Gluten & Dairy Free One Pot Hamburger Helper

As a busy mom aren't we always looking for easy meals we can make for dinner?  I decided to remake The Defined Dish one pot hamburger helper for my family. I feed Cash dairy and gluten free foods. I also try to limit gluten for G. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked and sounded so yummy! This would be a great meal for a busy night too. 

This is one of Cashy's favorite meals. He will gobble this up! I love that I only have to get one pot dirty for a filling meal. It also makes enough that we have plenty of leftovers for 2-3 lunches. Art or the kids will eat it the next day. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 pound ground beef or turkey - I use whatever I have on hand
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1-2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup of shredded carrots
1 package of gluten free pasta (usually around 8 oz)
2 cups bone broth 
2 cups of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Instructions:

- heat your pot over medium heat

- melt the coconut oil

- saute your chopped onions and minced garlic cloves for 20-30 seconds

- brown your ground meat with the onion and garlic

- once the meat is almost all browned, add in the salt, paprika, nutritional yeast, spinach and tomato paste. Stir to combine in your meat.

- add the bone broth and milk to your browned meat. Bring the liquid to a boil. 

- add in your pasta and cook for the time amount on the package. It's usually around 8 minutes for 8 oz package. 

Serve and Enjoy!

I like adding spinach and shredded carrots to get some veggies in the meal. If I don't have spinach or carrots to add I will serve a side salad on the side or some cut up raw veggies. 

My tip to adding Liver to your Diet!

I started adding organ meat to our diet about 4 years ago. Growing up my mom use to make liver and onions. I loved it as a kid with some ketchup.

Liver is high in vitamin A, folic acid, iron and zinc. Liver is one of the most nutrient dense organ meat with a powerful source of vitamin A. Vitamin A is extremely beneficial for reducing diseases that cause inflammation like multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Alzheimer's along with great benefits for eye health. I am always looking for ways to reduce inflammation, since I struggle with it so bad from my multiple sclerosis. 

I have fried it with bacon grease and onions, but I struggle with the texture of it. I got an idea one day to buy some liver from a local organic natural market Victoria's Natural Market in Tomball, TX. I love going to Victoria's to get my chicken bones to make bone broth, liver, local honey and various other organic local items. 

I bought some liver and took it home to grind it up. I decided to add it to meatballs the first time. No one even knew it was in there and you couldn't taste it at all! I took the remaining ground up liver and put it in little baggies to freeze. When I make anything with ground meat I will add beef or chicken liver to it. I have found beef liver really gives ground turkey a lot of flavor! 

Ground up liver in my freezer

My family has no clue they are eating liver, but they are getting all the amazing benefits from the liver! I most likely wouldn't sit down to eat a plate of fried liver these days, so I can't expect my kids to eat it. I normally do not hide foods to get my family to eat them. I serve them the item and they decide if they want to eat it or not. To me adding the liver to ground meat is like adding in some extra vitamins. We all need to take vitamins, so let's add a little to what we are going to be eating.
Do you like liver? Have you ever ground it up to eat it? 

Paleo Whipped Coffee

Paleo Non Dairy Whipped Coffee!!! Testing out new coffee recipes seems to be my quarantine past time. I keep hearing about whipped coffee all over social media. The regular whipped coffee has a lot of refined sugar. I try to avoid refined sugar, so I decided to try to make a paleo non dairy version. 

Recipe:

1 TBSP instant coffee

4 TBSP hot water

1 TBSP coconut sugar

Blend this all together - I put it in my ninja blender for 1-2 minutes

I warmed 1/2 cup almond milk & 1/2 cup coconut milk. I poured the milk into my mug and put the whipped coffee on top. Then I slowly stirred it all together. Sooooo yummy!

You could also make this iced by not warming up your milk and pouring it all over ice. I like it both hot and cold. Whipped coffee is amazing! It changes up the daily cup of black coffee into a fancier latte! Have you tried whipped coffee?  Let me know if you try this paleo non dairy version! 

Menu August 20

I barely did any cooking while I was at my parents compared to my weekly routine when I am home. I cook 3 meals a day when I am home. We go out to eat maybe 3-4 times a month. I will say it was really nice to have a break from meal planning and cooking, but man is it hard to get back into it. At my parents we ate at least one meal a day at the my mom's restaurant when it was open. She is a seasonal business, so she is only open Wednesday through Sunday. 

