Egg Salad ~ with a Kick

I love eggs- scrambled, over easy, hard boiled, poached, baked, you get the idea.  I also happen to love egg salad but it can get a little boring unless you change things up a bit.  I recently came across a delicious avocado and egg salad recipe by Sarah at The Pajama Chef.  If you like avocados and you like egg salad, you are guaranteed to love her recipe!  I had a craving for her egg salad earlier this week but I didn't have any avocados on hand.  I did have a a few other ingredients that I had not yet tried in egg salad, so I decided to wing it and make up something new. 

Egg Salad ~  with a Kick

Ingredients:

2-3 hard boiled eggs ( depends on how hungry you are)

1 stalk celery- diced

1 tablespoon white onion very finely diced ( you can add more if you like)

A couple tablespoons mayonnaise

Sriracha- How much you add depends on how much spice you want.  

I know what you're thinking: Sriracha in egg salad? Really?? Yes!  It's delicious- trust me!  But remember-a tiny bit goes a long way!

Directions:

Mix up your egg salad the way you normally would.  Mash your eggs, add the celery and onion, add the mayo- enough to make it creamy.  Mix well to get it to the consistency you like.  Add the sriracha last; a few small drops will probably do.  I probably added about a 1/2 teaspoon to mine.  Mix well, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

To cut down on carbs and to add some extra veggies into my day, I served mine on a bed of  organic mixed salad greens instead of on bread.  

I layered the greens in a large bowl, added the egg salad on top, then sprinkled with shredded carrots.  It was a very filling lunch.

Of course, it is also good in a crusty hoagie roll with romaine lettuce and pickles.  

This was so quick and easy to make.  You can do the eggs ahead of time and just keep in the fridge- I had cooked mine up the night before.  Since it was so filling I didn't find myself searching for a snack later in the afternoon.  This kept me going all the way to dinner, and that was with an intense workout earlier in the morning.  

What are some of your favorite egg salad add-ins?

DairyFree Detox

Over the past 2 weeks or so I've been feeling kind of... blech. Not sick, just not well. Those with food intolerances or allergies probably understand that feeling. I normally eat all organic and natural foods, I seldom eat processed anything since most of it contains dairy. Occasionally I will find a treat that has no dairy in it, like Oreos, Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos, or some coffee creamers. But after a couple of days of eating that treat I will start to not feel well. I've had a headache for 2 weeks (those are always fun) and it is apparent that something in my diet is not agreeing with me too. I am pretty sure I have narrowed it down to my coffee creamer. I was so excited that I found Dairy free creamer in flavors I love. Even though they are lactose free, there is obviously something in them that my body does not like. So I am going to have to toss them and go back to my organic soy and almond milk in my coffee.

In order to get back on track I am eating those foods that make me feel good- oatmeal, avocados, eggs, and lots of veggies. And water- lots of water. It's a way that I kind of detox myself after eating something that I should not.

Breakfast looked like this:

Organic multi-grain raisin spice oatmeal with banana, almond milk, and ground flax seed. Instead of coffee I opted for a cup of rooibos tea (rooibos is good for everything- digestion, allergies, it is anti-inflammatory, and promotes overall health. It is also a lot easier on the stomach than green tea.)


It was so good!

For lunch I had a white bean and veggie open faced sandwich with a side of organic baby carrots.
I made a quick and easy white bean spread. I didn't follow a recipe- I looked in my spice cabinet and picked out what I thought would tasted good.

1 can white kidney beans
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of half a lemon juice
2tablespoons or more of olive oil

Here's what I did:
Drain and rinse the beans. Put them in a small sauce pan, add the cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and cumin (About a 1/2 teaspoon of each- more if you want a lot of flavor). Let the beans heat through, stirring often so they don't burn to the bottom of the pan.
When they are hot, put them in a food processor (I used my small Kitchen Aid for this). Add Olive oil and juice of half a lemon. Puree them until you get a smooth consistency. You may have to add more olive oil as you go. Once it is to the consistency and flavor you want, you're done.

To make my sandwich I toasted up two slices of bread, spread the beans on them, added some organic baby spinach, a little red onion (it was leftover from the previous night's salad), sliced avocado, and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. This sandwich with a side a baby carrots, a little more of the bean spread/dip, and a huge glass of water was so good for lunch.



I skipped my smoothie for the day-I had a few cups of my rooibos tea instead.

Dinner was simple- just plain scrambled eggs and toast. I followed it up later with a Cliff Bar and a glass of water for a snack.

I also went to bed early- after watching the Season Premiere of One Tree Hill, of course!

It is amazing how much better I feel today than I did yesterday. My headache is still there, although not nearly as bad as yesterday. And part of that is most likely allergies. My energy is back and my mood is better (I get cranky when I don't feel well). I don't eat poorly often, but when I do boy does it make me feel gross. Hopefully this sort of detox will get me back where I need to be.

