snacks with benefits.

| recipe for brussels fries here |

...complete this snack by pairing your faux fries with lite cayenne lemonade: omgosh. it's pretty simple. 

    

mix in a mason jar {yes, the mason jar matters because it's super darling}:

• 3 oz trader joe's low calorie lemonade, chilled 
• 2 dashes cayenne pepper
• top off the jar with chilled filtered water {add a few ice cubes, optional}

|tj's low calorie lemonade is made with organic lemon juice & no preservatives, sweetened with cane sugar & stevia. in moderation, what a great alternative to chemical laden pop & sugary juice. your cute little organs are already thanking you.|

cayenne pepper is one of those often forgotten natural food kickers that is packed with health benefits. not only are you getting vitamins a, e, b6, c & k, it also has a high concentration of capsicum |a substance that reduces internal inflammation, is a natural pain reducer, ulcer preventative, congestion reliever, and a heart-healthy metabolism booster {ahem, weight loss}; it's also being studied for its effect on nerve fiber disorders for people with pain associated with arthritis, psoriasis, and diabetic neuropathy {numb feet}|.

sip. 

enjoy your cool bev with a refreshing spicy-tart kick...not to mention the awesome health benefits of the cayenne & lemon {...and more about my love affair with lemons here}.

dino feathers.

kale. 

people have been eating this superfood for over 2,000 years. 

it is packed with more than 100% of your daily requirement in vitamins A, K & C and is oozing with free-radical-neutralizing antioxidants {known as cancer-fighting properties}. also, kale's high fiber content aids in digestion and keeps inflammation at bay. yes, please!

so, sometimes it's hard for me to convince the hubster that eating kale is...super fun. 

enter: my fabulous recipe for dino feathers.

ingredients:

one bunch of rinsed, trimmed organic dinosaur kale

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

pepper

1. preheat oven broiler {high}

2. cover cookie sheet with foil 

{if you are as lazy as me, this will make cleanup a breeze.}

3. lay each dino leaf in one layer on your cookie sheet.

4. brush each feather with olive oil

5. salt and pepper to taste

6. broil in the oven for 5 minutes. 

{each oven is different, so you may need to increase / decrease cook time and turn your feathers over mid-way if still not crispy. just keep an eye on 'em, as they burn quickly!}

7. enjoy as a side to a salad, fish, or well...by themselves! 

p.s.//when you eat these, you may want to nibble the tops and toss the ends. the bottoms tend to get a little tough. i didn't trim the ends because i think the feather presentation is kind of adorable. can kale be adorable? 

yes, yes it can.

Brussels Fries.

This time of year, since it's busy season, I'm L. A. Z. Y. in the kitchen. Which actually means I don't want to do the dishes. I don't mind the cooking part. Insert frozen pizza {here}.

So, can I convince myself to maybe muster up the energy to slice up two bags of Trader Joe's pre-washed  trimmed Brussels Sprouts? Ugh, fine. Three minutes later, they are in the big bowl and I decide that wasn't so bad. Must. Pre. Heat. Oven...my life is SO. HARD. Just kidding, if you can't tell, I'm being a drama queen.

Preheat oven to 400. Generously coat your sprouts with good quality olive oil {because you'll taste it}. Season with sea salt, pepper, and add a fun spice like cumin or paprika...or go out on a limb and be dangerous...add both.

Pour your bowl of seasoned sprouts on a foil lined cookie sheet {did I mention I was not in the mood for dishes?}. Turn all of their little faces up and put into the oven. Ignore & Bake for 45 minutes.

Unlike the frozen pizza I would have been eating, these little nuggets are packed with fiber, more than your daily dose of vitamins K & C, and contain DNA protective benefits. Read the entire nutritional profile here and feel fabulous about yourself while eating.

