Menu

Monday - homemade spaghetti with Italian sausage, spinach salad 
Tuesday - quick chicken quinoa - I was given a boxed quinoa that you could think of as a rice-a-roni type thing. It has a mixture of brown rice and quinoa and a roasted red pepper flavor packet. I am going to add chicken, olives, red peppers, and garlic.
Wednesday - caramelized sausage and onion pasta with fresh rosemary and Marsala
Friday - curried pumpkin pasta with chicken and peas
Saturday - Italian beef sandwiches (Thank you Mom for bringing us frozen Portillo's!!!)
Sunday - I don't know....maybe there will be spaghetti left, maybe we'll go crazy over the beef we love and make it again, maybe I'll make a soup, or maybe I'll want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and end up with something new to blog about : )

I have no plans as far as veggies go this week. I'm going to the market on Wednesday and I'm sure I'll find deliciously fresh produce to purchase there. Probably something along the lines of brussel sprouts, kale, and maybe bell peppers. I also plan to buy chia seeds so I can make my first attempt at chocolate chia pudding. I will do a pumpkin chia pudding as well. 

I always seem to have such a long list of recipes I want to try...but I suppose this isn't a problem since we need to eat every day : )

The Fruit of Monday's Labor

I started my cooking day by preparing ingredients for homemade chicken stock. I did you a favor and left out the chicken carcasses from the picture. I used 2 chicken carcasses (and all the ingredients in the picture below) and added 7 cups of water (to cover the ingredients). Then simmered for about 5 hours (sometimes with the lid, sometimes without). Sadly, I lost a bit of it to the sink, but we still had enough for our dinner....our soup was just a bit more chunky than I had planned.

I made this French bread next. One of these loaves was for the meatball sandwiches we had yesterday, and the other is temporarily living in the freezer. Not sure when it will be used, but homemade bread doesn't usually last too long around here. 

The following apple peanut butter snack bars are a new recipe for me. Next time I will try cooking them for 25 minutes instead of 20, but other than that they are great! I keep them in the fridge for a healthy breakfast or snack. So much better for you than almost any (or maybe EVERY) form of granola bar-type product you could buy in the store.  

Pretzel rolls! They didn't get the signature dark brown color I was looking for, but they were delicious (still have 2 more!). I'm not going to share the recipe now because I also want to give a new recipe a try. Once I know which one is better I will share my favorite.

Ginger bread muffins - yum yum! I didn't think they weren't too ginger bread-y, but still quite a tasty and healthy breakfast muffin. I used canola oil instead of coconut oil, and went with an almost full 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses, which was the high end of the range suggested. 

Here is the chicken soup! I mixed things up a little and added some fresh lemon juice and fresh parsley to this. The chicken had been baked with lemon, so I thought I would stick with that for the soup. There isn't many things that are better than a homemade chicken soup! Especially this time of year : ) 

I love love love the days when I can spend a large portion of my day in the kitchen. Therapeutic for me, fills up the freezer, and fills our stomachs with delicious, homemade, usually healthy food. I'm becoming more and more leery of store bought products and all of the ingredients that I can't pronounce. So the more food that can come out of my kitchen the better! Oh so much better! : )

Menu and Marathon Cooking

Tomorrow I have the day off. This means I am going to cook and bake with as much of my time as I can. As my Mom would say - marathon cooking! This is what I would call my therapeutic time in the kitchen. Marathon cooking has two meanings in this case. The first meaning is simply cooking A LOT. The second meaning is cooking to fuel myself for my marathon this weekend! Not sure what all I will be making tomorrow, but certainly muffins will be part of it. Got to have healthy breakfast for the week! I'll recap tomorrow's happenings in my kitchen mid-week. So excited to see what comes of it! 

Here is the menu:

Monday - chicken dumpling soup

Tuesday - meatball sandwiches (on homemade French bread with marinara, provolone, and giardiniera...Marshall's idea to add the giardiniera and it's delicious!)  

Wednesday - salsa chicken, rice, and peas (This meal almost never changes....got to have the rice and peas)

Friday - red potatoes, Italian sausage, and kale all sauteed together with olive oil salt, pepper, and cayenne

Saturday - simply baked chicken (lemon, salt, pepper) over orzo (or other pasta) tossed with lemon juice/zest, olive oil, and garlic

Sunday - marathon day!...will probably go out with Mom and Dad : )

Pumpkin Pasta Review and Breakfast Ideas

We finally had the creamy pumpkin pasta with peas and toasted walnuts this week. I thought it was quite tasty (heated up well as leftovers too), but I will make a few changes next time. Marshall felt it was too "gooey" (that makes it sound really unappetizing!...there was just a bit too much sauce). I am making it again soon, but I am changing up the spice set, will use less sauce per the amount of pasta, and I am also adding chicken. I didn't use nutritional yeast either. I put about a cup of monterey jack cheese on top and will do the same next time. I also decided to bake it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes to melt the cheese. It was fast, easy, and a fun change from the usual sweet pumpkin dishes. This will continue to be on our menu through the pumpkin season and beyond!....Assuming that I am able to get my hands on many more pumpkins to cook and freeze.

