Butternut Spinach Gnudi

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Have you ever heard of gnudi? Don’t worry I hadn’t either until a little while ago. It’s kind of like the big brother of gnocchi (also pronounced with a silent “G”) and it’s delicious. I saw a recipe for it in the Clean Eating magazine and at first I dismissed it as too time consuming to make. Then I had a free Saturday and decided to see if I could tackle the gnudi. I changed a few things, put my own spin on it and while it does take a little bit of time to put together, it isn’t as hard to make as I thought it would be.

I love the dumpling-like texture of this dish. It’s filling but not too heavy especially topped with a fresh tomato sauce, plus it gets in all the good nutrients that come with spinach and butternut squash.

If you aren’t like me and don’t have 10 lbs of butternut squash in your freezer you can substitute canned butternut squash or pumpkin instead. Also, make sure to leave enough time for the gnudi to rest in the refrigerator before you cook them or else they will fall apart in the hot water.

Onto the gnudi!

Butternut Spinach Gnudi- adapted from Clean Eating’s Ricotta, Spinach & Sweet Potato Gnudi

1 cup pureed butternut squash (or canned pumpkin)
6 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
1 cup cashew ricotta
2/3 cup almond meal
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped spinach (frozen or fresh, I used frozen and just made sure it was thawed)
4 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 batch of my tomato sauce or your favorite store bought sauce (make sure to check the label!)

In a large bowl, whisk the 6 tbsp of aquafaba until it’s frothy. Then whisk in the cashew ricotta, almond meal, and all the seasonings.
Once that is all well combined mix in the spinach and fold in the butternut squash. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup of the brown rice flour and stir to combine.
Spread out 2 cups of the brown rice flour onto a large baking sheet. Using your hands, form the butternut mix into medium sized balls, about the size of a golf ball. Place the balls onto the baking sheet and repeat until all the mixture is used up. Cover the balls with the remaining flour and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Warm up your tomato sauce in a medium saucepan. Once the balls have set, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Working in batches of 4-5 balls, gently immerse them into the boiling water and cook until they float to the top. Remove from the water and set aside until all the gnudi is cooked.
Plate a few of the gnudi and top with tomato sauce. You can also sprinkle a little parmesan cheese or my vegan version.

Yes it looks like a lot and it looks like it will take forever and you wonder if I think you’re an Italian grandmother who has nothing to do but make gnudi. Trust me you can do this and it isn’t that hard. Plus you’ll be rewarded with a delicious healthy meal that will have everyone coming back for seconds. So give it a try, you might just surprise yourself!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have an awesome weekend!

My Shopping Cart: Whole Foods Edition

May 13, 2015May 13, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This is the last part in my 3 part series of where and how I grocery shop. If you haven’t seen them yet, read the Jewel and the Aldi post. Today it’s all about Whole Foods which I am here to prove doesn’t have to be Whole Paycheck as long as you shop smart.

Full disclosure: I obviously do not do all of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods. That isn’t to say it isn’t possible to shop only at Whole Foods, I just find it works best for me and my budget to go to a few different places. You have to decide what is best for you, your budget, and your family.

I go to Whole Foods mostly for their bulk section. They have a huge bulk foods section and buying in bulk is a great way to save money on food that you eat and use often. It’s also great if you want to try something new but don’t want to buy a whole box or package. That way you can see if you like the ingredient and won’t waste money or food if you don’t.

Here is what I usually buy from the bulk section at Whole Foods:

whole wheat flour
almond flour
coconut flour
oatmeal (rolled oats, oat bran, steel cut)
buckwheat groats
cornmeal
brown rice
hazelnuts
almonds
cashews
pistachios
goji berries
prunes
chia seeds
hemp seeds
flax seeds
popcorn

Now, I don’t buy all of this every single time I go to the store, I just refill as needed. But you can see that I do purchase a lot of things in bulk. For me, buying these things in bulk is cheaper. Do your research though because sometimes (not often) it isn’t cheaper to buy things in bulk.