From My Kids to Yours...

**This isn't a recipe- just passing on a cute idea for a fun kids' lunch treat**

Last night my husband and I had to run by Trader Joe's for a few things and I picked up some of their fruity flakes snacks for the kids as a treat. While at the check out the super nice cashier (they are always so very pleasant and helpful there- I love it!) told us that for a treat for his grand kids he uses the fruity flakes snacks in peanut butter sandwiches instead of jelly. I thought that was such a cute idea for the kids so I just had to try it. And of course my girls loved it and told me I had to post this on the blog. So this is for all the Mommies of kids who love Peanut Butter Sandwiches:-)

From my kids to yours...

All you need is:


Apple Raspberry Fruity Flakes, Natures Own Whole Wheat (or Honey Wheat) bread, your favorite peanut butter, and I added flax seed meal too.

And all you do is:
If using flax seed meal mix it into the peanut butter in a separate dish.




Make a basic peanut butter sandwich and line the fruity flakes on top of the peanut butter.


I served it with banana spears.



It's simple but something different for them on a rainy day. This won't be an everyday meal, of course, but it makes for a nice treat once in a while.

If you make it for your little ones, let me know what they think!

Happy cooking!

Let's Do Lunch

For lunch a lot of people will go out for some sort of fast food, grab a microwave pizza, or skip it altogether. To me, as a Mom, lunch is the most important meal of my day most days, and the one I have the least time for. And I'll admit it, some days I am guilty of just grabbing whatever is handy ( a handful of chips, or the last brownie- I know- sooooo bad!) But I am trying to be a lot more healthy in my eating, so I can be a better example for my girls. ( I am against the "Do as I say, not as I do" method of parenting and more into leading by example, even though sometimes that is so hard to do- especially when it comes to eating.)
One of the tastiest, and easiest lunchtime meals I have discovered is stir fry. I always have a ton of veggies on hand, along with Asian seasonings and sauces so this is pretty simple to come up make up as I go along. I always opt to keep it meat-free just because I don't think we need meat at EVERY meal, although my husband would disagree with me:-)

Here's how I made today's lunch:
Time- 15-20 minutes total (I usually make mine while the kids are all sitting together eating their lunch.)

Ingredients:
1/2 bag Trader Joe's Broccoli Slaw
1/2 small onion diced or sliced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced. You can also use powdered if you have some in your spice cabinet
4 baby portobello mushrooms
Soy Sauce
toasted sesame oil
rice sticks, or any other Asian noodle you prefer.
1 lime
1/4 block extra firm tofu**
Hot sesame oil**

**If Desired




Directions:
1. Prepare noodles of your choice according to directions on the package- I use about a 1/3 of the pack of noodles today.
2. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. Add 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil to the pan and heat on medium heat. Add minced onion and ginger. Cook for about 2 minutes, until onions are translucent.


3. Add Broccoli slaw, mushrooms, and any other veggies you choose to include.
4. Add soy sauce to taste to veggie in pan. Let cook on med. low heat.


5. While veggies cook, cut off about 1/4 of the tofu from the block, and squeeze the extra water out with a paper towel.


Slice and sprinkle with soy sauce and lime juice. Let sit until you are ready to add to the veggies. (If you want a stronger flavor to the tofu, do this step first and set aside.)


6. Add Tofu to the veggies. Let all of this cook together for a few minutes.
7. If you want a little bit of spice to this, add hot sesame oil at this point.


8. Add the noodles to the veggies, squeeze lime juice over the veggies and noodles, and toss together.


9. Eat and enjoy:-) Usually I will have leftovers for the next day.

Easy Black Bean Soup

My family loves black beans. We eat them so often I buy them in bulk now. My oldest daughter loves my homemade black bean dip (that recipe will be posted the next time I make it). I add them into tacos, make black bean and beef enchiladas, and I've posted my Black Bean and Andouille Sausage recipe recently. I found a recipe for a Black Bean Soup that I had been dying to try, and finally got a chance to make it last week. It was so good! I think it makes a fabulous lunch, especially as it gets colder outside.

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 15.5 oz cans black beans. (I prefer the Goya brand, but I do also like the Trader Joe's brand)
1 cup or more chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 Bay Leaves
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons- 1/4 cup (depending on your taste) chopped fresh cilantro.
*Adobo ( or other hot sauce) to taste I used Nando's Peri Peri sauce because it is what I had on hand. You can buy it at The World Market.





Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and all seasonings, EXCEPT the hot sauce, and cook for about 30 seconds.
2.Add vegetables and saute, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until the veggies are tender



3. Add the chicken broth, beans, chopped cilantro brown sugar, and vinegar and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or so, or until the soup thickens.
5. Remove the bay leaves and season with the hot sauce to taste. Garnish with fresh cilantro if desired.