Shrimp and Tomato Sauté with Zucchini Spaghetti

So, my last entry was Shrimp and Tomato Sauté with Spaghetti Squash and I loved it so much! I wanted to try the same recipe using zucchini spaghetti. The recipes are very similar to each other, just basically served over a different vegetable. I also made some tweaks to the recipe for my own tastes. 

I just made this dish for dinner tonight and I must say, it's awesome! The zucchini had more flavor than the spaghetti squash and was closer to the consistency of al dente pasta. Might be my new favorite for the summer! To make the zucchini spaghetti you need to invest in a spiral slicer. I bought mine on Amazon and it works great!

Ingredients:
10 roma tomatoes
turbinado sugar
1 large zucchini
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
coarse celtic sea salt and ground pepper
3 garlic cloves
pinch of red-pepper flakes
handful of fresh basil
juice from 1 lemon
fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cut plum tomatoes in half and arrange cut side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Sprinkle tomatoes with turbinado sugar.

4. Bake for an hour, remove and let cool.

5. Cut ends of zucchini and place in spiral slicer. Slice the entire zucchini using the smallest blade setting.

Zucchini spaghetti coming out of spiral slicer.

Plate full of beautiful zucchini spaghetti.

6. In a large skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over high. Saute zucchini spaghetti for 7-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Saute zucchini spaghetti.

7. In another large skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over high.

8. Season shrimp with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Cook shrimp until opaque.

9. Place garlic cloves, red-pepper flakes, fresh basil, and fresh lemon juice in a food processor and mix.

10. Add mixture to skillet and cook for 4-6 minutes; toss to coat.

Toss to coat.

11. Stir in tomatoes and cook until tomatoes being to break down, 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt. 

12. In a large dish, mix shrimp and tomato sauté with zucchini spaghetti. Top with fresh parsley for garnish.

Yum yum!

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Tomato Sauté with Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:
6 plum tomatoes
turbinado sugar
1 spaghetti squash
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
coarse salt and ground pepper
5 garlic cloves
pinch of red-pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh basil
juice from 2 lemons

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cut plum tomatoes in half and arrange cut side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Sprinkle tomatoes with turbinado sugar.

4. Bake for an hour, remove and let cool.

5. Cut spaghetti squash in half and clean out seeds.

6. Place spaghetti squash in glass casserole dish filled with 1 inch of water, hollow side down.

7. Bake for 45 minutes, remove and let cool. Scope out squash and set aside.

8. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over high.

9. Season shrimp with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes.

10. Place garlic cloves, red-pepper flakes, fresh parsley, fresh basil, and fresh lemon juice in a food processor and mix.

11. Add mixture to skillet and cook for 4-6 minutes; toss to coat.

12. Stir in tomatoes and cook until tomatoes being to break down, 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt.

13. Serve over spaghetti squash.

Quinoa Mango Salad and Skirt Steak

Totally yummy salad!

INGREDIENTS

Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water

Orange vinaigrette
14 mint leaves, minced
1 tablespoon capers, minced
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad
1 mango, peeled and diced into 1/4-inch chunks
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1 cup packed greens (spinach, arugula, mixed lettuces), chopped

Steak

3 lbs of skirt steak2 tbsp Coriander seeds
2 tbsp Fennel seeds
2 tbsp Turbinado Sugar
1 Jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves
coarse sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

SALAD DIRECTIONS

1.    Place the quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 10 to 12 minutes.

2.    While the quinoa cooks, make the vinaigrette: in a large bowl, whisk together the mint, capers, orange juice, and olive oil. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. When the quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork and transfer to the bowl with the vinaigrette. Stir well to combine.

3.    Add the mango, red peppers, jalapeño, and greens. Stir until the vegetables are incorporated into the quinoa. Chill until ready to serve.

STEAK DIRECTIONS

4.    In a food processor, combine coriander and fennel and grind. Put in small bowl and mix with sugar. Add jalapeno, garlic and cilantro.

5.    Rub spice mixture all over steak. Season with smoked salt and pepper.

6.    Heat grill pan to medium high heat. Lightly oil grill pan with olive oil. Cook steaks 9 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove steak and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

This recipe made enough for a large dinner serving and two extra dishes to pack for leftover lunches.

