 I am a firm believer in ALL THINGS IN BALANCE, and I try to apply it to all aspects of my life. Cause let’s be real y’all. None of us are perfect. Well, my Big Strong Handsome might be. He’s the most disciplined human I’ve ever known. So, for the rest of us let’s just try to keep things in balance. Some days will be working out, drinking plenty of water, and eating fruits and veggies. Other days might be pizza for breakfast, and consuming an entire block of cheese and a bottle of wine while binge watching the Real Housewives on Bravo. Pro tip: Robert Mondavi Private Selection Monterey Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cabernet is a lovely every day wine to pair with an aged gouda. Throw in a few grapes and it’s basically a salad. Wow. That went off the rails quickly. See what I mean? That’s why balance is important. When you have a day like that, you get up the next day and do better. How? You can start by simply "eating the rainbow." I love making colorful fruit bowls! They’re beautiful, and let’s face it. When your food is beautiful, it’s just more fun to eat. For a delicious twist, add in Greek yogurt, nuts, honey, sea salt, or citrus zest. TIP 1: When you get home from the grocery store, wash and cut up your produce. When you’re hungry it’s way too easy to grab a bag of chips, but if you have some fruit or veggies already cut up, it’s just as quick and easy.
TIP 2: Try to choose fruits that are in season so they’re more flavorful and more affordable. TIP 3: Go for brightly colored, delicious, juicy fruits that are loaded with vitamins. If the good Lord made it, it’s good for your body. If it comes out of a can or a box, chances are it’s not that nutritious.
0 Comments
 These taco bowls are guilt free comfort food! Well, that is if you don’t cover it in cheese and sour cream, which I’ve been known to do. Whoops! This recipe, and most recipes, really, are all about “mise en place,” meaning everything in its place. This is a fancy way of saying get everything prepped and ready, then cook. It will make your life so much easier and you just might enjoy it. Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some music, and get to chopping. It may even be a little therapeutic. You can use almost any veggies in this dish, but I recommend sticking to onion, corn and some kind of pepper at the very least, then you can add on from there if you’re feeling creative. The more veggies, the better. Dice everything up the same size and set aside. For the meat, I like to use an organic ground turkey and a medium to hot Italian sausage. Truthfully, any ground meat combo should work here. I like this particular combo because I get the nutrition from the turkey and the flavor from the sausage. With the seasoning, you can simplify the whole dish and just use a packet of taco seasoning. I opt for the individual spices so we don’t end up with any sugar, preservatives or yucky chemicals. For the sauce, again, you can take a shortcut here and use a big jar of taco seasoning, but the control freak in me prefers to use a simple tomato sauce with my seasonings. It’s delicious either way, but a little “cleaner” by creating your own sauce and seasoning.    This will forever be my favorite way to prepare chicken. The original recipe was from my late Uncle Mike who lived in Georgia. I have so many happy memories of Uncle Mike and my dad sitting around the fire pit making this chicken. He would slow cook chicken halves over a fire pit at Granny’s house, “mopping it” with this marinade/sauce. Y’all, it’s delicious. Just smelling this marinade cooking makes my mouth water. Wait… it’s watering right now just talking about it. It’s so good that I not only use it as a marinade, but I serve a little on the side so you can dip your chicken into that vinegary goodness. When I was little you could find me dipping my chicken in a red solo cup with some of Uncle Mike’s marinade in it. Now, I put it in a pretty little ramekin, you know, cause I’m fancy like that.  This recipe is just for the marinade/sauce. You can literally cook the chicken anyway you like, baked, grilled, pan seared, whatever. Just put this sauce on it and thank me later. I’ve made some tweaks from the original recipe over the years, and I must admit, if he knew I was putting olive oil, Himalayan sea salt, and Dijon mustard in his marinade, whoooooo! He’d tilt his head, look at me over his glasses, and say something like, “you gon’ ruin some good chicken.” He was a tough old guy, but he had a tender heart and could cook the heck out of some chicken. That’s why this will forever be, “Uncle Mike’s Chicken.” We miss you Uncle Mike!  |
AuthorAmber Archives
September 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed