Awesome Homemade Pizza and Lasagne Sauce!

Here are two recipes I have used in the past for pizza sauce and Vicki's recipe for Lasagna.  I believe the sauce makes the pizza or lasagna and that homemade sauces top restaurant's and store bought every time.  These are really easy to make and freeze also!

Lasagna Sauce: (from cookbook Vicki gave me of compiled recipes)
2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes with green peppers (I've used ones without peppers too)
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
shake of thyme
 1 bay leaf
1/4 c sugar (maybe sub honey? stevia?)

Simmer 20 minutes.  This is enough to make a 9x13 three layer lasagna.

Pizza Sauce: (Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)
8 oz can tomato sauce
7 1/2 oz can undrained tomatoes cut up (just use diced)
1/2 c chopped onion
1 T dried basil crushed
1 tsp sugar (sub honey etc)
1 tsp dried oregano crushed
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp pepper bring to boil. reduce heat, simmer covered 10 minutes or till onion is tender.

Healthy Nutella

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/09/better-than-nutella/
We made this recipe and loved it. 

This picture came from:  www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com
I want to try several of her recipes.

Getting the skins off of the hazelnuts is a big pain.  Her recipe has you roast them.  I did not have much luck doing it this way.  I am planning to try this method next time. 

Raw Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Icing

This has become my favorite dessert recipe.  I love these brownies. 


Picture from www.oatmealwithafork.com

This link will take you to the recipe and you can print it from there. 
http://www.oatmealwithafork.com/2012/07/09/raw-fudge-brownies-with-chocolate-frosting/
This website has several recipes that might be worth trying. 

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

I am finally on here blogging.  You all should be proud. 

Here is the link (you can print the recipe from this site): 
http://www.fearlesshomemaker.com/2013/05/chocolate-avocado-pudding/

This photo is also take from www.fearlesshomemaker.com

A few of my notes:

• I like to use honey, but sometimes the honey is an overpowering taste and the last time it was way too sweet.  It kind of depends on the honey you are using.  You will just have to experiment.
• It calls for 1 avocado - I have used 2 small ones and had it turn out just fine.  It is really an easy recipe to adapt to your taste.
• It most definitely needs to be eaten after it has had time to be chilled.  Give it a few hours. 
• I want to try it with coconut milk.

I hope you like it as much as we do.  Enjoy!

Forks Over Knives Navy Bean Soup and Greek Stuffed Peppers

I have tried a few new recipes from Forks Over Knives cookbook (you can get them online at http://www.forksoverknives.com/category/recipes/page/2/).  I made Navy Bean Soup and Greek Stuffed Peppers.  I really like both but my family didn't absolutely love either of them but I will make them again for them.  One note about the peppers is that I think it's unnecessary to make them the way they did.  Next time I'm not going to worry about actually stuffing the peppers.  I'm just going to combine it more like a casseroleish thing.  I always add cheese for my family to make it more appealing.

Cauliflower Alfredo substitute

K frankly there are a lot of recipes out there for this.  I used a really basic recipe which was basically a bunch of cauliflower boiled for a while and then blended with some of the water and add garlic.  I was supposed to add milk but forgot and I still thought it turned out pretty good although my family were not fans.  I want to experiment a little bit.  I just saw a recipe that added nutritional yeast to it.  So, if I find another recipe that everyone loves or at least tolerates a lot better I will definitely post it.

Broccoli Burgers (or patties)

Ok Brenda and Lisa here you go! (sorry no pictures)
It's a little bit of work but I'm pretty sure you could 1. make them ahead of time and bake them for dinner 2. make a big batch and freeze them.  The sauce you could make whenever too.

This link takes you to the recipe too:
 http://thetolerantvegan.com/2011/05/baked-broccoli-burgers/

Burger ingredients:

• 1/3 cup dry couscous
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon sesame tahini
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Tahini dressing ingredients:

• 1/3 cup sesame tahini
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
I did these first three steps simultaneously in order to speed up the prep time.
1. In a small pot, bring the water and couscous to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and allow the couscous to sit in the pot for 10 minutes, soaking up the water.
2. Steam the broccoli in a steamer for 5-7 minutes (or use a microwave or stove method, you just want the broccoli to be soft in the end)
3. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add in the onion and scallions, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes until the onion softens. Remove from heat and stir in the cumin.

I made these last week and almost all of my family liked them.  I really liked them with the tahini sauce.  They get a little dry if you bake them too long so having a sauce is great!

Snacks for Kids Delivered to Your Door!!!

I have found a reasonable solution!!!  This is one of the hardest things for me is what to feed my kids now that we are eating mostly plant based foods and I have stopped buying fishy crackers and all the other kinds of crackers and fruit snacks and stuff.  Lisa and Mary both have given me some great ideas for store bought already prepared snacks that don't have as many processed ingredients.  Then today I decided to look at the amazon subscribe and save deals.  I am excited to report that I am now have delivered to my door these items next month:
Fig Bars: 3 different kinds, apple cinnamon, peach apricot, and raspberry (whole wheat of course)

Brothers all natural fruit crisps a variety pack

Stretch Island fruit leather strawberry (there are other kinds too)


I am going to evaluate it after I get my first order next month.  All together those are costing me $50.  This might be a little bit too much money for us every month but I will see how it goes.  I probably spend that much on snacks each month anyway.  It is a total of 90 items or servings so averaging .55 per serving or item.  I know the fig bars are basically the same price I paid for them or slightly less so why not have them delivered to my door?  One less thing to worry about.
  Some other ideas that I've been given and like are: Just Mangoes from Trader Joes, Texas Caviar from Costco, Seaweed snacks from Costco? or Trader Joes (Anna loves them but the other two are wary of them), Go Go squeeze apple sauce (I know it's probably got some sugar in there but my kids love those things)
I'm not opposed to making homemade snacks but sometimes a mama just gotta have something easy and on hand.  I'm sure you understand.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies

I have not made these yet, but I will as soon as my six weeks are up when I have the FHE treat. The inserted notes are from my friend that gave me the recipe. I have a picture, but couldn't get it to copy. They look really yummy!