Now to breakfast.

Did you know you can eat oats?...In a bowl with milk....Without cooking them. Had them for breakfast this morning with raisins and pecans. Yum! You may be wondering if they're tough. I suppose the first few bites before the milk has had a chance to soak in are a bit tough, but it's nothing teeth can't handle. Raisins are my normal add-in because I like the texture with the oats and they add sweetness. You could also leave those out and use something else such as berries, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, dried apricots or figs, etc.

Ever heard of breakfast quinoa? It's all the rage these days! But don't be fooled, you can eat it for lunch too! Here is my new, easy favorite:

• 1/4 cup rinsed quinoa
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips

-Toast walnuts in a small pot for a few minutes. Place them in your bowl, along with the chocolate chips. Add quinoa, water, and milk to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender and MOST of the liquid is absorbed (about 15 minutes). Pour all contents of the pot into your bowl with the walnuts and chocolate. Stir and serve! 

If you desire more sweetness a bit of honey or maple syrup should do the job. You could also use only milk or only water, but I prefer the combination. And if you use only water I would recommend waiting until all of it is absorbed. This is another great place to use unsweetened almond milk if you are a fan.

Tiny Menu and Regularly Sized Muffin Recipe

This week my menu is very short! I'll be working the whole weekend and will be eating there, and on Thursday we have our Bible study as usual. And I will also add that last week became even more abnormal than I thought when we were unexpectedly taken out for sushi by a friend of ours! What a treat! This means that I will be making the pumpkin pasta tomorrow because I didn't get a chance to make it last week.

Monday-creamy pumpkin pasta with peas and toasted walnuts
Tuesday-beef and Guinness stew served on mashed potatoes
Wednesday-turkey panini with cranberry onion marmalade and fresh beans (following the recipe except I'm using chicken, monterey jack, and a Fuji apple)

I thought this would be a nice time to share this blueberry cream cheese muffin recipe with you. This is the muffin that I claimed was now in my top five favorite muffins in a previous post! I have made them twice and both times Marshall and I thought they were great. I followed the recipe given (used 1 C. white whole wheat flour, 1 C. all-purpose flour), but the first time I did not have fresh lemon. In place I used 1/4 tsp. lemon extract in the batter and in the filling. I really didn't prefer one way over the other but fresh lemon would still be my first pick. This one isn't quite as healthy as what I normally go for. That being said, it is far better for you than a huge buttery, sugary, 1000 calorie muffin you might find in a bakery or store. And THAT being said, I would also eat one of those now and then... : ) 

....with hopes that it wasn't actually 1000 calories.

Green Smoothies - my opinion and recipes

I would first like to tell you a bit of my theory concerning green smoothies. First of all, there is nothing magical that happens when you blend up your vegetables and fruit. Meaning, if you eat plenty of produce (especially greens) already than you shouldn't feel you are not as healthy because you don't drink green smoothies. They are not always green in color, they don't have to taste bad, and they are not made purely of vegetables (in general). I think they are a fantastic way to boost the amount of produce you consume, great for eating vegetables for breakfast when you wouldn't have otherwise, and also helps you get some raw greens which have not had nutrient damage due to heat. 

I go in spurts of loving these, being tired of them, and feeling like they are a big job (when they are not at all!). Right now I am definitely in a "loving these" stage! I'm sharing with you a few that were/are my favorites. Let's start with my foundation: 2 cups greens, 1 banana - that's it. I guess it's not much of a foundation, but I felt I should share. I used to think I had to add liquid....not necessary. I love making them with entirely produce these days. My normal routine is to have a big bowl of greens (kale and spinach being most common) washed and ready to go for the coming days. That way I just have to wash and tear once and the rest of the week it's easy. I also do this for Marshall's salads when I'm planning for that to be his lunch veggie for the week. Okay, now to the recipes!

2 cups kale, 1 banana, 1 pear, 2 clementines. This was a great one! 

 2 cups beet leaves, 1 banana, 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 cup blueberries.

This was my first time using grapefruit. If you like the taste of them I highly recommend this! The flavor takes over a bit, but it's a great way to "cover up" any flavor you may not want from your greens. I find the beet leaves quite mild anyway though.

I don't have a picture for the next two recipes, but it's not necessary. The next two both have ingredients other than produce as well. So I guess they aren't quite as green, but healthy nonetheless. 

Last night I whipped up something really simple and light after an evening run. 1/2 cup spinach, 1/2 cup milk, 10 ice cubes, 3 small clementines. light, refreshing, and slightly sweet. Served it's purpose of getting a bit of something healthy in my stomach after my run, yet not being too much to sleep on. 

