Broccoli Pumpkin Seed Salad

5 c chopped broccoli small bites
3 scallions with part of the green chopped
1/4 c diced carrot
1/2 c diced celery
1/4 c toasted pumpkin seeds

dressing
3 T vegan mayo
5 T champagne vinegar
1-2 T agave nectar
1 t balsamic vinegar

Mix all the dressing ingredients well and pour over the rest of the salad.  Refrigerate until ready to eat. This even gets better the next day.  Soooo good.

So much texture and flavor!

And I still have broccoli left so I kept on cooking.

Simple Roasted Broccoli

Chop the broccoli into large pieces
Place in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil to lightly coat and then toss in lots of chunky steak seasoning.
Heat oven to 425, spread broccoli on a sheet pan and cook for 15-25 mins until fork tender.  Look out the florets will burn if you leave in too long.

The Crop

Fresh tomato simmer sauce or Soup

3t minced garlic or more
2 leeks chopped fine
1 big onion chopped
2T olive oil
1 green bell pepper chopped
3-4 leaves kale chopped
12 big tomatoes or 3 cans unsalted diced tomatoes
2T fresh thyme or 2t dried
2c water
2 veg bouillon cube
1 sm can green chills
2 bay leaves
1.5 T dry basil
1 t black pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t dry rosemary
1 t cumin
1 T soy sauce
1/4 c red lentils
1/4 c dry split peas

In a large soup pot heat oil then cook the first 3 ingredients on low for 15 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil then simmer for 2 hours.  At this point you have a wonderful soup.  If you want a sauce, use a submersible wand blender and blend the soup to a less chunky texture.  It it is too watery,  cook uncovered until it thickens.  I chose to use this amazing stuff for a very healthy  lasagna.

10 calories per serving--guiltless decadence!

As part of being a blogger for Foodbuzz  Tastemaker program, I received a large package of  Ghirardelli’s new “Intense Dark” line of chocolate. Now, if you know me well you know I do not like chocolate very much at all. Dark chocolate is the epitome of chocolate. They even included a bar of chocolate that was 86% cacao. What? This is not bakers chocolate either?! Gross–I accept the challenge!!

Wow--now if only I liked chocolate!

I have plenty of eggs at home–no thanks to the chickens! I also had some new instant espresso I had just gotten that I wanted to try.  So–adding all those ingredients together along with once serving size of Ghirardelli’s “Sea Salt Soiree”   I came up with a great idea for a treat! Sometimes we all need a little treat, intense with flavor, to stave off any cravings we are worried about succumbing to, right?  Like that “night-cap” we look for before we settle in for the night or those pesky afternoon grazing urges we get. These cookies are so perfect for this, at only 10 calories a pop–(yeah 10 calories!!) . You will so enjoy the depth of this 72% dark chocolate with the savory pairing of the sea salt and the sweetness of the roasted almonds in a chewy bite sized cookie!

Dark Chocolate Espresso Meringue Bites
2 egg whites at room temperature
1 serving size dark chocolate (3 squares)
3 pinches cream of tartar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 rounded teaspoon instant espresso
1 teaspoon cinnamon

See that one stubborn piece? I ate it.

Preheat oven to 215 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. ( I used miniature cupcake papers) Take your squares of the “Sea Salt Sioree” and added them to my coffee grinder. (the chocolate works best if you freeze it for a few hours first) Grind it all finely–you want it to fold it into the egg whites and let it blend fully instead of leaving chocolate chunks in the bite sized morsels.

Looks good enough to eat already!

Add egg whites to mixer and beat on high until soft peaks form then add the 3 pinches of cream of tartar.  Continue beating adding in the espresso and sugar slowly as the egg whites thicken. Stay of whipping the whites until they  are shiny and hold very stiff peaks.

I see sea salt.

Add the finely ground chocolate to the egg whites and gently fold in–you are not mixing it with any sort of effort here. Don’t go crazy thinking about all the chocolate and ruin the fluffy egg whites. I know how crazy you people can get about chocolates. Remain calm until you may eat them.

My makeshift decorator bag and zero skills.

Once the chocolate has been fully incorporated into the you can add the meringue to a large plastic freezer bag with the tip cut out. I used a frosting tip thinking I had some sort of mad skill with decorating with egg whites–turns out I posses no such skill.

