It’s funny how your life and priorities change as you get older.  How you become what your high school self would consider the LAMEST person EVER. And how you just love every minute of it.  When I was in high school, the moment any friend’s parents were going to be out of the house for longer than 4 hours we were concocting a plan to have a party and have every person we’ve ever know be there to enjoy some Beast Ice and Boone’s Farm (if you know, you know) in a basement or garage.  Now, I won’t even answer the door if you come over unannounced.  I mean I will, but I won’t like it.

Now, my “social hour” is during boot camp (I do have friends… right guys?? Are you out there?? But during the week, it’s me being lamer than your Grandma.) As much as I love creating and finding fun recipes, sometimes there’e something to be said for letting your food have a little “alone time” of its own and just letting the main ingredients sing.  The summer provides so many naturally flavorful fruits and veggies – I try to take advantage of that as much as possible.  Tonight, I let my dinner components stay home from the ingredient party and kept it really simple.  This is the kind of clean eating that gives you no excuses – it’s simple, low carb and will make your body feel great.

Tonight we dug into Grilled Lemon Pepper Salmon on a bed of sauteed garlic spinach with heirloom tomatoes on the side.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound of wild caught salmon (cut in half)
• 1 large bunch of spinach, washed and chopped
• 2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• 1 lemon
• Lemon Pepper Seasoning
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat grill.  Season salmon with lemon pepper and salt (optional). Grill for 7-10 minutes, skin side down until fish flakes easily with fork.

During the last 4 minutes of cooking, saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat, about 30 seconds.  Add spinach and a pinch of salt and stir while it wilts.

Plate sliced tomatoes, spinach and salmon on top.  Sprinkle with lemon and serve immediately.

I’m an only child.  Surprise, I don’t like to share my toys or my food, so don’t ask.  I think my parents were pretty good with trying to combat the dreaded “only child syndrome”.  However, there are just some things that I’ve seemed to develop as a result of growing up as the only person under 3 feet in the house for many years.  First, I hate books on tape.  My parents once listened to books on tape for the entire trip from Maryland to Florida.  I think I would have rather not gone to Disney World than have had to listen to Dean Koontz for 12 hours.  Second, I also really enjoy time alone.  I’m a very social gal, but I need some time to recharge my battery.  I think that’s one reason I enjoy my time in the kitchen so much, it’s focused and quiet.

When it comes to my workouts, however I am NOT a lone wolf.  I like a partner to compete with, to push me to take it beyond my comfort zone.  So, I have a fun partner work-out to share that you can complete in under 30 minutes.  This can be done at home, (esp. if you have TRX straps and a resistance band to help modify the pull-ups) or at the training room at your gym.  Just turn up your music and prepare to sweat.

*In case it’s not clear – the total number of reps for each exercise is split between the two partners (100 burpees = 50 each partner)**

We did this work-out at boot camp  today, followed by 50 massive tire flips. NBD.  Stretcher, please.

After doing all that work, I wanted to keep it clean and delicious for dinner so I whipped up a Very Veggie Turkey Bowl.  This recipe makes more than enough for 4.  I’m going to freeze the leftovers or use them for lunches…  that I won’t share with anyone for obvious reasons.

Clean Eating Very Veggie Turkey Bowls:

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 2T olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 medium yellow squash, halved and sliced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 green/orange pepper, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/4 pound of mushrooms – or 1/4 little package of mushrooms
• 1 cup instant brown rice
• 1.5 cups of chicken broth
• 4 cups fresh spinach

Directions:

Cook turkey in a non-stick skillet until no longer pink, breaking up as you go (about 8 minutes). Drain and set aside.

Heat oil in the same skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic, cook and stir for about 5 minutes until tender.   Add squash, tomato, pepper, mushroom and carrot.  Cook for 5 minutes until tender-crisp.

Return turkey to the pan.  Add rice and broth.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice has softened.  Stir in spinach. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute, until spinach is wilted.

Enjoy!

The more you know… the more you wonder how the f@#% you’re still alive.  That’s what I’ve found the more I learn about the food we eat and more specifically the food that is most readily available to us.  I recently saw an article about ten American foods that are banned in other countries.   Let’s just say, it’s not just Cheetos and high fructose corn syrup.  It’s things like farm raised salmon (the kind that many, many restaurants serve), certain food coloring (used in things like Goldfish crackers, Kraft Mac & Cheese) and flame retardant drinks… yes you read that right FLAME RETARDANT DRINKS (think Mountain Dew).   These foods have been found to contain cancer-causing agents, drugs and chemicals not safe for human consumption and other disturbing additives.

Now, don’t worry, I’m not going vegan (not that there’s anything wrong with that) anytime soon, but I do try to be more conscience about the foods we eat in Casa de L&L.  It’s still baby steps, but this baby is movin’ in the right direction.

So, tonight’s meal is fresh to death and legal in not only the US… but also Australia and New Zealand.  Phewwwwyy.  We’ve got wild caught grilled Sockeye Salmon with a light and fresh mango, avocado and black bean slaw.

Wild Caught Salmon with Organic Summer Mango Slaw:

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. Alaskan or Sockeye Salmon – non-farm raised!
• 1 15 oz. can organic black beans, rinsed
• 1 15 oz. can organic sweet corn or 3 ears of grilled corned cut off the cobb
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 organic red pepper, chopped
• 2 organic mangos, peeled and chopped in squares
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 2 T. chopped fresh oraganic cilantro
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 T. pickled jalapeno, finely chopped
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 lemon
• a couple shakes of seafood seasoning

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium high heat.

Saute red peppers and corn over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes. Combine peppers, onion, corn, black beans, mango, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno and salt and pepper. Set aside to let flavors come together.

Season salmon with salt, pepper and seafood seasoning (optional) and grill for 7-10 minutes, skin-side down. Salmon should flake easily with a fork.

While salmon is grilling, saute chopped spinach with salt and pepper until wilted.

Plate salmon over wilted spinach and top with Mango Avocado Slaw.