quinoa beef vegetable soup

I stumbled upon this recipe by adding ingredients that we had on hand. I even had it as an after-hours snack in lieu of my usual bowl of ice cream (it turned out that good- or just happened to really satisfy an intense craving for vege'bles).

Here's what went into it--

1 lb ground beef
5 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes (to be dissolved in 4 cups water)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 medium potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil, chopped (I used freeze dried)

I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to the how or order of things going in. Just how I thought best. And I think this would actually be a good crock pot meal with the ground beef replaced with cubed beef (and the cooked quinoa reserved until the end- or added, uncooked, in the beginning). I have to add, too, that I got "Thank yous" from at least two of the four kids for making this meal tonight.

oatmeal blueberry applesauce muffins

Look at me! Posting a recipe for the first time in our new house, and we've been here since mid-October! I think this is going to be a new norm- posting every half a year or so, just so we're clear. But the muffins we made this morning were killer and healthy, so I wanted to share. Or rather, post it on here so I'll remember it when I'm wondering about how I made them later, as I'm sure that Kaethe and I are the only readers by now, but only because we get these in our inboxes. At least I do, though I'm not sure how I managed that.

Yes, we're still hanging on to Christmas around here.

Oatmeal blueberry applesauce muffins. I may have made something similar before, but I can't remember. The kids and I polished off eight of the twelve soon after they came out of the oven. Five of those may have been me, but I did share quite a bit with Opal.

Ingredients--

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg. Add applesauce mixture and stir until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Devour.

apple roses

I got the idea from this blog to make these lovely apple roses in honor of Opal's feast day (St. Therese of Lisieux) today. Aren't they awesome?! I didn't have any puff pastry dough, but I do know how to make a pretty good pie crust (thanks, Mom!), so I subbed that. The crust didn't hold up maybe quite as well as puff pastries would have, but it mostly got the job done. Opal, of course, got to enjoy some, too (chopped into little bit)-- her first "official" treat.

Ingredients:
enough dough to make two pie crusts
3 Apples - I used honeycrisp
4 cups Water
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 pinch Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
Powdered Sugar for dusting (optional)
Parchment Paper

Wash and core the apples. Slice very thin- about 1/8 inch slices. Place water, 3 TBSP sugar, lemon juice, and apples in medium pot and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes, or until apples soften and can easily bend. Strain apples and let cool in a colander. Place apples on paper towels to cool and dry completely. While the apples are cooling, prepare the crust and roll it out into a large rectangle. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle over the crust, pressing it down slightly. Cut the crust into 1/2" strips with a pizza cutter. Arrange about 7-8 apple slices aong the first strip, overlapping as you go to create the "petals." Roll the apples up in the strip of crust (fairly tightly so the apples don't fall out). COntinue with the remainder of the apples. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until golden. Enjoy!

fresh melon with cilantro

I've had a lot of things on my to-post list these past few months, but I thought this one was too good to pass up getting on here for a couple of minutes to share. A couple of weeks ago, I did a search for foods that were good for energy, as I've been zapped lately. Melon of any kind ranked high on the list, as they're packed with energizing vitamins and minerals. And their high water content fights fatigue by keeping you hydrated. I believe it. I've been trying to find ways to spruce it up a bit, and I saw several recipes online that added cilantro and lemon juice- and some onions, so I gave it a go. I just cut up some in a bowl and added what I thought to be a balanced amount of lemon juice, diced red onion and cilantro. I also saw mint in some recipes, which sounds yummy, but I didn't have any of that on hand.

Kielbasa potato cabbage soup

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I made an Irish-sounding soup. Aside from a bit of chopping, it was easy- basically, just put everything in a pot and let simmer. I thought it was pretty good, but then, I liked everything that went into it. And I doubled almost everything that went into it, since we had company and like leftovers-- we ended up with quite a bit extra.

Ingredients

1 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups water
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, halved, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 large carrots, chopped ( didn't have any carrots, so we did without)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large pot, saute the cabbage, onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Combine the water, vinegar and brown sugar; add to cabbage mixture.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 60-70 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

recipe adapted from taste of home

slow cooker Thai yellow curry

From 01/12/2013 (by Eye-Fi)

I served this flavorful dish over short grain brown rice with a cucumber/grated carrots/green onions salad with cashews and a dressing of soy sauce, lime juice, white sugar and red wine vinegar...delicious!