40 servings equals 400 calories

Once each cup is filled and you have used all the meringue you can place the cookies on the middle shelf of the preheated oven. back for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once they are firm to the touch you can turn off the oven and open the door and allow the cookies to sit in there for about an hour longer.

Once the cookies have fully cooled sprinkle with cinnamon and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

The cookies actually improved in texture and in taste after storing in the freezer for a few days. the texture is divine, really. It is firm like a meringue cookie when you first put it in your mouth but soon it softens into a caramel like texture as the rich flavors of the cookie grab your taste buds and give them a firm slap. So–these are time-consuming because they do take a while to bake–however, these are perfect to keep in your freezer when you may be looking for a snack, a treat–just that “something” that you keep wandering into the kitchen looking for. This is healthy eaters MUST HAVE!

Lately I have watched the show “Mad Men” on Netflix–have you seen it? It is set back in the 1960′s and they really try to show  a housewife then compared to now. I think this is a recipe perfect for a housewife set back in time–or moms who like to make it all from scratch!  When I made this fruit leather I did not realize it would take far longer to cook than the original recipe I found at Skinnymom.com . Well, they called it fruit rolls–I made mine thicker. I also thought the 3/4 cup of sugar was a ridiculous amount to add to dried fruit–not such a great after school snack if you ask me. So–I set out to try to make it sans sugar. That, my friends, is why it took me so long. I felt like a real 1960′s housewife working on a snack item for about 6 hours–so if you are short on time and do not mind the sugar SURGE for the kids you can of course add back in the sugar.

However, despite the long cooking time, this was so easy to prepare. You can turn on the fruit to boil down and start your daily chores of vacuuming, dusting, waxing, polishing, laundry, bathroom and bedroom cleaning. By the time your afternoon chores roll around you will be taking the fruit leather out of the oven and cooling it in front of the open window while changing into your dinner attire and wait for your husband to come home</sarcasm>. Typing that out and actually picturing it gave me an eye twitch.

Fruit Leather (made with love,patience and fruit)

These are perfect--see why I did not add any sugar?

Step One: Find Lonely and forgotten fruits. I love the shelf in the back at our market–we can get discounted fruit that really is not presentable but are great to use in cooking. Yup–organic fruits marked down to pennies a pound. PENNIES A POUND MOMS!! 

YUM! Fruit Soup!

Step Two: Add the fruits of choice to a large pot set on medium heat. I added bananas, kiwi, apple (skin on), mango, and about 1/4c high Pulp orange juice. 

cauldron burn and cauldron bubble

Step Three: Cook until it is reduced by about 2/3rd. It took me about 2 hours to get it to cook down to a little under half and I should have cooked it longer. The colors will really deepen while it cooks and  you will need to scrape down the sides of the pan as it reduces. It smelled so delicious–warm and fruity like a fall day in the apple orchards. Set oven to 250 degrees F.

The original recipe called for parchment paper. I keep forgetting I am Martha Stewart when I am at the market and do not buy any.  I need to add a reminder to my smart phone–I wonder if there is a Martha Stewart app for that.

Set it and Forget it!

Step Four: Spread fruit evenly and thinly in the backing pan–use caution because it is HOT! In this picture you can see how I spread my fruit a bit uneven and it was a little too thick. So–you do it right–learn from my errors.  Bake for about 4 hours depending on your oven and the thickness of the fruit. When it looks like leather then remove it from the oven and flip the fruit over–it will be MUCH smaller. Place back in the oven and shut it off. 

The Amazing Cooling of the Fruit Strips

Step Five: Once the fruit has cooled to the touch remove from oven and cut into shapes, strips, words. This is a fun idea so be creative! Sharp cookie cutters would also be fun!  Let them air dry and then store in a cool dry place in plastic bags. I made sure to squeeze all the air out of the bag and sealed them and just kept mine in the fridge. 

Making Fruit Leather tells the kids you love them.

Other Good Ideas: The fruit mixture here can be stored in the fridge for about a week.
-Use this to replace fats in baking recipes.
-Swirl some into yogurt for a smoothie tasting treat for the kids.
-Stir a bit into our granola recipe in Squeaky Gourmet in place of half of the juice.

Please check out our book and our reviews for more information about Squeaky Gourmet and the recipes you can prepare for your family with just a little help from us!

