But the most valuable skill he learned in Mexico was how to make an authentic Michelada. Take a look at this video he made with his friend, Oscar.

Then, check out Brad’s original blog post including his written instructions for making this very refreshing summer (or anytime!) drink.

Muchas Gracias Brad and Oscar! Salud!

PS – need something delicious to go with your Michelada? Here’s my very own recipe for Guacamole…

Michelada

Well thanks to the P90X Fitness Nutrition Plan, I now know exactly what it is.   And it’s about the healthiest (and yummiest!) soup ever.   And it’s easy to make, too!

Here’s the recipe I’ve adapted from the original.   As with most of my recipes, you can’t really mess this up.   Feel free to experiment with your own ingredients on hand if you want.    Today I used what I had in the refrigerator veggie bin and pantry.

GAZPACHO

serves 6

Veggies ready for blending

Ingredients

1 10 oz can rotel tomatoes (I used mild, you can use spicy if you want)

2 cups tomato juice (I used V-8 because I had that on-hand)

2 cups cucumbers, peeled and diced

1/2 cup carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup peppers (red, yellow, green whatever you have on hand), seeded and diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

5 cherry tomatoes

1 shallot, quartered

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup red vinegar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp paprika

1/4 cup each fresh oregano, basil and italian parsley chopped (if you use dried herbs instead, use 1 tablespoon each)

pinch of white pepper

Directions

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.  Chill for several hours before serving.

Delicious soup full of veggies....yum!

How easy is that??    This is a great way to pack a BUNCH of veggies into a super easy soup to have with a sandwich for lunch or dinner.

Gazpacho

Like a lot of my recipes, this one is pretty easy to adapt to your own tastes….I added 1/4 cup mashed bananas in place of the oil.   Feel free to experiment!

Are you ready to turn this into a hot and healthy breakfast?

BAKED OATMEAL
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups regular or steel cut oats

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup fat free milk

3 T canola oil

1/4 chopped nuts (any kind)

1/4 cup raisins or any dried fruit chopped into raisin-sized bits

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl.   Spray 8 inch square baking dish with cooking oil spray (or use individual ramekins, sprayed).  Pour combined ingredients into prepared pan and press down slightly.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool for 15 minutes, then cut into squares.   Serve with vanilla yogurt on top for an extra treat!

Delicious Hot Oatmeal with a Twist!

Stay warm!  Happy New Year and happy eating!
Oatmeal

Butternut Tortilla Soup

(makes about 12 cups….total time about 1 hour)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs butternut squash

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

2 large garlic cloves

1 jalapeno, seeded (or less, if you don’t like that much heat)

2 T canola oil

2 corn tortillas, torn into 1 inch pieces

2 cups Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 T tomato paste

1 T ground cumin

5 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)

1 lb ground turkey  (you could leave this out and have a vegetarian soup)

6 oz baby spinach

1 can (15.5 oz) white or yellow hominy, drained

salt and pepper to taste

Poke holes in squash and bake in 350 degree oven for 3o minutes.  cool until easy to handle then peel and dice to yield about 3 cups.   while squash bakes, pulse corn, onion, garlic and jalapeno in a food processor until finely chopped.     To corn mixture, add tomatoes, tomato paste and cumin.

Heat oil over medium heat in large stock pot.  Add tortillas and saute until crisp.  Add corn and tomato mixture and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.   Stir in broth and 1 1/2 cups of cooked squash cubes.  Simmer 10 minutes (or until squash is tender) then blend in small batches until smooth in food processor.   I used my immersion blender for this step.   In stockpot return mixture to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown ground turkey over medium high heat, breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon.

Add remaining 1 1/2 cups squash, turkey and hominy, simmer 10 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.  Stir in spinach and cook until wilted – about 10 minutes.

Butternut Squash

Serve in bowls with lime cream:

1 cup sour cream

2 T fresh lime juice

1/4 t kosher salt

1/4 t ground cumin

minced zest of one lime

I crisped up the rest of the corn tortillas in canola oil and sprinkled them over the bowls of soup at the table.

Delicious!!   Try it one of these cold fall/winter nights and let me know what you think!!

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It seems like each year I have one (and only one!) good plant to harvest.   I’m not sure why that is, but considering my lack of green-thumb skills, I suppose I should be glad to get anything to grow well.   I’m not exactly the dedicated farmer that some people are, I guess.   Last year I grew a totally awesome basil plant.    And this year I am proud to share my totally awesome really-spicy pepper plant!

those are some spicy peppers!

harvest helper

washing the peppers for Nay Nay

Here’s how I prepared the peppers to freeze for later use:

Roasting the peppers out on the grill takes no time at all. Turn them with tongs frequently so they are charred, not burned. Then remove them from the grill into a glass pie plate and cover with plastic wrap for a while to let them steam. Once they are cooled you can peel them – but don’t worry about getting all the peels or the charred pieces off. And don’t peel them under running water or you will lose too much of the good roasted flavor.

grill-roasted peppers smell so good!

Since I had three different kinds of peppers (the really hot, the medium hot and the not-hot), I mixed them all together and chopped them up, seeds and all. I then put about two tablespoons of the chopped peppers into ice cube trays for freezing.

all chopped up and ready to freeze

Chile Peppers

Now I have enough frozen pepper cubes to last through several batches of chili or other yummy meals this winter!

One of the snacks we need to eat regularly is turkey jerky…but, have you seen the price of it in the stores??    The only kind we can find at our local supermarket comes in a tiny 3 oz. bag and costs $6.   Unbelievable!!

