Alfredo Pizza

I've been making an alfredo sauce for our pizza sauce from time to time lately and my family is thrilled when I do. I don't really have a recipe but here's basically what I do....

Melt butter in a sauce pan (about 2-4 tbs)
Sprinkle flour into the butter while stirring (about 3-4 tbs)
Add milk and whisk over heat till thickened (about 1-2 cups)
Add a handful of parmesan cheese and stir till cheese is melted in
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Spread on dough and top with cheese

I use this crust recipe. I usually add herbs to it though. About 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning.

Honey Baked Lentils and Rice

I know this doesn't look like much but oh. my. goodness. this is SO good. I've tried many lentil and rice recipes and this one is hands down our favorite. My husband and kids don't even like lentils and won't eat them any other way but they love this. I adapted the recipe from Becca's recipe called Honey Baked Lentils. I wanted to make ours a little more substantial since we eat it as a main dish so I added rice and changed up the measurements a bit. It works great as a healthy side dish as well. I prefer it cooked on low for half the day in the crock-pot. You can bake it in the oven but it just didn't come out cooked as even because of the rice added.

Here's my take on it:

1 c lentils
1 c brown rice
4 1/2 c water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dried minced onion (fresh onion floats to the top)
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 minced clove of garlic)
1 tsp salt (or more if needed)
pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in the crock-pot and cook on low from about noon till dinner. This stuff is addicting. The flavor is SO good!

If baking in the oven: 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Roast Chicken (in a crock-pot)

I like to make roast chicken but in the crock-pot. This way if I'm gone all day I don't have to worry about cooking the meal, it's ready for me when I get home. For the roast chicken in the pictures I actually did two small chickens in the crock-pot. One was for dinner and one was to use the meat for other meals throughout the week.

Put chicken whole (innards removed), skin on, in the crock-pot. Give a good sprinkling of seasonings like:
rosemary
Italian seasoning mix or oregano, basil, etc...whatever Italian seasonings you have on hand
salt and pepper
and a swirl of olive oil
(I'm always asked if you need water. NOPE, it will make it's own juices, no water needed.)


Then throw in a few whole or minced garlic cloves. Cook on low from morning till dinner. If you are having company and want a fancier presentation, you can remove the chicken (carefully) and place under your broiler for just a few minutes to brown the skin on top giving it that oven roasted texture and look.

You can cook veggies either with it in the crock-pot or you can cook them on the stove top till crisp tender.

The basic veggies I do with roast chicken are
carrots
potatoes
celery
onion
but sometimes we throw something extra in too like broccoli.

Don't throw the carcass or leftovers out! You can make quite a few things with what is left over in your pot.

chick broth (instructions coming next post)
chicken noodle soup
chicken rice soup
chicken and dumplings
and more

Fried Rice

This is so easy to make and pretty darn healthy. I use brown rice which makes it even better for you. I can see why this is a staple in so many other countries. It's also a great way to use up leftovers.

4 cups leftover refrigerated rice
1 diced onion
oil (olive oil or coconut oil)
2 eggs
2-4 tbsp soy sauce to taste
1 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
garlic (1 minced clove or a dash of powder)
leftover veggies (peas, corn, chopped spinach, bell peppers, green beans, mushrooms, etc.)

Saute the cold rice, onion, and veggies in oil. Add soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic. Push rice mixture to the side and crack eggs into the skillet, blending them as they cook. Serve.

Notes-
In the pictures I used spinach and green beans. This was not a big hit with the kids. They liked it better the next time I made it with carrots and corn. Use whatever sounds good to you. My husband and I really like this new dish.

Chow Mein

I wanted to attempt to make a Panda Express Chow Mein Noodles copycat and although I didn't have all the right ingredients on hand, this turned out so good. My husband was loving it and begged for all the leftovers. My kids loved it and I loved it. Yum. Here's what I came up with.
(Oh, and the pictures are from a few different times that I've made it until I had perfected it.)


1 package soba noodles (these are found in the Asian cooking isle)
1 can mung bean sprouts or 1 1/2 cups fresh mung sprouts
1 cup fresh snow peas
2 cups chopped cabbage (either Napa Cabbage or Bok Choy)
1/2 a diced onion
2 minced garlic cloves

(optional to add sliced mushrooms, diced bell pepper, etc.)

salt, pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp soy sauce (we prefer 2 tbsp)
olive oil

Directions: Saute all the veggies and beans in the oil. Cook the soba noodles in a pot of boiling water according to package directions. Once noodles are done cooking, drain and add to the sauteing veggies. Add seasonings and soy sauce. (Don't add too much salt because the soy sauce will be salty.) Pour more olive oil over the sauteing noodles and veggies. Saute the noodles with the veggies for a few minutes and serve.

