Pesto

Pesto

My personal training client, Melodee, is a whizz in the kitchen. She can whip up the most amazing different dishes with only a few small ingredients. The key is her fresh herbs from her garden. After summer is over I will plant an herb garden in my backyard. One of the best things about training Melodee at her house in the backyard is the smell of fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano all around us. I whipped up something similar to what she calls Garlic Paste.

Ingredients:
~12 garlic cloves
Fresh spinach
Olives
Basil

Olive oil
Add lemon juice if the pesto is too spicy from the garlic

Directions: Add garlic cloves to food processor and chop until the cloves are almost mush. Slowly pour in olive oil while mixing. Do not pour the olive oil too fast or the paste will turn into a runny mess. I also added fresh spinach, olives, and basil to the food processor. Add ingredients until you reach the consistency desired.

I added my Pesto to fresh tomato and basil seasoned with sea salt and pepper. It's also great with any source of protein. Think of the pesto as your "fat" with a meal. Enjoy!

Spinach garnish

I have been a bit burned out on some of my daily food choices. I pulled out The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson and flipped through the pages for some ideas. I pulled together a few recipes and created a spinach-type garnish that I used on top of my kale salad tonight, and I will use on my eggs and chicken tomorrow morning.

Ingredients:
16oz frozen spinach
3 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste 

Directions: Throw all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend.

I recommend thawing out the spinach a bit before adding to the food processor. I didn't do this tonight and the end product was too cold to eat at first. I can see this lasting me through the week. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bars

Words of wisdom from 1 baker to the next...there is a distinct difference in baking soda and baking powder. I learned this 1st hand when making Pumpkin Bars. Below is the recipe I used from Elana's pantry. In the instance where I used baking powder instead of baking soda, the bar came out tasting great but not near as fluffy and moist. I advise following directions (insert laugh).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup agave nectar (next time I am trying a combo of mashed banana and applesauce)
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1/4tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp cloves

Directions: In food processor combine pumpkin, agave, and eggs. Pulse for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and pulse for 1 more minute. Pour mixture in 8x8 greased Pyrex dish. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.