Farmers Market Finds

Who woulda thought we'd get so excited every Sunday morning to go to a farmers market? A few months ago, I wouldn't have believed it myself! It's like Disneyland for me now!

There are certainly lots of farmers market out there, but there's always that one favorite that we all have. Ours is the Studio City Farmers Market. We've been to other spots where it feels more like a fair, rather than a market. They sell really bad and greasy food and only have a few organic farmers on site. But in Studio City, we feel more at home. We're surrounded by like-minded people who truly promote locally and organically grown fruits and veggies, and healthy goods.

Before we came across our raw cheeze recipe, we really didn't know there was an alternative to cheese. Luckily, at the farmers market, there's a booth there called, Nary Dairy, where they sell raw cheeze. The woman there gave us a sample and we were sold. Wow! This gave us confidence in recreating our own because we knew exactly what to expect in texture and how it would taste like.

The first time we went to Studio City, we were with my sister-in-law, Carrie, and her 4 year old daughter, Ciana. As soon as we got there, I had to run back to the car because I left my phone. When, I returned, Ciana ran to me and held up a bag of cookies she had just bought. To my surprise, they were gluten-free cookies from The Good Cookies. How cool is that! Of course my niece didn't know how healthy this cookie was, because all she knew was how yummy it tasted.  They offered us 2 different kinds: chocolate peanut butter and sunflower chocolate. I liked both, but Ciana's favorite is the choco peanut butter. And my fiancé, Wency's favorite is the sunflower.

When we first learned of cacao nibs, I was on a mission to find it as our healthy grocery store didn't carry them. But, where did we find them? At the Studio City farmers market, of course! There's a booth there called, World Flavorz. and they've got such a great selection of spices and tea. When we come up with new recipes, I'll be sure to get my spices from them.

Ever had Afghani food? We tried the bolani, with its many types of sauces, and it is delicious! The booth is called, Bolani, and they are very generous in their samples. They do a fantastic job because now we are hooked! We especially love the spinach bolani with sweet jalapeño, cilantro pesto and the eggplant pesto.

And do you know what our favorite type of food is? Indian! And did you know there's such a thing as gluten-free, healthy Indian food? There sure is! The restaurant is called, Gangadin, which opened in 1984 and is owned by a father and son team. We've eaten there before and they're wonderful. They offered us new things to try and they kept us laughing. But not only do they have a restaurant located on the same street as the farmers market, but they also have a booth to promote healthy items from their menu and offer you samples.

And that's what great about farmers market. You can sample so many new and different things and talk directly to the vendors. They are excited about their product and are more than willing to talk and inspire you.

No Noodles Ground Turkey Lasagna

Ok, this dish was the one I was most excited, yet most nervous to make. I've never even made regular lasagna, let alone paleo style! For vegans and vegetarians, simply omit the meat.

Keep in mind, my mom makes the best lasagna ever. Although our versions differ, there's still a lot riding into this dish. Gotta make my momma proud!

For "noodles," we used sliced eggplant.  If you can, find free range ground turkey. For cheese, we used our raw cheeze
recipe, and the veggies used were organic. And our not so secret ingredient is honey! Yes, honey. And only because the marinara sauce we used was too tangy for our taste. If you like tangy, omit the honey.  The marinara sauce we tried and loved is Walnut Creek. No salt added, gluten-free, and organic.

Non-stick pans are great because we didn't use oil to sauté the veggies or cook the ground turkey sauce. We only used olive oil to grease the casserole, which was only about 1/4 teaspoon.

After all the chopping, sautéing, layering, and baking, we finally did it. Whoa!

No Noodles Ground Turkey Lasagna

1 lb ground turkey
2 1/2 cups marinara sauce2 eggplants
2 small zucchini
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup baby spinach
2 cups raw cheeze, divided
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Honey (optional)
"Parmesan cheese" - mix equal parts almond meal/flour and nutritional yeast

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut stems off of eggplants and leave skin on. Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Don't worry, I'm still mastering the art of slicing and some of the pieces were thick and uneven. In a non-stick griddle, heat each side to about a minute to remove moisture. Set aside.

