Curried Carrots with Sweet Potatoes

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Ingredients

  1. 8 large carrots cut into 1/2” chunks
  2. 1 medium onion, cut into pieces
  3. 1 celery stalk, cut into ½” chunks
  4. 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
  5. 1 quart of vegetable broth
  6. Salt and Pepper
  7. 1 teaspoon cumin
  8. 3 tablespoons of curry powder mix (kind of depends upon what mix you use or if you use a mix)
  9. ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  10.   3 pitted dates
  11.   1teaspoon cilantro

Recipe

  1. Put onion, celery, dates and carrots into a large saucepan on medium heat and sweat until soft.
  2. Add Vegetable broth and bring to a boil
  3. Turn off heat and take a hand mixer to it till it is pureed and smooth
  4. Add spices and chunked sweet potatoes, lid and turn heat to medium high, stirring about every 2 minutes or so
  5. The potatoes should be soft and done after about 10-12 minutes.
  6. Cut the heat and serve.
  7. Enjoy and then pat self on back for eating so clean.
  8. Add Cilantro for an extra flavor and some green.

This recipe is cleanse friendly and features no oils, meats or sugars. Make sure that whatever curry powder you use has no sugar in it, and avoid paste as it will have some extra ingredients outside of the spices that you do not need. If you want to spice it up more add more cayenne pepper. To sweeten, add more dates (1-3) or add raisins with the potatoes.

Detox Smoothies

Posted on by Sam Boyd
The "Shut up and Drink it"
The “Shut up and Choke it Down” Smoothie

As we move into another Detox cycle (for those of you playing at home, please email Emily before you use these recipes) these will be some of the ways that I will be accomplishing my goal. I will be trying to eat/drink 10 cups of the 14 cups of veggies that I will be consuming every day during the week of 1/5/15 to 1/11/15. So I have come up with the following to make things easier on myself.

Green Dream (adjusted)

  1. 1 medium banana
  2. 1 cup cucumber
  3. 6 small stalks of celery
  4. 1 cup spinach
  5. 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  6. ½ teaspoon mint extract
  7. Enough water to make it smooth, probably about 8 ounces.

The total for this smoothie ends up being 3 cups veg, 1 cup fruit, best to drink in the AM or early in the day. Fruits are best early in the day due to glycemic control.

Breakfast Smoothie

  1. 1 medium banana
  2. 1 cup diced radish
  3. 1 cup cucumber
  4. 1 cup spinach
  5. ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  6. ½ tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa
  7. Enough water to make it smooth, probably about 4 ounces

The total for this smoothie ends up being 3 cups of veg, 1 cup fruit and contains cocoa which is known to be a metabolic mood stabilizer. However, there is not enough in this replace any kind of pharmaceutical mood stabilizer. In fact, the research is incomplete as to whether the amount you would have to take to noticeably increase mood would outweigh the negative of having an acidotic body environment.

“Shut up and Choke it down” Smoothie

  1. 2 cups spinach
  2. 1 cup cucumber slices (peeled, but not seeded)
  3. 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  4. 2 ounces aloe vera juice
  5. 6 small stalks of celery
  6. 1 tablespoon of probiotic-filled fiber powder

This smoothie does not taste good, but the taste will grow on you if you like vegetables. However, it will provide a ton of benefits in the middle of the day and you can eat a piece of fruit (1/2 banana or 1 whole peeled orange) immediately afterward to get the taste out of your mouth. It contains 4 cups of veg, 2 bowel assisting agents, and enough fiber to correct any problem you might be having in your colon that fiber can fix. The benefits of this smoothie are huge and bowel centered. Please try it and tell me what you think. I will be drinking this once per day during the entire week.

Beefy Cabbage Stew

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Ingredients

1.  10oz beef tenderloin (yes, the same meat they use for filet mignon), cut into 1/2″ chunks.

