Under The Sea; Shellfish and the delicious truth!

            “Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of                         the Atlantic Ocean, and missing? That's the way the mind of man operates.” 

                                                   -Henry Louis Mencken

I blame Disney for first putting the fear into me of eating shellfish. I for the longest time didn’t want anything to do with crab or really anything from under the sea on the off-chance they could be one of Ariel’s crustacean companions. That fear though, soon went flying out the window with the first taste of a creamy Seafood Chowder at a local bar in my hometown when I was around 13 or 14, and even further out the window with my first bite of Lobster in butter sauce at a fancy restaurant on Long Island when I was 17. 

And then finally the connection to shellfish and bad cholesterol threatened to once again put a damper on my new found love for shrimp and mussels and all that yumminess, but I wasn’t about to be so easily deterred this time and after some research it was to be revealed that shellfish are in fact not a threat to high “bad” cholesterol in the blood (on the contrary, as recent studies showed, men who ate shellfish once a week significantly reduced risk of cardiac death) and they are full of important nutrients which we need for great health!

Firstly, and most importantly, 

• they are almost 
  as good a source of Omega-3’s as some oily fish. Omega 3’s are severely lacking in the typical western diet and are essential for heart health and well preventing just about every single disease in the human body!
• Shrimp and Lobster and Crab for example are very low in saturated fat (although you will know if you’ve read some of my earlier blogs, that I’m not very afraid of certain saturated fats),
• and shellfish in general are a great source of protein, iron, zinc and the healthy skin promoting B vitamins!

There are some things to be careful with when it comes to shellfish and how they are prepared and cooked, as they can be full of bacteria viruses and pollutants!

Always buy your shellfish as fresh as possible and from a reputable source.

Many shellfish are bought live and not killed until you cook them, or in the case of oysters, sometimes eaten raw. The shells of Oysters, Clams and Mussels should be tightly shut or should shut when lightly tapped.  Luckily for those of us who don’t want to kill our food before we eat it, we can also buy shellfish already frozen.

(I have never killed any kind of shellfish myself before eating it, and honestly I’m not too sure I could. I’m not cold hearted enough for those kind of kitchen antics, So I buy it fresh or frozen to avoid all the guilt.)

And anyway, I must say one of my favorite shellfish related foods are Crab Cakes!

I must say the best Crab Cakes I ever tasted are in a restaurant on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, although that is to be expected as the city is quite famous for their seafood!

NOTE: For those of you that sadly have a shellfish allergy, (like a wonderful actor friend of mine who is a great supporter of this blog ;) ) you can always substitute the crabmeat for salmon. Use a can of salmon instead and the recipe should taste just a good and you wont feel like you’re missing out!

But here is a recipe I like using coconut flour  (you can substitute almond flour instead if you prefer)

Gluten-Free Coconut Crab Cakes with Mango Avocado Salsa

1 can of good quality Crab Meat

¼ cup fresh diced green onions

¼ cup finely diced red bell pepper

¼ cup homemade mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Asian Fish Sauce

½ lemon juiced

1 large egg

1 teaspoon ground Cayenne pepper

1/3 cup coconut flour

1 cup desiccated coconut (halved)

Mix all of the above in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the other half of the desiccated coconut on your worktop and shape your crab mixture into round cakes and slightly roll and pat the crab cake in the desiccated coconut.

Using a little coconut oil heat a large skillet over medium heat. Carefuul place the crab cakes in the pan and fry until browned, turn them over carefully as they are quite delicate and fry on other side until golden brown. About 4 minutes.

Serve with this Mango Avocado Salsa that you would preferably make the night before and have refrigerated.

1 avocado diced up fine

1 mango diced fine

½ large red onion finely chopped

Zest of one lime

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 large tomatoes finely diced

Mix all ingredients well together and refrigerate overnight.

Serve with the warm crab cakes and Enjoy! Guilt free deliciousness!!

GUILT AND GLUTEN FREE COCONUT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES!

So I've been slacking on the blog updates lately, or rather the past few months, but I'm still in Ireland and I've been busy recording new music in the studio and it's taking most of my time!! But I felt inspired to write another blog to share with you all an amazing food that has introduced it's way into my kitchen!! 


It is Coconut flour. Yes flour made from coconuts. Well actually it's the meat of the coconut ground up into the consistency of flour and it can be used as a replacement of flour in a lot of baked goods.  And not only is it gluten-free (for all you gluten intolerant people out there) but it is also low GI due to it's high fibre content! Oh yeah, and it's delish!!


So I had this recipe for Coconut Chocolate Brownies saved on my phone since last ear but I had never got around to trying them. But recently I decided to give them a go and so I went on the hunt for coconut flour, which I luckily found in my local health store. Its Tiana Organic Coconut Flour and it cost me about 8 euro for a relatively small bag. The good thing about the coconut flour though is that you do not seem to use as much of it to make stuff as you would use normal flour, so that said, the price is not so bad!


Anyway, I took it home and tried the recipe which I modified and made into two sides of a cake which I sandwiched together with a little cream cheese and some strawberries!! Everyone devoured it within minutes ( as all you have to do in this house is say Gluten free and Low GI, and it's gone!) I must say it was absolutely unreal though. I love chocolate, but I've never been the biggest fan of chocolate cakes until now! The coconut flour gave the cake a rich moist almost moussey like texture and after one slice I was so full, (that's all the fibre).


The beauty with coconut flour is that it can be used to make so many delicious baked goods, even as a batter for crispy chicken!!  If you check out the Tiana website, they have a bunch of awesome recipes for you to try as well!!  Tiana Website 


I'll share my recipe with you as well just so you can try it!! You can also add nuts or berries or whatever you want to the batter to make it to your own taste.


