Wild Rice

Wild rice is something that always caught my attention, yet I have never had the guts to try to make it. It seems like something that is only served in a restaurant because it seems so "elegant". Apparently I am crazy and think that things like rice can be elegant.

So one day, I was at sprouts.....

and I was browsing their bulk section .....

I found some wild rice.....

So now I HAD to make something with it. 

Way to go Paty, now you have to think of how to cook it. 

That's the end of my short story......

So first I boiled about (1/4) c of wild rice for 20 min until soft 

(I started with about 1 c of water and added a little more until the rice was soft)

Then I added a few spoonfuls of leftover cooked Peruvian beans. 

Then I chopped some cilantro, onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and let it simmer with 1 tsp. of vegetable bullion. 

That's all folks. 

So here is a recap:

1/4 c rice

1/3 c beans

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

3 mushrooms (small)

handful of cilantro

2 tbs of onion

1 tsp. of vegetable bullion 

Iron Packed Granola bars….

Note: I am used to eating cereals, treats, and other goodies that don’t have much sugar or “flavor”. Many reasons

1. I try to avoid eating refined sugar (even though I do love it) because it gives me irritable symptoms.

2. My mom never really bought us sugar filled cereals because she hated us and didn't want us to have a happy breakfast, she preferred a nutritious breakfast.

3. I always underestimate the sugar in most foods when I am cooking

4. I like not eating super sweet foods because when I do I enjoy and appreciate it more….

So if you like your granola bars sweet

Like a candy bar….

Then you should add a bit more sugar to suit your taste

Sweet potato bars

1 banana

1 sweet potato (steamed or baked)

½ c of garbanzo beans

2/3 c of cream of wheat

1 c milk

1 tbs flax meal

1 tbs of flax seed

¼ c of wheat bran

¼ c of pb

¼ c of agave

1.3 c of oats

1 c flour

1/3 c of cereal (I used corn bran)

Basically, blend everything except the oats and cereal in the blender until smooth. Then add the oats and cereal (to give it texture) and then bake for about 20 min at 350 degrees F.

 This is the most random combination of items, who would of thought they would go into a granola bar

This doesn't even look like something you would eat  

Yes, I attempted to make a square, yet fell a little short 

But you can't tell when they are all cut up

Segmented salad

It’s funny that I actually made this salad look all nice and neat because I usually tend to mix things up and then they look like a big mess. In this salad I used sprouts. Sprouts actually provide a handful of good nutrition such as vitamin K and doses of calcium, iron and folate.

So first I chopped up some lettuce (romaine and iceberg) and then I mixed that with some scallions.

This was the bottom layer, and then I just nicely added:

Chopped tomato

Spiralized cucumber

Shredded jicama

Corn

And alfalfa sprouts

This was really good and I used store bought Italian dressing which made it yummy 

Cucumber Noodles

This is the best way to get your “noodle” fix when you don’t want to eat a lot of carbs. It’s basically just a fancy looking salad. AHA

It also taste super fresh on a hot summer’s day.

So what you do is spiralize the cucumber and then add which ever fruits and veggies you want.

I added

 Celery

Mango

Papaya

Tomato

Onion

And extra cucumber

Scallions

(to make it “saucy” I blended a mango with some lemon juice)

Here is another pic of a different meal of cucumber noodles.....

Enchilada Pie

This recipe is actually a favorite of mine and it’s a way to get picky eaters to eat lots of veggies without knowing. And it lets me show my true Mexican colors. Yes, I no longer have to hide behind my chia seed, pistachio smacking, almond milk drinking self. I can finally represent my Mexicaness (yes that is a word).

So what you do here is simple:

Grab your leftover Frijoles (that’s beans for all you non-Spanish speaking people)

In my house we also call them “Balasos” which translates to gun-shots (cuz something has to be fired at some point right?)

Also grab whatever vegetables no one cares to eat because they are too lazy to chop

Example:

Cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, squash, onion, mushrooms

And sauté them in a pan with the frijoles.

Then add enchilada sauce (only because your too busy to make it from scratch *cough*lazy*cough

In the end, layer them with tortillas in a pan (that you sprayed with PAM) and then bake for 20 min.

You can add cheese for your family or not……

Or you can crumble a tortilla on top and make them believe its cheese…..

Banana Ice cream

This ice cream rocks my socks. Please ignore the fact that I am not wearing socks at the moment, or maybe that’s how hard my socked were rocked!!!

All you do is blend frozen bananas with some milk in the Vitamix. That’s all.

Sometimes I will do a variation and add dates to make it sweeter. Or add some cocoa or carob powder.

Then I can top it off with whatever I want.

Sometimes its fruit, cereal, or both. 

First, we start with bananas.....freeze them!

Then you make the ice cream with your blender or food processor.....

Then you top it off with whatever you can get your hands on.....

like more bananas....frozen bananas cuz you can never get tooo cold

and don't forget the mountain of cinnamon 

or a mix of blackberries, strawberries, and BANANAS

 This is the part that my mom likes to tease me about being a monkey

or how I have gone "bananas" because I have never heard that joke before since its soooo original!

or just simply top it off with apples and strawberries 

Note: that this ice cream has cocoa powder in the base....super yummy!

BABY!!!

I completely forgot to tell you guys that I made a baby one day. It was a watermelon baby. See, I can get artsy with my food at times. AHAHA. Well this baby was delicious. I didn’t even eat the whole thing. Like omgosh……

I had made this for thanksgiving (note the tamale leaves in the background) we had it as the centerpiece, yet devoured the thing in minutes. My two hours of work gone within seconds.