Crunchy Broccoli Slaw

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon
1 large head broccoli
1/2 cup diced cheese
1/2 cup mayo
3 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS honey
salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook bacon and drain grease. Crumble and set aside.
Cut broccoli stems included into small piecies and place in a bowl with bacon and diced cheese(could add optional onions and raisins).
Whisk together mayo, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour dressing over mix and serve.

Chia Seed Jam

We have started ordering our produce from Bountiful Baskets and are so happy with the selection, quality and quantity we are receiving every other week. I split my order with a neighbor so we can order more of the "special" items. This week alongside our conventional basket we ordered 10 lbs of strawberries and 13.5 lbs of apricots. I was so excited to make jam for my family and started to research Chia Seed Jam recipes. When purchasing jam and jelly in the stores they are often packed full of artificial dyes so we have struggled to find something that we love for a good price AND dye free.

After making these jams I will never go back to store bought. Between what we get from my husband's grandmother - who makes the best jam and jelly on the planet and what I now can make so easily at home we are well stocked.

Chia Seed Jam

Ingredients:
2 TBS Chia Seeds
4 TBS Filtered Water
2 lbs Fruit (we used apricots, strawberry, and strawberry banana)
Honey to taste (or any other sweetener of your choice)

Directions:
Mix chia seeds and water together and let sit for 10-15 minutes soaking. Clean, dice and put into a food processor your fruit of choice. Add honey and puree fruit until smooth. Add in the chia seeds and water mixture to the processor and blend 3-4 minutes. Let set in fridge for one hour - as the jam sits the chia seeds will expand and make the jam thicker.

Freezer and Storage Tips
You can take this jam once jarred and freeze for up to 6 months. Make sure your lid is on tight and that you left a little room at the top for expanding. No canning or sealing process needed.

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

My parents have been using Chia Seeds for many years and I hear from so many other people how wonderful the health benefits are. This week I got brave and decided to make a recipe that I have been staring at for several months. I was thrilled with the outcome and am now completely addicted!

First off Chia Seeds are considered a "superfood" because of being able to give maximum nutrients with such few calories. The seeds are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and have a high amount of protein and fiber. (2 TBS contain 11 grams of fiber which is 40% of your daily value) - thus keeping you feeling full longer. To see a more completed list check out the Top 10 Health Benefits of Chia Seeds. 

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 3 TBS raw chia seeds
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (coconut, soy, reg milk, etc)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS maple syrup or raw local honey
pinch of sea salt (I used celtic but kosher would also work)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and cover tightly  - Refrigerate over night or at least 4 hours (longer the better) - Stir and mix in your add ins and enjoy!

Kitchen Notes:
* To thicken pudding replace 1 cup of the milk with 1 cup yogurt (dairy free yogurt works great too).
* I loved the mix of the honey and vanilla in the pudding.
* The consistency is much like tapioca pudding - YUM!
* I added sliced bananas and coconut to my first batch and it was SO good!
* Visit Domesticate Me website for the original version of the recipe and ALL the awesome add ins she has come up with - the options are endless. PLUS photos!!!!

Spinach Banana Muffins

Here I go again looking for a good muffin recipe that includes tons of veggies. We love spinach at our house - in fact our little won't eat scrambled eggs if they aren't loaded with spinach and garlic. She will actually turns them away if they aren't loaded and green!  

Right now the craze seems to be juicing and while we love smoothies at our house we don't have a good enough blender or juicer to really dig into this one. Therefore I turn to making muffins because they are such a great way to pack in veggies and are filling for our little for breakfast and snacks. 

While making these we both were skeptical and the color really surprised me but they turned out amazing. We both ate 3 and could have had a 4th but stopped ourselves. They would be perfect for St. Patty's Day! 

Spinach Banana Muffins
adapted from Full Belly Farm

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, packed
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the first 7 ingredients in a food processor and puree.
3. Place the remaining ingredients in food processor and pulse just until combined.
6. Scoop batter into a greased mini muffin tins
7. Bake for 8 minutes or until the muffin top springs back when you gently push on it.

Kitchen Notes:
I doubled this recipe and it made about 65 mini muffins - freeze great! 