2.  1 quart of vegetable broth

3.  1 whole cabbage, cored and cut into 3 inch sections

4.  3 medium onions, cut into 1/2″ ribbons

5.  3 large carrots, cut into 1/2″ chunks

6.  1 can organic tomatoes, drained and rinsed

7.  5 tablespoons of organic tomato paste

8.  2 tablespoons of dried basil

9.  8oz boiling water

10.  1 tablespoon of avocado oil

11. Salt & Pepper to taste

Recipe

1.  Combine onions, carrots, avocado oil with S&P into a large dutch oven, big soup pan, or whatever other large pan you want to use for this,  make sure it can stand med-high heat for about 1/5 hours, on med-high heat.

2.  Sweat these items til they have given up some liquid.

3.  Scoot all the veggies to a side of the pan and then add the meat.  Let it get some good browning on it, then stir everything back together.

4.  Cook together for a few minutes on med-high, then add the tomatoes, boiling water, broth, and tomato paste.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.

5.  When boiling, add all the cabbage and dried basil.  Stir well.  Reduce temp to medium and cover.

6.  You will cook this forever.  I cooked it on medium for about 3 hours, which I had because I was home and doing other things and could keep an eye on it.  Your time will be rewarded.

This will make about 7 hearty servings.  One for me to eat now, two for dinner, and 4 for lunches.  In addition, this dish freeze well and can be frozen for up to 6 months in a deep freezer.  This is an old favorite that we make a few times per year.  Please let me know what you think.

 

More Smoothies

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Emily has been creating some very  interesting and good combinations for more smoothies.  Pictures are unnecessary as they end up either green, yellow or orangish with small specks in them.  No one needs a picture of that.

Fruit & Spinach Smoothie

1.  1/2 a navel orange, peeled

2.  1/2 a medium banana, peeled

3.  1 cup of spinach

4.  2 ounces of aloe vera juice

5.  3/4 cup of almond milk

For best results, freeze your oranges first.

Mega Veg Smoothie

1.  1-1/2 cups of spinach

2.  2 ounces of aloe vera juice

3.  3 medium celery stalks

4.  1/2 apple peeled

5.  2 tablespoons of date paste

6.  1/2 cucumber seeded and peeled

7.  1/2 cup coconut milk

Sometimes I Miss Florida Smoothie

1.  1 whole orange peeled and chunked

2.  1 cup pineapple peeled and chunked

3.  1 cup of coconut milk

4.  1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

5.  1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

6.  1/2 banana peeled

7.  1 lime peeled and wedged

For best results, freeze the oranges, limes and pineapples

Soy-Sesame Tilapia w/Zucchini

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is such a simple recipe that I marvel that more people have not tried.  It is completely clean without any oils, sugars or starches involved.  Some people say “what about the soy sauce and the horribleness of soy with the sodium and blah blah blah blah”.  I say to those people, look up soy sauce and read about the magic of all things fermented.  Fermented soy sauce contains a lot of oligosaccharides and this is beneficial to the digestive tract of the gut.  These oligosaccharides promote the growth of beneficial gut flora which leads to less lower intestinal tract inflammation which is an overall good thing.

Ingredients:

1.  16 ounces of tilapia filets or loins (loins are pictured).  Unless you are protein restrictive or are trying to lose a lot of weight fast, the serving size for this should still be 4-6 ounces.

2.  6 tablespoons soy sauce (read your lable, make sure it is fermented, not just brown colored salt water)

3.  6 tablespoons sesame seeds

4.  3 medium zucchini cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Recipe:

1.  I highly recommend soaking the fish and zucchin in in soy sauce, but that can be wasteful, as you will toss a lot of soy sauce out.  So basically toss the zucchini in the soy sauce, then brush the leftover onto both sides of the fish until it is gone.

2.  Sprinkle and pat 3/4 of the sesame seeds into the fish.  Sprinkle the rest over the zucchini.

2.  Put it all on the same pan and roast for about 20 minutes or so (depending upon the thickness of the fish) at 375 degrees.  You will need to check the fish to make sure it is done.  The zucchini will still be a little crunchy, which is good.

3.  Put on a plate, eat, yummy.

Consequently, tilapia is one of the few fish that will actually keep and microwave later at work.  So, true to form, we made enough for our meal plus two more to-go dishes for work.  Delish.

