(Almost) From Scratch Chili!

Friday I ventured to make chili completely from scratch. I almost met my goal, except for that one small stinky can of organic tomato paste I had to put in to thicken it. Oh well. Almost there!
I also had to season this as I went, tasting it to decide what it needed. Here is a recollection of what (I think) I did after it was done. The result was good so I will do it again!

3/4 cup each: (raw) garbanzo beans, black beans, red kidney beans and pinto beans, rinsed and soaked 24 hours in advance.
4-5 large organic tomatoes, diced
2-4 organic bell peppers of any color, diced
1-2 medium onions, white or red, diced
3 stalks celery chopped small
10 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
1 small can of organic tomato paste
About 4-6 cups of water
3 tbsps raw honey and organic cane sugar
3 tbsps sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black and red pepper*
2 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder*
1 tsp turmeric, coriander and paprika
*If you do not like spicy chili, use less ground red pepper and chili powder. I will next time until this pregnancy is over! :)

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for eight hours. If done on stove, cook on medium-high for eight hours? Stir and taste occasionally to test! (Remember I said "I think" this is what I did!!) I'll proof it again soon just to be sure. Serve with whole wheat corn muffins (blog under muffins)! Enjoy!

Easy Tuna Melts

Need a quick meal? Try this. My Hubby would say it's not so healthy if you use mayo, considering the hydrogenated oils, but I say at least it's not McDonald's! As healthy as you can get on those kind of nights....I save it for the weekend or nights when I am just exhausted!

Organic wild caught tuna in water (in a pouch if you can find it, to avoid the BPA in cans) you'll need 2

Mayo- learn to make homemade mayo here
or Grapeseed oil Veganaise (they sell this is Green Bay but I never found it in Atlanta or in NY but I do think you can buy it online)

Dill

Pepper and sea salt

Shredded white cheddar cheese

Whole grain english muffins (I recommend Ezekiel brand)

Make tuna to your liking with the mayo/veganaise, dill, salt, and pepper.

Toast english muffins. Spread tuna on muffins and cover with cheese.

Broil for about 5 minutes. Works great with a nice salad or even just some plain ol' frozen peas!

Homemade Tomato Soup (from scratch!)

I made this homemade soup last weekend and it was scrumptious! Serve it with grilled cheese on a hearty whole grain bread (we used Ezekiel Bread) and oh so amazing. Was such fun to watch our daughter dip her sandwich in her soup for the first time! We all loved it!



4 cups tomatoes, diced or pureed in the blender (approximately 8 small tomatoes) – I used part of my canned tomatoes and it worked great!
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or a combination of cloves and garlic powder
1 cup organic chicken broth
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp dry basil (or fresh if you have it!)
dash of pepper
2-3 tsp xylitol
Saute onion and garlic in a little coconut oil till tender and translucent. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and cook over medium heat for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before transferring carefully to a blender. Puree until smooth. Return to pot and add the remaining ingredients to your taste. Delightful with a dalop of sour cream on the top!

Change Can Be Sweet....

Ok, so I have gone through my recipe collection and made necessary changes in hopes to mostly discontinue the use of agave nectar. Not 100%, but mostly. So I am now experimenting with raw honey, sucanat and stevia, and of course there is the easy way out- cane sugar! So, I obviously have not made all of these recipes in the last 2 weeks, just figured out the conversion. So I am asking that if you try anything using the new stevia, honey or cane sugar suggestions, please comment and let us all know how it worked for you! I have had much success with honey- however, for some reason, not with my banana muffin recipe! And I tried a new recipe today trying to come up with an accurate conversion for honey into stevia.....did not turn out sweet enough....I will continue experimenting and keep all of you posted on good and bad results. I appreciate your patience, as the Boheens can only eat so many muffins! My freezer is stocked! :) I am also learning that Sucanat is a good subsitute for brown sugar.

I am very excited for this push to try out stevia. I had wanted to a long time ago, knowing it was one of the best natural sweeteners there was! Agave was just easier....so here's to the push! And may all our muffins be delish.
:)

Thai Chicken Wraps

Light and healthy. Easy to make. Gluten free. Love it.

