Powerful Kale, Blueberry & Flax Seed Smoothie

So lately, I have been  loving Kale & Blueberries together. So I decided to make a delicious smoothie. I wanted something healthy to go with my breakfast, but this smoothie is full of nutrients and fruits & vegetable .

You want to know what goes in it?

We already know we need to Mise en Place our ingredients! (This is a super fast recipe)

Power Super KALE Blueberry Flax Seed Smoothie

1/4 Cup- Frozen Tropical Fruit

1/4 Cup- Greek Yogurt

1- Small Tangerine

1/4- Grapefruit

1/2 Cup- Strawberries

1/4 Cup- Blueberries

3-4 Leaves of Kale

3-4 TBS- Flaxseed

1/4 Cup- Water

Spoonful of Honey

Now just blend it all together, until it's smooth. 

I drank this smoothie, with my breakfast that I posted Tired of your Average Breakfast?

Or of course you can drink it alone, it's fulfilling smoothie!

Tired of your Average Breakfast?

Spinach-Mushroom Swiss & Parmesan Cheese Egg Fritatta

This dish is way easier to make than how it sounds.


What is Frittata? Frittata- is a Italian style, flat omelet it is usually cooked in a cast iron. It is like a crust less quiche, loaded with meats veggies & cheese.

I was hungry for a good breakfast, I am not a fan of just plain ol' Eggs, scrambled or over easy eggs, hash browns. I wanted something more for breakfast. I love Fritatta, its fancy & easy to make. I decided to go with Turkey Bacon on the side & a Sweet Potato hash, with a side of Chile Avocados.

We want to start off with Par boiling our Sweet Potatoes. We dice them up into nice cubes. Let the pot of water come to a simmer and then add in your sweet potatoes. While those are simmering we will work on the Fritatta. These will take about 20-25 Minutes.

Par Boiled means to cook partially, it helps reduce down the cooking time when added to a recipe.

Spinach & Swiss, Parmesan Cheese Fritatta

7- Whole Eggs

3-Slices Swiss Cheese

1/4 Cup- Parmesan Cheese

2 TBS- Oregano (finely chopped)

1/2 Cup- Mushroom

1 TBS- Garlic

1/4 Cup- Onion

1/2 Cup- Frozen Spinach or fresh

1/4 Cup- Heavy Cream

3 TBS- Milk

1 tsp- Garlic Salt

1 tsp- Chile Powder

Salt & Pepper -to taste

1-2 TBS- Olive oil

Directions-

Add some olive oil into your pan, add your onion and garlic, cook until you smell the fragrance of the onion and garlic put aside, put a little oil in the pan and then add your mushrooms in, once it has started cooking, add in your fresh oregano. The mushrooms, soak in the oil pretty quick, if that happens go ahead and add a little bit more oil, put that aside. Now add a little bit oil in pan, and saute the spinach, once it has been sauteed put it aside.

Crack 7 eggs, add in you Sauteed' Garlic, Onion, Spinach & Mushroom, add in your Swiss Cheese, Heavy Cream and Milk then add in your seasonings. Mix it all together. Spray your pie pan, so the egg won't stick to the pan. Once you put the Fritatta mix in the pan, top it with parmsean cheese, so while it bakes it just makes this beautiful golden brown crust. MMMMmmmmmmm

While our Fritatta is in the oven, it's time to lay out the Turkey Bacon, it can bake in the oven while the Fritata is baking. ( I LOVE TURKEY BACON)

Okay let's go on over to our Sweet Potato, and make our Sweet Potato Hash.

Once our Sweet Potato has, been par boiled set it aside to let it cool off a bit. 

Simple Yet Tasty Sweet Potato Hash

Par Cooked Sweet Potato about 1-2 (Cut into cubes)

1/4-1/2 Cup- Fire Roasted Diced Tomato
1/4 Cup- Onions
2 TBS- Garlic
1-2 TBS- Fresh Oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Strain your Sweet Potato, put aside for a bit and start heating up your saute' pan. Add in your garlic & onion, and your fresh oregano. Let it saute' until you can smell it, we don't want it to burn add in your Sweet Potato. Toss around a few time, let it cook for about 7 minutes. Now go ahead and add your diced tomatoes and stir. Cook for a few minutes longer then season to taste. Yayye it's done. 

