DIY Wednesday: Baba Ganoush

April 6, 2016April 5, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Ok, before making this recipe I had never had baba ganoush. In fact, I didn’t even really know what baba ganoush was and the only reason I thought about it was because of the movie Wedding Crashers. Yes, the movie with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. It’s one of my sister’s and my favorite movies and it’s awesome and if you’ve never seen do it now.

Well, in the movie Owen Wilson’s character affectionately calls Vince Vaughn’s character “Baba Ganoush”. So the other day I was randomly thinking about the movies and I decided to figure out what baba ganoush meant and when I saw that it was an eggplant and tahini spread I decided I needed to make it for myself. DIY Wednesday: Baba Ganoush | Life Healthfully Lived

Yes, this is how my brain works.

I really love how light and simple this dip is and it’s amazing on chips (particularly pita), cut up vegetables, and while I haven’t tried it yet I bet it would be good spread on fish or chicken. You could buy baba ganoush at the store but the kind I found had odd ingredients and was way more expensive and why buy it when you can easily make it? DIY Wednesday: Baba Ganoush | Life Healthfully Lived

While this dip won’t replace hummus (hummus love forever yo) it is a new fun dip!

Baba Ganoush

1 medium sized eggplant
half a lemon
1 clove garlic minced
4 cloves garlic, roasted
2 tbsp tahini*
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped or 1 tsp dried parsley
roasted sesame seeds for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 400 and prepare a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Wash and rinse the eggplant really well and poke it all over with a fork. Place it on the baking sheet. Take 4 cloves of peeled garlic and wrap them in a little foil pouch with a little olive oil and salt and place the pouch on the pan with the eggplant.
Roast the eggplant until it’s soft and starting to collapse rotating it halfway through. About 30 to 35 minutes. Roast the garlic for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Once the eggplant and garlic are done roasting, let them cool until you can easily handle the eggplant. Slice in half and scoop out the flesh and place it into the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, except the sesame seeds.
Process until it’s smooth. Scoop into a bowl and if you’re serving right away top with toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of olive oil.

* I also tried this with almond butter and it worked just fine but I like the flavor tahini adds. Use whatever you like and have on hand. DIY Wednesday: Baba Ganoush | Life Healthfully Lived

Eat This, Not That

April 4, 2016April 4, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

Have you seen those articles/posts about what you should eat instead of the junk food you normally go for? Or those articles that highlight restaurants worst menu items and then tell you what to eat instead? Or have you ever tried to look up an ingredient or some other food thing online to see if it’s healthy or not and 3 hours later you have a pile of research saying yes it is and no it will kill you?

It’s really frustrating, isn’t it?

Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

How most people look when they try to start eating better.

Just the other day, I googled quinoa to look up the different varieties and was immediately met with headlines like: Quinoa: Is It The Next Superfood or Will It Destroy Your Gut? And: Quinoa Is The Seed The Acts Like A Grain And Could Be The Way To A Smaller Waistline. Don’t get me started on the back and forth over whether quinoa is “paleo” because that would take an entire day.

They’re both fine, eat whichever makes you feel better!

While I’m sort of used to nutrition research and know that for every study published stating the benefits of some food there is another one that says it’s horrible for you, I realized that people just starting out on their healthy journey probably feel overwhelmed and confused when trying to figure out if something is good or bad. I think that’s why I’ve started to move away from that idea. Food isn’t inherently evil nor is it undeniably good. It’s food and it either makes you feel your best or it doesn’t. It helps you meet your goals or it deters you.

So what if quinoa isn’t paleo? Does it make you feel good when you eat it? Can you perform your daily tasks without hindrance? Are you gorging yourself with only quinoa? No, hopefully you have a diet full of real foods like fruits and vegetables. If you are subsisting on a diet of only quinoa, I’m going to bet you have other things to worry about….

Anyone else feel like this?

So here is my advice for you health newbies out there and this is something that I wish I had realized early on in my journey because it would have saved a lot of time and stress: Stop worrying so much. You can always find a reason something is bad or good. Start looking to yourself to see whether what you put in your mouth is helping you or hurting you. Start by cutting out processed food and move to whole foods and go from there. Try new things and if they work for you then that’s all that matters!

Your diet will never be perfect and that is quite alright. No one’s is. Not the Instagram stars, not the celebrities, not the fitness guru’s, and not mine. You aren’t striving for perfect, you’re striving for better than what you were. Eat This Not That | Life Healthfully Lived

Eat this OR eat that. As long as it works for you, don’t stress it!

Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Blueberry Bottoms

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Told you this week was all about the Meyer lemons and poppy seeds. Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Blueberry Bottoms | Life Healthfully Lived

Of course, I had to make some lemon poppyseed muffins because who gets lemons and poppy seeds and DOESN’T make muffins? Psychos, that’s who. I might be crazy but I’m no psycho. Anyways….

I was a little worried that these wouldn’t turn out after I made my first batch and they were…. well, bland. They tasted like nothing and that’s not what you want from a muffin. So I switched a few things around and the second batch turned out much better. They even got the approval of my family at Easter, so that’s an even bigger plus! DSC_4509_00004 DSC_4507_00003

I used frozen blueberries because that’s what I had at the time but if you want to use fresh that’s good too. You might have to adjust your cook time, so keep an eye on them. Other than that this recipe is pretty straightforward and fairly simple to make!

