Eat Live Love Local

The great thing about our new community is there is an abundance of local farmers who get together at our neighborhood park and sell fresh produce every week. I stopped by yesterday to see what yummy goods I could find for our next meal and for my husband's sweet tooth and I happily came across a variety of local produce. I picked out some fresh kale for dinner, Okinawan sweet potatoes for a future pie just waiting to be made,  green onions for our weekend egg skillet, and the biggest sweetest smelling lemons I have ever seen! Growing up. my siblings and I had some awesome lemon trees in our yard that we used to make fresh lemonade, now I am going to use these lemons to make one of my husbands favorite treats: Lemon Meringue Pie.

If you get a craving for something delicious and nutritious, find your closest farmers market and go explore the goods, pick out the freshest produce you can find, and whip up a meal or tasty treat. Trust me, you can see, smell, and taste the difference. Not only does fresh local produce taste better, it contains far more nutrients (because it is allowed to ripen on the tree), and it boosts your immune system allowing for optimal health and wellness.

If you are interested in trying my gluten-free lemon meringue pie recipe, find some fresh lemons, fresh local eggs, and hormone-free butter and milk. These ingredients make up a big part of the pie. Luckily, lemons grow in many places and you can find local, hormone free milk and eggs even in the supermarket.  The key to a delicious and nutritious wholesome pie is the fresh foods and whole, unrefined ingredients.

Local Lemon Meringue Pie

GF Crust
This recipe should make enough for 2 pie crusts, you can refrigerate one for another time or double the filling recipe and make 2 pies. 
Pre-heat oven to 325

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 cup Wholesome Sweeteners sucanet (aka: unrefined evaporated cane juice)
• 1/2 teas. sea salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (use organic or hormone-free)

- Grease a glass pie pan with butter.
- In a large bowl, combine and mix thoroughly all the dry ingredients.
- Cut cold butter into small cubes and knead into dry ingredients until well incorporated into a smooth dough.
- With your hands, press the dough evenly into the pan and up the sides.
- Bake the dough on the bottom rack for 15-20 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. 
- Cool the dough as you make the filling and leave the oven on to bake the filling.

GF Pie Filling

• 1 cup Wholesome Sweeteners powdered sugar *gluten-free and unrefined
•  3 Tbs. tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup almond  milk (or local hormone-free milk)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbs. butter

- On the stove top, in a large saucepan, whisk together the sugar, tapioca flour, lemon zest, almond milk, and lemon juice.
- Bring to boil over medium heat and stir constantly until it thickens into a gel like mixture.
- Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk until smooth and then add the eggs into the saucepan with lemon gel mixture.
- Cook over medium heat, add the butter, and stir constantly until fully combined.
- Remove from heat and cover while making the meringue topping. 
*I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand for many of my baking ingredients because of their gluten-free and unrefined products. Be careful of conventional powdered sugar because it is not always gluten-free due to the addition of refined wheat flour.

GF Meringue Topping

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup Wholesome sweeteners powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

- Beat the egg whites and cream of tarter until soft peaks form.
- Add the sugar and vanilla extract and keep beating until the filling is light and fluffy.

*When I didn't have an electric mixer, I just used some good ol' arm strength to get the meringue to form. It took quite some time, sweat, and endurance but if you have the willpower then go for it. If you already have an electric mixer it will take you way less time and leave you without the sore arms.


Finally
- I realized there are many steps to this, but it is well worth it!
- Add the lemon mixture to the pie then add the merengue on top
- Bake for 20 minutues until the merengue is a beautiful light golden brown color.
- Cool for 30 minutes and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

After all that LOVE you just put into making this, you and the lucky people you decide to share with will taste it in every bite!

Today is Aloha Friday, and our awesome little town gathers together for a fun festival where locals sell beautiful art, play live music, and eat. I can't wait to share my pie tonight!







.

The Begining of a New Life

Due to some recent life changes my blog will be adapting to include new ideas.  Instead of sharing only cooking recipes, I will be sharing multiple ways to accomplish health, wellness, and happiness through diet, physical activity, and environment. 

