and folic acid.

Even after cleaning it up, this dip totally hit the spot. It was yummy and super easy to put together. I served it with whole grain crackers and celery sticks.

Here's what I did:

2 cans of artichoke hearts (small, quartered work best)

16 oz crab (I used canned)

6 TBS greek yogurt

6 TBS mayonnaise (I always use homemade. Seriously it will rock your world.)

Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1/2 TBS)

1 cup shredded cheddar (divided into two half cups)

Old Bay Seasoning to taste

Coconut Oil



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 pan or baking dish with coconut oil.

Drain the artichoke hearts and spread across the bottom of the dish. Add the crab. Season with Old Bay to taste.

In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, greek yogurt and lemon juice. Add to the artichoke/crab dish. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar. Mix well.

Top with remaining shredded cheddar.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly. Enjoy!

Easy Breezy (and rock your world worthy) Homemade Mayo

I never liked mayonnaise much. It was super easy for me to leave it off of things because it totally grossed me out. I hated buying big jars of it for recipes to use a tablespoon here or half a cup there and then end up throwing out the entire thing. (Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I didn't feel bad about wasting it.)

When I started this whole clean eating journey and really started paying attention to labels and what was in all the food, I was appalled at the ingredient lists on condiments. Salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces....they all seemed to have HUGE ingredient lists of stuff I couldn't pronounce. It totally shocked me. I expected it from things like poptarts and fritos but salad dressing is pretty much oil, vinegar and spices.....why did we need to have all that other stuff in there?

This lead me to start to figure out what I could make on my own and for things like salad dressing and mayonnaise....well it's easier, cheaper and tastes way better when you make your own. Who knew it was super easy to make mayo and it actually tasted good. It was completely different from the stuff on the grocery store shelves. Because mayonnaise is actually yellow, not white. And it can be flavored a billion different ways depending on your taste.

This is the recipe I use for basic mayonnaise. It is pretty good for when mayo is called for in other recipes. It doesn't have a crazy strong flavor that will alter what your dish is supposed to taste like. (Because no one wants bossy mayo that steals the show and takes over when it isn't supposed to!)

I also like to halve this recipe when I need just a little bit for something I am making (like my clean and easy crab dip).


2 egg yolks**
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 TBS dijon mustard (I use Annie's Horseradish mustard)
1 1/2 cups oil (I use cold pressed olive oil)
Salt to taste

Place the egg yolks in the food processor or immersion blender cup. Add the vinegar and mustard. Turn on the blending device you are using and slowly start to add the oil as you are blending. Once it starts to thicken you can be more liberal with how fast you are adding the oil. Salt to taste.



** This recipe contains raw eggs. Use caution when consuming raw eggs due to the slight risk of salmonella or other food-borne illness.  For more information on the risks and prevention and minimizing your risks click the links below:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellaeggs/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/11/13/eggs-part-two.aspx

http://empoweredsustenance.com/raw-eggs-safe/

My Favorite Winter Salad - Orange and Pomegranate Green Salad

Holiday Parties.....

Not only are they a great way to catch up with friends and family, get dressed up in something sparkly and have a super fun time but they are typically teeming with yummy treats and festive cocktails. AND they seem to fall one after another.

So what's a girl who is trying to stay on track with her health to do?

Bring a killer dish that allows you to help out your hostess AND have a healthy option to load up your plate.

I made this salad as a side for Thanksgiving dinner this year and am looking forward to making it over Christmas as well. There is something about the combination of the sweetness of the pomegranates, the creaminess of the blue cheese, and the tartness of the oranges that combine with the crunch of the romaine that make me really happy. This is one of the best salads I've had in a while. AND it is full of antioxidants and vitamin C--and at this time of year who couldn't use a immune system bump this time of year?

Pomegranates are packed with some crazy healthy benefits (and they are one of my favorite things to eat this time of year too!)

Health Benefits of the Pomegranate Most powerful anti-oxidant of all fruits Potent anti-cancer and immune supporting effects Inhibits abnormal platelet aggregation that could cause heart attacks, strokes and embolic disease Lowers cholesterol and other cardiac risk factors Lowers blood pressure Shown to promote reversal of atherosclerotic plaque in human studies May have benefits to relieve or protect against depression and osteoporosis

Oranges too have been touted as having a huge benefit to the immune system. Feel al cold coming on? Better take your vitamin C. I remember as a kid my dad forcing me to take extra vitamin C tablets. Especially in the winter. Because it would help me not to get sick.

But oranges have more to them that just a concentrated dose of vitamin C. They are a good source of fiber, potassium, which is good for your heart, beta-carotene which is awesome for your skin and are rich in carotenoid compounds which are converted to vitamin A and help prevent macular degeneration. (And since macular degeneration runs in my family...I was super excited to learn about this benefit. Oranges aren't my favorite but I may be adding them to my plate a little bit more often now!)  To learn more about oranges and your health click here and here. 

On top of this salad being loaded with some killer health benefits.... it is really pretty. The red and the green are super festive and bright. It looks great in the bowl and tastes pretty amazing too.

So here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1 head of romaine lettuce--chopped
2 cups of leafy lettuce*
Seeds of 1 pomegranate--about 2 cups
4 large oranges--chopped, peels removed
1/2 of 1 a large red onion--chopped
Crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:

1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup red wine vinegar*
4 TBS  olive oil
zest of one orange
1 TBS honey
1 TBS Dijon Mustard
1 clove garlic - minced
salt and pepper to taste


In a large bowl combine romaine, leaf lettuce, pomegranate seeds, oranges and red onion. Mix well.

In a shaker cup or blender combine the dressing ingredients. Shake or blend until mixed. (I had better luck and flavor using an immersion blender to make the dressing. I also tend to like my dressing more on the acidic side so I always cut back on the oil. If the ratio isn't' right for you add a little more oil to the mix.)



*I used a power greens mix but you could use arugula, baby kale, or another kind of baby lettuce

** The second time I made this I used a pomegranate balsamic vinegar and wow was it amazing. So if you have a balsamic or a flavored vinegar that would work well with the orange juice feel free to sub it in!