Pork Fried Cauliflower “Rice”

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This one allows me to have chinese food.  The flavor profile is dead on, with 0 net carbs and lots of protein and vegetables.  The most unhealthy thing in this dish is the sesame oil and maybe the pork, depending upon how you feel about swine.

Ingredients:

1.  1 whole cauliflower, riced.  What this means is you take, leaving it raw, and put it into a food processor or grater and blitz it.  It creates a substance that is a little smaller than white rice but still have some body.  It is important to leave it raw, otherwise you will make paste, which is another blog post.

2.  2 medium onions, chopped as big or small as you like

3.  16 ounces of pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1″ squares/chunks.

4.  1 cup of frozen peas.

5.  1 tablespoon of sesame oil

6.  2 tablespoons of minced garlic

7.  1 teaspoon of ground ginger

8.  1 teaspoon of dried basil

9.  4 tablespoons of soy sauce (low sodium is a good idea)

10.  2 eggs, lightly beaten

Recipe:

1.  In large skillet or wok, put the wok with 1/2 of the sesame oil over high heat.

2.  When the pork is about 1/2 cooked, add the onion and garlic with the rest of the sesame oil.

3.  When cooked through, add the peas.

4.  When heated through, push to one side and add the lightly beaten egg and scramble,

5.  When eggs are scrambled, add the whole mixture together and add all the spices, soy sauce and cauliflower rice.

6.  Stirring near constantly, move the entire mix around until most of the soy sauce either absorbs or evaporates which should only take about 30-40 seconds.  If there is still a bunch of liquid, then keep going till it is gone.

This should serve 4 people.  Or as usual, two people with two leftovers.  This dish is pretty awesome and allows for a chinese craving to be met without a lot of the MSG and extra calories.

Black Bean Miso Stew

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Ingredients

1.  4 tblspoons of Yellow Miso Paste

2.  4 carrots, cut into 2in segments

3.  3 stalks of celery, cut into 1in segments

4.  1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

5.  2 tblspoons minced garlic

6.  1 tblspoon dried basil

7.  1 medium onion coarsely chopped

8.  1 cup of spinach

9. 1 teaspoon sesame oil

10.  3 cups of water (clean water is best)

11.  1/2 lemon juiced

12.  1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

Recipe

1.  Combine carrots, onions, celery, garlic and spinach in to a pan with the sesame oil, salt, pepper and basil.

2.  Sweat the ingredient for about 4 minutes or so, you want the onions to start sweating more than anything.  This is done over medium heat.

3.  Add the miso paste and lemon juice and stir briskly, the paste should loosen up a little.

4. Add the water and black beans and scrape the pan for anything that has stuck (you are deglazing without using alcohol or acid here)

5.  Stir briskly to get the miso combined with the water.

6.  Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes.  Then remove from heat and leave covered for another 10 minutes.

The stew will be good at this point, but will really come together the next day.  The above recipe makes 4 servings.

Smoothies

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Sorry for being away.  I have been busy.

There are no pictures to go with these recipes, simply because I usually am too busy stuffing these down my gullet to stop and take a picture.  Plus, we have ugly glasses.

 

Chocolate Covered Almond Smoothie

1.  3oz coconut milk

2.  3oz skim milk

3.  3oz of frozen water (also known as “ice”)

4.  1tblspoon unsweetened baking cocoa

5.  1 scoop of vanilla flavored protein shake/nutrition shake (I use the TLS Vanilla for this, but any brand vanilla will work fine)

6.  1.5tblspoons of almond butter

Blend the hell out of this.  We do it in a single serving cup with our Ninja and blend on “single serving” for about 40 seconds.  The wait is worth it.  Great for breakfast and if you need a desserty type thing and its snack time.  If you look at the ingredients, there is no added sugar, the coconut milk and almond butter will trick you into thinking there is a lot more sweetness going on than there is.  (Phase III)

 

Hawaiian Smoothie

1.  1oz coconut milk

2.  3oz frozen pineapple

3.  1 banana

4.  1/4 cup milk powder

5.  tablespoon coconut flour

6.  1 peeled orange

7.  1 teaspoon ground ginger

8.  3oz plain water (you may not want to do this, but trust me you should.  The coconut flour will turn this into paste if you do not make it thin enough in the beginning.

