Cooking
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
As Christmas day approaches, our calendars get filled up with activities….shopping, decorating, gathering together with family and friends. The days are getting colder and the hours in the day seem to get shorter. When dinnertime comes around it is nice to have an easy dinner to serve for your family. One that is filled with wonderful flavors and incredible health benefits is an added bonus to help sustain the energy needed to accomplish all the things you have on your “to-do” list. This roasted butternut squash soup is easy to prepare and lasts for days in the refrigerator. It is a wonderful soup to pull out if a friend stops by around lunch time. Put on your favorite Christmas carols and take an hour to unwind as you fix this delicious soup for your family.
Ingredients
1 large butternut squash (2-2 ½ pounds) peeled and cubed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped fine
1 tablespoon butter
1 large leek, washed and chopped (2 cups)
4 cups fat free, low sodium, organic chicken broth (vegetable both for vegetarians)
½ cup sherry
6-8 fresh sage leaves chopped fine
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
Preheat over to 400 degrees. Mix cubed squash with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large bowl and spread on a foil lined 15×10 jelly roll pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 45-50 minutes until squash is fork tender. Allow the squash to cool. While squash is roasting melt the butter in a large stock pot and add the chopped leeks. Turn heat to medium and cook the leeks until translucent, stirring occasionally about 6-8 minutes. Add the cooled squash and the broth, sherry and sage and turn heat to high. …
Pumpkin Harvest Hummus
I hope and pray that each one of you felt the peace and joy that comes with stopping to be grateful for all the blessings we have in our lives. Our Thanksgiving celebration was an amazing experience as we reflected on our year and shared about all that we are thankful for. As we head into the Christmas season, we will all be invited to many potlucks, hors d’oeurve parties and probably have many friends stop over for a spontaneous visit. This Pumpkin Harvest Hummus is absolutely the perfect snack to have on hand to take to a holiday party or to whip out and serve with carrots, cucumber slices and pita chips when friends come by. I made some for a party last week and it received rave reviews so I thought I would share it with you.
Ingredients
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons Tahini
2-3 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
⅓ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper)
1 ½ teaspoon cumin
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 Tablespoons water (if needed to thin as you blend)
Put all ingredients into a Vitamix or blender and mix until pureed to the consistency of hummus. Use a bit of water to thin it out if you think it is too thick. Pour into an airtight container and chill until ready to use. Serve with carrots, cucumbers, pita chips or pita bread. It also makes a great spread for your turkey sandwich (with a bit of cranberry sauce, lettuce and tomato).
Bean Dip
Bean Dip is a great thing to make for a party, to take to a friend’s house, or just to enjoy on your own. As I was making this bean dip, I was thinking about how important each layer is to create the overall taste. Yes, analyzing a bean dip. Seems a little weird. But when you are making food for other people to join in and fellowship together while eating, you really think about how much more there is to it. Food brings people together. And people have all sorts of stories, all sorts of characteristics, all sorts of “layers” that takes time and investment getting to know them. And each layer is important. It is a part of who they are, where they came from, or how they have grown. Taking out one layer or one part of the story may leave a piece missing.
So here’s the bean dip recipe:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put all ingredients in a 9×13 pan in this order (smooth out to make flat layers)
- 2 small/ 1 big can of refried beans
- Mix together 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 3.1 small can of diced green chiles
- 1/2 cup of salsa
- 2-3 cups of cheddar cheese
- Olives on top (optional)
Cook for 30 minutes and enjoy with a bag of tortilla chips!
- 2 small/ 1 big can of refried beans
- Mix together ½ cup of mayo and ½ cup of sour cream
- 1 small can of diced green chiles
- ½ cup of salsa
- 2-3 cups of cheddar cheese
- Olives on top (optional)
- Preheat oven to
Build Your Own Burrito Bowls – When Dinner Delights
I easily get stuck in a rut with meals. I forget that my three little mouths to feed need a change. Sometimes I get it right, and this week I had success with Build Your Own Burrito Bowls!
You can use any of your favorite Mexican foods – just place each food item in its own bowl with a serving utensil and let your family choose what they want and scoop it themselves into their bowl.
Here are the foods we had for our burrito bowl feast.
Build Your Own Burrito Bowls
Brown Rice
Black Beans
Pinto Beans
Sauteed Kale
Chicken
Grated Cheese
Cucumbers
Sliced Red Pepper
Salsa
Avocado
Tortilla Chips
The girls LOVED serving their own food and ate so many things they never eat! We actually had to stop dinner because they wouldn’t stop eating!
