The Perfect Soup For Spring!

Spring is here and summer is near!  So many people believe that once it starts warming up outside that soup is off the menu.  In this house, we eat soup and chili all year long.  I've never understood why people find those to be seasonal meals.  I mean, every meal you eat is cooked hot and ready right? So why is soup any different?  So, despite all the spring/summer soup haters, I am posting my newest obsession: great northern bean and kale soup!  Actually, I am posting a 3 bean rendition of my great northern bean soup because I made it tonight for the week's lunches and I didn't have enough white beans, so I improvised and used 1/3 white beans or great northern beans, 1/3 pinto beans and 1/3 red kidney beans.  Needless to say, this is one healthy soup!  And I must say, this 3 bean version might actually trump the original recipe I came up with! 

Here are a few little health facts on beans for you all. 

Kidney beans and pinto beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, kidney beans and pinto beans high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.
People who have high intakes of legumes/beans are at 82% less risk for heart attack! (Beans, beans, good for the heart indeed! hehe)
1 cup of great northern beans supplies 21% of your required iron intake daily, 48% of your daily fiber, and 20% of your potassium.

These facts alone should convince you to make this soup!  Beans are also low in fat and high in protein!

Photo for convincing? Ok. :)

Yum Yum-Cook You Some!

 

As I have mentioned before, I cook a big pot of soup on Sunday night for lunch for Monday through Wednesday.  Then another pot on Wednesday night for Thursday and Friday.  Aaron takes some to work and Sophie and I eat it daily for our lunch as well. 

This is a great way to:

a.)always eat a healthy lunch

b.)save a ton of money on eating out while you are at work, and...

c.)your lunch is already prepared for the week, so you save yourself from worrying about one more detail in life-what to eat for lunch!

 

 

Okie doke, recipe time!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry great northern beans
• 1 cup dry pinto beans
• 1 cup dry kidney beans
• 1 tbsp. of salt
• 4 cloves of garlic

 

Cook all three types of beans and seasonings in one big pot for about 1.5-2 hours or until they are tender.  I always throw a few cloves of garlic in with my beans while they are cooking for flavor. 

 

Now, on the side in a sauté pan cook until tender:

 

• 1 bunch of kale
• 3 carrots sliced
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 cob of corn-I cut the kernels off and threw them in. You can also use a can, drained.
• 2 tomatoes cubed
• 1 tbsp. of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. of onion powder

 

Once all these vegetables are tender and the beans are cooked through, drain the beans, but do NOT wash them.  Put all ingredients back into the pot you cooked your beans in, fill with 2-3 cups of water.  Add another tsp. or so of salt to your taste and 1 tsp. of pepper or to taste to season the soup broth.  Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes just to marry all the vegetables in flavor. 

That's it! Easy as that. :)

 

 

 

Doesn't that look delicious?

Super healthy. Super easy. Inexpensive.  And so very yummy!

 

Now, I have made this soup several times with my homemade bone chicken broth as the base and personally, I recommend that the most if you have some chicken bone broth.  You can use some free range chicken broth from a carton if you prefer and I know the flavors will be great!

 

Please try this one folks!  I most definitely encourage you to follow my soup lunch train :)  This is an easy way to maintain a healthier lifestyle and stay on a cheaper food budget.

Enjoy!



Tonight's dinner + Strawberry Sundae = happy belly!

I was recently inspired by a blog I follow to create my own Strawberry Sundae for my readers.  In her recipe, she uses all different ingredients, except for the Strawberries.  I didn't have any of her ingredients in my pantry, so I created my own.  It was so good, I had to blog about it.

First, I want to share what we had for dinner.  I've posted about both separately in the past, but tonight I combined the two.  I won't include the recipe here, you'll have to look back in my archives for that :)  Tonight I combined my veggie burger and my zucchini cakes into one meal.  The zucchini cakes served as my bun, and the veggie burger, was well..the burger :)

Now, I will admit I had to remove the top "bun" in order to pick it up and eat it like a burger, but it wasn't as messy as it would appear to be. Even if it were, still try this meal.  It's great!


