Very Fruity Green Smoothie

This smoothie is sure to put some zip in your step! It's really good and refreshing! What a wonderful way to start the day.  I hope you'll give this one a try.


Very Fruity Green Smoothie

1 whole orange, skin removed
1 cup frozen raspberries (or any berries)
1 cup chopped pineapple
2 ribs celery
2 cups baby spinach leaves (or greens of choice)

Instructions:
Blend all ingredients until smooth and serve.

Very Fruity Green Smoothie

Mango Raspberry Green Smoothie

 I know, this doesn't look very appetizing.  I promise that it tastes way better than it looks.  If you can't stand the way it looks go ahead & put it in a sports bottle or a non-see through cup & use a straw. Your body will thank you!

Mango Raspberry Green Smoothie

1 mango (fresh or frozen)
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
3 handfuls of your favorite greens
1 cup water (more if using both fruits as frozen)

Blend greens with water, add in mango and raspberries, and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

Mango Raspberry Green Smoothie

Lemon, Cucumber, and Basil Infused Water

I found this recipe this morning & I just had to make it right away.  I'm not a big fan of plain water, so anything that can help bring some life to boring plain water is win in my books!  This water is really, really good.  Will certainly cool you off while you're sitting in the sun. :)

Lemon, Cucumber, and Basil Infused Water
Original recipe found here

10 thin slices of lemon
10 thin slices of cucumber
10 small leaves of basil, ripped
3-4 cups of water

Put in fridge and let stand for at least 1 hour.

Lemon, Cucumber, and Basil Infused Water

Luscious Pineapple-Orange Salad

This is a very light & refreshing salad! It would be perfect on a scorching hot summer day too.  It only takes minutes to prepare, but you'll want to let it set for a few minutes to allow the fruit juices to "dress" the greens. That's right - this is a salad dressing free salad! Don't worry you won't miss it. :) Also this would be really good with sprouts added. I didn't have the foresight to have sprouts made, but next time I will.

Luscious Pineapple-Orange Salad

1 cup chopped pineapple
1 orange (peeled & chopped)
4-5 handfuls of your favorite greens (I used mixed greens and baby spinach)
2 handfuls of your favorite sprouts

Place the greens in a large bowl. Add fruits & sprouts (if using) and mix all together. Allow to sit for a few minutes so the fruit juices can "dress" the greens.  Eat slowly & enjoy!

Luscious Pineapple-Orange Salad

Banana Mango Green Smoothie

It's been a long time since I've posted a new green smoothie recipe. I'm doing a green smoothie detox this week, so plan on sharing some of the new things I make.  This is a lovely, creamy green smoothie thanks to the addition of mango. I used a whole celery stick in this green smoothie. If you have never tried using celery in your green smoothies, it does give it a different taste. I really would recommend starting out with a half stick of celery and building up to using more.

Banana Mango Green Smoothie

2 bananas (fresh or frozen)
1 mango (fresh or frozen)
3 large handfuls baby spinach
1 celery stick (use less if new to using celery in smoothies)
1 cup water

Put ingredients in blender in best order for your blender (I do the greens first), use the celery stick to push everything down to the blender blade, eventually blending the celery too.

Enjoy!

Banana Mango Green Smoothie

Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet

On Saturdays I try to cook something new; this was one of the recent meals I picked. And it's absolutely going to be on the rotation to have again. Everyone just loved it.  The original recipe called for a lot more of the ingredients than I used, yet mine still made a huge amount. All 5 of us had this on Saturday and then again for lunch on Sunday. My husband and teenage son are big eaters, so that gives you an idea of how much this makes. :)  I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet
Adapted from The English Kitchen

Ingredients:

500g box uncooked pasta (I used Tortiglioni pasta, because it's my favorite. Use whatever you like)
1 lb (500kg) of extra lean ground beef
6 slices bacon
1/2 onion, peeled and diced
2  cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cans tomato soup
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp mixed herbs (I used oregano, parsley and basil - just use whatever you have on hand, it'll be great)
8 ounces extra strong cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove with and set aside to drain. Add the ground beef, onions and garlic to the drippings. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the beef is lightly browned and the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the herbs. Crumble inthe cooked bacon. Add the ketchup and tomato soup. Bring to the boil, then simmer while you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions until tender. Once tender, drain well and then stir into the beef mixture. Add 3/4 of the cheddar cheese and stir it in to melt, then sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top and allow to melt.

