Avocado, Pineapple Banana Shake

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1/2 Cup Almond Milk

1/2 Avocado

2 Cups Spinach

1 Banana

1/2 Cup Pineapple

Juice of 1 Lemon (3tbs)

1 Cup Ice

1tbs Minced Ginger (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Put the spinach and almond milk in the blender first. You'll want to be sure you've tightly packed your cup of spinach, get all that good stuff in there. Once you've blended that down, add everything but the ice. Blend again for just a few moments and then add the ice. Blend to desired texture.

NOTES:

This one isn't bad at all. I added the mince ginger but I think from here on out, I'll leave it out. I've decided I'm not too fond of tasting ginger in my smoothie - don't get me wrong, I like ginger... just not in my smoothie. BUT if you like it in your smoothie, its good for you, so put it in... or don't... but certainly no more than the 1 tablespoon because then you'll just have a ginger smoothie.

As for the pineapple - I totally cheated and used one of those small 8oz cans of crushed pineapple (or at least I think it was 8oz...whatever the smallest can size is).  Its what I had in a pinch and it worked just find. Saved me the cutting and mess too.

This smoothie was very filling, tasty enough, but again.. the ginger wasn't my friend, but don't let that keep you from trying it.

Antioxidant Cheers!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 Cup Kale
1/2 Cup Pomegranate Juice
2 Cups of Frozen Blackberries, Blueberries, Strawberries
1/2 Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt


Blend your kale and juice first. Add the rest.

Did you know, that Kale has more iron per calorie than beef AND its high in fiber. Its true!

In fact, dark leafy greens have more nutrients per calorie than most foods and are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins (like K, C, E, and B), minerals (think iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium),  and phytonutrients (like beta-carotene, lutein). I mean, that alone should be enough for you to go for it. 

And here's a tip.. it blends out green but then when you add the berries, it turns purple - and that means, no turned up noses at the table because they are too busy slurping up this purple goodness.

A Basic Smoothie

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 Cup Spinach
2 Bananas
1 Cup Frozen Strawberries
1/2 Cup Grape/Apple Juice


DIRECTIONS:
Fairly basic.  Blend the juice and spinach together first. Always do this first. It just makes it better Easier.  Then add the remaining ingredients.  Add more juice if you want it looser. Add ice if you want it slushier.  Thats it!

Jap Chae

 (Adapted from Steamy Kitchen)

Jap Chae is a Korean dish, made using glass noodles. These vermicelli type noodles are made from sweet potato starch.  When I think vermicelli, my mind goes directly to the rice kind, often used in Vietnamese dishes, so I was excited to try this sweet potato version.  Pretty easy to make, Jap Chae was an instant hit in this house hold.

Here's a little history. History is always pretty interesting....
Japchae was first made in the early 17th century, when the Joseon Dynasty was reigning in the Korean peninsula. When King Gwanghaegun hosted a big party at his palace, one of his lieges, Yi Chung, created this dish to please the king’s palate. The king liked this dish so much that he rewarded his liege by promoting him to the position of hojo panseo (hangul: 호조판서, hanja: 戶曹判書, equivalent to the Secretary of the Treasury).^[1] At the time, japchae was made with vegetables and mushrooms, such as sliced cucumber, shredded mu, and pyogo (shiitake) mushroom. Since the early 20th century, dangmyeon (cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch) has become an integral and primary ingredient of this variety of japchae.
(Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japchae)


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 pound dried Korean sweet potato noodles - found at any Asian market.
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced onions
• 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks scallions, cut into 1″ lengths
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced - I used Wood Ear.
• 1/2 lb spinach - I used pre-bagged to be simple.
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

 Boil the noodles for approx. 5 minutes.  Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and toss with 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil - this helps prevent sticking.

Chop all your vegetables.  I was able to find fresh wood ear mushrooms at the Asian market. If you can't, you can always grab some of the dried ones, or even some shitake.  For the dried ones, you'll have to soak them in water for about 15 minutes, drain them and then they'll be ready to cook.

Mix the soy sauce and sugar and set aside.

Fire up your wok.  Add the tablespoon of oil in and swirl it around to coat the wok.

