Super Greens Soup

So, I saw an idea of making a large batch of soup to dine and snack on for a few days or throughout a week. or another idea is to eat only this soup for a couple days to detox or get ready for a diet. Either way this is a great source of vitamins and a very healthy recipe for anytime. I changed a few things from the recipes I saw to create something I like better.

recipe:

1 lg bag chopped fresh Kale

1 bg fresh spinach

1 c chopped fresh broccoli

1/2 c diced carrots

3 c organic vegetable broth or water

1 chopped yellow onion

2 T olive oil

1 cup cooked brown rice

dash cayenne

salt and pepper 

white truffle oil

Put olive oil in to a large pot on med/high heat for 1 minute, add onions and 1/4 t salt. cook onions 5 minutes till browned. add in 1 c broth and put lid on pot, turn heat down to low. cook 10 minutes stirring occasionally till liquid has reduced.

 Put rice and remaining broth in to pan, stir together. add kale stirring as you can, pot will be very full (kale cooks down alot!) cook on medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring as the kale cooks down, add spinach, broccoli and carrots. cook another 5 minutes stirring as the greens wilt down. Stir in cayenne pepper.

Take pot off heat and use an immersion blender or place in counter blender. Puree soup to desired consistency. Soup will be very thick. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon in to bowl and drizzle a small amount of white truffle oil over the top.

**I hope you love this soup as much as I do. It is very easy to eat alot of it, but no guilt if you do! :)

Orecchiette and sausage

So, I had this yummy looking sausage and I was trying to figure out what to make with it that sounded yummy.  I looked thru my pantry and found some Orecchiette pasta that I had found at World Market a few months ago.  I love to buy different pasta when I come across it.  Makes a simple pasta dish more gourmet looking. :) So this is the recipe I came up with and it turned out really yummy.  I am adding it right away before I forget what I did.

1 pkg Chicken and Pork Sausage

1/2 pkg Orecchiette Pasta (or your choice of pasta)

1 pkg mixed veggies ( I used one that had red bell peppers, asparagus and carrots)

2 cups of fresh Spinach

1/2 cup of chicken broth or stock ( I prefer Organic)

2 Tbls butter or margarine

1/4 cup milk

1 glove garlic, sliced

2 tsps grated Parmesan cheese

fresh ground pepper to taste

Slice and brown sausage in a pan. Prepare pasta per pkg instructions. Cook veggies and drain. (I had steam in a bag veggies and they tend to have some liquid after cooking in the microwave). Add broth to browned sausage and turn heat to medium, bring to a boil. Add fresh spinach and stir in butter, milk and garlic. Turn heat to low, cook for 10 minutes. Add hot pasta to the pan, stir together. Top with pepper and grated parmesan cheese. serve. Makes about 6 servings.

Green Chili Sour Cream Enchiladas

20 corn tortillas
1 small cans green chili enchiladas sauce
1 small tub sour cream
1 lb chicken breasts
12 oz grated cheese (any blend)
1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
cook chicken, shred. Melt butter in small saucepan on low heat, whisk in flour til combined. Add enchilada sauce and sour cream in a pan, whisk till sour cream is melted. set aside. Layer tortillas, chicken, cheese and sauce in 9x13 casserole dish. Bake 30 minutes at 375* covered, uncovered for the last 10 minutes.

SO I made my Banana Chocolate chip cookies tonight. It's my kids favorite way for me to use up the over ripe bananas. I think sometimes they let them go brown in the hopes that maybe mom will make cookies out of them. This time around I used a different recipe I found online and they were just as good. I used coconut sugar in place of regular processed white sugar. If you have never used coconut sugar, it is an all natural unprocessed plant based sugar alternative that is made completely of coconuts. You can use it cup for cup in place of white sugar in recipes, coffee and more. I love it!  Following is the new recipe.  I just mixed with a fork till the flour, also I added each item, in order to the bowl and they turned out fine. :)

Banana Cookies Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground mace or nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 cup of pecans (walnuts and chocolate chips are fine alternatives)

