Easy peasy tortilla soup

Wow! Time sure does fly! It's hard for me to believe it has been 2 months since my last post! CRAZY! 

With the beginning of a new year, most of us are looking for ways to eat healthier. My easy peasy tortilla soup has been a great way for us to get in more veggies and eat something that feels like comfort food.

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

6 cups low sodium chicken or veggie stock

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 cloves minced fresh garlic

1 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning

2 carrots pealed and sliced into thin coins

1 15oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes, drained

4 corn tortillas chopped into 1 inch strips

GARNISH OPTIONS

chopped bell pepper

diced avocado

sliced jalapeño

cilantro 

crushed tortilla chips

shredded Mexican cheese

hot sauce 

DIRECTIONS

1) Place chicken, stock, & spices into a large stock pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through.

2) Remove chicken, chop into bite sized pieces, and set asside.

3) Add carrots, tomatoes, and tortillas and continue to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, chop and prepare the garnishes you are choosing to use. We like all of them! I usually put everything in desperate bowls on a lazy Susan so that everyone can add their own favorites.

5) Just before serving, add the chopped chicken back to the pot, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes- just until heated through. 

6) Ladle into soup bowls, top with your favorite garnishes & enjoy!

Fall Smoothie

The farmers market was glorious this past weekend! We picked up delicious organic strawberries, perfect bok choy, adorable baby potatoes, raw peanuts, crisp apples, raw honey, beautiful fuyu persimmons, fantastic pluots, and the makings for some really tasty pico salsa. We are still able to get the best of summer fruits and veggies, at the same time get yummy fall favorites. We are so blessed here in California! 

This morning I combined 2 of our weekends treasures, raw honey & fuyu persimmons with some pantry goods to make a fantastic creamy non dairy smoothie! Wonderful fall flavor packed into a cool summer treat! My 3 girls and I gulped it down. I'll need to make a double batch next time!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 fuyu persimmons

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp stevia

2 tsp raw honey

Pinch of salt

ice cubes (if you want it cold)

DIRECTIONS: 

Throw it all into a high powered blender and process until smooth. 

NOTES: You can use all stevia or all honey if you want. I tried it with the stevia first and felt like something was missing. I added the pinch of salt and the honey and it was perfect! The honey added a depth that was lacking. You could also make it with almond milk instead of water or add some chia seeds if you are looking for more protein. Enjoy!

Fall is finally here!

It is my favorite time of year in Northern California! The mornings are cool, crisp, and sometimes foggy. The afternoons are still warm and clinging to the last bits of summer's heat. The leaves are beginning to turn colors, and the houses in our neighborhood are decorated with pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween. It's time for jeans, and boots, and light weight sweaters. It's time for soups, and apples, and the flavors of pumpkin pie spices.

This weekend I tried out a new baked oatmeal recipe. There are three reasons I love this recipe, (1) you make it the night before and bake it in the morning, (2) the house smells spicy and delicious when it is baking, and (3) it has a crispy sugary caramely topping like creme brûlée! Plus it's heart healthy oats! Can't go wrong with that!

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 small apple, grated

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

3 cups old-fashioned oats

brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1) Grease a square baking pan. I like to use my Anchor Hocking 9 x 9 covered glass casserole dish.

2) In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients in order except the brown sugar until thoroughly combined.

3) Poor mixture in your baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

4) In the morning, pull it out of the fridge and preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

5) Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle brown sugar evenly over top of the oatmeal and place back in the oven under the broiler. Broil for one minute, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize.

6) We like it served warm with a drizzle of more coconut milk. And it reheats in the microwave beautifully! 

5 Ingredient Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

These are embarrassingly easy. And made from a box, so don't shoot me.  But they are so quick and super tasty, I couldn't NOT share them with you! And they are HEALTHY!!!

Here are the ingredients:

Yep. That's is. And if you happen to have pumpkin pie spice, use that instead of the cinnamon & nutmeg, and it's only 4 ingredients!!

1 box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

1 can of organic pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Mix it all the ingredients together. Divide batter into your prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Fast, easy, light, moist, healthy, & most important, DELICIOUS!

I'm planning to make an apple cider glaze for mine. Slightly less healthy, but oh so tasty. 

GLAZE: 1/2 cup apple cider, 1 Tbsp powdered sugar, & 1 Tbsp melted Earth Balance buttery spread. Whisk it all up and drizzle away. Yummy fall flavors in a portable snack. Gotta love.

