Bun-less Burgers

So I pretty much have given up all grains so eating a hamburger is a different experience all together. I usually would go bun less out at restaurants and just have the patty on a bed of salad or wrapped in large lettuce leaves. The difference now is I did not want to miss out on the taste of the mayo, mustard and ketchup goodness that I would get from eating my burgers at home on a G-free bun. So I decided why not just make a dressing for my salad with those flavors.

Makes enough dressing for four dinner size salads:
two tsp of Dijon mustard
two tbsp of Mayo or Vegenaise
five basil leaves
1/2 cup of white balsamic vinegar
pinch of kosher salt
two good pinches of pepper(I use garlic pepper)
two good pinches of Creole seasoning
1/2 tbsp of EVOO
zest and juice of half of a lemon

Add all ingredients in a mini prep food processor or blender and mix until smooth.


















Go ahead and grill or cook your burgers. We got yum, yum burgers on special from Whole Foods. I usually stock up on their pre-made flavored burgers when they go on special and freeze them. They have all kinds usually some made with lamb, salmon, chicken and of course beef and bison. They mix in all kinds of different things like different cheeses and different spices into the patties.

I chopped up a beautiful Heirloom tomato and avocado to top off the burger. I am a huge Sour Kraut fan to and I will top mine with a couple of huge spoon fulls or chop up some of my Moms home made dill pickles. She made them spicy this year really great!

So I add the dressing to my greens, which is usually pea shoots and some kind of lettuce, toss and plate a generous helping to each plate. Then top with the burger and then the tomatoes and avocado. YUM!!!! I do not miss the bun at all.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Chicken Salad

          Tomatoes are in season and I like to try to use them in everything I possibly can. I have been craving very southern flavors lately. So I got some beauties in my CSA box and what else to do with them then to make stuffed tomatoes with Southern done right Chicken Salad, YUM!

          I used three chicken legs salt and peppered them with some Cajun seasoning under the skin and squeezed a lemon over the chicken and rubbed them down. Placed them in a oven set at 450 for about 30 minutes. Check the temp and once the juices run clear and the temp hits 165 with a meat thermometer they are ready. Be careful not to hit the bone or the bottom of the pan with the meat thermometer.

I usually based them with their juices or some broth and finish the chicken under the broiler for about five minutes to get the skin crispy so it is easier to pull off.

So pull off every inch of chicken from the bone. I usually just let it cool a little bit and use a fork to pull it off. Then I will chop up the chicken and throw it in a dish.

Add about a half of a green bell pepper chopped, 1/2 cup of corn( I use frozen and thaw in some warm water), half of a smallish purple onion chopped, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, one heaping tablespoon of Vegenaise or organic mayonnaise, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper some creole seasoning, zest of a quarter of a lemon and its' juice. Mix and let it mingle in the refrigerator if you like for a couple of hours or make the day before.

Grab some huge slicer or nice heirloom quality tomatoes and cut the top out and pull out. Then with a spoon scoop out seeds and water. You make have to cut out some of the ribs with a knife to make plenty of room for the salad. Then fill with chicken salad and sprinkle with some cheese or parsley.

I like to serve it on a bed of lettuce and avocado that is tossed in lemon juice, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Yum! Enjoy:) This would make a great entre' for a luncheon or ayou could use smaller tomatoes and would make a fun party appetizer.

Makes about enough to stuff six large tomatoes.

Cashmere usually begs at the table for scraps this time sitting patiently, this is a rarity;)

A Monday....

      Mondays are always crazy and a mad dash so I keep it as easy as possible when it comes to cooking.

     The morning started with  a Winter Earl Grey White Tea Latte and a half of a Udi's bagel with almond butter and a sliced Banana. I found this White Earl Grey at the Berkley Bowl in Berkley by Harney & Sons Fine Teas.  A White Tea Earl Grey was a great find because the caffeine level is so much lower and packed with more antioxidants then any other tea.  White Teas are not toasted so they are more of a "raw tea" so you get more out of them then any other.

