A juicing experience: Ruby Red Juice

Military Life:  Did you know all military members have to pass a annual/semi annual physical fitness test every year (PT test as we like to call it).  If you dont you could potentially be kicked out of the military for not staying physically fit. The military puts a lot of emphases on being "fit to fight" you wont do yourself or any of your battle buddies any good if you are huffing and puffing in your 50 lbs Kevlar gear in the desert under hostile conditions, trust me that gear is heavy I know.  Now we're all not constantly deployed or in hostile conditions, but you still need to stay fit incase you have to be deployed, not to mention its just healthier and better for you if you are constantly striving to be or stay fit.  Plus talk about a good motivator to get your butt in the gym, (at least for me it is) its either workout and stay in shape or basically get fired!  In the last few years as I start to creep up into my late 20's, dare I say close to 30 :/  I have found it harder and harder to keep those pesky pounds off, I was not fortunate enough to be blessed with the skinny gene, I have always had to make sure that I not only eat healthy but I have to add daily exercise into my routine or poof I swear in 3 months I can put on 10 lbs.  

Because of my constant need and my own personal desire to stay healthy and fit, I have been trying to incorporate more vitamins into my diet.  My kryptonite is a multivitamin, this girl cannot talk adult sized multivitamin without getting sick, seriously it will come right back up (sorry not trying to gross you out), I've tried taking Flintstone vitamins but I'm the worst at remembering to take it and even when I do they still make me somewhat nauseas. Recently I came across an article about juicing and how juicing your veggies and fruits deliver their vitamins and nutrients straight into your blood stream because your stomach doesn't need to break down or digest any of the fibers from the produce.  Well, I received a juicer a couple of months ago for a birthday present from my hubby, and he was smart and didn't buy a super expensive one, he got me something mid price and would get the job done and I could not be happier with my juicer.

 I love taking random fruits and veggies from the fridge and juicing them to see what delicious concoctions I can create, not only do I enjoy taking my vitamins in juice form but its quite filling and I sometimes will drink a big glass of juice as a meal replacement.  You'll also find out quickly which combinations dont work while juicing,  like celery ...Yuck, seriously I'm not kidding freakin gross! I dont know what it is but I thought I would like cerely, I cook with it, I like to eat it raw but I found that I do not like it juiced at all, it literally runis any juice if I add a stalk of celery in it, its just so over powering and bitter? not sure how else to explain it, but celery will probably never end up in a juice of mine ever again, especially not after having to choke down a juice I made recently with celery in it, because I refused to toss it down the drain, especially when most fruits and veggies are pretty pricy here in Japan. Other than hating on celery I really enjoy beets, they have a distinct taste but not in a bad way, and juicing beets produces the most gorgeous ruby color. This particular juice is very beety, if its too overwhelming try adding grapefruit. 

This picture does not represent the amount
I put into the juice, just the produce I used,
 I used almost half of what you
see here for my juice (not shown is lemon)

Ruby Red
Recipe by Oishii Treats

Yields:  8 oz

Ingredients

1/2 (2" in diameter) Beet, peeled and sliced small enough to fit in your juicer
1/2  (5 inch long) Sweet Potato, sliced
1 small carrot or 5-6 baby carrots
1 small apple, sliced and remove seeds
1 inch sized piece of ginger
2 think slices of a lemon, cut off the peel

Directions

-Add all ingredients into your juicer, once juiced, stir all together and enjoy.



This is a rough estimate of the nutrition and vitamins of this particular juice from using Juice Recipes Juice Builder

Calories: 108  Potassium: 497 mg  Vitamin A: 52.5%  Vitamin C: 15.96%  Calcium: 3.55% Iron: 10.56%

Note: If the juice is too beety try adding some grapefruit for a more sweet and sour flavor.

Kalamata Olive and Pesto Sandwich (Vegan Friendly) a.k.a Copycat Corfu Sandwich

Have you've ever had that favorite item on the menu that you would always order at a resturant and then once in a blue moon you would decide to try something different, and it just wasn't as good as your favorite or you were disappointed and wanted to kick yourself for ordering something different when you should have just gotten what you love? That was me everytime I didn't order this sandwich and try something different, I would always regret it.  

