Sylvia's Scenario

I made this recipe last night and I thought it was different because it's a shrimp dish without tomato sauce or curry which seems to be in most my shrimp dishes lately.  This recipe is full of fiber from the artichoke hearts and kale and it's so hardy you don't really need pasta with it. Plus, you can make it in 30 minutes in one pan; my kind of meal.  I got the recipe from a food blog called  Julia's Album.   Her theme is to provide simple weeknight meals to make your life easy.  This one was super easy, too.  I always have a bag of Trader Joe's frozen artichoke hearts in the freezer (as well as their frozen cauliflower rice) and I love recipes with them.  I miss getting new recipes from dietitian, Hannah Freese, RD, since she discontinued her nutrition business so now I'm always on the lookout for new recipes that fit her guidelines.  I did switch out the spinach in the recipe for kale and used full-fat coconut milk instead of heavy cream. ...

I've made this recipe twice already this month (and there's only been 3 days in May...!) so I thought I better post it. I got it from the Seattle Times last week and decided to try it out and I'm glad I did. It was so good that I invited my sister and her husband over for dinner and made it again the next day.  It's a perfect dish to have with guests over because it will totally impress them and it did.  The funny thing is that my sister saw the recipe in the newspaper, too, so she was delighted to come over and try it out.  This recipe is from a cookbook called The Complete Book of Greek Cooking and was originally called Shrimp Scorpio from the Recipe Club of Saint Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral. The book, published in 1990 and still available, is full of dozens of homestyle Greek recipes. This recipe is brimming with nourishing ingredients, too, like spinach and has all at the Mediterranean flavors we love. It really is a true winner. I am slowly getting b...

We had this for dinner last night after three days of rain so we needed a dinner to spice things up.  This recipe hit the spot.  It uses Thai Red Curry Paste that makes the recipe super easy, yet super tasty.    I use this same curry paste in  Thai Chicken Green Curry , a recipe that I make a lot.  It adds such a great flavor with minimal work so I highly recommend using it.  I got this recipe from  Hannah Freese, RD  so you know that the paste has all natural ingredients because her diet does not include any processed foods.  I can definitely feel the difference eating this way.  I actually put away all the Halloween decorations and immediately got out the Thanksgiving decorations in just 2 days. I have so much more energy eating this way.   It's the same thing that happened last year when I packed up all the Christmas decorations in one day and Bruce was shocked how much I got done. Before this diet I would get so tired ...

If you want to enjoy the summer berries right now without the loaded calories of whipping cream and shortcake, here's a recipe for you.  We've had this salad twice this month and I'm not sure what I like most about it; the maple sunflower seeds or the oil/vinegar dressing with a hint of Dijon mustard and more maple syrup.  The combination of all of it put together is so good.  The nutrient-dense superfood of spinach and the berries loaded with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids are sure to boost your immune system during this era of coronavirus and we all need that right now.  I made this salad for Memorial Day, thus the red, white and blue theme. Lauren and Bruce went jogging at Alki beach while I tended to the barbecue.  I'm trying to perfect a recipe that was one of my favorites my dad always made; barbecued pot roast.  I always requested this on my birthday and since my birthday is in the summer, my dad would make it for me and it was my most favo...

We are in the epicenter of the coronavirus virus here in Seattle and there is constant news bulletins and recommendations coming out everyday.  It is getting rather tiresome, I must admit.  We had to cancel our Mariner ticket party  and were so bummed out about that  (The health department is recommending people over the age of 60 avoid crowded environments or what they call "social distancing".)   It's exhausting getting up every morning and reading the newspaper on all the latest developments.  And in the evening, the news reports go on and on about it.  Usually, this is my favorite time of the year, but this virus is certainly changing what spring is all about.  Our Mariner ticket party has always been such a great way to begin our spring, as well as our much anticipated beginning of baseball season.  And now, Bruce and I have to figure out how to do the ticket selection process on-line.  It's really not that difficult, as this is ...