I got this recipe from elanaspantry.com and we really liked it. I will make it again. I may try an alternative to the peanut sauce, as it was not my favorite. Maybe a sweeter asian sauce. Either way, it still is super yummy and just different from what we usually have for dinner. It was fun.

Try it out:

www.elanaspantry.com/thai-chicken-wraps/

Learning About Stevia...

Found this conversion chart so now I can start my experimenting!

Sugar Amount........................................1 cup/1 Tbsp/1 Tsp

Equivilent Stevia powdered extract..1 Tsp/1/4 Tsp/a pinch to 1/16 Tsp

Equivilent Stevia liquid concentrate..1 Tsp/6-9 drops/2-4 drops


Honey works great too, just cut it down a bit (about 1/2 cup to every cup sugar). Also learning about Sucanat... seems like a good substitution for brown sugar (use the same amount).

Agave Nectar Highly Processed???

So recently we have been doing some deeper research on agave nectar. What we found is not what we were hoping for. This product has seemed to represent itself in a deceiving way, seeing that it is raw agave right? Wrong. The process in making this sweet syrup is very involved, making it not very raw at all! It is so processed and hydrolyzed, it becomes high in fructose, which is one of the worst ways you can get sugar! Ugh!

So where to go from here... well, we will be experiementing with Stevia and also using plain ol' good raw honey for sweetening. As far as agave goes, I am going to try to discontinue using it. I will say, however, that if you are diabetic, I would probably still recommend agave over Splenda or Nutrasweet. And if this news makes you want to go back to white refined sugar- don't! Use raw cane sugar instead.

More details to come. Bear with me as I make this transition!

Quinoa Crusted Cod and Collard Greens- Just Scrumptious!

This collard greens recipe is from my friend Lauren, and it is so delicious I can't believe it took me so long to try it!!! I mean, seriously delicious. Who would have thought? Collard greens? Oh yes. Amazing. Check it out here:

http://caramelaurenj.blogspot.com/2009/08/collard-greens-what.html

Honey Balsamic Collard Greens!

1 bunch of collard greens
Pinch of salt ( I use sea salt-has more nutrients than table salt-make the switch today)
Olive oil
Red onion
garlic cloves
garlic scapes (optional)
Sweet Peppers (green, red, orange and or yellow)

Fill Sink with cool water. Separate leaves from stalks and immerse in water. Rub dirt off and dry ( I shake the water off and cut them, then throw them in a salad spinner to get the water off)
Roll several leaves together and slice the roll in 1-inch strips ( I believe this is called chiffonade-style)
Put leaves into a large pot, add enough water to cover the leaves. Add a pinch of sea salt and minced or chopped garlic cloves. Bring water to a boil and cook leaves until bright green. Reduce heat to med.low heat. Simmer for at least 30 minutes, until tender. (taste to see if you like the texture-Don't cook too long, you do not want mushy greens!)
When greens are cooked to your liking, drain them and return to the pot and put on the lid.
Saute 1/2 cup chopped red onion, chopped garlic scape and peppers in olive oil. add to leaves. Drizzle honey and balsamic vinegar over mixture and toss leaves.

I only used grapeseed oil in place of olive oil and added maybe a little more than a drizzle of the balsamic vinegar and especially the honey. :)

Quinoa Crusted Cod

This one was just an idea I got one day from something else, and decided to create it and give it a try! The results were better than I expected!

Wild Cod or any fish filet really, just be sure you buy wild fish and not farm raised fish and try to stay away from high mercury fish such as tilapia (I know- a mild favorite of mine too..)
Organic quinoa (pronounced keen-wa, it's a grain)
Spices ( I used) Black pepper, sea salt, paprika, garlic powder, dill and parsley.
Egg
Grapeseed oil

Fill your pan with about 1/2 an inch of grapeseed oil and heat to medium high.
Beat the egg (s) in a small bowl and set aside.
On a plate, mix together quinoa and spices.
When oil is ready (sizzles when you drip the egg in it), dunk your fish into the egg and roll into the quinoa mixture until fully covered. Fry in grapeseed oil about 5 minutes on each side (more or less depending on how think your filet is). Place on a plate covered in paper towel immediately when done to remove extra oil, and serve right away.

I served both these dishes together along with brown rice.
Enjoy! (We did!)