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

2 In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

3 Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

4 Fold into the batter the pecans or chocolate chips if using. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Blueberry Cinnamon Donuts

So, the kids got me a donut maker for Christmas and I was so excited!  Yet, I had yet to use it. But, yesterday I got a bee in my bonnet and decided that today was the day.  I just used the pancake recipe off the box of baking mix and added some dried blueberries, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a couple tbls of sugar. I also decided since they weren't real sweet I would make a simple icing out of powdered sugar and a little bit of milk. These turned out YUM!.Later I'll tell you about my BBQ crock-pot steaks and baked potatoes. :)

Slow cooker Broccoli cheese soup in July

Ok, I know it's 110* outside but, when you spend the day indoors with the ac going full blast you can forget and just crave some yummy soup anyway. :)  So, taking my daughter's favorite soup and my love of slow cooker recipes I made Broccoli Cheese soup in my big ole crockpot.  We prefer a thick soup so the mixes at the grocery store don't do it for us. We want a thick, creamy soup. This is the recipe I used.

1lb Velveeta cheese (chopped into cubes)
1 12oz package frozen chopped broccoli
1 can cream of chicken soup(tho I didnt have cream of chicken so, I used broccoli cheese)
2 cans milk
next time I will add chopped onion and green peppers, but I didnt this time

cook on low in the slow cooker for 4 hours. Stir it after 2-3 hours to combine ingredients.

It will not need any salt but, I did add some pepper to taste.

YUM! and so easy.

my first pair of shoes

I bought the first pair of shoes I tried on. Once I got them home I realized that they were not a good fit. But, I shoved my feet into them anyway and wore them for 18yrs. Over those years I developed blisters and there were days of such pain I wasnt sure how much longer I could wear them. But, then my feet got used to the pain and I began to not notice it so much. I worked very hard to love those ill fitting shoes no matter how much they hurt my feet. Then one day those shoes just went missing, When I looked I saw they were on someone else's feet. At first I was so mad that she had my shoes, but once I saw them on her feet I never wanted them back. When I think about how hard those shoes were to wear I wonder why it makes me mad someone else took them, but since then I have realized that one day I will find a pair that fit like a glove and wont cause me so many painful blisters. I will walked proudly and confidently in them, they will be supportive and take me places, I will feel like I am walking on air in them. This time my search will be more careful, I will wait for the right fit.

Roasted Veggies and Pesto Brown Rice

So, tonight I had to drive Logan out to his theater banquet and on the way back it was already 6pm.  I was tired and tempted to go thru a drive thru for dinner, but I couldnt figure out where to go and still get something healthy and vegan.  So, I decided to go home and dig out the potatoes I had found on sale the other day and whatever veggies I could find and stick them in the oven. Here is what I made.

I cut up the rest of the new potatoes I had leftover from another meal, a few of the yellow potatoes I found on sale, a red bell pepper, some carrots, broccoli and cawliflower from a bag, a purple onion from the church garden I had been needing to use, and a tomato.  I laid them out on a cookie sheet and sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper, then just to try it I drizzled just a little of my new find White Truffle Oil.  I baked it all on 400* for about 20 minutes.  In the meantime I made some boil in the bag brown rice, I added some vegan butter salt, pepper, lemon pepper and a teaspoon of pesto to the rice. To serve I put some of the rice on a plate and topped with the veggies. YUM!! I think the truffle oil was the kicker, but this was a yummy dinner.
For dessert I sliced up some strawberries and added some coconut sugar. delicious!

I have leftovers and am looking forward to lunch tomorrow. This healthy eating thing is not so bad. (although I have to admit I am craving something sweet, really need to get on those brown krisps treats tomorrow)

Pesto Veganese Spread

So, when I went to Central Market yesterday I go a sandwich from thier deli bacause I was starving. It was a turkey pesto on sourdough. I only ate half so I gave the other half to Rowdy after school and he raved about it. Today while I was out I grabbed some ingredients to recreate that sandiwch, only vegan.  I got whole wheat bread, tofurky sandwich slices, vegan smoked provolone, veganese(vegan mayo), daikon sprouts(tons of vitamins), and though I should make my own I finally gave up and got jarred pesto(this has a bit of parmesean cheese in it).  Whe he got home from school we went to work. First we mixed up the basil mayo, layered the tofurky, cheese, daikon sprouts, flat italian parsley. I added tomatoes and green olives to mine.  Well, YUM! It was a hit. I didnt tell Rowdy it was tofurky or vegan cheese, but I will now that he loves it. I love my foodie boy!