Faced with that cost shocker, I knew I had to make my own.   Here is the recipe I’ve used – hope you enjoy it!

Turkey Jerky

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless skinless turkey breast

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

3 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon chile-garlic paste (we use sriracha – the kind with the rooster on the label)

2 teaspoons dried chile flakes

Instructions:

Cover turkey breasts with plastic wrap and freeze for two hours (this makes cutting much easier).  When turkey is ready, place on a cutting board, trim any visible membranes and slice into long slices about 1/4 inch thick.   Try to make the strips as uniform as possible to ensure even drying.

ready to dehydrate

Place all marinade ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and add turkey strips.  Toss thoroughly to coat and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove turkey from the refrigerator, place in a colander to drain off excess marinade and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes.  I drain over a large bowl and freeze the extra marinade to use as a starter for the next batch.

Remove the racks from the oven, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Heat the oven to 170 degrees.  Blot any excess marinade from the turkey strips with paper towels and arrange across the oven racks.  I use a vegetable steamer basket for any strips that are too small for the oven racks.

Place the racks back in the oven and dehydrate jerky until dry – about 2 hours.  for chewier jerky, dry an additional 1/2 hour.

ready to package!

Cool completely and store in plastic bags in the refrigerator.  For longer storage, you can use a vacuum sealer if you have one.   I weigh the jerky on my kitchen scale and package in one ounce portions.

PS – if you have a dehydrator, just use the same ingredients and follow the directions that came with your unit for making jerky.

One of the evening meals on our 90 day plan calls for artichokes as a side dish.  They don’t give you a recipe so I took the liberty to make grilled artichokes – which is our favorite way to eat them.  (well there’s a Paula Deen artichoke dip that’s awesome, but healthy it’s not.  So let’s not torture ourselves by talking about that right now).

Okay, back to the grilled artichokes:  this could not be any easier.

Trim 2 artichokes (go here for a video about that) and cover with cold water and two quartered lemons in a large stockpot.   Bring water to a boil and simmer for about 30 mins.   Carefully remove the artichokes, let them cool for a while and cut in half.

While the artichokes are simmering, make a basting sauce:
4 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme

1/2 lemon, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pre-heat grill to medium high heat.

Brush both sides of cut artichokes with the basting sauce.

Place on grill with cut side down….grill for about 5 minutes (keep an eye on them so they don’t start to burn!).  Turn and grill cut side up for another 5 minutes or so.

Serve on a platter drizzled with the remaining basting sauce.

Enjoy….if you try it, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!

Artichoke

Well, my dearest hubby (bless his heart!) has started a 90 day program to get himself even more fit and fabulous than he already is.   And I have committed myself to helping him with the nutrition part of the program. So while he is doing serious cardio and strength training in the early morning hours, I’m in the kitchen fixing his breakfast and lunch for the day.   Oh the things we do for love… 

Repeat after me: "I can do this"

As a household we are not breakfast eaters AT ALL during the workweek so this is already a big change. But my challenge is that the food part of the program is VERY specific about ingredients and amounts. Am I up to it?? So far, so good….although the flurry of activity this morning left my kitchen a total wreck!

So, I pulled out my kitchen scales and measuring cups and made a mushroom omelette and cottage cheese with blackberries for his breakfast. And a chef’s salad, all chopped and stored in little containers, for his lunch.  I’m NEVER hungry at 7 am, so even though it was yummy and healthy, none of this even looked good to me! (I had yogurt and granola at about 9:30…my normal breakfast time).

Yes, all the recipes are totally do-able. Yes, they are totally healthy. Yes, we will all benefit from the family dinners. Yes, I will miss cooking with butter and cream and cheese and having bread and making up recipes based on what’s on sale and what is seasonal and great. But I will do this for my sweetie and after the 90 days is up I’m sure we will all have learned something we can take with us going forward.  (and if I drop a pound or two…well, that would be a great bonus!)

So, here’s to good health and wish me luck with my part of the Challenge!   And if any of the recipes are share-worthy, I’ll post them here!

Yes, I love making delicious roasted chicken from scratch, and there’s nothing better than using the rotisserie on the grill but last weekend was just one of those times I needed something fast, cheap, and yummy to feed the family. Busy with yard work, we took a late afternoon trip to our local Sam’s Club and came home with what we call chicken for the pickin’ to have for dinner. (that phrase was coined by my daughter a long time ago).

Then a couple days later, here’s what we came up with for a new Chicken Salad (note: there are only three of us so the leftover chicken made just enough for one dinner. If you have more in your family, you may need to buy two rotisserie chickens, or eat less!)

Tex-Mex Chicken Salad
Makes about 2 cups
Serve with tortilla triangles or chips

Dressing:
3 Tbsp Sour Cream
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
mix together in a small bowl and set aside

Salad:
1 1/2 cups (approx) chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken meat
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed – broiled until browned
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup diced avocado
2 Tbsp thinly sliced green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno

Spread corn in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper and broil for a few minutes until it is browned.
Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in a bowl. Add dressing and browned corn. Toss together and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

We made tortilla triangles to serve with the salad. Cut your favorite flour tortillas into wedges (we used the whole wheat kind). Lay on a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. sprinkle with salt and broil for just a couple minutes. Keep an eye on them!! I confess I burned the first batch so hubby took over and cooked the rest of them Hey, it happens!!

Today I’m making chicken broth with what was left of the chicken and a few veggies from the fridge…..it smells wonderful and I’ll have several cups of broth to keep in the freezer for using in soups, or whatever, in the future.

Have any great chicken salad recipes you want to share? Leave a comment!
Bye for now….