Ingredients:

·         2 cups cooked quinoa

·         1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)

·         3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (you can substitute honey or other sweeteners)

·         1/4 teaspoon sea salt

·         3/4 cup rolled oats

·         1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (I left these out)

·         1/2 cup chocolate chips ( I added another ½ cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine quinoa, peanut butter, maple syrup, salt, and oats in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer on low/medium speed, combine ingredients well.
Tip: Allow the quinoa to cool before mixing it in. (the original lady did not do this so her chocolate melted and the cookies did not look like chocolate chip cookies)

3. Stir in coconut and chocolate chips.

4. Scoop and mold dough into round, tablespoon-sized cookies.

5. Place cookies on parchment-paper-lined baking sheets and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until bottoms are nicely browned.

6. Allow to cool completely before storing.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

This is a recipe from a friend that we really enjoy. I do make a few changes such as juice instead of Sherry. Try it, you might like it!

BLACK BEAN PUMPKIN SOUP     (Cooking Light)

Three 15 1/2 ounce cans black beans (about 4 1/2 cups), rinsed and

drained

1 cup drained canned tomatoes, chopped

1 1/4 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup minced shallot

4 garlic cloves minced

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

4 cups beef broth

a 16-ounce can pumpkin pureé (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup dry Sherry

1/2 pound cooked ham, cut into 1/8-inch dice

3 to 4 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

Garnish: sour cream and coarsely chopped lightly toasted pumpkin seeds

Directions:  In a food processor coarsely pureé beans and tomatoes. In a

6-quart heavy kettle cook onion, shallot, garlic, cumin, salt, and

pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is softened

and  beginning to brown. Stir in bean pureé. Stir in broth, pumpkin, and

Sherry until combined and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 25

minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Just before

serving, add ham and vinegar and simmer soup, stirring, until heated

through. Season soup with salt and pepper.

Serve soup garnished with sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.  (Makes

about 9 cups.)

Exersize? Exercize? Excersize? EXERCISE?

I don't why I can never spell that word!  It gets me every time and it never looks right.  
In winter it is so hard to get my exercise in.  It's cold and yucky outside (at least in UT) and even though we have an exercise bike I just never feel like using it.  (Lame I know).  Then I have to resort to exercise videos.  I only own about 3 of them and while they are great I get bored really really easily.  The last couple of weeks I have been taking advantage of our library selections to try and keep things exciting so I will keep doing it.  I know everyone has different tastes and needs but I have a couple of video suggestions for you if you are stuck in a rut and need something new.

http://www.firmdirect.com/firm/p/Cardio-Party-DVD.html  I just did this one this morning.  It is from "The Firm" series.  It was a lot of fun and it was challenging but doable, although I had to take some breaks.  The Firm has a bunch of different workouts.  The Cardio Party one was great because there were 5 girls who rotated teaching so if you didn't particularly care for one of them or their style it would change in a few minutes.  The Firm videos are also nice because they do cardio mixed with strength and toning exercises.  Sometimes I feel like workouts give you one or the other but I want both.

I also have been doing yoga regularly and I really have grown to like it.  I like that it helps me with my posture, which has always been poor.  It makes me more aware of how I am standing and does a lot of core strengthening.  I really like core stuff because it seems like it stays with me all day and helps me tuck in my tummy.  I have done a few yoga videos.  I haven't found my absolute favorite one to suggest yet but I do like Rodney Yee's stuff and I even did one geared to older people called "Yoga for Everybody, Yoga to reduce pain" (or something like that) and it was great as far as stretching out my body and loosening up.  I also did one that focused on the core and it was crazy hard but I felt great after it!

Lastly if you haven't tried Zumba yet (guys might not agree with me) you should!  It is super fun and it tricks you into thinking you aren't exercising.  I have gone online sometimes and just done zumba routine from Youtube.  That way if you don't like it you can easily change it and there are routines from 2 minutes to 60 minutes you choose.  To start you off watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra1kQED6S5w!!!!  It's only a little over 3 minutes.

Anyway, sorry this is a little long and boring but I just thought if it helps someone get out of their winter rut it might be helpful.

Happy Exercising!!!

I just had to post this so I could beat Mary because I gave her a hard time that she hasn't posted anything yet and I got this recipe from her on pinterest.  Hee Hee!

This is a wonderful vegetable packed soup and it has quinoa so you get your protein too!  It's meat and gluten free.
It's from twopeasandtheirpod.com and there are some beautiful pictures of it on there.  It's fairly simply just requires some chopping of veggies and a little sauteing.  Here is the direct link to the blog post: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/vegetable-quinoa-soup/  and then the recipe is:

Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Yield: Serves 6-8

A healthy and hearty vegetable soup!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 box (32 ounces) vegetale broth (I used Pacific Natural Foods)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups cooked quinoa
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and basil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the cooked quinoa and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm.
Note: To cook the quinoa, rinse 1 cup quinoa under cold water. Add quinoa, 2 cups water, and a pinch of salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.