Can you direct me to the escarole-ehshshesh-shhh??

Here's a question I've been asked many times:

WHERE THE HELL DO YOU FIND SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS!??

Honestly, I get a bit frustrated with the obscurity of ingredients in some of the cookbooks and magazines. I mean, Ostrich tenderloins? Like... really? Not just the random meats, but some of the small things thrown in there sound like they're written in pig-latin. But I've found that a quick Google seach of the ingredient will tell you what it is... will give you a good idea of what you can substitute it with! I know, I know, it's probably bastardizing someone's recipe creation... but screw that, I live in a small city in western Canada. Even if some of the grocery stores get it in, the staff hasn't heard of it, and it's in a random place that NO ONE WOULD LOOK FOR IT. And the only people who are buying it are the people specifically scouring their brain trying to sort out where the hell 'daikon radish' would be. I would have to drive 3 hours to the next major city to find some of that shit. Like Kombucha.

Kombucha? Like... whatthefffff...

BUT a quick Wikipedia search will tell you that, "Kombucha is an effervescent tea-based beverage that is often consumed for its anecdotal health benefits or medicinal purposes. Kombucha is available commercially and can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible, solid mass of yeast and bacteria which forms the kombucha culture"
WIKIPEDIA KOMBUCHA LINK

Sounds delightful, no?

But substitutions for most ingredients can be easy.
FOR EXAMPLE:

Agave Nectar. I couldn't find it for the life of me. It's a sweetner that is sweeter than sugar, but much healthier. It doesn't spike your blood-sugar levels like sugar. SO... because I couldn't find it, whenever a recipe asked for Agave Nectar or Agave Syrup, I just used honey instead. :) Where there's a will, there's a way. I brought some agave nectar home from Mexico when I was there in February. A week later, I stumbled on a bottle of it in a store at the mall. FRACK. Agave Nectar comes from the agave plant. Which is used to make tequila. The agave is a wonderous, wonderful thing.

If I don't feel like buying specialty rice, I use brown. Don't have a vanilla bean? Use extract. No special mushrooms in the store with words you cannot pronounce?? ... those other mushrooms in the produce aisle will do just fine. I can't eat broccoli, so I use other greens and veggies instead. I'm allergic to kiwi, so I use strawberries or another fruit. Can't afford a million variations of seeds? Use what you have! Be creative! Hell, you may discover something new and fantastic!

Preparation!

Not for the zombie apocalypse. That's for another blahg. Equally important, though.

This weekend I had a day of time on my hands. Which NEVER HAPPENS. So I took the spare time to bake some awesome morning treats. The problem is that, my partner Philipe is equally into the clean-eating parade as I am. But his job makes it next to impossible for him to prepare for meals, snacks etc, and he barely EVER eats breakfast. Which I am equally as guilty of. Because let me tell you. In my world, morning = the devil. Morning means going to work, which means the end of all things happy as I know it. So therefore, I avoid getting up as MUCH AS POSSIBLE during the week. Because on weekends, most of the time, it's the EXACT OPPOSITE FEELING. Weekends, I get up early, all chipper and eager to take on the day and invest in as many weekend fun non-work related activities as I can cram in. Which is probably a gigantic neon Vegas-sized sign of my unhappiness with my job, but I digress...

Back to my original point. Breakfast = rarity in my house. So the last few weeks, I have tried to be proactive in preparing as many things ahead of time as I can to make the whole breakfast thing a very do-able thing. This has included Banana Coconut Muffins from the January/February 2012 edition of "Women's Running", Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins and Breakfast Fruit and Nut Cookies, both from "The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook" by Tosca Reno. And all batches of these last the week, and then I'm back to square one. :) They're extra delicious, and not only good as a quick grab-and-go for breakfast, but an awesome mid-morning snack as well!

Another breakfast happy-time is smoothies. I throw a banana, frozen (or fresh) strawberries, pineapple (or blueberries, saskatoon berries, raspberries, etc etc etc), skim milk, greek yogurt, ground flax-seed, wheatgerm, coconut oil... or whatever else I feel like... into a blender and whir away. Pour, drink.... ahhhh...

I also cooked up "Gluten Free Taco Bowls" from the Clean Eating Magazine last night. I'm totally going to share this recipe, because it's UNBELIEVABLY delicious. My one weakness is TACOS. I love 'em. I can't get enough of 'em. I'll eat and eat them until I have the food-belly baby and want to vomit. This recipe, has made me love tacos to a totally different level. It's my new guilty pleasure food, without ANY GUILT!!!

Gluten-Free Taco Bowls. Get ready to blow your taste-buds away.

Ingredients:
1tsp xtra virgin olive oil
1/3c. chopped red/yellow onion (I used yellow... because it's what I had.)
1c. brown rice
3 tbsp tomato paste (low sodium)
1 1/2 tsp chile powder, divided
1 tsp ground cumin, divided
1/2 tsp garlic powder, divided
1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 15oz BPA free can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
olive oil cooking spray
1 lb xtra lean ground beef (or I used ground turkey, good with both!)
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 head lettuce (about 3 cups)
3 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2c. fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 cubed avocado
1/2c nonfat plain greek yogurt

HOW YOU DO THIS:
1. Heat oil on medium low in a med saucepan. Add onion & rice, cook, stirring frequently, until rice is glossy and slightly opaque about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat. Add 1/2tsp chili powder, 1/2tsp cumin, 1/4tsp garlic powder, 1/4tsp salt and oregano and stir well. Stir in 2c water and increase heat to high. Cover and boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is tender, about 55 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in beans. Cover and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet on med-high and mist w/cooking spray. Add beef or turkey, cook, breaking up with wooden spoon, until no longer pink 5-7min. Add remaining 1tsp chili powder, 1/2tsp cumin, 1/4tsp garlic powder, 1/4tsp salt. Stir in paprika, onion powder, blk pepper & 1/2c water. Reduce heat to med-low, simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 3-5min. Remove and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine lettuce, tomato, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice. Toss to coat.

4. Layer each serving bowl with rice mixture, beef mixture, lettuce mixture, top with cheese & avocado. Serve with yogurt. Stuff in your word-hole and enjoy.

*Note: If you go ga-ga for lime, the recipe calls to also add lime wedges to each bowl to squirt on top. I found that, considering the whole lime in the lettuce, that the dish was citrus-y enough as it was, and really, I freakin' love lime. But if you want to be an even more limey bastard, so to speak, feel free to follow the proper instructions.

I'M NOT BEING PAID TO POST THIS. I AM POSTING IT BECAUSE IT TASTES LIKE HAPPINESS IN YOUR BELLY. YUMM!!!!


NOTE: I apologize that I have no pictures of food or funny things attached to this blagh entry. I am tired, and forgot to take photos of my creations. So here is a picture of Brian Boitano holding twine.

You're welcome.
I'd like to thank my hero, the bloggess for this. http://thebloggess.com