Now, for the Strawberry Sundae.

Yea. It's that good too.

Ingredients:

3 Frozen Strawberries
1 Frozen Banana
2 tbsp. of milk
1 tbsp. of peanut butter
1  tbsp. of agave nectar
1 regular ice cream cone-optional
1 high fiber brownie-optional

Method:

Throw the first 5 ingredients in your food processor and blend until it forms into an ice cream. Done.
I topped mine with half an ice cream cone and half a high fiber organic brownie(I had some on hand because it's one of the snacks I keep on hand for Sophie-they can be found at whole foods).



This little Strawberry Sundae was seriously better than ice cream. Yes, I am not crazy.  I am a huggggeeeee ice cream fan too.  But this baby will definitely cure the ice cream blues for those of you who are trying to eat a healthy diet.

As always, enjoy folks!! :)

"Fried" Zucchini Cakes

Whew! Life has been busy to say the least!  For those of you who know me, know that I am working for a local author doing her marketing, event coordinating... Well, we recently partnered with one another and are now creating a whole new business.  It will be a bit before we are launched, but this blog will play a big role in what we are doing.  We are starting a media company called New Family Living.  I am in the process of building this from the ground up.  It is requiring a lot of research on my end, a lot more than I anticipated.  But, it's a fun new adventure that is a life changer! :)  I am very blessed with the opportunities I have been given, so I am not complaining one tiny bit! I am busy, but blessed! So, with all that said, I apologize if I don't get my recipes up as frequent as I use to.  I still plan on posting one weekly for you all to enjoy!

Today's post is "fried" zucchini cakes!

I had dinner guests last week and made these for them and they loved them!  They've become one of our favorites too!  Super healthy, super easy, and a great way to incorporate a vegetable into any meal for those who aren't big vegetable eaters!

Yummy!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini squash (grated or shredded)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of oat flour
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 2 tsp. of onion powder
• pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. of good olive oil or sunflower oil to cook them in

Method:

Shred your zucchini.
Mix all ingredients together.
Heat your oil.
Take a good scoop of the mixture in your hand and form it into a patty.  They may feel like they won't stick together, but once you cook them, they will.  Just make sure you pat them together as solidly as you can.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side on medium heat, or until golden brown.

That's it! Pretty darn easy!

 

 

I'm serious.. These things are so easy, and so delicious that you will be making them weekly!

Inexpensive, healthy, and filling!  Oh, and EASY!!

 

As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did coming up with it.  Like I said before, we have these at least once a week now! :) 

Rice & Broccoli Cakes-My New Favorite Creation!

So, I usually blog on Mondays now that my life is so busy with several work projects, school work, being Sophie's mommy, being my husbands wife, being a maid for my home, and being a chef for my family. (I am very blessed, so I am not complaining one bit)  But when I tasted this creation that I made for our supper last night, I could not wait to get the word out to you guys! This recipe was created in a panic of sorts when I realized I didn't have any quinoa left for supper, or enough rice to split between the 3 of us.  I had 1/4 cup of rice for 3 people who love rice. (No pun intended since my last name is Rice-ha)

I mentioned a few blogs back about my husbands sudden food allergies.  We thought it was gluten, and it's not.  We then thought it was dairy, and we still aren't sure, but we do know now he had a reaction to apples. Yes apples! Crazy.  So, reason I say all that is, I didn't include any cheese in this recipe, but I am sure it would be delightful if you added some cheese in there and still a healthy recipe if you use some skim mozzarella.

Oh yea! Delicious looking right?? Well, the photo doesn't do any justice!  These little rice cakes are full of flavor and completely and crazy healthy for you!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of cooked rice (you could definitely use quinoa here too)
• 6 good sized broccoli florets chopped pretty fine
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of oat flour(I didn't grind it down too fine, I left it pretty coarse)
• 1 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of pepper

*Like I said, you could totally throw in 1/4 cup of mozzarella in here and it'd be great!

Method:

Cook your rice, and steam your broccoli.  I cooked my broccoli in the microwave in water for about 5 minutes.  Drain the water and squeeze as much water out of the broccoli as possible. 

