Oatmeal Pancakes

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a long time, but I'm old so I forget things. I really love this recipe because the mix can be in the fridge indefinitely! And because the mix is pre-made, they whip up super fast in the morning. Oh and also they have more to them than regular pancakes so they will stick to the ribs longer. Oatmeal Pancake Mix:(makes 10 Cups) Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats 3 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons baking powder 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 cup vegetable or canola oil - I use olive oil First, take the oats and put them in your blender. It makes for a much smoother pancake. Then put that and the rest of the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix it well. Once it is mixed, leave your mixer on and drizzle in the oil. Once the oil has all been added, stop the mixer and make a ball out of the mixture. If it clumps to form a ball, it's perfect. If it is crumbly, add another Tbspn of oil (you shouldn't have to do that). That's it - then put it in a tupperware in the fridge. Now, when you want to actually make the pancakes: Oatmeal pancakes (makes 6) 1 C dry mix 1 egg 1/2 - 1 C buttermilk Mix together with a hand mixer. The whisk attachment on the kitchen aid might work, but I haven't tried it. If you have to do it by hand, be prepared to mix a lot to get it as smooth as you can. Then make yourselves some pancakes! Try them, they are good :) The mixture may seem a little thin, but while you are heating up your griddle, the oats will soak up some of the moisture.

Fish tacos

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's fish tacos.  Kristian and I are in love with Alton Brown ever since Mark and Sariah introduced him to us.  He's become somewhat of an obsession.  If ever we are looking for a recipe we first see if Alton Brown has one.  It's become somewhat problematic because typically you need three or four days to cook something from one of his recipes and all of the sudden we feel like that must be the only right way to do it.  Anyway, we adapted this recipe, not because it took three or four days, but because I didn't have any tequila on hand.  Wierd, I know.

We had this for dinner tonight and it was quite delicous.  All of the kids liked it, though they are pretty fond of fish as a rule, so not too surprising.  As I'm typing this I can hear something banging around in the dryer that surely should not be in there.  I'm not getting up to check it out or anything, but I can guarentee I will be sorry later.  That being said, let's get back to the tacos.

This recipe calls for tilapia.  For those of you who aren't fish crazy, tilapia is a very mild flavored fish.  Combine that with the marinade and throw it in a taco and I would go so far as to say it doesn't taste fishy.  Jessica always tells me, "you can't taste that in there because you like that.  If it was something you didn't like you would be able to taste it."  So, if you don't like fish, you may disagree with me.  If you do try this one, post a comment so the non fish lovers can know what you think.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic
1 cup packed cilantro leaves
2 limes, zested
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teasopon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound tilapia fillets
8 tortillas
crema, recipe follows
shredded cabbage
lime wedges

Crema:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Put the garlic, cilantro, lime zest, cumin, salt and pepper in a small food processor and pusle until combined, approx 20 seconds.  With the processor running, add the olive oil a little at a time.  Put tilapia fillets into a 1 gallon resealable bag, add garlic mixture and move around to coat each fillet.  Set aside at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat an electric nonstick griddle to 375 and brush with olive oil.  Cook the fillets until just cooked through and opaque (about 3-4 minutes per side).  Cut into strips and serve in warm tortillas with crema, shredded red cabbage and lime wedges.

Crema:
Put the heavy cream in a 16 ounce microwave safe glass jar.  Microwave on high until the cream is just under 100 degrees F.  About 30-40 seconds.  Add the buttermilk.  Close the jar and store in a warm place for 24 hours.  The cream will have thickened to the consistency of thin yogurt.

Add the chipotle chile and salt and process with an immersion blender in the jar until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

ENJOY!

Oh, as a side note, I like the uncooked tortillas you get at costco that you fry up at home.  They are Tortillaland brand.  So good, if you haven't tried them you really should.  I was out of those tonight, so I made my own, they weren't great.  If you have a good tortilla recipe, I'd love to hear it.

