Showing posts with label swiss chard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swiss chard. Show all posts

Friday, September 17, 2010

Leftovers

Good morning!  I just thought I would leave you with a quick post before I get ready for my girlfriends that are coming up to spend the day with me.
Remember the Corn Saute from my previous post.  Well the next day I had it for lunch but added some extra yumminess to it.  I sauteed up some swiss chard in a hot pan, added some chickpeas, Corn Saute mixture and heated it through.  Next I spooned it into a bowl and topped it off with avocado.  This made for a very filling lunch.

Lemon Cucumber
If you think regular cucumbers are refreshing you must try these, just a slight lemony taste to them.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope everyone is having a fun and fabulous day!  Our weather has been wonderful the past few days.  Spring has defininitely kicked in.  My brother and nephew came in from Arizona last Friday so we've been busy which has left no time for blogging much.  My nephew is napping so I'm taking this opportunity.  I will be making a seitan corned "beef" and cabbage tonight and will post at a later time.    I thought I would at least share some photo's of a hike we went on last weekend.  All of the flowers are starting to bloom. 
Pretty flowers. 
Here is a toad my nephew found in our backyard yesterday.  When he finally started to move out of those rocks he left a present. hee hee. No I didn't take a picture of that! 
Here is a swiss chard wrap.  Chickpea salad with shredded carrot, tomato and avocado. So cool and refreshing and it's Green for St. Patty's Day. 
Have a fun and safe night if ya'll are going out!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Going Primal,new foundation and raw treats

For starters it's been so freakin cold out lately.  Sunny but cold. Burrrrrr! Okay weather report is out of the way.  Moving on....Primal Strips.
I have been given the chance to sample Primal Strips meatless jerky. They are Non-GMO, vegan/kosher, no msg and made from seitan/soy/shitake mushroom.  They are high in protein while being low in calories and fat.  They come in 6 different flavors as you can see.  My favorites are the Mesquite Lime, Hickory Smoked and Terriyaki.  The first time I packed one in my son's lunch he came home from school telling me that his friends all really liked it.   I know they all share their food with each other but I didn't realize so many of them would want to try it.  So you could say these are kid approved! These are perfect for travelling, hiking or biking.  Just throw them in a pack and you are set! 

I've been inspired by Katie at Chocolate-Covered Katie , it started with her raw fudge "babies". I know it sounds weird if you don't know what I'm talking about but they consist of a few raw ingredients that are blended up and rolled into a fabulous treat!  Like no bake cookies.  I finally attempted my own and oh they are so good!  These ones taste like an Almond Joy.  Now I know why she is always making these raw treats, they are highly addictive!  A great tasting snack without the added sugar and oil.  Gluten free as well.  I coated some with chocolate so it's like eating a truffle...in my mind! lol! 


1/2 c. raw almonds
1/2 c. medjool dates(pitted)
1/4 c. shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. dark chocolate(melted)optional

      In a food processor add almonds and blend until chopped finely, not butter.  Then add the dates, coconut and vanilla.  Take out and roll into balls. 
If you dip in melted chocolate put on wax paper and stick in refrigerater until hardened.  Pack in airtight container.
Tuesday nights I don't usually make a time intensive meal due to Keaton's guitar lessons being in the late afternoon and it's also our night to watch LOST.  You know speaking of LOST, we finally got a little bit of the puzzle answered after all of these episodes!   I also had an exciting moment last night, well for me anyways.  It's when Ben is in the teacher role and writes "ELBA" on the chalkboard, Elba spelled backwards is Able, you know how there is all these secret messages and references in each episode.  Anyways, I was excited I caught it,  if even if it doesn't mean anything.  Bake to the food.   I had a few huge potatoes  sitting in my pantry so that's what we had.  Baked potatoes topped with sauteed swiss chard and mushrooms.  Filling and comforting. Yum!
The other day at New Frontiers, our local health food store, I found my new favorite foundation.  It's EMANI Minerals.  I've been preferring the liquid foundations over the powdered ones, so it's nice to find more of them out there.  It's always so hard to find a new foundation that works, you know?  So while I was at the store and I rubbed some of the foundation on top of my hand to try it out and when I got home to wash my hands I couldn't tell that there was any foundation on it.  I mean, it blended in so well!  I went back the next day to purchase some before we went out with some friends and it feels so light on the skin.  It doesn't feel like you have any foundation on at all.  It is a light to medium coverage.  It is also vegan and gluten free! This color is the Oyster Beige.  My skin is lighter during the winter months so I'll have to go to the medium color during the summer.  Check it out! 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Supercharge Me Smoothie & GF Swiss Chard Pasta