Last night, I was in the mood for a healthy dinner so decided to experiment with a recipe I found from a blog called Creative in My Kitchen . Lauren and Ari brought us French cookies back from their trip to Paris and I basically inhaled them. They were so good! We were cat-sitting their two cats while they were gone. They liked lounging in the strangest places...  I found one of their toys while I was cleaning so Lauren stopped by last night to pick it up on her way home from work. I was experimenting with this recipe which originally called for chicken breast but I thought it sounded good to substitute fish instead since I'm always looking for good fish recipes. We all thought it was totally delicious. When I went to the grocery store, they had Icelandic cod on sale so I bought about 2 pounds of that. You could use any white fish for this recipe such as:                                 ...

It's been too hot to cook around here so last night I  made this easy salad using a wild sockeye salmon fillet that we got from a "buy one, get one free" offer at our local grocery store.   There are some variations to this salad so you can add or subtract items depending on your preferences that I'll add to the recipe. I'm still experimenting with the low lectin diet that I talked about in my last post and this recipe is low  lectin.  I am reading the bo ok  The Plant Paradox   that basically goes beyond a gluten-free diet and eliminates foods with lectins which the author claims is the cause of a lot of health problems.  I'm realizing that The Plant Paradox book is a diet itself because the author outlines other dietary restrictions besides low lectin when following his regimen like limiting sugar and only 4 ounces of meat daily.  So, the P.P. diet (Plant Paradox diet) is actually more than a low lectin diet. (My chocolate cake from my last...

Another salad for dinner again tonight and I'm still craving strawberries…so spinach and strawberry salad!  Perfect.  This is always a good salad to take to a potluck, too.  One of my favorites. Serves 8 1 cup walnuts 8 cups fresh, baby spinach 16 large strawberries, thinly sliced ( I like lots of strawberries) 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 3 Tbsp. honey 2 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup ( 1 oz.) crumbled feta cheese (optional) 1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degree.  Place the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant and toasted, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a plate to cool. 2.  Toss the spinach with the strawberries in a large bowl.  Whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard and salt in a small bowl.   3.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss, then sprinkle the walnuts on top.  Serve sprinkled with cheese, if desired.

It's time to start cleansing after the holidays and this is a good soup to start with.  All vegetables. The vegetables give this soup a natural sweetness so you'll have no problem devouring the whole pan. Serves 6 3 carrots, diced 1 small yellow onion, diced 4 cloves garlic 1/2 head green cabbage, diced 2 cups spinach 2 small zucchini, diced 1/2 head cauliflower, diced 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced  1 can diced tomatoes 2 quarts chicken broth 2 tsp. basil 1 tsp. oregano salt to taste 1.  In a large pot, add a small amount oil, then add carrots, onion and garlic; saute vegetables over low heat until softened. 2.  Add cabbage, spinach, and zucchini, stir and continue to saute vegetables until softened. 3.  Add diced tomatoes and broth.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat, add basil and oregano.  Simmer, covered for 15 minutes.  Salt to taste.

This is called Bon Fire Soup because I made it this fall evening after we set fire to our burn piles for a big fall bon fire and this soup really hit the spot!  Delicious! 2 carrots, diced 1 cup mushrooms, sliced  1 onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 zucchini, diced 1 cup sweet potatoes, diced 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced 1 package fresh, prewashed spinach 6 cups chicken broth 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp salt 1 package Chinese style noodles 1.  Heat oil in pan and add carrots, mushrooms, onion and garlic.    Saute vegetables over low heat for 5 minutes, until softened.  2.  Add zucchini, sweet potatoes, cabbage, spinach, and saute until soft. 3.  Add chicken broth and bring to simmer. 4.  Add tomato paste, basil, oregano and salt. Bring to a boil. 5.  Add noodles and continue to simmer for 2 minutes.   S...