Crockpot Chicken Stew

I love really good comfort food that isn’t too fattening. Especially if I don’t have to slave over it for hours. This is healthy, hearty and full of flavor! You’ll love the way your house smells with this simmering all day in the crock-pot.

Recipe

2 organic chicken breasts (about 2-3 pounds)

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup white wine

4 cups organic chicken stock

3-4 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste and thyme until softened. Add the flour and cook for one minute. Add the wine and cook for another minute. Add 1 cup chicken broth and stir until blended well. Add onion mixture to the crock-pot along with the remaining 3 cups broth, potatoes, carrots, bay leaves and chicken. Cook on high for 4hrs. or low for 6-8hrs. Shred the chicken and add the peas and parsley at the end for the last 10 minutes to heat through. Serve with your favorite rolls and green salad.

October 17, 2013

Roasted Fall Squash Soup

This soup is perfect for using all the extra fall squash from the garden! And if you didn’t grow any this year, the stores have them on sale right now! A friend of mine shared this recipe with me and I have made it in the fall ever since. The flavor of this soup is savory/sweet with a little hint of heat from the chipotle seasoning. Serve with Sourdough Rosemary Flat Bread

Recipe

1 butternut squash, cut in half

1 amber cup squash, cut in half

2 yellow crookneck squash

2 onions, cut in half

6-10 cloves garlic

1 big apple

1 yam, scrubbed but not peeled

2 Anaheim or Pablano peppers, split in half and seeded

1 handful of dried tomatoes

1 cup yogurt

cream or half and half

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon chipotle seasoning

1 teaspoon dried oregano

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

As you can see in the picture I have stuffed the butternut squash with tomatoes and garlic. The peppers in the amber cup squash and placed the yellow squash, apple and onions on the pan.

Flip over the squash and drizzle a little olive oil over everything. Wrap the yam in foil and poke with a knife a few times. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes until vegetables are soft and a little charred.

Discard peppers, scrape squash out of skins. Add all roasted ingredients into a blender and blend or use an immersion blender in a large dutch oven pot. In a large pot, add the yogurt and cream until thinned (you can even use chicken stock to decrease the calories). Add the honey, chipotle, oregano and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to your liking. Serve warm.

October 5, 2013

Homemade Garden Tomato Soup with Garlic Parmesan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

As the weather begins to get colder and the nights closer to freezing we have started to gather the rest of our tomatoes for the year. It’s a bitter sweet feeling not to have fresh garden tomatoes anymore, however this time of the year comes and I am pretty much ready for a break from it all. The cold sends me indoors and I am happy to crawl under a warm blanket and read a good book! This recipe is so good and very comforting! It warms body and soul and your kids will love it too!

Homemade Garden Tomato Soup

20 medium to large tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (or fresh basil)

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1-2 cups your choice half and half, milk, almond milk, soy milk

Fresh avocado slices

Place tomatoes on a jelly roll pan. Drizzle olive oil, vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper on the tomatoes and roast in the oven. You can do it one of two ways. Bake over night at 200 degrees or at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on your preference, flipping them once half way through. Once the tomatoes are roasted and browned take them out of them oven and puree them in a blender. Add to large sauce pan over medium heat. Add your cream or milk and bring to a simmer. Serve warm with fresh avocado slices and with grilled cheese sandwiches!

Garlic Parmesan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Whole grain sliced bread

Good sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon Parmesan

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Mix together the butter, Parmesan, garlic and oregano in a small bowl. Place slices of cheese in between the bread slices and then spread the butter onto the outside of the sandwich. Grill over medium high heat and serve warm with soup.

September 27, 2013

Rainy Day Turkey Chili

This is my most favorite chili recipe hands down! We eat it throughout the year, even if it isn’t raining. There isn’t a whole lot that goes into the recipe so it doesn’t take a long time to prepare. You can make it an hour before dinner time or let it simmer in the crock-pot all day. It’s so good served with sharp cheddar cheese and a teaspoonful of sour cream! This recipe makes a big pot of chili! It will serve 12-18 people easily. We often eat half the pot for one meal and freeze the other half for another day. It’s also a great recipe to make if you are cooking for another family!

