Creativity in the Kitchen

So, it’s the end of the month and the end of the week, so that means taking inventory of the fridge and pantry and making amazingly delicious and creative meals out of ingredients like, sauerkraut, eggs, and walnuts.  This is where I make some of my most interesting meals. (Interesting has many interpretations) I was in need of some breakfast, no wait, make that brunch, as it was already 11:30am.  I had slept in until 10am, which is pretty unheard of for me.  Was I out partying last night, you say?  No, but I did make it to that Halloween party:

I’m not much of a partier, so it was an early night, with a couple of episodes of Awkward before bed J.  I think I was just tired form having a busy week, and needed a good night’s sleep.

So, I took inventory of what I had in the fridge, and between my roommates plethora of leftovers that they never eat, nor will I, I found some eggs and left over sweet potatoes from dinner the other night.  So I decided to make a simple egg scramble.  I melted some Kerrygold butter in the frying pan, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you need to!!!!  It’s butter from Ireland and is made from cows that roam out on the green fields of Ireland and graze peacefully on the abundance of grass there.  Something like this:

It taste much better than your average butter, and is healthier, as cow products made from cows that are fed their natural diet of grass have a lower content of Omega-6 fat, and too much Omega-6 fat causes inflammation in the body…now nobody wants that!  You can find it at Costco and most grocery stores.  Here’s a visual for you:

So, after the butter was melted, I cut up some sweet potato into small pieces and warmed them in the butter.  Once the potatoes were warm, I added three eggs.  Now I am fairly lazy when cooking.  Well, maybe not lazy, but I like to make things as simple as possible.  So when I want scrambled eggs, instead of whisking them in a separate bowl, which just makes more dishes to do, and when you are the dishwasher, you care about these things, I just crack the eggs into the pan, let cook a little and then stir with my spatula.  When you have a nice amount of butter, coconut oil, or bacon grease, this works well, as the eggs don’t stick to the pan and can be mixed nicely.  I used about half a tablespoon of butter.  While the eggs are cooking, I stir periodically.  This whole process doesn’t take very long.  Maybe 10 minutes from when the idea sparked in my head to when I was sitting down ready to eat. 

When I looked at my finished product, it looked a little monochromatic; yellow sweet potatoes and yellow eggs.  As a health and nutrition coach, I teach my clients about eating colorful foods and having a variety of colors on your plate.  This ensures that you are getting a variety of vitamins and minerals.  Well, all I had was yellow, so what could I do to add a little color? I knew I was out of spinach, and I wasn’t feeling the red onion left in the veggie drawer, so I found some tid-bits of parsley left and added them to the top of my scramble.  Ahhh…this looked better.  And it was delicious!  The parsley made the dish. 

So when it looks like you have nothing to eat in the fridge, take inventory, and be creative!  You never know what you will get.

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Pesto

When I first heard about the idea of going grain free, I thought that there was NO WAY this was possible!  I was eating toast, beagles, pb&j, pasta, cereal, rice, crackers, and granola bars on the daily.  Grains were a HUGE part of my diet and I was very skeptical of going grain free….how is this humanly possible?

However, I was challenged to go sans grains for 30 days, along with, dairy, legumes, or added sugars, and having somewhat of a competitive spirit, I took on the challenge.  Fast forward four years, and there is no way I would ever go back to eating grains as a food staple.  As there have been amazing changes in my life by eliminating grains from my diet.  Over the past four years, I have experimented with recipes, some successful and others, shall we call “learning experiences”. J  

I look back to my first nutrition challenge, and yes, I made it through and I was able to feel the difference in my body with having more sustained and lasting energy, no more sugar crashes or crazy sugar cravings, and improved mental clarity, however; it wasn’t very exciting and at times frustrating in the sense that I didn’t know what to eat instead of grains.  I was eliminating a lot of food, however not sure what to add back in to replace those foods.

Now, I have years of recipes under my belt, and find eating grain free exciting and oh so DELICIOUS!  So, to save you some agony, I wanted to share a food that I only discovered recently, and wish I had known about years ago!  

Being part Italian, I was raised on pasta.  It was a staple in my household, along with bread.  So, the thought of not eating pasta made me think that I was going to have to give up those secret family Italian recipes that I loved so much!

Once I discovered this food, I was in love!  It was so useful to me and added a whole new realm of possibilities in the kitchen.  And I was able to eat those scrumptious family recipes I had been craving.  This wonderful, magnificent food I am talking about is spaghetti squash!  When cooked, spaghetti squash creates stringy noodles that replicate pasta.  I was now able to make “spaghetti” and meatballs, and “spaghetti” carbonara without suffering the consequences of eating a plate full of inflammatory gluten, and a blood sugar spike.  Not only did I feel amazing after I ate spaghetti squash, I was consuming significantly fewer carbs than if I had eaten the same amount of pasta.  One cup of spaghetti squash has 9 grams of carbs verses a cup of spaghetti having around 40 grams of carbs.  Spaghetti squash also contains antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A, as well as fiber, potassium and Vitamin B6.  What’s not to love about spaghetti squash?

I am sharing with you a recipe that is deliciously, filling, and well rounded with macronutrients; proteins, fats, and carbs.  I used a store bought pesto to save on time. However, it took some looking around and label reading to find a pesto that used olive oil and not soybean oil, canola oil, or some other inflammatory fat.  Look at your local farmers market or health food store for pesto made with olive oil.  If you choose to be ambitious, I set a link to a recipe for pesto below.

Ingredients:

·      1 medium sized spaghetti squash

·      1 cup pesto sauce Many of the store bought pestos contain inflammatory oils such as soybean or corn oil.  If you are unable to find a pesto that only contains olive oil, here is a great one to make at home.  

·      1 lb chicken breast

·      Olive oil

·      Sundried tomatoes (optional)

·      Fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees 

2.  Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise

3.   Remove seeds with a spoon or fork and save for toasting J

4.  Place halves face down on baking sheet and cook for 40-45 min.  The spaghetti squash should be somewhat soft to touch when done.

      

      5.  While spaghetti squash is baking, heat a large saucepan on the stove and add a tablespoon of olive oil.  Cook chicken breast until cooked through.  

      6.  Once chicken is cooked, slice chicken into bite sized strips and set aside.

      7.  Once spaghetti squash is finished, allow to cool for a few minutes and then shred the meat of the squash with a fork into the saucepan. The spaghetti squash should come out easily and will be stringy like spaghetti. 

      8.   In a saucepan, on low, mix the spaghetti squash, chicken, and pesto sauce until warm.  I added sun-dried tomatoes and some fresh basil from the garden.

        9.  Serve warm and enjoy!

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