Crockpot Jalapeño Beef

This stuff is good! Wrap it in lettuce, tortillas, put it on a bun or over a salad! 

Crockpot Jalapeño Beef

4 lbs beef roast

3 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

1 7 oz. can pickled jalapeños with juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook overnight on low for dinner the next day. Shred and serve. 

Serves 8 (probably more).

The Spomelet

This recipe is an easy way to sneak in greens without noticing. You can scramble your egg mixture instead of making it into an omelet too! 

The Spomelet

Ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten (careful not to beat any air into the eggs)

2 handfuls of spinach

1 T avocado oil

1 t avocado oil 

In a small pan sauté the spinach in teaspoon of oil until wilted. Puree spinach. 

Combine spinach with eggs. (Once again, careful not to beat any air into the eggs). 

Over medium high heat add Tablespoon of avocado oil in large pan (you want a very thin layer of egg mixture on the pan. If it's too thick the bottom will burn and the top won't cook). 

Pour egg mixture into pan and spread with fork. 

Let the eggs cook until the edges start to get crispy. Loosen the edges with a spatula and shake the pan until the whole omelet is loose. Carefully move the omelet from the pan to your plate. 

Add your fillings and fold the omelet in half. 

Warm Kale Apricot Salad

This is my modified version of a zenbelly recipe. I like to post recipes on my blog so they are easy to access. 

Serves 2

1/2 an onion, thinly sliced

1 T light olive oil

Two chicken breasts, grilled and diced

4 pieces bacon, cooked and diced

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup pecans

Preheat the oven to 325

Sauté the onion in a large skillet over medium heat with the olive oil for 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium low and let the onions caramelized for 40 minutes. 

Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken, bacon, and apricots to the onions and stir to combine. Add the kale and stir to combine. Place a lid over the pan and let the kale steam until tender. 

Serve with toasted pecans on top.

I've tried this recipe with baby kale and (adult?) kale and I like the latter better. 

Chicken Coconut Curry

This is one of Sam's favorite dishes. I love it too. You can use any type of meat or no meat at all. Here's to healthy comfort food!

Serves 10

Ingredients:

8 large chicken breasts, thawed and cut in strips

2 large russet potatoes

1 large sweet potato

2 T oil

3 garlic cloves

1 white onion, chopped 

1/2 cabbage head, chopped

2 large bell peppers, chopped

2 cans full fat coconut milk

3 T yellow curry powder

Salt to taste

Process:

Peel and dice potatoes. Cover with water in pot and boil until soft.

Sauté garlic, onion, cabbage, and bell peppers in oil in a sauté pan. Once soft add chicken and stir occasionally until cooked. 

Drain potatoes. Combine sautéed ingredients with potatoes in large pot. Add two cans coconut milk and curry powder. Stir until combined. Once the coconut milk is heated add salt to taste. 

You can serve over cauliflower rice or normal rice or just eat it like a thick soup. 

Chia Coconut Pudding

2 T chia seed

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

1/4 cup water

Toppings (I used banana, almond butter, almonds, and cinnamon)

Mix together chia, coconut milk, and water. Refrigerate overnight or until set. Heat up and add toppings. 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi (GF/DF)

After going to an allergist and being taken off wheat and dairy I've had to get a little more creative with meals. I was nervous about making this but it turned out really good! And its way healthy. And its basically two ingredients. (my kind of recipe).

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, cubed and boiled
1 cup gluten free flour (I used quinoa flour which was literally quinoa ground up in my blendtec on the "whole juice" setting)

Preparation:
Using a potato masher, mash up cooked sweet potato until there are no noticeable chunks. Fold in flour until dough becomes thick and tacky. Coat hands and counter with remaining flour. Roll sections of dough into logs the thickness of your thumb. Lay the tines of a fork across the top of the log then cut into 1/2 inch chunks (smaller is better). Drop about 20 gnocchi's at a time into boiling water. You will know it's done when it floats to the top.
I just seasoned ours with garlic, salt, and olive oil but it would be really good with pesto sauce or tomato sauce.

Falafel (vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free)

This recipe was so easy and so good. It recommends making it in a food processor (which I don't have) so I did it in my blendtec. I added a little bit of olive oil to the falafel so it would blend better and we used tapioca flour instead of wheat flour. This gave the falafel a spongy texture sort of like Brazilian cheese bread. We also only lightly fried the falafel. When I make it again I will form them into patties instead of balls so the sides get more fried.



Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained (garbanzo beans)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 T chopped parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 t cumin
1 t baking powder
1/3 cup tapioca flour*
Oil for frying

Preparation:
Blend together all ingredients but flour. Transfer ingredients to bowl and mix in flour till mixture doesn't stick to sides of the bowl.
Fill bottom of skillet with oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Form falafel mixture into patties and top into pan. Cover with lid. Flip when crispy. Drain on paper towels.

We served ours with basmati rice seasoned with turmeric, cilantro, garlic and salt, as well as hummus and pitas (for Sam).

These aren't very good as leftovers so if you don't want to make all of the mixture don't fry it all.

*you can use regular flour if you're a wheat eater. You'll just get a different texture.

Recipe modified from www.epicurious.com

Laab

This is a Thai dish introduced to my family by my sister after she and her husband traveled to Thailand. Costco sells 4 packs of ground turkey which inspired us to make this a regular meal.

Laab

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
3 limes, juiced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 T fish sauce (the original recipe calls for 6T fish sauce! I thought even 1 T was tooo fishy. You need a little bit though to give it the right flavor).
1/2 T ground chili pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 lettuce head, washed

Pour half of the lime juice over ground turkey and let marinade for 5 minutes. Cut green onion, cilantro.
Cook marinated turkey: Stir fry in pa, remove; put in bowl. *Add fish sauce, green onion, cilantro, rest of lime juice, ground chili pepper. Mix well & taste.
Serve with crisp lettuce leave and rice.
*Leave vegetables coursely chopped. Add meat to the vegetables so the vegetables don't cook.

Crockpot Skinny chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Who doesn't love their crockpot? Throwing everything in, and coming home from work or school to dinner hot and already made is the best thing ever.

Ingredients:
1 cup finely diced carrots
1/2 onion, finely diced
3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
1 small sprig fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
42 oz. chicken broth

Combine carrots, wild rice, onion, rosemary, bay leaves, and pepper. Top with chicken breasts and pour chicken broth over all. cover and let cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3 hours. Shred chicken with a fork. Remove bay leave and rosemary sprig and serve.

Cucumber Limeade

Credit for this recipe goes to my second mother, Chris Norton. Everyone I know who has tried this drink LOVES it.

Ingredients:

1 can frozen limade concentrate

1 2-liter bottle Diet 7-Up

1 bag party or small pebble ice

1 seedless cucmber, washed and sliced-use the whole thing

Pour in the limade, add the cucumber slices, dump in the bag of ice and pour in the 7-Up and stir to blend. Ideally you should prepare this about 30 minutes prior to serving so the limeade and ice can melt a bit and blend, and the jar can get chilled and frosty. Stir one last time before serving.

Costco Salmon Burgers

Costco has the best salmon burgers. We eat them several times a month. What makes ours so good is the salmon rub my parents gave us. They got it from a family friend who got it from a restaurant in Alaska. It's a secret recipe . . . So I can't really help there. But I'm sure any other salmon rub would be good on these. They make for a quick, healthy, easy delicious meal.

Costco Salmon Burgers

Ingredients:
Salmon burgers
Olive oil
Salmon rub
Salt & Pepper

Place burgers on greased cookie sheet. Spread both sides with olive oil. sprinkle rub, salt, and pepper on both sides. Cook on one side 11 minutes. Flip and cook 11 more minutes.
I'm sure these are grilled too.

Healthy Tandoori Chicken

We LOVE Indian food. But usually just eat it when indulging ourselves due to all the heavy cream used. I was so excited when I found this recipe that replaces the heavy cream with yogurt. And it was just as good. Luckily we had the weird spices from making Indian food a month ago. Don't get scared by them. They make it so good. And they're pretty easy to find. (Except garam masala--but that's just a mixture of indian spices. google it and just buy the spices that are used to make it). We halved the recipe and served it with sweet potatoes. via

• 
  
• Ingredients: 
• juice 2 lemons
• 4 tsp paprika
• 2 red onions , finely chopped
• 16 skinless chicken thighs
• vegetable oil , for brushing
• 300ml plain Greek yogurt

• 
  
• large piece ginger , grated
• 4 garlic cloves , crushed
• ¾ tsp garam masala
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric

Asparagus Leek Soup

A few people have been asking for recipes lately. So I'm putting them up here for all to see. I get most of mine from searching pinterest or google searches and adapt them however. 

