Recipe: Chicken and Mushroom Soup

It's pretty much soup weather (after 6pm) and I have been looking for a good chicken and mushroom soup for the past couple of years. This one was so easy to make and ended up being delicious. It was hearty but not overly hearty, and not too "soupy" either. 

Chicken and Mushroom Soup
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
6oz mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp flour (optional to thicken it a bit)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup jasmine or basmati rice
s&p to taste
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
6 springs thyme
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped1/2 cup whole milk or cream (optional)

Heat butter over medium heat. Add veggies and saute until crisp tender. Optional: add flour to pot, stir for a couple of minutes. Pour broth, bring to boil, add rice, chicken, and spices, lower to simmer and cook until rice is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Mix in milk or cream if you want it creamy.

Serve with crusty bread and/or a green salad.

Recipe: Kale & Citrus Salad

This was a big hit for my family. My five year old even asked me to make more for her lunch tomorrow. I omitted the jalapeño and the nuts but it was still flavorful without being too citrusy and earthy without being to kale-y. It was a perfect side but can be part of a main dish too. This would be amazing topped with broiled fish, too!

Perfect for Fall Kale & Citrus Salad
1 bunch kale, washed, trimmed, and sliced roughly
Juice of 1 orange
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp evoo
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, chopped finely (optional)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 large orange or 2 tangelos, peeled and diced
Feta, blue cheese or goat cheese to top
Toasted nuts (optional)

Mix orange juice through jalapeño in a jar. Cover and shake vigorously. Add yogurt and shake until well combined. Pour onto kale and mix well. Top with orange pieces and feta, toss lightly. Top with nuts if preferred.

Recipe: Chicken Curry

I gave my kids a choice for dinner last night - chicken curry or chicken pot pie, and I was shocked when they chose chicken curry. And I was even more pleasantly surprised when I realized how easy it was to make and how fast it came together. It ended up being a perfect, hearty meal for a gloomy, rainy Sunday evening. I doubled it since we had my mom over, and I wanted leftovers. My kids each said "I don't like this, I love it!" Here's what I did - barely modified from the original.

1 Tbsp avocado oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp curry powder
2 pinches (an 8-year old's) turmeric
12 chicken thighs, skinless, some boneless, trimmed and seasoned with s&p
chicken broth splash
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large sweet potato, diced (should've had two)
1 cup coconut milk
2 10oz bags of frozen sweet peas
chopped cilantro for garnish
basmati rice, cooked

Heat oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Add onions, stirring around for a minute. Add garlic, stirring around with onions until soft. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp curry powder, and 1 pinch turmeric. Remove onions and place into a bowl. 
Place 6 pieces of chicken and brown on both sides, remove and brown remaining chicken. Add remaining spices. Remove chicken, splash chicken broth to break up browned bits at the bottom of the pot. 
Put the chicken and onions back in. Add potatoes and coconut milk. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are soft. Add peas and stir until warmed through. Sprinkle half of cilantro (about a tsp). Heat through and serve over rice. Sprinkle cilantro on each serving. 

Recipe: Beef Stroganoff

I found this beef stroganoff recipe that we loved several years ago. I hadn’t made it in a while and decided to make it again. I modified it slightly, but it was still a big hit! 

Beef Stroganoff

4 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

Salt and pepper

1.5 lbs sirloin strip steak, trimmed and sliced thinly

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

4 oz mushrooms, sliced

½-1 cup beef broth (I poured a splash of red wine first then added beef broth)

1 Tbsp liquid aminos (in place of Worcestershire)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup sour cream

Heat butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions to the same pan. Cook for a few minutes, and then add garlic, peppers and mushrooms. Cook until tender. Remove and place in a bowl.