Notes:
Not very healthy when it comes to the noodles since I'm yet to find whole grain soba noodles. But with the olive oil, organic high quality soy sauce, and all the veggies, this is pretty good for you! Of course, I haven't been able to find all of these ingredients organic so this is one of those "not eating the way we should be meals" that happens from time to time. You could easily substitute coconut oil for the olive oil which I plan to do next time, making this an even healthier dish. This is going to be one of our new vegetarian meals because it was such a big hit.

I've been making fried rice too and I'll share that recipe soon.


Anyone know where to get whole grain soba noodles or a healthier alternative? I'd love to know!

Vegetarian Rice and Bean Burritos

I try to keep cooked beans and brown rice in the fridge all week so that I can make many things with them. They are both healthy food items that are filling and versatile. One of my favorite ways to eat them is wrapped up. Here they are wrapped as a burrito with no meat....just the beans and rice seasoned with garlic and salt and topped with sour cream, salsa and avocado. YUM!

Amazingly Creamy (and Healthy) Mac N Cheese

I've been searching for a very long time for a healthy mac and cheese recipe that doesn't taste awful. Seems like only the unhealthy ones taste good until now. Thanks to one of my favorite blogs, Heavenly Homemaker, I can now make healthy mac and cheese. Click here for her recipes.

Only difference for me is that I use brown rice pasta and it takes longer to cook, so I cook it in water till it's about half way cooked and then I drain it and finish cooking it in the milk.

Disclaimer- when I say "healthy", some people might be thinking HUH? because of the whole milk and cheese. As I continue to research whole food nutrition and learn more about eating naturally derived foods, I consider organic whole milk healthier than lowfat milk and I use raw organic cheese instead of processed and pasteurized cheese. To learn more, read Nourishing Traditions.

BBQ Kabobs

It's BBQ season and one of my favorite things to BBQ is kabobs. They are easier than they look. I used to make them more complicated than they had to be but with a simplified version I can whip these up for dinner in about an hour start to table and the reward is great.

For these chicken kabobs I used:
1 can chunks of pineapple
1 container baby bell mushrooms (washed and halved)
2 large bell peppers or 7 minis cut into large chunks
3 chicken breasts cut in large cubes
onion (if desired)
Maui Mountain Teriyaki Sauce (original or pineapple)

Skewer the meat, veggies, and pineapple randomly. Brush with teriyaki sauce. BBQ for a few minutes just until meat is cooked through but still tender (be careful not to over cook the small pieces of meat). Brush again after cooking or serve with individual dipping teriyaki sauce.

Serve with coconut rice.

Corn Dog Muffins

I saw this recipe idea on Heavenly Homemaker and had to try it. Corn dogs are one of my son's favorite food items and well, as you know they aren't the healthiest thing in the world so making them from scratch is a step in the right direction.

Couple of things:

-I use 100% beef, no nitrate hot dogs....the healthiest ones I can find minus the organic factor.

-I cut the hot dogs into small pieces and stirred them into the batter which we were really happy with.

Double this corn muffin recipe:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk (or milk)

Stir together dry ingredients. Add eggs, honey, butter and buttermilk. Stir until just mixed.

Cut up 5-6 hot dogs and add to the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 15 min.)....dough may be a little greasy around the hot dogs but as long as it's cooked you are good to go.

These are great because you can make a bunch of them and freeze them and they are a great quick lunch for hungry kids!

Skillet Enchiladas

Our family loves these chicken enchiladas and a few weeks ago I was in a bind for dinner. I had already cooked chicken on hand and the rest of the ingredients and so I threw it together in the skillet and it turned out just grand.

Crock- pot Lasagna

I've seen this idea online and wanted to give it a try. I've never actually even made lasagna in the oven before. I love using my crock-pot to keep me out of the kitchen when I'm busy and tired in the late afternoon.


1 lb beef
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 diced onion or 1/8 minced dried onion
1 tsp anise seed
1/2 tsp salt
1 jar pasta sauce
1 container ricotta cheese (about 30 oz)
2 cups grated parmesan cheese (or italian cheese mix)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese plus some for on top
1/8 c dried parsley
2 c chopped fresh baby spinach
1/2 box of regular lasagna noodles
1/2 c of water

Brown beef in skillet with next five ingredients. Once browned, add pasta sauce. In separate bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, and parsley together. In bottom of crock-pot using half of everything, layer sauce, then noodles (break to fit), spread cheese mixture over noodles, layer chopped spinach next and then repeat layers using the rest of the ingredients. Top with a few handfuls of grated cheese (mozzarella) and pour water over all.

Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. In my new crock-pot that cooks hotter than my old one, this was done at about 7 hours on low. But in my old one I'm thinking it might have taken about 9-10 hours. You can prep the night before and then pour water over in the morning and cook.

Wow, this was easy and yummy!

Shredded Beef Tacos

1 beef roast (I use chuck)
2 packets of taco seasoning

Place beef roast in crock-pot on low long enough to shred (approx. 8-10 hours). Sprinkle with taco seasoning. When done cooking, shred.

Serve in corn tortillas with cheese, chopped cilantro, chopped onion, chopped tomato.

Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage

With St. Patrick's Day this week, we'll be making this.....so I thought I'd move it back up to the top of our blog.

Growing up this was one of my favorite meals. You have to like salty foods to like this. I find people either love it or don't like it. It goes well with my Irish heritage and my mom always made this on St. Patrick's Day (which happens to be my dad's birthday). Imagine that, an Irish man born on St. Patrick's Day...good timing.

1 corned beef roast
1 cabbage cut into wedges
4-5 yukon gold potatoes quartered
2 cups chopped carrots

Put the roast into the crock-pot fat side down. Sprinkle the seasoning packet that it comes with on top. Put potatoes, and carrots on top. Cook on low all day (about 8-9 hours). Add the cabbage in wedges at about noon and continue cooking on low. Remove roast and veggies from the crock and strain the broth. Use the broth to make a gravy. The pictures don't show the potatoes and carrots because I was out of them the other day when I decided to throw this in the crock pot but I usually do the potatoes and carrots too.

Robin's Pasta Sauce

I've been wanting to make my own pasta sauce for quite some time and so the experimenting began. But one day I was at a friend's house and she had this sauce cooking in her crock-pot and gave me a taste. Oh my was it good! I begged, pleaded, got on my knees, wept tears of envy as I petitioned her to please share her recipe with me. She was very kind and said that yes, I could have it AND I asked her permission to share it with all of you. Now, Robin doesn't have a blog otherwise I'd be pointing you to her blog but she IS a blog reader so feel free to comment on this post and thank her for this recipe if you like it. She made this up herself and well, as her sauce implies, she's a great cook. Not only is SHE a great cook (and I know this because I've enjoyed tasting her cooking several times) but her husband is also a great cook! (Sorry if I'm embarrassing you guys, but truly Bill, you and Robin make quite the culinary couple!) I used the same begging tactics to get a copy of Bill's chocolate bread pudding recipe that was incredible....so I'll have to ask them if I can share that on here too. It's time for Bill and Robin to open a restaurant or at least start a cooking blog! =0) hint hint.

Robin uses all fresh ingredients from her summer garden to make this recipe and then she freezes it in her deep freeze in canning jars. I have a very large deep freeze as well and seeing that I hate the time and energy it takes to can, I loved the idea of freezing it. BUT you can surely can it as well if that is your preference. If you are freezing it, be sure to leave room at the top of the jar for expansion like in my picture above. Do not fill them all the way.

I didn't have fresh garden produce to make this with so I converted most of the recipe for you to canned tomatoes and dried herbs. I have to admit that Robin's fresh version was better but that the canned and dried version still taste good and works well. This IS our new pasta sauce. I used the organic diced tomatoes from Costco and the organic tomato paste from Costco as well.

4 onions
4 garlic cloves (1 tsp garlic powder)
2 diced bell peppers
1/2 c olive oil
16 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or 8 cans diced tomatoes -14.5 oz)
1/4 c fresh oregano (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c fresh basil (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c fresh parsley (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp salt
2 6 oz cans tomato paste

Saute onion, garlic, peppers in olive oil. Combine everything in crock-pot. Cook 2-3 hours on low. Stir often. Then let cool. Put in canning jars and freeze.

Other Info-
-My kids aren't crazy about the chunky tomatoes (which I personally love!) so when I'm going to use a jar of sauce I pour it first into our blender to puree it and then the kids love it.

-This recipe makes about 5 large canning jar sizes. It also fits in my 6 qt crock-pot and I don't know how well it would fit in a 5 qt. but you could try it. There was a little room in my 6 qt still. My picture shows 4 jars because we used about 1 jars worth for dinner that night.


