Healthy snacking

Hellouuu there ,

so I been slacking I know ...my life has been a little bit chaotic and is been really hard to keep my eating habits in check and my dollars in my pocket.

I thought this post would be helpful for those of you who struggle with both portion control and wanting to raid the fridge every 5 minutes and also with saving money.

I have a very sedentary job ( office 8-5 pm type )

I crave a lot of crunchy foods

so I always keep snacks available ,  first off we want to snack every 3 hours to keep our insulin at a stable level ( those with PCOS , like me, and diabetes ) and to help our metabolism ( more info here )

I thought that nuts would the trick ...but they really didn't work for me , I don't have the will power to eat just 1/4 cup of peanuts or almonds and feel satisfied plus they are freaking expensive.

so I walked around my local Kroger ( it can be walmart ) and looked for superfoods aka veggies that I could buy for a week and keep in the break room fridge

sometimes I get bored of snacking without any dressing so I will post the recipes for each dip I usually pair them with.

total comes for around $10/week sometimes even less if I get them at my local farmers market

Radishes

not a lot of people are a fan of these babies , but if you give them a chance I promise they wont disappoint you. Make sure to clean them with water and vinegar, I usually just cut the ends and store them in a Ziploc bag .
( pair with hummus, greek yogurt dressing or spicy red pepper dip )

Calories : around 20 per cup !!! ( unlimited munching on nom nom !!! )
Price:  $1.49 at Kroger

Peppers

These are packed with vitamins , crunchy, and you can also grilled them ( no oil ) for extra softness and smoky flavor
Calories : according to this website around 29 calories when sliced/cup

Price : it varies , sometimes you can get them on sale at Kroger 3 for $3.00 these are usually on the expensive side .

Cucumbers

I think hands down this is my favorite vegetable , is so light and it goes with everything , it doesn't make me sick or hungry, and it keeps me hydrated , PLUS I can always use them on my dark circles hehehe

( source)



Calories : 1 cucumber of around 8" is 47 calories ( I ate like 3 of these daily lol )

goes well with greek yogurt dip or some tajin

Price : 0.69 cents each at Kroger

Carrots

I usually buy mine organic from walmart ( around 2 bucks )

one pack usually lasts me a week

baby carrots are delish with some hummus , although watch the hummus you get not all of them are necessarily good or low in calories

(source)

Plusssss you can make carrot chips !!!

(source)

You can find my post about the natural dipping sauces I use right HERE

Please let me know what you think , and if you have any tips

vegan green peas masala recipe

this recipe was inspired by a massive amount of green peas i bought, my cravings for curry and this post right HERE 

You can always follow the original recipe , but if you want to try something new , low in calories and rich in nutrients then gather up the following ingredients: 

i don't really measure when i cook, but these are the most accurate measurements for the amount i used when cooking this stew, also you can modify the amount to you your liking

half a chopped onion
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 cardamon seeds

2 bay leaves
turmeric, 7 spices , salt to taste 
 masala sauce ( private selections 1 cup added slowly )
1 tsp chili or harissa paste for added spiciness

  

2 cups of green peas
1 cup of okra ( boil in water and lots of lemon for 7-10 minutes to remove the gooey residue)
1 cup of zucchini/yellow squash cut into squares
1 cup diced carrots 
1 cup chopped tomatoes 

In a large pot heat up coconut oil then add onions, stir until they are clear and soft :)

add 7 spices, bay leaves, cardamon seeds

add tomatoes, stir 

then add the rest of the ingredients

the key here is to check for taste, medium heat to not overcook the vegetables, the recipe is not really complex, and the results are delicious


Enjoy 

moussaka recipe

how to make  mussakka …with a cuban twist

 

first at all I apologize for my recipe not being all professional like , I was typing what I remembered when cooking this recipe

 
I am not sure of the spelling but in Arabic is it written مصقع
you will need
1 eggplant 
2 white medium onions thinly sliced 
1 to 3 thin slices of red pepper or cuban cachucha pepper ( this is optional it depends if you like the flavor or pepper or capsicum in your food it tends to be a little bit bitter so that’s why I didn’t put much just a couple of slices diced in small pieces ) 
ground beef ( I used 80/20 and I used half of the small package but this is also depends on how much meat you want or how many people will eat ) 
seasoning 
two tbsp. paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tbsp. all seasoning powder ( I used BADIA seasoning )
1/2 tsp. of curry powder
1 tsp. of cumin powder 
then mix it all in a container 
2 bay leaves  and tomato sauce to be added later

start by cooking the ground beef or picadillo around 2 tbsp. of the seasoning mix add a pinch of salt and wait until it turns brown , add around 2  tbsp. of tomato sauce then add some water ( around half a cup ) lower the heat to medium and cover 
 
in a frying pan add some Extra virgin olive oil ( or oil of your choice ) and start frying the eggplant make sure is golden on both sides then remove and place on a plate with tissue paper to absorb all the grease ( this is very important because we don’t want the moussaka to be greasy at the end ) 

repeat the process , when a batch is finished put a double paper towel on top of the already fried eggplants and place the new ones and so on so paper can absorb all the oil 
your ground beef should be cooked by the time you finish frying the eggplants 
make sure there’s some juice left on the ground beef 
 
put some oil on a big frying pan and add the sliced onions, then when they look soft add tomatoes and wait until they also turn soft and mushy and keep stirring the onions and tomatoes together 
 
then add the eggplant 
and last add the ground beef 

stir all together and taste for salt 
add salt to taste
add tomato sauce and bay leaves ( do not break them ) 
add the rest of the seasoning mix 
mix it all and taste the rest is of course based on how it tastes if you want to add more cumin or whatever spice or more salt and after you finish seasoning add just a little bit of water to make sure nothing sticks to the pan and cover with a lid 
lower your heat to around 4 ( the number ) that s less than medium heat
wait around 20 minutes make sure to check on it on that time , I almost never leave the kitchen unattended ..had bad experiences in the past lol 
 
hope you enjoy this recipe ! and make sure to eat it with white rice!!