Join me in Morocco?

So I will be upfront with you.  I have never been to Morocco!  I just happen to fall in love with a simple clay cooking vessel called a  Tagine.  To learn more see my first post about the tagine Maiden Voyage: Tagine 

There are many unique parts to this tagine dish.  The first is Preserved lemon.  You can purchase them online here preserved lemons it is just as easy to make them.  All you need is lemons, a jar and some kosher salt.  I will post how to do this soon.  The next unique ingredent is harissa.  A fiery past made from dried acho chillies.  Don't worry folks I have this recipe for you along with some fun photos too!

Harissa

8 dried red chillies (ancho or New Mexico)

2 to 3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher salt)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 cup olive oil

Put the chilies in a bowl and pour over enough water to cover them. Let them set for at least an hour.

Drain and squeeze out any excess water.

Using a motar and pestle, pound the chilies into a paste. Now I gotta be honest with y'all, this did not happen. I used a food processor for the chilies and the motar and pestle for the coriander.

  add the garlic and salt to this before placing into the food processor 

Beat in the cumin and coriander and bind with the olive oil

Store paste in a sealed jar in the fridge with a think layer of olive oil floating on top. It will keep for a month.  And let me tell you not a day longer!  

Okay so now what?  You have a jar of harissa what the heck do you do with it????

I chose an easy recipe from Tagine: Spicy stews from Morocco

Chicken tagine with harissa, artichokes and green grapes

4 chicken breasts cut into thick strips

2 table spoons olive oil

2 onions halved lengthwise and sliced with the grain 

1/2 preserved lemon cut into thin slices

1 teaspoon sugar

1-3 teaspoons of harissa paste (to your taste)

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 1/4 cups chicken stock or water

1 13 oz jar of artichoke hearts

rinsed and halved

about 16 green grapes halved

one bunch cilantro leaves chopped

(this is the part that I wish I would not have listened to the recipe, way, way too much cilantro for me)

sea salt and ground pepper

for the marinade

2 garlic cloves crushed

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon of olive oil

First make the marinade, in a small bowl mix the garlic, turmeric, lemon juice and olive oil

cover and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours or overnight

Heat the oil in the tagine.  Add the onions, preserved lemon and sugar

I cut up the lemon very small

saute for 2-3 minutes until slightly caramelized.  Toss in the marinated chicken, then add the harissa and tomato pastes. 

Next add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

Reduce heat and let cook gently for 15 minutes

 toss in the artichoke hearts and cover for for another 5 minutes

Add the grapes and some of the cilantro and season to taste with the salt and pepper

Sprinkle with some cilantro to serve.  

Add your favorite couscous and enjoy!

Breakfast of Steel

Let's face it, any healthy diet plan that you follow will tell you to eat a good breakfast.  You cannot avoid it breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  The truth is all of you meals are important.  Skipping meals is not the way to loose weight. I have found that eating 5 to 6 small meals a day is the best way for me to maintain my energy throughout  the day.  Breakfast is #1!

Planning ahead is crucial if you want to stay on track.  Steel cut oats must be planned ahead.  They take about 20-30 minutes to cook. (you can make them in the micro but, yuck-o-rama)  

In your sauce pan place one cup steel cut oats, three cups water and a pinch of salt.  Bring all this to a raging boil for 5 minutes.  Turn down the heat and allow to simmer until the oats creamy and the water has absorbed.

Sweeten with a tablespoon or two of agave nectar.

Top with the fresh fruit of your choice. (I mixed in these strawberries and WOW the yum factor was off the scale)

 The serving size is 1/4 cup uncooked/1/2 cup cooked.

Let's face it this is a very hearty breakfast on it's own, However if you add a lean protein to the mix you will stay full longer and feel better.  Not to mention build muscle and burn some fat.  So here is part two of this Break-fast!

This omelet contains one whole egg and two egg whites.  So I shaved off some cholesterol off the bat by removing two yokes!

okay so if you are lazy or pressed for time you can do one of two things to take some time off prep.

Use a frozen pepper, onion blend that is all chopped up for you or cut up everything up ahead of time and keep them in the fridge.

Heat your skillet and spray with olive oil.  Add your veggies and saute to desired tenderness.

Set aside your veggies on a plate and return your pan to the burner.

Reheat it and spray again.

Now about this business of separating eggs, I have given up on the egg separator gadget.  It takes forever and it's just one more thing you gotta clean.  Fingers work for me.

Now back to the omelet.  Add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and scramble your eggs in a bowl.  Pour the eggs in the pan and watch cook.  When the edges start to set lift them up and allow the uncooked eggs to seep under the omelet.

