Tuna salad

I have a confession.
I'm a mayonaise snob.
I can tell if you're trying to serve my anything but Best Foods. Try and give me light mayo? No thanks, I'd rather lick the cat box (I could be exaggerating, but only a little.)  I really love tuna salad sandwiches but the way I traditionally make them isn't really part of my new diet, mostly because of the mayonaise (well, and the bread...) So I revamped my tuna salad.

The first thing that obviously had to go was the mayonaise. I used olive oil instead to hold it all together. I added A LOT more veggies than I ever had (do pickles count as vegetables? Because that's the only veggies that ever made it into my old tuna salad recipe) and various seasonings including dill and turmeric powder. The best thing about this recipe is that you can completely customize it. Lemon would be good if you skipped the turmeric. Anything you like, the possibilites are almost endless.

The other big change I had to make was what to put the salad on. Bread was definitely out and I wasn't in a lettuce wrap sort of mood (although that would work too). I put mine in half an avocado. So delicious! The nice thing about adding the avocado is it sort of adds the creaminess that you miss from not having mayonaise. You could put it in half a bell pepper too.

Tuna Salad

serves 4

1-12 oz can chunk light tuna in water, drained

1 carrot, diced

1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2-3 Tbs  olive oil

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp dill

2 avocados, halved

Add all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Toss to combine. Serve over half of an avocado.

A new plan

This isn't a recipe, but bear with me.

After my daughter was born in 2008, I developed carpal tunnel so badly in my wrists that I could hardly pick up my baby. I FINALLY went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. It wasn't really explained well to me except that I was told I would have to take a medication for the rest of my life. It took a little while to figure out a good dosage, but eventually they got my levels into a range that they liked. I felt OK.

After my son was born 15 months ago, a different doctor tested my TSH levels again and decided that it was too high and wanted to reduce my medication. Since then it's been up and down which means I've felt like CRAP.

I finally hit my limit last month. I was sick of feeling tired and worn down all the time and with two VERY energetic kiddos running around,  I couldn't afford to just keep going the way I've been going. So I found a new doctor.

This time I decided to try a Naturopathic doctor. So far I've been really happy with her. She immediately ordered a bunch of blood tests including a food allergy panel and one to check my vitamin D levels. Ends up I had a pretty decent vitamin D deficiency and also a sensitivity to eggs along with my TSH level being high and my thyroid antibodies being off the charts.

So here's where this doctor rocks. Not only does she say, yea we need to adjust your thyroid medicine dosage, but she also explains things to me! She explained that Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disorder which means my stupid immune system is attacking my poor thyroid. So instead of basically saying, here, take this medicine until your body eventually kills your thyroid and we have to remove it, she says lets try some things to stop your immune system from attacking you. She started me on several supplements including some for immune function and vitamin D.

OK, now I'll get to the part that is pertinent to this blog (FINALLY, right?) The next thing that my doctor suggested was to try a low carb (yea my blood sugar was elevated too, stupid thyroid's fault) and gluten free diet. AHHHH!!! my stomach screamed. Or maybe it was my taste buds. I love cake! I love cookies! I love bread! But my brain won out by reminding me that I hardly had the energy to bake those lovely things (or blog about them.) So I nodded and made an appointment with the nutritional therapist on staff.

This lady also rocks. She explained a lot of things to me about how diet and immune system work including how my intolerance to eggs may upset my immune system too. She suggested I start a gluten free diet and recommended a version of the Paleo diet. Basically a higher (healthy) fat and protein diet and  a reduced carbohydrate diet (I get 100-150 grams of carbs per day.)

What I'm getting to with this SUPER long post is that the way that I cook and bake is going to change. The good news, I got the go-ahead on butter and bacon, HOORAY! The bad news, well that's obvious. Less sugar, fewer eggs, and no gluten. I have to relearn how to cook and even more so, bake. But I'm ready to try anything to get my life back on track.

Mexican Oven Omelet

Breakfast is not my strength.

Don't get me wrong, I can make pancakes and waffles and even some pretty decent scrambled eggs, but creatively I don't venture too far outside the box. But this morning I thought I'd try mixing it up a bit.

I bought a big bag of avocados from Costco and man are they DELICIOUS! I knew I wanted to incorporate those into this meal and I had a lot of eggs too. I thought about something I saw on Pinterest where they baked the eggs inside the avocado halves. I mentioned this to the husband. He looked skeptical. So I decided to go a different direction. I also had some tomatoes sitting on my counter that were about to go past their prime (who am I kidding, there are no "prime" tomatoes this time of year in Washington) and all the rest of the fixin's for some fresh salsa. So I decided to make a Mexican inspired baked omelet.

