Pesto Remix!

What a weekend! It was so great having everyone together! Under our roof, we had 7 people and 2 dogs! This afternoon, the last of the crew left, and now we’re back to just three. I am so grateful for the memories created this weekend.

the first bloom of spring!

So with a strikingly quiet and calm house, I decided to use up some of the leftover veggies from this weekend. We had a random bell pepper, zucchini, and cilantro, plus lots of limes due to our healthy supply of beer!

yum!

I decided to make another Fish en Papillote (Fish in Parchment) — or in this case, tin foil! I served this with delicious Cilantro Pesto Rice!

such a beautiful presentation these canoes give!

We had a beautiful fillet of grouper from Lobsta Bakes that was wild, ocean-caught, and fresh from that morning! I made it “en papillote,” or in little tin foil canoes. I placed the fillets on beds of julliened vegetables, and they cooked in a steam bath of white wine, lemon and dill.

Here’s what you need:

1 green bell pepper, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced thin
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
fresh dill
white wine

ready to be sealed!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I portioned out my fish into 3 servings, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I laid out 3 large sheets of tin foil and laid a bed of bell peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms on each. I placed the fish on top, followed by the lemon slices and fresh dill. After folding up the sides and ends a bit, I poured a healthy splash of white wine over the fish. (This is what steams your fish and veggies!) Then fold up the sides and ends so it is all enclosed, creating a little canoe. Bake for 45 minutes, or less, depending on the thickness of your fish. Carefully open your papillote (the steam can burn!) and enjoy! Delish!

little canoes waiting to be put in the oven!

With these delectable packages, I made Cilantro Pesto Rice! This pesto remix was outstanding! So fresh and bright!

just look at that cilantro pesto rice!

Here’s what you need:

1 box wild rice

1 bunch cilantro, stems chopped off
2 stems of kale, stalks removed, steamed
1-2 garlic cloves, (depending on how garlicy you like it)
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 Tbsp EVOO
salt
water to desired consistency

Steam your kale to wilt it — just a minute or two. Put everything in the food processor, and whirl it around until it is a nice, thick, pesto! Mix this with your cooked wild rice. Yummy!

so healthy and fresh!

This dinner was delicious. It’s amazing that this patched-together-meal-to-use-up-leftovers could be so gourmet! Cooking fish in the tin foil canoes makes them so moist, tender, and flavorful! They take on the flavor of what they’re cooked with. This fish had the wonderful flavor of wine, dill and lemon! And the veggies were just wonderfully tender. Simply splendid. And this dish definitely brings the drama, as you unveil the succulent fish and veggies, waiting to be enjoyed!

all cooked in a steam bath of lemon, dill, and white wine!

Finally, the rice. Goodness, was this every scrumptious! Using cilantro in this pesto was so delightful! It gave it a truly bright and fresh flavor that you can only get from cilantro! This freshness, paired with the nutty, crunchy-chewy texture of the wild rice was absolutely delicious. A flavor explosion to say the least!

spring is here!

Here’s to a great week!

For this recipe, I used my fabulous food processor. I seriously can't go a day without it! haha Here's the one I use:

Birthday Eggstravaganza! ::sorry couldn't resist!::

The disposal is all fixed! After an early morning house call, we’re back in business and ready for a great Saturday! The boys went golfing while the others went house hunting again!

So tonight, we’re celebrating my sis-in-law’s birthday! And earlier in March, I made this delectable meal for my dad for his birthday, and  I was requested to make the same meal for her birthday tonight! Haha, we are creatures of habit!

buttery and succulent Ahi Tuna!

Dinner was my delicious Seared Ahi Tuna with Chinese Stir Fry Rice! Oh. My. Gosh. SO fantastic! The key to this amazing meal is having outstanding, organic ingredients — most importantly the fish!

