3 Tips to Ramp up your salads!

Here are a few things you may not know about your salad! Make your salads fun, pack with nutrition and fresh this summer!
‪#‎saladtips‬ 🍏🍐🍋

1. Use more Fat. Olive oil or avocado or BOTH! Research from Ohio State University found that more fat I your salad helps your body absorbs more antioxidants from the ingredients in your salad! 😮

2. Splurge on a quality vinegar. The vinegars from speciality stores go a long way and make any salad exciting and more tasty.

3. Eat your salad with chop sticks! Stop stabbing your salad and refine your chop stick skills! It's so much easier once you get the hang of it.

4. Bonus: make sure it's pretty. Lots of colors of the rainbow means all kinds of different nutrients.

‪#‎5daytummytuck‬ ‪#‎eatclean‬ ‪#‎fitfamily‬ ‪#‎healthyfamily‬ ‪#‎detoxmealplan‬‪#‎glutenfree‬ ‪#‎dairyfree‬ ‪#‎soyfree‬

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Garlic Refried Black Beans!

I love tacos! 

My Husband grills chicken every Sunday for our lunch tacos throughout the week!  This week I experimented with red cabbage instead of the usual green cabbage. It is heartier and I had to let it sit for a day in lime juice and honey. BUT it adds a power crunch and I love it!  If you want more great recipes sign up for my newsletter right here ----->>> http://eepurl.com/Kg7Zn 

Garlic Refried Black Beans

2 Cans black Beans rinsed and drained

½ Head of garlic roughly chopped

3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon Turmeric (Anti inflammatory properties)

2 tsp Sea Salt

½ tsp pepper (optional)

¼ Cup Liquid. (water or vegetable broth)

DIRECTIONS:

Add Olive Oil to a hot sauce pan

Add Garlic as soon as you add EVOO.  (This will allow Garlic to better infuse the oil)

Cook garlic just until brown

Add 1 Can of  rinsed Beans.  Stir and then Mash the hell out of them.

Add 2^nd can of rinsed beans.  Mash lightly

Add Liquid.  (Add more if needed but make sure you mix well and add sodium if too bland after you add liquid.)

Fragrant Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Fragrant Vietnamese Noodle Soup

                                                    Contributed by, The Lazy Asian Chef

You guys know I like to keep recipes simple and fresh.  This noodle soup is extremely fragrant, delicate and excellent for your belly.  My husband cooks this a lot during the winter because it’s friendly for all my food intolerances! 

Keep in mind, a lot of the recipes I send you give you leniency to play around with the spices and flavors.  My one wish is that through these recipes, you discover new techniques, spices and flavor combinations.  Maybe you don’t love them all but at least you are adventurous and stepping out of your comfort zone!

Ingredients for Broth

8 qt Water                                                                   

2 Star Anise

3 Cinnamon Sticks

1 tbl Whole Clove

3 Bay Leaves

1 tbl black peppercorns

1 tbl coriander seeds

1 tbl salt

3 garlic cloves

1 yellow onion, halved and charred

2-3 inches ginger, slightly crushed and charred

Meat bones (Beef, Chicken, or Pork - As much as you're willing to spend)
Gluten Free Rice Noodles (cook as is on package!)

Simmer low and slow.  Overnight to wake up to an amazing aroma.

Condiments/Toppings - ***  Remember, all these toppings are to your taste!  Add as much or as little as you would like.  PLAY around and don’t be scared!  Remember the heat of the broth poured over them will wilt and cook them.. that’s okay!

Cilantro -  I may have an addiction to Cilantro.  I take the leaves off the stem (the stems are a bit bitter, the texture is weird AND they give me gas.  What??  Just sayin’)

Sliced Green Onions

White onion

Asian Basil – ( I purchase mine at the local Asian market, it’s so much cheaper!!)

Beansprouts – A TON!  The heat of the soup will slightly cook them.

Siriracha Sauce

Gluten Free Hoisin

Juice of 1 Lime

BONUS FOR THE Adventurer in you!

If you are a meat eating human, you MUST give this a go!  Add ox tail to the broth.  When broth is done, pick the meat from all the bones (the meat you want to eat that is) but leave the oxtail whole.  Put into a different contain and use as you want. 

Heat the meat including the oxtail in your broth when you re heat your soup.  How do you eat ox tail??  Things will get messy but the messier the better!

Take a bit of ox tail meat, wrap some Asian basil around it and dip it in hoisin sauce!  My mouth is watering Now! 

Vietnamese Porridge

Healthy Winter Recipes to Brighten Your Spirits.

I’m so excited to share these recipes with you!  As you receive the recipes, keep an open mind.  I believe food should be an experience, a topic of conversation and nourishment for our minds and bodies.  The recipes to follow in this series of emails will have ingredients that you may have never heard of before but I encourage you to allow yourself to experience this with your friends and family. 

Most of the recipes will have options for ingredients because I want you to be the creator of something special and choose what works with you and your lifestyle.  For example, most all recipes can be made vegan if not already.  Keep the methods of preparation the same but play around with the spices and additions! 

Healthy Winter Recipes  - Vietnamese Porridge

www.yourfitnesssgirl.com

Chao Ga – Vietnamese Rice Porridge

I wonder if I had not married a Vietnamese man, would I ever have been introduced to Vietnamese Rice Porridge.   It’s not your fairy tale ‘Goldie lox and the Three Bears’ kind of porridge.  This meal is one of my all-time winter favorites and allows me to get in a plethora of veggies while warming up my belling on a cold day. 

It’s delicious and while rice based, it’s not as many carbs as you may think.  Give it a go and as you create the recipe, think about ways you can change it up to best suit your taste buds! 

Ingredients :  Serves 4 – 6

1/3 Cup Rice:  Long grain, red or brown

5 Cups Liquid: Water, chicken stock or vegetable stock. 

1 Chopped White Onion

2 Fingers of peeled Ginger

2 tsp salt

OPTIONAL: Protein options: Chicken, mushrooms or shrimp

·       Rinse and drain the rice.  Add liquid and rice in large pot and bring to boil over high heat.  Then turn the heat to medium low, partially cover the pan and let the rice bubble for 5 minutes.  This loosens the starch and blends the water and rice.  Stir rice and turn heat as low as possible.  Add onion and ginger and let simmer for about 1 hour. 

·       NOTE:  Add more liquid (at the very beginning) if you want a more soup like porridge.  If you prefer your porridge to be more creamy, look cook longer

Garnish – The Magic!  NOTE:  I use a LOT of veggies but find the combination that works best for you! Add the garnish just before you eat your porridge!

Chopped Green Onion

Minced Ginger (fresh and spicy.  This garnish completes the dish so give it a try!)

Fresh Cilantro

Fresh Bean Sprouts

Splash of Fish Sauce

Jalapeno

Siracha Sauce

Braggs amino acid