Then either throw the broccoli in your processor or chop on your chopping board until pretty fine.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Once mixed well, form into patties.

Throw some good oil in a pan, about 1-2 tbsp. (I recently splurged for some good Olive oil, but you can use sunflower too)

See, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.  You don't want to "fry" these cakes. You just want enough oil to cook them in.  Place your patties in your shallow amount of oil and cook until brown on each side. (about 5 minutes each side-cook on medium heat)

As you see, this recipe makes 7 decent size rice cakes. 

 

 

I can't stress enough how good this recipe is! It was an accident too :) ha ha. Just needed to do something with the 1/4 cup of rice I had. :)

 

This is such an easy recipe to make too! I would rate it beginner level for sure.   

As always, thank you all for reading!! I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did! It will be in our menu at least once a week :)

A biscuit for your thoughts :)

Hey everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weather!! The warmer it gets, the more it reminds me I have got to get my body in shape for summer clothing.  I know I wrote about that in my previous blog, but man it's weighing heavy on my mind.  I also made a promise to myself that I will have abs by my 30th birthday in September. It is 100% possible :) 

With that said, who wants biscuits? Ha ha!

I woke up this morning with the craving for biscuits and gravy. Man, I wanted it bad too. I decided to try my hand in making a cleaner biscuit for my breakfast this morning.  I usually just have eggs and fruit, but today I needed something more.  I decided to settle for just making the biscuits and skipping even trying to make a cleaner gravy, although it can be done ;) I opted to use a yummy, all natural, premium strawberry jelly I picked up last week. 


Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp. of oat flour
• 1/2 tbsp. of aluminum free baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tbsp. of agave
• 1/2 cup of milk of choice
• 3 tbsp. of oil of choice(I use a good olive oil on these

Method:


Preheat oven at 425 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until a dough forms.  With oat flour, it might not form into a ball like normal flour.  If it's still a little too sticky, add a touch more of flour.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Then turn over on an oat floured board (use about 2-3 tbsp. of additional oat flour). Knead the dough 5-6 times until coated with the oat flour.  Pinch off balls of dough and put into an oiled pan. I flattened my biscuits down some before baking.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

You could easily add some mozzarella or garlic powder to this recipe to make a cleaner version of a cheddar biscuit. It would be heavenly I am sure!  I would also suggest even doing some nice herbs in this biscuit to pair with some eggs for breakfast. Yummy!!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe! I sure did! As you see, I enjoyed my biscuits with a small amount of yummy jelly. Yum yum!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting - Enjoy!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is getting to a great start the first official week of Spring! :)
Spring can mean something different for everyone, but the first thing I think of is starting fresh. Starting something new and exciting that will benefit your life, right?  Why not start eating better? After all, Spring only tells us that Summer is coming, aka swimsuit season, shorts and tank tops... you get the picture!
Today's recipe is one that will allow you to still feel like you are indulging in something delicious and it'll seem too good to be healthy.
Ready for the first taste?

How did I manage to make something like chocolate frosting so healthy and yummy? Pumpkin puree. Funny right? Don't knock it till you try it!

Vanilla Cupcakes(8-10 cupcakes):

• 2 cups of oat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of agave or honey
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 2 tsp. of vanilla
• 2 tbsp. of virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of milk

**If you prefer chocolate cupcakes, just add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to this mixture and a touch more milk.


Line your muffin pan with 8-10 cupcake tins.  Fill each up 3/4 of the way full.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top. 
Let cool and make your frosting!