Not Your Typical Banana Bread

This week in our home school preschool we are studying the letter B. In preparation I bought bananas early in the week last week so that they would be perfect for our cooking segment. I found an unusual vegan coconut maple banana bread recipe over at Honeyed Home that I wanted to try. There is a great shortcut Michelle mentions for ripening bananas if yours are not quite banana bread ready - definately go check out her site.

I tweaked the recipe based on what I had on hand (for example I didn't want to use ALL my bananas, so I added peaches which needed to be used). I also added a maple glaze for extra yumminess. I brought it to share with my bible study ladies, and my kiddos gobbled the remaining leftovers. It was gone so fast, I forgot to get a picture! The girls and I will be making this recipe into muffins in a few days, so I'll update with a pic of those.

Maple Peach Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 very ripe small bananas

1 cup cooked peaches

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup organic coconut oil, melted at room temperature

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Coconut oil spray

GLAZE:

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp melted Earth Balance spread

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil spray.

2) In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients.

3) In a food processor blend all the wet ingredients.

4) Add wet ingredients the the dry ingredients and fold until just combined. 

5) The batter will be thick like a brownie batter. Dump the batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread with a spatula.

6) Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test.

7) Once the bread is completely cool, mix all the glaze ingredients and drizzle on the bread.

Simply Soup

Many moons ago I threw some ingredients I had on hand into a pot and called it soup. It was fast and simple and turned out tasty! My husband calls it Portuguese Kale Soup. It's not really, but that makes it sound like I knew what I was doing, so I'll go with it.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz bulk sausage (I use pork)

6 cups chicken stock

1 can white kidney beans, drained & rinsed 

1/2 a bag of ready to use kale

GARNISH (optional, but super yummy)

Drizzle of good olive oil

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1) In a 4 qt or larger pot, brown sausage. Drain off any fat.

2) Add stock, beans, and kale. Cover and  cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. DO NOT BOIL or the kale may become bitter. 

3) Ladle into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

I like to serve this soup with a giant garlic crouton. I love to dip it in the broth. Mmmmm good! To make it, I simply took some rustic wheat bread that I made and broiled it on both sides until nicely toasted. Then I rubbed a raw garlic clove over the surface and drizzled a bit of olive oil on top. Placed it back in the broiler for a moment. And there you have one of my husbands favorite meals. And it took less than 30 minutes to make! Gotta love that!

Gluten Free Muffins & No Odd Ingredients!

My Uncle is gluten free and he & my Aunt are coming over early tomorrow morning to watch our kiddos for the day. To make things easier for them I wanted to have breakfast ready to go. I came upon this GREAT gluten free grain free muffin recipe by Whitney McNutt! Super easy, super fast, and it doesn't use any specialty ingredients! Check out the link to the original recipe because she gives great suggestions for modifying the recipe, including a link for making it paleo or without bananas. Here is how I modified it based on what I had in the house and things I wanted to use up.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup nut butter (I used 3/4 peanut butter + 1/4 almond butter)

1 medium very ripe banana

1 cup shredded zucchini 

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp agave

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

         TOPPINGS

         1 cup strawberries, small dice

         1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut

12 muffin liners

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners.

2) Place all ingredients except for the toppings into your blender or food processor and process until a smooth batter is achieved and everything is combined.

3) Divide into the 12 muffin liners.

4) Top each muffin with a spoon full of strawberries. Press strawberries into the batter with the back of the spoon to submerge. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of coconut.

5) Bake for 15 minutes.

NOTES: Next time I make these I am going to drop the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. My convection oven seems to cook things faster and these, while super yummy, are a bit more brown on the outside then I would like.

Shhh! They are good for you!

My cousin brought me three zucchini from her garden. 3 GIANT foot long baseball bat thick zucchini!! What to do? What to do? Muffins!! And how about Chocolate in them too?!? YES!!

The first thing I did was grate all of the zucchini. I discovered through looking at over a dozen recipes that you can freeze grated zucchini to use at another time. I ended up with almost 12 cups grated zucchini! Woohoo!!

