Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

This dish was completely made up. Well not totally -- just took an idea mixed with a recipe (Kale and Potatoes) and added to it. 

I could have added something else (not sure what that something is) I will figure it out and let you know. Maybe it needed milk a cream or maybe a plain Chobani (GIVEAWAY week!) yogurt. 

The soup was still tasty and healthy! Also - it is a one pot dish!!!! MY FAVORITE!!!

The Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, diced

1 regular potato, diced

1 small onion, chopped

10 - 15 small baby carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 large bunch of Kale, chopped

8 cups vegetable broth

sea salt and pepper

chili powder

The Direction:

Saute onion and garlic in Olive Oil. Add sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots. Saute for a minute or 2 and then add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Cook on a medium to medium high heat for 20 - 30 minutes or when potatoes are tender. Add Kale and cook for 5 minutes. Add sea salt, pepper and chili powder. 

Don't forget about the Chobani Giveaway going on NOW till Friday!!!! 

Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato and Spinach

Last night was a little difficult. I had very limited (available - no thawing) choices. I also did not have a car to make a quick store run. Here is what I came up with... 


*** With a little more cheese this dish will be GREAT!!!! *** 




The Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I used frozen Spinach from our food share)
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheese

The Directions:
Place sweet potatoes in a steamer and steam of 8 - 10 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add spinach. Stir in flour and seasonings until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.
Drain sweet potatoes. Spread half of the spinach mixture into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Top with half of the potatoes and cheese. Repeat layers.


Cover and bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly.


**I did not have 2 cups of cheese. I used what I had - which wasn't much. Also regular milk will be fine. I used coconut because we were out of everything else. 


Sweet Potato

Farfelle Pesto with vegetables

A few weeks ago a friend of mine made this delicious meal for her and her family. She had posted a picture on her Facebook and I have been looking at that picture ever since!

That may sound weird but I was trying to think of a way to make this dish so that my husband, the non tomato eating guy, would eat this.

I played around with different ideas and thought up all different possibilities. Really the options are limitless but still changing a recipe before even trying it is difficult, to me!

I did add tomatoes just not as many. The original recipe called for chicken but we ate this Monday so I made mine MEATLESS! but chicken would be good in here!

The Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• Cooking spray
• 20 ounces uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
• 1 tablespoon RAW butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups 2% low-fat milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup pesto (you could be brave and use arugula pesto or you can use regular Fresh Basil)
• 3 bell peppers, chopped (I used tri-color, yellow and red)
• 3 small tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

The Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Place pasta in large bowl.

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Combine 1/2 cup milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in pesto. Gradually add remaining 1 cup milk and half-and-half, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 8 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Add 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 cup cheese; stir until cheese melts.

Add sauce to pasta, tossing well to coat. Add tomatoes, vegetables and basil; toss gently.

Thai-spiced Squash soup

In our food share, the past few weeks, we have received a butternut squash, an acorn squash and a winter squash. The first week we received the winter squash. The second week the butternut and this past week the Acorn.

I knew I was either going to make a soup or baby food with the squash. I was reminded that I just spent an entire night making baby food and that I should enjoy the squash myself! Although the baby could eat this - with out the Thai spice. Thank you, friend!!! This soup was delicious!!!!

Look how beautiful. I tried to grow Butternut squash in my garden this year but I had an attack of a little bunny foo foo! :)

I love Acorn Squash too!!! Nothing like an acorn squash Roasted with Raw butter... mmm! Delicious!

This is a first! I am not going to lie.... I didn't even know what it was! We learn something new everyday! :)

This soup was delicious! I love roasting vegetables! I love just putting them in the oven - enjoying the smell as the RAW butter roasts away, mixed with the scent of squash/pumpkin.

The Ingredients:

3 acorn squash, pumpkin, butternut or other winter squash

3 TBSP RAW butter

14 oz RAW milk (The recipe called for coconut milk - but I didn't have any on hand.)

3 tsp red Thai curry paste

sea salt

The Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle.

Carefully cut each squash/pumpkin into halves (or quarters). Slather each piece of squash with butter, sprinkle generously with salt, place on a baking sheet skin sides down, and place in the oven. Roast for about an hour or until the squash is tender throughout.

When the pumpkin/squash are cool enough to handle scoop it into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add water a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a light vegetable stock would work here as well. Bring up to a simmer again and add the salt (and more curry paste if you like, I used just shy of 6 teaspoons but the curry paste I use is not over-the-top spicy).

