Substitutes

What healthy substitutes do you use on a regular basis?

One of my new favorites is using plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream. For a while now I've been sneaking it into my sour cream container so my husband wouldn't know. He finally found out the other day, and said to just keep putting it in the sour cream container so he didn't have to THINK about the fact that he was eating yogurt instead of sour cream! You really cannot tell the difference though. I've used it when cooking, baking, as a topping, etc and it always works great.

I also recently saw Flaxseed Milk in the store and thought I'd give it ago. My body doesn't handle milk very well, and there are all kinds of recent studies that show that the cow's milk isn't good for you. Especially with calcium being available in other sources- like the Flaxseed Milk. Well, it was my favorite milk substitute so far- especially as far as consistency goes. Unfortunately, its a newer product, and I've been back to the store that I bought it at and unable to find it again. I'm hoping it grows in popularity so I can find and buy it more often.

A seafood night standby

Fish Tacos!


We started making these after our trip to Alaska when we brought bake 100 lbs of halibut. Since I can't usually gut the price of halibut, now I make them with tilapia. I usually have a bag of frozen tilapia filets in the freezer so I can make these on a whim.

My batter is done by eye, but goes something like this:

2 parts bread crumbs
1 part corn meal
1 part flour
1 tsp paprika
then season salt, salt, and pepper to taste.

I pan fry them in butter. About 1-2 Tbsp of butter per filet (depending on size).

I like them with napa cabbage, avocado and either fresh salsa or Cafe Rio dressing.

Everyone gobbles them up.

The easiest Vegetarian Enchiladas EVER!

Sorry for the lame picture. I had leftovers for lunch today, and this was my attempt at making them look good the second day.

Seriously though- these are the easiest vegetarian enchiladas ever. And they were a hit with the whole fam!

Quick n tasty Veggie Enchiladas
1 cup of brown rice
2 cups of water

1 can Bush's Grillin Beans- Black Bean Fiesta

Shredded mexican blend of cheese

Your favorite tortillas

1 can of your favorite enchilada sauce

Directions:
Put brown rice and water in rice cooker and let it do its thing.
When done mix with can of Fiesta Beans. Spoon into tortillas (I dip mine in enchilada sauce first), sprinkle with cheese, and roll up. Place in a baking pan. Repeat until filling is gone. Pour excess enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375* until bubbly and crisping on edges. Top with favorite toppings and enjoy!

Fiesta Salad (or wrap)

Last night we went to a neighborhood BBQ pot luck. Tons of neighbors came. It was so fun to meet all the people around us. Can I just say that I live in a super cool, super fun neighborhood? Really. I do.

I created and made the following salad- and had at least three people go to the trouble of finding out who made it, and then coming to me and complimenting me on it. I'd say that that's a sign of success. I think this could also be thrown in a wrap for a healthy lunch.

Jaime's Fiesta Salad

Entire head of green leaf lettuce torn
1/4 C. finely chopped cilantro
1 cup of corn (I had one cob of fresh corn that I cut off the cob)
1 + cup of black beans (I rinsed and used not quite a full can)
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

Dressing (kinda a long list of ingredients, but I just kept throwing stuff in till it tasted right)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 - 1 tsp taco seasoning
dash of olive oil
dash of balsamic vinegar

I threw this all together about an hour before and chilled in the fridge.

Quiche for dinner

Sorry- you only get a picture of the clean-up. It was good, and it was enjoyed.

Quiche and frittatas are great because they're simple and you can change them up to your personal taste easily.

My basic recipe goes like this:

combine in blender:
4 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese or plain greek yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Pour over:
12 oz thawed hash browns
1 of your favorite cheese
Chopped veggies of your choice (I like peppers, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, etc)

Bake at 375* for about 30 min.

Top with your favorite salsa, sour cream, avocado etc. I usually serve with fresh fruit and green smoothies!

Feeding a crowd vegetarian

We've been busy with the move and a family reunion in Colorado and all that. Which means our weekly meal plan has gone more to the wayside than I'd like to admit. Well, my brother and sister in law are in town for my cousin's wedding on Tuesday, and my Father in law and his wife were coming through town yesterday, as well as Jake's sister Brea and her husband. We wanted to have everyone over to see the house and join us for dinner. At first I was concerned- Sunday is one of our no meat days....

Then I decided that our eating plan needed to stay on track. After all- we eat good on vegetarian days- surely our guests could enjoy it too. But what could I make that would feed a large crowd and be enjoyed by all? I decided on a fajita/taco bar. Since vegetarian food is all about enjoying flavor- I made sure to have lots of flavorful toppings. I sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms in a little olive oil and taco seasoning. I warmed refried beans in a mini-crock. I cooked fresh tortillas (the raw Costco ones I love). Then I made home made salsa and Cafe Rio dressing. We also had lettuce, cheese, brown rice and sour cream. For sides we had grapes and corn on the cob. I let everyone stack/build them how they like. DELISH! Lots of compliments. Everyone was full and happy.

So see- you can even feed a crowd vegetarian with no complaints.

Wrap it up!

I made Chinese Chicken Salad the other night and wrapped them up in our favorite fresh cooked tortillas from Costco. Everyone chowed them down happily, even though I snuck all kinds of stuff in there.



For the dressing I followed this recipe:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup peanut oil
3 green onions, minced

It was kinda a lot though. I'd use only 1/2 -3/4 of it.

I had chopped cabbage, finely chopped carrots, mandarin oranges, roasted peanuts, a few chopped dried apricots, a little cooked chicken, ramen noodles...and it was fabulous.

It inspired me to write this post- because I think wraps are the perfect summer lunch or dinner! Below is a guide to show just how creative you can get. I created this guide after my cousin asked me for the "recipe" for the lunch I'd made when she was visiting. I realized I didn't have one, that I just always threw them together- but that they were always enjoyed.

Salad Wraps
Choose at least one (but feel free to do more) from each of the following categories (the possibilities are endless):

Greens:
Romain
Spinach
green leaf
etc

Protein:
diced cooked chicken breast
hard boiled eggs, chopped
chopped ham
diced turkey
garbanzo beans
white beans
kidney beans
sauteed tofu


Fruit:
chopped apples
dried cranberries/Craisins
cubed pears
mandarin orange slices
halved red grapes

Crunch:
toasted almonds
cashews
diced celery
crispy chow mein noodles
crushed Ramen noodles

Dressing:
Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame
Brianna's Poppyseed dressing
Light Mayo with curry powder to taste
Ceasar
Vidalia sweet onion
HOME MADE

Extras:
shredded Parmesan cheese
shredded/ cubed Havarti or other white cheese
diced green onion

Wrap:
Tortillas
pitas
flavored wraps
flatbreads