Healthy Applesauce Carrot Muffins (AKA Carrot Cake Muffins)

I have been in the market for some good healthy breakfast options. I added quite a few towards the end of the school year, but all things get boring if you eat them everyday. I've had a hard time finding more, and I've also been really lazy with cooking since summer (I can't be the only one, right?!) Okay, so today I made these muffins, and they were really good. They could have used a bit more flavor, a little something that I am hoping Dani will find for me. But either way, they were good, and even Ashley and Bryce who whined incessently about how much they hated the (before tasting them of course) ended up liking them. Ingredients: 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour) 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I didn't have any nutmeg so I used ground cloves) 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbspn butter (melted) 1/2 C honey 1 egg, lightly beaten 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 C unsweetened applesauce 3/4 C finely shredded carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots) (Preheat the oven to 350) I shredded the carrots so they would be done - and after a long time of finely GRATING the carrots and thinking, holy crap this is going to take me the rest of my life, my brain finally caught up to me and I realized I was supposed to be finely shredding. That is MUCH faster. I used the bigger holes of my grater (thanks for the tip Martha Stewart) and it worked well. You guys are all probably smarter than me on that one, but just in case.... In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients (a medium sized well would do better I think...) and add the butter, honey, egg, vanilla, and applesauce. Stir ingredients together until just combined and there are still some spots of flour remaining Fold in the shredded carrots just until combined (don't overmix the muffins or they will be dense) Distribute the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups (definitely line them or grease them really well) and make for 18-20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean) They are easier to eat when they are cooled completely, but also delicious hot and crumbly. Mel says they freeze wonderfully and will keep for 2-3 days if they are covered at room temperature.

Italian Meatball Subs

Okay, this isn't really a healthy habit, but it means I cooked dinner and we didn't eat out, so I'm going to count it as a win. Plus it was really good. I was going to use a french bread roll recipe instead of store bought hoagies, but I didn't put enough yeast in and ended up not making enough (my problem, not the recipes). I don't have the roll recipe typed up yet but here is the rest: First preheat the oven to 400. Meatballs: 1 C unseasoned bread crumbs 3/4 C shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese 1/2 C milk 1/2 C low-sodium beef broth 3 Tbspn dried parsley 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 Tbspn oregano 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp ground black pepper 2 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 2 lbs ground beef Sauce: 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 1 1/2 tsp dried basil 2 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt For Sandwiches: Sliced Mozzarella Hogie Rolls (or French Bread rolls) • In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together EXCEPT the meat. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes (to soak up liquid) • Add the meat and mix well with your hands • Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease the foil. • Form golf ball-sized meatballs and dredge them in a 1/2 C of flour until lightly coated. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet about one inch apart. • Bake for 20-25 min until the meatballs are completely cooked through • Combine Sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on low. Keep warm until meatballs are finished baking • When the meatballs come out of the oven let them sit for about 15 minutes. Gently scrape off any fat and place the meatballs in a 9x13 inch baking dish. • Pour hot tomato sauce over the meatballs • Slice hoagie rolls in half, and put sliced mozzarella on them. Put them in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 400 until the buns are toasted and the cheese is melted. Place 3-4 meatballs on each bun and top with the desired amount of sauce. Freeze unbaked on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, they can be placed in a Ziploc. Bake them without thawing adding 6-7 minutes to baking time If baked before frozen, put them in the simmering sauce until they are warmed through They were really yummy, and very easy to make.

Honey Lime Chicken skewers

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a long time.  I made these for the superbowl and they were so good.  Enough said, does not that picture say it all (I did not take that picture).

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
juice of one lime
2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (now I've got your attention)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
3-4 skewers

Directions
1. In a small bowl, compine soy sauce, honey, oil, lime juice, sriracha sauce, garlic and cilantro.  Stir to combine.  Add the diced chicken pieces to marinade.  Gently stir to coat in marinade.  Cover bowl tightly.  Place in fridge and let marinade at least one hour, up to three hours.

