So I've all the sudden started craving Soda. Like crazy. Probably, because of my pregnancy and wanting something to settle my stomach.
Anyways, Most soda's just seem gross to me, because it is. Affordable soda's are basically corn syrup in a can, expensive soda is usually cane sugar in a can, and diet soda is a chemistry lab... and gross (really, I think artificial sweeteners in soda are the grossest things ever, plus they have been shown to hurt your body quicker then sugar and make you more hungry.
Anyways, I found a great solution for making my own 'soda'
It is inspired from a childhood of mixing lemonade and sprite.
Take basic club soda and mix it with your favorite juice! yea!
My favorite is Simply Lemonade's raspberry lemonade and soda (yes, I know lemonade has sugar, but still less then fruit sodas)
I go half and half juice club soda, but do what you like.
the Minute Maid 100% juices work well too if you want a little sweeter juice.
note* make sure the 'juice' you buy is actually juice. There are a lot of 'juices' that are actually mostly water and sugar/corn syrup that try to pretend to be healthy.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lentil Pie (Meatless Shepherd's Pie)
Its been a while.
Well, this meal, although plain sounding, has inspired me to get back to posting.
Growing up I loved it when my mom made Shepherd's pie. It had meat, peas, and mashed potatoes topped with cheese.
Anyways, not only is ground beef fatty, most ground beef that I will consider eating also expensive.
So that brings me to this great discovery. I was thinking how much I wanted Sheppard's pie, how little I wanted to go to the store, and how much I would rather not eat something that I was going to regret later. I've used beans to substitute as meat, but that was not a good solution for me (especially because I wanted dinner soon)
I also have been thinking I need to start using my lentil's more.
So I, nervously, decided to look-up meatless Shepherd's pie online to see if it used lentils. To my satisfaction there were lots of recipes for a lentil based Shepherd's Pie.
So I picked the one, and modified it quite a bit so I thought it would taste good. (note: the sad truth is that a lot of meatless, low fat, or 'healthy' recipe's online go a little to far for me i.e. no fats whatsoever or no salt which for me just makes a meal that would otherwise be delicious taste like dry mush.)
Anyways, I made this meal, honestly, kind of worried it would taste like so many other 'meatless' meat dishes I've had (like chalk) and it ended up Moist and Yummy! In fact I think I like it more then shepherd's pie with meat.
Here's the ingredients and how to make it
1/2 pound brown/green lentils
Spices to taste:
Sage
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Dried oregano
Cumin
turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt/ celery salt
lots of pepper
1 half med. onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Vegetables of you choice (I like peas and carrots)
4 Russell potatoes
1/2 sour cream
1/4 cup milk (or enough to make the potatoes smooth)
salt to taste
3 tablespoons butter to taste
1/3 cup shredded cheese(optional)
Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Wash, peel (optional) and dice potatoes and boil until soft. once potatoes break apart easily, drain and in a mixing bowl beat the potatoes, cream, butter, salt and milk with a mixer until smooth and airy.
Meanwhile, Cook Lentils according to directions, except add the spices to the water you boil the lentils in. mash and set aside.
Once lentil are done saute onion and garlic in the olive oil over med heat until the onion barley start to soften (about a min). mix in the oil/onion/garlic with the lentils Put the lentil mixture in a lightly oiled casserole dish.
Top with diced or small vegetables of your choice. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the mashed lentils top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
+we eat our with ketchup... It make it extra yummy.
Well, this meal, although plain sounding, has inspired me to get back to posting.
Growing up I loved it when my mom made Shepherd's pie. It had meat, peas, and mashed potatoes topped with cheese.
Anyways, not only is ground beef fatty, most ground beef that I will consider eating also expensive.
So that brings me to this great discovery. I was thinking how much I wanted Sheppard's pie, how little I wanted to go to the store, and how much I would rather not eat something that I was going to regret later. I've used beans to substitute as meat, but that was not a good solution for me (especially because I wanted dinner soon)
I also have been thinking I need to start using my lentil's more.
So I, nervously, decided to look-up meatless Shepherd's pie online to see if it used lentils. To my satisfaction there were lots of recipes for a lentil based Shepherd's Pie.
So I picked the one, and modified it quite a bit so I thought it would taste good. (note: the sad truth is that a lot of meatless, low fat, or 'healthy' recipe's online go a little to far for me i.e. no fats whatsoever or no salt which for me just makes a meal that would otherwise be delicious taste like dry mush.)
Anyways, I made this meal, honestly, kind of worried it would taste like so many other 'meatless' meat dishes I've had (like chalk) and it ended up Moist and Yummy! In fact I think I like it more then shepherd's pie with meat.
Here's the ingredients and how to make it
1/2 pound brown/green lentils
Spices to taste:
Sage
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Dried oregano
Cumin
turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt/ celery salt
lots of pepper
1 half med. onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Vegetables of you choice (I like peas and carrots)
4 Russell potatoes
1/2 sour cream
1/4 cup milk (or enough to make the potatoes smooth)
salt to taste
3 tablespoons butter to taste
1/3 cup shredded cheese(optional)
Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Wash, peel (optional) and dice potatoes and boil until soft. once potatoes break apart easily, drain and in a mixing bowl beat the potatoes, cream, butter, salt and milk with a mixer until smooth and airy.
Meanwhile, Cook Lentils according to directions, except add the spices to the water you boil the lentils in. mash and set aside.
Once lentil are done saute onion and garlic in the olive oil over med heat until the onion barley start to soften (about a min). mix in the oil/onion/garlic with the lentils Put the lentil mixture in a lightly oiled casserole dish.
Top with diced or small vegetables of your choice. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the mashed lentils top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
+we eat our with ketchup... It make it extra yummy.
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