Spinach Salad with Sweet Onion Vinaigrette

I got this salad recipe from

www.bake-aholic.com

I absolutely love spinach salads but most require a lot of ingredients I don't normally have lying around my house.  I also LOVE a sweet vinaigrette but unfortunately most of them are loaded with SUGAR.

I love this dressing recipe because the red onion gives a subtle sweetness to it and it makes it an awesome pink color!
I made this salad a few weeks ago for dinner and paired it with a Turkey Bacon Avocado Panini.

Spinach Salad:

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. spinach
• 1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup toasted almonds (350 degrees for 8 minutes)
• 1/2 lb crisp bacon (I prefer turkey bacon)
• red onion slices (optional)

Sweet Onion Vinaigrette:

•  1/8 of a red onion
• 1/3 cup EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) 
• 3 T. sugar (I use xylitol)
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt

Puree dressing ingredients in a blender.  Toss salad.

Kim's Notes:

Buy organic spinach at Costco or Trader Joes since SPINACH is #5 on the DIRTY DOZEN list of pesticide residue. 

Using XYLITOL instead of regular TABLE SUGAR is a GREAT idea for many reason: It is JUST AS sweet as sugar, it has a glycemic index of 10 instead of 90, it's actually GOOD for your teeth instead of BAD, and it has 40% fewer calories and 75% fewer carbohydrates! It is also one of the FEW sugar substitutes that isn't HARMFUL to your health.  You can buy this at Sprouts or online.

Hungry For Change

I just finished watching the documentary

"Hungry For Change"

I've watched almost all of the food documentaries out there and this one was one of my favorites.  So much important information that SO many people don't know about.  Informing yourself and becoming knowledgable is your greatest tool to being successful with your health and weight goals.

This film can be viewed for free until

MARCH 31st!

Just click on the link below

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/24/hungry-for-change.aspx

Here is a summary of the documentary:

Story at-a-glance

• Hungry for Change, the sequel to the popular documentary Food Matters, continues the story about how you can create vibrant health, abundant energy, and achieve your ideal body weight without dieting
• Leading medical experts explain the reasons you crave certain foods, and how the food industry has secretly engineered foods to be addictive, as well as what you can do to eliminate food cravings once and for all
• Food additives, such as artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and MSG, can lead you down a path of food addiction, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, while increasing your risk for chronic disease
• You can escape the diet trap and optimize your health naturally by gradually replacing processed “faux-food” with organic, nutrient-dense real foods, and other lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and proactively reducing your daily stress

Berry Green Smoothie

We all know that GREEN SMOOTHIES have excellent health benefits,

but some GREEN recipes look a little intimidating...

and some look downright DISGUSTING :)

{Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Ginger, Avocado, Lemon, Celery}

All these ingredients are HEALTHY but not really what I want to sip on in the morning.

I've tried many combinations in my smoothies and wanted to post a WINNER that I have been making all week long for breakfast.

BERRY GREEN SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen berry mix

1/2 frozen banana

1/4 cup pineapple bits

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/3 - 1/2 cup coconut milk

A handful of spinach

Ice!

Throw in the blender and BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH!

Adjust the portions however you like, but know that the slightest change can result in a big taste difference!
A few notes:
The berry blend we use it from COSTCO.   The brand is Townsend Farms and its an ORGANIC ANTIOXIDANT blend with Cherries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, & Pomegranates!
Pineapple bits can be bought at trader joes
I have never seen frozen bananas pre packaged anywhere so we buy a dozen and let them get ripe then cut them in thirds and throw in a freezer bag!


This smoothie recipe makes a great SINGLE breakfast portion and comes out to 212 calories!


What's your favorite SMOOTHIE recipe?!

Crock-pot Chicken Tostada Mix

This recipe is one of my all time favorites! It's a crock pot recipe which is always delightful because of the convenience and minimal clean up.  This is the CLEANER version of the original recipe which calls for a whole lot of cream cheese and cheddar cheese. SO NOT NEEDED, this modified recipe is creamy and delicious and still easy on the calories! Check the bottom of this post for all the nutritional information!

