The BEST Guacamole Recipe

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Posted on 16th May 2012 by DK in Appetizer | Healthy Recipes

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I am an avocado freak. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite foods and I try to convince myself that eating one almost daily is completely normal. Toasted Ezekiel bread, smashed avocado, salt/pepper is my favorite way to start the day. That and a very large cup of coffee.

Guacamole is a serious food. I cringe when I see the avocado dips and pre-made guac in the supermarket. You can’t be lazy with guacamole! Either make it or don’t bother. That’s what salsa was made for.

Luckily, this is super simple to whip up. Great as an appetizer or topped on my lentil tacos.  I use corn as my secret ingredient, it makes the guac slightly sweet and fits into my argument that guacamole is a perfectly OK dinner food. If you have fresh corn, great!  Grill it and slice it off the cob. If you don’t, try Trader Joe’s fire-roasted frozen corn kernels.

Another secret tip I learned from Oprah- after making the guacamole, place the pit in the bottom of the dish to help prevent browning.

Ingredients:
3-4 medium size avocados
2 limes, zest and juice
1/2 cup Trader Joe’s fire-roasted corn kernels
1 bunch cilantro, minced
1/4 white onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced (optional)
1 tsp. cumin
salt/pepper

Remove the pit from the avocado and smash with a fork. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and lightly mix together. I like my guac slightly chunky so do this by hand with a fork, not in the food processor.

Enjoy with chips (Garden of Eatin’ are my favorite)!

What do you like in your guac?

40 Day Challenge: 3 bread recipes & conclusion

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Posted on 15th May 2012 by DK in Nutrition | Uncategorized

As I near the end of my challenge, I want to share what I’ve learned, gained, and let go from.

1. Daily Yoga rocks. This challenge idea first popped into my head when the yoga studio I belong to started offering their “40 Day Challenge.” Somewhat similar to mine, it’s a daily yoga, meditation, nutrition practice that I wanted to copy. I wasn’t a huge fan of their “food rules” and so I came up with my own. Plus, their challenge conflicted with my kickball league and I wasn’t giving that up!

I have reaffirmed my yoga practice many times over. I have enjoyed this part of the challenge much more than the food part, a suprise even to me. While I don’t know if I will continue with daily yoga, I hope to keep going as much as I can. I also learned to take more rest, a 4 letter word to me in my usual practice. I hurt my wrist AND my knee at two different times during this challange and learned that “yoga practice” can be as simple as meditating in Savasana. Perfect for days when my mind needs the practice more than my body.

On the vainer side of things, I am loving my more toned body. I don’t think I lost any weight during this challenge (I don’t ever weigh myself) but I have noticed much more definition in my abdomen and arms. No complaints here…

2. Thank god for technology. When I first started this challenge, I thought I would have a whole slew of recipes afterwards to share with you. However, we ate much simpler than we normally do: roasted or steamed vegetables, rice, beans, or salad was dinner most nights and I really enjoyed the no-fuss cooking process.

3. I prefer store bought bread. Sure, my farmer wife days of getting up early and making bread were fun some of the time but not realistic in everyday life. I might do this more once I have a larger family, but a loaf of bread every few days for me and BL is way too much. I found myself eating more bread than I usually do, mostly because I knew it only had a few days of shelf life. Well, that and fresh bread topped with avocado or almond butter might be the greatest thing on earth. Delicious, but not practical. Ezekiel bread, you’re back on!

Here are my favorite recipes:

Whole Wheat Bread- basic recipe 

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread 

Great with Italian Food, Paninis and my La Clouche Bread Baker, no-knead bread 

4. Be honest. As I mentioned yesterday, I didn’t follow this 100% to the T and I am OK with that. I enjoyed the nights I went out to dinner with friends, BL, and the various parties/vacations we took. You might not agree with that but I think that enjoying life means more than trying to prove a challenge to myself.

I have 5 days left and am looking forward to finishing them. Between this and my sugar-free challenge last year, I think I have found a new fun ritual. Not sure what next year will be, maybe gluten-free?

