Pesto Chicken (dairy free)

This one is a great meal to prep ahead of time! Pour marinade into bags and throw into freezer-instant dinner on a busy night. All you'll have to do is take it out of the freezer and let thaw in the morning, toss into oven when you come home and yum! A dinner that will totally impress! We made this using up the left of the basil in the garden before the frost. Recipe is enough for 10 people.  We make a whole recipe for our family of 4 (plus left overs) and freeze half of it before cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 c olive oil (could reduce this to 1/3)
• 1 1/2 c packed basil leaves
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 small onion (about 1 cup)
• 3 pounds of chicken (or could definitely make 4 pounds)-we used boneless/skinless organic chicken thighs, but chicken breasts can be used
• freshly ground pepper and salt to taste 

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend
   
2. Pour into a measuring cup if making to freeze in separate containers
   
3. If making to freeze-put chicken into freezer bag and pour marinade over
   
4. If making fresh: pour marinade over chicken, and allow to marinade 4-6 hours (or overnight)
5. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until internal temp reaches 145).
   

Serve with a great salad and a side of cauliflower rice (click for recipe) and your meal is essentially carb free!

Nutritional Benefits:

• High in protein for healing and repairing tissues
• Low Carb
• Low in Fat, if you don't eat a lot of the sauce
• Anti-inflammatory: garlic helps to reduce inflammation

Nutritional Information:

For serving (based on 5 oz servings/10 people) this is maximum amount of calories, assuming you eat all of the marinade, which you won't-made with boneless/skinless chicken thighs

Calories: 367 (this is assuming you eat all of the marinade, which you won't)

Fat: 23 g (this is inflated by marinade)

Carbs: 4 g

Protein: 36 g 

Pizza Dough

                              

Making your own pizza is a much healthier and cost effective way than ordering out.  Made with whole wheat flour, this pizza dough is high in fiber and protein.  Serve it up with the toppings you love (make sure those are healthy too!) and have a great meal or appetizer.  You can even use it as a dessert base (see below for recipe suggestions).

Pizza Dough

Ingredients in Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2 pizzas):

• 1 cup of wrist warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 3/4 cups of whole wheat bread flour (you can choose to use 1/2 white flour, but this isn't as healthy of an option)
• 3 tbsp vital wheat gluten (adds protein)
                                 
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• *optional fresh herbs of your choice (we added 1/2 cup of fresh basil)

*due to the whole wheat flour, this dough will be a little bit harder to work with than your typical store bought dough.  The crust formed will also be thinner, not as doughy (this is better for you though!)

                               

Instructions for Making Dough:

1. Sprinkle yeast onto warm water and let sit until begins to foam (about 3-5 minutes)
2. Add olive oil to yeast mixture
3. Place remaining ingredients into a food processor or mixer (we like making it in a food processor if adding fresh herbs)
4. Pulse ingredients
5. While processor or mixer is running, gradually pour in yeast mixture
6. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rest for about 1 hour 

Best part it you can mk ahead of time and place into fridge or freezer! Just allow to come to room temp before using (if from freezer, tk out and let sit on counter all day for dinner that night)

Instructions for Making Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Separate above recipe into 2 balls
3. Roll dough out onto a pizza stone (prefered) or a cookie sheet.  If using a cookie sheet, you may want to lightly oil the pan or sprinkle some corn meal to prevent sticking
4. Place sauce and your ingredient toppings on top of dough
                  
          
5. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until cheese browns

Ideas for Pizza Topping:

Vegetables (high in vitamins and fiber, essential for healing):

• Mushrooms (high in protein)
• Spinach, kale, or other greens (high in Calcium, great for strong bones & teeth)
• Grilled/roasted eggplant
• Olives
• Peppers (high in vitamin C 1 cup=199% of daily needs-great for healing!)
• Onions-carmelized red onions are yummy!
• Tomatoes (high in Lycopene, an anti-inflammatory and immune boosting vitamin)
• Fresh or dried herbs like basil, oregano, parsley

Sauces: pesto, tomato

Cheeses (high in protein for building and repairing tissues & high in calcium, for maintaining strong bones and teeth: 

• low-fat mozzarella (lower in fat)
• fresh mozzarella (high in fat, use in moderation)
• goat cheese 
• Parmesan (lowest fat and lactose)

Other ideas for using pizza dough:

• Use as an appetizer: spread a little pesto or olive oil on dough, sprinkle with Parmesan, top with fresh tomatoes and basil
• Use as a dessert: rub in coconut oil, drizzle honey or maple syrup (high in calcium!) over dough, sprinkle on cinnamon, and top with goat cheese.  This would also be awesome topped with apples!
                    

Braised Chicken

Looking for a great meal that's impressive enough for company but can be a weeknight supper (like this one was for us tonight)? Here it is! This meal is high in protein and fiber, while being low in fat and calories. A great healing meal.