This was SO easy, folks. I mean, seriously, so easy. The pepper jack cheese added just enough heat and using garlic powder and ground coriander added lots of flavor without all the chopping and sautéing. 

You know what else is awesome, it was only 180 calories per serving! Hooray!

MEXICAN OVEN OMELET
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Salsa:

   3 Ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

   1/4-1/2 cup diced onion

   1/2 cup chopped cilantro

   Juice of 1 lime

   Salt to taste

Omelet:

   6 eggs

   1 cup milk (I used 1% but you can use whatever you want)

   1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

   1 tsp ground coriander

   1 tsp garlic powder

   1 tsp salt (you can always add more later)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Make the salsa first so that the flavors can combine.

Combine all the salsa ingredients into a bowl and toss to combine. Let set while omelet bakes.

Lightly coat a 2 qt baking dish with cooking spray

In a medium bowl lightly whisk the eggs with a fork. Whisk in the milk and cheese. Stir in the seasonings.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. It will be done when the eggs are set and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cut into squares and serve with the salsa and slices of avocado.

Adventist Popcorn

I don't know that I've ever written a post while I was actually eating the thing I was writing about. Today I am!

I grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist Church and was in the Adventist school system up through college. During this time I ate a variety of both delicious (haystacks, yum!) and disgusting (Fri-Chick, yuk!) "Adventist" foods. My all time favorite though has to be Adventist Popcorn.

So what makes popcorn "Adventist" you ask? Its the Brewer's yeast.

After some research (I googled it...) I discovered that the product that we always called Brewer's yeast was in fact Nutritional yeast. This stuff is awesome. It has a cheesy/nutty sort of flavor, very unique tasting, and is loaded with B vitamins. Sprinkled on popcorn, its AMAZING.

You COULD just sprinkle some on whatever microwave popcorn you have on hand and you would have a tasty snack. I prefer this method:

1. Place about 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels in a large paper lunch sack. Fold over the top once and then again and then tape it shut with some painters tape. Lay it down in the microwave and hit the popcorn button (or however long it takes to make popcorn...I don't remember). Tada! You have popcorn. Put it in your popcorn bowl (come on, you know you have one. The one we had when I was a kid doubled as the barf bowl...gross.)

2. Melt a few tablespoons of coconut oil in a bowl in the microwave. You could use butter or any other type of oil but I like the flavor of coconut oil, has a more movie theater-ish taste.

3. Drizzle the melted oil over the popcorn and toss with salt.

4. Finally, sprinkle your desired amount of nutritional yeast over your popcorn and enjoy!

I'm pretty sure it's a rule that you have to eat this with apple slices.

Spaghetti Squash Fettuccine and Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I know, I promised I wouldn't drop off the face of the earth again. But I did. Oops. I'll make it up to you somehow.

Okay, so winter squash is everywhere and its cheap. Awesome. Its also cheap calorie wise (42 calories per cup as opposed to 221 calories in a cup of cooked spaghetti pasta.) You know what that means? You can load on the sauce! I've made spaghetti squash with a tomato based sauce before and it was great, but I was really in the mood for some chicken fettuccine alfredo tonight. So I made it. And it rocked.

First, I roasted the spaghetti squash. Its really simple: cut squash in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet and back in a 425 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until you can slide a knife through it easily. Now all you have to do is scrape out the squash into a bowl. It will look a lot like a bowl of yellow pasta. Cool, right?

While the squash is cooking, you make the Alfredo sauce. I used half and half instead of cream so that cut the calories a little bit, but you don't have to. Remember, you're not eating pasta (you'll forget when you take a bite.) I threw in some of the leftover rotisserie chicken from last night (I love Costco) but you can make this vegetarian if you like. By the way, the nutmeg is pretty important to the alfredo sauce. Don't skip it, I promise it makes a big difference.

I still felt like I needed a vegetable to go with this meal. I had a huge bag of brussels sprouts (also from Costco) and I pan roasted them with garlic. I know a lot of people hate brussels sprouts, but they really don't suck. At least not like this (they still do if you boil them.)

Dinner turned out pretty yummy! The Bug even said "This is good, mommy!" and she ate more than 3 bites. Pretty amazing for her. 

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 whole spaghetti squash

2 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup half and half (or cream)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Freshly grated nutmeg

Ground red pepper

For the Squash: 

1. Cut in half, lengthwise.

2. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.

4. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 35-45 minutes

5. Scrape out squash into a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.

For the Alfredo Sauce:

1. Heat butter over medium heat

2. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant

3. Slowly whisk in half and half and bring just to a boil.

4. Add parmesan and nutmeg, red pepper, salt and pepper to taste

5. Whisk together until smooth

6. Lower heat to low and let the sauce thicken.

7. Serve over  squash.

Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

2-3 cups brussels sprouts-halved

2 Tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp lemon zest

Juice of half of 1 lemon

1. In a medium bowl, combine brussels sprouts, garlic, olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a large non stick skillet over medium high heat

3. Saute brussels sprouts until browned, stirring occasionally.
4. Transfer to a medium bowl, add lemon zest and lemon juice and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Its a cupcake...or is it?!?!