Whole Foods also has a bulk spice section that is awesome! I no longer have to buy a whole bottle of some spice that I am going to only use once and then forget I have. This saves so much money and your spices and herbs won’t go bad (yes spices can go bad) because you aren’t using them. I usually get:

basil
oregano
thyme
rosemary
turmeric
cumin

Because I’m obsessed with spices, I also get a lot of my spices and spice blends at The Spice House in Old Town. They have so many amazing blends and I have a hard time choosing! If you’re in the area you should check them out. Plus it’s Alton Brown recommended so you can’t go wrong!

Other than bulk food, I also get a few other things:

organic sweet potatoes (my one organic splurge because to me they taste much better than conventional)
365 brand peanut butter (the 2 lb jar is only $5.99)
grind your own almond butter
specialty ingredients like coconut cream, Asian/Indian food section things, tahini
bulk coffee (I also sometimes get coffee from Trader Joes)

Again, I don’t get these things every single trip just when I need them.

It is totally possible to shop at Whole Foods and not spend a small fortune. If you do your homework, you can grocery shop here on a budget. If you look for coupons, buy things that are on sale, shop the bulk food section, and purchase the 365 brand products you can save a lot of money. And soon you might be able to shop at a less expensive version of Whole Foods.

This is the last post in this series and I hope it helped show you how to grocery shop as well as how it’s easy to eat healthy on a budget and at a variety of different stores. I would love to write more posts about what I do to stay healthy, so let me know what other roadblocks you face when trying to eat better. What other things would other glimpses into my life would you like to see? Let me know in the comment section!

Dance Parties, Blind Superheros, And Other Things I’m Loving

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Today’s post is gonna be short, sweet, and fun.

I spent most of yesterday at my parent’s house making food and hanging with my momma for Mother’s Day. You guys. My mom? She is the bees knees. I know everyone thinks that about their moms but it’s especially true in my case. She is the most amazing person ever and I am so lucky that I got to be her daughter. Not that I really had any choice in the matter, but you get what I mean. I hope you did something nice for your mom yesterday. I mean she did kind of give birth to you and then put up with you for 18 or so years and you probably still go over there and eat all her food so the least you could do is tell her you love her and maybe get her some flowers or something…. Ok moving on.

Here is a random list of things that are making me happy these days:

Warm weather: It’s still a bit sketchy around here temperature wise, but last week we did have some days that reached the 80’s and it was GLORIOUS. I am waiting for the day when the weatherman says “but cooler along the lakefront”, and it doesn’t mean crying while walking into a 30 mph, 40 degree northwind. Soon….

New shelves/decorations: Adam and I have been upping our apartment decor and I am loving it. We got a new kitchen table, some shelves, a new storage unit for behind our couch, new curtains, and Adam built these awesome yoga mat holders. They were really easy to put together and then I painted them with some chalkboard paint and he mounted them onto the wall. Because our apartment is small it helps to have organization and anything that we can get off the floor helps. We still have a few more things that we would like to get (new lights) but I’m quite pleased with how things are shaping up!

Plantains and tea: For the longest time I was obsessed with my Plantain Porridge. Then one day I was totally done with it. Like didn’t want to look at or eat another plantain at all. Then a few weeks ago I saw them sitting in the grocery store and I picked up a few. They sat on my counter while I thought about what to do with them. On a whim I sliced them up, covered them with a little coconut oil and put them in the waffle maker. They were SO good. Waffle makers are like one of the best appliances because you can make anything in them. I have made eggs, hash browns, sandwiches, waffles (duh), and now maduros (fried sweet plantains). Moral of the story? Make all your meals in a waffle iron. I also found a new tea I’ve been enjoying, Good Earth Tropical Rush. It’s a green tea with all these fruity flavors like mango and lemongrass and it reminds me of summer and makes me happy. Maybe if I drink a lot of it summer will get here faster….