If you are even lazier than me and refuse to read the above, here is my recipe in short lazy cavewoman form:

Ingredients

2 bags trimmed & washed trader joe's brussels sprouts (or aprx 2 lbs)

olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

sea salt

pepper

optional: other seasonings (cumin, curry powder, paprika, etc)

preheat oven to 400 degrees. cut all sprouts in half and place in a large bowl. liberally pour three or four rounds of olive oil into bowl and stir. add seasonings to taste. stir again. pour onto foil covered cookie sheet. bake for 45 minutes. enjoy.

Sort of too good to be true that these taste exactly like french fries... I promise, they are not.

Mac & Cheese.

Busy season is in full swing. {busy season in tax is February-April 15th} I'm working 10+ hour weekdays and going into the city on Saturdays. I don't know what it is about that schedule that makes me want all that is cheesy and salty, but it's a force that sometimes I cannot fight. It might have something to do with the fact that there isn't a lot of time for a hot meal at regular hours. Usually I'm getting home at 7 or 8 and I just want to stand over the sink and eat cottage cheese and stare at the colors on the tv. Sometimes, you just need a cheat day.

Enter my variation on Nancy Reagan's baked mac & cheese recipe. No, that is not a close-up of what my arteries now look like after eating one serving of this baked cheesy casserole deliciousness. Well, maybe. But I'm still not regretting it. Ok, maybe that's a lie. I might as well share the recipe so I can bring all of you down with me.

Ingredients

1/2 pound of elbow pasta or penne {I used trader joe's penne with 6 g fiber per serving...justification?}

1 tablespoon butter

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

3 cups shredded cheese of your choice, the sharper the better {i used sharp cheddar}

1 cup milk

1/4 cup fine breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Boil pasta and drain. Mix salt and mustard in 1 tablespoon hot water and add to milk. Return pasta to pan {away from heat} stir in butter and egg. Stir in cheese, leaving enough for sprinkling on the top. Pour pasta mixture into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Pour milk over pasta. Top with bread crumbs, and then the rest of the cheese. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until top is golden and bubbly.

Whoa.

Salad for Dessert.

I do not, shall not, and absolutely refuse to buy ready-made pre-packaged salad dressing...including but not limited to: Italian, ranch, thousand island, vinaigrettes of all shapes and sizes, and Caesar...however, I eat a non-naked, and quite beautifully dressed salad almost every day.

Maybe it's in my head, but I can't taste anything in my salad when I cover it in one of these processed chemical explosions, "flavored" with ingredients representative of the name. All I can taste is salty slop. No wonder people get tired of a salad like this...there is only one taste! I suppose I could buy organic/natural/blah blah blah dressing, but my other fun fact is that packaged dressing is SO MUCH more expensive than homemade! My homemade Caesar is actually one of my favorite recipes, but it must be made fresh for every batch. Even that only takes a few minutes, and a few pennies!

For example, last night I made a variation of poppy-seed dressing {sans poppy-seeds  because I didn't have any on hand}. I swear, with this dressing, I could eat 1,000,000 pounds of spinach, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And brunch, and linner, even dessert.  Yes, it has sugar in it, but a little goes a long way, so you shouldn't notice a blood sugar spike. I'd rather staple my life on a lil teeny tiny itsy bitsy bit of REAL cane sugar than that creepy soliduously congealed hydroglobulmicropolysaccarine stuff. Ugh, goosebumps.

Most Delicious Dressing Ever:

1/2 cup white cane sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 small white onion

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon sea salt

&

1 cup canola oil

Blend the first 5 ingredients in a blender. Then, keep the blender going and drizzle the canola oil in slowly {organic, if you have a pesticide-free preference}, and blend until thick. This is where you can quickly pulse in about 1.5 tablespoons of poppy-seeds if you so desire.

{Pour in 12oz mason jar and it will keep in the fridge for a looong time. Also, meet the only plant I have been able to keep alive that is not a cactus/succulent/palm tree! Yay!}

{A fully dressed spinach salad. Please disregard my awful apartment lighting.}

I'm pretty sure we made that batch for wildly less than the common "all natural" $5+ dressing that would be purchased at the store.

