Basalmic Dijon Spinach Salad w/ Spicy Chicken

Salads can be boring, but every once in awhile I get a craving for one! This salad is pretty light and delightful.

To cook the chicken,

Just season with cayenne pepper, salt, and the Kirkland Organic No Salt seasoning. Cook over medium heat until cooked through.

To make the dressing:

1 tsp basalmic vinegar

1 tbs EVOO

1 tsp Dijon mustard

A pinch of chopped basil

Juice from a lemon slice

The salad consisted of just spinach and thinly sliced onions, but you can get way more creative than that! I was just lazy and hungry! 

Enjoy!

 

Southwestern Eggs

This is a twist on your typical breakfast fried egg!

For this you need :

2 eggs, fried

1/4 c black beans (or beans of your choice)

Tomatoes

Salsa and Greek yogurt for toppings.

You could also add chopped cilantro too but I didn't have any.

It's got a decent amount of protein to keep you full for awhile! Super yummy and super cheap meal right here!

Blueberry Peach Smoothie

I am a huge fan of smoothies. They are so simple to make and I hardly ever add anything but fruit and almond milk to mine. 

All I did was throw in 

1/2 c blueberries

1/2 c peaches

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 to 3/4 c of unsweetened almond milk

I blended it together and it was a bit thick so I added like 1/4 c of water and it was perfect. 

 

It's a yummy treat or snack, and it's best to eat some protein with it so I fried up a couple of eggs.

 

Lemon Pepper Tuna Sandwich

I am all for simplicity when it comes to cooking food, especially lunch. I am a sucker for sandwiches! Today I was craving tuna fish, and I have been trying to listen to my body so I made it... with some alterations to make it healthier.

Here's what I did:

I mixed one can of tuna in water with about 1 tbs EVOO, the juice of half a lemon, and some pepper. Put it on some Ezekiel bread with some lettuce and sliced olives. Then I ate it. It was surprisingly delicious! 

I wanted to add some cucumber to it too but I didn't have any, but I think it would make it even more yummy! 

You can also omit the bread and just use lettuce if you are really watching your carbs, and it is just as good! Ezekiel bread is super healthy though, and if you are going to eat bread, you should make sure it is as whole an unprocessed as you can get it. Always look for 100% whole wheat!

I'm not exactly a pro at photographing my food, so sorry about the lame pictures. 

Having a Healthy Diet

This is probably one of the best guides I have seen on what to avoid and what to eat when you have PCOS. It makes it a lot simpler than having a whole list, which can also be good sometimes, because it can give you ideas on things you wouldn't have thought of before.

The best thing is to stay away from foods that have a high-glycemic index - so sugars, carbs, and other things that are going to raise your blood sugar levels.

(Learn all about the glycemic index here and here.)

Because of the gluten free diet craze, there are a lot more things out there besides those simple carbs. Quinoa, for example, is also high in protein (besides fiber), and is a great substitute for rice. I have also seen pasta that is made out of it. Great, right?

Sometimes the urge to eat sugar can be too much, but try not to feel guilty and just start over. I have found that keeping a food diary, or being accountable to someone is really helpful when you are trying to eat healthier. If you need someone, you can even be accountable to me!

We, of course, will try to fill this blog with good, and relatively cheap, recipes that won't break any of the rules. If any of you have tried anything, let us know! We want this to be a sharing environment, where we can all learn from each other!

Crystal's Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

Here is take two of my spaghetti sauce recipe. now that it has been a couple of days, hopefully I can still remember what I did exactly. this recipe changes almost every time I make it because every time I seem to lack or have extra of different ingredients. this time it was a little spicy because I added some crushed red pepper. (yeah, the little packets from dominoes.. :))

Crystal's ever changing spaghetti sauce: version Spicy!
1/2 lb ground beef
2 cans diced tomatoes (although if you have any fresh tomatoes I recommend those! so good.)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 sliced onion
1 sliced green pepper (or red, orange, or yellow!)
1-2 tbs minced garlic
1-2 tsp of each: oregano, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper
2-3 tbs brown sugar (optional)
pinch of baking soda (neutralizes the acidity from the tomatoes)
salt & pepper to taste

brown the beef and set aside. sauté the onion and peppers in some EVOO for about 2-3 minutes and then add in the garlic and seasonings. cook for another minute or two and then add the hamburger back in. add the tomatoes, sauce, brown sugar, and baking soda. bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. add salt & pepper to your hearts desire!

this made about 6 servings!

Blood Orange Strawberry Juice and Baked Zucchini & Sweet Potato

Baked Zucchini & Sweet Potato
Slice up the potato, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle some salt & pepper, oregano, parsley, and basil.
Bake 375 for about 25 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, slice up the zucchini (I used 2 smaller zucchinis) and drizzle a little more olive oil and add a little salt and pepper. Add them in with the potatoes (after the 25 min) and bake for 30 more minutes.

Blood Orange Strawberry Juice
3 blood oranges (peeled)
1 handful strawberries
2 medium apples (stem & seeds removed)
1 orange (peeled)
1 mango (seed removed & peeled. if the mango is too soft, it may not juice well)
Juice it up and add some ice!
Makes about 2 cups of juice

Hot Pink Beet Juice

Beet Juice!

It sounds kind of gross. But it is actually really good! I never ate beets growing up. Not from a can, not cooked, and certainly not fresh. So when I got beets in my Bountiful Basket, I was like what the HECK am I going to do with these? How about juicing them? Yes. Do it. I peeled the outer part off, and I realized that beets are so pretty! Seriously. I should have taken pictures, but I haven't quite gotten into the habit of taking pictures of every piece of food I eat.. For reals though, Next time you have one, look at them.. I'm weird. :P

So check it out. You need a juicer for this, fortunately. Juicers are awesome! If you don't have one, well dang it. Go buy one! :) Mine is a Jack Lalanne, and works great for me! (I do hate cleaning it though. But then again, I hate doing ANY dishes for that matter!) Make sure you wash, peel any pulp from oranges or lemon, and de-seed your fruits and veggies. Some juicers don't make you do that, but mine does.

 

BEET JUICE

1 beet, peeled and cut in half

2 blood oranges, peeled/halfed (or 1 large regular)

2 carrots

1 small apple, halved

Handful of strawberries

it turns into this beautiful hot pink drink. love.

 

then, don't discard the pulp. I have a oatmeal banana beet muffin recipe that I will post soon.

Eggplant Pizza

these little pizzas are so easy to make! here's what you need to do:

slice the eggplant, and sprinkle salt on them. (I guess it brings out the extra moisture) wipe off the extra juice with a paper towel. the longer you wait the more juice that comes out. they say to wait about 30 min but I wasn't patient enough to wait that long... typical hungry girl!

while you are letting the moisture out, prepare the tomato sauce. I made my own from fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, olive oil, and minced garlic. soooo good! I'll have to post the recipe for that when I make it again. hopefully soon!

put the sauce on each of the eggplant slices, sprinkle some mozzarella & feta cheese on top. bake at 350 for about 5-10 min until the cheese is melted. mmmm!