If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water at least 15 minutes prior to threading the meat onto them.

2. Thread 8-9 pieces of chicken onto each skewer.

3.  Grill over medium heat, 7-8 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked in the center.

Eat em up!

Lemon Bars

WARNING - THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RECIPE!  It's just the best darn lemon bars I've ever had so I had to share it with you.  This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Jessica's favorite recipe site.

I made these yesterday.  I still had a few lemons left that my sister-in-law brought me from California and I wanted to use them well.  In a way they could really be enjoyed and appreciated for all their yellow sunshiny glory.  I think this did the trick.  I like this recipe more than others because of the bottom stuff that the lemon stuff sits on (these are technical culinary terms).  Usually that's my least favorite part of a lemon bar.  It still was, but it was the best one I've had yet.  I like my lemon pastries very very lemony.  If you do not like yours quite so lemony, change the tablespoons of lemon zest to teaspoons.  Still lemony, just not as lemony.  The zest is what gives you the majority of the lemon flavor, not the juice, so leave the juice alone.  Seriously, don't mess with it.

Again I apologize for the lack of a poorly lit photo.  Someday I will be technology savvy.  It will happen if I keep saying it will happen.

Ingredients:
Bottom stuff:
1 3/4 cups flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar (plus extra to dust on top)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon table salt (I used coarse sea salt. Don't do that.  Just use regular table salt)
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), at cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

lemon part:
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons fresh grated lemon zest
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 large lemons worth)
1/3 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with foil and lightly grease the foil.
2. Stir together the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  Add the pieces of butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Alternately you could do this in a food processor.  Just process 8 to 10 seconds then pulse until you get the texture you want.
3. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer on the bottom.  Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.  While it is refrigerating.  Place your oven rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
4.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes
5.  For the lemony goodness.  Whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt and flour in a medium bowl and then stir in the lemon zest, juice and milk to combine.
6.  Poor the lemony goodness onto the crust (it's important that it's still warm!) and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake for about 18-20 minutes until the filling feels slightly firm to the touch.
7.  Cool the bars to room temperature and lift foil out of pan.  Sift some powdered sugar over the top and cut using a bench scraper.  You can obviously cut using anything you want, but the bench scraper makes them hold a nice clean shape and you know how I like my food to be pretty.

healthy blueberry donuts

Yay for Blueberry season!  I can't get enough of these juicy little bombs of deliciousness.  The kids and I have gone out, every week (sometimes twice) since blueberries came on and I still can't get enough of them.  I feel like I need about twice as much as I've already gotten and then I will have enough.

Today I gave a regular donut recipe a tweak to make it healthy and if you are expecting them to taste not healthy, you will be a tad disapointed.  They are delicious, but it's fairly obvious they are not packed with sugar and butter.  I'm not posting a poorly staged photo today because my computer hates me.  Rest assured that I took a poorly staged photo, I just can't post it.

I used fresh blueberries and they are really best as they don't bleed and they hold their shape well.  You can also use frozen though.  I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1/2 cup almond milk (regular milk will work fine too)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease 2-6 well donut pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, milk, oil, vanilla and almond extracts.  Add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined.
4.  There's a couple ways you can do this next step.  You can then gently fold in the blueberries and spoon them into the donut wells, or you can do what I did.  I spooned the batter into a ziplock bag and snipped off the corner, then I piped a small amount into each well.  Pressed 5-10 blueberries (depending on how big they are) into each donut and piped some more batter on top.  The wells should be about 2/3 full when done.
5. Bake in preheated oven until donut springs back when lightly touched.  10-12 minutes
6.  Let donuts cool in pan for a few minutes before turning out onto cooling rack.

Happy baking!

Soy sauce and brown sugar salmon

Here's my plauguerized picture of the day.  I feel like my spelling of that word gets more creative every time.

