Natural Living

Finally Moved In … New Kitchen!

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Finally Moved In ... New Kitchen! - Healing and Eating

I wanted to apologize to my friends and followers for the long hiatus. My husband and I bought a duplex that has been consuming our lives since October. First, we needed a tenant in the upper unit asap, to help us with our mortgage.  Then, we renovated our unit, which needed a lot more love than we anticipated. We still have a bit of work left to do, as you can see in the picture. We need some open shelving and to install the cabinet handles, but we’re finally moved in and cooking again.

Since we were staying at my mother-in-laws, and I didn’t have my cooking tools (and we were crazy busy), I gave myself a break on my normally pretty strict diet. I still stayed away from dairy, since I know it makes me sick, but I wasn’t careful about anything else. Ironically, less time spent in front of the computer and cooking was great for my pain level. I did have issues with some of the food I ate, but it was trial and error. I’ve never been completely 100% paleo, since I want to maintain, not lose weight, but I did start to eat rice, and rice based carbs, on a regular basis. Since most dessert involves dairy, I had to stay away from it, unless it was dairy free. (Rising Hearts Bakery in Culver City was amazing for my gluten and dairy free sugar cravings. I highly recommend it.)  After months of slacking, it’s a new year and a new kitchen, and I’m ready to start being healthier in 2016.

Misc Info

We Moved! Well … Still Moving?

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I wanted to apologize to everyone for not posting in a crazy long time, but I have a good excuse. My husband and I recently bought our first place and we are in the process of moving out of our rental.  I didn’t want to post anything about it online until it was official. So, our entire life, including my kitchen, is in boxes. We don’t plan to unpack anytime soon, since we need to do renovations on our place first. We’ll be staying with my mother-in-law, Tazmin, until everything is fixed up, so here is a big THANK YOU for letting us crash with you!

My diet has been a disaster without my kitchen, but I’ve decided not to stress about it. I’m still avoiding dairy, because of my allergy, and I’ve been mostly avoiding carbs, with the exception of white rice, and rarely eating dessert. (Unless it’s a vegan restaurant, dessert always has dairy anyway) It’s not ideal, but I’m letting myself off the hook until we get our kitchen back. So please be patient with me, I promise I’ll be back posting recipes again before you know it!

Desserts

Coffee “Caramel” Ice Cream

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Coffee "Caramel" Ice Cream - Healing and Eating

This dairy free coffee “caramel” ice cream is an easy vegan recipe made with coconut milk, dates, instant coffee, and vanilla extract. Sprinkle a little sea salt over the top, for a salted “caramel” flavor, or add some chopped pecans for some crunch. The dates make a healthy caramel flavor substitute, and are also used to sweeten the ice cream. I kept the coffee flavor mild (although feel free to make it strong), since this was my first time experimenting with instant coffee. I used Medaglia D’Oro Instant Espresso Coffee and I’m very happy with the way it dissolved. The amazon reviews also say it’s good for baking, which is great for bringing out the flavor of chocolate in dessert.

Although I wouldn’t consider coffee a health food, I do love the flavor of coffee in dessert. However, this recipe would taste just as delicious without the instant coffee, but I do think it adds another layer of flavor. I made the ice cream extra sweet to combat the bitter flavor of the coffee, so I’d reduce the amount of dates if you aren’t going to use the instant coffee.

Coffee "Caramel" Ice Cream
 
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Serves: 1 quart
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of coconut milk full fat
  • 2 tbsp instant espresso coffee (Medaglia D’Oro)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 18 medjool dates
  • (optional) ½ cup of chopped pecans (for topping)
  • (optional) a pinch of sea salt (for topping)
Instructions
  1. Combine coconut milk, instant espresso coffee, and vanilla extract in a pan over low heat.
  2. Cook until coffee dissolves and the the alcohol from the vanilla extract evaporates. Approximately five minutes. Taste test to be sure.
  3. Transfer mixture to a high speed blender.
  4. Remove pits from dates, then add dates to blender and blend on high speed.
  5. Refrigerate mixture for a couple hours at least, preferably overnight. (I did a rushed version with a few hours in the refrigerator and it worked fine).
  6. Follow directions according to your ice cream maker.
  7. When it is the consistency of soft serve, transfer to a large container and freeze overnight, or eat it all as soft serve.
  8. (optional) add chopped pecans and some sea salt when ready to serve.

