IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN!

I’m talking about summer time. Woohoo!! 

If it’s summer time, you know what that means, BBQ TIME!!! I love a good bbq. 

Here is a great chicken & cilantro recipe that Victoria and I love to have during the summer time. 

Enjoy!

Kesto!

Basil pesto, puh-leassse!  Let’s spice this sucker up by using kale instead. Kale pesto.

I know what you’re thinking, GENIUS! Ill be honest, it wasn’t my idea. It was my mother in-law’s. She is the mad scientist behind this recipe. We’re also using walnuts instead of pine nuts.

Kale is wonderful for so many reasons. It’s highly rich in antioxidants, high in fiber, high in iron, high in vitamin K and vitamin A, has anti-inflammatory properties, etc. 

Let’s just say IT’S REALLY GREAT FOR YOU!

Without further a-do here is the best kale pesto (aka kesto) recipe:

Tools:

- Food processor or food blender

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups of Kale
• 1/4 Cup of Walnuts (Chopped)
• 2 Cloves ofChopped Garlic
• 2/3 Cup of Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup of Grated Cheese

Step 1: In a food processor toss in the kale, walnuts, and garlic. Blend them together until all of the kale & walnuts are finely chopped

Step 2: Pour in half of the olive oil and blend for about 30s. Then toss in the rest of the olive oil and blend again.

Step 3: Lastly, put in the grated cheese and blend. Here comes the best part, put it on whatever you would like. Ha! It is SO GOOD!! Enjoy it! 

Who Loves Ranch Dressing?

Kyle loves ranch dressing! I am not kidding. 

As a kid, I put ranch dressing on pizza, nachos, and lots of sandwiches. 

I wanted to make my own ranch dressing because not only is it healthier but I know what ingredients is actually in the dressing. 

So, here is my ranch dressing recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of 2% greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup of buttermilk powder
• 1 Tablespoon of onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon of onion flakes
• 2 Tablespoons of parsley flakes
• 1 Tablespoon of garlic or garlic paste
• 1 Teaspoon of Red Pepper (If you want to kick it up a notch)
• Salt & pepper for taste

Step 1- Toss all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Step 2- Season to taste.

Step 3- Store it in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days in a airtight container or tupperware.

BUNS OF STEEL!

Now that I have your attention obviously these buns are not made out of steel. That would not be tasty. 

Instead they are made out of cauliflower. 

The other day Victoria and I were making burgers but we didn’t have any bread or buns. The only thing we had was cauliflower.

So what does one do when there is only cauliflower? They make cauliflower buns of course!

They do taste pretty darn good and you get to have at least two servings of veggies per burger. BOOMSHAKALAKA!!

Here is my cauliflower bun recipe: 

Ingredients:

-   3/4 of Cauliflower

• 4-6 Tbsp of coconut flower
• 2 Tbsp of garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp of salt
• 4-6 Eggs

Tools: 

• Food processor

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Take out a baking sheet and line it up with parchment paper (if you don’t have that, you can use aluminum foil).

Step 2: Put all the cauliflower in the food processor and pulse until finely shredded. 

Step 3: Crack all of the eggs in a large bowl with the dry ingredients and slowly add in the cauliflower and mix it all together. 

Step 4: Take a small portion of the cauliflower mixture and put it on the baking sheet. Press down on the small portion with your hands until it becomes flat. Continue to do this until all of the mixture is on the baking sheet. I personally made 6 buns with this mixture, but you probably could make smaller buns and make more. 

Step 5: Stick it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. 

Step 6: Take them out of the oven and let them sit for about 2 minutes. After that, enjoy a bite into those awesome buns of cauliflower. Haha!

American baked?

This is not French and it’s not fried, so should we call it American baked? 

I am giving everyone my homemade baked french fry recipe. 

IT IS MY JAM (not the jelly kind, the cool kind. Haha)!!!

The best part about this is you can’t tell that they are baked because they are still golden brown and crispy. 

MIND BLOWN!

