Bratwurst with Brussels Sprouts and Brown Rice

When the covid-19 pandemic started impacting the residents of Hawaii and the stay-at-home order was put in place, I was a lot more concerned about food than toilet paper.  I already had a lot of toilet paper at home because I had purchased a Costco pack back in late January, so I had enough to last me for at least 3 months, if not more.

In my mind, I thought I needed a lot of food that was shelf stable and would last me a long time because I wouldn't be able to get out of the house to get anything.  I purchased a lot of rice, bread, crackers, canned tuna and chicken, chips, cookies, and other assorted junk.  My body responded negatively to all the junk.  It was not pleased and made it clear by making all my clothes tight. 😢

Most of my posts are delayed.  I usually don't post pictures or videos on the same day that I made the dish because I need time to edit and make it look the way I want because I am a control freak and it needs to be the way I want it.  Sorry, not sorry.  Then sometimes I'll notice a typo or grammatical error and won't bother to correct it. 

With that being said,  this dish was made when I was eating rice.  I'm currently on a Whole 30 journey which eliminates grains, dairy, legumes, alcohol, and sugar.  I miss bread the most.  As of today (5/27/20), I'm on day 18/30, so I'm almost there.  I can do this!

Watch me prepare this.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables 

IG post of this video: Bratwurst w/ Brussels Sprouts and Brown Rice (sped up for IG)

YouTube post of this video: Bratwurst with Brusssels Sprouts and Brown Rice (full video with captions)

Cauliflower Rice

Stir fried cauliflower rice - dry, until slightly browned

I got a bunch of different vegetables and chopped them so up so they were ready to be cooked when I was ready to cook them.  A whole head of cauliflower was one of them.   While I was busy eating all of the other vegetables, the cauliflower started getting old.  I didn't want it to get wasted, so I chopped it up and froze it. In addition to that, I couldn't find any pre-made frozen cauliflower in the store at the time.  So this worked out great.

Chopped cauliflower is also known as cauliflower rice or riced cauliflower and is often used in place of rice when practicing a low carb diet or lifestyle.  It does not taste like rice or have the texture of rice.  It's still a vegetable.  It is a mind game you have to play with yourself.

The picture above is cauliflower rice, stir fried until slightly browned.  Nothing was added to it - no oils or seasoning.

Watch me make it.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Cauliflower rice (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Cauliflower Rice (full video with captions)

Baked Chicken and Tangy Cucumber Salad

 
I didn't have a rack to cook my chicken at the time.  But I didn't want my chicken to sit in the oil.  Internet search returned this brilliant idea of turning spoons upside down to create a rack.  This was perfect!  The oil dripped below and stayed separated from the oil during cooking.

My cucumbers were starting to get old and needed to get eaten.  This was a salad I'd never tried before.  It was okay.  Links to ideas and recipe below.

Original Tangy Cucumber Salad by Sheela Prakash at www.thekitchn.com
(I used dried parsley instead of chives because I didn't have any)
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-tangy-cucumber-salad-243623

Idea for spoon racks by Melanie Pinola at lifehacker.com
https://lifehacker.com/elevate-meat-with-spoons-if-you-dont-have-a-roasting-ra-1710878250/amp

Baked Chicken by Nicole Burdett at allrecipes.com
(I changed the spices up, but generally the same idea)
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235151/crispy-and-tender-baked-chicken-thighs/

Watch me prepare them.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Baked Chicken and Tangy Cucumber Salad (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Baked Chicken & Tangy Cucumber Salad (full video with captions)

Roasted Carrot Sticks

Since I moved to my new place and now have an oven,  I've been experimenting and comparing the differences with cooking in the oven versus the air fryer.  So far, the air fryer has been winning all the time.

The carrots in this post are roasted in the oven.   But I have actually been air frying them instead because it's faster and I favor the crisp texture.  This is just a basic recipe.  You can experiment and add a variety of different things like rosemary, thyme, or whatever you like.

Ingredients:

• Carrot sticks
• Avocado oil
• Garlic powder
• sprinkle of salt
• sprinkle of pepper
• sprinkle of dried parsley

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and shake in a closed container or rub together.
2. Roast in oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or airfry at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
3. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Roasted Carrot Sticks (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Roasted Carrot Sticks (full video with captions)

Tuna Celery Onion Salad

I bought a bunch of celery and cut up the outer stalks into sticks for snacks.  However, I don't particularly like the middle section of the celery stalks for this because they are lighter in color.  I know I'm being picky.  But it's my food and I'm preparing it, ha!

So that the center stalks didn't go to waste, I chopped them down in a food processor and mixed them into a tuna salad.  The ratio of celery to tuna is pretty big, but that was totally fine with me.  In addition to having it in a sandwich, I had some on the side with ranch dressing and some Suja green juice, which also includes celery juice in one of the pictures above.  I had it with a side of carrots in my video.  So, without further adieu, here's my recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 middle sections celery, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cans tuna, drained
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Chop celery and onions (in a food processor if you have one, it's much faster).
2. Drain tuna.
3. Mix with remaining ingredients.
4. Enjoy! 

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Tuna Celery Onion Salad (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Tuna Celery Onion Salad (full video with captions)

Carrot Sticks Snacks

I bought a giant bag of carrots from Sam's Club and planned to make carrot sticks for snacks and make stew or some kind of soup.  The soup never happened, but I had a lot of snacks, which was the main reason I got them in the first place.  I needed to choose better snacks and this is one of them.

Washing, peeling, and cutting up big carrots is tedious.  But I prefer the harder, crunchier texture of them over baby carrots.  Baby carrots are actually the carrot rejects that have been shredded down because they were deformed.  No offense to the carrot rejects, but the baby carrots are softer and seem to always be really wet and get slimy if kept too long.  They're great for convenience, if that's what you need.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Carrot Sticks Snacks (sped up for IG)

YouTube post of this video: Carrot Sticks Snacks (full video with captions)

Chickpea, Corn, Cucumber, Tomato Salad

I made a variation of a chickpea salad before.  Here's the link to the previous one I made: https://www.abundanceofvegetables.com/2020/02/chickpea-veggie-salad.html

Here's the recipe for the salad pictured above.  It's slightly different.

Ingredients:

• 3 baby cucumbers, chopped
• 7 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 can chickpeas, drained (garbonzo beans)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1/4 c avocado oil
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 heaping spoonful preserved minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as described above. (chop, cut, drain)
2. Combine all ingredients and toss well.
3. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Chickpea, Corn, Cucumber, Tomato Salad (sped up for IG)

YouTube post of this video: Chickpea, Corn, Cucumber, Tomato Salad (full video with captions)