Homemade Veggie Soup

Nothing says "First Day of Fall" like a slow cooker full of homemade soup.   Between the smells coming from my Scentsy (currently obsessed with Fried Ice Cream - order yours HERE!) and the soup cooking - and the sounds of football on TV, it was a perfect fall Saturday.

Now, to make this soup, I needed more veggies....I went to a local Asian Market - Lotte Plaza - and it was like a veggie jackpot.  Check this out!   I spent under $24.   And I splurged on a $4 bar of dark chocolate - so all the veggies and fruit was really under $20.

2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 green peppers
a bag of yellow, orange and red mini bell peppers
8 bananas
a pineapple
2 boxes of strawberries
5 peaches
a bag of carrots
a bunch of cilantro
and a box of artisan organic variety leaf lettuce.
PLUS that delicious bar of dark chocolate from Green&Black

Wow!  That is where I'm going from now on - but not on the weekend.  It was SOOO crowded!  I will go on weeknights.  I've gone a few times on school nights and it's not that bad.

So anyway, to make this veggie soup - add about 2 TBSP coconut oil and some seasonings to the bottom of your crockpot on high.   I used salt and pepper and oregano for this one.

Then start cleaning and cutting your veggies.  As much as I make fun of Rachel Ray, I like her idea of a garbage bowl - and it really works.  So cut your veggies, I cut up 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini, 2 green peppers, a big handful of mini peppers, a bag of carrots.  

Add them to your crockpot.   My BF doesn't like onions, so we leave them out, but they are good in this too!  Fill up that crockpot!  They will cook down.

Add your tomatoes - you can use meat broth if you'd rather - but I like to make it vegetarian so I used 2 pints of tomato basil simmer sauce and 1 pint of stewed tomatoes.  The stewed tomatoes are a mix of red and yellow, so they are a light orange sauce.  :)   If you don't have home canned tomatoes to use a big can of chopped tomatoes or stewed tomatoes will be delicious too.  Also, you can add ro-tel to add a little heat!

Then, just let it cook.  YUM!   I will probably get some nitrate-free sausage to add to this tomorrow.  Probably something a little spicy...but I've eaten it as veggie soup many times!   Also, you can change your seasoning to chili seasoning to make this more like a veggie chili.  Also, browning a bunch of chopped up beef or ground beef first to add to the bottom of the crockpot is a great additive.

Enjoy!

Easy and Yummy Frittata

This morning I needed something easy and delicious and nutritious for breakfast.  I wanted to use up some leftover items that I used earlier in the week.  

An easy fritatta was the best choice!  An oh was it yummy!

I used 4 eggs (last of my big carton), about a half a bag of carrots, snowpeas and broccoli, a little handful of broccoli slaw, and a few oz of sharp cheddar cheese.  You could easily leave out the cheese if dairy doesn't agree with you.

I was so excited to make this that I didn't take step by step pictures - oops!   Here are the easy steps.

• Crack eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork.  I added salt and pepper.  
• Preheat a small skillet and lightly grease the pan with coconut oil.  Heat over medium heat.
• Chop up your veggies.  I cut my carrots, broccoli and snow peas into bite size bits.
• Add the eggs to the hot pan, let it cook for a few minutes.   
• Add the veggies and cheese to the eggs - at this point the eggs should be set up on the bottom, but still very runny on top, so your veggies will sink down into the eggs. 
• Let it continue to cook.   Many recipes say to put the skillet in the oven to finish cooking.  I let mine set up on the stove top, then covered the pan to cook it nearly all the way through.   Finally, I used that lid to help me flip the frittata over to finish up the last little bit of cooking.  
• All together, this breakfast took me about 15 minutes to cook from start to finish.

I would like to make this again and use more eggs - this should be a little fluffier and fill up the pan more.   As it was, this 4 egg made a bit more than a full serving, but not quite enough to feed two (or for two meals) however, it used up the leftovers!   :)   I was able to slice it like a pizza and eat each little slice with my fingers or my a fork.   Delicious. 

Eggs Poached in Tomatoes

Late last week, I came across this blog post  from Mark's Daily Apple and I was intrigued!   It sounded absolutely delicious....and I had just spent the weekend canning tomatoes so I was prepared to make this recipe even easier!