I will say I ate more hamburgers in the month I was in ND than I eat in probably a full year. Hamburgers are something that are easy to get that are paleo approved. I just have to ask for a hamburger, no bun, tomato, lettuce and no cheese when I was there. Can you believe they don't bring tomato and lettuce with every burger? I found that so crazy! Hamburgers, steak and some salads I could make a few exceptions for to stick to paleo. The rest of the foods seemed to have some type of breading on them. 

A few days before I came home I ordered some food from Amazon Fresh to be delivered to the house. Art needed some food, so I added extra stuff that I knew I would like when I got home. The first day I was home I made a menu and grocery list. I ate a lot of fried tator tots. My mom had some gluten free ones. They were so yummy and just went so well with hamburgers!!! It was time to get back on track once we were home! I had joked we were going to need to detox once we were home. G ate so much junk. There were some things I would say he couldn't have, but I tried to just take a deep breath and let my family give him some treats. It isn't every day he eats these things. Once in awhile it will be ok. 

Here is the menu I put together for this week. 

Main Dishes:

Cracklin Chicken

Salmon

Zucchini Spaghetti

Beef & Broccoli

Breakfast

Taco Salad

Sausages

We have a TON of tomatoes right now. My mom made this really good tomato salad for her salad bar. I just had to take out the cheese. 

slice cherry tomatoes in 4's

dice an avocado 

drizzle olive oil over the top of them

mince 3 cloves of garlic 

mince fresh basil

mix all together, put in fridge for a few hours and serve cold

My mom added these little mozzarella cheeses to the salad. 

Sides:

Roasted broccoli

Baked potatoes

Coleslaw

BLT salad

Tomato salad - see above

Greek salad

Roasted veggies - zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers

Weekly Menu July 2

One of my favorite things about holidays is the food! Summer time holiday's are all about bbq's! Grilled hamburgers, steak, potato salad, cold watermelon, chips! I am looking forward to bbq this week on the 4th of July! Almost every year we have the same tradition. We go to the inlaws to bbq and shoot off fireworks. Last year G was a little into the fireworks. I think he will be a lot more into it this year! I love sparklers! That is all I care about! Give me a box of sparklers and that is 4th of July to me!

Main Dishes:

Hamburgers
Sausages
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
Pizza
Fish
Steaks

I will make some roasted broccoli, BLT salad, honey garlic cauliflower, baked potatoes, raw veggies with paleo ranch, and coleslaw to go with our main dishes. Easier menu this week since there is a holiday in the middle of the week and G's last week of school! 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Weekly Menu - Paleo appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Monday Thrive June 26

1) Holy bazooka we had one of the hottest weeks ever last week! It was AWFUL! We had days of high 90's to 100. We have a portable AC unit that we normally set up in our family room. Honestly we usually need this in August-October for a day here and there. We rarely run the thing. Well this year it was pulled out of storage in June! We decided to set it up in our bedroom this year. I am so glad we did! I would usually turn it on around nap time and leave it on until morning. It has kept our room cool. We have been able to sleep through this awful weather.

People in my area of Nor Cal don't handle the heat. We act like we are dying! People in the south roll their eyes at us whining. We don't have humidity or I might have packed my bags for Alaska. lol I spent most evenings in my room soaking in the AC. On a few occasions during this heat wave I brought different toys into our room to play with G. We also watched some movies from the Ipad. We also spent a lot of time in the pool. I have a nice tan which I am not complaining about. 

G had a great time dressing up his little guy in a knight, fireman, police man and other outfits. I was laughing to myself thinking G you probably won't ever understand the paper dolls I use to have. You had to fold the little tabs behind the doll with all the different outfits. Now they have magnetic ones where the outfits stay put. 

Magnetic Dress Up

2) We bought this little car for Kaleb when he was about 9 months old about 4 years ago. He was starting to walk around furniture, so we thought he would like to push and ride on a car. This is the most used toy we have bought. Any kid that comes over has to drive it. Well Kaleb and G decided to drive it together the other day. Crazy kids! We bought it at Walmart for about $20. We've kept it as an inside toy. I would highly recommend this toy for anyone. It was well worth the $20 we spent! 

Target Version & Amazon Version

3) Did you see my skin care routine post that I posted last week? I shared the products I use for morning and evening skin care routine. I just ran out of my moisturizers a couple days after my post. I had them over 8 months! You don't have to switch over to everything all at one time. You can slowly add one product at a time as you run out of things. You can make the foaming face wash and buy the day cream to start. Your body and health deserve the very best! Do research to make sure you are using the safest things for your skin! Beauty products effect our health! 

