1.Nitrate-free Deli Turkey Roll-ups

• Nitrate-free deli turkey or ham
• Mozzarella cheese (lower in fat that most cheese)
• Fresh spinach leaves

Layer turkey, spinach leaves, and cheese, and roll!  Combine a tablespoon of mayo + mustard for the perfect dipping sauce!


2.Bagel My Tuna

• Thin sliced bagels
• Your little ones favorite prepared tuna salad

Simply sandwich tuna salad between bagel thins and cut into fourths.  Baby carrots are the perfect accompaniment!


3.Chicken, Tuna, Egg, or Tofu Salad Boats

• Fresh and firm cleaned romaine lettuce leaves
• Prepared chicken, tuna, egg, or tofu salad (tofu salad: prepare like egg salad substituting diced extra firm tofu)

Add your preferred salad to a container.  Wrap lettuce leaves in a paper towel and place in a ziplock bag.  Have your tiny scholar to assemble the boats themselves at lunch!  Shredded carrots adds awesome color and tasty nutrients!

4. Munch-ables

• Your favorite crackers
• Your favorite cheese/ veggie cheese, sliced to the size of crackers
• Your favorite protein (pepperoni, turkey, ham (the veggie options for these work perfectly!  Tofurky is a great option)

Separate each item (crackers, cheese, protein) in separate containers until it’s time to eat and stack away at lunch time!


5. Protein Caprese Salad

• 1 cup prepared quinoa, toboulei, or couscous
• 1 cup fresh spinach, kale, or other lettuce leaves
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella diced
• Handful of basil, chopped
• 1 tbsp balsamic glaze (found near the oils and vinegars in your grocery)

Now this lunch may be geared toward a more mature palate, but it’s never too soon to introduce new and different healthy food options to kids!  Line fresh leaves to the bottom of the bowl.  Top with your prepared grain salad.  Add tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and drizzle with glaze.  Sprinkle with sea salt to taste.  Enjoy!


6. PB&J Pinwheels

• Whole wheat tortilla
• Natural peanut butter
• Your favorite 100% fruit spread

Spread peanut butter onto tortilla.  Top peanut butter layer with fruit spread and roll tightly.  Slice roll in to 1 inch sections creating pinwheel discs.  Opt: Add fresh sliced fruit like bananas, peaches, pears, etc., for an added layer of fresh flavor and vitamins! 

7. Ceasar Pockets

• Pita round, halved and pocket opened for stuffing
• Prepared Cesar salad (fresh romaine + Ceasar dressing + lemon juice, and toss)
• Protein: shrimp, diced turkey, chicken, or veggie protein

Toss protein in Ceasar salad and stuff salad in each pita pocket.  Opt: Chopped and Chef salads work super as fillers for these pockets as well!  Sliced apples with a natural nut butter for dipping goes awesome with this lunch!


8. Fruit Wafflewhich

• 2 frozen waffles
• Cream cheese
• Your favorite 100% fruit spread

Toast waffles.  Spread one side with cream cheese and the other with 100% fruit spread.  Smash together and cut into fourths.  Feel free to make these PB&J’s by subbing peanut butter in place of cream cheese.


9. Crudite Sushi

•  Flatbread or other flavored wraps (tomato, spinach)
• Cream cheese with herbs
• Nori/Seaweed sheets
• Thinly sliced fresh veggies (cucumbers, carrots, sweet peppers, etc.)

Layout wrap and cover with herbed cream cheese.  Lay on nori/seaweed sheets to adhere to the cream cheese spread.  Add veggies and roll tightly!  Slice roll in to 1.5- 2 inches wide pieces.  Amino acids or a low sodium soy sauce makes for delicious dipping!  Opt: Make this lunch quick and easier by picking up a bag of broccoli slaw and adding it as your veggies! 

Keeping in line with my new 'F@#$ Cancer' recipe creations, my 'Alkaline Rich Goodness & Green Mercy' dish does not disappoint! Loaded with vitamins and minerals the body needs to stay defensive against disease, this recipe boosts the immune system to put up a hell-of-a fight! What's more, it tastes AMAZING! But then again, that's my main purpose as your Culinary Health Consultant!

​This green veggie bowl is super simple and is tasty warm or chilled. Please try it out and let me know in the comments what you think, along with any questions or ideas you may have.

Enjoy!

Uggh, I don't have that!  This is a statement I hear more often than not from individuals trying out my recipes.  Don't get me wrong, all ingredients are listed in my recipes, but lots of times these same individuals feel as if the recipe can be completed omitting an ingredient here or there.  I must admit, I too early on felt as if I could short-cut my way through a recipe and get optimum results, boy was I WRONG!  The taste may be really good, however, not the tasty end result the creating chef intended.  Now why would you cheat yourself like that?  Of course not! 

For this reason, over the years I began to build somewhat of a repertoire of staples that I feel are essential in solidifying any good recipe.   To be specific, my pantry staples are what I take most pride in since they have longer shelf lives and are more versatile and interchangeable.  What's more, you can build it up your reserve over time so that you'll never be without when you're in the middle of a recipe, lol!  

It's so funny, I have a best friend that is consistently in awe of the things I have on hand to cook with at any given point of time.  Her comment is always, "...girl, ain't nobody got that in their pantry but you!" 
Well the joke is on her, because I have included my personal pantry stock list below!  Obviously  based on your taste preferences, you may add or omit here and there.  This is just to serve as a guide in assisting with  what majority of the AC Art Of Food recipes will contain.  So take advantage of my pantry must haves and start collecting today!

So here's the thing, we all know how trends come and trends go.  Living for what's hot right now.  The hottest shoe, hair cut, nail art, car, vacation spot...for right now.  And yes, there are the ever-changing food trends.  But food trends you'd think it'd be simple, right?  Veggies and fruit don't change, you know they're good for you.   But now in the news they have too much sugar that can increase your insulin and contribute to diabetes and weight gain.  And now your vegetable consumption is even scrutinized because of how long you cook them, ultimately cooking all the benefits right on out of them!  And don't even get me started on animal protein...sheesh!

With all of this, wouldn't you like just a simple list of 'rules of thumb' that are pretty common sense, that actually make sense?  Well look no further!  AC Art Of Food has compiled the ACAOF's  10 Healthy Living Tips that will ensure you at least have the basics down as a foundation for what ever eating lifestyle you choose to indulge in.  

Here are a couple bonuses to the list pertaining to the aforementioned:

• Everything in moderation
• Prepare and eat veggies at their natural color (example: broccoli and green beans are just that, green- if they start looking brown, you've gone TOO FAR!

Now remember, DO YOU!  No labels necessary.  Your reasonings, choices, preferences, likes and dislikes, are exactly that, YOURS.  Don't attempt to fit in anybody else's category but your own.  After all, who's better of an expert on you than you?  

Are there other healthy tips you use or think that would be great to add to ACAOF's 10 Health Living Tips list?  Be sure to comment below to let me know, and watch this list grow...for good health!

                             

1. Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of lemon water daily💧.
2. Eat clean most of the time- 🚫Avoid processed foods🚫.
3. Incorporate a raw or lightly cooked veggie at every meal🥗.
4. Eat all carbs before sunset 🌄.
5. Eat IN more than you eat OUT.
6. Drink a glass of water before each meal.
7. Stock your fridge with good things for your body and plan for every meal🍽. 
8. If you must *dessert*, incorporate fruit🍏
9. Drink green tea.
10. Eat all plants at least 1 day a week🌱 (Meatless Monday😋)

Make it a Healthy Living Great Tasting Day!

Is this you?  Did you do this too?  Are you like me?  Having these grand ideas full of optimism for a lush green Spring/Summer garden overflowing with beautiful vegetables and herbs?  I mean, I bought seeds and plants.  Lined up what grows best together and planted accordingly.  Even created a new garden area in my backyard for them to flourish...hmmm, thinking now that may have been the downfall (relocation shock!)  But Mother Nature just wouldn't let me....I mean, you, be great?!?!  Black Thumb be damned!!

Well no fear, AC Art of Food is here to share with you the great news of green thumb redemption!  Planting is not just for the warmer months of the year.  Check out the beautiful veggies listed below that you can grab now and start to planting, along with a few tips to get you started.  Hopefully this time we can get it right! 

Be sure to let me know in the comment section below if you have a 'green' or 'black' thumb along with whatever tips, ideas, and gardening grandeur you may have!

What to grow in the Fall/Winter:

• Beans
• Beets
• Broccoli/Cauliflower
• Brussels Sprouts
• Celeriac
• Collards/Kale/Turnips
• Garlic 
• Green Onions
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Parsnips
• Pumpkin

​Winter Gardening Tips:

• Remove all dead vegetation
• Add a fresh/new layer of fertilizer soil
• Water as often as needed to keep soil moist
• Stay posted on the forecast: in case of frost warnings, be sure to cover your green babies at night with a breathable (cotton) material

Happy Gardening!

​God, family, food.  Yep, and in that order!  As a self proclaimed culinary health foodie, I have seen and tasted up close and personal food trends and health fads that have come and gone.  Trendy diets, detoxes, and cleanses too.  And yes I've tried a few in my day- a vegetable soup flush here, and 'grade B' maple syrup lemonade cleanse there.  And indeed for that moment once completed (not even going to describe the level of mood swings when you begin these food hiatus'), you're pounds lighter and your attitude is on cloud 9!!  .....then you eat...and it all goes to hell in a hand-basket.  In most instances you gain back not only what you initially lost, but a few more ponds that you've found along the way!  Here's my point- unless you plan on eating that magic weight loss soup or only sipping on that spicy lemonade for the rest of your life, all you lost is coming back, and with a vengeance!   

My thought process: A skinny person is not necessarily to be assumed 'healthy', nor is a thicker individual necessarily 'unhealthy'.  Once you get the mindset to make 'healthy' not only your priority but your way of life, i.e., lifestyle, a much satisfied and health-ful person you will be.

Out of all the food fads throughout my lifetime, one tidbit seems to always prevail- plan-tbased is best.  No, this does not necessarily mean all the world should ONLY eat grass for the rest of their lives.  However, making plants primary and animal protein the smaller portion on your plate, is not at all a bad thing.  Salads are not the only dishes to be enjoyed within a plant-based lifestyle.  Roasted seasonal vegetables have taken over as a more tastier option when eating from the earth.  Various beans/legumes, and even veggies taking the place of certain grain carbs such as rice and pasta, are heavily on the climb as the more tastier and beneficial choice.  And yes, salads are a one bowl traditional go-to for vegan, vegetarian, plant-based grazers alike, but the salads of today are created thoughtfully 'outside the box' where in most cases lettuce is either a very small ingredient if included at all.  

If a more gradual approach is what you're seeking, there's an option for that as well.  There are loads of veggie 'meat' substitutes out there for those transitioning desiring a more textured vegetable replacement.  However, be mindful that just because it's not meat doesn't mean it's better.  In all things consumed and applied to your body, check the labels.  Make sure your meat-subs are free from GMOs, too many ingredients with more than 8 letters (lol!), and are artificial anything!  I'm not going to bash the product lines that are guilty of providing such ingredients for the sake of taste, but I will acknowledge my top two (2) favs:

1. Gardein
2. Quorn

Both of these product lines have taken a seat in the responsible chair and have freed their meat substitutes from alot of the garbage still found in their competitors, that are also easy on the purse-strings.   And they taste AMAZING!!!  A few more on my list are the Beyond Meat, Field Roast, and Sweet Earth brands.  These brands are just as responsible from what I've experienced but tend to be a bit pricier.  Other contenders I favor from time to time are the daiya cheese line, LightLife, and Tofurky.  I just need to research a bit more on their make-ups, but they do taste great as well.  But don't just take my word for it, go out and research for your culinary health!


And that's my take!

Like most busy individuals in the morning, I’m trying to do the most to get out of the house in addition to adding a healthy dose of substance to the mix, usually referred to as breakfast, to jump start me for the day.  Now over the weekend the hubby and kids pretty much shout for ‘PANCAKES’, and of course with all the standard bells and whistles: grits, eggs, maybe a turkey breakfast meat item, and fruit.  However, weekdays are a completely different monster allotting for the kids to grab a healthy breakfast at school, and for me, yep you guessed it, a smoothie.  Here is where I try to load up on as many veggies while perking it with my favorite fruits.  Well this morning I wasn’t quite in the ‘fruity mood’ and desired something a bit more rich and creamy…ideally something with chocolate and a nut butter.  Hmmm, but how do I get my veggies in to kick-start the day with a chocolate peanut butter smoothie, tastefully?  And is this really what I want to consume as my first meal of the day?  I can see the afternoon or evening for a treat, but as my breakfast? 


The answer is YES!  See, the magic veggie that will make this concept right with the world is spinach.  Now before you go sticking your tongue out and scoffing at a combo of peanut butter and this super leaf, remember that spinach is a pretty mild green, unlike its cousins the collard and kale.  Spinach is the more subtle and sweeter, if you will, leafy veggie of the bunch.  And when you think about it, you never taste the spinach in your fruit smoothie, right?  You taste the apple, mango, pineapple, strawberry, or banana that’s thrown in to make your fruit smoothie just that, fruity.  Now surely goodness and mercy, the rich flavors of peanut butter and cocoa could do the same…. right?  ABSOLUTELY!  I even ‘spiced’ up this smoothie a bit to include a dose of additional health beneficial roots from turmeric and ginger, which coincidentally makes for a delicious rich and cozy beverage for the Fall when served warm!  But these are completely optional- extremely tasty- but optional nonetheless ;-)
Check out the recipe below!
 
Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate plant based milk
• ¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 serving of vanilla plant based protein powder
• ½ cup ice
• 1 thumb sized root of ginger (optional)
• 1 thumb sized root of turmeric (optional)

Process:

1. Blend well and enjoy!