Gluten-free – Page 8

Peanut Butter Granola

Published on February 7, 2014February 5, 2014 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

T.W.O. has enjoyed starting our mornings off with fruit and yogurt- either Greek or Icelandic yogurt. But there has been one thing missing- granola! So we decided to make out own, healthy version of the nutrient-rich topping! And guess what they decided to flavor the oats with? Yes, that is right- Peanut Butter! It’s just one of the items always in our cabinet- and restocked very often! This dish is not only great to top your yogurt with, but also a great addition to smoothies, cereal, ice cream or just as it is! Plus, it is so easy to make!

Ingredients

-4 cups rolled oats
-1/2 cup chia seeds
-3/4 cup peanut butter*
-1/4 cup coconut oil (melted/liquid)
-1/2 cups of agave syrup

*T.W.O. loves using Justin’s original peanut butter- so delish!

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a bowl, place peanut butter, agave syrup, melted coconut oil and heat up for 15 seconds in a microwave. Mix until the peanut butter mixture is smooth.

Place the oats into a large size bowl and stir in the peanut butter mixture. Combine together (using your hands might make it a little easier!). Make sure to leave some big clusters.

Spread out the granola on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place into the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. (The granola might feel soft at this time, but it will harden up once you leave it out at room temperature) Make sure to mix up the granola while in the oven so it bakes evenly. You don’t want just the edges to be brown!

After the granola has reached room temperature and harden, you can enjoy it the way you want! Store the granola in an air-tight Ziploc bag or container.

Enjoy!

Orange Chicken

Published on February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 by T.W.O.1 Comment

Orange Chicken. Yes – the popular dish people order for take-out or pick up in the frozen section at the market. Well, now it’s time to learn how to cook it! T.W.O. whisks up this recipe, the healthy way. There is no deep-frying or added fat, but T.W.O. can assure you that after you try this easy recipe, you won’t want to eat the bad stuff. It’s an easy dish the whole family will love!

Ingredients

-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– 2/3 cup orange juice
– 3 Tablespoons honey
– 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
– 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
– 1 teaspoon chili sauce (sriracha or sambal oele)
– 1 Tablespoon orange zest, grated
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
– 1 Tablespoon water
– 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
– 1/4 cup green onion, diced

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil and 1/3 cup orange juice over medium heat. Add the chicken cubes and cook for about 6 minutes. Make sure to mix the chicken so it cooks on all sides.

While the chicken is cooking, begin mixing the wet ingredients together. In a bowl, add the remaining orange juice, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce, garlic, orange zest, ginger, water and cornstarch. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the chicken and cook for about 4 minutes on medium to low heat. The sauce will thicken. Make sure to coat the chicken in the sauce when cooking.

Remove from heat and put over a bed of quinoa, rice, and sautéed vegetables or even rice noodles. Top the dish off with green onions. T.W.O. put theirs over quinoa and added a side spinach salad.

See, we told you this was going to be an easy recipe for your weeknight or weekend dinner. Warning – make extras so people can go back for seconds!

Asian Kale Salad

Published on February 4, 2014February 2, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Are you a fan of Chinese Chicken Salad? Well, you are reading the right recipe! If you aren’t, that’s okay. Try it out anyways; you might be pleasantly surprised. Thanks to a co-worker, T.W.O. was introduced to Lacinato kale. It is also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, or Italian kale. It is lightly a little sweeter and more delicate than your traditional curly kale. The smooth leaves combined with the rice noodles, crunchy almonds and the mandarin oranges makes this salad a perfect meal!

Ingredients

– 1 bunch Lacinato Kale
– 1 cup mandarin oranges
– 2 cups thin rice noodles
– 1 cup carrots, shredded
– ½ cup roasted almonds, chopped
– Lemon Vinaigrette dressing (Recipe HERE)
– ¼ cup Rice Vinegar

Bring pot of water to a bowl. Once it reaches to a boil, remove from heat and add your rice noodles. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once the noodles are done, drain and add rice vinegar. Set aside.

Chop the kale and put in a big bowl. Add your rice noodles, mandarin oranges, carrots and almonds. Toss in the lemon vinaigrette dressing. Plate and serve! Feel free to add chicken or any other protein to make it a meal!

Cheers to another healthy meal!

7-Bone Chuck Roast

Published on January 30, 2014January 28, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

T.W.O. has served this dish for many Super Bowl parties, birthday parties and family reunions. It’s an easy, one pot process with minimal ingredients that have a whole lot of flavor. The secret ingredient…dark beer! Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:
4-6 pound 7-bone chuck roast
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 bottle dark beer*
1 large Maui sweet onion- cut into wedges
2 cups whole pepperoncini
Montreal Steak seasoning
Water
*Lagers work the best, but if you don’t have one lying around grab a Budweiser! It won’t disappoint!

Directions:

Season the roast with Montreal steak seasoning. Let roast sit at room temperature about 15-20 minutes.

