Salmon cakes topped with spicy shrimp scampi

This is one of those Saturday nights we talked about hitting the town for tapas and wine but I will be starting the party off at home tonight.  I decided to make one of our favorite and easy to make appetizers, salmon cakes and spicy shrimp scampi. I love this dish because you can make it with or without eggs, and I do use panko crumbs but I have made it with oats, which you can absolutely sub for the panko. Now if you do make it without eggs, it is tricky ofcourse because the binding part of it is compromised.  I have tried it with a healthy mayonnaise instead, or just eggs for those that do not want any breading, it is delicious but very fragile, so you have to be very gentle when flipping them over and serving them.  Honestly though, it works and it is yummy.  Lately I have discovered pork rinds for use in the place of breading and it is amazing how crisp it comes out and flavorful.

This recipe is for a dozen small cakes.  What you want to do first is turn the oven on to 400. In a plate add some panko crumbs. In a big bowl put some cooked salmon or I sometimes buy the cans of skinless boneless salmon for a quick meal.  Add one egg per can, dice up some onions, tomatoes, some garlic and cilantro, but make sure it is diced very small.  Add some salt, pepper, red chili flakes, a half of a teaspoon of worcestershire sauce, a squeeze of a half of a lime, two tablespoons of olive oil and combine it all.  Make balls the size of a lime and then squash like a pancake and put it in the panko, cover both sides and then put on an oiled sheet pan.  In the pictures you will get an idea.  Put these in the oven for 30 minutes and then flip and put in for another 30.

In a pan, add some olive oil, on medium heat, wait until it is hot and add the shrimp.  Cook on each side about 2 minutes until browned and add a tablespoon of sriracha or more if you want it spicier, a squeeze of a half of a lime, salt, pepper, and garlic.  This sauce is to pour over the cakes when done so do not let it dry out.  Shrimp cook so fast, you do not want to overcook it.

So easy, fun, even for a dinner party, your guests will love it! If you are not a seafood person, you can make these with chicken, or turkey.  Substitutions are sometimes possible and this is one of them.  I'll tell you as a sandwich this filling is awesome too.  I make my own almond bread and this is super yummy in between slices with cheese or without.

I always like to add at the end of my recipes the nutritional value of them.  As you can see I use lots of healthy fats.  Olive oil, and the natural fats from the wild salmon and shrimp are all amazing for you.  The garlic, veggies and baking aspect of the recipe are all the very best options! Until the next time my friends, have a safe and fun weekend from our home to yours!

Homemade Pina Colada

I was certainly frustrated when in search of a healthy pina colada recipe online recently and I could not get anything.  All I could find were blogs where people wanted exactly what I was looking for so I knew I had to come up with something myself.  The tricky part was getting it smooth, sweet, but still as healthy as possible.  The original mix you buy at the store is really creamy and delicious until you look at the ingredients, and you know you might as well eat a sundae, cake and cookies for dessert all at once! So we went shopping for healthy treats to experiment at home.

We got some organic coconut sugar for sweetness, organic unsweetened coconut flakes, creamy organic coconut milk, organic pineapple juice, and fresh pineapple.  We cut up and froze the pineapple chunks overnight. In a blender we squeezed a whole small 11 oz carton as shown in the picture, of the coconut milk.  We added a cup of pineapple juice, 3/4 of a cup of goslings black rum, a few sprinkles of the shredded coconut, 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, and about a cup of frozen pineapple chunks.  You can taste and add as you go depending on your taste and blender.

Once I poured this in my glass, I drizzle a bit of rum on the top.  Well let me tell you, this was the best pina colada we have had yet without the guilt! You can have it without the liquor if you want just a nice smoothie!  Enjoy and happy summer!

Shrimp scampi over cabbage noodles

This scampi dish is so delicious, and filling you will want to have this often.  It's a super tasty comfort food with all of the benefits of health.  It has all the components of a perfect meal, plenty of fiber, good fats, protein, and complex carbs.  The recipe is below with the ingredients you need to make it highlighted.  A bonus to this recipe is the few minutes it takes to make it.

Take a large pan and add a teaspoon of grass fed butter on medium heat, let it heat up about a minute and add one pound of uncooked shrimp tossing it around for 5 minutes.  Add 6 large white button mushrooms, 8 smashed garlic cloves, and a cup of fresh cilantro, and another half of a teaspoon of grass fed butter.  Toss this for a couple of minutes so the mushrooms and garlic cook a bit with the shrimp juice, Add a squeeze of a half of a lime.  Take one vine ripe organic tomato, dice it up and toss into the mix at the end, not to cook it just to toss it in and take the whole mixture out of the pan into a plate.  Set aside.

