CasaCullen

Recipe of the Week: Dairy Free Craisin and Peanut Breakfast Cookies

So we're a dairy free, soy free, citrus free and egg free household now. Phew, that was a lot of free's in one sentence. Well, I guess we are only until little man weans. Figuring out Nash's food sensitivities could've (and should've) earned me a detectives license. But once we figured them out, we are smooth sailing in the fussy category. It was like someone handed me my baby back. He cries only when he needs to, which makes parenting life so much easier for both of us.

But with that being said, our diets have sort of changed dramatically. I've always loved nut milks and rice milk, but you know how I craved cow's milk non-stop when I was pregnant? Yep, gone are the days. And ice cream...don't even get me started. It's my one true foodie love and indulgence. So it's time to bust out the ol' ice cream maker and figure out some dairy free dessert concoctions for this lady. 

I was also a boiled egg annihilator for my protein kick in the morning. I've had to really learn to add nuts to my morning oatmeal and make sure I'm getting a full serving of protein to start my day. If anyone else is in the same boat and loves a certain protein powder that covers these parameters, PLEASE share the details in a comment below. Our whey powder isn't dairy free...boo!

But these here delish breakfast cookies...ARE DAIRY FREE, yay! We love grabbing them if it's a morning on the go and Walt has been taking a few with him in the morning...and we all know how annoyed I get with my non-breakfast eating man. So I'm super pumped to find a recipe that he likes too. Plus, it's so easy and healthy! Love me some breakfast cookies...nom, nom, nom.

 

Craisin and Peanut Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of oats

2-3 super ripe bananas

1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1 cup craisins

3/4 cup peanuts (whole or crushed)

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Mix all and spoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

 

As my niece Minnie would say, "These look like banana slugs!"

Anything with these two ingredients...I'm always a fan of. Love me some cinnamon and applesauce!

And I never tire of these little guys. They're my healthy candy!

Gotta pack in some protein for good and lasting measure.

The mix master flex, showin' off his skills! And another gold star for this recipe is the fact that you can EAT THE DOUGH and not worry about salmonella - SCORE!

"What are you making over there, Momma?"

The goods are ready for some oven lovin'!

And the house smelled like breakfast cookie heaven. We popped them right into a tupperware and have been noshing on them ever since.

Not to mention, they gave Walt some good Daddy energy after a long day at work...which is perfect for airplane flying time with his Bubbarooni.

Recipe of the Week: Curry Lentil Stew and Red Cabbage Slaw

You know how I love quick and easy recipes that are also healthy and packed with veggies too! Today's lentil stew packs a serious winter punch and is pretty easy to make. I made it on Monday night while we watched The Bachelor (there, I said it) so that I could have warm soup for lunch all week long. The only problem is that I don't think the curry is making the cut when it comes to Nash's digestion. I'll try it one more day and if not, then our neighbors are going to get some delish stew...or maybe I'll just freeze it.

Also the cabbage slaw is super easy. Walt made that for the game night we hosted on Saturday night. He threw the ingredients together and into the fridge it went to 'slaw up' all day long. Only problem? We forgot to take it out for the party. Oh yeah, we have buckets of red cabbage slaw in our fridge, haha! It makes a heap ton! But cabbage is one of Walt's favorite so he's been snacking on it and we've been noshing on it as a side dish too.

PS - Make sure to check out the original lentil stew recipe HERE. I'm off citrus (for Nash's sake) and we didn't have any celery and I just went with our curry powder instead of the garam masala, which would've been way better, most likely. And I added some fresh corn in the mix too, which was dynamite! Enjoy!

 Curry Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small white or yellow onion, finely chopped

4 cups water

1 cup lentils, rinsed

3 small potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 ears of corn with kernels cut off

2 medium carrots, 1/4" slices 

6 ounces torn spinach leaves

1 teaspoon curry powder

 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Add water and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add potatoes, corn kernels and carrots; cook uncovered until potatoes and carrots are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and curry powder into the stew. Cover and simmer until spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(recipe adapted from Eat You Vegetables or You Don't Get Dessert)

 

Red Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 head red cabbage, cored and shredded

 

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the canola oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, pepper, and onion powder. Place the cabbage in a large glass bowl. Pour dressing over cabbage, and toss to coat. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, stirring occasionally. Drain before serving.

