Cooking for Your Family

If you are like me, you have crazy family members (I'm looking at you mom and dad!) who let you experiment on them as you make new recipes and try out funky combinations. When most people cook for others, I'm pretty sure the normal smart thing to do is to make a dish that you know tastes good and that you have made before. Enter, your favorite pasta sauce and that awesome salad you've brought to potlucks numerous times. 

But if you are anything like me, (not sure if there are many of us out there ;) ) you make popped amaranth for a snack, make your own ketchup (be on the lookout for a recipe coming soon!) and you serve your parents a panini stuffed with tangerines and cheddar. 

Wait! Don't leave just yet; Check out the recipes and pictures that I took with my mom's DSLR (gasp! good quality photos on Carly Turns Cajun)

I made three types of paninis and some sweet potato fries. I'll post the panini recipes on this post and you can find the technique for making the fries here. (it's super easy if you have a spiralizer, they are kind of pricey, so if you don't you can always just make regular sweet potato fries. This is my favorite way to make regular ones.)<--click the link

Panini #1 Based off this Avo-Dilla Bagel

1 Everything Bagel Thin (any type of bagel really)
~1/2 Avocado, sliced into wedges
Sprinkle of Cheddar Daiya (you could use real cheese, this was just what I had on hand)
Mandarin Orange Segments, drained if using canned

Panini #2 Turkey and Goat Cheese Panini

2 slices of Ezekiel Sprouted Bread
Goat Cheese
Smoked Turkey Breast Deli Meat
Roasted Red Cabbage
Arugula

Panini #3 Apple and Pepper Jack Melt


2 pieces of Cinnamon Raisin Bread
~1/3 Apple, thinly sliced into "sheets"


1 slice of Pepperjack Yogurt Cheese (or any cheese, this is just what I had on hand)

Sautéed Mushrooms and Red Onion

METHOD
Carefully assemble the ingredients and stack them on the sliced bread/bagel. Using a Panini Press (or you could use a stovetop grill pan and flip the sandwiches; it just might get a little messy :P) that has been preheated on high and lightly greased (with cooking spray or oil), place the sandwiches and close the machine until the cheesy becomes melted and you can see grill marks on the sandwiches. 

You can customize these sandwiches by using whatever you have on hand or to your liking. Any of the cheese and bread can be swapped out and these recipes can be used simply for inspiration :) I do recommend that you make the sweet potato fries to accompany your sandwiches however, only because they are simply amazing. And while you are at it, serve those with homemade ketchup (guess you'll have to wait til I post that recipe eh?). I'm so mean ;)

If you made it this far thanks for reading! I hope to have a more detailed post on my triathlon up soon (before I forget the details haha) and I didn't forget about that frozen dessert mess tutorial I swear!!

Loves(:

P.S. I don't know how or why my font keeps changing fonts halfway through my posts (arghh). If you have any ideas PLEASE let me know.

WIA Double Trouble(:

So first I was going to do a WIAT (What I ate Tuesday) but then I got bored (it is summertime) and I decided to do a WIAW too (gasp!). So here's my eats from Tuesday and Wednesday; double the fun ;)


Be sure to head on over to Jenn's and check out all the other lovely and creative posts that are linked up today too!

For the fitness aspect I'll share this week's workout a la DailyMile; PS- on which I think you should add me to your friends list, I don't have many friends on there :(


Oh and try that side bar button to do so, let me know if it works haha


right over there  --->

1. FIT
   alrightZumba 00:45
   

   Followed by Weight Lighting Rules for Women's workout

   about 7 hours ago

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2. VELO
   great13.2 mi 01:00 13.2mph pace
   

   Followed by a 7 minute run (haha I'm building up!)

   1 day ago

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3. 
   

FIT

blahCardio Funk 01:00

Shouldn't have scarfed down my dinner an hour before #yikes

2 days ago

Oh and Velo means cycling (must be French or something? hmm)

So that was Monday, Tuesday and today; for tomorrow I'm going to the XC workouts that my old high school holds (hey; might as well, my old cross-country coach is intense so he always has great workouts planned) and then Friday I was going to do a short swim workout followed by Vinaysa Yoga; one of my latest findings right? ;)

Now onto the Good Eats (hey; you like that show too!?)

Enter breakfast numero uno (before working out):

Tuesday vs. Wednesday 

Macho Green Smoothie and a nanner with pb hummus and coconut butter (don't you love to layer pb?)

 

Mid-breakfasts snack:

Tuesday only

Raspberry Cho with bloobs

Breakfast numero dos (because one just isn't enough for me! I love breakfast foods):

Tuesday vs Wednesday

Chocolate Avocado Powercakeish topped with PB Hummus and a Peanutflour Sauce added midway through (it needed moisture) vs Chocolate Cookies n Cream overnight Quinoa and Buckwheat Porridge with Strawberries and Cherries topped with Freezedried Strawberries, Cacao Nibs, more Chocolate and Cocoa Almonds (anyone want the recipes? Buler?) 

