Asian Beef & Noodle Soup

Who out there gets a thrill from taking a not so healthy recipe, swapping ingredients and giving it your own spin to make it into a beautiful, flavorful Maximized recipe??  Well, when I'm not inventing my own dishes, that is what I do and love it, especially when we need a quick fix for dinner after a long day of work!

This particular recipe is adapted from the Betty Crocker Soups and Stews e-Cookbook thanks to my mom sending me the link for it a couple months ago.  (Thanks mom!!)  Remember that beef stock I made a while ago, well we still had some reserved in the freezer, so I thawed it out right on the stove top minutes before pulling this soup together.  Delicious!  You will love the deep flavor of this Asian inspired beef soup!

Asian Beef & Noodle Soup
Makes 6 Servings

3 oz uncooked rice noodles (omit if on Advanced Plan)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp dark sesame oil, organic
1 1/2 lb boneless top sirloin steak, grass fed, cut into bite size strips
4 tsp minced garlic
7 oz organic shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
6 cups organic, salt free beef broth (homemade is best)
2 cups finely sliced bok choy, organic
1 cup organic carrots, julienned like match sticks (omit if you are on Advanced Plan)
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, finely diced
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 medium green onions, organic, sliced

1.)  Soak rice noodles in bowl of boiling hot water for 10-15 minutes until softened. Cut noodles into thirds, cover and set aside.

2.)  Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil and 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Saute beef strips, mushrooms and garlic about 5-6 minutes until beef is no longer pink.

3.)  Stir in remaining ingredients except onion and noodles.  Heat to boiling then reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover; cook 14-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is tender.

4.)  Stir in noodles and heat thru 2-3 minutes until noodles are hot.  Right before serving, sprinkle with sliced green onion.

Rich and Chocolaty Stevia Hot Chocolate

Dave and I constructed this recipe over the weekend for our Patient Appreciation Day today at Revolution Wellness Center.  I highly recommend trying this with almond milk first.  We have made it with boiling water all day at the office and don't get me wrong, it tastes great, but the texture is missing something.  The added creaminess from almond milk will give it that little extra boost it needs.

3 tbsp pure cocoa powder (unsweetened to ensure gluten free)
1/2 tsp powdered stevia or 1/4 tsp liquid stevia
4 cups of water, rice milk or almond milk
2 tbsp raw honey (optional, to stay ADVANCED use only stevia)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the cocoa and stevia extract together in a glass bowl or pitcher.  Boil water or rice/almond milk and add about 1/2 cup to the dry ingredients to make a paste.  Gradually thin the paste with the rest of the heated water/milk.  Add the honey or agave nectar and vanilla and stir until completely dissolved.

TIP:  To richen the cocoa, you may add a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.   Enjoy!

A No Reservations Valentine's Day Dinner

What is celebrating THE romantic holiday of the year like for you?  Does spending the night in sound about as romantic as vacuuming and folding the laundry?  For us, Valentine's Day dinner is an adventure into new territory.  For the past 4 years (I think) we have stayed in and cooked up a menu that is brand new to both of us.  While I recently started planning our menu for next weekend, I wanted to throw together a Valentine's menu for those of you who want to stay on track with eating foods that HEAL but still have the romantic and lavish experience of eating out.

Beyond the menu, of course remember to set the mood.  Ambiance is everything when trying to make a romantic night at home.  Start looking for great decorations now.  First look around your home and take an inventory of what you already have that you could move around to set the mood, or maybe you can use something that usually serves one purpose for another (like using your accent pillows as seats for the floor to cozy up together while you eat).  Candles are an easy way to create soft, romantic lighting.  [TIP:  Soy candles are the healthiest as they don't emit toxic chemicals or carcinogens into the air as they burn.]  Check your local Dollar Store for cheap candles, especially if you'll only be using them for this one night.  I've also found candles and other cute decorations in the $1 section at Target.  Definitely check there first for Valentine's themed decor!  Here's another idea.  If you like to do the cooking, have your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend do the mood setting.  You can surprise each other that way!  Don't let the other see what you have been working on until they finish the room and you're ready to serve the meal.  It means even more to see how far your significant other went out of their way to do something for you.

Now to the menu:

First Course - Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

Approx. 40 mins prep and cook time

2 organic red beets
3 Tbsp coconut oil
8 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 handfuls of Arugula
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1.)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash, peel and quarter the beets.  In medium bowl, combine beets, coconut oil (may need to melt it down to liquid), garlic cloves, salt and pepper.  Transfer to baking dish.  roast for 30 minutes or until fork tender.  Removed from oven and let cool about 15 minutes before serving.

