A Delicious Tuesday and Wednesday

Okay, these recipes are very delicious. And I want to apologize in advance because I forgot to take pictures. I promise to tomorrow.

So yesterday I had:
breakfast: green smoothie
Lunch: leftover soup from the night before
Dinner: Brown rice risotto with broccoli (recipe to follow)

Eli came home today, I was so glad to see him. He had a really good time with his mom and grandma, got to see his sisters play, and got to shadow a doctor. It was a good trip for him. I'm just sad I couldn't go with him.

Okay, here is what we had today:
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover rice, hummus with carrots, and a juicy juicy plum
Dinner: Green Chile and Cheese Quesadillas and Zesty Black Bean Dip

These quesadillas were so so so so good! I was really so impressed. And, I just love the way this kind of food fills you up. I feel full, but not stuffed, and I don't get tired after I eat, like I always used to do. Here are the recipes for the rice, quesadillas, and dip:

Brown Rice Risotto:
(I used the electric pressure cooker, which cooks rice very quickly. If you don't have one, just modify it by adding time to make it cook on the stove top, or if you use a rice cooker, add the broccoli in a steamer basket, or straight into the rice, when there is about 5 minutes left. Then just stir in the cheese.)

1 c. brown rice
2 c. chicken broth, veggie broth, water, or a combination of each, just as long as you have 2 c. of liquid
As much broccoli as you want, I don't measure, just enough to have a piece of it with every other bite or so.
Some shredded Parmesan cheese.
a little bit of olive oil
1/2 tsp or so of salt
1. Put salt, rice, liquid, and oil in the pressure cooker (or whatever you are using), secure the lid, and set it to high. Cook for 20 minutes.
2. When timer is done, release the pressure, add broccoli and cheese, return to high and cook for 3 minutes.
This recipe is sooooo good. I usually make risotto with aroborio rice, which is still delicious and a good kind of rice, but I was out last night and just decided to use brown rice. I'm glad I did.

Now get ready for this. Your tastebuds will love it. Green Chile and Cheese Quesadillas from Dr.Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet:
2 tbls. olive or veg. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 md. onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
3 poblano or pasilla chilies, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. Summer Salsa (recipe included below)
Non stick cooking spray
8 corn torillas
8 ounces reduced fat Monteray Jack cheese

Heat oil in large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onions, and chilies. Cook, stirring, until vegetables begin to soften. Add water, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in salt and salsa.*

Spray a large skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Place one tortilla in hot skillet, top with one-fourth of the cheese and one-fourth of the veggie mixture. Top with a second tortilla. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. **

* Upon reading this recipe to type up I realized I forgot to add the water and cover it. I just kept it sauteeing on medium-low heat for 12 minutes. I loved it. I'll try it next time with water to see if I notice a difference.
**You can make way more than 4 quesadillas with this. Just don't use as much of the veggies. I like to use less because you can taste the flavor more. And there's less stuff to spill when you flip them. Maybe I'm just not a good flipper. I'll have to work on that.

Summer Salsa:
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
juice of 2 limes
4 red or green (or combo) jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely choped
4 med. tomatoes, chopped
1 c. fresh or frozen(thawed) corn kernels
1 med. rip avocado, peeled and diced
1 c. fresh cilantro.

Place chopped onion in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, squeeze lime juice over it, and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Add chilies, tomatoes, corn, avocado, and cilantro, and stir to combine Serve immediatley, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. (trust me, it won't last 3 days!)

Zest Black Bean Dip

1 tblsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 med. red onion, chopped
1 med. red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2- 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
juice of 2 limes
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. mild chili powder*
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cayenne, or to taste
2 tblsp. water

Heat oil over med.-high heat in large, heavy skillet. When oil is hot, add garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Cook, stirring until onion is translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a food processor (or blender) puree beans, lime juice, cilantro, chili poder, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, and water until smooth. Transfer puree to a bowl, and stir in onion mixutre. Cover and chill at least 3 hours **. Bring to room temp. before serving
*we were out of chili powder, so we used chipolte chili powder. This gave it a smokier flavor, but also very spicy. We think it would be better with regular chili powder.
**We ate it immediatley. It was still good. I liked to dip the aforementioned quesadilla's in it. This is zesty, like it says, but it has a great flavor. I think I'll make it next time I have a party.

Well, that's all. I hope some of you try the recipes. I have the whole next week planned out. We are going to have some great meals. I'll keep you posted, next time with pictures!
It's been a week without sugar or flour. I've lost 5 lbs, Eli's lost almost 9. I feel so good and I love it!