Chocolate Frosting:

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree-- NOT pumpkin pie filling!
• 1/4 + 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp. of agave, honey, or maple syrup(real maple)
• 1 tbsp. of virgin coconut oil
• 1 tbsp. of vanilla
• 1/3 cup of almond butter (or nut butter of choice)

Throw all frosting ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth.
Then simply scoop some onto your cupcake and smear. Try to refrain from eating it all with just a spoon. Although, it does make a nice mousse also! :)

This stuff is so good it's crazy!  Now, this frosting is also vegan and dairy free for those of you who are looking for a yummy vegan treat to indulge in.  It's super yummy :)

As you may notice, there are some little chocolate dustings on the plate. I happened to have some dark chocolate chips in the pantry that I grated over each cupcake to make them pretty.  I'm not a good piper, so I usually distract the look of my frosting skills with a garnish or something. :) 
These cupcakes are so moist, and so delicious.  You definitely do not feel like you're eating oatmeal ground into flour, or a can of pumpkin puree.  These babies are loaded with protein, fiber, vitamin A, and much more.  These are great!

As always, thank you all for supporting my blog by reading my posts! This is so much fun for me:)  Enjoy this recipe and I'd love to hear your feedback!

Happy Spring Break!

Chicken and Quinoa Casserole = Happy Bellies!

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  I have been very busy, but very blessed with cool new opportunities lately that I am still pinching myself daily to make sure it's all true :)  Can't complain one bit about any one thing, so life is peachy. 

Today, my post will be something that will surely be a crowd pleaser in any home.  I don't post many blogs with meat in the recipe, so today should be a recipe most of you all can try and not hear many complaints, or any I hope!

Now, who doesn't love the good old fashioned chicken and rice casserole our mothers or grandmothers would make us?  They use Campbell's cream soup, cheese, butter, and some even top it with Ritz crackers--yummy right? Yes! I could eat a whole dish to myself!

Well, this is not THAT recipe! Ha ha, so quit dreaming! It's one even better :) It's a chicken and quinoa casserole that is sure to quench that nostalgic longing for the traditional recipe we all love. I promise :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa (prepare just as you do rice-1 cup quinoa 2 cups of water, cook until done)
• 1 cup of cooked and shredded chicken (or more if you like)(I do boil my chicken with celery, onions and a bay leaf for flavor and about 1 tbsp. of salt)
• 1 cup of cooked broccoli (or sweet peas)
• 1-2 cup of homemade cream of celery soup*recipe below*
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth (I boiled 3 chicken legs, used the chicken and the homemade broth for the casserole)
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella for topping

Method:

Prepare you quinoa, chicken, and cream soup as required. Once all components are done, put together in a bowl.  Add all ingredients listed above, stir until well blended.  Put in casserole 8x8 casserole dish, top with shredded cheese, bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.  Done, easy, delicious, healthy! Everyone is happy. Good grains, meat for protein, & veggies!


*For the cream of celery soup:     

• 1/4. of sunflower oil
• 1/4 of whole grain flour
• 1/2 cup of milk or half-n-half
• 1 cup of chicken broth(used from boiling my own chicken)
• 1/2 cup of celery (cooked first until soft)
• 1/4 cup of onion (cooked first until soft)
• 1-2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of pepper
• 1 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1 tsp. of onion powder

You're going to start by making a rue.  In a sauce pan, heat your oil and add the flour to the oil.  Brown this for about 5 minutes. Then add your milk and chicken broth.  Stir constantly to break up the flour and so that it doesn't burn. Add your seasonings as listed.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Then add your cooked celery and onion.  Let simmer for about another 5-10 minutes.  This should thicken up to about the consistency of a gravy.  If it doesn't get quite that thick, don't fret. It'll still work!   Make sure it's to your taste as far as saltiness.  Soup is done.

 

Now, this cream soup is so delicious I had to stop myself from eating it straight from the pan. Seriously!  My husband was in love at first taste as well! 
Canned soups have MSG, a ton of sodium among other mystery ingredients that are NO GOOD for you! So, I encourage you to make your own. It's delicious! And it's simple!  I made double this recipe. I actually made this up in my little brain, and I'm quite proud of it :)

So yummy!!  This made 6 servings for us:)

Hungry yet?

Please enjoy this yummy, family friendly, super healthy recipe created by yours truly!  This is definitely a new staple in our house.  I use to make your traditional chicken and rice but would try to make it healthier.  This one is definitely about as clean as you can get any casserole dish...unless you omit the cheese.. but you gotta live a little right? :)  Enjoy folks!