Wednesday 5 September 2012

"Real" Food


 After stumbling across some fantastic blogs of late I have become a convert to the "real" food way of life. People like Carrie at Deliciously Organic and Lisa at 100 days of real food have inpired me to rethink how i feed myself and my family.

I have always tried to make healthy food, but i think like most people i get so caught up in the low fat, calorie counting, not too much sugar, watch what you eat mentality that after a while it all just seems to hard to follow and i get exhausted. I figure i have enough on my plate with work, study and family without having to be the food police, but then of course the guilt kicks in when i see H eat a biscuit :-(

Anyhoo, i think that is why the Real Food idea speaks to me so much, its just so simple. At first glance most people would think that there is just too much too it, but for me, i like the simple guidelines that Real Food offer. Eat fresh, real food and dont eat anything highly processed. Simple!

We have been eating "real" for about a week now and it is finally a way of life i can see myself sticking too indefinately. Even my Mr Skeptical husband was impressed with my dinner of wholemeal tortillas, slow cooked refried beans and marinated chicken, (all homemade, from scratch) the other night!

The best bit is, with a bit of prep and organisation it really wasnt a whole lot more time cooking than normal and i have the benefit of knowing exactly what is going into what we eat.

For some reason, i dont seem to mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen when the results are so good and my conscious feels clear.

So in the hope of inspiring you to give the "real" food idea a go i thought i would share tonights Taco Salad dinner with you. Yummo!

Before adding the salads. (please ignore the shoddy photography!)


Taco Salad
Made enough for 2 adults and a toddler plus lunch for all the next day.

Ingredients:
Taco Meat (recipe below)
Refried beans (recipe below)
1 avocado, cut into cubes
4 tomatoes, thickly diced
Sour cream, to serve
Grated cheese, to serve
Cooked brown rice, 3/4 cup per person
Lettuce, to serve

Instructions:
Cook up the Taco Meat and Refried Beans as per the recipes below. Use as much or little chilli as you like for your families taste.
To serve, add the rice to the plate, top with some of the chicken, a good dollop of the refried beans and sprinkle with grated cheese while everuthing is still nice and hot.
Top with the avocado, tomato and lettuce (or whatever salad you like really) and drizzle with sour cream. Enjoy


Meat:
1 tbs coconut oil
500g chicken thighs (preferably local, organic), thinly sliced
1 tbs garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp chilli powder
Splash of lime juice


Heat the coconut oil in a large frypan over medium heat, add chicken and garlic, then sprinkle spices over the top. Cook until browned all over and cooked through. Splash the lime juice over right at the end.


Refried Beans in the slow cooker (adapted from the 100 days recipe)
1 small onion, cut into large chunks
1 cup dry pinto beans, rinsed
½ tsp chilli powder (we like it quite milk, but feel free to add extra to taste)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp corriander powder
3 cups water
Fresh corriander, finely chopped

 Add all ingredients to the bowl of a slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low. When beans are lovely and soft, drain the beans, reserving the liquid and blitz in a food processor (or mash with a potato masher if you dont have one), adding as much or little of the reserved liquid as you like to get a nice consistancy. Stir through the fresh corriander just before serving.

I would love to hear any adaptions you make and what you think of this salad.

Until next time...

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