Quinoa Chili

Ingredients:

• 3-4 stalks of celery
• 3-4 medium carrots
• 2 zuchinni
• bunch of kale
• 1 large onion
• 1 TBS olive oil
• chili powder to taste (I used 1-2 TBS)
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper 
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 TBS dried jalapeno (or use fresh)
• large can of diced tomatoes
• can of chili beans
• 1/3 cup of quinoa 
• 1 can organic chicken broth

Begin by dicing up all the veggies into medium size chunks and sauteing in olive oil until soft. 
Add the seasonings and stir until the veggies are coated.  Add the can of tomatoes with the liquid, and the chili beans with the liquid.  Stir in the quinoa.  Keep at a low boil until the quinoa begins to swell.  Add chicken broth as needed to cook the quinoa.  Continue adding broth as needed to achieve the thickness that you like.  Simmer on low.  I like to cover and simmer mine all afternoon!  You can add or omit any vegetables that you have on hand.  This is a tasty, healthy, and inexpensive meal!  I like to serve mine topped with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Chicken and Veggie Noodle Soup

Chicken and Veggie Noodle Soup

This soup may honestly be my favorite thing that I cook.  It’s simple, tasty, healthy, and makes the whole house smell good!  The best thing about this soup is that you can add or omit any veggies depending on what you like and what you have on hand.  I like to make a pot of this soup on Monday, and enjoy it for lunch for the rest of the week.  It’s so delicious and full of healthy vegetables!  Bailey loves it- happily and proudly eating turnips and kale.  Audrey, at 7 months old, will spend an hour chasing the yummy, soft vegetables and noodles around her high chair tray.  Another plus is that this soup freezes really well- just make sure you set aside a portion to freeze before adding the noodles.  Noodles turn to mush when frozen.

I always start by cutting up all of the vegetables and putting them into my heavy enameled cast iron pot.  My favorite combo includes:

• ·         4-5 stalks of celery
• ·         4-5 carrots
• ·         1 large onion
• ·         1-2 large turnips (I like to cut this into large chunks, otherwise it tends to disappear in the soup)
• ·         2 parsnips
• ·         Container of grape tomatoes (halved)
• ·         4-5 stalks of kale

The secret of this soup is to start by sauteéing the vegetables in about 2 TBS of REAL butter, and covering generously in Penzey’s Bicentennial Rub.  I also add Penzey’s Black and Red, Bouquet Garni, minced garlic, and salt.  I also add in a dash of dried sage and rosemary.  

When the vegetables are softening, I add a can of white meat chicken with the juice.  A few minutes later, I add a large box of Swanson Organic chicken broth.  Then, I simmer it for a few hours.  Shortly before serving the soup, I prepare the noodles by cooking them in a separate pot, draining, and then adding the cooked noodles to the soup. .  I’ve discovered that if I put the uncooked noodles directly into the soup, they suck up all the broth.  I use a variety of noodles, depending on what I have on hand.  My favorite, though, are the wide, homemade-style, egg noodles.  Sometimes, I do add more broth, or water and organic chicken “better than bouillon.”   Often, I add more broth the following day as the noodles continue to absorb the broth as the soup sits.

Chicken Fajita Chili

Chicken Fajita Chili

Make this a meal by serving with a side of cheese and avocado quesadillas.

Ingredients (proportions are estimates only, as I never measure):

• ·         2 chicken breasts
• ·         1 TBS butter
• ·         1 large onion
• ·         12 mini sweet peppers, or 1-2 whole red, yellow, or orange peppers
• ·         Optional (carrot, celery, zucchini, kale)
• ·         2 TBS taco seasoning
• ·         1 TBS chili powder
• ·         2 TBS minced, dried garlic
• ·         1 large can of diced tomatoes
• ·         1 can of chili beans

Cut  chicken breasts into chunks and sauté with a TBS or so of butter. 

When the chicken begins to  brown, add large “fajita style” strips of onions and peppers.  I used one whole onion and about 12 mini sweet peppers quartered.  Optional additions could also include- diced carrot, celery, zucchini, kale, or other seasonal veggie.