      Later came two loads of laundry, stripping the bed, answered 12 emails and it was lunch time.

     Daiya grilled cheese and sauteed kale. I used this great Gluten Free bread made with Quinoa flour that I found at the Berkley Bowl. It is baked by a Gluten Free bakery called the Grindstone located in Northern California. They do mail order so check them out. Such great breads. I added sauerkraut to mine Ben had his without and asked for five more when he was done. One pan, fast clean up and sooooo good! 

 Now back to working on my secret project. So exciting!!!  I made a Matcha Green Tea latte with Almond Milk which is sooo good. Matcha is another antioxidant power house. It takes a little practice to work with because it is in powder form, but with a latte you just make the steamed milk and whisk in the powder directly in your mug with a small whisk and add maybe some vanilla extract and some stevia and you are good to go.

Tic-toc Ben is home and it is time for dinner. Again, super fast dinner. I made salmon under the broiler just eight minutes and rub the salmon with a Asian rub I buy from Dean and Deluca. Toss  a salad with some left over red quinoa and dinner is ready!

I hope everybody got through their Monday without many bruises or battle scares.

Later,
Shara

Clean Day 8 & 9

Re-cap post from Clean Day 8 & 9

Thursday we started out day with Matcha green tea with some Meyer lemon zest and the juice and our Island Paradise shakes.

Lunch was mmm, mmm, gooooooddddd!!!! I made a really hardy salad. I think you will love this recipe. Especially any guys out there. Totally guy friendly hot salad.

Turkey Bacon, Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad:

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and chopped into bite sized chunks
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 package of nitrite free, organic turkey bacon (peppered worked great!)
1 large shallot clove or enough to for 1/4 cup chopped
1 splash of grape seed oil
2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
a few of cranks of a pepper mill
four huge hand fulls of organic baby spinach or hearty leaf salad mix
1 cup of cooked red quinoa( I make a batch about twice a week to add to salads or to use as a fast side)

Turn oven to 400 degrees.

Prep your squash and lay a piece of parchment paper. Toss your squash in cayenne pepper, some salt and lay spread out on paper. Set timer for 40 minutes

Grab another cookie sheet and lay more parchment paper down. Lay turkey bacon out on paper and add to the oven on a lower rack. Butter nut squash should bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. Bacon will take 20 to 40 minutes depending on how crispy you want it. Flip bacon about 10 to 15 minutes into bacon and flip the squash around as well.

Put your salad leaves together and add the quinoa and set aside.

Now add some grape seed oil to a pan and turn stove to about medium heat. Add the chopped shallots.

Once the shallots are soft and cooked down add two tablespoons of water and they should steam a bit then add the balsamic, Dijon and pepper and combine.

It should look like this. If you want it more runny add more balsamic and water and then when ready and comined turn off heat.

Bacon and squash should be ready. Top salad with the squash and then the dressing. Toss together.

Plate salad and top with bacon add a few cranks of some black pepper and serve.

Our shake was the same. We have been keeping it very easy and only be creative with lunch the rest is the same ol, same ol. Including our lite dinner. Hummus roll-ups packed with veggies. Easy quick and simple. 

Clean Day 4 & 5

We started off the morning with another Thanksgiving themed shake. I know from my nutrition training it is better to keep things consistent. When I get sick of the shake I will switch to my Island Paradise shake recipe. So lunch was another "make enough for two days" which again is from the same school of thought. So this recipe is all my own. I make these with meat and also without some times and totally vegan. These are my meat loaf balls. Same principle of making a meat ball but adding things that go in meat loaf instead and some things that you may never thought to add. I pack mine with lots of vegetables so the are nutritionally dense. Ben eats them right up so that is what counts. I make them tomato free or with because of the clean limitations these are tomato free and the cheese I am using is a Almond milk cheese that I was trying out before the diet. It actually taste like real sharp cheddar and melts really well. It is by Lisanatti Foods and called The Original Almond Cheddar Style. Now this does have casein in it and some expelled pressed canola oil(already e-mailed the company about using grape seed oil instead and finding a different protein besides casein or whey as well). I would actually use Daiya usually because of the diet also that it is casein free as well, but this bag was already open so I wanted to use it up. You can leave the cheese alternative out and add four tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead to get that cheesy flavor and loads of B vitamins as well if you are fallowing Clean to the letter.

