Palate-pleasing pork chops

One thing I rarely make is pork chops. I'm not sure why that is. I just always seem to go the fish or chicken route. Last night I decided I needed to add some spice to my life. I've been tired of the same ole same ole lately. So... I decided to make this ridiculously scrumptious (but healthy! Yes, it's possible) meal consisting of diced pork chops, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts atop tricolor quinoa. It turned out amazing and it gave me that "edge" I've been needing. I know what you're thinking and yes, these days something as simple as making pork chops I see as being edgy. What can I say? :) My bf assisted me in creating this meal as he is the "meat master" between the two of us. Always more fun to have someone help ya in the kitchen!

Ingredients

2 boneless pork chops

1 medium sized sweet potato

2 cups of Brussels sprouts

1 cup of tricolor quinoa 

2 tbsps Balsamic vinegar 

1 tbsp of coconut oil (in liquid form)

1 tbsp of olive oil

Teriyaki sauce

Szechuan spicy stir fry sauce 

garlic salt

red pepper flakes

turmeric

salt and pepper

1) First thing you need to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the sweet potato. Dice it up into little cubes.

2) Rinse the Brussels sprouts and cut the ends off of each of them. Then cut them all in half to make them smaller. 

3) Put the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts in a bowl and add the balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, salt, pepper and mix together really well. 

***

4) Add the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts to a cookie sheet and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

5) Next you need to get the quinoa cooking. Just follow the instructions on the bag/box etc but most quinoa follows the 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water rule and takes about 15 minutes. I ALWAYS use chicken or vegetable broth in place of the water and found it spruces up the flavor quite a bit. 

***

6) Now that you have the veggies and the quinoa cooking you can start on the pork chops. Grab a medium size pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and turn to medium/high heat.

7) Cut off any excess fat (the white stuff) from the pork chops and then cut into little cubes. 

8) Add the pork chops to the pan 

9) Next add in the garlic salt, red pepper flakes and turmeric. I didn't put exact amounts on this because I always wing it depending upon my mood: ie if I want something really spicy, etc. So just add each of these spices to your liking. 

10) Next add in some teriyaki sauce and the Szechuan sauce. Again, adding as much of each as you want. The Szechuan sauce can be found at most grocery stores. It has amazing flavor and spice. However, you can definitely make this without it. 

11) The pork chops should take about 10-12 minutes max. Once they are done remove from heat. 

12) Once the veggies are done take them out and add them to the pan with the pork chops.

13) For plating, add a generous scoop of quinoa to the plate followed by the pork chops/veggie mixture which you will put on top of the quinoa. It looks real fancy and professional. 

***

Turn on the Frank Sinatra Pandora station, light some candles and enjoy some lemon water in a wine glass, because why not?

Enjoy this guilt-free, protein and flavor-packed meal!

Fish Taco Tuesday!

Sure, it's fun to go to a local restaurant to hit up the Taco Tuesday specials. Who doesn't like doing that? However, why not change it up and create your own Taco Tuesday extravaganza at home?! I have the world's BEST fish taco recipe. I stole it from my sister Tara, added a few of my own variations and have been in love ever since. If you really want to impress someone, even if it's yourself, you MUST make these crazy delicious tacos! 

Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you away. I used to immediately turn away from recipes where the ingredients seemed to go on for days. However, with this recipe there's a good chance the majority of these ingredients are already at your casa :)

What you need:

1 tbs of honey
1/2 cup of Coconut oil
S&P

1/4 tbs Garlic salt

1 tsp of Sriracha 

 1/ tsp Red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of Cilantro
1/2 cup of purple cabbage
Queso Fresco
Light sour cream

1 mango

Salsa of your choice

2 eggs 

1/2 cup of lemon juice

1 tbs of lime juice

2 cups of Panko bread crumbs
1 cup of Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour

Corn tortillas

Cod or tilapia

You can use cod or tilapia for these tacos. I use cod more often but they are both great so whatever suits your fancy. I usually just buy them frozen because you get more bang for your buck. They have a pack of four at Trader J's for about $7 and if you are making it for two people, you will have leftovers for the next day as they come in a 4-pack.