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I have to record this recipe before I forget. Dinner tonight was amazing! It was so simple and easy to put together and would be perfect for mixing up ahead of time on days that we are all busy at work and school.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:
1-2 chicken breasts diced small
1/2 onion diced
1 cup mushrooms diced
1/2 cup red peppers diced
dash of garlic garlic
3 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS red wine vinegar
romaine lettuce

Directions:
Dice chicken and veggies - almost mince them. Saute together until chicken is cooked. Add garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar toss to coat and let cook until the liquid is gone. Cool and serve on romaine lettuce leaves.

Kale and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Our daughter is a mini - me of my husband not only in looks but in food taste. They love any type of mexican food and together they can go through a costco pack of tortillas in about two weeks (48 tortillas!!!).  Thus meaning I am always looking for ways to expand our mexican selection of foods in our house. We do a lot of tacos, nachos, fajitas, enchiladas, etc and everything is LOADED with veggies. I love making sweet potato and black bean quesadillas for example. My husband, being from New Mexico, can never get it spicy enough and our daughter loves the variety of what you can do with a tortilla! 

This week I wanted to expand on the sweet potato quesadilla so I added fresh organic kale. They turned out so good. I actually started out making a plain cheese and garlic quesadilla for our little but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. Instead she ate 1/2 of a loaded kale and sweet potato one. Love that my family craves veggies and loves fun quesadilla variations! 


Kale and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Ingredients:
Tortillas (2 per quesadilla)
2 TBS coconut oil
Kale (1 bundle)
Sweet Potato (2 med sized)
Mushrooms (1 cup)
Onion (1 small)
Cheese (shredded)

Seasonings (celtic sea salt, garlic from TS, cumin)

Optional Toppings:
sour cream (green valley makes a great lactaid free one)
guac or diced avocado
salsa

Directions:
Dice sweet potatoes and onions finely and saute until soft in coconut oil. Mash roughly then add diced mushrooms and roughly chopped kale then add your seasonings. Cook until kale is tender. 

Lay tortilla in a hot skillet and add cheese and sweet potato and kale mixture, top with second tortilla. Lightly brown tortilla on both sides then slice into triangles. Serve with your toppings. 

Banana Carrot Muffins

We have been on a muffin kick lately. A couple weeks ago I posted a great recipe for Apple Carrot Muffins and it got me thinking about other ways to use a mix of fruit and veggies in muffins. I wanted something that I could serve our toddler for breakfast and also make a healthy snack. Both of these recipes make a ton of muffins in mini muffin form and freeze great! 

Whole Wheat Banana Carrot Muffins
makes 5 dozen mini muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups finely chopped/grated carrot
• ¼ cup quick cooking oats
• ¼ cup coconut
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 2 ripe bananas mashed into a paste
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix till combines. The mixtures will be quite hard. If it looks too dry add a little more yogurt. Don’t be tempted to make it too watery.

Scoop the batter into the greased mini muffin tray. And bake till done, approximately 10 minutes.

Mardi Gras - Jambalaya, King Cake, Crafts and more!

Happy Mardi Gras! 

I honestly never even knew what Mardi Gras was ... ok I still don't know much about it. However, my husband's family (mother's side) is from New Orleans and so there are a couple fun traditions that we wanted to make sure we shared with our children.

I had never attempted to make any kind of traditional New Orleans food - failure was a huge fear as my husband grandmother is an incredible cook.  After having her Jambalaya several years ago I just never could convince myself to give it a try in our kitchen. This year I dove right in! I just searched for a basic recipe that sounded like it had good flavor. It was a total hit! We all loved it and it made a tons so of course we had plenty of leftovers to freeze for another meal in a month or so.

We also celebrated by making Jester hats in the traditional Mardi Gras colors - purple, yellow and green. Pandora provided a great New Orleans Jazz station to jam to. Finally we enjoyed a store bought King Cake - it will take a while to find that baby but it is always fun to see who will be the lucky winner!