Top with your reserved onion and peppers and add the cheese of your choice.  I choose feta because I love the strong flavor.

Fold over one side and plate!  

Serve with your oats and you have a clean, healthy breakfast that will last all morning!  Don't forget to eat a mid-morning snack in about 3 hours.  May I suggest an apple and some cheddar cheese! 

Enjoy!!

Grass Roots: Cooking Healthy with Crohn's Disease, Chicken Wraps

If any of you ever read my description of tis blog I think it says something about eating healthy and cooking with Crohn's Disease.  Okay so I got a little off track with my cupcake obsession. :)  I'm a girl, it happens! So now back to the beginning. What to eat with this lovely disease. 


I have talked about low residue before, and I shared that a low residue diet is for when you are in a flair.  Well once again I found myself hungry around 6 in the evening and decided to cook something healthy without sugar that actually may contain some kind of nutrition. I know, shocking! :)  Long ago I made these chicken wraps with a different recipe that I could not find so I decided to try my take on what I could remember.


2 chicken breasts butterflied (I bought two thin pieces thinking I could get the same result not really thinking it thru, I needed more chicken to "wrap")
1 zucchini sliced into strips
1 carrot sliced into strips 
1 bell pepper sliced into strips
several pinches of herbs de provence or to taste 
sailor finger sea salt (lemon)
pepper
1/4-1/2 cup low salt chicken broth
dash or 2 of less salt soy sauce
kitchen twine
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 or 2 or 3+ garlic cloves minced

lay vegetables on one end of the chicken and role up

tie closed with kitchen twine

sprinkle with herbs de provence and set aside

heat a large skillet and add olive oil, sauté garlic for 1 to 2 min.

add chicken and brown on all sides 

add chicken broth and soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste and cover 

cook about 20 min. until veggies are soft and chicken is done.

This meal is good for when you are coming out of a flair but I love it anytime!  The softness of the veggies are easy on the tummy.  

Enjoy

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A Crappy Subject

Crohn's Disease, fun? not so much. I have been living with it for over 10 years now. With abdominal pain and frequent trips to the bathroom it can make for a crappy life. Sometimes it's hard to live with. Sometimes it's hard to live with what everybody has to say about it. People tell you what to eat, to try going to different doctors and how I should just think my way into healing. Well folks, it just doesn't work like that. I have to poop! All the time. When I have to go I have to go and there is just no stopping it! It is no fun. There is no magic way to make the poop stop it just happens!!!

Eating is only part of the issue. Many Crohn's people have lost much if not all there intestines. That accounts for much of the urgency when having to poop. Many people suffer from Dumping syndrome, this is when right after you put something into your mouth you must go poop NOW! I am very lucky and do not have that. Sometimes it feels like I do.

Now back to the eating part. Food is very important to all of us but what you eat when you have Crohn's can make a big difference in how you feel. Many doctors suggest that you eat a low residue diet. Basically that is all refined flour and no nuts or fiber at all. I thought that I was supposed to eat this all the time. It seemed to make my pooping issue worse. I got brave and decided to think out of the box and eat a high fiber diet. The opposite of what I was told. Wow! It made all the difference in the world. I felt amazing and did not poop as much! I was so happy. I would still have flares but for the most part I was okay. At this point I started to learn that the low residue diet is for when you are in a flair and the more fiber that you eat the better you will feel. At least this has worked for me. I am no doctor and I suggest you talk to yours before you change anything .

One thing I will tell you to change, and I am 99.9% sure that every doctor will agree with me... Stop eating fast food! It's bad for you... I am not even sure that it is food. If you want to see a sick Becky just feed me something from the big yellow M and I will be pooping for days. Both the high fat content and highly processed food products reek havoc on the digestive system not to mention you heart! Just don't do it. Staying away from processed foods has made the biggest difference in my life. My gut is better and I have much more energy and just feel better!

Staying away from all processed foods was my next step. If it comes out of a box I pretty much do not eat it. I eat fresh fruits and veggies everyday. If I cannot find what I am looking for I choose frozen. If the ingredient list reads like a chemistry chart I put it back on the shelf. It takes much care and planning to cook and prepare my meals from scratch but for my optimum health it is well worth it.

I will talk more on this subject as time moves on. For now here is an amazing chicken recipe for you to get started with.

Thai Lime Chicken
1/3 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts/grind in food processor
1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp ginger ground
mix above ingredients
1/2lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lime
Squeeze lime over chicken on cookie sheet and then coat chicken with the mixture. Pre-heat oven to 350 and cook for 25 minutes.