Otaku EATS

A helpful blog for the healthy nerd!

[otakueats]

Food Hacks: Low-Sodium Blini!

While I bang my head some weeks to try something new, my S/O made me something that I would have never thought of even being remotely easy to do: Blini! The light and fluffy crepe/ pancake that I loved as a treat when spending the night at a friends house.

With a little tweaking, this recipe can be had for the sodium-lite lifestyle I try to live as  well as be either a great breakfast item or a rich desert! ----

What You Need:

2 eggs

2 cups of milk

1 Tbs sugar

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 Tbs  oil

-Optional-

Unsalted Butter

----

How It's Done: Take your mixing bowl and combine all of your ingredients, adding flour last  and only in small increments.  Once you have added it all and the batter is nice, smooth and runny? Let it rest for about 10 – 15 minutes

In your skillet or pan, add your butter or oil and season your pan well, keep the heat at a steady medium   and add your batter to the size of blini you would like.

When the blini begins to bubble and the bottom is golden brown, flip  and let the other side cook. The First side should take no longer than 2 minutes while the other should only take, at most, 1 minute.

Rinse and repeat steps 2 -3 till you are satisfied or until the batter is no more! ---- I  can not tell you how much I love blini. This little flour treat is so versatile that even the examples I have given don't describe how much you can do with this recipe! So Give it a try and start experimenting! (A/N: inaccurate but a great example of me when it comes to blini ) 

[otakueats]

Food Hacks And Cooking Basics: Oven Cooked Chicken Breast For Beginners

I received a message recently telling me that my recipes were too complex for the basic college student and that they wanted something far more simple.

At first I'll admit this caught me off guard as I like to  make my recipes as simple and as easy to follow as possible, but I never thought about the perspective of someone who's never seen a kitchen from the business end or operated an oven before. So every once and a while , I wanna try to go back and  try to give basic tutorials on how to prepare some basic foods. With that out of the way, let's start simple with an easy chicken breast!

----

What You Need: 1 chicken breast

oil

1 Teaspoon pepper

1 Tsp onion powder

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

OPTIONAL

1 Tsp turmeric

1 Tsp oregano

1 Tsp basil

---- How It's Done: First, heat your oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit. While it heats, wash your chicken thoroughly When the oven is  fully heated , take your pan and place some aluminum foil or parchment paper (Warning : do not substitute wax paper for parchment paper as the wax potentially can melt and ignite in your oven)   and place it in the bottom of the pan.  Place your washed chicken onto the sheet and add your oil. You want to  give the chciken a light  coating  as the fat will  do the rest of the cooking here .

Add your seasonings of choice before folding the sheet over and making a sealed bag  of sorts. You want it so that nothing  can easily escape the confines of the seal .

Place the bag in the pan once more and add the contents to the oven. Wait 35 minutes before enjoying!

---- A quick note here : The bare minimum poultry of any form can be considered safe to eat by FDA standards  is an internal temperature of 165° F (74° C). If you have a thermometer and think you under cooked your meat?  Give it a check and see, it never hurts to be safe out there! This simple recipe is the backbone of many recipes and an easy way to make a few meals for yourself. Pair it with rice or chop it up with a salad, the skies the limit for this recipe!

[otakueats]

Food Hacks: Low- Sodium Stuffed Bell Peppers

Woo! with Anime Central finished I can finally get back to posting these once a week! It was a blast and a half and I am totally drained from this last weekend, but let’s get back into the swing of things with an excellent recipe! Recently, I asked a rather close friend to give me a random dish she would like to see converted into a low sodium variant and she suggested Stuffed bell peppers. The funny part about this is how simple a recipe can look but take such a long time to really make!  It's actually surprising how things like this work, but the prize is always at the end of the tunnel as they say, so let's make this thing!

---- What You Need:

4 bell peppers

1 lb 90/10 lean ground beef

1 onion , minced

½ cup jasmine rice

2 cups no salt added tomato sauce

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp basil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp pepper ----

How It's Made:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While this is happening, cook your rice as if normal and in a skillet over medium heat, brown your beef with the onion and garlic. By the end the onion should be translucent.

Remember to wash your bell peppers! Cut the tops off and remove the seed s and membrane. Set them on a tray with some wax paper underneath.