Yep, I'm opening with a picture. Isn't it beautiful? A cupcake with frosting and WAIT?!?! Is that bacon and chives?

Why yes my friend, it is. Things aren't always what they seem. I learned that from Aladdin.

Full disclosure, this isn't really a cupcake. Its a muffin. A quinoa muffin. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart and adapted it to make it less sweet. I omitted the raisins, only added 1/2 cup white sugar instead of brown sugar (I would use even less next time) and left out the vanilla. It makes a pretty dense, but delicious muffin.

For the "frosting" I mixed goat cheese and cream cheese (about half and half) in my food processor. It made a beautiful, creamy white frosting.

All that was left to do was sprinkle some chopped bacon and chives on there. I sat at the dinner table and patted myself on my back for quite a while last night. This turned out PERFECT. It was exactly what I was hoping for. A yummy muffin with the creamy, tart goat cheese frosting and the salty, crispy bacon on top. I made a potato and leek soup to go with it and let me tell you, we were all stuffed.

Oh, by the way, you could use just about whatever kind of not too sweet muffin you wanted to use. I think corn muffins would have been good too. I think I want to try and go even more savory next time and add some sauteed onions or something to the actual muffin.

Grandpa's Super Secret Fudge Recipe

I'm about to do something that would make my grandpa Jim turn over in his grave. I'm going to share his secret fudge recipe with you.

The story that I heard was that my grandpa got this recipe from a woman who bought the recipe from a rather famous candy company. I don't know how true this was. My grandpa also swore up and down that he saw a unicorn in the woods when he worked for the Forest Service. Regardless of where the recipe came from, this will be the best fudge you've ever tasted.

I know, you have a fudge recipe that you make every Christmas and everyone says "oooh, yum, fudge." but its not as good as this recipe. I promise.

The first thing that you'll need is a well seasoned cast iron skillet. I've never made it in anything else. Don't try. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, go buy one. Why don't you already have one anyways? Geez.

The second thing that you'll need to know is that you're basically making a molten lava glue that will burn the bejeezus out of you if you get it anywhere on you. So don't. Along those same lines, make sure any little children or animals that you have running around your house are tucked snugly in bed or wherever you choose to keep them. Just keep them out of your kitchen.

So here's what you'll need:

1 12 oz package of semi sweet chocolate chips- I always use nestle'
Just under 1 cup of evaporated milk, maybe a tablespoon and a half less than a cup
13 regular sized marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
1 cube of unsalted butter
1 cup nuts (optional)
2 cups sugar

As you can see by the picture, I didn't add nuts. I really like to add pecans and my mom adds walnuts a lot of the time. I want to try adding macadamia nuts next time. I skipped it this time because we're taking this batch with us over to some friends' house for dinner and I didn't know if they liked nuts or not. Better safe than sorry!

So your first step is to cut your cube of butter into small pieces and put that into the mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer.) Add the chocolate chips and the vanilla to that bowl as well

In your cast iron skillet, mix the sugar and evaporated milk together with a wire whisk. Add the marshmallows and heat over a medium-low heat. Adjust the heat as everything is melting so your mixture doesn't bubble over and create a huge, sticky monster mess.

This is what the mixture will look like when the marshmallows have just melted. Keep stirring and cooking.

It should look more like this. I don't even own a candy thermometer so I couldn't tell you what the temperature of it should be but it should be the color of a perfectly toasted marshmallow and it should separate easily when you run your whisk through it. This step might take some practice. Getting it dark enough is the key to keeping the fudge from being gritty but you have to make sure it doesn't burn either. No pressure, right?

When your marshmallow mixture is the perfect color and consistency, you will, CAREFULLY, pour it into the mixing bowl with the chocolate chips, butter and vanilla. I'm going to stress this, you're basically pouring sticky lava into another bowl from a scorching hot skillet. Don't get any on you!

All that's left is to mix it all up. Keep mixing until it starts to set up and then, using a spatula, smooth it all into a parchment paper lined, square baking pan (this is the only part of the recipe I changed from Grandpa's version. He greased the pan with butter, but I didn't like the greasiness of it on the bottom.) If you got the marshmallow mixture to the perfect temp this should set up at room temperature. If it doesn't set up quickly, stick it in the fridge. I usually do that anyways because I can hardly wait to taste it.

Hopefully Grandpa won't come back and haunt me for sharing this with all of you...