In the same pan, add another half of a teaspoon of grass fed butter and warm up, add to it a half of an organic green cabbage sliced into thing slices like noodles.  Toss around for 3 minutes so it is not overly cooked unless you like mushy noodles.  I like Al Dente noodles.  Add the shrimp mixture to the noodles, sprinkle a quarter of a teaspoon of himalayan or sea salt, and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan cheese, or cheese of your choice, or no cheese at all.  Enjoy!!

Chinese fried rice with plantain spring rolls

This absolutely scrumptious fried rice with plantain crust spring rolls is one you
will want to make constantly, switching vegetables and adding seafood or just a simple vegetarian dish.  Chinese food is one of my favorite meals and if I can make it healthy, it's worth not going out to get it, especially knowing how unhealthy most restaurants make it. Consider all of the unhealthy fats they use, the high amounts of sodium, and unhealthy carbs.  I would rather have this often knowing I'm doing my body good and truly enjoying my meal.

The ingredients for the fried rice will be highlighted below and the plantain spring roll recipe will be in the next blog post:

This recipe is for 2 people.

Make 1/2 cup of quinoa and set aside.

While the quinoa is cooking, take a pan on medium heat and grease it with a half of a teaspoon of grass fed butter and one half of a teaspoon of coconut oil .  Add organic boneless chicken, cut up into small cubes, sprinkle with salt (i use himalayan salt) and add to the pan, close the lid and let cook for 20 minutes.  Open lid and add one quarter of a large onion chopped up, close lid and let it cook for 3 minutes.  Open lid and add 1 cup of peas, 6 white mushrooms, a teaspoon miso paste, a sprinkle of chili reds (this one is optional, it depends how spicy you like it) a dash of salt, a dash of black pepper, and a dash of paprika.

When I say a dash, I mean like a quick sprinkle all around the top of the dish, but if you want more or less than that it's optional.  Also add a tablespoon of sechuan sauce and a tablespoon of soy sauce. I use gluten free.  Close lid for 5 minutes on medium, open up, add 5 slices of jalapenos and toss, add the quinoa and toss it around. In a small pan scramble some organic eggs and add to the mix.and done!

I do use other vegetables at times like bok choy, sprouts, carrots, etc... you can totally be creative with this dish.  The great thing is you are getting your protein, good fats and loads of vegetables.

I serve it with my delicious spring rolls made with plantain dough and it is so satisfying! Stay tuned for the next post where I will give the recipe for these sweet delights!

Oat crusted apple cobbler with fall spice kefir ice cream

In planning my Thanksgiving meal as healthy and delicious as possible, this one recipe came to mind. The smell of apples baking with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, always reminds me of this special holiday.  This is such a treat for that sweet tooth when you are trying to keep it healthy.

***For this recipe I used this spice called "apple pie spice" very similar to "pumpkin spice" which has a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon peel, cloves, and ginger.  I have used the spices separately but I love these mixed spices in one jar.

{TIP: For an AMAZING smell in your home, add apple or pumpkin spice to water and boil.  It smells like you're baking a pie.  It is a very soothing smell, and great when you have company!}

This one recipe here is good for 4.  Preheat oven to 350.  In a small deep pan we are going to make the steel cut oat filling, add 4 cups of water, sprinkle one teaspoon of apple pie spice, one cup of steel cut oats, on the stove, boil for 5 minutes, then simmer for 30 minutes and set aside.  Spread a teaspoon of grass fed butter on a sheet pan and let it melt in oven and remove.  Cut up into small chunks, 3 apples of your choice and spread them on the pan. I like the macintosh or granny smith because of their semi tangy flavor, it complements the sweetness we are topping them with. Sprinkle a teaspoon of apple pie spice to the top of the apples, one tablespoon of melted grass fed butter, put in the oven at 350 for 50 minutes.

The apples should look just like they do above in the picture when done.  In a sheet pan add one cup of organic rolled oats topped with a half of a teaspoon of apple spice and pop in the oven for 12 minutes on 350.  In a nine inch deep pan like shown above with the apples, add the steel cut oat filling top that with the apples, and top that with the rolled oats.  Add a tablespoon of melted grass fed butter, and one tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of coconut sugar.  Pop in the oven for 45 minutes uncovered.

I love ice cream with my pies.  Kefir makes a delicious ice cream substitute.  Take a small bowl and add 2 cups of plain organic kefir.  Toss in a tablespoon of raw honey, one tablespoon of coconut sugar, a half of a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a half of a teaspoon of apple spice.  Put in the freezer and every half an hour for an hour and a half toss it around and place back in the freezer. Top the cobbler with it and eat!

HEALTH BENEFITS OF THIS DESSERT 

Cinnamon- helps treat muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, the common cold, loss of appetite, erectile dysfunction and much more.  This amazing spice is known to help prevent Alzheimer's, may help stop the destructive process of MS, helps with HIV, lowers the effects of high fat meals, and excellent for diabetics.