*As usual, I always HALF this recipe, but if you like leftovers feel free the freeze the extras and 2 weeks down the road when you are craving them again... put it back in the crock pot and heat it up! SO EASY!

Chicken Tostada Mix

Yield: Enough for 20 tostadas!

Ingredients

2  lb. chicken breast

1  10oz can green enchilada sauce (I use MACAYO'S brand because it has 8 ingredients and I know what each of them are! Also watch out because most cans are 16 OUNCES! So you need to measure out 10oz)

1   4oz can diced green chilies

6oz reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup diced bell pepper (I buy red, orange, yellow, and green peppers and dice them ALL up and then put them in a bag in my freezer. When a recipe calls for them I just measure it out and throw them in! So easy! Also the variety of color makes this mix so beautiful!)

Directions

Place the first 3 ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 4-5 hrs.)  

Once done, shred the chicken in the crockpot to incorporate the sauce evenly.  Then add remaining ingredients and cook an additional 30 minutes.  Stir well to combine and serve on top of tostada shells with a little shredded cheese on top!

Nutritional information for the chicken mixture (based on 20 servings)

Calories:   70

   Carbs:     2 grams

       Fat:     2 grams

 Protein:   10 grams

** I typically have 2 tostadas with shredded cheese on top which equates to 350 calories! Not bad for a delicious dinner that is filling, packed with protein, and easy to make!

Skinny Chicken Parmesan

This is one of Jess's favorite dinners that I make.  I love it because the chicken always comes out tender and it is a great Italian alternative to pasta when I'm more in a PROTEIN mood instead of a CARB mood.

I also love that the bread crumbs in this recipe are homemade, as long as you have the few basic spices you should be good to go! 

You can find the original recipe and VIDEO on how to make it

HERE

*I always half this recipe and it make enough for 3 adult servings*

Ingredients

• 4 slices whole-wheat bread (1-ounce each) (I used TJ's gluten free brown rice bread)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons paprika (I always use less)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk (I use rice milk or almond milk)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I've used sorghum, brown rice, and coconut flour... ALL GOOD!)
• 4 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness (I like using chicken tenders)
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 jar good-quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups) 
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons (1/2-ounce) shredded Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed, about 25 to 30 seconds. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until golden. (You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cups toasted crumbs.)

In a medium bowl, toss the crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third bowl stir together the flour, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dip each piece of chicken, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded breasts in a glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and spray the tops of the chicken as well.  Bake breasts until cooked though and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarella and parmesan and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

Kim's Notes:

All of my suggestions are what work for me and may not be what works best for you, I enjoy adapting recipes to make them gluten free and see if the end result tastes different, In this recipe it tastes the same gluten free! 

Also please try this marinara sauce. It is the purest and most homemade tasting sauce I have even tried. Ingredients: Whole tomatoes, tomato puree, Cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Onions, Herbs, Garlic, Salt.

Such a beautiful ingredient list... and NO SUGAR! Look at your jar of marinara sauce and check out the sugar content, then make the switch! I believe this sauce is $1.79 for a 28 oz can. And trader joe's incorporates tax into their listed prices. So $1.79 is all you pay for this goodness!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Crash Hot Potatoes

In my opinion, a GOOD potato recipe is actually one you do not have to smother in butter, cream, and cheese to make it taste delicious.  My FAVORITE potato recipes are the ones that are roasted in the oven. You may remember THIS RECIPE which used to be my go-to potato recipe.

But then I found this recipe! And you MUST USE KOSHER SALT!!!! It makes all the difference.

Crash Hot Potatoes

via

Ingredients:

• 10 - 12 Red Potatoes (or any other small, thin skinned potato)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil (I use grapeseed oil because it is more stable under high heat)
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (I use dried parsley!!!!) To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender. (approx. 18-25 min.)

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

I recently made these as a side dish with pan seared tilapia with fresh lemon!

 I used trader joes gold potatoes.

And yesterday I made them as the main meal with steamed broccoli and squash on the side!

And P.S. these are divine topped with ketchup... but we all know that ;)



Enjoy!