4) Oh I found a Paleo pancake recipe that we all love!!! Thank you Pinterest!!! A couple weeks ago I decided I was going to try a new recipe every day until I found one that everyone would eat. I only had to try 2 recipes before I found one we all loved. Target had our favorite paleo pancake mix on sale, so I grabbed 2 of them to take to ND. I love this mix because all you need is water. This will work great for my sisters and parents house. I also thought about mixing all the dry ingredients in a baggy to take with us to ND of the recipe above. 

I have all the ingredients in the recipe on hand all the time. Arrowroot powder is a staple in my house along with coconut flour. These are not staples in peoples homes who do not eat paleo. lol I will grab a couple more packages of the premixed pancake mix for when we go on vacation later this year. Easy to throw in a suitcase to have for breakfast! We usually stay in a condo with a full kitchen. I end up cooking breakfast the majority of the time. 

5) I have been enjoying my 3 hours a day while G spent the past 2 weeks in school. It's amazing how much you can get accomplished in 3 hours alone. 

• I have been going to hot yoga. I was concerned I wouldn't like it because the room is too hot. I actually LOVE it!!! When you come into the room it is a normal temperature. They heat the room slowly as you work out. I am planning a blog post on the different type of yoga classes I have tried. I have been so much more relaxed since I started doing yoga.

• Painted all the trim in our hallway and caulk the trim. It looks sooooo much better! I need to work on the kitchen next. I am hoping to have this all completed before we leave for ND. 

• I can run all my errands, grocery shop, doctor appointments, exercise all within 3 hours. It's amazing to me what I all get done. lol

I do feel every day preschool is too much for G. I am glad this fall he will go 2 days a week for 3 hours. I think that will be the perfect amount for him at this age. Mornings are also not his thing. The afternoon class will be perfect for him too. He doesn't like to wake up and go in the AM.

He is always so happy when I pick him up from school. He has been learning so much too! The other day Art went with us to drop him off. He was so proud to take his dad to his class. I will try to work it out next year for us to go to ND maybe the middle of June through July, so he can take 1 summer session of preschool late in July. We are all learning what works best with a growing little boy! 

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Weekly Menu June 25

I am looking forward to having a cooler week where I can actually cook this week. Last week I don't think I turned the oven on at all. If I needed to cook something it was stove top, on the grill, crock pot or we ate cold things. I was very tempted on one of the hottest days to take a walk through Costco's refrigerated section for the rest of the evening. I figured I could go sample things, walk around, go outside, back inside to the fridge, and continue this cycle until they closed. lol

Main Dishes:

It was waaaay too hot last week, so I didn't end up making the Buffalo Chicken Soup. I am going to make that this week. 

Korean Beef with Broccoli 

Pork Loin

Breakfast

Fajitas 

Spaghetti - I use spaghetti squash for the "noodles" and I make this sauce to put over the top. I love to make meatballs with italian sausage. Cook the meatballs in the sauce while it is cooking. I usually have plenty of leftovers for at least 2 lunches. If I don't have enough squash leftover I will put the sauce over a large bowl of spinach. While you warm it all in the microwave the spinach will cook. This is really delicious! 

I should have enough leftovers that we will have one night of random leftover dinner. Everyone can have their favorite leftover from the week! 

What is on your menu this week?


Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Weekly Menu - Paleo appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Monday Thrive June 12

Happy Monday! Today G start's his first day of preschool! We are so excited! I can't wait to hear how much he loves his first day. I am sure I will pick up a crabby kid who has played like crazy and started learning new stuff already. I am planning to go to hot yoga today.

1) We have been on the hunt the past week to find a recipe for paleo pancakes. I buy the Birch Blender's Paleo Pancake Mix from Sprout's. We are going through a package a week. G has been on a pancake kick lately. I decided I needed to find a mix that would be a little cheaper to make. I don't have an issue buying the package for $5-6 when it lasts a month, but for each week I find it a little expensive. I am going through all the recipes I have pinned on Pinterest to try to find that we like just as much. When I find a winner I will let you know. Right now I haven't found one I like. G has been eating them with no problem. He is awfully picky these days, so I am glad he likes all my recipe testing. If anyone has a paleo pancake recipe they love let me know!