Lunch

Tuesday vs Wednesday

Hippie bowl of Quinoa, Red Cabbage, Carrots, Edamame, Cucumber, Curry Tofu topped with Homemade Peanut Dressing, Wasabi Peas and Sunflower Seeds vs an Egg White Scramble with (get ready for this, or feel free to proceed without reading :) haha) Red Cabbage, Arugula, Okra, Carrots, Mushrooms, Spaghetti Squash, Peppers, Broccoli Slaw, a crapload of spices (Parsley, Basil, Garlic Powder, Tumeric, TJ's Everyday Seasoning, Mustard Powder, Smoked Paprika), one Egg, topped with Nooch and this Asian Sweet n Spicy sauce that I love

 yeah I may have  gotten a little picture happy; but it was so colorful :)

Snack

Tuesday vs Wednesday

A bowl of Cereal with Blackberries (yes that's a recycled photo; just stay with me here) and some Cherries vs Pumped up Coconut Ice Cream (check out my dessert for the details)

pre and post toppings of course (Peanutflour Candy, Peanuts, Blueberries and Freezedried Blueberries)

Dinner

Tuesday vs Wednesday

A salad with Roasted Veggies (Mushrooms, Peppers, Eggplant, Broccoli) topped with a Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, Goat Cheese, Sprouts, Mustard and Salsa vs A Grass-Fed Beef Burger  (read: life changing!) with Avocado, Goat Cheese, Sprouts and Lettuce on a plate with Sweet Potato Fries, Tomato slices, Onion Rings, Watermelon and an un-pictured Corn on the Cob

 pre toppings (it was puhr-ty)

I know you love my drawing!


This was the first time my family had tried Grass-fed Beef and we all agreed, it was the best burgers we have ever eaten! I don't know what it is but they tasted different. They had this amazing flavor that I don't even know how to explain (wow that's helpful) haha but seriously YOU MUST TRY THEM! I am not even a big beef person (I don't like steak) but please take my word for it and give them a try :)


Dessert


Tuesday vs Wednesday
Nightly Dessert Mess with Mango, Raspberries, Freezedried Raspberries and Mangoes (man am I spoiled), Chocolate and a Pomegranate Chocolate Vitatop along with a few gummy bears vs that Pumped up Coconut Ice Cream I was talking about from before and Buttered Popcorn

 I like the layers :)

For this I basically took about 1/4 cup of my Coconut Bliss Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream (that is so delicious) and pumped it up by adding Cottage Cheese, Frozen Banana pieces, Applesauce, Almond milk and then blended it. I had some for a snack then (up above) and then blended the rest with more Almond milk and added Spinach  to save for later. I topped it with Sprinkles, my Adora Chocolate Disk and Shredded Coconut.

If you are still with me; Thanks! Love You

Maia says bye too!

WIAW; possibly a photo dump(:

Yay for WIAW; Thanks Jenn for hosting as always!

Here are some recent breakfasts;

chocolate egg white oats with the works [i'm sure you're getting tired of seeing these toppings(: ] and chocolate chip pancakes (which were not easy to flip!)

 Some sensible and not so sensible ;) snacks

Multiple SmoothieKing Lean 1 Shakes (ohmygosh so good!; try the chocolate and ask them to add peanutbutter) #shamelesslyaddicted and a free cookie from The Fresh Market #foodgasm #chocolatechewie

Plain chobani mixed with Yosoko's Fig yougrt mixed with pinneapple, berries, cereal, LoveGrown and chia #chiamakeseverythingbetter

A snack plate; edamame a la African Smoke Spice, Chicken dumplings and an orange

A lunch out at a local Hispanic Restaurant (only calling it Hispanic because it's a mix of Cuban, El Salvadorian and Mexican food haha) This plate isn't actually mine, it's mi madre's but hers was just prettier(: Don't you love those colors? #spinachcremesauce

And some lunches at home of course:

asian salad with shrimpies, sesame seeds and stir-fry and fruit

Kale smoky salad, leftover pizza and a pear with cinnamon

 Some lovely dinners:

Some bolognese topped with red peppers, spinach and nooch a la green smoothie

Carrot and sweet potato fries a la coconut oil (seriously you must try these, the coconut oil just made them like 10x better; and they were already great before!!)

A black bean burger with avocado and a carrot/turnip slaw (it looks red because the guy said it was made with beets; yum!)

SUSHI!

Leftovers; beets, peanut butter tofu (yes these are old photos,,hehe) and tropical kale salad with some more salad and some goat cheese addiction  addition

Okay and I swear these will be the last photos of my nightly dessert (: 

wow; like look at that layering action(:

What do you think of hashtags? Do they annoy you? because been using them nonstop (Don't add me on Instagram if that's a problem haha) I think it's like a cute little afterthought