Author: Kimberly Roberto

Wife, Mom, Daughter, Business Owner with a Passion for Cooking and Eating Healthy Food and Helping Others to do the Same!

Sweet & Savory Salad with Blackberry Vinaigrette

This is a great sweet salad.  The addition of the Advanced Plan approved fruit makes it a different, delicious treat.  This is a restaurant calibur salad that makes a great presentation.  Make if for a crowd.

 

Makes 4 servings

6 cups Organic mixed greens
2 cups Organic spinach
1 cup walnuts, whole or coarsely chopped
4 Handfuls Blackberries (for garnish)
1-2 Granny Smith Apples
Organic Roasted Turkey or Wild Caught Smoked Salmon
1/2 cup organic gorgonzola cheese, optional
1 avocado, sliced, optional

Blackberry Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon grapeseed or coconut oil
1 tablespoon grated onion or shallots
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 pint blackberries
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon spoonable stevia
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

In a non-toxic (non-teflon) skillet, heat the coconut oil over med-high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about a minute.  Add the blackberries and let break down (about 1-2 min).  Pour in the vinegars and stir to combine.

Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and add the stevia, salt, and pepper.  Blend until smooth and add the olive oil slowly with blender or food processor.  If you want to remove all seeds, strain through a mesh strainer.

Place the greens on a plate.  Put remaining ingredients as desired and drizzle with dressing.  For a nice presentation, put apples, blackberries, walnuts, and turkey in sections around the edges of the greens.

Kimberly RobertoLeave a comment

Oven Baked Teriyaki Wings

Everyone loves chicken wings as an appetizer, a snack, or to feed a crowd.  Most restaurant wings are fried in damaged oils and therefore can be far from nutritious.  This recipe was very easy to make

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons spoonable stevia
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
1/2 cup liquid aminos or organic tamari
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 – 1/4 cup  hot sauce (adjust to your taste)
4-5 pounds organic chicken wings (tips cut then separated into “drumstick” and “wing”)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Melt butter in a small-medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the stevia, wine, tamari, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, salt ,pepper, and garlic powder and mix.  In a large bowl, mix the chicken wings with the sauce

Arrange chicken wings on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake wings at 350° F for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is done. For even more tender wings with a further reduced sauce, reduce heat to 250° F and continue cooking for 3-4 hours, flipping about every 30 minutes.

Kimberly RobertoLeave a comment

Cabbage Rolls Deconstructed

My mother in law is a tremendous cook and always made interesting ethnic dishes.  Cabbage rolls are one of my favorites but they were very labor intensive.  Today, I tried my hand at a speedy, unstuffed, unrolled version.

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, grated or finely diced
1 green or red bell pepper, diced
2 lbs. organic ground turkey
1/3 cup uncooked brown rice
1 medium head green cabbage, roughly chopped
2 cans organic tomato sauce (no sugar!)
1 c. water
ground black pepper and sea salt (about 1 teaspoon) to taste

1/2 – 1 cup sauerkraut, drained (optional)

Preheat over to 350° F.

Heat oil in a large skillet, and saute onion and green pepper until they soften. Add ground turkey, cooking over medium heat until it is nicely browned . Stir in uncooked rice and remaining ingredients.

Spread cabbage in an even layer in the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with the turkey, tomato, rice mixture.

Cover with foil (don’t let it touch the food) and bake at 350° for about an hour to an hour and a half.

Kimberly RobertoLeave a comment

Shaved Spicy Beef Roast

Here is a great recipe for a spicy roast.  It is great for entertaining or a great substitution for corned beef (usually contains an excessive amount of nitrites) on St. Patrick’s Day.  This roast is great to take along and make terrific leftovers.

  • 4lb grass fed bottom round, chuck roast, or sirloin roast
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, sliced thin
  • 1 cup filtered water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper or ½ cup any spicy peppers, diced or sliced (jalepeno, ancho, habenero, etc)
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Use a knife to make slits to put the garlic slices in throughout the roast.  Pour the water into a deep baking dish (make sure the dish is not to large – not much bigger than the roast).  Add the roast and all of the seasonings.  Cover and bake for 2 hours – basting every 30 minutes.

Remove the beef and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.  Using a very sharp knife, cut the beef into very thin slices.

Skim the excess grease from the liquid in the pan and place the sliced beef back in the spicy broth.  Let sit for 15 minutes to let the meat absorb the juice.

SLOW COOKER OPTION:  Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.  Set the slow cooker to low and cook until the beef is fork tender; about 9 hours.

Carefully remove the beef from the slow cooker, slice thin, remove excess grease and replace meat into the broth.

Kimberly RobertoLeave a comment

Grain Free Pizza

This pizza is so delicious you will be shocked that it is actually good for you.  Kids will even like this healthy version of pizza.  The great part is that the crust can also be used on it’s own as a flatbread for hummus or other dips or even to make a sandwich with.

To make this pizza, just start with the Pizza Crust/Flatbread recipe in the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans book.  You will cook the crust first and then add organic pizza, pasta or tomato sauce.  You can make your own or use store bought but be sure to check your labels for no additives and NO SUGAR!  Finally, top with organic mozzarella cheese and whatever other toppings you wish.  (In this picture I used organic shredded mozzarella for a plain cheese pizza but I typically use fresh mozzarella and load it up with chopped veggies.)

It is even great reheated the next day or even eaten cold.

Enjoy!

Kimberly Roberto1 Comment

In the News: Diet Soda May Heighten Risk for Stroke

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/737132?sssdmh=dm1.665136&src=nldne

This has been all over the news this week but it is something we’ve known for a long time. None of the reports pinpoint any explanation which I don’t understand. There have been many books, articles, and research done on this topic.

For starters…

-Aspartame breaks down into methanol (wood alcohol) which is then broken down into formic acid (the toxin in ant bites) and finally into formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen (and what dead bodies are embalmed in).

Each diet soda with aspartame produces about 20 mg of methanol. The methanol breaks down further into 6 mg of formaldehyde which is three times the daily EPA limit.

-Aspartame is a known excitotoxin – meaning it excites brain cells to death!

-It is 0 calories because your body doesn’t know what to do with it.  A calorie is measured as the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C.  In other words, it is the amount of energy needed to metabolize the food item.  Since your body cannot recognize artificial sweeteners, it is, by default 0 calorie.  0 calorie does not mean healthy!

I think artificial sweeteners are linked to more than just strokes.  PLEASE pass on the diet sodas and the regular sodas!  Stick with water – you can flavor it with lemon juice and stevia for a healthy lemonade.  The health risks of sodas are just not worth the good taste.  There is absolutely no reason to drink them except for selfish reasons like – it tastes good, I feel like it, I can’t give them up, I don’t like water, etc, etc, etc.  Just remember- cancer, heart disease, stroke, and any other disease really don’t care about your reasons or excuses.   If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for the people who love and care about you.

Kimberly RobertoLeave a comment