2) At the end of last summer I decided I was going to give up caffeine. I had read how it helped your adrenal glands if you don't have caffeine. I love coffee!!! I love the way it smells! I love the way it tastes with and without creamer. I drank half caff for a few months. Then I gave up caffeine completely earlier this year. I went from February through June with no caffeine or I would have a cup of green tea. The other day I decided to drink half caff again. I decided that was it. I am not giving up caffeine anymore. I need it in my life. Even a little bit of it. It just helps my mood. I am going to have 1-2 cups of half caff coffee each day. I REALLY love it with coconut milk.

I LOVE Aroy-D coconut milk. This is the thickest creamest coconut milk ever! I have tried a lot of different coconut milk over the past year. If you add this to coffee it is AMAZING! I have been known to bring my own coconut milk in a little container when I get a black cup of coffee.

3) I have started a new routine for G. We have to leave the house early to get him to preschool each morning. That means I need to have him up, fed, both of us ready and out the door by 7:50/8am. I have decided I like getting up a little earlier in the morning. I get more done. I don't feel like the day is as long if I get up before 7am. I know that is weird, but I just feel like the day goes by faster when it starts earlier. Maybe it's all those years of getting up early for work. Anyhow I set an alarm in my phone, so at a certain time every night the alarm goes off to give him a bath. He then gets 30-45 minutes after bath time to play or watch 1 show. Then we go to bed. I also limit the amount of time he sleeps during his nap. This seems to be working much better for us. The past year I haven't been strict with a schedule as I was when I worked.

4) We love potato salad around here. Art I think would eat it every day. Sometimes I am like I don't have time to make that stuff. Boiling potatoes, boiling eggs, peeling everything, waiting for it all to cool, mixing it up, letting it sit in the fridge. Ugh just typing that out sounds exhausting. Well Instant Pot to the rescue here folks! Put the metal rack on the bottom of your IP. Place your eggs on top. I usually do about 3-4 eggs. I use 2 eggs for the potato salad and have 2 deviled eggs for us. G LOVES deviled eggs. Then I peel my potatoes, cut them in chunks and place them in the IP. I then put the IP on high pressure for 5 minutes. I let it do it's thing. Once the timer goes off that it is done I release the pressure. While the pressure is releasing I get an ice bath ready for the eggs. I use my rubber gloves to pull out the eggs. I put the eggs in the ice bath while I use a spoon to remove the potatoes from the IP. I let the potatoes cool in the fridge. I slice up the eggs and add them to the potatoes. Then I mix in my mayo and other seasonings once the potatoes and egg have cooled. This really works great. In about 1 hour you can have potato salad. It's better if you make this around lunch time, so it can all cool for dinner. Or even the night before works best if you want it for lunch. To me it's just much easier and faster.

5) Last week Art and I went thrift shopping. I ended up really only looking in the kids section of clothing. G has had a growth spurt and a lot of things won't fit him for the fall. He has worn the same shorts for 2 seasons. The kid is so skinny he has been able to do that. I like to grab nice stuff when I find it at the thrift store. I bought all the items below for $30. I spent about $1.50-$2 per item. The one item I spent more on was a pair of Burberry jeans. They were in excellent condition for $11. I did check on Ebay what I could sell them for if I decided not to keep them for G. Everything I bought was Gap, Gymboree, Cherokee, Shaun White, Children's Place, Guess and Burberry. The black jeans I am not sure if they were even worn. They were in great condition. 

I would really like to buy the majority of his clothes from thrift stores going forward. It saves the environment and it saves a lot of money too. At this age he doesn't care where his clothes come from. I like him to wear nice clothes, but I don't ever spend a lot of money on clothes for him. I will spend more on a special outfit for Christmas, but it has to be a functional outfit he can wear more than just one time. 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Monday Thrive!

I decided to change the title posts of my Monday posts to Monday Thrive! I didn't really like the last name, but I couldn't come up with anything else. lol 

1) I have struggled to find a pancake and waffle recipe that all of us will eat. G and I will eat most of them. I just wanted a pancake that tastes similar to what I use to eat, but that is Paleo. Recently I was at Sprout's and they had the Birch Benders buy 1 get one free. I decided to give them a try. All of us LOVE them! If you don't have a Sprout's near you Amazon also sells the mix. 

2) I have been struggling with my concealer under my eye creasing at times. I hate the way that looks. It makes you look like you have wrinkles and old eyes. I recently watched a blogger put on her make up. She mentioned she used powder under her eyes to avoid creases. I have had the Mattifying Powder by BeautyCounter in a box sitting in my house for months. I wasn't sure what to use it for or even why I would use it. Oh boy! 