When the chicken is fully cooked, season with chili powder, Penzey’s dried, minced garlic, and taco seasoning (I used about 2 TBS of Penzey’s Bold Taco).

Add one large can of diced tomatoes and one regular sized can of chili beans in sauce.  I would’ve also added a can of black  beans if it were just for me, but my family gripes when it’s too “beany.”

Simmer on low for at least an hour.  I like my soups simmered for a whole day whenever I am able!

Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and tortilla strips.  Fresh cilantro would be tasty too if you like cilantro—unlike me.

Chicken and Forbidden Rice Soup

Chicken and Rice Soup- all measurements are rough guesses, as I don’t technically measure

Sauté these ingredients in about 2 TBS of butter.  Dice the celery, carrots, onions, and kale in very small pieces.

• ·         3 stalks of celery

• ·         3 medium size carrots

• ·         5 green onions

• ·         4-5 large red kale leaves

• ·         Pinch of fresh rosemary, oregano, and thyme

• ·         1 TBS sea salt

• ·         ½ TBS black pepper

• ·         ½ TBS Penzey’s Black and Red

• ·         1 TBS dried minced garlic (could use fresh)

• ·         1 TBS dried minced onions

When the veggies and spices are nicely sautéed, add:

• ·         1 can of white meat chicken

• ·         1 64 oz container of organic chicken broth

Boil for around 5 minutes

Add rice (I’m sure any other types of rice would work, but this is what I used)

• ·          ½ cup of “Forbidden Rice,” which I get in bulk at the health food grocer.  It’s a blackish/purple colored rice with lots of antioxidants and a flavor and texture similar to wild rice. 

• ·         ¼ cup of Uncle Ben’s converted rice (a hybrid of white and brown rice- very tasty!) I get it at Target.

Once the rice was added, I covered the pot and kept it at a slow boil for about 30-45 minutes until the rice was cooked.  I added some water and a scoop of chicken “Better than Bullion” condensed stock when the rice soaked up too much of the broth.  You could also add more canned broth if needed, or plain water and extra salt and seasoning.  It turned out to have a slight purplish color from the forbidden rice, which was a little odd looking, but it was unbelievably yummy!

Enjoy!

My little bunnies

Sometimes I want to pull my hair out because my children refuse to eat most cooked vegetables.  Bailey will eat cooked corn, peas, and broccoli.  Bryce will literally gag on any and all cooked veggies.  I make him try, and then instantly regret it as he dry heaves on one bite of mushy zuchinni.  Can we say texture issues?

On the flip side, they do seem to be liking their veggies cold, crunchy, and served as an appetizer!  The two biggest hits are peppers and carrots.  I've discovered that they love raw, unpeeled carrots.  This particular night they ate 4 whole carrots each.  It's the small victories.  Odd little bunnies...

Crock Pot Stew

Delicious, simple, cooked-ahead-of-time recipe number 2!

Crock Pot Stew

The awesome part of this recipe was that it took me about 10 minutes to prepare on Saturday night, and it was ready to eat on Monday night with the flip of a switch!  Perfect for the working mom!

I began with frozen venison round steak.  You could also use a beef roast or beef stew meat instead.  However, I love venison in the crock pot because, rather than getting tough with overcooking as can happen with beef, venison just gets more tender and starts to fall apart.  Venison can be a tasty, healthy, and very natural meat if it is butchered and cooked correctly.  Anyhow....

I sprayed my crock pot with cooking spray and put the frozen meat at the bottom.  I then washed and sliced about at dozen small potatoes (from the bucket), no peeling required!  In addition I added (all from the bucket), sliced celery, onions, purple carrots, tomato chunks, and fresh sage.  I sprinkled in some Penzey's dehydrated garlic, salt, and ground black pepper.  I put the cover on, and put the crock pot into the fridge until Monday morning.  On Monday morning at 7:00, right before leaving for work, I turned the crock pot on low.

I got home around 5:00 to a delicious smelling house and dinner, ready to go.  I whipped up a jiffy mix of cornbread mini-muffins (which I topped with a dollop of real maple syrup before baking- yum!) and dinner was on the table before 6:00.  Super simple, easy, and full of veggies!

