Recipes. Recipes. Recipes.

Pin It Although I've been slacking on my posts for awhile, I have not been slacking on cooking/baking.  I decided to create a post with just a few of my favorite recipes that I've recently adapted and recreated.  Let me know your thoughts as always!

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP
Adapted from Dashingdish.com
Ingredients:
24 oz. package Green Giant frozen broccoli in cheese sauce
1 package Frozen broccoli (about 5 cups)
1 cup Onion, chopped
3 cups Chicken broth (I made mine with Watkin's Chicken Soup and Gravy Base)
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1 packet Splenda (or sweetener of choice or you can leave it out)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium-low heat for 45 mintes or so until broccoli is soft.
2. Pour most or all (depending on how chunky you like your soup) into a food processor or blender and puree.  *Be careful when blending hot foods.  Do not put the cover on all the way or you will find yourself with an exploding blender.  You need to allow room for the steam to escape.
3. Add the pureed broccoli soup back into the pot.
4. Serve with a piece of fresh homemade bread.
Makes about 7 servings.
(Note: I didn't measure the exact yield on this recipe, but I think it is about 7 servings around a cup each)

Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 77
Total Fat: 1.3 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 525 mg
Potassium: 335.9 mg
Total Carbs: 12.2 g
     Dietary Fiber: 3.5 g
     Sugars: 5 g
Protein: 3.4 g
Vitamin A: 1.7%
Vitamin C: 81%
Calcium: 5.4% (Good for cold and flu season!)
Iron: 2%

QUIONA STIR FRY
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Quiona, uncooked
1 1/4 cup Water
1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups Frozen stir fry vegetables
1 cup Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp Cayanne pepper (or 1 tsp or so Frank's Hot Sauce)
1 Egg
8 oz Chicken breast, cooked and cubed
4 tbsp Soy sauce

Directions:
1. In a medium pot add together the quinoa, water, and salt.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer while the quiona absorbs all the water, about 15 minutes.
3. Cook the onion and vegetables in a skiller until tender.
4. Mix in the garlic and cayanne pepper.
5. Add quinoa and egg stiring constantly to distribute evenly until egg is cooked.
6.  Stir in the soy sauce and mix well.
7.  Add in the cubed chicken breast.
Makes 3 servings.  (This could probably feed 4 people, but I like to eat A LOT so it was only 4 servings for me...haha)

Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 278
Total Fat: 5.3 g
     Sat. Fat: 0.3 g
     Mono. Fat: 0.7 g
Cholesterol: 123.3 mg
Sodium: 901.5 mg
Potassium: 238.5 mg
Total Carbs: 31.9 g
     Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g
     Sugars: 6.4 g
Protein: 23.7 g
Vitamin A: 9.3%
Vitamin C: 20.1%
Calcium: 8.7%
Iron: 9.4 %

BAKED APPLE PIE OATMEAL
Adapted from Guiltykitchen.com
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Old fashion rolled oats
1/3 cup Buckwheat or white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Brown sugar (Could probably be subed with honey or agave; just be sure to reduce the amount of liquid a little)
2-3 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Buttermilk (Let 1/2 cup skim milk and about a tsp of lemon juice sit for a few minutes)
3 tbsp Unsweetened applesauce
2 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Apples, sliced and diced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350 F.
2. Mix oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, spice, and salt in a large boat until well combined.
3. In another bowl, combine water, buttermilk, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Stir in apples.
5. Grease a 9x9 baking dish and pour in batter.
6. Bake 45-60 minutes until slightly golden and mostly set up in the middle.
7. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.
8. Serve with dream whip or cool whip if desired.
Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts:
*Does not include whipped topping
Calories: 233
Total Fat: 3.3 g
     Sat. Fat: 0.6 g
     Poly. Fat: 0.5 g
     Mono. Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 67.1 mg
Sodium: 44 mgm
Potassium: 255.6 mg
Total Carbs: 46.2 g
     Dietary Fiber: 4.9 g
     Sugars: 25.3 g (Yes, this is high I know.  It can be easily reduced however by substituting honey or agave or even by simply reducing the amount of sugar.)
Protein: 6.5 g
Vitamin A: 4.9%
Vitamin C: 7.3%
Calcium: 6.6 %
Iron: 11.7%

Myth proven!

