There’s been a lot of hype over juicing recently.  ”Everyone’s doing it,” so it seems.  While I can get fresh juice pretty much on any corner here in Kuwait, I wanted to be able to have it in my own home, for a fraction of the cost.

Plus, I was so sick of being sick that I was determined that we would get a juicer to make us healthier.  And so far, I’m glad we got one!

There aren’t a ton of amazing options for juicers here in Kuwait, but I did find a reasonably priced one by Moulinex that seems to do the trick.  It juices up pretty much any fruit or vegetable I want and it’s easy to clean.  Perfect!

We’ve juiced carrots, cucumbers, apricots, mangos, lemons, peaches, apples, and oranges…lots and lots of oranges.

We’ve done various combos of all of the above, but the one we stick to on a daily basis is freshly squeezed orange juice.  Each week we buy enough oranges for the week and while Peter makes our oatmeal I get out the juicer and juice us up some fresh orange juice.

I seriously credit this incredible intake of vitamin C to our increased health in the last week or two.  We’ve probably each consumed 3-4 oranges each day with the juicing and I’m certain that it’s helped us not be so sick.

I haven’t got much more to say, but I would highly recommend getting your hands on a juicer and trying it out. I know we’ve really appreciated it!  And besides, wouldn’t you like to say “Would you like a fresh glass of juice?” to your guests?  I thought so.

I remember the first time I tried eating a fresh pomegranate in my own home.  We were newly married and we wanted to enjoy this delectable fruit at home, so we bought one and decided to slice it open and enjoy it!  Well, with the first slice deep fuschia juice spurted in every direction.

We realized we didn’t know how we were going to eat this without ruining our clothes, so we both did what seemed like the only solution: we stripped down to our underwear, put on aprons and stood directly over our sink attempting to keep the juice confined to the walls of our kitchen (you’re welcome for that visual).

Yah.  Not the most logical decision we’ve ever made.  But it makes for a pretty entertaining memory!

Since then we’ve refined our ways, and we actually know how to properly cut and eat a pomegranate while being fully clothed.  We’ve come a long way.

We were at a local market a few weeks back and I saw a large container of what appeared to be dried pomegranate arils.  I was so excited when I found out that my hunch was correct and I proceeded to purchase a container of them to experiment with at home!

I’ve had a fabulous time incorporating them into various baked goods as well as Moroccan-inspired dishes.  They’re so sweet and small.  I have a recipe coming up in a couple of weeks for you that includes dried pomegranate arils, so if you have access to any, get them!

I’ll definitely be buying more of them in the near future.

You know, living in another country means getting used to new packages on food, new labels, and reading things a little more carefully.

So a while ago I was at the grocery store, intending to pick up some whole wheat flour to have on hand for baking cookies, making pizza, etc.  I scanned the flour section of the aisle, and found this package.  Figuring I was good to go, I picked it up, dropped it in my cart and brought it home.

I don’t know why I didn’t feel the need to read the English side (you know, ’cause my Arabic isn’t exactly great…), but I guess I was just convinced by those beautiful wheat stocks on the front…

So I got it home, and when I turned it around, it said this:

Even still, I wasn’t too concerned because I figured they’d peeled the wheat before they ground it or something… naive?  Maybe.  But when I opened it up, this is what I saw:

Definitely not flour.

Oops?

So, needless to say, I now have a great door stop and I had to buy some actual whole wheat flour.  And yes, I was correct this time. It’s amazing what happens when you read the English.

I’m going to interrupt my updates on our trip to Quebec (Part 1, Part 2) with a rant on having a cold.

I’m seriously grateful that my cold didn’t surface until the day we were driving home from Quebec.  But seriously?  Being sick at all in the summer seems totally wrong.  It’s warm and sunny outside…and inside I feel warm and…cold?!  Gross.  Granted, I rarely get sick anymore…not like when I was younger and I was constantly battling strep throat or tonsillitis.  Both of which resulted in me having my tonsils removed at the age of 18.  Yah.  Super fun.  You want to know what’s even more fun?  Having them removed at 35 years old.  Yup, that was my brother.  We have awesome tonsil genes.

ANYWAY, I thought I’d share a couple of tips for those of you who might also be suffering a summer cold.

Wash your hands frequently.  It can’t be said enough.  Use soap and warm water and keep washing!  Oh, and apply some hand cream here and there, or your skin will totally dry up.

If you’re feeling up to it, get out of the house and at least walk around the block.  It’s warm enough that you don’t have to bundle up like when you get sick in the winter, so do a little trot around the block and get your legs moving.

You will inevitably have to blow your nose a gazillion trillion times (yes, that’s an accurate number).  If you’re fancy schmancy you might have those special aloe vera tissues.  But if you’re me, then what you’ll do is apply coconut oil to your nose here and there throughout the day.  It softens your skin keeping it nice and moisturized, but it also is naturally anti-bacterial so it’ll keep the germs at bay.

Get dressed.  I don’t care if you just put on clean pyjamas or new sweat pants, but at least get out of whatever you slept in.  You’ll feel slightly more human.  If you can, kick it up a notch and shower!

