Tamari Salmon

I Love Tamari!! I even got caught carrying it in my purse... guilty!! I like salmon but I've never LOVED salmon, until this recipe that is!!! Now I'm an official salmon lover!! This is actually my mom's recipe (TheLCKitchen) that she's been making for years... I just made a few changes to make it gluten free and then added the ginger and onions!! YUM!!! The marinade adds so much flavor and its super easy to whip up for dinner... yet it'll look like you slaved away in the kitchen for hours!!

Ingredients
2 fillet salmon
3 cups tamari sauce (gluten free soy sauce)
1/3 cup sesame oil
1 TBS crushed garlic
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 yellow onion


**Tip** Also Amazing with 3 TBS of Just Like Brown Sugar (OR regular brown sugar) mixed in the marinade!!

Pre-heat oven to 325
~ In a large flat baking sheet (with tall edges OR roasting pan) combine tamari, sesame oil, garlic, ginger
~ Place salmon face down (skin up) in marinade for 30 min
~ Place salmon on foil and top with onion. loosely wrap foil around salmon
~ Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through

Marinade for 30 minutes

Glazed Yams

These Glazed Yams are unbelievable!! When i came home from the hospital after having my daughter, some friends of ours came over and made us an amazing dinner... these beauties were on the menu and I've been making them ever since!!! AMAZINGLY GOOD with a lemon-sweet flavor... I promise your taste buds will go wild!! We had loads of leftover turkey from thanksgiving so I just whipped these up with some leftovers and called it a night!! Which reminds me, I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!!!

2 large yams or sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
4 TBS maple syrup
salt & pepper (to taste)


Preheat oven 400 / Servings 2
~ Combine lemon, maple syrup, salt & pepper in a bowl 
~ Place yams in baking dish and pour half the mixture over yams. toss to coat
~ Bake covered for 15 min.
~ Uncover, stir and cook. stir every 15 minutes until potatoes are soft and slight browned edges.
 (about 45-55 minutes)... if yams get too dry, drizzle small amounts of mixture and finish baking
~ When finished, drizzle remaining mixture over yams and coat. Finished

Easy Taco Chili

SUPER EASY recipe with great taste!!

1 lb of beef
1 package taco seasoning (GF)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 (14oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained
1 (only use 8oz) can tomatoe sauce
1 (16oz) can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 (16oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (only use 10oz) package frozen corn, thawed
1 (4oz) can green chili, mild
1/2 - 1 TBS of chili powder (depending on how you like it)


Toppings:
onions, chopped
cheese
sour cream


Servings 4
~ Cook ground beef in pot over medium-high until cooked and no longer pink
~ Add taco seasoning to meat
~ Add all other ingredients, cook on medium-high for 20-25 minutes.


** I usually double this recipe and then have it for the next week for a snack or lunch

Classic Chunky Chicken Soup

This recipe is one that I've been making for years and definitely a winter favorite OR home sick on the couch and need some Feel Better Soup!! Although I can not take credit for this... This is a family recipe from my husbands mom Jana Thurner!! She is a fantastic healthy cook and shared this recipe with me early-on in our marriage... it was a marriage saver!! JK... but it did help when I was learning to cook for Jedidiah... the poor guy had to taste all my experiments, good or bad, but this one always came out perfect and loaded with flavor!!

1 whole chicken OR 4 breasts
1 white onion
5 large carrots
5 celery stalks
5 potatoes (red or yukon gold)
2 TBS garlic, minced
5 bouillon cubes, chicken flavor
1 TBS poultry seasoning

Servings 6
~ Place whole chicken in a pot and fill with water until chicken is covered
~ Put bouillon cubes, garlic, salt, pepper & poultry seasoning in water.
~ Simmer for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is cooked
~ While chicken is simmering, cut up all veggies
~ Remove chicken, keep broth. Cut/shred chicken and set aside
~ Add vegetables and shredded chicken back into broth, cook until done (veggies are soft)
~ If needed add salt, pepper, garlic, or poultry seasoning to taste

Just Like Sugar

  This is another great sugar substitute used in some of my desserts.

 http://www.justlikesugarinc.com/

Just Like Sugar comprises a perfect blend of:

• Chicory Root
• Dietary Fiber
• Vitamin C
• Calcium
• And all Natural Flavors from the peel of the Orange

 Just Like Sugar, Inc. is proud to introduce their newest FDA GRAS taste sensation Just Like Sugar, a totally unique natural sweetener that is available for sale, through our website, and is now found in many manufactured food products, retail stores such as Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Markets, Sun Harvest, Henry's Farmers Market, and many other fine retailers in Canada and worldwide.

