Tonight I'm going to share with you a couple of recipes that I stick with, especially when my day is busy and I want to make sure I get in enough carbs, energy and nutrients for most of my day. Something I've also been indulging a lot in lately, are products derived from coconuts. It's my favourite of all the tree nuts and I utilise it in as many ways as I can find. Coconut Oil has amazing effects on the skin and hair, and if you must fry something it's the best oil to use for high temperatures and won't give your food or sautees a burned taste. I have been using coconut oil in my hair for the past few months and the results have been out of this world for me. Mostly because I naturally have thick, curly hair that gets very dry, very easily and grows quite slowly. Coconut oil has not only made my hair softer, but with regular use, especially when my hair is damp after washing, my hair is easier to manage, shinier and has even gotten longer. Coconut oil is also great as a facial moisturiser since it won't clog pores, smells really nice and can help to clear acne. My favourite brand of coconut oil to use is Nutiva. It is organic, cold-pressed, virgin coconut oil.
Since I avoid cooking with any oil, I utilise coconut milk in many of the things I make for the aroma and light flavour that it gives. It works well for any creamy sauces I have to make, for steaming (with water) and as a soup base. Canned coconut milk is one of the only ways we can get it here in Canada, so I go straight to reading the ingredients to make sure I'm not getting anything more than I want. 100% Coconut Milk, Water and Salt is all that should be on the label. The best part is coconut water. I drank so much while I was in Jamaica because nothing tastes better than when its fresh from the tree. It's very high in potassium, has basically no fat, but full of things good for you plus a little Vitamin C and Iron. Besides water, it's the next best thing for hydration.
As you all know, I thrive on fruit, but sometimes I'm just too lazy to prepare it, peel and cut it up and put on a plate. Sometimes I need something fast, yet full of everything I need till lunch time. Here's one of my regular smoothies that I enjoy for breakfast. It's also a great recovery mix after a tough workout.
GREEN SMOOTHIE
DISCLAIMER: Some of the pictures below, I found on Google because the ones I took on my phone camera were so bad it would be just embarrassing to put them here
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| A great source of plant-based protein |
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| 1 big handful of baby spinach, washed. |
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| 4-7 of these depending on the size of your blender. They also need to be spotty. The spotting indicates they are ripe |
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| 1-2 cups of frozen mango chunks |
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| This is my favourite brand of bottled/boxed coconut water. Fill up half of the blender. |
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| Here's the brand of Coconut Sugar that I use for most of my cooking and baking. Add 1 or 2 Tbsp. |
After all that, add 1/4 cup of water and blend. Pulse a few time first to loosen everything up, then you can go on a higher blending speed to get everything really nice and smooth. Here's how it should look. Enjoy!~
And now it's DINNER time!
Here's what I made today for dinner. It was on a total bout of improvising, because I thought there was nothing in the fridge and I was on the brink of ordering out some Thai food. However, after I rummaged a bit through the fridge, I saved myself $25 in delivery and had a tasty dinner that even Jeremy was happy to come home to.
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| Cauliflower coconut curry over rice. It was so good, I ate it outside while watching the sunset |
To make this quick and easy dinner that literally only took 15 minutes, you will need....
-Half of a large head of cauliflower
-Half of an orange bell pepper
-Two vine tomatoes
-3 cloves of garlic
-1/3 cup of coconut milk
-2 tsp curry power
-1 green onion stalk
-2 tbs edamame
-2 cups of baby spinach
-2 tsp dark curry paste (or any curry paste of your choice)
-Corn (optional side)
-Desired amount of rice
-Thyme (fresh or dried)
-Black Pepper
-1/2 tsp. salt
1. Put rice to cook in rice cooker according to amount of required rice to water ratio and cooking time for your specific make. Ours at home has a "Quick Cook" setting, ideal for 3 cups or less of rice.
2. Prep veggies. Roughly chop cauliflower, dice bell pepper and tomatoes. Set aside.
3. Heat up a large enough non-stick or ceramic skillet, add 2 Tbsp. of water.
4. While pan is heating, put garlic, green onion, edamame, curry powder and curry paste and coconut milk in blender (or magic bullet) to puree until smooth.
5. Add Tomatoes and bell pepper in pan to cook until slightly soft, then add cauliflower, thyme, black pepper and the sauce you made. Stir well, then cover on medium heat. Leave for 7mins. or until cauliflower is soft enough to eat.
6. Add salt, stir and serve on hot rice. :)
Hope you enjoyed this post!
Cheers <3
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