I'm not a huge fan of the flavor of salmon, and I really like it cooked this way, so if you are a huge fan of that salmon flavor, this recipe might ruin it for you.  That was my little disclaimer.

My whole family loves this recipe.  My 16 month old in particular can't get enough.  On top of all that, it's super duper easy to make.

Soy Sauce and Brown Sugar Marinade

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds salmon fillets
• lemon pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• salt to taste
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup water
• ¼ cup oil of your choice (I used olive oil, but you could also use vegetable, or canola or whatever you prefer)

Instructions

1. Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
2. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag, pour soy sauce mixture over fish, seal, and turn to coat.Marinate for at least 2 hours.  
3. Wrap it in foil and bake at 425° for approx. 15 minutes.

Apple Pie Oatmeal cookies

Here is a lovely plaguerized picture for you.  Trust me, it more accurately depicts the deliciousness of the finished product.  You're welcome.

These were really good and healthy enough that I thought them an appropriate breakfast food. In fact, they turned out a little more cakey than chewy and I thought about altering them a little and making them into a muffin.  More on that if I ever get around to it.

I've realized that I hardly ever make the recipe as I find it and always alter it a little here and there, so instead of copying and pasting and then telling you I did this different and I did that different, I've decided to just take the time to write the recipe I followed.  As always, you can substitute flours and sugars and butter for whatever flour I have and oil and agave, but then you may not feel as good about eating it for breakfast.

Ingrediants:
1 cup rolled oats (or instant works too)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave
1 cup finely diced apple of your choice

1. Whilsk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and vanilla.  Stir in the agave.  Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.  Fold in the apple.  Chill for 30 minutes (don't skip that step, it's important).
2.  Preheat the oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (don't skip this one either, you will regret it).
3.  Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet and flatten slightly.  bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes.  Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Baked cod and 3 grain vegetable feta salad

Here's another post to prove I'm the worst food photographer ever.  This was our dinner tonight and it was quite delicious.  Or so I thought, and Kristian liked it as well.  I've really got to get better at taking the pictures because everytime I look at one, it is so unappealing.  It really was good.  I also served it with pita bread left over from last night.  
I used 3 cod filets and it was enough for my family.  More than enough if you ask the children. 


For the baked cod:
3 cod fillets (or white fish of choice)
 6 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 a lemon, juiced, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
 1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and fresh black  pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a large baking pan with parchment paper and place fish on it.
In a medium bowl whisk together the butter, lemon, mustard, parsley, dill and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide the sauce between fish. top evenly
Bake for 15-16 minutes depending on the size of the fish, Then broil for 1-2 minutes or until top turns golden, checking every 20 seconds. Serve immediately with additional lemon.

Beware of overcooking.  Cod is very easy to overcook.  Probably any fish, but you know... be aware.

FOr the 3 grain salad:
http://naturallyella.com/2014/07/01/three-grain-grilled-vegetable-and-feta-salad/

For the grain salad, beware of overcooking the grains.  They will get mushy and that's not nearly as appetizing. 

The theme in this post seems to be don't overcook.  I totally overcooked everything in case you hadn't guessed.  Also, I went to 4 different stores today to find sorghum (which I had never before heard of but suddenly had to have).  I tried Winco, Trader Joe's (where my pronunciation was corrected.  It's Sore-gum, not sour-gum), Natural Grocers and finally found it at LifeSource where I pronounced it like a pro.  It was delicious.  The cook time on it is longer than the other grains, but it held it's shape and texture well and I liked it.  I will try it again in other things.  I don't know what, so don't ask me. 

I should have posted this as two separate posts because it's two different recipes.  Well, really a recipe and a link.  Anyway, I didn't, so...