Lobsta Bakes‘ wild, ocean-caught Ahi Tuna is sushi grade, and the most GORGEOUS ruby red color — a sign of an extremely fresh fish. Ahi Tuna is best eaten seared — very, very rare, and nearly raw. Just a minute or 2 per side on a screamin’ hot pan. When you just sear both sides, the middle maintains this buttery, melt-in-you-mouth consistency. Outstanding.

With it, I made my scrumptious Chinese Veggie Stir Fry Rice! It pairs so beautifully with the Ahi Tuna because the tuna itself is marinated in a fantastic, bright Asian marinade. The vegetables were so fresh and crisp with great Chinese flavors! Beautiful colors, bright flavors, and wonderful textures! The nutty rice, the salty sauce, buttery tuna, crunchy peppers and carrots, and peas that *pop* in your mouth. Truly a magnificent dining experience.

You can find my full recipe here – and I highly HIGHLY recommend this dish. It is a show stopper!

such delicious cake!

To end the meal with a birthday flare, I made again, a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free cake with Vanilla Coconut-Oil Buttercream. HOLY COW! It was from a cake mix ::sigh:: but still phenomenal. Light, fluffy, moist, and not at all crumbly, chalky, dense, or unpleasant like a lot of GF baked good. It was Pamela’s Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix.

And then the frosting! Get outta town! Can you hook me up to an IV of this stuff?? (This is coming from someone who hasn’t had sugar in 6 months!) Because of my UC flare, I’ve eliminated dairy from my diet…so how do you make a butter-less buttercream? Some vegan icings use margarine, which I am against….its just a bunch of hydrogenated oils and processed chemicals. So I used…COCONUT OIL!

Coconut oil is amazing. It is solid at room temperature, and liquefies if you heat it – like for a stir fry. But there are SO MANY outstanding health benefits of coconut oil. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, full of antioxidants, helps with digestion, nourishing for your hair, and is actually heart healthy, despite its high saturated fat content! You see, the molecule chains are much shorter than all other types of saturated fat which have long chains. Coconut oil’s molecules are processed by the liver and used as instant energy, instead of being stored in the body as fat, like butter and shortening. It’s truly an amazing ingredient that is being continually researched for its amazing health benefits.

Frosting:

1 cup coconut oil
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 – 2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp almond milk

Blend the coconut oil until smooth. Then slowly add the rest of your ingredients while you blend.  Store at room temp, and frost on a completely cooled cake. It will melt when it gets too warm.

look at that outrageous frosting!

This frosting was lick the bowl good. We couldn’t get enough! My mom even said she preferred it over regular buttercream because it had “a more wonderful consistency!” This cake was a food-bliss moment:)

The entire meal was absolutely delectable, and even MORE fantastic because my ENTIRE family was together! This was such a great, great night full of laughter, sharing stories, and joy. There is nothing sweeter than a united family — not even my cake:)

a show stopper:)

Make this dish, share it with your family, and revel in the goodness that is togetherness.  Have a Happy and Blessed Easter!

For this meal, I used my handy dandy grill pan. It's so convenient. Especially when it's cold or rainy outside! I also used my cute hand mixer for the frosting. It's pink for breast cancer:) Here are the tools I used:

Birthday Bash!

Today was a great day! My brother and sister-in-law came in town to celebrate my dad’s birthday! We had such a great day, catching up and hanging out.  There’s something almost electric in the air when *most of* the whole family is together. There’s lightness and joy in every breath. Not to be sappy, but there’s nothing quite like a united family. And I am so thankful for mine.

ahi tuna...so succulant

So I know that today is St. Patrick’s Day, and we’re supposed to be honoring our Irish heritage (50% woo woo!)….but…………we ate Chinese food tonight instead! Nothing against our potato loving ancestors, but Lobsta Bakes just had the.most.amazing sushi grade Ahi Tuna today. It was one of their fresh catches. Wild, ocean-caught, and the most beautiful ruby red color! We just couldn’t pass it up. Chinese Ahi Tuna it is! And hey…we ate potatoes yesterday! :)

mmm!

I’ve made this fantastic meal before….you can get my recipe here. I seriously recommend trying this! Everyone literally licked their plates. It was delicious!