When everything is finished cooking, grab a mixing bowl and mix everything (minus the peppers of course ) together, spoon the contents evenly into each pepper till they are filled before putting them in the oven for an hour  or until the peppers are tender.

Take them out and enjoy! ----

The benefits of this recipe are that , no matter how you twist it, it is a rather healthy meal , all packaged in one convenient  package! But make sure to eat this with a healthy salad or a side this to balance it all !

[otakueats]

Food Hacks: How To Survive On A Diet At An Anime Convention

So with only a few weeks away to Anime Central, one of my favorite conventions, I  have been working like mad to get ready and, in my time running around like a chicken with his head cut off, A friend asked me how I was even going to survive at the convention without the ability to cook for myself. Now, there are lists out there of restaurants with low- sodium options but I'm more of a home cooked meal type of person if you have been keeping up with my blog. So today, I'm going to give my tips on how to survive a convention on a diet, or even in general if you wish. 

Let it be known that I am not a master of this art and this will not teach you how to turn an iron and coffee maker into a skillet and a boiling pot ( I highly suggest if it’s not yours to not use it like it was ) what I will be telling you is how to pack and prepare for the future.

Before I begin, always remember to be courteous to hotel staff and make sure to not leave your rooms like a hurricane went through them! I can not tell you how many horror stories I have gone through thanks to immature roommates or  even worse, the ones I have heard going wild in other rooms. Make sure you treat your hotel room like your home for that is what it is for the weekend.

With the PSA out of the way, the first thing I should suggest is investing in some essentials. A cooler and a microwave are your best friends and tend to run cheap. If you intend to do several conventions that require little flying then these essentials are going to be life savers in the long run .  These tools keep cold foods and drinks cool ( which makes it easier if your hotel has an ice machine handy ) and warms up your portions so that hot meals are not that far off. This will also save you money in the long run as delivery tends to be increased slightly during convention season. 40- 50 dollars now is 100 saved later.

Cooking at home and bringing it with your is a bit on the weight that you  will be carrying to the hotel, but will be worth it when you have less to worry about at con.  

For those who want to actually cook on site, a three pot slow cooker is your best bet as it allows you to cook your meals at a steady pace, but also  do not produce smoke if you cook correctly. I can assure you  that nothing beats a hot meal after a long day of having fun!

What you should NOT get is anything with an open flame or anything that has the chance of creating smoke. You risk not only causing damage , but also having yourself kicked out of the hotel and being charged ludicrous amounts of  money on top of your bill. Another word of caution though ,  do not forget a slow cooker is on as it is liable to start a  fire, so please cook responsibly

Now for the recipes. If you follow the recipes I have posted here, most can easily be done in a slow cooker and all cook at relatively respectable times, allowing you to set a timer and return when needed.

Aside from a slow cooker, a travel blender or a rice cooker will give you versatility and allows you to cook like you never left your kitchen!

[otakueats]

Food hacks: Healthy Veggie Breakfast!

So in my journey to finding better, healthier alternatives to living while still looking to retain excellent flavor, I happened to stumble back to one of my emergency meals in my college days when it was the end of the month and I was running low on funds, or in general because I was in college and money was a myth that was told to freshman to give them hope.

Now, the other benefit of this meal is that it is rather easy to do and takes little to no time to make at all! Adding the crazy healthy benefits that is packed in and you have a great reason to start your day with this!

---- What You Need: 4 potatoes

1 onion

1 carrot

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp basil

½ tsp oregano

olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

----

How It's Done:

First, chop your potatoes, how you want to is entirely up to you but the smaller you cut, the faster the potatoes cook.

Oil your skillet and set it to medium heat, then add your potatoes. Cover the skillet with a lid for now.

Next, chop up your onion into small bits. Again, the same as potatoes goes for onion as well, though I would suggest edge towards smaller less you want huge onion chunks.

When you have finished chopping the onion, add it to the skillet and  stir  the onions in so that most are now under the potatoes before returning the lid.

take your carrots and, with a  grater, grate it  before adding it in as well. Add your butter onto this before mixing it in well.

Add your mix of spices and seasonings here  and stir them in before   returning the lid.

