One time, when we were broke...

Have you ever had a drastic change in your income? Not to get all awkward with finances, but holy crap, it's an adjustment to go down to one income. My sweet carb-loving husband is in an accelerated nursing program so I am the breadwinner! I'm barely winning any bread though. I work for a non-profit university and I am so grateful for my job, but we are REALLY having to tighten up our spending if we're going to survive my husband being in nursing school.

1 month down, 15 left to go! We can do it.

I've also been in a food blog rut. I am afraid that no one will want to eat the food I'm eating, so...why post about it? I have drastically cut back on treats, desserts, and eat your feelings food. I don't even really make food that masses of people would want to eat.

I am giving myself one year to let go of as much excess weight as possible. In order for that to happen, I need to eat CLEAN and LEAN. (Secret- I actually hate the term "clean eating"...)

Here's the deal. I will spend the next few months sharing what foods work for me and how to eat CLEAN and LEAN and SIMPLY on a budget. Can we still be blog friends if I do that? I hope so :)

I make this at least twice a week. As long as I remember to put my cashews in a bowl of water before I'm ready for lunch, it comes together in about 3 minutes! That's less time than it takes to open up a can of soup and cook it. It's very flavorful and creamy not to mention VERY good for you and your budget. Enjoy!

Decadent Zucchini Soup, serves 1. Taken from "The Good Life Coalition" Lighten Up! recipe book.

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini or 2 small zucchini, unpeeled
1/4 C cashews, soaked in water for 20 minutes
1 Tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Dash of salt

1. Chop the zucchini. Microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until it is steaming. Add all ingredients including cashews (drain water first) to a blender and blend until smooth.

 

Coconut Almond Butter

About a month ago I found a new food blogger that I totally have a blog crush on. Her blog name is Delighted Momma. I made her Flourless Zucchini Brownies. Twice. During the brownie party, stumbled upon her recipe for almond butter (with coconut!)

I have attempted nut butters before but always quit at the paste stage and figured homemade nut butters weren't possible. I read her instructions and realized I never ran my food processor long enough and maybe there was hope for me. You can see her recipe here.

I've made several batches of this stuff and will probably never buy store bought almond butter again. It's hard describe how delicious it is homemade.

Some have told me that soaking your almonds makes them even more nutritious. I used raw almonds for this last batch and unsweetened coconut shreds and it is delicious.

*Warning!! This is a loud and obnoxious process. Don't do it at midnight...or when your kids are napping. You'll regret it.

**WARNING!! This almond butter gets HOT. You'll see condensation on my food processor and it's for realsies hot.

Coconut Almond Butter from Delighted Momma

Ingredients:

•  2 Cups dry roasted almonds 
• 1/3 C unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor. I have also made this using a Ninja.
2. Turn your food processor to high and plug your ears and shut yourself in the closet while this processes for 10 minutes. If you watch, you'll noticed different stages- almond meal to almond chunks, to almond paste, and finally almond butter!
3. After 10 minutes, check your almond butter. If you like it chunky, stop processing it. If you let it run longer, you'll get smooth and creamy almond butter.
4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the almond butter into an airtight container and store. 

Curried Cauliflower Zucchini Soup

Do you have Zucchini taking over your kitchen? I have a zucchini the size of a baseball bat and I'm not sure what to do with it. Another problem I have is buying produce when I know full well I have no plans to use it, I just know that it should come home with me.

I pride myself on filling my shopping cart with healthy food and sometimes I buy produce just because some voice inside me tells me my body needs it.

Whenever my produce hoarding problem gets out of control, I end up juicing it all so I don't experience produce-guilt. My green cabbage almost ALWAYS ends up in the produce-guilt juice.

I don't have a recipe for cabbage, but my cauliflower almost ended up in the juice until I remembered a recipe I have had marked for years in one of my favorite cookbooks called Volumetrics. This particular recipe was perfect- it called for zucchini AND cauliflower which means I'm in the negative for having produce guilt.

This soup is so amazing and I have eaten the entire recipe in less than 24 hours. It's thick and creamy and the hint of curry is divine.

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups of cauliflower, chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, shredded (About 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 Cups chopped onions
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups chicken stock (or vegetable broth for a vegetarian variation)
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and curry powder. Cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the chicken stock, cauliflower, zucchini, and salt to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.

4. Enjoy!

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Paleo Banana Walnut Muffins

So I'm totally diggin this Paleo thing. I'm not a pro, but I'm learning as I go and it's been a really good thing for me. In one of the books I have about Paleo eating, the author says that with today's technology, one can take nuts or other foods like coconut and grind them into a "flour" and then be combined with other ingredients to create baked goods and that these kinds of foods are very easy to abuse. I think he was suggesting to avoid trying to recreate things like cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and such with nut flours because they really don't fall in line with the philosophy of a Paleo lifestyle.

I agree. They are easy to abuse and tonight I abused these muffins. There are 8 remaining, but there were 12 earlier today. All I can say is Halle-freekin-luia I found these! I've made 2 other muffin recipes and they were so gross that even my fellow hippy-food-lovin friend couldn't finish it.

These tasted like butter to me. They seriously tasted like a delicious buttery muffin. I am so pleased with them that I will make them again. They are so convenient for me because I eat most meals in my car. (lame, but true)

These are adapted from 3 different Paleo Muffin recipes, so I give credit to the the wonderful world wide web.

Ingredients:

2 Brownish Bananas
3 Eggs
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/4 C Coconut Flour
1/2 C Walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a mixer, combine the two bananas, eggs, honey, and olive oil.

2. Next, Combine the salt, soda, and coconut flour. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

3. Scoop about 2 Tbsp of batter into a muffin pan that has been heavily coated in cooking spray or lined with cupcake liners. 

4. To prevent burning, place the muffin pan on top of a cookie sheet and then put them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Every oven is different so keep an eye on these! Cool on a wire rack.

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Paleo Friendly Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

January 1 is notorious for people starting their diets and since I hate following a crowd, I started mine on December 30.

I realize I have already lost a few readers by including the word Paleo in the title, but since I'm trying to follow the Paleo lifestyle for the next 90 days (at least) I figured this would be a great place to keep track of recipes that have worked for me.

I love that I got to cook with my doTerra essential oils! The first and only time I tried to chop my own lemon grass was 6 years ago and haven't touched the stuff since. I have lemongrass oil and decided to use my oil in this recipe to replace the lemongrass.

This soup is so rich and filling that I couldn't even finish my bowl. It could easily be made with what you have on hand. I just used the veggies I had on hand instead of what the original recipe called for. This is definitely going in my "make again" category.

Adapted from this recipe on the Paleo Periodical.

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1-2 C frozen stir fry veggies, I like the bag from Costco
2 cups baby chopped baby spinach or other greens like swiss chard
1 drop doTerra lemongrass essential oil or 2 Tbsp. lemongrass
2 Tbsp. ginger, minced
1 can coconut milk
3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. chili-garlic sauce 
3 Tbsp lime juice or the all the juice from a fresh squeezed lime
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, boil uncooked chicken breasts in the 3 C of chicken broth until cooked all the way. Remove them from the pan and shred them.  Return the shredded chicken to the pan and add the can of coconut milk, turning heat to medium.

2. Stir in frozen veggies, chopped spinach, ginger, fish sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and lemongrass oil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

3. Add chopped green onions, basil, and cilantro and lime juice just before serving. Serve in large bowls.

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