Start with the carrots and onions. You'll want to stir fry them until they are soft.

Next, toss in the garlic, scallions, and mushrooms. Stir fry for half a minute.

Now add the spinach, noodles, soy sauce, and sugar.  Mix it all together and stir fry until the spinach has wilted, and the noodles are heated through. 

Turn off heat, toss with sesame seeds and remaining 1 1/2 tsp of sesame oil.

Eat like a king.

**  I added some tofu to the dish. **  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 - 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Drain and cut tofu into bite sized cubes.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside - except the oil. Taste it.. add more sugar if you want it sweeter.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking.  
4. Add the tofu, turning gently until its coated with the oil. Shake the pan from time to time so nothing sticks. Fry the tofu until it turns yellow, but not crispy and brown.
5. Add the sauce and stir gently to blend.
6. Cover the skillet and turn the heat down. Let it set for about 5 minutes or so.  You can add a spoon or two of water if the sauce dries up.
7. Add to your Jap Chae when ready to serve.

Hobak Jeon ~ Korean Zucchini Pancakes

By NO means do I claim to
know what the heck i'm doing here with this recipe but I decided I'd give it a shot and well, it all turned out A-OK.  Probably totally laughable by an expert.....or even semi-expert, but it was tasty and thats really all I care about.  I had grabbed this bag of Korean pancake mix from the Korean market awhile back because the picture looked so yummy and the instructions looked easy enough.  I could have done all of this from scratch, but half the recipe was in a bag.... I'm lazy.

                              


You Will Need:
1 large zucchini.
2-3 large carrots.
1 large onion.
1 bag of pancake mix - 500g (easily found in the Korean grocery).
3 3/4 cups of water.
2 tsp salt.
Oil.

Step 1:

Chop the zucchini into matchstick sized pieces.

Step 2:

Place the matchsticks in a strainer and sprinkle with some salt and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  The zucchini will get soft, the liquid will drain out. 

Step 3:
Grate the carrots and onion.  You may be shocked to know I never grated an onion a day in my life before this.  Grating is pretty cool really. Go ahead and laugh, but I was excited.
Shut up.

Step 4:
Mix the water with the entire contents of the bag. Stir until all lumps are gone.

Step 5:

Now you get to add everything to the mix and stir. We're getting closer to the final product! I'm so hungry.

Step 6:
Heat a pan on medium heat and add some oil.  When oil is hot, pour about a cup full of batter into the pan. Add more if needed to fill the pan. Spread everything around evenly.


You'll want to cook until the bottom is brown and then flip it over and brown the other side. The entire bag of mix made more than enough to feed four people with lots of left overs.  You can reheat the leftovers by re-frying or use the lazy method like me - microwave. Its just as tasty I think.

     

Step 7: Dipping Sauce
You gotta make dipping sauce, because well, you gotta. It completes the dish really.


I just mixed soy sauce and rice vinegar together.  The amount depends on how much you'd like to make.
Whatever that is, rice vinegar should be about half of the soy sauce.  So 4tbs soy sauce to 2tbs rice vinegar.
And if you'd like to spice it up, you can add some chili.

And as an accompaniment, I fried up some dumplings. Store bought. Same dipping sauce.  Deeeelishus.

Broccoli and Cheese Bites

(original recipe from Wholesomebabyfood.com) 


If you're looking for a way to get your kids to eat vegetables, this is an absolutely perfect broccoli in disguise of a nugget recipe.  I actually don't have any problems getting my son to eat vegetables, he really loves them, but I can say he gobbled these up faster than fast. 


What You'll Need:


1 16oz package of frozen broccoli - cooked, drained, thawed and chopped. You can use fresh as well.
1 1/2  cups shredded cheese.
3 large eggs.
1 cup of seasoned Italian bread crumbs.
Pepper - few shakes.
Garlic Salt - few shakes.


Directions:


Pre-heat oven at 375.


Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and form small bite sized nuggets.


Place them on a baking sheet - you can either lightly spray it with olive oil or line it with parchment paper (no oil).


Bake for 15 mins turn them over and bake another 10.


I ate mine up with ranch dressing. BBQ wasn't too bad either. And little man of course dunked his in ketchup.