Kiwi-Dew Juice

Makes approximately 2-3 cups juice. Very light and refreshing!

1 small honeydew, or half a large
2 kiwi
1 organic apple (green would be best, but any kind will work)

Run fruit through a juicer, minus the skin on kiwi and skin and seeds from honeydew. Pour, serve, and Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Veggies and Beans

This is a great vegetarian option to the traditional sweet and sour dishes. Though this would still be awesome with chicken if you wanted to.

Ingredients:
2 heads organic brocolli
1 organic red pepper
2 cups diced pineapple
1 cup organic beans, pinto, black, or kidney
1 organic onion, sliced
2 cloves organic garlic, minced

1/4 to half a cup pineapple juice (Note: if using canned pineapple, which I don't recommend with bpa lined cans, you can use the juice from the can. You can run some pineapple through a juicer. Or use frozen pineapple and as it defrosts you will end up with enough juice. Or with fresh pineapple you can mash some with a potato masher and squeeze some juice out.)
1/4 cup organic brown sugar
2 TB organic cornstarch
1/4 ts organic ground ginger
1/4 cup organic vinegar (apple cider or white wine)
2 TB braggs liquid aminos, or organic soy sauce

In a bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, vinegar, and braggs or soy sauce. Set aside. In a skillet, saute in a little water or oil, brocolli, red pepper, and onion until tender. Add minced garlic and saute for about a minute. Add beans and pineapple and cook until heated through. Pour in reserved sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 3-5 minutes until sauce is thickened.
Serve over brown rice.

Balsamic Vinaigrette with a touch of sweetness

According to my husband this balsamic vinaigrette is perfect! The kids love it too. It has that great vinaigrette taste with a slight hint of sweetness! Bet this will make you eat more salads!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic balsamic vinegar
1 ts organic ground mustard
2 cloves organic garlic, pressed, crushed, or diced
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 ts organic ground pepper
1/2 ts raw honey

Whisk or blend all ingredients together and store in a bottle or jar in the fridge.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Why buy canned cranberry sauce laden in BPA when you can make your own! It's so quick and easy, let it be a part of your next holiday gathering!

Ingredients:
4 cups organic fresh cranberries
2 cups water
2 cups organic sugar (I actually prefer to use less, you could use 1 cup sugar, and substitute some orange juice for some of the water)

Place cranberries and water in a pot and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, cover the pot and reduce to medium. Cook until the cranberries have burst. Puree cranberries in a blender or food processor. Pour back into the pot and stir in sugar. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and let set for at least 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator if you like your cranberry sauce cold.

Mango Guacamole

A unique take on the standard guacamole. Try it with tortilla chips or just by the spoonful!

Ingredients:
1 mango, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 green onion, chopped
Pinch of sea salt
2 ts evoo
1/2 cumin

Gently toss all ingredients together. That's it...super easy!

Kale Chips

Ok, seriously, these are MUCH better than they look! I tend to not be able to stop eating them. You could flavor these any way you want. Below is a basic yummy recipe. They crisp up nicely like chips!

Ingredients:
1 bunch organic kale
Olive oil
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove kale leaves from stem and rip or cut into bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil. Spread the leaves out on a parchment lined baking sheets or lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over all the leaves. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Enjoy!

Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoa is so very good for you with 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of fat in a one cup serving. It is a gluten-free grain, so it's great for everyone. You can use it in place of rice on most recipes. Tabouli or Tabbouleh usually calls for bulgar wheat. This is a yummy side or main dish. Enjoy!
This is a variation of a recipe I saw at www.hacres.com

Ingredients:
1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup organic grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
A couple mint leaves, minced
3 cloves organic garlic, minced
 Half a cucumber, diced
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
Juice of one lemon
2 TB gluten-free tamari (or organic soy sauce, braggs liquid aminos)
2 TB olive oil
1 ts sea salt
pinch of cayenne

Place quinoa in a fine strainer and rinse. Rub the grains together.
Place quinoa in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, cool.
In a small bowl, mix together lemon, tamari, olive oil, salt, and cayenne.
Toss all ingredients together.
Let mixture sit for an hour for all the ingredients to mingle. Refrigerate until ready to serve and toss one more time. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Nachos

Nachos are such a well rounded meal! So grab a tray of them and head to the living room for movie night with the kiddos! That's what we do! (You can even throw on some meat if you must for those meat eaters!)