Braised Chicken

Ingredients:

3 pounds of bone-in chicken legs and thighs (or 1.3-1.5 pounds of boneless chicken thighs)

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 1/2 c of onions (1 large onion) chopped

1 cup of celery, chopped

1 c of carrots, chopped

1 cup of mushrooms

1 green pepper

1/2-1  tsp salt

3 cups of tomatoes (or can use a 28oz can of stewed tomatoes)

1 c of dry red wine

1 cup of water or broth

1 tbsp garlic

Fresh basil to top off after
Salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Add 1 tbsp pill to pan and sear chicken on both sides until browned, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from pan. If using boneless/skinless thighs, cook for 1-2 minutes.

2) Pour off all but 1tbsp drippings, if more than that.  If skin stuck in pan then remove to cut down on fat.  If you'd like to remove more fat, de-skin chicken.

3) Sauté onions, carrots, celery, pepper, & mushrooms

4) Add tomatoes & salt sauté for 2 minutes

5) Adds stock, wine, garlic, and return chicken to pot

6) Place into oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until cooking liquid cooks down (chicken should reach 145 degrees).

7) Stir in fresh basil, additional salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over rice. 

**We had a large bowl of sauce left.  Great for a next day soup!

Benefits of Tomatoes: High in Lycopene, an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer
Benefits of Peppers: High in Vitamin C, promotes healing and disease prevention (199% of daily needs!-1 cup has more than 2x's the amounts of an orange)

Benefits of Garlic: Anti-inflammatory and aids in blood circulation/cardiovascular health

Benefits of Carrots: High in fiber, high in Vitamin A: beta carotene, which is an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer, healthy immune system and promotes cell growth/tissue repair (1 cup has 308% of your daily Vitamin A needs)

Benefits of Mushrooms: High in protein and low in calories

Benefits of Chicken: Low in fat, high in protein, helps to repair and rebuild tissues

Nutritional Information in Entire Dish

Tomatoes: 

Calories: 97

Carbs: 21g

Fiber: 6.5 g  

Potassium: 1280mg

Vitamin C: 114%

Vitamin A: 90%

Onions:

Calories: 101

Carbs: 24g

Fiber: 3.4g

Protein: 2.2g

Potassium: 346mg

Vitamin C: 26%

Carrots:

Calories: 52

Carbs: 12.3 g

Fiber: 3.6g

Protein: 1.2g

Fat: 0g

Vitamin A: 308% of daily value

Mushrooms:

Calories: 15

Carbs: 2.3g

Fiber: .8g

Protein: 2.2g

Fat: 0g

Peppers:

Calories: 30

Carbs: 7g

Fiber: 2.5g

Protein: 1.3g

Fat: 0g

Vitamin C: 199.7%

Chicken Thighs (1.3 #s)-boneless and skinless

Calories: 750

Fat: 40g

Carbohydrates: 0g

Protein: 100g

Fiber: 0%

Iron: 30%

Olive Oil:

Calories: 120

Fat: 14g

*nutrition values from: My fitness pal

Vegan stir fry

Vegan stir fry: use all those fresh in-season veggies! Use organic if possible-but go local and fresh!

1) Container of organic tofu-we used silken firm for this, but others work fine

2) 2 cups of zucchini

3) 1 cup fresh green beans

4) 1 cup fresh broccoli 

5) 1 onion<br/>

6) 2 c beets greens (or any greens you have on hand)

7) 2 cloves garlic 

8) 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

9) sesame oil, soy sauce, and brown rice vinegar (or regular rice vinegar) to taste

10) siracha-to taste

-sauté onion in a little sesame oil

-add tofu and zucchini 

-splash in vinegar (around 1 tbsp) and soy sauce to taste (around 2 tbsps)

-add remaining veggies, ginger, &amp; garlic until just cooked (greens wilt and broccoli becomes vibrant green) 

-add siracha to taste (if wanted) 

-serve on top of brown rice or organic buckwheat noodles

*stir- fry is a fast &amp; easy dinner. This recipe can incorporate any in-season vegetable assortment. Enjoy!

*Nutritional information: Tofu is high in protein and a great vegetarian food for healing and repairing. Broccoli, greens, and green beans are high in calcium and Vitamin A- both essential for health bone and teeth formation and the healing of wounds. Ginger and garlic stimulate blood circulation which will aid in healing and overall wellness. They are also known to fight infection and ward off bacteria. http://www.altmandental.com

Recipe: Greens and Beans

Greens and Beans-looking for an easy dinner? This one was thrown together in a flash.  

Place the following into a bowl per person:

• Bowl full of fresh organic greens (kale was used in this bowl)
• 1/2 small organic (in season) tomato
• 1/2-3/4 c of organic chick peas/garbanzo (so easy to make your own or buy canned)

1. Heat above in microwave about 2 minutes, and stir (greens will wilt)
2. Add fresh herbs if you choose-we added some left over grilled zucchini and stir (cook until desired temp)
3. Add some salt and pepper
4. We added a little parmesan cheese-can go cheese-less if vegan
5. Voila! Meal in an instant and nothing came prepared-with no added fat (if parm is omitted), high in protein and vitamins

Nutritional info: chick peas are high in protein-essential for healing and re-building tissues.  Greens provide calcium and iron-also important in the proper formation of bones, teeth, and gums, as well as aiding in the healing process.  Tomatoes are high in lycopene-which is a carotenoid linked to improving cardiovascular health, combating diabetes, and cancer.