In a large pot, sauté seasoned meat over medium heat. Brown each side about eight minutes. After browning meat, put cut onions onto bottom of pot under meat. Sauté onions until slightly golden. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the meat. Finally, add the pepperoncini to the pot.

Add enough water to the pot half way up the thickness of the roast. Evenly pour the beer over the meat.

Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook 2 ½ to 3 hours over low heat. The longer the meat cooks, the more tender it becomes. Not to exceed 6 hours…..unless you want beef jerky! The meat will fall off the bone! Of course, you must sample the meat prior to serving!!

Serving suggestions:

Make beef dip sandwiches on French rolls or your favorite roll. Cut meat into chunks. Add mustard, horseradish, or whatever your pallet’s crave. Serve with coleslaw or a side of home made potato salad. Plate the sandwich with a kosher pickle. Enjoy!

Or, serve meat accompanied with your favorite vegetables. Top with the pepperoncini.

First and ten, do it again!

Chicken Pozole Soup

Published on January 27, 2014January 26, 2014 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

It’s soup time! And T.W.O. is featuring the sister soup of the well-known Chicken Tortilla…..Chicken Pozole! Not very many people have had or even know about pozole soup, so T.W.O. wants to share this delicious recipe with you! The staple ingredient of the soup is hominy, which are dried maize kernels. Hominy almost tastes like tiny corn tortilla balls- yum! There are different variations of the soup- pozole verde, pozole rojo, chicken, beef, vegetarian- the list goes on! But, the most important part is what you put on top-avocado, salsa, radishes, cabbage, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce, etc. The soup is definitely a crowd pleaser and makes for a great dish to serve for many people like…. Super Bowl! Touchdown!

Ingredients

-7 cups of chicken stock, low-sodium
-2 cups water
-4 chicken breasts
-1 lb Tomatillos, husked and halved
-1 Small onion, quartered
-2 Poblano chilies, cored, seeded and quartered
-2 Jalapenos, seeded and quartered
-4 Large garlic cloves, smashed
-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
-1 Tablespoon oregano leaves
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-3 15-oz cans of hominy, drained
– 1 lemon, juiced

Finely shredded lettuce or cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped onion, diced avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, cheese, tortilla chips, and lime wedges for serving. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Add the chicken breasts to the stock and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Cover and simmer over very low heat until the chicken is tender and cooked through- about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred or dice the meat. Skim away any fat from the broth.

In a food processor, combine the tomatillos with the onion, poblanos, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, lemon juice and oregano. Pulse until the mixture is all chopped, making sure to scrap down all the sides. Season the tomatillo puree with salt and pepper.

In a large deep skillet, heat up the olive oil. Add the tomatillo puree and cook over moderate heat, stirring often, until the sauce turns a deep green- about 10 minutes.

Pour the green sauce into the broth that is in the pot. Add the hominy and bring to a simmer over moderate heat.

Next add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about another 20 minutes on low heat.

We also made our own tortilla strips. First cut the corn tortillas into long strips and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for about 5-10 minutes or until brown.

Serve the pozole in deep bowls and top with anything your heart desires!

Enjoy!

T.W.O. Orange Drinks

Published on January 24, 2014January 23, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

I don’t know what’s in T.W.O.’s family’s soil, but our orange tree is producing a ton of oranges. Like our lemons, we have more harvest than usual this year and don’t want our oranges to go to waste- must be the warm weather! Let’s get creative. T.W.O. will feature two recipes that include oranges, both drink recipes.

Orange Smoothie

Ingredients

-4 orange ice cubes *
-1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
-1 banana, frozen
-4 strawberries, sliced
-1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
-3 blackberries

*Freshly squeeze orange juice using a juicer. Add liquid to an ice try and freeze to make the cubes.

In a blender, mix together the orange cubes, yogurt, banana, strawberries and orange juice. Make sure all the ingredients are blended well. You might have to stop the blender and mix the fruit to ensure that there are no chunks.

Pour the liquid into a cup and top with blackberries. There you have it- breakfast, snack or even a dessert! Sometimes T.W.O. adds some dark chocolate chips to satisfy their sweet tooth!!

Citrus Wine Spritzer

Ingredients

-4 lemon ice cubes*
-White wine**
-Pellegrino
-Orange Pin Wheel Slices
-Wine Glass

*Recipe HERE.

**We like to use a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio for our wine spritzers

Begin by places 3 orange ice cubes into a wine glass. Next add your wine and Pellegrino. Ratios of wine to Pellegrino vary depending on the person pouring, but T.W.O. likes to use a ratio of 1:2, wine to sparkling water. Got to stay hydrated! Add 2-3 slices of orange and you have yourself a wine spritzer! It’s a perfect drink to enjoy on a warm day!

