Fancy Water

On my detox quest this week, BTW and I made fancy water. It's a diuretic and really cleans out your system, just what we are needing! It's really easy, and you can make a big batch and drink it all day at work.

Fancy Water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
12 mint leaves, torn
8 cups/2 liters water

Let sit overnight, and enjoy. It's totally refreshing and yummy! Try it, you'll be hooked and want to have some on hand all the time!

Spicy Nuts

This week at Publix, nuts are BOGO (buy one get one free!), so I got a pack to snack on at work. I decided to jazz them up a bit, and they turned out AMAZING. Unfortunately for you, I didn't exactly follow a recipe, but I'l give you the low down, and let you make your own spice mix! I used roasted almonds that were already salted, so I didn't use salt at all.

Spicy Nuts
ground cumin
cayenne pepper
hot chili powder
garlic powder
salt (but go easy if the nuts are already salted)
garam masala (not necessary, but adds a nice touch if you have it on hand)
dash of sugar
olive oil

In a small frying pan, warm the oil with the spices.

Honestly, whatever spices you use is totally up to you. If you like Indian flavors, use curry powder. You could make them for the holidays with cinnamon and nutmeg. Truly, the world is your oyster! Toss in your nuts.

Spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (I used a baking sheet with edges so my nuts didn't fall all over the oven).

Bake 10-15 minutes at 350. If the nuts are raw, you'll have to bake them longer.

These were so delicious I couldn't stop munching on them all day at work. Hope you enjoy!

Gazpacho & Veggie Pico de Gallo

Since the last time I blogged, I've had some big changes in my life! I got a new job. Woohoo employment! I also moved BACK to Orlando and in with my good friend Brett aka BTW.

Brett & I!

We are having a blast living together, but we are pretty bad influences on each other, and usually end up eating a lot of junk (for example, yesterday we had pizza & breadsticks from Papa John's). So for the next few weeks, we decided to do a semi-detox and eat veggies and lots of raw foods. Tonight, we made Gazpacho in BTW's fancy blender, the Vitamix. It'll basically blend ANYTHING. It came with a cookbook, so we just used the recipe and added a few of our own twists.

Gazpacho
3 cups tomato juice
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled
1 green pepper, seeded
1 jalapeno (optional)
1 small onion
3-4 garlic cloves (or use to your taste if you like garlic!)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste

Basically, roughly chop all the veggies, put them all in the blender (or you can also use a food processor), blend until smooth and enjoy.

This took up our ENTIRE Vitamix, so you may have to do it in two batches if you have a smaller blender or food processor.

See how full it was?!

 You can blend it to as smooth or chunky as you'd like. And you can also let it set in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to let the flavors meld together. We also heated up some naan (Indian flatbread) in the oven to use to dip, but it's also delicious with crusty french bread. As a garnish, I whipped up a quick veggie pico de gallo.

Veggie Pico de Gallo
1 tomato, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded &minced
1/3 cucumber, seeded & chopped
1/4 green pepper, seeded & chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
handful of cilantro
olive oil
lime juice
red wine vinegar
salt to taste

Basically, chop everything up, just the way you like it, sprinkle in some olive oil, red wine vinegar and lime juice and mix. Add a little salt to taste. You could also add in some mango, apple or avocado, which would both be delicious. Just use your imagination, it's hard to go wrong with fresh ingredients.

Put this on top of your gazpacho to add a little crunch. We also added a little more hot sauce to taste to our own bowls to spice it up.

This is especially good in summer when the tomatoes are super fresh. Hope you enjoy!