Lightly season beef with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with flour. Heat a little more butter if necessary. Add beef and cook (in batches as to not overcrowd) in the heated pan. Once all the meat is cooked, add the vegetables back in. Add wine, broth, liquid aminos, lemon juice, and a sprinkling of salt & pepper. Cook until mixture thickens, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream, mix until smooth and creamy. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Recipe: Moroccan Chicken with Almonds, Apricots, and Cauliflower Couscous

Last week, I planned on making this Moroccan Chicken dish in the crockpot. Let's just say that I'm not always the best at reading through ALL the steps of a recipe (especially crockpot) ahead of time. And that morning, armed with all of the ingredients but with only enough time to dump everything in the crockpot and go (because that's what crockpot recipes should be, right?!), I realized there was a lot more cooking involved than just dumping and going. Oops. So, a seemingly "easy" crockpot recipe turned into an afternoon of cooking. And in all honesty, the cooking wasn't as complicated as I expected AND I personally think it tasted better than the crockpot version. Here is my conversion of the crockpot recipe above to a dutch oven recipe. :)

Moroccan Chicken in the Dutch Oven

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp avocado oil
1.5lbs bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed
salt and pepper to season chicken
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
6 dried apricots, chopped 
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted and crushed
1 tsp cilantro, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
cauliflower rice (I bought the bag of organic frozen cauliflower rice from Trader Joe's)

Directions:
heat oil in the bottom of a dutch oven 
over medium high heat, brown chicken on both sides, 3-5 minutes per side, remove from pot once browned, decrease heat to medium
add onions and garlic to the pot, stirring around to release fragrance, add carrots and spices from ginger to pepper, stirring well for a few minutes
pour white wine and quickly deglaze pan, add the chicken broth, heat to bubbly and then simmer
add the apricots and chicken back in, let simmer for 30-45 minutes until reduced and chicken cooked through
serve with cauliflower rice, top with almonds, cilantro, and lemon zest

Recipe: Heart-Shaped Chocolate Graham Cookies

We spent Friday afternoon in and out of a friend's house between errands and various children's activities. They offered up a nice spread of snacks for the kids, which included these graham crackers. My friend told me how easy they are to make, and I decided I needed to try to make them for my youngest's Valentine's Party today. So, we made Monday our baking day (she isn't in school) and tried the chocolate graham recipe from the same website. We used two cookie cutters - heart shaped for the class, and dove shaped for us to have at home. I halved the recipe because of a lack of all purpose flour (and still the ratio was a little more towards whole wheat flour) but the initial taste testing by the 4-year old was followed by very positive feedback! If you use smaller cookie cutters, this recipe makes 14 dozen! Since ours were on the larger side, we got two dozen out of the halved recipe.

Here's the recipe we used from weelicious:

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled & cubed
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water
• 
  

• Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. 2. In a food processor or mixer combine the first 7 ingredients.
3. 3. Add butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
4. 4. Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines.
5. 5. Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of parchment paper.
6. 6. Roll dough out until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes with cookie cutters.*
7. 7. Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
8. 8. Cool and serve.
10. * To Freeze: After step 6, place cut-out cookie shapes on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 4 months. When ready to bake, follow steps 7-8, adding an additional 1-2 minutes baking time.

Cutting dove cookies

Imperfectly perfect.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Chicken

My oldest had asked for me to make sweet and sour chicken like she had at Tin Drum. I wanted to modify it so I could make it a little healthier for us. I ended up sautéing the chicken and veggies, and using pineapple (and it's juice) for the sweetener. I was going to add a separate sauce but decided against it. I served it over quinoa instead of rice (because I was running out of time) and aside from my younger daughter who tried to pick off the quinoa, we liked it. 