I served this with a nice spinach salad.

Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet

Sesame Chicken

Tonight I made Sesame Chicken. When I lived in Michigan there was a great Chinese restaurant that served sesame chicken and it was so good! This is my attempt at satisfying the craving for it and it does an awesome job. Plus it's a lot healthier than the version from the restaurant - that was fried.

I was able to make this whole meal in about 30 minutes. So it's definitely a great weeknight meal! I made some stir-fry veggies in a separate pan and served it all over a bed of  rice. You can use any veggies or rice you like.

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; cut into strips or bite sized pieces
1 TB olive oil
1/4 cup honey (I use a local honey)
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari sauce
1/2 cup water
1 TB cornstarch
1 tsp ground ginger
1 TB toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Cook chicken for about 6-8 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Mix together honey, soy sauce, water, cornstarch and ginger. Wisk until no cornstarch lumps appear.

Pour sauce into skillet with chicken.

Cook until sauce thickens slightly. You can add more water if sauce gets too thick.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken starts to soak up the sauce.

Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken

Zucchini Bread

Picture coming soon!

I made this zucchini bread on Sunday night. Today is Tuesday and the kids finished off the second loaf this afternoon. Yes, the kids liked zucchini bread! I'm heading back to the farmers market tomorrow to get more zucchini so I can make more bread. Probably a few loaves to put in the freezer too.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup organic coconut oil
1/2 applesauce (I used homemade from the freezer)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar (I use raw organic)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini

Directions:

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Sift flours, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in the zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Adapted from Mom's Zucchini Bread on AllRecipes.com

Zucchini Bread

Glazed Pork Chops

I made these for supper tonight and what a hit!  My 13 year old son was asking if there would be leftovers to take to school before he even finished eating.  These will certainly be back on the menu again.  Added bonus is that they were super easy to make! Hope you enjoy!

Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients:

5 pork chops
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine the brown sugar and spices.

Rub the brown sugar/spice mix all over both sides of the pork chops. Use all of the spice mix.

Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium/high heat. When the oil is nice and hot, add the pork chops. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until they are nicely browned.

If you are using an oven safe skillet, place the skillet in the oven for an additional 5 minutes to make sure they are cooked through. Otherwise, transfer the chops to a baking sheet lined with foil then place in the oven.

Remove the chops from the oven and drag each side around in the thick glaze that has formed around the chops.

Adapted from Budget Bytes

Glazed Pork Chops

Chocolate Strawberry & Oat Energy Bars

I love these bars. A friend introduced them to me awhile ago and I have been making them nearly every other week since then. Now that school is back in session I cut one bar in half and send each of the kids a little square once in awhile in their lunch. I feel a lot better about them eating these oat bars then I would store bought granola bars.  I don't worry about all the preservatives and I know these are realatively healthy.  And they are far more filling too! {sorry for the poor picture quality}

Chocolate Strawberry & Oat Energy Bars
Makes 16 or more bars depending on how you cut them {16 bars @ 172 calories each}

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk {I used almond mylk}
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup carob chips
1/4 cup strawberry jam, melted
1/4 cup carob chips, melted

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a 7 X 11 X 2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease lightly.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, vanilla/white granulated sugar, egg, milk, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the sugars have dissolved.
In a separate bowl, combine oats, all flours, baking soda and chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Add to liquid mixture and mix well. Transfer to the prepared tin and spread uniformly.

You can bake as is at this point, or spread a 1/4 cup of melted preserves on top with an offset spatula/butter knife and then bake.