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, (with skin and bones) (I used 2 lbs of chicken breasts, as a.) we didn't have thighs, and b.) we generally like breasts better)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 can coconut milk (I used TJ's "lite")
1 jar yellow curry sauce
1 tsp grated lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 cup green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; brown chicken, in batches if necessary. Transfer to slow cooker. Drain fat from skillet.

Add chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, cocnut milk, curry sauce, lime zest, lime juice to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 4 hours.

Stir in red pepper, green beans and raisins; cook, covered, on high until pepper is tender-crisp, about 30 minutes. Serve sprinkled with cilantro.

Mexican wedding cakes (cookies)

From December 12, 2012

Our homeschooling group is having an Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta tomorrow with a Mexican potluck. I wanted to bring something Mexican, but all of the go-to simple items were covered. I was looking for something quick and easy to make, since I was trying to nurse and put a newborn to sleep around the same time (sometimes it takes ALL evening). These Mexican wedding cakes looked just the thing. And they were.

Ingredients

1/2 pound (1 cups) butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped very fine or ground in a food processor
1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar for dusting and rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl with beater attachment, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat again until smooth.

Scrape down sides of bowl. Add vanilla and salt, beat and scrape down once more. Turn mixer to low, add flour and ground toasted pecans. Beat only until incorporated and mixed well. Scrape bowl.

Using a medium sized cookie scoop or Tablespoon, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving a little room between each ball. Do not flatten.

Bake in 350 degree over for 14 minutes or until cookies are almost firm and the edges are lightly browned. Let cool just enough to handle.

Remove from oven and as soon as you can handle them, gently roll the cookies into the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Tap off sugar and place them on a cool cookie sheet.

When the cookies are all coated, start over again, and roll them in powdered sugar a second time. Shake off excess and place on cookie sheets.

I made mine a tad small, as I was trying to make more, but this should yield 30 cakes (I made 35).

(Relatively) Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these for Brinnly's fifth birthday and they quickly became a hit here.  Almost as good as a oatmeal cookie, but socially acceptable to eat for breakfast!

rerun: pumpkin sausage pasta

From October 11, 2012

This is one of my favorite fall dishes... so, worth posting again. Really anything pumpkin falls into that category.

My new tool

Plan to Eat is my new endeavor.  Anyone else out there using this tool to plan their meals?  My goal is to plan for a month of meals total, with grocery shopping only every two weeks.   Wish me luck!

apple banana oatmeal

Ingredients

2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1 cup chopped tart apples
1/2 cup sliced bananas
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/3 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
Brown sugar, optional

1. In a saucepan, combine water, orange juice concentrate, apple, banana, raisins, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.
2. Stir in oats and wheat germ. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring occasionally. 3. Sprinkle with brown sugar if desired.
Makes 4 servings

The girls and I have been having oatmeal pretty much every morning. I had been fixing steel cut oats, but during pregnancy, I found that those just took too long, and I was feeling waaay nauseated by the time they were cooled and ready to eat. So we usually just have old fashioned oats with a bit of honey and cinnamon. I switched things up this morning, and the new recipe seemed to go over well.

apple cobbler

From September 11, 2012

We've been having a lot of apple treats lately, after our trip to Simmons Farm last week. I've made one crisp, two pies and four cobblers. I adapted a recipe my mom sent me, as that one didn't seem to have enough batter (though the photo on their site would have you believe otherwise)- and I cut back on the sugar and replaced it with turbinado sugar.

Ingredients:

4 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 5 apples)
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
1 1/4 cups of self rising flour
3/4 cups of turbinado sugar
1/3 cup Smart Balance or Earth Balance, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Melt butter sub. and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon and half of the walnuts. Peel, core and slice apples, tossing with about 1 tablespoon of lemon. Place apples into the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour and sugar. To that, add the butter sub., milk and egg and mix together until well blended. Pour over the apples and sprinkle the top with the other half of the walnuts. Bake at 325 degrees F for one hour or until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Finally...a post from the Ward kitchen! About tofu!

Hey, remember us?  Since my last post, I  have a new kitchen (well, nothing is quite new about the kitchen itself, but it is a new-to-us house) and it's even more crowded.  There's a total of four little girls running around in it, eager to help cook.  Don't worry, you can usually still find muffin tins on the phone.

