Level 7 Culture

Welcome to Level 7 - Your resource for elevated health, nutrition, and fitness. So please share and enjoy . . .

Sprouted Chipotle Hummus

I love hummus and spicy food, so hey why not get the best of both worlds. Try my sprouted chipotle hummus it is sooooo good, and yes it tastes great in your veggie and egg morning scramble, tacos, chip dip and of course veggie dip . . . Enjoy!

Step 1: measure out 1 cup of dry chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) and sprout.

Step 2: after beans have sprouted . . .

4 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons coriander

2 cloves garlic

3 each, juice of limes

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 adobo chilies

2 teaspoons of adobo chili sauce

Add all above ingredients in Vita Mix and blend. Slowly add sprouted beans to blend into hummus consistency.

*Adobo chili's can easily be adjusted to your desired level of heat.

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

As I mentioned before never never throw out your extra herbs, well the same goes for vegetables too! My mom gave me a bag of the sweet tri-colored peppers that were about to spoil, now I love peppers but I can only consume so much in a day and these babies were about to expire. No fear when in doubt throw it in a food processor and call it pesto!

Step 1 roast the peppers. Place peppers on broiler pan into oven preheated to Broil Lo setting. Once they start to char flip them over. When pepper are slightly blackened and the skin looks wrinkly remove from the oven.

At this point put them directly into a thin plastic bag (not a ziploc it is too thick), one that is thin and cheap and tie it in a knot. This allows the peppers to steam and helps the skin to separate from the meat.

Step 2 let the bag sit for about 10 minutes.

Step 3 remove the peppers from the bag (caution they will still be warm) and peel the outer skin off and discard, some places are more stubborn than others. Just do the best you can to remove the majority of the skin.

Step 4 pat yourself on the back because now you can roast any and kind of pepper.

*Do not wash the seeds from the any peppers with water. Some people use water but I learned that basically strips away the flavor. So if you want the seeds removed open the pepper when it has cooled and just use your hand to slide them out. I only remove the seeds from bell peppers and poblanos.

Now for the easy part:

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 cup packed fresh basil

1 1/2 cups roasted peppers

*(I used about 1/2 cup sweet peppers and 1 cup red bell peppers)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 clove garlic

Put all ingredients in food processor and process to pesto consistency.

*I saved the extra juice from the roasted peppers, add this in at the end to get the desired consistency.

This was soooo yummy on my Udi's gluten free pizza crust piled high with veggies. I also used it in lasagna and for a sandwich spread. Oh yes and I just ate a spoonful here and there because it was that good!

Spicy Pesto

This is a recipe I found from Giada De Laurentiis, however I changed it slightly. This pesto can be used on pizza, noodles, eggs, or as a smear on a sandwich. Make one batch and freeze individual servings and remember a little bit of pesto goes a long way . . .

3 oz. Baby spinach

3 oz. Arugula

1 Cup Walnuts

1 Jalapeno pepper

1/4 Cup Cold pressed olive oil

2 Garlic cloves

1 tsp. Kosher salt

*Remember always choose organic ingredients when possible.

Add all ingredients into food processor and blend to pesto consistency, that's it!

Get Sauced

After having Sidney, my first (4 years ago) I went to a fitness/nutrition coach to help me loose my pregnancy weight. I am proud to say I did loose that weight but it was really miserable at times (post-pregnancy with Lucie was much easier). My coach was not a fan of salad dressing, dips, spreads or sauces of any kind, my dinner for many months was steamed broccoli and chicken-so boring.

Since then I have learned how to eat healthy and more important I have re-discovered how to prepare really, really yummy meals. I usually have on an average three to four homemade sauces, dips, dressings or spreads of some sort in my refrigerator, all dairy free. Food is sooo much more enjoyable and exciting with a homemade sauce of some sort.

For example, did you know pesto is not just basil, parsley, pine nuts and oil? There are hundreds of pesto recipes! I use pesto in my breakfast veggie scramble, on my sandwiches, rice wraps, pizza, pasta, rice, quinoa, veggie dip, etc. I make my own sauces now because its easy, fresh, raw, preservative free, and I control the salt content (very important). I make large batches and freeze small portions for later, its so easy.

So please next time you have extra spinach, arugula, cilantro, basil and/or parsley, do not and I repeat do not throw it out. Toss it in a blender with some nuts, sea salt, and cold-pressed olive oil and your good to go! Stay tuned for one of my favorite pesto recipes.

Bottled Water

I promise more recipes to come, but everywhere I turn I find how ridiculous and ignorant we have become. We have bought into bottled water and how great it is for us but you need to know what you are contributing to when you purchase a bottle of water . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72MCumz5lq4

Return to purely honest food and water for you and your family!

Fresh VS. Pasteurized

Our entire family loves orange juice in the morning. Although we purchase the best store bought orange juice available it is still pasteurized, otherwise it would be spoiled by the time it reached our breakfast table. Pasteurization kills everything, including the good stuff. Did you know juice begins to lose its vitamin power after squeezing. Fresh citrus juice loses 20% of its vitamin C potency within 24 hours! I have researched juicers and they are quite pricey and bulky, I was in search of something quick, easy, and cheap, and I am excited to tell you I found out. Meet my new best friend the Cuisinart Juicer. At Bed Bath and Beyond it is$29.00 ($23.00 with the BB&B coupon). I am so happy it is one less packaged item I depend on at my grocery store.

For more pasteurization information go to:

http://www.energydrinktruth.com/pasteurization.html