Mango-Raspberry Salsa

Doesn’t a batch of Peach-Strawberry Salsa sound good?  I thought so too!  Until I wandered through the produce section and realized that a) the peaches were all hard and b) raspberries seem to have trumped strawberries for the current local fresh berry.

Well, I can adapt!  I grabbed a tray of raspberries and started looking for a match.

The plan was to make shrimp tacos so as long as the fruity combo worked for that I was open to change.  Since BC peaches and such haven’t hit the shelves yet I decided that I’d look abroad for a partner for my local raspberries.  I picked up one of the most perfect mangoes I’ve ever seen and thus the Mango-Raspberry Salsa was born.

Mango-Raspberry Salsa

yields approximately 4 servings (or 1 big snack)

Ingredients:

• 1 perfectly ripe mango, rind and pit removed, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries, cut in half
• 2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• optional: use half cilantro and half fresh mint
• 1/4 small fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• zest and juice of 1/2 of one lime
• pinch of coarse salt

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together and let stand at least 30 minutes before serving.  Refrigerate if longer than 30 minutes.
2. Serve on fish tacos, chicken salad, or with a dish of those yummy salty lime tortilla chips.  Yum.

At four servings MyFitnessPal brings this fruity deliciousness in at only 45 calories per serving.  So go ahead and eat the whole bowl. :)

On the first night I featured the salsa on three beautiful little white corn tortillas with a quick slaw, pan seared shrimp and feta cheese.  I cannot get enough shrimp tacos!

On day two the salsa made the perfect addition to a green salad topped with grilled chicken and avocado.  Fresh and summery!

I think I’m going on the hunt for another perfect mango today.  This post just made me hungry.

Flip Flop Days

It’s beginning to look a lot like….Sum-mer!  Everywhere you go!

Basil has been added to the balcony planter garden.  Hello pesto.

Chibi and I started each day with a coffee walk.

Some leftovers…

After much debate I decided on a healthy snack for Saturday night’s Canucks game potluck at Rose’s.  Tis the season for fresh fruit!

Instead of a boring ol’ fruit salad I decided on fruit kabobs…

Mint & watermelon.  Do it.  Fruit on a stick is tres more classy, no?

Almost as classy as light beer in your purse.

Laura baked us cooooookies.  Yah, with chunks of chocolate and dried blueberries.  No plain cookies for that gal.

Rose’s spinach dip was inhaled.  In fact there was so much bread left I’m pretty sure people were just licking the spoon.

And then this happened!!!!!

Boston Creamed! Game two–Burrows winning OT goal!

Oh yes it did!!  In case you lost count…that’s Canucks TWO FOR TWO!

The best part of making fruit kabobs is all of the leftover fruit for me…

Blazing through the second Nikki Heat book….Castle needs to put out a third for me ASAP.

Chibi and I visited our friend Tia today, sipped some iced coffee (shocker) and took a walk down to the Legislature grounds to enjoy the glorious day.

I felt like the only girl in the world that hadn’t seen Bridesmaids yet and the idea of a lovely air conditioned theatre was very appealing so I took myself on a movie date tonight.

Nothing like a container of Ancient Grains Salad stuffed in your purse for dinner at a movie.

It lived up to the hype…I laughed my ass off and enjoyed not sharing an arm rest.  (Having said that…I need a Summer movie date dammit!)

Nice pink sky to end the weekend.

Alright Summer I think you can stay now.

Core Physio

Today was all about work, errands, and a long-ass physio appointment.

Breakfast was portable.  English muffin with bananas and Macadamia Nut Butter.  Nom.

After getting armed with a huge list of core strengthening exercises from my physiotherapist (talk about a re-education…basically have to take everything I learned about core strength from yoga and ab training and chuck it out the window for now!) I stopped to stock up on fresh produce and dinner ingredients.

I didn’t even unpack the groceries before digging into an Ataulfo mango.  4 for $3 at Root Cellar.

