Healthy Tip

If you're trying to stay away from junk food and chips but still crave salty stuffy try the dry roasted almonds in individual serving packs from Trader Joe's. I love them, they're healthy, they have protein and are low in carbs. They're a great snack when you're hungry and don't want to eat a big meal!

Spinach and Warm Spinach Dip

Hey Guys, Something that I always buy from the grocery store is a big bag of baby spinach. It's amazing for salads and sandwiches but what happens when you can't eat the entire bag before it spoils or wilts? Spinach DIP!!!! Yesterday I decided to throw some ingredients together to make a warm melty spinach dip with my spinach leftovers. First I washed my spinach, probably about 6 cups uncooked. Then I put them in a big pot and cooked the water out of them until they were wilted, about 10 minutes, then I put them in a strainer to remove any excess water, they yield about 2 cups. Put them in a bowl, add one cup of drained ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese, 1 tbs of fresh basil, 1 tsp of dried parsley (or 1 tbs fresh), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Mix it all up and put it in a casserole dish in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese sliced, mix half in and the other half on top. Cook for another 15 minutes and then broil for 2 minutes so the cheese gets brown. It's great as a side dish if you're avoiding carbs or you can serve as an appetizer with toasted bread or crackers. You can find all of these ingredients at any supermarket or Trader Joe's. HAPPY COOKING!

BBQ Chicken

Ok here's two quick ways to bbq chicken. IF you like boneless chicken on skewers or grilled breasts then marinate the chicken with 2-3 minced cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cut the chicken into cubes and marinate for 2-3 hours, alternate on skewers with tomatoes, green pepper and onions. Serve with hummus!

If you like grilled drumsticks, grill them with the skin, it keeps them juice, rub the drumsticks with 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt and 1/3 cup olive oil. Grill them for about 15 minutes rotating them. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes.

Avocado

Hey guys, today I'm going to tell you about avocado. Avocado is an amazing fruit that can be prepared as a dessert or as a great addition to a dish. Of course avocado goes great with salad but have you ever thought about mixing it with some cottage cheese? It goes great with it and you can serve it as a topping for grilled chicken or steak. Avocado also great as a dessert, you can mix it with cream cheese or mascarpone cheese and add some sweetened condensed milk and use it as a filling for cakes or cookies. Don't be scared of the fat content, it's healthy fat not the bad kind :) For my sandwiches I like to get the guacomole bags from Trader Joe's and put some with my turkey sandwich!

salad and mediterranean vinaigrette

Ok here's my tip for the week. THis is what I do on Sunday's or Monday's, I chop up a big bowl of all kinds of lettuce, cabbage and vegetables that I like in my salads and I put them in a big plastic bowl with a lid and instead of chopping salad every day I can just mix what I want when I want it. Salad usually lasts about 4 days without dressing, if you're using good fresh vegetables. Then what I do is mix up a vinaigrette in a bottle or plastic storage bowl as well. For 4 days of dressing I combine 5 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, salt to taste, 1 tsp sumac, and 1 tsp dried mint, combine all and add as much as you want to your salad. What I like to do sometimes is add some feta cheese on top, I like the double cream feta cheese, it's amazing. THis salad goes great with chicken or steak, happy eating :)

Shawarma !!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys, I just posted my Shawarma sandwich video, it's actually 2 parts (2 videos), I couldn't fit the entire thing in one video b/c Youtube only allows you 10 minutes. Anyway, in the video I show you how to make a shawarma sandwich like they do in the restaurants. Well if you're trying to avoid the carbs and don't want to use pital bread, I would suggest chopping up some lettuce and some of your favorite vegetables and then topping them with the shawarma meat and then topping that off with the tahini sauce. It tastes great, but without the bread! Try it and let me know how it goes :)

Mutabal Batinjan or Baba Ganouj (Ganoush)

Ok here are 2 Mediterranean dishes in which people often confuse the names. Mutabal Batinjan is when the eggplant is combined with sesame paste and some other ingredients. Baba Ganouj is when eggplant is combined with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil, then topped with chopped parsley, tomato, green onion and sometimes green pepper. A lot of restaurants list baba ganouj on their menu when it's actually mutabal batinjan. You can check out my recipe for mutabal on my website, I have it listed as baba ganouj too b/c that's what most people think it's named. Let me know if you have questions, happy cooking :)

Cheese

I love cheese, all kinds of cheeses. It's fun to experiment and taste different kinds. My cheese of the week is Havarti, the Danish kind. This is a more firm cream cheese but has a mild sharp taste, not as strong as brie. Try it with graham crackers! it tastes like cheesecake! Or you can try it in a philly cheese stake sandwich. It melts pretty well, i'm even thinking about mixing it with some mozarella and using it for pizza. If you go to a deli they'll give you samples of the cheese to taste it before you buy it kind of thing. I love the farmer's market in San Fransico, they have an amazing cheese section and they have over 100 cheeses!!! Happy cheese tasting :)

Amazing Lentil Soup!!!!!

Here is my favorite lentil soup, recipe, I made it up throughout the years and have perfected it. I don't put any meat in it, but you can brown some ground beef and add that if you like your soup with meat. Or you can make it vegetarian, just use veggi bullion cubes.

2 cups orange lentils
½ cup rice
2 bullion cubes
6 cups water
Put these ingredient in a pot on medium heat and let cook for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
Then add the celery, carrot, onion, and noodles. Let cook for 8 minutes. Then add the cumin, parsley, peas and broccoli and let cook for 5 minutes.

1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup chopped onion browned in olive oil
3 tbs fresh chopped parsley
1 tbs cumin
1 cup thin noodles browned in olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Sandwiches cont...

Oh and another tip I forgot was to try try different types of bread. Most grocery store carry a variety of healthy breads. If you have a Trader Joe's near you I would suggest trying it out, my favorite bread to buy there is the California Style complete protein. It's made with organic high protein sprouted wheat berries, corn and oats, it's high in complex carbs but low in carbs in general. It is super healthy and tastes great for sandwiches and toasted. I love toasting it and spraying it with butter spray. Oh and Trader Joe's has really cheap dairy products too, they have an awesome variety of cheeses. Every time I go there I buy a new cheese and try it, it's fun and a great learning experience. Check out Trader Joe's, most things there are cheaper than the streamline grocery stores, oh and their eggs are still under $2, and you can't find that anywhere else. Everyone that works there is super duper nice :)

Sandwiches

Hey Guys, today I have some sandwich tips. I make my husband 2 sandwiches to take with him every single day and of course sandwiches become boring sometimes, so I decided to spice it up a bit. I use baby spinach instead of lettuce. I add a couple drops of spicey chili sauce and even guacamole. Try using different condiments, pickles, relishes and spreads and you can jazz up a turkey sandwich every day. Let me know what your ideas are...