From here you keep repeating the steps of stirring,  and resting every five minutes or so until it's done. When the potatoes are so soft that you can cut them or smash them with a fork. Simply remove the  delicious mixture and enjoy!!! ---- I honestly love this recipe and how much you can truly do with it. Pair it with a medium rare eye of  round steak if you want to add some meat, or add some squash to the mixture to keep with the veggie only theme, top it with some home made bbq sauce for some kick or just add some ancho chili powder  to really bring flavor!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Marmalmaide’s Marlamade!

So For this part of the Madolche challenge was a bit of a doozy as originally , I thought I could easily make marmalade the same way I do with Strawberry jam as seen 'here' ( !) however, Oranges , especially marmalade, takes a few extra touches to get just right .

If you want to try this recipe , I highly suggest you boil your storage unit of choice carefully and avoid plastic if able. In my experience , glass is the best go to material to store preserves for a long period of time. ---- What You Need:

5 large oranges

1 lemon

6 cups of water

4 pounds of sugar

----

How It's done:

First, wash your fruits thoroughly before  cutting your oranges into thin  slices, taking out the seeds as you go.

When you finish, stack your slices and cut them into quarters. It is not as important , but it does help the process go much smoother and faster. Place your oranges into a pot along with juice and zest from your lemon before adding water and setting it to boil.

Once the mixture has boiled for about 10- 15 minutes, bring it to a simmer and let it cook for 50 minutes. The fruit should be rather soft by this point. Bring the water to boil once more before adding the sugar. From here, you can either break out your candy thermometer and monitor  the temperature until it reaches 223 degrees Fahrenheit ( or 107 Celsius) , or watch the color and wait for it to darken in color. If it smells like you are caramelizing the sugar however? May have gone too far. Either way, 15-20 minute should work here.

Once you are done, simply place the marmalade in it's jars and let them cool for about 10 minutes before enjoying! ---- The thing I've learned making this is that all of the sweets Madolches are based on complement each other in some way or another. Marmalade on some hot cakes with tea is nothing but a wonderful combination in the mornings, and a great way to wake up!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Low-Sodium Barbecue sauce

With summer coming fast, barbecuing is imminent and the need for a low-sodium sauce is something

we could all use. Now , in a normal store , your options are rather limited, if not impossible to find anything under 200 mg, however, that does not mean there are no options available. If you are not hurting on time, visiting and ordering online if you can find the right place is not a bad choice, but if you want , taking the time to make your own is not only a great experience to customize and experiment with taste, but a bit more personal , especially if you're the one cooking everything! Now, the recipe below is the one I personally use a lot (sometimes not even on meat! ) but if you wish to mix it up with your own style? Go right ahead!

----

What you need:

1 cup no-salt added ketchup

1 cup no-salt added tomato sauce

2/3rd cup of brown sugar

1/4th cup of apple cider vinegar with mother

1/4th cup molasses

2 Tsp liquid smoke ( I should note that there are a few different types of liquid smoke out there and each type has a different sodium count. The one I use (Colgin natural mesquite liquid smoke ) has an excellent 0mg's versus  the same brands natural hickory has 10 mgs of sodium  per tsp. Read your labels wisely ) 1/4th Tsp garlic powder

1/4th Tsp Onion powder

1/4th Tsp Chili powder

1/4th Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

---- How It's done:

Place everything into a sauce pan and  , over medium heat , take a whisk and stir it all together.

Once it gets hot and starts bubbling, lower your temperature so your sauce comes to a simmer . Let it simmer this way for about 20 minutes before you move it from the stove. During this time, take a few taste test, to see if you want to add  anything extra!

Store it in a glass container when finished and enjoy!

---- One of the things I love summer time for, aside from just warm weather, is outdoor cooking.

Be it on the beach, in your own backyard, or even camping , outdoor cooking is something I suggest everyone try at least once!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Baaple's Low-Sodium Maple Syrup!

Last Week, we covered the basic recipe of how to make pancakes but, like many people, I love maple syrup on my golden discs of deliciousness

So, for this week, for my Madolche food challenge, we will be covering the sweet and cuddly Madolche Baaple's recipe for maple syrup!

Now I know what you're thinking “why make syrup when we can buy it? “  right? Name brand syrups tend to add too much unnecessary additives for flavor plus, at the end of the day, making your own is not only better tasting, but you can tweak to your personal preference in flavor!