Differences-
-Robin doesn't add the tomato paste until she is ready to use a jar of the sauce. When she is heating it to use, then she adds 1-2 cans of the paste for one jar of sauce. I put 2 cans of paste into the original ingredients when it was cooking in the crock-pot and don't add anymore paste when I use a jar.

-I also rounded Robin's original recipe of 3/4 tsp of pepper up to 1 tsp.

-One of the times I made it, I added more sugar because the canned tomatoes just aren't as sweet as garden fresh ones. So I made it with 1/2 c organic sugar instead of 1/4 c.

-Robin uses green bell peppers, I use red bell peppers. (I use red because they are easier to digest and they are packed with nutrients and it's a sneaky way to get them into my kids who don't want to eat them otherwise.) You can use any color bell pepper that you prefer.

Potato Leek Soup

I wanted to make yet another healthy soup and since leeks are super good for you and my kids love potatoes I thought I'd make up my own version of potato leek soup in hopes that they would like it with leeks.

6 yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
2 leeks washed and sliced (white part and light green only)
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1 box chicken broth
2 c water
1/2 c milk
2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (at least 2 tsp of salt)

I made this in the crock-pot by first cooking the potatoes and leeks in the water till tender. You can also use the same method just in a pot on the stove. Once the potatoes and leeks are very tender, scoop them and the water into your blender or food processor and puree them. Pour them back into your pot or crock-pot and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well when adding the cheese so that it doesn't stick in clumps. You can also toss the grated cheese in a few tbsp of flour to coat it and it won't clump when you add it to the soup. Simmer on the stove for about 45 min. or cook on low in crock-pot for a few hours.

Top with croutons or chopped herbs.

My kids absolutely loved this despite my worries.

White Bean Chili

1/2 pound of dry white beans (great northern or navy work well)
1 pound ground turkey cooked (or ground beef or omit it for vegetarian)
2 medium onions diced
1 bell pepper diced (red, yellow, or orange)
1 clove of minced garlic
1 packet of chili seasoning (or your own chili spices)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1-2 cans diced tomatoes (depending on how much you like tomatoes)
1-2 cans water
salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight in water. Drain water and put beans in slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cook on low all day till beans are tender.

Serve with grated cheese, sliced avocados, minced fresh onion.

Variations-
-add other types of beans as well
-serve over baked potatoes

Tip-
soaking dry beans overnight does two things- 1. it softens the beans to speed up cooking time, 2. it helps release the content of the beans that causes, well, you know, the music you get the next day from that magical fruit.

Beans, Beans, Beans

I've been asked about more recipes for beans and I'll go ahead and include other legumes in that. For some reason I don't really think of "recipes" when it comes to beans but rather what I can add beans into. There are the basic bean recipes that most people are familiar with like
baked beans
chili
refried beans

but then there's this whole world of adding beans to several meals. You can cook a whole pot of beans and add your favorite seasonings and some like it with a ham hock but you can also add beans to meals that we don't always think of. For instance salad. Salad is a great place to add beans.

Fresh green salad - try adding garbanzo (aka chickpeas) or kidney beans. Better yet, add a few scoops of three bean salad on top of your green salad
Texas Caviar- this is a salad made with corn and beans...I'll be making it and posting it on here eventually. But basically any type of chunky corn or bean salsa is a great place to use black beans or black eyed peas. So consider making a 3-bean salad or some other bean salad that you like.
Soups - you can add beans to most soups either whole or mashed to thicken a soup. Try adding Northern White Beans pureed in veggie soup or whole beans to a pasta soup (like minestrone). Don't forget to add a legume like lentils to your soup cooking. They have great flavor and add another healthy food source to your meal.
Dip - You can puree your beans and add olive oil and seasonings to make a healthy bean dip. My kids love this. Hummus is made from chickpeas as well and is a good dip that kids usually like. make a layered dip with pureed pinto beans for chips...using sour cream, cheese, and guacamole.
Spread- Hummus or other bean dips make a healthy spread to put on sandwiches instead of mayo!
Side Dish- How about serving a lentil/rice side dish. I've seen several recipe for this and I made one recently in my crock-pot that I'll be posting soon. Once I made this huge pot of them I served it as a side dish with dinner and often use some of the leftovers to thicken my homemade soups. My kids tell me that they don't eat lentils but they eat them in soup this way! I've seen beans and rice as a side dish too. Try adding some spices like curry to give it some kick.
Mexican Style- You can add beans to just about every Mexican style meal in one way or another. Add beans to your taco salads, your taco soups, your tacos! Mash them for bean dip (which we already mentioned), mash them to use them in burritos and on tostadas. Use beans as the main ingredient to your taco lasagna to make it vegetarian.