(recipe from Allrecipes)

Recipe of the Week: Healthy Homemade Raisin and Almond Granola

Done and done! We are never buying granola again. Well, I guess I shouldn't say never, but we are certainly suckers for making our own, now that we've tackled it. Last night the house literally smelled like cinnamony, vanilla spiced heaven. Walt walked in the door from a long day at work and said, 'Woah, what are you baking?' When he saw the granola and pinched a taste he said, 'Wow!' Ok, let me explain. Walt never, ever, ever says wow. It's just not one of those words in his vocabulary. On the other hand, I use it all the time. This is huge, people...HUGE!

So without further delay, here's this splendid recipe below. We adjusted/substituted based on the recipe HERE that was passed along to us from our good friend Kathi. After we posted HERE that we were in the market for making our own granola (for the first time ever) she shared how much her family adores this David Lebovitz version. We headed over and wrote down what ingredients we still needed and added our own substitutions and additions to make it 'more our own!' It's scrumptious, light, not to sweet and we've literally had to hold ourselves back from being a buncha granola heads over the last 15 hours. I could munch on it all day long!

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raisins

3 cups almonds, coarsely chopped

1 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup un-toasted sesame seeds

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried ground ginger

1 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or another unsweetened fruit puree)

1/3 cup syrup (we used full flavor molasses)

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300F. In a very large bowl, mix together the flaked grains or oats, raisins, almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. In a small saucepan, warm the fruit puree with the rice syrup, honey, oils and vanilla extract.

Mix the fruit mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly dispersed, then divide and spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets. If you have ones with sides, often called jelly-roll pans, use them. We used one cookie sheet and one jelly roll pan and it worked great!

Bake the granola for about 45 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is deep golden brown. Remove from oven, then cool completely. Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.

How do I like to nosh on my granola? I top organic greek or plain yogurt with a few tablespoons of granola and drizzle local honey on top! Mix and enjoy...it really is my perfect snack!

Raw almonds are something we always have on hand. We purchase them in bulk and store them on the counter (for a quick snack) and in the pantry to re-fill constantly. 

Chopped up the almonds in our food processor but we love bigger chunks so I was light handed on the chopping action.

Bulk oats...

Sunflower seeds...we also always have these in our pantry. We love to put them on our salads for that extra punch of protein and hardiness.

The dried goods, minus the raisins.

Spicy mc spicy pants...ready to be added!

All mixed up with spices and raisins. This is a massive mixing bowl. Just fyi, use your biggest mixing bowl...this recipe doesn't fool around and yields a ton of granola!

Molasses syrup...yummmers!

The oils.

I pretty much am a sucker for anything that includes this as an ingredient. We can't wait to make our own for next year's holiday season. We'll be sure to use Bake Cakery's recipe HERE! But it takes four months to simmer...so we're going to opt out for now.

The fruity vanilla oily mixture that smelled oh so good!

I used our trusty tongs to mix it all together. Make sure every little piece of oat is covered in the fruity oily goodness. You don't want any dry pieces in there.

Plopped half in a jelly roll and half on a cookie sheet and into the oven they go. We stirred every ten minutes because I probably would've cried if it burned. 

The result...YUM! You can already see some snacking going on in the bottom right section of the cookie sheet on the left. Yep, we couldn't control the urge to grab a handful of warm granola goodness...pretty much every time we walked by!

That is one happy boy with a huge tupperware full of granola. Actually, he has a ride along with his boss today and I just got a text saying, "Bryan and I are totally enjoying the granola...thanks for making it!" Looks like it's even a hit with Walt's boss-man too...cha-ching! And now the boss-man wants the recipe...score! Make it, enjoy it and never buy it again, ha!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Easy Baked Kale Chips, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Healthy and Hearty Meat Soup, Easy and Healthy Banana Whip Dessert, Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Recipe of the Week: Baked (and Highly Addictive) Kale Chips

You will never, ever look at kale the same. I'm not kidding you, NEVER! Sorry for the crazy grainy iPhone pics but I just had to capture this super easy recipe. Kale chips are our new bff. Healthy, savory and packed full of so many great vitamins...you've got to just give these a try.

If you hate them, never make them again. Just think of it as you're only out a bunch of kale (usually no more than $2) and if you love them? It's a great addiction to have! Better for you than any potato chip and a suitable snacking option too. We hope you try this recipe and give us feedback on ways you've jazzed it up too! Read on for the recipe and our pic tutorial too!