Without further ado, here is my baked french fry recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium russet potato
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Half tsp minced onion
• Half tsp garlic powder
• Basil
• Salt & Pepper

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Take out a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil. Make sure you spray the aluminum foil with non-stick spray (I use coconut).   

Step 2: Wash the potato. I like to keep the skin on because I like the taste of it but that is up to you. Cut the potato in half (short ways) then into quarters (long ways), then into slices. Stick all of the cut pieces of potato in a bowl.

Step 3: Put all of the spices into the bowl with the potato slices and pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top. Mix until all of the potato pieces are covered and then dump the fries on the baking sheet.

Step 4: Line up the fries evenly on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other (if they are, they will steam each other and it will take longer to cook). 

Step 5: Stick them in the oven for 20 minutes. Once the 20 minutes are up, take them out of the oven and flip them. Put them back into the oven for another 10 minutes. 

Step 6: Take them out and let them cool down for about 2 minutes. Then enjoy the crunch of the delicious baked french fries.

It’s Not Just Pizza

It’s cauliflower pizza! 

If you are craving pizza (like I do often) and you want to keep your carb intake lower, this might be your best bet. 

Not only is it delicious but since the crust is made from cauliflower it is more nutrient dense and has many vitamins and minerals that are good for you! 

Some of those vitamins and minerals are sulforaphane (this is a compound that has been shown to kill cancer stem cells), vitamin C, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, fiber, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, and manganese. 

There is more but you get the gist of it. IT’S REALLY GOOD FOR YOU! Haha!

Here is my cauliflower pizza recipe: 

Ingredients:

- Cauliflower

- 1/2 cup Coconut flower

- 1 egg (I use egg whites)

- Italian seasoning

- Basil

- Salt & Pepper

- Whatever toppings you would like on your pizza

Tools:

-Food processor (if you don’t have one, use a cheese grader) 

-Cheese cloth (if you don’t have one, use paper towels)

-Deep dish baking pan

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. While that is heating up, shred your cauliflower with a food pressor or cheese grader.

Step 2: Since cauliflower naturally holds a lot of water, we have to strain and dry out as much of the water as possible so the crust does not become crumbly. Transfer your shredded cauliflower to a cheese cloth and squeeze out as much water as possible. Once you are done with that, put all of the cauliflower on a baking sheet and stick it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (we just want to make sure we got out most of the moisture in the cauliflower).

Step 3: Take out the cauliflower and raise the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees. Grab a large mixing bowl and put all of the ingredients together (except the toppings of course haha). I like to use a deep dish baking pan to mold the crust into its form but technically you can do that right on a baking sheet with parchment paper (it’s your call). 

Step 4: Once you form your crust, stick it back in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. The crust on the outside should be slightly brown. 

Step 5: After that, take it out of the oven and put the toppings you would like on your pizza and stick it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. 

Step 6: Remove and let it sit for 2-3 minutes to cool down. Enjoy!

The Delicious Delicata Squash

Out of all the squashes, I think this is our favorite. 

It is the easiest to prepare and it has a slight nutty taste with a little bit of crunch from the skin. NUM NUM’S!!!

Here is my delicata squash recipe:

Ingredients:

-Delicata squash

-1 Tsp Olive oil

-Salt & Peper

Step 1: Pre heat the oven to 420 degrees and put aluminum foil on top of a non-stick baking sheet. 

Step 2: Wash your delicata squash and cut the ends off.

Step 3: Cut the delicata squash in half and scoop out all the seeds.

Step 4: Cut the delicata squash into 1/2 inch pieces (they should look like stars).

Step 5: Place the pieces onto the baking sheet and sprinkle salt & pepper and drizzle the olive oil. Mix it all around until each piece is completely covered.

Step 6: Separate them on the baking sheet, so they are not touching each other and stick it in the oven for 12 mins. 

Step 7: Once the 12 mins are up, take them out of the oven and flip them (it should have a slight char or brownness to the side that was down). Put them back into the oven for another 12 mins. 

Step 8: Take them out and let it sit for about 2min. Then, it’s time for my favorite part. TIME TO CHOW DOWN!!