These recipes can also be found on my healthy habits pinterest board. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

This has become a favorite in our house. I like it, because you blend it up at the end, so the kids dont know they are getting lots of good veggies in there. The hot soup plus some fresh baked bread and a salad was a perfect meal on our first chilly night. I think it would be a perfect base for the Three Cheese Tomato Soup that the soup cart on UOs campus sold, which, in case you don't know, is the most amazing soup on earth. I am now working dilligently to duplicate it but may need to wait for Danieele to be back on dairy so I have a secon set of taste buds on the project. Could Easily be made without the dairy, just would not be creamy :) 1 1/2 cup chopped carrotts 1 1/2 cup chopped celery 1-2 white onions (I really like onion so I use 2) 2 tbsp Olive oil 2-4 cloves of garlic (again depending on how much arlic you like) Cook this in a large stock pot until onion is traslucent and other veggies are aldente. Next Add: 3 cans diced tomatos with juice 1 Jar tomato juice (could substitue tomato paste and 2 C water) 4 cups of water or broth (if using water add 4 Bouillion cubes) I prefer Chicken 3 oz cream cheese 3 cups heavy cream Bring to a boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Next blend it up. Pour and enjoy!

Oven baked chicken fajitas

A couple of weeks ago I asked my dear husband to get on pinterest and see if he couldn't find some wholesome dinner ideas he would be interested in eating.  He came up with some good stuff.  One of which was oven baked chicken fajitas.  It was incredibly easy and so yummy.  I'm just going to put a link here and it can also be found on my healthy habits pinterest board.  The only think I would recommend is to maybe drain the diced tomatoes some or all of the way so your fajitas aren't swimming. 

http://www.alexaeatsclean.com/2013/11/recipe-oven-baked-chicken-fajitas.html?m=1

Revised Honey Whole Wheat Bread

OK, I've been making this bread at least once a week for a while now.  It's become our staple bread.  I've made enough changes to the original recipe that I feel like I should repost a more accurate one.  Also, Genny made me.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt. 

Combine first three ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit for about five minutes or until frothy and bubbly. 

Add 1 1/2 cups flour and salt. Mix until combined

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until soft dough forms.  The dough should just barely pull away from sides and will be sticky.

Knead on low in stand mixer with dough hook attachment for 4 minutes. 

Cover and let rise until double in size, about one hour.  Punch down and knead by hand for a couple of minutes to work out the big pockets and give the dough some elasticity.  Shape into loaf and drop into greased loaf pan.  Let rise till double again (about half an hour).  Bake at 350 for about 38 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool in loaf pan on cooling rack about 10 minutes.  Remove from loaf pan and let cool completely (2-3 hours) before slicing. 

In my quest to have homemade bread that isn't crumbly and falls apart after it's cooled I've learned some things mostly from trial and error.  Don't let it cool completely in the loaf pan.  This can lead to some soggy crust.  Letting it cool completely before cutting into it ensures that the steam won't escape and dry out your loaf.  I've also noticed that if I slice the whole loaf up at once it isn't as crumbly either.  This has kept nicely on the counter top for up to a week.  I think that's the longest it's ever taken us to go through a whole loaf.  It would keep longer in the fridge obviously. 

This one is super simple and my whole family loves it.  The chickens, who will eat anything, do not like it.  I find this strange.  I wonder if it's the honey.  Do you think maybe chickens don't like the taste of honey?  I don't know, it's weird.  Seriously, those birds will eat almost anything. 

Good luck baking and post a comment if you have a question, or it's not turning out right for you and we'll figure it out. 

This week I'm trying out a Dave's Killer bread copycat recipe, though I will wait till it's perfected to post it, cause who wants to post twice?

quinoa stuffed squash

Today I was given these beautiful crookneck squash by my dear sister-in-law's grandmother.  They were the inspiration for dinner tonight (my children were not pleased).  Get ready people, you are in for a treat.  My first attempt to write my own recipe.