After doing everything in my control to be healthy by eating gluten-free whole foods and getting plenty of daily physical activity, I was still having health complication after health complication. All my spare time and energy was spent working on my health and receiving constant medical treatment and it became physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Instead of giving up, my husband and I made the ultimate life changing decision we have ever experienced and started on a journey to find a home in an environment that would allow for optimal health and healing so we could both live life to the fullest. 

I paid off all my debt and left a great job, he attained his second masters degree and cut short his PhD degree, we sold all our life belongings and said our goodbyes to family and friends, and then we set off to the island of our dreams with one suitcase and one backpack each. It was LIBERATING!

Our first week in paradise included the purchase of our island car (named Thrilliam Marcellus Wallace, aka Thrill.i.am), camping at a beautiful north shore beach, and making friends with awesome local islanders. Every day we enjoyed the beauty of the island and people. We woke every morning at 6am and were invited to join our friendly neighbor campers for coffee and fresh island picked fruit where a wealth of knowledge and information was shared, exchanged, and appreciated by us new arrivals. My husband and I followed our morning social hour with a great workout on the beach side park and then swam in the ocean and explored more of the island for the rest of our stay.

By week 2 we were able to secure an apartment in a beautiful yellow beach cottage on the west side of the island where we made even more friends with our new welcoming neighbors. One day we went out to run errands and apply for a local drivers license (when Angel drove I had made a habit of hanging my foot out the car window to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine) so I proceeded to raise my foot on the window ledge when my sandel flew out the car window while Angel was driving 55 mph. After walking around the DMV and street sidewalks barefoot all day I finally took my drivers test and failed by one point, not my brightest moment (or should I say day) in life. Fortunately, Angel passed his drivers test and on the way home I spotted my sandal on the roadside and put it back on my newly blackened, burnt, and humiliated foot. LOL. 

We are now in the third week of our new life and things keep falling into place. I feel more relaxed with each breath I take here. I happily passed my drivers test on my second try (only missed 2) What What! Yes, I did study this time.  Angel is applying for some promising job openings at the local community college and we are just keeping our fingers crossed. I feel like I am gaining more strength and energy with each day and know I will feel better and better as time goes by. For now, I am using this precious time to meet the locals and learn about our resources so I can start a successful business that contributes back to the community. I can't wait to get my gluten-free cafe running so I can feed anyone who wants to eat and enjoy the most nutritious and delicious local fare! 


Stay tuned for more ways to increase your quality of life! I will be sharing more healthy recipes, workout plans, and local ways to live your life to the fullest.

Aloha!

Summer Living Smoothie Style!

If you have read all my blogs for the month of June then by now you should know a few things about me:

1. I love summer
   
2. I love to cook AND eat (especially Mexican food)
   
3. I love to be physically active (aka play) outside
   
4. and last but not least,

did I mention that I LOVE Summer!

One of the many reasons I enjoy summer is because of the abundance and variety of fresh, ripe, sweet, and juicy fruits that are just waiting for me to eat them. You should enjoy them as much as possible too because they pack a good nutritional punch in every bite with all the vitamins, minerals, and disease fighting antioxidants they contain. Don't forget to eat from every color group because each color provides different health benefits.

These are my absolute favorite smoothie concoctions that I enjoy eating almost every day during the warm months for lunch or as a pre workout energy meal. They are always affordable to make when produce is in season and I can take them with me to work or any place I need to go and they also take very little time and energy to prepare. So blend up one of my favorite mixtures or come up with your own by including your favorite fruits of the season.

Tropical Tahitian Blend

• Half of 1 fresh pineapple


• 10-12 ounce bag of frozen mango


• 6 ounces of frozen or fresh blackberries (berries are optional but add a nice great touch)


• 3-4 cups of unsweetened Almond milk

Tropical Thailand Blend

• 10-12 ounce bag of frozen mango


• 4 fresh peaches


• 3 -4 cups of unsweetened Almond milk

Berry Bonanza Blend

• 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries


• 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries


• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries


• 3-4 cups unsweetened Almond milk

Add fruit to blender and blend until smoothie style.
These amounts make enough for 2 to 4 people at a time so you can adjust accordingly for individual servings.
The key to a great smoothie is choosing one frozen fruit to create a better blend.
Pick your frozen fruit of choice for any of these blends.
Many times it is more affordable to buy frozen fruits, especially berries, mangoes, and other tropical fruits that are not grown here.

