If you are looking to getting into a healthier lifestyle regime, this immune boosting smoothie is a great way to start.

Believe it or not, this smoothie contains red cabbage, and you would never know it to taste it.  If you want to check out the many many health benefits of red cabbage, here is a great article.

We alternate the flavourings of this smoothie - one day we will use a 1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, the next time we use cinnamon and tumeric, all 3 of these flavors provide huge immune boosting properties as well.  Here we use frozen, thawed: organic strawberries, organic wild blueberries and pineapple, but any choice of berries, fruit etc. can work nicely.

3/4 cup chopped red cabbage

1/2 tsp. organic tumeric, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, or a 1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger chopped

1/2 cup frozen thawed organic strawberries

1/2 cup frozen thawed pineapple

1/4 cup frozen thawed organic wild blueberries

1/4 wedge fresh squeezed lemon juice

3/4-1 cup water

Put all of the ingredients into a blender:

Blend until nice and smooth - you will not believe how good it tastes, and such a great way to start your day.

 

Okay...  There is a story behind this name and recipe.  I was texting with my sister the other day - she lives in Wild Rose Country, Alberta, Canada.  Yup as beautiful as those Wild Roses are, and they are a plenty, the miles are too far between us and I miss her. Thankfully, we do visit from time to time.

Now onto how this recipe evolved.  Texting away at both our ends she mentioned what she was making for dinner.  I thought, hey, I have most of those ingredients, and can easily make a few improvisations, hence this recipe came about.  You know how you get bored with the same old same old?  Well, here was something new to try, and yes, it was damn delicious yummm in your mouth!  Plus, for those that follow a Keto diet, this is a recipe you will love. Thank you sweet sister, a recipe we will make time and time again. xoxo

1 spaghetti squash, cooked - we used our tried and true Air fryer method

2 Tblsp. Olive Oil

1 shallot, sliced

2 minced garlic cloves

398 ml can of whole, peeled Italian Pomodaro tomatoes, with sauce, cut into bite size pieces (or 1 pint fresh cherry tomatoes)

huge handful (1  1/2 cups?) roughly chopped fresh spinach

4-5 slices roughly chopped bacon

1 tsp. whole leaf dried oregano, crushed in hands, 1/2 tsp. ground basil, 1/2 tsp. ground fennel

salt and pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese

Follow the directions for Air Fryer Spaghetti Squash, or use oven roasted method.

Heat up a large sauce pan low medium heat, with the Olive Oil, shallots and garlic.  Saute until fragrant, 3-4 minutes, then add in the chopped whole tomatoes and sauce, and fresh spinach.  Add in the spices stirring well, bring to a simmer, turn down to low minimum, lid off and simmer.  This will low simmer 30-40 minutes while the rest of the meal comes together.

Heat up a frying pan on medium heat and cook the bacon until brown/crisp, then remove and place on a plate with paper towel to absorb the extra grease.

Once spaghetti squash is cooked, remove from Air fryer to a platter.  I use tongs at one end, and scrape out the strands using a fork onto the platter.  Plate the spaghetti squash, and cover with the Italian tomato sauce, sprinkling of bacon and Parmesan cheese.  Comfort food full of flavor and quick and easy too!

 

 

 

This one pot braised chicken and rice came together very easily, and was packed full of flavor.  In terms of chicken, we used skinless boneless chicken breasts, but really any cut of chicken or thighs skinless or not can easily work here.  In terms of seasonings, you could go with Italian, Curry, or even Mexican flavors.  A very versatile dish.

2 Tblsp. Olive oil

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces, season with salt and pepper

1 small diced celery stalk with leaves

1/4-1/2 sliced green pepper, slice into 2 inch thin strips

3 mushrooms of your choice, sliced small

1 small shallot, diced

2/3 cup frozen chopped okra

2/3 cup frozen green beans 1-2 inch pieces in size

2 Tblsp. tomato paste mixed with 1 1/2 cups chicken stock

398 ml can of diced tomatoes and juice

1 Tblsp. White Balsamic Vinegar

1 cup brown or white minute rice

1/2 Tblsp. Hungarian Paprika, 1/2 tsp. turmeric, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. saffron, 1 tsp. dried oregano, 1 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Heat up a braiser pan, or large frying pan with the olive oil, medium low heat.  Once heated add the chicken pieces, lightly saute 2-3 minutes, then remove from the pan and set aside.  They will finish cooking in the sauce.

Turn the heat to low, and add in the shallot, mushrooms, celery, and green pepper.  Saute lightly for 5 minutes.  Add in the seasonings, chicken stock with tomato paste, diced tomatoes, Balsamic vinegar, frozen okra, green beans and rice, stirring to incorporate.  Place the chicken pieces throughout, and once simmering, turn the heat to minimum and cook lid on for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, remove the lid and lightly simmer for 5 more minutes.  Serve hot, a one pot meal that is pure comfort food.