Not Your Normal Mashed Potatoes

We're going to keep the mash a little lighter and use cauliflower. You heard that right everyone. Mashed Cauliflower!

Not just any mashed cauliflower, I’m about to give you my mashed cauliflower gratin.

If your kids aren't big veggie fans, this is a great trick (Shhhhh!! Don’t tell them). They won’t be able to tell the difference.

Here we go people, my mashed cauliflower gratin recipe:

Ingredients:

Cauliflower

Parmesan cheese

Panko

Almond milk

Olive oil

Salt

Tools:

Food Pressor (If you don’t have one, you can use a potato masher or fork)

Deep dish pan

Step 1: Cut the cauliflower into florets and toss them into a pot of boiling water for roughly around for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Set some florets to the side and finely chop them for the topping.

Step 2: Time to make the topping while the cauliflower is cooking. On a baking sheet or a large surface, combine the raw florets (finely chopped), about 1/2 cup of panko, 1/4 of parmesan cheese, salt, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix it around and admire your topping.

Step 3: Set your oven at 400 degrees for the upcoming step. Then put the cooked cauliflower into the food processor. Add salt, 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese, and about 1/4 of almond milk. Pulse it until all of the cauliflower is mashed and it looks like mashed potatoes. 

Step 4: Transfer the mashed cauliflower to a deep dish pan. Add the topping to the mashed cauliflower and spread it around until it is even. Toss it in the oven for about 20 min (if you are really short on time, put the oven on broil and leave the gratin in until the top is golden brown).

Step 5: Take it out of the oven and let it sit for about 2mins to cool down. Serve when ready! BOOM!!!

Got Almonds?!

Almond milk that is….

Victoria and I usually have at least 96 ounces of almond milk ready to go. Not kidding. We love the stuff! This is a great option for those that are lactose intolerant and it’s low in fat. 

Fun fact: it also contains minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc. Woohoo!

Ingredients:

Almonds

Water

Dates (Optional) 

Vanilla extract (Optional)

Salt

Tools:

Blender

Strainer

Cheese Cloth (If you don’t have one, paper towels work perfectly) 

Large bowl

Step 1: Soak a cup of almonds in a bowl of water for 8-48 hours. Make sure the almonds are completely covered by the water.

Step 2: Pour the almonds into the strainer and get rid of all the water. You may notice that the almonds look bigger. 

Step 3: Put the almonds in the blender. Measure out 4 cups of water and pour in (for every cup of almonds, you would use 4 cups of water).

Step 4: Technically, those are the only ingredients you need but I like to sweeten it up a little. If you do too, add two dates and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract with a pinch of salt (Don’t forget to remove the pits from the dates).

Step 5: Blend on low for 1 minute. As that is blending, grab your large bowl, strainer, and cheese cloth (or paper towels). Put the strainer on top of the large bowl (this will catch any almonds that might slip out of the cheese cloth) and lay the cheese cloth on top of the strainer. 

Step 6: Once the almonds are all blended, take the blender over to your station and slowly pour the almond milk onto the cheese cloth (the cloth or paper towel should catch all of the chopped almonds). Pick up the corners of the cloth and squeeze out the milk and throw away the almonds. You might have to do this a few times to get all the almond milk out.

Step 7: My favorite step! Enjoy the frothy almondy goodness. Maybe, even with a puppy. Haha! Just kidding! I promise we really don’t give him almond milk.

Why Did They Let the Turkey Join the Band?

….Because he had the drumsticks. HAHA!! I crack myself up.

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, a time for family & friends, and LOTS of food!!! I’m kind of excited because I love to eat. 

Who doesn’t?!

The best part about all the food (for me at least) is definitely the sides. I’m here to give you my turkey bacon brussels sprouts recipe. This one might turn some heads at thanksgiving. 

Normally there’s so much rich, calorically-dense food on the table, that it’s a great idea to have something more fibrous and green, but also appealing.

Ingredients:

2 and half pounds of Brussel sprouts

1 large Onion (chopped)

4-6 Slices of turkey bacon

Olive oil

Thyme (optional)

Salt & Pepper (For Taste)

Lemon Juice (Optional)

Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to boil and cut the brussels sprouts in half.

