Welcome!!!

Welcome to my blog! I appreciate you coming to visit. I’m in the process of slowly moving to wordpress from blogger. All of my new recipes are being posted here but there are a few awesome ones left over at the old site. If you want to hop over there and have a peak, you can find it here www.alimentarydearwatson.blogspot.com

I will do anything for a baby goat

ABOUT ME:

I’m learning to be passionate about being healthy and in the process I’m learning what it means to actually be healthy. 3 years ago, my culinary prowess was pretty much limited to rice …  from the mircowave. When I started teaching myself how to cook, I began by using recipes that had 5 ingredients or less and included ingredients that I already had on hand or could easily hunt down. In 2009 I started Weight Watchers and lost 50 pounds in six months. I started plugging away at this blog in response to the friends and family who wanted access to the healthy recipes that were helping me lose weight. In February of 2012, my boyfriend and I committed 60 days to a Gluten Free diet in the interest of seeing what changes we encountered. The 60 days came and went and we are still living a GF lifestyle. We both lost 10 pounds, feel more energized and more clear headed and to top it all off,  my skin conditions are clearing up, including Rosacea, which has tortured me for 6 years! I’m not here to preach a GF diet though, I’m interested in helping people lead a healthier lifestyle. Keeping that in mind, all of these recipes can easily be adapted to meet a non-gluten free life, so please don’t let it intimidate you. This blog has had a few facelifts, adapting as I adapt. I’ve started going back and tagging everything differently. If a recipe has been tagged Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Vegan etc. it simply means I’ve offered alternatives to meet those needs. Every recipe that I post has been made and tested by me and my significant other. They all meet my standards of easy to medium difficulty and for the most part won’t take up a lot of time in your busy day. I am more than happy to answer questions, as well as help you adapt a recipe to your needs (one I’ve posted or you can email me one if you have something in mind) I also love comments!

Much love,

Alisha

 

Coconut Curry Squash

Curry curry curry CURRY – I freaking LOVE curry. It falls under the comfort food category. I know, I’ve said it before. I’ll probably say it again. Please don’t hold this against me! When I want something easy, fast, and healthy but loaded with seemingly complex flavors, I turn to curry. A few basic spices on your spice rack will provide you with the opportunity to curry-up any dish you please. Turmeric mainly. Turmeric is probably one of the healthiest spices in history. There is currently a ton of research into the health benefits of Turmeric and its compounds. A lot of the research is focussed on Turmeric’s effects on diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis (it’s a known anti-inflammatory) and diabetes. The answer is to use Turmeric in everything. Turn everything orange!

I digress though - this dish is hearty, healthy and will be ready to eat in less than half an hour! That’s a win!

INGREDIENTS
2 small Butternut Squash – Peeled and cubed
1 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Cayenne Powder
1 tbsp Grapeseed Oil
1 medium Onion – Diced
6 cloves Garlic – Sliced or minced
2 tbsp Ginger – Finely grated
1 15oz can Coconut Milk – Full Fat
3 tbsp Red Curry Paste
3 tbsp Peanut Butter – Creamy, Natural
1/2 tbsp Honey or Agave
1 28oz can Diced Tomatoes

METHOD
- Peel, deseed and cube the butternut squash. Put the squash in a medium bowl and add all 4 spices. Toss to coat and set aside.
- In large skillet, heat oil then add onion, garlic and ginger. Sautee until onion is starting to soften. Add coconut milk and bring to a low simmer.
- When coconut milk is hot, add curry paste, peanut butter and honey. Whisk to combine into coconut milk. Add can of tomatoes and spice coated squash.
- Cover skillet and simmer until squash is soft.
- Serve over rice, pasta noodles, quinoa, millet or bulgur. Or eat as it. Bulgur is what is called for in the original recipe.

NOTES
- Use Agave if eating vegan.
- I served mine over gluten free noodles but it would be just as satisfying if eating as is with a side salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serves 6
Weight Watchers points per serving – 7
Calories – 268.1
Fat – 13.7g
Fibre – 7.5g
Sodium – 487.8mg
Carbohydrates – 30.3g
Protein – 6.4g

Vegan Raw Chocolate Pudding

Hey, I’m not going to lie to you; I like pudding. I think the same goes for most people. It’s delicious! But it isn’t healthy. By any stretch of the imagination. I actually found this pudding more satisfying than regular chocolate pudding. There’s no added sugar. There’s no dairy. It’s all healthy, digestable fats. This is healthy stuff but I can assure you, aside from a slight flavor distinction, you won’t know it’s healthy – and I’m willing to bet good money your kids won’t notice either!

 

Thai Coconut Lentils

I love hearty, flavorful dishes. You could give me mud in a bowl if it filled me up and tasted awesome. I also love savory foods, even desserts. So, while I was ‘working’ today, I stumbled over this recipe and thought to myself; “Hmm I can stop and get some cabbage, this should be easy. I like easy” So after work I grabbed a small cabbage and came home. There’s a few steps to this but none of them are complicated and it doesn’t take that long to cook. Dinner in (almost) no time! I’ll make this again, no doubt about it. I’ll probably tweak it a bit every time I make it – maybe add some green curry next time. And if I can find the ingredient required in the original recipe (Tom Kha) then I’ll try it like that! I like that about a recipe.

