Sweet!!

Just thought I would share this article from Yahoo about various sweeteners (which ones are good and which are bad):

http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/RH/the-4-best-and-3-worst-sweeteners-to-have-in-your-kitchen

I know I need to swear off Diet Coke and my diet sweet tea, but I do enjoy them occasionally. Sweeteners I use at home are stevia and raw honey, so at least I'm good to go there! Hope this information is useful!

Island Chik'n and Rice with Peas

I got the idea for this meal from a Publix Aprons recipe. The recipe calls for sweet Thai chili sauce, but I didn't have any. What I did have was a peach, honeydew, and some honey, which I thought might make a yummy glaze!

As much as I didn't want to, I used the Quorn Chik'n Cutlets for this recipe. It really is the best alternative to chicken, even if it does use egg whites. So for now at least I am going to live with it!

I sprayed the cutlets with olive oil using my Misto and place them on the grill to start cooking one side. I also started the yellow rice and put the peach and honeydew in the food processor, then transferred the puree to a skillet over medium heat to see if I could get more of a glaze consistency. It thickened a little, but it really looked like applesauce. I also added a little honey in there.

I took the skillet out to the grill and flipped the chik'n over and spooned a little of the fruit glaze on, spreading it over the pieces. Then I went back inside to check on the rice. After the yellow rice cooked for about 16 minutes I removed the lid and added some jerk seasoning, garlic salt, and Adobo, and then added some frozen peas, mixed well, and put the lid back on. At this point I also raised the temp back up to medium.

I went back to flip the chik'n, added more glaze, and then went back in to stir the rice, cover, and turn off the stove. The rice was done!

All that was left was the chik'n, which I flipped over and added a squeeze of lime. Another flip, another squeeze of lime and it was time for dinner.

The chik'n was good, but the rice was AWESOME!! I think next time I will grill the chik'n, but maybe add some savory seasonings and then coat with the glaze in the skillet. We topped the rice with a little cilantro and topped the chik'n with some green onions. Definitely want to give this one another shot sometime! It was good, but I think it has the potential to be a favorite!

Pasta with veggies

Also known as the "we need to go shopping - what can I throw together from what we have" pasta. This is something I throw together when I didn't plan on what to cook. It's just spaghetti noodles with some sauteed veggies. I start with some olive oil and toss in some squash and zucchini (because it takes a while to cook). Season with garlic powder, sea salt, and lemon juice. I like to let them get golden brown before adding in some diced garlic and tomatoes. After straining the spaghetti noodles, I'll toss them in the pan with the veggies and add a little butter and some parmesan cheese. If I have any fresh herbs I'll toss them in, or maybe some dry oregano. Ooh, and capers if I have any of those! Everything is better with capers! : )

Just like regular spaghetti, you can't really mess this up. It's just butter noodles... with a few things added so you can call it dinner! This picture is from another night when I made this, and I added some garlic bread and my vegan version of Capri Salad on the side.

Chik'n Avocado Tacos

Ever since going to Tacolu at Jax Beach, I have become obsessed with avocado tacos!! Just a couple slices of avocado, some lime juice, lettuce and tomato is all you really need! Oh, and I read that if you leave the skin on and just cut out the avocado slices that the rest of the avocado will keep for up to 5 days! Good to know!

I decided to step things up one day and made chik'n and avocado tacos. Now, I'm not a big fan of fake chik'n. Even Gardein, which I love so much, just has a weird taste. So if I make it, it's usually a recipe that I can cover up with a lot of other flavors.

Then I tried Quorn, and their chik'n cutlets are so juicy and delicious! The only thing is... they are made with egg whites! So, NOT vegan, NOT okay for a Daniel Fast, and just plain weird! I actually can't stand eggs and prefer not to eat them, so I am torn on this one. I didn't read the label until after I bought the cutlets, so we'll see if I buy it again. It's delicious, but I'm not happy that it's made with egg. Seems to defeat the purpose of vegetarian cooking.

These tacos include alfalfa sprouts, field greens, avocado, Quorn chik'n cutlets, and tomato/cucumber salsa with garlic lime sauce. I cooked the cutlets in the microwave before tossing around with some olive oil, lime juice, and Adobo in a frying pan.

Hummus with raw veggies

We are hummus addicts in our house! I used to make hummus from scratch (and mine was pretty awesome) but the garlic hummus by Sabra is like crack to us! And only that kind! We've bought some of the others and don't even like them. The garlic one is just delish!

Whenever I'm hungry I usually grab a piece of wheat pita and some hummus, but I had some leftover broccoli chopped up from what I didn't use in my salad yesterday, so I dipped that in the hummus. Yum! I decided to make a little plate with some tomato, squash, zucchini, bell pepper and more broccoli! It was such a great little lunch! I really wish I had some carrots (which I always love with hummus) but at least I found out that just about any veggie goes well with it! I think my favorite was the bell pepper, followed by the broccoli. I threw the tomatoes in there because when I make hummus I like to put it in a large bowl with some olive oil in the center and line it with slices of tomato. Put some hummus and tomato on top of a piece of pita - AHHH!

I think I may be in love with hummus! : )