 

 

Each night I ask...what to cook tonight??  We had tacos the night before, with this recipe here.  There was about 1 cups worth of taco meat sauce left in the fridge.  With the high costs of groceries, well truthfully inflation overall everywhere, I refuse to throw away good food.  With a few pantry/fridge staples this recipe came together easily enough and was mighty tasty.

Quite often I will cook enough for 4 (there are 2 of us in our household now) and have the leftovers the next night.  This recipe here, worked perfectly for 2.

By the way, with the black beans, I froze the remainder in the canned sauced/water they came in, in an airtight container to use another day.  This made a great dinner, but would be lovely for lunch too and came together in about 30 minutes.

1/4 stalk celery, with leaves finely diced

good handful of fresh cilantro minced with the stems

2/3 cup black beans, rinsed well, separate in half in a bowl and mash one half of beans with a fork

398 can diced tomatoes drained, but reserve liquid

1 cup leftover taco meat sauce

1/4 cup frozen organic corn

1 tsp. chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

grated cheddar cheese

slices of avocado

corn chips

To a sauce pan, add the drained tomatoes with 1/3 cup of juice, celery, corn, cilantro, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Bring to a lite simmer, with lid on and simmer 15 minutes.

Add the beans and meat sauce plus 2-3 Tablespoons of reserved tomato liquid.  Mix well and simmer on low for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with a topping of grated cheddar cheese, and avocado and corn chips on the side.

 

Air Fryer spaghetti squash could not get any easier.  We love to have spaghetti squash with Meatballs and Marinara sauce, or under a serving of chili.  Spaghetti squash is a nutritious and filling squash any way you decide to serve it.

Cut the stem end off of the spaghetti squash, then place on cut end and cut the squash in half.  Scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  Drizzle a small amount of Avocado Oil in each squash and spread throughout with you hand.  Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the Air Fryer at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.  Open the basket and add a splash of water to the bottom of the fryer - no need to remove the tray.

Place the Spaghetti Squash cut side up into the basket and cook.  Depending on the size of you squash cooking time will be anywhere from 23-30 minutes.  Carefully remove the cooked squash with tongs and allow to cool a bit before using a fork to scrape out the strands of squash.  Serve along side any main dish.

A super quick easy method for Air Fryer Italian Sausages, and mighty tasty, plus dinner is ready in less than half an hour!

 

Preheat your Air Fryer at 365 degrees for 5 minutes.  No need to add any oil as they will brown up nicely cooking.  Cook for 23-25 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Allow to rest in the Air Fryer with basket cracked open slightly for 5 minutes before serving along any other side dishes:

Well, I am happy to say this chicken method might be the best yet!  We used chicken thighs/drumstick attached style of chicken with this simple dry rub - so just a method here.   Lightly drizzle Extra Virgin Olive oil onto the chicken and rub onto the chicken to coat well then add your dry rub.  Let sit on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking.

Preheat the air fryer at 380 degrees for 5 minutes.  Place the chicken  skin side up into the basket and cook 15 minutes, then turn over and cook for 5 minutes.  Then turn over to skin side up once again and continue to cook for remaining 10 min.  So in total:  35 minutes to cook.  The skin is so crispy yet the chicken is super moist and flavorful - plus easy clean up.  Just wipe out the air fryer with paper towel and wash in hot soapy water with a good rinse.  So love this - no messy oven to clean and clean up is a breeze!

In this post I wanted to share some new information on Canadian Chicken.  I did a post way way back 2010??? Back then if you bought regular store bought chicken it was still loaded in anti-biotics.  Not so any more Canada - Yayyyyy!  I spoke to 3 different grocery store butchers and they all gave the same information.  All chicken (if given anti-biotics at all) must have a 3 month window before they are processed to ensure all the anti-biotics are out out the chicken's system.  Wow...this is huge in my world and 1/2 the cost of free range or organic.

This said we still try our best to have free range or organic as much as possible and we still do Vegetarian meals twice a week so we think it evens out to be a healthy choice overall for us.

Delicious Air Fryer chicken - serve with any side dish.

 

Leftover oven roasted turkey is such a versatile delicious poultry.  And much much better than store bought when roasted in your own oven!  This salad would also be good with a Tblsp. of pesto for added flavor.

1 rounded cup of cubed leftover roast turkey breast

1 inch thick slice of peeled red pepper, finely diced

2 small green onions finely chopped

salt and fresh cracked pepper

3 big Tblsp. real Mayonnaise

1 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Mix up ingredients in a bowl and serve with a serving of fresh spinach and sliced cucumbers.

Turkey Melt:

Heat up a frying pan on low medium heat.

2 slices of gluten free bread, spread on one side of each slice a thin layer of mayonnaise.

1 slice of aged white cheddar

Assemble the sandwich and place mayonnaise side down into the frying pan.  Turn over when golden and continue to cook until the other side is golden in color.  Serve along side a salad of your choice.