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• 1 (16-ounce) package spicy hickory-smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 pound unpeeled medium-size fresh shrimp
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 
  
• Directions:
• Brown sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings in pan. Add onion and bell pepper, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 more minute.
• Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients.
• Peel shrimp, and devein, if desired.
• Stir in shrimp and green onions; cook 2 to 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.
• 
  
• Kitchen Notes:
• * I used "hot" smoked sausage from Hillshire Farms
• * Subbed green pepper for diced red pepper
• * Used 1.5 cups brown rice instead of white
• * Used Trader Joe's Mixed Seafood (calamari, shrimp, scallops - frozen) 
• * Omitted green onion
• * Makes a Large pot - enough to freeze for 2-4 meals later

Carrot Apple Muffins

A couple weeks ago we bought some Almond Poppyseed Muffins in the clearance bakery section at our local grocery store. I had no reason to buy them other than there were 15 mini muffins for $0.89. After bringing them home my toddler saw them on the counter and begged to have one. She ate 3 in the first sitting and the next morning wanted 2 more for breakfast with her banana. I had no idea when I bought them how much she would love them and my husband and I would consume zero! 

It got me thinking... why have I not pulled up some good muffin recipes and made big batches to freeze?  So I started looking for recipes, specially ones that included some veggies and whole wheat too. She loves squash so zucchini muffins are a must on the list but I wanted something different than those and banana ones. We already eat a lot of zucchini and banana breads. 

I found this recipe Whole Foods website and was a little skeptical but it turns out the whole family loves them! You can find the original recipe here... because as always I change it up a little bit! 

Carrot Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 3/4 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and place in muffin tins or mini muffin tins (line with papers and or spray with nonstick spray). Bake at 350 until done (20 mins for reg muffins and 10 mins for minis). Let cool enjoy! 

Kitchen Notes:

* These are great to freeze - I just put in a ziplock bag and labeled so I can pull them out for a quick breakfast later. 

* Want them as a sweet treat for dessert? Add a cream cheese or vanilla frosting! YUM 

Porcupines

I often ask my husband what he wants on the grocery list and dinner menu. He often doesn't really have any suggestions... so when he does I run with it! About a month ago he asked for Porcupines - I didn't even know what he was talking about! I promptly went to a google search and found a couple recipes and read them to him. Once we found what he thought he recalled from childhood we were ready to go. 

This were actually very good! I will for sure be making these again as they are pretty easy and they even freeze great! 

Porcupines

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef (could sub turkey)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder (or sub TS Garlic Garlic!!) 
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 cup water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, 1/2 cup of water and onion. Blend in salt, celery salt, garlic powder and pepper. Mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the meatballs; drain fat.
3. In an 11x7 inch baking dish, combine the tomato sauce and 1 cup of water. Place the browned meatballs into the tomato sauce, turning to coat well.
4. Cover and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Cauliflower Mash

My toddler lately has been on a veggie strike. She use to eat every veggie in sight and then she came down with a bad stomach virus and decided that she would rather live on pancakes and fruit with the once in a while piece of chicken. 
We are a huge veggie eating family so I knew I needed to just keep trying with her and she would come back around. 
I don't have anything against hiding veggies but I do at some point want her to know and identify what she is eating so that she can make her own healthy choices. 
I have always been intrigued by subbing cauliflower for potatoes when making "mashed potatoes". I have known parents with great success with this so decided to give it a try. 
It turned out amazing! Even my husband who could take or leave cauliflower enjoyed the recipe. Our toddler ate 2 servings at dinner and another 2 servings at lunch the following day. That means this one is a winner for sure! 

Cauliflower Mash

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 TBS EVOO
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated parm cheese (can use dairy free alternative)
1 TBS cream cheese (we love Green Valley Lactose Free) 
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add cauliflower, cover, and steam until tender, about 10 minutes.

1. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat; cook and stir garlic until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

1. Transfer half the cauliflower to a food processor; cover and blend on high. Add remaining cauliflower florets, one at a time, until vegetables are creamy. Blend in garlic, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, salt, and black pepper.

Chicken and Eggplant Parm

We have about .5 inch of snow. Nothing compared to what most of you have currently in the midwest. However sandwiched between 50/60 degree days it makes it chilly around here. I think comfort food - then I think slow cooker - then I think Chicken and Eggplant Parm... YUM!

Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
salt/pepper
Tastefully Simple Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning
2 cups bread crumbs
EVOO
1 cup parm cheese
1 eggplant - sliced thin
15 oz can tomato sauce
2 TBS Tastefully Simple Mama Mia Marinara Mix
Mozzarella Cheese
*** Both Cheeses (moz and parm) can be purchased dairy free from Daiya

Directions:
* Beat together eggs and add salt, pepper, and Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning - dip chicken into egg mixture and then into bread crumbs.
* Place coated chicken into a hot skillet drizzled with EVOO. Brown on both sides then remove and drain on a paper toweled lined plate.
* Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray - layer eggplant in bottom of cooker and top with 1/4 cup parm cheese and 1/4 cup sauce (use the can of tomato sauce and add 2 TBS of Mama Mia mix to make sauce)
* Add chicken then layer with remaining parm and sauce. Top with Mozzarella.
* Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3-4.

Garlic Honey Chicken

We are big chicken eaters at our house. Our daughter loves chicken and I don't want to feed her chicken nuggets every week of her life even if I do make them from scratch. I am always looking for new chicken recipes and this one we discovered a couple months ago and love.

Garlic Honey Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 cups honey - we love the raw from Costco
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup evoo
2 cloves garlic or 1 TBS TS Garlic Garlic
sesame seeds

Directions:
* Place chicken in slow cooker, season with salt and pepper.
* Combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, evoo, and garlic in medium bowl. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or hight for 3-4.
* Garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Freezer Meal It:
* Take all ingredients and dump in freezer bag, seal and label. Ready to through in slow cook when you are! Easy Peasy!

Beef and Veggie Stir Fry

I grew up on Stir Fry. It was a staple in our home. My parents both worked and were busy with the two of us girls. They did an incredible job raising us... I mean look at us now... well me at least - just kidding sister of mine! (hugs to you - wish you were closer)

Anyways - it was a great way to again use up those veggies that might go to compost or trash. I still love a good stir fry. At our home currently we are working on getting more protein in my daughters diet. She loves chicken, salmon, beans and nut butters but isn't so swell on red meat. Not really an issue for me personally and if she turns out to never care for it that is her choice to make. However I want to make sure I offer it to her in a variety of ways so that she can make that choice.

This past week when I was planning my freezer meals for the month I saw there was some great beef on sale. I stocked up with a family size package and decided to add beef stew, beef stroganoff and a beef stir fry to the menu. The stir fry is random with random veggies and that is just how a good stir fry should be!

Beef Stir Fry

Ingredients:
Cubed Beef - bite size pieces
Cubed Veggies - bite size pieces (i.e. - broc, carrots, onion, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, peppers, garlic, turnips, beets, parsnips, tomatoes - I could go on forever!)
Seasoning of your choice
EVOO

Directions:
* Cube all meat and veggies and place in a hot saute pan coated with EVOO. Season, Stir and Fry until meat is throughly cooked and veggies are tender. Serve with noodles, rice, baked potatoes, etc.

Kitchen Tips and Tricks: 
* Any veggies work and really fruit - pineapple would be a good add in and even mango
* Make these into Kabobs and broil them in oven or grill on your patio!
* Seasonings we love are Tastefully Simple's Garlic Pepper Seasoning - TS Garlic Garlic - TS Onion Onion - TS Season Salt - etc. For a full list of seasonings we currently carry go HERE

*** If you are just dying to know exactly what I did THIS time - beef cubes, diced onion, carrot, mix of yellow and green squash with TS Garlic Pepper seasoning with a little celtic sea salt. Serving with baked sweet potatoes topped with choice of brown sugar or butter garlic sauce - we love garlic :)

Freezer Meal It:
* Dice it all up and add seasoning and a little EVOO or water to help mix in seasoning. Place in freezer bag, label, seal. Done!

Beef Stew

Another great comfort food for our family is Beef Stew. It offers a great way to use some up veggies that might otherwise go in the compost around our house. Normally my recipe is never the same but here is some ideas for you to try out.