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale

1 tbsp sea/kosher salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Wash bunch of kale and spin in a salad spinner or dry off. Trim all kale leaves from each stem and cut/tear leaves into bite sized pieces. Coat all pieces of kale in the olive oil and salt. Make sure they're all entirely coated with oil. We like them oily so if you want to half the oil, just watch closely that the chips don't burn. Place kale pieces on non-stick cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake in oven until chips are brown but not burned. Enjoy!

PS - Our friend Steve popped by the house and saw I was making kale chips so I offered him some of the goodness. He actually laughed and said, 'No way, I can't just have one. Plus I actually prefer them super burnt too!' So hear ye, hear ye...some people love some kale chip burnt goodness so experiment with how you prefer your chippies.

Those clean leaves are gettin' their trim on.

Bite sized goodness.

I just used clean hands and coated them in their oil and salt bath.

Laid them out in a single layer...

Done and done!

Two plates of baked kale goodness? Yes, please!

Ok, even seeing this pic has me wanting more! We are surely never going to let our kale go bad, because you know all about us and our Green Monster smoothies HERE. But there are days when I just don't want a Green Monster and I crave potato chips. Hello kale chips...you're my new snacky snack bff!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Pumpkin Spice Latte, Healthy and Hearty Meat Soup, Easy and Healthy Banana Whip Dessert, Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Recipe of the Week: DIY - How to Make Your Own Pumpkin Spice Latte

So it's sort of a 'family tradition' for the three (ahem, four) of us to walk down to Starbucks every Saturday morning and treat ourselves to two coffees and one cake. Usually the traditional coffee or a berry cake is what wins out, but we've also tried the orange cranberry scone too and that's pretty yum. It's something we look forward to and obviously can't do every weekend (because things do come up on a Saturday morning) but we try to let our bodies get up naturally (around 7:30am) and head out. We also take a treat for Zola so she can partake in the fun too.

Well, last week I opted for their uber famous Pumpkin Spice Latte and was shocked at the price. I think my jaw dropped and the sweet checkout guy looked at me like I was losing my mind. I said, ridiculously enough, 'For a small coffee, it's almost five dollars...are you sure you took my order correctly?' He said it was correctly, I paid the steep price and walked out totally rolling my eyes. Why? Because I think it's rather ludicrous to pay that much for a coffee.

So the second we got home, I was hot on the search for the perfect (and moderately healthy/easy) pumpkin spice latte recipe. Found one HERE via Pinterest and added a few adjustments and then decided today was the day to get er done! Talk about starting your Friday off on the right foot, it's honestly scrumptious and perfect for our first official big time cold snap here in Austin. It's 52 degrees outside and I'm sipping on my P.S. Latte and loving it!

Adjustments from Motherload's recipe: I opted for 1 cup of normal coffee (don't want our lil' Man to be all amped up but if you want it strong, check out the recipe link above for the 'how to') and a tad bit more of the pumpkin pie spice. Love me some pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1 cup coffee

2 tablespoons vanilla

4 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon spice

2 heaping spoonfuls of pumpkin

2 tablespoons whipped topping/cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon for garnish

Directions:

Pour all of the ingredients into a pot and heat over medium-high heat until the coffee is steaming hot, whisking with a wire whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and a little frothy. Pour into mugs and top with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon and enjoy immediately. Or pour remaining latte into a glass container to re-heat later when you're ready for your second cup (this is what I did!)

All the ingredients in the pot...let's get that burner started!

Whisking non-stop created this yummy frothy goodness!

I poured the entire pot into a big Pyrex measuring cup. This also made it much easier to pour into my coffee mug, as you can see there were even a few counter spills during this process. I can't imagine if I was attempting to pour it into a mug...it would've been EVERYWHERE, ha!

Mmm, how amazing does that look? And literally this one is about 1/10 the price of the Starbucks version. Plus I'll be having P.S. Lattes for weeks to come...cha-ching!

