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I know it’s been a while 😉 SO we are 30 days and counting… Santa Barbara here we come! And our wedding diet has shifted from basic chicken and (my favorite) cauliflower, to things that are still healthy but might include a little carbs (! I know… haha), like gumbo!
Jamie went to New Orleans for his Bachelor Party (and I asked no questions), except about the food! Which I heard was amazing, and I am super jealous. Continue reading
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After cooking stock for the first time, I will never use store bought stock again 
It was amazing… even though it took 4 hours to cook. Check out my recipe for Shrimp & Andouille Sausage – you’ll love it!
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If you have been following my blog, you will notice that we eat a lot of cauliflower. That is because there are so many interesting ways you can prepare it to make it delicious and taste different. This recipe for Cauliflower Breaded Chicken – tasted almost exactly like breaded chicken, but so much healthier and still good. I cooked this one day during the week and the only difficult thing about it, was the time it took to bake the cauliflower “bread” crumbs.
I started by chopping the cauliflower into chunks and placed them into the food processor until they were the same size as couscous. Then I sprinkled the cauliflower onto the covered baking sheet. The baking sheet is covered with parchment paper because I hate cleaning the baking sheets after I use them. The cauliflower is wet, I found that it was good to sprinkle the cauliflower onto the pan to avoid large clumps forming.
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Now you may think that jicama is high in carbs, which it is, however half of those are dietary fiber which are good for you, so cut that in half. I guess I would like to think that it is a healthier option than fast food french fries. I was very excited to try this recipe out because I absolutely love french fries and since we started our “wedding diet” I have not been able to enjoy them as often as I would like.
002First thing about this cauliflower recipe – it takes longer than you think Usually when Jamie cooks I am always so worried about when we are eating (hopefully before 9pm) – well this time it took me a lot longer than I thought to make homemade pizza sauce and cauliflower crust. Now that I have done it once though I have learned and can’t wait to make it again.
I started by shredding the cauliflower in the food processor into crumbles. I did not use the whole cauliflower, probably a little more than half and saved the rest for a future dinner since cauliflower is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with recently. Then I cooked the cauliflower in the microwave for about 8 minutes in a micro-wave safe bowl and let it cool for 10-15 minutes.
After I let the cauliflower cool I mixed in the ingredients for the “dough” – eggs, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, oregano, basil, salt, and garlic powder. Go ahead and pre-heat your oven now for 450 degrees and roll the mixture into a ball in the bowl. I took out my pizza stone, sprayed it with Mac Oil and rolled the “dough” out as evenly as possible. Continue reading
000A friend of mine emailed me this cauliflower recipe because she knew how much I was loving it right now. One night I was looking for something to make for dinner – high protein and high fiber (wedding diet) – and I remembered this one. It ended up being one of my favorite cauliflower recipes. I had to change the vegetables up a little bit (from the original recipe) because of the high sugar content. Instead of using the traditional carrots and peas, I replaced them with asparagus and bell peppers which actually turned out really good.
000We are still going strong with our diet and for cheat day this week two of my girlfriends came over and we made pizza. We used two pizza doughs from Trader Joe’s (next time I definitely want to try and make the dough)- tips when cooking with this dough, it needs a couple extra minutes in the oven than what the directions on the packaging says.
The first pizza didn’t cook through all the way and then we left the second one in for longer at a higher heat and it was much better. We made one pizza with olive oil, garlic, burrata, prosciutto, and arugula – one thing to remember about the arugula is you have to add it after you cook the pizza and then only leave the pizza in the oven with the arugula on it for a minute or so. Cooking this pizza reminded me how much I love cooking with arugula, you will see more recipes using this peppery delight. Continue reading
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The first time I made cauliflower mash for Jamie I tried to fool him into thinking it was mashed potatoes… I put it in front of him and he ate it. Then he looked up at me and said, “Is there something wrong with these potatoes? They taste strange.” Of course, I giggled and explained how they weren’t potatoes, they were cauliflower. Now that we are on our “wedding diet” of no carbs – it’s rather difficult to find sides that are only green vegetables. Cauliflower Mash has become a staple item in our diet. We have a protein and two sides, something green and either cauliflower or lentils (in my case pinto beans).
The first time I made the mash I followed a recipe – and Continue reading
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If you haven’t cooked with spaghetti squash – you are seriously missing out! It is such a simple process, I was amazed. To cook the squash, all you have to do is cut it in half and drizzle olive oil over each half, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Then place face down onto a baking sheet and cook for about 45 minutes, at 350 degrees. After it has cooked, to check if it is done you can stick a fork in the top of it. If the fork goes through the skin you can remove it from the oven. Then flip it over (put a paper towel in your hand to help with the heat) and use a fork to get the middle out. If cooked correctly it should come out in perfect strands, just like noodles! (see photo below) Continue reading
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I have always been a salmon lover, Jamie not so much. So when we started dating there wasn’t a lot of salmon cooked. He does like teriyaki sauce – I was determined to make him like salmon. I assumed he had a bad experience with not good salmon, so I was ready to change his mind about one of my favorites. I decided it to pair it with something enticing like teriyaki sauce and throw in an extra bonus – homemade teriyaki sauce. To make a long story short – he loved it! Definitely going to try out another salmon recipe to keep his mind in a positive place about the wonderful pink fish. Continue reading