Garlic Tomato-Cream Spaghetti

I finally had a chance this weekend to tinker in the kitchen.  September is an INSANE month for me as a teacher, so with 50+ hours a week at school, cooking has been "on the back burner" so to speak.  There's a whole new challenge to getting home at quarter to five each night with two hungry, cranky kids.  Not a lot of time for experimentation or fussy recipes.

I had the bright idea to do some cooking ahead of time this weekend, and successfully created 2 newly tweaked classics.

Garlic Tomato-Cream Spaghetti

Vampires beware...

I started by putting 3 garlic cloves in the magic bullet and pureeing it into a paste.

Then, I began my traditional cream sauce- equal parts Earth Balance and Wondra Flour.  I added the pureed garlic into the flour/butter paste.  I then added roughly a cup of organic half and half and stirred until thick.

In the magic bullet, I added a variety of tomatoes.  I had so many tomatoes from my own plant as well as from the bucket these past two weeks.  I tossed all kinds-from grape, to roma, to cherry- into the magic bullet and pureed into liquid.  I don't know how many tomatoes I used, but I filled the large cup on the magic bullet twice.  I also added a few fresh basil leaves in with the tomatoes.

I stirred the liquified tomatoes into the thick cream sauce, brought it to a boil, and turned off the burner.

Here is the magic part------I did this on Saturday night.  I tasted it that night and it was so-so.  I left it to "brew" in the cast iron pan in the fridge until Tuesday at dinner time.  I simply warmed it up and served it over whole-wheat thin spaghetti noodles.  48 hours of fridge time changed it from so-so to so delicious!

In addition, I broiled up some chicken breasts with garlic salt and Penzey's Bicentennial Rub.  I scored the chicken at the co-op today.  It was fresh from a local farm and packaged just yesterday.  Fresh and delicious.  Once you go organic chicken, you can't go back.  It's a whole new level of chicken- juicy, tender, and so flavorful.  Add a side of steamed spinach and it was a perfect meal in about 25 minutes!

Bryce even ate the spaghetti, and he usually claims to like his pasta plain.  He complained for a minute, then cleaned his plate.  He gets a hefty serving of tomatoes, and I avoid another night of begging for "garlic noodles."  Win.

Possibly the Best Zuchini Ever and Croque Monsieur Light

Simple, easy, and oh, so tasty!

Best Zucchini Ever:

Make an aluminum foil packet with sliced zucchini, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, and a pat of earth balance spread.  Cover with a generous sprinkling of Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle.

Place the pack on the grill and cook until the vegetables become soft and are beginning to brown.  For the last 5 minutes, top with a thick layer of Gruyere cheese.  Cook until melted.  Enjoy!  Best thing- nothing to clean up after!

I served this with grilled chicken breasts and pasta with marinara sauce.

Um, so what is Gruyere cheese?

Last week, we went out to eat and I chose a sandwich on the menu called a "Croque Monsieur."  If you ever have a chance, order one.  It's very cheesy, creamy, and tasty.  I wanted to recreate it at home, but with less calories and cream, so this is the Croque Monsieur Light:

• one large french baguette, sliced lengthwise
• one package of black forest ham (I like the Applegate Farms uncured ham)
• about a cup of shredded Gruyere cheese
• Earth Balance spread

I began by preheating the oven to 400 degrees.  I sliced the baguette lengthwise and laid it open faced on a cookie sheet.  I spread a thin layer of Earth Balance on top, then placed the bread in the oven for about 5 minutes until it was toasty.  I placed the ham slices on top of the bread, topped it with a layer of shredded Gruyere, and put it back into oven for a few minutes until the cheese began to melt.  I finished it off in the broiler for about a minute until the cheese began to bubble.

The kids ate and ate and ate.  I served it with chicken veggie soup (recipe to come), and apple-cherry sauce.

Baking? Who, me?

I'm not much of a baker.  I love baked goods, but don't get a lot of pleasure from baking for myself.  As I've mentioned, I don't really enjoy following recipes because it doesn't feel "creative" enough for me. 


But...I will admit that I have a teensy-weensy bit of the baking bug this summer.  Mainly it's out of necessity as it's difficult to find store-bought baked goods that don't have mile long, unpronounceable ingredient lists, and trans fats.

