Yuca con mojo and blackbeans!

Cassava...yuca..

I love boiled yuca, especially Cuban styled yuca con mojo with black beans! The trouble is I've been terrified to cook yuca because I've heard stories about it not being cooked properly and developing poison and killing people.

But, I had to have faith...

So I finally made yuca con mojo from scratch. It was amazing!

I boiled the cut up yuca for 1 hour at high, in salt and butter. The recipe called for lime, but I put that in the mojo.

Mojo - Enough for 1lb of yuca:

Quarter cup olive oil
Half an orange for orange juice
One lime for lime juice
Half a lemon for lemon juice
Minced garlic - about four cloves
Minced cilantro  about half a bunch
Mix all this up. Add hot pepper if so inclined.

I took the yuca out of the pot, and added more butter to it separately. Then I poured on the mojo and let it marinate.

Black beans

I'll admit, the black beans were out of a tin. Not from scratch. The only legumes I can make from scratch are lentils.

What I did was sautee sweet bell peppers, garlic and onion in olive oil separately, and threw the hot sautee on the already cooked black beans. That was nice!

Kavita's homemade greek yogurt

I've been wanting to know how to make home made yogurt for some time now, and my friend Kavita shared her recipe via Instagram:

Use 2 oz of any plain quality greek yogurt...bring to room temp

Temper 1L of milk for 7 minutes on stove...medium heat.

Also allow to cool to room temperature.

Place milk into glass or stainless steel container to cool.

Once both sides are at the same temperature, stir in culture gently.

Cover and store in a cool place overnight.

Strain and voila!

10 mins prep time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZI8SmBAqHQcBwBSmSChOlb4CoazVCUDxTc9K80/?hl=en&taken-by=kdukharan

Adri's Deviled Eggs+ - luxury protein!

I never made deviled eggs before - they looked super hard to make!

During Christmas season 2017 I spent the time at my dear friends the Valencias, and one of those days Adri came up with deviled eggs, quinoa and bruschetta for lunch. All healthy and very memorable, since for starters we used the egg machine that does various eggs to perfection without boiling them in water. Super high tech!

Anyway, here is the recipe for the eggs, plus. I still don't know how to cook quinoa, so I can't share...yet. But what I can say is it consisted of Quinoa, olive oil, one diced tomato and freshly picked basil.

DEVILED EGGS

4 - 8 white or brown eggs.

Dijon mustard
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

Extra stuff

Mayo - teaspoonful or else it drowns everything else
Chipped Ham
Chipped Banana Peppers  - about 4 pieces will do
Parsley

Boil the eggs hard boiled. For those without the egg machine, boil the eggs for about 8 minutes. Then drain the eggs, and fill the pot with cool water and ice. Leave for about 10 minutes. The ice helps the eggshells peel right off (my other friend told me, and it works).

Peel eggs and cut them vertically.
Remove the yolk and place in a bowl.
Add mustard, mayo, about half teaspoon olive oil, a teaspoon Dijon mustard, dash salt and pepper, the ham and peppers.

Mix it and then spoon back into the egg hollow.
Top with parsley.

Serve with whatever you like. The bruschetta was nice!

I recreated it, with photos. Sorry, no quinoa...

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bek8dnWn4Ju/?hl=en&taken-by=astridfranchiska

WalkIn Salad Dressing - strengthen the gut!

My friend Mari and I were having food conversations about not only eating but cooking!

You see, we both have histories of not even touching the kitchen, and eating out. No cooking, no stirring, no simmering. Nothing but other people's food. And now in our 40s we are sharing recipes to cook! It's amazing what health issues can do. Who are we? We've joked that we may be walk-ins from another planet, to teach us the ways of cooking!

Maybe it's not a joke...

Here's my friend's very tropical feeling salad dressing. This is amazing for the solar plexus, with lots of citrus and coconut! And goodness knows we need that stomach strengthening!

Mari's Salad Dressing (Serves 7 salads)

- 1/2 glass orange juice

- 5 tablespoons sesame oil

- 1 tablespoon tamari

- 1/2 lime juice - about a tablespoon

- 5 tablespoons coconut milk

- about 1 teaspoon apple cider viengar

- fresh herb - either coriander or parsley

- fresh grated ginger - about a teaspoon or two

- salt & pepper

- some lime zest

SOOO GOOD!

Mari's salad dressing on Instagram!

7 Steps to Fix Your Gut

I have issues with my gut, and so I've been looking for all different, natural ways to strengthen my stomach lining.

So far I've found this to be really good advice from GAIAM:

SEVEN STEPS TO OPTIMAL DIGESTIVE HEALTH

1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. Make sure to include plenty of fiber from foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
2. Eliminate food allergies. If you think you have food sensitivities, try an elimination diet. Cut out gluten, dairy, yeast, corn, soy, and eggs for a week or two and see how your gut feels and what happens to your other symptoms.
3. Treat any infections or overgrowth of bugs. Parasites, small bowel bacteria, and yeasts can all inhibit proper gut function. You must treat these infections if you want to heal.
4. Replenish your digestive enzymes. When you don’t have enough digestive enzymes in your gut, you can’t properly convert the foods you eat into the raw materials necessary to run your body and brain. Take broad-spectrum digestive enzymes with your food to solve the problem.
5. Rebuild your rain forest of friendly bacteria. Take probiotic supplements. They will help you rebuild the healthy bacteria so essential to good gut health.
6. Get good fat. Take extra omega-3 supplements, which help cool inflammation in the gut.
7. Heal your gut lining. Use gut-healing nutrients such as glutamine and zinc to repair the lining in your gut so it can resume its normal function.

Here's the full article:

https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/how-to-fix-your-gut-7-steps-to-intestinal-health

Tangy beet and chicken salad helps me with anemia.

I'm prone to anemia and hormonal imbalances. But especially anemia.

While it's nice to go out and have a steak, it's also nice to have a vegetable pitch in. And beets do the trick! Beets are known to help with anemia and also help with female hormonal issues. They are pretty sweet, so anyone prone to diabetes or sugar issues should beets sparingly. Once used properly, beets pack a health punch!


Tangy beet and chicken salad:

• Marinate cutlets in olive oil, lemon, salt, paprika, black pepper, fresh parsley, and a teaspoon apple cider vinegar.
• Bake cutlets at 350 degrees until tender. Leave to cool.
• You can peel and boil about three beets or get canned beets. Either way, chop the beets into large slivers.
• Mince the chicken, and mix the beets and chicken together.
• Add lemongrass salad dressing or cut and dice half an orange and throw it in there. Add desired greens - I like chopped spinach and more parsley.

#Ilovefood

Majesty