----

What You Need:

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Maple extract

1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

----

How It's Done!:

This recipe is as simple as it gets;

before heating, combine your sugars and water into a pot and bring them to a boil while stirring occasionally

For a thicker syrup , add 2 cups of brown sugar instead of 1 , but for a smoother taste, add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter while syrup is boiling

reduce the heat to medium-low and add your maple and vanilla extract . Let it simmer for about 3 minutes before removing from heat .

From here you can serve  warm or store and refrigerate a serving dish to enjoy for another day!  

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Candied Lemon Peels

When I first watched Kill La Kill, I was floored by the premise, animation , and music. The thing that floored me the most, of all things, was in the first episode our main character took a bite out of a lemon like it was an apple. At first I was shocked, thinking that's not a thing people do, and after trying it, I can tell you now without a shadow of a doubt that it is totally, positively , a bad  idea. Never , ever try to eat a lemon like an apple. Instead of trying to be like Ryuko, why not turn its usually useless peel into a tasty treat ?

----

What You Need:

3-4 lemons

2-3 cups white sugar

8+ cups of cold water

----

How It's Done:

First things first is cut your lemon into four quarters length wise and peel away the pulp. Be sure to take a spoon and scrape away the fibrous bits of the inner peel.

Chop the now clean peels into thin strips and add them into a pot or saucepan. Cover them with cold water and bring them to a boil.

After about a minute of boiling, grab a colander and  strain the peels. Once they are free of the water return  the peels back to the pot and  repeat boiling and straining two more times. This removes the bitterness from the peel  with each boil session.

After you have finished, set aside your peels and add about 4 cups of water back into the  pot. Next, add your sugar and stir while the water heats. Be sure to save 1/4th cup of sugar for later!

When the sugar is fully dissolved, Return the peels back into their bath and bring it to a boil.

Let the peels boil for another minute before lowering the temperature to a low simmer. Let it stay this way for 1.5 hours and stir occasionally. You want them to be transparent and easy to bite through. If they are still bitter? Then you have not cooked them long enough.

From here, drain the peels. A habit I have is keeping the syrup in a jar for other uses and flavoring different drinks. Completely optional , but hey! May as well get two recipes in one right?

When you have drained your peels, grab some parchment paper and a baking sheet and spread out your  peels to cool. Wait about 20 minutes to until they become tacky to the touch.

Take a bowl and fill it with your ¼th cup of sugar and dip your peels in until they are fully coated. If you do not wish to do this step, simply let them dry in a safe place overnight on parchment paper and you are done!

If you chose to dust them in sugar, return them to their parchment paper and let them dry for 3 hours before consuming!

---- I personally loved making these as they are a great way to use your excess lemon peels after making lemonade that is rich in vitamin C, and lets me eat a part of a lemon I would not have ever even conceived before! Plus with the extra syrup , you can have a supply of lemon-syrup for tea, cocktails flavoring water and more!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks! Hootcakes' Low-Sodium Hot Cakes

One of the trickiest things to deal with when trying to live a healthier lifestyle is giving up certain foods or going out to eat as often as one would like. Pancakes, depending on if you get a pre-mixed box or if you go out to eat, tend to be unreasonable in their salt content and unnecessary additives  

This week, as part of my personal Madolche food challenge line, we will be going for a simple, yet sometimes overlooked recipe of the humble pancake!

----

What You Need: 3 Teaspoons of Low-sodium Baking powder ( I use Rumfords reduced sodium baking powder as it has the lowest sodium , 35 mg every 1/8th of a tablespoon to be exact , that I could find) 1 Tablespoon white sugar

1 1/4th cups of 1% milk

1 egg

3 Tablespoons of melted, unsalted butter

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

----

How It's Done:

First off, the secret to a great pancake I have learned is never dump everything into one bowl and just stir away. Mix your wet and dry ingredients  separately. Only when the two are mixed separately should you mix them together by slowly adding the wet to the dry.

Once the batter is well mixed, let it rest while you heat your  skillet and coat the bottom with oil to help prevent sticking.

Pour onto the skillet, about ¼ a cup of batter and let it cook until the bottom is browning and bubbles are forming on the edges.

Flip and repeat the process which ,if done correctly, can be done for two minutes on each side.