I have gotten better at adapting and changing recipes a wee bit to make them a little heartier and healthier.  Here are a few baking highlights that I wanted to share!

Chocolate-Chip Raspberry Muffins

I followed this basic muffin recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/best-ever-muffins/detail.aspx 

But used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and one cup of white flour, a cup of fresh from the bucket raspberries, a handful of chocolate chips (gotta trick Bryce into eating them somehow!), and about 1/4 cup of ground flax seed.  The result?  Yum.  I can't wait to see if Bryce will actually eat them tomorrow morning!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Basic recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/amazing-whole-wheat-pizza-crust/detail.aspx 

I substituted the white flour with all whole wheat flour.  I topped the pizza with a variety of fresh bucket veggies and three cheeses- fresh sliced mozzarella, crumbled feta, and fresh Parmesan.  The secret to a good pizza is fresh mozzarella- the slimy, wet looking stuff that comes in a ball.  Oh, and fresh basil!

I forgot to snap a picture before we demolished most of the pizza!

Strawberry-Raspberry Pie

Shhh...I cheated on this one by buying a Pillsbury pie crust and adapting a basic pie recipe I found online. 

The filling was quite simple, 

• 4 1/2 cups of fresh berries.  I used a mix of strawberries and raspberries (from the bucket!).  But, I'm sure it would be good with some blueberries or blackberries, too!
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of Penzey's Arrowroot Starch

Toss these ingredients into a large bowl until the berries are coated in the sugar starch mix.  Put the filling into the crust.  Cover the edges with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes.

Sausage Infused Egg Sandwiches

Last weekend I wanted to make breakfast for the family.  I'm always trying to figure out ways to get the kids to eat eggs.  This was my latest attempt!

Sausage Infused Egg Sandwiches:

I started by frying up ground pork breakfast sausage (I used the Seeds and Spores kind).  I added chopped kale, mushrooms, and onion to the sausage (all from the bucket).  I would've added more vegetables if I'd had more, but I was getting low!  This recipe would be even better with peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, etc added in!

In a separate bowl, I scrambled together 3 farm fresh eggs.  When the meat was fully cooked, I put a few spoonfuls of it into the eggs and added salt and pepper.  This mixture went into the magic bullet until the sausage was very finely chopped into the eggs. 

This is the fun part!

First, I got a small frying pan very hot and coated it with cooking spray.  As a mold, I used an all metal cookie cutter, sprayed with cooking spray.  I would've used a round one, but all I had was a gingerbread man-lol.   I poured the egg mixture into the cookie cutter and waited for it to form and egg patty.

Gingerbread egg boy- ha ha

I flipped it over halfway through to cook both sides.  The end result was a roundish, but not gingerbread shaped egg patty.

I served the egg patties on a toasted whole-grain bagel and topped with a slice of cheddar.  We served our breakfast sandwiches with fresh blueberries, raspberries, cherries, and watermelon from the farmer's market.  Not bad for a crazy experiment.

Lasagna a la Bucket

Sorry, it's been a long time since I posted a recipe!  I'll try to play catch-up this week.  Life's been a bit crazy, but we enjoyed a fantastic weekend as a family, renting out a cabin in the middle of nowhere!  Anyhow, here's tonight's dinner, Lasagna a la bucket!

Lasagna A La Bucket!

The Meat Sauce

In a large sauce pan, I added:

• 2 small onions, chopped (from the bucket)
• 1 clove of garlic, sliced (from the bucket)
• 1 pound of pork Italian sausage- I used the kind from Seeds and Spores
• splash of olive oil

I cooked these ingredients until the meat was fully cooked, then added:

• 3 bunches of fresh spinach, chopped
• 5 diced tomatoes (from the bucket)
• chopped fresh basil (from the bucket)
• 1 can of tomato paste
• a half cup of chicken broth
• a dash of Penzey's Black and Red and Italian Seasoning
• a splash of white wine

This meat/sauce mixture boiled on the stove until the tomatoes became soft and mushy.

 Fresh ingredients make better food!

