The BEST Wholesome Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com a few weeks ago, and have made these muffins four times now, with a few modifications.  My entire family loves them, and my husband has asked if they're "really that healthy?".  :-)

Emily and I made them this morning while Ben played nearby on the floor, and Audrey was at preschool.  My kids love to help me bake, so I try to let them unless I'm in a hurry (which is about half the time).

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/To-Die-For-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=blueberry%20muffins&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

The original recipe is above.  I made the following changes:

*100% organic whole wheat flour instead of white
*organic coconut sugar instead of white sugar
*olive oil instead of vegetable oil
*frozen organic wild blueberries instead of fresh (because we only buy fresh in season)

                                                       Emily mixing the dry ingredients...

                                                   The egg/oil/milk combo is fascinating...

                                                                   Mixing dry and wet...

                                                    She had to sample some blueberries :)

What they look like as I'm adding the topping...

25 minutes later--A happy little boy and two little girls enjoying their muffins (and pears)...

Refreshing White Corn Salad

I found this recipe online, and it is simple and perfect for a summer dinner or get together. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-corn-salad-10000001176261/

Ingredients:

7 ears of white corn, boiled and cut from the cobs

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Boil the corn for about four minutes, then immediately place it in ice water to stop the cooking process. Cut the corn from the cobs, and add the red pepper, onion, and parsley.

In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the veggies to the oil mixture and combine. Chill for at least two hours and serve. Simple, healthy, perfect.

Savory Split-Pea Soup

And you thought pureed veggies were only for babies. This soup is scrumptious and extremely healthy, and you will want a second bowl, I promise!

I was wandering through the bulk section at Whole Foods last week, and decided to fill up a bag with French split peas. I didn't know what I would do with them, but I figured I could make something yummy and full of vitamins.

I googled split pea soup recipes, but every recipe I found would have required another trip to the store. So, I took some tips from allrecipes.com, and came up with my own recipe using ingredients from my fridge. It didn't take long at all, and we will be having leftovers tomorrow night. YUMMY! (and I'm not a huge fan of soup in general).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups split peas (soak them in a big pot of water overnight first, so this is 1 1/2 cups SOAKED peas)

2 or 3 T olive oil

1 cup of organic celery, finely chopped

1 cup of organic red and green peppers, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 container (four cups) of organic beef broth

1 T Herbes de Provence

A few grinds of black pepper

A few grinds of salt

Put the veggies (celery, onion, and peppers) into a food processor and pulse a few times (or chop by hand).

Drizzle olive oil into a large pot on the stove over medium/high heat, and then add chopped veggies and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, then add Herbes de Provence and stir.

***Keep toddler entertained with a few bowls, cups, spoons, and the extra peas.***

Pour beef broth into the veggie mixture and continue to stir. Add peas and spinach, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, and cook for about an hour and a half, stirring every 10 minutes or so. After an hour, turn off the heat, and let soup sit for 30 minutes with the lid on the pot.

Pour soup into a food processor, and turn it on for about 10-15 seconds. That's it. Now enjoy with some crusty French bread. Mmmmm...

White Chicken Chili

First off, YUM. Seriously, this is so good, and soooo easy. You must make it. You won't be sorry.

We went to the gym after Audrey woke up from her nap this afternoon (her third nap this week, we're on a roll!!!), and hit Trader Joe's afterward when it was super busy with after-work people. I literally tossed a few ingredients into the cart and headed home with both babies.

It's such an easy concoction that I was able to make it in about 15 minutes, while simultaneously feeding an early dinner to my toddler, making a bottle for my six month old, unloading groceries, and catching up with my husband who had just returned home from work.

This is what I used:

shredded chicken (I used TJ's canned chicken. Don't judge. I have never even thought of using it before, but it called out to me from the shelf when it knew how late we were running for dinner/bedtime. Because I used it in chili, you can't even tell.)

1/2 of a white onion, chopped

1 T olive oil

1 can of white kidney beans

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of corn

1/3 jar of salsa verde

1/4 jar of salsa (see picture for size of jar)

about 2/3 cup monterey jack cheese, cubed

about 1/3 cup pepper jack cheese (or jalapeno monterey jack cheese), cubed (to taste...use more pepper jack if you like spice, and use less pepper jack/more monterey jack if you like a more mild flavor)

2/3 cup water

Pour olive oil into a large pot on medium heat, and add the onions. After about a minute, add the chicken and stir. Add the water to the pot, followed by everything else. See, it's easy. :-) Just make sure you stir constantly so the cheese melts evenly and doesn't burn. Turn it down to low heat after the cheese cubes are melted, and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so. Stir every 2-3 minutes during that time. Spoon into bowls and enjoy! I served it with some french bread we had in the freezer. It would also be really good with corn bread or tortilla chips.

The Perfect Summer Sandwich

Now that summer is in full swing, our local Farmer's Market has become one of my favorite places to shop. This morning I picked up the ingredients to one of my absolute favorite summer dishes--the mozzarella/tomato/pesto sandwich. I bought live basil, a bunch of vine ripened tomatoes, a loaf of Italian bread, and some fresh mozzarella cheese.

I love to make homemade pesto for pasta, sandwiches, and spreads, and I usually make it pretty garlic-heavy. I decided to tone down the garlic a bit so I can use some of the leftovers to make Audrey some pasta tomorrow. Instead of a head of garlic, I used about 3-4 cloves. :)

Pesto

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

3-4 cloves of garlic (I buy the large container of fresh peeled garlic from Costco, divide it up, chop, and freeze it for quick use in recipes)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

5 large basil leaves

1/2 tspn salt (to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (I used my small one since this is a small amount of pesto), and grind/chop until you reach the desired consistency. You'll need to stop and scrape the processor bowl with a spatula every few seconds.

Slice the bread in half lengthwise, and then cut each section into thirds so you end up with six halves (for three sandwiches, or two sandwiches with about 1/3 of the loaf leftover).

Spread a thin layer of pesto on each half of the bread, then top with two slices of mozzarella, and two-three slices of tomato (sliced thin and seeded).

Close the sandwiches, place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. This bread ended up being a little thick, so I sliced 1/2 of the bottom slice off of each sandwich. When I have used an Italian loaf from the store in the past, I didn't have to do this. It just depends on the thickness of your bread and your preference.

Insanely Delicious Steak Marinade

I searched allrecipes.com for a good marinade recipe that used ingredients I already had in my kitchen. I didn't find one specific recipe that I liked, so I took some tips from a bunch of them, and added the following to my blender:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce (I just discovered that it contains HFCS. I am not pleased. I will look for a replacement sauce to use once we have used up our bottle).

Juice of one large lemon

3 T Herbs de Provence

1 t white pepper

1 T garlic powder

1 T Tabasco Sauce

It literally took me about three minutes to pull all of the ingredients and blend them up. (Tip--before squeezing the juice out of the lemon, roll it on the counter to loosen up the juices). I poured the marinade over two porterhouse steaks,
covered the dish in plastic wrap, and let it marinate for a few hours before broiling them. (We would have used the grill, but it is currently buried in almost two feet of snow). :-)

I served the steak with baked potatoes and a simple salad (I always keep cucumbers, red peppers, and mixed greens on hand to throw together a salad). It was quick, easy, and pretty healthy.