Kefir- This probiotic filled drink is a fermented, enzyme rich drink resembling yogurt. Known for healing intestinal disorders, like constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel disease, allergies, atherosclerosis, intestinal disorders, respiratory diseases, cancer and many more.    

Plantain crusted eggplant calzone

This eggplant calzone is one you can have without the guilt of the bread, and it is truly DELICIOUS!

HEALTH BENEFITS OF PLANTAINS:

Plantains, also known as plátanos, are closely related cultivars of fruit or dessert banana. In general, they treated as vegetables in the kitchen much like fellow tropical produces such as potatoes, taro, breadfruit,yam, sweet potatoes, etc. Indeed, they are one of the staple sources of carbohydrates for larger populations in Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Central Americas for centuries, served in main courses.

Plantains are great sources of a variety of vitamins and minerals including:

• Fiber: Helps to keep bowel movements regular and reduce constipation
• Vitamin C:  This antioxidant helps build up your immune system and scavenge free radicals
• Vitamin A: Plays a role in vision and enhancing skin complexion
• B6 (Pyridoxine): Beneficial in treating neuritis, anemia, and decreasing homocystein levels which are often associated with coronary artery disease and stroke episodes.
• Potassium: Important components of cell and body fluids that help control heart rate and blood pressure.

Pumpkin coconut cookies

This is the one cookie left for the picture after they were made, they were sooooo delicious we attacked them!! The pumpkin butter is such an amazing goodness, I could eat the whole jar all on its own.  It is the easiest recipe to bake and you will LOVE it if you love pumpkin and coconut.

I will highlight the ingredients as I go.  Preheat oven to 375.  You will need 4 eggs, cracked in a bowl, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 3/4 of a cup of coconut flour, 1/2 of a cup of coconut oil, 1/2 of a cup of raw honey, and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin butter.  Blend all of this well.  Pour it in a bowl and add 1/2 of a cup of organic unsweetened coconut flakes and mix this together in the bowl.  

Line large sheet pan with parchment paper and scoop out the mixture with an ice cream scoop and lay on the parchment paper.  With the palm of your hand, flatten the mixture ball out so it is still about 1/2 inch thick.  Bake for 18 minutes.  You do not have to flip them so once the timer goes off, just remove from oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes on the counter.  Add a teaspoon or more to of the pumpkin butter to the center of the cookie and spread just like the picture above. These are my favorite eaten warm, but you can cool them as well and they are delicious.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF HONEY

I am sure most of you know how powerful honey is.  It has been a natural sweetener way before sugar became available in the 16th century.  Honey production flourished in ancient Greece and Sicily while animals other than humans have long raided honeybee hives, risking stings for its sweet reward.

This blend of sugar, trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids, is unlike any other sweetener on the planet.  It takes 60,000 bees, collectively traveling up to 55,000 miles and visiting more than 2 million flowers, to gather enough nectar to make 1 pound of honey.  Once the nectar is gathered, the bee stores it in its extra stomach where it mixes with enzymes and then passes it to another bees mouth.  This process is repeated until the nectar becomes partially digested and is then deposited into a honeycomb.

Once there, the honeybees fan the liquid nectar with their wings creating the thick substance known as honey.  

“Away from air and water, honey can be stored indefinitely, providing bees with the perfect food source for cold winter months.”

1. Honey makes excellent cough "medicine" Research shows honey works as well as dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in over the counter cough medications, to soothe cough and related sleeping difficulties due to upper respiratory tract infections in children

2. Honey treats wounds Honey was a conventional therapy in fighting infection up until the early 20th century, at which time its use slowly vanished with the advent of penicillin. Now the use of honey in wound care is regaining popularity, as researchers are determining exactly how honey can help fight serious skin infections.

Honey releases hydrogen peroxide through an enzymatic process, which explains its general antiseptic qualities, but active Manuka honey contains "something else" that makes it far superior to other types of honey when it comes to killing off bacteria.7

3. Honey improves your scalp Honey diluted with a bit of warm water was shown to significantly improve seborrheic dermatitis, which is a scalp condition that causes dandruff and itching. After applying the solution every other day for four weeks, “all of the patients responded markedly.” According to the researchers:9

“Itching was relieved and scaling was disappeared within one week. Skin lesions were healed and disappeared completely within 2 weeks. In addition, patients showed subjective improvement in hair loss.”

4. Helps boost your energy A healthy, whole-food diet and proper sleep is the best recipe for boundless energy, but if you’re looking for a quick energy boost, such as before or after a workout, honey can suffice. This is particularly true for athletes looking for a “time-released fuel” to provide energy over a longer duration

5. Reduces allergy symptoms Locally produced honey, which will contain pollen spores picked up by the bees from local plants, introduces a small amount of allergen into your system. Theoretically, this can activate your immune system and over time can build up your natural immunity against it.