It can be fun to get your family excited about meals again just by changing the presentation of your meals. Try finger food lunch in muffin tins, use cookie cutters to make shape with your foods, make muffin pizza or mexican taco cupcakes.
How do you get your family excited about meal time?
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere. I like to celebrate the fall season with PUMPKIN, (you may have figured that out by now). Each time I have brought a pumpkin treat to a women’s event this year, I am asked whether or not it is gluten free. So, I have experimented with a new recipe that I just received from a friend and adjusted a few things to make a delicious gluten free, high protein, low sugar alternative to the conventional Pumpkin Bread that I make this time of year. For quick access to a few of my other favorite pumpkin recipes click here for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies(Gluten Free version available in the same post) and Pumpkin Pie Cake. I just made this Pumpkin Pie Cake for my women’s bible study group and substituted a box of Trader Joes Gingerbread cake mix in place of the yellow cake mix and it was absolutely 100% tastier. So here is my newest pumpkin creation. Hope you like it! Enjoy!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
1 ½ cups almond meal flour (or your favorite gluten free flour blend)
1 ½ cups organic oats
3 Tablespoons flax meal
1 Tablespoon hemp seed
1 Tablespoon chia seed
¼ cup whey based protein powder (vanilla or pumpkin flavored)
¼ cup brown sugar or honey
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons almond milk
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade apple butter)
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup slivered almonds
Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together all wet ingredients in a small bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until moistened throughout. Add nuts and raisins and stir just a …
Read MorePumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
We LOVE pumpkin! I like my healthy breakfasts- scrambled eggs, oatmeal, homemade granola. But, every once in a while, I really like making a “Fun Breakfast” aka not as healthy but still delicious 🙂 Like, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls! So, I figured fall would be the perfect time to try making pumpkin cinnamon rolls! They taste really good, and, also have a great consistency! I gave you the recipe as I originally made it (when I was not living in the US, which made it difficult to sometimes get certain ingredients). However, I have also given a few slightly healthier substitutes for some ingredients! Hope you are enjoying your fall with all the delicious pumpkin goodies out there! Maybe this one will be added to your favorites 🙂
INGREDIENTS (Adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie: The Healthy Dessert Blog)
Makes approx 12 cinnamon rolls
- 1 TBS yeast
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 2 TBS of sugar
- 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 2 TBS baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar (Or you can do 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/8 tsp pure stevia extract)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (See homemade recipe below)
- 1/4 cup of butter (or 4 TBS melted coconut oil)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Approx 5 TBS whole-wheat or all-purpose flour (So the dough does not stick when kneading)
FOR THE INSIDE
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1 TBS cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- Dash salt
HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PIE SPICE (Adapted from Annie’s Eats: Making Your Day Taste Better)
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cloves
¾ tsp. ground nutmeg
Mix all together.
DIRECTIONS:
Warm the milk in a small bowl. You want it warm, but not boiling (Approx 110 degrees). To test …
Read MoreFall Food, Friendship and Gathering
Fall reminds me of family, friendship, food and gathering. Gathering beautiful leaves that have changed colors and have fallen off the trees. Gathering around the table to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. Gathering back the friends you have not seen all summer because people’s schedules get uncharacteristically crazy during the summer months. Gathering back with life groups or volunteer organizations you belong to that take a break for summer. This weekend, I did a little bit of all of the above. On Saturday evening, after a wonderful day of nourishing my soul at a retreat (I will write about it next week), I was privileged to spend a few hours with my daughter and two friends. One friend was one of my most valued friends and the other was her friend (a new friend to both my daughter and me). We were blessed to share a few hours together. It was a time of enrichment for all. We talked about the fantastic day we had spent together learning about a great work that is going on in Malawi, Africa and we shared about our lives and how God had been encouraging us in our walks with Him. Friendship and gathering together is medicine for the soul. Sharing with women who are committed to serve in their community and abroad and are involved in amazingly interesting activities is one way to be encouraged and to contribute to your own healthy mind and body.
We shared a meal together and the food was spectacular…nutritious and delicious!!! Here is my rendition of the dish that we all ordered…..
Bombay Bowl
1 yellow onion
20 large or 30 medium brussel sprouts trimmed and cut in half
1 head of cauliflower
4-5 carrots
1-2 parsnips
4-5 small red, white or purple potatoes…
Easy Egg Bake
Raise your hand if you like easy food. ME!!