From here, set up your stack and enjoy!

----

One thing I can not stress enough that , in order for this recipe to work, you must watch how much baking powder you are using. The best results I achieved came in at about 100mg of sodium per pancake out of a batch of 12 but I do believe you can get them lower depending on the size of each one. Try this recipe out for yourself! Add some honey, jam, unsalted butter or molasses to the mix. While most store syrups are out of the question, I may have a solution for that coming up...next time! Stay tuned!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Strawberry Jam!

If you have watched anime over the years, especially in the 90′s to early 2000′s, running late with toast in your mouth is so common of a trope, I can almost promise you’re imagining X anime girl running late, a piece of fluffy shokupan  gripped between her teeth as she makes a mad dash to school and possibly crashing into Y protagonist . Whats even more common, though usually unnoticed , is what is on said toast. Sometimes it’s just butter , maybe honey, or even a fried egg, but the one that stands out the most to me is strawberry jam!

Now, you can easily grab some jam at your grocery store, but where's the fun in that? With this recipe, you not only can control what goes into your jam, but  you can alter the flavor however you see fit and have a taste that suits you!

----

What You Need

2 lbs fresh strawberries

3 lemons

4cups white sugar

----

How It's Done! wash and cut the tops off of your strawberries

juice your three lemons and set the juice aside

crush berries with masher until you have 4 cups  

mix the combination in a large pot with 4 cups of white sugar

turn your stove on low and cook it over low heat , stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves.

From here, turn your stove to high and keep stirring till it is boiling

At this point, you have to be careful,watch your  jam and keep stirring till your jam can leave a thick coat the back of your spoon. If you have a thermometer, 220 degrees Farenheit is usually your goal temperature

when you have reached your perfect consistency, take some storage containers (preferably glass) and pour it in, leaving about half an inch of space in the jar.

Let it cool down  to room temp before enjoying!

----

A quick note about storage of jam; while you can put it in a plastic container, I would highly suggest putting it into a hermetically sealed glass jar that has been thoroughly sterilized via boiling. Not only will your jam last much longer due to no nasty bacteria that can potentially invade your tasty mix, but n my experiments with canning, glass jars tend to hold up a lot better in the long run!

[otakueats]

Anime Food hacks: Magileine's Low-Sodium Madeline's

Yu-gi-oh!  One of the “big 3” of the TCG world and a rather well known anime. While I love this series, as well as the card game, It was almost difficult to find a way to cook something from this series as it rarely has moments that focus on food....until Madolches appeared.

Bringing together a perfect harmony of food and puns, I have decided to challenge myself and make as many of the inspirations behind this archetype as possible! Starting with Madolche Magileine's madeline's!

What You Need: 2 large eggs

2/3 cup of sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon grated  lemon peel

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 ¼ sticks of unsalted butter , melted and  slightly cooled 1 Madeline mold baking pan (note: only if you want a genuine madeline look, this  recipe can also work with a muffin pan rather well ) ----

How It's Done: First, preheat oven to 375°F While this happens, butter and flour your pan for the madeleines with either a whisk or electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl until the mixture is blended well when you have a well blended mix, beat in vanilla, lemon peel, butter and flour, beating well until blended Either spoon  a tablespoon of your batter into each indentation of your pan or  fill your muffin tin

set your pan into into the oven and bake until puffed and brown , which should be about 10 to 16 minutes Let it cool for about 5 minutes  before  gently removing from the pan, dusting the tasty cookies with sugar ( or powdered sugar if available ) before enjoying!

---- These treats are best enjoyed with a tea of personal choice for breakfast with coffee, the bitter complimented by the sweet. The batter can also be made  a day or so before creating and can survive for about a week before going bad, so make some for a treat, tea time, or even an addition to your breakfast!

[otakueats]

Epic Recipe Time! One-Pan Balsamic Tomato Chicken With Broccoli

Today recipe, while not an anime hack, is something I have been experimenting with on and off for quite some time and, after stumbling on this awesome result, I can easily say that this dish is too delicious not to share with you all!

----

What you need:

1 chicken breast

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup grape seed oil

2 tomatoes

broccoli

black pepper

1 tablespoon honey

---- How It's Done:

First off let's make our vinaigrette! In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons oil, honey, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper until combined. Set aside for now. Next, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat remaining oil. Add chicken, season with pepper, and sear until golden with about 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside underneath a some aluminum foil to retain heat.