It's time to plate up, this Beautiful & Classy breakfast! 

Slice up Avocados, and then add some Salt, Pepper & Chile Powder. It looks good & taste good.

Ok, let's check out the baked Fritatta and our plate put all together......

You want a Power Blueberry Kale Smoothie to go with it? Check out my next Blog.

Relax Your Sweet Tooth: Healthy Dinner, Shish Kabobs

It is time to talk about dinner! I wanted to eat something healthy & good. How does; Steak & Chicken Shish Kabobs sound? I paired it with; brown rice and a nice Super Kale Sale & Macaroni Salad. The Macaroni Salad is loaded with Feta Cheese and spinach. Yumm.

What We Need:

• Skewers
• Mixed Veggies
• Chicken Breast
• Steak
• Teriyaki Glaze

I don't have a grill yet, so I had to put these in the oven. They still turned out delicious. You are more than welcome to put it on the grill, just don't forget to soak your skewers for about 15 minutes. They will burn on the grill, if its not soaked.

Shish Kabobs

2- Zuccinis

1- Pineapple

1-2 each Bell Peppers

Red, Yellow, Green, Orange

1- Purple Onion (Pearl onions work well too)

3-4- Chicken Breast

1- Big Steak 

1 Pkg- Baby Bella Mushrooms (Leave it whole)

Fresh Oregano (finely chopped )

Grape Tomatoes (Leave it whole)

Dash- Salt & Pepper

Garlic salt- to taste

Cut, all of the ingredients listed into big chunks. We don't want to cut it too small, or else it will start falling off the skewers.

Once the veggies have been skewered on, then grab your skewer, and start adding on your veggies & meat. Do couple of the same veggies, then move on to another vegetable. Add your protein, then back to your veggie. So easy right!! Once everything has been skewered. Add your dash of salt & pepper, then drizzle your Glaze all over the Shish Kabobs & it's ready to go in the oven. 

380 Degree & Bake for about 25 Minutes. You still want the vegetable to have a bite to it.

For my side dish I chose to go with a Super Kale Salad, Brown Rice & Super Duper Yummy Mac Salad. I picked these side items up at Fred Meyers, it is a grocery store with a variety of things. It has a very good organic section (in case you are interested). 

Let's check everything out, once it has been plated. I put the brown rice on the plate first, a nice scoop then I spread the Kale Salad on top, put the Shish Kabobs on top & tucked the Mac Salad on the side, kind've underneath the Kabobs. 

Are you Hungry & Ready to Eat?

Where I went wrong. Some Tips for Next Time.

My electric hand mixer broke, so I had to Whisk the egg whites by hand. My arm was so tired, so I didn't fully whip my egg whites into a stiff form. I know I should have done it a little bit longer, but my arm just could not whip any more. For sure when I get an electric mixer, I am going to do it the right way.

You see here in the picture example of nice stiff egg whites, compared to how mine turned out for the Macarons. There is a nice white Gloss to the egg whites, which is what we are looking for, but we also need some stiff peaks.

Adding in Cream of Tartar to the egg whites, helps it stabilize it more, it traps in the air more.

~Some French Macaron Tips~

• I was reading my book, they said that if it is too humid, the Macarons won't turn out right.
• Once the Macarons have been piped out, you want to get the tray and bang it down, a few times to let the air out. This makes a nice little skirt on the french macaron. (One of my class mates let me in on this nice tip)

• We want to have the French Macarons, sit out before we bake them, to let the tops of the macarons develop a dry shell. It usually takes about 15 Mins to 1 Hour. This is very important, part of baking these little French Macarons. This helps them form a glossy, smooth surface. This develops the little skirts/feet. They should not be sticky, or wet. Test with your finger tip.