Beef Stew 

(photo credit) 

Ingredients:
1 lb diced stew meat
1/4 cup flour
3 TBS EVOO
1 cup dried sherry or a rich port wine
3 cups beef stock
Veggies - (carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onion, beets, parsnips, potatoes, squash, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
* Brown meat in a pan with flour and EVOO.
* Pour in dried sherry or rich port wine to soak up drippings from pan. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone - I like to leave about 3 TBS of liquid just to coat the veggies.
* Put mixture in slow cooker and add stock and chopped veggies.
* Salt and Pepper
* Cook on low 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Variations and Tips:
* Go crazy with veggies - we go for seasonal ones at our house but use anything you might have.
* The cheaper the meat the better it will be in your stew - seriously. It is gong to soak and slow cook all day long. It will be good - promise!
* Omit the sherry/wine - why would you miss an opportunity to not add this nice relaxing touch to your food? - but go ahead nobody is watching you....
* We love this served with homemade bread, butter and jam. I use my bread maker - life saver in my kitchen!

Freezer Meal It:
* Follow step 1 and 2 but instead of placing meat in slow cooker LET COOL and add to a freezer meal bag. Throw in your mixed diced veggies of choice.
* Seal and Label
* When ready to cook dump bag in slow cooker - add salt and pepper and cook.

Slow - Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I love a good Beef Stroganoff. It is a total comfort food for me and now that I have discovered my "little" loves it as much as my husband and I do I have to bring it back to my menu rotation.

I will warn you this recipe I made this week and stocked in my freezer is NOT lactose free friendly. It does contain dairy but if you are looking for some great dairy free recipes for stroganoff there are some great vegan ones I have posted that my family highly recommends!

Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff - includes 2 recipes, the second one is my favorite served with garlic mashed potatoes!

(photo credit) 

However, here is a "breaking the rules" dairy recipe...

Slow - Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 lb beef tips - cubed to bite size pieces
1 small onion - diced
1 can mushroom soup (can use cream of mushroom or make your own which IS dairy free: my Homemade recipe)
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup water
4 oz cream cheese (you can buy dairy free, Green Valley Brand makes a great one)

Directions:
* Combine all ingredients (minus cream cheese) in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. Add cream cheese and stir. Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes and a veggie of your choice.

Variations and Tips:
* Add mushrooms and or garlic!
* Sub the onion for Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion seasoning.
* If you are up for it and make a big batch of cream of mushroom soup it freezes really great. I freeze mine in 10.5 oz cups and then I am ready to go quicker than going to the store and buying a can of who knows whats in that.

Freezer Meal It!
* Place beef tips, onion, mushroom soup, worcestershire sauce in a freezer bag.
* Label and Seal Tight.
* When ready to cook dump bag in slow cooker - add water and cook.
* Add in cream cheese and serve with your noodles and veggie and or fruit sides.

What homemade noodles!!! YUM - find my recipe HERE! 

Chicken Stock

I have been very ambitious this week/weekend getting our freezer stocked with some homemade goods. As you can see from the previous blog posts the kitchen has been busy. My main goal in keeping this blog is to catalog my own recipes. This way they are all in one place and easy to search for and find. The added bonus is I don't have to carry recipes with me when we travel or if something would ever happen to our home I know they are safe online.

After I made noodles the other week I was excited about making my own chicken stock. Something that I have thought about for several years now honestly but I am really picky and squirmy when it comes to raw chicken. I know it would be cheaper to purchase a raw whole chicken but it just really doesn't appeal to me.

Finally I sent my husband to Costco for one of there amazing Rotisserie Chickens. We absolutely love them and you can't beat the quality or price. Today he came home with a 4 pound chicken for 5 dollars. Again I know a raw chicken would be cheaper but I am happy with $1.25/lb and it is already cooked for me.

I pulled all the meat off the bones and was able to make four meals for our family of three with this. Two I diced for pasta or soup later and froze, one I diced for some chicken cranberry and almond pasta salad I am making this week and the fourth section we are eating tonight with some butternut squash. I then used the remainder of the chicken to make chicken stock. Some to freeze and some to go with our homemade egg noodles for chicken noodle soup. Here is my new found recipe...

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:
* 1 chicken (see above)
* 3 quarts water
* salt and pepper
* 5 carrots
* 2 single stalks celery (ribs and leaves!)
* 1 onion
* parsley, evoo, garlic

Directions:
* Place chicken and water in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour.
* Cut veggies into large chunks and place in oven at 400 degree to roast for an hour. I coated mine with evoo, salt and a little pepper.
* When veggies are done add them to the stock pot with the broth. Cook for another hour.
* Add salt and pepper as needed to flavor stock along with garlic and parsley.
* When stock is done cooking I drained all veggies out and froze the clear liquid stock. I then used the veggies in my chicken noodle soup.

