Not your average grilled cheese

I've been eating more sandwiches lately.
Mainly because they are easy and there are infinite ways to make one.
I need to be more focused on getting enough calories, from good, healthy food, to continue making super nutritious milk for Penelope.
And to keep my milk supply up, of course.

This has been my lunch the last two days.


Fried Egg Grilled Cheese

2 slices of wheat bread
1/2 an avocado, smushed
4 slices of a roma tomato
1 egg, preferably organic
1 slice of swiss cheese
1 slice of muenster cheese
A pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Cook your egg on medium heat in a bit of coconut oil to prevent sticking. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile build your sandwich with the cheese on one slice of bread and the avocado spread on the other slice, topped with tomato. Put the slices of bread on the warm griddle to start warming up the cheese. When your egg is cooked how you like, I like it with the runny yolk but whites completely cooked (which I am the master of, Joey doesn't win that cooking battle), put it on the slice with the cheese. Carefully close your sandwich so you don't break your yolk and keep cooking till cheese is melted. If you are having trouble getting your cheese to melt then throw that sucker, okay, gently place, into a 350℉ oven for a few minutes.


Pretty simple. I know I get stuck in a rut and start making the same sandwich over and over and OVER again so simple sandwiches like this are awesome to get out of that rut.

Peace and Love.

Pumpkin and Mushroom Curry Soup

I had this soup at a party a few weeks ago and thought I'd take a shot at recreating it.

I was not disappointed. Hopefully you will not be either.

Ingredients:
1 small "pumpkin pie" pumpkin, approximately 6 inches tall and 18-24 inches around
(This was about 4 cups of pumpkin I would guess.)
1/2 - 1 whole small organic white onion, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
24 ounces of organic veggie broth
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp curry powder
2-3 pinches of pink salt (sea salt works also)
1/2 tbsp raw organic honey
8 ounces of sliced organic baby portobella mushrooms
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
fresh ground pepper to taste

Quarter, "de-pulp" and de-seed the pumpkin. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Sauté onion in coconut oil until soft and a bit caramelized in a large pot. Once pumpkin is done scoop out the flesh and transfer into the pot with the onion. Add the veggie broth, nutmeg, curry powder, salt and honey. Bring to a low boil then let simmer while you chop the mushrooms. Before adding the mushrooms puree the soup with an immersion blender (or regular blender if you don't have an immersion blender but just transfer back to the pot when done). Add mushrooms and milk to soup and let simmer until mushrooms are soft. Mix in fresh ground pepper and enjoy!

Let me know if you try this. I'm sure you could substitute the pumpkin for canned pumpkin puree I am just not sure off the top of my head how much you'd need to get the same flavor but make this recipe your own!

Happy Autumn!
Peace and Love.

Ramen inspired-Recipe

I got the hankerin' for some Ramen today...and not Top Ramen but good ramen like from "Ramen Girl". I didn't want to go to the store so I used what I had on hand and it actually came out pretty well.

Here's my recipe!
Serves 2-3
(Depending on if you have a pregnant girl eating and/or a hungry hungry boy)

Ingredients:
1 pack of Somen noodles
By one pack I mean one individual group, since they usually come in "three packs" or more, I thought I would clarify.
1 Kombu (sea kelp) piece, approx. 12" long
4 cups of water
1 1/2- 2 tsp of Miso paste
1 egg
1-2 handfuls of spring greens
A "splash" of tamari (soy sauce)
I would suggest if you have bonito flakes to use some as well. I however did not. This would just add a good flavor to the soup.

Boil your noodles and drain. Keep on the side till later.
Boil the 4 cups of water and kombu for approx. 20 minutes. Add miso paste and stir.
Crack and drop the egg into the boiling soup and stir fast with a spoon at the same time.
Next add in your noodles and turn off the heat.
Add your handfuls of spring greens and let wilt into the soup.
Stir and "plate" it up...you know in a bowl.
Add a quick splash of tamari over the top and enjoy!
(Note: I took the kombu piece out after I put the noodles in. This isn't really necessary. I just did it for easy of spooning the soup out into bowls.)

Simple!


I used to be so afraid of cooking Asian meals but now I find that those types of meals are my comfort zone when just throwing a meal together. Let me know if you make this and what you think about it. I know, the majority of you probably don't just have kombu, miso paste or bonito flakes laying around but thought I'd share! I linked all the odd ingredients to where you can buy them on amazon.com. I get a lot of my food "staples" off of there! hah!

Peace and Love!

Chocolate Pudding-Healthy Style

One of my biggest concerns with eating well for our family, i.e. pescatarian, mostly raw, less dairy, less gluten, you name it, was that Leena and our future kids were going to feel deprived from getting yummy sweets. I have been trying to find better recipes for sweets that are actually still really good for you and this one from tonight is seriously amazing. I found a recipe online and just sort of winged it for what I had on hand.

Chocolate pudding
Ingredients:
2 organic avocados
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup dark raw agave nectar
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of all spice
a small pinch of salt

Cut and peel the avocado. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend till smooth and creamy. Add more almond milk if it is too thick. If you are allergic to nuts then you can always use coconut milk, rice milk, etc. Refrigerate till chilled.

The properties of cacao powder is amazing. Here's just a little video on it to give you an idea. :)

I made a simple green smoothie tonight instead of my usual way of making smoothies with throwing everything under the sun in them. It was really, very good so I thought I'd pass it along. Sometime the simplest of recipes are the best ones.

Banana Blueberry Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
Organic Kale
Organic Spinach
1 (6)oz container-Organic Blueberries
2-Organic chopped frozen Bananas
1 cup Pomegranate Nectar Juice (or whatever juice you have on hand)
2-3 cups (depending on how thick you like your smoothies) filtered water

Fill your blender up to the top line with a mixture of spinach and kale. Add your liquid and blend till smooth. Then add your bananas and blueberries and blend till smooth.
This makes enough for three days or less depending on how much you drink per day. Drink some then save the rest and drink it for the next two days.

You can't even taste the greens but you are getting all the nutrients from them. I suggest to everyone to try green smoothies. They are amazing for your health. Don't freak out if the drink is green. It's all in your head. ;)

Peace and Love!

Homemade Hummus

It's a perfect night to share a recipe. Easy and quick hummus. It is one of our favorites around here. My husband would kill for hummus I think...Okay okay, he wouldn't KILL for it but he loves hummus.

Ingredients:
1 can organic garbanzo beans aka chickpeas
1 clove garlic
A pinch of salt
1 heaping spoonful of Tahini (look in the Asian or organic aisle for this)

Drain the garbanzo beans and keep the liquid in a separate bowl. Throw the beans into a food processor (with the chopping blade) with the peeled garlic, tahini and salt. Add 1/4 to 1/2 of the liquid. Turn on the food processor and let it run for a bit. If it looks too thick add a bit of liquid at a time till it's the consistency you like. Remember to always start with less liquid and keep adding till it's nice and smooth. It'd be terrible to add too much liquid and then it be runny hummus. Generally, I add about 1/2 the liquid.

That's it! This recipe is totally customizable to your tastes. Add whatever herbs you want!

My favorite way to eat this, like we did tonight, is with Kashi 7 grain crackers, smushed avocado, blueberries, strawberries and an apple. Make sure you get organic! You don't want pesticides as one of your main courses with dinner. :) Strawberries and apples are all in the top 12 of the most pesticide contaminated fruits from this year.

I love this so much more than store bought hummus. I can eat it all the time.

The giveaway ends tonight at 11:59pm cst! Don't forget to enter here!

Peace and Love!