Quick Fix - Lunch Edition: Tuna!

A dear friend of mine that is like a big sister to me told me she had some tuna fish for dinner one night and ever since then, I have been thinking about making some tuna fish. 

But before you reach for your usual ingredients, please note my recipe is a little different. You will notice I that I don't have any mayo on the counter. That's because, there no mayo in this recipe. I use hummus instead of mayo! And believe it or not, I do not miss the mayo. Plus this recipe gives tuna a nice wake up call and adds more nutrients to it. This recipe has less calories, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. I make enough to last a while so you can cut down the recipe some if you like. 

Without further delay, here it goes:

3 packets of tuna

3 celery stalks

1 shallot

1/2 - 3/4 cup of hummus (depending on your desired creaminess) 

1/4 cup red. yellow, or orange bell pepper

2-3 boiled and diced eggs (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Sometimes I add dried cranberries to the recipe. 

Mix and let the it sit over night. Get yourself some some whole grain crackers or whole grain bread (that has not been pre-sliced, get it sliced at the store) and add a little lettuce or spinach and you have your lunch!

Let me know how you like it!

Salud!

Single Sista, where have you been?!?!?!?!

I'm right here, I promise!!! Not going anywhere. I've been on facebook a lot lately!!! Wait, what?? You said you didn't know I was on facebook!!!!! Oh yes maam/sir!!! Come check me out here: https://www.facebook.com/SingleSistasDish. I post something there almost daily. Normally nutritional tips, interesting articles about food, etc. So when you feel you are going through some Single Sista withdrawal, you can always find me there. AAAAANNNNDDDD, I'm on twitter (@SingleSistaDish) and Pinterest (SingleSistas). I'm all over the place!!!

But, what else have I been up to?? Well, I ran two 10Ks this year, training for a half-marathon, volunteering for lots of community events, enjoying my summer, and quite honestly, just living life to the FULLEST!!! Oh and I am trying to relearn how to ride a bike. I don't think it's true what they say about never forgetting how to ride.

So yea, I'm very much still here!! And I am setting days on my calendar monthly to write to you wonderful people. Few plans I have in the works are a video about grocery shopping AND offering LIVE google hangout sessions where you all can watch me cook. Let me know if any of this tickles your fancy.

And as always, I LOVE answering your questions. I have been answering several questions about smoothies and juicing on facebook. But I can talk about other things too. Just ask!

Well, the that's all from me lovelies!!! SALUD!!!!!

QUICK FIX - Breakfast edition: Baked Oatmeal!!!

A co-worker has been telling me about this recipe all week. She brought some in this morning for breakfast and I caught a sneak peak. I gotta say, it looks really tasty. She says it tastes like cake. So I am going to try this recipe with some blueberries and tell you ALL about it. The blogger for this recipe is one of my person favs. This is definitely for all you "I don't have time to cook" people. Bake this and you've got breakfast for the week! Throw a little almond milk (or low-fat milk for those of you that can handle lactose) and BAM!!

Lemon Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

Until next time my lovelies, SALUD!!!

Fire Up the Grills!!

Time to fire up those grills! I actually do not have an outdoor grill (yet) but a Grill Pan is WELL worth the investment. Here are a few of grilled treats for you to try out! And remember, you can lightly grill some peaches and/or nectarines and then drizzle them with a little honey for a super fantastically wonderful treat.

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan

40 Top-Rated Grill Recipes

Grilled Vegetables

Salud!

Quick Fix - Sauteed Corn

Here is another one of my quick fixes, sauteed corn. I came up with this because I was looking for a healthier alternative to southern fried corn. For those of your not familiar with fried corn, you fry some bacon and then use the fat and oil from the bacon to cook the corn. Essentially, fried corn is about adding flavor to the corn from the oil and bacon fat. So, I thought, why not get the flavors from other sources. I like to add red pepper, fresh garlic, and shallots (I've also added a poblano when I wanted an additional kick). And yes that is frozen corn. I am not 100% against frozen food. It is the next best thing to fresh. If you have the time and resources, fresh corn with this recipe is WONDERFUL!

Dice up your red pepper, shallots, and garlic and sautee them in a pan (I prefer my good ole cast iron) with some Earth Balance and coconut oil (about a tablespoon of each). After the ingredients have sauteed for 3 to 4 minutes, add your corn. If you have frozen corn you will need to let things cook a little longer. Cook time total should be about 15 minutes on medium-low. Make sure you stir. 

The BEAUTY of this dish is that it is vegan, vegetarian, meat-eater friendly as a side dish. Notice I didn't mention adding salt. Guess why?? Because you don't need to :)

  

  As always my good people, SALUD!!

