Avocado

Food & Love, the perfect combination…

We have all heard the the way to a man’s heart is through is stomach! Well I tend to think of food as something that not only brings love into the equation, but it brings family and friends together, helps you make new friends and meet new people! The kitchen in every “foody” household is the heart of the house, the place to “be” ❤

Tonight’s dish is not only a favourite of mine and my hubby’s but also a fave of my daughters! Its simple, its elegant, its tasty and even kinda healthy!

I stopped by the store on my way back from work battling the bad weather and picked up some fresh salmon, avocados and some limes.

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I chopped up my salmon tartare style and mixed it with some salt, pepper, grated ginger, sesame oil, Sriracha mayo and a squeeze of lime.

Whilst I was prepping the salmon I made about 1/2 cup of brown rice and let it cool down.

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Sliced my avocado and now I was ready to put this special treat together.

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I pulled out my heart shaped cookie cutter ( usually used for everything else but making cookies) and placed it in the middle of my plate, filled it with brown rice and neatly pressed it to the bottom.

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Then I topped the rice off with my salmon tartare and finished it off with my sliced avocado and a sprinkle of black and regular sesame seeds.

In less than a flash, a wonderful meal is ready for my lovely family! Yep love is in the air, that’s for sure <3, now all I need is for the hubby to come back from dry-dock, in the meantime I will enjoy it and think of my family.

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Light Bites…….dinner after workout

Just like everyone else, the hubby and I are trying to make some changes in our lifestyle which involves more exercise and healthier eating.

With that in mind and the fact that we all lead a very quick pace kind of life, here are a few dinners that I made this week that didn’t take too long, where high in protein, low in carbs and easy to make……

Cilantro and Lime Shrimp with Avocado

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Quickly sautéed my shrimp with lots of garlic, lime juice, cilantro and red pepper flakes and a tiny tiny drizzle of sesame oil.

Screen Shot 2015-08-13 at 9.22.49 PMOnce they were done I put them to the side and tackled an avocado. Peeled it, sliced it and drizzled it with some fabulous Lavender Balsamic vinegar (of course you can use regular balsamic or dressing of choice or simply squeeze a lemon and season with salt and pepper).

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And that is it, half a dozen shrimp with my avocado made for the perfect sized bite after an arduous workout 🙂

Roasted Chicken and Caramelized veggies

To keep in tune with our new lifestyle yesterday we went out for a long bike ride that got slightly interrupted by a thunder storm!

Anyway, I came home tired and ready for bed but still had to tackle the dinner and next day’s lunch issue.

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I grabbed a coupe of chicken breasts from the fridge, seasoned them with salt and pepper and smothered them with about a table spoon of Bangkok Peanut Sauce.

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Placed them in a baking pan together with a whole bunch of cherry red and yellow tomatoes, some chopped onions, garlic cloves and orange and yellow peppers.

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I cooked them for about 25-30 minutes in a 300 Deg F oven, took the chicken out to make sure it didn’t dry out and left the veggies under the broiler for a few more minutes to make sure they caramelized nicely.

I sliced the chicken breasts that had been resting and drizzled another table spoon of Peanut Sauce and served it with a side of roasted veggies.

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As you can see, not much work involved and a lovely tasty nutritious meal is ready in the blink of an eye!

Arugula Summer Salad with a garlic sesame dressing…

Nothing better after a very hot South Florida day than a nice refreshing salad for dinner!

After 2 days on a road trip visiting my not so favorite lunch and dinner establishments, its really nice to be able to enjoy something really tasty, fresh and nutritional 🙂

So here is today’s dinner salad:

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For the dressing mix all the below ingredients:

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  • 2 tablespoons of lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon of black sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons of chopped jalapeños
  • 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic

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For the salad:

  • 4 cups of arugula
  • 3 hard boiled eggs
  • 2 avocados
  • 4 nice big strawberries
  • green onions
  • 3 radishes thinly sliced

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I quartered the boiled eggs, slice the avocados ( I sliced them earlier and drizzled some lemon juice to stop them from going black).

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Sliced the strawberries, green onions and radishes and layered them all nice and pretty on the arugula.

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Finally drizzled the yummy dressing onto it and gave it a nice toss before serving.

Talk about a bite with a kick! That was one tasty and refreshing salad 🙂

Superbowl Leftovers……..

Yes we are back on the leftover theme, obviously my favorite……:-)

Yesterday was a big American Football day here in the USA, Superbowl took place with the Seahawks (Seattle) playing against the Patriots (New England).

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GO PATRIOTS! (that was actually my hubby’s shout out not mine)!

I have tried and tried for now nearly 18 yrs to like this game but have not succeeded, so instead I busy myself in the kitchen, making treats for the game watchers!

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Last night we had some simple but very tasty burgers full of flavor and yumminess cooked just right (not too well not too raw and still very juicey). Piled on the tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, mustard and catsup and topped the off with some crispy maple bacon and made a nice mess eating them :-).

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As a sweet treat I made some Cranberry, Orange White Chocolate biscotti which went perfectly with that after dinner cup of coffee……

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Anyway, today I found myself with some leftover burger patties all seasoned and ready to go, but not in the mood for a burger per say, you know its Monday, diet is back on, don’t want the bread and so it goes.

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Decided on a Lettuce wrap……..out came the Butter Lettuce, Tomatoes, then placed the burger in the middle and topped it off with some sliced avocado and hearts of palms. Added a teaspoon of salsa golf (mayo mixed with catsup) and a drizzle of Pear Cinnamon Balsamic Vinegar from the Mount Dora Olive Oil Company. ❤

Stealing Rachel Ray’s words “Yummo”! That just hit the spot, Monday is nearly over and now there are only 4 days left before the weekend swings back to visit us again.