Salad recipe adapted from http://www.yumsugar.com/Recipe-Vegan-Quinoa-Salad-18794510

Steak recipe adapted from Tom Colicchio 

Chocolate Almond Butter Squares

If you like reese's peanut butter cups but want the healthier sugar free and legume free version, make these bad boys! So yummy :)

Crust
1 cup almond flour (sifted)
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp honey
pinch of celtic sea salt

Filling
1 cup almond butter
3 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 3 x 7 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine the ingredients for the crust. Evenly press the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes. The crust is done when it is lightly brown and firm to the touch. Let the crust cool COMPLETELY before spreading the filling.

In a bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut oil, honey. Mix and reserve about ¼ of the mixture for the chocolate topping. Spread the almond butter filling onto the cooled crust. Place the bars in the freezer for 1 hour to firm up before spreading the chocolate mixture on top of the almond filling.

To make the chocolate topping add unsweetened cocoa powder to the reserved almond butter filling and sweeten with additional honey to taste.

Spread on top of the semi-frozen bars. Place in the freezer to firm over night. Cut 9 slices and then cut each slice in half to make 18 squares. Store the squares in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Adapted recipe from Indulge 70 Grain Free Desserts

Day of Remembrance -- Feb. 1, 2013

It's been 10 years since the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. I was not yet working for the space program. I was living in Miami, FL and I remember when I found out about the news. It was a Saturday morning and I was out on my porch enjoying a sunny Florida day. I received a text message from a friend of mine saying something along the lines that he was sorry to hear about the accident (he knew I was a big NASA fan). I had to ask him, "what are you talking about?" And then I remember turning on the news and just went into a state of shock. I can only imagine what the heartbreak would have felt like if I had been working at the space center...

Every year the NASA administrator sends out a  note on this day of remembrance. I wanted to share it with you all today.

Day of Remembrance -- Feb. 1, 2013

NASA's Day of Remembrance inspires thoughtful reflection and gratitude on behalf of the entire NASA Family, the nation and, indeed, the world.

This year, we recognize the decade that has passed since we lost 7 brave men and women aboard STS-107 Columbia, who were our friends, colleagues, and family members.

We will never forget these astronauts nor all those who have lost their lives carrying out our missions of exploration – the STS-51L Challenger crew; the Apollo 1 crew; Mike Adams, the first in-flight fatality of the space program as he piloted the X-15 No. 3 on a research flight.

These explorers, and their families, have our deepest respect.  We work every day to honor and build on their legacy and create the best space program in the world -- to infuse it with the life and vitality that they worked so hard to achieve.

After the tragedy of Columbia, we not only returned to flight, we established policies and procedures to make our human spaceflight program safer than ever.  Exploration will never be without risk, but we continue to work to ensure that when humans travel to space, nothing has been left undone to make them as safe as possible.

In the years after we returned the shuttles to flight, we completed an engineering marvel.  The International Space Station now soars above us, an unparalleled and unique orbiting laboratory that is our foothold to the rest of the solar system.  We are in a new era of exploration, where the work and sacrifice of those who have gone before will help us once again launch American astronauts from American soil and send them farther into deep space than we have ever gone.

So while the Day of Remembrance is in part a time of sadness, it is also a time of contemplation and thankfulness.  It is a time to be thankful that these great men and women shared their lives with us; that they helped advance our nation and made life better on Earth; and that they are still united with us in that shared pursuit.

Today, I laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery for these fallen heroes, and at the Kennedy Space Center, wreaths were laid at the Space Mirror Memorial.  Across the country, all flags at NASA Headquarters and the NASA centers will be flown at half-mast in memory of our colleagues lost in the cause of exploration.

And while those gestures will signify to the nation and the world that we have not forgotten, as we look to the future, we will each remember in our own personal way our colleagues and friends, and what their work meant to us.  Together we will carry them with us in our hearts as we propel ourselves to the next big horizon and make their dreams reality.

President Obama has also made a statement about the Day of Remembrance. To read the President's statement, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/Obama_dor2013.html

Charlie B.

