Avocado and Almond Rice

I am in the process of cleaning out my kitchen. Since I will be moving out of my apartment at the beginning of May, I am refusing to buy any sort of canned food, easy meals, bread, pasta, rice you name it. I am buying fresh veggies and that's it. I am making my way through all of the food I already have in my kitchen. That's why today, I created Avocado and Almond Rice. 

This is a delicious way to fill up on a small portion of food, it also makes bucket loads (if you want) so you'll have lunch for the whole week! If you're following my Wellness Diet this will replace your normal oatmeal breakfast (you can have a smoothie or yogurt with fruit instead). It will fulfill your salt cravings, your creamy cravings and your crunchy cravings all in one! 

You will need:

Brown rice, avocado, green onions, garlic, chicken broth/stock/boullion, toasted almonds. 

I'm sure you can guess how to cook this, if not, here's the run down: Cook your rice in the chicken broth, when it's done, add chopped garlic, green onions and avocado, mix until the avocado is mushed and incorporated into the rice like a sauce, top with chopped, toasty almonds. I think this would also be great with some dried herbs mixed in (Herbs de Provance?) 

It's pure yumminess in a bowl and with tons of healthy stuff.

Enjoy! 

Gluten Free Dinner

Like any good Catholic, I've given up something for Lent. I didn't give up coffee, cookies, candy or chocolate like most people do. Oh no. That's not my style. I gave up gluten. 100%. This is partially because I want to celebrate my religious tradition by making it a challenge for myself, which is the whole purpose of the tradition and the other part of this decision was to see how my body would react. 

I've always had nasty stomach pains and bloating, for as long as I can remember. I've been checked for celiac but my doc said it was a no go, but he also said that a majority of people are intolerant to gluten, not to the point of celiac, but to the point of the inexplicable IBS, which he also said was probably the cause of all of my discomfort. 

Nasty topics aside, I have been experimenting in the kitchen and have come up with a few wonderful and delicious items that will make not only your tummy, but also the rest of your body, happy. What is also great about the gluten free lifestyle, is what it does to your waistline. Gluten is in anything wheat or bread-like. Anything with flour in it has this nasty stuff. Eliminating flour essentially eliminates the majority of the carbohydrates we consume. I've said it before and I'll say it again-- Carbs make us fat! 

So let's get started with a fresh and filling meal! You won't even miss the gluten!

Chicken & Vegetable Soup with Strawberry Chocolate Smoothie

This soup is super easy:

Heat a pot of water till it's boiling, add some chicken base (Better than Bouillon) and mix in along with some salt/pepper and any other seasonings. Chop up some carrots and throw those in the pot. Five minutes later, add some chopped celery. While this is cooking away, cook up some boneless/skinless chicken breats. Season that with salt/pepper and safflower oil. I use this instead of olive oil because it's a more neutral flavor and also is proven to help shrink fat cells! Once the chicken is done, chop it up and throw it in the pot along with some chopped zucchini. Once all the veggies are cooked through and you've adjusted your seasonings (I used a dash of italian seasoning and some celery salt) you're done!! 

It's healthy, super yummy and gluten free!! 

The smoothie is even more easy:

Blend together one scoop of chocolate protein powder, spoonful of flaxseed peanut butter, frozen strawberries and almond milk. Yum yum. If you happen to find that you've accidentally poured some rum in your smoothie, well, oops.... and let me know how it turns out!! 

You'll need to unbutton your pants after this dinner, but not in the badly bloated way, in the 'I just filled up on veggies and protein and I feel GOOD!'- way.

Happy healthy eating!!

<3 b