Sidenote: I will still be partaking in the seasonal P.S. Latte from Starbucks so I'm not boycotting at all. But I do want to share THIS great deal (and I love this site too) for the weekend for anyone that has a Randall's/Safeway near by. What's the dealie-yo? $2 Starbucks drinks (Tazo Chai Latte, Pumpkin Spice Latte, and Salted Caramel Mocha) at all their in-store locations! I haven't tried the Salted Caramel Mocha but I'll surely be grabbing one tomorrow morning, on the way to our (get this) cloth diapering class, bwah haw haw! Oh wait, no I won't...I forgot that the deal is only after 2pm! Ok caffeine junkies, that's all you. But still wish us luck with our class!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Healthy and Hearty Meat Soup, Easy and Healthy Banana Whip Dessert, Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Recipe of the Week: Healthy and Hearty Meat (Veal) Soup

Mmm, there's something so amazingly comforting about a homemade soup or stew. As the temps drop and fall settles in, now is the perfect time to start experimenting and making new healthy versions for your family. Today's post features a recipe that we just threw together in hopes that it would turn out delish...and it did! I googled a ton of different veal soup recipes and found none that suited our needs and ingredient list. So I just made up my own!

I think that's the beauty of soup, you really can just throw it all in there. Read on for the recipe and a step-by-step tutorial. Again, this can be made with any sort of meat...it's just a really basic and yummy soup that's even better the second day, promise!

PS - Remember, if you have other hearty vegetables, use them! Use up that produce drawer and just throw in whatever you have...experimenting in the kitchen when you make your own soup is where it's at!

Healthy and Hearty Meat Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. thawed meat cut into 1-1 1/2 inch chunks

1 cup of celery, chopped into chunks

1 cup carrots, chopped into chunks

1 whole onion, chopped into chunks

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped potatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

4 whole garlic bulbs

1 tsp marjoram

1 tsp savory

32 oz. of any broth

 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large pot on medium-high heat. Brown your meat chunks until all sides are cooked/browned. Remove chunks from pot and place aside then add chopped onion to pot. Saute until onions are just tender and all meat browning scraps are scraped from the pot and added into sauted onion mixture. You want that yummy browned goodness mixed in. Add in broth, diced tomatoes garlic bulbs and re-add meat chunks to your onion mixture. Turn your soup down and simmer for 45 minutes. DO NOT BOIL!

Add vegetables and simmer for 45 minutes more, until all veggies are tender but not falling apart. If you're in a hurry (like we were) you can remove meat chunks and boil soup to tenderize added veggies. This saves about 30 minutes of cooking time. Add meat chunks back in at that end and put soup on low for 5 minutes before serving to re-heat meat chunks. Serve soup warm with any toppings you favor...we chose sour cream.

Scored some veal chunks on super sale so they've just been in our freezer, awaiting soup making weather. It finally arrived this week in Austin, yay!

On meat that's pre-cut into stew/soup sized chunks there's usually an explanation on how to use the meat. We love always reading their descriptions because they always have a great reminder (ie: do not boil or meat will toughen.) You can also ask the butcher about his favorite way to prepare any meat you purchase...they're such a great recipe resource at my local market.

See ya, celery...

Buh-bye fresh carrots...

And peace out, potatoes! You're going in my soup, yo!

Spices (I also added a bit of savory too), canned diced tomatoes and a whole onion...

And...I'm crying, always! I really do need those onion goggles or I just need to cut up a lemon. 

Browning the veal chunks in 2 tbsp. olive oil.

Set aside after browning process is done.

Cut up onions and stir, stir, stir. Getting all those little browned bits off the pan!

Adding in an entire package of chicken broth...while spilling it all over the counter too (on the left, ha!)

Four lil' garlic bulbs in the pot.

Simmering with meat added back in.

Added the vegetables and removed meat...or do the smart thing and remove meat chunks first and then add vegetables so you don't have to be fishing around for five minutes, like I was!

Meat chunks set aside till boiling is done.

Our yummy dinner! We just added bread and butter on the side since this really is a meal in a bowl.

And I love to top a hearty soup with a dollop of sour cream too...YUMMERS!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Easy and Healthy Banana Whip Dessert, Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Food and Drink: Top Ten to Try - Great Fall Recipes from Our Personal Collection

1. Feed a Crowd Our Homemade Chili - recipe HERE

2. Addictive Microwave Spiced Nuts - recipe HERE

3. Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers - recipe HERE

4. The Kitchn's 15 Minute Cream Biscuits - recipe HERE

 

5. The 'Always Good' Crockpot Pot Roast - recipe HERE

6. Delish and Easy Breakfast Strata - recipe HERE

7. The Eat Clean Diet's Meal in a Bowl Soup - recipe HERE

8. Easy Fruit Cobbler - recipe HERE

9. Healthy Lima Bean and Leek Soup - recipe HERE

10. Super Scrumptious Banana Bread - recipe HERE

Recipe of the Week: Daphne Oz's Banana Whip - Your New Favorite Healthy Frozen Treat

We mentioned our love of Daphne Oz and her awesomely easy and super healthy recipes HERE earlier in the month. Yep, she's Dr. Oz's daughter and cute as can be. We first spied her on the morning show circuit and immediately had to learn more. One of the super easy treats she created was a Banana Whip recipe. I watched her make it (HERE) and was shocked! As my fashion loving girl Rachel Zoe would deem, 'Seriously, that's bananas!'