I pulled it out to try it and let me just tell you it is a total game changer! No more creases and granny looking eyes! I put my concealer and cream blusher on my face. Then I take a brush and put the powder over the concealer and blush. It really helps set it to stay all day long. 

I then put on my eyeliner on the top of my eyelid. I have been lining the bottom with black eye shadow. I then take the powder and brush it over my eyeliner to help set it. I haven't ever had luck in the past keeping eye shadow on as an eyeliner! It always would wear off and look terrible by noon. Well with the Mattifying Powder it stays set ALL DAY LONG! 

I really like my eyes now that I started lining my waterline. I had to learn I have to do a thin line of eyeliner in order to not feel like a raccoon with my waterline lined. 

3) Do you buy much online? Have you signed up to use Ebates? I signed up with Ebates maybe about 5ish years ago. I will admit I don't always remember to use them. I kick myself when I make a purchase and don't use them. Over the years I have earned over $330.00. They will deposit the money into your Paypal account. Right now I have earned over $35 for the next payout. I downloaded the app to my phone, so it is easier to make purchases. I also log in when I make purchases on my computer. Use this LINK to earn $10 to sign up. Free money is always fabulous!

4) I love Target Tee's!!!! I feel I buy different styles and colors every season. They are just so comfy plus they are a great bargain. I bought the one below for $5. They have a purple color that I just LOVE! I have been looking for a purple tee for a long time. Regular price they are only $8. 

You can get the tee for only $8.34 with tax if you use your Target Redcard since they offer free shipping on all Redcard orders. I also used Ebates, so I will get 1% cashback. While the 1% isn't much it does add up over time. 

Find it HERE! 

5) I bought the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop on Amazon recently. I buy too much stuff on Amazon! It is my go to place. I can usually get things within 2 days for a good price. I love this mop because I can fill it with non-toxic cleaners to spray on my floor. It's great for mopping your entire house or for a quick clean up. When you have a toddler you need to be able to mop areas quickly without having to drag out a mop, bucket, filling it with water, blah blah blah. This mop is fabulous! Sometimes I spray my entire kitchen with cleaner, let it sit then I go back into the room and mop it. My kitchen could be mopped twice a day. Now I feel I need to go mop my kitchen now. lol

I linked up with Hello Monday Linkup

Carylee & Jenna

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew

My mom makes this amazing stew that I love. It's so simple, but it's not paleo. I have been wanting to recreate it for awhile. The one ingredient I was stuck on was dry ranch dressing. Well I found a recipe online. I have been wanting ranch dressing to go with veggies too. I make this ranch dressing in double batches because we go through so much of it. I didn't take a picture of the stew from the other night because it was gone quick!

1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of tapioca flour
2 pounds of stew meat
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups of bone broth
1 tsp cumin
1.5 tbsp dry ranch dressing
1/2 small bag of baby carrots
1 small bunch of kale
4-5 small potatoes sliced

I sprinkled the tapioca flour all over my meat along with salt. I put a little oil in the bottom of my IP and turned it on sauté. I put the onion, garlic and meat in the IP to sauté for about 5 minutes. When it started to turn a light brown I turned it off. I then poured in the bone broth, cumin and dry ranch dressing. I turned it on high pressure for 30 minutes. When the timer went off I manually released the pressure. I put the veggies in the IP under high pressure for an additional 5 minutes. I manually released the pressure again.

It took about 60 minutes total to cook. It was AMAZING! We had plenty of leftovers too. The flavors were amazing! The meat was so tender it just fell apart.

You could easily make this in a crockpot. I would throw everything in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours

The flavors of this stew are just like the one my mom makes. I quickly wrote down all the ingredients I had used, so I wouldn't forget. I felt it was a very easy dinner to make. I love the IP! I love that I can throw things in there and go do something else while dinner is cooking.

Let me know if you try this recipe!

Disclaimer: This recipe was created by Becky Post. The post Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Vanilla Almond Milk Latte

I recently discovered Peet's Vanilla Almond Milk Latte's. O-M-G! Those things taste soooo delish! What I do not love is the fact they cost $5+ bucks for a medium. If you know one thing about me it is I am frugal. I needed to find a version of the vanilla almond milk latte that I could make at home. Well I found it! It is AMAZING! I love that I can make it at home, sit on the couch in my pjs and watch the Today show. I don't have to get dressed, put on make up, load up the toddler and drive to the local Peet's. 