Apollo 1 Crew

STS-51L Challenger Crew

STS-107 Columbia Crew

Paleo fish tacos

I've come to the realization that writing in a blog everyday was probably not realistic for me given the fact that I have a full time job and other activities in my so called life! I figure a blog is supposed to be fun, so I don't want to make it another line item on my things to do list. Daily blogging probably isn't going to happen but I can do a few times a week :)

As far as the action plan goes, I made it 6 entire days. On day 7, I happen to have plans to go to Tampa for their annual Gasparilla festival. And well... pirates and detox don't mix well. The ironic part is that by the morning of day 7, I was feeling great! And then throughout the festival I consumed all sorts of food and drink that were not allowed on the action plan: processed foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, gluten, and dairy. The next day I had a food and booze hangover. I'm pretty sure that I have a gluten intolerance because the next few days I had digestive issues and a reoccurrence of Keratosis Pilaris, (also known as ‘chicken skin’ on the back of your arms) which had cleared up dramatically when I was on detox. I found this article that lists 10 signs of a gluten intolerance and sure enough, the top two apply to me. There’s no doubt about it, my body is not a fan of processed foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, gluten, and dairy.

Since the festival though, I’m still making smart food choices. This week I’ve introduced fish and eggs back into my diet. And tonight I made paleo fish tacos. Super yummy! Recipe below, enjoy J

Salsa (makes a big batch)

6 Roma tomatoes
1 handful of cilantro
½ white or red onion
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno pepper
1 clove garlic
Fresh ground pepper

Hand chop tomatoes, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Mix in a bowl with lime juice and ground pepper.

Fish

2 large oranges
1 lime
2 Tbsp olive oil (more for skillet)
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch sea salt
2 tilapia fillets, cut into large chunks

Taco Wraps

4 large green cabbage leaves
1 avocado, sliced

Using a juicer, juice oranges and lime. Mix juice with olive oil, cumin, and salt in bowl. Add tilapia chunks to the marinade. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When ready to cook, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add fish chunks in a single layer. Pour remaining marinade over the fish and let simmer, approximately 4 minutes on each side. Do not turn the fish more than once because the fish chunks will break up into small pieces.

To serve: Layer 2 green cabbage leaves on top of each another to make one large taco wrap. For each taco wrap, add fish chunks and top with salsa and avocado slices. Finish each wrap with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of kosher flake salt (if desired).

My allergies

During the fall of 2011, I started experiencing the worst sinus congestion, sneezing fits, post nasal drip, runny nose, and watery eyes. This went on for a couple months. At first I thought it was an annoying cold. Then after a few weeks, I thought maybe it was just seasonal allergies, too much pollen in the air. I was popping Claritin tablets all the time. On days I would forget to take them, I would sit at work just constantly sniffling my nose, hoping that snot wouldn’t come out during meetings. It was no fun and it was starting the drive me crazy! I think what was more bizarre is that everyone I talked to would just say things like, “Yeah, allergies usually kick in around your thirties.” Or “Yeah, I have allergies too.” Everyone just seemed to be okay with the fact that allergies were now a way of life for them. I couldn’t stand it!

It wasn’t until after a series of trips to cities around the country (Seattle, Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston) that I realized there is no way these symptoms are from seasonal pollen in Orlando. I had the same symptoms happening no matter what kind of air or climate I was in. So it was at that point that I decided to go see the fine folks at the Florida Otolaryngology Group. I spoke with my doctor and told him all my problems. He examined the inside of my sinus area just to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong in there. And then suggested that I come in for a full up allergy test to figure out exactly what was causing me to sneeze all the time.

An allergy test has two phases. Phase 1 is the skin test. They use this thing called a “stamp” which is basically a square piece of plastic with 8 prongs on it. At the tip of each prong is a specific allergen. They stamp your skin with the allergen by rocking back and forth gently until all the allergens are evenly distributed on the skin. It doesn’t hurt but can be uncomfortable. You get five stamps along both your forearms. The allergens are left on your skin 15-20 minutes and then the size of the reaction is recorded. The size of your reaction determines the amount of hell you endure during phase 2…

Phase 2 is an intradermal test. As in, they stick you with needles that contain a different allergen. If you had a sizable reaction to an allergen in phase 1, they will stick you with that allergen in phase 2. Lucky for me, I had probably about 30 shots up and down my biceps. It was HORRIBLE. Once they’re done sticking you, they wait 10 minutes to measure the size of your reaction. This is the point when then the allergist pulled up a chair next to me and said, “Oh dear, you poor thing.”