Choco Berry Bars

The aroma these bars put in the air when baking is almost as good as eating them...

Choco Berry Bars

5 cups organic old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup organic sucanat
1/2 cup raw honey
2 Tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup whole flaxseed
1/2 cup dried cranberries*
1/2 cup dried cherries*
1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix oats, nuts, oil and salt together (may need to use your hands if your coconut oil is solid) and spread in 9 by 13 pan and bake for 18 minutes stirring occasionally.

2)Combine brown sugar, honey and agave in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until sugar is melted. Add vanilla extract. Keep stirring.

3) Remove oat mixture from oven and transfer back to mixing bowl Turn oven down to 300. Stir in flaxseed, berries and chocolate, then pour in sugar mixture and mix well. Spread back into pan and bake for another 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

***Note: when choosing dried fruits, be very careful to check ingredients. Organic or not, many of them contain added sugars and hydrogenated oils, such as canola, sunflower or safflower. Do your best and be picky when choosing any dried fruit with as little of the 'extras' as possible!

Hummus With a Kick!

Found this recipe online- has a kick to it for sure! I love the cumin in it, may not use the red pepper next time...

Hummus With Tahini

2 1/2 cups cooked chick peas (I highly recommend cooking them yourself to avoid those from a can! It's so easy!)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ceyenne pepper
pinch of black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup water

Put all ingredients in your blender/food processor and mix until smooth. Refridgerate for one hour so flavors soak in and enjoy! Great with pita bread, raw carrots, whole wheat bread, etc.

Easy Crock Pot Beef Stew

My best friend Danielle doesn't cook a ton, but man is her beef stew good! I only made it organic and added a few extra fresh veggies :)
I wish I had a picture but it was too yummy I was too busy eating it.
You'll need:

About one pound organic free range grass fed stew beef
organic carrots chopped
organic potatoes chopped
organic celery chopped
an onion chopped
2 cups organic frozen corn
whole wheat flour
water
sea salt and pepper
fresh crushed garlic

She says:

My recipe is simple...I put the stew beef in the crock pot and mix in some flour until all the meat is covered, add veggies (corn, celery, baby carrots), skin a couple potatoes, cut em up and put them in. Fill up the pot with water so that it's not quite covering everything. In a separate bowl, mix half cup flour and water until you get like a thick milky mix and dump that in the pot...add seasonings, salt, pepper, onion salt....mix...cook in the crock pot for like 8 hours...yum....! :) You can always add more flour if you think it's too runny.

So there you have it. Decide what you want in it, put it in the pot and turn it on. Pair it up with home made wheat bread and yummmmmo!

*** You can also use 2 cups beef broth for variety and a tapioca starch/water mixture to make it gluten free!***

Spicy Red Lentil Chili

A Wegmans recipe modified to suit my taste.... You can add a tablespoon of hot sauce to make it spicier... I just made this and some home made wheat bread today on a cold snowy day for my family who are all under the weather! I added lots of extra garlic! :)
1-2 cups Red Lentils
2-3 cups water
2 Grapeseed oil
1/2 an onion, peeled, 1/4-inch dice
4 stalks celery, 1/4-inch dice
3-4 carrots, chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, 1/2-inch dice
2-3 cups Organic Vegetable or Chicken broth
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup finely diced sweet green pepper- optional
1 tbsp MSG-free tobasco sauce- optional
link
Melt oil in stockpot on MEDIUM-LOW. Add onions; cook, stirring, about 2 min, until soft but not browned. Add celery, carrots and garlic; cook, stirring, 5 min, until soft but not browned. Add tomato; cook 5 min.
Add 2 cups broth, 2 cups water, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper, and chili powder. Bring to simmer.
Add lentils. Cook about 30 min, until lentils are tender, or simmer all day :)
Add more broth or water as needed.
I serve it as is, but the original recipe has you blend it in a food processor or blender. You can do either- both are good, I just prefer chunkier soups and I am just plain lazy when it comes to washing extra dishes!
Calories: 140

Nutrition Info: Each serving (1 cup) contains 140 calories, 22 g carbohydrate, (5 g fiber), 7 g protein, 4 g fat, (3 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, and 410 mg sodium.