Carrot Bread

I have a 5 lb. bag of carrots sitting on my kitchen counter, so I've been putting them to good use. This recipe is basically the same as Zucchini Bread, but I used carrots instead. Delicious! 

Carrot Bread
3 eggs
1 c. oil
1 T. vanilla
2 c. finely grated carrots
2 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
3 c. flour

Mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Divide batter into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for 40-60 minutes.

This was a big hit at my house. Enjoy!

Broccoli Chowder

Okay, so it's June, right? Where we live it's still been in the 50's and 60's all week. Not exactly summer weather, but whatever. It's a good excuse to make soup. This soup is adapted from Kitchen Daily. My family loved it. My husband just told me that I need to make it more often. Score!

Broccoli Chowder

1 T. oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1-2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. flour

1/2 t. dry mustard

2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth

1 (16 oz.) bag frozen broccoli

1 c. grated cheese

1/2 c. sour cream, plus more for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil and add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until tender (about 5-6 minutes.)

Add potatoes, garlic, flour and mustard. Cook about 4-5 more minutes.

Add chicken broth and broccoli. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until veggies are super tender.

Mash with a potato masher.

Add cheese, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a little sour cream.

This was a hit. My kids and hubby all ate their soup ALL GONE! Not kidding. I was more than amazed. Anyway, enjoy!

Harvest Chili

Football season is the perfect time to break out a nice bowl of chili! This recipe is a little different than most chili recipes because it has a lot more yummy fall veggies and TONS of flavor! This will be a new favorite around our house!

The original recipe from H.E.A.B. uses almond butter, but I opted to use this sunflower seed butter. I also changed a few other things and it was amazing. Thanks to Heather and CD for this wonderful recipe!Harvest Chili

2 T. butter

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 c. zucchini, chopped

1 T. dried minced onion

1 t. garlic powder, heaping

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz.) can beans, drained and rinsed

2 T. sunflower seed butter, heaping

1/8 t. cumin

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

salt to taste

In a large pot, melt butter.

Add veggies, onion and garlic powder and saute until zucchini is tender. Then add beef.
Brown meat with veggies, stirring frequently.
Add tomatoes, beans, sunflower seed butter, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Mix well and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve with grated cheese.

If you don't have sunflower seed butter, I'm sure you could use any nut butter that you want. After all, the original calls for almond butter. Anyway, this was the perfect meal and I will certainly be making it again! Thanks again, Heather! Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

I was a little intimidated to make chicken and dumplings, but it's really quite easy. This wasn't a dish that I grew up with so I just taught myself. It's such a yummy comfort food and it's perfect for this time of year when the nights are getting colder.

For this recipe I found this chicken at the store:

And it really is a WHOLE chicken, bones and all! I found it in the same aisle as the canned fish and spam. I highly recommend it for this recipe.
Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

1 canned whole chicken (reserve broth)*

1 c. water

1 bay leaf

1/2 t. marjoram or ground sage

1/2 large onion, chopped

1-2 c. carrots, chopped

1-2 c. celery, chopped

1 c. milk

1/4 c. cornstarch

Dumplings:

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/4 c. shortening

1 c. buttermilk

For soup combine broth from the canned chicken, water, bay leaf, marjoram, and veggies in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Meanwhile, remove skin and bones from chicken and tear into bite size pieces and set aside while veggies cook.Add chicken. Mix cornstarch with the milk and pour mixture into soup. Simmer and stir until it thickens.

Remove bay leaf and reduce heat to medium-low and stir occasionally while preparing dumplings. For dumplings combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add buttermilk and mix just until moistened.
Drop dumplings into simmering soup by spoonfuls until it covers the top.
Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes. Soup is done when the dumplings look puffy. They might look a little doughy, but don't worry they're not! :)
Spoon soup into bowls with equal amounts of soup and dumplings.

*If you can't find the canned chicken, use 3 c. chicken broth and about 1 lb. of cooked, chopped chicken breasts.

This is totally one of my new favorite dinners. It's so warm and tasty and very filling. Enjoy!

Pork: 2 Ways

Pork has got to be my favorite meat! This first recipe is so simple and it's perfect for a Sunday dinner or when you have company. The slow cooker does all the work and you end up with a complete meal. Yum!

