Tag Archives: Easy

Quick pickled vegetables

Summer is a great time to delve into pickled veggies and other tasty treats.

Here is a recipe for a quick pickled cucumber. You can sub almost any vegetable for the cucumber. It can be carrot, red onion, beets, etc.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup white vinegar, eyeball it
  • 2 rounded teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove cracked garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves, chopped or snipped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 kirby cucumbers, cut into 1-inch slices on an angle

Directions:

Heat small saucepan over medium high heat. Add vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, salt, and garlic to the pan and cook until it begins to simmer and sugar dissolves. Toss the dill, bay leaf, and sliced cucumbers together in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the simmering liquid over the cucumbers and stir to evenly coat. Allow to cool to room temperature or chill before serving.

Make it the best day!

-K

Bring a smile

Give a big smile to the mirror when you wake up or when you start your car.

Make it habit to smile every morning when you brush your teeth. Why look at a grumpy version of yourself?!

You just woke up, you are alive,  celebrate it!

Bring a smile with you into a meeting or on the bus.

We have talked about this before. It’s easy to be grumpy and feel crummy about your situation. Only you have the power to change how you FEEL and that is the kicker.

Do it. Change how you feel. Love how you feel.

Make it the best day!

-K

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini

 
This dinner is fast, easy and healthy. You can use a spiralizer to make zucchini noodles or you can cut them into rounds, which is what I did.
Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup panko crumbs
  • 1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp ginger, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil

For the Dipping Sauce:

  • 3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh scallion

Directions:

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, 1 tbsp of the soy sauce and 2 tsp sesame oil. Gently mix with your hands until combined well. Form into uniform meatballs. Place in little oil in the bottom of skillet. Heat the skillet to medium-high heat and add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, gently rotate the meatballs throughout cooking.

For the dipping sauce: mix the lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add the scallions and set aside.

Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish and mix with the zucchini. Stir the sauce, then drizzle the meatballs with a little of the sauce. Serve the meatballs with the remaining sauce on the side.

Make it the best day!

-K

Avocado Toast

Avocado toast is delicious and good for you. Sometimes it can get a little boring with avocado, pepper and a little lemon. The other day I came across this website with 11 ways to make your toast a little more fun and tasty!

11 ways to spice up your avocado toast

Try out one or all the options! Easy ways to make this healthy snack more exciting each time you eat it.

Make it the best day!

-K

Buying local

In the late grasp of summer the farmer’s markets are in full swing. If you haven’t been to any of your local choices, take this weekend to investigate!

There is not only an opportunity to get fresh produce, but this a great chance to buy local and know where your products are coming from.

Support your local merchants, (Food, clothes, etc) and try out a farmers market.

Don’t forget to sample the products and engage in a conversation with the proprietors. Who knows what you will learn.

Make it the best day!

-K

Tuna Salad

Here is a healthier take on a pretty tasty dish. It omits mayo and replaces it with avocado. Served on bread or toast it is quite the tasty treat. Feel free to get creative, add hot peppers for some spice or bell peppers for color. Don’t forget it will be green because of the avocado!

Ingredients:

  • 2, 6-ounce cans tuna. Prefer solid white albacore packed in water
  • 1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup minced celery
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion
  • A splash of a spicy mustard will give it a nice kick (this is optional)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Mash the avocado with a fork and then add the rest of the ingredients on top of that. Mix well to combine and season to your taste!

Make it the best day!

-K

 

Explore

Explore your neighborhood, your town, your city and your state.

Have you done all that already?

Get out of the country!

With our finite time to roam and adventure around the earth make the best and the most of it! See what other cultures are like. Explore their food and the art. Take in a foreign city at midnight under the lights.

Life is about adventure. Packing up a tent and camping in the middle of anywhere!

Sipping a wine and eating a snack on the sidewalk.

Create adventure at every turn. Make the world your playground. If you can only go around  your town or state, explore places you have never been!

Take a step outside your comfort zone and your routine. Bring a friend or record it with photos.

Constantly create.

Never stop exploring!

Make it the best day!

-K

Gratitude

It’s easy and rewarding.

Someone holds the door for you, “Thank you”

A significant other cleans up or cooks, “Thank you”

Your mom or dad call, “Thank you”

Two words that will bring a smile to your face and have good feels all over your body! If someone thanks you, tell them “You’re Welcome”. Try to avoid the self-defeating statements like “It was nothing” or “No big deal”

Embrace gratitude and see where it takes you.

Make it the best day!

-K

15 Minute Dinner

This recipe is quick, easy and tasty. A little Korean flavor anytime!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and ginger.
  2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
  3. Stir in soy sauce mixture and green onions until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.
  4. Serve immediately, garnished with green onion and sesame seeds, if desired.

Enjoy!

Make it the best day!

-K

Saturday Session

Wake up! Dance! It’s Saturday!

Celebrate the week that you had and wonderful weekend that lies ahead.

Live in the moment and celebrate what the day holds for you!

Be present with your family and friends while you live in gratitude!

Make it the best day!

-K