Turns out, I’m allergic to the world. They use a scale of 1 through 6 to measure the degree of your allergic reaction to an allergen. 6 and 5 are severely allergic. 4 is moderately allergic. And 3 and below is mildly allergic. These were my scores:

Trees
3 Oak
5 Pine
6 Maple
3 Sycamore
4 Cedar
0 Cypress
0 Birch
4 Bayberry

Weeds
6 Ragweed
4 English Plantain
4 Marsh Elder
0 Cocklebur
0 Lambs Quarter
3 Mugwort
3 Pigweed

Grasses
6 Timothy
4 Bermuda
0 Bahia

Molds
0 Alternaria
6 Aspergillus
5 Hormodendrum
3 Candida
0 Pullularia
0 Fusarium
3 Helminthosporium
3 Mucor
4 Penicillium (not the antibiotic)

Indoor
6 House dust
4 Cockroach
6 Mite F
0 Mite P
6 Cat
6 Dog
3 Horses
3 Feathers

17 different allergens were in the moderate to severe range! Including cats and dogs of which I have one of each. How did this happen? And what can I do about it? Turns out from the doctor’s perspective, there is no cure. Just several different things I could do to help alleviate my symptoms. First, I started to take a 24 hour allergy pill daily, along with the use of a steroid nasal spray. I also started immunotherapy drops which I had to take in the morning and before bed. I purchased a fancy air filter for my bed room. I replaced all my pillow covers and bed with special allergy/dust covers. I stopped letting my pets into my bedroom. I went on full attack to try and get a hold of these stupid allergies. And for the most part, it worked. I saw improvement and my sinuses were no longer driving me nuts. But the amount of money it took to get to that end point was a lot. And not to mention, it’s not a cure, it's an expensive bandaid. I have to purchase the allergy pills every month and the immunotherapy drops every three months.

So, yes, I finally got my allergies under control. It’s been about a year now since I went through all of that. But what has bugged me the most is the why? Why all of a sudden did my immune system decided to fight the world I live in? Why is it so confused? I’ve had dogs and cats my entire life but now I’m allergic to them. It just didn't make any sense. And no one seemed to have an answer to that question until I started reading the book Clean by Alejandro Junger, M.D. He describes allergies in his book:

“Wheat is a classic trigger of allergic responses. So are dairy products and refined sugars. They irritate and erode the intestinal walls, resulting in a “leaky gut,” the origin of inadequate allergic responses.”

Leaky gut? It just sounds so gross. You can picture your gut leaking… But he goes one with more good stuff.

“Allergies are one of the most common symptoms of toxicity. But detecting the cause isn’t as easy as staying away from the things that make you sneeze. Allergic responses to food don’t necessarily play out in an obvious cause and effect way, like drinking milk and immediately getting hives or a stomach cramp.”

Okay, so if I eat bad stuff, it can cause a leaky gut situation but doesn't mean I'll feel it in my gut…

“The true cause of his problem was the irritating foods and toxic chemicals that caused a leaky gut and kept his immune system on heightened alert mode throughout the year, not simply the pollen he breathed in the change of season which tipped his system into crisis.”

“The body picks up the message that invaders have arrived and initiates a defense response, forming mucus and calling your attention through itchiness.” 

Wow! Who would have thought?

I wrote this blog because I know lots of people suffer from allergies. But I point out the writings of Dr. Junger because I have not taken an allergy pill since I started the action plan and I have been symptom free the last 6 days. I’ve had interactions with my dog and cat and no sneezing or runny nose! This action plan has removed all wheat, gluten, sugar, and processed foods. So I can’t help but be convinced that there’s a connection to the foods I eat and my allergy symptoms. I think Dr. Junger is on to something.