Delicious Greek shrimp recipe - Put inside lettuce wraps or pitas

Greek Shrimp Stuffed Lettuce Wraps or Pitas

Greek Shrimp Lettuce Wrap - YUM!

This a fast, delicious meal, great for weeknights when you want something extra special. Make it
low-carb and grain-free by using lettuce wraps instead of pita bread. Most feta cheese is 100% goat cheese, but check the label if you choose to avoid cow dairy.


GREEK SHRIMP STUFFED WRAPS Recipe:

Yield: 4 to 5

Shrimp Mixture:

1 pound cooked shrimp, peeled and finely chopped
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
2 to 3 scallions, finely chopped
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
BioSalt, to taste (recipe on this blog)

Yogurt Sauce:

1 c. plain non-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt makes a thicker sauce)
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley and/or mint
1 clove garlic
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
1/4 t. onion salt
BioSalt, to taste
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice, optional



Method:

Put the clove of garlic in a food processor and mince. Scrape down the sides.

Put the rest of the yogurt sauce ingredients in the food processor and process until a sauce is obtained.

Check and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Chill the yogurt sauce at least 1 hour in the refrigerator, before serving.

In a separate bowl, combine the shrimp mixture. Season to taste.

Fill lettuce wraps or pitas with the combined shrimp mixture.

Top with the yogurt sauce and serve immediately.


Note: You may garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, Greek olives ,as desired.

Tip: If Greek yogurt is used, I prefer to thin the sauce with some lemon juice plus a little water.



Enjoy,

Leila

The Greek Shrimp Spread

Greek Yogurt Sauce

Greek Shrimp garnished with Greek Olives.

With a pita.

Super delicious marinated B-B-Q lamb chops - Greek style

Easy Greek B-B-Q Lamb

This recipe is so simple to prepare and so tasty! The marinade compliments lamb perfectly. This is another of my mother's delicious recipes and I think you will love it as I do.

I prefer domestic lamb over imported lamb, by the way. I have some good friends who have lambing operations in Utah. I think the flavor of their lamb is better, plus I like supporting local businesses, don't you?


GREEK B-B-Q Lamb Recipe:

8 Lamb chops

Marinade:

1/4 c. Olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 to 4 Garlic cloves, crushed well
1 t. Dried oregano, crushed
1 t. Sea salt
1/2 t. Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 c. Water


Method:

Mix the marinade ingredients together and set aside.
Place 8 lamb chops in a heavy-duty Zip-Lock bag.
Pour the marinade over the lamb chops. Let the air out of the bag and seal.
Let marinate in your refrigerator 12 to 24 hours. Flip the bag over a couple times to evenly marinate.
Drain and grill  or broil the lamb to your liking.


Enjoy,

Leila

Delicious marinated green Beans (good for raw food diets)

Marinated Green Beans - And a yummy salad to put them in!

I loved it when my mom made Salad Nicoise with these marinated green beans. Her salad would also have steamed baby red potatoes and we would drizzle some of the green bean marinade over those too. These beans store well in your refrigerator for a few days. I have had pickled store-bought green beans before - yuk. Make these instead, you will love them.



MARINATED GREEN BEANS Recipe:

Fresh whole green beans
Your favorite healthy oil & vinegar dressing
4 garlic cloves, barely crushed
1 t. mustard seed
1 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 t. dill seed, if desired
A touch of raw honey



Method:

Wash the green beans and snip off the tips, and string if necessary.
Pack the whole green beans in a clear jar.
Mix the oil & vinegar dressing with the garlic, mustard seeds, red pepper, and dill (if using).
Add a little honey, to taste.
Pour oil & vinegar dressing mix over beans to cover.
Seal the jar and refrigerate 2 to 3 days before eating.


Tip:

These marinated green beans are terrific on salads, like salad Nicoise, potato salad, etc...

OR

Make the Marinated green beans the main ingredient of the salad and add:

Kalamata olives
Feta cheese
Diced ripe tomatoes
Minced fresh oregano

Garnish salad with a pinch of sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a sprig of fresh oregano.


Enjoy!