Lunch was a reheat of more leftovers from the weekend.  That $11 meal fed me three times!!

For some reason I’ve been craving Tuna Noodle Casserole for a few days.  Generally I have the basic ingredients for this on hand, but since I’ve been trying to eat my way through the pantry and freezer I was missing almost everything.  Not even a can of tuna to be had!

I fixed that situation up, dug out my Mrs. Furious recipe and got to work.

Super simple.  The hardest part is waiting for the pasta to boil.

I added dill to the casserole and topped the whole works with a snipped green onion and one ounce of finely shredded cheddar.

Mmmmm….comfort.  I ate two servings. 

Steamed green beans on the side.

Expect to see the same tomorrow night!

After Glee I sipped hot water with orange slices (wasn’t feeling like tea) and dug into another Aussie treat care of Laura…chocolate mint biscuits.

I’m off to bed before I find my way to the fridge for more casserole.

I have pelvic floor exercises to do.  Word.

Secret Squash

What did I tell ya?  Today’s breakfast was a carbon copy of yesterday’s.

I was up extra early for a conference call *yawn* so it was nice to know exactly what was for breaky.  This afternoon I headed for physio…I’ve been putting it off because it drains my bank account but this stupid blown disc isn’t getting better on it’s own.  I was there for over an hour today.

That deserved a treat.  Lovely discovery of the day:  Starbucks now has coconut syrup! 

Tall non-fat no whip Cafe Mocha, half mocha/half coconut. Quite deelish!

I completely missed lunch so decided just to make a snack when I got home and wait for dinner.  Hummus and veggies.

Dinners this week involve working with a few things from the freezer.  Today it was leftover Sloppy Josephine filling…nom.  Added some bell peppers and served atop spaghetti squash with a secret ingredient.

Herby goat cheese!  Melted a knob of the creaminess into the hot squash with some fresh basil, salt & pepper.  Genius I tell ya!

Fruit and yogurt dessert.  My new addiction:  Altaufo mango.

I totally passed out on the couch in between periods of the Canucks game.  Clearly getting up that hour early for work this morning did not agree with me.  What will I ever do if I get a real job requiring normal hours?!

After I woke up and caught the end of the game (we won!) I had the urge to bake.  Since I’m trying not to keep junk food anywhere near me I decided to go with a healthy batch of Sticky Bars.

Which of course are only healthy if I don’t eat the whole pan tomorrow.

Word.

Maple Roasted Monday

Here I thought today was going to be boring on the food frontier.

But apparently it turned out better than it looked on my meal plan. :)

Of course, that same smoothie and tortilla with almond butter is on the menu for tomorrow so maybe that’s when things get boring. ha.

This same bigass salad will likely make an appearance too.

In the big silver bowl:  red leaf lettuce, radishes, carrots, red pepper, cucumber and cheddar cheese, dressed with olive oil and s&p.  Topped with an over-medium egg.

Snack of the week:  Multigrain Tostitos and Sabra crack hummus.

An afternoon trek yielded an hour of sweating it up at the gym…as well as a walk with the doggie, and a trip to my local polling station.  I’m not much for politics but I always inform myself of what’s going on and take the time to vote.  You can’t bitch if you didn’t vote! 

Dinner was all about simplicity and deeeeliciousness.  Maple Glaze all around!  Roasted Ocean Wise salmon, broccoli and yams.

Super simple Maple Dijon Glaze (for one): 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp real Maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt, pepper, and dill to taste

Brushed liberally on the salmon, then split the rest for tossing with the yams and broccoli.  Everything baked in the oven.  Deeeelish.

Desserts this week are all going to be fruit and yogurt.  I was overzealous with the fruit purchases last week!! 

Instead of a cold apple I decided to bake it up.  Chopped a small apple, tossed with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg then baked in my brie baker for 20 minutes.  The apple creates it’s own sauce!

With yogurt.  Get in my belly!

All in all not too shabby at all.  Maybe tomorrow will be surprisingly interesting too! :)