• Be sure the Almond Flour isn't too course. We want it to be nice and fine. You can use Almond Meal, it saves allot of time, rather than grinding the Almond yourself.

• Leave your egg whites at room temperature.
• Do NOT over mix the batter, after the Almond Flour and Confectioner Sugar is added in. Once it has fully been folded in, leave it alone. Let the mixture sit there for a few minutes, to let it settle and smooth it out.
• There is a few way's to put the Macaron batter, on to the baking sheet with parchment paper. You can use a piping bag, with a round tip 5 cm/ 2 inches across.

• Another way to do it, is to use a small portion scoop, turn it half way where it is almost touching, lightly tap to release.This helps the circles stay tighter and taller.
• Doubling up on baking pans, helps it not to over cook the bottoms of the French Macaron, get the one's with the macarons, and put it on top of the other pan that has been flipped upside down.
• Reason's our Macarons didn't develop the skirt/ feet, batter was probably under-beaten, our meringue might have been broken. It could have been baked at too low of a temperature They could have sat out and been over dried.

• Next time, I am going to use a template, so we have perfect rounds. Look how they are piping straight up and down. it should be at a 90 degree angle the piping bag.
• Look at how when piping its tall, then as you let it rest it will spread out some.
• I didn't use a tip, next time I am going to try both of the techniques for putting the macarons on to the parchment paper.

http://www.themacaronmaster.com/macaron-template/

This is a website, I came across. You can download and print it out to get a template to make perfect shaped French Macarons.

Anatomy of a French Macaron-- This is what we want to see!

I will definitely be doing a "DO OVER". It's okay, I'm happy with the taste. I finally tried it. Next time I will get it right. I am not giving up. After reading the tips and receiving some advice, I think we will accomplish it next time. I noted my flaws, and they will be fixed next time around.

We don't want to overload on sugar right?? Once a week, every Wednesday we will be "Relaxing our sweet tooth". I am going to talk about savory dishes, and I will be cooking some dinner and sharing some recipes. See you on Wednesday!

Sandwiching the Macarons

Okay, I know my Macarons didn't turn out, all pretty and stuff. It still tasted really good. You have to believe me! Don't worry, I am going to have a Macaron Do over Blog soon. Let it begin and lets start putting the French Macaons together.

For the filling I chose to do a Chocolate Ganache Malt filling. Ganache means; sauce, glaze & or filling for pastries. It is just made up of Chocolate & Cream. Pretty easy huh! In this case I am going to use it as our Macaron filling. I made this before I got started on the French Macarons, so I can let the filling cool down.

What We Need

Macaron Shells

Chocolate Malted Ganache

Teaspoon

Double Broiler

Measuring Cup

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 Cup- Heavy Cream

1 Cup- Semi- Sweet Chocolate

1 TBS- Butter

2-3 TBS- Malted Powder

Directions: I set up a double broiler, as seen in the picture below. I use it, so the Chocolate and cream doesn't burn or Seize up. Make sure we get NO water in the bowl with chocolate. It will break apart. 

Wonder how to set a double broiler up? Get a boiling pot and put water in there, enough to where it doesn't touch the other pot or bowl. I used a stainless steel bowl and set it in there. 

Okay here we go, first thing we need to do is Mise En Place- gathering all of our ingredients. (The Butter is hidden, my bad).

Set up your Double Broiler, then heat up Heavy Cream, gradually whisk in chocolate. Finish up your ganache by adding in your butter.

Now we take our Macaron Shells & fill them. Get your off set spatula and slide it under the macaron, to release it from the parchment paper. They stick, we just need to patient and careful while we lift them off. They are very delicate little treats. Get on of your shells, and scoop a little bit of ganache, spread a tad bit and then put on another Macaron shell. Lightly push together, now you have a little cute, yummy French Macaron sandwich treat.

Here is a little video, on how to fill the Macarons.