Why might this recipe be my newest fave? A) it takes one ingredient and B) it takes 2 minutes to make. She repeatedly said, over and over again, how this treat replaced her love of ice cream. Yeah, shocker! Even though I know that would never be an option for me (I'm literally eating a huge bowl as I type this) it certainly piqued my interest and I had to give it a go! Check out the recipe below and our pic recap/review.

Banana Whip

Freeze 2 or 3 small to medium bananas overnight.

Blend in food processor or blender until smooth and creamy.

 

My two just ripe bananas...

Peeled and sliced into thirds/fourths.

Ready for the overnight freezer stay.

Frozen solid!

About to take a spin in our food processor.

So this is where things got sticky for us. Our food processor isn't super high tech or fancy and I just don't think it could get the job done, breaking up all those rock solid frozen banana chunks. 

It kept looking like this even after I'd rearrange the pieces and try to blend it again. Boo! (Daphne did point out that a Vitamix gets the job done with ease...maybe one day!)

So I improvised and added a splash of milk.

Yummers, that totally did the trick. It was creamy, light, refreshing and oh so tasty. Really, I'll just tell you that I was completely skeptical about this recipe. How in the world could/would I ever supplement my beloved ice cream for a processed banana. But guess what? It's possible! I'll be buying double the bananas today at the store to not only make this treat again, but make double so Walt can try too. It was an afternoon pick me up for me and it did just the trick in our scorchingly hot summer Texas temps! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Recipe of the Week: Healthy Egg Salad with Dill and Greek Yogurt

 

I'm a huge egg fan. Boiled, scrambled, over medium and deviled...you can't go wrong when you add me plus eggs. Today's post is a recipe we've been fussing over for months. The perfect egg salad that's healthy, tasty, light and fluffy. It's a great staple that's usually in our fridge every few weeks. I love to grab a spoon-full in the afternoon or plop some on an english muffin for a mid-morning snack. Read on for the pic tutorial and easy recipe.

PS - I know it's totally dorky and ridiculous to toot your own horn, but I'm bonkers proud of the image above. I mean, I want to jump right in and eat it up...yum!

Healthy Egg Salad with Dill and Greek Yogurt

8 large eggs, boiled and peeled

1/3 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tsp dill (or 1 tbsp fresh dill, minced)

1/2 tsp lemon juice

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Use an egg slicer, food processor or knife and chop all eggs into small bite sized pieces. In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix all other ingredients together. Combine eggs with mixture, but don't overmix. You want your egg salad fluffy and light. Taste egg salad and add more salt/pepper is desired. If egg salad isn't as moist as you'd like, you can add another dab of lemon juice too.

Five Easy Serving Options:

As a salad over lettuce and tomato

With lettuce, tomato on sandwich bread

In a hollowed out tomato

Over a tomato flower/floret and lettuce bed (above)

As a snack on a whole grain/low calorie english muffin

Bringing the eggs to a boil...

Said healthy dressing option...

The key to this...how much mayo you DON'T use and how much you substitute it with greek yogurt. 

Boiled goodness.

Ready for eggs!

Slicing them up!

Here...we...go!

Just a dab of lemon juice for that unexpected hint of flavor.

Mixed up...also, I always take a little taste (with a clean spoon, of course) to make sure I love it. 

Nope, we need more crushed black pepper.

Walt's sandwich and he was all smiles and said, I quote, three times...'That was such a great sandwich!' He was busy working on the nursery so he needed a big time re-fuel for energy maximus!

I opted for a lighter version...over a tomato flower!

I've also already made a mini mid-morning sandwich with my healthy english muffins!

On this lunch day for Hubby and I, we served it with fresh organic cherries. They're amazing right now!