Here is the recipe I have been making. 

1 cup strong coffee
1 cup of warm almond milk
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla

I heat the almond milk, honey and vanilla in a pan until the edges start to boil. I pour the coffee and milk together. This is my favorite nap time drink!!! 

Menu Monday

I've done really well planning out my meals for the week. We rarely eat out these days. Maybe once a week. Here is what we are eating for dinner this week.

Lentil Bolognese
Chicken & Asparagus with coconut rice
Sweet Potato and Turkey skillet
Chicken and potato soup
Honey garlic chicken
Hamburgers with homemade fries

Over the weekend I made pork fried rice. I have tried to make fried rice many time and it just doesn't turn out anything like the Chinese restaurants. Well I finally found the best recipe! The recipe doesn't call for pork, but I added some. I cut up some pork loin really small and fried it with the veggies. Then I served some garlic green beans along side of the rice. Art and George loved it! Art agreed it tasted great and asked for leftovers for work. He normally doesn't like leftovers to take to work. He is simple. He just wants a sandwich he can take with him.

Banana Cream

One of our favorite newest treats is banana cream. It is soooo easy to make. I rarely give G sugary treats. This is a treat he can have where he thinks he is getting sugar, but it's all natural.

Take 3 bananas, break them apart and put them in the freezer in a container.

Freeze them for a couple hours.

Take the frozen bananas and 3/4 cup of coconut milk and blend in a blender.

Take half the banana cream out and set aside. Mix in cocoa powder to make chocolate version.

Layer vanilla and chocolate banana cream in a container and top with your favorite toppings. We like to use almonds, granola, pecans, and coconut.

Look who approves!

Menu Monday

I have been back to making a menu for each week. I just haven't been posting them on the blog. I have cut dairy out of my diet. I am trying to avoid it completely. So far so good. I don't even miss it at all. There are so many options out there that I don't feel I am missing anything. I thought I would miss sour cream, cheese, and cream. Thankfully there are coconut milk options that are fabulous!

Zucchini Chow Mein

Korean Beef, rice and broccoli

Pork Chops, quinoa, and salad

Roast, mash potatoes and peas

Sausage & veggie bowls

Kale Chips

I had a bunch of kale in my fridge a couple weeks ago. I washed the leaves, laid them on a cookie sheet, drizzled coconut oil over the leave and sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top. Baked at 400 for about 10 minutes. I had planned to have it along side of our dinner. Well half the pan was ate even before dinner was finished. They were AMAZING!!! 

I had to make them again just so I could get a picture. Art even loved them! Please do not used the powdered container of that so called parm cheese.  That is NOT parm cheese. It is a can of chemicals. Buy some REAL parm cheese in the cheese section of your grocery store. You will thank me later you used the real stuff on these kale chips! 

Creamy Potato Soup

I found this recipe here, but I made changes for it to work for me and the ingredients we had in the house. This has become our new favorite potato soup recipe! 

Creamy Potato Soup
Roux ingredients: 4 T flour, 2 T buter, 2 T olive oil (made separately then added to soup)
Soup ingredients:2 T butter
2 T olive oil
3 stalks celery (chopped)
3 carrots (chopped) or 1 cup of baby carrots
1 small yellow onion (diced)
4 C chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups half & half
2 T chicken bouillon
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
1 T parsley flakes
3 bay leaves
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t garlic
5-6 medium size potatoes

Directions:

1. Make the Roux first in a separate pan. Melt olive oil and butter in a saucepan. Sprinkle flour over top and whisk together until smooth and bubbly. It should only take a few minutes. Set aside. If you wanted to make gluten free you can use a corn starch or gluten free type of flour. 

2. In a dutch oven, or large soup pot, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat.

3. Add vegetables and sauté until softened. 

4. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the roux, and bring to a boil. I don't add the potatoes until this point otherwise they get mushy. Make sure to stir every few minutes to keep the milk from scalding.

5. Once boiling, turn down to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Taste test and add more salt or seasonings. Remember flavors develop over time, so don’t over do it!

Sweet Potato Burgers

I recently made these Sweet Potato Burgers for dinner one night. They turned out really yummy! Plus they were super easy to make. I doubled the recipe and made 5 burgers. I think I should have made them a little thinner. The centers were still a little mushy. I didn't make the yogurt sauce to go with it. 