In large non-stick saucepan, cook the ground turkey and season with sea salt and pepper.  When cooked, drain the meat. Stir in the marinara sauce and season according to taste. This is where we put honey to lessen the tangy. Set aside.

In the same saucepan, sauté the garlic and onions for a few minutes and then add the zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Set aside.

Grease a 9x13 casserole

Layer 1: half of eggplant slices
Layer 2: 1 cup raw cheeze
Layer 3: half of turkey marinara
Layer 4: half of sautéed veggies
Layer 5: baby spinach
Layer 6: eggplant slices
Layer 7: 1 cup raw cheeze
Layer 8: sautéed veggies
Layer 9: turkey marinara
Layer 10: drizzle as much "Parmesan cheese" as you like

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. And you'll be as surprised as we were when we devoured this lasagna! By far, our most flavorful and colorful dish yet...wow!

Chocolate Banana Milkshake

Ah yes, childhood memories of chocolate milk.  Mom would either buy ready-made chocolate milk off the grocery shelves; or pour some powdery brown stuff in our whole milk.  And don't even get me started on Yoo-hoo! I used to bring one everyday for lunch during middle school!

As we got older, we learned that chocolate was not good.  Twix and Snickers are bad because of the ridiculous amount of sugar and calories. So we thought we were doomed from consuming chocolate.

Or so we thought...

After much research, we come across cacao nibs. In a nutshell, they are broken up pieces from cacao beans, which is where good ol' chocolate comes from.  According to another awesome documentary, Food Matters, raw cacao is actually considered a superfood!  It is nutrient rich with high sources of magnesium, calcium, iron, sulfur, protein, etc. The list goes on and on. But as soon as cacao is processed into the chocolate bars and candy we see in grocery stores, most of the nutrients are gone.

So, after much research for a chocolate shake, we came up with a delicious recipe, and finally blessed our brand new blender!

Chocolate Banana Milkshake (serves 1)

1 ripe banana
1 cup unsweetened or sweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon cacao nibs
4 dates, seeded (feel free to add more for sweetness)

Blend until desired consistency or until majority of nibs are pulverized. Pour over ice and viola! how easy was that! It will be the healthiest chocolate drink you'll ever have, we promise!

Healthy Filipino Bistek "Beefsteak" and Quinoa

Nope, not a typo.  And no, you’re not seeing things. It really does say, HEALTHY FILIPINO BISTEK! We figured it out folks!

As we were explaining to my brother about our real food project and how our plan was to recreate meals, such as hamburger and fries, he simply asked, “What about Filipino food?”  Well, that certainly stopped us in our tracks. 

Took a bit of researching, but we finally did it!  And we chose to recreate Bistek, which is a marinated meat dish topped with caramelized onion rings and served with white rice.  Typically, ingredients used are: soy sauce, calamansi, sugar, garlic, onions.  Swap the soy sauce with tamari, the sugar with honey, and use organic veggies. 

Why tamari? It's made with 100% soy, versus soy sauce, which contains 30-40% wheat. Pretty weird considering the words "soy sauce" should only be...well, soy, right? Calamansi, also known as calamondin, is a Filipino lemon that almost tastes like a lemon with a touch of orange.  If you don’t have access to a store that sells this, or a Filipino person who has a tree in their backyard (like us!), then use lemon. 

Disclaimer!! We were so excited to make this, we forgot to measure quite a few things! When cooking Filipino dishes, we tend to “eyeball” everything. 

Good news is that we will definitely make this again, and when we do, we’re going to measure and update this post.

Healthy Filipino Bistek and Quinoa

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 lb flank steak or flap meat, cut into 2 inch strips

1 whole white onion, sliced into rings (do not separate the rings)

Tamari

4 calamansi

1 head garlic, coarsely chopped

Honey

Filtered water

Olive oil

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, add tamari and calamansi and meat.  Toss to make sure all of the meat is coated.  Set aside to marinate.