2.)  After beet mixture has cooled, place Arugula on plates, top with beet mixture, and finish with a sprinkle of goat cheese to each plate.  A little extra salt and pepper and drizzle of olive oil may be desired.  Serve immediately.


Main Course - Chicken Cacciatore
Approx. 30 minutes prep/cook time

1 Tbsp coconut oil
4 free range chicken breasts, skinless (you can use bone in or boneless, your choice)
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz sliced white mushrooms (any mushrooms will do really, whatever is in your budget, organic is best!)
3 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tsp dried rosemary
1  15oz can diced organic tomatoes  (be sure the lining of the can is BPA-Free or else get a glass jar of tomatoes)
2 Tbsp organic tomato paste
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

[TIP:  To clean your mushrooms, use a damp rag or paper towel and wipe the tops.  Do not rinse under water as the mushrooms will absorb the water and cause a spongy/chewy texture instead of the meaty texture you want.]

1.)  Over medium-high heat, melt coconut oil in a medium stainless steal skillet.  Rinse and dry chicken then brown lightly on both sides in the skillet, about 4 minutes per side.  Transfer chicken to plate and set aside.

2.)  In same skillet, saute onion until tender and translucent.  Add garlic and cook about 1 minute til aromatic.  Add mushrooms and cook, stiring often, until they release their liquid and soften up.  Should take about 6 minutes.  Add 2 Tbsp of parsley, the rosemary, tomatoes, tomato paste and vinegar.  As you stir in the vinegar, scrap the bottom of the pan to incorporate the brown bits into the sauce -- this will add a ton of flavor to the dish!

3.)  Return the chicken to the pan.  When sauce bubbles, reduce to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn chicken, stir sauce, then cook until chicken is cooked thru, about 5 more minutes depending on thickness of chicken.

4.)  Season dish with salt and pepper as needed.  Plate and top with parsley for garnish.  Serve.


Dessert  -  Chocolate Mousse
Make this the night ahead to save time on V-day, 15 minutes to prepare then chill time

2 ripe avocados
30-40 drops pure liquid stevia OR 1 Tbsp Stevita spoonable stevia
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder or raw carob powder
3/4 cup unsweetened almond or rice milk (additional to thin out to your preference)
1/3 cup organic full-fat coconut milk
1 Tbsp brandy or rum (optional)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1.)  Blend all ingredients together and chill.  To spice up the romance, top with fresh organic berries or blend berries into a puree and dollop.  To take it a step further, simmer berries in a small sauce pan until they cook down into a glaze.  Add stevia to taste, but will be very enjoyable plain drizzled over the mousse.


Happy Valentine's Day every one!  Hope you enjoy this menu idea!  Please share any other great V-day recipes you've done in past years or are trying out this year!

Black Bean & Chicken Wraps

2  lbs skinless, boneless, hormone-free/organic chicken
2  Tbsp coconut oil
1  organic green bell pepper
1  organic red bell pepper
1  white onion
2  cloves garlic
1  tsp sea salt
1  tsp cumin
1  tsp chili powder
1  pkg organic whole wheat tortillas (these will be hard to find at a regular grocery store, so save yourself the trouble and just go to your local co-op or Whole Foods store.  Still no luck? Substitute with a lettuce wrap!  Yum!)
1  15oz can black beans

1.)  On a medium setting, heat coconut oil and a little water in a large skillet, add chicken breast.  Sprinkle with half of sea salt and garlic and cook until white throughout.

2.)  Remove chicken and let cool.  Using knife and fork, pull apart the chicken breast until shredded.  Slice bell peppers and onion into strips.

3.)  In same skillet, add enough water to cover the bottom.  Add sliced bell peppers and onion, remaining garlic and sea salt.  Cook for 10-15 minutes.  Add chicken.  Add cumin and chili powders.  Cook until veggies are tender.

4.)  Wrap fajita mixture inside wheat tortilla once veggies are soft.  Serve with cooked black beans.

Serves 4.

Zucchini Creole

We had a huge tub of sliced zucchini in the freezer since this past fall.  We stocked up at the farmers markets and grocery store sales.  I finally decided to use some of it, and this is a great way and QUICK!  I call it Zucchini Creole.  We'll also be trying a zucchini soup sometime soon to use up the rest.   Serves 8

1 1/2 to 2 pounds sliced zucchini
8  ounces sliced mushrooms
1  large green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1  clove garlic, minced
2  teaspoons dried leaf basil, crumbled
1  tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon spoonable Stevia
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2  medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1.) Combine zucchini, mushrooms, green pepper, garlic, basil, coconut oil, sea salt, pepper, Stevia, and Worcestershire sauce in a large skillet; cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.

2.) Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes more, or until tender.  Serve immediately.

Weird science project or tasty drink?: How to Brew Kombucha

For a few months now, we've wanted to start making our own kombucha tea after learning about the process and how easy it is from our friends Allison and Vernon.  With a couple of 32-ounce clamp-top bottles costing $3.50 at IKEA, it’s nice to know how to make it at home.  It’s not hard at all!

The benefit to drinking kombucha is the probiotics that help your digestive system, and a lot of people simply drink it because they like the taste. It’s hard to describe, but the taste reminds me of dry champagne.  Dave first introduced me to kombucha, and I think he came across it by chance when he grabbed a bottle of it at the check out from a grocery store.  He loved it, and has been drinking the store variety for a while now.  Store-bought kombucha can be too strong for my taste, but when you make it at home, you get to adjust it to suit your preference.

Before I get into the recipe, here is a little background on kombucha:

The Kombucha Culture, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mushroom, is a Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeasts (the friendly type) and is sometimes called a SCOBY. Kombucha is a popular health promoting beverage and natural folk remedy.  The Kombucha culture looks like an off-white rubbery pancake.  The culture is placed in sugar sweetened black or green tea and allowed to ferment for about 8-12 days while it turns the tea into a sea of health-giving acids and nutrients.  The kombucha culture feeds on the sugar and, in exchange, produces other valuable substances which change into the drink: glucuronic acid, glucon acid, lactic acid, vitamins, amino acids, antibiotic substances, and other products.  The kombucha culture is, therefore, a real tiny biochemical factory.

Numerous improvements have been noted in overall health, including: increased energy, sharper eyesight, better skin condition, and improved ‘eliminations’ to name a few. (The list is really long and somewhat anecdotal, but personal experience is the best gauge for how it makes you feel).

The daily use of controlled amounts of Kombucha Tea, along with improved diet (particularly increased water intake), can help to deal with a variety of ailments, and/or help to maintain good health.  Kombucha is a valuable supplement to health care.

Numerous doctors and scientists have concerned themselves with the effects of the Kombucha beverage as a home remedy. Many scientific works are at hand concerning Kombucha. They speak of its therapeutic effectiveness as based on glucon-acid, glucuron-acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, as well as the life-supporting vitamins C and the B-group. As has been proven especially by Russian researchers, many of its components have antibiotic and detoxifying characteristics, and they play a decisive role for the biochemical processes in the body.

In contrast to many pharmacological preparations with unpleasant side effects, the active substances of the Kombucha address themselves to the whole body system; through its friendly metabolistic properties, it can reestablish a normal condition in the cellular membranes without any side-effects and thus promote one's well-being.

Regardless of what you may read or hear, if you are making your own Kombucha Tea, it is strongly recommend that you:

Use stainless steel or glass pots (for brewing the tea),
A large, wide mouth glass  or ceramic jar/bowl (for fermenting),
Wooden or plastic utensils for handling the Kombucha Culture.

You must avoid contact with metal containers/objects, in regards to care/storage of fermented tea and the cultures themselves.

Excessive use (especially if you have not been consuming many fermented foods/drinks) might cause some physical discomfort until your body adjusts.

Kombucha reproduces itself, and if properly maintained, you could have/make a lifetime supply from a single Kombucha Culture.

That's the background on kombucha, and here is a great website for more info:  http://www.kombu.de/english.htm

Now to my brewing recipe:

What You Need: 

  4 quart or larger pot (stainless steel)

  1 4 quart or larger glass/ceramic bowl
  1 clean tea towel 

  1+ locking jars, big enough to hold 3qts

  3 quarts water, filtered
  4 organic black or green tea bags
  1 cup white granulated sugar
  1/2 cup kombucha from the last batch
  1 SCOBY culture

Q: What is a SCOBY and where do you get one?