Leila

The best applesauce I've ever had

Golden Lemon Apple Sauce

This was my favorite applesauce when I was growing up. I have good memories of helping my mom make it. The Golden Delicious apples are perfect for the fresh lemon used in this recipe. Since I love the lemon in it so much, I might add a drop or 2 of organic lemon essential oil to amp up the flavor.

You can add another healthy sweetener of choice, but the honey does taste fabulous!


GOLDEN LEMON APPLESAUCE Recipe:

Ripe organic Golden Delicious apples
Apple juice
Raw honey or powdered erythritol
Fresh grated lemon zest
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Ascorbic acid powder (Vitamin C)


Method:

Wash the apples. cut out the 'belly buttons" and cut into chunks.
Cook with a little apple juice until the apples are soft.
Run the apples through a colander, to remove seeds and skin.
Sweeten to taste with raw honey or healthy sweetener of choice.
Add some lemon juice, lemon zest, and ascorbic acid for tang, to taste.
You can store the applesauce in Zip-lock freezer bags in the freezer.


Tip:  A good ratio of apples to lemons is 12 apples to every 1 lemon (or more lemons if you like).

Note: It is best to use organic lemons for obvious reasons.


Enjoy,

Leila

Warm yourself up with this yummy Mulling spice mix

Hot Mulled Spice Mix 


This is a unique blend of spices with an Asian flare that is great to warm you up on these cold nights. These spices also aids in digestion. It is an attractive mix that is great to package up and give as gifts.


MULLED SPICE MIX Formula:

2 c. whole allspice berries
2 c. whole coriander seeds
2 c. 3-inch cinnamon stick pieces
1 c. whole cloves
1 c. dried organic orange peel
1 c. whole star anise, optional
1 c. dried lemongrass, optional
1 c. dried mint, optional
1/2 c. whole anise seeds (or whole fennel seeds)

Mix and seal air-tight.

To use:

In a crock pot or a large pot on the stove, place 2 heaping tablespoons of the spice mix into 1/2 gallon apple cider or other juice of choice and gently heat, letting the spices infuse into the liquid for at least 45 minutes. Letting it gently simmer on the stove for a few hours makes your house smell wonderful and lets more of the spice's flavor out.

Variation:

I like to make a very concentrated infusion of the spice mix and purified water, letting it simmer, covered for at least 60 minutes. Strain before adding to a beverage.

I Then make an herbal tea of rooibose, honeybush, or raspberry leaves... I mix in a little of the concentrated spice infusion to taste, and sweeten with a few drops of stevia glycerite (recipe on this blog). This way, I avoid the sugar from the fruit juice.

Store the extra spice concentrate in the fridge (leaving the whole spices in it until serving). then it's ready for us when we want it.


Enjoy,

Leila

A zippy sugar-free 3-bean salad recipe (no artificial sweeteners)

Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad

Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad

This has been a favorite salad of mine since I was a child. My aunt made this salad using regular granulated white sugar. It is really good but I wanted to create a version that does not use sugar. I also use a fresh, healthy oil instead of canola, soy, peanut, or corn oil.

Making this salad yourself is really easy, and now you can control the sugar content.  It never is as good in restaurants as when homemade anyway, have you noticed that?

I like to make and have on hand a sugar-free sweetener blend of 50% erythritol and 50% xylitol, which is conveniently used here. Just store in your pantry for quick access.


Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad Recipe:

1 pint (1 lb) canned green beans
1 pint (1 lb) canned wax beans
1 1/2 c. freshly cooked dried red kidney beans (or 1 can drained and rinsed)
1/2 c. chopped green or red bell pepper
1 very large onion, thinly ringed
3/4 c. erythritol/xylitol blend (mix both granular sweeteners at a 50/50 ratio)
1 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. very light olive oil
1 1/2 t. sea salt or BioSalt (recipe on this blog)
fresh ground pepper, to taste (40 grinds)


Method:

Drain beans and combine with green pepper and onion.

Combine sugar-free sweetener, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved  (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.


Note: For a variation use garbanzo beans.


Enjoy,

Leila



UPDATE:

I changed the dressing to cut back on the amount of erythritol and xylitol called for. I also varied the vegies used.

Cutting back on the sugar-free sweeteners used saves you money. Plus adding a bit of stevia glycerite to the mix, makes the sweetening blend more synergistic and sugar-like in taste. Trust me, you won't miss the sugar here at all in this recipe!