Don't get scared by the picture. Trust me they didn't turn out as horrible as this looks. It may have been how I took the picture. As I said earlier, their is room for improvement. In the next post I will discuss, some tips, and how I will be doing it the next time. Yes there will be another attempt for French Macaron. We are not giving up!

Maybe the next photo will be a sense of release ? =)

See not to bad right? I was a little upset, but not anymore when I tried it. I was happy!! My friend loved it, she couldn't even stop eating it. Her 5 year old son loved it too. Thank you for the support, and lets talk it over, and see how we can improve!

We don't want to overload on sugar right?? Once a week, every Wednesday we will be "Relaxing our sweet tooth". I am going to talk about savory dishes, and I will be cooking some dinner and sharing some recipes. See you on Wednesday!

Chocolate Malted French Macaron

UN PRETTY, BUT OH SOOOO TASTY

Today is the day we talk about French Macarons, they are different than your traditional macaroon, it is made up of egg whites, sugar and coconut. What is a French Macaron? It is a Sweet Meringue, made with Almond Flour & Confectioner Sugar, with a ganache, jam or butter cream filling. These suckers  is a little tricky to make. For my first time, I think they turned out alright. There is some room for improvement. We will talk it over later on, and I can fill you on in with some cool techniques & tips. This is how it went for me. It's not the prettiest, but I was still overall happy with the taste and the fact I finally did it!

What we will need

• Basic French Macaron Recipe
• Food Coloring you desire
• Chocolate Malted Ganache
• Whisk/ Hand Blender works better
• Parchment Paper
• Baking sheet pan
• Piping Bag
• Stainless Steel Bowl
• Offset spatula
• Patience =)

First off we gather all of out ingredients together AKA Mise En Place.

The recipe, I chose to work with I got out of this wonderful book, called Macarons Chick & Delicious French Treats; By Annie Rigg.

I was first introduced to French Macaons, from one of my cousins. We went to go visit her in San Jose, and she took our families out for the day in San Francisco, and took us to check out local markets, on the Pier I think it was. " She was like Shob, you need to try these. They are called French Macarons" of course in my mind I am thinking of the traditional coconut Macarons. I was Wow'ed by all the colors and flavor options. My cousin was like they are so good, she said to try the Rose & I got Salted Carmel. That taste is something I could never ever forget about. I was hooked from there! I thank my cousin still to this day that she introduced me to the one and only FRENCH MACARON.

My sister bought this book for me. We went to check out this book store called Borders. They were having a close out sale. My sister wanted to treat me and buy a book for me, that's when I seen this book about French Macarons.  I have had this book for about 2 years now, finally I am using it. I always would just stare at the pictures, and drool over the pages, intimidated and hungry. I knew one day eventually I would conquer my fear and try it!

Basic French Macaron recipe

2/3 Cup- Almond Flour

1 1/2 Cup- Confectioner Sugar

For the Shells-

3 TBS- Superfine Sugar

3- Egg Whites

Dash of salt

*For Malted flavored shells, just add 2 TBS of malted powder in with the Almond Flour & Confectioner Sugar.

*Bake them in 325-350 Degree Oven for about 10 Minutes

First off we want to get the almond flour, confectioner sugar & our Malted powder and process it for about 30 seconds. Put it aside. 

Get your egg whites, and start beating it until, we get some soft peaks, add your dash of salt in.

We are trying to get some nice stiff peaks. We want to gradually add our sugar in a teaspoon at a time, whisk then add another teaspoon and so on, until we reach our stiff peaks. We want to be careful not to over beat or under beat. We will go further in details, in my next post.

We need to add the almond flour mixture in a little bit at a time, and fold it in gradually and gently. If we just mix it in, it will go flat, and all our hard work will be destroyed. Add a little bit of flour and then fold, add a little bit of flour and then fold. We don't want to over fold, so once the flour has been fully folded in LEAVE IT ALONE, DO NOT FOLD ANY MORE! I know it's hard, but we just need to stop.