This will be my go to recipe - it is SO good!

Homemade Egg Noodles

Cooking from scratch has always been my favorite way to be in my kitchen. It allows me to not dirty the measuring cups and I get to really be creative. I am not a huge resolution type person but I do love to set up some goals to help my family be more frugal and yet healthy.

My husband's grandma taught me this past summer how to make homemade egg noodles from scratch and I have put it off for way to long trying it out myself. I dove in this weekend and they turned out AMAZING. It is so easy and I can't wait to stock my freezer with bags of noodles for us to use year round.

Grandma Bea's Homemade Egg Noodles

Ingredients:
* Egg
* Water
* Salt and pepper
* Flour

Directions:
* There really isn't any measuring involved so I will try to lay it out for you as best as possible.
1. Take 1 egg and crack into a bowl. Fill one half of the egg shell with warm water and whisk together with egg.
2. Add pinches of salt and pepper.
3. Add flour to mixture until the egg mixture can't hold anymore. I found this to be about 1 cup flour per 1 egg ratio. You will need to mix it together and then dig in with your hands to help form the dough.
4. Let dough set for 10-30 minutes.
5. Take dough and roll out with some flour until very flat. Then using a pizza cutter cut into the desired shape and style of noodles you want.
6. Lay them out to dry for 10-24 hours. I let mine either set overnight or just all day if I make them in the morning.

You can freeze these in containers or bags. They are AMAZING in Chicken Noodle Soup!

I can't wait to experiment with these more. Adding some Tastefully Simple Seasonings in them - I think our Spinach and Herb seasoning would be awesome!

Banana Bread

I have been looking for a good banana bread recipe for years. However these past 6 months I have been extra inspired as I buy bananas several times a month for our sweet girl who wants one every morning for breakfast. 
Sometimes I buy too many or they just go bad too quickly as bananas often do. My mom suggested to use a recipe that had sour cream in it. It breaks all the rules of being dairy free in my kitchen but it is a great recipe to make up and freeze the bread. It made great gifts for friends this past holiday season and easy to pull out and serve when we have guests for breakfast. Thankful to have no more wasted browning bananas in this kitchen. 

Kitchen Note:
There is a very small amount of sour cream in this recipe so I was able to eat the bread and survive :). 
However if you want to avoid the dairy all together there is a great lactose - soy free sour cream made by Green Valley. 

Ingredients:
* 3-4 ripe bananas
* 1 cup sugar
* 3/4 cup butter (earth balance is still my go to brand)
* 2 eggs
* 1/3 cup sour cream
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 cups flour
* 1.5 tsp baking powder


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl with a fork.  Add 1 cup sugar and beat the bananas and sugar with an electric mixer until creamed and fluffy, 3 minutes. Beat in melted butter, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and stir the flour mixture into banana-sugar mixture. Fold in mashed bananas. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and tap the pan on the counter several times to remove any air pockets. 
4. Bake in the preheated oven until bread is golden brown on top and set in the center, 1 hour and 15 minutes; rotate bread pan in oven halfway through baking. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Beef - Polenta Pie

I am finally starting to feel creative in my kitchen again. Being a new mom is hard whether you stay at home or work outside the home there are challenges all around. Now that our sweet girl is 12 months old I feel like I am carving out a new routine in life and finding my way back into the kitchen where I love to be creative. I was craving polenta the other night and just went onto a google search knowing that I had green beans and ground beef to use up in the freezer. Here is a great one I found with my modifications.

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 6 ounce package  portobello mushroom caps, cut into cubes

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef

• Salt and pepper

• 1 14 1/2 ounce can  crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

• 1 cup instant polenta

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinking

• 1 10 ounce package  frozen green beans, thawed and drained

directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Whisk in the polenta until thickened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the cream, parmesan and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth; pour into a large casserole dish.
3. Stir the green beans into the beef mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture over the polenta and top with more parmesan.