Ingredients

Burgers:

• 1 small White Onion (finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 large Sweet Potato (peeled, diced)
• 1 large clove of Garlic (crushed)
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Thyme
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 heaping tablespoons of Sweet Corn
• 3 heaping tablespoons of Kidney Beans (or other type of bean)
• 6 tablespoons Breadcrumbs (careful not all breadcrumbs are vegan)

"Yogurt" sauce:

• 1/4 cup Plain Soy Yogurt
• Cumin
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Oregano

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 435F (225C) and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Heat Olive Oil in a fry pan on medium heat. Add onion, sweet potato, and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes until sweet potatoes are soft.
3. Remove pan from heat and place sweet potato,onion,and garlic into a medium sized bowl. Add spices and mash ingredients together. Set aside for 10 minutes until cool enough to handle.
4. Add corn, beans, and breadcrumbs to somewhat cooled sweet potato mixture. Mix well with hands and form into 4 large or 6 medium sized patties.
5. Place on parchment paper lined baking pan and bake for 15 minutes on one side, flip, and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
6. While burgers are in the oven make your yogurt sauce by combining yogurt with spices to your taste. Start with a little of each spice and slowly add more until sauce is to your liking.
7. Remove burgers from oven, serve on buns with onions, tomato, lettuce and sauce, and enjoy.

Split Pea Soup

What does someone make with so much leftover ham - ham sandwiches, potatoes & ham soup, fried ham & eggs. I haven't had split pea soup in years. One of my friends mentioned it and my cravings started! Where to find a good split pea soup recipe. I read the back of the split pea package, numerous recipes, but in the end decided to make up my own. 

1 cup split peas
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of ham pieces
1 cup of carrots
1/2 onion
1 tsp thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 cup milk

Dump everything except the milk into a crock pot to cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Put the milk in the crock pot for the last 30 minutes. I put baby carrots in the crock pot, let them cook whole, fished them out, puree them in my blender with a little milk and dumped it all back in. Perfection! I read some recipes that said they pureed the entire soup. I wanted the chunks of ham, so that wouldn't work for me. The soup turned out really creamy. 

Menu Monday

This is my last week where I am working 1/2 days. On Thursday I return to full work days. The thought of going back to work full time makes me want to throw a tantrum like a 2 year old. I have LOVED working 1/2 days. It just works for me. I get sooo much done, I feel happy and it's the perfect balance for me. Unfortunately Art hasn't won the lotto, so I will be returning to full time. 

I have enjoyed making dinners at night. I have been putting stuff in the freezer for when I return to full time. I plan to start using them next week. This week I will cook dinners Monday thru Wednesday, Thursday use the crock pot and Friday possibly go out to eat or eat leftovers. 

Cheese Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Split Pea Soup - recipe on the blog next Monday
Stew
Steak & swiss chard

We have got to use up our freezer stash. We have soooo much food in there! I have a lot of soups, raviolis, sausage, meatballs, gumbo, shepherds pie, and who knows what else. Next week will be all about cleaning out that freezer. 

Menu Monday

Well it's time to use up the Christmas dinner leftovers. I had lots of mash potatoes and ham leftover. It doesn't matter how many mash potatoes I make we have a lot left over. This year we made about half of what I normally make, but still had tons left. Next year I am going to make 2 potatoes, so I don't have any left. lol 

Mash potato leftovers are great for shepherds pie. My mom had put some ground hamburger in our freezer when she was here. I grabbed the hamburger, pie crust, frozen veggies (always have some in the freezer), can of cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese and the leftover mash potatoes. I mix the hamburger, veggies, and cream of mushroom soup together. Dump it in the pie pan, sprinkle the cheese over top, spread the potatoes over the cheese and wa-la shepherds pie. I was able to make 2. I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. 

Ham leftovers I am going to make ham & potato soup. 

Art and I made homemade sausage from scratch. I will have a whole post about our sausage making. We will be having sausage & sauerkraut for dinner. 

Turkey burgers & homemade fries

Stew - My mom made this delish stew while I was visiting my family in PA. Pork or beef stew meat, 2 packages of brown gravy, 1 package of dry ranch dressing, potatoes, & carrots. Mix the gravy & ranch together with one cup of water. Put meat, potatoes, carrots, gravy & ranch mixture into a crockpot for 6 hours on low. Super delish and easy!

Steak, mash potatoes and swiss chard