Veggie Scramble with Uncured Bacon and Green Smoothie

Breakfast for dinner. I love it!! This meal is actually great any time of the day. It has loads of vegetables, protein, good fat and fruits. The smoothie is an example of the smoothie we have everyday for breakfast. For breakfast we usually have 2-3 eggs and a green smoothie. That combo has all the ingredients to keep you feeling full until lunch, nourish your cells and kickstart your metabolism: good fats, protein and vegetables. Enjoy!

VEGGIE SCRAMBLE WITH UNCURED BACON

Serves: 2

4 uncured bacon slices

½ large red bell pepper, diced

1 cup brocolli florets, small chopped

1 ½ cup kale, finely chopped

6 eggs, whisked

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

Heat cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp, turning once. Remove and set aside to drain on a paper towel covered plate. Pour all grease except about 1 tsp into a bowl and set aside. (Throw grease away later in trash once cooled)

In skillet, add pepper and broccoli. Cook 5 minutes. Add kale. Cook 3 minutes until wilted. Add eggs, salt and pepper. Cook until scrambled to desired doneness.

GREEN SMOOTHIE

Serves: 2

1 cup broccoli florets

½ medium cucumber, large diced

½ large avocado

2- 3 cups kale with stems

1 mango, large diced

1 small apple, quartered

1 cups frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries and black berries)

2 cups water

Place all ingredients in a blender in the order listed. Blend! Enjoy!

Just a side note: we have vitamix blender and I do not know what we did before we got it. It is so easy to be healthy with this blender. 

Banana Cinnamon Bun Muffins

I am so happy to be sharing this recipe with you. Since discovering it I make it at least once a week when I have extra ripe bananas. This week I made it twice! It is from the blog Multiply Delicious. She has amazing recipes since going Paleo. I did adapt the recipe a little. We are learning more about the Paleo diet and quickly incorporating it into our daily meals.

These were my first experience cooking with coconut flour. I used Bob's Red Mill and it was delicious. Coconut flour is naturally sweet so you do not have to add sweetener. Also it has lots of great fiber: 5 grams in only 2 tablespoons of flour. I am now ordering it from the same company we order our coconut oil from, Tropical Traditions. Their oil is great and I expect their flour to be of the same quality.

I hope you make these and enjoy them as much as we do!

BANANA CINNAMON BUN MUFFINS

Makes: 9 muffins

Adapted from: Multiply Delicious

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

4 omega-3 eggs

1/3 cup coconut milk (canned full fat coconut milk)

1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed (1 large banana)

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Topping

1 tablespoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons ripe banana, mashed

2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking oil in nine of the muffin spots.

Whisk dry ingredients together.  Set aside.

In a small bowl add mashed banana, eggs, and coconut milk and whisk until well blended.  Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.

Add batter until prepared muffin cups.  Filling to about 3/4 filled. (I use a cookie scoop so all the muffins are even)

In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, mashed banana, melted coconut oil, and honey .  Drizzle mixture over top of muffins and using a toothpick or knife swirl the topping into the muffin batter. 

Bake muffins for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool in pan 5 – 10 minutes then transfer to wire rack.  Enjoy.

Brussels Sprouts Chips

I discovered brussels sprouts chips by accident the very first time I made roasted brussels sprouts a few years ago. They are a delightful crunchy, salty to eat sprouts. I hope you make some soon. I will warn you, though, make a lot because they will be devoured right from the oven!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS CHIPS

Serves: 4

1 lb brussel sprouts

1 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1. Wash sprouts and chop off stem ends. Tear off as many outer leaves as you can from the sprout (I usually get at least 10 leaves).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add sprouts. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy.

3. Devour

Raw Almond Butter

I have so many amazing recipes to share with you. Looking at my "stash" I had the hardest time trying to decide which one to start with. Between it being summer, me having more free time and us getting a grill I have been cooking a lot. One of the things I learned after moving to Colorado is that the almond butter I used to buy costs $3 more out here! Yes, it is the same exact product from the same exact store. So, I decided to start making my own. It is easy and now I get almond butter that is completely raw (I use unroasted, unsalted almonds) and is is cheaper. I wait until the bulk raw almonds are on sale at my local grocer and buy multiple pounds. The taste is so pure and amazing! So, without further ado... the recipe.

Raw Almond Butter

Makes 2 cups

1. Place 3 cups of raw, unroasted and unsalted almonds in the bowl of a food processor.

2. Turn on food processor. The almonds will go through a series of consistencies so you have to kinda watch it. I usually make this recipe when I am in the kitchen already doing something else. 

3. The almonds will become the consistency of dust, then will thicken and stick to the sides of the bowl. At this point, you will periodically have to stop and scrape down the sides. Then they will form into a ball and then puree into butter. 

The whole process takes about 17 minutes in my processor. Once the almonds reach the large ball form and then start to puree, I usually let them puree for 10 minutes until it gets smooth and creamy.

You will never go back to store bought again!

Grilled Asparagus

I would love it if my blog subscribers would participate in a study... whose pee smells when you eat asparagus??? I know,  it is very childish to ask this, but I thought everyone's did. I was teaching a phlebotomy class back in georgia and brought up this topic when teaching how to do a urinalysis. To my surprise, not everyone's pee smells when they eat asparagus. I was determined to find out why. I found this answer on The Discovery Channel's website. Here is the link and a bit of the article below. http://dsc.discovery.com/guides/skinny-on/asparagus.html

In 1891 a scientist named "Nencki" had so very little to do that he convinced four guys to eat seven kilograms of asparagus (that's about three and a half pounds each). He collected the pertinent pee, worked some medieval magic on it, and concluded that the smell was due to a metabolite called methanethiol.

So there you go. Nencki claimed that as your body metabolizes asparagus, it produces this smelly chemical, which your discriminating kidneys see fit to dump into the bladder.


Now if you're scowling at your screen and muttering, "My pee doesn't smell like asparagus," first ask yourself if you eat asparagus

Even if you do but lack the smell, you're still OK. In fact the fabulously funny book, The ReSearch Guide to Body Fluids (by Paul Spinrad, Juno Books, N.Y., 1994), says just 22 percent of survey respondents experience asparagus pee.


So, now that you know what I find fascinating, you will probably stop reading my blog :) But I hope
you will continue to use my blog and it's delicious recipes, including this one. 

GRILLED ASPARAGUS

Serves: 4

1 lb asparagus, washed and tough ends removed

1. Heat a grill over medium heat. Place grill pan on grill. 

This is what my grill pan looks like.

2. Toss asparagus with 1 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Add asparagus to grill pan. Cook 8-10 minutes, turning asparagus so it does not burn.
Enjoy!