Things you will need (AKA stuff I had on hand):
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (I used chicken, but veggie would be good too)
3 crookneck squash (other squash would probably work fine too, though you'd need more than 3)
1 large onion
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup minced fresh basil (or other herbs of your choosing)
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast (or Parmesan if you prefer)
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 Italian vegetarian sausage links (or regular sausage or no sausage at all!)
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Bring 2 cups water and bullion to a boil, add quinoa, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes (or throw it all in the rice cooker, works like a charm).

While the quinoa is cooking, slice your squash in half and scrape out all the insides.  Give the seeds and stringy stuff to the chickens, or compost it, or whatever you like to do with that stuff.  Scrape out as much of the rest of the inside of the gourd as you can, reserving it to go back in the middle.  If it's excessively wet, set it on a paper towel to absorb some of that moisture. 

Set the shells of your beautiful squash plants face up on a baking sheet and drizzle them with oil and sprinkle them with a little sea salt, or kosher salt, or whatever kind of salt you have laying around. 

In a large saute pan, cook diced onion in a little olive oil over medium high heat for about  5 minutes or until it starts to brown.  While your onion is cooking dice up that scraped out squash into bite size pieces.  Take the casing off the sausage and chop it up as well. Add the squash and the tomatoes to the pan to cook with the onions.  Turn heat down to medium and cook five minutes more.  Please note that the sausage I used was vegetarian, if you are using regular sausage, make sure it is mostly cooked through. 

When your quinoa is done cooking add it to the saute pan with the nutritional yeast (or parmesan), fresh herbs and white wine vinegar.  Stir to combine.  Season to taste with salt (and anything else you might want to throw in there.  Heat through.  Scoop mixture into your hollowed out gourd shells.  Pile em high.  Mine looked like this.

I wish I had scraped those gourds a little more.  I ended up cutting out some of the squash after I cooked it to eat.  The outside was woody and not very chewable (which didn't stop me from trying to eat it), but the inside was delicious.  Also, I can't figure out how to rotate that picture. 

OK, cover those bad boys with foil and bake them for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and give em another 10 minutes in the oven. 

Here's my finish product.

Ooooh, yeeeah.  Scrumptious.
The hubs and all the kids except Solveig liked it.  The baby screamed through the whole meal, which I took to mean he really wanted some too.

whole wheat waffles and pancakes

I made these for breakfast yesterday and was pleasantly surprised.  I used whole wheat pastry flour for the first time.  Pastry flour is typically made from a softer variety of wheat.  It is more finely milled and has the added bonus of being lower in gluten.  I think the flavor of whole wheat flour can be pretty pronounced and not everyone enjoys it.  I found the pastry flour to have a much milder flavor, and thus it was not rejected out of hand by my children who grow somewhat pickier every day. Overall the waffles were a big hit.  We sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them or topped them with strawberry jam.  They were also really good just plain.  They are pretty quick and easy to whip up and I think they will find a place in my breakfast rotation. 

Give 'em a go.  I think you will be surprised.

Here's a link, and as always the recipe can be found on my healthy habits pinterest board as well.

http://www.thenakedkitchen.com/whole-grain-waffles-and-pancakes/

 (Side note: I found my whole wheat pastry flour in the bulk foods bins at Winco)

honey whole wheat bread

I tried a new bread recipe yesterday.  I'm always on the lookout for good bread, but I haven't tried a new one in a while.  This one is a copycat of great Harvest's Honey Whole Wheat, which I love.  It turned out pretty good.  It was warm outside (and inside) yesterday and the dough rose too fast making my bread a little too crumbly, but still good.  I'm going to try it again today and use about half the yeast and let it rise longer if necessary.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

The recipe is on my healthy habits pinterest board, but here's a link.

http://www.eatcakefordinner.net/2012/02/great-harvest-honey-whole-wheat-bread.html

One of these days, time permitting I will write my own recipes.  I've got good stuff up here in my brain and I'm afraid it will all leak out before I can take the time to write it down. 