Recipe:

Good olive oil

1 package ground turkey (1.5 lbs.)

2 large onions, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic, chopped finely

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

4 teaspoons dried oregano

Sea salt

Red pepper flakes (optional)

3 cups cooked pinto beans or 2 (15 oz.) cans, rinsed and drained

3 cups cooked black beans or 2 (15 oz.) cans, rinsed and drained

2 cups water

2 quarts canned tomatoes ( I like to replace one of the quarts as fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies)

In a large dutch oven use 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook the ground turkey thoroughly. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the seasonings including 1 teaspoon sea salt and red pepper flakes according to how hot you want your chili. Add the beans, water and tomatoes. Let simmer on medium uncovered for 30-45 minutes or in a crock-pot all day on low.

Serve with: sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, cilantro, corn bread and a green salad!

May 31, 2013September 4, 2013

Harvesting and Using Broccoli

I love broccoli! It’s so easy to grow and is such a healthy vegetable! This year I started my seeds under lights in February and planted them in the ground the second week in March. I haven’t had problems with pests thankfully. But, if you have problems with cabbage worms or other bugs, cover the starts with a fabric row cover thin enough to allow light and water penetration in. Make sure you bury the edges in the ground around the plants so the little white butterflies can’t lay their eggs on them! If you don’t have fabric row covers or didn’t get around to putting them on in time, you can use a garlic spray to get rid of them. Here’s the recipe:

Homemade Garlic Bug Spray

Blend 2-3 bulbs garlic in a bit of water

Add 2 cups water,

2 tablespoons plant based liquid dish soap,

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and allow to sit over night.

Strain through a cheese cloth and put in sprayer and spray the plant thoroughly. This recipe also works well for wireworms, ants, aphids, slugs, cutworms, and caterpillars.

Broccoli has so many health benefits! I am grateful my kids will eat it by itself, lightly steamed. However, if you or your loved ones don’t appreciate as much as we do, try slipping it into salads or soups for added nutrition. Check out the 9 Benefits of Broccoli I love that it is an alkaline food, helps prevent cancer, reduces cholesterol, and detoxes the body!

Harvesting broccoli is very simple. Once the head of the plant has grown to a medium – large size (before the head becomes loose and starts to flower) cut it off with a large kitchen knife. Notice in the picture there are little florets next to where I cut off the big one in the middle. You can let these get a little bigger and cut them off for use later or harvest now.

Here is a head I didn’t catch in time, so I will let it go to seed and save them for starting seeds next year or in the fall. This is Waltham broccoli (an excellent variety for Utah).

Broccoli Recipes

Vegan Creamy Broccoli Soup

It’s hard to miss the cheese in this one! It’s so good!

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup cashews

1 medium onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 garlic clove, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped to 1 inch size cubes

1 large head of broccoli, chopped (about 4 cups)

2 teaspoons dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Puree 1 cup of vegetable stock with the cashews in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

In a large dutch oven saute the onion, celery and carrot over medium heat in 1 cup vegetable broth for about 5minutes, until tender crisp. Add garlic, red pepper and potatoes. Cook for a few more minutes. Add the remaining 4 cups of broth and broccoli, thyme and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and turn heat down to medium low and let simmer until the broccoli and potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cashew cream to soup and stir until mixed. Remove from pot and puree half the soup in small batches. You can leave some chunky or puree it all. Serve with a crusty bread and salad! Recipe from Forks over Knives Cookbook

Broccoli, Pear & Feta Salad

This delicious invention came from a last minute need to put together an extra salad for a family gathering. I have to say I was pretty proud of myself! This was so good! From the garden: broccoli and mint

2 Tablespoons agave

2 cups pecans halves

Coat the pecans with agave in a medium size skillet on medium-low heat. Constantly stir for 5-10 minutes until the pecans are caramelized and slightly darkened. Let cool.

In a bowl mix together:

1-2 heads fresh broccoli chopped into bite size pieces

4 pears chopped

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mint-Pepper Dressing:

In a blender puree:

1 cup peppermint or spearmint leaves

Juice of 2 lemons

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons agave

Pour just enough dressing to coat the salad and serve! Save the rest of the dressing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.