This is one of my all time, hands down favorite sandwiches in the whole wide world. I like to call this a copy cat version of the Corfu Sandwich from a awesome little cafe in Anchorage Alaska.  Before we left AK to live in Japan, we made sure we visited all of our favorite restaurants in Anchorage and took a menu from each place so we could recreate them at home.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

You know how many times I came close to stabbing myself when craving pumpkins.... ALOT.  Thats because I have no regard for my own safety sometimes when I become obsessed with trying to extract the gold from inside my pumpkin.   I don't crave my pumpkin for the decorative appeal, thats just an added bonus. I like to crave my pumpkin for its seeds.  There is nothing healthier, tastier and easier than making delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.  and there is nothing better than chowing down on them during a recent hiking trip through Towada Lake.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with Garlic Salt

Ingredients

Seeds from your craved pumpkin
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1-2 teaspoons Garlic Salt

Directions

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Scoop out your seeds from inside your pumpkin and place in a small bowl, try to separate the seeds from the fiber/string of the pumpkin as best as you can aka the guts.
- Transfer your seeds to a colander and wash under cold water for 2-3 minutes, to remove any leftover fibers or guts of the pumpkin
- Pat the seeds dry on paper towels add to a medium bowl with the olive oil and mix well.
- Using a cookie sheet spread the seeds out evenly and sprinkle the seeds with your garlic salt
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally (I would occasionally check on the crunchiness of my seeds by periodically opening the oven during and stealing a seed to try it doneness.)

Asparagus & Mushroom Risotto

Well it only took 3 glasses of wine but the risotto is finally done.  pheww but now I am diffidently buzzed and things are looking a little blurry lol.  I love risotto, yes it takes time to cook, but the end result is always worth it.
njdwuegt......This is how I should be typing right now, thank goodness for spell check =)

I'm getting nervous theres only a few days left before I leave for tech school.  I still haven't packed and we are going camping a day before I leave......I'm such a procrastinator.
By the way this risotto is great for any diet! if your dairy free, gluten free, vegan or vegetarian you can't go wrong with simple ingredients like rice, veggies and broth.

Asparagus & Mushroom Risotto
Adapted from Cleangreensimple.com

Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 White Onion diced
4-6 cloves garlic
About 1 - 1 1/2 cups Asparagus chopped into 1-2 inch pieces. remove the woody part of the stock
1 Cup diced mushrooms, your favorite kind
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup white wine
1 Cup Brown Basmati rice
32 oz Vegetable Broth
2 cups spinach either chopped or whole
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Lemon Juice


Directions
Heat a large pot or saute pan over medium heat, spray with cooking spray like Pam. Add onions, garlic and asparagus, stir occasionally until soft about 2-3 min.  Add mushrooms, salt, thyme and white wine. stir until soften another 2-3 min.  Add rice and stir till the rice is coated and its starts to make popping sounds. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time, stir well and let the rice soak up the broth before adding more. usually took about 5 minutes each time I add in some broth.
Once your on your last 1/2 cup of broth add the spinach, onion powder and lemon juice stir till spinach is wilted. Add salt and more lemon juice if needed

 *note* before you add the spinach if your rice still isn't completely soft to your liking either add more broth 1/2 cup at a time or water until the rice is nice and soft. I had to use a lot more broth than the original recipe called for, could be cause I was using brown rice instead of Arborio.

Tofu Thai Wraps w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce

Is there a dish or special sauce from your favorite restaurant that you can never quite figure out how to recreate?  I have a serious problem folks, I terrible miss Anchorage sometimes, not for the majestic mountains or the crisp clean air, but for the restaurants..how sad is that, I mean really.

There was a place called Bears Tooth that my husband and I could never get enough of, hell he even proposed to me there, thats how much we loved this place : )
Now when I say they had great food, I really mean they had kick you in the teeth slap you on the ass great food!!
I'd have day dreams of infiltrating their kitchen to steal their recipes like some food ninja spy. I actually contemplated taking a second job in the kitchen while I was stationed in Anchorage just to learn how to make their menu and gain all their delicious secrets.
Another reason why this place was so fantastic was their health conscience and vegetarian/vegan conscience menu.  You could sub any meat dish with tofu or they had a giant menu with items that didn't contain meat at all.