Singing and dancing like a buffoon: This isn’t a new thing for me but I like to have afternoon concerts/dance parties in my apartment. I pretty much turn on Pandora really loud and sing and dance like nobodies business. Except for maybe my neighbors since they have to hear/possibly see me dancing through the window. But they shouldn’t complain because I sing and dance like a pro and they should be thankful for the entertainment. I mean who else is going to blast Barry Manilow’s Somewhere In The Night and dance with their cat? No one that’s who. You’re welcome judgey neighbor across the hall.

Daredevil on Netflix: If you’re not good with violence DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW. It’s like Game Of Thrones level violence. There were some scenes that I had to close my eyes at but I am really loving this show. My dad is a huge superhero buff and all my life I have grown up watching any and every superhero movie or show and this is one of my favorites. I was a little hesitant at first because it seemed like all it was going to be was fighting porn with no storyline but that changes dramatically in the second half of the series. I think what I love most about it is that the hero and the villain both want the same thing, to improve their city, but they go about it in completely different ways. I like my heroes to have a little bit of a dark side/conflict and Daredevil definitely has that. Plus the dude is blind and kicks serious butt. If you have Netflix go watch it now.

Ok that’s enough rambling from me. What did you do this weekend? What things are making you love life right now?

Have a super Monday!

Soft Taco Shells and Aquafaba

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I will get to the Aquafaba in just a second, but let’s talk about these taco shells.

I have always liked tacos but ever since going gluten-free a few years ago I have missed the texture and fold-ability (totally a real word, trust me) of regular flour tacos. I usually use corn tortillas, which are good but they just aren’t the same as flour tortillas.

There are plenty of recipes out there for Paleo versions of taco shells and I have tried a few of them and they are really good. Pretty much all of them though use eggs and while that’s not a bad thing if you eat eggs, it poses a problem if you don’t. Sure, it is really easy to find egg free taco shells at the store or online, but they more often than not have some weird ingredients that I would rather not consume.

Then I read about aquafaba.

Yes that’s a real word and it isn’t as exotic or strange as it sounds. Technically it’s just the liquid that beans are cooked in. So bean juice to be precise. Bean juice apparently doesn’t sound appealing so people have started calling it aquafaba. Whatever floats their boat. The important thing to me is that aquafaba acts like eggs in most recipes, plus it’s fairly easy and cheap to get. You can either buy canned chickpeas and reserve the liquid they are sitting in or cook your own chickpeas and save that liquid.

Armed with this new “fancy” ingredient, I decided to take a stab at making egg free, gluten free, soft taco shells. Luckily I struck success with my first batch and now I have a simple go-to soft taco shell! Now just a few quick notes:

These don’t have the same taste as regular flour shells, but that isn’t a huge problem for me. I actually really like the taste
You can use canned chickpea liquid if you don’t want to cook your own beans and save that liquid like I did.
You want your plantains to be slightly yellow. Not super green and not brown. The really green ones won’t blend as well and the brown ones will give you a sweet taco shell and that might not be what you’re looking for.

Ok enough talking about bean juice, let’s make some tacos!

Soft Shell Tacos

1 large plantain, slightly yellow (you can also get a few small plantains, you want about a pound once it’s peeled)
6 tbsp aquafaba (either from a can of chickpeas, or cook your own beans and reserve the liquid)
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
juice of one lime
a pinch or two of salt (based on your salt preference)

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and cut your plantain into bite size chunks. Add everything into your blender or food processor and blend until everything is smooth. You want it to look sort of like pancake batter.
Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Scoop about 1 tbsp of batter out onto the baking sheet. With the back of a spoon, spread out the batter into a fairly thin circle. Don’t leave it too thick or it won’t cook through and don’t spread it too thin because it will just burn. You have to be like Goldilocks and get it jusssttttt right 🙂
Do this a few more times, you will have to work in batches because you will only be able to fit 4 to 5 shells on the pan at once. Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for at least five minutes. Now this is the slightly tricky part, but just have patience at it will all be just fine. Slowly peel the shells off the baking sheet and move to a wire rack to cool. If you notice the shell starting to stick just use a spatula to help loosen it from the pan. As long as you let the shells cool a bit before you lift them up you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.
Repeat until you have used all the batter.