I mentioned in previous posts that I've been trying cut down on the amount of refined and processed foods we eat. And I am moving our family towards a more gluten free diet (I'm not quite ready to give up bread though!)  So I did an online search and looked at recipe after recipe. I found a bunch of great recipes, but most were complicated or had unusual ingredients. Here is the recipe I ended up creating based on what I have in the house:

Cocolicious Zucchini Muffins
DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup almond meal

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed dry)

3 Tbsp flax meal + 9 Tbsp water (or 3 eggs)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raw honey (or use agave if you are looking to make these vegan)

Non- stick cooking spray

Chocolate chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350* and grease your muffin tin (makes 12 muffins)

2) In a food processor, pulse oats & almond meal until a fine flour is achieved.

3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients making sure there are no lumps & everything is combined. Set aside.

4) In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Then stir in the dry.

5) Divide the batter evenly to achieve 12 muffins. The cups will be 2/3 to 3/4 full.

6) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted cones out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

And here are the coco zucchini muffins in all their dense cocoa good for you tasty glory. You'll notice I decided to pile some up with chocolate chips - I put them on right out of the oven so that they are nice and gooey. Try them, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU! 

Toasted Cheese & A New Green Smoothie

I'm trying, once again, to get back to better eating. Trying to get in all my fruits and veg. Since today has turned out to be another crazy hot summer day, I decided on a toasted cheese sandwiches:

1.  Toast the bread

2.  Put cheese between two pieces of toast

3.  Pop the sandwich in the microwave of 30 seconds 

PRESTO - toasted cheese sandwich! Like a grilled cheese minus the butter and hot kitchen!

AND we made a lovely new green smoothie recipe. I choose to forgo the sandwich and have an extra helping of smoothie. So yummy & refreshing! And the kiddos loved it too! BONUS!

1 banana

1 Granny Smith apple

2 med carrot

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup orange juice

2 big fistful of spinach 

3 mint springs

I threw it all in my Vitamix, blended until smooth, and sucked it down! Let me know what you think!

Family Dinner Night - 2

Last night was another wonderful family dinner night with my girlfriends - there is the family you are given, and then there is the family of friends you choose!

Six fabulous women around a candle filled table in my back yard sharing great conversation, amazing dinner, lovely wine, and some "oh my goodness" cookies with port for dessert. Our menu this night was Italian stuffed zucchini boats, herb salad, gluten free rustic olive bread, and maple bacon chocolate chip cookies.

The recipe for the zucchini boats was inspired by this recipe that is meat free. We changed and added a few things to make them more of a main dish. Our recipe serves 6 to 8 depending on the hunger level of your guests - and it can easily be halved or increased.

INGREDIENTS:
8 medium zucchini
2 good quality Italian sweet sausage, cooked and crumbled
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 can no salt petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups finely chopped fresh mushrooms
2 T dried Italian herbs
1 T crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400° degrees F.

1) Remove sausage casings, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up as you cook to yield fine crumbles. Drain and set aside.

2) Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and seeds, leaving 1/4-inch shell. Reserve pulp from 4 zucchini and chop. (We used a mini food chopper for this and to chop the mushrooms).

3) Combine sausage, zucchini pulp, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, Italian herbs, & crushed red pepper flakes in a large bowl.

4) Divide mixture among zucchini shells. Place stuffed zucchini on a baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, & bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

5) Gather some great friends, open a bottle if red, sit back and enjoy!

Here is a merlot we opened that was a perfect pairing to our zucchini:

 

Check back tomorrow -  I'll post about the the AWESOME maple bacon chocolate chip cookies which are gluten free and refined sugar free!

Snack Attack!

I'm always on the look out for healthy snacks for the whole family. I found this great snack idea on Pinterest (original blog link) and let me say, I was not immediately impressed upon reading it, but something compelled me to try it anyway. I'm SOOOO glad I did! The kids love it, I love it, and my hubby loves it!  Other virtues: (1) refined sugar free (2) loaded with fiber and vitamin C, (3) and best of all I can make a big batch and it lasts in the fridge for days without the apples browning! They are a great replacement for those expensive already cup up apples you get at the store, and they only take a tiny amount of time to make. We like using Jazz or Pink Lady apples, but really you could use any kind - Fuji would be great, especially for kiddos since they are a bit sweeter. Super simple and super tasty - I hope you try it!

INGREDIENTS:
4 large apples - sliced thin
1 large orange
1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:
Into a large container with a sealing lid, squeeze the orange & lemon. Add the sliced apples and place the lid on making sure it is tightly sealed. Gently shake to coat all the apple slices in the orange & lemon juice. Chill for at least 30 minutes & enjoy!