It turned out delicious and couldn't have been easier!

First, prepare your tomatoes - Mark has a great method if you need to start from scratch.  I was short on time this morning so I grabbed a pint of stewed tomatoes (no additives, just tomato chunks and juice) and added some salt and pepper.   I let this simmer in my small (metal handled) saute pan.  Perfect for a healthy meal for one.  I let it simmer till the sauce had reduced by half, and kept the temperature on med, low bubbling simmer, not hard boiling.

Next, crack your eggs into a small bowl - so much easier (from everything I've read) to gently slide them into the tomatoes without breaking them apart - and slide them into opposite sides of the pan of tomatoes.   Sooo I took a picture of my eggs, and my little bowl, but forgot to take a pic of the eggs in the bowl.  Oops!

Let them simmer and begin to set up at the edges before you move the pan.   Start pre-heating the oven to 350.  It's so hard to be patient, but don't stir or move the pan at all.  

 I was having trouble being patient so I added some mild pepperdew peppers.  These are semi-sweet, semi-hot and added just the right heat.  I had 4 left...so I plopped them in to the tomatoes.

Finish up by putting this pan into the oven for about 6-8 minutes until the whites of your eggs are set.

 

Tada!   Aren't they pretty?  Ok, so not so pretty....but delicious!

 Poured into a bowl about to be devoured.  What did you have for breakfast today?

Squash and Zucchini "noodles" with Meat Sauce

My mom used to make delicious spaghetti and meat sauce - on a day when I crave comfort foods, this is a good one - but not so good for me since I stopped eating grains. I decided that I had lots of squash and zucchini so I would make my "noodles" from these veggies.   Turned out to be SOOo delicious!

 

I used a medium size squash and zucchini, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, salt and pepper, about 1/3 pound of ground beef (grass-fed) and a jar of tomato basil simmer sauce that I canned last summer.  I canned my own tomato basil simmer sauce (from this recipe) because the sauce that is pre-made and available in the grocery almost always has added sugar and chemicals to preserve it.  This is all natural and tastes like fresh tomatoes in the summer!  When you make it yourself you can control the ingredients (no sugar!)

First, cut the zucchini and squash into  long narrow strips.  Remove the seeds before you cut them into strips to make it easier.  Drizzle with a TBSP of coconut oil and sprinkle with crushed salt and pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet (lined with foil for easy clean up) at 400 for 15 minutes, stir/flip the strips and bake for another 10 minutes. 

 While the veggies are baking, start your sauce.   In a non-stick pan, crumble up 1/3 lb ground beef.  Check out the color of this beef - fresh from the market!

 

 Brown the beef gently - cooking it through and making sure it's all broken into little bits.   Then stir in the jar of sauce - I had about 2/3 of a pint of sauce that was open...so that's how much I used!  Cover and let it simmer and thicken a bit while you finish baking your veggies.

 

Now it is time to assemble the delicious meal!  Start with the strips of squash and zucchini, top with the sauce!     Enjoy!!   It is so delicious....and very "noodle-ish" without putting grains into  your diet.

When I do this again, I need to figure out a better method for cutting my squash and zucchini - I'd like to make the strips more uniform....
Anyone have suggestions how I can make them smaller and the same size?  A tool to recommend?

Zucchini Boats

I've been seeing these zucchini boats/mini zucchini pizzas all over Pinterest lately....AND we found great summer squash and zucchini at the Farmer's Market the last two Fridays, so I decided to give it a try!

Deliciousness, right??

So this all started with these cherry tomatoes I found... Look at the choices this farmer had!  I chose a mixed quart of all these different kinds.   My favorites are the Sun Sweet (orange on the end) and the Sprite Grape Tomatoes (second from the left) and the Black Cherry tomatoes (center).   YUmmo!

Here's what you need - I can't wait to try this with some meat as a topping:

1 zucchini

tomatoes - a handful of these cherry tomatoes sliced in half and fourths.

cheese - I used Raw Milk Sharp Cheddar from an Amish Farmer that I got at the market as well.

tomato basil simmer sauce that we canned last year.  Yum!

Slice the zucchini in half and scoop out the seeds - I used a spoon to scoop it out. 