And if you really want to be guilt-free eating this cake you can substitute the sugar for natural sweeteners like xylitol( which I used) or Stevia. 


GUILT FREE COCONUT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES


1 cup xylitol
3/4tsp Real salt
8 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
6 Organic eggs
1 cup coconut flour *sifted
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tsps vanilla flavoring
1 1/2 cups Organic butter or coconut oil
1 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Blend Butter and chocolate over low heat
• Mix Eggs Xylitol Salt and Coconut milk and flavoring together in a bowl.
• Stir in melted chocolate mixture and coconut flour until smooth.
• Grease your tin before pouring in mixture.
• Bake for 20 - 25 mins.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• Cut into brownie slices!!
• Enjoy

Definitely ELAA approved !! :) 

Out and about and what to eat: Part 1 ; At The Movies

Being an actress usually means taking the weekly trip to the movies for the love of our craft, and well just because it's fun. But when you’re an actress who has long associated the pleasures of movie going with the big box of buttery popcorn topped with peanut M&M’s, a new healthier eating lifestyle, presents a challenge.



There really is nothing I love more than the smell of popcorn at the movies and I’m confident that that is quite a shared adoration, the world over. But when you have changed over to only nourishing your body with real whole foods, although a wonderful undertaking, in the beginning, it presents problems in the social aspects of our lives. What can we eat at restaurants? What can we eat at the movies? What can we drink on a night out? What can we eat at our friend’s dinner party? Etc. We don’t want to lose the pleasures often derived from the combination of friends and food, and jeopardize the social aspects of our lives that are so often closely tied to the consumption of yummy things. That would be a boring, dull life and would probably cause your body more stress and damage than a lifetimes worth of all the fast food you can think of. So what is the solution?


Luckily there are many. But to start, today I want to focus on trips to the movies, as it’s something everyone likes to do pretty frequently and can be a very tempting time to gorge on bad foods which we know will bring you no closer to the health and body you desire.


So for example, I went to the movies this weekend and brought a long my own bag of treats I had concocted earlier in the day. I had made Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites, (see recipe below) that were, in the words of Ned Flanders “Scrum-diddily-upmtious”. And I brought a can of Knudsen Sparkling Essence (An all natural, refreshing drink my brother-in-law found in Whole Foods the other day, made with sparkling water and fruit essence.) And I enjoyed my movie experience just as much as any other time. And the bonus was, I left the theatre completely guilt free as opposed to my past feelings of “oh crap , I can’t believe I ate that whole large popcorn, bag of M&M’s and medium coke all to myself!”


So in the case of snack items, bringing along your own healthy treats to things like the movies is a step in the right direction and doesn’t eliminate any of the pleasures involved with the activity. Heck you can even pop your own popcorn at home (the natural kind) and pour some delicious real butter on top and bring it along in a food bag, (which is what my Mom would give my sisters and I when we were young as she didn’t want to pay the price for the expensive movie popcorn! I don’t blame her.) Making your own treats is better for your health and your pocket! Why spend almost $15 on unhealthy, processed, nutrient-less food that will just add to the unwanted pounds around your belly and booty? No thanks!


Here is a list of some examples of yummy treats you can easily hide and bring along in your purse to the movies, saving you pounds on your body and pounds in your pocket!


• Homemade desserts like the Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
• Trail mix (made with a mix of almonds, cashews, peanuts, whatever you like, some carob chips and dried fruit)
• Apple slices and natural peanut butter (you’ll want a little container for the peanut butter)
• Cheese cubes and cut up fruit like grapes or strawberries or pineapple.
• Some Greek Yoghurt with nuts and fruit already mixed in.
• A smoothie you made at home with any one combination of delicious ingredients (Peanut Butter ‘n’ Banana, Strawberry ‘n’ Banana, Very Berry smoothie etc.) that you can bring along in your chilled stainless steel flask.
• Natural sparkling drinks like the one I mentioned, Knudsen’s Sparkling Essence, which you can sweeten with a little pack of Stevia if you like you’re drinks sweeter.
• Coconut water (there are many awesome tasting coconut water drinks available at Whole foods and other health stores that contain just the yummy juice of the coconut)


The options are endless, you just have to be creative and seek out the healthy options. It may take a bit more work than handing over a crisp $20 bill to the kid behind the counter at the movie concession stand but it’s worth everything to your health and looks. You’ll be that much closer to looking as good as, or better than, the super hot actress in the movie you’re about to see!

So here to start you on your way to delicious healthy movie snacks is one of my own recipes


Chocolate, Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
(Makes 2 dozen bite size balls)


Ingredients
2 squares Ghirardelli’s 100%unsweetened dark chocolate
1 tbsp natural creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 large handful of unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp Virgin Coconut oil (melted)
6 dates (pits removed)
1 packet French Vanilla Stevia
Splash of Almond Milk (or regular milk or water for moisture)


Directions


MELT chocolate and stir in melted coconut oil and peanut butter, stirring until smooth and creamy.
STIR in Packet of French Vanilla Stevia to chocolate mixture.
PUT dates and coconut flakes in blender and POUR chocolate mixture over.
ADD in splash of Almond Milk.
BLEND ingredients together on high until sticky and paste like.
SCOOP out of blender and ROLL into small bite sized balls. (Mixture will be rather sticky upon removing them from blender)
You can put them in mini cupcake cases or just leave them on a plate.
REFRIGERATE for 30 minutes until hardened.

Delish!!