Kale, Pomegranate, Apple and Flank Steak Salad

Published on January 21, 2014January 21, 2014 by T.W.O.2 Comments

Need to spice up your salad? Well, T.W.O. has the perfect recipe for you. This salad is filled with nutrients, protein and antioxidants and will be sure to leave you wanting seconds! The baby kale leaves are tossed in a homemade lemon vinaigrette, topped with roasted almonds, pomegranates and sliced apples. Oh and it doesn’t stop there-we need protein right? Yes! How about a lean barbeque flank steak that was marinated in Hawaiian teriyaki sauce? You got it! Check out how to make this salad from scratch.

Ingredients:
– Baby Kale
– 1 cup pomegranate seeds
– ¼ cup roasted almonds, chopped
– 1 Pink Lady apple, sliced and diced
– 2 cups Trader Joes Island Soyaki sauce
– Flank Steak, lean
– 1 Lemon
– 4 Tablespoons spicy mustard
– 1 teaspoon olive oil
– 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
– Salt
– Pepper

Marinate the flank steak for a minimum of 2 hours prior to barbequing. About 20 minutes before you are ready to barbeque, take the meat out to bring to room temperature. While the barbeque is heating up, prepare your salad.

In a bowl, mix together the kale, pomegranate, roasted almonds and apples. Set aside.

Put the meat on the barbeque and cook on medium heat. The meat should take about 15 minutes depending on your barbeque.

While the meat is cooking, prepare your dressing. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, spicy mustard, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the dressing in the salad. It is okay to let the salad dressing marinate the kale. Kale won’t get soggy like most lettuce.

When the meat is done, take it off the barbeque and transfer to a cutting board. Thinly slice the meat. Plate the salad and top of it with the flank steak. And that’s it…you have yourself a fresh, hearty salad that will satisfy any audience.

Cheers,

Lemon Ice Cubes

Published on January 15, 2014January 14, 2014 by T.W.O.3 Comments

One of T.W.O.’s favorite beverages is ice water with fresh squeezed lemons. It’s refreshing, low calorie and full of nutritional benefits. Lemons help boost your immune system, aids in digestion, cleanses your system, helps you lose weight, reduces inflammation, keeps your skin blemish-free and the list goes on! With this in mind, T.W.O. decided to put our creative hats on and make it possible to have lemon water all year around- even when the tree was not producing fruit!

Supplies:
-Ice cube trays
-Lemons
-Water

Begin by squeezing fresh lemon juice into a large pitcher, making sure to remove all the seeds. Next, add your water. Depending on how concentrated you would like your ice cubes to be, add more, equal, or less water to the lemon juice. When you have your desired concentration, pour the lemon water mixture into the ice cube trays and freeze. Next time you don’t have a fresh lemon to squeeze in your water, just take out an ice cube and place it into your water! Now you have your lemon water!

Easy as that! When life gives you lemons, make ice cubes!

Healthy Recipes of 2013

Published on January 9, 2014January 9, 2014 by twinswithoriginality1 Comment

Now that you know how to “Stay Fit in 2014,” why not compliment it with some healthy recipes! It’s only been a week into the New Year and T.W.O. decided to recap on 2013’s healthy recipes so you can jump start your clean-eating and not push it back a week or T.W.O. to wait for us! Take a look at some of these delicious and nutritious bites that will start your year off right!

Just hover over the picture so that you can see the name of the dish and then search for it in our recipe section! It’s that easy!

Sriracha Chicken Kabobs

Fresh Tomato Bun Burger with Avocado

Zucchini Noodles

Grilled Peach Caprese Chicken Salad

Toasted Quinoa

Polenta Fries

Roasted Butternut Squash Harvest Salad

Zucchini Noodles with Low-Fat Pesto

Harvest Quinoa Salad

Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey, Swiss Chard, Cranberries & Spicy Dijon, Lemon Vinaigrette

Roasted Butternut Squash with Swiss Chard

Turkey Chili

Roasted Brussesl Sprouts

Overnight Oats

Grilled Peach Crostini

Overnight Oats…Oh, Oh!

Published on December 24, 2013December 23, 2013 by twinswithoriginalityLeave a comment

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But many people often skip breakfast because they do not have time to prepare it or are just too lazy. Don’t let yourself be categorized as one of these people. Start your morning right by preparing your breakfast the night before! Overnight oats is a simple, healthy breakfast option that makes skipping breakfast impossible! All you got to do is let it sit in the refrigerator overnight and then heat it up in the morning. BAM! Now you are off to a great morning start!

Ingredients

-1/2 rolled oats
-3/4 cup almond milk
-1/4 cup Greek Yogurt

Place rolled oats, almond milk and Greek yogurt into a jar. Mix well. Close the jar and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, place oatmeal into a bowl. You might need to add a little more almond milk if you like your oatmeal on the “soupier “side. Heat up oatmeal for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Add in anything you like- brown sugar, agave, fruit, vanilla extract, peanut or almond butter, dried fruit, etc.! T.W.O. added brown sugar, bananas and peanut butter to their oatmeal this time. Get creative and start your morning with a tasty, healthy meal!