Drink clear liquids like they’re going out of style!  A concoction that I find particularly helpful when I have a sore throat or cough in conjunction with a cold is: 1 cup of hot water + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp. honey + 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.

Avoid dairy and meat.  This is hard for me because I love my dairy… But if possible, avoid them both as much as you can.  They both create extra mucus, and no one wants extra mucus…

Rest.  Luckily for me I’m unemployed right now so I don’t have any major commitments, so that means my number one priority is getting well.  This means I’ve had the occasional nap.  It’s especially helpful if you’re not sleeping all that well at night.  Just sleep when you can.  Your body will thank you!

Don’t eat sugar.  It’s not good for you on the best of days, but it’s especially bad for you when you’re sick.  It feeds off of those little germies inside of you and can actually make you more sick.  So lay off the chocolate bars and ice cream for a few days, k?

If you’re sick, get well soon!  And if you’re not, I’m infinitely jealous of you right now.

I love pinning recipes on pinterest, but I love testing them out even more!  I searched through my recipes the other day to see what was in there and I ended up finding two delicious recipes that we just loved!  I altered one a little to accommodate what we had on hand, but they were both so successful I wanted to share them with you guys!

Black Bean “Meatballs” with Lemon-Kale Pesto Sauce: Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen’s Lentil “Meatballs”

“Meatballs”:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
• 
1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. each sea salt and pepper
• 
2/3 cup breadcrumbs



Lemon Kale Pesto Sauce



• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup unsalted, slivered almonds
• 4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 
1 cup packed kale leaves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp. water

In a big bowl, using a hand masher, mash the black beans into mush. Add in the rest of the ingredients and let the mix sit for 20 minutes.

For the pesto sauce, put the garlic, almonds, lemon juice nd salt in a blender and run until smooth. Add in the kale and olive oil until you get a smooth, sauce-like consistency. Add water, oil or lemon juice to thin as desired. Stir in the parmesan and set aside. The sauce will keep covered in the fridge for about a week.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll the black bean mixture into balls and line them on a baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Remove to cool slightly. 
Serve with noodles and the lemon kale pesto sauce.

Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes: Adapted from Martha Stewart

• 1 large tomato, cored and halved crosswise (use the largest tomato you can find!)
• 1 tablespoons butter, divded and sliced thinly
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Sea salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Place tomato halves, cut side up, on a large rimmed baking sheet. Dividing evenly, top with butter and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Bake tomatoes until tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

This was a delicious meal, and we both remarked how it didn’t even feel meatless at all.  If you’re serving someone who really loves meat and is skeptical about going meatless, give this meal a try!!

For more recipes that I’ve pinned and tried, you can check out my “Successful Pinned Recipes” section on pinterest!

Some nights I feel like I’m not really “on fire” in the kitchen.  Like I’ve lost my “mo-jo” or something.  In those nights, I usually just attempt to combine what we’ve got on hand and make it work!  We’ve been doing a lot of that lately with our limited income and our random assortment of items in our kitchen.  But you know what?  Sometimes it just works out.

For example, we had access to tortillas, cheese, various veggies, and I’d cooked up chickpeas.  I mixed all that up, and did some sort of middle easternish enchilada thing.  It’s a strange fusion dish at best, but it was tasty and hearty.  A few spices can go a long way in making a dish yummy!

Then I wanted to make pizza.  But I didn’t have the typical ingredients.  But I could make a great dough, and we had more than enough cheese…so I went with it.  I roasted up veggies, fruits, and just piled them on high and hoped for the best!  It was hearty and yummy and just what I wanted!  Pizza is quite forgiving…you can pretty much make it whatever you want it to be.

Today’s lesson?  Don’t stress about making things perfect and following recipes all the time.  Stick with a type of food you know how to  do well (i.e. pasta, pizza, stir-fry, etc.) and just experiment within that.  You might surprise yourself!

When I lived at home growing up, it was pretty much a given that each Sunday we’d have a roast beef dinner.  Usually, early on Sunday morning, before we left for Church, my parents would be peeling potatoes and carrots in preparation to go with the roast.  It was such a comfort knowing what to expect each week.

But you know what was my favourite part?  The horseradish to dip my roast beef in.  Seriously.  I was that weird kid that LOVED it.  Occasionally though I’d get just a little bit too much and my nose would burn.  To which my dad would commonly respond with, “It’ll clear out your sinuses!”  To this day, I prefer to eat my roast beef with some horseradish on the side.  Perhaps it’s nostalgia, but I also think it’s delicious.

So you can imagine my delight when I was in a local European superstore last week faced with and entire row of various types of horseradish!!!  There were so many types – mild, strong, hot, spicy, and tons of flavours.  I knew that I didn’t really need horseradish, but I wanted some…and for $1.29 you can’t say “no”.

So in the end I picked up this cranberry horseradish.  I’m definitely stoked to give it a try!

The only question is: what will I have it with?  Should I just eat it plain?  Should I try it as a sandwich spread?  I need your ideas!  I need your help to break me out of my roast beef ‘n’ horseradish comfort zone.

What would you do with cranberry horseradish?