Spinach Loaded Lasagna

I decided to make a lasagna last night, but wanted to make it as healthy as possible. My family really enjoyed it. Dan said it had a little too much spinach in it, so next time I might cut out about 1/3 of it. However, my 10 month old, Audrey, wolfed it down, and I knew she was getting her veggies, so that made me feel good. Hopefully she'll continue to enjoy her spinach as she gets older and learns to talk back. :)

Ingredients:

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions
1 lb ground turkey or lean ground beef (I used beef, which is a rare occurence for us)
1 16 oz container part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 16 oz bag frozen spinach
1 and a half jars of marinara sauce
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 head of garlic, chopped (I chopped it up in a mini food processor)
2/3 of a small yellow onion
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the ground beef, drain the grease, and set the beef aside in a bowl. Using the same skillet (just to make less mess), saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Add the ground beef back in with the onion and garlic, and pour one jar of marinara sauce in with it. Simmer on low while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, and spinach. Mix until well blended. Set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch glass dish (I use spray canola oil). Pour about 1/3 of the marinara/ground beef mixture on the bottom of the glass dish, and spread it out in a thin layer.

Place three lasagna noodles on top of the marinara mixture (not overlapping). Scoop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, and spread it into a thin layer. Top with 1/3 of the ground beef mixture, and spread thin. Top with three more noodles, the rest of the ricotta, and another layer of marinara/beef.

Add the three final noodles on top, pour the 1/2 jar of marinara sauce over the noodles and spread it to completely cover the dish, and sprinkle the mozzarella on top.

Loosely cover the dish with foil (don't set it too close to the cheese or it will stick).

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for another 10 minutes. When you pull it out of the oven at the end of 50 minutes, let it sit and cool for about 15 minutes.


Enjoy with a salad and some garlic bread. :)

Simple Monday Meal: Chicken, Rice and Broccoli

Using the chicken breasts (skin on, bone in) from my freezer (with spices, olive oil, and vinegar), frozen broccoli, and basmati rice, I made a simple, healthy meal without running to the store.



First, I mixed two parts olive oil (about 1/4 cup), with two parts water, and one part white balsamic vinegar in a large ziploc bag. Then I added a bunch of spices without measuring, but about a tspn of each (garlic salt, onion powder, fresh ground lemon pepper, tarragon, and fresh ground black pepper). I added the chicken breasts to the bag, sealed it, and shook the bag up to coat the chicken. I placed the bag in the fridge for about an hour prior to cooking (you can let it sit for a few hours or even all day if you want to).

While the chicken is marinating in the fridge, cook the rice. I usually cook rice ahead of time by as much as an hour, and let it sit on the stove. It actually tastes better to me when it's "old", and it will stay hot if you keep the lid on the pot. Since I used basmati rice, I added four cups of water and two cups of rice to the pot. I added a splash of olive oil and a dash of salt. Stir it up and bring it to a boil. As soon as it is boiling, place the lid on top and turn it down to medium heat. Check it after about 20 minutes, and when it looks done, fluff it with a spoon, turn the heat off and let it sit on the stove with the lid in place.

*We usually stick to brown rice, but occasionally eat basmatti rice. My sister got me hooked on this basmati rice. It is insanely good!*

Preheat the oven to BROIL, and place the chicken in a foil lined (or greased) 9x13 inch pan inside the oven. Broil the chicken for approximately 10 minutes.

Then, turn the oven down to 375 degrees on BAKE, and continue to bake the chicken for about 40 minutes. Check that it is done by cutting into a thick area of the breast. The meat should no longer be pink and the juice should run clear.

Preparing the broccoli is simple. I used frozen broccoli (which is as healthy as fresh), and I did it the lazy way...in the microwave! I usually steam veggies on the stove, which is also easy, but I decided to do it the slightly quicker way tonight. Place some frozen broccoli in a glass pyrex dish, add water (about 1/2 inch deep), place the lid on the dish slightly crooked, leaving a small crack on one of the sides to vent, and microwave for two minutes. Take it out, stir it up, and microwave for two more minutes. It will come out perfectly steamed and ready to serve.

I sliced up a fresh pineapple we had in the fridge for another side dish (I love adding fresh fruit for a side at dinner; it's sweet and healthy!) Pairing pineapple with chicken and rice makes me feel like we're in Hawaii. Well, sort of. They just complement each other well. :)

This is a simple dinner but it sure is delicious. Enjoy!