Drinking Water

We use an Aquasana water filter under our tap to filter our drinking water.
I usually fill my glass with our filtered tap water and often squeeze fresh lemon or lime into it.  If I am out of fresh lemon or lime, I will pour a bit of the Santa Cruz organic lemon or lime juice into my water to flavor it.  For a lemonade drink (which I often make on popcorn night) I pour lots of lemon juice in my water.  Fresh and natural w/o the added sugar.

After my Pampered Chef (PC) party on Saturday I had some lemons and limes that needed to be used up so I filled my PC water pitcher and added two unsqueezed 1/2 slices of lemon to it to float around.  MMMM...when I tasted it later...that water was soooo good.  I craved more of it b/c it was so good.  Today I added 1/2 a lemon slice and 1/2 a lime slice. 

Even my toddler downed a glass of this water and loved it.

I think I might try an orange slice too soon.

Keeping this 2qt water pitcher on the cupboard helps keep my hydrated throughout the day as I see it each time I walk by and can see how much water I drank already and how much more I would like to drink for the day.

Pampered Chef Party - Salsa and Chicken Bites

I love making Mango Salsa and the Chicken Fajita Bites that Michelle made were amazing!  I look forward to recreating these two items again...just need to find others who will appreciate them.

MANGO CONFETTI SALSA

 (http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=97670 )

1 large mango

½ sm jicama

1/3 orange pepper

1/3 red bell pepper

1 jalopeno pepper

1/3 sm red onion

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp Chili Lime Rub (1tbsp Chili Powder and ½     tbsp Lime zest or homemade taco seasoning)

 

Serve with Tortilla chips or Jicama slices.

1. On Large Grooved Cutting Board, cut mango using Mango Wedger. Remove skin from mango using Avocado Peeler. Peel jicama using Serrated Peeler. Dice mango, jicama and bell peppers into 1-in. pieces using Chef’s Knife. Cut jalapeño in half; remove seeds using Core & More.
2. Combine mango, jicama, bell peppers, jalapeño and onion in Manual Food Processor; cover and pump handle until coarsely chopped. Add lime juice and salt; pump handle to chop to desired consistency, removing lid and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary using Mini Mix ‘N Scraper®. Pour salsa into serving bowl. Sprinkle with rub. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (about 2 cups salsa)  Nutrients per serving: (about 1/4 cup salsa, excluding optional ingredient): Calories 40, Total Fat 0 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbohydrate 10 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 120 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook's Tips: Use the Veggie Wedger to cut the onion into wedges. Use two wedges for this recipe.

CHICKEN FAJITA BITES

http://www.pamperedchef.com/quick-and-easy-recipes/chicken_fajita_bites.jsp (video demo)

4 med bell peppers (any color)

3 green onions

½ c fresh cilantro leaves

4 oz mozz cheese

2 c finely diced cooked chicken breast

1/3 c mayo (or greek yogurt)

2 tbsp Chili Lime Rub (or 1tbsp Chili Powder and ½ tbsp Lime zest, ½ tsp salt; for a smokey flavor use the Chipotle Rub)

½ c sour cream (or greek yogurt)

(I use greek yogurt in place of mayo and sour cream...at the party we did part sour cream and part greek yogurt for those who like the sour cream to top these). 

400 degrees

1.  Cut the top off the peppers and then cut into 6 pieces.  (Veggie Wedger)

2.  Finely chop green onions and cilantro (manual food processor)

3.  Grate cheese

4.  mix half the onion misture, half cheese, chicken, mayo (or greek yogurt), and rub (Classic batter bowl)

5.  blot excess moisture from peppers with paper towels

6.  use a heaping small scoop, scoop filling onto peppers

7.  sprinkle peppers with remaining cheese.

8.  Bake 5-7 min (we makes mine about 8)

9.  If using the manual food processor – carefully remove the blade.  Mix sour cream (or greek yogurt) into remaining onion mixture.  Fill the easy accent decorator (or use spoon or bag with tip off)

10.  For a decorative top, chop up the tops of the bell peppers and sprinkle on top.

 

Do you Basil?

