The Other RED MEAT

     Alright, being from Sitka by the sea and all I have really been craving some salmon. With this dilemma I went to the super market in search for some decent fish, and alas I found what I would call "okay for the midwest". I also understand that desperate times call for desperate measures so yes, I Ashlee Wheeler went to the grocery store and bought some frozen Salmon. First thing however I would like to make apparent is that I was cognizant of the fact that what I may be buying could have potentially been farmed raised fish from Indonesia and I was able to dodge that bullet.

                                             (Friends don't let Friends eat Farmed Fish)
So even though this fish came in a prepackaged bundle, that is beyond foreign to me when thinking about fish I had to go out beyond the beaten path to obtain what my heart truly desired. (PS: debate on farm raised salmon topic, saved for another day)
   
Back to the Topic at Hand, My amazing dinner. This time I was needing some salmon for my taste buds.

Recipe:

1. Two Thawed salmon filets 
2. One bundle of green onions
3. 3 Fronds of parsley 
4. 2 cloves of garlic
5. 1 yellow pepper
6. 3 table spoons of capers 
7. White Wine
8. Salt and Pepper
9. Wild Rice 

     I started this journey out by getting the rice cooking, your typical rice will take an hour or so to cook. Don't let that discourage you from getting the real stuff. Minute Made and white rices have all of the nutrient removed from them after processing them and hey lets agree that it just doesn't taste as good. The rice will go in a 1-2 cup ratio, after boiling for just a minute you can turn the stove down to a simmer and let it cook for about 50 minutes.
     While the rice is cooking this is a good time to start preparing and chopping the other ingredients for the dish.  I began by chopping the "parsley" the garlic and the green onions in very small pieces and left the yellow pepper in nice long slices.

       Now I did however taste my "parsley" and realized I picket up cilantro at the grocery store. Now my next lesson will be how to decipher between the different green things in the super market.... The dish turned out fine with the little substitute.
     Once I had everything chopped I rinsed the salmon filets and patted them dry with a paper cloth. The skillet was then primed with some wine and water until it all came to a boil.

     Again with these recipes my intention is not to win Americas NEXT Top chief or anything so I grabbed some wine that was sitting around, a substitute could be chicken broth.
     Once the water and wine have come to a boil I added: capers, green onions, garlic, yellow pepper, cilantro and let them simmer for about 3 minutes. Then before adding the fish to the mixture I seasoned the fish with a little salt and pepper, next time I would be curious to know how some crushed red pepper would taste. With the skin still on the fish I cooked in the pan for 10 minutes, while also spreading some of the ingredients on top of the fish. After the fish was cooked all the way through I took it out of the pan and set it on top of the wild rice. I dipped out some of the veggies from the pan and I had a Fantastic healthy and satisfying dinner.

Full of color textures flavors and packet with tons of healthy fats carbs and protein :)

Spicy Yogurt Sauce

      Well again I am experimenting with different recipes, and OH HOW interesting it can get. The key to my experimentation is to have FUN with it. I also like to use the use healthy ingredients and things that are in my fridge when I get in the mood to create :).

  Today I needed to use some smoked pork tenderloin, thanks to the LIONs club ha ha, and I though eating it plain was not what I had pictured for today's lunch. SO with that being said I started to create a tangy sauce that was delectable on top of my pork with a side of veggies.

   What I used:
       1 half of a fresh lemon
       2 Tbs of chopped onion
      1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
       1Tbs of parsley (fresh preferably)
       2 Tbs of fat free plain greek yogurt
       2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
       4 cloves of peeled garlic cloves

 I tossed all of this in a food processor and waah la! I served it over hot pork with a side of steamed veggies. The meal was pretty good HOWEVER the onions did burn my eyes a bit, so I would suggest using green onion or chives. Watch out because its spicy ;) Enjoy

Healthy HOT POCKET!!

OKAY there isn't really such a thing as your traditional "healthy" hot pocket. But I have made something that is WAY Better.
  CHICKEN SPINACH AND GORGONZOLA CHEESE
Ingredients:  
  1) Chicken Breast
  2) Baby spinach
  3) Fresh Tomatoes 
  4) Gorgonzola cheese crumbles
  5) Garlic powder
  6) Basil
(cook on 375 for about 35 minutes)

Alrighty this is how I did it

First thing is I rinsed and trimmed the chicken breast and cut (parallel to the cutting board) a pocket into the chicken breast. I then stuffed several leaves of baby spinach into the pocket, don't be shy with the spinach. After the inside of the chicken breast is covered in spinach I put a spoonful of gorgonzola cheese inside the spinach, now more cheese isn't better this cheese is very strong. I would keep the cheese to a little spoonful. After your chicken breast is stuffed it is now time to season the outside. I just sprinkled a little of each the Garlic powder and Basil on each side of the breast. Now we can put our chicken breast into a baking dish and we can cover our chicken with freshly cut slices of Tomatoes!!

 Yummy, this is a delicious and healthy dish and goes great with brown or wild rice and it beats hot pockets any day. Also whats great is that you can cook several at a time then save them for meals later : D.

Fiber

What is fiber and why is it essential to a healthy diet?
    I found that fiber is actual a non digestible starch! I knew fiber kept you "regular" but the reason's for that were unknown to me. Turns out that fiber is a group of bonds that cannot be broken down by our large intestine. This nutrient would promote "good" bacterial growth and increase heart health by lowering levels of cholesterol. Fiber has been found to decrease levels of insulin concentration in those at risk for type 2 diabetes and increase levels of "fullness" or fulfillment with food. Research has suggested that those with a high fiber intake have lower risks for obesity/cancer and other illness! Too much fiber however can find you taking many trips the the bathroom, cramping and loss of some vitamins.  Foods that have high concentration of fiber would be edibles like your fruits and veggies, however it is your Legumes (beans) that have your highest levels of fiber 15g for a cup compared to a cup of blackberries which only has 8g. So load up on those veggies beans and all natural foods, to increase your fiber intake keeping you full and energized throughout the day! Women are recommended to have 25g daily and men 38g.

Animal vs Plant Proteins: which is better?

     As a health professional proteins and there source seems to be a Hot topic of conversation! I would not say I am a nutrition specialist by any means but I learn new information about foodstuffs everyday. After some brief research on the topic I have yet to find a 100% answer to this question, as if there are any of those in life. I do know however that we Need Proteins and our animal proteins of course are going to be our source of "complete proteins," meaning they have all of our amino acids. When consuming plant proteins we must combine, or find complementary proteins to obtain all of the amino acids that we need. Simply said our lean meats are "easiest" for the untrained to assure we can reach our full protein potential. Problems that we find with our meats, mostly red, is that they tend to come with fats which according to USDA Americans are recommended to try and reduce there amount of saturated fats. By using plants as our source of proteins we increase our amount of Veggies taken in.... which from the majority of all food logs I analyse is lacking in almost all diets, would help us get in our 4-6 servings a day.
     How much protein do I need? not a simple question to answer however we can come up with an approximate answer with a simple equation. .8grams of protein for every kg of body weight per day.
     kg: weight in pounds divided by 2.2
     ex: man weighs 190Ibs
               190/2.2 = 86.36kg          86.63 * .8 = about 69g a day
However for a gentleman who is trying to put on lean weight or is endurance athlete may need a little bit more. Those men might take in (.9g) instead. Now the body can only use so much protein in the "muscle building" realm, consumption of protein other than this are taken in as extra calories and or thrown away. Now over consumption of protein is another beast, just know that fiber should be taken in with those diets in order to balance out the excessive protein intake.