@>--- Apple & Pear Salad ---<@

What you will need:


1 bunch of romaine lettuce - chopped
2 apples - cored and sliced
2 pears - cored and sliced
1/4 cup of raisins (optional)
1/4 cup of pecans or almonds (optional)

4 TBSP Raspberry Dressing

In a large bowl add the ingredients and mix well to coat the salad with the dressing. Enjoy!

Very Berry Salad

What you will need:

1 head of romaine lettuce - chopped

2 cups of strawberries - cored and sliced

1 cup of black berries

1 cup of blue berries

4 TBSP Raspberry dressing

In a large bowl add the lettuce, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Mix the ingredients well. Add the salad dressing and mix well to coat the lettuce with the dressing. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes then serve! Enjoy!

~Banana & Berry Breakfast~

What you will need for this recipe is:

5 Strawberries (large ones are preferred) - chopped or sliced
1/4 cup of blue berries
1 banana sliced.

In a container add the strawberries, blue berries, and banana. Then transfer to a bowl, mix and eat!

Kale Stir Fry

Things have got me in a place where I need to start making better choices for my health so I will begin with a Kale Stir Fry.

Today I am making a stir fry using:

1 bunch of kale - shredded
3 peppers (red, yellow, orange) - sliced
1 bunch of green onion (scallions) - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
Coconut oil

In a skillet add 2 tbsp of coconut oil, and saute the scallions in the skillet. Next, add the kale and allow it to cook down while stirring frequently. Add the peppers and garlic and continue to stir while the peppers are cooking down (becoming soft). Once all this has been done, remove the skillet from the heat and serve. I will post a pic after it has been cooked!

You can also add scrambled eggs to make this more of a breakfast meal too! cook scrambled eggs and mix with some of the stir fry you just made.

Spinach Cuc and Egg Salad

Please forgive me for not posting in a while. I have my wedding on my brain and we are 1.5 months away (50 days) from our wedding, so I have been VERY busy, but have NOT forgotten about you!

So to give you a quick run down of what has been happening. I am trying to maintain my weight so my wedding gown fits nicely. Nothing like walking down the isle and losing your dress, lol.

 Last night was the city of Old Town Alexandria, VA Birthday so most of the residents went down to the harbor and watched the beautiful display. A live orchestra was playing as the fireworks went into the air and showed the beauty that was right before our eyes! It was the perfect ending to the perfect most restful day I had in a while.

 Spinach Cuc and Egg Salad
2 hard boiled (brown eggs)
1 handful of spinach
1 cup of cherry tomatos
1/2 English cucumber
parsley flakes
balsamic vinaigrette...

Stuffed Zucchini & Squash

Today I wanted to do something with these two gourds that had for a week and I figured it was time to cook them. Also, I wanted something "Indian" like. I have a jar of spiced curry in my cabinet, but since I have been getting healthier and showing others how to do the same, I wanted to use what is in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 c. Long Grain Rice
1 c. Water
1 TBSP butter
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Round Zucchini
1 Round Squash
Salt
Pepper
Parsley Flakes
Curry
Turmeric
Almond/Coconut Milk
Onion
Mushrooms
Garlic

Directions:

The Rice I have requires to add 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water. When the water comes to a boil, turn heat down to simmer and fluff simmer for 50 minutes. While the rice is simmering at minute 30, begin cutting the mushrooms, onion and garlic (If you haven't already done so), then cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. At 20 minutes left on the rice, add oil, onions, garlic, mushrooms, curry, turmeric, parsley flakes, almond/coconut milk, salt, and pepper into the skillet and put the squash and zucchini in the oven at 375 degrees. Stir the ingredients in the skillet until the ingredients in the pan are yellowish. When the rice is done cooking and sat for 10 minutes, add to the skillet and mix well, then add to the squash in the oven and cook for 10 more minutes. After 10 minutes pull out of the oven and allow to cool, then serve.

Refreshing Granny - Mango Summer Salad

Refreshing Granny - Mango Summer Salad

Romaine lettuce
1 Peeled Mango
1 Granny Smith Apple
2 Tbsp Silvered Almonds
2 Tbsp Unsweetened Coconut
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

Cut romaine lettuce & dry, peel and slice mango.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, serve and enjoy.

Squashed Eggplant

I don't know about you, but for the longest time I was no fan of eggplant. Yesterday at the farmers market I purchased two Japanese eggplants. The funny thing is, I didn't know what type of eggplant the were because I had only been accustomed to one type before. So while I was searching for recipes to cook this bad boy, I came across the following article and learned there are several types of eggplants and different ways to cook each of them, Cooking Eggplant.

So today, I decided to cook the eggplant with onion, garlic, white bell pepper, banana pepper, zucchini, a yellow squash of some sort (it looks like a mini ufo - lol), pink salt, pepper, thyme, and lavender.

Saute the garlic and onions in a pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then add the eggplant, just before the flesh turns brown, add the zucchini & squash. When the eggplant is brown and the zucchini & squash have been cooked down add the pink salt, pepper, thyme and lavender. Mix the mixture for a few minutes to get the aroma, then add the white bell pepper and broccoli. Cook this down for about 5 minutes and serve.

I have an eggplant left to cook, if you have any eggplant recipes that you enjoy, I'd love to hear from you!