Once done, in your still hot pan, add broccoli  and tomatoes, season with more pepper, and cook until tomatoes are melted into a nice sauce, which should take about  5 minutes or so. From here, move your veggies to one side, then add the chicken back and pour in your vinaigrette. Toss veggies and chicken slightly until chicken is fully cooked through and the vinaigrette has thickened to your liking. Once done, turn your heat to low and add your delicious mix to a plate, serve and enjoy !

---- Always Remember, sometimes the best recipes you won’t find online, but the ones you come up with yourself!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Outdoor Cooking With The Swedish Torch

After watching The Ancient Magus Bride, I was brought back to my youth when a character commonly uses a Swedish torch to cook soup. So, today's post is not a 'food hack' per se, but I honestly believe that this is a skill everyone should learn, be it for camping, a beach cookout (if they allow it, always check and see ) or even in your backyard in place of a fire pit! This technique is always useful!

What You Need:

1 log* (Quick tip: Always keep about 2-3 logs on you just in case you mess up! )

kindling

1 axe

How It's done:

before we begin, make a hole big enough to set your log in to avoid tipping over. Another quick tip is do not get discouraged if you split your log! It happens and not all logs are created equal and that split log simply gives you more material to work with  in a different way.

First, take your log  and set it so that it is standing tall (try to keep the flattest side up as your burning end)  and cut slots into your log . Try to get it your slots about ¾th the way down if you  can and keep your slots even. About 8 slots should do it on a large log but don't be shy to use less. The deeper your slots, the longer it will burn and the more slots means the hotter it will burn.

Next, press your kindling inside the top of each of your slots. Do not stuff them filled to the bottom as your fire needs to breathe

Now, Light your fire and  let it grow before placing your pot down!

From here , you can cook away!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Low-Sodium Queso

So with the Olympics, my attention has been directed to some of my favorite sports and events (I love Curling and I have no shame to admit it) so I have to have a spread in front of me so , aside from a few recipes I have shared (among two I have not ) I believe it's the perfect time to break out my favorite queso recipe! With Queso, the general basics come from it's roux ( as we learned in making swiss mac ) so from there, you can go wild with how you want to make it! So without further delay, let's do this! ---- What You Need:

3 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter

1/3 rd cup of Melted Butter (keep this separate for later

¾ cup of Milk ¼ tsp Tumeric

¼ tsp Paprika

¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 cup of Low-sodium Greek Yogurt

2 oz grated Swiss Cheese 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

½ tsp black pepper

----

How It's Done

First, take 2 tablespoons of your butter and melt it in on the stove at low heat

Next, add your turmeric, paprika and cayenne pepper along with the flour and a single tablespoon of butter.

Cook this mix for 2 minutes before adding ½ of your yogurt in , along with your lemon juice, and cheese. Mix in your milk and milked butter  as well while slowly adding the remainder of your yogurt until you get a velvety texture to your sauce.

From here, pour your mixture into a blender, add your oil and set it to pulse. When done, add your pepper to your preference!

----

from here , you can store it in a jar  or serve it as needed. Simply refrigerating and reheating it will let it keep for a few weeks!

An added feature is you can tune the flavor however you please. Want an extra kick? Add jalapenos or your favorite spice to the mix? Onions and tomatoes?  Simmer them when you add your turmeric and they will blend perfectly to the queso!  Want to use heavy cream? Swap out the milk and second helping of melted butter and go for it! The sky's the limit with the creativity that can be done with this dip!

[otakueats]

Food Hacks: Low Sodium Mozzarella Sticks

So around the beginning of this journey for healthier recipes, while researching for the low sodium recipe for pizza, a good friend passed along a great recipe for  mozzarella sticks that I have to share !  Not only does it cut out the massive amount of sodium  (which tends to be around , if not higher than, 600mg per 3 pieces) but lower carbs as well!

What You Need:

8 oz block Mozzarella Cheese (warning: check your labels as not all mozzeralla is created equal! )

⅛ Cup Bread Flour

1 egg

1 Tbsp  1% Milk

½ Cup Bread Crumbs

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground basil

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp oregano

How It's Done

Cut the block of cheese in half, then cut into 12 equal planks (4 blocks long-ways, then 3 planks per block).

