Citrus Garlic Spinach and Faux Chicken

I know mushrooms are relatively as filling as meat but I've been eating a lot of them lately and thought it was time to change things up a bit.

 First, I took fresh organic spinach and rinsed it. Shake just a bit to relieve the excess water or pat dry.

Then, I got out a large pan, put a bit of flavored olive oil in it, and placed it on the stove on medium heat. Once the olive oil has heated and thinned out a little bit, add the garlic and, after a minute or two, add the spinach. Immediately after this, I squeezed in the juice of two oranges. Feel free to put in as much spinach as you want as it will cook down quite a bit. An amount that would be suitable for two to three people in a salad will only be enough for one person after being cooked.

Tofu chicken seemed to be the easiest choice. (Sorry the picture looks blurry - it's from the heat of cooking!) The one I chose was already prepared and in little stripes so all I had to do was cook them a bit. The directions said you could just throw them in the microwave for one minute so I made sure to have the pan already hot with flavored olive oil, the juice of one orange, and diced garlic.

After the spinach has cooked down and the faux chicken has the slightest browning, plate and squeeze a little more orange juice all over the top. Other citrus juices would be good, too, as would rosemary or basil. I think next time I'll add a little cilantro or parsley in as well with the spinach to cook. Overall, though, it was very good, especially since the spinach retains a bit of it's crunch! (I'm one that eats for texture and, then, taste)

Strawberry Jam: The Best Thing I've Ever Made, Bar None!

Okay, so perhaps I'm a bit partial but I think this is the best thing I've ever had in my mouth. I've been wanting to make my own jam for quite some time but, for whatever reason, I never attempted it. Also, most of the recipes I read required pectin and I would prefer that my food be as natural as possible (yes, I'm aware this is derived partially from apples but I don't care for added preservatives).

I began by mashing strawberries by hand, which was actually quite fun. This only took a few minutes for the whole carton. There will be somewhat large bits after mashing if you just use your hand and you'll need to tear them up into smaller pieces, unless you want obvious bits in your jam, which I did so I left a few bigger bits.

The next step is to put measure out the strawberries. I had about 1 1/2 cups. You must add equal parts sugar and strawberries. I used all natural brown sugar. I put the mix into a pot and squeezed one half of a lemon in.

 

Turn the heat to high, stirring continually, until reaching a hard boil. Finally, reduce heat and stop stirring to let the jam consolidate. I went back once every few minutes to make sure it wasn't burning and to give a quick stir. 

Plate and serve or jar to keep for later. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. I ended up licking every bit off of my spoon and then putting some on a cookie! It was also very fragrant and made almost the entire house smell like strawberries. Yum!

Ma Bonne Weekend!

So, yes, it's been a little while since I've posted and I am here now in hopes of making it up! I had the most amazing weekend running around apartment/house hunting with one of my good friends, our dogs, and my friends sun. We managed some good fresh fruit and veg, a bit of sun, and a lot of fun!

This was breakfast pretty much Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Fresh strawberries quartered, raspberries, slices of tomato and mozzarella, and baked biscuits. Yum! I made them into little breakfast sandwiches. I think the fruit is sweet enough but, for the little ones, maybe drizzle a small amount of agave nectar over the fruit.

After breakfast, we packed up a few bottles of water and some snacks and headed out to look at a few properties. The house hunting ended up being a bust but there was a lake right across the street so we decided to let the dogs (and, eventually, my friends son) stretch their legs a little bit and splash around! 

This was also how we ended our day at a different lake closer to home. By the end of it, our cheeks were rosy from the sun and we were exhausted! It was a lovely day and evening. There was something so adorable about my friends son running around and my dog trotting along right behind him, like he was making sure he was okay. It was the cutest thing ... until I saw him fall asleep on my puppy's belly in the car!

My friends son doing handstands in the lake! So adorable!

Coming up soon, I will have my stuffed bell peppers, wonderful tomato sauce, strawberry jam, and a few other delicious recipes! Hope everyones weekend was as wonderful, relaxing, and well-deserved as mine!