 The sauce, as it began to simmer

The Cheese Mixture:
 
In a separate bowl I combined:

• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
• a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs

 The cheese mixture

Putting the Lasagna together:

I boiled a large pot of water on the stove and began by cooking the whole wheat lasagna noodles 6 at a time for about 5 minutes.  I lined the bottom of the baking dish with a thin layer of marinara sauce.  I used Organicville brand, which is the best jarred marinara I have found! 

 Step One

When the first batch of noodles was ready, I layered 4 across the bottom of the pan, then covered the noodles with a layer of the cheese mixture, then a layer of the meat/tomato sauce mixture. 

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

I repeated these steps until all of the noodles were used up and then topped the whole thing with the rest of the jar of marinara.  I wouldn't have necessarily needed to use the marinara sauce and could've just used more of my homemade meat sauce, I was just trying to use up the open jar that we had left from our weekend "camping" adventure and was trying to avoid my lasagna being too meaty.

I can't even speak for the results yet, as everything is assembled, but nothing is cooked or eaten yet!  I'll have to update the deliciousness later.  I do plan to stick it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes-hour, covered with tin foil.

A Simple Summer Supper-with only 12 ingredients!

Tonight's supper was simple to cook and simple to clean up after!  I was busy around the house and didn't even realize it was 5:45 until my stomach started to growl.  By 6:20, we were enjoying our supper and by 7:00, we were cleaned up.

Broiled Porkchops:

1. butterfly cut porkchops
2. light sprinkling of garlic salt
3. Penzey's Bicentennial Rub

Broil or grill until fully cooked and browned on both sides.  Flip halfway through cooking.

Brown Rice: 
(I hesitate to call it "brown rice" because it's really long grain white rice, browned with crisco.  Not exactly health food, but oh so tasty.  You could make this recipe with brown rice, it would just take a lot longer).
   
    4. 2 tablespoons of Crisco
    5. long grain rice
    6. chicken broth

Melt the Crisco in a frying pan and add the rice.  Fry the rice until it becomes light brown.  Do not overcook!  Add chicken broth, cover, and simmer.  You will need to check the rice frequently and add more chicken broth until the rice is fully cooked.

Sauteed Zucchini and Patty Pan Squash

    7. sliced zucchini and patty pan squash (from the bucket)
    8. sliced onions(from the bucket)
    9.  Earth Balance spread
   10. generous coating of Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle

Cherry Applesauce - I always have to have applesauce with my porkchops!
    11.  sliced apples
    12.  cherries, chopped and pitted

A few weeks ago I had some apples and cherries that were starting to turn bad in the fridge.  I stuck them in the Magic Bullet until pureed.  I portioned it in the freezer and saved it for just the right meal!  Bailey ate TONS of it.  I had to cut her off.

!2 ingredients, 3 pans, and one simple, delicious, kid friendly meal!

 

Dessert was even simpler- ice cream cones at "The Big Cow," aka Jilberts!

Mexican Goulash

If you haven't noticed, most of my recipes end up with either a Mexican or Italian flair, and usually involve cheese.  This recipe combines the best of both worlds!

I have to credit my mom on this one, as it's a spin on a recipe she used to make for us growing up <3

Mexican Goulash

In a frying pan I cooked:

• onions (from the bucket)
• chopped chard (from the bucket)
• 1 pound of grass-fed ground beef

When the meat was fully cooked, I added 4 spoonfuls of Penzey's Bold Taco seasoning and a few ounces of water.

In a separate pot I boiled a bag of whole wheat gobetti noodles, but, of course any shape would work fine.

While those things were cooking, in the casserole dish I added:

• 2 (regular sized) cans of diced tomatoes
• one can of corn
• 3/4 of a bag of shredded cheddar

I then added the cooked meat mixture and the pasta into the casserole dish, stirred it well, and poured in about 2 cups of chicken broth.

I baked it, covered, at 350 degrees for about an hour.  10 minutes before it was ready, I uncovered the casserole and topped it with the rest of the shredded cheddar and crushed tortilla chips. 

Simple, very tasty, and the best part- it can be made ahead of time (ahem, nap time) and then tossed in the oven an hour before dinner!

Before cooking

Dinner's ready!