Health Facts:
- Almond milk is naturally free of gluten, soy, dairy, sugar, cholesterol, peanuts, casein, eggs, saturated fat, and MSG.
- It is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D & E, and a good source of vitamin A.
- It is naturally vegan and low on the Glycemic Index which is good for diabetes control and weight management.
- It contains only 40 calories and 3.5 grams of (healthy fat) per cup.
- My favorite brand: Blue Diamond Almond Breeze

So drink up and use Almond milk for all your baking, cooking, and/or drinking needs!

Summer Living Salad Style!

It is now officially summer and my favorite time of the year because: I get to run, swim, bike and be active outside all day, it is hot and sunny during the day and warm at night, and finally there are so many options for delicious and nutritious meals.

This is the best and easiest time of the year to boost your health: all you have to do is soak up the sun to get your daily dose of Vitamin D, play (be active) outside to get your physical activity, and eat all the fruits and veggies in season to get plenty of vitamins, minerals, and cancer fighting anti-oxidants.

This recipe makes it very easy to add more veggies to your daily diet, you can eat as a side dish or as a meal with a scoop of quinoa, that is my favorite way!

GF Organic Summer Salad

• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 1 head red leaf lettuce
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
  
• 1 medium purple onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 cucumber
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms

Serves 4-6 people, I make a big salad that lasts about 2 days for me and my hubby.
Chop all veggies and mix together in a large bowl.

Fresh veggies are all naturally gluten-free but beware of processed bottled dressings that not only may contain gluten but also preservatives, additives, and unnecessary sugar. This dressing recipe is so easy to make, it only takes a few minutes to prepare, and it tastes way better than that bottled crap. =)

GF Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Kosher or sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Italian seasoning: or combine dried herbs: oregano, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary.
  

In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, and desired amounts of salt, pepper and dried herbs.
Serve 1 or 2 spoonfuls over a serving of salad.

Health Tip /Facts:
Eat your salad with this lemon vinaigrette at the end of your meal to ease digestion, absorb more minerals and nutrients, promote weight loss, cleanse your blood, and cool the body from summer heat.

These leafy greens and veggies are full of nutrients that help eliminate waste from the body, reduce body fat, keep your skin looking and feeling healthy, cleanse your blood, reduce inflammation and infections, and prevent and treat illness, disease, and cancer.

So eat them all up!

Mexican Brown Rice

I am so happy brown rice is gluten-free because it provides so many health benefits and it is easy and fun to cook in so many different ways that never fail to turn out amazing. To get more insight of the many healing qualities of brown rice, visit the link below to view my facebook note:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=355085354823

I like to eat whole grain brown rice at least 2 to 3 times a week and this recipe will give you another great way to include it in your diet as well: you can serve it for any meal as a side dish or make it the main course by adding beans, meat, or veggies. To make the perfect meal that is vegetarian as well, try this rice with my homemade refried beans recipe (recipe featured last month) and top with avocado and salsa verde (recipe in January 2011 archive). This also goes very well with my Carne Asada, enchiladas (recipe coming soon), and much much more! I sure hope you get to try it soon!

Organic and GF Ingredients

• 3 cups rinsed whole grain brown rice
• 1 medium white or yellow onion
  
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• granulated garlic powder
  
• kosher or sea salt
• extra virgin olive oil
  
• water
  

Preparation:
In a pot filled with water, boil the tomatoes until the skin starts to peel off, then drain the water and cover the pot to let the tomatoes steam. After steaming for about 5 minutes, peel the skin off the tomatoes and puree in a blender until smooth with salt, garlic cloves, and garlic powder.

In the rice pot, add olive oil, enough to fill the bottom of the pot, and heat up on medium heat. Then add the rinsed brown rice and chopped onion and turn up to medium high heat, stir frequently, for about 10 minutes, until rice is evenly browned.