A: SCOBY stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.  It’s what transforms the sweetened tea into kombucha and provides the healthy probiotics. You can receive one from a friend who makes kombucha like we were gifted with ours from Vern and Allison, you can order one through the mail, or you can experiment with growing one from a bottle of store-bought kombucha tea.  Here is our SCOBY at the left, but if you want to see what others look like, do a quick Google pictures search.

How to Make Kombucha Tea

Day 1:

1.)  Boil 4 quarts of filtered water.  Filtered is very important as chlorine can harm the SCOBY.  If you can't access a Brita (or better) water filter, then let your water sit out over night to let the chlorine evaporate.

2.) Remove from heat.  Add 4 tea bags and let steep for 20 minutes.

3.) Remove tea bags.  Stir in 1 cup of sugar and let cool.

4.) Pour room temperature tea into glass bowl and add the SCOBY and 1/2 cup of kombucha from the last batch as a starter.  It is important to have some active yeast from the last batch added to get the process moving.

5.)  Cover bowl with a tea towel.  We put two strips of tape on the towel so it doesn't droop into the tea.  Since it's winter, we're not too concerned about securing the towel down, but in the spring and summer, when fruit flies are a plenty, you'll want to secure it around the bowl with a rubber band or string.  Or you can ferment the kombucha in a large canning jar instead of a bowl and use the canning jar ring to lock the edges of the towel down and keep the flies out.

6.)  Let it sit undisturbed in a dark place for about 8-12 days (we keep ours on top of the fridge). The longer it sits, the less sweet it will be as more of the sugar gets consumed. You can sample it with a straw to see how long you want to wait.

Q: Refined sugar is not part of the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans.  I know it's best to avoid refined sugar. Can I use a natural alternative like honey instead?

A: From what I’ve read, the SCOBY does best with sugar in the most simple form possible. Almost all of the sugar will be consumed before you drink the kombucha.  The SCOBY eats the sugar and turns it into the acids that are good for us.  You can make it with honey, but it's harder to perfect, and honey costs way more.  With our budget, we'll be sticking with cheap white sugar.

Day 12 (or sooner, if you prefer.  We usually do this at 9-10 days):

1. Remove the SCOBY from the jar and clean it with your fingers in distilled white vinegar.  Brush away any sediments from the SCOBY and make sure no mold growth is apparent.
   
2. Reserve a half cup of kombucha to start the next batch.  Place in a small clean glass jar for storing.  Add the clean SCOBY to the jar, seal, and place in the fridge until you are ready to make your next batch.
   
   
3. Pour the kombucha into locking jars. We're using glass locking jars with rubber seals that we got from IKEA.  You can find similar at Whole Foods, bottling or brewing stores, and possibly even Walmart in their canning section.  A batch this size fills three 32-oz bottles.
   
4. Add flavoring if you like, then seal the jars.  Some of the tastiest ones we have made are ginger lemon, strawberry banana, grape, and mint.
   
   
5. Let the bottles sit in a dark place at room temperature for at least 7 days. This improves the flavor and adds carbonation.  After 7 days, transfer the bottles to the refrigerator.  They’re ready to drink and taste best cold!

Q: I’m not sure if my SCOBY looks right. How would I know if it’s contaminated?

A: Try searching Google for photos to compare. If your SCOBY has brown tendrils on it, that’s probably just extra yeast, and you can remove those. If you think your SCOBY has mold on it, be safe and start over.

For further help on brewing your own kombucha tea, check here for another version of directions:  http://www.kombu.de/anleit-e.htm

To better health!  Enjoy!

Almond Cookies

This recipe was perfect for the Holidays this year!  These are a little different than your typical sugar cookies made with white flour, but these taste GREAT and are so much better for you.  These cookies bake up a little more cakey in texture than crispy-crunchy.

Almond Cookies
Makes 15 Cookies

2 cups fine ground almond flour
1 Tbsp pure almond extract
2 free range eggs, slightly beaten
1 pinch sea salt
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp Spoonable Stevita stevia powder (more or less to taste)

1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking.  Mix together almond flour, almond extract, eggs, sea salt, coconut oil, lemon zest, baking soda and stevia.

2.)  Shape dough into Tablespoon sized balls one inch apart on cookie sheet.

3.)  Bake until puffed and golden, about 14-18 minutes.  Cool cookies on baking sheet about 2 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

TIP:  Top dough balls with raw sliced almonds or raw pine nuts then bake for a decorative touch.  For another variation, drizzle baked and cooled cookies with melted unsweetened chocolate mixed with stevia.