Ok, this is totally just a bonus snippet. We had leftover black beans and rice from a previous burrito night. I didn't want it to go bad because it had fresh cilantro and salsa mixed in. So, what I did was saute some green peppers and onions until they were soft in a pan. I think added the 1/2 cup of leftover shredded chicken (also from our burrito night) just to warm it in the pan with the peppers and onions.

Then I layered the ingredients in a 9x9 baking dish. I put the beans and rice at the bottom, covered that layer with a thin layer of salsa. Topped the salsa with the green pepper, onion and shredded chicken mixture and heated everything in the microwave until hot. Then I added four pieces of organic cheddar cheese to cover the top and broiled it until the cheese melted and bubbled. Just for the record, this casserole ROCKED! We're both a huge, huge fan!

So, you know, in case you have some black beans, rice, shredded chicken and fresh veggies sitting around...make yourself your own version of our CC Mexican Pie tonight for dinner. Yum!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.

Recipe of the Week: Fresh Watermelon Juice Spritzer

Mmm, love me some fresh juice spritzers. The combo of fresh juice and a dose of carbonation just really screams summer and a cool down treat. We recently got a watermelon and just haven't been able to eat all of it. I loathe (actually hate) when fresh produce goes bad. So instead of seeing this melon go bad, I thought I'd juice it up. Our juicer was a great investment that we've loved for years. 

So the recipe is simple, use your favorite fresh juice and mix it with equal parts sparkling water. Yep, that's it. Doesn't get much easier than that, does it? We're actually drinking more sparkling water these days and we love this HEB version above from our local supermarket. They have just a hint of fruit flavor. This week's pick? Grapefruit. So my fresh watermelon spritzer was mixed with grapefruit sparkling water. Sound bizarre? Oh but it was superb! The step-by-step is below.

There really isn't anything better than super cold watermelon.

The Breville juicer kickin' it...just doin' its thang!

If you've never had fresh watermelon juice, you are seriously missing out. One of the most refreshing treats ever.

Here's our fave new sparkling water. Actually, let me rephrase that. Maybe it's more of my fave new beverage. I actually think Walt had a sip and was like, 'Woah, that's not very good!' A few sips later and he said it was better. So yeah, vamping it up with some yummy fruit juice and he's on board!

Mix 1/2 parts sparkling water...

With 1/2 parts watermelon juice and bam, you have yourself a refreshing treat. Sip and enjoy!

Take a minute and check out our other awesome weekly recipe re-caps we've featured so far: Bon Appetit's Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Flavored Soda, Momma's Breakfast Strata, Quick and Easy Shredded Chicken and Black Olive Enchiladas, Yo Momma Blind Man Barbecue Chicken, Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Banana Bread, Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas, Homemade Ziti, Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, Maple BBQ Turkey Sloppy Joe's, BHG's Greek Spinach Veggie Burgers, Mark Bittman's Chicken in a Pot, My Momma's Monkey Bread, CC Hubby's Easy Chicken Parmesan, Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew with Green Olives and Asparagus/Edamame Salad, Ryan's Poached Egg Breakfast Ramekin Surprise, Momma's Homemade Chili,  Christina's Paprika Chicken, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats, Momma's Crockpot Pot Roast, Vanessa Barrington's Almond Milk, Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie, Sweet Frozen Lime Slices, Amy's Awesome Homemade Pizza Crust, Brownie Caramel (Pecan) Cake, Papa Horner's Grill Top Paella, What's New Cupcake's Chocolate Chunk Surprise, Green Monster Smoothie, Bacon/Onion Compote Served on Crostini with Gruyere, Eat Clean's Meal in a Bowl Soup, Elie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth, Williams Sonoma's Cauliflower with Orange Zest and Green Onion, Williams Sonoma's Summer Fruit Parfaits, Williams Sonoma's Grilled Beef Fillets with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce, Eat Clean's Tam's Constitutional Muffins, Healthy for Life's Stuffed Peppers, Mango, Dill and Cilantro Gazpacho, Women's Health Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew, Real Simple's Vegetarian Tacos, Aunt Beth's Pineapple Souffle, 15 Minute Cream Biscuits, Sunset Magazine's North Indian Style Spinach Chicken, Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread, Jordan's Momma's Quiche Lorraine, Shelby's Leek and Lima Bean Soup, Rosemary Grilled Kabobs, Homemade Tomato Soup, Easy Fruit Cobbler, Macho Man Meatballs, Super Bowl Dip Trio, Nana's No Bake Cheesecake, Rum Cake and Microwave Spiced Nuts.