Asparagus Leek Soup

▪   1 large leek, sliced thin

▪   2 large cloves of garlic, minced

▪   3 T. olive oil

▪   1 lb. asparagus

▪   32 oz. vegetable stock

▪   salt/pepper

Saute the sliced leek and garlic in olive oil until tender.  Steam asparagus until crisp tender.  Place leek/garlic mixture and asparagus into large stockpot.  Add vegetable stock.  Cook over medium heat 15-20 minutes until asparagus is soft.  Using hand/immersion blender, puree until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I ate it with 2 scrambled egg whites with salsa on top, half and apple, and some mozzarella cheese.

Quinoa Squash Soup

My parents came out to visit in November and brought a HUGE squash with them.  It sat in our storage for a couple months--I procrastinated cutting into it because a.) I didn't know if I was actually going to be able to without a saw and b.) how would we ever eat that much squash?!
I'm so glad I finally did because it is now my favorite kind of squash.  The variety is sweet meat and the incredible flavor of the squash is what makes this soup so good.  No idea how to find it at the grocery store. . . so hopefully other kinds of squash will be good in the soup too.  I recommend eating it with Wendy's Homemade Bread.

Ingredients:
5 cups cubed & cooked sweet meat squash
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cups chicken broth (or veggie if you want it vegetarian)
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 Tablespoon curry

Preparation:

Saute onions in oil
Add squash & broth
Let boil then simmer 15 minutes

After 15 minutes blend with an immersion blender
Add: 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
         1/2 cup water
Bring to a boil then let simmer for 25 minutes.

Add: 1/2 Tablespoon curry powder & salt to taste

Entire batch: 734 calories
We probably got like 15 servings out of it. (48 calories per serving). Can't beat that! And it is sooooo filling.

Wonder Wendy's Bread (aka heaven)

Uh, my mom gives this bread to EVERYONE.  Today I gave a loaf to my boss (for covering my shift-almost done being a sickie).  A lot of people have been asking for the recipe.  I don't think it is a family secret. So I'm putting it on here. (we'll see if my mom reads my blog). I can't say I've always been so optimistic about my mom's homemade bread.  I blame my middle school chubby phase to white store bread because anytime I went to a friends house I would wolf it down.  We never had store bread. My mom always made it. (tragic plight, right?)  Well, after a few years I smarted up.  And now I blame any extra fat on my body to my mom's homemade bread. My grandma taught her how to make it when she married my dad.  My mom taught me and gave me my grandmother's old bosh and wheat grinder.  So now my kids can grow up loving this bread.  And sick or needing-to-be-thanked neighbors and friends will benefit for the rest of my life.



This recipe is for a bosh mixer and makes 4 loaves of bread.  For girls night we're making it in kitchen aids since more people have those . . . I'll have to add the kitchen aid version here later once I figure it out.

Mom's White/Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

5 cups warm water (109 degrees)

2 Tablespoons SAF instant yeast

7 cups ground wheat (wheat flour)*

2/3 cups oil

2/3 cup sugar

1Tablespoon salt

5 cups white bread flour

Preparation:

Combine water, yeast, and ground wheat in mixer.  Mix 2 minutes. (Use your wrist to test the water.  It should be a little warmer than you would run a baby's bath. Too hot or too cold will kill the yeast.)

Add the oil, sugar, salt, and white bread flour. Mix 7 minutes. (Start with 4 cups of flour, then add a little at a time from the last cup until the dough is the right consistency. It should be a little sticky.)

Remove dough from mixer and place on oiled surface.  Split dough into even halves and then fourths. Knead well and place in well oiled bread pan. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Let bread rise just over the top of the pan (about 30 minutes).

Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Once the loaves are done immediately remove them from the loaf pans and set on cooling rack.  Let them cool completely before placing in plastic bags so they don't sweat.

Freeze the extra loaves (if you don't eat all 4 in one day) and it still tastes totally fresh when you thaw it out. (Stick in microwave for 1 minute).
(You can also use half a loaf as pizza dough. Just roll it out thin, let it raise a little and bake at 400 degrees.)

*I have a wheat grinder, so buy wheat seed and grind it.  You can buy wheat flour at the store but it needs to stay refrigerated and will only keep a few months.  You can freeze it for up to 6 months.