I continue to look for more bean recipes though as they are a healthy way to feed my family in a very cost effective way.

Tips for getting kids to eat beans if they hate them:
mash them, puree them, mix them in (it's all about being sneaky)
serve small beans instead of huge ones (like black beans and black eyed peas and chickpeas instead of lima beans and kidney beans that are so big!)
serve white beans (kids seem more open to eating a white bean than say a red or black bean.
put a small amount into a recipe (this gets them introduced to them without serving a huge scoop of plain beans on their plate)

Friday I'll be posting my White Bean Chili recipe

Beef Stew

1 chuck roast
1 onion soup mix packet
6 cups water

Cook in crock pot half the day on low (in the morning). Take out and chop into chunks. Return to the crock pot and add:
5-6 chopped carrots
4-5 cubed yukon gold potatoes (at least 2 cups worth)
1 diced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Cook on low till about 1 hour before serving. Then add:
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

Then to thicken the stew, melt 2-4 tbsp butter in a skillet and add 1/4 -1/2 cup of flour till melted into a paste and add to the stew and stir till thickened.

Onion Roast

A timeless favorite, but I hadn't made it in years. I've learned that slow cooked meat is easiest to digest and so I've been doing a lot more in my crock-pot since I'm all for good digestion. This is the first roast my mom taught me to make and I had forgotten just how good it is.

1 chuck roast (or other tough cut)
1 envelope onion soup mix

Sprinkle onion soup mix over roast in crock-pot. Cook on low till tender with a fork. Crock-pots vary so anywhere from 6-10 hours. Don't forget to throw some Idaho bakers wrapped in foil on top of your roast.

This meat makes a nice BBQ shredded beef sandwich for leftovers.

Homemade Noodles (fun with kids)

Making noodles with your kids can be a fun and healthy project. By making my own noodles I can also use all organic products and save a bit of money in the process. Noodles can be made for immediate use or frozen in batches for later use. I've had this recipe in my archives for over a year now and finally got around to making it!

You will need:
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

Mound flour on a work surface and make a deep "volcano".
Break the egg into the volcano and add water.
Beat the egg and water lightly with a fork, being careful not to break down the volcano walls.
Begin to draw in flour from the inner sides of the volcano.
Continue to blend in flour until the dough becomes stiff. Eventually using your hands, knead the dough until smooth and stiff. You will not use all of the flour most likely so spread the excess flour around on your counter for rolling the dough out.

Refrigerate for about 1 hour to make dough easier to work with.

To shape the dough, either use a pasta maker or roll out with a rolling pin until very thin. Roll the dough out as thin as you can for thin noodles or roll them a little thicker for country style thick noodles. Keep in mind that the dough will thicken upon cooking though. Don't worry about the shape of the rolled out dough unless you are going for perfection. =0) The key to rolling out noodles is to use plenty of flour under the dough and on top of the dough.

I like to roll my dough into a log and then cut with a knife pressing straight down to make little wheels of dough. It's important to keep the top of the dough well floured before rolling so that the dough doesn't stick together when you unroll it.


Then, have kids with floured hands begin unrolling the dough to make long noodles. You can also make short noodles by first cutting the wheels in half. If you prefer to cut the noodles without rolling the dough, you can use a pizza cutter for easy cutting of strips. You can make the noodles as skinny or wide as you like.

I usually make these noodles up fresh while a pot of soup is on the stove simmering. Just add the noodles to the soup and let them cook for a few minute. Excess uncooked pasta dough can be refrigerated in an airtight bag for up to 4 days and frozen for a month.

For extra fun shapes, let your kids use mini cookie cutters to make shaped noodles.

The noodles in the picture were rolled very thin and left very long. We call them "ribbon noodles".

Variations- you can use whole wheat if you'd like to but I do not recommend whole wheat pastry flour as it leaves a grainy texture to the noodle. They work with the whole wheat pastry flour but they just aren't as good as white flour. =0)

The chicken soup pictured was:
1 diced medium onion
2 cooked chopped boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 carrots sliced
2 celery stalks
1 box chicken broth
6 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of rosemary
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
1 batch homemade noodles

Saute onion, carrots, celery in olive oil till tender. Add remaining ingredients other than noodles. Simmer for 45 min. Add noodles and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Serve.

NOTE- Yes, you can make the dough in a food processor using these measurements: 3/4 c flour, 1 egg, 1 tsp ice water. Use more flour or water as needed to make a dough ball that you can roll out. =0) This method is quicker and a lot less messy.