I'm serious, I wake up craving this on a spinach salad instead of French toast or pastries. I would rather have this for dessert than a bowl of ice cream {but not in lieu of chocolate, let's not get out of control here}. Maybe that's not normal, but I think it's crazy delish.

Zucchini Jack.

I woke up really happy this morning, and really in love with my husband. I wanted to make something for breakfast for him that would make him extra happy. I was browsing my Rave Reviews cookbook from my Gramma Ilene and found the perfect recipe.

I always make a few changes, depending on what I have on hand. I halved the recipe overall {partly because I didn't have enough Zucchini and partly because this would have fed an entire army}, and made a few other changes noted above. The rainy fall morning called for something rich and carb-o-licious...cue cheese & buttered seasoned breadcrumbs.

If you know Jack, you'll know he loves zucchini. He is a squash monster. I think it reminds him of home and his Mother's amazing cooking. If I ever I ask him what veggie he wants for dinner, his first choice is always squash.  Among his other favorite breakfast foods are eggs {check}, cheddar cheese {check}, and salsa verde {check}.

Since I didn't have chopped green chiles on hand, it was a perfect opportunity to substitute salsa verde.

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl except melted butter & breadcrumbs. Spread in greased casserole dish. Sprinkle breadcrumb & butter mixture over the top. Bake at 350 uncovered for 45 minutes. Let set for 10 minutes before enjoying.

It was a fun cozy brunch to enjoy to the rain with hot coffee, and Jack liked. it. I would serve it with hot sauce. PS: Behind the casserole is my stained glass peacock lamp, a keepsake from Jack's Grandmother's house. We love having it glow in the kitchen, as it always reminds us of her and how much she loves to cook.

Au Courant Workday Parfait.

Now that you are drinking your green juice, let's talk about what's for lunch...

Lately, I've been on a health kick. Don't get me wrong, Ah lurrrv my weekend pizza & wine night just as much as the next girl, but I try to use the week days to stick to mostly nutritious habits so that I know my body is getting what it needs {the majority of the time}.

I've gone a ton of different routes in terms of the workday lunch...I've brought sandwiches, nutritionally-void and sodium-laden frozen "healthy" {ha-ha} options, preservative-soaked meal-replacement bars & shakes {starving in ten minutes}, gone next door to pick something up to-go {literally..something, because I have no idea what's in it}...anything promising a quick, cheap meal. Afterall, there's NO TIME for anything else!!! I'm on the GO! Right??

WRONG! If I can sacrifice five precious morning minutes to prepare something, so can you. And yes, I've timed it.

Here is what I've created lately...It is a low-glycemic parfait packed with protein, calcium, fiber, heart healthy fat, lycopene, antioxidants, and much {much} more:

Ingredients:

1 Glasslock tupperware

Half cup lowfat cottage cheese

Half of an avocado

Half pint fresh berries

1 roma tomato

Handful of spinach

Sea salt & pepper to taste

Step1:

Step 2: 

Sea Salt & Pepper generously.

Step 3:

Final Step: 

Au Courant Parfait.

{Au Courant: fashionable, stylish, fully familiar, smart}

I challenge you to try this menu for a five-day workweek {and workweek could be anything...schoolweek, busy week at home with the kids, etc...} :

• Breakfast - two hard-boiled eggs {cage-free organic...because happy chickens = happy humans} with black coffee
• Snack - greek yogurt & string cheese
• Lunch - parfait & green tea
• Snack - green juice

Note: You are on your own for dinner! I usually go with a salad & protein + glass of wine ... or homemade air popped popcorn made with olive oil & sea salt...I'm not perfect, people!

Tell me if, by the end you do not feel utterly amazing and full of energy. You  might even be able to skip your 3pm daily drool & nap time at the computer!