I used all green beans because I frequently do not have yellow wax beans just hangin' around. The yellow wax beans are my favorite part of the salad though. I used yellow bell pepper for color and for the milder flavor they have. I used both kidney beans and garbanzo beans for more color variety and nutritional purposes. I think this recipe would work fine using fresh green beans too, blanching them first would probably be best.

Do which ever variation you want, they are both good!

Alternate Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad Recipe:

1 50-ounce can (3 lb 2 ounces) canned green beans
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 15.5-ounce can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 very large onion, thinly ringed
1/4 c. erythritol (Lakanto's sweetener is also great)
1/4 c. xylitol
1/4 t. NOW brand stevia glycerite (or homemade stevia glycerite recipe on this blog)
1 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. very light olive oil
1 1/2 t. sea salt or BioSalt (recipe on this blog)
fresh ground pepper, to taste (40 grinds)


Method:

Drain beans and combine with yellow bell pepper and onion.

Combine sugar-free sweetener, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.


ENJOY!

Mixing the sugar-free dressing.

Three-Bean Salad before tossing together.

Tossed  Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad - Ready to marinate.

Variation with thawed frozen green beans.

2nd UPDATE:

Here is another option for you. I changed the dressing again, to lower the amount of erythritol and xylitol called for.

I cut back even further the amount of erythritol and xylitol used in the dressing. Doing this cuts down on the possible effects of consuming sugar alcohols. Xylitol, cool as it is, sometimes gives some people a bit of gastric distress. Erythritol is the gut-friendliest of the sugar alcohols, which is great to know. Sugar alcohols are also more expensive than regular white cane sugar, as I'm sure you've noticed.

I chose to add some food-grade vegetable glycerine to the mix. It is naturally sweet, sugar free, affordable, and has a warming effect, which nicely counteracts the cooling effects of the erythritol and xylitol. Vegetable glycerine also gives a nice syrupy glossiness to this salad dressing.

I still add a touch of stevia glycerite. Just so you know, when you blend these sweeteners, they act synergisticly with each other, enhancing each others sweetness. The result is that when combined they taste more like real sugar. And your gut is happier too.

The salad still tastes great with these new adjustments. You can choose any of these dressing variations, they are all good.

As far as the vegetables go, I used a red bell pepper this time. and I think I prefer slightly less onion, So I used a med-large red onion instead of an extra large onion.

So I'm just giving you another option for making this salad, Your'e welcome :)


2nd Alternate Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad Recipe:

1 50-ounce can (3 lb 2 ounces) canned green beans
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 15.5-ounce can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium-large red onion, thinly ringed
1/4 c. food grade vegetable glycerine
2 T. erythritol
2 T. xylitol
1/4 t. NOW brand stevia glycerite (or homemade stevia glycerite recipe on this blog)
1 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. very light olive oil
1 1/2 t. sea salt or BioSalt (recipe on this blog)
fresh ground pepper, to taste (40 grinds)


Method:

Drain beans and combine with yellow bell pepper and onion.

Combine sugar-free sweeteners, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.


TIP: I like to add 1/2 tsp. Psyllium Husk Powder to the dressing to slightly thicken it.


Enjoy!

Author, Leila.

Make your own Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Clusters

Dark Chocolate Almond Cherry Clusters

We bought these at Costco and loved them. They are very easy to make yourself. I like portioning them out with a mini cookie scoop, they look professionally made that way.

Enjoy the benefits of the antioxidants and protein packed in these little babies.


Almond Cherry Clusters Recipe:

16 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate (like a 72%)
8 to 10 ounces dry-roasted whole almonds (salted is o.k.)
8 to 10 ounces dried TART cherries


Method:

Melt and temper the chocolate.
Stir in the almonds and cherries.
Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto parchment or silicone lined cookie sheets.
Cool in the fridge, in front of a fan, or outside if its cool.
Store airtight once set up.

Makes 2 cookie sheetfuls.

Note: To save money, alter the ratio of almonds to the cherries, to cut costs.
ie. 16-oz chocolate, 12-oz almonds, 8-oz cherries, works well.


Enjoy!

Leila