With all of our transitions in the past few years, healthy eating is still central to our family's balance.  I tried a new freezer meal group for a while, but now I'm on my own for meal planning and prep.  I'm trying out a new routine of meal planning and a new site for it so I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I finally learned a technique for cooking tofu and it totally changed my life.  Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but it was really, really helpful.  Last week I chopped up an eggplant, sauteed it in some Trader Joe sauce, and added the tofu after I was done with these instructions:

http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/how-to-cook-tofu

Served with rice it was a hit for the whole gang.

Have you learned any new techniques lately?

Chicken and rice chowder

From September 11, 2012

...Another easy hit from Saving Dinner (except I added a lot more of everything in order to have some to freeze post-babe)...

4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
2 teaspoons thyme
salt and pepper
1/2 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth and water to a boil and add the chicken. Add thyme and season with salt and pepper; add rice and reduce heat.

2. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots, and celery; cook until onions are translucent. Add flour to the mix and combine well. Add this mixture to the chicken broth mixture in the saucepan.

3. Stir milk into everything and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 20-30 minutes.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-and-rice-chowder-392831?oc=linkback

Pasta Fagioli soup

1 lb ground beef- brown and drain any fat
12 oz. pasta- cook until al dente
1 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped (saute the onion, garlic and carrot in oil until tender)
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (28 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 ounce) can (white) northern beans, drained
7 cups chicken broth
3 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons pepper
3 teaspoons parsley (Combine the rest of ingredients up to this point in a large pot and simmer for an hour or so.)
2 cups spinach, chopped (add spinach before serving)

This was an experimental soup, in which I kept adding more and more things I found in the refrigerator and cabinets that sounded like they might do well in an Italian pasta soup-- I was trying to make plenty so we'd have leftovers to freeze for after the baby comes. It turned out very good and was enjoyed by everyone- that's the fastest I've seen Iris eat in a long time, and she asked for a second bowl. I think we'll all be happy to have it again.

I forgot to take a picture, but this is the closest I could find to what it looked like (except imagine beef instead of chicken)- from shutterbean.com.

Mexican lasagna

From 08/17/2012 (by Eye-Fi)

...totally experimental, but it got good reviews from all partakers. Abigail kept thanking me "so much!" for making it.

I was actually just trying to use up some ingredients we still had hanging around after our lake trip-- here's what went in...

~1 lb ground beef
~one onion, chopped
~4ish cloves garlic
~maybe 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning
~1 can enchilada sauce
~1 can black beans, drained
~1 cup salsa
~some pepper
~1.5 cups cottage cheese
~2 cups shredded cheddar/Mexican cheese
~lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 400. Brown meat, drain any fat and set aside. Saute onions and garlic and add to meat. Add taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, beans, salsa, pepper and simmer together for a few minutes. Layer meat mixture, cottage cheese, shredded cheese and lasagna noodles for 2-3 layers and end with last of meat mixture topped with shredded cheese. Cover with foil and cook for 45 min. Remove foil and cook for another 15 min. Serve with fruit and salad. Yum.

Southwestern chicken and rice bake

From 08/06/2012 (by Eye-Fi)

I've been trying new recipes out occasionally and even meaning to post some, but life has just been taking over. This recipe was one that I'll be making again, though, as it's healthy, relatively quick prep (despite the seemingly long list of ingredients), and all of the kids ate it gratefully-- often a difficult feat.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickencasseroles/r/bl51204a.htm
(This recipe made two meals for our family)

garlic herb quinoa

Very flavorful!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter (I used a lactose-free variety, since Mike's mom was visiting)
  
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 dash fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.
2. In a bowl, toss quinoa together with garlic, parsley, thyme, salt, and onion. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve.

photo, recipe from allrecipes.com

spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs

I don't usually make chicken thighs, but I thought this recipe worthy of tagging to make again-- very easy, and I cut the spiciness down a lot for the kids' sake, but it was still a tasty dish, enjoyed by all. I served it with herbed quinoa, peas, and salad.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Cooking spray
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

photo courtesy of myrecipes.com

Heavenly Healthy Banana Bread

In search of a healthy baked good recipe to use up ripe bananas, I came across this whole grain bread. It only calls for a little brown sugar (I used raw cane sugar, and even less than it called for), and the rest is sweetened with honey. This is some of the best banana bread I've ever had. From one batch, I made two mini loaves for us and the neighbors as well as some mini muffins for the kids... they like those.

Here is the recipe