The DK Challenge: 40 days of Yoga and “Processed-Free” Eating

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Posted on 14th May 2012 by DK in Nutrition

If you’ve been reading my scattered posts this month, you know I’ve been embarking on a 40 day processed free/daily yoga challenge. As the challenge comes to a close, I want to share my thoughts and where I will be going from here.

If your only just hearing about my challenge well, it’s probably because I’ve been either working, cooking, or down-dogging and therefore have not had much time to post, or sleep.  The idea from this challenge came from all the recent articles of food additives (pink slime anyone?) and me wanting to get back to a cleaner way of eating. Sure, I don’t eat pink slime but there are lots of funky ingrediants in processed foods that I was excited to get away from.

When I first started this challenge I was more nervous about the yoga than the eating part. I felt like I already ate mostly whole foods so this should have been a mild challenge. Well, let’s just say my ego was proven wrong.

First up, my “guidelines”: The fun part about making up your own challenge is that you also get to make up your own rules!

1. Processed free from most things: I made my own bread, granola, bars, tempeh, and the like. I also got to be discrentionary where I wanted to be. Like pasta. I do have a full-time job, and pasta made it onto the short list of processed foods I am ok with.

2. Daily yoga- I tried to make it to my favorite studio- Zuda in Sacramento as much as possible. If I didn’t make it to actual class, I had to practice on my own.

3. Eating a lot cleaner. Mostly fruits, vegetables, beans, tofu, tempeh, nuts, grains. You know, the way I pretend to eat the rest of the year.

4. Allowing breaks. Yes, this is a challenge but it’s MY challenge and I knew there would be days when this wasn’t going to happen. We took a few weekend trips during this time and I also hosted a birthday weekend, sometimes there is not enough time to get it all done.

What do you think? Would you ever try to give up processed foods? What processed food could you not give up?

I will post my concluding thoughts tomorrow and a easy bread recipe to go with it!

Lentil Tacos

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Posted on 9th May 2012 by DK in Gluten Free | Healthy Recipes | Main Dish

Not only is this meal healthy, it’s also pretty inexpensive and quick to make. A win-win in my book. Of all the subs for ground beef, lentils are probably one of my favorite. Not only are they high in fiber, iron and protein but one cup provides almost all of your daily folate needs.

If you’re trying to lower cholesterol levels try subbing lentils for ground beef/turkey/chicken in your pasta sauces, burgers, and these tacos. I’ve made these for many carnivores and everyone asks for the recipe.  And, coincidently, this recipe is gluten-free if you sub corn tortillas for flour. Vegan, gluten-free, this meal pleases everyone! 

Lentil Tacos

Ingredients:

1 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 white onion, finely diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (What can I say? I’m Italian, I throw garlic into every dish. If that’s weird for you in taco filling, omit it)
3-4 tbsp. of vegetable broth, divided (can use 1-2 tbsp. oil in this combination)
Corn or Flour Tortillas

Spice mix:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Taco toppings: shredded lettuce, jalapenos, anything else you like

Directions:
In a large frying pan over medium high heat, sweat the garlic/onion in 1 tbsp. oil or broth. Stir frequently, about 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the spice mixture and cook for another minute or two, stirring frequently. You don’t want to burn the spices just crank up the flavor by cooking them.

While you are cooking this, warm the tortillas. You can do this in the oven or microwave. I  just place them on the burner behind my frying pan and let them warm up while I cook the filling, this way I don’t have to turn on the oven.

Add the lentils and stir to combine. If the lentils are too dry, add another tbsp. or two of water/oil/vegetable broth. Using a potato masher or fork, gently mash the lentils until they start to look like ground meat. Cook another few minutes until hot.

Place a heaping spoonful or two into the taco shell and add your fillings. The filling will make about 10-12 tacos, depending on how stuffed you like them!

Enjoy! What other gluten-free foods would you like to see?

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