High Energy Breakfast

Looking for a high energy breakfast?  Well, here is an option.  Muesli is a mixture of rolled oats, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.  It adheres to a blue zone diet and a mediterranean diet.   

I boiled it with milk for 5 minutes and ate one serving. It lasted until lunch. Tomorrow I'm going to try it made the same way only I'm adding in some fresh blackberries.  I also read that you can add honey, but it was plenty sweet for me without the honey.

Recipe: Meat and Veggie Soup

This recipe was given to me by my Mother-in-law.  I make it with or without the meat.  On this day, I made it without the meat.  I also used all frozen veggies. I usually buy a mixed bag of veggies, but Meijer had a sale on veggies so I just bought a bunch of frozen and placed them in the freezer downstairs for later use.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of hamburger meat (optional)

2 cups water

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 pkg. french onion soup

1 pkg. mixed frozen veggies

1 tsp. sugar (optional)

Brown hamburger and drain.  Add the remaining ingredients into the pot.  Simmer until the veggies are at your desired softness.

Beef Stir Fry Recipe

I was looking for a recipe today to keep with our new eating habits and found a few that I liked. They merged into one, and it was really good!

1 package beef stripes

1/3 c. Stir Fry Sauce

1 TBS Wok Oil

1/2 c. Rice Sticks, boiled or fried

1/3 c. green onions

3/4 c. carrots

3/4 c. zucchini

3/4 c. broccoli

Marinate the meat for at least one hour in the Stir Fry sauce.  I did it for almost exactly one hour, but I think it would be better a little longer.
I served this meal with lettuce cups and brown rice.

Cut all the veggies to approximately the same size so they cook evenly.  Cook your rice sticks (takes about 10 minutes).  Warm the pan and pour in the Wok Oil.  Brown the meat in the stir fry sauce.  Poor in the veggies and cook until your desired tenderness. I put the lid on the pan for a few minutes to steam the veggies.
I was going to take a picture of the finished product, but it was gone before I thought of it.  It was good over rice or in the lettuce wraps.  

Recipes of the Week

I tried out two new recipes this week. Both are what I would consider "Blue Zone" and Green entrees.

The first one is Ratatouille.  I love eggplant, so I just went to AllRecipes and typed it in and this was the first recipe that came up that didn't have any meat in it.  This recipe was submitted by Lynette Marie and it passed the test. It makes A LOT, so I used a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and cooked it for 60 minutes.  I served it over brown rice. To be honest, it was better the next day for lunch, so make sure you make a little more brown rice than you'll need for dinner.  This follows the Blue Zone because it has all fresh plant based ingredients and no meat.  It can also be considered green if you went with all organic ingredients and it has no meat.

Ratatouille

4 Servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes (took me 25)

Cook Time: 45 minutes (I did 60)

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• salt to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
3. Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

The second recipe is Mozzarella Chicken Ciabatta Sandwich.  This was excellent! I felt like we were in a restaurant and not in our dining room.  I found it on RecipeZaar which they found in Cooking Light Magazine.  This follows the Blue Zone because there really isn't that much chicken on each sandwich, it is more of a side than the focus of the meal.  Make sure you get the fresh basil for the sandwich because the flavor combinations are great! I also got fresh mozzarella rather than shredded, so it needed a little more time under the broiler.

Mozzarella Chicken Ciabatta Sandwich

SERVES 4 (change servings and units)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
• 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
• 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 (8 ounce)  ciabatta, loaf
• 12 large basil leaves
• 3/4 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup roasted red pepper, sliced (bottled ok!)
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced

Directions

1. 1

   Combine pesto and mayo in a small bowl, stirring to blend.

2. 2

   Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt.

3. 3

   Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

4. 4

   Add chicken and cook until done.

5. 5

   Remove and place on cutting board to cool slightly.

6. 6

   Cut chicken lenghtwise into thin slices.

7. 7

   Preheat broiler.

8. 8

   Cut ciabatta in half horizontally.

9. 9

   Place bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet.

10. 10

    Broil until lightly browned (please watch so bread doesn't burn!). Remove bread from pan.

11. 11

    Spread pesto mixture evenly over cut sides of bread.

12. 12

    Arrange the chicken slices evenly over bottom half.

13. 13

    Top chicken evenly with basil leaves, and sprinkle cheese over top.

14. 14

    Place bottom half on baking sheet and broil until cheese melts (watch it!).

15. 15

    Arrange bell pepper and tomato over cheese and cover with top half of bread.

16. 16

    Cut into 4 equal slices and serve immediately.

It seems like a lot of steps, but they just break it down for you.  I found the pesto in the ethnic food isle of the grocery store by the tomato sauces.

Try them out and let me know what you think!