Blend the hell out of this as well.  The coconut flour will turn this thick as much as you want, plus will reduce the smoothie will separate out later.  I highly recommend frozen pineapple as the temperature of this is best served cold.  Ice is difficult to use because of the coconut flour.  The reasoning behind the coconut flour has to do with the fact that there is about 3gm of protein and 4gm of fiber in a single tablespoon.  Use this with caution and be prepared to do it a couple of times before you get the hang of it.  When it goes bad, it’s quite awful, but fun to give unsuspecting spouses with a sheepish grin.  (Phase II-III)

The Green Smoothie

1.  3 stalks of celery

2.  3oz of cucumber

3.  3oz of spinach leaves

4.  tablespoon ground ginger (minced fresh ginger is better, but I am not a chef, I work with what I got, and I gots ground ginger)

5.  1 banana

6.  1/4 cup milk powder

7.  2 pitted dates

8.  1 teaspoon of chia seeds

This one is an acquired taste.  If you do not like vegetables, then you will hate this.  But also, why are you looking at a blog about eating healthy?  There is enough sweetness to make this work well but it will be loose and will be “fibrous” in feel.  If you grew up hating tons of pulp in your juice, then this will probably not sit well with you. (Phase II)

 

These are just 3 of the ones in rotation in my life right now.  Any suggestions for others, let me know.  Did you try one and it was awful and I am lying about them, let me know that too.

Parmesan Tilapia

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is a super simple recipe that falls square into Phase III.  It takes a little practice but keep in mind that tilapia is a very forgiving fish and parmesan is a very forgiving cheese.

Ingredients

1.  24oz of tilapia, thawed rinsed and pat dried

2.  8oz of shredded parmesan cheese

3.  1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder and onion powder

Recipe

1.  Liberally salt every piece of fish with the spice mixture.  Do both sides else it will end up bland.

2.  Bake the tilapia in a broilable pan/sheet at 325 for about 15 minutes or until the flesh is between translucent and white.  It will not be finished.

3.  I suggest draining any liquid off the pan.  Place all the cheese on the fish.  If you have 3oz filets, then you should have about 2oz for each filet.

4.  Turn the oven to broil and give it about 1 minute to get to temperature.  Put the fish in.  This is something that gets tricky, but gets better with experience.  It generally only takes about 90 seconds under the broiler to get the cheese all melty and awesome.  I usually pull it out and rotate the pan 180 degrees to get the most even meltiness.

5.  Pull it out and put a couple of lemon wedges with and yummy.

Herb’d Turkey with Sweet Potatoes

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Ingredients

1.  1lb of ground turkey (the leaner the better, you are trying to be healthy!)

2.  1 tablespoon each of dried basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram and chives.

3.  2 – 1/2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper (4 1/2 teaspoons total smartypants)

4.  4 sorta medium sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks.

5.  1 teaspoon olive oil

6.  1 cup vegetable broth

7.  1/8 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Recipe

1.  Take the ground turkey, all the spices and 1 each teaspoon of salt and pepper and put into a bowl and knead like you were making bread.

2.  When it is really well mixed, put it into a pan and cook it, stirring often.  You are looking for an appearance similar to breakfast sausage when you don’t make it into patty’s.  Just a bunch of loose meat really.

3.  When it is fully cook, reduce the heat to medium-low, add vegetable broth, stir well and cover.

4.  Bowl the sweet potatoes until they are boiled.

5.  Your choice here, the picture is of a sweet potato mash.  You can make it as lumpy or smooth as you want.  It’s your world.  It’s really about how much of the water you boiled it in do you add to it to get the consistency correct.

6.  Put roughly 1/4 of it onto a plate.  Should be about 4 ounces or so.

7.  Measure out 4 ounces of the turkey mixture, put on sweet potatoes.  Then spoon out 2 tablespoons of the brothy goodness and put it on top of that.

8.  Put the shredded cheese on top of that.

Its pretty yummy and a great dish for phase II people.  It is also infinitely changeable.  Substitute cilantro, coriander, cumin and dried chiles for the spices in the same ratio and you got something a little different.  Experiment and let me know what you think.