Oven Roasted Broccoli Florets with Cheese

Along with the Chicken in Honey Mustard Yogurt Sauce I made today, I had some broccoli and needed to decide how to cook it.  Since I was planning on cooking the chicken in the oven, I wanted something easy, that would also cook in the oven.

After perusing various recipes on the internet, I had an idea of how long to cook the broccoli, but no recipe that looked like anything I would enjoy. So I made my own.  It came out great, especially when some of the sauce from the yogurt chicken was drizzled over it. It is real simple too!

Rinse the broccoli florets in a colander and allow to drain.  Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with good quality Olive Oil.  Toss florets to coat with Olive Oil.  Spread single thickness on a baking sheet that was coated with Olive Oil.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Lightly shake garlic and onion powder on the florets.

Bake for 30 mins at 375*F.

Transfer back to the bowl and place a cup of shredded cheese on the top.  Mix well.  Allow to sit for a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Enjoy! 

Free Range Chicken in Honey Mustard Yogurt Sauce

Updated 3/22/2014

I'm still working on my transition away from anything containing the items to which I tested allergic, here is a recipe I came up with. I used free range chicken breasts, if you do not have allergies you could use any kind of fresh chicken.

The idea for this came recently on a visit with some friends from India. She made chicken with a yogurt/turmeric sauce that was delicious. I like honey mustard and thought I might be able to do something along those lines. I really need to start taking photos. I usually want to wait to make sure I got it right before taking pictures, I think I got this right and while I have a full tummy, I have no photos of what I filled it with. Next time I make this I'll take photos and insert them in this post.

Here's the recipe:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8oz cup of plain or honey yogurt
2 teaspoons Honey (if using plain yogurt increase to 1 tablespoon)
1/2 heaping teaspoon mustard
1/2 level teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salt & Pepper

Wash the chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towels. Place them in a glass baking dish (one that has a cover, or you can use foil) and lightly salt & pepper.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Pour over the chicken breasts and cover completely. Flip the breasts a couple times to get them covered all around.

Note: I mixed this up around 10 in the morning and let it marinate in the fridge until 4 PM.  I then removed it and let it come to room temp for 90 mins before cooking.  Make sure your glass dish is at room temp before placing in the oven! If you use a metal baking dish you should still allow it to come to room temp for more tender chicken, but if it's a little cold you don't have to worry.

Cover with oven safe lid or foil and cook for 45 minutes or until done. If you use smaller breasts decrease the cooking time accordingly.

To serve, place the chicken breasts on a plate, pour a small amount of the sauce over them. Place the remaining sauce in a gravy boat. Serve with rice, drizzling more sauce on the chicken as needed and over the rice.

Enjoy!

All Natural Wellness Juice Shot

I've been slowly making the switch over from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to one that has less emphasis on meat and more on fruits and veggies.  In addition, I've also been buying less at large supermarkets and trying to get more organic produce at Farmer's Markets.  Fortunately, here in Placer County, CA there is an abundance of Farmer's Markets close by.  

One everyday of the week, except Monday.

I've also been reading up on natural cures and treatments as I've dealt with food allergies and other seasonal illnesses.  

Today, an item at Herbs and Oils World referenced a January post at Lexie's Kitchen for an "All Natural Wellness Juice Shot".  

Looking at the ingredients (no, I won't list them here, you have to check out her page) it is different from other "wellness shots" I've seen.  Everything in it is healthy (unless you're allergic to a particular item), so it should be a good thing even if you're not sick.  I wish I had seen this back in January when I was dealing with a bout of H1N1 flu!  

There's a couple items on the her list I need to pick up, once I do I'm going to give it a try!

 

GMO Chocolate?

According to this story at naturalcuresnotmedicine.com plans are underway to make 70% of the global cocoa trade from genitally modified trees.  I guess cocoa and chocolate are the next items that will have to be paid with a premium to get non-gmo.  :-(

Grain Free Muffins

If you read my post on recently diagnosed food allergies you can pretty well guess breads, cookies, muffins, etc are off my eating list.  In addition, I was told I should probably avoid using almond flour, milk, etc since my reaction to black walnuts may indicate a broader nut allergy.  At least until further testing.

So I bought some coconut flour and proceeded to search the internet for a muffin recipe.  I found one, and followed it carefully.  The best thing I can say about it is I made a great batch of Coconut Flour Sawdust Tasting Muffins! Back to the drawing board.

One of the "factoids" I read repeatedly about coconut flour was that it was much dryer than wheat flour and needed additional moisture.  The it hit me. I have a recipe of moist Applesauce Flax Bran Muffins that I enjoy.

What if I tweaked that recipe?

One time I had substituted protein powder for half of the flour in a banana muffin recipe and enjoyed them. What if I did the same here and upped the moisture?

That is just what I did.  Since I was still in the experimental phase I didn't take any pictures.  This muffin recipe is good as is, but there are a few tweaks I want to try.  I do think this recipe, as is, would make a good loaf bread recipe, another item I plan on trying.

Since I am in the middle of a very busy stretch over the next few weeks I am posting this now and will keep you updated with the tweaks as I try them. If they work.  LOL!

Here ya go:

3/4 Cup Coconut Flour
3/4 Cup Whey Protein Powder
3/4 Cup Flaxseed Meal
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

3/4 Cup Applesauce
3/4 Cup Whole Milk
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Large Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a wire whisk. I put the wet ingredients in a blender and blend them to make sure the eggs are completely incorporated throughout the mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix very well.  Unlike wheat flour instructions where you are told not to overmix, you want to mix these very well.  You cannot overmix coconut flour! if you undermix it, you'll have dry coconut flour throughout your muffins.  Even mixing it very well, you still may have the occasional spot of coconut flour in your muffins.  It's ok (unless you're OCD), it doesn't affect the taste.

Preheat oven to 375*F
Grease a muffin pan with coconut oil.
I used one that makes 6 large muffins.
Divide the batter as equally as possible between the 6 cups.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife (or toothpick) inserted into the center of your muffins comes out clean.

Let cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen, if necessary, and place muffins on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy with butter, jelly, whatever type of spread you enjoy on a muffin!

Food Allergies....Uggghhhhh!

Off and on for the past several years I have been dealing with "allergic dermatitis". I've been to my regular doc, a dermatologist, even a homeopathic allergy specialist.  It would come and go.

My regular doc at the time said it was seasonal allergies (the first time it happened was in the spring).  

When it popped up in the winter I was referred to the dermatologist who said it was from soaps and shampoo, to try different hypo-allergenic brands. That was after he had his nurse give me a shot of some type of steroid (in the butt no less - OUCH!)

When it still didn't go completely away a family member told me about the homeopathic allergy specialist.  While I am a believer in homeopathic medicine, I think this guy was a quack.

It flared up again about 6 months ago.  My current doc wanted to try a cream rather than oral or injected steroids.  That would seem to work, then it would come back.  Talking to her, she was surprised I hadn't had a blood test for allergies.  So off to the lab I went.

I'm going to divert here and tell you about a few of my favorite things:

• Favorite Candy - Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
• Favorite Fast Food - Panda Express
• Favorite Beer - Alaskan Summer Ale
• Favorite Drink - Manhattan

In order of sensitivity, my blood test showed reactions to:

• Peanuts
• Sesame 
• Wheat
• Corn
• Soy
• Walnuts

Compare that list to the first list.  Ick.

I guess I can still have a glass of wine and if I want a drink it'll be a "Dark and Stormy". I hope I like a "Dark and Stormy".  Sounds kind of like an ex-girlfriend of mine. 

Anyway, as I learn to cook new things I'll be sharing them here.  Wish me luck.

Happy Easter