Ingredients:
oil for sautéing (I used avocado oil)
4 bnls sknls chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper
Splash of white wine (or chicken broth)
1 onion, chopped coarsely
2 bell peppers, chopped coarsely (I used ten mini bell peppers because I didn't have any large ones on hand)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 pineapple, cored and chopped coarsely, reserving the juice
quinoa or rice

Directions:
Heat oil over med-high heat in a dutch oven or large pan
Season chicken with salt and pepper generously
Brown chicken, turning until all sides are browned and chicken is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes
Remove chicken from pan, splash wine (or chicken broth) to deglaze the pan
Toss in all the veggies and pineapple, including the juice, stir well and let simmer until all are soft
Mix in chicken, serve over rice or quinoa

Lentil Sloppy Joes

My sister sent me this recipe last week, and it sounded so good and 'comfort food' like to me. I decided that we would have it for Meatless Monday. It was delicious. I couldn't stop having little tastes before I even served it. It wasn't hard to make, and took about an hour from start to finish. I only made a couple of modifications because of ingredients I had on hand. 

Ingredients:
2 cups black lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
a pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz pureed tomatoes
3 oz tomato paste
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
8 small buns

Place lentils in a small pot. Cover with 2 inches of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne and tomato paste. Cook, stirring constantly until spices and tomato paste are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar and then use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add 2 cups water, garlic, apricots and crushed tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and let sauce simmer until it thickens, at least 30 minutes. 

When lentils are cooked, drain off any excess cooking liquid.  Add lentils to the pan with sauce; stir well to combine. Mash some or all of the lentils using a wooden spoon. Toast hamburger buns in the oven, if desired. Ladle 1 cup of the lentil mixture on each toasted bun and serve.

Vegetarian White Bean Chili

I made this chili on Saturday for our neighborhood Halloween party, and we had leftovers Sunday evening. It was especially perfect on Sunday since it was a dreary, rainy day. We all loved it and my youngest asked me to make it again. It was very simple to make. I didn't have much time so I just tossed all the ingredients into a crockpot on Saturday morning, and by early afternoon, it was ready. 

Ingredients:

5 cans white cannelini beans, rinsed and drained

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

1 can of green chiles 

1 10 oz bag of frozen corn 

4 cups broth 

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder 

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of one lime 

Optional toppings:

Avocado 

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Lime wedges

Red onion, chopped

Cornbread

Hot sauce 

1. Place beans, chopped onion, chopped pepper, minced garlic, chiles, and corn into the crockpot. Top with spices and salt and pepper. Pour broth over the contents of the crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

2. With an immersion blender, blend about a third of the chili to thicken it. Don't blend all of it. Add more spices to taste (I added more chili powder and cumin at this point, but didn't measure). Squeeze lime juice into the chili, mix well, and serve with toppings. 

Pumpkin Spice Creamer and Smoothies

Happy Fall Monday! The girls are off today, and in celebration of this long weekend and not having to wake up at , I decided to make some homemade pumpkin drinks. WITH REAL PUMPKIN. The girls enjoyed a delicious pumpkin smoothie, based off the 100 Days of Real Food recipe. And the Mr. and I enjoyed a yummy pumpkin spice creamer, based off of the Against All Grain recipe. They are both VERY easy to make.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
2 cups of raw spinach leaves
1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree 
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 frozen banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional (we did not include)

Blend spinach with milk, pumpkin, and spice until smooth. Add banana and blend until no more banana chunks.


Pumpkin Spice Creamer
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a jar or bottle. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Pour desired amount into coffee. Refrigerate the remaining creamer for up to five days.

Grab n Go Egg Cups!

These are a simple make-ahead breakfast for those mornings when you don't have time to do anything but heat something up. I slightly modified the recipe from Real Food Whole Life based on the vegetables I have and it turned out great! I let the egg cups cool, put them on a wax sheet, and placed them in the freezer. I will put them in a ziploc freezer bag once they are frozen.

I even had a little helper. :-)

ALL THINGS PUMPKIN…or just pancakes

My youngest found a can of pumpkin in my pantry the other morning and she asked for pumpkin muffins and pancakes. A lover of all things pumpkin, I happily obliged (after a quick hesitation because it's not even September!). Not having a ton of flour left after the batch of pumpkin muffins, I quickly mixed together a mini batch of pancakes to add to her breakfast of yogurt and fruit, and maybe one or two other breakfasts this week.

Here's what I did:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/4-1/2 cup milk (or half & half…I had run out of milk)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/8 cup maple syrup

Whisk all ingredients together, add more flour or milk to get desired consistency
Heat butter or coconut oil over medium heat in a pan until sizzling
Using a ladle, pour some pancake batter into the pan
Cook until bubbles form or edges are dry, 2-3 minutes
Flip once and cook 1 minute longer
Remove from heat, plate in oven safe dish (and place in oven heated to 200 to keep warm)
Repeat with remaining batter

Serve warm!

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Enchiladas

I had a couple of requests for the enchilada recipe so I thought I would just post it here! I used what I had on hand and loosely based the dish on recipes I had previously used. I received some zucchini and yellow squash in the farm box yesterday, had some leftover refried black beans, and had stocked up on avocados because they were on sale last weekend.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp avocado oil 

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup refried black beans

1 zucchini, shredded 

2 yellow squash, shredded 

1 Tbsp chili powder + more for sauce 

1 Tbsp cumin + more for sauce 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper 

8 tortillas (either flour or corn will work)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar because that's what I had on hand)

2 cups tomato sauce or canned diced tomatoes (I omitted because I didn't have any)

1/4 cup green chiles or chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce 

Toppings:

1 tomato, diced 

1 avocado, diced

Juice of 1 lime

Sour cream 

Directions:

Heat oil in pan, add onions and peppers, stir until softened. Add garlic until just fragrant. Add zucchini and squash. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, & pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until all veggies are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in refried beans. 

In a small pot, heat tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes) with either chipotle peppers or chiles, over medium heat. Sprinkle cumin and chili powder into sauce. Keep warm. 

Place an eighth of the veggie mixture in each tortilla. Sprinkle some cheese on top of mixture. Roll each tortilla up and place, seam side down, in a baking dish. Top with the tomato sauce (optional) & remaining shredded cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Serve with toppings. Enjoy!

Salmon with Bok Choy

Bok choy came in our farm box on Monday. Confession: I have never eaten or cooked it before. So I decided to make some salmon and bok choy Monday evening. It was very good. My older daughter, husband, and I enjoyed it. After trying a couple of bites, my younger daughter decided she did not care for the bok choy part. It is a very simple meal and cooks quickly. 

Salmon and Bok Choy
Slightly modified from Cooking Light

3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce, liquid aminos or coconut aminos 

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons avocado oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound baby bok choy or bok choy

4 (6-ounce) wild caught salmon fillets

Preheat broiler.

Combine first five ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Coarsely chop bok choy leaves, and arrange on one end of a baking dish. Coarsely chop bok choy stems and arrange in a single layer on opposite end of jelly-roll pan. Place salmon, skin side down, in a single layer on top of leafy greens. Pour half of soy sauce mixture evenly over salmon; pour remaining half evenly over bok choy stems. Broil for 5 minutes; stir stems. Broil an additional 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Arrange bok choy on each of four plates. Top with salmon and serve with brown rice.

Recipe: Energy Bites

The first time I made these, I had a newborn and needed a quick snack to grab during those "I have to eat something right now" hunger pangs. At the time, I called them "nursing balls" after seeing them on a friend's blog post. Now, they are for everyone. They are easy to make (and eat!) and the ingredients are items that you probably already have on hand! The best thing about them is that you can be imaginative with what you put in them, and if you don't have a certain ingredient, substitute or leave it out! The key is to get a consistency that comes together well. (Note: if you're going to use sun butter, you will need more of the dry fillers as it is runnier than nut butters.)

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2-1 cup nut butter of choice

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 Tbsp chia seeds (soaked)

1/2 cup raisins

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey (optional)

1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Roll into small 1" balls and place on a wax paper covered baking sheet. Freeze for 30-60 minutes. Remove and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (Another option is to roll in a long log, freeze for 30-60 minutes, cut 1" pieces, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)