Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

4 portobello mushrooms
1 cup Israeli couscous
1/2 chopped onion
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 cup of roughly chopped Brussels sprouts
Apple cider vinegar
Braggs amino acids
1 Tbsp Grape seed oil
Seasoning of choice
Feta cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

Cook Israeli couscous as instructed on package.

While the couscous is cooking, saute onions and garlic in grape seed oil. When the onions are almost soft, add apple cider vinegar, braggs amino acids, desired seasonings, and Brussels sprouts. Let the Brussels sprouts cook for just a few minutes, you want them to stay crispy.

Remove vegetables from heat and add cooked couscous so they can absorb some of the flavor.

Wipe mushrooms with a wet paper towel, cut off stems, and scrape brown gills out of caps. Place mushrooms on oiled baking sheet, gill-side up. Fill mushroom caps with couscous mixture and sprinkle with feta cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

The Beauty of Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are my favorite right now. I get so excited to eat them and practically lick my bowl clean! They satisfy my sweet tooth and provide great nutrients. Sweet potatoes are a good food for runners, especially when eaten the day before a race.

Each potato contains around 100 calories, 0 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of sugar, 4 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. Pretty impressive! Sweet potatoes also contain a huge amount of vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene. They contain vitamin C, potassium, iron, manganese, and copper. Manganese and copper are crucial for healthy muscle function and most runners don't get enough in their diet. Because of the potatoes high carbohydrate content, they can be used for carbon loading the day before a race. When eaten, carbohydrates are broken down into smaller sugars, one of them is glucose. The glucose that is not used right away is stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is what fuels the body during exercise. That is why carbon loading is important. However, too many carbs can be dangerous. When the muscles and liver stores are full, the extra glucose is stored as fat.

There are many different ways to eat sweet potatoes. I am going to share how I usually prepare my sweet potatoes in this post, then experiment with some other recipes and post about them later.

Baked Sweet Potato
Wrap the sweet in foil and bake on 350 for 1 hour or until soft
Cut down the middle and top with 1/2 chopped apple, 1 chopped date, raisins, coconut, 1 tsp of peanut butter, flax seed, and cinnamon
Eat the whole thing, and don't feel bad about it :)

Baked Salmon

Baked Fish Packet

Fresh fish fillet
Sliced squash
Broccoli florets
Chopped garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, or basil)
Onion finely chopped
Juice from lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut parchment paper or foil into 12in squares and fold in half to create a crease down the middle.

Place squash and broccoli to the right of the crease. Top the veggies with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the fillet on the veggies and top with herbs, seasoning, chopped onion, and lemon juice.

Wrap up each square to make a pouch and place on a baking sheet. Bake the pouch until the fish is fully cooked, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Recipe from Whole Foods.

Butternut Squash Stew

I found this recipe on my Whole Foods app... if you have an iPhone, this app is worth getting... it's free anyway :)

The stew was delicious, filling, and is perfect for a cold day like today! I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I'm kind of rebellious when it comes to that. The recipe below is what I did. Feel free to look up the original recipe on wholefoods.com if you want to follow it instead.


Winter Squash Stew with White Beans and Kale
(Made a very large pot. Served about 8.)

1 onion
3-5 garlic cloves
Grape seed oil
Apple cider vinegar
1 quart water
2 cups chopped kale
2 cups chopped spinach
1 pound butternut squash
2-4 cups of beans
Seasoning of your choice

Saute 1 chopped onion and 3 chopped garlic cloves in a pan with grape seed oil (grape seed oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil, so it works great when sauteing) until soft or transparent.

Add a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar and 1 quart of water, then bring to boil.

Reduce heat and add 2 cups of chopped kale, 2 cups of chopped spinach, and seasoning (I used pepper, garlic salt, red pepper flakes, and Cajun seasoning). Let simmer for about 15 minutes. I dropped a few pearl onions and whole garlic cloves in to add more flavor.

Add one prepared squash (peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 in. chunks) and 2-4 cups of precooked beans. Let simmer until squash is soft, about 15 more minutes. Season again if needed.

My Favorite Breakfast

Fresh fruit is not only a good source of natural energy but also provides vitamin C, fiber, potassium, folate, and helps stimulate your memory. It has been proven that a diet high in fruits and vegetables greatly reduces your risk of disease.

I did a little experimenting and found a delicious way to eat fruit for breakfast. I like it so much, I eat "Fruit Cereal" every morning... and I'm not sick of it yet!

"Fruit Cereal"

The base of the cereal is always the same, but I change up the protein depending on what I feel like that day or what's in the fridge.

Base: 1/2 - 1 chopped apple (I like pink lady), 1 chopped banana, and 1 chopped date.