Pin It Have you ever heard of the sayings "You are what you eat" or "If you eat too many carrots, you'll turn orange"?  I used to never believe those silly sayings until I actually became what I ate and turned orange...

Yep.  That's right I became a carrot.  An orange carrot.  It was my mom who noticed first while we were in the car on the way to my grandparents house for Thanksgiving.  I didn't believe her at first until I compared my hands to my sisters.  I was definitely orange.  After she noticed, my mom started quizing me on what I had been eating.  I had just made soma big batch of squash stew, I love carrots as a snack between class, and I love having a little squash with brown sugar and cinnamon for a bed snack (I'm weird I know).   It's hard to cook for just one person, so I had been eating my squash stew 1-2 times a day for a good week or so.  I guess you could say I over did it on the beta-carotene a little bit, hence why I turned orange.  I did some researching and learned that overdosing can cause hypercarotenaemia. “Hypercarotenaemia is the consequence of high serum carotenoid levels, which are deposited in the stratum corneum and give a yellowish coloration to the skin. It can be distinguished from jaundice by the absence of colouring of the conjunctivae [whites of eyes and surrounding mucus membranes] as well as orange discolouration of the palms and soles.” Source Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France. annabel-maruani@wanadoo.fr  It  lasts for a few months and is recommeneded to limit the amount of beta-carotene in one's diet for awhile.  It's hard than I thought it would be!  Carrots, bell peppers, pumpkin, and squash are some of my favorite foods/snacks...all which have high levels of beta-carotene in them.  Well enough about me and onto the recipe.  I am going to share my squash stew recipe with you today, but you have to promise me not to over do it. Haha!

SQUASH STEW

Ingredients:

4 cups Butternut squash, peeled and cubbed

4 packets Herb Ox instant chicken broth & seasoning sodium free

6 cups Water

1 lb Venision chops

1 1/2  cups Onion, chopped

Olive oil cooking spray

3 medium Garlic cloves

Italian seasoning

1 can Diced italian style tomatos

1 cup dry red lentils

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Steam half of the squash in the microwave in a covered dish with a little water for 8 minutes or until slightly tender.   Remove from dish and set aside.

2. Steam the other half of the squash for 12 minutes or until very tender.  Mash with a fork and set aside.

3. Wisk together chicken broth packets and water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer.

4. Add thawed venison to the broth and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

5. Pull venison out to cool and remove broth from heat.

6. In a skillet cook onion with a little olive oil cooking spray over medium heat until the onions are tender and starting to brown.

7. Mince the garlic and add to the onions along with some italian seasoning to your liking. Cook mixture another minute or so.

8. Add the tomatos and the mashed squash to the broth and  bring back to a simmer over medium-low heat.

9. Add in the onion mixture and the red lentils and cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy.  Use lentil cooking directions to help with cooking time.

10.  In the meantime shred the venison with your fingers or a fork.

11. Add the remaining squash and venison to the stew and cook until heated thoroughly.

12. Season to taste.

Makes about 11 cups.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 171

Total Fat: 1.4 g

     Sat. Fat: 0.5 g

Cholesterol: 46.1 mg

Sodium: 158.2 mg

Potassium: 302 mg

Total Carbs: 21.9 mg

     Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g

     Sugars: 4.8 g

Protein: 18.5 g

Vitamin A: 169.5% (This right here explains why I turned orange.  169.5% of my daily vitamin A (beta-carotene) in just one serving of this!  That means I was getting between 300-400% of my daily value multiple days in a row...whoops!)

Vitamin C: 28.4%

Calcium: 5.7%

Iron: 9.5%