Ingredients:
1 bag organic tortilla chips (important to get organic since a huge percentage of corn is GMO)
2 cups shredded organic cheese, jack or cheddar
1 can sliced black olives
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 organic onion chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1 cup organic black or pinto beans (already cooked)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay chips on a parchment lined large baking sheet. Scatter all the ingredients except the cheese all over the chips.

Top with cheese. (I like putting the cheese on top of the toppings because it holds them to the chips)

Cook for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve sour cream and salsa on the side, Enjoy!

Coconut Macaroons

I never liked coconut until I made these! Hubby absolutely loves these! The kids gobble them up. So it's a winner all around!

Ingredients: Makes a dozen or so
2 organic egg whites
1/4 ts cream of tarter
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup organic powdered sugar
2 cups organic shredded coconut
1 ts vanilla

Preheat oven to 335. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Remove from mixer. Fold in coconut and vanilla. Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them, don't let them burn, you just want light brown lines.

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

Way back when I worked at Outback Steakhouse. I loved their creamy potato soup and their creamy onion soup. Though I still haven't mastered the creamy onion soup, this potato soup has long become a staple in our house. It's very hearty so don't plan to have it with a huge main course. Pair with a salad and an artichoke, Mmm!

Ingredients:
5 organic potatoes
1 cup organic milk
2 tb organic butter
1 oz organic cheddar cheese
1/2 onion
1 ts salt
1 ts pepper
2 cloves organic garlic
1 TB veggie bacon bits

Optional toppings:
chopped green onions
sour cream
veggie bacon bits
shredded cheese

Bake potatoes until done. Quarter the potatoes. Place potatoes in a blender (I use a VitaMix) with the rest of the ingredients and blend. If it's too thick, add some more milk. If you do this right after the potatoes finish cooking  you shouldn't need to heat up the soup. But if you wait awhile you'll need to throw it in a pot on the stove for a few. Or make ahead and put in the crock pot on "warm".

Tacos - Make your own taco night!

I'm sure most people know how to make tacos. I'm not talking authentic Mexican tacos, I'm talking American-ized tacos. But, do you know how to make it without the little packet of taco seasoning? If not, read on! Make your own taco night is a favorite around here. Simply fill a bunch of bowls with taco toppings, hand out shells, and let the kiddos go to town! Garden of Eatin makes organic taco shells, which I was super excited about when my grocery store started carrying them!

Ingredients for taco meat:
1 lb organic ground beef (or more depending on size of your family, this leaves us leftovers)
1TB organic garlic powder
1 TB organic chili powder
1 TB organic cumin
1 TB organic all season salt
1/2 cup water

Brown meat. Add all the other ingredients and simmer while you chop everything else! So easy-no packet needed =) (If you have onion powder, add some of that too, I never have any)

Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Diced tomatoes
Diced onions
Chopped cilantro
Shredded lettuce
Diced jalapenos
Beans
Salsa
Guacamole
Hot Sauce
Sour cream

Ricotta Stuffed Hot Peppers

A couple weeks ago we went to the Garlic Festival. This always so fun. The food is always so good. We always have to try a little of everything..well we've never tried the garlic sprinkles on ice cream, but I must draw the line somewhere ;) This year one of the booths had a spicy stuffed pepper that was so yummy I HAD to try to recreate it. And I did! I used Hungarian wax peppers which are moderately spicy. Though I think that may be an "average" because some were only a little spicy and some made we want to rip my tongue off. But the spice went away and I was happy with the result! Feel free to use a less spicy pepper. It would be good in banana peppers too. Though I have to say, I decided to leave the seeds in to make them spicier, I won't be doing that next time. It worked well for the ones that were only a little spicy but made the more spicy ones a little hard to handle. But whatever pepper you decide to use, make these, soon!