In a skillet, heat olive oil and cook onion rings a few minutes each side, so they’re slightly caramelized.  You don’t want this fully caramelized; that slight crunch makes it fun.  Since not all rings will fit at one time, make in batches, and then set aside. 

In the same skillet, add a little bit of olive oil and cook the marinated beef.  DO NOT DISCARD the marinade because this is key for Bistek.

When the beef is done, set aside.  Again, using the same skillet, pour in the marinade, along with the garlic, and let it boil for a few minutes to soften the garlic.  Add the cooked beef and lower the heat to simmer.  Add water and honey to offset the saltiness of the marinade.  When you’ve reached your desired taste, add the onions on top, cover and simmer for another few minutes…and that’s it!  Serve with quinoa and eat Filipino Bistek, guilt-free.

So Far So Good!

What began as a mission to look awesome for a weekend with friends in Palm Springs, turned instead into a project to reintroduce ourselves to the food and health industry.  It’s been a little over a month now and we’ve opened our minds, eyes and taste buds to so many things.

People we’ve met along the way have given us insight, information, and motivation to keep moving forward.  Healthy restaurants helped us compare real versus fake food; needless to say, our taste buds yearn for the real thing. We can’t get over the fact how much tastier and filling food is without the scary scientific ingredients! 

We are by no means chefs! And my family tends to laugh at the thought of me in the kitchen.  But guess what? We’re beyond boiling water now!  We’re learning to cut, chop, dice, cook, and plate. 

Thanks to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and our families, we got super cool kitchen appliances. 

We initially got spice rack for decoration purposes, but now we’re actually using it! 

What used to be brown sugar, refined white sugar, white flour, and regular table salt, has been replaced with cacao nibs, raw cashews, chia seeds, and quinoa.

Is this a diet? No way! Diets eliminate and or cut down either protein, fat, or carbs. We’re not about that, because our bodies need all three. We’re just replacing the bad with the good.  Replacing the fake with the real. Replacing the processed with natural. Plus, we’re adding! Adding more of the good stuff.  It’s about lifestyle: working out and eat real food.

It’s been a wild ride, but so far so good! 

Quinoa and Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed bell peppers are always fun.  And now they’re even more fun because we’re using quinoa in place of rice.  The store ran out of ground turkey, so we figured we try ground chicken.  Here ya go!

Easy Quinoa and Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 lb ground chicken
6 bell peppers, any colors (cut top of peppers and remove seeds)
2 cloves minced garlic (we love garlic by the way)
½ red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 can organic diced tomatoes, do not drain
Cumin
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees

In a large skillet over medium heat, add garlic and onions until onions are soft.  Then add in the ground chicken and season with cumin salt and pepper to your liking.  When chicken is about finished, stir in diced tomatoes.  Finally, add the cooked quinoa and mix everything together. 

Stuff the bell peppers, place in 9x13 casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake for about 30 minutes. If you think the peppers need more time, go for it!

Next time, we’re going to use ground turkey and add more veggies.  We’re still learning our spices, but we’ll be sure to add in more of those too. Not bad for our first try! 

Quinoa to the Rescue!

Asians with no rice is like Bert with no Ernie, Jack with no Jill, and the earth with no sun. Well I think you get the picture!  Trust me, we grew up eating rice with everything! It’s a sin to eat Filipino main dishes with no rice.  It’s just not right.

So what’s our substitute? Quinoa! It’s a seed that’s gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and has the highest protein content.  It’s a win-win situation!

We realized that eating healthy doesn’t mean starving ourselves or denying ourselves taste.  In fact, it’s been the complete opposite.  First, real food tastes so much better.  And second, we end up consuming less because the amount of nutrients we take in is more filling.

Not only does quinoa taste great, but can be used it so many recipes.  I’ve recently made quinoa and chicken stuffed bell peppers, which will be shared soon.  And my best friend, Mary, will soon share her special quinoa salad recipe.  And later on, I’ll actually attempt to make quinoa sushi! Wish me luck!