Begin by placing your flour into a bowl but add your milk and egg into another. Add your breadcrumbs and seasoning to a plate close by.

Roll each cheese plank first in flour, then dredge them within the egg mixture. When they are properly coated , only then cover with breading.

Place your now breaded cheese sticks on the plate and put them uncovered in the freezer for about a half an hour

Once you have this done, pre-heat your oven to 425

When your sticks are ready, pull them from the freezer and put them on a non-stick pan and lightly coat  each one in olive oil

Bake them for about 13 minutes and let them cool for  5 before enjoying!

If you follow the Pizza recipe from before and have some leftover sauce, you can heat that up and have a low sodium dipping sauce as well!

[otakueats]

Anime Hacks: Low Sodium Pizza?!

It's time to finally do the most requested recipe I have ever been asked to do: Pizza!

I can not find a single person I have ever met that does not love pizza and it was a staple of my diet growing up and was part of my weekly diet in college (whether I liked it or not ). If there was a food I missed the most when I was diagnosed, it was pizza. Well, today my friends, I can say with my head held high that I have found a way to make this most coveted dish not only healthy, but versatile to anyone's diet as well!

What You Need

For this, I am going to break the process down in parts, as this is a rather long process-

For the Crust:

1 cup warm water between 100 and 110°F 1 packet of active dry yeast  (or 2 ¼ teaspoons if you are using a larger container )

½ tsp sugar

3 TBS olive oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

For The Sauce:

1 14oz can of no-salt added tomato sauce

1 14oz can of  no-salt added diced tomatoes

10 Cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

1 Tbs pepper

1Tbs Basil

1 tsp onion powder

For The Toppings :

This part is entirely up to you, but do  avoid high – sodium foods such as pepperoni, ham , olives etc. Instead , fresh vegetables, ground turkey, chicken, fruits and lean beef. The majority of the sodium will come from the toppings  so be careful and read labels carefully.

As for cheeses, look for the lowest options available and try to limit yourself to 1-2 cups of shredded. Your best options are Swiss, Parmesan , fresh Mozzarella or Monterrey Jack

How It's Done:

For The Crust:

Take your hot water and add the sugar with the yeast and stir slowly. Within five minutes , the water should become foamy, letting you know that the water was either hot enough or that the yeast is good.

If you have access to one, it would be wise to use a food thermometer to get the most accurate reading

Next, stir in your oil and 2 cups flour in a large bowl, stirring in the yeast mixture as you go.

Add the third cup of flour and then stir until you can’t anymore. Once you get to this point, use your hands to work the dough into a large ball which should be slightly sticky in texture.

In a large enough container,  rub the inner surface down with oil before adding your dough ball inside.   Cover the ball in a tablespoon of oil  and cover the bowl for about 2 hours Remove the dough ball from its bowl once the oil is fully saturated and twice the size of the original ball and remove however much you will need for the cooking method you desire.

Crimp the crust around the edges to hold your toppings

Poke some holes in the crust   before setting it in your oven at 450 – 500 degrees for about 10 minutes  

For The Sauce:

Add all the ingredients into the blender  and set it to puree. If you prefer a thicker sauce, , drain the can of diced tomatoes prior to adding them. Once everything is well blended, pour it into an air-tight container and refrigerate it until use (it should hold for an entire week less you freeze it )

The Final Step! For The Pizza:

Take your crust out of the oven and apply a healthy helping of pizza sauce over the crust by the spoonful.

Add your toppings and try to spread them evenly about the pizza

Next, if you are adding cheese, sprinkle it on top and try to cover everything.

Finally, place your pizza in the oven at 450 - 500 degrees for 20 minutes. The cheese should be a nice golden brown by time you are done. From here simply cut and enjoy!  

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This recipe I have been experimenting with for quite some time  and was the very first thing anyone ever requested I put together for this project. It actually surprised me how many people like myself were looking for ways to find a healthier way of life and I can not stress enough how thankful I am to all of my friends who helped me work this recipe out and experiment with different methods that, in the end, came out not only delicious but also healthy! So from the bottom of my heart , I want to say thank you to everyone, and keep pushing forward for a healthier tomorrow.