where was this photo taken?

there might be a prize if you get it right...

to-go where? to school.

Yummy day at school with my to-go ware lunch "box."

I packed a salad of butter lettuce, my special walnuts, and a 1/4 of a tomato (seeded, in case it wasn't obvious) with some sesame ginger salad dressing.
+
an avocado with a side of sea salt, and a handful of crispy almonds (prepared the same way as the walnuts)
YUM!

my last week of college

Studying + dish washing. I am a pro multi-tasker.

pineapple & coconut quinoa

I've been eying The Spunky Coconut's pineapple coconut quinoa recipe for over a week now.. and I finally collected and readied all the ingredients I needed. You can check her recipe out - but mine's a little bit different.. I changed the proportions a bit, and soaked the quinoa for over 12 hours, so it changed the amount of liquid I needed. This was SOO good. I'm going to make it for a bigger group of people next time..

Serves 4-6
You will need:

1 1/2 cups quinoa (soaked in water for at least 12 hours to remove the outer coating of saponin, which gives it a bitter taste. After soaked, rinse rinse rinse then strain to remove all the soapy sud like bubbles. Now you'll have about 2 1/2 cups of prepped quinoa.)
1/2 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp coconut oil
2/3 cup pineapple, chopped
1/4 cup whole coconut milk
1/4-1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne, how hot do you like it?

1/2 tsp Herbamare or slightly less if you use plain sea salt
1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple

1/2 cup chopped walnuts ooh! or cashews.. man. I wish I thought of that before. Cashews would be so good..

2 cups fresh finely chopped spinach (I used butter lettuce - any leaf will do)

optional: hemp seeds - for nutritional, not taste value

Ready?

1 - Sauté the onion in the coconut oil in a medium pot.
2 - Purée 2/3 cup pineapple with coconut milk and chicken/veggie broth
3 - Add the liquid mixture to the pot and bring to a simmer.
4 - Add the pre-soaked, rinsed, and strained quinoa. Simmer with lid on for about 14ish minutes.
5 - Remove the lid and let it rest for a few minutes.

6 - Mix in the spices, walnuts, chopped pineapple, green leaves, and optional hemp seeds
7 - Enjoy!!

**I'm making an addition to this post! I'm having leftovers right now for dinner.. and I heated it up with some more chicken broth, plus some chicken shredded up from the broth I made yesterday. AND I also added a handful of chopped up green onion. YUM.

chicken stock and schmaltz

It's been a while since I made chicken stock.. this time I did it a little differently than before, and the process went SO much faster. Or maybe, I'm just getting good :)

1 as whole as you can find, organic chicken (include feet, necks, and other bony parts)
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 quarts of filtered water
1 bunch parsley - which I always forget.. I need to figure out a way not to forget..

1 - I get my chicken frozen, so I let it thaw all the way out in the fridge first.
2 - Cut up chicken, and cut breast meat off the bone, because you'll be taking the large portions of meat out of the stock after about 1-2 hours (take the liver out and save it for later!)
3 - Put all ingredients, san parsely, in a large stock pot and let it sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour
4 - Bring to a boil, then skim the foam off the top. Then bring down to a low low low simmer.. and leave it alone (covered, of course)
5 - After 1-2 hours, remove the breast meat as well as the legs and thighs - this is good meat to use, as it hasn't been simmering for 12-24 hours.. put away for later use.
6 - After 12-24 hours, remove from heat and strain out vegetables and leftover chicken.
7 - Return stock to the big pot it was just in, or dirty up another one if you'd like, and let it sit out on the counter until it cools off a bit.. so you don't put it in the fridge when it's still piping hot.
8 - Put the pot of broth in the fridge, and wait for the schmaltz (chicken fat) to collect and harden at the top. Then remove the schmaltz, and save it in a different container.
9 - Pour stock into different containers - I keep some in jars in the fridge and the rest I put in single serving sizes in the freezer for my future chicken soup lunches.

(I don't have a photo of this.. But I sautéed the liver from the chicken with chopped onions thyme, rosemary, and garlic in a spoonful of the schmaltz.. and it was awesome. I'll make it again and post it later..)

apple, lamb, and butter lettuce

This butter lettuce was so beautiful... it was a shame to cut it up..
Here's the ultimate, and yet simple, hunt & gather diet salad. I guess it could use some nuts or seeds..

1/2 fugi apple, cut into bites
small patty of lamb meat, grilled (on the stove) then broken into bites
butter lettuce.. as much as your heart desires
I dressed the dish with a little EVOO and salt.

enjoy! if you are lucky..

farmer's market loot

The green is flowing :)