Great Dinner tonight
Chicken on the Grill
Alfredo sauce with garlic (pressed) and a handful of chopped Fresh Basil (food processor worked great)
Pasta
A few chopped (Food Chopper) small Yellow Tomatoes

After it is cooked, mix all together and top with Parmesan cheese.

YUM!

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade

Did you know that watermelon is full of antioxidants?  According to www.rawfoodrecipes.com this fruit is a great source of vitamin C, A (from beta carotene), B6, B1, and magnesium.  The last three are needed for energy production.

My family loved this recipe.

The amount that fits in a blender is:
4 cups watermelon (approx. 1/4 of a watermelon)
2 lemons (juice from, or juice from one and throw the other one in without the peeling)
1 cup strawberries

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
You could also freeze some of this in ice cube trays and use as the ice cube the next time you serve a drink like this.

The recipe on www.rawfoodrecipes.com calls for 1/2 c of strawberries.  My family preferred at least 1 cup or more so that we could taste more of the strawberry and lemon, rather than the watermelon.  I keep the watermelon included for the added nutrients.  We also used fresh strawberries from a local grower which made this super yummy. 

You may need to add agave or honey to taste if your fruit is not ripe enough or the drink is not sweet enough for you. 

TIP: to have good tasting strawberries on hand year round, buy a crate of them or pick a bunch. Then, separate them into the amounts you might need for smoothies, deserts, or this drink, and freeze in freezer bags or a container.  With raspberries, I smoosh them into ice cube trays and freeze them.  Once frozen, I pop them out and store in a larger container in the freezer. 

Raw Food Cleanse Day 3

So far this cleanse is Awesome!  Let's say it again, Awesome!  My two favorite recipes so far are listed below...the great thing is that they only take minutes to make.

Let's Make Desert First. (Well, this actually was my dinner.)

Apple Pie
Ingredients:
1/2 c almonds (presoaked 4-24 hrs as this makes them easier to digest)
4 dates
pinch Celtic Sea Salt or other salt
Dash Olive oil
2 apples, cored and chopped in quarters

In Blender or Food Processor:
Crust
Blend almonds for 1 minute
Blend in 2 dates (pitted)
Blend in pinch sea salt and olive oil
Filling
Blend 2 apples, 2 dates, olive oil, and salt

Mix all together

I also added dried cherries (no sugar added).  The menu said that the apples will provide calories while cherries are cleansing and nourishing on the cellular level and have abundant iron which is great for enriching our blood.

Kale and Salsa Wraps (Super Yummy)
I was amazed at how fast this was to make and how scrumptuous it was.

Mix for 2 to 5 seconds in a blender:
1/4 bunch cilantro
3 tomatoes, quartered
1 green onion
dash (I used 3 dashes) Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Olive oil
dash Celtic Sea Salt (or salt of your choice)
juice of 1/2 lemon

Wrap in Kale leaves

I could not get enough of this yummy recipe.  I was amazed at how fast and easy it was to make salsa. I just threw everything in the blender whole or in larger chunks and in a matter of seconds I had salsa.  In addition, I learned that Kale has the most nutrients per calorie of all foods.  I bought some amazing Kale Leaves at the Farmer's Market last weekend and boy were they yummy with this spicy salsa.

ENJOY!

Recipes are compliments of  www.21daysraw.com and www.greensmoothie.com.

Avocado Salad Dressing (or Veggie Dip)

Avocado Salad Dressing (Wendi's way)
1 avocado (ripe)
1/2c to 1c greek yogurt
1/8 c chopped onion (or more)
1 small garlic clove minced
3 shakes cayenne pepper
juice of 1 lime
honey (1 tsp to 1 tbsp)
salt
pepper (lots)
olive oil (approx 1/4c to 1/3c)

Combine all ingredients and Blend in Blender or Food Processor.
For a thinner dressing, add more Olive oil.
I have listed approximate amounts for each item as I did not measure anything with this recipe.

You can put this on top of Salad and Fish, or use it as a Veggie dip.
I hope you like it! 

For other Healthy Recipes check out http://www.my-healthy-eating-secrets.com.  I just found this website.  She has a great alternative to the recipe I have above.