Bake 20-30 minutes until golden.Remove from oven and spread the melted chocolate over it and allow to cool until firm.

Once cool, chill for about an hour for the chocolate to set. Cut into bars/ squares and store tightly covered. Refrigerate if the weather is warm because the chocolate will melt. These bars keep well in an airtight box in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Adapted from Passionate About Baking

Chocolate Strawberry & Oat Energy Bars

Healthy Basic Granola

I love this granola! It smells so good while it's cooking.  It's tangy and sweet, but not too sweet. And it's completely customizable - take out what you don't like and throw in whatever you do like. Mix it up, be creative. :)

Healthy Basic Granola
Makes 25, 1/4 cup servings (142 calories)

Ingredients:

4 cups organic rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds
2 tbsp flax seeds
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
1/3 cup local honey
1/3 cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
1 cup dried cranberries, or favorite dried chopped fruit

Directions:

Heat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, nuts, flax seeds, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisk the oil, honey, and apple juice in measuring cup.

Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Spread onto a large sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, around 30-50 minutes, depending on oven.

Remove granola from the oven and allow to cool completely, stirring occasionally. Add cranberries. Store cooled granola in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Healthy Basic Granola

Asian Baked Pork Chops

Let me start off by saying not everyone in my family is a fan of pork chops. These pork chops will be made again! Everyone (including daddy) loved them! I looked up and they had cleared their plates. These were so incredibly easy to make. If you are looking for something a little different to do with your pork chops, I highly recommend this recipe.

Baked Asian Pork Chops
Originally found on Cully's Kitchen

2-5 boneless pork chops
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced

Directions:

1. Brown the pork chops on both sides.
2. Place in a greased casserole dish. (or use cooking spray)
3. Combine all the ingredients and pour over the pork chops.
4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Turn the chops over after about 30 minutes into the cooking cycle.

Asian Baked Pork Chops

Butter and Garlic Potatoes

This is a really good and easy side dish. One of the ways everyone in our house will eat potatoes too.  You can use any kind of potato that you like. Tonight I used new potatoes because they are in season and so good.

Garlic and Butter Potatoes 

5 or 6 medium potatoes, boiled
Butter
Garlic powder
Parsley
Salt

Directions:

1. Drain the boiled potatoes and place in a serving bowl. Using a knife cut them into bite sized pieces. 
2. In a small bowl add butter (about 1/4 cup is what I use) a little bit of garlic powder, parsley and salt. Melt in microwave for about 1 minute, or until butter is melted. Stir well and pour over potatoes
3. Mix the potatoes gently with a large spoon, taking care not to break them.

Click to save and print

Butter and Garlic Potatoes

Peanut Butter Cookies

Today I took the kids for some back to school shopping.  We bought 1 backpack and 2 lunch bags...$75.00! When did going back to school become so expensive? I'm dreading going to buy the sneakers and clothes. Hold me? lol   Since the kids can't take peanut butter to their schools, I generally don't do much cooking with peanut butter during the school year. Today it was cool so I figured if I was going to bake peanut butter cookies it was a great day to do it.  Here is the recipe I used and they are delicious! Very reminiscent of the recipe I used to love about 15 years ago and lost.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 4 dozen

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine butter, peanut butter, sugar vanilla and egg, beating until light and fluffy. Stir together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly.
2. Shape into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Flatten with fork tines in a criss cross pattern.
3. Bake at 350 °F. for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Drop Sugar Cookie

Last night I was trying to think of a quick cookie I could make to send in lunches for the kids today. I decided to go with these, it only took me about an hour total to make them (cleaned up the kitchen while they baked), so not too bad at all. It made 4 dozen cookies using my cookie dough scoop.  One other note about these cookies you want to pull them out of the oven before they are golden brown. Last night I cooked them around 8 minutes. They didn't look really done, but let them cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack.  They will melt in your mouth. If they get golden brown they are still good but very crunchy.

