Incredible Veggie Sandwich

Back in the days when I went to OCC (Orange Coast College), in the early nineties, this incredible veggie sandwich was my staple for lunch. It was sold in the smaller snack bar of the campus, which apparently is nonexistent now and fully revamped into some fancy building (go Coast!). Not sure if they would still offer this. Anyway, fast forward almost 20 years later (oh geesh), I still crave it every once in a while, so I make my version to the best of my recollection. It is so incredibly delicious and lite. Here's what it's made out of:

Incredible Veggie Sandwich

Squaw Bread

Cream Cheese

Sliced Cucumber

Sliced Avocado

Sliced Tomato

Sprouts

The Pretty Good Brownie (PGB)

Today was a good day. I felt I got a lot accomplished. I ran/jog a 10 mile training run with my one and only sister in the early morning. It's also our time to catch up.


Got home and made a protein smoothie for recovery. The kids were pretty cooperative and fun. Hubby got a long run in (2 more weeks till marathon day). We have to stagger our runs/workouts so there's always kiddo coverage. And unfortunately, I can't keep up with his pace anyway, too fast...maybe one day.


Dinner time came around. "What are we going to do for dinner?" I was a little low on supplies and I didn't feel like going to the store because it was so relaxing just being home. What was in my kitchen...I had lean ground beef, rice and some peppers, so what to do? Stuffed peppers!

Going into oven for the final bake (filling was already cooked)...

Then it hit me, I really wanted a little treat and something to treat the fam. When I get these kicks, I usually make something from scratch. It's one way I show I adore them. So I searched my petite little pantry to see what I had. I had semi-sweet chocolate chips, wheat flour, walnuts, as well as butter and eggs in the fridge. So brownies it was! I kind of made this up as I went along using the guidelines of a basic brownie recipe and below is the impromptu recipe that emerged. I was pleased at the fact that for being a brownie, I did not have to use too much sugar or butter. Next time you need your brownie fix, try making it fresh from scratch. It's so easy! You might already have all you need to put it together in your pantry. The name, The Pretty Good Brownie (PGB), is an inside joke between hubby and I, but some of you hip podcast listeners might get it.

Brownies so simple and easy, my 4 year old helped mix the batter (1 bowl). So good!

The Pretty Good Brownie (PGB)

Ingredients

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2-3 tbs. natural peanut butter

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place semi-sweet chocolate chips and the butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 1 min. or untilbutter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and salt; mixwell. Let cool a bit, so you don't scramble your eggs. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and walnuts until well blended.

SPREAD into greased 9-inch square baking pan. Put peanut butter in a strong Ziploc bag. Make a small cut on the corner of bag. Direct the peanut butter to the cut corner and you'll easily be able to pipe over batter.

*Shortcut Tip: Instead of greasing your baking pan, line your it with foil. Turn baking pan over and mold the appropriate size of foil to the pan. Take foil off and turn pan over right side up. The molded foil should fit the pan perfectly. By doing this there's less clean up.

BAKE 22 to 25 min. or until toothpick inserted in centercomes out with fudgy crumbs. Cut into 2"x2" squares. Makes about 16 small squares.

Lite & Crunchy Honey Chicken

I love stir-fry meals, and I use to be very intimidated by the process. I thought you needed a fancy wok (which surprisingly I don't own one) and exotic utensils. Although, those certainly help, but for now I'm no Iron Chef, so a large skillet and a slotted wooden spoon works just fine. I came across this recipe online for crunchy honey chicken, which is essentially just a stir-fry, and of course I put my own little spin to it (broken down in 5 simple steps in below recipe). I adore this meal because you literally pack it with your favorite veggies and the lite and simple sauce makes everything so tasty. Not to mention, it all can be done in just one skillet. BONUS, less dishes, which I do not adore! This meal was so good, it came together quickly and it got kiddos and hubby's seal of approval. I believe a great meal does not have to be fussy, it just has to be balanced.

Starting off good...Is there anything more beautiful than the colors of these veggies?!?

So simple, so easy and so good for you! Can't wait to dig in!

Lite and Crunchy Honey Chicken

Ingredients

· 2 Eggs

· ⅓ cups Wheat Flour

· 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil

· 1 cup Broccoli Florets

· 1 Red Pepper, ThinlySliced

· 1 Large (White or Yellow) Onion, Thinly Sliced

· 1 Tablespoon Low Sodium Soy Sauce

· 2 clove Garlic, Minced

· 1 pound Thin Sliced,Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

· ¼ cups Honey

· Sea Salt And Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Step 1: Prepare and sliceall veggies. Feel free to add other veggies you would like. Set aside.

Step 2: Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Step 3: Lightly beat eggs in one bowl and place flour in another. Set aside.

Step 4: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heatand add 1 tablespoon canola oil (I like using canola oil because you can heat to high temperature and it doesn't burn easily). Add cut veggies with a dash of salt and pepperand saute for about 5 minutes, until softened (I like my veggies still a little crispy). Add in soy sauce and garlic andstir so veggies are coated, about 1 minute. Remove veggies from skillet and set asidein a bowl.

Step 5: Heat the same skillet overmedium-high heat and add remaining canola oil. Dip chicken pieces in eggs and then lightly dredge in the flour. Add coated chicken pieces to the skillet and let brown for 2-3minutes, then flip. Continue with remaining chicken pieces. If the skillet is over crowded, you can do this inbatches if needed.

Once chicken iscooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix tocombine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce, if needed.Serve with white or brown rice. On my hubby's plate I added red chili flakes as he likes it with a little heat. So good and so healthy!

Loaded: Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

When I was young, maybe starting at 10 or 11 years old, my cousin Lin and I would make up our own cookie recipes. We had a lot of misses including one M&M cookie recipe that I accidentally used cornstarch instead of flour, oppsy! Oh wow, can you just imagine!?! My cousin, Rich, still gives me a hard time about that to this day as he was one of our taste testers, lucky him...the container wasn't labeled, it looked like flour. To speed the process, we even tried making cookies in my mom's 1980's microwave (with the turn dial to set the time). Ya, that didn't turn out so good.


It was really fun for us to to keep trying though and my dear grandmother, who was a phenomenal baker, would encourage us. Every once in a while we would nail it and come up with something so delicious. The only problem, we would never write down what we put in it, what were we thinking? We weren't, we were only ten. This simple hobby of sorts from my childhood has ingrained in me the basic components of cookies and has allowed me to tweak almost any recipe to make it just a little bit healthier. Enter, the chocolate chip cookie, so classic and yummy, right? Did you know that you can make it better, and pack it with nutrition? Absolutely!


When I am craving a cookie, like I did the other night, I usually make it from scratch, and maybe run a few extra miles to earn it. Cookies are probably the simplest of bake goods and practice makes for a better cookie. Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Cookies, there's probably 100's of versions of this cookie out there, but below recipe is my rendition and I call it "Loaded," for short. It has everything that could possibly taste good in a cookie, ya know, covering all the bases. Plus, nutritious. I incorporated walnuts that contain high omega-3 fatty acids, which improve your heart health, reduce inflammation and lower your risk of chronic disease. The oatmeal is a good source of soluble and insoluble fiber, a good aid for digestion. The natural peanut butter, is obviously a good source of protein and antioxidants. And, the chocolate, I can't remember off the top of my head what it's good for really, other than it makes me very happy, yup! My take is also made with whole wheat flour, which makes it a little bit more wholesome. Just as long as you keep moving your body, you can absolutely treat yourself to this "out of this world" cookie because it's filled with good for you ingredients. Enjoy!!!


Loaded: Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1-1/4 cups brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2-2/3 cups rolled oats
• 1 package (12-ounce) semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 
  
• Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon pads. (I sometimes use foil)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In another large bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Cream until well incorporated. You can use a mixer, but literally I used a simple wooden spoon, it can be done. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.