This Tofu Thai wrap with peanut sauce was always a favorite of mine and my husbands.  They originally make it with chicken but we could always order it with tofu.  My true favorite part of the wrap was the peanut sauce, I could seriously drink it straight, it was that good.  We would always try to save enough of the sauce to dip our chips in, but that rarely happend.  Why do dipping sauces come in such tiny dixie cup sized containers, its never enough!

 So tonight, after another food fantasy about Bears Tooth I thought I should finally give it my best shot, the ingredients for inside the wrap were pretty dead on.  Though the peanut sauce just wasn't as excellent as the original.  Still looking for the best Peanut sauce. Though this one will have to do for now.

Tofu Thai Wrap with Spicy Peanut Sauce
By Oishii Treats inspired by Bears Tooth


Yields 3 Wraps
Ingredients
3 Large flour tortillas
1/2 Red Pepper sliced thinly
1/2 of a large cucumber sliced thinly the long way
1/3 of the tofu block from a 14oz package of extra firm tofu
1/4 Cup of cashews
a handful of green cabbage sliced thinly
a handful of red cabbage sliced thinly
a handful of dried Japanese somen noodles (used for cold noodle dishes)

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 Tablespoons coconut milk
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers

Directions
-In a small bowl whisk all your ingredients together for the peanut sauce until combined.
-Preheat the oven at 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
-Drain your tofu and cut about 1/3 of the block from the package and set onto some paper towels
-Cut the tofu into 1/4 inch thick piece, once the tofu is cut, place another paper towel on top and gently apply pressure to the tofu to help drain excess water.  do this for about 1-2 minutes.

                    

- place your sliced tofu on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and apply with a brush some peanut sauce to the tofu and bake for 10 minutes, turning once, brush again with peanut sauce and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove your tofu and set aside to cool.
- Cook the somen noodles according to package directions, takes literally 2 minutes and rinse in cold water.
Now assemble your wrap.
-Brush the middle of the wrap with peanut sauce and add some red peppers, cabbage, cold noodles, cashews, tofu and cucumber, add some more peanut sauce and fold into a wrap.  use the extra sauce for dipping.


On another wonderful note I have a couple people I need to sincerely thank.  Chris from My Mother's Daughter for passing on the One Lovely Blog Award.  She has such a beautiful blog with wonderful stories about her family and I was honored she would think of me and pass on such a sweet award. Second CJ from Food Stories for nominating me for the very first monthly Food Stories Award, how cool! Seriously I'm always surprised to receive these awards from my blogger peers, its so wonderful to be recognized by some amazing bloggers and to have the opportunity to pass on the love.

                               

                     









There's only a couple of rules to the One Lovely Blog Award first write 7 random facts about yourself and second nominate some blogs that you enjoy.

1. I have minor hearing loss from working around F-15, F-16 fighters. Not to mention the same equipment I worked on had small jet engines in them.
2. My border collies name is Ardie.  We named him Ardie because as a puppy he looked like a rodent or tiny aardvark with his long snout and pink dotted nose.
3. I drive the coolest Japanese car ever, a 1996 Nissan Rahseen. Looks like a tiny jeep cherokee
4. Cannot stand mayo, love miracle whip but hate mayonnaise.
5. I almost didn't enlist in the military because I was offered a partial scholarship to run cross country at a college back in OR.
6. Speaking of running, I set a record in basic training for the fastest 5k and 1.5 Mile for females. 18:20 and 9:06
7. One day, hopefully a couple of years from now we will be stationed somewhere in Europe.

Some blogs I would like to pass this on to.