Basic Pork Roast
1 pork roast, or boneless ribs (I use around 3-5 lb.)
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 c. baby carrots
salt & pepper
garlic powder

Place pork roast in a slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Top with onions and carrots. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours.

Now, if you don't eat the yummy roast in one night, save your leftovers to make Sweet BBQ Pork Sandwiches the next night.

Sweet BBQ Pork Sandwiches

1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1/2 onion, finely minced

1 T. butter

3 T. molasses

3 T. brown sugar

2 T. prepared Dijon mustard

1 T. liquid smoke

1 T. worcestershire sauce

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. pepper

1/8 t. chipotle chile powder (if you want some heat)

leftover pork roast and veggies

4-6 slices bread

8-12 slices cheese

To make chunky bbq sauce, melt butter in a saucepan and add minced onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent and tender.

Then add tomatoes, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, pepper and chipotle powder. Mix well and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.Meanwhile, chop leftover pork roast, onion, and carrots. Heat over medium heat in a large skillet.
Once browned, add about half of the warm bbq sauce and mix together.
Melt 2 slices of cheese on each slice of bread.

Top each cheesy bread with bbq pork and dig in!

Save the rest of the bbq sauce in the fridge. It's very tasty on other meats as well. Enjoy!

Homemade "Spaghetti-O's"

Is it weird that I like those stupid canned pasta products? Maybe they just remind me of when I was a kid, I don't know. I'm always tempted to buy them because they are such a convenient lunch for kids, but then I look at the ingredient list...yikes! So I made my own and it couldn't be easier. I know, they're not "O's" but they still taste really good and I'm not afraid of the ingredients! :)

I'm sure any small pasta would work, but I used this:

Homemade "Spaghetti-O's"

1 c. dry acini di pepe

1-2 c. shredded cheese

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

3 oz. (1/2 can) tomato paste

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced carrots

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Combine hot pasta and cheese in a bowl and stir until cheese melts:

Add tomato sauce, paste, and carrots and stir until well combined:
And ta-da! You've got yourself some homemade, kid-friendly pasta.

Next time, I may try using whole wheat shell pasta if I can find it. I may also try different veggies. Experiment and have fun with it. Enjoy!

Apple Carrot Slushee

This was breakfast this morning! It is my own version of an ICEE from the gas station. It has no added sugar and it has a serving (or maybe several servings) of veggies in each glass. This is perfect for hot summer days and the kids will love it!

Apple Carrot Slushee

6 large carrots, washed

2 large apples, washed and quartered

8 large cubes ice (give or take)

Juice apples and carrots in a juicer. Blend juice with ice in blender.

I love this recipe because it combines fruits & veggies with water (in ice form, obviously!) We all know how important it is to eat our fruits & veggies, but we often don't drink enough plain old water! Water is especially crucial during these hot summer months. So sit back in your lawn chair and drink a tall glass of this delicious slushee!

Don't be afraid to mix and match different fruit and veggies, too. Try using your favorite combination or let your kids go crazy and make up their own concoction! Enjoy.

Sushi & Wonton Chips

Okay so I don't actually use any raw fish, but this sushi is so fun and yummy! Get the kids involved in picking the veggies. The beauty of this recipe is that you can really choose whatever ingredients you want.

Sushi

sticky rice:

1 c. short grain rice

2 c. water

2 T. seasoned rice vinegar

Cook rice and water in rice cooker or on the stove. Pour cooked rice into a 9x13" baking dish and stir in vinegar while rice is still hot. Let cool. (Below is a picture of the vinegar that I used and it turned out great.)

filling:

carrots, julienned

avocados, thinly sliced

cucumbers, julienned

cooked shrimp

imitation crab

seaweed sheets

Press rice onto seaweed sheet (enough to cover.) Then add desired fillings in a line and roll tightly. Slice into 3/4" pieces and serve with soy sauce and/or wasabi.

I happened to have some egg roll wrappers in the fridge, so I also made some wonton chips. They are very simple to make and are very delicious.

Wonton Chips 1 package wonton skins (or egg roll wrappers, quartered)
oil or cooking spray
salt


Preheat oven to 375 F. Lay wontons side by side in a single layer on greased cookie sheet. brush with oil (or spray with cooking spray) and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

I hope you enjoy sushi night as much as I do!