Ahi Tuna –conceptually– can be a bit frightening…nearly raw fish?!?! But fear not, Happy Tummies!! Sushi Grade is your key here…..and that is why Lobsta Bakes is so incredible. Their fish is naturally Sushi Grade because it is so dang fresh! Ahi Tuna is best served rare –just seared– because the consistency in the ruby center melts in your mouth like butter. It is SO outrageously tasty and decadent.

The veggie rice was also amazing. The vegetables were so fresh and crisp with great Chinese flavors! Beautiful colors, bright flavors, and wonderful textures! The nutty rice, the salty sauce, buttery tuna, crunchy peppers and carrots, and peas that *pop* in your mouth. Truly a magnificent dining experience.

my half eaten piece....i was just so excited, I forgot to take a "before" picture!

Finally…no birthday is complete without a birthday cake!! Last night, I wasn’t able to partake in dessert, but tonight, I was in hog heaven! :) I made a fantastic Gluten Free Vanilla cake with Coconut Oil Buttercream. Oh boy. Somebody pinch me.

truly amazing gluten free, dairy free cake! We made a good dent!

Confession: It was a cake mix. But such a good one and I HIGHLY recommend it! It was Pamela’s GF Vanilla Cake Mix. It was not your typical dry, crumbly, dense, chalky, gummy, gluten-free disaster. Quite the opposite. It was glorious! Light, fluffy, and completely delicious!

Bengals Birthday Napkins:)

Finally, the icing….my oh my. Can you hook me up to an IV of this stuff?? (This is coming from someone who hasn’t had sugar in 6 months!) Because of my UC flare, I’ve eliminated dairy from my diet…so how do you make a butter-less buttercream? Some vegan icings use margarine, which I am against….its just a bunch of hydrogenated oils and processed chemicals. So I used…COCONUT OIL!

Coconut oil is amazing. It is solid at room temperature, and liquefies if you heat it –like for a stir fry. But there are SO MANY outstanding health benefits of coconut oil. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, full of antioxidants, helps with digestion, nourishing for your hair, and is actually heart healthy, despite its high saturated fat content! You see, the molecule chains are much shorter than all other types of saturated fat which have long chains. Coconut oil’s molecules are processed by the liver and used as instant energy, instead of being stored in the body as fat, like butter and shortening. It’s truly an amazing ingredient that is being continually researched for its amazing health benefits.

outrageous coconut oil "buttercream" frosting!

Frosting:

1 cup coconut oil
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 – 2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp almond milk

Blend the coconut oil until smooth. Then slowly add the rest of your ingredients while you blend.  Store at room temp, and frost on a completely cooled cake. It will melt when it gets too warm.

This frosting was lick the bowl good. We couldn’t get enough! My mom even said she preferred it over regular buttercream because it had “a more wonderful consistency!” This cake was a food-bliss moment:)

Finally, as I mentioned yesterday, I had a 3 1/3 hour doctor appointment for my UC. I am so tired of being sick, and I think we’ve finally found a natural therapy that is going to work! Right now, I’m still taking Asacol, but “stepping up” treatment in the drug world would be either a dirty steroid, an immune system modulator (which basically suppresses your immune system to the point of almost non-existance), or Remicade, which I don’t even really know what it does, but it involved and IV 4 times a week, and seriously messes up your immune system, health and wellbeing. Not to mention, is 15 Grand a month. So we decided to try a naturopath. We are very hopeful. UC is an autoimmune disease, and so my immune system attacks itself. This naturopath is going to calm it down, and rebuild it. Sounds good. But it comes as a full-time job………check out my pills….4 times a day.

new pill regimen...4x a day. And yes, that's my bag from NYC...I haven't unpacked yet

Wish me luck.

The delectable frosting was made possible by my wonderful hand mixer. It's so much easier than whipping out the big stand mixer. I also used my grill pan to make the Ahi Tuna. Grill pans are lifesavers, especially in the winter. They're so convenient. These are the tools I used: