Potato Soup

I have obviously not done a very good job at keeping up with this blog. I really started with good intentions. And then life got in the way. Maybe some day I will be better and sticking to something. Maybe.

The last few months, our life has been taken over with baseball. We have had games two or three nights a week, and it has made it difficult for me to keep up with meal planning. We have one game left, and then maybe I will get back on track.

Last night, I didn't want to eat out after the game AGAIN, so I pulled out my crockpot and tried to come up with something that would be ready for us when we got home.

And here it is:

Creamy Potato Soup
Ingredients:

• About 5 large potatoes, pealed and diced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• Carrots - (being lazy, I used a couple handfuls of baby carrots)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Put Potatoes, onion, and carrots in crockpot. Cover with chicken stock. Cook on low heat for at least 6 hours. Mash all ingredients with a potato masher. Mix flour with milk and stir into soup. Cook for another 15-20 minutes or until thick and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

I thought it turned out pretty good and was great for leftovers the next day. I love anything that is easy and saves time!

The Plan for This week

Maybe if I post my meal plan, it will make me accountable and I may follow through. Not that I haven't been doing pretty well with it, but this will be better....

This may not be the order I make them in. I just have been looking for recipes to use up the what I have and what is on sale this week.

1. Cauliflower Soup
2. Orange Crusted Tilapia w/ Roasted Cabbage
3. Pasta Primavera
4. Veggie Fajitas w/ Black Bean Salad
5. Stir fry w/ Asian noodles
6. And... one day for left overs

That should get me through dinners for the week. Yippee!

Chocolaty Brownies

Here's another attempt at a sugar free dessert. We got this one in an email from Dr. Fuhrman's site. It intrigued me, so I gave it a try. Maybe it would have been good if I liked dark chocolate. I don't. This was definitely not sweet enough for my taste, but you could give it a go.
I added a LOT more dates to the frosting than it called for. Probably 20 instead of 6. The frosting was pretty good. The rest... not great.

Chocolaty Brownies
Ingredients

For the Brownies:

• 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups mashed cooked sweet potato
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 3 tablespoons almond milk

For the Frosting:

• 6 regular or 3 Medjool dates, pitted
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
• 4-5 tablespoons water to thin icing

For the Brownie:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. 
   
3. Mix the cocoa powder and flour together and then mix into the mashed sweet potato. Stir in cinnamon, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, walnuts, seeds and non-dairy milk. Press dough into a lightly-oiled 
4. 9" x 9" baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. The brownies will firm up after they have cooled.

For the Frosting:

1. Using a food processor, process dates until they form a paste, then add remaining ingredients. Spread on brownies after they have cooled.

Cut into squares.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread: No Sugar Added

One thing that we have been missing with this diet is desserts. Especially chocolate. So I have been trying to find ways to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth without causing problems...

I have quite a bit of zucchini in my freezer that I grated and froze last year. So, I thought I'd see if I could find a use for it. And zucchini bread is healthy, if you get rid of the sugar, right?

So, we tried this recipe. The results were better than I expected. I didn't love it, but the kids and the husband did, so that makes it a win, right? We did use chocolate chips that were NOT sugar free, which may have been what made it taste good... without those, I'm not so sure...

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread: No Sugar Added
Ingredients

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place your grated zucchini in a food processor and process until mashed and smooth.
3. Pour the zucchini in a bowl and combine the rest of the wet ingredients with the zucchini.
4. Add the mashed banana and stir well.
5. In another bowl stir together all the dry ingredients.
6. Combine the wet with the dry and then add the chocolate chips.
7. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
8. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick in center comes out clean.
9. Let cool for 10 minutes then using a butter knife loosen the edges of the bread. Carefully flip the bread out of the loaf pan and onto a serving plate.

Vegetarian Chili - from Scratch!

It's been rather cold in Phoenix lately. Well, cold for us. I think it may have gotten below freezing. At night...
Anyway, cold weather is the perfect time to make something warm to eat. We are supposed to be eating lots of beans, so what's better than chili?

Here's the recipe we started with. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I improvised. This made a BIG pot of chili. I used it for a pot-luck and still had leftovers. I thought it turned out pretty good, and the husband and a couple of the kids agreed. The others just wouldn't eat it because,,,beans....

Vegetarian Chili From Scratch

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry beans - I used a mix of black beans, kidney beans, and chick peas
• 2 15oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1-2 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt

1. Put beans in a large bowl. Cover with water and let soak overnight.
2. The next day, rinse the beans. Process vegetables in food processor until finely chopped. Place all ingredients in large crockpot and cover with water. Cook on high for 6-8 hours. 

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Rice (FLOP)

So, we've been doing a lot of squash this week because it was on sale. I usually love squash. And acorn squash is especially delicious. And the photos for this recipe were so pretty...

However, this recipe was pretty much a flop. If I were to try this again (and I probably won't), I would NOT use the thyme. The taste was over-powering, and negated the flavor of the acorn squash.
Also, while it was really cute to have the rice mixture IN the squash "bowl", eating it that way was a bit difficult. And I really didn't think the rice mixture really went well with the squash.

With all that said, here is the recipe in case you want to try it. I included my changes...

Stuffed Acorn Squash + Rice Medley
Acorn Squash

• 3 acorn squashes, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• salt

Wild Rice Medley

• 1 cup rice, dry (I used half black wild rice and half long grain brown rice)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large shallot or small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large handfuls greens (I used spinach)
• 1 can cannellini beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut and seed your squash, place on baking sheet with cut side up. Brush each squash half with a little cooking oil. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until tender…knife should easily pierce the flesh.
Cook your rice according to package.
While rice and squash are cooking, in large wok or saute pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add onion, garlic and bell peppers, saute for about three minutes. Add beans, one tablespoon thyme, red pepper flakes, a few twists of salt and pepper, cook for another three minutes. Add leafy greens, stir frequently until they are wilted.
Combine rice and sautéed vegetables in the larger of the two pots. Taste for seasoning adding additional salt and pepper as needed.
Scoop mixture into each acorn squash half and serve with any additional seasonings.

Healthy Granola

I love granola. I love the crunch and the yummy taste. But the stuff from the store is always so expensive! So I decided to make my own.

Here's the recipe I started with.

I made a few changes. This has been our breakfast the last few days. With a little bit of almond milk, it's actually quite delicious!

Healthy Granola
Ingredients:

• 4  cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oat flour (I made my own in the blender)
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 3/4 cup raw walnuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup raw pecans, chopped
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, oat flour, flaxseed meal, chia seeds, almonds, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
Add coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract to a small saucepan and place over low heat, stirring frequently until coconut oil is completely melted. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well until oats are completely coated.

Next spread the granola evenly in the baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes stir granola and add dried fruit, if you are using. Return granola to the oven and bake 15 minutes longer or until granola is slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the granola to cool completely on the baking sheet so that little clumps stay intact. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container. Best used within 7-10 days. Makes 20 servings.