Veganism &Macrobiotics

So, I am doing some reading on veganism and macrobiotics. I am tired and just dont feel the energy I think I should have. So, I am looking to what I eat and trying to see if there are some alternatives that will make me feel better.  I heard about Alicia Silverstone's website Thekindlife.com and her book The Kind Diet and her words about feeling healthy and energetic from the foods she eats made me take a look at what exactly she was eating. I went to Barnes and Noble today and bought the book, I have only just started reading it so, I will let you know what more I find out in another post.  But, today at Central Market I found a bunch of cool stuff to try out.  One I served myself the moment I got home because it was 1pm and I was hungry!  It is various sprouted grains and seeds that come in a bag, all organic.  I poured a bowl and because it sounded good added some of my new sugar made from coconuts(no actual sugar) and some vanilla almond milk.  I have to say YUM!!!  So, I am off to find as many healthy, vegetarian, vegan and/or macrobiotic things that are also yummy with a capital Y as I can.  I will let you know...:)

Baked Kale

I am definitely on the baked kale band wagon.  At first I was just looking for a healthy alternative to chips and other salty snacks when I have a craving for them.  But, now I actually crave these things. I prefer to buy Organic kale because kale is one of those items that you don't peel.  If it is a peelable fruit or veggie then it isn't necessary to spend the extra money on organic. Plus, at Kroger organic kale is only about .25 more than non-organic.  Kale is a leafy green. It has a little bit of a spicy kick, little. One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.  I suggest after baking you let it sit for a bit and dry out some, although you don't have to wait to eat it right off the pan. :) Thank goodness! I know I cant wait!  Then store it in a paper bag, this keeps it crispier than if you stored it in a plastic bag.  So here is my recipe. You can experiment with different spices if you like, i.e. paprika, garlic, ranch dressing mix, etc.  But, I prefer just the simple salt and pepper.


Baked Kale

1 bunch organic kale
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Wash and dry kale leaves.  You can place them whole or tear into chip size pieces. You won't want to eat the stems.  Place on a large cookie sheet, I usually need 2.  Drizzle olive oil over kale and then mix and spread it on top and bottom of kale as evenly as you can.  Lay it out in one layer on pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350* for about 8-10 min or until crispy, but watch and make sure it doesn't burn(every oven is different). It's OK to have a bit of brown on the edges, but not too brown. ;) Enjoy guilt free yummyness!!

My first juicing experience.

Yes! It was as good as it sounds. At least the juicing part was fun. I went to Kroger yesterday to stock up on some goodies to juice. My juicer came with a couple of books with recipes and ideas for me to try. Since I want to go all in healthy wish I bought organic kale, spinach and tomatoes, non-organic celery stalks, lemon, granny smith apples, nectarines and cabbage.  Unintentionally I had gotten a few things from a couple different recipes and all ingredients from none. So, in true Jennifer fashion I made a concoction of what sounded healthy with a few of what sounded good.  I went with kale, spinach, wheat grass (oh yeah, I found this too! :)), apple, celery, cabbage and a couple strawberries just because. lol. I ended up with a full glass of green liquid with a swirl of strawberry I thought was pretty. It took a moment to clean everything up, juicing is messy business.  Then I went to take a sip. BTW, they make it look like you can add a little fruit and it will taste like fruit juice but healthier.  It doesn't. Or at least mine didn't. But, its healthy and it is my breakfast so I will be drinking it and trying another mixture later.  If it gives me energy, takes off some weight and overall makes me feel better then it will be well worth it!