What you need to make them:
1 1/2 or a little less pounds of extra lean(99% fat free) organic ground turkey (basically a package)
1 cup of shredded carrot
1 cup of finely chopped kale
1/2 cup of finely chopped red onion
4 chopped garlic cloves or 1 tsp of garlic powder
1 cup of finally chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup of Daiya cheese or whatever you like  (four rounded tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast)
1/4 cup of brown rice flour
2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
about 7 cranks of a pepper mill
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of Creole Seasoning
*I used 1/2 tsp of each organic blend of pepper and garlic seasoning and Organic No-Salt seasoning from Costco as well.
3 flax seed faux eggs (three rounded tablespoons of flax seed meal with six tablespoons of water)
2 tbsp of grape seed oil
1 tsp of tapioca starch if you have it

Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make your faux flax seed eggs in a small bowl and set aside.

I have a mini prep food processor and I finally chopped my onions, carrots and kale in it. If you do not have one just chop the veggies as small as you can and add to a large bowl. Add your faux flax seed eggs and don't for get the oil!

Add your meat and the rest of your ingredients and mix well. Then take about a little more then a 1/2 cup of the mixture an shaped into tight balls.

Place on parchment paper and put the tray in the oven for about 20 minutes. If you are using ground Turkey with more fat then the balls could take about 30 minutes, maybe 40 depending on your oven.

They will be darker in color and hard when pushed when done. Also you could cut one in half a bit if you are not sure. They should be cooked all the way through and no pink!

I made some quinoa with veggie broth, some spices in our rice cooker. Also a  nice dark leaf side salad with a a simple lemon, olive oil, Dijon mustard, pepper and Organic no-salt spice blend dressing. Ben at it before my eyes!


We had our after noon shake which was a repeat from yesterday. The we went to the gym and came home had humus roll ups and some coconut water mixed with sparking and a wedge of lime. The roll ups where Brown rice tortillas, dark leaf lettuce mix, slices of avocado. Dijon mustard, Fallow Your Heart Grape seed Vegenaise and some Cajun spice. These are great for a quick lunch as well and they make a great lite dinner option for the Clean diet.

We are doing well and feeling great.

Clean Day 2 & 3

Day two was not bad as last year, tired but not zombie like at all. I did not make anything different from day 1 and I planned it that way. I was prepared for it to be just horrible and cooked enough on Day 1 for Day 2 to keep it easy except for our little evening meal. I picked up my CSA box from NTC and we got a huge share this week that included Jerusalem artichokes(sun chokes). I was so excited to see them. I can never find them when they are in season so this was great. I figured I can make a hot salad with them with all the kale and collard greens that I got.

Basically, I peeled them then cut them into chunks. Added some grape seed oil to my pan and pan fried them until golden. The add a some white balsamic vinegar, pepper and two bay leaves then turned down the heat to low and covered the pan for about ten minutes. Then I chopped up a few huge hand fulls of kale and collards, chopped two cloves of garlic, and used some killer brown clam shell mushrooms and threw it all in with the Jerusalem chokes and combined and add a few splashes of chicken broth and turned up the heat a bit and put the cover back on for about 15 to 20 minutes checking and tossing every five and BAM ready to go. I tossed in about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds at the end and served hot. YUM!

We had the same afternoon shake. We went on a hour long walk around the neighborhood at night to burn more calories becuase we power walked in 34 degree weather rather then a indoor gym tread mill walk. Good fitness tip to remember want to burn more calories in a shorter period of time do it in cold weather or in cold water.

Day three we had the same morning Thanksgiving themed shake and a mint green tea late made with almond milk and some stevia. I found this great recipe on GOOP under the Clean program section. I altered it a bit because I hate fennel! Not dislike, but HATE it, and actually it takes a lot for me to hate any vegetable and this one I for sure do! So I used the GOOP recipe and subtracted the fennel and used Swiss chard because I broke down my collards the night before. 