I learned some more tips on, ways to pipe out the shells. For now I will show you how I did it, which is by using a piping bag. Lay your parchment paper down. Fill in your piping back and then carefully pipe. It gets a little messy.

Okay, so once it was piped the results aren't what I was looking & hoping for, but it is okay. We will do this right. We will go over later in the blog, what went wrong and how we can improve, for our next try. The good part is though, it still tasted really good. 

Let me show you, how the over all piping and baking part went. Not so good, but remember it tasted really good. Still had a nice crunch, and was soft inside the shell.

I know, I know. When they are put together they look so much different! Check it out, we will be talking about the Ganache filling & how to put it together.

We don't want to overload on sugar right?? Once a week, every Wednesday we will be "Relaxing our sweet tooth". I am going to talk about savory dishes, and I will be cooking some dinner and sharing some recipes. See you on Wednesday!

Relax your Sweet Tooth: Turkey Burger Gone Good... Pineapple Salsa & Guacamole

Pepper Jack & Chipotle Turkey Burgers

Do you need to Relax your Sweet Tooth? Let's cook some dinner then. I wanted to share one of the Best Turkey Burger recipe ever!! I was craving Turkey Burgers for dinner. On my way home I stopped by the grocery store to buy some ground turkey, I was exhausted from being stuck in traffic for 3 hours. I wasn't in the mood too cook anything that would take me so long to make. When I got to New Seasons I went into the meat section and they had Pepper Jack Cheese & Chipotle Turkey Burgers. I was so happy and it sounded so good. I bought 5 Patties. They were $6.99 a pound. Not too bad, the total cost was somewhere around $10.00 and it was already shaped for me so I was like; "this is perfect". I kept shopping around, for some buns & I decided to make Guacamole, because I had 2 avocados at home that needed to be used. I went in the produce section and that's when I seen it, Pineapple Salsa. It just tied the whole burger together. Read on, and check out the delicious turkey burger & side dish recipe. This burger was so good, it made my mouth water thinking about what goes in it.

What we will need for the Burgers

5- Pepper Jack & Chipotle Turkey Burgers

5  Pieces- of Bacon

Guacamole

Pineapple Salsa

Mixed Spring Greens

Barbecue Sauce

Chipotle & Pepper Jack Turkey Burgers

Of course we need too eat something on the side, it was a nice sunny day & it made me think of Potato Salad.

Potato Salad

6- Potatoes (I used red)

5- Hard Boiled Eggs

2- Pickles

1/4 Cup- Mayonnaise

1/4 Cup- Sour Cream

1 TBS- Mixed Herbs; Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

Salt & Pepper- to taste

3 TBS- Prepared Yellow Mustard
1 TSP- Vinegar ( I used Pomegranate Vinegar)

Dice the potatoes & Eggs, put in a bowl and add your chopped pickles, & herbs. Set aside in the refrigerator and let it cool down. In a separate bowl; add mayonnaise & sour cream and mustard & vinegar. (I don't like my Potato Salad to be to liquidity, so I don't add that much Mayo & Sour Cream). Mix together, then add to the potato mixture, add salt & pepper to taste. Gently mix it, you don't want to break up your potatoes and eggs.

I needed to let my eggs cool down, so I let the cold water run on them.

The Potato Salad was so good. 

.

My Boyfriend loves; Deviled Eggs.. so I cooked some extra eggs, and made him some Deviled Eggs.

Shob's Deviled Eggs

3- Hard Boiled Eggs

1 tsp- Mustard

2 TBS- Mayonnaise

1- Piece of Bacon

2 TBS- Shredded Cheese

Salt & Pepper- to taste

1/2 tsp- Garlic Powder

dash of- Cumin, Coriander & Chili Powder

green onions- optional

Slice the eggs in half, take out your egg yolks, add in Mayonnaise, Mustard & Cheese, cut up half of your bacon in to crumbs and add into you egg yolk mixture, then add your; spices. Get the other half of the bacon, chop and crumble on top. Pretty & Yummy presentation.

* I used a star tip piping bag, to pipe in the yolks.