Jazz Up Your Salad

In the past, when I heard the word salad I thought dull, boring, iceberg lettuce DROWNED in dressing maybe with a few slivers of carrot and radish. Toss on some Bacos Bacon Bits if I was really fantasizing. 

So it is easy to understand why salads were...unappealing to me. UNTIL I began to jazz them up! 

Now my regular salad ingredients include the usual suspects (mixed greens, carrots, tomato, bell pepper, etc.) along with:

Blueberries

Sliced strawberries

Apple pieces

Smoked salmon (OMG y'all, forreal!)

Smoked gouda cheese (see a theme?)

All kinds of nuts and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, almond, walnut)

Cranberries (fresh or dried)

even certain flower petals (pansies, nasturtium, squash/zucchini) can be added! 

Since redefining what a salad can include, I really CRAVE them sometimes. I try to have at least 3-4 "colors" and 5 different ingredients in each of my salads. This ensure I have a variety of vitamins and nutritional intake as well as increasing my fiber intake. As I am approaching 40, I have been doing some research on the health benefits of proper fiber levels and they seem to be plentiful including lowered risk of heart disease, diabetes, and possibly some cancers, too!  An added bonus, because of all the delicious flavors, I usually only add less than 1 Tablespoon of salad dressing, reducing calories, fat, sugar and most importantly to me salt content! 

So what are your favorite salad additives? I am ready to jazz it up even more! 

Mojo Style Roast Pork in the Crock Pot

As y'all know, I love ballin' on a budget! Like seriously, I love seeing just how much I can decrease my expenses and still have a fabulous quality of life. This is how I can afford things like vacation, camping trips (ever notice how expensive it is to go camping!? We may "glamp" a smidge, come to think of it.) and fueling my coffee shop addiction (YES! It's almost hot mocha season y'all!).

Here is my most recent ballin' on a budget recipe. I got the inspiration from my friend Adreanna, who shared a link to her husband's version (link at the end). I totally mixed it up and it was AMAZING!! I'll do the cost breakdown, too, and you can see how I am going to feed my son and I at least two full meals, my mother one (I am southern momma's boy, I set a plate of food aside for her at least once a month.) and will freeze some leftovers for a couple weeks from now all for less than $20, or $5/meal for 2 people! !

Pork shoulder roast--on sale, $12 (I don't recall the weight)
5 cloves (not bulbs) of garlic-- (25 cents (seriously))
1/2 medium onion (50 cents)
1 teaspoon Cumin (maybe $1 because I buy my spices from Penzeys)
2 Tablespoons Oregano ($1)
1 teaspoon Chili pepper flakes (25 cents)
Juice of four limes ($2)
1/4 cup OJ (35 cents)
smidge Smoked paprika (10 cents, a little goes a long way here folks)
1-2 teaspoons Fresh cracked pepper (25 cents)
Handful of new potatoes ($1 (?) )
Olive Oil (neglible, I forgot to measure anyway)

Finely grate the garlic (I honestly could've used twice as much, but my son doesn't have the same affinity for garlic as I do), combine with all the spices, lime juice and olive oil. I like to let it sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate all the spices and let the flavors begin to really mingle.

Meanwhile, take your roast out of the package, I always rinse it off because it seems slimy (is that just me?) and place in the crock pot. Spread the thinly sliced onions on top of the roast; smear the top of roast with the mojo sauce and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Then SLOWLY pour the orange juice on top of the roast being careful not to wash the mojo mix off.

Today, I cooked on low from 7 am--3 pm, turned off and let it just sit in its own amazing juices. Turned it back on high at 430 when I added the potatoes. Everything was AMAZING by dinner at 545. I paired this with a fresh salad and water.

Tomorrow I will shred some of the pork, add some apple juice (it really pairs well) and some homemade taco seasoning, jalapenos and bell peppers to simmer for about 20 minutes to make nachos.

I will shred the rest and freeze for either soup or bbq sandwiches later in the month. This main dish, coming in at under $20, will feed my son and me three meals and my mother one. This means a total of 7 main dishes for roughly 2.85 each. Add a side to each dish (green beans, salad, tater tots, etc) and you're coming in at approx. $5/meal MAX. Oh, did you notice what's missing? Salt. Preservatives. Chemicals. Yada, yada, yada. It CAN be done.

Here is the link to the original recipe, off of which I based mine: Cuban Style Roast Pork

Marathon Grade Stock

I think that perhaps I failed at my most recent attempt to train for and run a marathon because I relegated it to just that: Running a marathon. It's so much more. It's a way of life that merely includes running as a conduit to the rest.

It's about being a healthier, whole person.

I say this from a lazy position on my couch, covered in a warm & fuzzy blanket that I have NO idea where I got it. Oh, and turkey stock is simmering on the stove, now entering it's second hour. Both times I've been successful at a full marathon I approached it with all my might. I drank smoothies for dessert, I ran with other runners, I cross trained and stretched, I got into the zone and stayed there all 26.2 miles. This time, I did none of that with much commitment or determination. I just ran. And then I stopped.

So as most Americans (myself included) are still in a post-gluttony stupor, suffering from indigestion and lethargy might I broaden this blog to include how to be healthier so you can finish whatever marathons you may literally or metaphorically be facing?

My turkey stock recipe:
First enjoy as much meat from the turkey as you and your family can. THEN...

Scrape off any remaining meat you can, you can use this in sammiches, pot pie, stir fry or putting in turkey soup later.

Throw the bones, fat, juices, etc. into a BIG ol pot.
Cut up an onion (or two, whatever you have)
Put in a couple things of celery (be sure to keep the celery leaves on, they add so much pizazz!)
Slice up some garlic (I love garlic and it's REALLY good for you, so I add double what most people do, I use 4 cloves, NOT bulbs mind you)
couple shakes of peppercorn (if I had to guess, I'd say at least  teaspoon maybe a tablespoon?)
Three FRESH Bay leaves (the trick to good flavor from bay leaves lies in their freshness)
Chopped herbs which may include: cilantro, thyme, oregano (I avoid sage as I can my stock and sage does not can well)
10-14 cups of cold water.

Simmer on LOW heat for 3-4 hours. Let cool. Strain (I just put through my pasta strainer, some recipes call for expensive sieve things)). Let sit in fridge overnight. Skim fat. (sometimes I'll reheat, recool, reskim...depends on how low fat you want it). Be mindful the stock will congeal due to the natural bone simmering as opposed to the gross stuff from the store). Before I started canning, I would freeze in two cup amounts in zip lock bags. Lay them flat to freeze, then stack on top to conserve space. Now I can them at 10 lbs pressure for 75 minutes.

Voila, you have fresh, organic (if you choose), low fat and low sodium marathon-grade stock. I hope you enjoy! Remember...running a marathon is about WAY more than running...it's about completing a marathon. or at least that's my 26.2 cents worth and hey, that's about what the serving of stock cost too!