Pretty easy marinade. I altered the amounts because I used less fish: 1 tbsp of Tamari, 2 tbsp of sesame oil, 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of Mirin, a tsp of whole grain mustard and 2 chopped garlic cloves.

I mixed the marinade in the glass dish directly and whisked as directed. Then placed the whole piece of Salmon in the dish skin side up flipped it a couple of times to coat top and bottom and left it skin side up in the dish and then cut into about two inch wide pieces. I did skin side up because it will absorb the marinade faster. Pop in the frig for about 20 minutes.

 

I prepped the carrots the Norri sheets and the chard piece while it was marinating. Also filled my dutch oven with water and placed the steamer basket in it and turned the heat up to high to get the it ready to steam the rolls.  

 

After 20 minutes I took the salmon out and then started to construct the rolls. Just make sure to over lap the leaves a bit so they stay together.

Then I stuck them with two tooth pics each just in case so they will stay nice and tightly wrapped during the steaming.

Ready to go.............

I placed them in the steamer basket and turned the heat down to medium high heat and then put the top on and set the timer for 8 minutes and walked away. Poof, opened the dutch oven and they were done when the timer went off.

Served them with brown rice that I cooked with vegetable broth and some Japanese Salad. I will post the recipe for that in a separate post. SOOOOOO good!!!!!

We got tea at Peets later on after we went on cat specific research field trip(a Cat Show, I know you think we are weird but we had to get some advise from a Brit breeder about a new vet for Cashmere, it was actually pretty fun). I had the Jasmin Downy Pearl and Ben had the Lung Ching Dragonwell Green teas.

We had a Shari's Berries themed afternoon shake. I used the chocolate flavored Nourish and the Move with some frozen strawberries, some cacao powder, flax meal, almond meal, freeze dried coconut flakes, stevia, cinnamon, nutmeg, un-sweetened almond milk and some water.

For our light dinner we just a half a gluten free bagel with some nut butter and some apple slices to process our supplements.

As usual a mug of Natural Calm and hot water before bed. No work out today but gym tomorrow. 

Vegan Gluten Free Cheese Sauce

So I
LOVE MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!!
I REALLY LOVE MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!
I DREAM ABOUT MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!!

You see that I am a fan, right? Ok, so my problem is I cannot eat it as much as I want because it is high in fat and carbohydrates. So when I went Vegan cold turkey I just thought good bye to one of my favorite dishes in the world. So I started buying Vegan cook books and Dairy Free cook books to find a way to have my Mac and Cheese!
I tried:
Veganomicon Cheezy's Sauce (yes she spells it with a Z)
Appetite For Reduction's Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce (same author, uses a Z)
The Happy Herbivore's Cheddar Cheesy Sauce
GO DIARY FREE's Orange Cheesy Sauce
and most recently
peas and thank you's Lulu's Mac and Cheese
recipes and they all have there merits. Some where really no-brainers and quick easy like Mama Peas recipe. Some had more of a Midwest taste but not really had that Southern soul food Mac and Cheese taste that I crave. Just a few tweaks and changes and I got it!

Inside the mini prep container are the carrots, half of a sweet onion and four garlic cloves. I did take the grape seed oil out of the recipe. 

So what you need to start:
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (full of B vitamins and folic acid, any one that is pregnant or planning to should incorporate this into their daily diet for sure!)
3 cups of veggie or chicken broth
Juice of of medium lemon
1 cup of carrots that are purred
1/2 cup of fire roasted jarred red bell peppers(not pictured)
1/2 of a sweet onion purred or finely chopped
2 tbsp of some kind starch like tapioca or potato
1 heaping tbsp of Dijon mustard
4 chopped garlic cloves or a heaping tsp of Garlic powder
a few pinches of red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp of Turmeric
1/4 tsp of Cayenne pepper (half this if you do not like spicy food)
1/4 tsp of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
a few shakes of sea salt of kosher salt
*for added protein you can add a few heaping tablespoons of cashews nut butter or you can put half cup of cashews nuts in a food processor and grind them up and add the the mixture.