Dinner

Chili with Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions

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Chili with Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions - Healing and Eating

I love Italian sausage with red bell peppers and onions, so I decided to make it into a summer chili with shredded zucchini. I bought spicy Italian sausage, but it can easily be made with sweet Italian sausage instead. Everything cooked up very quickly so it was a nice meal that took only 15-20 minutes to make. Plus, it made a lot of food, and I’m always a fan of leftovers!  This turned out to be an easy one pot meal that I can definitely, see myself repeating in the future.

Chili with Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions
 
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Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 4 spicy Italian sausages
  • 4 zucchinis, shredded
  • 1¾ cups of red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 cups of white onions, diced
  • 2 tsp of sea salt
  • 1 tbsp of coconut oil
  • 5-6 grinds of fresh ground black pepper
  • (optional) 1 tbsp of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Instructions
  1. Shred zucchini in a food processor, and chop onions, and bell pepper.
  2. Saute diced onions in coconut oil in a large dutch oven for a few minutes.
  3. Remove sausage from casing, and add to dutch oven.
  4. Stir until sausage is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Add diced red bell peppers when sausage is mostly cooked. This is added towards the end, so that the bell pepper stays firm and crisp. (The way I like it) If you like them soft, add them earlier with the onions.
  5. When sausage is cooked, stir in the shredded zucchini, and serve.
  6. (optional) add some chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Sides

Pickled Red Onions

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Pickled Red Onions - Healing and Eating

These quick pickled red onions taste delicious over a salad or with Mexican food. They are really easy (and fast!) to make and I can definitely think of a ton of uses for them. For instance, add them to taco lettuce wraps, include them in a mexican cobb salad, or serve them over chili. Think of them as a delicious edible garnish that will   be sure to impress your friends and family.

Pickled Red Onions
 
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Serves: 16 oz
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 cups of white vinegar
  • ½ cup of honey
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 3 grinds of fresh black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 whole red onion, sliced
Instructions
  1. Slice red onions and add to a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Bring everything to a boil, and let boil for 5 minutes.
  3. Then transfer pickled onions to a jar, and fill jar with remaining brine (or liquid).
  4. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Then enjoy.

Desserts

Dark Cherry Popsicles

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Dark Cherry Popsicles - Healing and Eating

These dark cherry popsicles contain no added sugar, not that you need any since the cherries are so sweet! I had my hubby taste test just to be sure it wasn’t just me that thought these were sweet enough. Normally, I just snack on them frozen, since they come pitted and frozen from Trader Joes. Look for a bag that says Pitted Dark Sweet Cherries.

I did two versions of the popsicles to see which one turned out prettier and/or tasted better. In the first version, I defrosted the cherries overnight in the fridge, completely blended them with no added water, and made them into popsicles. The second version, I added a little bit of water (to get it to blend) and used frozen cherries.

The color was a little brighter on the frozen cherries and I kept the blended cherries pretty chunky. You do get air bubbles spooning a chunky mixture into the popsicle molds, but I don’t mind if it doesn’t look completely perfect. In fact, it looks more homemade which I always think is a good thing. My hubby said they tasted the same, but here is what they look like side by side … I prefer the frozen with air bubbles since the color is a little bit brighter, but either way they are delicious.

Frozen and Defrosted Cherry Popsicle Comparison - Healing and Eating

Dark Cherry Popsicles
 
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Serves: 10 popsicles
Ingredients
  • 2 1lbs bag of pitted dark cherries (Trader Joes)
  • ¼ cup of water
Instructions
  1. Place cherries and water in a Vitamix and blend. Use the masher to mix if it gets stuck or add more water.
  2. Spoon the cherries slushie mixture into popsicles molds, and freeze for a few hour or overnight, depending on strength of freezer.
  3. When done, run under hot water to remove from molds, and place on parchment paper back in freezer to create frost effect.
Notes
Drink leftover cherry slushie mixture or save for a berry smoothie later.

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