Drop Sugar Cookies
makes 4 dozen

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar, egg, canola oil, vanilla & almond extracts.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda & salt. Add to creamed mixture & mix thoroughly.
3. Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with fork & top with sprinkles (if desired).
4. Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack.

Click to save & print 

Drop Sugar Cookie

Pizza Roll-Up

Today was the first time I've made the kids a bento box styled lunch.  For their main dish today I made pizza roll-ups.  These were very easy to make this morning and both kids said they liked them.

Pizza Roll-Up
makes 1 roll up

1 8-inch whole-wheat flour tortilla
2 tablespoon prepared pizza sauce
6-12 leaves baby spinach
5-6 slices of turkey pepperoni
3 tablespoon shredded part-skim mozzarella

Directions:

Place tortilla on a plate and spread pizza sauce over it. Top with an even layer of spinach, pepperoni and sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave on High until the cheese is just melted, about 45 seconds. Carefully roll the tortilla up. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing into pieces, if desired.

Pizza Roll-Up

Spinach, Mushroom & Feta Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I made these two weeks ago and the kids have been bugging me to make them again, so tonight's the night.  They are really good - I mean if kids are going to ask for potatoes that contain spinach they must be good right?

Ingredients

6 baking potatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
approx 8 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
8 ounces goat feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Bake the potatoes until cooked through, about 50 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet; add the spinach and cook until wilted. Stir in the vinegar and cook for 1 minute. Add the spinach to the mushrooms; add the feta and stir until mostly melted. Stir in the pine nuts and dill; season with salt and pepper.
4. Cut each potato in half, scoop out potato, and add to the spinach, mushroom & feta mixture.  Mix throughly and scoop back into potato skins. 

Spinach, Mushroom & Feta Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Giant M&M Oatmeal Cookies

Last fall I wrote this post about a cookie recipe I lost and tried to recreate. Well, I found the recipe! And I made them...and they were just as good as I remembered. Now I want to share the recipe with you. The recipe as I'm going to give it makes huge cookies - like bakery style huge. You can certainly make them like normal cookies but I would watch the cook time since it won't need to be as long.

Giant M&M Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour (I used 1 cup all purpose & 2/3 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups mini candy-coated chocolate pieces
1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325F. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well.
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate pieces, and raisins; mix well. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake at 325F for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets

Giant M&M Oatmeal Cookies

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

I made this soup yesterday for lunch, it makes a huge pot so I'll have lots for lunches for quite a few days or I can freeze it when I'm tired of eating it.  It turned out really good, so I thought I would share the recipe with all of you. :)

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
1 large carrot, quartered and sliced
2 stalk of celery, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
2-3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of vegetable cocktail
7 cups of vegetable stock
1 (28oz) can whole tomatoes (broken up)
1/2 a medium white cabbage, cored and sliced (about 4 cups)
2 cups cooked white navy beans(drained)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 TB. Italian Seasoning
2 zucchinis, halved lengthwise then sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, add your olive oil over medium-high heat. Add your onions, carrots celery, green peppers, bay leaves and saute for 7-10 minutes to soften.
2. Add your vegetable cocktail juice, stock, tomatoes, cabbage, beans, garlic, pepper, and Italian seasoning and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for 40-45 minutes.
3. Add your zucchini and simmer for 5 minutes to cook. Serve hot. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

I love my crock pot! It's great on busy days or days I just want to get supper prep over and done with early.  This is one of our new favorite recipes to use with stew meat. It's easy, smells great cooking and tastes even better.  And it's a kid pleaser. :)  Steam a big bowl of veggies or add a big tossed salad to this and you've got a great meal.

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup water
1/4 cup flour

Directions:

1. Place meat in crockpot and cover with sliced onion.
2. Combine garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, paprika and mustard Stir in water, mix well, and pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. 
3. Turn control to high. Dissolve flour in a small amount of cold water and stir into meat mixture.
4. Cook on high for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
5. Serve over noodles or rice.

Click to save & print

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash