Day 2

Hey Guys and Girls, I hope that you can keep yourself motivated in this three day challenge! It is so much harder than I thought. I did it today and I did have a couple of bites of something when I was working because I was going to starve; I forgot my juices:( My boss today said that there sometimes comes a point in the day when you just want to throw in the towel, but if you think positively and keep working at it, it will happen! I actually know someone who has been juicing for three months (I don't advise it). He lost a lot of weight because of hard work and persistence. Today, I did juices that were all green tea based. It is just a nice cleanse to help your metabolism to get into gear. The Mamma Chia and Forager is to be treated as a snack. They were no more than $5 where most of the juices are $8-$10. I have to say that the Forager one was pretty bad....sorry. Maybe someone else will like it, but not me. Happy juicing!

Recipe #1:

Yields 1 serving

1/2 cup kale
1/2 apple, green, diced
1/2 cup green tea, brewed
1 tsp honey

Steep green tea for 3-4 minutes. Add honey to green tea. Then add all ingredients to a blender. Blend for 4-6 minutes until smooth. Strain liquid then enjoy!

Yields 1 servings

1.5 cup green tea
1 tsp honey
1 lemon
1 lime

Steep green tea for 3-4 minutes. Add honey to green tea. Then add all ingredients to a blender. Blend for 4-6 minutes until smooth. enjoy!

Yields 1 serving (I didn't think I was going to like this one, but I love it!)

1.5 cup green tea
1 tsp honey
1.5 cup grapes

Steep green tea for 3-4 minutes. Add honey to green tea. Then add all ingredients to a blender. Blend for 4-6 minutes until smooth. Strain liquid then enjoy!

Cleansing Challenge!

Day One. Stop telling yourself that you are going to get healthy tomorrow. It's time right here, right now. I challenge you to 3 days of juicing and smoothies, raw it up! Summer is around the corner and we should look and feel our best. I used almond milk (can use coconut water as well) as my base and added like fruit and vegetables colors together. I would mix mango and banana together, below is the recipe.

Recipe #1 

yields 1 serving

1/3 cup almond milk

1/2 green apple, diced

1/2 avocado

1/2 lime, juiced

5 pieces of ice

1/2 orange, juiced

1 tsp honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, 2-3 minutes.

Recipe #2

yields 1 serving 

1/3 cup almond milk

1/2 yellow peach, diced

1/2 banana, sliced

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, 2-3 minutes

Recipe #3

yields 1 serving

1/2 mango, peeled and diced

1/2 banana, sliced

1/4 cup pineapple

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/3 cup almond milk

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, 2-3 minutes

If sometimes you are so hungry and you are too lazy to make a smoothie, I bought juices at whole foods. There are expensive ones and then there are inexpensive which taste similar. Pick your poison. I have only tasted the blue dream from Suja Elements and it was really good. It was only around $4. In a day, you are drinking 3 meals and 2 snacks so that is why there is five in the picture. After the first day, you might feel so hungry, try to work out or go for a walk. Keep yourself active in order for the mental part go away! It's all in your head. Don't let another day go by without getting on the bus. Be the driver, not the passenger!

I Scream, You Scream...

TGIF!!! This week flew by and I will be even busier next week. The busier I get with work, the more money, the shorter time that I have to wait to buy a new Mark 6D Canon. I have been youtubing about it and reading online reviews. I talked to the camera man about it. I am in love. If everything goes well, I will be able to get it in a week and a half. Then it is on people, watch out because what is next is the large format camera then I am going to crush it. Okay, onto something else, it's friday and every friday now is going to be sweet treat friday. Why? because why not? Since I have become quite the workaholic, Fridays are the days to just relax, have a glass of wine or four and indulge.  Here is what I have for you guys, ice cream. It is the hardest thing to photograph. I have 30 seconds to shoot and I would have to replace it or just deal with it. I got a shot and that is all I need. I am starting everything simple on this blog and growing into more complex meals. Just put some chocolate sauce and sprinkles on some vanilla ice cream and watch chick flicks all day is a my type of day!

Get some of that Pink Stuff

Here is an afternoon refresher! Punch. It is as easy as adding water and some fruit. It is good for picnics (for a date) or a day by the pool. Two places that I would like to be, but work calls my name. I just got an instagram to expand my viewers. It is almost running so stay tuned. It is going to get hot here in Denver by next week so stay hydrated and cut back on those sugars. Beverage shooting is a lot harder than it looks!

Happy Hump Day!

In the middle of the week, I start to want everything sweet. I know that I shouldn't eat anything sweet so I cook myself squash fries. I cut up squash into sliced squares and bake them in the oven. With a little salt and ketcup, it makes the perfect craving. I used to cook this all the time when I first came to Denver and didn't have any money. It's perfect for summer or winter. It's fries without the extra calories.

Recipe:

1 butternut squash
2 Tbsp oil
Salt, TT
Ketcup, TT

Cut squash into long strips. Then add oil to the fries in a bowl. Place a sheet tray lined with parchment. Broil until brown about 7-9 minutes then take out and put on towel to let the oil soak. Add salt and dip in ketcup.

Coke Float

Some days there are times that I just need soda. It's mainly when I am working for the extra pick me up because I don't drink coffee. Why not add a little ice cream? You can pick your poison if you want diet or regular. My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. I wanted to open a restaurant called Yard and serve milkshakes with a boys only sign. I work in catering and these stripped straws are everywhere. It is the in thing so I want to always be trendy. I love this shot, it is a very simple, but those are the best ones.

It's so fluffy!

Mondays can be a drag, but I wanted to brighten your day with a photo that I obviously did from despicable me. The color is a little off because I wanted it to look edible as well. There are risotto balls, but I put sushi items because you can almost make it with sushi rice. Risotto uses arborio rice which is wider and shorter than a jasmine rice. The vegetable stock needs to be added slowly in order for the rice to be cooked on the inside. It is not starchy and does not like liquid as much. It is a yummy rice if cooked properly.

Recipe:

yields: 4 servings

2 cups of arborio rice (any grocery store)

1 box of vegetable stock

1 onion, diced

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

salt, to taste

1 Tbsp butter

cheese, your choice, should be string cheese

egg wash-1 egg and 1 Tbsp milk

Breadcrumbs, make your own in the food processor

Put vegetable stock in a pot on medium heat. Heat a saute pan with vegetable oil. Add diced onions, make sure the pan sizzles for 4-6 minutes. Then add the arborio rice to the onions. If the vegetable stock is simmer, add a 1/2 cup to the rice and onions. Once the vegetable stock has boil through, add more stock to the mix. Add stock until the rice is cooked through, you will need to taste it. Add butter for a silky consistency. Once the mixture is cooked, add to an aluminum pan and put in the freeze immediately for 30 mins. Pull out the risotto from the freezer and roll into balls. Cut the cheese into little pieces and stick into the balls. Add the balls into an egg mixture, egg and milk, then to bread crumbs, gluten free of course! Put the risotto balls in to an oven at 350 degrees until golden brown about 12-15 minutes or fry them at 350 degrees until golden brown. 

Happy Friday!

By the end of the work week, I just want chocolate and lots of it. I want chocolate without the calories and I love a good pudding. Jello does make a pudding and that is what I used in the picture. Watch the sugar intake!! I also love just a dark chocolate bar. If it was just chocolate cake or brownies, I wouldn't like it. I just like straight chocolate. My ritual since living in Denver on fridays would be gluten free cookie dough and a bottle of white wine. It makes the world go around. The picture is just jello pudding; chocolate and vanilla. I'm not a fan of vanilla, but I figured you're either one or another. Once you go black, you won't go back.

Yes!

The question is always, is the food actually real or is everything photoshop? The answer is I photoshop some parts of the picture like if something is reflecting off of the glass, then I photoshop it. Most parts are all what I took, but we recreate a scenes and its half of what you think it is. I am building another set and I am very excited to use it. Here is a behind the scenes of building my new set I am in love with the teal color. I want to paint my whole room that color. Stay tuned to the new photos!! xoxoo

Tiffany Blue: Cake Balls

I wanted to have a little fun in my life so I got creative. I made cake balls. I am in no way a baker so I bought  the cake mix and frosting. I am the worst at making frosting! I have never made a batch of homemade frosting successfully. Okay, now you know my darkest secret, here is how I made these cake balls:

1. Make the pre-packaged cake mix (do what it says on the package)
2. Put the cake mix onto a sheet tray or pan
3. Cook and let cool in freezer
4. Leave in the freezer for at least two hours
5. Take out of freezer and roll cake into balls-it can get messy
6. Freeze the cake balls
7. Frost them, use a stick or tooth pick in cake ball to get all of the ball
8. I used fondant to make it look really nice

Note: People use a cake ball mold, but you can save yourself the money by just freezing the cake.

Soup, Good for the Soul!

Normally in May, people are thinking about losing weight and eating healthy; however, right now in Denver, it is cold. It just snowed a couple of days ago and summer hasn't arrived here. I decided to make soup, Split Pea! If you are a meat lover, I would add bacon. The thickness of your soup is to your liking and the ingredients are yours as well. Most soups are made with a flour thickener, but to make it gluten free, add corn starch. No recipe in this post.

Gnocchi

I am in love with pasta! However, now that I am gluten free, it is hard to find pasta that taste good. There are brands that have quinoa or rice noodles, but sometimes it isn't the same. For gnocchi, it is potato based and there is some flour, but I added gluten free flour instead, Betty Crocker style. It worked very well. If you want to go professional chef with it, you can make sure that all of the little balls are the same and roll it on a fork to get the markings. The hardest part about gnocchi is mashing the potatoes through a strainer for all of the lumps to go away. They taste like little pillows in your mouth!

Recipe

3 russet potatoes
4 Tbsp gluten free flour, Betty Crocker
2 egg

1. Bake potatoes for 2 1/2 hours at 350 degrees F
2. While the potatoes at still hot, pass the potatoes in a china cap or chinois
3. Need dough with all of the ingredients until the mixture comes together
4. Roll out the dough into little balls and roll the balls on a fork to receive marks
5. For cooking, bring cold water to a boil (cold water brings it to a boil faster), add salt to water
6. Gnocchi takes 30 seconds to cook, when the gnocchi floats to the top, strain water out of the pot
7. Add desire sauce such as pasta sauce or alfredo sauce. Don't forget the cheese!

To All Those Mothers,

Happy Mother's Day! I can't image being a mother and I could only imagine how hard it is. All mothers deserve a day off and why not celebrate it with a mimosa. It is just champagne or sparkling wine with orange juice. If you want to mix it up a bit, use St. Germain (it taste good in anything!). St. Germain is an elderflower liquor. Enjoy!

Here We Go!

Well, here goes nothing. I am starting my first blog. I have about 4 that I started, but I never had the guts to post them. This blog will be all about food and maybe more food with a couple of light alcoholic beverages. I will be sure to post some recipes with the pictures because I guess I did go to culinary school for a reason. Thanks dad. I love to cook healthy as I am gluten free and pescetarian (fish lover) by trade except when I go out to eat. I have dabbled in some food styling and photography. Growing up, my grandma always said that "food doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to taste good." Clearly, I am trying to go the opposite with my career path. If I could, I would be a professional eater. The name's Claire and Denver is the city. Let's eat!