I know some people like coffee to get them going in the morning.  Don't get me wrong, I have a cup or two in the morning myself but just  because I like the taste.  But you know what really gets me going is a Super charged up green smoothie.
Okay so it doesn't look so green but purple.  This smoothie contains, fresh spinach, mixed berries, mango, banana, flax, powdered greens, rice milk and organic cranberry.  You really can't taste the spinach or greens due to the fruit.  Every morning before Dave goes to work I make him a smoothie as well and I've been adding some greens or powdered greens and he hasn't said anything.  So unless he reads this he doesn't know!  So we'll just be quiet about this.

  You know that cute crate from a previous post that said Muir Glen on it, that my girlfriend gave me.  Well I opened it up and look at what I found!  There are 4 cans, one was a diced tomato, one is a newer item with adobe sauce(would be great in a chilli) and two cans were of two different types of RESERVE tomatoes.  Look how pretty the can is is and the photo.  It's like a bottle of expensive wine!  It came with a booklet describing the two varieties, Brigade and Yolo tomatoes.  Muir Glen reserved some land to grow a small crop of these two different varieties of tomatoes and it went so well they are going to use more land for 2010. 
I actually opened up the Brigade can of tomatoes, it was a hard decision cuz like I said the can is too beautiful.  On the other hand I couldn't wait to taste these tomatoes and see if they were truly as good as was described.  You know these tomatoes tasted wonderful!  You know how some tomatoes from a can are kind of acidic?  Non of that, these were kind of sweet but light at the same time.  Delish!   So anyways last night I used them in a sauce poured over GF pasta. 

Swiss Chard Sauce

1 medium onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced(or more if you like)
4 sage leaves, chopped
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, tomatoes only(save the juice)
1 bunch swiss chard leaves, chopped
1/2 -3/4 C. White wine
olive oil
salt to taste
chopped walnuts for topping(optional)

Boil pot of water for pasta and cook according to directions.

 Meanwhile heat up a saucepan and add about 3 Tbs. olive oil and add onion, garlic,sage and dash of salt (the salt sweats the onion and you can use less oil this way).  Saute until onions are soft.  Next add in 1/2 c. white wine and let it reduce down.  Next add in tomatoes and cook through then add the rest of the white wine.  Next add in swiss chard and let it cook through.  Take of heat and I added more olive oil but you don't have to.  I topped off ours with chopped walnuts.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Gifts from the heart....

Isn't this firefly stepping stone beautiful? A couple of my girlfriends came up to visit me last friday for the day and they brought me belated birthday gifts! Although just having them visit was a gift. So my friend Dorissa is very crafty/artistic and she loves to do mosaics and is very talented at it. She knows I really like dragonflies and she made this amazing looking stepping stone for me.
This is from her garden as well, swiss chard.

I just had to use up some of that beautiful looking swiss chard so I threw this together. Saute up some swiss chard with garlic and olive oil. Then threw in some cannelini beans and brown rice. Wallah!!! A quick, healthy and yummy dinner. I ate this along with a wonderful glass of Rancho Sisquoc " Meritage" red wine, thanks to my friend Yvette. Girlfriends are the best!!!