**UPDATE**
I made this one again yesterday.  I decreased the yeast from 1.5 Tablespoons to just one tablespoon.  It still rose a little too quickly leaving pockets larger than I would like in the middle of the loaf.  I think next time I try it, I will decrease it even more. 

Such good bread though.  My favorite thing is that I can knead it in the stand mixer.  I hate kneading bread by hand. 

real pitas stuffed with chicken avacado salad

I once again apologize for my less than appetizing photography.  It's just not my strong point. 

These  were so good.  I was so excited to make pita bread with flour after my gluten free attempt.  It went so well and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  Super easy.  I say that and then you will read my recipe and probably think it doesn't sound easy at all, but please try it.  It is really easy and they are so good.  I used whole wheat flour in these, though of course you could use white flour.  They are stuffed with a chicken avocado salad which was so fast and easy and also super good.  This will definitely become a regular.  I wish I had some alfalfa or lentil sprouts to shove in there for a little crunch.  Maybe some lettuce would have been good.

Experiment with these and let me know what you come up with and what you put in there.  I'm serious, make these, they are worth the effort. 

Both of these recipes can be found on my healthy habits pinterest board and I am going to attempt to attach a link as I have seen Genny do. 

avocado chicken salad - http://bakersblessings.blogspot.com/2013/07/avocado-chicken-salad-no-mayo.html

pita bread - http://bakersblessings.blogspot.com/2013/07/avocado-chicken-salad-no-mayo.html

there, I hope that works out for you.

Almond butter Protein Balls

I made these for the first time yesterday. I really liked them and so do the two younger girls. As I am not a huge meat eater I am always looking for good ways to get more protein into my diet. I would highly reccomend this recipe. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/85568461644685490/ I made a few changes, partially out of necessity and partially out of desire. Instead of doing all almond butter I substituted half with peanut butter. This was the necessity as I did not have ough almond butter The deired change came in the form of adding granola to the finished product. I really liked this because it added more texture. I think these will become a staple in our house.

Healthy Creamy Mexican Kale Salad

 

 

I made this salad tonight.  It was delightful.  I forgot to get a jalapeno, so it wasn't really spicy at all.  I was thinking you could also add the jalapeno to the dressing instead of chopped in the salad.  I can't really tell you what my family thought of it as we took it to burrito night and they all opted for burritos.  I also added some chopped chicken breast to make it more of a filling meal. 

 

I'd make it again.

 

The recipe is below, or also on my Healthy habits pinterest board.

 

 

Ingredients

Salad:
• 4 cups baby or full-grown kale (stalks removed & coarsely chopped), packed
• 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I used my cooked beans)
• 1 cup corn (thaw if using frozen)
• 2 large bell peppers (any colour), finely chopped
• 1 + 1/2 large avocado, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp jalapeño peppers, seeded & minced
Dressing:
• 1/2 large avocado
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 lime, juice of
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

 

Directions

1. Add Salad ingredients to a large bowl. In a food processor, blender or Magic Bullet, process Dressing ingredients until smooth. Pour over salad, toss and serve. P.S. You could prepare Salad and Dressing in advance and combine before serving. The Dressing does get brown a bit but once mixed with the Salad, it's not noticeable.
Storage Instructions: Refrigerate tossed or separately for up to 24 hours.

Chipotle black bean hummus

I tried a new hummus recipe today.  I'm always trying new ones and hoping some day I will find the perfect hummus and that will be my go to from now to forever.  I have yet to find it, but that's OK because I like trying new ones.  Today's hummus was pretty good.  A word of advice, drain the chickpeas and the beans before putting them in.  Add liquid as needed. 

Chipotle Black Bean Hummus

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas

1 cup Black Beans

1 Tbsp Tahini

1 clove Garlic

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tsp Harissa

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a blender and puree together until thick and creamy. Add drops of water to thin out, if necessary. Serve with pita chips and fresh cut veggies.