Coconut Sweet Potato Muffins

I love (loooooooove!) these muffins. It was a spontaneous decision to make them and I’m so glad I did. I saw the recipe on Pinterest, knew I had all the ingredients on hand and of course I had just finished cleaning my kitchen, so the timing was perfect. They came together in under ten minutes, which is really my idea of the best kind of baking. You can adjust the ingredients to use what you have on hand or to make them vegan if that’s what you prefer. The recipe only makes 9 muffins and I’ll double it next time. A healthy treat for your and your family. I’m sure your kids won’t be disappointed!

All Purpose Spice

This is a super simple spice mix that you can throw together any time, store in an air tight container for months and months and use in whatever you feel fit. It’s great rubbed on a whole chicken before throwing it in a roasting pan or the slow cooker. Also works really well in pulled pork. But my absolute favourite is as a spice for Homestyle Hasbrowns. Easiest side dish ever.

Homestyle Hashbrowns

I’m not vegan. Though I appreciate veganism and am totally down with throwing some vegan meals into my weekly routine. Especially when the recipe is so good you aren’t obliged to tell your significant other about dinner’s lack of all thing animal. So I bought this amazing cookbook called “The Garden of Vegan” It’s a local cookbook and everything I’ve tried is awesome. One might think “Hashbrowns? Why waste your time posting about hashbrowns?” I’m sharing with you because it is so easy and it spices up regular ole’ hashbrowns (and because sharing is what I do!) Breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Caulfredo Pasta

Who isn’t a fan of alfredo sauce? I mean honestly. Creamy, garlicky, saucy. I think the only ones of us who ‘hate’ alfredo sauce are those of us who are mindful of our weight and caloric intake and have to gently ‘remind’ ourselves that we hate alfredo sauce and thus we can overcome our lack of will power. While this sauce isn’t a perfect alfredo, it’s certainly yummy and I will happily allow it to fill my true alfredo void. Especially if it means that a delicious meal of pasta is less than 200 calories! I don’t think you can fault me for wanting this in my life. When I described this dinner to someone they dubbed it Caulfredo sauce so thus its name. General concensus of feedback on this pasta is that it’s a bit bland on its own. I definitely recommend adding some sauteed veggies or meat. The image below is orange and red bell pepper, onion and italian sausage. So.Damn.Good.

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup

Not that long ago, I didn’t like soup. I didn’t like canned soup or homemade soup but after I started to learn how to cook I discovered that soups are probably some of the most nutritious, delicious, hearty and EASY meals you could make. Plus, the options are absolutely, positively, endless. When I started to make my own soups, adapt them to what I wanted, the clouds parted, the sun came out and it’s been a sunny day ever since. Canned soups have waaay too much sodium. Honestly, in almost the same amount of time it takes to open the can, throw it in a bowl, microwave it and serve it, you can make a whole pot of delicious, low sodium, almost fat free soup. If it’s convenience you’re after with a can of soup, I highly recommend freezing it. Whip up a batch, divide it into freezable containers and freeze it. Take it for lunch or wherever else you’ll need it! We made this soup with some gluten free (Kinnikinnick brand white bread) grilled cheese sandwiches and it was amazing. A perfect combination! But you could also make some Baking Powder Biscuits with the soup and be just as satisfied.

Spinach and Millet Timbale

Until this afternoon I didn’t know what a Timbale was and I’m willing to bet that a significant number of people haven’t heard of it either. To be honest, I’m not sure I even know now. But, it’s good to know (assume) that I’m not alone. It’s basically a quiche without a crust. It’s similar to a gratin but it is made in a hot water bath to prevent the sides from browning and it comes out of the pan easier. I was looking around for a new recipe for this week and came across this on Pinterest. Seemed easy enough, had all the ingredients, we’re good to go. There’s two ways to make this, I’ve only tried one. If you don’t have ramekins, make it in a large pan, it will take longer for the eggs to set but the results will be the same. You could also make it with quinoa!

**Quick Update – While this dish was great for dinner, it was fantastic as a leftover for breakfast. Warmed up in the microwave, a dash of ketchup and it was delicious. The texture held, the shape held and it didn’t become rubbery or slimy like some quiches do. Next time I’ll do spinach and bacon. Mmmm bacon. (Ended up doing broccoli flowers and roasted turkey and it was better than the original!)

Baking Powder Biscuits

I was having a down day today. Not that I was feeling down, just not interested in doing anything but watching movies. I wanted to make something for dinner that was so simple I wouldn’t have to think about it. Potato Leek Soup was the answer to that. I have had this recipe for biscuits waiting in the wings for a while now so when dinner was ready, I whipped ‘em up and threw them in the oven. It was then that I discovered the potato leek soup wasn’t quite ready. I can’t even tell you how hard it was to not eat every single biscuit while waiting for the potatoes to cook. They’re SO good. And simple. And … good. Hunny! Pass another biscuit will ya?