Healthy Gyros

My love of Greek food, especially Gyros has always run deep ever since my mom introduced me to my first Gyro way back when I was a kid. It used to be our thing, we were the only ones who really enjoyed them in our family of seven; we would go to a local family owned place down in the cities where I grew up & it would be a time I would look forward to, eating delicious food with the great company of my mom. I have really been trying to eat healthy & as organic a possible. As well as eating the least bread & bad carbs as I can while substituting it all for good nutritious food, without it lacking in flavor or quality. So with no further adieu… here is the recipe(I was able to use all organic ingredients, I know that you may not be able to, but I wanted to make sure I at least stated that; not to come off as sounding as if I'm better than others but merely because I truly believe organic is the way to go, however I do know that not all places have organic or it may be to expensive for some as well.):

Ingredients:

10 Stalks of Swiss Chard

1 lb. of Ground Lamb, or Lamb cut into 2in. by 1in. slices.

4 Tomatoes

1 Onion or a bunch of Green Onion

1 Container of Tzatziki Sauce

1 Tablespoon Cumin

1 Tablespoon Rosemary

1 Tablespoon Basil

1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon of dried Dill

1 Container of Greek Olives

1 Package of Feta

(Two tablespoons of coconut oil is a wonderful addition to cook the meat with)

Directions:

Take the ground lamb meat, cumin, rosemary, basil, crushed red pepper, ground black pepper & dill and mix them all together throughly.

 Cook it in a skillet pan until meat is no longer red. Chop the steams of the Swiss Chard off, and wash leaves throughly. I use the steams in my salads, they are also  great stir fried with other veggies, or even tossed with a little coconut oil & sea salt than bake them in the oven until crispy. 

After you have throughly cleaned your swiss chard, dice up your onions and cut your tomatoes into slices. 

Than spread some Tzatziki sauce on the underside of the Swiss Chard leaves, put a couple spoonfuls of Lamb meat on it.

 than top it off with the tomatoes, onion, greek olives & feta

than wrap the swiss chard up like a wrap. You can also add some spinach leaves for added flavor & nutrients. Enjoy!

Basil Bites

I am one who loves the simple things, a nice day, a good tune, delicious farm fresh food, a good book & a nice bike ride or run.. All of which happened today for that I am thankful.. I decided to try a little combination of food that I bought at the Health Market I work at. I have thought about calling them Basil bites, before you think Gross, basil really? Try it! 

All you will need is some cherry tomatoes or any kind of tomatoes really, some good cheese(splurge a little, I promise that it's worth it), and some fresh un-dried basil. 

I used tomatoes that are called Golden Nuggets,

Fresh Basil both of which were just picked today from a local farm only a thirty miles away from my house. 

I also bought Raw, Garlic Chive Cheddar Cheese which is from Wisconsin. 

I picked out the largest basil leaves, and than sliced the tomatoes into two pieces, and cut the cheese into small cubes. 

After laying the basil leaves upside down(it should look like the bottom of a boat), I placed one of the cheese cubed on the bottom of the basil, putting a slice of the tomato on top of the cheese & topping that with another piece of basil so that it would look as if it was a wrap. 

Than I baked them at 350 degrees until the cheese melted(about 5 minutes), perfect time to cut up a organic watermelon or any other kind of fruit, maybe now you will know what I had as fruit for dinner! Ha. 

They may look a little funky but I guarantee the taste makes up for their looks! 

After it gets done baking you will want it to sit for 30 seconds to cool off a bit. Enjoy, I must warn you, it is delicious!!!

The Best Iced Coffee

I don't know about you, but I love a good cup of coffee, especially iced coffee in the summer time. I found a wonderful little video on how to make the iced coffee quickly & simply. I will post it below, along with some pictures of my own from when I brewed it today & let me tell you it's better than starbucks! Never thought I would say that but it is so good! I had to make another batch right after I tasted it. Also, you'll see that I posted some pictures of my mug with one of the cutest coffee cozies on it. My friend Kylie makes them by hand and they are very affordable!
Check her little shop out at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SandburrCrochetCo

Here is the website for the iced coffee:
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2014/06/27/morning-video-buzz-how-make-cold-brew-iced-coffee

 The mason jar on the right is filled with the coffee grinds and now iced coffee that I was slowly pouring over a coffee filter in the mason jar on the left.

It was easier for me to pour the iced coffee into a measuring cup before pouring it into the strainer I made out of the coffee filter and a rubber band.

This is the fresh, organic cream that I had on hand that I poured into the bottom of my mug before filling with iced coffee.

                    The gorgeous iced coffee that it produced.

Filled and ready for on the go for my busy day. Yes this is the coffee cozy I was talking about that you can purchase on etsy, one of my closest friends makes them in IL and ships them anywhere in the world, they come in a variety of colors and designs & yes I have many of them! :)