After the recipe, you’ll find a quick poll. It will only take a few seconds and it will help me make this blog even better for you. Thank you in advance and have an awesome weekend!

Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Blueberry Bottoms

1 cup almond flour
6 tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
3 tbsp Meyer lemon zest
1 flax egg (3 tbsp flax meal mixed with 6 tbsp water. Let sit for 10 minutes to gel)
scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly oil each well.
Combine all of the dry ingredients, except for the lemon zest, into a medium bowl and whisk together so it’s light and fluffy.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and make sure everything is completely incorporated.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. With a spatula, fold everything together. Once mixed together, add the zest and stir a few times to combine.
Place 3 to 4 blueberries in the bottom of each muffin well and then spoon in about 2 tablespoons of batter. These won’t rise a ton, so you can fill them about 3/4 of the way up.
Bake the muffins for about 22 minutes (a little less if using fresh blueberries). Remove them from the oven and see if the middle is set. If not bake for another 2 minutes.
Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

DIY Wednesday: Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette

March 30, 2016March 29, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Be prepared for all the lemon/poppyseed recipes this week. More specifically, be ready for Meyer lemon and poppyseed recipes. I found a whole bag of Meyer lemons at Aldi for $1.99 and since I had never tried them I picked them up and found a few delicious ways to use them.

Dressing was one of the first things I did with them, I also made muffins, marinades, smoothies, drizzled over fish and chicken for the husband, and even tried them in eggs. Yeah, that last one was not good. But gotta experiment right? Lemon Poppyseed Dressing | Life Healthfully Lived

If you aren’t familiar with Meyer lemons, they’re kind of like if an orange and a lemon had a baby. It’s a little sweet and a little sour and a lot yummy. It works really well in a lot of recipes because it doesn’t have the puckering effect of lemon but doesn’t end up overly sweet. Sadly, Meyer lemon season is short but that makes it even more special. So if you have seen these lemons in your grocery store but have never known what to do with them, stick around and try my vinaigrette today and some muffins on Friday!

Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette

1/3 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (please use fresh juice, it tastes so much better)
1 tbsp lemon zest (from those lemons you just squeezed)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced very small
1 small clove garlic, minced very small (more if you REALLY like garlic)
2 tsp poppyseeds
1 tsp maple syrup or honey
1/4 tsp salt (more if needed)

Place a fine mesh sieve or strainer over a large bowl or sturdy measuring cup. Squeeze your lemon juice over this so you can catch seeds and any pulp. Keep going until you have 1/3 cup.
Put the rest of the ingredients into a mason jar or other container with a secure lid. Shake everything together and use over your next salad or as a marinade for fish, chicken, or pork.

Make sure you store this in the fridge and use it within the next few days. Now, just so you know as this sits, the ingredients will separate into different layers. That’s fine, all you have to do is shake it up right before you use it. The olive oil also might solidify a bit in the fridge but that doesn’t mean it’s gone bad or anything, just let it sit out until it’s back to room temperature. Lemon Poppyseed Dressing | Life Healthfully Lived

Other than that, enjoy this refreshing and healthy vinaigrette!

Easter Sunday Best

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Hello and happy Monday! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and if you celebrate Easter I hope you had a hoppy…. I mean happy one!

Easter Sunday Best | Life Healthfully Lived

Please ignore my horrendous growing-out-my-pixie hair! We clean up pretty good

My weekend was a little busier than usual because I’m actually coming to you from Sycamore right now. I’m house/dog-sitting and get to romp about in my old town and enjoy the slow pace of “country” life. In case you were wondering, the minute you move to any big city like Chicago every other town becomes “country”. Yes, it’s snobby and pretentious but what did you expect from city-folk?

My sister always looks like this as she sets the table

Mom & D actually setting the table

I actually love coming out here not just because I get to cuddle and hang out with an awesome golden retriever but I get to take food pictures in natural light! There are like a gajillion windows here and when you’re used to two interior facing windows that maybe get 2 hours of sunlight a day, you revel in the natural light goodness. Expect beautiful food pics in the near future.

Cooking up the sweet potato hash

D cutting up the Easter ham

Speaking of food, my family had some good stuff at Easter brunch. My sister made this awesome quinoa/broccoli/cranberry/candied walnut salad that I could have eaten until my stomach burst. I need to replicate it like immediately. I made my sweet potato hash because everyone really liked it at Christmas plus it’s a good dish to feed a crowd. I also tested out some muffins on everyone and the feedback was pretty good so you should see those soon. There was also fruit, Irish soda bread, ham, hard-boiled eggs, deviled eggs, pasta salad, and mimosas. I don’t think anyone went hungry….

Jodie excited about the ham…

Me excited/terrifying about Easter

And Andy just excited about food

Overall, it was a great weekend and I’m glad that I got to spend time with my family. Now I’m looking forward to some good blog work and more spring-like weather!