Then this Easy Egg Bake is for you. Really you just grab a bunch of veggies, chop them up, toss in a greased pan, add meat if you want, cover with beaten eggs, bake. Voila! Delicious and easy breakfast lunch or dinner.
I make this almost every week for a nutritious quick lunch. Perfect for home or to eat out and about.
- Veggies - 1 diced zucchini, 1 diced sweet potato, 1-2 diced carrots, 1 cup chopped kale or spinach, ½ head of broccoli, diced.
- Meat - Turkey bacon or flavored chicken sausages chopped
- 8-12 eggs
- 1 cup Cheese (optional topping)
- 1 Avocado (optional topping)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a glass baking dish.
- Chop veggies.
- Spread veggies in the pan.
- Chop up meat.
- Beat eggs. I use 8 eggs for a 2 qt. baking dish. Add extra eggs if needed so the eggs are level with the veggies and meat.
- Pour eggs over veggies and meat.
- Bake 35-45 minutes or until egg is cooked throughout.
- Cool and top with cheese or avocado.
Join us in our Fall Into Health Wellness Wisdom Campaign. Click here to learn more!
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Read MoreItalian Caprese Panini
Do you ever have a craving for a delicious Italian dinner but do not have the time to make homemade pizza and it is too hot to stand over a hot pot of pasta boiling on the stove. Try these amazing Italian caprese panini. We did not actually have a panini maker but we improvised with an old school waffle maker that had a double sided grill. (You can also use a pan on the stove top with another heavy pan on top and then flip the sandwich over halfway through baking.)The result is a crispy outside, cheesy gooey and delicious inside filled with mozzarella, roasted red peppers, red onion, garlic, basil, sliced tomato and spinach. It is best served hot right off the panini press dipped into a balsamic vinegar dressing.
Ingredients
4 large ciabata style rolls (crunchy outside and soft inside)
12 ¼ inch slices fresh mozzarella cheese
2-3 fresh garlic cloves smashed
3-4 slices red onion
1 roasted red pepper You can sauté in a pan or roast in the oven)
8 basil leaves chopped into small pieces
2 cups baby spinach leaves
2 tomatoes sliced (8-10 slices)
homemade balsamic vinegar dressing see recipe below
Cut Ciabata bread in half lengthwise. Open up and layer on bottom half-cheese, tomato slices, red onion, red pepper,spinach and basil. Spread the smashed garlic on the other side. Press two halves together and put into a panini press. Let sandwich heat until cheese is melted and top and bottom of the ciabata is crispy.
Homemade Balsamic Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic smashed
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons honey
Pour all ingredients into a salad dressing emulsifier and mix until well blended.
Crunchy Veggie Taco Slaw and Pineapple Mango Salsa
On a warm summer night when it is too hot to cook…fire up the grill outside and grill up some white fish and make grilled fish tacos. The perfect accompaniment to your homemade fish tacos are these recipes for Crunchy Veggie Taco Slaw and Pineapple and Mango Salsa.
Ingredients for Veggie Slaw
1 bag broccoli slaw from Trader Joes
1 cup leftover bbq corn or Trader Joes fire roasted corn (defrosted)
½ cup red onion chopped
1 yellow pepper chopped
1 cup spinach or kale chopped fine
½ cup cilantro chopped fine
10 roasted brussel sprouts chopped
Dressing
2 teaspoon cumin
½ cup balsamic vinegar
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 clove garlic smashed
Mix all vegetables in a medium bowl. Stir all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss crunchy veggies with dressing and chill until ready to serve. Place grilled white fish (we used cod) on a warmed corn taco and add ¼ cup crunchy veggie taco slaw. Add 2 tablespoons pineapple and mango salsa on top of slaw and add a dollop of guacamole.
Ingredients for Mango and Pineapple Salsa
½ cup fresh pineapple chopped into small pieces
½ cup fresh mango chopped into small pieces
1 medium tomato chopped into small pieces
¼ cup cilantro chopped fine
4 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice or lime juice
4 Tablespoon of your favorite salsa (we used Pace Picante medium)
Mix all together and chill until ready to serve.
Grill up some of your favorite white fish and wrap it up in a warm corn tortilla, with some crunchy veggie slaw and pineapple mango salsa and you will have a delicious dinner ready for a few close friends or a crowd.
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