Kitchen Wellness

While I love sharing my recipes with you all, I am also committed to sharing websites I find that I think will be interesting and useful. I came across this site recently Eat Relate Love and a blog post that specifically addresses experiencing better health right now. Yes, right now! The blogger Shelley Chapman talks about Kitchen Wellness, which I wholeheartedly agree with because if you have a toxic kitchen, how in the world can you be healthy? So here is a link the post that I think you should check out: Better Health Right NOW. There is a FREE recipe book on the page as well!

That's all from me! I hope you all had a SAFE and WONDERFUL Memorial Day weekend. What did I do you ask? Well, I got some MUCH NEEDED R&R.

Salud!

Meatless Mon....., Umm, Tuesday!

Just a quick recipe that I will be trying very soon! Crispy Quinoa Sliders

Some health facts about quinoa according to a Forbes article on quinoa:

1. Very protein rich food.
2. Contains almost twice as much fiber as other grains.
3. Contains iron.
4. Rich in magnesium.
5. Contains lysine, which is needed for tissue growth and repair.
6. High in B2, which improved energy metabolism.
7. High content of manganese, which is an antioxidant.

Try it out! Salud!

Single Sista Shout Outs!!

I am taking a minute to shout out two local companies that I am very impressed with based in the DC/MD area.

1. Gone Greens, LLC

I went to the National Harbor Food and Wine Festival this past weekend. On my way there, my friend and I stopped at the farmer's market that was immediately outside of the festival. One table in particular caught our attention because the vendor said try our sauces/dips that are made out of collard greens. She had a pesto, pico de gallo, chutney and a few other VERY tasty sauces/dips. I love collard greens so this made my day. She also has cookbook that I will definitely be checking out soon! But I just wanted to shout out this company because I enjoyed the sauces/dips and definitely think you should support them. Gone Greens on Facebook and The Gone Greens Website

2. Capital Teas

Belle and I attended the Teas Around the World event on Sunday. It was held at the Living Social building in  DC and conducted by Capital Teas. Our instructor, Mr. Nkaiso Akpabio, gave us a serious lesson about green and black tea. We learned how long you should steep teas, this history behind the different teas, and that Lipton is basically the scrapple of tea. Yes, you read that right. Scrapple. There was no sugar or honey on the table so we truly got to taste and experience the flavors of each tea. The folks at Capital Teas know A LOT about tea and they have spent a lot time finding high quality tea. Did you know that you should be able to steep a real bag tea two to three times? Did you know you can infuse tea with alcohol? I highly recommend stopping by their National Harbor location. They have a wall of little jars and each jar has a sample of the teas so you can smell them. They also have some pretty exciting events coming up, including a poetry event. Capital Teas on Facebook and The Capital Teas Website

Check them out and let me know what you think! 

Salud! 

A Salad A Day!

 I am DEFINITELY going to show off just a little. As you may know by now, I am ALL about preparing meals for the week over the weekend so you can spend more time reading, exercise, shopping, catching up on all the shows you DVRed, and doing whatever make you happy!

I came across this website from a facebook post and I IMMEDIATELY bought some Mason jars on Amazon. Get ready because you are going to LOVE this!!

Basically you prepare the salad by layering the ingredients, with the lettuce/spinach at the top. I cut up some chicken, red peppers, some cooked asparagus, and corn. The wet ingredients should go in the jar first. 

And voila! My salad in a jar! I am also showing off my fruit salad. So you see two lunches and two snacks that I just grab in the mornings, put in my lunch tote, and off I go! 

Yes, it's THAT easy! No more excuses!!

Salud!

My Breakfast Cookie

I just wanted to share the breakfast cookie I made last night while watching Law & Order SUV. I can officially say that you DO NOT need to make the breakfast cookie with a banana. I personally do not care for bananas and mine turned out yummy without it. But if you like bananas, go for it.

So here are the ingredients I used:

Rolled oats

Almond butter

Cacao powder

Flaxseed

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Vanilla protein drink

Coconut palm sugar

I just used what I already had in the house. The vanilla protein drink was a nice touch since I do not have any protein mix and I used it instead of milk. I also thought the flaxseed was a nice touch to get some added omega 3 fatty acids (more information on flaxseeds: Health Properties of Flaxseeds). I added some cacao powder for some added antioxidants and iron (more information on cacao: About Cacao). And just a little coconut palm sugar (Coconut Palm Sugar, the LOW Glycemic Index Sweeteners). Side note: I will do a post on sweeteners VERY soon because I think it's important to address them. 

So I mixed everything in a bowl and placed it on a saucer to sit overnight uncovered in the fridge. This morning, this wonderful delight was waiting on me :)

It is definitely soft and you should be prepared to eat it off of whatever dish you use. I threw some saran wrap over it so I could take it to work and I enjoyed it at my desk. And I also wanted to show off in front of my co-workers. I will be making this again tonight for breakfast tomorrow!

Salud!