Willow from Will Cook For Friends, Anna from Crunchy Creamy Sweet and Tess from Slow Cooking Kitchen

For the Food Stories nominee you share one randome fact about yourself and nominate 5 other bloggers that you enjoy reading. I think im good on the random facts about me tonight ;)

My Nominees are:

Kit from I-Lost in Austen, Chris from My Mother's Daughter, Serena from Serena Bakes Simply from Scratch, Canadian chicky VIMWAC, and Zoe at Bake For Happy Kids

Portobello Mushroom Chili

Today was the untimely death of my blender.  It was a complete and innocent accident, honest I swear! I woke up with the soul intentions of making myself a healthy smoothie at 4am before work. Even though its a pain in the ass to make a smoothie, since I have to use a wooden spoon to mash down the the ingredients to get close enough to the blades. Yes I won't lie I've been irritated with my blender for awhile now, but I didn't have murderous intentions at 4am.

I had set it down on the counter and went to retrive a container from the top cabinet when I closed the door, my elbow came down on the blender knocking it off the counter smashing it into a million pieces onto the kitchen floor.  Truthfully though the minute it happen the first thing the popped into my head was...YES I can order a new blender! YAY lol plus since it was truly a mistake, because who would want shards of glass all over their floor at 4 in the morning? I was happy to know I can finally order a new and much better blender.

So I barely had time to clean it up before having to go to work to wear a gas mask for over 2 straight hours!  oh yeah, for 2 hours we were sucking plastic just sitting, sweating and miserable. It's really gross when you start becoming so hot that your breath is fogging up your mask and there is condensation building up on the inside..nasty.

oh yeah thats me in the gear and all. Sweating up a storm in my office 

Luckily I was looking forward to my crock pot mushroom chili. I couldn't eat take out anymore and had to bring out the crock pot and slow cook this chili the day before while I was at work for 12 hours.  There was nothing like coming home last night and immediately smelling the delicious aroma from the elevator door. Plus I had a great lunch to take to work today.  Though I had to wait till my gas mask was off the eat it =)


Portobello Mushroom Chili
Adapted From Allrecipes.com submitted by the gourmetguy
Cook Time: 8-12 hours in a Crock Pot

Ingredients
2 Yellow Onions diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or your favorite mushrooms)
1 (28 ounce) can of intalian style diced tomatoes
2 cans of Red kidney beans
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Add all the ingredients into your crock pot, stir to mix everything up and set on low for 8-12 hours. 8 is plenty of time, but it can slow cook longer depending when you get off work.

I also haven't had the proper time to truly say thank you to Maggie at Kitchie Coo she had passed on the Kreativ blogger and Sunshine award to me last week and I just now had the time to sit down and express how honored and excited I was to find that she would think of me. Thank you Maggie =)
By the way I love her blog so much, there is always a tasty recipe I'm drooling over every time I visit her page.

For the Sunshine award I'm supposed to answer the questions below and pass it on to 10 other bloggers and for the Kreativ blogger award I'm supposed to give a random fact about myself.

1. Favorite Color-  It use to be blue but now its purple
2. Favorite Animal- Wolf
3. Favorite Number- 12 thats been my favorite number since I was in grade school
4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink- Funny its the same as Maggie at Kitchie coo, seltzer water
5. Prefer Facebook or Twitter- Facebook, I have no idea how to use my Japanese cell phone
6. My Passion- Traveling and food. I like that in the military I've visited countries that I probably would have never seen in my life if I didn't enlist.
7. Prefer getting or giving presents- I love giving presents to family and friends. I like making gift baskets during the holidays that are customized for each person.
8. Favorite Pattern- um tie dye? not really
9. Favorite day of the week- Friday, can't wait to get out of work and start the weekend
10. Favorite Flower- Lilac I love the color and the scent

Random Fact about me
I cannot manipulate my fingers to make the Live long and Prosper sign like Spock does in Star Trek lol.


I would like to pass this wonderful award package onto these 10 great bloggers.

Tess at Slow Cooking Kitchen, Kit from I lost in Austen, Richard at What's Cooking at Richards?, CJ Food Stories, Kaitlin at The Garden Grazer, Eating with Zombies , Annie What's Annie Making?, Jessica at A Kitchen Addiction , Becca at Keep Guessing, Dawyne No Ideas