Step 1: The day before I plan on making the tacos, I take them out of the freezer to thaw. When they are thawed I put them in a Ziploc bag with the marinade.

 Step 2: For the marinade, you throw in the honey, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, splash of water, 1/2 cup of coconut oil (liquified), pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix it all around so it's evenly coated and leave it in the fridge to soak up the goodness.

 You can marinate it as long as you want but I usually let it sit for about six hours. 

Step 3: Preheat the oven to 350.

Step 4: Grab three bowls and fill with flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs. 

 
*You can use any type of flour you want. However, for those of you who have gluten allergies or are just trying to limit your intake, this flour is amazing*
  
Step 5: One by one, coat the fish in the flour, dip in the egg mixture and then cover them in bread crumbs.  

Step 6: Transfer the fish to a cookie sheet (make sure it's been coated with non-stick spray!)

Step 7: Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Ovens vary so I would check on it after 10 min to be safe. 

Step 8: While the fish is cooking chop up the cabbage, cilantro and mango. 

Add the diced mango to the salsa or set aside separately, your choice :)

*For this cheese it sort of breaks apart into little pieces very easily which is perfect so you just need to put it in a bowl*

Step 9: Make the Special Sauce: Lime juice, Sriracha, salt, pepper and sour cream.

 *I love cooking tortillas on the stove as opposed to just heating them up because they are crunchy and add so much more to the taco*

Step 10: Turn the heat on medium and add some canola oil. Once hot cook the tortillas individually, flipping each a few times until it reaches your desirable crunch level. 
I usually put a napkin down on the plate. As I cook each tortilla, I put a napkin in between each one to soak up some of the oil.

Step 11: Take the fish out and cut into thin slices so it fits perfectly in your taco. Put a layer of special sauce down first, followed by the fish, cabbage, queso fresco, mango salsa, cilantro and some more special sauce to top it off. 

Look how purty it looks! Tastes even better :) 

**One last thing I have to mention is whenever I make these tacos, I always cook some of the tortillas longer to where it's almost stiff-like. Then I put cinnamon sugar all over it and cut it into pieces. It's a delicious, low-maintenance dessert!

Pair these tacos with your favorite margarita or light beer and it's a no-brainer.
Heaven on earth. Watermelon-jalapeño Margaritas?! Yes. These are to die for! Recipe found here

Enjoy your own Taco Tuesday Extravaganza!! 

***Feel free to email me if you should have any questions or need to ad-lib a bit and I'd be happy to help you!

A veggie scramble type of morning...

One of my favorite healthy breakfasts is egg scrambles with lots of veggies. I used to only have a 2 or 3 egg scramble with salt n pepper and that was it. However, I found myself getting hungry not too long after eating it. And that is definitely no good. So, I decided adding veggies in would be a great way to get some of my daily dose of vegetables in for the day, as well as adding a little more girth if you will to leave me a little more satisfied. There have been many days where I feel I don't have enough time to make it or I'm just not in the mood. However, it really takes no time at all. If you are someone who is SUPER on top of it, you can dice up the veggies the night before to save some time in the morning.

Veggie Scramble

1 tsp of coconut oil

2 eggs

Avocado

1/4 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 tbsp fresh minced garlic

1/2 cup diced zucchini

a sprinkle of Oregano

1 tbsp of sesame seeds (not pictured here)

Himalayan Pink salt 

Fresh ground pepper

I usually turn the heat up to medium for a few minutes to get it hot. Then I'll add in the coconut oil, onions and garlic. I let that saute for awhile. It smells amazing and it caramelizes a bit which is divine. Then I add in the veggies for a few minutes, then the eggs. It depends on how you like your veggies. I try not to cook the crap out of them because you lose some of the nutrients. But you also don't want hard zucchini in your scramble so just kind of play with it. After the eggs it cooks pretty fast and I add in the Oregano and pepper. 

Once it's on the plate I add a tiny dash of salt and some more pepper of course. You can never have too much pepper in my book. I use Himalayan salt but you can use regular sea salt as well. I've read some great things about Himalayan salt so I decided to switch over. Click here to find out more info on that. Add some avocado slices and you have yourself a filling but healthy breakfast.

* If you are part of the Sriracha club like I am, add a little to the scramble for a spicy treat :)