Man oh man, how do you bloggers blog so consistently. Anyways I have been busy trying to balance out my hobbies the last few months and blogging just ended up on the back burner for a while. It is actually a time-consuming hobby to maintain when you got others on the go. Well now I am trying to get myself caught up on all the amazing recipes we cooked, and crocheting is now on the back burner for a while. It’s always back and forth with me when it comes to managing my activities.
During one of my night shifts I ran into an amazing website off of Pinterest that contained several recipes that caught my attention. The reasons I perked up was that there were several simple recipes that contained tons healthy ingredients, appeared appealing, probably would taste good, and lower calories. I gotta say it, good job Serena on the meals she created. Here are a few that I made from her website and one of them has made it into my monthly must haves (if not weekly). She does a spectacular job on presenting her recipes, so I decided to use her photographs to showcase the food.
So the one that I love the most is her Kale Salad with Quinoa, Cranberries, and Toasted Almonds. Takes about 15 minutes to make, stores well, taste better the next day, huge health benefits, low calories, and just the perfect meal or side to accompany your main course. It also can be served to almost anyone (vegetarians, vegans, lactose intolerant, gluten-free, etc), besides the raw vegans who I think are crazy to begin with. Give it a shot and Serena’s blog about Kale is just as entertaining to read. I feel the same way she does about kale.
http://www.domesticate-me.com/kale-salad-with-quinoa-cranberries-and-toasted-almonds/
We tried the Brie Quesidillas with Brussel Sprouts, Bacon, and Beer Glazed Onions. Absolutely delicious, although not as healthy of a meal as the first. Balance right. Literally she took three of my favourite ingredients (cheese, liquor, and bacon) and added it to a green that lots of people frown upon, making it taste nothing like it would usually. I would say this is a healthier pub meal that you can enjoy in the comforts of you own home.
The Dude Diet Chicken Cutlets with the Zucchini Pasta was an interesting meal. Definitely healthy, but I found it harder to get the zucchini cooked perfectly. Some had the perfect pasta texture and some were still crunchy, but over all a good meal. I will have to try it again now that we finally have a mandolin given to us as a gift. It might make the pieces more consistent. Without the chicken it is a pretty cool vegan, gluten-free, paleo meal. I however don’t have those dietary restrictions and went ahead with adding the chicken to the meal and it was so tasty. It is one meal that doesn’t leave you bloated, but instead satisfied and feeling fit.
Lastly we tried the Chipotle Pork and Butternut Squash Tacos. I think we enjoyed this meal a lot. I know I was licking my fingers with delight. I didn’t exactly follow recipe, instead I used a slow cooker and threw all the same ingredients into the pot rather than cooking it in the oven. It saved a lot of time and I made the squash in the oven while it was cooking. What I like about this meal was that it was simple and created tons of leftovers for other meals. Actually with the pork tenderloin I used, too many leftovers, but I turned that into something else (see below).
http://www.domesticate-me.com/chipotle-pork-tenderloin-and-butternut-squash-tacos/#/
I used the leftover chipotle pork and butternut squash stuffing it into croissant dough and baking it in the oven. Turning them into tasty appetizers for our Aunty Krista’s early Christmas gathering. Call it whatever you want, but it was yummy. The Christmas gathering was awesome, it was a great idea having an array of appetizers instead of a sit down dinner.
Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and I’ll post some more recipes that we trialled at the end of 2013 soon.
kuchhuufoodieadventures 