Place on a baking sheet of some sort - I used my stone bar pan from Pampered Chef that fits perfectly in my toaster oven.   If they rock a little, cut the bottom of the zucchini so it has a flat surface to sit on.  Be careful to not cut all the way through to the center that is scooped out.

Fill the scooped out centers with tomato basil sauce.

 

Cover with thinly sliced cheese (I used a peeler to slice it thinly)

 Top with your toppings - meat would be delicious!  I used the cherry tomatoes.

Bake at 400 for about 12-15 minutes.   Then top with a bit more cheese and switch to broil for about 5 minutes till it is bubbly and browned on the edges.  

Enjoy!!

Almond Butter

So last week I made a small batch of cinnamon almond butter.  It is absolutely delicious!

This almond butter is great to add to a breakfast smoothie (like this one from Farm Fresh & Active), to eat with celery or just to spread on something delicious!  I've even stirred a bit into my oatmeal.

And it is super easy to make!  All you need is a food processor (or a pretty tough blender) and some almonds.  I've made this in both my GE Personal Blender (like a magic bullet) and my food processor, depending on the size of the batch - the larger batch is too large for the personal blender.  You could also add cinnamon (yum!) or dark cocoa powder (double yum!).   

 Here is my personal blender - this was too big a batch for the personal blender.   I used 1 cup of oven roasted almonds in the small batch - and it was perfect.   For today's large batch I used 1.5 cups.  I like the Oven Roasted almonds - these have sea salt, but I would probably get unsalted the next time.  Your homemade almond butter is less sweet than store bought butters because it has no added sugar - it also has no preservatives or chemicals!  

I transferred these to the food processor because the blades kept getting hung up - there just wasn't enough room for the almonds to move around in the smaller blender.   If you want to add cinnamon - add it with the almonds - I used 1/2 tsp of cinnamon for 1 cup of almonds.  

 Whirl all the almonds (and cinnamon or cocoa powder).  It will seem like forever.  First it chops up the almonds, then it gets a bit powdery.  You might find it sticking to the blade.   It doesn't hurt to stop and scrape down the sides/clean off the blade.

The next stage is that it will start to get crumbly - like a crumb topping with some sticking together.  Again, scrape down the sides and the blade.

 Be patient.  It will start to stick together but it takes time - several minutes for a pretty good processor.  My little one takes about 6 minutes total.   Scrape down your sides and blend a little more after it starts to look like butter.

 Delicious!     My 1.5 cups of almonds made a half-pint jar of almond butter.  I store it in the fridge and use it about a tablespoon at a time. 

This plan of making the nut butters works with almonds, peanuts and other nuts!  I want to make it with cashews next. 

Homemade Salsa Verde with Grilled Chicken and Roma Tomatoes

So in the CSA share I was lucky enough to get this week, I received 5 tomatillos. 

I have NEVER done anything with tomatillos, other than enjoy them in green salsa (salsa verde).   However, I normally don't like the garlic and onions in the store versions....and when I go to a restaurant I have no control over the heat and you know I like to be in control!

So... I googled!

And all the recipes I found had sugar added - really??!! Again!!! AND they were for some crazy amount of tomatillos (like 1.5 pounds!!) - I only have 5.

So I took what I found and decided to make it without sugar.   And without garlic, onions or hot peppers.

So basically it was roasted tomatillos, lime juice and cilantro.   I will tell you that this is more sour than the store bought and the restaurant - whether it was because I added more lime juice than I should have or if it was because I left out the sugar.  

First, peel the husks from your tomatillos.  Rinse them well under water and slice the fruit in half.  Place them cut sides down on aluminum foil.  Broil for about 8 minutes.  I did this in my toaster oven so I didn't have to heat up the house with the oven.

*did you know that the best tasting tomatillos are the smaller ones - about ping pong ball size?   The larger ones are harder, tougher and not as sweet.

Add the roasted tomatillos (skin and all) to your food processor.

Next is the lime juice and the cilantro.   I used a whole lime and a small bunch of cilantro leaves.  I pulled them off the stems.

Whirl all this green goodness in the food processor.  You don't need a mighty food processor - this is the cheap-o Black Friday special from WalMart.  It cost a whopping $3.88 and has been amazing for the last three years!  

Grill your chicken and tomatoes - I used my George Foreman Grill - and basted both with the salsa verde while it was grilling.  

Yum!!