Step 2: Once the water boils, toss in the brussels sprouts for about 3-5min or until slightly tender.

Step 3: While the brussels sprouts are boiling, cook the turkey bacon until slightly brown in a large pan on medium heat.

Step 4: Take the bacon out and set aside. In the same pan, toss in a teaspoon of olive oil and chopped onion, stirring often.

Step 5: Once the onions are slightly soft, lower the heat and toss in the brussels sprouts. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Mix all together and taste.

Step 6: Once the brussels sprouts are tender, mix in the turkey bacon and lemon juice. 

Step 7: Enjoy the deliciouso-in-your-bellyoso!

I’M ON A CAULIFLOWER KICK!

For the past few months, I don’t know what has come over me but I just have caught the cauliflower cooking bug. Haha! 

Today I am going to share my cauliflower cous cous recipe. If you are looking for more quantity out of your food, give this a try. For every 100 grams of cauliflower, their is 10 grams of carbohydrates. 

Yup, that is true! So, without further a do, here is my cauliflower cous cous recipe.

Tools:

-Food Processor (or if you don’t have one, use a cheese grader) 

-Pan

Ingredients:

-Cauliflower

-Garlic cloves

-Olive oil

-Bone or chicken broth

-Basil

-Salt & Pepper

Step 1: Wash the cauliflower and get rid of all the leafs

Step 2: Cut the cauliflower into small pieces (so you can fit it into the food processor or it’s easy for you to handle with the cheese grader)

Step 3: Take the food processor (or cheese grader) and place it by your station and slowly start to grade or feed it through the food processor (if you are using the food processor, make sure you are using the blade with the smaller holes)

Step 4: Put a pan on a stove over medium heat with about 2 or 3 teaspoons.

Step 5: Chop up the garlic cloves and toss it in the olive oil. 

Step 6: Wait until the garlic starts to sizzle or slightly brown and then toss in the desired amount of cous cous. 

Step 7: Put 1/4 cup of bone or chicken broth in the cous cous and mix it around. 

Step 8: Add basil, salt, and pepper. Then let it sit for about 2min or until hot and most of the moisture is out (it still will be slightly moist)

Step 9: Enjoy the AWESOMENESS!!!

My Secret Chicken Recipe

Some people love to bake their chicken. Some like to put it into the slow cooker. I’m the kind of guy that likes to make his chicken as juicy as possible, in whatever method works. I found this recipe on youtube but then added my own twist to it. I’m not kidding, it’s like butter when it comes out. HALLELUJAH! So without further ado, here is my secret chicken recipe that is not so secret. Enjoy!

1) Lay out all of your spices and chicken (of course). Normally I use my favorite spice from Trader Joe's, BBQ coffee spice rub. But unfortunately, I ran out :( so today I used a different poultry rub.

Laying it all out

2) Put two oven safe pans on the stove on low heat and pre heat your oven to low broil.

Low Broil and low heat on pans

3) Place all of the chicken into a large mixing bowl, use whatever spices your heart desires, and mix away.

Chicken time!

Spicing it up

Happy times

4) Put two teaspoons of coconut oil to coat each pan and swirl it around to make sure you don’t miss any spots. 

Here comes the coconut oil

Swirl!

5) Now it’s time to put the chicken on the pans folks. As you put the chicken on the pans, make sure the smooth part is facing down and you roll the chicken away from you. This will prevent any splatter from the oil. Once all of the chicken is on the pans, turn the heat up to medium heat.

Rolling the chicken away from me

6) Make sure the chicken has a golden brown color and then flip it. To flip it, use a fork, tongs, or whatever you have available.

Golden!

7) Wait until the other side is golden brown as well, then put it in the oven for about 5-10min.

8) Take it out and cut into the chicken or push down onto the chicken to see if it is cooked. When you push down onto the chicken, it should feel like the bottom part of your palm (closer to your thumb).

Woohoo! It's done!

Juicy!

9) My favorite part, enjoy all the juiciness from the AWESOMENESS!

End result.