 Just Like Sugar is a wonderful natural alternative for those health conscious people, who choose a calorie restricted diet, with a great pure sweet flavor that tastes just like sugar.

Just Like Sugar is a great natural option for people suffering from diabetes and may be useful in restricted diet programs where standard sugars are not allowed.

Just Like Sugar is a 100% natural FDA GRAS approved sweetener make from only the purest of ingredients.

Just Like Sugar mimics the attributes of regular cane sugar in every way without any of the negative side effect.

Just Like Sugar contains no sugar alcohols and does not cause laxative effects like other artificial sweetners on the market today.

Just Like Sugar enhances composition is a source of natural dietary fiber from Chicory Root and vitamin C, chich should be essential ingredients in everyone's daily diet.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

3 chicken breasts, boiled & shredded
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red or green pepper, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups of grated cheese
enchilada sauce (GF)
olive oil or coconut oil


Toppings (optional):
fresh tomatoes, chopped
black olives, sliced
green onion, chopped
sour cream


Preheat Oven 350 / Servings 4
~ Cook quinoa as directed but instead of water, use 2 cups chicken stock
~ In oiled pan over medium-high saute onion and pepper until soft
~ add chicken, quinoa, black beans and enchilada sauce (desired amount). stir until everything is coated
~ Pour into a baking dish and top with cheese, place in oven until cheese is melted
~ Dish out and add your favorite toppings

Flax Zucchini Fries

WOW!! These zucchini fries came out ten times better than I was expecting! Don't get me wrong, I thought they would be good but these were fantastic!! This was a total experiment that my sister-in-law Karelia, and I did and they were so yummy!! We went to the store looking for Almond Meal but they were out so we decided to try Flax Meal... So glad we did and so glad the store was out of Almond Meal!! After baking we realized the Flax Meal gave it the perfect crunch coating and such a great flavor!! We kept saying we could have eaten a whole tray by ourselves... but we had to share! Boooo!!! I will be making these all the time! Great for lunch or dinner... healthy snack for kids!! 

Benefits of Flax Seeds:

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids- good fat that has heart healthy effects. 1 TBS contains 1.8 grams of plant omega-3's.
• High in Fiber
• Lignans - contains plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities... helps balance female hormones and supports fertility.
• High in B Vitamins and  magnesium

4 zucchini
2 eggs
3/4 cup flax meal
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp oregano

Preheat oven 425 / Servings 4
~ Slice zucchini into fries
~ In a bowl stir together flax meal, garlic salt, sea salt, cayenne pepper, and oregano
~ In separate bowl beat eggs
~ Dip zucchini in egg and then in flax meal mixture.
~ Grease baking sheet and then place fries on baking sheet evenly spread apart so they are not touching.
~ Bake on 425 for 12-15 minutes

Mediterranean Potatoes

 

Thanks to Karelia Grafmyre (my amazing sister-in-law) for this incredible new recipes!! My husband and I travel a lot and I love visiting friends and family because I get to learn some of their favorite recipes and the different techniques they use to cook!! Everyone has their own recipes that are family favorites and I'm always intrigued to know what, why and how! Karelia originally made these with fingerling potatoes which were phenomenal and so I put in a request for more!! She mentioned they were also great with yams/sweet potatoes, so we went with the yams!! Great choice... Savory & Sweet!! 

3 TBS coconut oil
4 yams or sweet potatoes (OR fingerling potatoes), diced
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 TBS Italian herbs (dried oregano, parsley, basil)
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 cups fresh spinach 
sea salt

Topping:
feta cheese, crumbled
green onion, chopped


Servings 4 ~ Heat skillet and add 1 TBS of coconut oil along with yams. cook on med-high for 15 minutes
~ Add onion and cook for another 15-20 minutes. continue adding coconut oil throughout cooking if skillet gets too dry (prevent burning potatoes)
~ Add Italian herbs & Cayenne pepper. continue to cook until potatoes are soft & even slightly browned 
~ Add spinach and cook until wilt. Add a good amount of sea salt (to taste)
~ Place potatoes on plates and sprinkle feta cheese and green onions. Finished!!