Ingredients:
8 Hungarian wax peppers, organic if you can find it, I couldn't
8 oz ricotta, organic
1/4 cup shredded parm, organic
1 cup shredded mozzarella, organic
1/2 ts ground pepper
4 cloves organic garlic, minced
1/2 ts sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together everything but the peppers in a medium bowl. Cut the end off the peppers at an angle to release the seeds and membrane, like this:

Pull gently on the stem so it lifts out the seeds. Hopefully it looks like this: (If not, just scrape the seeds out)

There are a couple ways you can get the filling in. You can use a butter knife and push it down in until it's full.
You could also use a zip lock bag, fill with mixture, seal, and cut a corner off , squeeze down in. Either way, it should look like this when you're done:

Place them all in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Awesome Rosemary Chicken

I love rosemary! I guess it's a little over the top to have rosemary roasted potatoes with this dish, but it was SOOO good! We love both so why not eat them together? ;) Though this would pair nicely with some creamy mashed potatoes, garlic roasted veggies, a salad...you can't go wrong with this chicken! This is adapted from a recipe at www.mommybistro.com

Ingredients:

2 lbs organic chicken, thighs and drumsticks

1/2 cup evoo

Handful of fresh rosemary (removed from stem)

1 1/2 ts sea salt

1 ts ground pepper

4 garlic cloves, chopped

Place chicken in a baking dish. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything up really well with your hands (I know, Eww, I hate touching chicken, but sometimes it must be done!). Spread the pieces out evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes (Yes, really that long. It seems like a long time but don't worry, it will come out GREAT!!!) Mouthwatering yumminess!!! (Can you believe my spell check says "yumminess" isn't a word??? Weird.)  Enjoy!

Grilled corn on the cob

There is no better way to cook corn on the cob than on the grill! So yummy...and Easy!!!
Directions:
Don't husk. Soak in water for a couple hours before you're ready to grill. I use a big pot like this:

Get your grill ready. If you have multiple levels in your grill you'll want it up on the shelf. If you don't, then don't put it on the grill until the coals are settled down and not their hottest. They'll need to grill for about an hour, so plan ahead.

After it's done grilling you can husk it....but it will be SUPER hot so you may want to wait awhile. Just be warned. It will husk much easier than it does before it's cooked. The silk comes right off with the husk.
Slather with butter, salt and pepper or however you prefer it, and ENJOY!

Baked Beans

Just in time for your Labor Day bbq, homemade baked beans!!! Yum!

Ingredients:
1 organic onion, chopped
2 tb oil, I used coconut oil
2 ts dry mustard
4 cups organic pinto beans, cooked
1/2 cup bbq sauce, I used Trader Joes natural bbq sauce
1/2 ts sea salt
2 tb mollasses
2 ts apple cider vinegar, I like Braggs
1/2 cup water

Cook onions, dry mustard, and oil in an oven proof pot. Cook until onions are translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Cover pot and cook in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

Mexican Corn Salad

This is a very light and refreshing salad. The flavors burst in your mouth! Impress your family and friends with this colorful salad.

Ingredients:

4 ears organic corn, cut off the cob (If corn on the cob is not available, organic canned corn can be used)

3 tomatoes, chopped. (Or one package of grape tomatoes, sliced in half)

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 handful cilantro, chopped

2 organic red peppers, chopped (If you can find organic orange peppers that would add another color)

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice of one lime

Juice of one lemon

2 TB chopped cilantro

1 ts parsley

1/4 ts chili powder

1/2-1 ts sea salt (start with less and add more if you think it needs it)

Blend dressing together and pour over salad, toss.

Three bean vegetarian chili

3 Bean Chili

couple tb oil, I use coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 (or more) jalapeno chopped (6 makes a spicy chili)
Drain all beans if using canned:
2 cups or 2 cans black beans
2 cups or 2 cans pinto beans
2 cups or 2 cans kidney beans
1 large can fire roasted diced tomatoes, or 4-5 fresh tomatoes diced
2 tb chili powder
2 tb cumin
2 ts salt, or to taste
1/2 cup veggie broth, beer, or liquid of choice (I use beer if we have it, otherwise I use veggie broth)
a couple dashes of hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Optional: If I add too much liquid I will add a can of refried beans to thicken it back up

Directions:
Heat oil in a big soup pot and then cook onion, bell pepper, jalapeno's, and garlic, until softened. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for atleast 15 minutes. Also works great in the crock pot....just throw in all the ingredients and cook until veggies are soft, maybe 4 hours. If you must, you can also add meat....but it doesn't need it. If serving chili to kids, I leave the jalapenos out, and add chopped fresh jalapenos as a topping option for adults.
Top with any of the following: Shredded cheese, chopped green or yellow onions, cilantro, sour cream, chopped jalapenos etc.