Add all ingredients into a blender or large food processor and mix until smooth.

Pour into a heavy pot and turn stove to medium high heat. Once you see the sauce bubble turn heat down to medium and stir until the sauce thickens. Make sure you keep an eye on it and stir it slowly to make sure the sauce does not burn on the bottom of the pan. I stir with a spoon that is a spatula as well that way I can make sure the sauce does not stick while thickening up. Once the sauce reaches a creamy and slightly thick consistency you are ready to pure it on what every you like.

I usually make Macaroni and vegetables with the sauce.

 I sauteed broccoli, kale, tomatoes and red onion in a little oil until the veggies become bright green and tomatoes soften.

 Then I cook up three cups of dry brown rice pasta and then combine them together in a casserole dish.

 Poor about four cups of the cheese sauce over the mixture and stir together until everything is coated. Place in a oven set at 375 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes and that is it.

Always use more veg then pasta in any dish. Easy, good, really good for you and low fat, low carb.

You could skip the pasta and chop half a head of cauliflower to make a very low carb meal. I sometimes combine, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and the red onion with no brown rice pasta and it works out great. Also I will just chop up a whole head of cauliflower and saute it in a little oil and then pour the sauce over it as well.

I take the left sauce and store in the fridge and then the next day I make nachos, and heat the sauce to poor over the chips. You can also use this to make chile con queso just by adding some pinto beans, chilies, some salsa and combine on the stove until heated through.  When re-heating in a pan add a little broth or water to the pan first and heat then add the sauce and stir until heated through.

Enjoy!!!

BLT Salad

Love my Turkey Bacon!!! Also Tomatoes are pretty much almost over here in Cal so I have to use them as much as I can until I have to say bye, bye to nice locally grown Tomatoes until next season:( I also love a BLT with Gluten Free bread. I would eat a BLT everyday in the summer if I could afford to eat that many calories that comes with GF bread. So I decided to hold the bread and make a salad instead. I usually buy a few packets of Turkey bacon and keep them in the freezer to have them on hand for a fast lunch or breakfast. Turkey bacon takes no more then 15 minutes to thaw in a sink filled with water. So don't worry about the thawing issue.

This recipe makes two large entree size salads.

For the salad you will need:

1 large tomato chopped sliced whatever you like
1 medium red onion sliced
1/4 cup of chicken or veg broth
1 package of nitrate free organic Turkey bacon or Vegan un-bacon
as much either Spring Mix lettuce as you like or Spinach leaves or combo. I think I put about 12 cups if you need some kind of reference. 
couple of cranks of the pepper mill



1. Fallow package instructions for preparing your bacon of choice. Just make sure it is nice and crispy when you are done.
2. Slice the red onion and then pour a little oil in your pan and turn heat up to medium (low medium for gas) add your sliced onions and let them sweat a bit. Once they start to soften add the broth and pepper then saute until caramelized. Once done turn off heat.

3. Place you lettuce in a big bowl
4. Cut up your tomatoes and place in bowl with lettuce and place in the refrigerator until bacon is done.
5. Once bacon is ready take out of oven and let it cool just enough to handle then cut into short strips.
6. Grab your salad from the refrigerator and dress the salad.


For the dressing:

1 tbs of Vegenaise I like the Grape Seed oil one or you could use Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise
2 tsp of Dijon Mustard
1 half of a organic lemon juiced and zested
a few pinches of Organic Garlic Salt
a few turns of the pepper mill
If you have some Creole Seasoning it goes a long way and adds a nice zing to the tomatoes just a few shakes.

Top salad with all the salad dressing ingredients and then toss salad altogether, or mix in a separate container and serve on the side.

Dish salad into individual plates and top with caramelized onions and bacon. Enjoy!




additions if you have them:
Chopped avocado
Trader Joes Broccoli slaw
Chopped Purple or Napa Cabbage
Chopped broccoli florets
Chopped Zucchini