Sunshine and Lemon Pops

Yay for summer! There are lazy days, trips to the beach, and kickball in the backyard. My kids love
summer and they love flavored ice pops. They also love gardening. We live in the city in an apartment
building. We have no backyard space for our dream garden. So we work with our little 12 foot by 3
foot patch of earth we can plant in. A few years ago we found Lemon Balm Herb at a local nursery and
couldn’t wait to plant it. After 3 years of having it grace our garden, this year I wanted to find a way to
actually use it other than to rub between my fingers for the incredible soothing smell. I knew you could
make tea with Lemon Balm leaves so I decided to try to make some ice pops for the kids to enjoy since
lemons, ice and summer go so well together.

It’s a simple, easy recipe that even your kids can help you with. Not to mention that there are
no artificial colors, preservatives or sweeteners like the many ice pops you get from the store. (And
these are lower in sugar too!) Start by cutting some lemon balm from your plant. Enough to fill two 20
ounce Mason canning glass jars (I just use the glass jars I save from when I buy store bought Classico
marinara sauce) Don’t be stingy-stuff that lemon balm in!

More Lemon Balm!

Fill each jar with boiling water. Let it seep for 20 minutes. Drain using a colander and/or cheesecloth (if
you have tiny pieces of leaves)

Add one teaspoon (or more to taste) of Agave syrup. You could also use honey. Stir well.

Now comes the fun part. Pick some fresh berries to add. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries are our
favorite. Using ice pop molds pour in liquid and add some berries. We also used ice trays so we can
add some of the ice cubes to our summer iced tea. Freeze and enjoy!!

The kids like it more when they get to help!

I had heard rumors on a few fitness forums about a magic noodle–no carbohydrates, all fiber resulting in no net calories. Lies–it is to laugh! Some people had tried them and had said the texture was different but they enjoyed them. I looked in Asian markets for something  resembling what these people were rumoring about and never found them. Until recently when I went to a local market and there in the gluten free section sat a package called “NoOodle” and it boasts right on the label they are gluten free, calorie free, sent from the gods of pasta to save the world etc. Naturally I purchased 2 packages so I could mess around with a few different ideas.

Devil Noodle Soup

When I looked up what they use for these noodles I saw that it was made from “Devil’s Tongue Yam” so I thought I would prepare them with some spice to it. The result was a very ethnic dish with a lot of heat and flavor and from what I can research–ZERO calories as well!

Simmering Devil tongue soup

Devil Tongue Soup
serves anyone who dares try it

1 8 ounce package Japanese Noodles
4 or 5 large mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 cup Pico De Gallo
1 tbls vegetable bouillon paste
1 cup water
1 splash fish sauce
1 tsp green curry
3 toothpicks full ghost chili

Add all the ingredients aside from the ghost chili to a large sauce pan. Once the mushrooms are tender but before they are mushy remove from heat and stir in the ghost chili, a tooth pick at a time, until it has reached your desired level of heat!  The flavor in this from the fish sauce and curry as well the vegetables add such an ethnic flare to the dish, coupling that fact with the spice sensation of the ghost chili. The noodles had the perfect texture as well–no they are not spaghetti noodles but they are noodles! Think of it like Ramen has been given a second chance to redeem itself!

Don’t forget to check out our book on Amazon for more ideas on low calorie delicious and healthy recipes!

Comfort Food American Style

This final version is more like a loaded potato with very little calories of course. Normal mashed potatoes that are “loaded” usually have 400+ calories per serving, cauliflower “potato” has just 50 calories per serving. What!?!? Yeah–50.

Smashed Faux-tato

4 cups cooked cauliflower
1 cup no fat greek yogurt or sour cream
1 clove garlic
4 tbls diced scallions
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until you like the texture.

Yeah–it’s that simple.

Like this recipe? Why not check out more of our recipes in our book “Squeaky Gourmet Simple. Clean. Food” !

On evening I decided I would “google” some weight loss transformations and just read up on things a bit. Do you KNOW how many there are? I saw links to every diet idea there could be. I saw articles for success with pictures of what seemed like miracles to plastic surgery.