This next one I decided to make substantial enough to be my post-run lunch. I did a basic nutritional analysis on this one because I felt bad that I didn't have a picture : ) ...the ingredients are as follows:

2 cups kale, 2 bananas(!), 1/ 2 cup milk, 2 T. peanut butter, 1 T. cocoa powder, 1 T. flax seed meal. Here is the results of the analysis: 631 calories - 21 grams protein (84 cal), 85 grams carbs (340 cal), 23 grams fat (207 cal).

If you want these flavors but not all the calories you could take out 1 banana, and 1 T. PB and you've already cut out almost 200 calories. Replacing the milk for unsweetened almond milk would also be a great idea. I don't always have it around, but when I do it always goes in my smoothies.

I know I say things like this a lot, but you can totally make these your own. Experiment! Cater to your own taste! There are so many possibilities that I'm sure you can find something you like.

Happy blending : )

An abnormal menu

The food I am cooking is not abnormal (at least not for us), but we have two nights that we will be eating dinner out of the house. We have a young couples dinner through our church that we are going to, and our normal Thursday Bible study group. To me it feels like I am hardly cooking this week! I will miss it for a couple of days, but it won't be too long of a break : )

Monday - shrimp scampi
Tuesday - red potatoes, turkey sausage, and kale sauteed together with olive oil salt, pepper, and cayenne
Friday - meatball sandwiches (with marinara and provolone, made on toasted homemade French bread)
Saturday - creamy pumpkin pasta with peas and toasted walnuts
Sunday - Irish potato soup

Tuesday's dinner is one of my favorite things to make for a quick weeknight dinner. The potatoes take a bit of time to cook, but if you plan ahead and steam them the night before (as I am doing right now : ) you can have it all prepared in 30 minutes or less after getting home. It's so simple...7 ingredients including the salt and pepper, which barely count as ingredients to me! Healthy, quick, delicious....another win-win-win!

I plan to give a little review of our pumpkin pasta once we've had it. Since I bought my first pumpkin a bit earlier than I thought they would be available I decided it would be fun to experiment a bit with some new recipes. I thought I could wait a little longer for our all-time favorites. My pumpkin gave me 4 1/2 cups though, so I was able to make some favorites and experiment!

We didn't have soup last Sunday (though homemade spaghetti is/was a well-worth-it replacement), so Marshall will be very happy to get another soup...and Irish potato at that! I've made this particular recipe a couple of times now and have been working on perfecting it (to our taste that is). I will share it when I have it just right.

My opinion about green smoothies and my favorite combos will soon be revealed.... : )

Camping!

We had the pleasure of leaving the city to do a little camping trip at Amicalola falls last weekend! It was so relaxing and fun (Marshall's hair holds on to the smoke smell for a long time...he's still trying to get it completely out, and he is a very thorough hair washer!).

 Marshall and Bundo had to spend a lot of time working of the fire to keep it going because the wood was so WET! We had more of a "smoke" than a fire. But one way or another Marshall managed to cook up these delicious steaks for dinner : ) ...along with Irish soda bread, which was prepared before coming.

Most of the day until this point I had eaten carrots and apples. This meal was very satisfying. We then cooked up some Korean sweet potatoes in the fire. yummy yummy!

We have learned that something wonderful happens to these potatoes while cooking in the fire. Not that they aren't good otherwise, but they are extra special when they cook in coals for an hour(ish). Just so soft and sweet! Definitely could be considered dessert.....unless you decide it would be fun to whip up some butterscotch scones in a dutch oven. That's what we did! Here is our proof.

It took a bit of trial and error before we made this gorgeous batch. The others were also good, except for the burned bottoms. As you can see in the following photo, we liked them.

: )

After a wonderful night of sleeping on rocks (It wasn't as bad as it could have been) we woke up to get started on breakfast. Which means we must first have fire! Here is the beginning stage of that.  

Our breakfast was Korean "Ramen" and tea. Both of which require hot water.  

Bundo and I filled up the dutch oven while Marshall worked on getting the fire ready. I know that filling a pot with water would not normally be a two person job, but camping changes things! You can't just hop over to the sink and fill her up. You have to go to the water pump! Yes, we still had easy access to water. Plus, holding a dutch oven full of water is definitely a two hand job. Must have a friend to turn the water off for you if you don't plan on flooding the camp site while you bring the pot over to the fire.

Here is our lunch we had just before leaving. Bratwurst with mustard, and an apple. 

These were also grilled well by my grill master the 2nd in the making : ) 

Time to go home! I sure love that camping food, but I was also ready to go home to my kitchen and start utilizing my ninja blender for some new green smoothie ideas. I've made a couple in the recent days, and will be making more in the coming days. I plan to share whichever become my favorites (I think I had one today that will remain a favorite!). 

I'm excited to share something new I learned about vegetables recently!