Veggie Rolls

I love Japanese food! Since moving to western NY from California, there is definitely a lack of great restaurants. I was very happy to learn how to make veggie rolls (like california rolls minus the un-kosher fish)

You will need:
Half a Cucumber, sliced very very thin
One Avocado, sliced thin
Sprouts, optional
A couple pieces of nori (roasted seaweed, available in the Japanese section at the grocery store)
One batch of sushi rice (see below)
3 tb, Wasabi powder, (please don't buy premade wasabi, awful awful ingredients!)
3 tb, Water
Sushi mat (amazon sells them)
Plastic wrap
Sesame seeds


First, make a batch of sushi rice:
2 cups, sushi rice. Lundberg makes an awesome organic non-gmo one!
2 cups, water
2 tb rice vinegar
2 tb sugar
1 tb salt

Place the rice into a fine strainer and run cool water over it. Continue until the water runs through clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover(please don't forget to turn the temp down...your pot will thank you later...may mine rest in peace). Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in a small pot for a few minutes until warm. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi. Continue to fold periodically until cool. You can also fan it with a paper plate, or a Japanese fan if you so happen to have one.

While the rice is cooking and cooling, prepare your veggies.
Cover your sushi mat in plastic wrap. Now I'm not keen on this, I don't like plastic wrap touching my food at all. Maybe wax paper would work, I don't know (let me know if you try it). If you really want to avoid this, you can make your rolls with the nori on the outside. I don't like the first thing I taste to be seaweed, so I put my nori on the inside. Here's how I do it:

Lay your sushi mat on the counter. Cut nori in half lengthwise. Lay nori on top of sushi mat, shiny side down. Spread 1/2-1 cup of sushi rice to cover nori. Sprinkle sesame seeds over rice. Flip it over so rice is now facing down. (to avoid using plastic wrap, skip this step) Lay pieces of cucumber, avocado, and sprouts all along the nori lengthwise. While holding veggies in place with your fingers, use mat to roll into a cylinder. Give it a couple squeezes all over. Unroll and set roll aside under a damp cloth on a cutting board. Repeat with the rest of the rice and fillings. Once done, lay all the rolls next to each other and use a long knife to cut into individual rolls (each roll should make 6 small ones).
Prepare wasabi. Taking equal parts of water and wasabi powder, mix together in a small bowl. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Organic soy sauce is widely available for dipping. I also like to Braggs Liquid Aminos. I don't consume soy normally, but organic fermented soy is the best choice for consuming soy.

Note: It may take a few times practicing making the rolls so they actually look like rolls instead of sandwiches, so don't plan to make this the first time for a dinner party =)

Thai Curry Chicken

This recipe isn't completely from scratch since the curry sauce is actually from a can. You could by all means make your own curry paste. If you do, please feel free to comment and share your recipe! I've just  never done it...I will someday...but I have four kids....sometimes someday is very far off =) I use the brand Maesri, Red Curry Paste. I've tried others and the thought of them makes me want to gag, ha, I really really like this one. I didn't even LIKE curry until I tried this one. It has all natural ingredients and spices...but it's not organic =( This recipe can be made the day ahead for an even bigger explosion of flavor.

Thai Curry Chicken

1 large onion, diced small
1 red bell pepper, diced small
2 lbs organic chicken, diced into one inch cubes
2 tbs oil (I use coconut oil)
1 can red curry paste
1 can organic coconut milk
Sea salt to taste
1-2 cups rice, brown

If making this the day you plan to eat it, cook rice. Heat oil in a pan. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Add peppers and onions. Cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the can of curry paste, stir it all up. Add the can of coconut milk and mix up well. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, atleast. At this point you can put it in the fridge and save it for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, throw it in the crockpot a few hours on high, or 4-6 hours on low. The flavors will have melded nicely and you will drool over the aroma until dinner =) If desired, add another can of coconut milk for a very sweet/savory dish. Plan accordingly and start the rice at the appropriate time. Serve the chicken and sauce over the rice. Pair with a nice salad or veggie rolls. Enjoy. You're welcome =)