Protein: either peanut butter, combination of seeds (hemp, chia, and flax. I use 1 Tbsp of each), or soaked oats.

Milk: either soy or almond.

Place fruit, protein, and milk in a bowl, stir, and top with cinnamon. Sometimes I sprinkle raw organic coconut flakes on the top. Don't be afraid to use a large bowl... fruit is fat free and doesn't have many calories!

*The cereal in the photo contains pomegranate seeds and cottage cheese.

3 Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

An ice cream maker is not needed to make this super easy banana ice cream.

Ingredients:
Frozen banana slices
Soymilk
Dark chocolate chips
*Can add honey, brown sugar, or agave nectar to make the ice cream sweeter

Method:
Place frozen banana in a blender (Vitamix works the best) and a dash of soymilk. Blend the banana until it gets a creamy, ice cream like appearance. You will probably have to add more soymilk and stir the bananas a few times to help it blend. Just be careful to not add too much liquid, it will keep the bananas from creaming. When the desired consistency is reached, throw in a few dark chocolate chips and blend until they are chopped. The ice cream is not very sweet like typical ice cream, so I sometimes add honey to the mixture when I add the dark chocolate.

Enchiladas!

Sweet potato and black bean enchiladas with blackened jalapeno and avocado dip, cilantro chutney, and sweet potato chips (not pictured).



The enchiladas turned out great and were just as delicious reheated the next day. The best part about this meal is it fed 9 people, with leftovers, for under $25! I found all the recipes, except the sweet potato chips, on my Whole Foods app.

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN ENCHILADAS:

Ingredients
Quickie Green Chile Sauce

1. 1 cup light vegetable broth
2. 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch dissolved in a little cold water
3. 1 generous cup chopped roasted green chiles, hot or mild
4. 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
5. 1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder, hot or mild, to taste

Enchilada Filling

1. 1 (15-ounce) can organic black beans, rinsed, drained
2. 4 cloves garlic, minced
3. Fresh lime juice from 1 big juicy lime
4. 2 heaping cups cooked diced sweet potatoes
5. 1/2 cup chopped roasted mild green chiles
6. 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
7. 1/2 teaspoon chili powder mild or spicy
8. Sea salt and black pepper to taste
9. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Assembly

1. 2 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
2. 8 white or yellow corn tortillas
3. 4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Choose a baking dish that would hold 8 rolled enchiladas. Make your Quickie Green Chile Sauce by combining the broth, dissolved arrowroot, green chiles, garlic and spices in a sauce pan and heating over medium-high heat. Bring to a high simmer. Simmer until thickened. Taste test and adjust seasonings. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the Enchilada Filling, using a mixing bowl, combine the drained black beans with minced garlic and lime juice. Toss to coat the beans and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the cooked sweet potatoes with the chopped green chiles; add the spices. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the Quickie Green Chile Sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.

To assemble the enchiladas, grab a skillet and heat a dash of oil. Lightly cook the corn tortillas to soften them (this is important to keep the tortilla from breaking), one at a time, as you stuff each one.

Lay the first hot tortilla in the sauced baking dish; wet it with the sauce. Spoon 1/8 of the sweet potato mixture down the center. Top with 1/8 of the black beans. Wrap and roll the tortilla to the end of the baking dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce. Top with a sprinkle of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the enchiladas are piping hot and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.


BLACKENED JALAPENO AND AVOCADO DIPPING SAUCE:

Ingredients

2 large jalapeños
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 large Hass avocados, halved, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt to taste
Method

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add jalapeños and garlic and cook, shaking the skillet often, until tender and blackened on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside to let cool.

Seed and stem jalapeños then transfer to blender along with garlic. Add avocados, lime juice and salt and puree until somewhat smooth. With blender still running, slowly drizzle in about ½ cup water. Continue to puree until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl and serve.


CILANTRO CHUTNEY:

Ingredients

1 bunch cilantro
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (1/2-inch) piece ginger, grated or minced
1 serrano pepper, more to taste, very thinly sliced, seeded if desired
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Method

Strip leaves from cilantro stems and finely chop. Put in a bowl with tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.

*I use a food processor for cilantro chutney. I food process the garlic, ginger, and serrano pepper first until it is very finely chopped. I then add the cilantro, tomato, onion, lemon juice, salt, and sugar and pulse to chop and mix.

SWEET POTATO CHIPS:

Place sliced raw sweet potato, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in a large Ziploc bag. Seal and shake the bag until the sweet potato slices are coated. Lay a single layer of the seasoned potatoes on a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. I have never timed how long I cook the chips. I just flip them over when the top side starts to get crispy and take them out when both sides are done. I'm guessing it takes approximately 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the potato slice.