I also saw those people; those certain individuals who one day woke up and said ” I will not be held prisoner by this weight any longer” and they changed themselves completely. They went from being depressed, tired and lonely individuals to super hero’s. They had web sites that would light a fire under most people. How did they do it? How did they manage to lose 50, 80 and some even more than 100 pounds? What is the secret they have that millions around the world ache for yet are failing to reach? Did they find a magic bullet; some sort of subliminal trigger that others can’t grasp?

We flip on the TV and 2 out of 5 commercials are for a new weight loss program; pill, procedure, drink, injection etc. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. Science is constantly looking for a gene to blame; a cure for obesity as if it were cancer or some other deadly occurrence to the body. Obesity does kill, but it is a preventable killer in which the cure lies in “eating right and working out” So, again, why are people missing this? Why are other people finding it? Science and western society want an easy answer; clapping their hands or snapping their fingers and POOF a thin lean body. I am glad it is not that easy; now anyway.

Once a person reaches a point of deciding to do something, well, the world is theirs to have. Once they wrap their mind around a concept of weight loss, choose a wellness program to follow etc they do find it IS EASY. Want me to reword that? OK!

For the average person, let’s presume you are an average person…..it is easy to walk. Little thought goes into walking, right? You want to get to a certain point so you get up and walk there. You do not have to say ok, left leg first, ok good, now the right leg and so forth. It wasn’t always this way; we had to learn to walk. Sure, I know we do not remember the determination we had around 1 year of age, but it was there. How about talking, learning to read, algebra? (ok I am still working on the Algebra one) driving, cooking, writing etc.  You can see where I am going right? Everything thing we learned to do in our life took determination, practice and learning from mistakes in order to master a skill. This is all it takes. It takes a want or a desire to really and truly be fit and healthy.

If you are not making steps to be thin and be healthy then you just do not want to be thin and healthy bad enough. You can say you have a genetic make up which makes it harder, an illness which makes it to difficult etc but all it takes is a want which is bigger than those things. Google it, I dare you. You will see so many people over come so many physical odds and illness, finding their own way to fitness.

It won’t be over night, it will be trial and error discovering what works best for your body for weight loss.

It will be a journey of discovery and adventure.

It will teach you more about yourself than you already knew.

There is a super hero inside of you, there really is.

All you have to do is let it out.

You ready?

100 calories is what you see here

This is a picture of the Stuffed Baby Taters we have in our book, Squeaky Gourmet. Looks a lot tastier to me than the traditional “100 calorie” snacks you can find on the market shelves.

Check out our book for more amazing REAL FOOD recipes!

yeah--that's right--chicken balls!

Ok this is more of an idea than a recipe for all you people who are still–STILL–wondering what to do with all that chicken breast you have in the fridge. You will need a food processor,magic bullet or just ask your favorite neighborhood butcher to grind it for you.

Here is what I did with my ground up chicken breast: I added some red curry paste, garlic powder, turmeric, onion powder, cumin, fish sauce and sea salt. I mixed it all up and let it sit and marinate in the spices for about a half hour. Then I took an egg and cracked it open in a bowl and beat it up *flex flex* in another bowl I added some potato starch. I then removed all my bling rings from my fingers, washed my hands and formed meat balls with the chicken mix–then rolled the ball in the egg and next the potato flour. Let those sit for a few minutes to really have the egg and potato flour introduce themselves to one another.

raw poultry balls

Here they are getting acquainted while the skillet warmed up on medium high heat. I sprayed the pan with some olive oil cooking spray, enough to just prevent them from sticking–and as the can says–add a trivial amount of fat to the dish. Trivial!~

I put about 8 balls in the pan at a time, making sure not to crowd them or cool down the skillet at all. I then covered the pan and let them cook like that for about 5 minutes–then i turned them and let them brown on all sides–uncovered–for about another 5-7 minutes.  the key with this is to get them potato starch to brown up and give it a crisp outer shell to make us think it is fried food. Pretty tricky, Sis!

These passed the taste test with all the kids and the husband, and this is straight up strict diet food here!
See , they look like cheat food and they taste wonderful!  You can add any seasoning mix you would like, garlic, onion and some smoke flavor would be excellent as well!

If you are opposed to chicken balls you can do the same batter and omit the coating. Fit the chicken with your hand onto skewers and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Chicken on a stick! I used the same seasoning and then squeezed lemon juice on them when done. Also super delicious! So–once again rethink your chicken breasts!  These would be great to have as party foods, too!

Everything tastes better on a stick!