In small batches mix in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients saving the rolled oats for last (scrap sides of bowl in-between mixes). Once well mixed, fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop a rounded tablespoon of dough on prepared baking sheet leaving about 2 inches of space between.

Bake on center rack for 8-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer to wire cooling racks to cool.

Makes about 4 dozen

Clever Shortcuts

A happy hubby is a well fed hubby. I'm a pretty lucky gal, my husband Lance, eats pretty healthy and stays active which forces me to keep on track. We are certainly imperfect, but we try our best to eat food and serve food that is "uninterrupted," I'd say, or rather non processed, FRESH (hence my humble little blog). The downside to eating fresh or cooking from scratch is that it involves a lot more planning and prep work, but is extremely beneficial. I'm not sold on the whole concept of semi-homemade for shortcuts. To me it just distorts an authentic flavor, but of course from time to time I have resorted to Trader Joe's frozen turkey meatballs (no preservatives), when push comes to shove and what otherwise are my beautiful angelic children, ahem (cough, cough), turn in to whiny hungry monsters equates to food stat! Like most busy peeps, I never have enough time, even when I have time, I don't have time. Can you relate? The KEY is to make time and be clever about it. A little shortcut I've learned, and maybe I pulled this from the back of my head remembering an old Rachel Ray episode (I love Food Network and the Cooking Channel, it's just the bombsque), prep and cut your veggies and fruits as soon as you get them home. The only exception is tomatoes (& avocados). They loose flavor refrigerated, again another FN tip (wink). Planning your menu for the week is the foundation, you need to know whether you should julienne that bad boy fresh green pepper or just simply chop. I place my cut up veggies in baggies, store 'em in the fridge and they are ready to go for the next's morning breakfast of champion veggie omelet or a spectacular dinner. Their fruit counterparts are also in baggies or tupperware ready for an anytime wholesome snack. My hubby is coincidentally training for his first full marathon (26.2 miles) in early October, so it's become critical I feed him well. At the end of a long day, what makes it all worth it for me, is knowing that I have fueled my family with nutritious, good for them, food and when my 4 year old looks at me and says endearingly, "thanks mama, you're the best cooker!" I'm certainly not, but a 4 year old can have the most discerning of taste buds, right?!? I'll milk it for now. Be inspired, keep it simple & fresh, cook at home!

Keepin' it real in my little kitchen.

The run that started it all...I'm such a proud wifey!

An example of a typical breakfast of champions, I can whip this up in just a few minutes, and you can too.

Here's the infamous TJ's frozen turkey meatballs atop linguine , with salad (homemade vinaigrette) and simple artisan bread seasoned with a little butter, garlic and dried parsley (heat for 5-10 mins.). I can literally make this meal in about 20 minutes and go about my way.

Is Organic Eating Really the Way to Go?

Farm Fresh Organic Produce Stand in San Francisco

My husband and I recently took the family for a brief visit up north to the Bay Area. It was so much fun to visit. Being from Southern California, it was like being in a different state. We drove through the long stretch of the 5 Freeway. You cannot help but notice the abundance of crops all along both sides of the highway. I mean that's all there was either rest stops or fields and fields of corps. Some were obvious, like the corn stalks and grapevines, but others kept me guessing, "what the heck is growing on those trees?" Well, this recent experience made me ponder, "how much of those endless bounty of corps were actually grown organically?" I must admit I do believe in the benefits of organically grown and all natural foods, but I don't necessarily go out of my way to purchase them. I am conscious about buying meat that have no hormone additives and are natural and free range. During our visit, we ate at a couple restaurants that mainly had organic fares, and it was unbelievably delicious. When it comes to produce, I've been a little lax with my buying decisions and this trip was really an eyeopener, literally since produce was all I was looking at for 8 hours driving. Anyway, I decided to read up some more on Organic vs. Non-organic. Countless articles later, I found this one below from the Mayo Clinic. It gives a great overview comparing the two, and the advantages and disadvantages. Some I already knew and it also answered most of my questions to be able to make a wiser decision next time I visit the market.

Mayo Clinic Article

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255