(I added 1 vegetable bouillon cube. )

Garden Chowder

WOW!!!! I had a bunch of vegetables in my refrigerator that needed to be used.

I love soups. I know I have told you!

Soups are just easy. You can mix and match this and that and have 1,000 different varieties! This Garden Chowder was AMAZING!!!! It was full of flavor and full of vegetables!

The Ingredients:

1 chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup RAW butter
1 cup each diced potato, celery, carrot, and broccoli

5 asparagus, diced

2 pole beans

1/4 - 1/2 cup corn - fresh or frozen

1 cup Kale (in quarter size pieces)
3 cups water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes (or just 3 cups of vegetable broth to replace water and bouillon)

- I made homemade
1 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves or 1-2 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup flour or arrowroot powder
2 cups RAW milk
1 TBSP minced fresh parsley
1/8-1/4 tsp of each the following spices: paprika, coriander, chili powder (increase as desired)

1/8-1/4 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 - 2 cups RAW cheddar cheese

The Directions:

In a Dutch oven or large pot, saute green pepper, onion, garlic and butter until tender. Add vegetables, water, bouillon, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into pan. Allow to thicken at a low temperature. Add the parsley and other spices. Just before serving, stir in the cheese until melted.

Kale and Black eyed pea soup

In advance, I am going to apologize that I did not take a picture of the soup. I will make this again and I will promise to add a picture soon! :)

Yesterday was another Meatless Monday in our house! We enjoyed soup and salad :)

This recipe is for a small batch of soup. I just didn't want a large amount of leftovers which would end up down the sink so I made enough for dinner and next day lunch! Please feel free to add more vegetables to make more soup.

The Ingredients:

2 carrots

3 - 4 big handfuls of Kale

2 cans of black eyed peas (or 3 1/2 - 4 cups dried black eyed peas)

1/2 of a purple onion, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

Italian Seasoning

Garlic

Salt and pepper

The Directions:

Start with a medium sized pan on medium high heat. Pour in vegetable broth. Once the broth is at a boil add carrots and onion. * Once carrots are tender add the Kale. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes and then add in the black eyed peas. Finally add the rest of the ingredients and seasoning to taste!

* next time I will add some potatoes.

Meatless Monday

Quinoa Cakes Attempt # 2

These vegetable-packed baked quinoa cakes are excellent served hot or at room temperature. Make smaller cakes and serve them as appetizers at your next party, if you like.

Mine are not as pretty this time around. My ice cream scooper broke and I have to improvise! They were still delicious!!! I did make some changes to the recipe! Added more veggies to the cakes!

The Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

2/3 cup grated carrots

2/3 cup seeded and grated zucchini

1/4 cup alpha sprouts

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/4 cup raw cheddar cheese

Zest of 1 large lemon

1/4 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Olive Oil

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

The Directions:

Bring quinoa and vegetable broth to a boil in a medium pot. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed, 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside off of the heat for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and set aside to let cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa with garlic, carrots, zucchini, spinach, zest, flour, baking powder, raw cheddar, sprouts, and salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet on the stove. Scoop mixture onto hot pan. Let cook for a minute and then smash down into a patty. Cook for 5 minutes and then flip and cook other side.

Stir together dill, yogurt and lemon juice in small bowl, then spoon over warm quinoa cakes.

Meatless Monday

My family and I are starting MEATLESS MONDAY.

Being a mom of two I do not want to spend too much time after dinner cleaning dishes, pots and pans so I am a huge fan of one pot dinners. Although this meal uses a blender there are not too many dishes to clean after each meal.

The Ingredients:

2 bags frozen edamame

1 leek, chopped

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

5 small red potatoes, chopped

2 cups homemade chicken broth (I wanted to use vegetable broth but didn't have any - to keep it meatless!)

1 Tbsp cooking Sherry

salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste

The Directions:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in leeks and cook until they soften about 5 minutes. Add potatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes until soft. Add shelled edamame and continue cooking until the edamame and onions are both soft. Pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour into a blender and carefully puree until smooth; or use a stick blender, and puree the beans in the saucepan. Return the puree to the saucepan. You may need to add a little water if soup is too sticky and thick. Heat the soup through, about 5 minutes. Stir in Cooking sherry. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garlic powder.

We served this delicious soup with over quinoa cooked in homemade chicken broth.

**TIP **

We soak our quinoa in water for a couple of hours before cooking. Also we cook our quinoa in our rice cooker. Comes out perfect every time!