Organic Surfer Girl

I've been sick the past few days. I even had to call in sick for work which I do not like to do. I simply do not have time to be sick! *note to whoever got me sick, I'm very mad at you! Although I honestly think it is the constant in and out of the cold weather at my morning job that is doing me in. It does wear on the body after awhile. So the past few days I've had a sore throat, cough, congestion and a fever. I don't really like taking medication because if I don't fill my body up with artificial coloring and chemicals. If I avoid that kind of stuff when I'm healthy then why would I do it when I'm sick? My eventual goal for 2013 is to have alternative medicine in my medicine cabinet instead of your typical Nyquil arsenal. Have you seen the ingredient list for that? It's full of food coloring and chemicals. I wish I saved the last bottle so I could list the ingredients for you. If you look it up online, it just lists the active ingr...

The first time I made this meal was for Christmas dinner. I needed a vegetarian dish for my aunt. It ended up being a hit with everyone at the table. My 92 year old grandma took seconds and then said "if no one else is having anymore, I'll just take the rest home." That is definitely how you know it was a hit. The only thing that I wish I had more of, was the vegetables. So when I made it tonight, I doubled the vegetables and it came out perfect! What I love about this recipe is that it truly showcases winter root vegetables. Until I changed my diet, I always ate the vegetables I liked at anytime of the year. Now I focus on eating seasonally and local. This is exactly why I like this recipe. I also like this recipe because it's a vegetarian dish. I've significantly reduced my meat consumption. This dish fills you up without wanting more or missing anything. I won't keep you waiting any longer, here is the adapted recipe from Vegetar...

It's been about two months since my last post and WOW a lot has happened. I truly apologize to my readers for the lack of new food recipes and posts. There was however magic in the kitchen. There just wasn't any time to sit and write the posts. However, Snowstorm Nemo has given me that time. Here is an update on my life. I cooked an amazing gluten free Christmas dinner. I made gluten free stuffed rolled pork loin, roasted winter vegetable vegetarian jambalaya and carrot soufflé. (My brother in law is allergic to gluten, dairy and eggs) Everything that I had made, he was able to eat, except the carrot soufflé. That was a request made by his wife, my sister. (Recipes will be posted shortly). During Christmas break, there was a lot of family illness and a death. A lot of family time, I'm ok with that. I have the type of the family that is always there for each other. This was a time where we needed each other. I also got to close a major chapter in my li...

I have a ton of sweet potatoes in my apartment again! I had every intention of making them this weekend so that I could have them throughout the week. Plus I wanted the measurements for you. However, I've been at my mom's house since Saturday helping with Christmas stuff and her puppies. I also had my staff holiday party on Saturday night! I'm still at her house! However, I really want to post this recipe so I'm just going to post it. :) Later this week I'll make the recipe. Then I will edit the measurements and post the picture of the potatoes. At least for now, you will have the ingredients. It's all really to taste anyway. Anyway, on to the post! First thing first, they DO NOT taste anything like the sweet potato fries one would order at a restaurant. They are not fried for one. They are baked. I got the idea the last time I received way too many sweet potatoes in my CSA. One can only eat baked sweet potato for so long before they get...

Sometimes I love the cold weather and other times I do not. Cold weather involves tons of warm hearty meals such as chili, stew, lasagna, pastas, all things that I do not usually cook a lot during warm weather. Also, all things I avoided last year because I was such a newbie in clean eating. These were all traditional meals that I had growing up and made once I went off on my own. I was terrified of changing some of them due to losing the taste. There is A LOT to change in some of these recipes. This fall/winter, I plan on tackling them. I will also be introducing a lot of new recipes as well. I hope to share with you as the season progresses. This recipe I am about to share is a recipe I have used for more then 5-6 years since it came out. I read it in Shape magazine, specifically the "Make over your body in 21 days" issue. (You can locate the original recipe on the Shape website.) Since then I have made some modifications to it. I use fresh ingredients instea...

Before I write this post, I must apologize for the long gap in posts. I live on Long Island where we recently have been hit by Hurricane Sandy. No gas, no power, no work. Things were crazy. I was lucky enough to have my power. However, my mother was displaced and was staying with me for about three weeks. I have gone back with her to her place in the past week due to Thanksgiving. She also got a new dog so she wanted my help with helping the dog adjust. In that time, I also had some personal issues going on as well. I do not feel the need to share them in a public forum. Just know, there's been a lot going on. As I write this, I am writing from my mother's computer.  Well today is the Monday after Thanksgiving, I had meant to write a running post, planning post and a pre-holiday prep post in the past month. Needless to say, that went out the window. I have been in the meantime, getting ideas and being somewhat creative with my recipes. If you have food sensi...

The fall is here!! I love the fall, I love all things pumpkin and apple, such as apple cider and pumpkin muffins. Around this time last year, I had just started my journey on clean eating. This time around, I'm starting my journey of gluten free clean eating. Over the past few months, I have discovered that I have a gluten sensitivity. This explains the headaches, the breakouts, etc. I feel SO much better when I'm gluten free. It's a bit easier going gluten free when you already make so many things from scratch. However, I am also discovering that simple ingredients contain wheat, like soy sauce. (That explains why I bloat up like a pufferfish after I have sushi) I am also discovering that a lot of gluten free items and/or recipes contain ingredients that are not included in my clean eating lifestyle. That makes things a bit more difficult. So off I go to revamp my cooking methods, mostly the baking. I am in the process of testing out gluten free baking flour (I...