Egg salad makeover

So... What to do with all those dyed Easter eggs. There are only so many deviled eggs you can eat! While trolling Pinterest I came across a recipe that mixed chopped eggs, avocado chunks, & mayo. Sounded interesting and different! I put my own spin by mashing 1 whole avocado with 4 eggs, left out the mayo, and added fiesta lime Mrs. Dash. I piled it onto a whole wheat bun, added some fresh spinach, and TADA! Super tasty & good for you egg salad sammy! LOVE it!

Steel Cut Overnight Oats!

Ok, confession time... I love canning jars! and I like anything that saves me from thinking too hard before I've consumed my morning cup of coffee. So what could be better than this recipe?!?!!

These can be eaten cold, straight from the jar, but I prefer them hot. They can also me made several days in advance & make a fast, healthy breakfast! Below is the basic recipe. You can change it up to suit your tastes and what you have on hand- use regular milk instead of coconut milk, flavored yogurt, rolled oats instead of steel cut, flax seed meal instead of chia seeds... And you can stir in anything that floats your boat... Nut butters, honey or jam instead of date paste, chocolate chips, dried fruit... The possibilities are endless! I hope you'll try it and let me know what you think!

STEEL CUT OVERNIGHT OATS
(Single serving)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup steel cut oats
1/4 plain NF Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 T. chia seeds

Toppings:
1 T. date paste
1 T. Unsweetened shredded coconut
1 T. papitas
1/2 cup fresh blackberries

1) Measure oats, yogurt, coconut milk, & chia seeds into your container.

2) Stir to combine. Pop the lid on and refrigerate overnight.

3) In the morning, give the oats a stir and pop the jar into the microwave for approximately 90 seconds.

4) Stir in your toppings, and enjoy! How easy is that?

Doesn't this look yummy?

Kickin it up!

Miss M is a few days shy of 10 months, and now that she is nursing less, my weight loss efforts need to be kicked up another notch! I hate counting calories and I loathe exercise. I also really enjoy yummy food. All that combines to make being my fittest - after having 3 babies in 3 years - just a tad difficult. My desire to drop a few pants sizes is not just for me, but for my kiddos too. I want to be a good example of healthier living and eating AND I need as much energy as I can get to chase around these 3 beauties!

Here is my current game plan:

1). Drink a glass of water before each meal & snack.
2). Fill my plate at least 1/2 full of fruit & veg.
3). Include more whole grains, nuts & legumes.
4). Get outside and move.

So I began this morning with my glass of water. Followed by a waffle breakfast: whole grain waffle, non-fat Greek yogurt, sliced strawberries, a drizzle of agave, & 1/2 a banana. Oh and of course my one big vice - coffee! Next time I'll add some sliced almonds and some flax meal. Every little bit counts!

Healthy oatmeal raisin muffins!

I'm trying to reduce the amount of processed foods we eat. This is not convenient and takes much prior planning. Here is a recipe we all love to eat and I am happy to feed my family! BONUS: they are gluten free, processed sugar free, and chocked full of fiber! AND the kids love to help make them! To quote my oldest, "These are GOOD mama! Can we have another?"

OATMEAL RAISIN MUFFINS
1 banana (the riper the better!) *
1 cup date paste (recipe below)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins (or chocolate chips! Yum!)
Non-stick cooking spray

DATE PASTE:
10 to 12 pitted dates, packed + enough boiling water to make 1 cup. Let soak 30 minutes or more. Blend in your food processor or high speed blender until smooth. You can double the recipe and store extra in your fridge for up to 1 week. Use in smoothies or baked goods.

MUFFINS:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Spray 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients except oats & raisins to your blender or food processor & process until smooth & combined.
- Mix oats, raisins & wet ingredients in a large bowl.
- Divide batter into prepared muffin pan (I like to use my cookie/ice cream scoop).
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Let muffins cool completely in the pan. They will be a bit crumbly. You may need to run a knife around the edges to loosen and remove. Refrigerate or freeze any left overs. Good for 1 week in the fridge, 2 months in the freezer. Reheat for 10-20 seconds in the microwave to remove the chill.

*You can sub 3/4 cup apple sauce for the banana. The muffins will be less sweet.