Add water and the tomato puree to the rice pot: make enough liquid to double the rice, this recipe needs 6 cups total of water and tomato puree together. Keep on medium high heat and bring to a boil.

After rice boils for a couple of minutes, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 65 to 75 minutes or until rice is fluffy and water is evaporated. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Let's Cook!

Summer Living Carne Asada Style!

I need to apologize for the long break I have taken from my food blog, sometimes life gets in the way of things you want to do and that is exactly what happened. I planned on sharing my favorite Mexican recipes for the month of May because of Cinco de Mayo but I was unable to post them all due to my blogger break. Now it is already June (and thank God for that!) because I was in dire need of warm weather and summer to arrive here in the Mid-West after our stubborn lingering winter made our spring season painfully cold.

I must say, I feel like a completely different person in the warmer months: I love living!
There is nothing like good friends, good music, good outdoor fun, and good food of course! I only left out family because that is the one thing I am missing in my life right now. I cannot wait for the times I will get to share with them.

So this meal is dedicated to family, friends, summer, and living it up! I love to cook, but I LOVE to cook even more for family and friends. I am truly blessed to have a husband who enjoys and appreciates every meal I make, but I still do not feel completely satisfied unless we have others to share with the experience of a truly delicious and nutritious meal.

Carne Asada

• Grass Fed skirt steak


• GF Soy Sauce: San J Organic Tamari GF Soy Sauce


• Juice of 1 lime


• Granulated garlic powder


• Kosher or Sea salt


• Freshly ground black pepper

-Prepare the charcoal grill first (that is where my husband comes in handy =)
-Place steaks flat in a large and deep baking dish.
-Add garlic powder and salt and pepper to both sides of steaks.
-Add fresh lime juice and enough soy sauce to cover the steaks.
-Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Grill steaks on each side, I prefer cooked to medium well.

The Fix-ins:

• Enjoy Life GF Whole Corn Tortillas: Found at Whole Foods. Just warm up on the grill after the meat is ready.


• Rebecca's Salsa Verde (see recipe in January 2011 archive)


• Rebecca's Guacamole (recipe coming up soon!)


• Freshly squeezed lime juice


• Chopped cilantro and onion

Don't forget your favorite cocktail!
I prefer a Pina Colada or Mai Tai: Recipes coming soon!

I get affordable grass fed beef from City Fresh Market located at the French Market in Chicago. Look up your local farmers markets for farmers who sell affordable grass fed beef, and by that I mean they are cheaper than Whole Foods Market. You should expect to pay more for good quality food. You will actually save money by staying healthy and avoiding expensive medical bills.

Health Facts:
Grass-fed cows are humanely raised on free range farms and are never fed corn and/or grains because that causes them to get sick and in turn need antibiotics. You are more likely to get food poisening from conventional meat than from grass-fed meat.
Meat from grass-fed cows contains no hormones or antibiotics and contains less saturated and total fats than conventional beef, it contains 2-4 times the amount of Omega-3's and 3-5 times the amount of CLAs, all believed to improve cardiovascular health and fight cancer and disease. Beef is also a good source of protein, iron, and Vitamin B12.

GF Strawberry Liquado

The next addition to my month of Mexican recipes goes to the Mexican version of what we know as the smoothie. This delicious treat is perfect for warm days and will satisfy your thirst and hunger at the same time. Enjoy it as a snack, meal, or even dessert!

I have come up with many varieties of delicious smoothies (which I have yet to share) but when my husband whipped up this version for me I was hooked on the first slurp. This is something his mother, Aurora Camacho, used to make for him when he was a child. I am so grateful for all our wonderful mothers who have taught us so much. Just one of the many important things I learned from my mother-in-law and husband is:
the most important ingredient in any recipe is Love- and love can be found in just about any Latin recipe. I hope everyone, especially all the great moms, had a wonderful mothers day this year!

Ingredients

• 1 bag of frozen strawberries (2 cups)
• 2 cups of unsweetened almond or coconut milk (add extra water in need)
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 2 TBS. local raw honey

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until liquado. Add more almond milk as needed. The key is to have it more liquidy than smoothie.

Sorber!