I used two baking sheets when I made these so I could make more at once, but you can work in batches too. Once the shells are totally cool fill them with your favorite taco filling and enjoy!

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend! Don’t forget to wish your mom a Happy Mothers Day on Sunday!

My Shopping Cart: Aldi and Wal-mart Edition

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Today is part two in my grocery shopping series. Last week I shared with you what I get when I shop at Jewel and today I’m highlighting what I get when I go to Aldi and Wal-mart.

These two stores get looked down on a lot. They are associated with cheap/unhealthy food, lower class, and just an overall unpleasant experience. When I first started grocery shopping on my own I did most of it at Wal-mart because it was cheap and near campus. There was an Aldi in town, but I avoided it because I had the same misconceptions most people do about it. I remember shopping there as a kid with my mom. You had to pay for grocery carts, they didn’t have shopping bags, there were weird tubes of meat and it was kind of dirty. As an adult I kind of turned my nose up at Aldi and thought I was better than that.

Then I realized how much money one could spend on groceries and I knew I needed to find a way to eat healthy food but on a fairly tight budget. I swallowed my weird sense of “food pride” and went to Aldi. I was pleasantly surprised. You still have to pay for a grocery cart (you get the quarter back once you return the cart) and there aren’t any shopping bags (if you’re like me and have 5 million reusable bags this isn’t too much of a hassle) but the food selection had definitely changed for the better.

Aldi has been shedding their old brand and showing they are just as good as other grocery stores. They offer a gluten-free line, an organic line, fresh seasonal produce, and a really great frozen foods section. It is entirely possible to eat healthy nutritious food and shop at Aldi. Plus you will save money because their prices tend to be lower than their competitors.

My Aldi shopping list varies depending on what I need that week. What I normally get there each week are:

organic honey
canned pumpkin (during the fall)
10 lb bag of russet potatoes
avocados
frozen mixed vegetables
big bags of frozen tilapia/swai (for Adam)
corn tortillas
2 lb bag of beans (pinto, black, northern)
brown rice spaghetti

I buy these things at Aldi because they are much less expensive than if I were to get them at Jewel or even Wal-mart. I also go to Aldi when I am recipe testing because I can get more ingredients for my money and test more recipes this way. Aldi does a pretty good job of offering fresh and seasonal produce for a really good price. I recently got asparagus there for less than $2 a lb and an 8 oz of mushrooms for $1.49.

I also pick up a few things at Wal-mart each week because the price there is better. I usually get:

half gallon of Silk Unsweetened Almond milk
Thai kitchen canned coconut milk
frozen vegetables
quart sized boxes of shelf stable almond milk and coconut milk (for baking)
big jug of extra virgin olive oil

The Wal-mart in my neighborhood does a pretty good job on their produce, but it’s a little bit smaller of a selection. I can find what I need for a good price at the other stores I frequent.

The most important thing I want you to take away from this post is that you can shop at stores like Aldi and Wal-mart and still have a healthy diet. You might have to search a little bit through the aisles to find the good stuff, but it’s there. Eating healthy isn’t about shopping at the high end grocery stores and buying the most expensive food there. If you are able to do that and that works for you, then great! But for the majority of us it is more feasible to shop at places like Aldi. Look for seasonal produce, read labels, and keep an open mind when you’re shopping at these stores. You’ll end up with delicious and nutritious meals and a few more dollars in your wallet! That’s a win-win in my book!

What are your misconceptions about stores like Aldi or Wal-mart?